DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-013, January 22, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING0 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 2005 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 1260: Sat 2030 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0430 WOR WRMI 6870 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1030 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2030 WOR WWCR 12160 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [week delay] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0700 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html 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 1260 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1260h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1260h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1260 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1260.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1260.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1260.html WORLD OF RADIO 1260 in the true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3: keep checking http://www.piratearchive.com/dxprograms.htm ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Job : Broadcast Director, Radio Free Afghanistan Job Title : Broadcast Director, Radio Free Afghanistan Job Location : Czech Republic (Prague) Organisation : Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty URL Address : http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/0CC9637CE472581DC1256F8D004485A9 Broadcast Director, Radio Free Afghanistan Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) http://www.rferl.org/ Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe; Russia; the Caucasus; and Central and Southwestern Asia funded by the US Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Location city: Prague Location country: Czech Republic Closing date: 31 Jan 2005 Job Description --- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty seeks to fill a Broadcast Director in Prague based programming service for Radio Free Afghanistan. Eligible candidates, with 10 or more years journalistic experience, must be fluent in Dari and /or Pashto, with a professional proficiency in English. They will also possess excellent organizational, writing and editorial skills and a knowledge of the political, economic, and social structures of Afghanistan, surrounding regions, as well as a sound background in International Affairs. The ideal candidate will possess previous experience in managing news organizations, including tasks like developing program content, budgeting, managing staff and resources, organizing work processes, mentoring and team-building in a multicultural environment. Competitive salary and benefits offered, commensurate with experience. See http://www.rferl.org/about/jobs for detailed job posting under "Broadcast Director, Radio Free Afghanistan". Vacancies Contact jobs@rferl.org (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Jan 21, via W. Büschel, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. AX Prefix for Australia Day. The Australian radio amateurs are allowed to use the AX prefix to celebrate Australia Day January 26. The period of use runs from 26 January 2005 0001 to 26 January 2005 2359 hours local time. If you chase Prefixes, this is the only day of the year to nail the AX prefix (DX Editor: Dimiter Petrov, LZ1AF, R. Bulgaria DX Jan 21 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. 1540 1/19: Aurora continued with no sign of usual CHIN ON all night. KXEL IA and ZNS1 Nassau faded in and out all night, with ZNS1 usually atop. Not heard like this since the 70's, I can well believe they're temporarily non-directional. Their music is apparently locally programmed and goes across the top of the hour. I did get an ID at midnight, mentioning "Zed-N-S" and the Bahamas Radio Network. Stately music at 6:00 [EST = 1100 UT}, almost certainly the Bahamian National Anthem, followed by man saying "It's 6am. This is the Bahamas ...", and then my tape ended at 6:00:30. That music would be as good as an ID for those needing ZNS1, if it's indeed their anthem, and you had your own copy for comparison purposes. WBNL IN at 7 and 8 am. KXEL in at the early hour of 4:00, average signal but rock steady and all alone. CHIN back at 7 pm, so conditions may be getting back to normal. The same (presumed) National Anthem they ran at 6 am was heard just now, at 11:57 pm EST, ending at 11:59 [0457-0459 UT}. News by a man followed (Steve Francis Alcoa, Tennessee, NRC-AM via DXLD) I have noted a lot of Nassau, Bahama's ZNS1 1540 also here at Palm Coast, Flagler County, FL of late. Speculating they're nondirectional given the signal intensity compared to other routine reception through the past months/years here (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Nacional da Amazônia sent me a complete QSL card in Portuguese using my enclosed PFC after 135 days for my reception report in Portuguese. The frequency is marked exactly as 6190 kHz, what I really received. The QSL signer is Mr. Tais Ladeira de Medeiros. He also sent me an incomplete QSL letter (rather a letter of gratitude) in October, marking the frequency as 6180 kHz. His title in the thank=you letter was ``Gerente Rádio Nacional da Amazônia`` (Manager of Rádio Nacional da Amazônia), and in QSL card ``Chefe da Divisão de Ondas Curtas Radio Bras`` (Chief of Radio Bras Shortwave Division). He may be in the 2 positions at the same time. QSL card is shown in my homepage http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~BCLSWL/QSL0412.html (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Nacional da Amazônia, 6185, 0750-0815+ Jan 15, Portuguese talk, IDs, phone talk, local pop music, \\ 11780, both frequencies very good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura, São Paulo, 17814.7, 2235-2310+ Jan 17, local romantic ballads, Portuguese announcements, 9614.98 --- both frequencies weak but in the clear (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURKINA FASO. RTV Burkina, 5030, *0600-0610+ Jan 15, abrupt sign-on with lite instrumental tune, 0601 opening French announcements, local African folk music, French talk. Poor to fair with adjacent channel splatter. Also 2330-2400* Jan 17, local African folk music, African drums and local string music. French talk. Sign-off with instrumental tune. Very good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA [and non]. Cambodian TV update #2 + more PPCTV is actually the "Home" channel of Phnom Penh Municipal cable. http://www.ppctvcom.kh They often show programming. Another station uses the bug www.tv3.com.kh = http://www.tv3.com.kh Another station briefly put up the words "PHNOM" in the upper left corner of the screen for a few seconds in the same text as most Mexican IDs use. I have become much more of a couch potato here than expected. Watching cable from over 15 countries is great fun. Very few commercials and most of the programming appears to be live. The internet connections in Phnom Penh, at the hundreds of internet cafés, are slower than the slowest dialup you can imagine. The ones that claim DSL aren't much faster. Phnom Penh is great. Anyone who wants to see the last vestiges of the "old Asia" in a city with over a million people that isn't completely gridlocked by motorbikes, smogged in by air pollution, and with few, if any, buildings over 8 floors, should come here. The city reeks of French architecture, since it was them who laid out the city plan. The city is also very wisely continuing the motif. Hanoi, which was also laid out my the French, and is the second most beautiful city in SE Asia imho, is now a gridlocked mess of motor bikes and anyone visiting there, except to see a few famous sights, is out of their mind. I spent a week there so should know! I was afraid the Cambodians would have similarities to the Vietnamese but thankfully I see zero similarities -.)) I find Vietnamese to be most horrible obnoxious specimens of homosapiens on the planet and after a few weeks here said to myself "Self, why would you want to give another cent to these people?" and then promptly hightailed it back to Laos. That was a few years ago. The young people here (the ones who do not remember the Pol Pot era) seem very gentle to me. Road rage is non-existant except when big SUVs, with heavilty tinted windows, try to honk and barrel their way through traffic. It is safer than any American city with a population of over 1 million people for sure. From my very comfortable hotel with all the comforts of home, I can walk two blocks from the front door and be back in areas that might as well have existed 200 years ago. Maybe no one else cares, but it's a great diversion and great opportunity for my photography hobby. We're also back to sticking with good old ASA 100 35 mm ANALOG film. Over 1/3 of the South American pics were ruined by digital camera and card glitches. I get the film developed, but not printed, on machines in Fuji labs here and then can decide back home which pics to print. I give Phnom Penh another 5 years before things start to go downhill. 1/2 the population of the country is under age 15, and there are already too many males with nothing better to do but watch TV all day, which they seem to really enjoy. They do have one similarity to Hanoi actually, a complete lack of any mass transit system (i.e., no buses). There's 50/50 chance return this time next year, barring the world's political situation. This country has had 5 (or 6?) different names in the past 35 years, so it's not exactly politically stable. The current flag has been in use less than a year. How may other flags have a building on them? One last comment; I've done a lot of reading on Cambodia politics since coming here, concentrating mostly in the era after 1970, and it got to the point where I just don't care anymore! The country seems to be run by a continuing cycle of paranoid thugs who devour their own. The politics here is not on a level playing field. Your best chance of being assassinated in Cambodia is either to be a politician, a union leader, or a newspaper reporter. The State Department calls it a "Constitutional Monarchy" (with a very cute and cuddly new King, I might add) but the proliferation of Cambodian People's buildings gives a different impression. Also the biggest stretch of the Phnom Penh "Beltway" is named after Mao Tse Tung! (not that there's anything wrong with that ;-) I hope Fred Luan can help me understand this more, although most of it is too depressing, really. More later. 73, (Jeff Kadet, Jan 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. The middle item on The House, from CBC Radio One, this week, is about Canadian Tamils` dissatisfaction with the lack of attention the government is giving toward `their` region of Sri Lanka devastated by the tsunami; starts and ends with clips and people from Canadian Tamil Radio --- is that an on-air station? Audio should be up shortly for Jan 22 at http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/audio.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re CHSL 1610 Toronto: according to message from Father Herman, call is changed to CHHA. Had some transmitter work done so would like some DX reports (RCW, Jan 22, IRCA via DXLD) When do they ID? I sat on the frequency for 3 hours and did not hear a station ID (Bill Harms, Elkridge, MD, ibid.) ** CANADA. THE GREAT QUEBEC RADIO STATION SWAP --- CRTC press release: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2005/r050121.htm Notably: "(...) The concerns, many of which were raised by interveners at the public hearing held in September 2004, dealt with the level of local programming, the need to reflect communities and the change in CKAC’s role. Corus was proposing to amend the conditions of licence of the French-language AM radio stations by significantly reducing local programming. It wanted to commit, by conditions of licence, to broadcasting 40 hours of local programming by CKAC and 20 hours by the other Francophone AM stations. "The Commission decided that this commitment would not provide for an adequate reflection of the communities served, as provided for in its Commercial Radio Policy, and did not satisfactorily respond to the concerns of interveners. The Commission is therefore requiring, as a condition of licence, that CKAC broadcast at least 60 hours of local programming for 2005-06, 70 hours for 2006-07 and 80 hours for 2007 to 2009. The minimum amount of local programming required of the regional AM stations will be 27 hours, 32 hours, and 37 hours respectively, for the above-mentioned periods. The Commission noted that it expects that over 50% of local programming to be devoted to spoken word programs of direct and particular relevance to the communities served, such as local news, local weather and local sports reports, as well as the promotion of local activities and events. (...)" Decision #1: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-15.htm The Commission approves the applications by Astral Media Radio inc. (Astral) and 591991 B.C. