DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-063, April 4, 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 1226: Tue 0300 on SIUE Web Radio http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO/ Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1226 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1226h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1226h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1226.html WORLD OF RADIO 1226 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1226.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1226.rm DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ (Glenn Hauser, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. More on CRI relays and other usage: see also CHINA non Hello, the latest schedule from Radio Tirana also includes interesting transmitter details. It shows Cërrik divided into two transmitter groups, "A" with 8 x 50 kW run in pairs, so de facto 4 x 100 kW (like it was the case with Soviet Sneg designs at Königs Wusterhausen), and "B", not only with two 50 kW transmitters for independent operation but also six 15 kW transmitters that were unknown so far. Finally there is Shijak with 2 x 50 kW run as the known 100 kW pair. I understand that in the old days Radio Tirana was on air on more than seven frequencies at once? If so they were able to do this without having to first tear apart the Siamese twins at Cërrik "A" and Shijak. I now tend to assume that the picture at http://www.transmitter.be/chi-gd5056.html shows the "A" group at Cërrik, on the right side probably two 50 kW transmitters while the different looking cabinet between them contains the combiner? Anyway an almost eerie look. And for Fllakë the schedule confirms our suspicion that only two transmitters are available there. Now the question is, was there ever a third one? (This would have to be the case if ever either all 1215, 1395 and 1458 were on air simultaneously, or if either 1215 or 1458 were on air during confirmed 1000 kW operation of 1395.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Before the times when the number of active transmitters increased, there was a 30 min inactivity period for the transmitters concerned, and then these switched on early, at xx25 or so, before the sign off times of the other transmitters. So it appears that they did sever some of the twins during prime time. The 15 kW transmitters may have been for utility purposes (messages to embassies and spies, press services). The total number of transmitters active at any time was at least twelve. Swedish was broadcast from summer 1980 to early 1991. 73s (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And I prepared also an unedited recording of the antenna switch between the CRI and Radio Tirana transmissions on 1458 I already described yesterday. Note the excellent audio quality of the CRI programme. But also the Radio Tirana feed was not bad; it was the first time ever I could hear the studio atmosphere on a Radio Tirana broadcast. The quality of the music tapes (opener etc.) is an entirely different story, however. http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040403_a2.ram (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. Three cuts from the Maeva FM / TDP transmission yesterday on 5975 (Jülich): http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040403_a4.ram (Kai Ludwig, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. DX TARGET: RÁDIO GUARUJÁ PAULISTA A Rádio da Família --- By Richard A. D'Angelo Located in the town the station was named after, Brazilian broadcaster Rádio Guarujá Paulista burst onto the shortwave radio scene during the summer of 2003 with a reasonable signal on 5,045 kHz. The station was also reported on 3,235 kHz with a much weaker signal. Guarujá, the City The city of Guarujá is located in the state of São Paulo. It is a tourist city known for its beautiful beaches. The people of São Paulo are called Paulistas. Most of them have ancestors who immigrated from Germany, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain, or Syria. Some Paulistas have African or American Indian ancestry. Paulistas speak a variety of languages, but most of them also speak Portuguese, Brazil's official language. Guarujá is in the Central and Southern Plateau region of Brazil. This area covers 25% of the country with more than half of the country's population living in this region. Much of the population is concentrated around the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The region is known as Brazil's economic heartland. A steep slope called Great Escarpment runs along the coast on the southeastern edge of the highlights making access into the interior difficult thus furthering the growth of the coastal cities. Guarujá, the Station Rádio Guarujá Paulista was established on 21 January 1946. For 57 years the station has been investing in broadcasting technology. With a staff of almost 40 professionals, the station broadcasts information, news and music on the shortwave tropical bands that make possible the reception of Rádio Guarujá Paulista signal throughout the Brazilian domestic territory as well as on an international basis. The station possesses two studios in São Paulo. However, the official studio is in Guarujá with a street address of Jose Vaz Port Street, 175 Santa Rosa. Rádio Guarujá Paulista is connected to the Internet through the following sites: http://www.radioguarujaam.com.br and http://www.guarujafm.com.br Rádio Guarujá Paulista operates on 1550 kHz medium wave with 10 kilowatts and on 104.5 FM with 25 kilowatts. In the tropical shortwave bands the station operates on 3,235 kHz with 500 watts and on 5,045 kHz with 1,000 watts. The former frequency is mainly heard in its domestic territories but the latter outlet is heard domestically as well as internationally. The station operates around the clock, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. With its 54-meter long antenna located in the city of Guarujá, the 10-kilowatt Guarujá AM transmitter possesses enough power to provide ample coverage of the São Paulo coast. The local coverage area covers a population of almost 2 million inhabitants. The five major population centers are Santos (418,000), Guarujá (265,000), São Vincente (304,000), Praia Grande (194,000) and Cubatão (108,000). With 57 years of experience, Rádio Guarujá Paulista continues investing in updated equipment and in human resources, which are essential for its continued long-term success. Currently, the station operates with equipment meeting international standards for 100% digital operation making the broadcaster one of the best quality stations in the world. With its updated hardware and software, it is one of the most modern and better-equipped radio stations in the region and the world. It invites listeners to be part of this new family. The following table is the program schedule for broadcasts made on Monday through Friday each week. The left-hand column is the local times followed by the program name and finally the announcer for the program. All programs are in Portuguese. [UT -3] Horário Programas Locutores 00h "Programa o Som da Madrugada" Elaine Simone 02h "Programa Fazendeiro do Mar" Jovanir Rampazo 04h "Programa Kaká Siqueira" Kaká Siqueira 08h "Programa Ermínio Matos" Ermínio Matos 09h "Programa Padre Marcelo Rossi" Marcelo Rossi 10h Continuação do "Programa Ermínio Matos" Ermínio Matos 12h "Programa Rotativa no Ar" Ramos Jr. e Nízio Lemos 13h "Programa Tuca Jr" Tuca Jr 14h "Que Saudade de Você" Eli Correa 14h30 Continuação do "Programa Tuca Jr" Tuca Jr 15h "Programa Rádio Mulher" Andréa Rovani 17h "Sertanejo nas Ondas do Mar" Jovanir Rampazo 18h "Radar Esportivo" Paulo Alberto 20h "Show da Noite" Fábio Bueno 22h "Discoteca Maravilhosa" José Flávio Weekends at Rádio Guarujá Paulista bring a modifications to the programming schedule. The following table presents the Saturday lineup of programs and announcers. Horário Programas Locutores 00h "Programa o Som da Madrugada" Elaine Simone 03h "O Fazendeiro do Mar" Jovanir Rampazo 07h "Programa Kaká Siqueira" Kaká Siqueira 09h "Programa Nelson Rubens" Nelson Rubens 11h "Programa Padre Marcelo Rossi" Marcelo Rossi 12h "Programa Paulo Barbosa" Paulo Barbosa 14h "Radar Esportivo" Paulo Alberto 18h "Show da Tarde" Fábio Bueno 21h "Tempos Modernos" Alessandro Carlo "Good News" Edson Nunes "Viver e Reviver" Maria Eli [what about the DX program at 21h30?? --- gh] Sunday rounds out the broadcast schedule with the following program lineup. Horário Programas Locutores 00h "Programa o Som da Madrugada" Elaine Simone 03h "A Grande Parada Sertaneja" Jovanir Rampazo 07h "Programa 4ª Dimensão" Adalberto Miraglia 09h "Programa Tonico Barbosa Show" Tonico Barbosa 11h "Programa Portugal Meu Berço, Meu Encanto" Gil Manoel 12h "Atualidades de Guarujá" 14h "Tempos Modernos" Alessandro Carlo 18h "Bons Tempos" Elaine Simone 21h "Sucessos Sertanejos" Jovanir Rampazo The station management is very pleased that the listeners in São Paulo have chosen Rádio Guarujá Paulista as their radio. The listeners are people who want to be always very well informed. The station constantly seeks to improve radio quality, making the station the best radio station of the surrounding region. Since becoming a major tropical band catch a few months ago, Rádio Guarujá Paulista has been a reliable verifier of shortwave listener reception report. Portuguese language reception reports with adequate return postage can be sent to the station at: Rádio Guarujá Paulista, Orivaldo Rampazo, Diretor Presidente, Rua Montenegro 196, CEP 11410-040, Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil As always, remember to send in those Rádio Guarujá Paulista logs to Edwin Southwell for the Shortwave Logbook. Of course, QSL verifications should be sent to Mark Hattam for inclusion in the QSL Report column. Good luck with this DX Target (World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** CANADA. AIH ends real audio archiving, or makes them harder to find If you look at the cbc.ca web site, you'll find that, according to a notice, you can no longer get audio files from As It Happens. Well, it turns out that the .ram pointer files have gone away, but that the real (in two senses) audio files have NOT. For example, the first half hour of the show that hasn't even made it, as I write, to the Eastern Time feed is already on real audio at: rtsp://media.cbc.ca/cbc.ca/asithappens/real/pt1-04-03-31-aih.ra (Joel Rubin, NY, March 31, swprograms via DXLD) Thanks for this, Joel. I went to the rtsp file in the line above and listened. Pardon my ignorance on this subject, but how do I do it for future days and other 1/2 hour segments? Where do I go on cbc.ca to get a listing of these, since the ".ram pointer files" are not there? ....ah....I just figured it out myself: I changed the date in the above in the "Open Location" window of my Real Player, and could listen to the 29 March program, and changed the "pt1" to "pt2" to listen to the second half hour. Do you know how long they leave these files on there? Thanks, (Saul Broudy, ibid.) I haven't checked lately. Editions dating back several years had been available up to now. Anyone know why these were "removed" from public access? Hmmm. Wonder if this has to do with the new "invitation" to become a "member" of the domestic CBC website? Perhaps some fee-based subscription will be required to access these (Richard Cuff, ibid.) ** CHINA [non]. Re 4-062: CRI 1458 kHz 1700-1727 UT Italian Hi Everyone, when I had a short break on the forest parking place yesterday, outside of noisy Stuttgart suburbs, I could trace CRI Beijing in Italian (because some items of Chinese history were covered and the CRI web address was given) at 1700-1727 UT on 1458 Fllake-ALB 500 kW relay, using the very sensitive Audi car radio with Hirschmann diversity active antenna. The Fllake transmission was very strong: no signal of co-channel British Subcontinental commercial music station could be traced underneath. 