DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-141, September 15, 2004 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING 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 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1246: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 2300 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Thu 2100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB WRN ONDEMAND [from Friday]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL; from early UT Thursday]: WORLD OF RADIO 1246 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1246h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1246h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1246.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1246 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1246.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1246.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1246 in the true SW sound via mp3: keep checking http://www.piratearchive.com/dxprograms.htm CONTINENT OF MEDIA 04-07: new edition from Sept 15: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0407.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0407.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0407.html [not yet available] DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our new yg. Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. U.K. (non): Frequency change for Internews Radio / Salaam Watandar in Pashto and Dari: 1330-1500 NF 15195* (55544) via RMP 500 kW / 085 degrees, ex 17700 *only on Sunday totally blocked by RVI in Dutch via MSK 250 kW / 248 degrees to WEu (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) & Watandar was going to quit in mid-Sept (gh, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, ha estado transmitiendo únicamente programación musical variada, Old Hits internacionales, Rock Argentino y Folklore de ese país sin participación de ningún locutor. Señal muy fuerte (S+20): 15477, 2100, R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Antártida, programación musical continua. 8/9 (Alfredo Locatelli, Uruguay, ElEskuch@ Sept 13, http://elescucha.webcindario.com via Play-DX via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. John Charlton reports that on 5 October the first flight to McMurdo will take place. This is subject to weather allowing the flight. The South Pole itself opens on 23 October. Frequencies are 9032, 13251 (Evan Murray, Utilities, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ASCENSION ISLAND. ZD8. Ian, G8WVW, has been active as ZD8I and will be here until the end of March 2006. No QSNs have been reported since August 20th, but his activity will be SSB on 80-6 meters (no 30m). Suggested frequencies are: 3737, 7077, 14237, 18137, 21337, 24937 and 28537 kHz. QSL via G4LTI. Check his Web page at: http://www.zd8i.net (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Sept 13 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. In Australia, because of vast areas to be covered, HF SSB radio is increasingly used in country areas where mobile phone coverage is not suitable. The Australian Outpost Radio Service has facilities in Darwin on 2360, 4010, 6840 and 7975 kHz, Alice Springs on 2020, 5410 and 6950, and in Western Australia Derby on 2792, 5300 and 6945, Port Hedland on 2280, 4030 and 6960, in Carnarvon on 2280, 4045 and 6980. Further frequencies will appear in October Utilities page (Evan Murray, Utilities, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Tuned into Radio Australia via the net on Sunday at 1405 UT expecting to hear the Science Show, but this was replaced by the National Interest, with no explanation. I had not been able to hear the Science Show on Saturday, due to other commitments. Is the programme available on any sort of archive? The same question can be applied to those programmes we were forced to miss during the Olympic blackout (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, Sept 12 dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, Science Show is available on-demand -- a four-week audio archive is maintained at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/ Most of ABC's Radio National schedule is available on-demand -- and the majority of Radio Australia's programming originates with Radio National. Unfortunately several of Radio Australia's self-produced programs are not archived (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. Frequency change of R. Australia in English to SEAs via DRW 250 kW / 290 degrees: 1400-1600 NF 9805 till 1458 totally blocked by RFI in Serbian, ex 11750 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. OVER 100 X-BAND TRANSMITTERS SHIPPED On a recent visit to Christchurch, I met with the manufacturer of the 400 watt rigs being used across Australia. He tells me he`s shipped `well over 100` of them to Australia so far and is surprised the signals are getting out so far, as they`re designed for very limited local coverage. The skywave signals go all over the show as they`re all omni-directional aerials. I had a good look at one - pretuned for 1611 - and they`re very simple and quite small affairs. You could almost fit them in a large suitcase! They`re all 1 kW rigs, and currently wound back to 400 w - but have the capacity to increase power later (as I suggested some time ago would more than likely eventually be the case.) The Radio 2 roll-out was a big rush, and the BCL engineers ran into major problems with many of the original transmission sites, which had never actually been tested for coverage. Arrangements had to be quickly made to lease other sites which could offer coverage. In some cases, there was local resistance to the `sticks` (towers) being in residential zones. He`s surprised that only some 75 are currently known to be on air, and reckons there`s another 20-30 at least sitting all over Australia either already on air (and we don’t know about them) or gathering dust in someone’s shed! (David Ricquish, Wellington, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) AUSTRALIAN X-BAND AT A GLANCE SEPTEMBER 2004 COMPILED BY DAVID RICQUISH WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND Maximum licensed power: 400 watts, omni-directional antenna. Postal codes are for transmitter location only. Currently: 74 stations stated to be on-air 1611 Radio 2 Brocklehurst 2830 NSW (Dubbo) MOR Radio 2 Cowra 2794 MOR NTC Radio 16 Grafton (South) 2460 News/Talk/Country (5) 2RF Rete Italia Griffith 2680 Italian Radio 2 Lismore 2480 MOR Radio 2 Port Macquarie 2444 MOR Radio 2 St Mary’s 2760 (West Sydney) MOR NTC Radio 16 Tamworth 2340 News/Talk/Country (5) 3XX 16-11 Double X Hoppers Crossing 3050 VIC (Melbourne) // FM Alive Radio/Top of the Dial Mildura 3550 Christian/Oldies Radio 2 Portland VIC 3305 MOR Radio 2 Bowen 4605 Q MOR Radio 2 Dalby 4405 MOR Radio 2 Mt Stuart 4813 (Townsville) MOR Radio 2 Pialba 4655 (Hervey Bay-Maryborough) MOR Radio 2 Whyalla 5600 SA MOR 6AY Albany 6330 WA MOR Radio 2 Broome 6725 MOR Radio 2 Esperance 6450 MOR Radio 2 Kalgoorlie 6430 MOR AM 1611 Margaret River Radio Margaret River 6284 MOR Radio 2 Alice Springs 0870 NT MOR Radio 2 Darwin 0800 MOR Radio 2 Cygnet 7112 TAS (Hobart) MOR Radio 2 Quioba 7310 (Devonport) MOR 1620 Radio 2 Bimmil Hill 2551 NSW (Eden) MOR 2MORO Homebush 2141 (Sydney) Arabic Radio 2 Moama 2731 (Echuca VIC) MOR 2MAX Narrabri 2390 // 91.3FM 1RF Rete Italia Queanbeyan 2620 (Canberra) Italian (1) Radio 2 Queanbeyan 2620 (Canberra) MOR (2) Radio 2 Shoal Bay 2315 (Newcastle) MOR Radio 2 Wagga Wagga 2650 MOR Radio 2 Bayswater 3153 VIC (Melbourne) MOR Radio 2 Cairns 4870 Q MOR Radio 2 Caloundra 4551 (Sunshine Coast) MOR Radio 2 Carrara 4211 (Gold Coast) MOR 4KZ Georgetown 4871 // 531 AM Radio 2 Gladstone 4680 MOR Radio 2 Manly 4179 (Brisbane) MOR Radio 2 Toowoomba 4250 MOR Radio 2 Old Noarlunga 5168 SA (Adelaide) MOR Radio 2 Balcatta 6021 WA (North Perth) MOR Radio 2 Geraldton 6532 MOR 1629 NTC Radio 16 Brocklehurst 2830 (Dubbo) News/Talk/country (5) Radio 2 Grafton (South) 2460 MOR Radio 2 Murrumbateman 2582 (Canberra) MOR NTC Radio 16 O’Connell 2795 (Bathurst) News/Talk/Country (5) 2HRN Hospital Radio Network Sandgate 2304 (Newcastle) MOR Radio 2 Tamworth 2340 MOR 3RF Rete Italia Shepparton 3631 Italian Radio 2 Williamstown 3016 (Melbourne) MOR Radio 2 Cremorne 4740 Q (Mackay) MOR 4DB Country Music Network Dalby 4405 Country 4RF Rete Italia Mango Hill 4058 (Brisbane) Italian (1) Radio 2 Mango Hill 4058 (Brisbane) MOR (2) Radio 2 Compton 5291 SA (Mt. Gambier) MOR 5RF Rete Italia Regency Park 5010 (Adelaide) Italian (1) Radio 2 Regency Park 5010 (Adelaide) MOR (2) Radio 2 Collingwood Heights 6330 WA (Albany) MOR Radio 2 Eaton 6230 (Bunbury) MOR Radio 2 Mundaring 6073 (City & East Perth) MOR 1638 NTC Radio 16 Armidale 2350 News/Talk/Country (5) 2ME Concord West 2138 (Sydney) Arabic 3ME South Morang 3052 (Melbourne) Arabic NTC Radio 16 Long Pocket 4068 (Brisbane) News/Talk/Country (5) 1647 NTC Radio 16 Kaleen 2617 (Canberra) News/Talk/Country (4) (5) 1665 Radio Symban Canberra 2601 Greek 2MM Marrickville 2204 (Sydney) Greek 1683 Club AM Woden 2607 (Canberra) Greek Club AM Lakemba 2195 (Sydney) Greek 1701 NTC Radio 16 Silverwater 2141 (Sydney) News/Talk/Country (6) Radio Brisvaani 17 Mile Rocks 4073 (Brisbane) Hindi Vision FM Rockingham 6168 (Perth) Contemporary Christian (3) Notes: (1) Rete Italia still operating here according to local monitoring reports. (2) Radio 2 not heard here according to local monitoring reports, but listed to be on-air according to Radio 2 (3) listed operator, tests heard south of Perth end of May; (4) NTC Radio 16 replaced 2ME from this site from the last week in June 2004 and tested here for about 10 days before ending transmission in early July. Returned to air late August. (5) NTC Radio 16 former relays and new outlets coming on air after earlier bankruptcy of satellite delivery company TARBS in early July. New program distributor or arrangements in place. (6) NTC Radio 16 originating station returned to air in mid-August. (7) Radio 2 claims to have 45 transmitters on air at August 27. Local monitoring reveals this is not necessarily the case, unless the transmitters made a brief test transmission only to meet the minimum requirements of having been on air before the August 29 deadline after which the licenses were to be rescinded by Ministerial Directive. © Radio Heritage Foundation 2004 (David Ricquish, Wellington NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES PAGE 46 SEPTEMBER 2004 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. I have received 2 recordings of the new Bolivian station Radio Municipal. One from North America: Dave Valko, Dunlo PA and one from South America: Rogildo Aragão, Bolivia. Comments and Recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Malm, Sobre R. Municipal, Caranavi, Depto. de La Paz, los 4845 kHz está libre en Bolivia; esta frecuencia fue devolvida en 2002 por R. Fides a Sittel, conforme documento que te mando adjunto, nisto R. Fides nada tiene haber [sic] con R. Municipal. Caranavi está en la región del departamento de La Paz que se llama Yungas o Valle de los Yungas; es una región semi tropical que está entre el Altiplano y la parte mismo tropical del departamento. Es una región muy bonita y que produz buenos frutos y café; está acentada la única colonia de negros en Bolivia. El único problema es la carretera para llegar a esta región; es bastante peligrosa y en algunas partes sólo pasa un vehículo, con precipios de 500 mts. 73 (Rogildo Aragão, Bolivia, Malm website via DXLD) Recording made by Rogildo Aragão, (Bolivia): 4845.06 Radio Municipal, Caranavi, Caranavi-La Paz, La Paz (Bolivia) 54 kb. 09/2004. Recording made by Dave Valko, Dunlo PA (USA): 4845.06 Radio Municipal, Caranavi, Caranavi-La Paz, La Paz (Bolivia). 