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Corus Entertainment Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Corus), for authority to acquire several radio undertakings in Quebec as part of an exchange of assets, subject to the terms and conditions set out in this decision. Decision #2: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-16.htm The Commission approves the application by Metromedia CMR Broadcasting Inc. to amend the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CHMP-FM Longueuil authorizing the licensee to operate the station within the predominantly spoken-word Specialty format, and to remove the existing condition of licence regarding the broadcast of English-language vocal musical selections. This approval is conditional upon written confirmation by Astral Media Radio inc. and Corus, within 30 days of the date of this decision, that they will complete the transaction approved in Exchange of radio assets in Quebec between Astral Media Radio inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc., Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2005-15, issued today, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out therein. Decision #3: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-17.htm The Commission approves the application by Astral Media inc., on behalf of Astral Media Radio inc., to acquire the assets of the radio programming undertaking CFOM-FM Lévis (via Ricky Leong, QC, Jan 21, DXLD) BLACK FRIDAY FOR QUEBEC RADIO STATIONS This post pertains to both the AM and FM media: After months of waiting, the CRTC has approved the transaction between CORUS ENTERTAINMENT and ASTRAL MEDIA, a decision that will considerably change the face of AM and FM radio in Quebec. The most "tragic" consequence is the slow death of CKAC 730, the Grand Daddy of all French language radio stations in North America (1922), and which is supposed to become a "health/sports" station. Sports? what sports? No more baseball, no hockey. This transaction was nothing more than an attempt by CORUS to buy the competition now that they have their own "news-talk" station on FM (CHMP 98.5 Montréal). This morning's decision allows CHMP 98.5 to officially become all- talk; allows CORUS to change format for CKAC 730 and its network of Quebec stations (with some restrictions and guidelines) : ASTRAL MEDIA acquires the following FM stations: CFVM-FM Amqui CJDM-FM Drummondville CJOI-FM Rimouski CIKI-FM Rimouski and its transmitter CIKI-FM-2 Sainte-Marguerite-Marie CFZZ-FM Saint-Jean-Iberville CFVM and CFZZ will be part of the BOOM FM network CJDM and CIKI ---------------- Radio Energie CJOI ------------------------- Rock Détente ASTRAL will now be able to reach Montreal with its BOOM "oldies" network from the CFZZ station. The very lengthy decision at: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-15.htm CKAC history and clips: (text in English) http://www.phonotheque.org/radio/CKAC-eng.html 73, (Charles Gauthier, St-Lambert, QC, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. There is a difference of opinion as to the transmitter site of 6115 for CRI in English at 0600 UT. EiBi and WRTH show it as Kashi, while NDXC and HFCC show it as Sackville, 250 kW, 277 degrees. PWBR also shows Sackville, but in Chinese instead of English. Strong signal here Jan 22, so doubt it is Kashi at midday to North America! Sure `nuff, just before cutting off Chinese language lessons at 0659, RCI ID and IS snuk in; sure do appreciate RCI doing that. I suspect that an early version of the CRI schedule had it as Kashi as a place- holder until the Sackville relay could be confirmed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE TRANSMITTER CUT OFF IN Djibouti | Excerpt from report by French news agency AFP Paris, 22 January: The authorities in Djibouti have decided to expel several French cooperation workers, and the local Radio France Internationale (RFI) transmitter has been cut off, the Foreign Ministry and France's public broadcaster said on Saturday [22 January]. The moves come at a time of tension between the two countries resulting from a decision by the French judiciary to call for the head of the Djiboutian secret services to be questioned in connection with the killing of a French judge [Bernard Borrel] in 1995. "The Djiboutian authorities have decided to expel six French technical assistants," the Foreign Ministry deputy spokeswoman, Cecile Pozzo di Borgo, told AFP. RFI told AFP on Saturday that its "transmitter in Djibouti has been cut off since Friday 14 January after a programme was broadcast about the Borrel affair". On 10 January, the Versailles appeal court ordered that the head of the Djiboutian secret services, Hassan Said, should be questioned about the possible bribing of witnesses in the case of the death of Borrel in 1995. Ali Iftin, a former Djiboutian officer who is now living in Brussels, has said that Hassan forced him to lie during the investigation into the death of judge Borrel. [passage omitted] Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 1125 gmt 22 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) R. Sawa better watch what it says about Djibouti, if anything. Hmm, a possible conflict of interest with journalistic ethics? (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. OK re Cairo. We still seem to be waiting for a definitive schedule of what will, or won't, be broadcast. This station has suffered badly for some time due to poor quality transmissions, and this must have meant that a lot of potential listeners just gave up trying to hear them. And it's only during the last couple of seasons (or so) that they varied their frequencies from ones they had used for ages (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX, Jan 10 via DXLD) R. Cairo, spot checking them yesterday to see if the language cuts have taken place. Still noted in Portuguese at 2215 on 11790 so I guess that wasn't one of the ones cut or the cuts haven't taken effect. Also noted English (2300 on 7115) and Arabic (0030 on 7115) to North America (Hans Johnson-FL-USA, Cumbre Jan 11-12 via BC-DX via DXLD) R. Cairo still heard in presumed Zulu at 1616 UT on 15620 with their news theme music. Absolutely horrible modulation. Presumed Afar at 15155 at 1620 UT was not much better. Sure doesn't seem like any cuts have occurred yet (Hans Johnson-USA, Cumbre Jan 16, ibid.) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Bata, 5005.0, 0540-0600+ Jan 16, tune-in to Spanish talk, R. Bata ID, Afro-pops. Fair, irregular (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx for the decimal ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Dear Glenn, 15190.0, R Africa No. 2, Malabo, 1430-1600, Jan 20, U.S. English religious programs of talks, prayers and hymns. Reactivated after being off the air since Sep 2000 according to Domestic Broadcasting Survey monitoring. 34333, QRM from weak co-channel unID. On Jan 21 the station first signed on at *1445 with ID: ``You are listening to Radio Africa Number Two``. A P. O. Box 588 in Mozambique and the e-mail address info@panambc.com were mentioned by a woman and repeated by a man. After some African music, religious talking began at 1455 and heard with 35333. It was not broadcasting 0620-1440 that day. (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How about 7190 later in the evening? (gh, DXLD) ** EUROPE. We are back on short waves. From 0730 UT on 7120 kHz AM on 22 and 23 January morning great LIVE broadcast from one of the oldiest pirate station in Italy: RADIO STRIKE. During our live show we wait for your phone calls to our hotline +49 173 4161543 and your e-mail to radiostrike@hotmail.com Good listening to you all, (Radio Strike crew http://listen.to/radiostrike bclnews.it via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Notes from the latest T-Systems schedule update: Today (and indeed only today) VOA Persian on 12110, regularly running 1700-1800, started already at 1645. There should be hardly a doubt that this was the case not only on this Jülich frequency of course. Hamburger Lokalradio will conclude its current series of shortwave broadcasts on Jan 29. New transmissions of the Hamburg-based Missionswerk Arche: Sun 1200- 1215 on 6015 (Wertachtal, 250 kW). This program otherwise goes out in the early Sunday morning via RTL on 1440. Herewith they return to shortwave after using the Armenian Gavar site until 2002. Another new transmission of missionaries, probably complete newcomers in the field of shortwave broadcasting, at least I never heard about them before: Freie Volksmission Krefeld, Sat 1630-1700 on 13820 towards Ciraf 39/40 (Wertachtal, 250 kW). New WRN-brokered program since Dec 30: Daily 0000-0100 on 6055 towards Ciraf 41 [South Asia] (Jülich, 100 kW). Has it already been reported / discussed? 6055 0000-0100 41 100 1234567 301204 270305 JUL 100 WRN [Tamil service? that might QRM Spain`s only English broadcast to NAm! --- gh] The RMI-brokered programs on 9495 now runs not only Sat 1900-1930 but also Sun 1900-1959. [as recently reported here, on Sat it`s WFAFI, on Sun R. Free Syria, which used to be also on Fridays --- gh] There are again one-hour multi-frequency transmissions of R.G. Stair. Schedule effective Jan 21: 0101-0159 on 5900, 5960, 6130, 6155, 9435, 9485, 9590, 9640 and 9785; 2201-2259 5905, 5960 and 6015 (three more frequencies were cancelled again as of today); all via Jülich and all but 9435, 9485 and 9785 beamed to North America (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Updated B-04 schedule for DTK T-systems (PART 2 NON-DAILY TRANSMISSIONS) RTBF: 0600-0815 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Mon-Fri Af French 0600-1100 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sat/Sun Af French 1100-1230 21565 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Daily Af French 1530-1805 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Mon-Fri Af French 1500-1805 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sat/Sun Af French Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN): 0800-0930 5945 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Fri WeEu English 0800-0915 5945 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Sat WeEu English 0730-0945 5945 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Sun WeEu English 1915-1930 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Mon-Fri EaEu Russian 1900-1930 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Sat EaEu Russian 1930-2000 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Sat EaEu English 1900-2030 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Sun EaEu English 1930-2000 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Sun EaEu Russian 2000-2030 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Sun EaEu English 1900-1930 7260 JUL 100 kW / 170 deg Sat CeAf English 1930-2000 7260 JUL 100 kW / 170 deg Sun CeAf English 1915-2015 7260 WER 125 kW / 210 deg Fri CeAf Arabic 1930-2000 7260 WER 125 kW / 210 deg Sat CeAf English 1945-2015 7295 WER 125 kW / 210 deg Fri WeAf English 1630-1700 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat-Tue/Fri EaAf Amharic 1700-1730 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Mon/Tue/Fri EaAf Tigrina 1630-1730 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Wed/Thu EaAf Amharic 1800-1815 7210 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME English 1815-1845 7210 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME Persian 1845-1900 7210 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME Dari 1800-1900 7210 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sun