1395 channel had strong Dutch pop music program, 1215 channel covered by superpower V of Russia Bolshakovo program, German service. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ALBANIA ** EUROPE [and non]. Currently 1386 kHz is clear of any high power European signals after 1900 UT. That gives DXers a chance to hear UK LPAM stations (just 1 Watt! but they are heard in Germany and Scandinavia). Also Guinea and Kenya are possible. This DX window will close on April 17th when (according to Bernd Trutenau) Radio Baltic Waves will relay CRI from Lithuania with 500 kW in the time slot 1900-2200 UT. Make the most of the next 2 weeks! 73 (Steve Whitt, UK, MWC April 4 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Un nouveau préavis de grève a été déposé par le syndicat CGT des réalisateurs et techniciens de RFI pour le 7 avril, a annoncé hier (NDR : le 1er avril) un délégué syndical. Ce préavis, qui intervient à l'issue d'une grève "perlée " de 24 heures dans cette catégorie de personnel, vise à protester contre la situation du personnel en situation précaire (CDD). La grève de mercredi (NDR : le 30 mars), qui a pris fin hier à 7 h, portait sur la nouvelle organisation du travail à RFI à la suite du passage au numérique. Les négociations entre la direction et les techniciens et réalisateurs se poursuivaient hier (NDR : le 1er avril) dans la journée " dans une atmosphère constructive ", selon la direction (Satellifax - 02 avril 2004, informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Nommée en novembre dernier directrice de la rédaction en français de RFI (en remplacement de Jérôme Bouvier), Geneviève Goetzinger a présenté hier matin (NDR : le 1er avril) à la presse la grille de printemps-été mise en place depuis dimanche dernier. Une grille résolument tournée vers l'Europe. Parmi les principales nouveautés, citons "Europe, mode d'emploi", tous les jeudis à 19 h 40 (NDR : 1740 TU. Ce rendez-vous est proposé par l'équipe de RFI Soir et les spécialistes Europe de la rédaction pour accompagner l'élargissement de l'Union européenne. Une spéciale sera diffusée le 1er mai, a précisé Geneviève Goetzinger. La station proposera également le samedi à 8 h 40 (NDR : 0640 TU) " L'Européen de la semaine ", soit un portrait de la personnalité européenne de la semaine, politique, économique, culturelle ou sportive. Autres nouveautés, une revue de presse arabe par Alexandre Buccianti, le samedi à 18 h 50 (NDR : 1650 TU), et la revue de presse israélienne par Michel Paul, le dimanche à la même heure. Par ailleurs, RFI a lancé hier à Lisbonne une opération baptisée Les Forums de l'Europe, qui se déroulent une fois toutes les trois semaines dans une capitale européenne. Animés par un journaliste de RFI, ces forums se déroulent de manière informelle dans l'esprit " café philo " autour d'un thème. Chacun de ces forums fait l'objet de reprises à l'antenne dans le cadre d'émissions et de reportages sur le pays abordé. Suivront Budapest (22 avril), Berlin, Prague, Sofia et Vilnius. Enfin, Geneviève Goetzinger a évoqué un partenariat avec l'émission Arrêt sur images (France 5) qui portera sur l'actualité télévisuelle européenne via les correspondants de la station (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) NDR: this was previously reported in English by BBCM, but I think all the programming referred to was in French (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re: ``I did listen today, 2nd April morning 0530-0700 gmt to DW broadcast, but unfortunately all regular programs were not on air. Just some instrumental music. Why? Was it same for other regions?`` Token strike. I could not find further information so far (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {more in 4-064} ** GERMANY. The music and news service from Germany, DW-Radio M was officially inaugurated today, April 1, 2004. DW-Radio M carries eclectic music and ostensibly short news bulletins in German and English. Yes, they had a 5-min. news bulletin in German at the top of the hour. The service is announced in German only as "Deutsche Welle Radio." Most songs appear to be in English. More on this new radio service (in German) and a live audio link can be found at: http://www.dw-radio-m.de/ (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, April 1, swprograms via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DRM catch: 15896.00, "bit eXpress", 2255 02 Apr, Digital Radio Mondiale. Popular tune with male vocalist. Digital ID using Dream software from this 100W campus station in Erlangen. Signal was intermittent until this time when it held high enough to hear approximately 2 minutes of sound. Audio quality was excellent in parametric stereo, using high bit rate (27.28 kpbs) with SBR- enhancement. Signal faded back into the dust at 2305. Receiver: JRC NRD-535D; Antenna: 100' longwire with MLB; Software: Dream v1.0.7. 73, (Mark J. Fine / Remington, Virginia, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. HAITI RADIO STATIONS RETURN TO AIRWAVES By STEVENSON JACOBS, Associated Press Writer PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Targeted for years by supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, private radio stations in Haiti are slowly returning to the air. . . (message 8 at dxld yahoogroup via Dino Bloise, and via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. But what is "NON-official" about a station like Rádio Ecclésia? They are officially licensed in Angola, and they officially rent a transmitter in South Africa. Or Radio DMR in Moldova? It is the official FS, they have their own transmitter and they broadcast for the whole of Europe. Or Radio Sedaye Kashmir? It is an official program by the Indian government, using transmitters in New Delhi. My point is that the term "non-official" can only be used for transmissions that are conducted without official permission from the authorities, i.e. "clandestine". Any other transmissions, whether legally booked on foreign relays or via own, licensed transmitters are "official" - no matter if the station is a state radio station or a private, non-governmental or religious station. *Radio Ecclesia (Angolan peace) A04 smtwtfs 1900-2000 7205 AFS Meyerton Pr (MNO/SEN) = there is no "Angolan peace" connection; Radio Ecclésia is a domestic, licensed, religious station since 1954. *Radio Pridnestrovye B03 -mtwtf- 1700-1730 5960 MDA Grigoriopol E = Official FS of Tiraspol government, aimed at listeners in Europe. Correct name is Radio DMR. Broadcasts in German, English, French, Russian. *Radio Free Kashmir A04 ID: Radio Sadaye Kashmir smtwtfs 0230-0330 6100 IND Kashmiri smtwtfs 0730-0830 9890 IND Kashmiri smtwtfs 1430-1530 6100 IND Kashmiri = official AIR program. Correct name is "Radio Voice of Kashmir". (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: ``My list consists of various stations, be it non- governmental, private, religious or opposition that broadcast to a specific area, but for one reason or another don't operate in their target area. So stations like Gospel For Asia, Bible Voice and other Brother Scares don't qualify for me as they want to reach the whole world (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` This is a misunderstanding of international religious broadcasting. Unlike other broadcasters, none of the large religious stations have exclusive "central studios" for the production of the programs. Instead, the programs are typically produced by small, independent production studios around the world. These are usually financed by local church missions and very often specialize in a very specific target zone or language. Stations like AWR, Gospel for Asia, HCJB are in reality only a "pool" or "air-time provider" for small missionary studios which typically have a very specific target. The names & contact info for these missions are also announced on the air usually. If to follow the guidelines above, any "independently produced" missionary program with an exclusive target zone that is aired via one of the large religious airtime providers (AWR, TWR, etc) would also need to be included in such a list. WRTH for example calls these "Clandestine and other target broadcasts", how about such a term? Since indeed only few of these are really "clandestine", why not simply call them "Target broadcasts"? (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 11730 kHz, Voice of Justice, 1229 UT with ID in English, into piano VOIRI IS, then presumed national anthem, English, Web address listed, into solo baritone. Poor, April 3rd (Shadow Lake DX Camp, Ont., via Roger Chambers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. The correct times for Radio International are sm-w-f- 1630-1700 13800 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) --t-t-s 1630-1715 13800 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 17735, CLANDESTINE (Iran). R. Pedar (via Woofferton), fair at *1730 Apr 1 with crash start in mid-program which was an English discussion about women's rights with occasional brief talk bridges by man in Farsi. Music and more talk later, but signal faded down a bit after opening, then came back up; finally an ID at 1829 with mention of Los Ángeles. Off in mid-program at 1830* (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) UNITED KINGDOM, 17735, R. Pedar: trying for this one at *1730 Apr 2. Two false starts of audio and then kicked over to VT Merlin interval signal. Audio back on track at 1733 with talk in Farsi. No sign of any jamming. ID as "Radio Pedar, Los Angeles" at 1808 (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 6130: Roland reports an extended usage of NHK Fukuoka-1, scheduled 2000-0400 UT. He heard NHK regular active with sports on weekends in ssb/usb at 0800 UT, but from around 0920 UT QRM, sign-on by co-channel QRM of Laotian National Radio. Fukuoka-1 at 0430-0730 on 9535. But 0800-1300 UT missed in HFCC schedule, ex-3259 kHz. 6130 2000-0400 45 FUK 1 kW non-dir 0 926 2803-311004 S Jap J NHK (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Apr 4 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxld yahoogroup via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Radio Korea's broadcast at 1130 UT in English on 9650 kHz via Sackville noted to begin in English at 1200 on April 3, and on April 4th (the Sunday morning of the time change). Not sure if this will continue or not (Harold Sellers, Ont., via Roger Chambers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 4895, RTM Stapok, 10 kW station is active, and heard daily in the Philippines around 2215-2300, scheduled 2200-0100 UT. (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Apr 4 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxld yahoogroup via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scheduled local mornings only? ** NIGERIA. 'BAN ON FOREIGN NEWS, A CONTRADICTION' This Day (Lagos) NEWS April 2, 2004 Posted to the web April 2, 2004 By Yemi Akinsuyi Lagos http://allafrica.com/stories/200404020115.html The ban of radio and television stations by the National Broadcast Commission (NBC) from taking news live from foreign stations has been described as a contradiction in this modern age of free information dissemination. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications, Lagos Catholic Archdiocese, said the order was tantamount to censorship. He said the whole scenario brings back bad memories of the iron curtain era, when people were prevented from listening to foreign stations in the old Soviet Union. The cleric noted that bearing in mind that the world is now a global villge, it does not speak well of the NBC to drag the country into the dark ages and Mungo Park era, when information was despatched by Pigeons and telegraphy. Fr. Osu, made this known through a release expressing hope that NBC would not ban short-wave radio sets from coming into the country. He said it was too late for government to hide its exploits because 'there is no hiding place in the modern world of information technology. What is the government trying to hide. Can they hide from internet?", Fr. Osu queried. He observed that the ban is another repressive measure against the poor masses, adding that all the notables in power have cables or satellite dishes in their houses. He noted that as at today, the high-ups in the society hardly watch local stations, except when they wanted to see themselves on the screen (via Ulis Fleming, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. On April 1, 2004 the Voice of Russia has resumed its live webcasting in 15 foreign languages (out of 32) on a specially dedicated channel at: http://62.153.249.21/live/st_ru/Stimme_Russl_2.asx Here's the current schedule: UTC Language 00:00-02:00 Spanish 02:00-09:00 English 09:00-11:00 German 11:00-12:00 Chinese 12:00-13:00 Japanese 13:00-14:00 Hindi 14:00-15:00 Turkish 15:00-16:00 Farsi 16:00-17:00 Serbo-Croatian 17:00-18:00 Italian 18:00-19:00 Greek 19:00-20:00 Bulgarian 20:00-21:00 French 21:00-22:00 No programming? 22:00-23:00 Arabic 23:00-00:00 Portuguese The Russian-language programs of the Voice of Russia are heard 24/7 at: http://62.153.249.21/live/st_ru/Stimme_Russl.asx (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, April 1, swprograms via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. Re: ``The Voice of Russia has also launched mediumwave broadcasts in Lithuania from 10 am to 6 pm local time [0600 to 1400 gmt] and in all cities of Crimea, Ukraine, Yagunova said. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1505 gmt 1 Apr 04 (via BBCM via DXLD)`` Local time in Lithuania is UTC+3h (DST), thus the correct times for "10 am to 6 pm" in UTC are 0700-1500. VOR is carried by Radio Baltic Waves in Vilnius on 612 kHz with 100 kW ND (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7125 kHz, Radio Krishnaloka, from 0035 UT in Russian with Russian pop, ID and news at 0100. To past 0115. Quite good signal most of duration. April 4th, Shadow Lake DX Camp, Ont. (Roger Chambers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I didn`t realize this was still active. This must have been via one of the major VOR transmitters (gh) {NOT: 4-064} ** SLOVAKIA. Re 4-063: Hmmm. Judging from the exact wording I gather that there is a possibility (but apparently no definite decision so far) that Radio Slovakia International will cease using Rimavská Sobota effective May 1st. The fate of the station, including whether or not its programmes will still be heard on shortwave, is obviously another question ... This actually fits to the report about a further power reduction to 150 kW since April 1st (see DXLD 4-057), introduced after they already cut down to using only two transmitters at 200 kW in last December. Apparently the charges at Rimavská Sobota are prohibitive, considering that all other customers have already left, first AWR and now also Radio Prague that last October transferred its last RSO transmission to RTRS Tbilisskaya (that's the 18:30 CET slot for German, now 1630- 1657 on 11810). [Later:] I just caught the last sentences of an announcement in the German programme of Radio Slovakia International: Listeners were urged to write to the director in order to "possibly save the shortwave transmissions". This announcement is not included in the Real Audio version, so was probably inserted only in the tape for the shortwave transmission. I will listen again during the next broadcast, but already now it appears that it is indeed planned to axe shortwave completely (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1425 GMT April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later2:] The German programme of Radio Slovakia International included today an appeal to send e-mails and letters of protest against the planned cancellation of the shortwave service to the chairman of Slovensky Rozhlas: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040403_a1.ram (Kai Ludwig, 2236 UT April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fermeture de Radio Slovaquie Internationale ? Entendu sur Radio Slovaquie le vendredi 2 et samedi 3 avril -- "L'existence de Radio Slovaquie Internationale, dans son ensemble, est gravement menacée. Les dernières informations en notre possession: la suppression des ondes courtes sera effective à compter du 1er mai 2004. Aussi, nous nous permettons d'utiliser les ondes pour vous lancer le pressant appel de participer à ce qui aujourd'hui s'inscrit comme être une opération de sauvetage de notre station. Merci de vous mobiliser en adressant immédiatement un message de protestation à ceux qui ont le sort de notre existence entre leurs mains. Vous pouvez le faire par tous les moyens à votre disposition, notamment par courrier à l'adresse suivante : Monsieur le Directeur Général Jaroslav Reznik, Slovenskÿ Rozhlas, Mitna 1, P.O. Box 55, 81755 Bratislava, République Slovaque" NDR : curieux message qui pourrait s'apparenter à un poisson d'avril à retardement (et à répétition). Il est exact que la situation est délicate à RSI, que l'on se demande depuis plusieurs mois ce qui va se passer et qu'il était prévu qu'on en sache un peu plus en avril. Toutefois, tout dernièrement, il a été répondu à un auditeur que le financement était assuré pour 2004. Quand on connaît la facétie qui anime l'équipe francophone et que l'on sait que régulièrement, les auditeurs se voient gentiment reprocher leur apathie, on peut se raisonnablement se demander s'il n'y a pas une " opération " là- dessous. Mais dans ce cas, pourquoi indiquer l'adresse du Directeur Général pour une plaisanterie ? Méfiance quand même ! (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 4750, R. Peace, What's happened to this one?? Been following it but haven't heard it the last couple nights. Is it off the air, different frequency, or new sing-on time?? 73's (Dave Valko, PA, April 4, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. 11665, SITE? Sudan Radio Service, 3/31 0354-0500, language announcements, flute/drum, vocals. Was hoping for Tatarstan but heard loud and clear 4/01 at 0320 in English and then switching to language (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. SRI done on April 12th ?? "Swiss Radio International are ending English broadcasts on 12th April. Rest of A04 season will have music in place of English language broadcasts." Announcer Isabel (surname unclear- Rivone?) stated on 3rd April that the English service is ending broadcasts on April 12th. Something along the lines of: "Here is a special station announcement. It is the end of an era at SRI. After 70 years on air Monday 12th April will be the last English broadcast. We will continue to play music until October (i.e during the English slots on the A04 schedule). On behalf of everyone at SRI I would like to take the opportunity to thank all listeners for tuning in over the years. Hope you continue to keep in touch with Switzerland via the Swiss info website: http://www.swissinfo.org " (rec.radio.shortwave April 4 via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via Dave Zantow, N9EWO, dxld yahoogroup via DXLD) {more in 4-064} ** TAIWAN. Voice of Han BC: Another frequency, 6105 kHz is finally found. It's the same as freq list in http://www.dgt.gov.tw/English/foreigner/AM.xls Hope you can avoid adjacent channel interference! (Miller Liu, Taipei, April 2, dxing.info via DXLD) ** U K [non]. A tribute to Alistair Cooke ABC Online - Australia --- ... If you would like to share your recollections about Alistair Cooke with other listeners, there's a special ABC Online Guestbook on Radio National's home page. http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2004/s1080100.htm (via Mike Terry, dxld yahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. AFRTS: The following are received at this QTH in a sunrise and sunset scan: 10320 khz Pearl Harbour - 0500 & 1730 zulu 7507 khz Sabana, Puerto Rico - 0400 zulu 7490 khz Keflavik, Iceland - 0443 zulu 5765 khz Guam - 1600 to 2000 zulu 6350 khz Pearl Harbour - 1650 zulu (barely audible) 13855 khz Keflavik, Iceland - 1950 (not same programming as Guam) No sign of Diego Garcia --- suspect it is not on air, as Guam was quite strong. -- John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa South 33 d 47 m 540 s, East 20 d 07 m 541 s. RX Drake R8B, SW8, BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A. Hallicrafters SX-100, Eddystone 940, GE circa 50's radiogram Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270, Kiwa MW Loop (rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, dxld yahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A. I made a point of listening to the new shows on the DX Block, WWCR 5070, UT Sun April 4 at 0400 Radio Weather, and 0430 DX Radio School (henceforth, 0300 and 0330). The two could not be more different. RW is over-produced, with a constant musical bed, sound effects such as dog barking, `clever` remarks by the host, and breakneck pace. He`s in Ontario but could not hear any Canadian accent. Rambling on about various topics, and only a few minutes about propagation toward the end, despite the show`s title which led me to believe it would be all about propagation. Worst of all, it`s yet another stealth evangelism show, as about 20 minutes in, the host started pushing some bible handouts. The host admits to not knowing how to pronounce ``Mondiale`` but also has trouble with other common(?) words such as ``Maoist``. If gh put you to sleep, with his calm presentation of facts in the previous half hour, RW may wake you up, not necessarily an improvement. Note that it`s also on the WBCQ schedule below, Sun 2130 on 9330, Mon 2200 on 7415. More to my taste, surprisingly, was DX Radio School, which is basically one guy talking off the cuff for almost half an hour, no fancy production --- indeed sounds like it`s recorded on home equipment. He has his products to sell too, but at least on this show it was soft rather than hard (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Just in from Allan Weiner: the new time for WOR Saturday night on WBCQ is 0300 UT Sun on 9330-CLSB; hmmm, same time as R. Weather on another station (Glenn Hauser, Apr 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ program schedule, as downloaded around 1830 UT April 4: [gh excerpted only programs of interest, i.e. deleting here WOR, gospel huxters and known far-right shows; some of the titles left in are of unknown content; for full sked see dxld yahoogroup message 17] Freq Day/ET UT Day/Time From To From To Sunday Sunday 7415 12:00AM 01:00AM 0400 0500 Tom And Darryl 7415 01:00AM 01:30AM 0500 0530 Juliet's Wild Kingdom 9330 04:30PM 05:00PM 2030 2100 Northern Lights 7415 05:00PM 06:00PM 2100 2200 Radio Free Euphoria/Radio Three 9330 05:00PM 05:30PM 2100 2130 Science Rocks 9330 05:30PM 06:00PM 2130 2200 Radio Weather 5105 06:00PM 07:00PM 2200 2300 The Jean Shepherd Show 7415 07:00PM 08:00PM 2300 0000 Le Show with Harry Shearer 5105 07:00PM 08:00PM 2300 0000 The Best of Complex Variables Studio Sunday UT Monday 7415 08:00PM 12:00AM 0000 0400 Radio New York International 5105 08:00PM 09:00PM 0000 0100 The Firesign Theater Hour 5105 09:00PM 10:00PM 0100 0200 Tesla's Ear 5105 10:00PM 11:00PM 0200 0300 Squad 51 5105 11:00PM 12:00PM 0300 0400 The Pirate's Cove Monday Monday 7415 01:00AM 03:00AM 0500 0700 The Joe Mazza Show 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 05:00PM 06:00PM 2100 2200 The Jean Shepherd Show 7415 06:00PM 06:30PM 2200 2230 Radio Weather Monday UT Tuesday 7415 09:00PM 10:00PM 0100 0200 The Secular Bible Study Tuesday Tuesday 7415 12:15AM 01:15AM 0415 0515 Odin Lives 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 07:30PM 08:00PM 2330 0000 Duhh News Tuesday UT Wednesday 7415 08:00PM 09:00PM 0000 0100 Cut The Crap with A.J. Wednesday Wednesday 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 06:30PM 07:00PM 2230 2300 The Music Download Scene 7415 07:00PM 08:00PM 