67 kb. 09/2004. (ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.5, R. Pio Doce, 0122-0150 Sep 9, Spanish talk by a woman announcer. A man with ID followed by multiple IDs and announcements. Some Latin vocals but much talk by a man and a woman. Poor to fair but in the clear with WYFR off the air (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Very good in the morning lately, e.g. 0954 Sep 8, string of announcements, singing "Pio Doce, Pio Doce" ID at 1000, then "Pio Doce Informativos." I missed their sign-on, which was sometime after 0930. A small het developed after 1000, and when I checked it out I found the OA NA closing at 1006 on 5949.87. Maybe R. Bethel? -- Pio Doce also heard signing on abruptly at 0946 Sep 9, very good signal (Jerry Berg, MA, ibid.) 0950+, Sept 11, 0950, local announcements by W with brief instrumental music bridges between items, canned echo announcements, promo with children's voices, scattered mentions of Pio Doce with ID before top of hour. Nice early morning signal (Herkimer, NY, ibid.) 9-12 *1000 talk, vocals, ID, drama, música andina, 1024 ID. WYFR was on around 0950 but thankfully went off again (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, WI, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. Após período de inatividade, a Rádio Difusora, de Taubaté (SP), voltou a transmitir, em ondas curtas, pela freqüência de 4925 kHz. A informação foi dada ao colunista, por telefone, pelo diretor da estação Emílio Beringhs Neto. De acordo com ele, o transmissor da Difusora data de 1940 e foi consertado recentemente. A emissora está interessada em receber informes de recepção. O endereço é o seguinte: Rua Dr. Souza Alves, 960, CEP: 12.020-030, Taubaté (SP). BRASIL – A história da Rádio Difusora, de Manaus (AM), está ligada a sua freqüência de 4805 kHz, em ondas tropicais. Conforme texto redigido por Fesinha Anzoategui, publicado em http://www.difusoramanaus.com.br/historia.php quando a estação foi inaugurada, em 24 de novembro de 1948, por Josué Cláudio de Souza, foram as seguintes palavras ao éter: ``Está no ar a Rádio Difusora do Amazonas, estação ZYS-8, a mais poderosa da planície e a mais querida de Manaus, operando na freqüência de 4.805 kilociclos, ondas intermediárias de 62,40 metros``. Desta forma, depreende-se que a emissora emite, nesta freqüência, há mais de cinco décadas, fato que merece registro na história do rádio brasileiro! BRASIL – O Panorama desta semana continua abordando a história de algumas emissoras em ondas curtas. Agora é a vez da Rádio Difusora, de Poços de Caldas (MG). A freqüência de 4945 kHz está no ar desde o ano de 1971, quando foi adquirido o transmissor de ondas curtas da estação. As informações estão publicadas no sítio da emissora, que é o seguinte: http://www.difusorapocos.com.br (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 13 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. XU. Wim, ON6TZ, will be active as XU7TZG now through September 28th. Suggested frequencies are: 7075, 14220 and 21320 kHz (+/- QRM). However, he was heard this past weekend on 17 meters SSB between 1030 and 1300z. QSL via ON4AJV (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Sept 13 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** CAYMAN ISLANDS. WEBSITE GIVING LATEST NEWS FROM THE CAYMAN ISLANDS The Website of Radio Cayman, which was operating normally prior to the arrival of Hurricane Ivan, is currently offline. It is part of the Cayman government Website. The radio station itself is reported to have resumed broadcasts. For the international community, the best source of news in the aftermath of the hurricane is Cayman Net News, which is also carrying personal messages as the telephone system is down. The Web site says the situation there has been described as 'catastrophic'. However, the newspaper says its offices in Allista Towers, in George Town, Grand Cayman, escaped flooding despite three feet of water outside. Cayman Net News http://www.caymannetnews.com # posted by Andy @ 08:30 UT Sept 13 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CHAD. TT8 (Update). Ghis, ON5NT, in Dubai (A61), informed OPDX that Robert, S53R, was not able to pick up his license last weekend because the PTT office in N'Djamena was closed. When he went to the PTT on Monday (lucky he had sent a fax before he left Dubai), the papers were ready but still had to be signed. In the meantime, he went on a mission for 3 days to the northeast of the country (with a small plane, max. luggage 10 kg, so he could not take his gear anyway). During his absence, someone from the office picked up his license. He finally came on the air on Thursday last week as TT8KR. He will in N'Djamena until about Tuesday, September 14th. He said he will try 160 m, but the roof of the hotel is very low. Another report states Robert will be listening on 1828 kHz sporadically (or possibly 1831 kHz if frequency is not good) on the mornings and evenings of September 13th and 14th (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Sept 13 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CLANDESTINE from USA to CHINA, 9930, Dafo Hao [sic] via KWHR, 1500 Sep 13, total mess, Chinese music jammer and talk totally mixed up on channel via DXTuner USA. Via DXTuner OZ, there sounded like there were three Chinese language stations on the channel, but I didn't hear the music jammer here (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. EJERCITO MATA A DIRECTOR DE EMISORA RADIO FARC http://www.ansa.it/ansalatina/notizie/notiziari/colombia/20040914132033073748.html BOGOTA, 14 (ANSA) - El ejército informó hoy que dio muerte al jefe guerrillero Jairo Sepúlveda que era considerado director de la red de emisoras clandestinas "Voz de la Resistencia" de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). En un comunicado, los informantes aseguraron que Sepúlveda, conocido como "Moisés", fue muerto en una zona rural del municipio Rioblanco, en el departamento (estado) de Tolima, 200 kilómetros al suroeste de Bogotá. El informe señala que Sepúlveda se vinculó hace al menos 20 años a las FARC y desde entonces se encargó de organizar y montar el sistema de la emisora clandestina que transmitía su propaganda para la zona sur y el occidente de Colombia. 14/09/2004 13:20 (via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, set 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CUBA. Glenn, Re DXLD 4140. DXers Unlimited was on 11760, Sept. 11 at approximately 2050 or so. Very short program, was gone by 2105 or sooner. Missed the beginning as I had stepped out of the room for a moment and was surprised when I came back in that the program was already underway (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A check on 11760 at c0630 Sept 13 revealed that the English transmission audible today was NHK via YAM and in // 7230 via WOF (UK). No trace of RHC at this time. 73s from (Noel R. Green {Blackpool, UK), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Around 1345 UT Sept 13, RHC was on 15230, but not on 11760 as it had been the past few days. 11760 also missing from the 2300 Venezuela relay Mon Sept 13, tho it was on the day before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actualmente tengo sintonizada a Radio Habana Cuba en los 11760 kHz, a las 1240 UT pero con fuerte portadora encima de su señal, parece que tuviera otro radio cerca sintonizado en la misma frecuencia que hace que se escuche un pitido de fondo. Alguien la escucha asi? o la están escuchando bien? (José Elías, Venezuela, Sept 14, Noticias DX via DXLD) Estoy de acuerdo Jose Elias. Radio Habana perdió la fueza de la señal. Aquí en San José de Costa Rica, provincia Heredia, la señal es fatal. Llega fuerte y luego se desvanece; antes no sucedía esto. Cordiales 73s (Román Mora, ibid.) Olá José Elias! Informo que aqui em Portugal a escuta da RHC no momento está dificil e de facto de vez em quando aparece a tal portadora que eu penso que tem origem na própria emissora, afinações ou algo parecido. Esperamos que a RHC volte com os bons sinais do costume. 73. (Manuel Jesus, Sintra, Portugal, ibid.) De repente puede ser lo que tú dices, algún problema con el transmisor, ya que ese ruido de fondo no lo había escuchado nunca en RHC. Tal vez la situación presentada con los huracanes esté afectando a los equipos transmisores de la radio, incluso ya estuvo recientemente fuera del aire por esos motivos y tal vez la problemática no ha sido resuelta del todo. Seguiremos escuchando a ver qué pasa con RHC. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, ibid.) ** CUBA [and non]. Re: wrong frequency announcements Well, I would say this is a global phenomenon. How often listeners are complaining that international SW stations are announcing wrong frequencies? There is no understanding for this, because the usual assumption is that these stations should know what frequencies "their" transmitters are using. It seems still not much known that only few SW services actually have own transmitters. The majority is leasing air time on transmitters provided by external operators. These operators are changing the frequencies whenever this is technically required, and it can be a long way in terms of communications from these external companies to the editorial departments of a broadcaster, much longer anyway than between two departments in the same broadcasting corporation. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, but that`s no excuse. How can any announcer or program producer worth her salt NOT CARE about getting it right, insofar as informing listeners WHAT FREQUENCIES ARE ACTUALLY IN USE? They should go after this info if it is not handed to them --- get on the phone to the engineer at the site, if necessary. ACTUALLY TURN ON A RADIO and check it out, godforbid. As a last resort, read DX publications such as this to find out what is really happening. Yeah, I know, I am expecting way too much (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. AMIGOS DE LA LISTA: Como otros colegas han indicado por sus informes en esta LISTA, Radio Rebelde se está escuchando en mi QTH: Miami a "rompe bocina" en la frecuencia de 5025 kHz. A las 0420 UT los escuchaba en una información de que el huracán Iván se encontraba a 250 km de la Isla de la Juventud en una programación especial. Contactaban con la Coloma en Pinar del Río, brindando datos de acerca de números de pobladores y que se dedican en su mayoría a la pesca. Indicaban la posibilidad de intensas lluvias a partir del amanecer y penetraciones del mar en la zonas de litoral. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, UT Sept 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) En efecto Radio Rebelde ha hecho una extensa cobertura toda la noche de el domingo teniendo contacto con las partes de más riesgo. En la noche trasmitieron desde la Habana (en donde está situada la estación), pero con constantes contactos a Cienfuegos, a Zapara, a Pinar, y la Isla de la Juventud, por nombrar algunos. Como ahora el Ivan (llamado anoche mismo "el animal" o "el terrible"), se encamina hacia acá (México), especificamente a Yucatán, la recepción en mi modesto radio-receptor se convirtió en imposible --- al menos esa es mi propia respuesta); sin embargo ahora mismo trato de establecer contacto con estaciones de AM. Sin más por el momento y reconociendo el trabajo especial que hace Radio Rebelde y a la misma DX, salvando muchas vidas y dejando cierto que "gente informada y organizada vale más que la que no lo está", así que vaya un saludo a mis hermanos cubanos. Desde la Capital Azteca los saluda (Jesús Manuel Lira Felipe, DF, Sept 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) There has been an ionospheric disturbance, unrelated to Iván (gh) 5025, R. Rebelde noted on in passing 1100 via DXTuner FL (Hans Johnson, Sep 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) From/to, 5025, R. Rebelde on at 1145 Sep 14 (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) WTF is on 1180, steadily under Rebelde tonight? It appears to be Cuban (I could be wrong, but sure sounds like Cuban accents), mostly música, some talk. Rebelde is strong but this one is beating 'em briefly at times. Not parallel Martí (which is occasionally in the mix), or the Cuban Progreso (not to be confused with the canned spaghetti sauce) net, to eliminate just two of the greatest possibilities. Noted "atención" messages for various radio stations in hurricane link coverage, including an "Atención Radio Sandino" [Ciudad Sandino, Pinar del Río] at 0156 GMT, 14 September, so the micro local on 650 kHz must indeed still be active (Terry Krueger, Clearwater FL, 0215 UT Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hearing Rebelde on 1180, but something beneath as well, will mess around with it. -Z.