DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-105, July 10, 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 1237: Sun 0230 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0630 on WWCR 3210 Sun 1000 on WRN1 to North America, webcast; also KSFC 91.9 Spokane WA, and WDWN 89.1 Auburn NY; maybe KTRU 91.7 Houston TX, each with webcasts Sun 1100 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Sun 1500 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Sun 1900 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sun 2000 on RNI webcast, http://www.11L-rni.com Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1236] Mon 0430 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Mon 0900 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Mon 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily 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 1237 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1237.html WORLD OF RADIO 1237 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.rm ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 17700, SITE?, Salaam Watandar, 1330-1347, July 10, Pashto/Dari (listed), I must have missed the sign-on, but heard alternating OM and YL with numerous IDs at tune-in, 20th Century Fox movie theme followed by several recorded talks and soundbites, each with brief talks by OM and/or YL announcer and brief movie theme bit between items. Numerous mentions of Afghanistan and the cities of Kabul and Kandahar. Booming signal! (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Updating the recent X-band list: Gran Buenos Aires --- 1590 KHz, RADIO GUAVIYU se pasó a esta nueva frecuencia (ex 1610 KHz), y al parecer transmite desde el mismo QTH de RADIO CONURBANA (1050 KHz), es decir, Avenida Luro 6150, 3er Piso "C" (B1757ARR) Gregorio de Laferrere, Buenos Aires; y anuncia el Teléfono: (011) 4457-8712. Su director es el Sr. Nelson V. Scaramuzzino, propietario también de Radio Conurbana. Provincia de Misiones --- 1640 KHz, RADIO BOANERGES posee su QTH en la Avenida Santa Catalina 5330, (N3300PPO) Posadas, Misiones. Teléfonos: (03752) 45-4425 y 47-1304. La emisora es operada por la Iglesia Camino Nuevo, a cargo del pastor Jorge Eidinger y en paralelo a los 94.5 MHz FM. Cabe señalar que la misma Iglesia opera otras dos estaciones de AM: 690 KHz, Radio Maranata en las Nubes (Lomas del Mirador) Buenos Aires; y 1610 KHz, Radio Maranata (Puerto Iguazú) Misiones; ambas a cargo del pastor Hugo Eidinger, hermano del primero (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, de Argentina, Conexión Digital July 9 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. It was almost like old times with Roger Broadbent presenting something about shortwave. No, not Feedback, but Australian Express, happened upon UT Sat July 10 at 0505 on 13630 (not 15240, split away for silly ballgames), the first story about the last gasp of shortwave for School of the Air, at a remote station in the Kimberley, Western Australia - they quit SW June 30 and went to satellite as has already been done elsewhere. WTFK? Not mentioned that I heard. Australian Express is one of the few RA programs without its own website, and presumably with no on-demand audio. However, I see it is repeated: Sat 1532, Sun 0305 [hmmm, when Feedback used to be on] and UT Sun 1835. Here`s John Figliozzi`s preview about it: AUSTRALIAN EXPRESS - a magazine about life in Australia, with Roger Broadbent. This week, that most Australian of institutions, the School of the Air, has finally said farewell to HF technology and is embracing satellite communications for its outback classrooms. The 'Australian Express' visits the Kimberley region of Western Australia to listen-in as students and their teacher mark the end of an era (Glenn Hauser, OK, 1505 UT Sat July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. 1431 Finally Logged --- I would have posted something last night (Thursday), but my Internet connection was dead. My seven- year-old cable modem finally went belly-up, and I had to get a replacement today. At around 2145 EDT last night [0145 UT], I noticed a promising het (yet again) on 1431 that slowly built in strength, and by 2215 I was getting some audio - a woman speaking, apparently in Arabic. The audio remained listenable (with severe 1430 slop) until around 2240. Though I did not hear a Sawa ID, I was able to find some audio clips on the IBB African monitoring site that matched the programming I heard. Thanks to Mauno Ritola for pointing out that useful site to me! After hearing that het dozens of times in recent months, I figured it was just a matter of time, but I never expected to bag this one during the summer (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, July 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. SALESIANS OPEN FIRST WEST INDIES STATION: RADIO JUVENTUS --- DON BOSCO IN SANTO DOMINGO FOR YOUTH Editor`s Note --- My thanks to Henrik Klemetz of Sweden and Glenn Hauser, publisher of DX Listening Digest and World of Radio, both of them readers and active collaborators of Catholic Radio Update, for alerting me to this new station and sending me much valuable information, including websites, station details, and directing me to the Listín Diario website article. I am much obliged to them. Santo Domingo, July 8 (CRU) --- Radio Juventus-Don Bosco 1640 AM went on the air in Santo Domingo on June 25th, according to reports by various radio DXers and in the local newspaper Listín Diario in this capital city. Part of the educational outreach of the Salesian Fathers and Brothers, who specialize in work with youth, the station gives young people training in the various aspects of radio production and station operation. At the same time, the Radio Juventus - Don Bosco is both educational and pastoral. The expanded band AM station operates with 1,000 watts day and 500 watts night. On May 12th of this year, [actually it was 2003 --- gh] the Consejo Directivo del Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL), the telecommunications agency of the government of the Dominican Republic, issued a temporary license to the Salesians for this station. On January 15, 2003, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Nicolás de Jesús Cardenal López Rodríguez authorized the Salesians to start the legal process of starting the station. On January 31 that year, Padre Luis E. Rosario Peña of the Salesians applied to INDOTEL for a concession and license on the AM band for the proposed Radio Juventus–Don Bosco. On the basis of the mission of the Salesians ``to transmit the Gospel and the Eucharist, being at the service of youth with the purpose of contributing positively to their integral formation,`` and having complied with the legal processes, INDOTEL undertook an engineering study and consequently issued a provisional license to the Salesians for one year. The temporary license is the result of an ongoing study by INDOTEL of the normative and regulatory processes for granting concessions and licenses, use of the radio spectrum, and assignment of frequencies. In the grant, INDOTEL said that the study was ``the reason for which the definitive grant of a concession and/or a license for the operation of the frequencies will not be done until the said labor culminates and the applicants comply with the requisites and dispositions that may be applicable.`` Unlike in the United States, where construction of a station may take up to three years, on occasion even longer, INDOTEL gave the Salesians only three months to install the transmitter and then ask for an inspection by an INDOTEL engineer of the installation. That was done in short order, and on June 25th Radio Juventus–Don Bosco went on the air. ``The Salesian Society has radio and television stations in other countries,`` Padre Luis Rosario, coördinator of the Youth Apostolate told Ramón Almánzar of the Santo Domingo Listín Diario, ``but here it will be the first time that we take on a project of this type.`` The idea of a Salesian youth-run station was first broached in 1985 by Padre Ton Lluberes. The Salesians operate dozens of stations throughout Latin America and the world, but this would be the first in the Antilles. Unfortunately, they had not a cent nor an idea how to do it, until engineer Héctor Andújar offered his services. The Japanese Embassy gave $80,000 to the project. ``They were the key players in this effort, because after we solicited help they accepted it and signed a contract for a non-reimbursable donation,`` Padre Rosario said. ``Without this help from Japan --- the equipment is very sophisticated, all new --- this equipment would not have been obtained so easily.`` Padre Rosario says now the goals will be to develop live educational programming and to make an eventual appearance on the Internet. Database Santo Domingo: HI-- Radio Juventus–Don Bosco 1640 AM (1,000 watts días, 500 watts noches). Radio Juventus Don Bosco, ``una voz para la civilización del amor.`` La Congregación Salesiana. Calle Juan Evangelista Jiménez, 49, Urbanización María Auxiliadora, Santo Domingo, D.N. Tel.: 538-4647. Padre Luis Rosario, Youth Apostolate coordinator. Señor Antonio Vargas, director ejecutivo; Señor Pedro Pérez Méndez, technical engineer (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update July 12 via DXLD) 1640, R. Juventus Don Bosco, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; light music and occasional Spanish announcements, weak in static around 0200, 0300 and 0400; caught "República Dominicana" at 0206, and full SS ID at 0308 "Radio Juventus Don Bosco ...1,640 kHz ... de Santo Domingo ... República Dominicana ..." followed by NA; since the tape stopped at 0310 I don't know whether it signed off at this time or not 10/7 (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland, GM8IEM (IO78). NRD-545, beverages: 513m at 240 degrees, terminated; 506m at 290 degrees, terminated. http://www.gorrell.supanet.com/index.html MWC via DXLD) ** EUROPE. EUROPEAN DIGITAL RADIO - ON A ROLL, OR ANOTHER FALSE DAWN I enclose details of our latest Digital Radio report. [advertising] As a latecomer into the digital world, radio has faced an uphill battle to compete against a plethora of digital mediums. Networks have been rolled out but growth has been painfully slow. Six years after its commercial launch, the right conditions for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) to flourish are finally coming into place in several European markets. 2003 turned out to be a watershed year for DAB in the United Kingdom. Success in the UK market is changing European broadcasters? perceptions about the future of DAB as a pan-European radio standard. Our 2004 DAB survey revealed positive developments in several European countries. Issues such as the lack of affordable receivers are gradually being resolved and portable receivers are now beginning to reach markets in continental Europe. The company believes that 2004-06 could be a decisive period for DAB in continental Europe as spectrum and regulatory issues are finally addressed and as some of the biggest consumer electronics companies launch DAB receivers. ``European Digital Radio --- On a roll, or another false dawn?