2300 0000 Off The Hook Thursday Thursday 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 05:00PM 05:30PM 2100 2130 Planet World News Roundup 7415 05:30PM 06:30PM 2130 2230 The Last Roundup 7415 06:30PM 07:00PM 2230 2300 Uncle Ed's Musical Memories 7415 07:00PM 07:30PM 2300 2330 Goddess Irena 1 music show 7415 07:30PM 08:00PM 2330 0000 Steppin Out Of Babylon Thursday UT Friday 7415 08:00PM 09:00PM 0000 0100 Odin Lives Friday Friday 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 05:00PM 05:30PM 2100 2130 The Frankie V Radio Show 7415 05:30PM 06:30PM 2130 2230 The Pab Sungenis Project 7415 06:30PM 07:00PM 2230 2300 WDCD 7415 07:00PM 08:00PM 2300 0000 Just Another Day In America Friday UT Saturday 7415 08:00PM 09:00PM 0000 0100 Allan Weiner World Wide 7415 09:00PM 10:00PM 0100 0200 Tasha Takes Control 7415 10:00PM 11:00PM 0200 0300 The Lost Discs Radio Show Saturday UT Saturday 17495 12:00PM 01:00PM 1600 1700 Allan Weiner World Wide 17495 01:00PM 02:00PM 1700 1800 Zombo's Mondo Record Party 17495 02:00PM 03:00PM 1800 1900 Radio Timtron Worldwide 17495 03:00PM 03:30PM 1900 1930 The RMF Show 7415 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 9330 03:45PM 04:00PM 1945 2000 Planet World News 7415 04:00PM 05:00PM 2000 2100 The Last Roundup 9330 04:00PM 05:00PM 2000 2100 The National Report 9330 05:00PM 06:00PM 2100 2200 Allan Weiner World Wide 7415 06:00PM 07:00PM 2200 2300 Radio Timtron Worldwide 9330 06:00PM 07:00PM 2200 2300 The Country Music Hour 7415 07:00PM 07:30PM 2300 2330 The Real Amateur Radio Show/ Piss and Moan Net [alternating] 9330 07:00PM 08:00PM 2300 0000 The Tampon Tea Bingo Hour 7415 07:30PM 08:00PM 2330 0000 Fred Flintstone's Music Show Saturday UT Sunday 7415 08:00PM 09:00PM 0000 0100 A Different Kind Of Oldies Show 7415 09:00PM 10:00PM 0100 0200 Marion's Attic 7415 10:00PM 11:00PM 0200 0300 Pan Global Wireless 7415 11:00PM 12:00AM 0300 0400 The Michael Ketter Show 9330 11:00PM 12:00AM 0300 0400 Radio Timtron Worldwide {not?} (wbcq.com via John Norfolk, April 4, dxld yahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI SCHEDULE/HORARIO EFFECTIVE APR. 4, 2004 Days are local days in the Americas; times are UTC. Días son días locales en las Américas; horas son UTC. [gh deleted gospel huxters; full schedule is message #1 at dxld yahoogroup. Note the additional time for Voice of the NASB, Sun 2130 on 15725, so you don`t have to choose between it and WORLD OF RADIO at 0230] MONDAY-FRIDAY/LUNES-VIERNES To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/ Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 0900-1000 Hijo de Bayamo (español; lunes-miércoles, viernes) 1000-1100 Overcomer Ministry (English) 1100-1115 Radio Vaticano (español; jueves) 1100-1130 Junta Patriótica Cubana (español, lunes) 1100-1130 Entre Nosotras (español; miércoles) 1100-1200 Radio Revista Lux (español; martes) 1100-1200 Foro Militar Cubano (español, viernes) 1115-1130 Hijo de Bayamo (español; jueves) 1130-1200 Entre Nosotras (español; lunes, miércoles, jueves) SATURDAY/SABADO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 0900-1000 Radio Joystick (German; first Saturday of each month) 0900-1000 Entertainment Radio Worldwide (English; second Saturday of each month) 0900-1000 Music (3rd-5th Saturdays) 1115-1130 Hijo de Bayamo (español) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1200-2200 World Radio Network (English) 2300-0000 Foro Militar Cubano (español) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: The following are Sunday UTC. Los siguientes son domingo UTC. 0000-0030 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 0030-0045 La Hora de Chibás (español) 0100-0200 Radio Revista Lux (español) 7385 kHz to North America/7385 kHz para Norteamérica: 0230-0300 Voice of the NASB (English) 0300-0900 World Radio Network (English) SUNDAY/DOMINGO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamerérica en 9955 kHz: 0930-1000 Voice of the NASB (English) 1045-1100 Hijo de Bayamo (español) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1200-1330 Solid Rock Radio (English) 1400-2000 World Radio Network (English) 2100-2130 Wavescan (English) 2130-2200 Voice of the NASB (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 2230-2300 La Voz del Escambray (español) 2300-0000 Radio Revista Lux (español) The following are UTC Monday. Los siguientes son UTC lunes. 0030-0130 Radio Oriente Libre (español) 0130-0200 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 7385 kHz to North America /7385 kHz para Norteamérica: 0300-0400 VCS Radio (English) [gospel?] 0400-0430 Wavescan (English) 0430-0900 World Radio Network E-mail us at info@wrmi.net for information about purchasing airtime on WRMI. Envíenos un e-mail a info@wrmi.net para información sobre la compra de tiempo. Program Contact Information: Conversando entre Cubanos - Programa de los ex-prisioneros y combatientes políticos cubanos. Director y Locutor: Justo Gabriel Quintana. Productor: Luis O. Vizcaíno. Dirección: P.O. Box 520562, Miami, Florida 33152, USA. E-mail: exclub @ aol.com Publica boletín ``Fragua`` bimensualmente. Entertainment Radio Worldwide - A monthly program of music and station jingles, from Austria. Broadcast on the second Saturday of each month. Fax (in USA): +1-772-3258073. E-mail: webmaster @ discoshow.zzn.com Website: http://www.discoshow.zzn.com Radio Joystick - A monthly musical program with host Charlie Prince, mostly in German, on the first Saturday of each month. Big Beat, breakbeat, house and hiphop, plus information on independent media. Address: Radio Joystick, P.O. Box 100812, D-45408 Muelheim/Ruhr, Germany. E-mail: chapri @ radiojoystick.de Website: http://www.radiojoystick.de Radio Revista Lux - Programa de la Federación Sindical de Plantas Eléctricas, Gas y Agua de Cuba en el Exilio. Productor: René L. Díaz. Locutor: Jorge Martin. Dirección: 7175 SW 8 Street, Room 213, Miami, Florida 33144 USA. Tel/Fax: +1-305-262-6050. Publica la revista ``Lux`` bimensualmente. Viva Miami - Information, interviews, music, DX news, letters from listeners and travel features. Program has both English and Spanish editions. Producer: Jeff White. Assistant Producer: Thaís White. Address: c/o Radio Miami International, P.O. Box 526852, Miami, Florida 33152, USA. Tel: +1-305-559-9764. Fax: +1-305-559-8186. E- mail: info @ wrmi.net Voice of the NASB - A series of programs produced by the members of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB), of which WRMI is a member. Executive Producer: Jeff White. For contact details, see Viva Miami above. Source: WRMI web site http://www.wrmi.net (via John Norfolk, April 2, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A. I wonder if the CSM newspaper's days are numbered. Also note that this story has not been published in the CSM paper, although subscribers are major stakeholders in this. The following appeared on Boston.com: COSTS FORCING SHARP CUTS AT CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH Date: 4/3/2004 "In the past two months, leaders at the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston have slashed 125 jobs, or nearly one-quarter of the church staff, and trimmed the page count and news-gathering budget of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Christian Science Monitor. In addition, they have installed a new financial chief and stopped all tours of the Mother Church and the ..." To see this recommendation, click on the link below or cut and paste it into a Web browser: http://www.boston.com:80/news/local/articles/2004/04/03/costs_forcing_sharp_cuts_at_christian_science_church (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. unID - 9561.75 kHz 1440-1459* 4/3. Paralleled this to 9690 which was very strong, and 9818.25, very weak. No ID's, but is probably RNE with +/- 128.25 kHz spurs. Sports program in Spanish-like language, but it wasn't Spanish! When giving scores, the numbers miden, enna, vio, and tria were given frequently - Catalan maybe? Off in mid-sentence at 1459:30*. Could be the unID heard on 3/29 on 9561.95, although on that day they were playing what sounded like sub- continental music (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 9690 is not Spain, but the Voice of Greece, via Delano, extremely strong here, and I`ve heard their spurs on other bands. The numbers you mention sound like Greek. And they sign off at 1459, so everything fits (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. Program Change: A Tribute To Alistair Cooke This may air on other PBS stations as well. Yes, it's off topic, but Mr. Cooke was on shortwave... Richard Cuff Dear friend of WHYY, Alistair Cooke, known to millions for his weekly BBC World Service Letter to America broadcasts and as the longtime host of public television's Masterpiece Theatre, has died at his home in New York City. He was 95. WHYY TV12 will air A Tribute to Alistair Cooke on Sunday, April 4, 2004, 10:30 to 11 PM. A Tribute to Alistair Cooke, the first host of Masterpiece Theatre, will feature his address to Congress on the occasion of its bicentennial in September, 1974 and will be introduced by series? executive producer Rebecca Eaton. Alistair Cooke 1908-2004 For more information on Alistair Cooke visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/series/cooke.html (via Rich Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. We neglected to publicize in advance, but the Capitol Steps` Politics Takes a Holiday, April Fool edition may still be heard at http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/Radio-0404.rm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA DEBUT SENDS A WEAK SIGNAL By Howard Reich, Tribune arts critic, April 2, 2004 If talk radio in America has become scorched-earth political warfare, Al Franken has joined the battle armed with a squirt gun. The formidable comedian-satirist may have been brilliant in the pages of his best-selling books, but his debut Wednesday as standard-bearer for a self-proclaimed liberal radio network signals that the man has no clue why Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity rule the air waves. Moreover, the first day of Air America Radio --- the emerging conglomerate of AM stations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland --- offered vast stretches of earnest but bumbling, semi-pro broadcasting interrupted by occasional periods of bona fide radio. As the official face of the new liberal network, which aims to counterbalance radio's right-wing flame-throwers, Franken stands as its great bright hope (Air America is heard in Chicago on WNTD-AM 950). He launched the network at 11 a.m. CST on a deliciously wicked note, announcing that he was "broadcasting from an underground bunker 3,500 feet below Dick Cheney's bunker." But it was all downhill from there. For starters, the lackadaisical pace of Franken's chit-chat with co-host Katherine Lanpher suggested they were sipping espressos and munching on scones at a Starbucks, rather than taking on Limbaugh, Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and the rest of the vast right-wing conspiracy. Giddily chuckling over missed cues, headphone glitches and other first-day mishaps, Franken and Lanpher sounded as if they were having a grand old time, relentlessly giggling at each other's chatter. Have they listened -- really listened -- to Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly and the like? Whether you love or loathe the politics of those angry white men, there's no mistaking their ardor for the most minuscule details of public policy. They can rattle off the details of California's Proposition 57 or the recent federal budget proposals the way most of us recite our favorite haute cuisine meal. The sheer zeal they bring to the battlefield makes the listener believe -- if only momentarily -- that the fate of the world hangs on these issues. No such urgency could be detected in "The O'Franken Factor," which was titled to spoof "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News