- 14 0230Z SEP 04 (Paul Zecchino, FL, ibid.) ** CUBA [and non]. R. Martí skipped its weekly silent period this UT Monday, going strong at 0600 UT Sept 13, still with no trace of jamming on 6030, 7405, 9805 or 11775. Better take advantage of that while it lasts, plus warning Cubans of hurricane activity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Martí was on air today - Monday Sept. 13 - at 0615 tune in on 6030 7405 9805 & 11775 on a day when they should be off air. Is the station taking advantage of the lack of jamming or providing a helpful service to Cuba due to Ivan? What I heard sounded political (Noel R. Green [Blackpool, UK), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Martí was on air today Monday [Sept. 13] at 0615 when it normally does not broadcast on SW. Heard were usual 6030 [under/mixing with Mühlacker], 7405 [very strong], 9805 [under/mixing with RFI in Albanian until 0630] and 11775. All were jamming free (Noel R. Green [NW England], Cumbre DX via DXLD) The schedule on their Web site shows that they are currently on the air 24 hours a day. Indeed, the four frequencies Noel heard are all listed, all Greenville. http://www.martinoticias.com/frequencies.htm (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) No, it doesn`t; note at the bottom still claims silent period Monday 0300-0900. Nice grid, but ignores 530, 1620, 13, so makes you wonder whether to believe the rest of it. O, o at 0143 check UT Sept 14, bubble jamming was back, at least upon 6030 and 7365. Guess the winds in eastern Cuba had died down enough (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is correct --- Martí did stay on Sunday night/Monday AM, and the WDHP USVI simulcast was re-sked so that it ran Saturday-Sunday overnight, and Sunday-Monday overnight as opposed to Saturday during the day, and Sunday during the day. --ts (0315 UT Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EMISION ESPECIAL DE RADIO MARTI --- ESTIMADOS AMIGOS DE LA LISTA: Por segunda vez en la historia de Radio Martí desde su fundación en 1985, no cerró emisiones entre las 0300-0900 UTC día lunes, o sea desde las 23 del domingo hasta las 05 del lunes (hora local de Miami). La primera vez, ocurrió hace tres años a raiz de los atentados terroristas en Nueva York y Wáshington, D.C. Nuevamente se repite hoy 12 de Septiembre con una programación especial desde las 0300 UT del lunes, por el paso del huracán "Iván" sobre la Isla de Cuba. Una variante ha surgido y es que la programación se está originando en los estudios centrales de la VoA en Wáshington, D.C y no en Miami. Las frecuencias en operación son las de 6030 y 7405 kHz. También se anunció que desde las 0000 y hasta las 1300 UT se pondrá en operaciones la frecuencia de los 1620 AM (supuestamente desde Islas Vírgenes) que comprobé y estaba audible en mi QTH de Miami. Los conductores del programa Pedro Corzo y Eduardo Luján exhortaban a los oyentes en Cuba a que llamaran a cobrar a Wáshington a través de los teléfonos: (202) 401-5222 y (202) 619-2143 para que realizaran preguntas referente al paso del Huracán al meteorólogo que brindaba sus informaciones a Radio Martí y a los conductores, sobre las condiciones del tiempo en Cuba. Casi de inmediato se recibieron llamadas desde Pinar del Río, al señor Ángel P. Polanco desde Ciudad de la Habana, Santiago de Cuba, Caridad Díaz Beltrán desde Jovellanos, Matanzas, etc. A las 0400 UT se sumaron la periodista Diana Molinó y Carmen María Rodríguez que continuaron recibiendo las llamadas de los oyentes desde Cuba. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, 0312 UT Sept 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Cuban jamming is being heard on Martí frequencies. It doesn't sound as loud as previously, but conditions are disturbed - again! - today. Martí only heard on 6030 7405 & 9805 - no trace of 11775. 73s (Noel R. Green (NW England), 0752 UT Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 1145 Sep 14, still no jamming noted of R. Martí on 5980 and 6030, both in the clear (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Well, as of later Sept 14 and 15, all Martí frequencies I check again have the usual bubble jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. World Music Radio, 5815 finally heard in Tiquicia at 2358 Sept. 11 playing ``America's A Horse With No Name``, ID at 0000 and then onto a West African music, which they seem to play with some regularity among the more common pop music like Always by Atlantic Starr (1987. They use to play one ID per song, like an automated juke box, but no DJs giving the human warmth, might be because of wee hours, 2 a.m. in Denmark. SINPO 25342. Sorry for those colleagues in North America with Super Splatter on 5825. Receiver Sony ICF 7600D with just 8 m. inverted V (Raúl Saavedra, Tres Ríos, Prov. Cartago, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. I was disconnected from NRC List for six days when I was off to Arizona for my favorite nephew's wedding, so I missed any announcement and/or discussion of César Objío's death. I found the news on Glenn Hauser's site, somewhat accidentally since I far too seldom check that voluminous source of good information on our hobby. So if list members don't mind a belated eulogy, I feel compelled to comment about this cherished friend of the hobby and of the old Krumudgeon personally. I first made contact with César back in the mid 1960s when I was recording a five-minute segment on BCB DX for the old Radio New York Worldwide DX show put together by Erroll Urbelis. Actually, César contacted me as a result of that program, which I recorded in the KPDN-1340 studios in Pampa where I worked. César was a regular contributor of DX information from the Caribbean and I, in turn, introduced him to the NRC, which he joined and became an active and valuable contributor for nearly 40 years. César made certain that the DX'ing community had accurate and detailed information on stations in the Dominican Republic, which were easier to hear back in the '60s and '70s before the NSP glut occurred. He worked closely with the broadcasters in his home country, the hobby's ambassador to Dominican broadcasters, and, among other hobby-related activities, put together a history of broadcasting in the Dominican Republic. He also was a prime contributor to World Radio and Television Handbook. I was glad to help welcome César to his first NRC convention in 1968 in Boston, and it touched me deeply at the Lima convention last year when César remembered those early days with the club and the connection we had made through WNYW. The Lima convention was my first opportunity to meet Don Trelford, and I was touched, too, to be a part of a three-way interview taped by John Malicky ... César, Don and myself. I had figured, when Don's name first came up in this thread, that he probably summered in Ontario, and it is good to know that this fine gentleman was not in harm's way this week [in Jamaica]. But when it comes to César, we have lost a great friend (John Callarman, Krum, Texas, Sept 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) On a more personal note, the Update mourns the passing of César Objío, a well-known observer and authority on Broadcasting in the Dominican Republic. Your humble reporter had the fortune of meeting César while co-hosting the 1978 National Radio Club convention in Atlanta. César's info was invaluable to hobbyists ranging from New England to South America, and beyond. He was a quiet, modest man with many friends around the planet, and will definitely be missed. Until the next, Peace and Prosperity – (GREG HARDISON, Broadcast Band Update Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full Update in dxld yg ** ERITREA. LAST FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT EXPELLED BY ASMARA | Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 10 September The last remaining foreign correspondent in Eritrea left the country yesterday after the government ordered his expulsion, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists in an interview today [10 September]. Jonah Fisher, who worked in Eritrea for 18 months as a correspondent for the BBC and Reuters, said authorities gave no reason for his expulsion but that he had faced a "pattern of increasing difficulties." Fisher told CPJ he was summoned 2 September to the Information Ministry, where an official said his press accreditation was being revoked and that he should prepare to leave. Four days later, after the authorities received faxed protests from the BBC and Reuters, Fisher received a call from the same official who told him he must leave Eritrea within three days. Eritrea has no private press since a crackdown three years ago when it banned independent media and jailed a number of journalists. Seventeen local journalists are now imprisoned in Eritrea, and many have been held incommunicado since September 2001. In 2004, for the third year running, CPJ named the tiny [sic] Horn of Africa nation one of the world's 10 worst places to be a journalist. Fisher said it was "impossible to tell" why Eritrean authorities expelled him, but his 24 May story in the London daily The Independent may have triggered it. The story, marking Eritrea's 11th anniversary of independence, noted an Amnesty International report on human rights abuses. It was headlined: "To some Eritreans, freedom means prison and torture." Fisher said officials may also have been angered by a recent BBC interview in which he said that "according to human rights groups, Eritreans who are forcibly repatriated face detention and torture." The interview focused on the recent hijacking of an airplane by Eritreans being deported from Libya. Fisher said the hijacking was not reported in Eritrea's state-controlled press until a week after it happened. The journalist told CPJ that in a conversation about three weeks before his expulsion, Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed had accused him of "racist negative reporting" and said that he "knew who [Fisher] really worked for." Eritrea has in the past accused journalists of being foreign spies, and used "national security" concerns as an excuse to jail them. "This outrageous and unjustified expulsion of Jonah Fisher sadly underlines the Eritrean government's appalling record on press freedom and human rights," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "As the anniversary of the 2001 crackdown approaches, we call on the authorities to reverse this trend of repression by releasing all of the jailed journalists, allowing foreign correspondents to return, and allowing the independent media to contribute again to development and democracy in Eritrea." Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 10 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Some DTK T-systems changes: Voice of Ethiopian Salvation: 1600-1700 on 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sunday to EAf Amharic, ex Thu/Sun (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from RUSSIA to ETHIOPIA, 12120, Radio Voice of Oromo Liberation Front, 1705 Sep 13 via DXTuner Europe. Telephone interview with two men, many mentions of Oromo. Local music at 1720, ID at 1721. Long talk by man till 1728 then music. Slight break then into below. 