ME Persian 1645-1715 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri ME English 1645-1800 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Tue ME English 1800-1815 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Tue ME Russian 1815-1900 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Tue ME Hebrew 1800-1900 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Wed/Fri ME English 1715-1730 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Thu ME Spanish 1730-1745 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Thu ME English 1645-1900 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Sat ME English 1630-1900 9460 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Sun ME English 1900-2015 9470 NAU 250 kW / 120 deg Fri ME Arabic 1900-2000 9470 NAU 250 kW / 120 deg Sat ME English 1900-2015 9470 NAU 250 kW / 120 deg Sun ME English 1715-1830 9730 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Mon/Wed/Fri ME Arabic 1800-1830 9730 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Tue/Thu ME Arabic 1800-1900 9730 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sat/Sun ME English 1700-1715 11645 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Tue/Wed/Fri ME Arabic 1700-1730 11645 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Mon/Thu ME Arabic 0845-1015 17565 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Fri ME Arabic 1500-1600 12005 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Tue SoAs Urdu 1500-1600 12005 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sat SoAs English 1530-1600 12005 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Mon/Wed-Fri SoAs English 1530-1600 12005 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sun SoAs Hindi Adventist World Radio (AWR): 0600-0700 5945 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Daily EaEu Bulgarian 1000-1100 11730 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sun SoEu Italian 1900-1930 9800 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily NoAf Arabic 1930-2000 9800 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Mon/Wed NoAf Arabic 1930-2000 9800 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Thu/Sun NoAf Kabyle 1930-2000 9800 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Tue/Fri/Sat NoAf Tachelhit 2000-2030 9695 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily NoAf French Trans World Radio (TWR): 0630-0645 6130 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Mon-Fri CeEu Slovak 0930-0945 6105 JUL 105 kW / 105 deg Tue-Sat CeEu Hungarian 0930-0945 7210 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Tue-Sat CeEu Hungarian 1130-1200 6130 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sat CeEu Slovak 1130-1200 7225 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat CeEu Slovak Hamburger Lokal Radio: 1000-1100 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat(till Jan.29)CeEu German Evangeliumsradio Hamburg: 1000-1100 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun CeEu German Christian Science Monitor: 1000-1100 6015 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sun CeEu German 1800-1830 7220 JUL 100 kW / 200 ged Tue NoWeAf French 1800-1830 7220 JUL 100 kW / 155 deg Thu CeEaAf French 1900-2000 9890 WER 125 kW / 075 deg Sat (2nd & 4th) EaEu Russian Evangelische Missions Gemeiden: 1130-1200 6015 WER 125 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun CeEu German 1200-1230 11840 WER 250 kW / 020 deg Sat FE Russian 1600-1630 9815 WER 250 kW / 060 deg Sat EaEu Russian Missionswerke Arche 1200-1215 6015 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sun CeEu German TDP Radio: 1200-1300 6015 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat WeEu Music 1500-1600 6015 JUL 040 kW / non-dir Sat WeEu Music DRM Universal Life (UNL): 1230-1300 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat WeEu German 1200-1300 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun WeEu German 1600-1630 9495 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg Sun NoAf French 1800-1830 11840 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun EaAf English 1900-1930 7105 JUL 100 kW / 110 deg Sun ME English 0100-0130 7145 JUL 100 kW / 085 deg Sun SoAs English Maeva FM International: 1300-1500 6015 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat WeEu Dutch Radio Traumland: 1400-1515 5925 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun WeEu German Radio Rhino International Africa: 1500-1530 17870 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Mon-Fri EaAf English Voice of Democratic Eritrea: 1500-1530 12015 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat EaAf Tigrina 1530-1600 12015 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat EaAf Arabic 1700-1730 9820 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Mon/Thu EaAf Tigrina 1730-1800 9820 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Mon/Thu EaAf Arabic Pan American Broadcasting (PAB): 1630-1645 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Wed(from Feb.2) EaEu Russian 1400-1430 13820 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sat ME Persian 1445-1500 13820 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sat ME English 0030-0045 5945 JUL 100 kW / 085 deg Sun SoAs English 1430-1445 13820 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sun SoAs English 1500-1515 13820 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sun ME English 1530-1600 13820 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sun ME English 1600-1630 13820 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sun ME English Bible Christian Association (BCA): 1630-1700 6015 JUL 100 kW / 070 deg Sun EaEu Polish Voice of Ethiopian Salvation: 1600-1700 9820 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Sun EaAf Amharic Radio Huriyo: 1630-1700 9820 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Tue/Fri EaAf Somali Voice of Oromo Liberation (Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo): 1700-1800 9820 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Tue/Wed/Fri/Sun EaAf Oromo Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie: 1830-1900 11840 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Thu Af French Voice of Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity: 1830-1930 7220 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Wed/Sun EaAf Amharic Radio Voice of Women / Radyo Seda-ye Zan 1900-1930 9495 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME Persian Radio Free Syria: 1900-2000 9495 WER 125 kW / 120 deg Sun ME Arabic Updated: January 20, 2005 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 21 via DXLD) ** GOA. All India Radio High Power Transmitters at Bambolim, Panaji verified with a date only letter for a report sent directly to the transmitter site. V/s S. Jayaraman, Supt. Engineer in 17 days for 7115 khz. Address: S. Jayaraman, Superintending Engineer, All India Radio, High Power Transmitters, Bambolim, P.O. Goa University, Panaji, GOA (T. R. RAJEESH, KERALA, INDIA (WDXC #2504), Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. ERT S A Macedonian Radio, verified for a report in 89 days with a full data QSL folder. V/s Tatiana Tsioli. Address on the Card: ERT S A Macedonian radio Station, Sub Direction of Technical support, PB 11312, 54110 Thessaloniki, Greece. Return Address on the envelope: Agelaki 14, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece. Sincerely (T. R. RAJEESH, KERALA, INDIA (WDXC #2504), Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Dear Glenn, Many thanks for publishing lot of my info on Andaman etc. in DXLD. About AIR News in DXLD 5-012, please refer to my site: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/nt/english.htm At 1430 5050 is already listed (maybe referred to my other old lists) At 1435 Sports news in English also on 4850 At 1530 5010 has always had English News. Yes, relayed from Delhi At 1545 Spotlight program is also on 3365 3390 4800 4850 4990 5050 At 1500 Parliament News is scheduled (when is session) Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, India, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Apparent All India Radio relay of FM Rainbow directed to the Andaman Islands heard here at 1300 on 11585 with pop music in presumed Hindi. Transmitter site quite possibly Delhi (Khampur). Thanks to Jose Jacob for the tip (Steve Lare Holland, MI USA, Jan 20, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Thiruvanathapuram verified via New Delhi for a report on 5010 sent direct to the station in 60 days. Verification Signer Y. K. Sharma, Director, Spectrum Management and Synergy. QSL Card shows the nice picture of Humayun's Tomb (T. R. RAJEESH, KERALA, INDIA (WDXC #2504), Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GOA ** IRAN. JOURNALIST IMPRISONED FOR INTERVIEWS WITH FOREIGN MEDIA | Text of report by Iranian newspaper Shargh web site on 20 January Tehran, 21 January: The chief editor of Gilan-e-Emrooz [today's Gilan], Arash Sigarchi, has been transferred to Lakan prison [local prison in the northern province of Gilan] following a court verdict. He was summoned to court on Sunday [16 January] on charges of giving interviews to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the [US- funded] Radio Farda. Source: Shargh web site, Tehran, in Persian 0001 gmt 20 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ITALY. Since the beginning of December, 2004 the Italian Radio foreign broadcasts suddenly and without reasons has ceased its emissions on short wave. According to Glen [sic] Hauser of ``World Radio`s`` [sic] DX Programme, the whole short wave transmitting complex is for sale. Anyway, the programme ``Notturno del Italia`` was received in Sofia on January 16 between 2 and 4 hours on 6060, 846 and 900 kHz, and between 8 and 9 hours on 11800 kHz (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Program Jan 21 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ?! I did not say it had totally ceased SW! In fact, I was just noticing the fine signal in the morning here in Italian on 11900, despite its aim at EAf/ME. Is this statement the result of Rumen`s own monitoring? There was some question raised about whether the English to North America at 0050 was still running on 11800, and we never had that confirmed. Anyone? The WOR item was about the Prato Smeraldo land being for sale, which is not exactly the same as ``the whole SW transmitting conplex`` nor does that mean it is off the air already (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. ORTM, 4786.89v, 2345-0002* Jan 17-18, still off-frequency with Afro-pops, French pops and talk. Sign-off with national anthem. Poor-fair. Barely audible on \\ 5995. Was on 4786.89 until 2359 when they jumped up to 4787.89 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Really enjoy listening to XEPPM 6185 for great music. UT Jan 21 around 0600 it was booming in when little else was audible on 49m, with album tracks by a great ballad singer. The music may sound happy, but if you listen to the lyrics in Spanish you hear things like ``I want to kill that criminal who molested my little angel``. 