DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-152, October 4, 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 NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1247: Tue 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily Tue 2100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB repeated thru Wed? Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1247 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1247h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1247.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1247 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1247.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1247.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1247.html WORLD OF RADIO 1247 in the true SW sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_09-29-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_09-29-04.mp3 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Oct 4 update also anticipates B-04 changes: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ANTIGUA. Snap on the telly to mms://abs-m3.act2000.net/abstv and watch the 15-minute live newscast at 9 pm Atlantic [0100 UT]. I watched news of the hurricanes and had details not reported stateside. At 9:30 most weeknights, after a run of ads and announcements, there were feature-length American movies (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, Net Notes, Oct NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. HORÁRIO DE VERÃO NA ARGENTINA --- Aparentemente a partir del proximo 17 de Octubre de 2004, la Argentina adoptará la hora UTC- 2, la que regirá durante la primavera y verano local (Arnaldo Slaen, Buenos Aires, Argentina, @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) See also BRAZIL ** BARBADOS. The Voice of Barbados on 92.9 FM airs via http://stream.caribsurf.com/star1 in a WMP player, and BBS, Barbados Broadcasting System on 90.7 FM via http://barbadosadvocate.com/bbs.ram does not have a Web page that I can find. BBS is only mentioned on the site`s home page. The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation is home to 3 stations; only Radio 900 AM is on the Web at http://www.live365.com/play/307076 (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, Net Notes, Oct NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** BELARUS. Radio Belarus again harmonics on 12020 and 12140 kHz after fade-in at about 0530 UT, today Oct 4th (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4903.79, R. San Miguel, Riberalta, 0910-0930+ Sept 25, local music, Spanish pops, IDs, Spanish talk; fair. 6134.8. R. Santa Cruz, 0905-0930+ Sept 24, local music, Spanish ballads, Spanish announcements 0905 ID, canned ID announcements, adstring; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Caros amigos, Tomei conhecimento de que o horário de Verão, para o biênio 2004/2005, no Brasil, já está definido, sendo que os relógios deverão ser adiantados de uma hora à partir do dia 02 de Novembro de 2004. Como esta medida, além de influir diretamente na equivalência com o horário UTC (passa de -3 para -2 duas horas em relação a Greenwich) e também é considerada como polêmica no Brasil; fiz uma pesquisa sobre o assunto e apresento aqui, algumas informações sobre esta mudança de horário, para que cada um possa formar a sua opinião. . . (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena - MG - Brasil, Noticias DX via DXLD) Gist of the long discussion in Portuguese is that it has been determined that DST results in a 5% energy saving in RGS, which is entirely south of the Tropic of Capricorn, and also helpful in the heavily populated coastal states just north of there. Last year the change was made on October 19 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. No caso da Nacional, não duvido que alguém tenha pensado: ``ora, quem é que vai ligar pra um detalhe destes, 6180, 6190, tanto faz.`` Só para ilustrar o descaso com as ondas curtas, conto um causo em breves palavras. Em 1979, os Diários Associados, vivendo grande crise, venderam a Rádio Farroupilha, de Porto Alegre, para a RBS. Dias depois de fechado o negócio, o representante dos Associados se lembrou que a Farroupilha tinha também canais em 25 e 49 metros. E lá foi ele novamente fazer negócio com os Sirotsky. Nem estes tinham se lembrado das ondas curtas da Farrroupilha. E isto foi há 25 anos (Lucio Haeser, Florianópolis-SC, lista Radioescutas via @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) BRASIL – ``O Rádio e a Floresta`` é o título de artigo do biólogo e radioescuta Paulo Roberto e Souza que descreve a importância do veículo na Amazônia. Para ler, basta chegar em http://www.romais.jor.br (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. My site, http://www.radio.dir.bg has a brand new English version; please update your links http://www.radio.dir.bg/en_index.htm (Mihail Shcherbak, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Sarah and Leo's Web Site Weblog - CBC Has Ordered Us to Shutdown our CBC RSS Feed! CBC Update (Sep 27 2004) - This morning the CBC has provided further information concerning their decision to order us to shut down our CBC RSS feed. Their reasoning is related restricting third parties from aggregating their content and the contractual agreements they have with other news source providers. I have asked them them to elaborate further about the third party aggregation due to the fact that Google Canada currently aggregates their site for content and publishes it on their News Portal. I did promise to keep our CBC RSS feed closed until I have exhausted all possibilities of finding a way to reopen it. In the meantime, I would appreciate an email message from persons who have cyber legal knowledge relating to hyperlinking and content aggregation. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Update (Sep 20 2004) - Our request to start a modified CBC RSS feed has been declined by the CBC. However, they have indicated that they will start their own RSS feed in the near future. Overall, this is what I and many other Canadians really want from the CBC. I really hope that they come through with this. I am still waiting for the detailed information of how our CBC RSS feed infringed on their intellectual property rights. I would like to thank all of you who have expressed support of our CBC RSS feed. Other Note: The CBC had put legalese text at the end of their email stating that the email is intended for the recipient only and any unauthorized use, dissemination or copying is strictly prohibited. I am very disappointed of this heavy handed tactic of the CBC. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Last Friday as I was getting ready to go home for the weekend, I checked my Rogers email account and noticed a "Formal Notice" message from the CBC. They have ordered us to shutdown our CBC RSS feed due to our fraudulent use of their information and consequently infringing on their intellectual property (IP) rights. We have responded to them to get more details of how our CBC RSS feed infringes on their IP rights. The RSS feed contains direct URL links to their headlines with no pop-up advertisements or other web redirects of any kind. I view our RSS feed similar to what Google Canada offers with respect to their News service. Google Canada's News obtains news and information articles from 4,500 public sources, including the CBC, and provides a useful front-end portal for users to access the information. We hope to negotiate a compromise with the CBC to keep the RSS feed alive. Check our site or subscribe to our RSS feed for further updates. Below is the entire email message. Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 15:06 DST From: Maggy Larouche (maggy_larouche@radio-canada.ca) We are writing you in regard to your website http://www.sarahandleo.com/ (the "Site") and more specifically regarding CBC RSS feed available at: http://www.sarahandleo.com/rsspage.htm Your current use of CBC content infringes CBC's intellectual property rights. This includes, without limiting, to use CBC headlines, lead and link to full stories, to publish and distribute CBC content without its authorisation. By using CBC intellectual property fraudulently, the Site and its owners are breaking the law and infringe upon CBC rights. In consequence, we are summoning you to remove the CBC RSS feed from the Site within 24 hours upon sending this email. If you do not make the requested modifications, we will have no alternative than to make a demand to the court to that effect without delay. CBC reserves all legal and fairness rights, including, without limiting, claims for damages and interests against those implicated in violation of CBC's rights. We thank your for your comprehension and cooperation. Sincerely yours, Maggy Larouche, Distribution Manager, New Media Copyright (c)2004 Sarah & Leo 2004-09-27 | (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) See also USA for more about RSS ** CHINA. I am against jamming or censorship but as an Amnesty International supporter I can assure Joe Buch that Maryanne is not fighting a private war against the Chinese; their human rights record and treatment of ethnic minorities and dissidents is unacceptable and shows little sign of improvement. Western governments have a long history of being inconsistent when dealing with one-party states who use torture to supress free speech and preserve their existence. As to balanced and fair reportage didn't the US used to have a "fairness doctrine"? If a company is putting on a channel that is basically one-sided propaganda should they not be pressured into offering their facilities to Chinese dissident and human rights group to put the other side of the picture? Access to the media depends too much on money, it should be equally open to all (Mike Barraclough, UK, Oct 3, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Glenn: What's all this talk about the "Chicoms" (as you call them)? The Cold War is over and we don't need a new one between the US and China. I suggest that Maryanne, who thinks that successive US governments have tried to "open up" China, should study history. Back in the 1940s Roosevelt sent a mission to the Chinese communist leadership with the intention of both understanding and cooperating with the future rulers of China. Unfortunately, America subsequently fell under the influence of the McCarthyite Cold-War warriors with the result that the best people in the State Department who wanted friendship with China were persecuted and hounded out of office. Famously, when Premier Zhou Enlai on one occasion tried to shake hands with a US delegate at an international meeting the American representative snubbed him. Not until the mid-1970s did a post-war US governments (ironically under Nixon) make a genuine effort to open relations with China. Until then all meaningful political and trade ties between the two nations were blocked by the US side, not by the Chinese. As for China's human-rights practices, including those involving the media, please remember that human-rights, like economic development is a gradual aspirational process. Progress doesn't happen overnight, nor even in one or two decades. America didn't manage to achieve Black civil rights until the 1960s and 70s. Moreover, I doubt if the Chinese are impressed by America's human-rights record in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay where, as we know, torture is endemic. Trust is a two-way street and so is education. If America and China are to live together as equals (and equality is the only reasonable relationship) they must learn about each other and neither should attempt to impose their own way of life on the other. In the past China had its fill of imperialism. Don't expect it to bow down now to anything smacking of a new-style cultural imperialism! (Roger