12120, Voice of Oromiya, 1731 Sept 13, fanfare, IDs by man. Fanfare ended at 1733, then talk by man starting with another ID (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Monitoring observations show that the TDP-brokered transmissions of Voice of Ethiopian Medhin on Sundays 1830-1930 via Samara, Russia, 12120 are no longer carried (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTEING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. T e s t i n g on 6240 kHz This weekend --- JRRI [Jolly Roger Radio International] will be testing two new transmitters this weekend on short wave and FM. Short wave freq. 6240 and 6395 kHz. MUCH MORE POWER!! We will also try a short test for N. America, perhaps on Sunday night. Reception reports will be answered by e-mail and snail mail. JR_Radio @ hotmail.com and Post Box 39, Waterford. Ireland. (Joe Vincent, Sept 14, Sw-pirates via Jem Cullen, ARDXC via DXLD) Hiya, any ideas approx. what UTC times we should listen? (Jem Cullen to Joe Vincent, via ARDXC via DXLD) Hi J Cullen, We hope to be testing from around 0800 GMT on 6240. If things go well, we should be testing also on Sunday night from around 2200 GMT, with about 250 watts. This will be the usual from now on; hopefully the rig will last a long time. We have been heard in AU and NZ in the past as well as Quito and Peru. Good DX (Joe Vincent, JRRI, via Cullen, ibid.) ** FRANCE. Ciel AM has or is about to resume transmissions in Paris on 981 kHz according to a report on Radioactu today. No further details given (Dave Kenny? Sept 13, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Frequency change for DW in German via A-A [Almaty, Kazakhstan] 500 kW / 141 degrees effective Sep. 10: 1000-1400 NF 17635 QRM BBC WS on 17640, ex 17485 to avoid CRI in English on 17490 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) ** GREECE. Voice of Greece heard Sept. 13 at 1830 UT on 12105 kHz with English. Very strong signal (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3385, RRI Kupang [Timor]. Reactivated, Western pops 1002 with "The Final Countdown", under co-channel PNG, but Indonesian language clearly recognisable. Re-tune 1310 after PNG off, local programming, ID 1316. Good strength, 12/9 (Craig Seager, NSW, ARDXC via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. USA: US RADIO OPERATOR XM RADIO LAUNCHES NEW EMERGENCY SERVICE | Excerpt from press release by Washington DC based XM Satellite Radio on 10 September XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading provider of satellite radio with more than 2.1 million subscribers, announced that it has launched a new channel, XM Emergency Alert (XM Channel 247), dedicated to providing critical, updated information before, during and after natural disasters, weather emergencies and other hazardous incidents to listeners across the country. Utilizing XM's nationwide broadcast system, the new XM Emergency Alert channel delivers key survival information such as evacuation routes, shelter locations and updated weather emergency information for impacted areas. XM Emergency Alert provides data from a variety of national and local government sources, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American Red Cross, local police and fire departments and eyewitness reports. The XM Emergency Alert channel is produced by a dedicated staff for instant, around the clock information during serious local emergencies. "We are pleased to add XM Emergency Alert to our line up, especially during this extremely active hurricane season when the benefits of updated emergency information can make a difference," said Hugh Panero, President and CEO of XM Satellite Radio. "XM Emergency Alert combined can be an invaluable resource during an emergency. We're using advanced technology to give listeners the information they need, when they need it, particularly when local television and radio broadcasts may not be available. With XM Emergency Alert, you can stay informed and stay safe." [passage omitted on other XM Radio services] Source: XM Satellite Radio, Washington DC, in English 10 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. HURRICANE IVAN CONTINUES ITS MARCH IN THE CARIBBEAN http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/09/13/1/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, September 13, 2004 --- The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, reported at 2 PM EDT that Hurricane Ivan is an ``extremely dangerous Category 5 storm that is continuing its slow movement toward western Cuba and the Yucatan Channel.`` ``AT 2 PM EDT...1800Z..THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IVAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 20.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 84.7 WEST OR ABOUT 70 MILES...110 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA.`` The Air Force Reserve`s Hurricane Hunter Aircraft reported that maximum sustained winds remain near 160 miles per hour with higher gusts, and some fluctuations in strength are expected during the next 24 hours. The Hurricane Watch Net is also continuing its operation on 14.325 MHz. Assistant Hurricane Watch Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said that during the height of the storm, the Hurricane Watch Net ``operation will be from 7:30 AM EDT - 1130 UT until 11:00 PM EDT - 0300 UT or until the 20-meter band closes.`` Graves went on to explain the two main goals of the Hurricane Watch Net`s operation: to make the storm advisory information on a regular basis to those in the affected area of the forecast path of the storm, and to identify and collect a list of stations in the path of the storm who may be available throughout this event for the purpose of reporting local weather measurements and observations to us for conveyance to the forecasters in the National Hurricane Center. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, has been on 14.325 MHz, and has been collecting weather-related reports all weekend long. On Monday, two Amateur Radio stations from Grand Cayman Island were heard on the Hurricane Watch Net and were transmitting with emergency power after Ivan severely struck the island with nearly 150 mile-per- hour winds during the day on Sunday. As Hurricane Ivan takes aim at the western part of Cuba, Arnie Corro [sic --- he spells it several times on each DXUL show!], CO2KK, says that Amateur Radio operators have been getting ready. ``Cuban Civil Defense has declared the top hurricane alarm for all Central and Western Cuba. We have several hundred radio amateur stations active in emergency communications.`` They will be using the following frequencies in Cuba to handle hurricane-related communications: 7040, 7060, 7070, 7110 kHz, and 3740 kHz. Arnie says, ``My own station CO2KK is acting as liaison with the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 kHz. We expect total loss of ac power when wind gusts reach 50 miles per hour as a Cuban utility safety measure.`` Arnie expects CO2KK to be on battery power with 5 W on 14325 kHz after power loss. Amateur Radio operators on Grenada and on boats near Grenada have been using Winlink 2000 over the last several days to help handle health and welfare messages. Hurricane Ivan struck the island on Wednesday and then hit Jamaica on Friday night and Saturday. Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) The next edition: LULL BEFORE THE LANDFALL: HURRICANE WATCH NET ON HOLD AS PREPARATIONS CONTINUE http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/09/14/1/?nc=1 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. New schedule for Kol Israel on SW according to monitoring on Sep. 2-9: 0000-0330 Hebrew+Mx on 11585 0245-2115 Arabic on 5915 0330-0345 English on 11585 15640 0345-0400 French on 11585 15640 0400-0900 Hebrew on 15760 17535 0900-0915 Yiddish on 17535 0900-1015 Hebrew on 15760 0915-0930 Mugrabian on 17535 0930-0945 English on 15640 17535 0945-1000 Ladino on 15640 17535 1000-1015 French on 15640 17535 1015-1030 Bukharian on 15640 1015-1400 Hebrew on 15760 17535 1030-1045 Georgian on 15640 1400-1955 Hebrew on 15760 1400-1500 Persian on 15640 17525 17535 Fri/Sat 1400-1525 Persian on 15640 17525 17535 Sun-Thu 1500-1525 Russian on 15640 17525 17535 Fri 1500-1525 Ladino on 15640 17525 17535 Sat 1530-1545 Music on 15640 17535 1545-1555 Spanish on 15640 17535 1600-1625 Yiddish on 15640 17535 1625-1645 Romanian on 15640 17535 1645-1700 Hungarian on 15640 17535 1700-1715 French on 11605 15640 17535 1715-1730 Spanish on 11605 15640 17535 1730-1745 English on 11605 15640 17535 1745-1800 Romanian on 11605 15640 17535 1800-1835 Amharic on 11605 15640 17535 1835-1845 Tigrina on 11605 15640 17535 1845-1900 Hungarian on 11605 15640 17535 1900-1925 English on 15615 15640 17535 1930-1945 French on 15615 15640 17535 1945-2000 Spanish on 15615 15640 17535 2000-2355 Hebrew+Mx on 13635 From Sep. 22/23 all programs will be one hour later than shown! (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) I confirmed the Israel clock change with the Ministry of the Interior website (Hebrew) http://www.moin.gov.il/ Sep 22 morning 1:00 AM turns to Midnight (Doni Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Re Radio Europe, 7306.05 USB, ``Semi-legal`` ????? Radio Europe is a pirate radio station! (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, it made it into the WRTH for many years, including the 2004 on page 250, as if it were not only semi-legal but fully legal, complete with address; perhaps thru the influence of Dario Monferini. As I recall the Italian radio situation is extremely murky, as to what`s legal and what`s not due to various loopholes, changing rulings over the years (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. PAKISTAN. Dear DX Friends, It has been observed that Radio Pakistan is today using 4740 kHz for its evening transmission instead 4790 kHz. 4790 kHz is clear today 13 September, 2004. It is still not confirmed whether this is a permanent change or temporary one. 73s, (GRDXC Team, via DXLD) i.e. Harjot Singh Brar; not to be confused with R. Maldives Dear DX Friends, As reported yesterday Radio Pakistan had changed frequency to 4740 kHz from 4790; is now back to the previous frequency (4790). The change in frequency was perhaps either a test or some fault at the transmitter. However, the other frequency 4790 kHz was silent yesterday (13-9-04) around 1500 UT. This change in frequency for Azaad Kashmir Radio, Trarkhal from Islamabad, Pakistan has been observed earlier also. 73s, (GRDXC Team, Sept 14 via DXLD) Stopped today on 4740 by Asian sounding music station, identified as Radio Pakistan at 1600 UTC, followed by news. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, Sept 13, dxing.info via DXLD) Thanks for a nice tip, Jarmo. I tuned to the frequency at 1745, had a lot of local noise, but there it was. At 1800 they had a 5-minute Urdu newsbulletin //9390. After that some talks and music. Before sign-off at around 1809 there was a song or an anthem about Kashmir. The usual 4790 AKR was missing, so maybe this was a "punch-up" error at the tx- site. Let's see tomorrow if they're on 4790 or 4740. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Sept 13, ibid.) A brief check on 14 Sep at 1600 UT shows R Pakistan/AKR is back on 4790 and 4740 is empty. 73, (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. V. of Career, er, Korear, er, Korea, 11710, Sept 15 at 1322 with an Ode to the Gun as an essential revolutionary tool; seems the author was once given a gun by none other than a Great Leader. Bet it wasn`t loaded. Later found better signal but worse modulation on \\ 9335 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Re 4-140: "STV" should read "KREBS TV"; the email address used to be tesug@parks.lv (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LIBYA. Further more to my last report, I noticed as well that V of Africa is doing very well on 1449 // 1251 in the early mornings around 0300 UT; sounds like something is going on with their MW transmitters. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Sept 14, dxing.info via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. 11635, FRANCE, Voice of Africa, 2112-2130* Sep 6, Man with Arabic talk until 2114 Big Ben type chines. Three time pips at 2115 followed by dramatic music and news. At 2124 a man gave an English ID: "The Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahiriya." Gave Box 4677 in Tripoli for reports and 4449875 for "calls around the clock." English news followed but was cut at 2130 in the middle of an item. Fair to good reception (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 15205, FRANCE, Voice of Africa in English. 