24 hours later, UT Sat Jan 22 around 0630 they were playing Brazilian music, faking me out to think that Amazônia had recaptured the frequency, until I heard the Spanish announcements (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 1700, XEPE, Tijuana, ``La Tremenda`` now Banda format (oompah) 0900 (Tony King, Greytown, New Zealand, Jan NX DX Times via DXLD) 1700, at 1031 5/1, XEPE, Tijuana, with ID as ``La Romántica``, otherwise non-stop Spanish vocals 5/1 (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, using AOR AR7030+ with 185m longwire along the ground to the northeast, Jan NZ DX Times via DXLD) See also X-band list under USA [and non] ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal was received in Sofia between 1700 and 1715 hours on 5005 kHz. News in English is broadcast at 0215, at 0815 and at 1415 hours on 5005 and 7165 kHz. The very beautiful QSL card of Radio Nepal can be obtained from: Radio Nepal, P. O. Box 634, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Program Jan 21 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Here are the exact times for RN`s Spanish DX program Radio Enlace, 28 minutes, in which gh participates: On SW, satellite and internet: Fri 2328, Sat 0128, 0328, Mon 0008, 0208. On satellite and/or internet only: Fri 1330, 1625, 1920, Sat 0530, Sun 1230, 1533, 1855, 2125, Mon 0458, 0631 (via Jaime Báguena, RN, DXLD) See http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/#SECCION for frequencies and other details. Unfortunately, RN does not publish exact program times within transmission blocks (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Radio 555 - Tx Site (6110 & 6015 kHz) Ralf, I heard Radio555 on both 6110 Khz and 6015 kHz this evening (my time) - 0730 - 0830 UT. Are these transmissions coming via Juelich? Thanks, Wayne Bastow, Australia, To Ralf Weyl, T-Systems, via dxldyg via DXLD) Received the following from Ralf Weyl: Dear Wayne, the program were transmitted from Station Nauen. Very best, Ralf (via Wayne Bastow, ibid.) ** NEW CALEDONIA. What a busy month December has been, with several openings to Australia (specifically NSW from Gosford to Grafton) Some activity noted on December 31 while driving home from work around 6 pm, from SE Queensland and New Caledonia, notably Radio Rythme Bleu, Lifou 102.5; and also a French language signal on 88.0 playing general rock hits and one or two ``native`` songs, presumed also from New Caledonia, signal faded by 7:15 pm [0615 UT]. Not in WRTH (Gordon Mathieson, somewhere in New Zealand, Jan NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN [and non]. Re: 'NO PAKISTANI GOVT PRESSURE TO CANCEL VOA DEAL' --- Who in their right mind in Pakistan or anywhere else for that matter, would want to listen to this US propaganda rubbish? The VOA itself may have good editorial standards, but the Radio Sawa and Radio Farda staff [stuff?] is pure propaganda and the people in the target areas know it, when they hear it! 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 9675, at 2345 5/1, Port Moresby with series of personal messages in English, plus indigenous and country music vocals, good. News pips for the hour were at 0001 then English news bulletin. Tried to trace this at currently scheduled 2230 sign-on without success (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, using AOR AR7030+ with 185m longwire along the ground to the northeast, Jan NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PETER I. 3Y0X * UPDATE --- The renovations and modifications taking place on the vessel chartered for the expedition were not completed on schedule, and the ship could not meet the original sailing date. The charter company says they expect to be ready to sail for Peter I on 10 February; the team of operators remains intact and is prepared to assemble in Punta Arenas, Chile on the 8th (even though they are not entirely confident the work can be completed on time). If all things go well, they will arrive at the island about 6-7 days after departure, depending on the route, weather and ice conditions. 3Y0X is expected to be on the air as soon as possible, but this too is dependent on the conditions on the island. Despite the schedule change, the team still hopes to spend two full weeks on the island. "The state of preparation of the ship, the location, complex logistics, weather, and sea ice are all challenges and largely out of our control", they say. "We will do all that is within our power to complete this DXpedition safely and within this new time frame". Check http://www.peterone.com/ for future updates (425 DX News Jan 22 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. What I think was FEBC PHL was heard this morning on 9645 around 1145 UT until sudden off, after playing part of their IS, at c1158 when VOA Udorn started. The language sounded something like Vietnamese, but maybe a local dialect. I'm not sure that the WRTH sched is up to date, and I cannot find their complete current schedule on the Internet. Has anyone else seen it - or can tell me where to look for it? When I hear a religious station in an unusual language I look first for this station! (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Jan 5 via DXLD) Sorry, no FEBC frequency table B-04 has seen in DX-press (wb) FEB International does publish a pdf-schedule at http://www.febi.org --- You can also look for certain services by using a database. Unfortunately, it seems that not all entries are checked against the real use. Long standing experience as editor of Medien aktuell: Kirche im Rundfunk has shown that time and again there are double entries for different languages using the same time and frequency. So I have become very reluctant in forwarding any frequency info regarding a FEB station (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, BC-DX Jan 14 via DXLD) ** POLAND [and non]. POLISH WARTIME HERO NOWAK-JEZIORANSKI DIES By Monika Scislowska The Associated Press January 21, 2005 http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/89-01212005-436536.html Warsaw, Poland - Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, a wartime courier for the Polish anti-Nazi resistance and the director of Radio Free Europe's Polish service during the Cold War, has died, Polish officials said Friday. He was 91. Nowak-Jezioranski died Thursday in a Warsaw hospital. The cause of death was not immediately given. "A great Pole, a hero and a great authority has gone," Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Poland's first democratic prime minister after communism's end, said on state radio. Nowak-Jezioranski fought in the brief 1939 campaign after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. After Poland's defeat and occupation, he joined the resistance movement and fought in the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis. He risked his life as a courier between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Polish underground resistance in German-occupied Poland, completing five trips - including risky parachute jumps. The uprising began Aug. 1, 1944, and lasted 63 days, leaving about 200,000 insurgents and civilians dead. Nowak-Jezioranski sneaked back out of Nazi-occupied Poland after the uprising failed, carrying intelligence material and film showing the struggle. In Washington, the White House said President Bush mourned the passing of "a great Polish freedom fighter and American patriot." "Jan Nowak- Jezioranski pursued his values tenaciously, and contributed greatly to the building of a Europe whole, free, and at peace," the statement said. In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office praised Nowak- Jezioranski's courage. "Throughout his life, Nowak-Jezioranski was one of Europe's most determined and heroic fighters for truth and freedom and a true Polish patriot," Downing Street said in a statement. "In particular we remember the role he played in coming to London during World War II as a member of the Polish underground resistance and more recently the part he played in bringing history to light as a member of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee." After the war, Nowak-Jezioranski worked in Munich, Germany, for Radio Free Europe, a U.S.-funded station that broadcast to countries behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. In 1976, he moved to Washington, where he served as a consultant to the National Security Council. In 1996, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his service during the war and at Radio Free Europe. In the 1990s, Nowak-Jezioranski campaigned for Poland's reintegration into the rest of Europe, lobbying for Poland's membership in NATO and the European Union. Poland joined the alliance in 1999 and the European bloc last year. "He served the nation in the most difficult moments of our history," former Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency. "I have a feeling of great loss." There was no immediate word about funeral arrangements or survivors. (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** POLAND. CONTROVERSIAL POLISH BROADCASTING STATION PREPARING INTERNET EXPANSION | Text of report in Polish by Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza website on 19 January: Father Rydzyk [director of Radio Maryja]: "Telephone less, pay more! But if you do telephone, then speak briefly and to the point. Without so much lamentation! Cut down even after prayers on air: briefly, name and locality, where you are from, and don't recite long lectures. Pay the money you save onto our account!" Since yesterday, such an appeal has been appearing regularly on the airwaves of Radio Maryja. Until now, the larger part of the programme has consisted of conversations with listeners. The flagship programme, "Unfinished conversations", consists of hundreds of telephone calls from people from various parts of the world, interwoven with the reasoning of right-wing politicians or Rydzyk's in-house experts, Prof Robert Nowak or Prof Ryszard Bender. The telephones also ring out after religious catechism and commentary programmes (prominent here are Stanislaw Michalkiewicz, Krystyna Czuba and Father Prof Jerzy Bajda). Yesterday morning, the catechism came from the father director himself. He spoke of manipulation in the media. After the catechism, listeners telephoned in. However, most did not address the subject of Rydzyk's meditations. The monastic priest immediately disconnected them, with sharp injunctions: "You did not listen! This was to be about manipulation, and not a load of lamentation." Female listener: "Father director. Thank you very much for arriving safely from Germany, for being with us." "Get to the point!" "There is so much said in the media about Wojciech Kuczok and Malgorzata Piekorz. They are destroying the Polish family with their [film] "Dung" [Polish: Gnoj] and that bad film, it's probably called `Stripes' [Polish: Pregi]." "Enough! You have not understood what I am talking about. Even by naming these titles you are giving them an advertisement. People are attracted to evil and will reach for it just to be contrary." Director Rydzyk also revealed why he needs more money from listeners: for an Internet portal. "Where we are absent, others are present," he argued. "The liberal and libertine media have dominated the market and the Polish and [Roman] Catholic media have a 1 per cent share in it! This has to be changed." So far, the Internet has been the weakest aspect of the media activities of the Redemptorist Fathers [owners of Radio Maryja and TV Trwam]. The Radio Maryja Internet page is old-fashioned and is rarely updated. This is soon to change. On the instructions of Father Rydzyk, students from his higher educational institution, the Torun-based Social Culture and Media Higher School [WSKSiM], are working on a new portal. The pages are to be ready by the early spring. Rydzyk's media Radio Maryja and TV Trwam are maintained by gifts from listeners and viewers. In Father Rydzyk's view, they cost 24m zlotys annually [about 4m pounds, or 7.6m dollars]. According to the Press Research Centre [OBP] at the Jagiellonian University [in Cracow], the Nasz Dziennik daily, regarded as Rydzyk's paper, has a print-run of 150,000 copies with sales oscillating around 100,000 copies. Source: Gazeta Wyborcza website, Warsaw, in Polish 19 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) RADIO SET OWNER FEE GOING TO RADIO MARYJA? --- by Marek Schirmer Warsaw, Jan 11 (UKW-TV Arebeitskreis der AGDX)— In Germany for some years it has been a customary practice, but in Poland a new idea: the proposal that the radio set owner fee be used also for noncommercial radio stations. Noncommercial local stations or the public channels on cable systems, all these projects are financed in Germany in whole or in part by government media funding. Now not only will the subscription fees be used for Polskie Radio, the national radio system, and the Polish TVP public television network, but also for noncommercial stations such as Radio Maryja or university stations. Mariusz Grabowski of the Porozumienie Polskie (Polish Alliance) Party would devote 10% of the fees to nonprofit stations. His proposal was submitted during the session of the Cultural and Media Commission of the Sejm, the Polish Parliament, last Thursday. Radio law clearly has labeled nonprofit stations as having an educational and cultural uplifting function. Their activities should be charitable, they should support the Christian value system and respect general ethical principals and strengthen the national