Channel but didn't approach the fireworks of its namesake. And then there were the guests. Reasonable people might disagree over whether Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore was an ideal, debut-show visitor, his tendency toward extreme hyperbole perhaps doing as much to damage the left-wing cause as promote it. But Franken's overwrought genuflections to the man recalled "The Sammy Maudlin Show" on the old SCTV program. Even convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, an arch-conservative who happens to be a longtime Franken friend, received a wet kiss from the host. The appearance represented the last hope that Franken had any idea about how to hook a radio audience in today's tumultuous political climate. Not that absolutely everything about "The O'Franken Factor" fizzled. When former Vice President Al Gore phoned in, Moore slyly quipped, "Hi Al -- or should I say, Mr. President," referring, clearly, to that messy national election and Supreme Court decision of 2000. The tempo picked up dramatically when veteran talk-radio host Randi Rhodes took to the airwaves for the afternoon shift, though her initial griping about the lack of promotion she had received from Air America seemed to set the stage for another wipeout. But that very biliousness turned to her advantage once she set her sights on her real enemies, which included independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who phoned in. "I'm angry at you," she told the Florida election spoiler. "We can't afford you this year, Ralph." Whenever Nader protested, Rhodes ran over him like a truck. "Is this the way you want to start Air America?" Nader protested. "You want it to be Hot Air America? ... You've got a very bad interviewing technique." Rhodes instantly shot back. "I am not interviewing you," she said. "I am angry at you. Can't you tell the difference? ... You screwed up the last election." Nader slammed down the phone, and it was clear that Air America Radio had at least one host who understood that the medium is hot, not cool, fiery not dispassionate. As the broadcast day unfolded, however, it became sadly clear that Rhodes was the only personality on the upstart network who knew what she was doing. Whoever decided to air a media-ethics show hosted by a communications professor during afternoon drive time had to be working for the opposition. Finally, Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder proved on the evening shift that effective agitprop is harder to deliver than it might seem. In the end, Wednesday turned out to be a great day for right-wing talk radio. Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. UI RADIO STATIONS REVISIT PAST By Vida Brenner Friday, April 2, 2004 Iowa City Press-Citizen http://www.press-citizen.com/news/040204radio.htm It took an impending wrecking crane to open up the past for University of Iowa radio stations WSUI-910 AM and KSUI 91.7 FM. Students perform a radio play complete with sound effects in 1931 at the University of Iowa Soundstage. WSUI broadcast UI plays regularly in the 1960s. Special to the Press-Citizen In 1997, the radio stations moved from the soon-to-be-demolished engineering building to a former A&P grocery store south of the railroad tracks on Clinton Street. "I was able to salvage hundreds of tape recordings from the 1940s and transcription discs from as early as the mid-1930s from a basement storage area in the engineering building," said Dennis Reese, WSUI program director. "We have equipment to restore the sound quality on the discs. The goal is to have them available on the Web site for people to hear." A June 1998 storm destroyed two of the three radio transmitters on Mormon Trek Boulevard. For four years, nighttime power was reduced until new towers were built south of Hills. "We will be going digital in the future due to a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We will still have analog signal but with a better sound quality on WSUI and KSUI," Reese said. The earliest broadcasts from the station's 10-watt transmitter around 1920 were heard over crystal sets. The sets used a quartz crystal and a cat's whisker for the tuning. Listeners used earphones because there wasn't enough power for a speaker, Reese said. The early crystal sets were used by listeners for the station under the call sign 9YA. "It would have had quite a range - about a few hundred miles - in those days because there were no other radio stations to interfere," Reese said. In 1922, the radio station moved its headquarters to the attic of the Engineering Building and began broadcasting, using a 100-watt transmitter under the call letters WHAA. Carl Menzer, a UI graduate and a pioneer in the field of broadcasting, directed the station from 1923 to 1968. Under his direction, listeners went from using crystal sets to listening to the radio through speakers powered by storage batteries. By 1925, the station became known as WSUI, named for the State University of Iowa. Programming in the 1920s included athletic events, lectures, concerts and familiar hymns. During the 1930s, listeners could keep informed about major news events through "Late News Flashes" and "The Daily Iowan of the Air." Professor Philip Greeley Clapp, head of the music department, taught a summer course on classical music over the radio. In 1939, for a cost of $90,000, the station got new studios and offices, a new control room and studio equipment and a 5,000-watt transmitter for the daytime. In 1941, WSUI began broadcasting at 910 AM. Listeners in the 1950s had programming from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with new programs on recipes, household hints and interviews for the "Women's Hour" and programs for elementary school classrooms. In the 1960s, "WSUI Radio Theater" broadcast plays written, produced and acted by university students. In 1967, the Public Broadcasting Act paved the way for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio. In the 1970s, WSUI changed from airing classical music to talk programs. In 1971, "All Things Considered" was launched with hosts Susan Stamberg and Bob Edwards. By the 1980s, WSUI was an all-news format with a nighttime jazz program, and station KSUI-FM - with its superior sound quality - took over the music programs, a format that has continued (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. In ``40 Watts from Nowhere,`` (Scribner, $23) author Sue Carpenter launches a pirate radio station, squatting on the San Francisco dial and later moving the operation to LA. She’s motivated more by a vague dissatisfaction with commercial radio than a burning passion for music or the public interest (she owns only a dozen CDs and never reads the newspaper because it’s ``depressing.``) Carpenter has a bevy of assistants who assemble the transmitter, mount the antenna, and provide programming, although she seems unappreciative of them, dismissing a tech who donates his time and equipment as an overweight, sweaty geek, ``clearly a square peg in my hipster circle.`` Her main contribution to KBLT, other than providing a room in her apartment and some capital (both of which she virulently resents sharing) seems to be thinking up cutesy sandwich-based call letters. ``I was just so pleased with myself for coming up with that one,`` she says of her SF station, KPBJ. KBLT`s big claim to fame is a live, in-studio performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but Carpenter neither arranged nor even attended this session. When Beck`s publicist sends her magazine a prerelease cassette of ``Odelay`` she swipes it and puts it into constant rotation, smugly referring to this appropriation as ``my greatest triumph,`` although it seems more like an abuse of her position as a journalist. From the book`s opening, burdened with the dull, faux-breezy introduction ``All right. Where was I? Ah, yes, typing,`` to its embarrassingly anticlimactic ending wherein Carpenter essentially hands herself over to the FCC, this is a story that seems like it ought to be exciting, but simply isn`t (Kim Rollins, MSNBC Entertainment book reviews via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. NRC thread on NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS Ha! What about holding radio stations to the standard upon which their licenses were granted? Just a couple of months ago we had a big snowstorm predicted and WHP was touting that they would have all the coverage we'd need. Well, unfortunately, the snow started in the late afternoon and there was no coverage till 5:00 the next morning. Guess that was all we needed! (Tom Dimeo, NRC-AM via DXLD) Not gonna happen. Too many bucks in political contributions etc. at stake. And the logical end result is going back around to close up the loop with protective legislation, which is usually aimed 180 degrees from allowing the market to decide (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NNW Philadelphia), ibid.) Yes, indeed the NAB has had a hold on the broadcasting field for a long time. Attending and writing for Radio World, I learned that first hand. The NAB does not want anything to rock the boat so to speak. There was a guy at one of the Las Vegas shows that was just going around asking station managers and engineers if they knew of any possible pirate stations in their town or city. The guy from the NAB was making a list to give to the FCC. I felt like telling him "to get a life". I didn't as I was working for Radio World at the time. But it was unbelievable how powerful the NAB is and how they pretty much have the FCC wrapped around their finger (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) The NAB was once, (in the 50s and 60s), a respectful [respectable?] organization. But I think that power has corrupted, and now it's nothing more than a brokering agency between the FCC and some of the more powerful broadcast concerns. I lost a lot of respect for the NAB when they pulled the fraudulent interference CD trick with Congress. What also troubles me is that they don't seem concerned about their lies, and have no interest in doing the right thing and making it right. It has been one of the reasons that I'm less than enthusiastic about attending any NAB sponsored events (Frederick Vobbe, W8HDU, Lima OH) What is truly alarming is that the NAB is stepping outside of its role as a _radio_ industry special interest group and is now using its influence to try and force the regulation of newer, relatively unrelated technologies that could potentially erode their profits. So ironic, too, that groups like the NAB generally herald deregulation and free markets but scream and shout for anti-competitive legislation when it serves their interest. If they have it out for satellite radio, think about what else they might have it out for. What is clear is that we are at a crossroads in time where traditional media is having to come to terms with new technology. The recording industry can't handle MP3, the TV networks are bleeding viewers to Tivo, the internet and video games, and now the NAB is stepping up to satellite radio. The real tragedy will be if the FCC allows itself to be pulled into the fray and manipulated by corporate interests advocating anti-competitve, anti-consumer legislation. Actually, it's too late for that. -d (Damon Cassell, Marblehead MA, ibid.) Damon; You hit the nail on the head. I have had a BUD (Big dish) since 1986 and when scrambling came into being, the Dish users had to fight for their rights to legally view programming. With the little dishes, the gov. dictates what stations you can view. Like if I live in OR, I cannot sub to Detroit or Miami for instance. I am not in their DMA. Radio is facing some of the same stuff. The people of this country should let their feelings be known. Unfortunately, the NAB and other big outfits yell louder. Power can be dangerous and in most cases, the company wants more. Look at Clear Channel, Entercom, CBS, etc. At