1921 9/9/04. F-P with QRN. (M) with news, African Union discusses problems of poverty and unemployment, (10) Iraqis killed by US warplanes, ID's and mentions "Great Jamahiriya." News over at 1926 followed by French/Arabic program (Jim Clar, NY, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. WTVT-13 keeps showing a great radar view of Ivan via "Cancún radar." Can someone direct me to a URL for this or any other coastal Mexican sites? All I've ever been able to find in the Caribbean is San Juan on Intellicast (Terry Krueger, Clearwater FL, 0215 UT Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yeah, local TV oracles ran Cancún Radar, still looking as well. -Z.- 14 0230Z SEP 04 (Paul Zecchino, FL, ibid.) For Cancún radar try: http://smn.cna.gob.mx/radares/radares.html (David Potter, FL, ibid.) Thanks to dlpotter for excellent westcarib storm tracking asset. Radares Cancún tells the tale this morning. -Z.- 14 1000Z SEP 04 BT (Paul Zecchino, FL, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. We lament the disappearance of the KOMA call letters from the AM band. For thirty-odd years, KOMA/1520 meant all-night Rock'n'Roll to listeners across the Southwest, sort of the West-of- the-Pecos WABC. The AM outlet flipped to Talk several months ago; acquisition of the new calls KOKC makes the switch complete. KOMA- FM/92.5 continues in Oklahoma City with Oldies, but --- it just isn't the same! (Perhaps I'm dating myself here: only because no one else will go out with me!) (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re 4-138: Radio Libertad es del departamento de Arequipa (me tomé la libertad de buscarlo), Conexión Digital 273 sección OM: Radio Libertad 1310 kHz, Arequipa, Perú (Héctor Álvaro Gutiérrez, Lima, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Since 1 July, the 200 kW transmitter in Raszyn on 198 is transmitting Polskie Radio 1 as filler instead of PR Radio BIS. As before, this frequency carries primarily the Polskie Radio parliamentary channel "Radio Parlament", as well as a number of special transmissions like church masses on Sundays. The transmission times are limited to 0600-1600 UT during summer months (DST), 0700- 1700 UT during winter months (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Some frequency changes for Voice of Russia effective from Sep. 5: 1300-1400 Russian WS NF 15540 addit 1600-1700 Romanian NF 9490, ex 15125 1400-2000 Commonwealth NF 7380, ex 9820 1700-1800 Italian NF 12060, ex 11840 1500-1530 Albanian NF 12000, ex 7300 1700-1800 Italian NF 12070, ex 12040 1530-1700 Serbian NF 12060, ex 11840 1700-1900 Arabic NF 9470, (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) ex 12060 ** SAUDI ARABIA. Frequency changes for BSKSA: 0400-0455 Somali NF 17760 RIY 500 kW / 175 deg, ex 15470 0500-0555 Swahili NF 17760 RIY 500 kW / 190 deg, ex 15470 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Look for Saudi Arabia 1521 at 0300 UT: easily the loudest TA that I heard when I was in El Paso, TX back in 1986. The Sony 2010 and a small ferrite loop (nulling KOMA) was all that was needed in a room at the Residence Inn next to the airport (Mark Connelly, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Some DTK T-systems changes: Brother Stair/The Overcomer Ministries (TOM): 0600-0800 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily WEu English, cancelled 1100-1600 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily WEu English, ex 1400-1500 1700-1900 17550 WER 250 kW / 300 deg Daily NAm English, cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. 13650, CLANDESTINE (Syria). R. Free Syria (via Juelich), 1800-1838 Sept 3 [Fri]. Jeff White said, ``This is Radio Miami International``; brief Middle Eastern instrumental music; a woman spoke a few words; Middle Eastern flute music; and long talk by a man. Initial Friday airing of "Peace Forum" program aimed at Syria, Europe, and Asia. Presumed Jülich since a recent QSL letter from Reform Party of Syria confirms their 1800 Sunday program as Jülich. Very weak. QRM from SwissInfo to North and West Africa, also via Jülich, on 13645 from about 1825. Seems a little strange they would have 2 broadcasts only 5 kHz apart with a difference in beam of probably less than 90 degrees (Wendel Craighead, KS, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Some DTK T-systems changes: Radio Free Syria from Oct. 1: 1900-2000 NF 9495 JUL 100 kW / 120 deg Fri/Sun to ME Arabic, ex 13650 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 14 via DXLD) also ex-1800 due to end of DST in Syria (gh) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Special Voice of the NASB transmissions On Sept. 18 and 25, 2004, the Voice of the NASB (the U.S. National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters) will broadcast two separate programs each day -- one in DRM and one in analog form. On both of those days from the Sackville, Canada site, the Voice of the NASB will transmit special half-hour programs in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) from Radio Taiwan International. These will be the first transmissions of Radio Taiwan International in the DRM mode beamed to North America. The broadcast time on both days is 1700-1730 UT on 11900 kHz. On those same two days, September 18 and 25, special editions of the Voice of the NASB will be broadcast in analog from the facilities of Radio Taiwan International in Taiwan. The Sept. 18th program will feature NASB member station WBCQ in Maine and will be broadcast at 1700-1730 UT on 11715 kHz to Australia and New Zealand. The Sept. 25th program will feature NASB member KNLS in Alaska and will be broadcast at 1700-1730 on 11815 kHz to India and South Asia. Voice of the NASB QSL cards will be available for reports on any of these special programs. Reception reports may be sent to the Voice of the NASB, P.O. Box 526852, Miami, Florida 33152 USA, or by e-mail to info@wrmi.net Our thanks to Radio Taiwan International for this program exchange, enabling the NASB to become better-known in Asia and the Pacific (Jeff White, Producer, Voice of the NASB, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND [non]. I`ve been paying a bit more attention to the R. Thailand relay on 5890, as someone without a digital-readout receiver wanted me to check out what he thought was a new broadcast within the 49m band at 0100 --- but all I can find is the usual 5890. This service is incredibly mismanaged. UT Sept 15 the carrier from Greenville was already on at 0020, but no audio until abruptly joined in progress at 0030, in the middle of a sentence. Turns out this is now the 7 am newshour originally on 918 kHz in Bangkok; I never heard the SW service mentioned. I suppose the English to Africa at 0000 gets the first half of it. This also appears to be commercial, with plugs for DHL and other advertisers. At 0100 they went into Thai after a timesignal which was 8 seconds late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 7260, R. Thailand, very good at *1100 with IS, English ID and into Vietnamese. ID: "This is R. Thailand World Service broadcasting from Bangkok and relayed over transmitters in Ban Dung, Udon Thani, northeastern Thailand, for listeners in Asia and the Pacific, the ME, Africa, Europe and America." Do they always give the transmitter location as Ban Dung? We generally call this site Udon Thani. However, U.T. appears to be both a province, and a city within the province. See http://www.udonthani.com/english/ and click on Map/Province. Ban Dung is in the northeast. "Udon Thani grew rapidly when US air bases were established in and around the city during the Vietnam War; there were 7 bases in total until the USA pulled out in 1976. Although some of the bases no longer remain, the US presence lives on but in a much more limited degree. Outside the city near the village on [sic] Ban Dung a huge Voice of America (VOA) transmitter was constructed at a cost of $200 million, to reach points throughout south-East Asia, China and Korea." http://www.udonmap.com/udon_thani_profile.html (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 12 via DXLD) ** U K. During August, the Edinburgh Festival always gets overshadowed on BBC Radio 3 by The Promenade Concerts, which are carried live every evening. Some Edinburgh concerts aired live at local noon, a bit too early for us. Now with The Proms over, Performance on 3, nominally at 1830 UT weekdays, is presenting performances from Edinburgh, well worth outchecking. Sept 14 it was an all-Von Weber concert (Glenn Hauser, OK, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 10051, 0000 New York Radio, USA, inglés, USB, estación meteorológica del servicio aeronáutico, reportes del área atlántico de USA (Alfredo Locatelli, Uruguay, ElEskuch@ Sept 13, http://elescucha.webcindario.com via Play-DX via DXLD) I thought they were off the air, so they are back? Nothing heard at 1600 Sept 15, but the frequency is/was shared with Gander (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WYFR is back blasting here tonight on 5985 in Spanish noted at 0100. At 0200 went off as scheduled. 73 (Dino Bloise, Hollywood, FL, USA, UT Sept 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR heard at 0300 carrying Christian music on 5950 and 9505. 5950 had been carrying Radio Taiwan earlier (Hans Johnson, Sep 13, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Around 1400 UT Sept 13, I found WYFR on three frequencies at once: 11830 and 17750 English, 13695 Mandarin. I suppose from now on it will get a bit tedious to track the return of eleven more transmitters one by one, but suffice it to say, hurry up and take advantage of temporarily clear frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re Glenn's earlier message - WYFR noted today [Sept. 14] with five transmitters on air at 0700 --- 7520 with R. Taiwan Intl in French, and own programmes in 9355 in Spanish, 9930 in English, 9985 in Portuguese and 11580 in Italian. I cannot hear 11530, which should have Arabic, but this frequency is also used by Mesopotamia, and that's very strongly heard. And the 50 kW unit which should be on 9715 is not heard either (Noel R. Green (NW England), 0752 UT Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR return --- Hello Glenn, Here are some partial answers to your questions: ``For the record, could you tell me at what time and on what frequencies you first returned to the air?`` Sunday morning at 0207 UT; 9505 and 15440 kHz. Sunday morning at 0228 UT, 5950 kHz. ``Only one or two transmitters so far, right? I don`t hear any other frequencies.`` Eleven transmitters presently up (as of late afternoon Monday), all but three carrying their full schedule. Five transmitters were up by the end of the day on Sunday. ``Also, I have conflicting info on how many total transmitters you have now, 12, or 14??`` Fourteen. Best regards, (Dan Elyea, WFYR, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AFN, 7507 has not been heard when tuning around 0600 UT since about Sept.1, but 5446.5 has been operating normally until now at that hour. 73s from (Noel R. Green [NW England], Cumbre DX via DXLD) AFRTS OFF 7507?? Does anybody know if AFRTS has moved from 7507 USB? There is nothing on their website regarding this frequency and they have been off for a couple of weeks now. I can still hear them on 5446.5 and 12133.5, but they were much stronger on 7507. TKS (Dave WA1HRJ, Sept 14, rec.radio.shortwave via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Heard AFRTS/AFN on 5446 this morning, 9/14, at 0843 UT with AFN's airing of an all night sports talk show (Pete Costello, NJ, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. 