`` is a 210-page, noncommissioned, independent report providing an objective analysis of digital radio in Europe during the next 6 years. It is the most comprehensive report ever written about the European digital radio market with a 30-page review of the state of DAB in 17 European countries; a 20-page analysis of the data potential of DAB as well as detailed chapters about the prospects of Digital Radio Mondiale and mobile Digital Satellite Radio. More than 125 interviews were carried out to research this study including interviews with regulators in 17 countries in order to provide the most up-to-date spectrum and regulatory picture for digital radio in Europe. Key Business Issues discussed in this report include: - Will DAB become the dominant platform for the delivery of digital radio services? - What are the prospects of more VHF spectrum for DAB? - Could DRM alleviate DAB spectrum demand? - Why is DAB?s success in the UK not being replicated in Germany? - Will the popularity of radio via DTV continue in the UK? - Will broadcasters build L-band networks? - Which countries are best placed to benefit from increased DAB receiver availability during 2004? - Could DVB-H replace DAB in some countries? - Will Europeans pay for subscription-based digital satellite services? - Can DAB and digital satellite radio flourish in the same markets? - Will all European countries adopt DAB?s Layer-2 codec or will some opt for more spectrum-efficient codecs? - When will DAB data services take-off? - Are DVB-T and DVB-H a threat to DAB data services? - Will DRM be able to avoid the receiver supply problems experienced by DAB? - Could DRM replace DAB in some countries? For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c2560 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the beginning of the 21st century, radio is facing it biggest challenge with the introduction of digital technology. Although it is no longer contested that radio must become digital if it is to survive as a medium, the key questions that remain to be answered are: how will it happen, and when? Most European radio stations are still struggling with low profitability and decreasing revenues since the boom of the late nineties. Yet radio listening is on the increase and is being driven by the introduction of new digital radio platforms and receiver devices that are changing the way people listen to radio. There are several digital radio standards in Europe: Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) for FM broadcasting; Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) for AM broadcasting below 30 MHz; and the possibility of a proprietary mobile Digital Satellite Radio (DSR) standard that will offer pay-radio services in Europe. In addition, most major radio stations transmit their content on cable, satellite and more recently terrestrial multi- channel television, as well as streaming programming via their own web sites. Radio is becoming a truly multi-platform media. The increase in digital radio listening on multi-channel TV in the United Kingdom during 2003 took the radio industry by surprise. It was driven by the introduction of new digital-only content and the availability of inexpensive digital set-top boxes. As digital television is rolled out across Europe, it is possible that similar experiences could be replicated in other European countries. In a digital world, developing brand awareness will be critical and radio broadcasters must ensure that their brands are available across as many platforms as possible. However, one of the consequences of digitisation is that competition in a particular market doubles or even trebles with the arrival of digital radio. Inevitably, this results in a reduction in market share, and consequently it is crucial that radio broadcasters develop a digital strategy to survive in this new competitive environment. The data capability of digital radio will enable radio to be an alternative source of multimedia content, thus introducing a new revenue stream for radio broadcasters. Digital radio offers three important advantages compared to PCs and mobile phones for the delivery of multimedia content. It is mobile, it is broadband and it is a broadcast medium, which means that it can deliver data to mobile devices much more cost-effectively and at higher speeds than other technologies. Report Pricing: Electronic EUR 2,400 Site Licence EUR 3,840 Enterprisewide EUR 5,040 ORDERING - FOUR EASY WAYS TO PLACE YOUR ORDER: Order online: To order this report please click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c2560 Order via email: orders@researchandmarkets.com Order via fax-back form: Click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c2560 Fax to +353 1 4100 980 Order via post: Click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c2560 Mail to Research and Markets Ltd., Guinness Centre, Taylors Lane, Dublin 8, Ireland Related Reports Available from Research & Markets Ltd: Radio Surrenders to the Digital Dashboard - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/31883 Digital TV markets 2004: development of the Western European and US markets to 2008 - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/219053 Digital and interactive TV markets: Opportunities in Europe to 2005 - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/538 Thomson multimedia: positioning to exploit the digital revolution - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/663 Digital Rights Management - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/698 The future of UK DTT: Developing digital beyond the pay-TV market - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/809 Japan: BS Digital Market and Strategy - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/7777 Future Trends in Satellite Digital Broadcasting and E-Commerce: A Study of the Japanese Market - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/7778 U.S. New Format Digital TV Market Forecast - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/7780 Click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com for details. Thank you for your consideration. Kind Regards, Amy Cole, Senior Manager, Research and Markets Ltd amy.cole @ researchandmarkets.com Report Data Summary: European Digital Radio - On a roll, or another false dawn? Date Published: 4/30/2004. Number of Pages: 210. Category: Music. URL: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c2560 Subscribe: Click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/register.asp You can subscribe free for regular details on new research in your sector (Amy Cole, R&M Ltd., July 9 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. (Åland) I asked yesterday the manager of RS603 Roy Sandgren, why nothing has happened on 603 kHz. The response was surprisingly sad: Roy`s assistant Mike Spenser had managed to burn the transmitter while preparing for tests on 28th May. The transmitter was sent for repair to the USA. No wonder 603 has been quiet on Åland. Let's wait, what will happen. Roy gave Mike Spenser's e-mail address, but the guy hasn't (yet) replied to my e-mail. If there will be no reply, I may try to call him at the Mariehamn "studio" = a van beside the transmitting tower (Tero Toivonen via Jouko Huuskonen via Mauno Ritola via Bengt Ericson, 9 June via ARC Information Desk 5 July via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Effective July 10, DW deletes its long-running 25 mb channel of 11795 used from 0600-1000. for German transmissions to Australia and NZ. This is via Wertachtal. This frequency had been used for a great many years, and I recall it in operation as far back as 1965 for this broadcast! The revised German services 0600-1000 to Australia and NZ are now: 0600-0800 11985 Antigua 0600-0800 9735 Wertachtal 0600-1000 9690 Antigua 0600-1000 13780 Wertachtal 0600-1000 21640 Trincomalee Here in Melbourne, 11795 has been the most reliable of all frequencies used for this area! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, EDXP via DXLD) Like BP I have been a DW monitor for many years. With the recent deletion of 11795, often their best received here, one wonders what they have been doing with all their monitors` reports over the years. On a personal note, after my recent shoulder surgery, it`s SLOWLY coming good. Regards to all, (Don Rhodes, Yarra Glen Vic., ibid.) You`d think the Antigua relays would be better, much closer (gh, DXLD) It just goes to show the difference in reception conditions between the deep south of Australia and here in Port Macquarie on the mid north coast of NSW. The best frequency at least between 0800 and 1000 for DW German has been 9690 via Antigua. 11795 has always had a much weaker signal strength here and has been plagued with splatter from CNR 2 China on 11800 which was virtually wiping out DW during the last hour or so of broadcast up to 1000. 21640 via Trincomalee has also been a weaker signal which is probably due to the low sunspots. I think when Bob Padula was holidaying in the Pacific Islands, he was experiencing a little of what I experience here in sub - tropical Port Macquarie, poor reception or no reception on signals and stations that seem to be received well in Melbourne and further south. You deep southerners are lucky having better reception than us midlanders! (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia, ibid.) ** HONG KONG. MOGUL 'BEHIND THREATS AGAINST HK RADIO HOSTS' This message was forwarded to you from Straits Times Interactive (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg) HONG KONG - A Hong Kong business mogul linked to the underworld and acting for the Chinese secret police was behind recent threats against two Beijing-bating radio hosts, a report claimed yesterday. The hosts' ensuing resignations sparked fears of a media crackdown by China. The business mogul - said to have a 'frightening' reputation - had been asked by a senior member of China's State Security Bureau to make the moves against Mr Albert Cheng and Mr Raymond Wong because the official was 'extremely unhappy' with what they were doing on their radio shows, Spike magazine reported. Mr Cheng and Mr Wong quit their rival political talkshows in quick succession in May, claiming that threats had been made against them and their families over their on-air criticism of China's communist regime. Mr Cheng's replacement, Mr Alan Lee, also resigned shortly after taking up the job. The resignations heightened concerns that China was cracking down on free speech after Beijing snuffed out hopes of a swift transition to full democracy in April. The broadcasters have so-far been tight-lipped about the nature of the threatening calls they received and have not revealed publicly who made them, prompting critics to claim their stories had been fabricated. But Hong Kong-based satire magazine Spike said the man behind the threats was a 'prominent businessman' with major interests in the local entertainment industry. It also said he had a criminal record and a history of being associated with violence. Mr Cheng and Mr Wong were called individually by the businessman and had at least one face-to-face meeting with him. Days later, businesses connected to the two were doused in red paint, a traditional warning sign in the Chinese triad underworld. Mr Wong was also confronted in the street by three triad fighters, although he appears to have been left alone in that face-off, the report said. Despite long-held suspicions that Chinese authorities were behind the episode, the article is the first to claim a concrete link. 'We are very confident of our sources,' Spike publisher Steve Vines told local RTHK radio. -- AFP (via Gerald T. Pollard, DXLD) http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040709/afp/040709063700asiapacificnews.