Tidy, UK, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They are Chinese and are Communists, thus ``Chicoms`` (gh) ** CHINA [non]. CRI staff meet with listeners in Italy: See CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES below ** CHINA [non non]. October 3: Aside from 15260-Sackville and 17490- direct, two other CRI frequencies in English, both from China, were heard at 1300: 11900 which was good, and 11980 at fair-to-poor strength (Joe Hanlon in New Jersey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11900 and 11980 are often OK here too, intended for Asia/Pacific (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. Note in the below that Cuba will be staying on DST of UT -4 all winter this year! As for jammers, we know they are at the absolute top of the priority list, far more important than broadcasting actual programming or conditioning the air (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Might this make it hard to keep both their SW services and jammers on the air (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) BLACKOUTS BELEAGUER CUBANS; CASTRO DECLARES ENERGY CRISIS Chicago Tribune Oct 4 MANICARAGUA, Cuba - It's early afternoon in this sweltering town, but air conditioners are off, the lights are out and stereos are silent. Like much of Cuba, Manicaragua is suffering through one of the lengthy blackouts that have plagued this island nation in recent months, setting residents on edge, fanning discontent and forcing Cuban President Fidel Castro to take to the airwaves to cool tempers. "We have a crisis," Castro said last week during a national television broadcast to address the energy shortages. The 78-year-old leader said there was no quick fix for Cuba's antiquated and problem-plagued electrical grid but pledged to significantly boost the island's electrical output. Power failures are nothing new in Cuba but they have intensified in recent months and changed life in large ways and small. More than 100 factories are being temporarily closed to save electricity. The work and school day is being shortened by 30 minutes. Daylight savings [sic] time is being kept through the winter months so students will not have to study in the dark if a blackout hits during the morning hours [??? Actually, this means it will stay dark later in the morning than without DST, tho the effect is far less severe than in the Temperate Zone, as we are suffering thru ``late`` sunrises, worst in October. Either the writer or the Cubans don`t know what they are talking about --- gh]. Streetlights also are being dimmed, and air conditioners are being turned off during peak hours to conserve energy. In Manicaragua, a town 175 miles southeast of Havana set amid lush rolling hills and renowned for its world-class tobacco, one of two local banks and its only currency exchange shop are closed during the blackouts. The local photography shop can't print photographs without power. Restaurants can't serve ice cream or offer croquetas, a popular fried snack in Cuba. Some residents are sleeping on rooftops or in doorways to cope with the stifling heat, which turns the town's cement-block homes into ovens without functioning air conditioners or electric fans. Diplomats and observers say the blackouts lasting up to 12 hours a day represent a sharp challenge to the leadership of Latin America's only communist state. The last protest against the Cuban government occurred a decade ago when the island nation suffered a devastating economic crisis sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, then Cuba's main trading partner and the supplier of cheap fuel for its power plants. Experts say they don't expect public protests to erupt this time because many Cubans are better off than in the early 1990s, when the nation suffered chronic power outages and food shortages. Cubans also say they fear arrest or worse if they speak out against the government. "There is a lot of fear and political manipulation," said Elsio Alejo, a 29-year-old Manicaragua farmer. "We don't have a way to protest what is happening." But Castro's prime-time TV appearances indicates the government recognizes the gravity of the energy crisis, according to diplomats. Dressed in his familiar olive green uniform, Castro questioned top electrical officials during the broadcasts about the blackouts, which were attributed to inefficient power plants, faulty transmission lines and other technical problems. Castro also listened as officials explained how workers at the nation's most important power plant broke a key rotor during routine maintenance. The plant, which supplies 15 percent of the nation's power, has been shut since May. Cuban officials used Wednesday evening's broadcast to announce emergency conservation measures, though Castro acknowledged that some Cubans were probably not able to watch because of the power failures. Marisa Alejo was one of those who couldn't tune in. "There was a blackout," she said (via Hans Johnson, Oct 4, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. The reported Martí 19130 log was merely a harmonic 2 x 9565 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4919.45, Radio Quito with splatter signal, poor modulation 1020-1025 Oct 2 (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, NRD 535D - Icom R75 - Drake R 7 - ICF 5900w, DX Radio // Haiti Postal History: http://home.earthlink.net/~rlcw/000.html Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. R. Oriental, Tena, 4781.37, 1035-1045+ Sept 24, Spanish announcements, ads, IDs, HC music, Spanish ballads, DJ chatter. Poor in noise (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Nacional, Malabo, 6250.36, 2155-2301* Sept 24, Spanish talk, Afro-pops; 2259 time pips, NA and off. Weak, very poor in ute blob that always seems to be on this frequency (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.2, Radio Ethiopia, *0258-0340 Sep 28, IS with man giving ID prior to three gongs at 0300. Brief Amharic talk followed by instrumental music and Horn of Africa vocal by a man. A man spoke with brief music segments between items. After a tribal vocal selection, a man read the news at 0330. Poor to fair and slightly improving around 0330 (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Pirate Radio 603AM --- Listening to live feed now at http://213.204.48.205:8000 (Mike Terry, 1839 UT Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mike West now giving air checks, email mikewest @ rock.com I am trying to find out if they are actually offshore, they are on board a ship (Mike Terry, 1905 UT, ibid.) Not exactly offshore but it is supposed to be broadcasting from the MV Paul in a harbour at Mariahamn, Aaland Islands - see MW Report in the October Communication (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK moderator, ibid.) ** GEORGIA. 11805 was OFF AGAIN today (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Oct 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) v11910/v11805 Radio Georgia: v11805.26, Radio Georgia again on shortwave today, after weekend break (Sat and Sun off). Heard with strong carrier S=8 at 0610 UT, but only poor 5% modulation! Russian language could be recognized. English at 0630. But German at 0700-0726 UT noted with different offset on 11805.13 kHz. And at 0800 UT French started program on v11910.05 kHz, should be followed by English 0830 and Georgian at 0900-0926 UT too. All Oct 4th (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume, the note "Radio Georgia again on shortwave" after "weekend break" refers to the the quoted portion of the morning broadcasts on 11805v?. The "nominal" schedule shows a variety of other broadcasts throughout the day, in various languages, or have these all been monitored during the weekend? 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The discussion about Radio Georgia being "on" or "off" has been fixed mainly at the morning broadcasts to Europe on 11805 and 11910. These morning transmissions are scheduled to be repeats of programs produced and aired the evening before. Below is a copy of the "nominal" schedule of Radio Georgia, as it is published in Georgian on the station's website since a longer time; the times are adjusted to current UT. (The English version also available on the website does not show all transmissions). The last figure shows the tentative antenna beam added, based on HFCC registrations for these services from the late 1990s (transmissions from Georgia are no longer registered). As reported over the past months (and years), many of these broadcasts seem to be not or irregularly on the air. The reasons are subject to speculation --- cancelled transmissions due to budget saving, power supply or transmitter failures, non-propagation of actually aired transmissions... A. "Daily" transmissions 11805 0600-0630 Russian Eu daily 330 11805 0630-0700 English Eu daily 330 11805 0700-0730 German Eu daily 330 11910 0800-0830 French Eu daily 300 11910 0830-0900 English Eu daily 300 11910 0930-1000 English ME daily 230 11910 1000-1030 Georgian ME daily 230 4540 1515-1545 Armenian ARM daily ND 4540 1600-1630 Azeri AZE daily ND 6180 1630-1700 English ME daily 230 6180 1700-1730 Georgian ME daily 230 11910 1800-1830 German Eu daily 300 11910 1830-1900 English Eu daily 300 11760 1930-2000 English Eu daily 330 11760 2000-2030 German Eu daily 330 11760 2030-2100 Russian Eu daily 330 B. "Not daily" transmissions 6080 0500-0600 Georgian ME .t.t... 230 6080 0630-0800 Georgian ME .t.t... 230 6080 1600-1700 Georgian ME .....ss 230 6080 1730-1900 Georgian ME .....ss 230 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Bernd, The GEO sched is useful for checking, and particularly as you list the bearings nominally used. The sched I have just says "Direction to Oslo" (0600-0730 and 1930-2100) or "Direction to Munich" (0800-0900 and 1800-1900) etc. I guess that it is possible to deduce what these bearings might be though. But it would not surprise me to learn that their antenna(s) were not as precise as that, or that transmissions were omni-directional. Recently I wrote to others that the WRTH lists a 1 x 50 kW and 2 x 100 kW transmitters are at Dusheti --- same as TDP states. And R. Hara 4875 is listed with 100 kW. But there is something wrong on 11805 --- either they are using less than 100 kW or their antenna is not directional. And currently the audio hardly exists. Only with very careful listening is it possible to discern what the language is! Anyway, broadcasts resumed this morning on 11805 after a weekend break! I will try to remember to check if it now operates daily until next Friday. And I'll also try to remember to check 11910 transmissions too. A local QRN source previously prevented me doing this. And by the way, when I could copy some of their announcements I do recollect hearing frequency 6080 announced --- but I agree that it is stated in the sched as not daily. 73s from (Noel Green, UK, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hi Noel, one thought is that I would suspect the EVENING transmissions to be the "main" ones, rather than the repeats the next morning (which therefore might be cancelled any time). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) I wonder if the schedule on the web page [be] up-to-date. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) I doubt that it is up-to-date, but that is what is on the website, and at least some transmissions apparently are "matching". 