identity. Ads and teleshopping may not be offered during their broadcasts. One of the biggest noncommercial services is Radio Maryja, with a nationwide network. Under the proposal, the radio set fee payers would decide themselves whether 10% of their compulsory taxation be used in general services, such as for Polskie Radio and TVP, as at present (via Catholic Radio Update Jan 24 via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. Cadena Radio Voz: address Calle Bori 1554, San Juan, PR 00927-6113. Stations affiliated according to a QSL to our members Hasse Mattisson and Jan Edh: 1300 WTIL Mayagüez 1580 WMTI Morovis 1360 WCHQ Camuy 1590 WXRF Guayama 1520 WVOZ San Juan 1660 WGIT Canóvanas 1540 WIBS Guayama (via Hasse Mattisson, Jan Edh, Jan ARC LA News Desk via editor Tore Larsson, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 594 kHz, Jan 18, 2100-, BSKSA, Haj Informative Radio, Jeddah. Identifying as "Idha'at al-tauwiyah bilhay", thanks to Tarek Zeidan for clearing it. Multilingual program between 2200-2300 (Mauno Ritola, Finland, HCDX online log via DXLD) ** SUDAN. OMDURMAN RADIO AIRS NEWS BULLETIN AT 0400 GMT The Sudan state radio on 21 January broadcast its 0400 gmt news bulletin for the first time, after an interval of more than a year during which it dedicated that time in the morning to airing a peace programme known as Darfur Salaam (Darfur peace). In today's news bulletin, the radio reported a visit by government officials to various parts of the country to celebrate Id al-Adha with area residents. It is not clear if the radio has officially resumed its 0400 gmt news bulletin or whether it was just filling the vacuum presumably created by staff who are on Id break. In its foreign news segment, the radio carried reports of Bush's inaugration as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Source: Republic of Sudan Radio, Omdurman, in Arabic 0400 gmt 21 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. Turkmen Radio broadcasts in English Monday through Saturday from 1640 to 1650 hours on 4930 kHz and the emission is received well and regularly in Sofia (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Program Jan 21 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U A E. Another new frequency??? - is Dubai on 15385. It was on air again today at 0730 \\ 15395. It still appears to be at 1450 but under a co-channel in Chinese. Four senders are on air if so - 15395 15385 13675 & 12005 (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Jan 18 via DXLD) Puzzles me, Al Dhabbaya 15385 also registered 1130-1500 for Sudan R. Service, AWR Uighur and Chinese Mandarin (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** U K. 'POOR WILL BEAR BRUNT OF BLAIR'S DIGITAL REVOLUTION' Chris Tryhorn Friday January 21, 2005 The Guardian (London, UK) http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1395339,00.html The hidden costs of forcing Britain to switch to digital television were revealed yesterday with experts warning that the cost of household electricity bills will rise because of inefficient set-top boxes. Chris Goodall, an analyst with the strategic consultants Enders Analysis, put the price of the broadcasting revolution at almost 7 gigapounds over the course of the next 20 years. Some 3.5 gigapounds of the cost is attributable to consumers' electricity bills because of the increased energy demands of set-top boxes. People living in flats would also be hit hard by the need to upgrade television aerials when the government turns off the analogue broadcasting network. He described the forced switch over to digital - now expected to take place in 2012y - as "an illiberal policy" that would cost far more than the government had admitted, hitting the poor and vulnerable in particular. Mr Goodall revealed that many of the set-top boxes are not compliant with the European Union energy codes and consume far more electricity than viewers might expect. He said that the cost of installing or upgrading aerials for households that presently have inadequate devices for digital reception would be 865 megapounds. About 1% of homes may not be able to receive digital television unless satellite aerials were supplied, and around 12% would require new aerials, he said. Many people living in flats, which account for about a fifth of all households in Britain, would need to have their aerial system upgraded; 30% of households use only portable aerials and some of them will need a rooftop antenna. Mr Goodall also said that helping the old and vulnerable to install new digital equipment could cost between 250 and 400 megapounds, on the assumption that much of the assistance would be provided by voluntary organisations, without charge. Another 2.1 gigapounds would be spent over 20 years on a public- service publisher, which Ofcom, the media watchdog, sees as a way of topping up public-service broadcasting. He was speaking as part of a panel with Professor Patrick Barwise and Jeremy Kline, a senior consultant at the research group Generics, at the Oxford Media Convention yesterday. Mr Kline said that research he had carried out for the Department of Trade and Industry showed that only 38% of people agreed with the idea of analogue switch-off. Of those who already had digital television, just 50% agreed with the process which the government is hoping to complete by 2012y. He said the government would "do better to position itself as managing an inevitable change rather than leading a technological revolution". In the face of the evidence that many people remained highly sceptical about digital television, he said it was "an extremely bad piece of public policy" to drive the change through against the public's wishes. "I am sorry that people feel they do not want to enter this new world," he said. "If they do not, it's an illiberal policy to try to force them to do it, particularly when it costs them money. But it's going to happen. "What I wanted to say was that I felt the government's financial justification is extremely dubious and needs to be explained a lot more than it has been." He admitted that his figures were "back of the envelope" calculations, and welcomed any more thorough, scientific assessments. Taking government estimates of a benefit of between 1.5 and 2 gigapounds, he said the net cost to Britain would be around 5 gigapounds (via Dan Say, DXLD) Pound symbol didn`t come thru, allowing me the opportunity to make it mega- and gigapounds, whee! (gh) ** U K [non]. USA: BBC AMERICA TO DOUBLE PROGRAMME BUDGET OVER NEXT TWO YEARS | Excerpt from BBC Worldwide press release on 19 January New BBC America president and CEO, Bill Hilary, today announced a far- reaching 3-point plan for the future based on reinvestment, restructure and relocation. Hilary, who joined the 41.5m home channel in September 2004, said: "BBC America is a fantastic brand with fantastic shows and tremendous critical buzz. What I intend to do is take the channel to the next level by turning it into a creative force in the US and a great business." Central to Hilary's plan is more investment in programming, enabling the channel to buy more shows, co-produce more and ultimately create BBC America originals. "With the support of the BBC and our partners Discovery, we will be doubling our programming budget over the next two years," said Hilary. "As we all know programming is the heart of any television brand and this investment will enable us to buy more comedy and drama, freshen the schedule and create BBC America program brands. In addition we will be upping our co-productions and developing BBC America originals." [Passage omitted] Finally, Hilary announced the channel will relocate from its current home in Bethesda to New York later this year. "Initially the channel was established in Bethesda to be as close as possible to our partners DCI. Almost seven years on, Discovery has moved to Silver Spring and BBC America is entering a new phase in its development. "We feel that New York is the ideal location for the channel's long term development. It allows us to co-site with BBC Worldwide Americas, provides all the benefits of a major media centre and places us close to the Discovery team which is commissioned to sell our advertising." The move to New York will be phased over several months beginning June 2005. Source: BBC Worldwide press release, London, in English 19 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA Reporter Wins Award in China: On Jan. 19, 2005 The Beijing News Awards Committee presented Voice of America (VOA) Mandarin Service China correspondent Kunghua Chang with the first-ever "Award for Excellence in Broadcast News" in a ceremony in China's capital city. Chang, 57, was recognized for his report on a Mandarin language proficiency competition in August 2004. The report profiled some of the university students from 39 countries participating in the competition, focusing on their experiences studying Mandarin and how language can cross the divides between nations (VOA via MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN RAJSHAHI, BANGLADESH, DXLD) OTOH, keep jamming VOA (gh) ** U S A. On Thursday evening (01/13/05) in the 0000 UT hour, I had the pleasure of listening to Dave Frantz host a classical music program on 3185 kHz. We were driving home and it made for excellent listening. It would be great to have more locally originated programming like this from WWRB. I think that this was the first time I heard Dave's voice when it wasn't coming out of a distorted, overcompressed mike, such as used for his top of the hour IDs (Daniel L. Srebnick, Jan 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi All! For all of you Ham Radio operators out there, I am happy to announce that "THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO" is now going to do a SPECIAL WBCQ edition of their show starting on January 29th 2005. The show will air on our 7.415 MHz service on Saturdays from 4 until 5 pm Eastern Standard Time [2100-2200 UT]. The 1 hour long WBCQ edition of TWIAR, will be FUN and Informative and will also allow for the staff of TWIAR to be a bit more CrEaTiVe with the show since they will not have the burden of the FCC rules that they have to follow in regards to "Broadcasting" on amateur radio frequencies. Maybe now we will be able to hear some of those Ham radio songs and other fun stuff that are not allowed on Ham radio frequencies. Oh yea, and speaking about the Staff of TWIAR, I am proud to announce that Allan and myself will be doing a weekly 5 or 6 minute segment on the show as well! THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO is heard around the world on over 120 Ham Radio repeaters and also on the WOKIE satellite radio network. For more information, go to their website at: http://www.twiar.org (Doc [Becker], http://www.wbcq.com via DXLD) Previous press release did not give a start date: so it`s next Saturday, not today (gh) ** U S A. Preacher on 7490 after 2300 UT Jan 21, so WJIE must be back; nothing on 13595 around 1500 UT check Jan 22 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Are your buildings all repaired/rebuilt by now? (gh to Evelyn Marcy, WYFR) Nothing has been done permanently, because we don't have a new roof yet --- bummer! (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR Okeechobee, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Around 1980 I was tired of the crappy hours/commute at CBS and had dreams of moving to the quiet east end of Long Island. So, what to do there for employment? ITT Worldcom was still running WSL Radio (mostly CW traffic to ships on 500 kc and 4 to 22 Mc) A couple of months earlier they promised me a job on the spot if I had a 2nd class RadioTelegraph license (not a 'Phone) I got the license after a couple weeks study of the theory but then chickened out on the job change, the pay was only $360 a week. They had a staff of 28 operators running 24x7 at the Southampton receiving site. I aced the CW test (1 min solid of 5x groups at 25 wpm). Had to go to 201 Varick St in NYC on a certain day of the month for the exam. Very few applicants. I wound up on a Cape Cod vacation around that time and stopped in to see WCC in Chatham. They were run by RCA and were very friendly. When I said I had a 2nd, they offered me a job right then, start tomorrow?? please? WSL closed around 1986. The Hauppauge transmitter site was razed, as was the Southampton receiver site. Their competitor was at Rocky Point (xmtr) and Riverhead (rcvr), the home of the original Beverage work in 1922 when the TA circuits ran at 60 kc and the antennas were up to 12 miles long, running over eastern L.I. sand where no one lived. ITT went from a staff of 28 (that's _just_ the CW watch ops), to QRT, in six years, thanks to Marisat and Inmarsat, and SITOR-B and its variants. I sat in on a circuit a couple of times. Working ships in the Indian Ocean mid-day on 12 MHz Rhombics for receiving. 