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INDIA. INDIA'S FIRST FILM ON RADIO ------------------------- Mumbai | July 09, 2004 6:03:13 PM IST India's first film about a Radio station is all set for release this season. FM has arrived in India in a big way and now, Sanjay Bhatia has decided to produce, direct and write a project on the FM culture titled 99.9 FM. Bhatia's film deals with relationships and he refuses to classify it into any genre. He is co-producing the film with Nitin Sagar under the banner of their production house "Company 2 Grams." The music of the film was released by EMI Records in Mumbai last night at Mangie Fera amidst the entire star cast and real life radio Jockeys. Titled "99.9 FM", the film is based on relationships and is set against a radio station where the protagonist is a RJ and the film, set in a radio station, is of two hours duration. The film is produced by Nitin Sagar and Sanjay Bhatia, who is also the writer and director. Bhatia revealed that he has completed 40 percent of the film, and the rest would be finished by September. The film cast includes model Shahwar Ali, Dipannita Sharma and Raima Sen --- ANI http://www.webindia123.com (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Tony Allan --- Many poignant messages of condolence and celebration of Tony's life being posted to http://www.anoraknation.com/knowledge/radio_caroline/000065.html (Mike Terry, UK, July 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tony Allan R.I.P. --- One of the greatest radio broadcasters in the UK died today after finally losing his battle against throat cancer. Tony Allan was not only admired, but was loved by countless people who heard his broadcasts. He started his career on the offshore station Radio Scotland, and later worked for Radio Northsea International, Radio Caroline and the Voice of Peace. The best tribute I can pay to Tony is that, whatever station he worked for, he always made it better than it was before. We will miss him. # posted by Andy @ 19:30 UT July 9 (Media Network blog via DXLD) One of my great regrets is that I never met Tony. I'm sure I would have liked him. He was a real communicator, a radio man, and someone who had the knack of using that wonderful voice to convey his real emotions, not the phony stuff you get from so many broadcasters these days. I'll remember, too, some of the phrases he invented - "cloggy time", for example (Andy Sennitt, 07.10.04 - 12:08 pm, ibid.) I've known Tony pretty much all my life - he was just a year older than me - and I have admired him as a broadcaster, producer, and friend. Blessed with a perfect radio voice, a love of music, and a natural inclination to rebel against all forms of authority, pirate radio was his natural home. His brief dalliance with ITV continuity (Tony in a jacket, shirt and tie....?!!) and a short spell with Edinburgh (legal) commercial station Radio Forth merely served to emphasise the nature of his free spirit. Tony was not to be tied down. Or told what to do. Despite a friendship that endured for 35 years, we only worked together a handful of times. The last was on the Light Vessel 18 off Clacton, when I persuaded him to do an hour on a Radio NorthSea International RSL broadcast. Although seriously ill, he was terrific on air, and although he'd convinced himself that his broadcasting days were over, his experience on LV18 led him to subsequently make a number of broadcasts for Caroline. I was proud of my friend, especially towards the end when he battled bravely against the cancer that was killing him, and I shall miss him. Especially his emails - sometimes silly, sometimes vitriolic and always eloquent. The was only one Tony Allan. I'm so glad I knew him (Tony Currie, 07.10.04 - 12:19 am, ibid.) As well as his great programmes on RNI and Caroline I'll also remember Tony for his programmes here in Ireland in the 80's on Nova and South Coast Radio. I'll especially remember his 1983 April Fools day broadcast on South Coast as Hertz Van Rental on the MV Imagine with the return of Radio Caroline. May he rest in peace (Patrick Healy, Cork, Ireland, 07.09.04 - 10:36 pm, ibid.) ** IRAQ. IRAQ IN TRANSITION: IRAQI HEARTS, MINDS Army's propaganda war collides with reality By Deborah Horan, Chicago Tribune staff reporter, July 9, 2004 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0407090218jul09,1,2506428.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed BAGHDAD -- They are marketers and warriors, selling the new Iraq to Iraqis. They launch advertising campaigns with all the panache of Madison Avenue and comb hostile neighborhoods to gather tips and pass on messages by word of mouth. They are the soldiers of the Army's 8th Psychological Operations Battalion, charged with carrying out one of the most difficult campaigns of the Iraq war: persuading Iraqis to buy into America's vision of their land. "We're limited to the truth," said Army Lt. Col. Mike Ceroli, who heads a psychological operations unit in Iraq. "The first time we lie, we would lose all credibility." The Army's campaign over the past year is as multifaceted as any media blitz crafted to promote a product or a political ideal. It involves bumper stickers, slick television ads and glossy magazines that promote Iraq as a beacon of Middle East freedom and democracy. One billboard over a clogged Baghdad traffic circle reads "Iraq-- progress, prosperity" in bold, black letters. But in a city darkened by daily violence and plagued by economic misery, the words seem out of sync. Iraqis in no mood to listen have torn down signs and splashed billboards with black paint. "It's not banners here and there that will win Iraqi hearts and minds," said Mohammed Abdel Jabbar, editor of al Sabah, a coalition- funded newspaper. "It's the behavior of the soldiers." The Army admits its campaign is an uphill battle. But that hasn't stopped the psyops unit from going to Iraqi towns and villages to distribute matchbooks offering rewards for wanted men or to explain Iraq's evolving government and assess the popular mood. The unit broadcasts messages in Arabic from loudspeakers mounted on Humvees, runs radio and television ads urging Iraqis to use a tip line to inform on insurgent activity and distributes coloring books to children on the role of police in a democratic society. The military has dropped millions of leaflets over Iraq, Ceroli said. Even before the war began, U.S. psyops planes made runs over Iraq, dropping as many as 480,000 leaflets at a time. "We're not trying to psychologically manipulate them," Ceroli said. "We're trying to educate them." The language Ceroli uses to describe his campaigns uses the jargon of modern-day marketers. Speaking the lingo He uses phrases such as "knowing your target audience" and "measuring trends" as he talks about the "products" and "marketing strategies" that his team of Arabic speakers create to influence Iraqis. They devise slogans and draw on Arab culture to bring the message home. They even test their creations on Iraqi focus groups before releasing them. "This is a concept logo," Ceroli said, pointing to a glossy sign delineating the "five steps to sovereignty" that Iraq is to take as it moves toward elections next year. "We pretest it with Iraqis. We go out and show it to a couple hundred people and get their feedback." The messages don't always work as planned. One advertising spread titled "Moqtada's Choice" blamed the fighting in the holy city of Najaf on Moqtada Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose al-Mahdi Army has fought U.S. forces in southern Iraq. It ran in five Iraqi newspapers. Every one was threatened. "They came and told us they couldn't run the ads anymore," Ceroli said. Other operations have gone better. Iraqis sick of the violence regularly snitch on insurgents in their midst, Ceroli said. The psyops unit monitors the effects of its operations by keeping tabs on the editorials and letters to the editor in the Iraqi press, Ceroli said. The unit receives "atmospheric" reports from troops in the field. It relies on opinion polls. And it counts the surrender of wanted men and weapons: More than 1,000 anti-aircraft missiles have been handed in, two al-Mahdi militiamen had laid down their arms and a top Baathist with a $10 million bounty on his head turned himself in, Ceroli said. The Baathist was carrying a "passport of friendship" -- a document distributed by psyops that promised the bearer would be treated with dignity if he surrendered at any coalition military checkpoint. Image versus reality But success is hard to measure. Iraqis say the advertising has been undermined and not just by big setbacks like the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and the battles in the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, where fighting between insurgents and Marines left hundreds of Iraqis dead. The United States, they say, lost momentum at the beginning of the occupation, when looting erupted and the coalition failed to implement a reconstruction plan. More than a year after the U.S.-led invasion, electricity remains in short supply, traffic in the capital is a mess, phone service is sporadic, the crime rate is soaring, and the police are regular targets of insurgents. U.S. forces managed to alienate Iraqis, whether through intrusive searches, use of abusive language or even motioning for a driver to stop with an upraised hand, a signal that Iraqis consider offensive. "This kind of propaganda might work in the U.S. but not in Iraq," said Abdel Jabbar. "Iraqis are too cynical." On the commercial streets of Baghdad's Karadeh district, few Iraqis said they had seen any of the psyops products. Sermid al-Kindi, a luggage shop owner, fingered a matchbook offering a cash reward for the capture of Al Qaeda-linked militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Had he seen signs about Iraq, progress and prosperity? "I didn't see any signs like that in my neighborhood," al-Kindi said as a bemused expression spread across his face. "In any case, it's only promises." (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** JAPAN. Received another QSL from R. Japan --- Hello DXers, On June 26, 2004 I received another QSL from Radio Japan, 21820 kHz. June 6, 2004. sent reception report via e-mail form and received new full data QSL card in 20 days. V/S Kyoko Someya. QTH: Radio Japan, NHK Tokyo 150 -8001, Japan http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radioguide_e.html 73s (Nino Marabello, Treviso, Italy, Web page of QSL of R. Japan at: http://web.tiscali.it/ondecorte/rj.html July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADEIRA. Report from Mark Connelly - Times / dates = UTC / 2004 *R-MA = Rockport, MA (GC= 70.622 W / 42.667 N) (Granite Pier) Drake R8A receiver, Superphaser-2 phasing unit Antenna system: 2 x 2 m square broadband loop, 1.8 m active whip Homepage = http://hometown.aol.com/MarkWA1ION/weblink.htm RF circuit page = http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/index.html 531 | MADEIRA | RDP, Porto Santo, JUL 1 0106 - // 693 with Portuguese news; slightly over others. [Connelly*R-MA] 1125 | MADEIRA | Centro Regional da RDP, Ponta do Pargo, JUL 1 0004 - excited Portuguese talk by man; slightly over jumble with Spain, Croatia, others. [Connelly*R-MA] (gh excerpted from much longer log list, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. QSL: 12085 kHz, Radio Voice of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (MNG). 509 dias (IR resubmetido via eletrónica em 02.06.04). Recebido: Cartão QSL (belíssimo!!!!), cartão postal (idem!!!!), carta pessoal e boletim de horários e frequencias. V/S: Z. Densmaa, Mail Editor, Voice of Mongolia. QTH: CPO Box 365, Ulaanbaatar 13, Mongolia. Email: mr @ mongol.net NOTA: Escuta realizada em Santa Branca-SP, em fevereiro de 2003, numa expedição com Adilson Bernardi e Martim Jenny. Baseado numa informação divulgada na 'radioescutas' de recebimento de confirmação tendo sido enviado um IR via eletrónica, decidi re- submeter o IR via eletrónica, recebendo algo para mim muito mais do que precioso (Rudolf W. Grimm, Brasil, Conexión Digital July 9 via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5986v, R. Myanmar, partial data (date and time) letter with station seal, program guide and media index in 169 days for 1 IRC, English report and a prepared card (not used). V/S, Ko Ko Htay. Nice block on Myanmar stamps on back of envelope (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 17800, V. of Nigeria, 2116-2136, July 7, English, YL with program, "Nigerian Popular Music", TC/ID/IS at 2130 followed by the program, "Perspectives" re promoting tourism for Nigeria. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. SLOVAQUIE --- Lors du d'une réunion entre le directeur de la radio slovaque, Jaroslav Reznik, et le ministre des Affaires Etrangères slovaque, il a été acté qu'il était indispensable de maintenir les émissions sur OC, et d'en trouver les moyens afin de promouvoir l'image de la Slovaquie. La décision a donc été prise de continuer les émissions provisoirement pendant tout le mois de juillet. Une commission de travail a été mise en place, composée de représentants de la section économique du ministère des Affaires Etrangères, de M. Reznik, du rédacteur en Chef de RSI, et de la directrice économique au sein de la radio nationale slovaque. Cette commission doit étudier la poursuite du fonctionnement des émissions de RSI sur OC et rechercher les sources de financement puis remettre ses propositions sous un mois. C'est au vu du résultat de ses travaux que sera prise la décision, finale sans doute, pérénisation ou cessation (Radio Slovaquie Internationale - 27 juin 2004, informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** SPAIN. I listened to REE`s Radio Waves for the first time in a long time UT July 11. The program began at 0042 [on 15385] with a presenter other than Justin Cole; is he gone now, or taking a break? The program was a profile of Radio For Peace International complete with frequencies; don`t they know that the station has been off the air now for quite some time? The music background was also different, and in fact at first I thought I was listening to HCJB. There was also some solo guitar which at times all but buried what the presenter was saying. At 0048 the program went directly into a American country song without so much as a goodbye or that`s all folks (John Norfolk, OKCOK, dxldyahoogroups, DXLD) {nor a radio song!} ** SRI LANKA. 15747, SLBC, 1252-1307, July 10, English, Brief window with nice reception of oldies music, full ID for SLBC All Asia Service at 1300 followed by program "This is the Jack ?? program with commentary on international news and 30 minutes of powerful insight". Turns out it`s a religious program where he and a YL read from the Book of Revelations! Signal peaked at 1300, unusable by 1307 (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Gotta watch out for those on SLBC ** SWEDEN. RADIO GA GA --- Published: 9th July 2004 11:41 BST+1 http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=253&date=20040709 What does an 80 year old radio transmitter in Varberg on the west coast have in common with the site of a Viking parliament in Iceland, a fjörd in Greenland and an island off northern Norway? They were all last week declared world heritage sites by UNESCO, the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Grimeton station, including six masts 127 metres high, was built between 1922 and 1924 and was the first reliable wireless telegraph link between Sweden and the USA. During the 1920's it was part of a global network of 20 similar stations, but Grimeton is the only one still in existence. And, according to Saturday's GP, it's preserved in its entirety with all the equipment still in working order. It was built by Swedish-American Ernst Alexanderson [sic] of General Electric. The decision to declare Grimeton a world heritage site was taken by a UNESCO committee sitting in the Chinese city of Suzhou. And by all accounts it wasn't a straightforward affair. The committee was preparing to take a re-vote on the matter until Halland's county historian, Mats Folkesson, clinched the decision. "I explained that Grimeton wasn't just any old industrial site, but that it was unique," chirped an excited Folkesson to GP. "We really need more monuments to the 20th century. Grimeton is actually still used by the Swedish navy." It isn't just honour and glory being bestowed on one of the Halland's most famous landmarks, however. Cash is now expected to flow from a variety of sources. "Having got on the world heritage list, we get 10 million crowns from Varberg council and Varberg Savings Bank's foundation, and 750,000 crowns from county and regional bodies," continued Folkesson. "This is enough to make Grimeton a modern tourist facility and scientific centre." News of the decision was received in Varberg conventionally by telephone and led to thousands of local citizens celebrating in the town square. With all due respect to the radio transmitter, what would have happened in Varberg if Sweden had won Euro 2004? (Andy Butterworth via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Another story about SAQ, which mentions neither the calls nor the fact that it is VLF on 17.2 kHz! (gh, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 1503, Current schedule of Fangliao 600 kW: 1200-1300 Radio France Internationale (RFI) Mandarin 1330-1430 New Horizon Radio (Radio Chan Troi Moi) Vietnamese 1430-1500 BBC World Service Vietnamese 1500-1600 Radio Taiwan International (CBS-RTI) Thai 1600-1700 Radio Taiwan International (CBS-RTI) Mandarin 1700-1800 Adventist World Radio Vietnamese 1800-2100 WYFR - Family Radio English (Alan Davies, Mauno Ritola, ARC Information Desk 5 July via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** U K. NICHOLAS PARSONS IS THIS WEEK'S BBC7 COMEDY CONTROLLER Nicolas Parsons gets to choose three hours of ancient Goon Shows, 'Round the Horne, et alia without repetition, deviation or hesitation. 0700-1000 GMT Saturday, repetition at 2000 and 0200 Sunday provided Clement Freud doesn't ring in an objection. Oops, wrong show. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 Real Audio on demand for a week at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/saturday/ (schedule on this page is BST = GMT+1) (You'll get last week's show here if you click before the end of the broadcast plus maybe 15 minutes.) (Joel Rubin, NY, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. Cited as evidence that sometimes, one listener letter can make a difference: on this week`s Write On, BBC World Service, heard Sat July 10 at 1345 on 15190, an Israeli listener complained that the Proms Concerts are not scheduled at any local evening time, but at 1000 UT when people are not home to listen. Excuses were made for not scheduling it at 1800 because of Olympics, 2000 because of Newshour, but it was decided to make a last-minute change and put them on at 2100, which is local midnight in Israel. This replaces World Briefing / British News / World Business Report / Sports Roundup. BUT, and this was not made clear, on Thursdays only!!! (That`s the same time Proms are on to Americas, conveniently). There are also Proms broadcasts during the Play of the Week slot on weekends, but that`s all. The larger issue is that BBC WS barely spares any time for one of the world`s première musical events. There is a Prom Concert every night for two months, averaging 2+ hours each, and on some days there are two. Thank god for BBC Radio 3 online (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Broadcast times are listed with the programme details below. These are correct at the time of publication. Full schedules (including those for local stations) and short-wave frequency charts can be found online at http://www.bbcworldservice.com/schedules You can hear the programmes live online (at European schedule times), and most are available on demand for seven days after their first broadcast via the Radio Player link on our home page http://www.bbcworldservice.com PICK OF THE MONTH CENTRAL AMERICA: LEGACIES OF REBELLION 4 x 25 mins | from 4th In a four-part series, Mike Lanchin, a former BBC correspondent who lived in the region for 15 years takes us back to the region became synonymous with civil war and political strife in the 1980s. He, like many other Europeans and North Americans of his generation - the so- called `Sandalistas' - was first drawn to Central America by the spirit and idealism of the young revolutionaries in Nicaragua and El Salvador. He meets key actors and ordinary players from those heady revolutionary days - some now in government, many living ordinary lives, others disillusioned with the past and present, and most trying to make ends meet in a very different world - and asks them where the revolutionary zeal that set the region on fire has gone. How far has Central America come along the road to peace and democracy? On 5th July, Mike travels to the former state-run coffee farm in Nicaragua where he picked coffee as a volunteer in the mid-80s. He meets some of the farmers he worked with, then key supporters of the leftist revolution, and hears of the changes in their lives and country. He also meets Europeans who stayed on after the revolution came to an end. In neighbouring El Salvador 70,000 people died during 12 years of civil war between guerrillas and the US-backed government. On 12th July, Mike revisits his wife's family home in the north of the country, the scene of some of the worst fighting. Former rebel fighters, some now in government posts, some working as police officers, discuss whether the war was worth fighting. Mike also puts that question to a man alleged to have bankrolled right-wing death squads in the 80s. He visits the refugee camp in Honduras where his in-laws spent two years while on the run from El Salvador's civil war and finds out how Honduras has been affected by being caught in the middle of the civil wars raging in the region. There is now a new war in Central America, this time against violent street gangs, and Honduras once again finds itself centre-stage [19th]. Panama was once home to the US military's largest Latin American base. Mike Lanchin discovers that it was also the place where leftist guerrillas in El Salvador and Nicaragua found sympathy and support for their cause. As home to the world's largest inter-oceanic canal, Panama is today a budding financial and trade centre. On 26th July we hear from those who have helped transform the country - and meet Panama's new president, who once fought alongside Nicaraguan rebels. ***** All Passion Spent? "Apart from the intense heat rising off the tarmac, what struck me most as I set foot for the very first time on Central American soil, was the huge banner strung high above the terminal buildings at Nicaragua's main international airport. 'Bienvenidos a Nicaragua Libre!' - 'Welcome to Free Nicaragua!' it shouted in bright red letters." Read more of Mike Lanchin's article at http://www.bbconair.com/issue/world_affairs.asp Programme times (GMT): Australia and NZ | Sun 2306 rpt Mon 0406, 0806, 1206, 1706, Sat 0506, Sun 0006; East Asia | Mon 0206 rpt 0706, 1306, 1906, Sun 1506; South Asia | Sun 2206 rpt Mon 0506, 0906, 1406, 1906, Fri 2306, Sun 0606; East and South Africa | Mon 0706 rpt 1306, Tue 0006, Sun 1306, 2306; West Africa | Mon 0906 rpt 1406, Tue 0006, Sun 2206; Middle East | Mon 0706 rpt 1806, Tue 0006, Sat 1906, Sun 1106, 2306; Europe | Mon 0806 rpt 1206, 1806, Tue 0006, Sun 1806, 2306; Americas | Mon 1406 rpt 1906, Tue 0006, 0506, Sun 2306 (BBC On Air Networks via Paul David, DXLD) ** U S A. BRITNEY DOES THE MIDEAST -- Seth Lubove, 07.26.04 http://www.forbes.com/home/free_forbes/2004/0726/062a.html While U.S. soldiers battle Iraqi insurgents, there's another insurgency on the airwaves. Norman Pattiz, 61, didn't need to take on this aggravation. As founder and now chairman of the $570 million (expected 2004 sales) Westwood One (nyse: WON) radio programming empire, he could afford to retire early and enjoy more Los Angeles Lakers games in his $2,000-per-game seats next to his beloved home team's bench. Or he could relax at his Beverly Hills mansion or tool around in his powder-blue Bentley convertible. Instead, he chose to earn as little as $20,000 a year as a member of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, the semiautonomous federal agency that oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other U.S. broadcasting outlets charged with spreading the American word. Now he's become one of the most controversial characters in the Middle East since Saddam Hussein was toppled. Pattiz's two biggest creations- -the $30 million (startup cost) Radio Sawa and the $107 million Alhurra satellite television network--have been alternately described as unqualified successes and as fiascos that have further set back American relations with the Middle East. He's been accused of seeking to personally profit from the taxpayer-funded ventures, either by having a hand in the outside companies that do the ratings research or by seeking to