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) Tonight (Oct. 4) I checked for Georgia at 1700 on 6180 - should be Georgian to ME according to sched - but only heard FEBA via Dubai in Oromo. At 1800 the sched says German should be on 11910 followed by English but the frequency was clear except for side-splash from Saudi Arabia [11915] and VOA in Kurdish [11905]. A check on 11760 and 11805 (the other listed GEO channels) reveals they are occupied by CRI in Chinese [11760] and Radio Liberty in Ukrainian [11805] with no trace of a co- channel. At 1930 there should be English on 11760. All I hear is CRI in French. On the other two channels used by GEO I find VOA in Serbian on 11910 while 11805 seems to be clear. Assuming it isn`t their night to be off air, then maybe their only broadcasts to Europe are in the UT mornings? 73s (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Yes, Noel. Never heard anymore these afternoon/night broadcasts in past decade, seen such a report in the DX press neither. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Would it be too much to ask R. Georgia to publish an accurate, up-to-date schedule of its own broadcasts? (gh) ** GERMANY [and non]. Deutsche Welle B-04 from Okt. 31, ENGLISH, shortwave portion only: SUEDASIEN ENGLISCH 0000-0100 6030 49 CLN TRINCOMALEE 7290 41 D WERTACHTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ZENTRAL- und OSTAFRIKA 0400-0500 6180 49 RRW KIGALI 9545 31 RRW KIGALI 9710 31 D WERTACHTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ZENTRAL- und SUEDAFRIKA 0500-0600 7285 41 D WERTACHTAL 9565 31 RRW KIGALI 12035 19 RRW KIGALI 15410 19 UAE DHABAYYA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTAFRIKA 0600-0700 7225 41 POR SINES 7225 41 D WERTACHTAL 11785 25 D WERTACHTAL 15410 19 RRW KIGALI ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EUROPA NAHOST/N.AF 0600-1000 6140 49 D JUELICH 0600-1000 21675 13 CLN TRINCOMAL./DRM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EUROPA 1300-1600 6140 49 D JUELICH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUEDASIEN 1600-1700 6170 49 CLN TRINCOMALEE 7225 41 CLN TRINCOMALEE 11695 25 D WERTACHTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OSTAFRIKA 1900-2000 6180 49 RRW KIGALI 11865 25 POR SINES 13780 22 D WERTACHTAL 17800 16 POR SINES ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ZENTRAL- und SUEDAFRIKA 2000-2100 12025 25 CLN TRINCOMALEE 13780 22 D WERTACHTAL 15205 19 D WERTACHTAL 15410 19 CLN TRINCOMALEE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTAFRIKA 2100-2200 9615 31 D WERTACHTAL 13780 22 CLN TRINCOMALEE 15410 19 RRW KIGALI [good for NAm] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OSTASIEN 2200-2300 6180 49 CLN TRINCOMALEE 6225 49 KAZ ALMA ATA [NOTE: There they go again --- 6225 is the transmission interfering with Lindblad 6224 ships in the Antarctic, dealt with in current MONITORING TIMES Closing Comments. Checking the entire DW B-04 schedule, 6225 also shows at 2300-2355 in Chinese, from Alma Ata [sic], and at 1300-1350 in Chinese from Novosibirsk --- gh] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUEDOSTASIEN 2300-0000 7250 41 CLN TRINCOMALEE 9815 31 CLN TRINCOMALEE 12035 25 RRW KIGALI NORDAMERIKA 2300-2330 9800 31 SAC SACKVILLE/DRM DRM-Programme für Europa mit Programmanteilen des Deutschen und Englischen DW-Programmes sowie des DW-Musikkanals. EUROPA DRM-TEST 1600-0659 3995 75 D WERTACHTAL EUROPA DRM-TEST 0700-1000 5975 49 D WERTACHTAL EUROPA DRM-TEST 1400-1559 6130 49 D WERTACHTAL EUROPA DRM-TEST 1000-1300 6140 49 D JUELICH EUROPA DRM-TEST 1600-1900 6140 49 D JUELICH EUROPA DRM-TEST 1200-1359 9655 31 D WERTACHTAL EUROPA DRM-TEST 0800-1359 15440 19 POR SINES EUROPA DRM-TEST 0900-1057 17700 16 POR SINES EUROPA DRM-TEST 1100-1155 17710 16 POR SINES EUROPA DRM-TEST 1400-1555 17800 16 POR SINES (via Alokesh Gupta, Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) The full schedule of DW B-04, in all languages, including satellite and FM relays may never appear in DXLD itself (gh) I think I reported some months ago a statement by Deutsche Welle director that Polish will be taken off shortwave. But not now, just the 1730 program will be no longer on 3995 (you know why: pschschsch) but on single 7240 from Sines only. Speaking about 3995, it is again to be used in AM, but only for a single hour: 0700-0800. No other news spotted at a first glance. Just as a reminder: The Romanes program (Sundays only 1130-1200 on 11905 and 15275, both Wertachtal) is actually produced by RBB Radio Multikulti. Otherwise the 199.360 MHz at Berlin is not what is usually considered to be UKW, i.e. FM, but DAB instead. And it is interesting to see that on satellites serving the Americas only bitrates of 128 kbit/s (instead of 192 kbit/s elsewhere) are used. No need for high quality audio there? Also interesting to see that the foreign language services are now stereo, too. Back in the Cologne days only German was in stereo, and it appears that the studios of the foreign language services were not stereo-capable at all. At least in the very last days, when such a studio was used (because the actual German service studio had been already dismantled), the German program was mono only. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Coatán, 4779.99, 0152-0215+ Sept 25, marimba music, local ranchera music, brief Spanish announcements. No ID heard. Weak, poor with deep fades and heavy ute QRM making reception very difficult. Much better reception at *1034-1105+ with NA at sign-on followed by talk in Spanish and local language. IDs, ranchera music, local religious music, religious talk in local language, 1103 IDs; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4799.75, R. Buenas Nuevas. 1205-1230 Oct 3. Children singing, marimbas, talk Spanish. Very good until sudden degradation of sigs after 1215. Neither independent SSB mode worked to eliminate CODAR this time (Rick Barton, AZ, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA [non]. Via DXTuner Venezuela: R. Cultural --- Following up on Dave Valko's report of a claim that this one was on, I checked 3300 and 5955: nothing heard at 1042 (Hans Johnson, Oct 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Have not heard Radio Cultural on 3300 but the Colombian Harmonic is 3300.17v (Bob Wilkner, FL, ibid.) ** HUNGARY. SZEKESFEHERVAR SITE TO CLOSE; SLOVAKIA TO RELAY BUDAPEST Gist of the enclosed message with additions by yours truly: Radio Budapest will no longer use the Székesfehérvár site as of Oct 31. At present only 6025 is on air from there, but it appears to me that this was always the case for at least ten years now. At present 6025 is on air thorough 0300-2300 but apparently with antenna switches in between, something they probably did not when still Kossuth instead of Radio Budapest programming was carried on 6025. At the same time Radio Budapest will start to use Rimavská Sobota, on 6025 0400-0500, 1700-1900 and 2000-2230 but also 1900-2000 on 11675 and 2230-2300 on 7160. This is especially interesting in view of the circumstance that this site was (and probably in fact still is) in danger of losing its at present only customer, Slovensky Rozhlas. As you will probably recall was RSO earlier considered by Radio Polonia as option (alongside T-Systems), but finally a new management decided to continue with the poor Leszczynka facilities. A couple of years ago already the third Hungarian shortwave site at Diósd was closed. I would have to search for the exact date, but I recall that during the very last years also 11 metre transmissions went out from there. This site was equipped with two 100 kW Brown Boveri transmitters from the eighties, just like Székesfehérvár. Interestingly, the transmitters at Jászberény, the only Hungarian shortwave site that will still be operational after Oct 30, are considerably older, from 1974, and they should be proprietary designs since they were manufactured at Budapest; I am not aware of any other SWBC transmitters built there. I understand that Jászberény will also have transmissions on 6025, at least the German programs on Sundays 1300-1400 (this is a special, long-running compliments programe called Gruß&Kuß) and 1500-1600 would have to come from there. Will IBB still use Jászberény, if they at present still do so at all? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Subject: [A-DX] Neues von Radio Budapest Hallo in die Runde, heute hat die Frequenzplanung von Radio Budapest den Wintersendeplan abgesegnet. Hier gibt es Neuigkeiten zu vermelden: Ab 31. Oktober wird der Senderstandort Szekesfehervar aufgegeben. Als Ersatz wird man die Sendeanlagen in Rimavska Sobota, Slowakei nutzen und zwar wie folgt: 0400-0500, 1700-1900, 2000-2230 UT auf 6025 kHz (150 kW, sonntags 2030-2100 Uhr: 250 kW) 1900-2000 auf 11675 kHz (250 kW) 2230-2300 auf 7160 kHz (150 kW) Deutsch kommt zu den bekannten Zeiten: Mo-Sa: 1830-1900 und 2030-2100 UT: 3975, 6025 kHz. sonntags: 1300-1400 UT: 6025, 12010 kHz 1500-1600 UT: 6025, 9735 kHz 1800-1900 UT: 3975, 6025 kHz (Andreas Volk, Muenchen, Germany, A-DX Oct 4 via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** INDIA. What is the reason for All India Radio, Hyderabad on 4800 kHz being on extended schedule? It's been on since it's scheduled sign-off time of 1744 UT and is still going past 2200, 3rd October (now under co-channel China). Also, earlier I noted a weather report in English on AIR Kolkata on 4820 kHz at 1740, after the Home News in English at 1730 and Hindi at 1735. Has there always been one at this time? Can't recollect hearing it before, on Kolkata or any other AIR regional station, but maybe I've not been listening carefully enough (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR 7030+/LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. V. of Indonesia: at present Jakarta is heard on offset 15149.83v kHz in English 0800-0900 UT towards Northern Pacific, Korea, Japan, China, etc., even a window towards Europe is open. VOI to zones 44, 45, 49, 50, 54NW, 58 with 250 kW at 30 degrees. Use lsb receiver mode due of IRIB Sirjan in Arabic on even 15150 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Oct 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15150, VOI, 1645 30 Sept.; S6 elevator music followed by English ID and website; Arabic announcements led to Spanish service with news at TOH; Clear signal, best here in several weeks (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, 41.64N 93.66 W, R8B 60 Meter Dipole, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3385, 1347-1400* Oct 4, RRI Kupang [Timor]. Continuous lagu hiburan music and other Indo pops to male announcer in Indonesian with brief talk and ID, then off quickly at 1400*. Poor-fair with local noise making copy tough; I had to review the recording to be sure of the Kupang ID. Thanks to Craig Seager in Australia for first noting this reactivation Sep 12 (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, Modified RA6790GM & R75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO / DSP-59+, 450 & 700 ft. Beverage Antennas, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. The huge list at http://www.alfalima.net/pirateinfo-adressen.htm of pirate station addresses is updated again, (almost every week) still looking for you to check or ad additional information/new stations. So... go to: http://www.alfalima.net/pirateinfo-adressen.htm witch can also be found at http://www.alfalima.net Greetings from (Alfred Zoer (Alfa Lima Int), Oct 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. THE BROAD REACH OF SATELLITE RADIO By SABRINA TAVERNISE Published: October 4, 2004 The personalities could not be more different. Bob Edwards, the radio host whose silky voice meant morning to millions of listeners across the country, was scheduled to begin broadcasting again this morning from a Washington, D.C., studio located an eighth of a mile from his former employer, National Public Radio. Just hours before, in a New York studio, the irreverent radio duo, Opie and Anthony, were due to start a new show, their first since 2002, when they were forced from their WNEW-FM program in New York City, after they broadcast a producer's live account, delivered via cellphone, of a couple who were purported to be