one time small companies owned your local station. Now some company in Texas or somewhere else owns it. Most of it sounds the same. The bigger the companies the more they control things, or at least want to. If the NAB can put a stop to satellite radio, what is next as you said. Fred, Yes, the NAB is a lot different than they once was. However, they have more power today. I know of several companies that do not like dealing with the NAB and will not go to the conventions now. There were discussions on that when I went (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) As a sometime TV advertiser, I can understand you not being able to watch TV channels via satellite that are not in your area. Local free TV exists by advertising. Advertisers must get results in order to support the free TV you watch. If you are watching for example, an ABC feed from a station outside your area, you are NOT seeing commercials from your local ABC affiliate. This kind of rule I can understand and appreciate. Independent TV stations like the former CH 17 in Atlanta, or WGN or KTVU or others that used to be nationally available to cable systems I can understand because they offer something not normally available in your market area. I have Direct TV, and they have packed the transponders with local stations. We have an ABC affiliate that is NOT available here in Sarasota and it would be nice if it was available and they have been running ads bemoaning the fact that they arent available on either DBS satellite service. I'm sure there are other examples. In my opinion, the local channels are not worth having on the DBS birds because the video quality is so bad. I get far superior video by receiving the signal off air. The locals are compressed so much that the video quality is inferiour. Also, many channels do not have the audio synched to the video and that can be maddening. Most of the time, the locals look like an internet feed (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) I got a big kick out of the NAB press release and the bipartisan cluelessness from the two House members. Is anyone so stupid to think satellite broadcasting can really be regulated?? There's no technical reason why Russia's Proton boosters or China's Long March rockets couldn't park several broadcast satellites in orbit, and both nations have a big need for Western currencies. If the NAB gets its way, you may have American audiences being served exclusively by offshore satellite broadcasters! What shortsighted dopes. . . . . It's a measure of how seriously the NAB and many terrestrial broadcasters are in denial that they don't realize the satellite (and internet, WiFi, etc.) genie is out of the bottle and can't be put back in. When you try to legislate your competition out of existence --- as Detroit tried to do with Japanese cars in the 1970s, for example --- you're just admitting how weak the hand you're holding really is (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, ibid.) ** U S A. I don`t see it on this week`s PBS previews, but at least in OK, OETA is running the sesquihour ``Tesla: Master of Lightning`` Monday night at 9 (UT Tue 0200); check local listings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. 17775, Radio Tashkent International, 1330 April 2, English program, Identification: This is Radio Tashkent International broadcasting from the Republic of Uzbekistan". News, comments and Uzbek music. 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Ah yes, they too must be back on summer frequencies, also 15295? (gh) ** VANUATU. 7260.09, R. Vanuatu (presumed), Pop/Dance and island music program hosted by W announcer after every song. Language sounded Pidgin at times, but there was definite English as I was able to copy some of the song dedications at 1010 March 29. It could've been all English with the accent making it sound like Pidgin. 1015 intro for program with talk by M. Definitely in French. Thought heard mention of PNG during the French program. Occasional music bridges. W joined in at 1027. After playing a song from 1035 to 1039, there was a long discussion between the M and W hosts. Brief OC of another stationn came on at 1046 then off. Station`s OC came on again at 1058 with programming beginning at 1100. There was a different W announcer at 1059, but I couldn't detect the language or copy because of the OC. Signal is usually fairly strong, but the modulation is always low. This was the strongest modulation in a while, but local noise made readability difficult. Would've been much easier from a quiet QTH (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4916: Pienso que la emisión se originaba no de la "Aldea La Puerta" sino de la "Vereda La Puerta", y de ésas hay por lo menos dos en Colombia. La hora anunciada, "las 6 y 28 minutos, va con Colombia, no con Guatemala, y en Colombia hay varias Radio Familiar Cristiana en FM, muchas iglesias llamadas Asamblea de Dios, y desde ese país también se emite por internet el programa que grabara Björn. Véase la programación y escúchese la emisión hoy, como cualquier otro día, a las 1100 TU, cuando son las 6 AM en Colombia, a través de http://www.cristianosdebucaramanga.com/r_programacion.php Se oye bien en formato mp3 (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia via Conexion Digital via Björn Malm, SW Bulletin via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. NORWAY (+NON) 9975 kHz, (Norway transmitter presumed) just after 0200 in unidentified Asian language, perhaps Dari or Pashto, news and talk to past 0220, fair to good at times. April 3rd, Shadow Lake DX Camp, a bit NE of Toronto (Bernie O'Shea and John Figliozzi via Roger Chambers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I believe the Norway transmitters are off the air (gh) {TWR: See 4-064} ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BLACK PROPAGANDA - PART 3 George Saunders provides three final references on this topic: Jeremy Bennett, ``British Broadcasting and the Danish Resistance Movement 1940-1945``, Cambridge University Press 1966. This is a detailed study of mostly BBC broadcasts to an invaded but "neutral" country and the problems Britain had in creating and supporting resistance. It covers relations with the Special Operations Executive and has a chapter on black broadcasting to Denmark. A highly amusing suggestion was made in the draft plan for a new black Danish station that if the Germans became suspicious of its location it could be "leaked" that the station was on a ship off Iceland. The book is a bit heavy-going but parts are interesting. Copies available at abebooks.com from £7.39 plus postage R.H.S. Crossman, ``Psychological Warfare``. A paper in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Vol XCVII No. 587, August 1952, pages 319-332. This is probably the first, and a very good, account of WW2 propaganda and is well worth seeking out via the library. Crossman invented the terms "black" "grey" and "white" for propaganda which are defined here. Soldatsender Calais gets a cautious mention. His diaries, published many years later, are not interesting with no mention of this work. Herbert A. Werner: ``Iron Coffins``, Hardback published 1970 by Herbert Baker Limited, London, paperback published by Pan Books, London 1972, ISBN 0 330 02890 1. This is an account of life in the German U boat service; he became commander. There are several references to Soldatsender Calais with the effect on morale of the crew in the later part of the book. It is nice to know that the Aspidistra transmitter could be heard at loudspeaker strength through all the concrete of the French U-boat pens. Still available new and used copies at amazon.co.uk are from £3.25 plus postage. Thanks to George for this extensive and interesting list. It was in response to a talk of mine on the topic where I referred to two more widely known references: ``The Black Game`` by Elic Howe. Hardback published by Michael Joseph, London 1982, paperback by Queen Anne Press, London 1988, ISBN 0 7088 4041 8.. In 1941 Howe became the secret Political Warfare Executive's specialist for the manufacture of printed fakes and forgeries. In this context he worked in close harness with Sefton Delmer and his group of clandestine broadcasting stations which had no connection with the BBC. The book, much of it based on personal knowledge and involvement, is a carefully researched account of the development of British misinformation techniques during the Second World War with the greater part of the book dealing with clandestine broadcasting. Used copies available from £7.66 plus postage at amazon.co.uk Sefton Delmer, ``Black Boomerang`` published by Martin, Secker and Warburg, London in 1962. This, the second part of Delmer's autobiography, deals extensively with the black propaganda radio broadcasts he set up during World War Two. The book is not easy to obtain, cheapest copy at abebooks.com was £21.89 plus postage. Sefton Delmer's son has decided to publish the book online. The first part of the book can be found at http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/contents.htm and includes several photographs not included in the original text including many of the Aspidistra transmitter. Re Roger Tidy`s comments in DX Listening Digest about previous instalment: I spoke to DAVID BOWMAN, who worked with BBC Monitoring before and during World War Two monitoring Spanish broadcasts, and he concurs with Roger's assertion that monitors would not necessarily be able to distinguish between jamming and interference (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) A DXER'S TECHNICAL GUIDE The fourth edition of A DXer's Technical Guide is now available from the IRCA Bookstore. In its nearly 200 pages you will learn about the principles underlying the design of successful receivers, antennas and receiving accessories, find reviews of the best commercially available DXing equipment in different price ranges, as well as detailed instructions for building one's own antennas and other DXing aids. Although it focuses on the technical backdrop to medium wave DXing, it will also be of interest to serious shortwave listeners and low band radio amateurs. IRCA members can get their copy by sending $15.00 US to the IRCA Bookstore, 9705 Mary Ave NW, Seattle WA 98117-2334. The non-IRCA member price is $17.50... overseas, please add $3.00. Make checks and Money Orders out to Phil Bytheway (IRCA Soft DX Monitor April 3 via DXLD) WEB SITES FOR AM DX STUFF Compiled by: Rich Toebe E-mail: richtoebe @ jps.net Station Lists (continued) For the Pacific region, Bruce Portzer has compiled the Pacific Asian Log, found in his TPDX site. It's "a list of all known medium wave broadcast stations in the Asia-Pacific region from Afghanistan to Alaska". Also available as a PDF download, you can get lists of stations by frequency or country order. Check out http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj/ AIR India station lists are available at this URL: http://air.kode.net/schedule/fqsch1.html (Update: brings up Radio Bakwaas. 