privatize them (he denies both accusations). He's even blamed for contributing to the slow death of the VOA, America's flagship overseas communications tool since 1942. "They think I'm the Antichrist," Pattiz sighs. "It's about protecting the status quo and jobs within the federal system." After Bill Clinton appointed him to the Broadcasting Board in 2000, Pattiz set about applying his commercial, ratings-driven radio expertise to the U.S.' broadcasting operations. Even before the World Trade Center attacks he focused on the Middle East, where the VOA squeaked over a weak shortwave signal that pulled in less than 2% of the potential audience. Pattiz imposed a new mind-set: Get the audience first and their minds will follow. He replaced the VOA's Arabic service in 2002 with Sawa, which uses powerful FM signals to squeeze brief news reports in between "upbeat" bubblegum music from the likes of Britney Spears and her Mideast counterparts. He followed that last February with the launch of the slickly produced Alhurra, which offers NBA Inside Stuff, Inside the Actors Studio and soft features about "luxury" travel, among the usual talking heads and news reports. The result, according to Pattiz's research: Alhurra is penetrating 29% of the satellite-equipped households in the region, while Sawa has a 38% average listenership in 20 Mideast countries. Congress and the Bush Administration are big fans, but Pattiz's moves have riled the VOA rank and file. A recent petition signed by some 500 VOA staffers singles out Pattiz for "dismantling the nation's radio beacon -- the VOA -- piece by piece" and demands that Congress conduct an "immediate inquiry" into the Broadcasting Board's "serious attacks" on the VOA. "You've got kids listening to pop music, and guess what? They hate us even worse," complains Timothy Shamble, a VOA production specialist and union leader. "The mullahs say it's a good thing to strap dynamite around your waist and blow people up. Britney Spears won't convince them not to do it." Pattiz's critics can forget about any changes in the strategy, says an enamored Kenneth Tomlinson, a confidant of Bush adviser Karl Rove and chairman of the Broadcasting Board as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Defiant, too, Pattiz shuttles between Washington and Hollywood, where he's tapping studio bosses for more content for Sawa and Alhurra. "Listen, this is fun," he smiles, climbing into his Bentley. (Forbes via DXLD) ** U S A. Today, July 10th, I tuned 11565 at 0715 and found a nice S5+ signal audible which identified at 0730 as 'WHRI via facilities of WSHB'. I checked that range before 0700 but no signal was heard then. The signal remained audible past 1030, tho' much weaker by that hour. A check of the World Harvest web site shows it still lists 11565 as KWHR - Angel 4. Has there been a recent change of site? The signal was much better than I have heard KWHR previously on 11565. Angel-3 via 17780 was also audible - but only just! And at 0930 I found a S4 signal on 9475 in a Chinese language which didn't seem to fit any F.E. broadcaster I could find. It became obvious that it was a religious broadcast when several "Ah-men's" were heard and turned out to be WWCR when an English ID was given at 1000 prior to sign-off. Their schedule lists Transmitter #1 Saturdays only - Living Words - Chinese Scripture 0900-1000 on 9475 (Noel Green, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Generally I have been resisting the temptation to drop everything and see how many stations I can log during sporadic E FM DX openings, as I once did; but finally gave in for an hour Friday July 9 at 1540 UT when all the lower TV channels were hash, even semi-local KFOR-4 OKC at 110 km unwatchable, indicating a very strong opening. It might have hit channel 7 or higher, but now I have KOCO-DT to contend with. When a definite ID was not heard, IDs here are based on FM Atlas XIX, now more than a year old, so don`t hold me to any call changes since then. Went immediately to 107.9 to see if the MUF was that high? Yes: 1542, 107.9, tidal weather, ``WLO-`` ID. Must be WLOW, Hilton Head Island, SC 1544, 107.9, ad for Heritage Green in Charlotte, so WLNK in NC 1547, 107.5, phone 333-1034, http://www.thecomedyzone.com and Winston- Salem ad, so WKZL in NC 1554, 91.9, ID as WFSS, Fayetteville NC. I kept an eye on the RDS window on the ATS-909 I was using, hand-held only with whip, and this was the only one I saw on this opening: ``CRL RDS`` which is hardly helpful, but now you know what station displays that for some reason? 1559, 94.9, ``Electric 94.9`` with the ``Electric Lunch`` show, EDT ---hmmm, strangely enough there is no 94.9 in NC! Per FM Atlas, which means there certainly are in neighboring VA, SC, and TN --- that`s WAEZ in Greeneville, east TN With all the Bermuda frenzy a few days earlier, I couldn`t help but concentrate on 94.9, 106.1 and 89.1 during this opening for possible double-hop. Unfortunately WAEZ is the likely obstacle on 94.9, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my local gospel-huxter translator on 89.1 off the air, allowing KMUW Wichita to be heard amongst the DX. And K206CA is still off July 10. It`s a satellator of that Spanish gospel network from KCZO 92.1 in Carrizo Springs TX. So this could be heard: 1601, 89.1, multiple-station ID including one in Charlottesville, but on this frequency it would be WVTF Roanoke VA. 1602, 106.1 (checking for VSB Bermuda just in case), ABC news, Huntersville(?) carwash ad, Stafford County Fair rodeo in the ``Midwest`` --- oops that was just KXKU Lyons KS, whose impressive antenna I have driven by a few times. It was fading in and out, no doubt caused by DX interference 1604, 106.1, honky-tonk piano, not sure from above or below station or? 1606, 106.1, ``Mix 106, Charlotte, best music mix``, so WNMX Waxhaw NC 1606, 89.1, Virginia news from WBTS, I thought they said, but must have been WVTF Roanoke as above; 1614 Roanoke plug, Charlottesville 1607, 88.5, Eastern Music Festival, including Mozart in Dana Hall, mentioned Greensboro studio, so WFDD 1610, 96.5, ``oldies and goodies`` ?? Could be nearby 1616, 97.5, Lake Murray Country ad, no, not southern Oklahoma, since WCOS ID followed, i.e. Columbia SC 1617, 97.7, Club Kryptonite ad on Hollywood Drive, 839-9200; 1618, tanning at Myrtle Ray`s, 626-RAYS. That would be WWXM Myrtle Beach SC, tho there is also a Club Kryptonite coming(?) in Rockford IL 1635, 93.7, Colleton County, 549-1932, Low Country Office Supply, http://www.lowcountryofficesupply.com 549-9585, country calendar, Georgia Mountain Fair. That could only be WALI in Walterboro SC --- hard to imagine any place lower (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Tnx to a tip from Clara Listensprechen, we learn that Jim Hightower has a regular segment on Air America`s Saturday morning show, Ring of Fire, co-hosted by Robert Kennedy, Jr., July 10 at 1405- 1500 UT, but we missed it. I wonder if it is repeated later in the weekend. A lot of AA time is not accounted for on their home page and they do not seem to have a grid showing their complete schedule. AA also runs Hightower`s 2-minute daily commentary sometime during The O`Franken Factor, 3 hours M-F 1605 and UT Tu-Sat 0305 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BILL RANDLE DIES --- Jul 9 2004 12:00AM Bill Randle, Cleveland radio disk-jockey for over half a century, and host of WRMR's "Big Show" died this morning, July 9, 2004, following an extended illness. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1924, and at the age of 16, began his journey into broadcasting. He introduced big bands on live radio, ran a nightclub, was a concert organizer, held a doctorate in history, and was a practicing lawyer. Time Magazine once called him the No. 1 disk jockey in America. He was the host of the #1 radio show in Cleveland on WERE during the week and the #1 radio show in New York on WCBS on the weekends. People in the industry knew if he said something was the next big thing, they could take it to the bank. At his nightclub, he hired a bouncer called "Detroit Red" who would later be better known as Malcolm X. He is also credited with discovering Jonnie Ray and Elvis Presley. Randle was the one who introduced Elvis the first time he was on national television. Elvis' career was launched with Randle playing his recordings first in Cleveland, then in New York. Randle made the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's recording of "the Battle Hymn of the Republic" a national hit by simply editing the playing time so it would fit better into radio stations' music schedules. Following his time on WERE, Randle was heard on WBBG 1260 and WRMR 850, sometimes on the air seven days a week. In July of 2001, when WRMR 850 switched formats to sports talk and became WKNR, and the standards format was transferred to WRMR 1420 AM, Randle retired to concentrate on his law practice. But he couldn't stay away from the microphone. In July of 2002, he returned to the Cleveland airways on WRMR 1420 AM, first reviving his "Juke Box Saturday Night" show, Saturdays 7:00 to 10:00 PM, and then his "Big Show" on Sundays from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM. WRMR will present a special memorial program at 12:05 PM [EDT = UT =4] this Sunday, July 11, followed by a pre-recorded last "Big Show with Bill Randle", from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Bill Randle is survived by a sister, Ruth Edwards, and a daughter, Pat Randle. It is ironic that Bill Randle's last broadcast will be on the last day that WRMR 1420 AM exists. The station has been sold, and the new owners take over operation of the station on Monday, July 12th, changing the format from big band to news-talk (Source? via RadioGuy, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. BILL RADKE NAMED CO-HOST OF PUBLIC RADIO WEEKEND --- Popular Seattle Broadcaster Joins Barbara Bogaev for New Weekend Magazine in Late July http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/07-08-2004/0002207220&EDATE= LOS ANGELES, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Bill Radke, a veteran writer, journalist and humorist who says his biggest problem is that he thinks too much, has been named co-host and senior editor of American Public Media's Public Radio Weekend (PRW), the new weekend radio magazine that will launch nationwide this fall. Radke will join Barbara Bogaev as a co-host for PRW, a two-hour program that presents news and analysis, interviews, features, music and commentaries with a fun and engaging style that appeals to weekend listeners. He will join the production team in Los Angeles and begin his permanent on-air duties in August. Radke, who has co-hosted several PRW pilots broadcast in select radio markets, will also develop stories and serve as a senior editor. Radke is the creator, writer and host of Rewind, a weekly news satire program broadcast by KUOW FM in Seattle. A winner of the Seattle International Stand-Up Comedy Competition, he also writes a weekly news and humor column for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In 2003 Radke added author to his accomplishments with his first book, Seattle from Sasquatch Books. "Bill Radke is a talented writer, journalist and radio broadcaster," said PRW Executive Producer Jim Russell, senior vice president and General Manager for American Public Media - Los Angeles, a division of Minnesota Public Radio. "Audiences and program directors agree there is a high degree of chemistry with Barbara and they work well together and are having fun. These are people listeners will want to spend time with during the weekend." Radke was chosen after PRW conducted audience research, consulted more than 50 public radio program directors and several dozen successful producers, auditioned and considered more than 100 candidates and talked with listeners about the finalists. Barbara Bogaev, a veteran host and interviewer who filled in for Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, was named PRW host last December. Radke