having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. The new shows have one thing in common: They are being broadcast only on satellite radio, a new medium that became broadly available in the United States just three years ago. . . [From The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/technology/04radio.html Registration and DNA sample required to directly access the site.] (via Larry Will, dxldyg via DXLD) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/technology/04radio.html?ex=1097927129&ei=1&en=fa08b29e5ff69b9d (via Don Thornton, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Israel Radio - via phone --- To clarify what I said regarding: "I just called it from here in New York -- and created a list of the networks, with the phone menu to select each network:" The 'list I created' was in the text of the email. I didn't create a specialized menu to be used for the phone service. The menu that I listed in my previous email is the standard menu which you receive when you dial the phone number. I placed it in the email, so that you know what to press, even if you don't understand Hebrew (Doni Rosenzweig, NY, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) English at 2000 is reactivated on 11605; and no longer at 1900 as Bob Padula reports (Chris Hambly, Victoria, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) e.g. on AWR Wavescan Oct 10, Radio EDXP ** JAMAICA. Open up an MP3 player and enter http://war.str3am.com:7550/listen.pls [sic] for Power 106 in Kingston. Good audio, good music and there were extensive Ivan-related open, closed and damage announcements day and evening. The evening ``Dear Pastor`` show is a hoot (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, Net Notes, Oct NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** JAPAN. USUSUAL QSL CARD ("QSL disc") --- I have another unusual round QSL. This is not a QSL card but a QSL disc. The card is printed on the round paper which is the same size as CD. This QSL disc was issued in 1991 by FM Fuji, a local FM radio station in Yamanashi prefecture, where Mt. Fuji is located, 100 km west of Tokyo (the signal is audible also in Tokyo). On the back of the disc, date, time of reception and serial number are written in Japanese. [front and back jpgs attached] (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) O o, wait till Adrian Peterson hears about this!! (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Russian service was very strong this morning on 15245 kHz \\ 13760 too. Produced two spurious signals on 15172.15 and 15317.98 kHz today (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Oct 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Radio Korea International Calendar --- Hello PC Dxers, The photographs on this year's Radio Korea International Calendar can be downloaded as wallpaper for your personal computer, by clicking on the button below. Wallpapers will be updated once a month. http://rki.kbs.co.kr/src/callendar/calendar_1024.zip October calendar theme is: Jing (Large Gong) Jing is also referred to as Gum or Gum-jing. Akhakguabum, an ancient music book, describes it as Daegum with pictures. Jing is a big round plate made of brass, and has two small holes through which a strip is inserted. Jing makes a majestic but soft sound, as it is beaten with a stick wrapped in cloth. (Source: Radio Korea International website) 73 (Nino Marabello, Treviso, Italy, http://web.tiscali.it/ondecorte/ dxldyg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. New frequency 4158.0, 1720-1800* CLA, 30-09, Voice of Democracy (tentative) Kurdish/Arabic (tentative) talks, short interlude music - very weak and only audible in LSB due to CWQRM 12121 AP-DNK 4159.8, 1615(fade in)-1655*, CLA, 30-09, Voice of Independence, (tentative) Kurdish/Arabic (tentative) animated talks and songs, probably Kurdish ID at close: ``Era dengi Sarbakhoya`` improving to 24232 at sign off AP-DNK 6340.0, *0300-0340, CLA, 23-09, Kurdish, Sign on with a long martial song, ID by woman: ``Aira dangi Kurdestana Iraqa, dangi demokraty Kurdistan``, Call to prayer, same ID by woman at 0314, string music, Kurdish songs with drums, 0330 the woman talked with many mentions of Kurdistan, 33333 (Anker Petersen, SKOVLUNDE, DINAMARCA, AOR AR7030PLUS com uma longwire de 25 metros, @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, Radio Nationale Malagasy, *0255-0312 Oct 1, instrumental music opening followed by choral National Anthem. At 0300 opening ID and announcements by a man in Malagasy language. Marching band music followed by a female vocal and then some talk by a woman announcer. Poor to fair (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Re: ``Family Radio on 6020: This is via Talata Volondry (or Talata Volonondry, which version is the correct one?). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` The correct form is "Volononondry", the one which WRTH uses. See official local sources, e.g. http://www.assemblee-nationale.mg/fr/actual/loi97/L_97-020.html This is a common form in Malagasy, compare "Volo-no-no-ndry" with "Anta-na-na-rivo"(Antananarivo). ``What is actually this certain Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy broadcast that goes out via Talata V. 1630-1700 on 3215? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Quote from the WRTH winter update February 2004: RADIO FEON'NY FILAZANTSARA (Rlg) ADDR: P.O. Box 1741, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar. Phone: +261 22 21001 Fax: +261 22 33767. Email: flm @ wanadoo.mg Schedule February 2004 English Days Area kHz 1630-1655 daily MDG 3215mdc NOTES: Radio Feon'ny Filazantsara a domestic radio prgr, produced by the Lutheran Church of Madagascar. ("Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy" stands for "Lutheran Church of Madagascar") (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A: Radio Feon'ny Filazantsara, Lutheran World Federation, ex-Malagasy section of V. of the Gospel, Ethiopia... sources: hardcore-dx, sender+frequenzen (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 4895, 1427-1431, RTM-Kuching, Sarawak, Oct 1. Huge S9 +20 db signal with male announcer in Iban chatting with phone callers. Sentimental, romantic song by Malaysia's answer to Dean Martin at 1428 in Bahasa-Malaysian or Iban; more announcer and caller banter 1430 (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, Modified RA6790GM & R75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO / DSP-59+, 450 & 700 ft. Beverage Antennas, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. New frequency, 12015, 1625-1700, CLA, Wed 22-09, R. Minivan, via ? [Jülich ---gh], Dhivehi (Maldivian) talk by a man and a woman throughout the broadcast except for musical interludes of about ten seconds duration; the audio often disappeared for a few seconds due to bad feeder connection. *1700 QRM Voice of Russia in French on 12010 and RFI, Gabon in Portuguese 1700-1800 Until then 33233 (Anker Petersen, SKOVLUNDE, DINAMARCA, AOR AR7030PLUS com uma longwire de 25 metros, @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re: phone exchanges: Hauser writes: ``Would be nice if same were online for easy searching, and it probably is, somewhere.`` It is, try: http://www.justphonecards.com/travel/countrycode/country/mx.html (Qal R. Mann, Krum, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) But 449 is not on that list, not even as a cross-reference, tho it is in my Páginas Amarillas (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** MEXICO [and non]. MEXICO'S FORBIDDEN SONGS by Chris Summers and Dominic Bailey, BBC News Online, October 3 Can a musical genre be considered so dangerous as to be banned from the radio? Yes, according to the authorities in some parts of Mexico who have forced radio stations to take action in an attempt to stamp out the culture of "narco corridos", which they accuse of glamorising drug trafficking and gangsterism. . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm (via Terry L. Krueger, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Defence Forces Broadcasting Unit from Myanmar, noted with superb reception at 1410 UT on 5770. Really nice music with unusual strength! (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. BURMA: GOVERNMENT RADIO AVAILABLE LIVE ON THE INTERNET BBC Monitoring observes the main programme of Myanmar Radio available with a live audio stream accessible from the web site of the broadcaster's international television service, MRTV-3, at http://www.mrtv3.net.my The audio stream appears to work only with the more recent versions of Windows Media Player. The main programme is on the air in Burmese and English at 0030-0245, 0330-0830 and 0930-1600 gmt daily, 0245-0330 on Saturday/Sunday only. English is at 0200-0245 (0200-0300 Saturday/Sunday), 0700-0830 and 1430-1600 gmt. Myanmar Radio and Television is the state-run broadcaster in Burma. In 1989 the Burmese government announced that henceforth the official name of the country was to be Myanmar, which is the name now used by the United Nations. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 4 Oct 04 (via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. (not really?): "Heard German music 2050 UT with close down at 2058 without ID. Reasonable reception on 3280 kHz. Music German, language unidentified. NBC Windhoek?" ggnnnrkx, would be new frequency, new close-down time, new time for German broadcast on SW. My guess: a Dutch pirate on 1640 x 2 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON, English broadcast to Europe 2000-2300 was back on 15120 (sat+sun) instead of 17800. They do not really settle to one of these really, but that doesn't matter anyway as winter is approaching with fade-outs in the evenings on both 16+19m. The other languages are very irregular on 7255, 9690, 11770. Doesn't matter also, as the audio is usually terribly distorted (except one evening last week...). (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When on 15120, VON also clashes with reactivated Cuba before 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. VIETNAMESE NEWS SHOW TAKES BREAK By Judy Gibbs Robinson, The Oklahoman, Wed September 15, 2004 http://newsok.com/article/1317209/?template=entertainment/main Oklahoma's first Vietnamese-language television program will disappear from the airwaves for four months but will return in February bigger and better, producer Donny Ho said Tuesday. The four-month break will allow Ho to make a preplanned trip to Hong Kong and to develop new program segments to expand CSNN Asian News to a full hour. "We're just basically taking a vacation right now. The first season ends this Saturday, but the second season will start in February," Ho said. Ho began producing CSNN Asian News in February. Since then, the half- hour program has aired every Saturday at noon on PAX TV, broadcast channel 62 and Cox Cable channel 17 in Oklahoma City. At the beginning, Ho bought six months worth of airtime, and co-anchor Diana Ngo gave him a three-week commitment. "The concept was so new and so novel. I didn't know how long it would last," Ngo said. "We were a little bit scared. We didn't know what's going to happen." In the months that followed, the program built a loyal audience, but securing regular advertisers has proved harder, said Ngo, who majored in advertising at the University of Oklahoma and is now a second-year law student at Oklahoma City University. "The advertising concept, to the Asian business, is kind of new. We kind of work through word of mouth. So they're a little skeptical about advertising, if it works," Ngo said. Ho said the program breaks even, which is acceptable because his goal is to give the Vietnamese a voice. "It's not so much about business. It's an Oklahoma City Vietnamese community deal," he said. Ngo and co-anchor Nghi Le both volunteer their time to CSNN, which stands for Cuoc Song Nhay Nay, Vietnamese for "Today's Life." They deliver local, national and international news entirely in Vietnamese with English subtitles. Mixed in with the news are community announcements, fables, proverbs and a few jokes. Ngo said the program is a way to keep Vietnamese culture and traditions alive while providing a bridge between the Asian and non- Asian communities. "There's that awareness of how important it is for younger generations to keep their culture and language and yet assimilate into the mainstream community as well. Both are very important," she said (NewsOK via DXLD) Was at noon CT Saturdays ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4960, 1439-1530, Catholic Radio Network, Vanimo Oct 1. Strong signal 1/2 hour past local sunrise, with usual contemporary Christian music. Noted continuous religious music to 1530 after reviewing recording; no announcements, IDs, or typical R. Vatican IS at top of hour, so presumed. CRN was still in with poor audio at 1530, 1-1/2 hours past sunrise. Best on West Beverage (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, Modified RA6790GM & R75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO / DSP-59+, 450 & 700 ft. Beverage Antennas, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 4835.47, R. Marañón, Jaen, 1025-1040+ Sept 24, Spanish talk, OA music, Spanish pops, canned ID, adstring, rooster crows. Poor in noise. Have not seen these guys reported lately. 