10 kW transmitters 40 miles away feeding either rhombics or Collins log-periodics on 100 foot towers. I'll never forget ship "ATCC" (India) --- his fist was so bad, the WSL op refused to carry his traffic. Most of the ships were ELxx or 5Lxx (Liberian registry). Talk about AM radio dying. This business has been 6 feet under for 2 decades already. I'm glad to have been just a tiny part of it (Bob Foxworth, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. I know that quite a few of you on the list are into classic radio from the 60s and 70s. Here in Central Oregon we've got an interesting LPFM - KHJA-LP 102.1 Madras. It ID's as "KHJ" and clones the format of "Boss Radio" KHJ Los Angeles from that time period (60s/70s) with a Top 40 format from that era. If you're interested, check out their website: http://www.khjfm.com/ They actually have some of the original jocks doing shows for them now, including Big Bob Anthony and Pat St. John. See: http://www.khjfm.com/bossjocks Incidentally, Big Bob Anthony co-founded EMF (K-Love and Air 1). Yecch. At least they didn't make this LP one of them - I have about 8 of 'em on my dial already! (Dave Williams, Redmond, OR (near Bend, OR), WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 1140 NPS: Sorry if I am a day late and a dollar short here, but I just got out of three days in bed with the flu and turned on the radio to see what I could get on 1140. As of 10:00 am EST no audio, but I did notice a distinct het that resolved to 1140.500. No idea what it could be (Chris Black, Cape Cod, Jan 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) It's still here mid-day, and just as dominant. If they decide to park something permanently on here, I've lost 1140 which has been a productive channel. Bah. Between BPL, IBOC and TIS interlopers, it looks like there's a mass effort to ruin the AM band. Maybe I need a different hobby. Back to hot rodding, or stamp collecting, or Save The Whales (Collect All Ten!!) (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Craig, How about the Roger Williams National Memorial? It's operated by the NPS. Listening to your tape, it sounded like a 3rd station briefly surfacing at 1:20, 2:20, and 3:24. The latter was a man with what sounded like, "We will conduct..." May not have had anything to do with KCA717, but thought that I'd mention it. Nothing in my TIS database for that callsign, but then the federal government has refused my repeated requests (+ FOIA queries) for any information on TISs operated by the federal government (Mike Hardester, NC, ibid.) Yes. It's a tiny park of an acre or less in downtown Providence. It certainly doesn't merit one wide area TIS, let along several. One of the "talking house" rigs would more than cover it. I'm going to punch up 1140 when I'm on the road. That'll track it down eventually. I don't know how viable the frequency is. There's an application for an 1140 station northwest of Providence. Even at a kw non-d, it'll swamp any TIS around here. Why am I not surprised... Thanks for the info! This had to have popped up in the past day or so. In reality, it's not much of a park. Just some open space and a small building. I'll try to get down there over the weekend to see what's there. Time to trot out the field meter to do a direction finding on this 1140 thing. I did hear it over a pretty wide area in RI today. Certainly covers better than the 1610 RI HAR system. For the life of me, I don't see why they use AM for these things. I'd think a milliwatt at FM would do much better, and not be affected by skywave - either in or out. Put a short whip on a building, and voilà! (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) ** U S A. BOSTON AREA LOW POWER / UNLICENSED AM/FM RADIO STATIONS by Bruce Conti; NRC, BADX Here are the results of monitoring and a follow-up Internet search for low power and unlicensed AM/FM broadcasts on the air in the greater Boston area. Note the dominance of radio stations serving the Haitian community. Many of these stations are running full-scale professional commercial operations and maintain an equally impressive presence on the web. (Updated Jan 20, 2005) 530 Radio Planet Compas, Randolph - French Caribbean. http://www.planetcompas.com 540 R. Log, Dorchester - R&B/urban contemporary. 870 unID - Classical music days, French Caribbean zouk nights. 1580 WRCB R. Concorde, Mattapan - French Caribbean. http://www.radioconcorde.com 1620 R. Energy, Boston - French Caribbean. http://www.radioenergyboston.com 1620 R. Soleil International, Brockton - French Caribbean. 1640 WRNM R. Nouveauté, Boston - Off the air? Moving to 1710 kHz? http://www.radionouveaute.com 1650 Logan Airport Info, East Boston - Airline terminal assignments. 1670 WRDI R. Diffusion International, Boston - French news/talk. 1670 R. Communautaire de Brockton, Brockton - French Caribbean. 1680 WRUI R. Union International, Boston - Continuous French Caribbean zouk. http://www.radiounioninter.com 1690 WRCI R. Creole International, Lynn - French news/talk, AM Stereo. http://www.radiocreoleinter.com 1700 R. Bèl Ayiti, Boston - French Caribbean. http://www.belayiti.com 1700 unID, Lawrence - Spanish contemporary Christian music and preaching. 1710 Swamped by WRKO and WBZ (680 + 1030 = 1710 kHz). 89.3 R. Planet Compas, Boston - French news/talk, IDs as "Compas FM." http://www.planetcompas.com 91.3 R. Superstars, Everett - French news/talk, IDs as "W Radio" and "La radio d'information." A list of Haitian radio stations in the Boston area can be found online at the Haitian Americans United web site http://www.hauinc.org/html/community/Media/Radio/RadioStations.asp A more comprehensive site with links to Haitian radio in Boston is at http://www.anselme.homestead.com/radioboston.html This list with hyperlinks is available online at ¡BAMLog! http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm (Bruce Conti, Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. U.S. X-BAND AT A GLANCE - JANUARY 2005 COMPILED BY TONY KING, GREYTOWN, NEW ZEALAND Send corrections or updates to broadcast.dx @ radiodx.com Updates in bold [in original, CAPS here, concerning only 1610 CHSL, 1620 WNRP, 1660 KRZI, 1690 WWAA, 1700 XEPE] 1610 CHSL TORONTO ON Rel SS. On 21/11 Email Fr. Hernán Astudillo. Hastudillo @ rogers.com [but see CANADA!] 1620 WHLY South Bend IN "ESPN Radio 1620 South Bend" KOZN Bellevue NE "ESPN 1620 Omaha's The Zone" WTAW College Station TX 'Newstalk 16-20 WTAW' Takes 'USA Radio News' & C-to-C AM KBLI Blackfoot ID SS sports ESPN Radio KYIZ Renton WA Urban AC/ Black Oldies //KRIZ "Z Twins" KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. ETWN Catholic. "KSMH West Sacramento" WNRP Gulf Breeze FL C&W 'AM 1620 CLASSIC COUNTRY" WDHP Frederikstad, US Virgins BBC WS to after 0600 UT. Full ID at :59 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Talk/Sport KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W AP nx "The Spirit of Wyoming" ``K-W-Y 1630`` KKGM Ft Worth/Dallas TX Religious, Some Spanish + college football. WRDW Augusta GA Talk/Sport 'Newstalk 1630" [XEUT Tijuana still missing from this listing] 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Disney KDZR Lake Oswego OR Disney 'KDZR Radio Disney Portland" "AM 1640 KDZR" KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/religious/life issues WTNI Biloxi MS ``Talk Radio 1640 WTNI Biloxi`` Takes Coast to Coast. ABC news KFNY Enid OK All Comedy Radio. P. O. Box 952 Enid OK 73702. KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Única/Radio Latina. English ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA Disney. ``AM1650 WHKT Portsmouth, Radio Disney`` KBIV El Paso TX C & W. "Country Classics KBIV" KCNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk/ Sport. KDNZ call to 1250. Takes 'Coast to Coast' KWHN Fort Smith AR 'Newstalk 1650 KWHN' KBJD Denver CO Talk. ``KNUS-2`` KFOX Torrance CA Korean/ English ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Now "Radio Visa" Spanish talk. EE ID "KTIQ Merced" WFNA Charlotte NC Sporting News "WFNA The Franchise 1660 AM" WWRU Jersey City NJ Korean WCNZ Marco Is FL ‘Newsradio 1660' AP news WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN KRZI Waco TX ESPN + local sport. News on hr/local ads .05 [NEW CALL] KQWB West Fargo ND Nostalgia "Star 1660 is KQWB AM' CNN news KXOL Brigham City UT ``Oldies Radio`` (60s rock) KXTR Kansas City KS 'Classical 1660' WGIT Canóvanas Puerto Rico Spanish oldies "El Gigante" 1670 WMWR Dry Branch, GA News/Talk "Talk Radio WMWR 1670" WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk "Talk Radio 1670`` (Sporting News Network) KHPY Moreno Valley, CA Radio Católica SS EE on the hour. KNRO Redding CA "Redding's ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO' 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic – Asian "EBC Radio" WLAA Winter Garden FL Spanish WDSS Ada MI Disney 'AM1680 WDSS' KAVT Fresno CA Disney/Spanish KTFH Seattle WA Ethnic./SS Rel/ ``The Bridge, AM 16-80 KTFH Seattle.`` KRJO Monroe LA Urban Gospel. ``Rejoice 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KFSG Roseville CA SS rel. and Asian. EE ID on hour "KFSG Sacramento" WRLL Berwyn/Chicago IL "Real Oldies 1690" WWAA Adel GA NEWS/TALK CNN. "1690 AIR ATLANTA" WPTX Lexington Park MD ``Newstalk 1690 WPTX`` CNN headline News 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL Spanish/Rel/``Radio Luz`` French/Ethnic. WEUV Huntsville AL Talk KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio ``Sports Radio 1310 KTCK- The Ticket" KBGG Des Moines IA ``All News 1700 KBGG". CNN. KVNS Brownsville TX "Newstalk 1700 KVNS The Valley's Talk" XEPE Tijuana, BCN MX NEW BANDA FORMAT; SLOGAN LA TREMENDA (Tony King, NZ, Jan NX DX Times via DXLD) See also MEXICO ** U S A. FCC CRACKDOWN ON TRUNKED SYSTEMS? As much as I detest and ignore the worthless Paris Hilton, I had to pass this along. Can you file a complaint on an 800 MHz trunked system? PARIS HILTON is in trouble for indecency on radio, but not the kind of radio you'd expect. The controversial heiress apparently dropped an "f-bomb" on fire-dispatch radio while taping an episode of FOX reality series "THE SIMPLE LIFE." NBC O&O WCAU-TV (NBC10)/PHILADELPHIA, which says it has a copy of the audiotape, reports that HILTON and NICOLE RICHIE were filming at an ATLANTIC CITY fire station on JANUARY 14 when HILTON got on the dispatch system and said "Ladder 1, OK, motherf---ers!." (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. CNBC just reported that sources close to FCC Chairman Powell say he will announce his resignation today. Talking heads decide that will not change FCC policy of letting market forces determine outcomes rather than detailed regulation. No telling yet which BPL company he will go to work for (Joe Buch, DE, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC OFFICIALS SAY POWELL TO RESIGN WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell plans to resign Friday, FCC officials confirmed, ending what's often been a controversial tenure as he tried to push the telecom and media industries into an increasingly deregulated world that some lawmakers, companies and consumer groups didn't like. The news, first reported on The Wall Street Journal's editorial page Friday, was something of a surprise coming just one day after President Bush’s inauguration and with some very hefty issues yet to be dealt with by the FCC. Those issues include how to treat burgeoning Internet phone services as well as how to overhaul the Universal Service Fund, a federal subsidy program under financial pressure. Rumors have circulated for months that Powell, who has been on the FCC since President Clinton appointed him as a commissioner seven years ago, would step down. Recent conventional wisdom had him leaving in the spring after at least some of these issues were dealt with. The