describes his personality this way: "I think too much. I'm in my head, and I love the logic of stories. What would you think would happen next, and what actually happened? How would you think someone would react and how did they actually react? The gaps in my expectation -- for me, that's what's interesting, or shocking or ironic or funny." "This is the best job in public radio today," said Radke. "PRW is a new way for listeners to catch up on the news as well as the fun, interesting stories of the week. It will also provide fresh and timely content. It's a great balance for weekend listeners." Radke explains why he got into radio, saying "I am the middle child of nine children. A radio studio is a place I could finally talk without being interrupted!" Radke began his radio career at KUOW in 1986, while he was a student at the University of Washington. After graduating, he hosted a newsmagazine on Orlando station WMFE FM, then drove a creaky LeMans around the country performing as a stand-up comedian in comedy clubs. "But around the country, it gets cold, and snowy, and also hot," he says. "And there are tornadoes. And I missed doing radio." Radke returned to KUOW in 1992, serving as Morning Edition host, news director and reporter before creating Rewind. Public Radio Weekend is supported by major grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Minnesota Public Radio. It is produced and distributed by American Public Media, in association with its station partners WBUR, Boston; WCPN, Cleveland; KPCC, Los Angeles; WMFE, Orlando; KUOW, Seattle and KNOW, St. Paul, MN. To learn more about PRW or listen to pilots, visit http://www.publicradioweekend.org SOURCE American Public Media Web Site: http://www.publicradioweekend.org http://www.mpr.org (PRNewswire via Kim Elliott, Mike Cooper, DXLD) Ha, I just heard him Friday on KUOW lamenting that he would be leaving Seattle, but did not say why; caught his show on Saturday where people gave him all kind of advice about moving to LA -- or why not to (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Pirates of the air --- KFAR radio keeps sailing FCC's stormy seas --- By WAYNE BLEDSOE, July 4, 2004 http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_3011399,00.html DJ Whitey, wearing sunglasses and a scarf to hide his identity, broadcasts his show, "The Edge," from pirate radio station KFAR-FM Thursday in Vestal. He says he creates a "brain-awakening" mix of underground radio for each show that may include anything from "Sesame Street" to revolution hip hop. PAUL EFIRD, NEWS SENTINEL [caption] A pirate flag hangs from a radio tower in a secluded spot in Vestal. Underneath, tacked onto a trailer that was formerly a crack house, is a street sign that reads "Pirate's Cove." There's no doubt that this is the home of Knoxville's pirate radio station. The 2-year old KFAR (Knoxville First Amendment Radio) has no broadcasting license or any official management. Until last February the station's antenna was mounted in the top of a tree. The station, which broadcasts on 90.9 FM and can be heard across much of Knox County, has been visited twice by agents from the Federal Communications Commission, and DJs have been told to stop broadcasting. They comply - for a while - then return to the air more determined than ever. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, KFAR personality Cricket the Ferret prepares the station to air the syndicated news program "Democracy Now!" Cricket sits in the dark trailer room that serves as the station's studio with two other KFAR personalities, Black-Eyed Susan and Aqualad. None of the assembled KFAR staff will give reporters their real names for publication. "The FCC wants a name of someone in charge," Cricket explains, "but no one is in charge." In addition to possible fines being levied at an individual, any person found to have been broadcasting illegally is automatically barred from ever being granted a broadcasting license. Outlaws with a cause KFAR has few rules: No racist, sexist or homophobic language, and do not offend community standards before 10 p.m. The station's lineup includes shows that feature many different styles of music and shows sponsored by various left-wing political and social groups. Cricket points out that there are at least two DJs who play Christian music and at least one who plays anti-abortion songs. "Anyone can be a DJ here," says Cricket. KFAR has approximately 50 DJs at any one time. Each of them pays $10 in dues to go on the air, which helps pay the station's expenses. "We're interested in giving voice to local organizations that don't get much coverage," says Black-Eyed Susan, who is a member of the Earth First! organization and hosts the "Nine Eleven Talk Show" on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "We feel that it's a First Amendment right to report community news." The station also features local music. Todd Steed, Jodie Manross and the Rockwells are among the acts who have performed live on the show. No one knows exactly how many pirate stations there are in the United States or, for that matter, the world. Some pop up for a few weeks; others survive for years; and a few have become legendary. Radio Caroline, which broadcast from a ship off the coast of England in the 1960s and '70s, is probably the most famous, but California's Free Radio Santa Cruz has operated without a license for nine years. The recently shutdown San Francisco Liberation Radio operated for a decade. Some pirate stations, including KFAR, were initially planned as legitimate low-power stations. The FCC had in fact recommended granting new licenses to nonprofit community-based stations operating at 10 to 100 watts. That proposal, however, was opposed by the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio. Representatives for the NAB and NPR asserted that the new stations would turn the airwaves into a jumble of signals, in spite of a study contracted by the FCC that said the stations would not disrupt the service of established stations. That signaled the end of FCC recommendation for more urban areas that had a large number of established radio stations. Knoxville attorney Bob Stone has worked in communications law and says it is not surprising that established stations would lobby to protect their interests. "They have an honest and sincere, if not real, concern about the risk of losing the integrity of their signals," says Stone. He also says that the organizations are motivated by a desire to keep down new competition. Historical perspective The question of who has a right to the airwaves is a longstanding one. Before 1928, anyone could broadcast at any power, which resulted in signals bleeding over each other. The Federal Radio Commission was established in 1928 (it became the Federal Communications Commission in 1934) and began instituting guidelines for radio broadcasts. It was decided that no one person or company could "own" a piece of the airwaves. Instead, they would basically be rented from the American public and regulated by the FCC. Laws were instituted to limit how much any one person or group could control. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration worked to loosen FCC regulations on radio and television station ownership. The rules had limited companies from owning no more than one radio or TV station in a given market and no more than seven stations total. The rules were thrown out, but they opened the door for applications for unused bandwidths, and the agency gave priority to applicants who did not already own radio stations. The FCC was flooded with applications. In 1993, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the application process, and Congress voted to hold auctions for available bandwidth. This made it even more likely that only well-heeled investors would have access to the airwaves. Regulations that forced radio and television stations to keep a local news and community-service presence also have been lifted. Many stations now simulcast programming on several stations around the country and have no local news teams - and sometimes no one actually in the station. Opponents of radio deregulation have cited instances where emergencies have occurred, and radio was not available to report the danger. One dramatic instance involved a train derailment and chemical spill in Minot, N.D., in which callers attempted to reach six Clear Channel-owned stations in the area and received no answer for 90 minutes. Stone says the FCC regularly fines stations for not having the proper Emergency Broadcast System equipment. Stone says, though, that modern technology can now allow an individual in charge of a station to call in from a cell phone and interrupt programming to make emergency announcements. KFAR's Cricket claims that KFAR was the first radio station to announce the U.S. invasion of Iraq as well as the regime change in Haiti. He and the other DJs contend that that station enables views that are not allowed on other stations to have a fair hearing. Cricket agrees that rules need to be in place to make sure that the airwaves don't turn into a jumble of warring signals. KFAR's closest neighbors are WUTK 90.3 FM and Fulton High School's radio station WKCS 91.1 FM, the latter of which only operates during school hours. The lure of defiance A bill sponsored by Senators John McCain and Patrick Leahy would reinstate the FCC's original recommendations - the same ones that KFAR had hoped would be to its advantage. However, since KFAR has operated as a pirate station, it would no longer be eligible to become a legitimate station. For some of the pirate radio personalities, including Aqualad, part of the allure of the station is operating outside of the law. All of the DJs, however, do not feel that way. "If there's an opportunity to go legal, there's a chance that some of us would do that," says Black Eyed-Susan. "It's always been a dream of mine to go on the radio and play the music I like and talk about things that are important to me." University of Tennessee professor Barbara Moore has little sympathy for pirates. "Why use radio?" she asks. "Go to the Internet. Why steal airwaves when there is alternative media to use? The whole basis for the law is that there is such a scarcity of airspace." KFAR does simulcast at http://www.kfar.org but the current server allows only 20 listeners at one time. Cricket says when FCC agents visited the station on March 25, they were polite and even complimentary of the station. "They were just doing their jobs," says Cricket. In fact, the FCC doesn't investigate unlicensed signals unless there is a complaint filed with the organization. FCC agents are not allowed to speak to the media, but FCC representative Janice Wise said that while the organization was acting on a complaint, the FCC does not give out the name of the person who made the complaint. Wise said the FCC's next step probably would be to file a warrant with the Department of Justice to confiscate the station's equipment and, if the station continued to operate, the organization could initiate criminal prosecution. "If the FCC took all of our equipment, we'd be back on the air in two days," says Cricket. He values the station's current equipment at $2,100. He also says the station has lawyers lined up and has a legal battle plan ready. "Now it's an act of civil disobedience." Copyright 2004, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. NEXTEL GETS CONTROVERSIAL OK TO SWAP SPECTRUM RIVALS CALL DEAL WITH FCC UNFAIR WINDFALL --- By Paul Davidson USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040709/6353485s.htm A long-awaited swap of wireless airwaves aimed at eliminating cellphone interference with public-safety radios in hundreds of cities was unanimously approved by the Federal Communications Commission Thursday. The plan would give Nextel Communications, which is causing the interference, spectrum valued at $4.8 billion despite complaints from rivals that it's getting an unfair windfall and that the airwaves