4480, WWCR mixing product at 0556 on 15 Sept. // 3210 with end of "Unraveling the New World Order". (This should be unraveled often.) Other program undetermined. AM mode. On the 13th this was on 4475.3 in FM mode. Steady S3 signal (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Amos and Andy on WWRB shortwave From: dfrantz @ tennessee.com (Peter Taggart) Date: 9/13/2004 6:20 PM Central Standard Time Forum: rec.radio.shortwave Greetings to all: Amos and Andy is now on WWRB shortwave. Monday thru Friday on 5.745 MHz shortwave 9:30 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern time. [UT Tue-Sat 0130-0200] If you would like to join the WWRB listener Club send WWRB your reception report to: Radio Station WWRB C/O Airline Transport Communications Box 7 Manchester, TN 37349 We will send you a 'Interactive' 8 1/2 by 11 inch certificate by return Mail. To see what the certificate looks like visit our web site at http://www.wwrb.org look under 'listener club' click button. We have many new 'upstart' radio programs on WWRB (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) Caught the opening at 0130 UT Sept 14; sounds like the same show which has been on WBCQ, and still heard at 0400 UT Sept 14 check --- By Ed Bolton, Mon-Sat 0400-0415 on 7415, but that`s just a quarter hour: ``Ed Bolton's meticulous re-creation of the early Amos and Andy episodes from the original scripts. Most of these famous radio shows were either not transcribed or no recording survives. The episodes are being presented in chronological order.`` So is the WWRB series the same, but starting over? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE END OF 'NETWORK NEWS' By Tom Rosenstiel Sunday, September 12, 2004; Page B07 Regardless of who wins the election, the campaign of 2004 has already made history. For the first time, a cable news channel -- Fox -- attracted more viewers than a broadcast network when they were competing head to head, covering the Republican National Convention. Was this a watershed for a new partisan journalism in America? I think the real meaning is something else. What happened this summer, and particularly last week, is likely to be recalled as the end of the era of network news. At the very least, mark this as the moment when the networks abdicated their authority with the American public. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13017-2004Sep10?language=printer (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Remember Stephanie Miller, who was previously at KFI-AM 640? She is returning to the airwaves today in a nationally syndicated radio program. The show airs from Los Ángeles and is part of the Progressive Talk line-up. ``As talk radio has more and more become a sea of right-wing wackos, I think the audience has finally recognized the need to balance that with some good left-wing wackos, and I’m thrilled to be able to fill that need,`` said the funny daughter of William Miller, who was on the Republican Presidential ticket with Barry Goldwater in 1964. ``I`ll be broadcasting from Rodney King`s hometown of Los Angeles, and in these divided political times, I think the answer to his famous question: `Can`t we all just get along?` is clearly, `No, we can`t, but at least we can make it funny,` Stephanie said. She joins The Ed Schultz Show as a progressive talk radio program whose introduction was fostered by Democracy Radio. Democracy Radio is the Washington-based production company that develops progressive programs to put an end to the political imbalance on talk radio (San Diego Radio.net Sept 7 via DXLD) We're just a week into the new life of Stephanie Miller's talk career --- now part of a joint production effort between Jones Radio, Democracy Radio and Wyd Media Management, all plugging into the growing phenomenon of Progressive Radio. Stephanie's biting wit and candor should fit well here; the Update staff is unanimously fond of this lady, offering to her all good wishes for success and splendor thereof (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA LIVE ONLINE IN OGG FORMAT I found this today as I was surfing: http://bigelow-springs.net/airamerica/ It seems someone has take it upon him/herself to rebroadcast Air America in OGG format over the Internet for all those who own Linux machines and find it impossible to use RealMedia or Windows Media on their computer. Information about OGG can be seen here: http://www.vorbis.com/ Cheers, (Ricky Leong, QC, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vorbis ** U S A. AIR AMERICA MAKES DEBUT IN COLUMBUS http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2004/09/13/tidbits1.html Columbus radio station WTPG-AM (1230) began airing the fledgling Air America radio network Sept. 7, the first outlet in Ohio to carry the liberal standard-bearer. Columbus became the 28th city for Air America, which has been picked up mainly along both coasts. Its only other Midwest outlets are in Ann Arbor, Mich., Madison, Wis., and Minneapolis. Steve Konrad, WTPG's program director, said he hadn't cleared out his voice mail the day of the network's debut, but the calls have tended to be "most favorable." "And the favorable calls actually started a week ago," he said, "when word started getting out as to what was going on." Konrad said airing Air America makes sense, given the void for left- leaning voices on talk radio. "If there is as much passion on one side of the political spectrum," he said, "then in these polarized times is it not safe to assume that an equal and powerful passion exists on the other? Logically, you would have to say 'Yeah.' " Konrad made sure to give a proper send-off to the oldies format the station has aired for the past year. Listeners tuning in to hear Air America's Columbus debut at noon heard a lead-in lineup that included "See You Later Alligator," "Bye Bye, Baby," "For What It's Worth" ("Stop, hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down"), and the Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now." Konrad said he threw together the slate of songs at the last minute. After the good-byes to the old format, the final two songs before the "Al Franken Show" were Peter Paul & Mary's version of the liberal anthem, "Blowin' In the Wind," and a little-known Elvis tune, "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone." As if to complete the thematic shift, Franken began his show that day to the background music of "Terrapin Station" by the Grateful Dead. Konrad said the Elvis song "was just too perfect" because it played up the fact that WTPG-AM would be the liberal counterpoint to the conservative commentators on sister station WTVN-AM (610) - both are owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. - and also because it signified that "Elvis has left the building," completing a loop from the station's format change in August last year. That switch from sports talk to oldies was begun with a round-the- clock Elvis marathon. © 2004 American City Business Journals Inc. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) I thought 1230 was WCOL; did they just change? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. The Air America juggernaut is reportedly on its way to MASSACHUSETTS. After a rough start earlier this year, the left-leaning talk network has found a powerful ally in Clear Channel, which has put Air America programming on the air in the last few weeks in markets from San Diego to Madison to Ann Arbor. Now the Boston Herald reports that Clear Channel is about to clear Air America on its two Boston-market AMs, WKOX (1200 Framingham) and WXKS (1430 Everett), replacing leased- time Spanish religion and mostly-satellite standards, respectively. While neither signal has full-market coverage (despite WKOX's long- standing CP for a move to Newton that's being blocked by NIMBY locals), the combination of the two hits most of the core of the market during daylight hours, at least. If other Clear Channel/Air America markets are any indication, it's a pretty good bet that programming will also include syndicated offerings from Ed Schultz as well as Air America's Randi Rhodes and Al Franken (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Sept 13 via DXLD) ** U S A. LOVIN' THE LEFT: This may mark a new corporate "affair" for Clear Channel, which has added AirAmerica affiliates in San Diego (KLSD/1360, nicknamed "The Trip" by our erstwhile fellow-traveler Chris Carmichael of sdradio.net), Columbus (WCOL/1230), Denver (KKZN/760), Madison (WXXM/92.1 FM) and Albuquerque (KABQ/1350). The San Diego operation did indeed go off on schedule (August 23); CC was already up'n'running AA on its Santa Barbara/1340 outlet by then. The Madison situation could prove interesting: the town is fairly Liberal in nature, and WTDY/1670 is planning to unveil a "Progressive Talk" format sometime this month --- yes, TWO in one town! (The Update's dictator-for-life has fond memories of helping a friend rebuild WTDY's automation over the course of one Spring night circa 17 years ago, incidentally.) Now, CC has filed cease-and-desist orders against WTDY for its use of the slogan, "Madison's Progressive Talk". Also, original AA outlet owners Inner City Broadcasting (WLIB/1190 in NYC) have spread the product to Philadelphia, as AA is now heard over WHAT/1340 there. AA is slated to debut in Atlanta this week (per "The Atlanta Journal/Constitution"), on WSWK/1690; a proposed change of call letters (to WWAA) has been filed with the Feds. And, we hear from the great AllAccess that veteran left-leaning journalist Mark Lane is starting a weekly show (Thursdays, 5 PM Eastern) on WSNJ/1240 and WMVB/1440 in South Jersey. Since, odds are, you are not there, you can access the stream at http://wsnjam.com --- this guy is worth listening to; Mark Lane is also one of the world's leading experts on theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full UPDATE in dxld yg ** U S A. In Brooklyn, the FCC has cancelled a $10,000 fine against "Hip Hop City Corp." over a pirate signal at 1710 on the dial, the oft-heard "Radio Moshiach" that spreads the word of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad Lubavitch organization. The FCC says that while Hip Hop City owned the Atlantic Avenue building from which the signal was coming, it can't prove that the company actually was operating the station. (Meanwhile, the Rev. Yvon Louis was nowhere near as lucky; the FCC upheld a $10,000 fine against him for operating a Brooklyn pirate on 93.7.) (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Sept 13 via DXLD) ** U S A. Local radio now on air [LPFM in New Hampshire] By Rochelle Stewart 9-13-2004 PORTSMOUTH - Nine-hundred and nine Islington St. buzzed with nervous energy as last-minute preparations were under way to "flip the switch" to begin live broadcasting at Portsmouth Community Radio, Portsmouth’s first low-power FM radio. With fewer than 20 minutes to go Sunday night, Hillary Niles, PCR`s program director, completed programming details while other volunteers finished connecting wires and testing microphones before production was to begin. And finally, at about 7:10 p.m. - only 10 minutes shy of the 7 p.m. deadline - Portsmouth Community Radio was live and on the air at 106.1. [EDT = 2310 UT] "It`s exhilarating what has gone on this weekend," Tim Stone, president of Portsmouth Community Radio, said about 10 minutes before going on the air. "I`ve never experienced anything quite like this before." The station broadcasts from WSCA-LP`s 1,000-square-foot studio. During the weekend, the station - in conjunction with the Prometheus Radio Project of Philadelphia - held "barn-raising" activities in order to construct the studio for its diverse, locally generated programming. Stone said more than 100 volunteers participated in the event, many staying until almost 3 a.m. each day. "It took over 100 hours (of work) over the course of this weekend for our group to pull this off in 2½ days," Stone said. Ryan McGrady, a member of the programming committee, also said he is excited for the opportunities PCR presents for the community. "It`s good to have an alternative media voice for the community," he said. PCR was organized in June 2000 and applied for a low-power FM radio construction permit in August 2000. In May 2003, a construction permit was granted by the FCC. LPFM radio stations have a broadcast radius of three to five miles and possibly as much as 10 miles. Once on the air, Stone asked listeners to call in to say where they were listening to the broadcast. The station plans to map its listener base by marking a map of Portsmouth with push pins from listeners’ locations. Within moments, the phone was ringing. "The phones are ringing, but we weren`t ready for you to actually call," joked Peter Tridish, technical director of the Prometheus Radio Project. PCR plans to broadcast 24 hours a day. Niles said until training is complete, PCR will rely on automated broadcasts. Niles said roughly 50 people have proposed shows, and PCR continues to accept proposals. PCR encourages anyone - from students to seniors - to become involved in the project. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.portsmouthcommunityradio.org or call 430-WSCA. This page has been printed from the following URL: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/09132004/news/37302.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. TELEVANGELIST PAUL CROUCH ATTEMPTS TO KEEP ACCUSER QUIET A former worker at TBN threatened to disclose an alleged 1996 homosexual encounter. By William Lobdell Times Staff Writer September 12, 2004 Televangelist Paul Crouch, founder of the world's largest Christian broadcasting network, has waged a fierce legal battle to prevent a former employee from publicizing allegations that he and Crouch had a sexual encounter eight years ago. Crouch, 70, is the president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, based in Orange County, whose Christian programming reaches millions of viewers around the world via satellite, cable and broadcast stations. The source of the allegations against him is Enoch Lonnie Ford, who met Crouch at a TBN-affiliated drug treatment center in 1991 and later went to work for the ministry. After Ford threatened to sue TBN in 1998, claiming that he had been unjustly fired, Crouch reached a $425,000 settlement with him. In return, Ford agreed, among other things, not to discuss his claim about a sexual encounter with the TV preacher. But in the last year, Ford has threatened to go public with his story, prompting a flurry of legal maneuvers -- conducted in closed court hearings, sealed pleadings and private arbitration. In court papers, Crouch has denied the allegations, and ministry officials have described Ford -- who has a history of drug problems and has served time for a sex offense -- as a liar and an extortionist. At stake are the public image of one of the world's most successful televangelists and, potentially, the fortunes of the broadcasting empire that Crouch and his wife, Jan, built over the last 31 years. TBN and Crouch went on the legal offensive after they learned that Ford had written a book manuscript that included an account of the alleged sexual encounter. . . [MORE, registration required] http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-lonnie12sep12,1,4587945,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage (via Mike Cooper, George Thurman, DXLD) SW angle too: KTBN SLC ** U S A. At 1500 UT Sept 14, CNN anchor Daryn Kagan (who will be known forever as a Rush Limbaugh date), gave the time in Panama City, Florida as 11 am --- it so happens the western end of the Panhandle is on Central time, west of the Apalachicola River, i.e. 10 am (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWL AM 870 doing EMS duty with continuous Hurricane Ivan evacuation coverage. They're ID'ing themselves as "WWL, Louisiana's Emergency Management Station" and also "WWL your Emergency Management Station". Much of the coverage is about the horrendous traffic problems out of the city, and the jammed highways throughout much of that region --- for example, one caller has been driving continuously for eleven hours and finally made it to Baton Rouge from New Orleans. The station is being run from somewhere other than their usual location, announcers have commented on having trouble running equipment they're unfamiliar with. Motel owners throughout the South must be having a profitable night --- the nearest available motel rooms to New Orleans are reported as being in Dallas, Little Rock, and Memphis --- plus recommendations were given to try Nashville. The farthest evacuation noted by a caller so far has been from Mobile, Alabama to Terre Haute, Indiana. You'll want to tune them in; it's fascinating stuff! (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, 0706 UT Sept 15, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. U.S. X-BAND AT A GLANCE - SEPTEMBER 2004 COMPILED BY TONY KING, GREYTOWN, NEW ZEALAND Send corrections or updates to broadcast.dx@radiodx.com Updates in bold [checking the bold visible to the editor, the only updates are:] ``1700 KBGG Des Moines IA `All News 1700 KBGG`. CNN. Now SS format ?? XEPE Tecate, MX EE and SS love songs heard 0835`` (Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) XEPE is finally added to the list, and KBGG has had partial Spanish for a long time (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In May, I came across 1520 WWKB with 1530 WSAI on IBOC, and the signal was completely covered with noise. I used my MFJ-1025 phaser to get rid of the IBOC, with pretty good results. Here is a recording of that. First five seconds are without the phaser, the next five with, then back and forth again several times: http://users.adelphia.net/~bdsaylor/sounds/1520kHz_0150UTC_5-2-04_with_and_without_phaser.mp3 (Brett Saylor, Central PA, Sept 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Country time will change from UT -3 to UT -2 from 0300 Sun Sept. 19, in benefit of power saving. This measure hadn't been taken for several years, but energy crisis has forced the government to take this decision. The decree hasn't been signed as of today. The normal time will come back probably at the end of the summer, March, so it should span all the spring and summer. Restaurant owners, mainly in Punta del Este, the main seaside resort, are protesting since they will lose clients. When I have the change back date I will inform. This Daylight Saving Time is a extraordinary measure. It doesn't mean that next year we will have DST again. It all depends on the price of petrol and local rains (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Sept. 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is absurd, since at 57 degrees west, Uruguay ought to be on UT - 4, and UT -3 already represents daylight shifting (the meridian dividing UT -3 from UT -4 is 52.5 west). And daylight CANNOT be ``saved`` short of stopping the world! If energy needs to be saved, people should use less of it, adjust their individual sleep/work cycles. Note: this criticism applies to everywhere DST is imposed, not just Uruguay (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. SODRE? At tune in 0625 today Sept 14, music was heard on about 9620.8 and gradually improving in strength and clearly audible as classical style. If there were any announcements I missed them - when tuning away from the frequency! The signal was pushing the S meter up to 5 at times by 0659 when stronger R. Nederland - Bonaire appeared on 9625 and splashed it. This is the first time since Sept. 6 that it has been positively heard. Conditions are disturbed today and Bonaire was coming dual path with rapid QSB! Only one Brazilian (plus the usual high power 9665) was heard on 31m same time - on 9645. 73s (Noel R. Green [Blackpool-NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Las ondas cortas del SODRE 6125 y 9620 kHz se encuentran activas pero con diferentes contenidos. La primera se la escuchó retransmitiendo a CX26 (1050 kHz) con programación popular - música variada, noticias, contenidos - y la otra retransmite a CX6 (850 kHz) con música clásica: 9620 18:00 SODRE, Montevideo, Uruguay, español, concierto, YL ID. 8/9 (Alfredo Locatelli, Uruguay, ElEskuch@ Sept 13, http://elescucha.webcindario.com via Play-DX via DXLD) ** VANUATU [non]. En la frecuencia de 7260 kHz no se está escuchando a Radio Vanuatu a las 1030, como era habitual; en su lugar se escuchó un programa musical melódico y comentarios en ruso (Alfredo Locatelli, Uruguay, ElEskuch@ Sept 13, http://elescucha.webcindario.com via Play- DX via DXLD) Mongolia? (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Tuvé la oportunidad de llamar al Ing. Jéferson Rodríguez de Radio Nacional de Venezuela, preguntándole qué había pasado con la política QSL de la emisora, ya que habían muchas quejas de oyentes internacionales que no les han confirmado sus informes, y me dijo que no habían tenido secretaria pero que ahora sí estarán confirmando los informes de recepción a partir de Octubre. También van a implantar la confirmación de reportes vía E-mail, con QSLes digitales. Ya les llegaron los nuevos lotes de QSLes físicas, con novedosos diseños de fotografías de paísajes venezolanos. Pueden enviar sus reportes tanto a su dirección física de la emisora allá en la sede de Radio Nacional en Chapellín (No al Box) por el momento, y al siguiente e-mail: ondacortavenezuela @ hotmail.com También me dijo que están remodelando el viejo transmisor de 50 kW ubicado en Campo Carabobo, y que piensan el largo plazo adquirir otro de mayor potencia, quizás de 100 kW para ampliar su cobertura (Jorge García Rangel, Barinas, Venezuela, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. This morning Sept 13, on 6175 kHz continuous cello/guitar music played over and over again, seemingly of the MERLIN control room in London. Heard at 0500-0529:00 UT. S=3-4 signal in C Eur, probably Sackville site, which uses 6175 kHz at 0400-0500 regularly. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, BDXC-UK via DXLD) That`s when the Voice of Vietnam relay is supposed to be running (gh, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. ON THE AIR: A VOICE OF FREEDOM FOR VIETNAM Radio Free Vietnam is sent by satellite from the United States to Europe, and from there to shortwave radios in Vietnam. (It may be necessary to subscribe to read this story) http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9650178.htm (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) and maybe not, viz.: By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9650178.htm?1c Thuoc Nguyen has been a freedom fighter for 50 years - ever since he left his native North Vietnam to fight the Communists in the South. Nguyen fought for 21 years and then was held as a POW for 10 years after the fall of Saigon in 1975. But he never gave up. After immigrating to America and becoming a citizen, Nguyen is still fighting the Vietnam War - from a small studio in his split-level Pennsauken house, the home of Radio Free Vietnam. From there, the former soldier tells Vietnamese people about freedom in the United States, and tries - with the help of other immigrants - to provide financial aid to disabled South Vietnamese war veterans. Nguyen, 68, also receives contributions from listeners to another station, Vietnamese Public Radio, with 24-hour Vietnamese-language programming aimed at thousands of immigrants in the Philadelphia region. The station receives programs from Nguyen and dozens of other Vietnamese immigrants across the country, and is heard through satellite and radio rebroadcasts in 24 states, Canada and Europe. Radio Free Vietnam is sent by satellite from the United States to Europe, and from there to shortwave radios in Vietnam. "We tell the people of Vietnam about human rights, about democracy and the way we live in this country," said Nguyen, describing his work on Radio Free Vietnam, which has broadcast a half-hour of programming to Vietnam each day for five years. "People in Vietnam don't know these things because the government doesn't want them to know. I send them all the information they want because it's important for them to stand up - to assert their rights." In his studio, Nguyen opened a file filled with photos and letters about former disabled soldiers still in Vietnam. One photo showed a man without arms, legs or eyes. "I get a lot of