3/15/04 RT) America's pastime. A web site that tracks the radio networks and feeds for major league sports lists the stations on each team's network, not just those stations with streaming audio. This is a great resource if you want to know is carrying Dodgers games on 1240. The link for MLB: http://www.geocities.com/baursam/mlb.html (Update: http://www.nmia.com/~roberts/media03.html for 2003 schedule 3/15/04 RT) The Australian Broadcasting Authority "is an independent federal statutory authority responsible for the regulation of free-to-air, radio and television, Pay TV, digital broadcasting and internet content in Australia". The ABA's database for Australian Mediumwave and FM stations is now available for download at http://www.aba.gov.au/broadcasters/radio.htm A listing of the Cuban AM stations registered in the FCC database is available by accessing http://davidtanny.8m.com/03facu.htm Not "the way it is", but interesting. (Update: link broken 3/15/04 RT) Euro Log provides a concise, table-based approach to station updates, collected in an easy to read format. Go to http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/eurolog.htm (Update: Eurolog no longer updated as of 1/1/03 3/15/04 RT) Network affiliated AM stations in the USA, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico compiled by the 1949 Broadcasting-Telecasting Yearbook is reproduced online at http://members.aol.com/jeff99500/1949am.html The New Zealand Radio DX League maintains a list of MW stations in New Zealand, giving call, frequency, net, power, station name, location and postal address. Your QSL collection will never be the same! Check out http://radiodx.com/spdxr/NZ_MWL.htm The Republic of Panama's version of the FCC is at http://www.enteregulador.gob.pa It shows the frequency assignments for AM, FM and TV stations at http://www.enteregulador.gob.pa/radiotv/frecuencias/default.asp (updated 3/15/04 RT). You can do queries on the site too. Part 15 Radio Stations of North America takes a look at legal low power stations allowed but unlicensed by the FCC. Canada has a similar allowance, called "RSS-210". This site may help you to identify stations that might be in your area but are not listed in the usual reference guides. Take a look at http://home.att.net/~weatheradio/part15.htm Radio Locator, formerly the MIT List of Radio Stations on the Internet, contains more than just links to stations or their audio feeds; the site also provides technical info on the station and their "predicted" patterns, with contours for local, distant and fringe reception. This site is found at http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/home Lists of radio stations from the past can be found at these two sites: one, created by Deane McIntyre in Calgary reproduces lists from of USA and foreign stations on MW in September and October 1936 from All Wave Radio, an American magazine. Find them as PDF files at: http://136.159.225.44/StationLists1936.html The other site, http://www.oldradio.com/ contains lists of stations from 1922, 1925, 1927, 1930 and 1941. Look in "Contents", then "History", then "Radio Dialing." This is part of a larger effort to build a history of broadcasting, and is maintained by Barry Mishkind. Slogans used by stations between 1926 and 1932 is interesting. Many of them are designed to give their call letters further meaning; some are designed to promote their town or business interests. My favorite is "The Biggest Little 10 watt Station in the World". Find this listing of "oldies but goodies" at http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/slogans.html DX'ers Tools Cris Alexander is one of the most knowledgeable engineers in the United States regarding AM antenna systems. Go to: http://www.crawfordbroadcasting.com/~cbc/Eng_Files The AM DX Resource is a list of links as well as original content --- but covers various aspects of the hobby (including IRCA!) It's at http://www.amfmdx.net Information on antennas, including beverages, phased arrays, loops, verticals, slinkys, amplifiers, and more abounds at Tom Rauch's website http://www.w8ji.com I found his discussion of sources of noise, both natural and man-made, to be interesting. The Auroral activity at a given time for the northern hemisphere, extrapolated from the measurements taken by the POES satellite operated by NOAA, can be seen at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html A site filled with various conversion tables; one particularly useful page is the Calculated Distances Between Longitude And Latitude Points. There are others as well, in the links below; they are categorized into main subject areas (Business, Computers, Communications, etc) --- under Communications, there's a frequency to wavelength calculator, a listing of American Clear Channel AM frequencies and stations with priority; Frequency Allocations tables, ERP and EIRP calculators, and more. You can find this cornucopia of calculators at http://www.csgnetwork.com/longlatdistance.html The Canadian Institute for National Measurement Standards, part of the National Research Council, has a web site that covers all aspects of time and measurement, including an explanation of, and links to, shortwave time station CHU; maps of the standard and summer time zones across Canada; an explanation of, and definitions for the dates Easter is held; the solstices and equinoxes, and much more. Look at http://inms-ienm.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/faq_time_e.html#7 (Updated link 3/14/04 RT) "How Far Is It?" allows you to make entries by using lat-long coordinates, or city names. It uses US Census data and the Xerox PARC map server. Find it at http://www.indo.com/distance/ A website that calculates both the surface distance between two points on the map, given as latitude/longitude, and the Great Circle distance between 326 cities listed in the database (52,975 combinations are possible) is at http://www.wcrl.ars.usda.gov/cec/java/lat-long.htm "Grey Line Map" gives the current date and time in GMT/UTC, and draws the areas of day and night on a composite photograph of the Earth in a projection that doesn't cause Greenland to be 10 times bigger than Brazil. The site notes that propagation along the grey line is efficient because of the quick disappearance of the D-layer. This is as close to having Geoclock or similar software on your desktop without actually installing it; the picture updates every five minutes. It's at http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/greyline.html Map of Effective Ground Conductivity in the USA is available from the FCC at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/m3/ The geographical distribution of radio stations in the US are color coded as to K and W calls. The effect is quite striking, but it doesn't reproduce well in back and white. Go to the site and see this for yourself, at http://www.dobe.com/wts/uscallsigndist.htm A really interesting clock for your computer desktop can be found at http://yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html Called "Industrious Clock", it has a digital readout but it uses hands. You have to see this for yourself --- check it out! A Swiss-based website by Marcus Seitz called Postage rates worldwide - -- Postgebühren weltweit keeps up with the most commonly used rates for over 50 countries, including to the USA. You can find this at http://www.atms.ch/rates/ (Updated 3/15/04 RT) Propagation information available: WWV's current solar indices, Solar Wind data, Penticton University Solar Flux Index (SFI) number, the three-day SFI and A-index forecast, regional major solar flare activity, NOAA sunspot number, GOES-8 satellite X-ray flux, and snapshots of the northern and southern hemisphere auroral activity from NOAA, a static grey line map, a MUF (Maximum Useable Frequency) map and solar images. It's at http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ Ever wonder what those Radio Blackout numbers mean (such as R1, R3, etc.) in the NOAA Geophysical Alert messages from WWV? The scale that NOAA developed, with explanations of the various levels, is available when you point your browser to http://geology.about.com/library/bl/blradioblackscale.htm A search engine for US stations was developed by a private company, Cavell Mertz and Davis. What's nice about it is how everything is so well organized for different kinds of searches. The site says it is still in Beta, but the different searches I tried came out well. Find this at http://www.fccinfo.com Sunrise-Sunset Calculator on the NOAA web site lets you select from a number of cities in a drop-down list, or you can enter latitude and longitude coordinates; add the date, and you get an answer. Find it at http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/sunrise.html The Official US Time, has a map of the world showing areas of day and night; an instant Geoclock! Check out http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Central/d/-6/java DX'ers Articles Do you DX while you drive? Now your DXing will be DXed... a story in the November 24, 2002 Sacramento Bee reports that, starting next month, "billboards will scan radios and tailor pitches to match listening preferences." Advertisements will be shown based on listener preferences. The full story can be found at http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/ 5349258p-6338265c.html The future of AM radio is being debated in the UK as well as here; I found a link on the BBC web site on this subject. Should the band be used for specialized formats, community radio, or even for digital radio? Read the article "AM Radio Fights Back", http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/hi/english/entertainment/tv_and_radio/newsid_1944000/1944097.stm Radio Netherlands publishes a guide to Long Distance Medium Wave Listening, written by Steve Whitt in the UK and Paul Ormandy of New Zealand, with additional material by Andy Sennitt, former editor of the WRTH. Published as a PDF file, the guide covers topics such as DXpeditions, propagation, how to get started, what can be heard, equipment used, weather and reception, the future of MW in a digital world, and other information. It's at: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/practical/html/longdistancemw.html "Remote Termination of Beverage and Ewe Antennas" by Mark Connelly, with 5 linked drawings to make construction simple. It also has other links, including one to the pioneering 1996 article by Steve Byan. Go to http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/bev/bev_remote_term.htm "Using Ferrites For Interference Suppression" is actually a paper that goes into scholarly detail on why it works, and how to choose ferrites for highest impedance, with links to suppliers of suppression ferrites. It's at http://www.elmac.co.uk/ferrite.htm "Why can you receive AM radio better at night than during the day?" is a resource for educators to teach students about the physics of radio. It's designed to be a 5 day long course for students, including weekend nighttime AM DXing as part of their homework (why didn't they have this when I was in high school? --- I'd have aced the final, hi). It's at http://fourier.haystack.mit.edu/RET/Atmospheric/Default1.html (Update: Link broken 3/15/04 RT) Radio History Building the Broadcast Band is a web page that chronicles the early days of AM radio in the United States, written by Thomas White. "The history of AM broadcast band (mediumwave) in the United States spans eighty years. This is a review of its first decade -- how it was established, initially evolved, suffered through a chaotic period when government regulation collapsed, and finally was reconstructed by the newly formed Federal Radio Commission, along lines that are still visible today." To read this comprehensive account, go to http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/buildbcb.htm (Updated link http://earlyradiohistory.us/buildbcb.htm 3/15/04 RT) EKKO "stamps" were stamp-like pieces of paper, perforated and gummed, which were issued by the EKKO Company to various radio stations. There was a collecting craze for these items when the DXing hobby was developing back in the 1920s. Listeners could receive these stamps as verification for reception, and the company issued an album to collect these in. To read more, check out http://www.antiqueradio.com/gilbertcombs_ekko_6-97.html Bruce Portzer writes: You might want to check out this story on the CBC's web page. It's a feature they did a couple of years ago on one of their radio shows. http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/thismorning/lfnsound/sound_collectors/sound_collectors_121799.html You can hear the whole show by clicking on the little speaker icon beneath the writeup. It's an interview with a man who DXed and taped AM stations in Greenland in the early 1950's. It includes recordings of KING Seattle and KFAB Omaha. The gentleman now lives in Victoria BC. See a picture tour of the DLF Longwave transmitter site at Aholming, point your browser to http://www.aholming.de/2sse.htm In the write-up, a history of the operation is detailed. Roughly translated from German: The Americans mothballed the VOA/RFE site at Erching running on 173 in the 1970s. The Geneva Conference in 1975 allocated 209 to VOA, shifting to 207 in November 1978; the allocation was passed on to DLF. Erching was reactivated July 4, 1979, with service from 5 am to 7 pm, and the site in Aholming was built after that, inaugurated in 1989. 