should be auctioned. But the ruling also calls for Nextel to pay more money than it proposed, and it's not certain it will sign on. ''We have an obligation . . . to fully understand the implications to Nextel's shareholders,'' Nextel said in a statement. Under the plan, first proposed by Nextel and public-safety officials 2 1/2 years ago, Nextel and police and fire departments nationwide would move to separate blocks of airwaves in the crowded 800-megahertz band. Now, channels used by Nextel, public-safety and private radio carriers are interlaced. Nextel's cellphone network thus interferes with police and fire radios, hampering emergency response. But Nextel would also get prime spectrum in the higher-frequency 1.9-gigahertz band that it plans to use for next-generation, high-speed Internet services. Other wireless carriers also desperately seek airwaves for fast data services. Verizon Wireless has argued the law requires the FCC to auction the 1.9-gigahertz spectrum, which Verizon says is worth $7.2 billion, and has threatened to sue. Verizon's Jeffrey Nelson called the ruling ''a spectrum giveaway.'' The FCC on Thursday valued the airwaves at $4.8 billion. To pay for that, Nextel will: * Pick up public safety agencies' costs to retune radios to work on the new frequencies. Nextel has said it will pay $850 million for the retuning, but the FCC would make it pay the actual cost, even if it exceeds the $4.8 billion spectrum price tag. * Give up spectrum the FCC says is worth $1.6 billion. * Adjust its gear and pay for broadcasters and others to move from the 1.9-gigahertz band; Nextel says those contributions are worth $1.6 billion. If the retuning costs the $850 million that Nextel estimates, it would still owe about $700 million to complete its $4.8 billion spectrum payment. As recently as this week, FCC Chairman Michael Powell was concerned that requiring a payment for the spectrum itself could make the FCC more vulnerable to claims that it's illegally diverting public money for a private purpose. The General Accounting Office has agreed to investigate the deal. But FCC officials now say they have broad freedom to reduce interference. Powell says, ''There are risks . . . but we take bold action because our police and firefighters . . . deserve nothing less.'' (c) Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. CHANGING OF THE GUARD: MARLON BRANDO, KE6PZH/FO5GJ - S.K. He was one of the towering giants of stage and screen, and was also one of us. We are referring to the late Marlon Brando, KE6PZH, who died in Los Angeles, California on July 1. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports: Marlon Brando was born April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska. Best known for his inward looking method acting rolls [sic] in such cinema classics as ``On The Waterfront, `` ``A Streetcar Named Desire`` and ``The Godfather,`` Brando`s interest in ham radio first became known in the November of 1977. This occurred when he passed by a booth set up by the now defunct Palisades Amateur Radio Club of Culver City in the Pan American World Airways terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. The booth was there to handle health and welfare messages to earthquake torn Argentina. 64 people had been killed, upward of 40,000 were homeless and personal communications was non existent. The radio amateurs were there to do what they could. Brando and his entourage were passing through the Pan Am terminal when the actor spotted the ham radio operation. He broke away from his group, introduced himself under his FO5GJ call sign and complimented the PARC crew for their volunteer effort. Soon, word that Brando was a ham became common knowledge in the Los Angeles area, but few people ever reported hearing him on the air. When they did, he gave his name as Martin not Marlon and there are no reports of him ever using his 6 land call which the FCC database shows listed to a Martin Brandeaux in Beverly Hills. It was not until an interview with Larry King in the mid-1990`s that Brando let the world outside the hobby know of his love of ham radio. He told King that being a radio amateur gave him the opportunity to just be another anonymous human being. To be himself. A voice on the air, making friends from his home in French Polynesia using his FO5GJ call. Considered to be one of the greatest actors of all time, Brando was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two of them. His first Oscar was for his performance as ex-boxer Terry Malloy in ``On the Waterfront.`` His second and last was for portraying Mafia boss Don Corleone in``The Godfather.`` This is the Oscar he refused and sent a native American named Sacheen Littlefeather to decline in his name. His last major film role was in 2001 in ``The Score.`` At the time of his death he was involved in the development of a motion picture tentatively titled ``Brando on Brando`` which the International Movie Database Registry says was scheduled for release sometime in 2005. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. Brando`s agent, Jay Cantor, said the 80 year old actor was admitted to UCLA Medical Center on Wednesday evening, June 30th. The cause of death was listed as pulmonary fibrosis. (PARC Archives, ARNewsline (tm), W6RCL, others via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroups, DXLD) ** U S A. The FCC's going to require mandatory airchecking and retention for 60-90 days. The FCC has issued Notice of Proposed Rulemaking indicating radio and TV stations will be required to record and retain airchecks for 60 to 90 days, at least between the hours of 6 am and 10 pm, during the so called "safe harbor" time. The goal is to assist the FCC in their enforcement efforts not just for indecency, but also for ID questions, sponsors making sure their ads ran and whatever else fits the criteria. This NPRM has been fast-tracked at the Commission. Comments are due July 30 (RadioGuy, NRC-AM via DXLD) If sponsors want to make sure their ads ran, they can hire NewsTrax or somesuch commercial taping service. How dare they suggest tax money be used for this? (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) Since I work for a broadcaster this might seem like sour grapes here. But in doing the math here, there are about 10,000 broadcast outlets around the country. Clear Channel owns 1200, Infinity owns about 400 and it shrinks from there. So that means this will impact every one including a lot of mom and pops. Now Clear Channel can afford this. As can Infinity (CBS) and the other large groups. But this can make it really rough on some of the smaller stations. For a station making 50 grand a year clear, to spend a couple grand on a logger is a big deal. Of course the other question that begs to be asked. 5th amendment? Did it go away. So let`s see, you are required to keep a tape of your audio in case an enforcement question comes up. Sort of like requiring a data logger in a car and if you get pulled over and they check the logger and you were speeding you get a ticket. They don't have to catch you, you just gathered the evidence for them. They just pulled you over because someone thought you were speeding. Am I missing something here? (Paul Jellison, Denver, Clear Channel, NRC-AM via DXLD) No Paul, you are completely right. This is just another way that the big guys use government regulation to eliminate the little guys. This has nothing to do with Howard Stern and everything to do with building Clear Channel's profits. Guess who has lobbyists? Clear Channel or your local AM station struggling to survive? A similar parallel is the Tobacco settlement, which was about Philip Morris eliminating their competitors. As the owner of an ad agency negotiating $8 radio ads with rural FM stations happy to have a COD customer, I can see just how these stations must be teetering on the edge (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) The FCC is indeed seeking to gain further consolidation. What's happening is similar to many industries. The bigger companies have lobbyists and are able to get legislators and lobbyists to do what is in their interests. Usually that translates into enabling the big and powerful to survive at the expense of the smaller and less powerful. The moment the regulators and the industry they are supposed to regulate get too cozy, problems ensue (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Let's see, if such a logging system becomes mandatory it'll probably be over-priced just like the EAS units. The manufacturers will charge whatever the market will bear. I have no problem with EAS, as it is part of stations` mandates for public service. This proposed auto- logging stuff will just be a mandatory expense, probably an over- priced one. Insert hand into the pocket of small business people and pull out hard-earned money (Dave Marthouse http://www.wodiradio.com ibid.) I don't think it will be quite as burdensome an expense as some on the lists are making it out to be. If the eventual US rule is similar to that of Canada, stations will have quite a bit of leeway in how they log audio. Canadian stations can use anything from slow-speed 1/4" analog tape to hi-fi VHS (use a T-200 and you only have to swap out tapes every 10 hours) to hard-drive. And if you're using a hard drive and recording your audio at a fairly low bit rate with lots of compression (nobody's mandating an audiophile recording, just something clearly audible), you could easily store 60 or 90 days' worth of audio on a couple of 120 GB drives like the one I recently picked up for less than $100 each. You don't need a particularly fast machine, either. I bet I could build something for under $800 that could easily log that much audio. Not, mind you, that I support the concept... s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Would this be instead of buying hardware from Ibiquity for a lot of stations, at least for a year or two? From the comments, it seems like a lot of the smaller stations would not be able to adequately budget for both a logging system and a digital system, and still be able to make any money. (And never mind the archival expenses and record keeping.) (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, (Home of ESPN 1340, a station with no known audience), ibid.) What logger? Get a cheap computer with a sound card. Tell Total Recorder to fire off at 6 am and run until 10 pm with the lowest resolution MP3. Keep the automatically generated files for 90 days and nuke 'em. My ten clients will be set before next week is up. As an experiment a couple of years ago, I set Windows Media Encoder (freeware) to record a week's worth of a station. The resultant file ended up at 550mb and could be burned onto one CD. And it was perfectly listenable, though not broadcast quality. Seven 24 hour days on one fifty cent CD-R. The logging is a non-issue. Doesn't even need to be done in-house. I will be handling several clients out of my office. As to the Fifth Amendment issue. The clients I have are honorable, and are happy to have a way to document that. If one were running Stern or Mancow, I think I'd be a lot more worried about creating a record of what aired. Maybe this will help clear some of the unmitigated sewage plant fodder from the airwaves. (insert applause here) (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Craig, So I take it you would not have a problem putting that data logger in your car and pay a fine for those times you let it slip 5 mph over the limit while you were gazing out the window. It is not a matter of cost and even if it was free as to the logger, it is a matter of intrusion into a party`s right to do business without undue government intervention. The company I work for runs loggers as well. But whether we are honorable or not, we are allowed to not incriminate ourselves. That is a protection of the constitution. Is it not? Seems like a fine line and you can bet it will be challenged (Paul Jellison, ibid.) Believe it or not, that data logger is probably already in your