4856.16v, R. La Hora, Cusco, 1005-1015+ Sept 25, Spanish talk, ID, OA folk music, good. Drifted down from 4856.16 at 1005 to 4855.9 by 1015. 5019.93, 0110-0133* Sept 25, religious recitations, local religious music, Spanish religious talk by YL; 0131 closing ID announcements, NA. Weak, poor with splatter from Cuba on 5025 making reception difficult. 5939.3, R. Melodía, 0915-0950+ Sept 25, continuous Spanish talk, 0931 adstring, IDs. Good strength but poor reception due to adjacent channel splatter. 6188.03, R. Oriente, Yurimaguas, 1040-1050+ Sept 24, OA music, DJ chatter, canned ID, adstring; good. 6536.1, Rdif. Huancabamba, 0100-0201* Sept 24, Spanish talk by YL, ID, OA folk music, phone talk. Fair signal but some deep fades (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re the previous report of 4825, La Voz de la Selva using the slogan ``LVS Distrital``, it now becomes clear that this was a misunderstanding, since a letterhead is reproduced in Oct NASWA Journal QSL Report, with very large letters at the bottom: ``LVS...Digital`` ! This was a verification letter dated 12 de julio de 2002 to George L. Glotzbach, Santa Fe, NM 87508. We seriously doubt there is anything ``digital`` about its mode of transmission on FM, OM or OT, but hey, what a buzzword! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGST) ** POLAND. OM Maciej hat nun die vollständige Sendung um 1400 UTC als MP3 ins Netz gestellt: http://sq5ebm.luftbrandzlung.org/completeBlyskawica26092004_1400utc.mp3 und einige kleinere Teilrecordings: http://sq5ebm.luftbrandzlung.org/blyskawicaCallsign260904.mp3 http://sq5ebm.luftbrandzlung.org/blyskawica26092004.mp3 http://sq5ebm.luftbrandzlung.org/blyskawica26092004b.mp3 Transmission consists of Warsaw Anthem + news from the Uprising (abt. 24-aug-44) + other music. During this day I noticed that recordings played were not the same at each transmission. All recordings come from Polish Radio Archives (T. M. Rösner, Germany, Sep 29, 2004 in A- DX via CRW 167 or is it 176, Sept 30, via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 9480, Radio Pacific Ocean 0640-0700* Oct 4. Very solid here in Arizona. Heard several IDs in Russian, "You are listening to Radio Pacific Ocean" by male announcer at 0646 and 0652, "Govorit..." Vocal music to 0657 with ID and YL announcer in Russian talking over musical background to abrupt close at 0659:30. SIO 555 (Rick Barton, Central Arizona, USA, Drake R-8, 30' R.W., Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SAIPAN. KFBS - Saipan B'04 [NOT IN EFFECT UNTIL OCTOBER 31] ---------------------- 15580 kHz 0800-0830 UTC Banjar (Indonesian dialect) 15580 kHz 0830-1130 UTC Indonesian 15580 kHz 1130-1200 UTC Sasak (Indonesian dialect) 11680 kHz 1230-1300 UTC Gorontolo (Indonesian dialect) 12120 kHz 1300-1400 UTC Vietnamese 12120 kHz 1400-1430 UTC Vietnamese/Koho/Ede/Hmong 12090 kHz 2230-2330 UTC Vietnamese 11580 kHz 0800-1400 UTC Mandarin (Chinese) 11650 kHz 0900-1100 UTC Russian 11650 kHz 1100-1130 UTC Mongolian Chi & Mongolian Halh 11650 kHz 1130-1330 UTC Russian 11650 kHz 1330-1345 UTC Udmurt/Tatar/Mari/Uzbek/Kazakh 11650 kHz 1345-1400 UTC Udmurt/Tatar/Chuvash/Ossetic/Kirghiz 9465 kHz 1400-1530 UTC Russian 9465 kHz 1530-1545 UTC Russian/Ukrainian/German 9465 kHz 1545-1600 UTC Russian/Ukrainian ******************************************* David L. Creel, Acting Dir. Phone: (670) 322-3841 Far East Broadcasting Co. Fax: (670) 322-3060 P. O. Box 500209 E-mail: saipan @ febc.org Saipan, MP 96950 USA http://www.febc.org ******************************************* (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare was talking about his frequencies when I tuned across 7465, Oct 3 at 1442 UT, mentioning 1386 and, I think, 702 in Europe; this was live since he gave a 10:42 timecheck, and went on to mention some SW frequencies in use at the moment, including 9475. Apparently word that WWCR replaced that with 7465 some months ago in the mornings has not yet reached him (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also USA WRMI ** SPAIN. 1359, RNE Madrid, 0556 Oct 4 UT, Announcements by man and woman in Spanish. Signal peaking to good readable level due to sunrise at the transmitter site (Mike Beu, Austin, Texas, Drake R8B and 70ft Terminated Delta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. 4989.9, R. Apintie, Sept 26 0633-0720. A night of delightful music with station ID at 0700. Fair (Turnick, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. 11910 harmonic, RNW Dutch via Hörby, Sweden, noted today in 0500-0600 UT time slot. Nominal 5955 kHz, 500 kW 190 degrees to zones 27, 28, 37N, 39NW (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 4, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. At least some of the RTI relays via WYFR are back, checked at 0208 UT Oct 5 on 5950 and much better here, 9680 in English; also 15440 was on at 2200 Oct 4 in Chinese but no 15600 in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 6130, 28.9 1630, Lhasa, med `Holy Tibet` på engelsk. // 4905 (god), 5240 og 7385 kHz. 3 SHN (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Oct 3 via DXLD) ** U K. REINO UNIDO – Cada vez mais os ouvintes de ondas curtas vão perdendo espaços importantes. Agora, foi a vez do Serviço Latino- americano da BBC ceifar da programação o espaço Circuito, onde eram respondidas as cartas e mensagens eletrônicas. O último programa ocorreu em 25 de setembro e foi acompanhado, em São João Evangelista (MG), pelo Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento. De acordo com ele, a apresentadora Eugénia Martinez fez questão de lembrar que, em muitos países da América Latina, ``não são mais vendidos aparelhos de ondas curtas``. (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. New head of BBC America --- Hilary takes helm at BBC America --- He will be responsible for the development and operations of BBC America, including bbcamerica.com, BBC America on Demand, as well as future digital channels and services. John Plunkett Monday October 4, 2004 The Guardian The man who introduced Graham Norton to US audiences and brought Jonathan Ross to the BBC has been named the new boss of BBC America. Former BBC executive Bill Hilary, who left his New York job as head of Comedy Central earlier this year, replaces Paul Lee moved to ABC in April. . . http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1319582,00.html (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. In August I suggested you look at RSS (Really Simple Syndication) newsfeed readers and focused on two products. There have been further developments. In a week`s time, I have an RSS feed running at trsc.com and news items are now appearing on the Web. Our intent is to distribute news and information that normally would only appear on one of our four Web sits and otherwise wait for a bulk mailing. That includes information about the SWL Festival. Lou Josephs, near Washington --- read his words of wisdom at his blog residing at http://www.myjamby.com/medianetwork/xml/rss.xml ---- has been a considerable help in answering questions and making some suggestions. In several conversations about the international broadcasters` use of the technology, Lou tells me that he only knows of the BBC using RSS newsfeeds. The small white letter with orange background buttons appear on the topical pages; there are at least two dozen specialty newsfeed buttons. I`m surprised there are not more broadcasters using RSS. Lou tells me the Voice of America could have been Avis, number 2 and trying harder, if management would only make a decision to turn on the feed. It is all in place. Between the BBG and the many ``voices`` --- in my opinion there should be only one voice --- the decision making now must be impossible and it is no surprise that no action has been taken. Since then, the second and third international broadcasters have surfaced with RSS feeds on the Web. Deutsche Welle hosts two English- language news streams. I implemented a RSS feed on WWCR last month. Kim Elliott tells me that an RSS feed just surfaced on Radio Free Asia http://rfa.org On http://trsc.com look for a how-to page with software links to readers for the Mac and the PC. Then either subscribe to http://trsc.com/rss.xml or look for an import file that may get you started with a number of links, including these broadcasters (Tom Sundstrom, NH, Net Notes, Oct NASWA Journal via DXLD) I`m afraid I don`t get it. Isn`t there already too much clutter on our computer and TV screens, and more news than we can possibly digest, already via other platforms, e.g. SW radio and web streaming? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA! ** U S A. A VOA transmitter was far off frequency and very disturbed on Oct 3. Music Time in Africa was starting at 1933 on 15197v, impossible to pin down, with heavy warble on carrier, and on modulation. Since nothing was on 15445, I suspect this Greenville transmitter was slightly mistuned. This continued past 2000, as I tried to notify VOA by E-mail, but never got any response. Rechecked in the 2100 hour, it was off, but rerechecked at 2157, same thing on 15197v, 2200 VOA sign-off, and carrier stayed on until 2203* warbling away even with no intentional modulation. Schedule is 1900-2200; Oct 4, 15445 was back on frequency, no 15197v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re VOA Magazine: The Benelux DX-Club receives 10 copies of the VOA Magazine as usual. A month ago the club has received 550 copies of that publication !!!! Five big postal sacs of 100 copies each and 5 envelops with 10 copies each. This really is wasting money (Henk Poortvliet, president of the Benelux DX-Club, Oct 2, HCDX via DXLD) This almost looks like the "use it or lose it" budget wasting I have seen and heard about in many government organizations. 73 (Mick Delmage, AB, ibid.) ** U S A. Oct 3 before and after 2200, WYFR Spanish was back on 15155; and noted after 2200, English on 11740. Both mostly music, hymns. Not found on any of the other nine or so scheduled frequencies during these hours. So power is back on at Okeechobee, but only two transmitters are back in operation so far. 15155 paused around 2150 for a Creation Moment with Jorge Zambrano, HCJB announcer, which threw me at first, supposing a new HCJB frequency. 