500 kW power was activated in 1997. DLF is now mainly a domestic service and the country is mainly covered by FM, the LW site covers Bavaria particularly well, which is underserved by FM transmitters and is relatively hilly in any case. A US radio station broadcasting from a ship? Yes --- and you can read about Seattle's KKOL putting their transmitter on the Coastal Ranger at http://www.dalke.com/kkol/ as well as see a number of really nice pictures of the operation. Jim Dalke was the consulting engineer, and also wrote an article for Radio World. There's a fascinating story by David L. Hollyer, who worked for RFE, Radio Liberty and VOA, on the "fate of the MB50" transmitters that were used first for Radio Free Europe, and then for Radio Swan, in the propaganda war with communism at Radio World's website. Find this at http://www.radioworld.com/reference-room/special- report/01_rwf_mb50.shtml I stumbled across a website called "Surfing the Aether". It's a history of radio, of sorts, and is broken down into ten year time periods. The author (I never found his name other than his e-mail address which contains Chris in it) also has a section where he highlights the parallels between the early days of radio and the beginnings of the Internet. Interesting stuff... have a look-see at http://www.northwinds.net/bchris/index.htm XEROK-800's days as a top 40 station (in the late 70s) is at http://www.reelradio.com/km/ index.html#xerok7780 The IBB/VOA recently replaced their towers for the 600 kW transmitter site at Sao Tome in Africa-pictures of the old towers' demolition are posted at Ydun Ritz's website for MW DX. Find her site at http://www.ydunritz.com and look in the News section. Digital Radio The Canadian Broadcasting Company has made its views known on the role digital radio will play, and for technical reasons, they do not see it happening on the AM or FM bands. In particular, their view on why the United States is pursuing an in-band-on channel (IBOC) digital piggybacking on the existing AM and FM bands is enlightening. To paraphrase: American broadcasters see a new "L" Band (1452-1492 MHz) digital service as competition to existing stations. Thus the intent to piggyback digital onto AM and FM bands. They add: "Although it would be irresponsible to assume that a solution cannot be found, many radio people worldwide are skeptical that this American initiative can deliver significant improvements... As for AM? Even the reduced bandwidth requirements of compressed digital radio signals may be more than this frequency range can reasonably provide, particularly if it is necessary to transmit both, conventional AM and IBOC digital in the same band. Moreover, local AM broadcasters are subject to severe interference from distant stations during the nighttime hours, which would seriously degrade digital radio Performance on this band. This means that any workable IBOC solution might only be usable in the FM band, which would effectively leave AM stations out in the cold. Thus, current disparities between AM and FM stations - which have devastated AM operators in the unregulated American marketplace - would only be heightened by such an approach." The report can be found at http://radioworks.cbc.ca/radio/digital-radio/drri.html (Update: Link broken 3/15/04 RT) (to be continued) (IRCA Soft DX Monitor April 3 via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 11TH ANNUAL MADISON-MILWAUKEE GET-TOGETHER FOR DXERS AND RADIO ENTHUSIASTS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, AT SHERIDAN PARK IN CUDAHY WI This is an all-band event, held this year on the Lake Michigan shore in south suburban Milwaukee. The festivities begin at 1 p.m. Contact host Tim Noonan at DXing2 @ aol.com or 414 762-2702 for more information (IRCA Soft DX Monitor April 3 via DXLD) NATIONAL RADIO CLUB 2004 SEPTEMBER 2-5, BATAVIA, NEW YORK The votes have been cast, the opinions have been tallied...and a date has been set for the NRC's 71st convention, "Back Home Again in Western New York." Mark your calendars for Labor Day weekend, Thursday Sept. 2 - Sunday Sept. 5 - and for our host hotel, the Days Inn in Batavia, New York. As most of you know, the choice of a date this year was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" proposition. Many of you expressed an interest in holding the convention earlier, because Labor Day falls so late this year and because of the demands of school schedules and work schedules. Many others had already made travel plans or had applied for vacation time and would have been unable to attend at any other weekend. In the end, the choice was more or less made for us due to the availability of open dates at the hotel and to the availability of several of your hosts. To those who won't be able to make Batavia this year, I'm sorry, too! All the correspondence on convention dates is being forwarded to the Board of Directors, and it's my hope that a decision on the 2005 convention date will be made earlier in the cycle. And now that you know the dates, here are some early details on your 2004 convention: HOTEL Your host hotel, the Days Inn in Batavia, has a block of rooms reserved and is now taking reservations. Rooms are $72 per room per night, with a maximum of four people per room. Pets are permitted at the Days Inn. You can make your reservations by phone by calling the hotel DIRECTLY at 585-343-1440. Be sure they know you're with the NRC. The Days Inn is located adjacent to the exit ramp of exit 48 of the New York State Thruway (I-90), with lots and lots of free parking. TRANSPORTATION You can get to Batavia in a number of convenient ways. Greyhound offers bus service directly to Batavia, and it's a short ride (via cab, or we can pick you up) to the Days Inn. If you're flying, there's scheduled service to both the Buffalo and Rochester airports, and we encourage you to check fares to both airports, as it's sometimes cheaper to use Buffalo rather than Rochester. Both airports are served by American, United, Delta, US Air, Northwest and Jet Blue (which is frequently the least expensive option.) Buffalo also has service from Southwest. Please contact your convention hosts to arrange for a ride from the airport to the convention. It's about 35 minutes from either airport to Batavia. Amtrak serves both Rochester and Buffalo as well. And if you're driving, Batavia is easily accessible on the Thruway, as well as from I-390 from the south. SCHEDULE The 2004 NRC convention will break new ground by spanning two nations! With the assistance of Saul Chernos and other Canadian NRC'ers, we'll kick off the convention on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 with several station tours in the Toronto suburbs, including CHWO 740. If you're planning to go across the border with us, here are a few things to know: You can drive yourself, or arrange with your convention hosts to ride in one of several carpools that will be heading up to Canada. Depending on traffic and border conditions, it's about two hours from the convention site to the stations we'll be visiting west of Toronto. Crossing the border by road isn't generally a very big deal; you'll want to bring both proof of identity (a government-issued photo ID, usually a driver's license or a state- issued non-driver ID card) and proof of citizenship (a Social Security card). A passport is ideal, but not required. If you'll be bringing a service dog, Canada requires proof of immunization in order for the dog to enter the country. We'll be leaving Batavia early on Thursday morning to head up to Canada, so you may want to consider arriving Wednesday night and spending the night there. Or, if you've never been to Toronto, consider heading there first and meeting up with the rest of us Thursday. It's a great city! Even if you can't make it to Toronto, we'll have plenty for early arrivals to do in Batavia. Help set up the meeting room (and, perhaps, a certain NRC-related radio station) - and join us for dinner Thursday night as the Canadian contingent returns from Toronto. Or if you're into minor league baseball, the single-A Batavia Muckdogs will be playing at 7:05, just a few minutes away from the hotel. On FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, we're arranging a local station tour in the morning - and then we'll head to the city where so much early NRC history was made. Ray Edge held numerous NRC conventions in Buffalo, and we'll be returning to the Queen City precisely 40 years after the last NRC convention (1964) was held there. We'll have lunch in Buffalo, and then head out to several transmitter tours (including, if all goes well, WKBW/WGR!) On Friday night, we'll head over to the nearby home of co-host Jim Renfrew (about a 10 minute drive from the Days Inn) for an Antenna/Tuner Shootout. Jim will have access to the many acres of fields surrounding his house, and we'll have both classic and modern receivers to play with. Bring yours, too, and we'll see how they stack up! On SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, we'll head east to Rochester. I'm arranging several station tours here - details TBA. (Think WHAM!) We'll return to Batavia for the banquet (to be held at the Days Inn; please let us know ASAP if you have any special dietary requirements), the annual meeting, the auction and plenty of companionship and conviviality into the night. On SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, we'll start the day with the world-famous DX Quiz - and then we'll head east to Bloomfield, New York (about a 50 minute drive) to visit the Antique Wireless Association Museum. This must-see destination houses one of the finest collections of early radio gear. You won't want to miss it. For those still around in the evening, there are several options - dinner at any of Batavia's many restaurants, or - if there's interest - we could go see Rochester's AAA baseball team, the Red Wings, play at home against the Buffalo Bisons. (Let me know if you're interested in this option and I'll see about tickets.) REGISTRATION Stay tuned to this list, to DX News and to DXAS as we announce registration information. Jerry Bond will be handling registrations, and the price should be very similar to last year's ($40-$45). Your registration fee covers your convention packet, the Saturday night banquet and snacks and beverages throughout the weekend. AUCTION DONATIONS Jim Renfrew will be collecting 'em this year...so start gathering those radios, books, broadcasting memorabilia, etc. and think about shipping them to him to benefit the club. That's Jim Renfrew, 6988 Bank Street Road, Byron NY 14422-9702. SPOUSE/FAMILY ACTIVITIES There's lots to do in Western New York and the Finger Lakes - great museums, beautiful scenery and of course Niagara Falls just 45 minutes away. Lisa Fybush will organize activities for spouses and families who want a break from all that "radio stuff"; contact her at lisa @ fybush.com if you're interested! QUESTIONS? Contact your convention co-host Scott Fybush at scott @ fybush.com or 585-442-5411 (prepaid only, 11 AM-11 PM Eastern only, please.) We look forward to seeing all of you here in Western New York! Your NRC 2004 Convention Team... Jerry Bond - Saul Chernos - Greg Coniglio - Scott Fybush - Rick Lucas - Jim Renfrew (Scott Fybush, March 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) ###