FCC is a five-member commission, with a majority representing the party of the president, in this case, Republicans. Possible successors discussed have included current Republican Commissioner Kevin Martin (source? Via Bill Hale, TX, Jan 21, NRC-AM via DXLD) Official: FCC Head Powell Stepping Down --- Friday, January 21, 2005 Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell plans to step down, an agency official said Friday. Powell, who maintained a light regulatory hand as the nation's chief media watchdog but collected some of the largest indecency fines against U.S. broadcasters, plans to issue a statement but was not expected to hold a formal news conference, this official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Powell, the son of departing Secretary of State Colin Powell does not plan to immediately step down, said the official. However, he will leave soon. Powell privately informed some industry officials earlier this week that he planned to make the announcement, according to one industry source who met with Powell. This person also spoke on condition of anonymity out of respect for the timing of Powell's announcement. Powell, a champion of deregulation who critics say is too pro-big business, rose from commissioner to chairman when President Bush took office in 2001. His term was to run until 2007. In a 2003 interview, he pledged to stay on until the end of Bush's first term. However, after Bush's re-election, it was widely assumed he would leave office early in the second term. Powell led the Republican-dominated FCC to ease decades-old rules governing ownership of newspapers and television and radio stations. The commission approved changes in 2003 that allow individual companies to own TV stations reaching nearly half the nation's viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same community. Major media companies said the changes were needed because the old regulations hindered their ability to grow and compete in a market altered by cable television, satellite broadcasting and the Internet. But lawmakers from both parties and a broad range of public interest groups criticized the changes, saying the FCC regulations had given large media companies too much control over what people see, hear and read. Congress and the courts are considering several efforts to modify or repeal the rules (Source? Via Pete Kemp, FL, ibid.) After Michael Powell --- January 21, 2005; Page A8 The bad news is that we are told that Michael Powell, one of Washington's better bureaucrats, is calling it quits today after four years at the helm of the Federal Communications Commission. You read it here first. The good news is that his exit affords the Bush Administration an opportunity to re-evaluate its stepchild treatment of telecom policy. . . URL for this article [subscription required]: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110627220789332234,00.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) It's about time --- He's done more damage than anyone in the position that I can remember. Between BPL, ultra-consolidation, IBOC, etc, Powell's administration of the FCC has been a disaster for the general public, as well as for amateur radio operators and dxers. Don't let the door hit you in the backside, Michael (Rene F. Tetro, WFIL, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) FCC Chairman Michael K Powell resigns The Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Michael K Powell, is resigning. Powell's time at the FCC has been controversial, with the "Nipplegate" scandal and its aftermath costing broadcasters millions of dollars in fines. The FCC has also passed controversial legislation permitting the use of Broadband Over Power Line technology. Mr Powell has issued this statement: "Today, I sent a letter to the President thanking him for the incredible privilege of chairing the Federal Communications Commission during his first term. With a mixture of pride and regret I informed him of my intention to step down as a commissioner and chairman some time in March. "Having completed a bold and aggressive agenda, it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and let someone else take the reins of the agency. During my tenure, we worked to get the law right in order to stimulate innovative technology that puts more power in the hands of the American people, giving them greater choices that enrich their lives. Evidence of our success can be seen increasingly in the offices, the automobiles and the living rooms of the American consumer. "The seeds of our policies are taking firm root in the marketplace and are starting to blossom. The use of cell phones, digital televisions, personal video recorders, and digital music players, is exploding. These devices are increasingly connected anytime, anywhere by a wide variety of broadband networks enabling a host of competitive services and new applications. Our children will inherit this exciting future. "My only significant regret is that I will no longer have the pleasure and privilege of working shoulder to shoulder with the most talented and dedicated staff and colleagues that I have known. I look forward to spending some time off with my wife and two boys, before taking up my next challenge. They have been wonderfully supportive and patient." # posted by Andy @ 17:48 UT Jan 21 (Media Network blog via DXLD) FCC Chairman Powell resigns --- By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 1:02 PM ET Jan. 21, 2005 http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B3A3D4ECB%2DE934%2D4FC4%2D86C5%2D342FB0023769%7D&siteid=mktw&dist= WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, announced his resignation Friday after a stormy four-year tenure at the regulatory watchdog. Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, became an FCC commissioner in 1997, and was elevated to chairman in 2001 by President George W. Bush. In a statement, he said he plans to leave sometime in March. As head of the five-member FCC board, Powell pushed to establish more free-market principles in federal communications policy. In announcing his resignation, Powell declared his approach a success. "The seeds of our policies are taking firm root in the marketplace and are starting to blossom," he said. "The use of cell phones, digital televisions, personal video recorders, and digital music players, is exploding." Powell's tenure was marked by several controversies, particularly in the regulation of speech, the rules governing media ownership and the introduction of competition into the local phone market. Free-market advocates generally laud his legacy. They say Powell paved the way for greater competition and helped to accelerate advances in technology by cutting red tape and regulations. "That competitive world wouldn't have been free to emerge if Michael Powell had listened to those who sought to impose yesterday's regulatory burdens on tomorrow's goods and services," said Ray Gifford, president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a think tank. Yet critics complain that Powell has actually weakened competition by allowing too many large mergers and by diluting long-standing regulations in the phone and media markets. "The long-distance industry has been demolished. AT&T and Sprint are pulling out of the local phone business. There's been enormous consolidation in wireless," said Gene Kimmelman, director of policy at Consumer Union and a sharp critic of Powell's term in office. In most of the agency's big votes, the FCC board split 3-2, with the panel's two Democrats dissenting. In several instances, Powell's hard push to deregulate has also drawn the ire of Congress. The FCC triggered an uproar two years ago after the agency voted to let broadcasters buy more TV properties. Congress later put those changes on hold. Lawmakers from both parties also took Powell to task for failing to crack down on indecency. After a fusillade of criticism, the chairman did an about-face and issued record fines against broadcasters that violated decency standards. The courts have also intervened, block several agency rulings and sending them back for review. Those missteps prompted critics and even some supporters to accuse the chairman of displaying poor media, political and even legal skills. Yet Powell is not the first FCC chairman to ruffle feathers in Washington. His predecessors, William Kennard and Reed Hundt, also endured fierce criticism during a time of rapid change in the U.S. communications industry. Among Powell's accomplishments are the establishment of a No-Call registry that lets consumers block telemarketing calls and a rule enabling wireless customers to keep their phone numbers when they switch companies. Who's next? One of the top candidates to succeed Powell is Rebecca Klein, a Gulf War veteran and former head of the Texas Public Utility Commission. Other possibilities include FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin and Michael Gallagher, a former telecommunications advisor to the Bush administration, industry insiders say. Powell is not the only FCC commissioner set to step aside. Another Republican on the panel, Kathleen Abernathy, may also step down soon. The turnover could slow decision-making at the agency over the next year as the newcomers settle in, analysts say. Among the big issues are reform of the Universal Service Fund and so-called access charges. The USF ensures that all Americans can get affordable phone service, but in recent years contributions to the fund have deteriorated amid sweeping industry changes. The fund is supported in part by access charges assessed to communications carriers when they use the phone networks of the local Bells to connect to their customers. Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska, the new chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has taken a strong interest in universal service reform. He's expected to hold meetings with lawmakers and industry executives early this year The White House, meanwhile, has said it wants to promote the spread of high-speed Internet connections to more homes. Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Washington (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Today I received a nice New Year's card from VoV, Vietnam, along with a new program schedule. This despite the fact that I haven't sent them a reception report in at lest a couple of years. Guess I need to put them on my Reception Report list for the next time I hear them. I always find the pictures on their N-Y cards interesting. This year is shows a couple standing on what appears to be a "very" tall swing, possibly made out of bamboo or wooden poles strapped together, with all the villagers gathered in a circle around it. If the picture is drawn to any kind of real scale at all, the swing framework appears to be close to a hundred feet tall, though in reality it's probably less. Also received earlier in the week, a card from CRI China. 73 de (Phil, KO6BB, Atchley, http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/ Merced, Central California, 37.3N 120.48W CM97sh, Jan 21, swl at qth.net via DXLD) 9840. Voice of Vietnam. 1230-1300. English program with ID, news. At 1245 announced what appears to be a quiz/contest?? and read the six questions and designated prizes. Said the questions would be repeated in later broadcast(s). Not found on website so perhaps only available to listeners (Steve Bass, Columbus, Ohio, Jan 21, R8B with RF Systems Mini- Windom Outdoor Antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. AOE [¿África Occidental Española?]- Polisario's 7460 kHz became regular again, but 1550 kHz still provides the best overall reception even if some het with the UK 1548 kHz is noted --- and easily avoided too, be it via the notch filter, PBT or simply by using the K9AY antenna (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Jan 20 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. ZNBC Radio 2, 6165, *0240-0300+ Jan 16, sign-on with Fish Eagle IS. 0250 NA. Barely audible under a very strong R. Nederland. Separate programming on 4910. ZNBC [Radio 1], 4910, 2145-2203* Jan 17, call-in program in vernacular and some occasional English. 