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Family Radio was heard today (Oct. 4) on air via 9715 at tune in 0745 in English followed at 0800 by Spanish. Both language services seemed to be carrying normal programming --- for instance, "Creation Moment" was one item heard. The signal was slightly better than usual on this frequency, but may have been due to enhanced reception on the lower bands this morning. No other frequencies were heard and all were checked according to schedule. 5950 and 11530 were suffering from heavy QRM but all others clear. 73 (Noel R. Green [NW England], ibid.) Bandscanning 49 to 13 m around 1330 UT Oct 4, found WYFR running on three frequencies; English on 11830 // 17750 and Spanish on 15130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TAIWAN [non] ** U S A. Is WRMI carrying any WRN at all now, or is there any prospect for resuming? Not while they have Brother Scare on, even if time is available, because he is on the same satellite, and they can`t be retuning back and forth constantly to pick up WRN, Jeff White explains to me (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. World of Radio on WBCQ: 1247 was a download with better audio quality than phone feeds, which we are trying to avoid. Confirmed Sat Oct 2 at 2030 on 17495-CUSB, Sun Oct 3 at 0300 on 9330- CLSB, but replaced by something else UT Mon Oct 4 at 0100 on 9330- CLSB, as usual with no advance notice to us, nor do we yet know whether this be a permanent change; confirmed Mon 0430 on 7415 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. AFN new frequencies --- It`s time for an AFN search; AFN hasn't been on normal frequencies for ages, over two weeks. Of course, if someone has heard them on normal frequencies please let me know; maybe propagation is really bad (Robert Wise, Australia, Oct 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Still on 12133.5 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. ISLAMIC TALK FINDS A SPOT ON RADIO DIAL http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0410030230oct03,1,4704765,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed `Radio Islam,' the 1st daily English-language Muslim program in the U.S., hopes to mix serious issues and lighter fare By Geneive Abdo, Tribune religion reporter, October 3, 2004 Dressed in a long, white Islamic tunic, Altaf Kaiseruddin sat in front of a large microphone and greeted his last guest, who was calling in to the Chicago radio station from a cell phone. "Hello, hello," said Kaiseruddin. For a few anxious seconds, there was silence. Then the guest, a comedian named Preacher Moss, sounded a loud "Salaam aleikum!" the Arabic greeting meaning "Peace be upon you." Kaiseruddin breathed a sigh of relief through the microphone. "So tell us about your national tour, `Allah Made Me Funny.'" Such was the first program of "Radio Islam," which debuted Friday night to a limited audience on a small radio station, WCEV-AM 1450. As America's first daily English-language program about Islam, the show may never earn the ratings of shock-jock Howard Stern. But over time, "Radio Islam" hopes to raise serious issues--as well as make listeners laugh. In cities such as Detroit, with a large Arab and Muslim population, private stations for years have aired Muslim or Arab-sponsored programs in Arabic. But "Radio Islam," broadcast in English on a commercial station, stands apart for being accessible to a wider audience. "It is in English and this is what makes it the first," said Osama Siblani, publisher and founder of the Detroit-based newspaper Arab American News. Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, executive producer of "Radio Islam," said that the goal is to tell non-Muslim listeners things they often don't believe or want to hear: Islam does not condone terrorism; Islam is not at war with the West; and your Muslim neighbor is your friend. "Islam and Muslims are controversial topics. Everyone else is talking about them, and it is about time we speak for ourselves," Mujahid said. "We are not a fighting type of talk show. It will be a civilized conversation among neighbors, who may not agree." Dialogue will be a hallmark Listeners will find "Radio Islam" every day from 6 to 7 p.m. on WCEV, a mom-and-pop station whose call letters stand for "We're Chicago's Ethnic Voice." Created 25 years ago, the station reaches listeners in Chicago, the southwestern and western suburbs and parts of Indiana. Unlike many other religious radio shows, no preacher or guru will try to convert listeners or offer spiritual guidance. Instead, the hosts of "Radio Islam" will invite professors, doctors, Christians and Jews on the show for discussions. They want to inspire listeners to lift the taboo on revealing their true thoughts, negative or otherwise, about Islam. The program will also try to draw Muslims into debates about the faith. It intends to include Muslims from various ethnic groups, including Arabs and African-Americans. "It is so important for Muslims to discuss things among themselves," said Kamran Memon, a Chicago civil rights lawyer who will be one of the seven hosts. "What is happening now is that moderate Muslims talk to moderates. Muslim conservatives talk to conservatives. My hope is that Muslims from different ideological backgrounds will talk to each other." Mujahid, the executive producer, is president of SoundVision, a Bridgeview-based company that produces videos and other programs for teaching the Koran and Arabic. He said he decided to create a Muslim radio program several months ago and began searching for a commercial station that would put "Radio Islam" on the air. Building an audience The program director for WCEV, Lucyna Migala, whose father, Joseph, founded the station, said the show was a perfect fit. The station for many years has aired brokered programming in Polish, Arabic, Bosnian and a host of other foreign languages, including Gaelic. "We tend to be the ethnic public radio station," she said. For now, SoundVision is providing the funds for "Radio Islam." But Mujahid predicts that advertisers will buy air time once the program becomes known and builds an audience. Mujahid is negotiating with commercial stations in five other cities to get the program on the air, he said. As for "Allah Made Me Funny," Preacher Moss said the comedy show is on a 30-city tour; it will be at Zanies in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday. The comedian told the hosts he was only 5 foot 5, then added the punch line: "Allah made me funny because he definitely didn't make me tall." Belief that media is biased His appearance on the show came at the end of nearly an hourlong exchange between Kaiseruddin and two guests in the studio and another who called in about what they believe is bias in the American media about Islam and Muslims. Aminah McCloud, a professor in the Islamic studies program at DePaul University, said the media bias was part of a larger atmosphere in the United States that encourages discrimination against Muslims. "For the first time the [U.S.] government has given a license to people to attack others based on their religion," she said. The press in the United States pretends to be objective but often is biased, particularly when it concerns articles about Islam, said Steve Rendall, a representative from the national watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. "You rarely hear people condemn these articles or say things to defend Muslims," he said, "because the media is owned by corporations who have their own considerations." Migala said she expects "Radio Islam" may encounter some flak from callers. "Because this is in English [not Arabic], there is a greater chance for controversy. There are people who are haters. Let's be honest," Migala said. "But still, they might learn something." Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. THIS IS AMERICA – Media in the United States, Part 2 http://www.voanews.com/SpecialEnglish/PrintArticle.cfm?objectID=A60C1D77-7FCF-4DF8-9612D2893708B599&title=THIS%20IS%20AMERICA%20%96%20Media%20in%20the%20United%20States%2C%20Part%202 (via Art Blair, DXLD) ** U S A. GRASS-ROOTS RADIO ALLIANCE RECEIVES COMMERCE GRANT By Ellen G. Lahr - Berkshire Eagle Staff GREAT BARRINGTON [MA] -- The Berkshire Community Radio Alliance has landed a grant of just over $25,000 to purchase equipment for a new low-powered FM station that must be up and running by Oct. 25. . . http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~2443042,00.html (via Pete Kemp, DXLD) ** U S A. There's a whole new look this week at WRGB (Channel 6) in Schenectady, as the station plays down its call letters (the oldest still in use on any TV station in the country) and plays up its network affiliation with a blue-and-white "CBS 6" identity. WRGB also has a new website up and running at http://www.cbs6albany.com And we're following the doings over at public radio WBUR-FM (90.9 Boston), where the Boston Herald reports that licensee Boston University has asked attorney general Tom Reilly to investigate allegations of mismanagement by WBUR's controversial general manager, Jane Christo. Christo has always been a controversial figure, especially among WBUR staffers, and now that controversy has boiled over with allegations - spurred in part by the fight over WBUR's proposed sale of its Rhode Island licenses - that she improperly hired close family members. Stay tuned... (Scott Fybush, NY, Northeast Radio Watch Oct 4 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. R. Amazonas, 4939.67, *0931-0945+ Sept 24, opening Spanish ID announcements, 0933 NA, 0935 State anthem, 0937 lively LA music; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. v9779.66, Radio Sana`a usually signing off mornings at about 0650 UT, Oct 4th (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. DX Target: RADIO VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AN ALTERNATIVE VOICE FOR ZIMBABWE --- By Richard A. D'Angelo The African continent has long been known for political instability. As such, it has been home to several clandestine radio stations over the years. In Zimbabwe, Radio Voice of the People has been providing an alternative to the state-controlled electronic media. Background The United Kingdom annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored the white minority in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the United Kingdom did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country, then called Rhodesia. United Nations sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence, as Zimbabwe, in 1980. Robert Mugabe, the nation's first Prime Minister and president since 1987, has been the country's only ruler and has dominated the country's political system since independence. A chaotic land redistribution campaign began in 2000 causing an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, Mugabe rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reëlection. Opposition and labor groups launched general strikes in 2003 to pressure Mugabe to retire early but security forces continue their brutal repression of regime opponents. The Country and its Economy Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia. Its capital city is Harare. Its approximately 13 million residents enjoy a tropical climate, which is moderated by altitude. The rainy season runs from November to March. The country is mostly high plateau with higher central plateau and mountains in the east. The major minerals are coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals. There is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities. The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, and a soaring inflation rate. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the International Monetary Fund has been suspended because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 59% in 1999, to 60% in 2000, to over 100% by yearend 2001, to 228% in early 2003. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has nearly destroyed the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs. The Station Radio Voice of the People ("VOP") is a registered communications trust whose programs are broadcast to Zimbabwe every evening on short wave from the Radio Netherlands relay at Madagascar. The VOP was established in 2000 as an alternative voice for Zimbabweans in the days prior to the last parliamentary elections. VOP seeks to promote a free and democratic society that will empower Zimbabweans by encouraging dialogue, tolerance, and the sharing of ideas by people from diverse backgrounds. VOP is broadcast in Zimbabwe's three main national languages (Shona, Ndebele, and English) from 1900 to 2000 hrs (Zimbabwean time) every day (this is equivalent to 1800 to 1900 Universal Time). Program content includes ideas and information designed to foster the social, political, and cultural development of the country. VOP journalists work to present issue-driven (rather than event-driven) news and programs and to provide clear, complete, and detailed information. VOP journalists are encouraged to establish networks with both government and civil society organizations in order to seek balanced viewpoints. Production teams monitor all the station's broadcasts, and criticism from listeners is taken seriously. A board of trustees leads VOP on policy matters, while day-to-day operations are overseen by a full-time executive director who is in charge of broadcast journalists and other support staff. In August 2002, Radio Voice of the People suffered a major setback when its offices and studios were completely destroyed in a bomb blast perpetrated by unknown assailants. However, the station recovered quickly and is now back on the air. The programming continues to improve since they went back on air in January after the offices and studios were bombed. The station had to start over. It has upgraded its recording equipment and improved the quality of the signal in 2003 proclaiming to be "competing favorably with other broadcasters on Short Wave." However, the station continues to face challenges presented by its poor telecommunications network. Among the issues VOP has covered in its programs lately are the recent mass "stay aways" and their impact on Zimbabwe's political and economic situation. The station has interviewed trade unionists, opposition parties, economists and ordinary people. There have also been interviews and discussion programs on issues such as national youth service, reflections on 23 years of self rule, Commonwealth initiatives, corruption, shortage of fuel, economic decline, Zimbabwe's electoral system, civic education in general and problems affecting women and children among other issues. The station says they would be very happy if listeners could make an effort to listen to some of its programs and give them comments and views with regard to programming policy, issues covered, presentation style and other things that will help them to improve their productions. Radio Voice of the People is on air every day on short wave in the 41-meter band on 7,120 kHz in winter and 7,190 kHz in summer from 1800 to 1900 UT. The station was heard in North America for its morning transmission, which the station director says they plan to commence again in the near future. Radio Voice of the People has been a sporadic verifier of listener reception reports. However, recently replies have come electronically from the station director. If you have an outstanding report or if you live in a region where VOP propagates, you can try sending postal reports to: Radio Voice of the People John Masuku, Director P. O. Box 5750 Harare Zimbabwe Alternatively, you can send reports electronically through the following e-mail addresses: voxpopzim @ yahoo.co.uk and jjwpmasuku @ telco.co.zw As always, remember to send in those exotic Radio Voice of the People logs to Edwin Southwell for the Shortwave Logbook. Of course, those extremely rare QSL verifications should be sent to Mark Hattam for inclusion in the QSL Report column. Good luck with this DX Target (Rich D`Angelo, World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ UN INCONTRO CON RADIO CINA INTERNAZIONALE Domenica 3 ottobre si è tenuto presso il Ristorante Cinese Sofia di Milano un incontro fra una delegazione di Radio Cina Internazionale in visita in Italia ed un gruppo di suoi radioascoltatori fra cui chi vi scrive. Un primo invito era giunto durante il passato mese di agosto e poi tramite e-mail e telefonate si era fissata la data e l`orario definitivo dell`avvenimento.: domenica 3 ottobre alle ore 14.30 Puntualmente mi presentavo al Ristorante Sofia e subito trovavo la delegazione degli amici cinesi composta dalla Signora Chai Jun, vice direttrice del Centro per l`Europa Occidentale e l`America Latina, la Signora Jin Jing, direttrice della redazione italiana, e il Signor Shian Delai corrispondente dalll` Italia della radio cinese. Incontravo anche i vari amici presenti vale a dire Roberto Cattucci di Genova, Paolo Morandotti di Milano, l`Assistente al Segretario Generale dell`EDXC, Giovanni Borroni di Lecco, Michele D`Amico di Milano, uno dei miei tre abituali lettori dalle pagine del BCL News, Luisella Bogettino di Torino, Ermando Cazzaniga di Milano, Marco Codognotto di Genova, Aldo Teti di Torino e i coniugi Repetto di Savona. Tutto il mondo è paese ed i nostri amici cinesi subito ci mettevano a nostro agio facendoci accomodare a tavola e davanti a succulenti specialità della cucina cinesi si dava inizio alle discussioni. Apriva gli interventi la Signora Chai Jun che ci illustrava brevemente la storia di Radio Cina Internazionale, nata col nome di Radio Pechino, e oggi attiva in 38 lingue e 5 dialetti cinesi per 378 ore al giorno e oggi la terza emittente internazionale al mondo come lettere all`anno ricevute, circa 3000!!! Toccava poi alla Signora Jin Jing, la giovane direttrice del servizio italiano, illustrarci l`attuale situazione del programma italiano che nel prossimo 2005 compirà i suoi primi 45 anni. Nata nel 1960 con 3 redattori ed un`ora al giorno di programmazione oggi la redazione italiana di Radio Cina Internazionale conta 16 membri fra cui due cittadini italiani e realizza due programmi di un`ora sull`onda corta emessi da trasmettitori ubicati nella Repubblica Popolare Cinese ed uno di un`ora sull`onda media tramite il relay di Radio Tirana.. Jin Jing metteva poi a nostra disposizioni vari materiali informativi , quali un opuscolo con le schede di trasmissione un pieghevole con la presentazione dello spazio web di Radio Cina Internazionale, la prima web cinese in lingua italiana, e il primo numero del giornale INSIEME che d`ora in poi illustrerà a noi ascoltatori il lavoro della redazioni e che senza dubbi vi consiglio di richiedere al più presto agli amici pechinesi. Toccava poi a noi ascoltatori: tutti facevamo una autopresentazione e poi partivamo con le domande ed i suggerimenti. Io ad esempio chiedevo di cercare di fare il possibile per evitare, durante i mesi invernali, la sovrapposizione fra il programma in onde medie ed il primo programma in onde corte, Paolo Morandotti chiedeva ci cercare di evitare la sovrapposizione fra il secondo programma in onde corte e quello dei servizi italiani di Radio Budapest e Romania Internazionale, tutti consigliavamo di dare maggior spazio ai programmi culturali e all` interno dei notiziari alle notizie cinesi ed asiatiche rispetto a quelle italiane ed europee. Si proseguiva con una simpatica lotteria che assegnava a noi tutti un simpatico ricordo della giornata e si chiudeva con le fotografie di gruppo e a quella della maglietta di Radio Pechino di fine anni `80 da me indossata! Ci si salutava dandoci appuntamento al prossimo incontro e dai miei lettori non posso che congedarmi con l`invito ad ascoltare e far ascoltare il servizio italiano di Radio Cina Internazionale (Roberto Pavanello, BCLNews.it via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ REDUCING AM BANDWIDTH Re 4-151: Scott, I can tell you we have been discussing this since our WLW, WOR IBOC tests. It opened a lot of eyes. And the idea was then that even if IBOC would not work out then we should cut back our AM audio bandwidth. With a DX 398 I actually received WOR good enough to verify in my bedroom when I lived at the WLW site. I nulled out WLW with the internal loop stick antenna. I was 800 feet from a 50 kW signal 10 kHz away receiving WOR. I was at Lunch with Jeff and some other industry radio people in Quincy, Illinois, this week when this decision was made to finally move forward with this. As Jeff said in his memo, we fought this battle for wide band audio 15 years ago and thought we did something when we only cut the Bandwidth to 10 K when the receiver manufacturers wanted 5 kHz. Well, the manufacturers went ahead and built 4.5 k radios in response to complaints from consumers about interference and we continued to blather away with wide audio and create interference to ourselves only to be received by an ever shrinking percentage of radios capable of receiving the 10 k audio we were transmitting. It took someone from outside the normal radio industry to look beyond the forest to see the trees and figure out we were all delusional on the 10 k audio argument. If you look at almost any other radio service, it is designed to protect adjacent channel services. I wonder if we had done this 15 years ago if IBOC would have ever gotten a toe hold? Since Ibiquity, or their predecessor actually, was able to take the existing NRSC AM mask and make the current IBOC system fit. I can tell you first hand this was not a preemptive move to prepare for IBOC. I actually suggested we might not want to do this for that very reason and that if we clean up the AM band it would make the IBOC hash even all that more noticeable. So no conspiracy here. Just reality. I for one am curious to see how this works out (Paul Jellison, Denver, Clear Channel, NRC-AM via DXLD) That won't work on FM..... ]:) Well a LOT of the cheap home consumer radios the cheap portables and some of the cheap clock radio are now using the Toshiba TA2003 family of a radio on a chip. This is a WIDE AM section. If you have one of these radios and try to listen to the analog part of a station running IBOC you can't. Some of the automobile manufacturers are making AM sections that can only be described as defective. The AM section in a rental Colorado truck was so narrow and distorted it was just unpleasant to listen to. I've heard this in quite a few of the GM products. The 2004 Dodge Ram truck had the same problem with another one too. IF there was ANY and I mean ANY powerline noise the AM section wouldn't work. The audio got buzzy and so distorted as to be unusable. Someone would have come up with a scheme to remove money from us. Things would have worked if receiver standards had been M A N D A T E D. Well yes and no. NRSC mask is a fraud and whatever they had proposed was never intended for a full warp 9 digital signal stuck out in the sidebands. I was listening to a few of the CC stations that were just muffled up. On the VERY wideband Zenith High Fidelity, the audio DID NOT sound as good as good audio down a phone line. The upper end sounded edgy and funny. I noticed the same thing on the HQ-180A which has max 3 kilohertz audio. It took 2 kilohertz audio for this nastiness to go away. Over on Radio-Tech on broadcast net, someone said that a brick filter at 5 kilohertz sticks the artifacts right in the 3 or so kilohertz range. I tried the 1 kilohertz mode but this made the audio too muddy to listen to....]:) The reason I mentioned the phone line, I called into Coast to Coast, and the program audio they sent down the line sounded better than what I was hearing on the 5 kilohertz