letters from Vietnam, and the letters ask for help," said Nguyen, who flies the U.S. flag, the American flag for POW/MIAs in Vietnam, and a South Vietnamese flag in front of his house on Terrace Avenue. "They are our friends, and we have to help. They have no food to eat and no medicine," he said. Nguyen, who has five children and six grandchildren, does his radio programming after he comes home from his full-time job as a glass- cutter at a lighting company in Riverside. Much of his time is spent on Vietnamese Public Radio, where he regularly contributes interviews, news and music. "We give people some of their homeland," said Nguyen, who has worked on public radio programming for about six years, "but we also tell them about their obligations to their new country. "I urge them to vote. I don't care whether they are Republicans or Democrats. But a good citizen has to vote." Hoa Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnamese Community of Philadelphia and the Suburbs, a nonprofit group that helps immigrants ease into U.S. society, said the radio programming "is very useful to a lot of people." A former South Vietnamese soldier who came to the United States in 1986, he said Thuoc Nguyen, who is not related, "does a good job in his native language... . He's been a freedom fighter against the Communist regime, and he wants everybody on this planet to be free." The radio has been Thuoc Nguyen's link to an arduous journey that began in 1954 after the Geneva Conference, where an international agreement partitioned Vietnam until it could be unified through free elections. Two million North Vietnamese, including Nguyen, migrated to the South as the Communist North began to impose severe rules, implementing radical land reforms. The North and South were unable to agree on elections, and hostilities broke out between them. Nguyen, who had been fighting the Communists in the North, joined the South Vietnamese Army at Da Nang and trained as a ranger officer at Nha Trang. He later attended a school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to become an intelligence officer. "I don't know why I'm alive," said the former South Vietnamese army captain. "I fought in many battles and was wounded seven times. "But I will never forget the sacrifice of the American troops who fought for our freedom. They sacrificed their lives trying to defend our liberty." American troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, and South Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1975. Nguyen was immediately imprisoned in a reeducation camp, where he was forced to perform hard labor every day with little food. When Nguyen was released in 1985, he repaired shoes for a living. He also secretly contacted the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, to arrange immigration for himself and his family to the United States. "I want to thank the American government and people who opened their arms to receive us as refugees," said Nguyen, who helps organize a Memorial Day event at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Holmdel, Monmouth County, to honor U.S. and South Vietnamese troops. "I do whatever I can to pay back what they have done for our people. They are our brothers, our sisters, our benefactors. Now, we have everything." Nguyen said he never imagined that the journey from Hanam, North Vietnam, 50 years ago would lead to Pennsauken - and a radio station. "But I am still a freedom fighter," he said. "And I will keep fighting. Someday, my country will be free." (also via Artie Bigley, DXLD) The station in question is the TDP brokered Radio Free Vietnam with correspondence address in New Orleans. It is aired on 9930 via KWHR, Hawaii --- not exactly "from Europe to Vietnam" as the article author states. That is not the only misunderstanding in the article, the author is correct that the SW program has a length of 30 min, but it is aired Mon-Fri and not daily, as it is known from the TDP schedule and confirmed by the audio files on the station's website http://www.radiofreevietnam.com This website also has a link to the US-based "Vietnamese Public Radio" mentioned in the article: http://www.radiohaingoai.com (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 5950, Rep. of Yemen Radio, *0258-0342 Sep 9, opening music with a male announcer giving ID and opening announcements at 0300. Program of Middle Eastern music with some Arabic talks until 0330 musical fanfare and the news. Poor to fair signal with WYFR off the air. Noted // 9779.6 with strong signal (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. ZIMBABWE TO LAUNCH NEW [SHORTWAVE] RADIO STATION HARARE, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Plans by Zimbabwean multi-media company New Ziana to launch a radio station are at an advanced stage with equipment expected to arrive in the country by the end of this month. ``We will be launching a radio station before the end of November this year,`` said New Ziana Electronic Business Unit head Happison Muchechetere Thursday. It will be an all-news driven 24 hour radio station and it will be based in Gweru. According to Muchechetere, the radio station, News 247, would broadcast 24 hours a day and seven days a week and recruitment of staff was underway while preparations of programming had already started. The radio station would broadcast on the short wave band, which goes further than all other frequencies. Copyright 2004 XINHUA all rights reserved as distributed by WorldSources, Inc. (APwo 09/02 1343 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6536.2, PERU UNID, 0140-0204 Sep 9, male announcer with Spanish talk, OA vocals, ad string but no IDs noted. Poor with intermittent utility traffic. Tuned away at 0204 and back at 0210 but they were gone. Next night noted 0205-0210* but off suddenly and missed ID (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) This looks likely: 6536.11, PERU * Rdif Huancabamba [0955-1235/2144-0143*](35.33- 38.8/6560) May 04 X ex-RDif La Poderosa *1158 0010-0233* (r)AM820/FM100.1 (ex6559.9/6857.55) (Mark Mohrmann`s LA-DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11770, MEXICO (presumed), R. Mexico International (XERMX) in Spanish. 1919 9/11/04. (M) with talk in what seemed to have the cadence of Spanish but audio/modulation was so ungodly distorted that it was impossible to copy the content of anything that was being said. Signal strength, however, was quite good. This made R. Cairo and even R. Nacional Paraguay sound like hi-fidelity by comparison! (Jim Clar, NY, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) I think they're off the air so not sure what this could have been (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, Flashsheet editor, ibid.) At that hour could be V. of Nigeria in French (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ FCC LAUNCHES NEW "KIDSZONE" INTERACTIVE WEB PAGE FOR KIDS The FCC unveiled the latest addition to its award-winning Web site, an interactive, high tech site designed to engage children and teens in grades K through 12. "Kidszone" is hosted by Broadband the Cat and features lively graphics and sound. It is found at http://www.fcc.gov/kidszone It is a safe place for children to explore. They can participate in positive, fun activities and learn something while they're at it. The site also has opportunities for kids to let us know their opinions and we'll continually update the site to reflect their interests and concerns. --- (REC Comments) - The character "Broadband the Cat" looks very much like long time Japanese animé (cartoon) character Doraemon. See: http://www.recnet.com/broadband-vs-doraemon.jpg (via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ OUTRAGEOUS MW CONDITIONS 9/11 UT I first noticed unusual propagation conditions about 9:30 p.m. 9/10/04 (0330 UT 9/11/04) in the LW band with BBC R4 Droitwich, 500 kW on 198 kHz in the clear (never heard by me before). There were quite a few other new (for me) ones, such as Germany 183, and old but stronger than ever before, such as France 162. Suddenly I wondered about MW conditions. As I tuned through the MW band in CW mode with my modified IC-746Pro there were lots of TA hets. I settled on 1521 because it was strongest and because I have never been able to get any audio before from Saudi Arabia. It was just a little after 0400 UT. I changed to USB and a 3.0 sharp BW, adjusted my phaser null on the USA stations, and sat there and listened. To my amazement I heard a man talking in the background, mostly underneath lots of monkey chatter. But as time passed I was able to hear brief words and phrases of Arabic. This is nothing short of amazing. I have never heard any audio before from the 1521 Saudi in over 25 years of trying from Louisiana. So I finally count this as a new country for me. BTW, I tried both a 3.6 BW and a 2.4 BW, but neither produced anything like the audio recovered by the 3.0 BW USB. I also tried AM (synchronous detection), but got no recovered audio at all. Here ECSS was the hands down winner. Then back to CW, and back down the band where I stopped at a strong het on 1134 about 0430 UT. Back to USB 3.0 BW and to my amazement weak but clear in the background (with some monkey chatter) was a man singing what sounded like a sad song. I do believe I heard Croatia 600 kW HR 1, another new country for me. Again, AM (SD) produced no recoverable audio, and the 2.4 and 3.6 BW ECSS were way behind the 3.0 ECSS BW. I am kicking myself for not staying up later. Phased array systems here use a 45 foot noise reducing inverted L (omnidirectional) and two 200 foot circumference balanced broadband unamplified loops. These receptions are, of course, ho hum for Atlantic coast listeners. But for those of us with long land paths to Europe they are rare occurrences (Dallas in Louisiana Lankford, mod 746Pro, R-390A, etc. amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) The geomagnetic field was at quiet to active levels. On 06 - 08 September, activity levels were predominately quiet to active due to a geoeffective coronal hole wind stream. Thereafter, and through the end of the summary period, the field was mostly quiet with only isolated unsettled periods. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 15 SEPTEMBER - 11 OCTOBER Solar activity levels are expected to be predominately very low to low with isolated moderate activity possible through 22 September from Region 672. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 15 – 19 September and on 11 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from mostly quiet to unsettled levels. Midday on 16 September, and through 17 September, activity levels are expected to increase to active levels with isolated periods of minor to major storming due to effects from a CME on 14 September. From 16 – 18 September, a recurrent high speed coronal hole stream is expected to become geoeffective. Resulting levels should remain mostly active on the 16th and decay to unsettled to active on 18 September. The geomagnetic field is expected to be predominately quiet to unsettled from 18 September through 09 October. Toward the end of the forecast period, from 10 - 11 October, levels are expected to increase to unsettled to active as another recurrent coronal hole stream is expected to be in a geoeffective position. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Sep 14 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Sep 14 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Sep 15 115 15 3 2004 Sep 16 115 25 5 2004 Sep 17 115 25 5 2004 Sep 18 110 15 3 2004 Sep 19 110 10 3 2004 Sep 20 105 10 3 2004 Sep 21 100 10 3 2004 Sep 22 95 8 3 2004 Sep 23 90 8 3 2004 Sep 24 90 12 3 2004 Sep 25 95 8 3 2004 Sep 26 95 10 3 2004 Sep 27 95 8 3 2004 Sep 28 100 10 3 2004 Sep 29 100 10 3 2004 Sep 30 105 5 2 2004 Oct 01 105 5 2 2004 Oct 02 105 7 2 2004 Oct 03 105 12 3 2004 Oct 04 110 10 3 2004 Oct 05 110 10 3 2004 Oct 06 115 10 3 2004 Oct 07 120 8 3 2004 Oct 08 120 8 3 2004 Oct 09 115 8 3 2004 Oct 10 115 10 3 2004 Oct 11 115 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1246, DXLD) ###