2201 sign-off with NA by choir. Poor-fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note: don`t call it ZBC, which is ZIMBABWE UNIDENTIFIED. A new entry at the bottom of TDP`s list of shortwave clients at http://www.airtime.be/whose.html is Al-Balagh Radio, but link to its website http://www.albalagh-radio.com/ just lands at Register.com Nor does Al Balagh appear on the schedule (yet?) at http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html So, who are they, and where will they broadcasting to, on what schedule? (Glenn Hauser, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ PRIMEIRO ENCONTRO DEXISTA BRASIL-ARGENTINA Nos dias 14, 15 e 16 de janeiro passado, em Ilha Comprida no Litoral de São Paulo no Brasil foi realizado o primeiro encontro entre os dexistas do Brasil e da Argentina. O evento realizado pelo DX Clube do Brasil e pelo Grupo Radio Escuta Argentino veio coroar uma parceria firmada entre as duas agremiações no ano de 2004. Mesmo com condições adversas de propagação, eles realizaram boas escutas em Ondas Médias e também em FM de emissoras do Caribe através dos efeitos da Propagação Transequatorial. Porém mais importante que as próprias escutas foi o intercâmbio de informações e experiências trocado entre os dois grupos. O DX Clube do Brasil e o Grupo Radio Escuta Argentino mostraram com esta realização que o dexismo sulamericano está caminhando lado a lado rumo ao patamar de destaque que merece do cenário mundial (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) INITIAL BRAZIL-ARGENTINA DX GET-TOGETHER On January 14-16, at Ilha Comprida on the São Paulo state coast in Brazil, the first meeting took place between DXers from Brazil and Argentina. The event, organized by the DX Clube do Brasil and the Grupo Radioescucha Argentino, was the culmination of an accord signed by the two groups in 2004y. Despite adverse propagation conditions, they made some fine catches on MW and also on FM from stations in the Caribbean via trans-equatorial propagation. Even more important than the loggings was the interchange of information and experiences between the two groups. DXCB and GRA demonstrated with this event that South American DXing is on the road, side by side, to the place of prominence it deserves on the world stage (translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caros amigos, Aqueles que desejarem ver uma foto e uma descrição do que foi o maravilhoso encontro realizado entre o DX Clube do Brasil (DXCB) e o Grupo Radio Escuta Argentino (GRA), basta ir á página DXing.info do Dexista Mika Mäkläinen, no endereço: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?p=3112#3112 Um abraço a todos, (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Noticias DX via DXLD) How about identifying the people in the photo??? (gh to Adalberto) Quanto aos nomes da foto, são os seguintes, da esquerda para a direita: Michel Vianni, Victor Castaño do Uruguay, Carlos Felipe da Silva de São Bernardo do Campo-SP, Renato Uliana de Guaruhlos-SP, Arnaldo Slaen da Argentina, Pedro de Castro de Lorena-São Paulo, Martin Genny de São Paulo, Wilson Rodrigues de Itauna-Minas Gerais, Ivan Dias de Sorocaba São Paulo e Marcelo Bedene de Curitiba no Paraná. O Carlos Felipe da Silva é o coordenador geral do DX Clube do Brasil e o Arnaldo Slaen é um dos Coordenadores do Grupo Radio Escuta Argentino (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VIETNAM TO HOST 2005 ABU GENERAL ASSEMBLY 20 January 05 --- The venue for the ABU's 2005 General Assembly and annual meetings has been changed to Hanoi, Vietnam. ABU Secretary- General, David Astley, made the announcement today after several months of discussions with Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV). He said that the Secretariat had been advised by Prasar Bharati in November that they were unable to host the 2005 General Assembly in India as planned. "VOV had previously indicated interest in hosting the General Assembly in 2005, so we immediately contacted them to see if they could step into the breach, and this week we were delighted to learn that they had obtained Government approval to proceed," Mr Astley said. The President of the ABU, Katsuji Ebisawa, said from Tokyo: "I am very grateful to our Vietnam members for their generous offer to host the 2005 General Assembly. We look forward to visiting the wonderful city of Hanoi for what I am sure will be a memorable event." The General Assembly will be hosted jointly by VOV and Vietnam Television (VTV) and the dates of the meetings will be November 21-28, with the Administrative Council meeting being held on November 24 and the three-day General Assembly opening on November 26. Mr Astley said that the dates were about two months later than last year to avoid the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "The dates were also chosen to avoid clashing with the WSIS meetings in Tunis on November 16-18, and the World Media Environment Summit in Sarawak on November 30 - December 2," he added (Excerpts from ABU Weekly News Digest Week ended January 20, 2005 via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ For those needing sleep, here is a long document from the CFR on BPL. http://www.vobbe.net/articles/Broadband_Over_Power_Lines.pdf (Fred Vobbe, Publisher National Radio Club's DXAS, NRC-AM via DXLD) 20 pages from the Federal Register, FCC section; includes list of coordinates of coastal and aero stations which must be protected (gh) [WIA-NEWS] ACA RESPONDS TO WIA ON BPL TRIALS ACA Response to WIA letter of 9 December 2004 on BPL trials The WIA wrote to the ACA on 9 December 2004 raising the WIA's concerns related to the conduct of Broadband over Power Line trials in Australia, and the radio frequency emissions that were of such character as to be likely to cause substantial interference with radiocommunications services. The WIA asked the ACA as spectrum manager to intervene to protect radiocommunications, and proposed a number of initiatives. WIA has received a formal response from ACA. Want To Know More? http://www.wia.org.au/news/2005/20050121-05.php Kind Regards! (via Robert Wise, Tasmania, ARDXC via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RAILROAD TRACK ANTENNAS I've done it and it really does work. And it works on the transmission end, as well. Several years ago I was working at a small 1 KW AM radio station whose towers were adjacent to a set of tracks. As an experiment, I took some 2" copper strap that I had in storage and ran it from the ground ring at base of the tower closest to the tracks and the connected it to the bottom of one of the rails with a small C- clamp via a large .1 mfd/600Volt capacitor. (The cap was to prevent any interference with rail signaling.) The result was that the rails effectively became a part of the station`s antenna/ground system. I checked things with a field strength meter before and after, and found that when I came within 500-1000 feet of the rails, our field strength was about 10-20% greater than without the rail connection. I was also able to hear the station much further away than normal when I came near the rails. OK. I know it isn't exactly kosher, but my curiosity got the better of me. I was young and stupid. I removed it two days later. And our signal went back to normal. And, by the way, the cap did indeed protect the railroad's signaling circuitry; it operated flawlessly during the two days I was connected. I kept a close eye on the nearby signals, and a close ear on the railroad's radio frequencies while I was experimenting. Today, of course, I am older and wiser, and would not try such a thing, nor would I ever recommend that someone else try it. And the railroads are also much more attuned to people on their property; and one would probably get arrested. But, if you live near some abandoned tracks, it might be interesting to see how a rail based pseudo-beverage antenna might work. :-) (René F. Tetro, Chief Engineer, WNTP - 990 kHz / WFIL - 560 kHz, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-1901, NRC-AM via DXLD) There is a railroad crossing on the Beltline Highway on the south side of Madison, Wis.. If you tune a Chicago station as you drive down the Beltline, when you cross the tracks the signal will increase at least 10dB in strength, dropping back down when you get past. Strangely, that's the ONLY railroad crossing where I've ever observed that. (stopping on the tracks to DX would not be a good idea. The rail line is VERY lightly used -- I lived there for 13 years and saw a train *once* -- but it's a freeway and being struck by a car would be the risk...) – (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) I seem to recall noticing the same phenomenon when going under the occasional overpass with the radio on. I also seem to recall hearing that this effect may be the result of stochastic resonance, a phenomenon whereby a coherent input is amplified and optimized with the assistance of noise. The train tracks and, in my case, the steel bridge beams may be funneling RF energy into the radio which serves as the amplifying noise. Or not. I'm a chemist, not a physicist. I'd be interested in learning if anyone else on the list has observed the above mentioned effects and can offer a better explanation for them. I have a paper (long, .pdf file) on the theory of stochastic resonance if anyone is interested (Peter Jernakoff, DuPont Titanium Technologies, Wilmington, Delaware, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The last few lines of Wolfgang Büschel`s notes for Jan 19 in 5-012 were inadvertently cut off: 21 MHz - nil. At 1040 UT 21495 ARS Ins, 21670ARS Ins, 21820GAB NHK appeared. S=1-2 only. Surprisingly the DRM powerhouses came through. Estimated recovery time is Jan 19th, 1121 UT (wb, BC-DX Jan 19 via DXLD) KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF RADIO PROPAGATION OUTLOOK UPDATE #2005-004A Issued Saturday 01/22/2005 at 1800 UTC Yesterday I forecasted that partially geoeffective (Earth facing) coronal mass ejection #6 would produce no more than moderate to possibly strong (Kp-6-7) geomagnetic storming. I also said that though only partially geoeffective, the incoming CME screaming along at a withering 1004 km/s, was a very large impulse and very hard to judge as far as its potential impact on our magnetic field. In any event I was wrong. During the day yesterday we saw severe (Kp-8) geomagnetic storming for at least six hours! Just a few words concerning sunspot group #10720 that is rotating around the west limb of the Sun today, hoorah. #1.) During #10720's transit across the visible face of the Sun it produced 100 C class, 24 M class and 5 X class solar flares, quite prolific. #2.) It produced at least six geoeffective (Earth facing) coronal mass ejections. The last CME that arrived on Friday 01/21/05 was so intense that it was followed by magnetopause crossings. In simpler terms Earth's magnetic field was compressed in the opposite direction of the Sun such that orbiting satellites including the space station were exposed to the full wrath of the Sun, very unhealthy to microprocessors and human DNA. #3.) It produced an energetic excessive proton storm that reached 5040 pfu, the strongest of cycle 23. At one point protons actually penetrated to ground level in the polar regions! #4.) Last but not least it produced at least 38 hours of geomagnetic storming. Fortunately we will now see solar, space and geomagnetic weather return to some sense of normalcy. But we also have recurrent sunspot group #10715, now re-numbered as 10725, which just rotated into view around the eastern limb of the Sun. Last solar rotation this sunspot group was a prolific producer of solar flares. It already has a beta-gamma twisted magnetic field and is capable of C & M class solar flares. This group has the potential to grow rapidly in size and complexity, similar to now departed sunspot group #10720. 73 & GUD DX, Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF Retired Space & Atmospheric Weather Forecaster Plant City, FL, USA, Grid Square EL87WX Lat & Long 27 58 33.6397 N 82 09 52.4052 W kn4lf @ arrl.net Propagation eReflector: http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/propagation KN4LF Daily Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm KN4LF Daily LF/MF/HF Radio Propagation Outlook: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm KN4LF HF/MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm KN4LF Amateur & SWL Radio History: http://www.kn4lf.com/index.htm (Giella, dxldyg via DXLD) ###