stations. HMMMM.... (Powell E. Way, III, SC, ibid.) I can understand the need, but I really think that broadcasters need not dumb down the audio to try to conform to a non-standard that receivers manufacturers have given us. Jeff's idea is not new. Those of us who have run narrow band FM on VHF and UHF have known this for years. Perhaps it's my work in HIFI and studio recording that has my ears in tune to higher frequencies, but the 5 kHz audio sounds simply awful ... and I would not listen to a station that uses it. Case in point, there are times when I'm up very early in the morning, and while waking up and having breakfast I will often listen to Coast to Coast on either a Sony ICF-2010, GE Super Radio III, or the in dash car radio. When I'm up in Michigan I'll listen to CFCO-630, a music station. If WIMA-1150 is having problems, I'll try to find someone else that is running the program. When I have run across a station running Coast, and I have to reduce the bandwidth to eliminate splatter, I find that I have a very hard time understanding what is being said. Personally I have to force myself to listen sort of like how you would have to force yourself to understand someone with a very thick foreign accent. That brings to me listener fatigue. When I was doing work for CHYR radio in Leamington, I recall how disappointed the GM was with his new in dash AMAX radio. Sure enough, his new radio in his Buick Riviera had less fidelity, selectivity, and sensitivity than a mono radio found in my stock mono in dash radio in my 1981 Ford Fairmont. I also remember talking to Ford in 1983 when the station I was working at was hearing comments from the public about poor radios. According to a Ford engineer, the reduction in bandwidth of the radio was not due to AM splatter issues, but to eliminate computer and electrical noise generated by the vehicle! In my humble opinion, it's not us (you and I) as the engineers of stations that have dealt the public a wrong, it's the receiver manufacturers. If the public and engineers cannot change the receiver manufacturers` attitude, then I think the solution is for AM broadcasters to take their business to another band conducive to high quality audio signal recovery. The word that I keep hearing is "marketplace decision". Translated, that mean you make two systems of transmission and whatever the public likes the best will be new system. That said, I would urge the broadcast community to leave the AM band alone as it sits today. But since most of the corporate broadcasters, Clear Channel included, commented on their need to provide good local service, look at using UHF spectrum to deliver a localized digital signal. In Barry's broadcast list, Dana Pupolo floated the idea about TV channels, and in specific some area between channel 4 and 5. Those of us who know and DX the TV bands can tell you that summer/fall propagation would cause issues. I believe that radio broadcasters could use UHF channels to build a very robust local signal, semi- immune from [DX] propagation, and would be idea for inclusion into sets as a new radio broadcast band. I believe that it would be best suited in channels 14 to 18, where it would provide a fairly decent platform for digital radio use, and also help the land mobile guys below channel 14 by lower power levels and TX noise. (Just ask the folks in Detroit about DTV to land mobile noise). Trying to run digital on AM is a challenge as we have flogged over and over again in various lists. Running digital in the UHF band is a no brainer. Based upon my studies with DTV, a narrower radio carrier could work well in a localize service area. For example, you know what happens when 1510-Nashville, 1520-Buffalo, 1530-Cincinnatti, 1540- Waterloo all run digital. You all lose in your local service area from interference from each other. But all four of these stations could coexist on 471.00 without any problem. Again, I understand your/Jeff's thoughts, but by dumbing down the audio you're going to drive me and a lot of other people away from your stations. IBOC will not bring me back simply because it's going to be years before your can deliver me the product reliably. Also, there are stations that I listen to that by iBiquity's own admission I will not be able to listen to because the signal strength will be too low for the digital to decode. Therefore, I will go out on a limb and say that 5 kHz bandwidth will be a failure. What you should be looking at is putting your digital in the UHF band. Besides the obvious benefit of serving the local area, you could then also stream other CC stations from outside markets on the local transmitter. For example, in Lima, your WIMA-DM (digital modulation) carrier could also stream WTVN and WLW, which people in Lima listen to (for now). Or bits could be placed in the stream to allow the receiver to retune to another frequency of another CC station or same format as the mobile listener leaves a service area. Anyway, that's my thought and I'll leave to go do something more productive --- like cleaning the garage |grin| (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) The stock radio in my 1999 Riviera is poor for AM and suffers from ignition noise. On FM it suffers from mediocre selectivity. Poor car radios is one reason that AM suffers. Many listeners would simply tune away from AM when things get a bit noisy and weak. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) EM RADIATION LOCATES RADIO RECEIVERS --- Resources Zone: R&D by Steve Bush Thursday 30 September 2004 Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=37541&liArticleTypeID=2&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=109&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1 University of Missouri-Rolla researchers are locating radio receivers from a distance by listening to electromagnetic radiation leakage. To do this, RFI specialists Dr Todd Hubing and Dr Daryl Beetner are capturing receiver leakage, and slowing it down to audio frequencies for an operator to listen to. "Pre-processing the signal is key to enhancing the sound of a particular receiver," said the university. Much as the pair would like to automate the recognition process using a neural network or something similar, they said, the human brain makes a fine ad hoc signal processor, much as it did in the early days of sonar. Data is slowed 100 times. "There's way too much information to play it back in real time," said Hubing. "Right now we're capturing 100ms of data and taking ten seconds to play it back." Speed is of the essence, as the aim is to build something that can identify improvised road-side bombs - which are apparently often detonated by wireless doorbells and other simple radio links. "Initially the researchers plan to develop a device that a passenger in the first vehicle of a military convoy could use to listen to, identify and locate radio receivers," said the university. http://www.umr.edu (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) What in the world are they talking about --- detecting local oscillators, as in catching licence fee scofflaws? If so, why don`t they say so (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ELF Reading about the US Navy's just closed 76 Hz facilities: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/elf.htm Here you can see what the antenna of the Wisconsin station looks like: http://www.peacenorth.org/pics/ELF20030809/p5170107.jpg http://www.peacenorth.org/pics/ELF20030809/p5170114.jpg ...and here what appears to be one of the grounded terminals: http://www.peacenorth.org/pics/ELF20030809/p5170108.jpg But this is not the end of ELF since another station exists near Murmansk, used also for geophysical research (did I forget some important detail? ah-yes: it's on 82 Hz): http://www.vlf.it/zevs/zevs.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MOONSHINE Glenn, You didn't get all of the information when you posted that exchange in DXLD 4-151 about the full moon. Also, you could have listed the link to my web page http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/mooness.html where the article I wrote can be read. Below is an email I received on the night when the reflected sunlight from the moon was very bright. Note that Bill had been trying to hear a certain LW station for "15 years" without success. He finally caught the station on the night when the moon was bright and full. Although Bill wasn't referring to shortwave, his catch still is significant. The problem with the entire discourse is that certain individuals who criticize the theory seem to demonstrate with there comments that they haven't gotten the point. It's not the moon that causes the better reception, it's the sunlight that is reflected from the moon and the sunlight's effect on the ionosphere during darkness. Reflection of light is used in many situations in our world. Why can't light reflected from the moon at night be just as beneficial as the actual light from the sun during the daylight hours? It's not as intense as actual daylight, but its effect at night on the ionosphere although subtle, may change the ionosphere anyway. When I did the "research" over 15 years ago, it consisted in taking sample readings from 10 different tropical band radio stations each morning for two years. The readings were conducted at least two hours before sunrise each day. I assigned a value depending on the signals quality, to each reading and entered it into a spreadsheet. After a few months a pattern was observed in the graph that developed. Since then, I have lost the results of the spreadsheet because of a hard drive I had the information stored on, crashing and dying. I have often thought about doing the study again, but when I remember how tired I was all of the time from getting up so early and the terrible feelings I had because I didn't want to miss a single morning's readings, I tell myself to forget it! I say to everyone, if the coming of a full moon builds your anticipation for DXing on a particular night, then what harm is there in thinking reception "might" be better when a full moon is present? Let's be realistic, the time in between DX catches is very uneventful and boring. If a little excitement can be generated by a fullmoon, so be it! I can describe the feeling in my case as the same as going on a DXpedition, but without the work and drive. Good Dxing, everyone. (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston Florida, ka4prf @ us-it.net http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Hello Charles, In response to your HCDX post, FWIW last night (night before full moon) at ~0200 UT I heard Morocco (tentatively) on 207 kHz over a beacon QI followed by a long tone. First time in 15 years of LW DXing that frequency has been anything but a het and noise. There was voice on 198 England which only comes in occasionally during peak season, and 183 Saarlouis was there as usual. 90m was at or below average (nothing from Zim on 3306). 60m was well below average, except for Rebelde's new transmitter on 5025 --- what are they running, 50 kW? The thing sounds almost local. I note that the 1924 QST article on your web site mentions enhanced reception of Euro LW signals during full moon. Maybe so... My QTH is near Boston. Your web site wouldn't let me submit this comment, by the way. Good luck with your research! --Bill (via Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, Hmm, I thought I did include your moon page URL, recently if not with this issue. It seems to me the trouble is you didn`t do a control study or take into account possible other causes of the changes you noted. Also, I believe it is ultra-violet radiation that affects the ionosphere, not so much visible sunlight. So how much UV (if any significant amount) is reflected off the Moon? (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) ###