car. Cars today can recreate the conditions present during airbag deployment. Speed, whether anti lock brakes were used, etc. Can be downloaded by insurance companies or law enforcement if needed. It's already there, folks (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) Apples and oranges. If I were in a business where a large cume of people were watching me drive, I would have no problem with documenting my performance. Besides, I see nothing which requires a station to report transgressions unilaterally. I see it as simply creating documentation in case of a complaint. Documentation which would be hard to countermand if one were truly innocent. Documentation which could be used internally in a proactive fashion to cure problems before they reach the actionable stage. Just what is so different than what is being done now? Most decent sized stations already do air checks, scoped to only the live portions. I only see that requirement is added to retain those for a period of time. So what? I would think that a station would want to have its own recording of what it broadcast. How would you defend against a well-edited recording that put your station in an unfavorable light? Just because that hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it can't. Given the litigious nature of society, I'm almost of the mind that the FCC is doing broadcasters a favor by doing this. Especially the small ones that tend to be more multilingual. If a show host knows that the show is recorded and archived, that _ought_ to make them less likely to air unlogged commercials, or engage in personal attacks which a station owner might not understand unless translated. Might not know about until it's too late. Sorry, Paul. I don't see a gummint boogyman at work here. I only see a requirement for something that really ought to be being done by every station already (Craig Healy, RI, ibid.) When WCAS, 250-watt daytimer, 90-percent owned by Kaiser Broadcasting, in Cambridge, Mass., went on the air in 1967, we had some kind of recording system that used ultra-slow recorder that put audio on wide TV reel-to-reel tape. I didn't pay too much attention to it, other than when I was putting together a couple of entries for the UPI New England Tom Phillips Award program for radio news in 1969 (We won a couple of awards.) Pete Taylor may recall the actual device --- of course, it was primitive in comparison to what's in use now. Interesting point about Fifth Amendment. My first reaction was to relate attempts by authorities to subpoena reporters notes. I suppose in libel cases, the argument could be made about self-incrimination. However, in 45 years in broadcast and print news, I've been sued just once, and it was a prima facie frivolous lawsuit. A fellow from Somerville, Mass., would send out press releases before EVERY election announcing his candidacy for office. Since we covered Somerville, we suckered a couple of times --- but they guy never got on the ballot. When he called to announce another run, I told him we'd announce his candidacy when he showed us he had sufficient names on his nominating petitions to get on the ballot. He said he was not going the petition route; instead, he was seeking the nomination from the party convention. I told him if he could produce ONE delegate to the convention who was committed to nominating him, we'd announce his candidacy. He typed his own lawsuit, demanding $5 million damages --- and for good measure, he added all the Boston television stations and the three Boston newspapers to his list of defendants. I may have been the only one of the defendants who had knowledge of what triggered his suit. I never heard a thing from the court or even from our corporate attorneys. My assumption was that officers of the court got almost as big a laugh out of it as we did. The "candidate," by the way, was a paperhanger by profession. I don't remember his name, but it wasn't Schicklegruber (John Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Krum TX, ibid.) John, Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that slow reel - to - reel system, which used regular seven inch audio reels, was called a "Metro-Tech." Or some such thing (Bob Galerstein WB2VGD Morris Plains, NJ, ibid.) Bob and John, The system that used the slow rolling video tape was a unit called a sound scriber and it used a slow rotation head to lay the audio across the width of tape. It was similar in concept to a VTR only real slooow. It would do 24 hours on a 3 inch reel. And was darn near impossible to edit. I have seen a lashup on one of these tape machines that would allow a set of 10 x 2 inch VTR reels to record about 2 weeks of audio on one tape. At one of the stations I was the CE at part of my duties was to file the logging tape every morning. I had a drawer of tapes in a filing cabinet, most likely 90 days` worth (Paul Jellison, CO, ibid.) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550 | ALGERIA | RASD Clandestine, Tindouf, JUN 30 2347 - // 7460 with very rustic music with group vocal, accordion, and ram's horn (shofar or similar); fair with WNTN phased. [Connelly*R-MA] Report from Mark Connelly - Times / dates = UTC / 2004 *R-MA = Rockport, MA (GC= 70.622 W / 42.667 N) (Granite Pier) Drake R8A receiver, Superphaser-2 phasing unit; Antenna system: 2 x 2 m square broadband loop, 1.8 m active whip Homepage = http://hometown.aol.com/MarkWA1ION/weblink.htm (NRC-AM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1710, re R. Martí: No, as I have explained several times before, if the receiver IF is 450 kHz, here`s how the image works: 1710 x 3 = 5130. 5130 + (2 x 450) = 6030, a regular R. Martí frequency (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That's kind of convoluted. I can't imagine how the signal would go through that kind of mathematical process in the receiver. This makes more sense: 6030 - (2 x 2160) = 1710, where 2160 is the local oscillator frequency when the radio is tuned to 1710 (2160 - 1710 = 450). The LO apparently needs to be LPF'd to get rid of harmonics. (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Alamos, NM (DM65uv), IRCA via DXLD) Either math sums up correctly but Mike`s makes more sense as it is the harmonic of a real signal, and not a harmonic of a virtual "signal" such as that to which the receiver is tuned. IOW, 5130 should not exist in the receiver as RF, but 4320 (2 x 2160) certainly will exist as RF. Several years ago (1997 or 8) when listening from New York on a DX-375 late at night. I once heard Martí on 1710. I heard RHC from Havana on 1700, and I heard a station then traced to 5970, on 1690. While in Ireland in 1997 I once heard a DW program in German when tuned to 1683 but it sounded mis-tuned. A possibility would be 5945 (4 kHz low) but I actually do not know if DW ever used that frequency in Europe or not. I think I am the only Dxer to ever report three such artifacts at once, on the same receiver and at the same time. Mike's math works as so: 6030 - (2 x 2160) = 1710 6000 - (2 x 2150) = 1700 5970 - (2 x 2140) = 1690 This is probably unprovable today as 1710 is the only remaining frequency that is unoccupied by real signals. Back then, all those frequencies were vacant. The receiver behaves as if there was a bandstop filter in place that works well up to about "1680" (it may actually be different) which just allows the very top end of the band to bleed through. The real mystery is why it is only noticed occasionally and not nightly. What needs to be done is to identify the triggering factor that makes this happen. I must have posted about this a half dozen times by now, but generally on another list. I would suggest, when this appears again, also looking for a RHC Habana "signal" on 1700 but this is probably quite hard to separate from the other Spanish now (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) After looking at this some more, I realize Glenn's formula is just a different way of saying the same thing. Let X = frequency radio is tuned to (1710), Y = IF frequency (450), and Z = the aliased frequency (6030) X = Z - 2(X+Y) is what I figured. When you solve for Z, you get 3X + 2Y = Z, which is what Glenn told us (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O Los Alamos, NM (DM65uv), ibid.) That was at the back of my mind also -- since we already established through previous posts that this is a harmonic -- why is this the only time it's been heard (it wasn't there last night), and why it peaks at what should be a null to the transmitting area? Besides, I would think 1710 is a pointless frequency to reach Cuba. I cannot confirm 1700 anymore thanks to XEPE which is quite strong at night. The slop from 1690 KFSB doesn't help either (Rich Toebe, Vacaville CA, ibid.) Let`s not call it a harmonic if it`s not transmitted, but merely a receiver artifact as these formulae posit. The variation making the difference in whether you hear 1710 could be in the actual strength of 6030 where you are. It may need to reach a certain threshold. IBB is not forthcoming any more about transmitter site scheduling, but HFCC A-04 showed 6030: Greenville 2200-0900 UT 250 kW 200 degrees [except Mon 0300-0900] Delano 0900-1200 UT 250 kW 100 degrees The signal ought to come or go if you happen to be listening to 1710 at 0900, or UT Mon 0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think it is fair to say that this is NOT a harmonic. A harmonic is radiated from the transmitter. It appears to be a mixing artifact in the receiver. This is the significance of my having heard three of them at once, all on adjacent frequencies, with mathematically consistently related "source" frequencies. A harmonic would appear somewhat consistently, since one would expect the transmitter characteristics which cause the harmonic would not vary from night to night. Especially in such a range as either on or off. If this is mixing/crossmod/whatever in the receiver, then some unknown factor appears to be switching this effect on and off. But then the idea that different DXers hear it at different times stops making sense, unless the different DXers are listening at very random times. Perhaps the first thing to do is establish whether or not each receiver that experiences this is (1) synthesized tuning and (2) uses a 450 kHz IF and not 455 kHz. You can test this by tuning the subject receiver to 1000 and holding another one next to it tuned to 1450 and listening for the interference from the local oscillator. (Or use any other similar pair). If someone hears this artifact signal on an analog tuned set such as a HQ-180 them this whole idea gets shot out of the water and another explanation has to be sought (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 5955, starting at least at 2230 UT till later than 0100 with easy listening only instrumental music nonstop and nothing more. Strong signal in urban part of Moscow. Not any presenters or IDs. Who it could be as it totally blocks my favourite station Radio Pio XII? I can surely say, that it had appeared here later than last weekend as on last Saturday night I heard Pio and there weren't any strong interferences. Your thoughts, please (Artyom Prokhorov, Russia, July 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9290, Trying to catch the new station, Kiss Radio, from Latvia on the 4th of July I first found nothing. At 0820 there was some unannounced music, followed by the following message in English: ``You have been listening to a test transmission from 9-2-9-0``. Then closed down and returned later with more unannounced music. Very weak signals and varying in frequency. At my place on the island of Gotland Latvia would have been very strong (?), so what is going on? Kiss Radio told me that they didn’t start that Sunday, but starts on Sunday the 11th instead. 73 from (Björn Fransson, DX-ing on the island of Gotland, Sweden, July 10, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Seems to me that this must have been Latvia, but with technical problems, causing Kiss to be rescheduled (gh, DXLD) ###