DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-014, January 24, 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: 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 Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 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 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1261: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 9985 ANOTHER GH INTERVIEW AUDIBLE: On Jan 21, Dave Schwartz interviewed me on WPKN Bridgeport CT. For anyone interested, an almost complete 44- minute audio file is available: (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wpkngh.rm (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wpkngh.ram ** ANTIGUA. BBC harmonic heard in NE USA Saturday 22 January, 30.38 MHz AM: 1618+ UT - BBC World Service via Antigua relay FK97 2nd harmonic Oms soccer game play-by-play commentary, mention of teams Norwich, Lancaster, Southampton. S4+ > 5+ w/ good audio quality (Jack Sullivan, Central New Jersey, FN20, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. Bahamas radio and television is now available via MPEG digital satellite. ZNS-TV and two ZNS radio stations, including the 810 kHz station, are available. I note that ZNS radio runs the BBC Caribbean Report at 6 pm [2300 UT] weekdays (Mike Cooper, Jan 22, DXLD) WTFK? ** BENIN. 5025 kHz, January 21, R. Parakou from Benin with very good signal at 06 UT with "Radio Parakou" ID. No trace of R. Rebelde from Cuba as usual (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. On Jan 8 I heard R. Municipal, 4845 at 0130 with bilingual news, one Spanish and I guess the other Aymara; also messages and other official communiqués, close down at 0201. My first logging of this new station (Christer Brunström, Sweden, HCJB DX Partyline Jan 22, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOTSWANA. STATE RADIO FINALLY RECEIVES BROADCAST LICENCE! It took almost forty years for Radio Botswana (state-owned RB) to obtain a licence to broadcast in line with proper procedures. The Botswana Telecommunication Authority (BTA) rectified this regulatory vacuum on 21 December 2004, via the intermediary of the National Broadcasting Board (NBB, the regulatory body). Prior to this only three operators held a licence: the privately-owned commercial radio stations Yarona FM and Gabz FM, and the private television channel, the Gaborone Broadcasting Corporation. The BTA intends to licence Botswana Television (state-owned BTV), possibly as early as 2005. The broadcasting act of 1998 recognizes three different categories of broadcasters: public service broadcasters, commercial and community broadcasters. The broadcast licence that was granted to Radio Botswana carries with it rights but also responsibilities, starting with a broadcasting services fee of 100,000 pula, or 11 million CFA francs - an amount which the RB considers too high. The state radio will now be monitored by the regulatory body, on the same basis as any other radio station that holds a licence. The BTA is also hoping to licence a certain number of community radio stations following the launch of a public call for tenders. Several criteria will be taken into consideration including the existence of popular demand, the availability of local content, the viability ofthe project and a readiness to comply with the laws. Source: Daily News, 22/12/04 http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20041222&i=Radio_Botswana_licenced (via Panos West Africa AfricaMediaNews, 10. 1. 2005 via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Cacique --- Caros amigos, Após sugestão do amigo Arnaldo Slaen, resolvi agendar uma visita a emissora que é conhecida por muitos como a mais obscura do Brasil, além de ser uma das poucas que ainda transmite na faixa de 120 metros. Como a maioria das emissoras do interior, trata-se de uma emissora com instalações simples, mas fui muito bem atendido. A pessoa que me atendeu durante mais de uma hora (Sr. Edir Correa) ficou maravilhado com algumas das confirmações que eu levei e toda a descrição que fiz do nosso hobby. Bem, as surpresas não foram apenas por parte do pessoal da emissora. Eu também fiquei surpreso e feliz ao ver a pasta de "cartas honrosas" recebidas pela emissora nas décadas de 70 e 80. Entre estas cartas, encontrei informes de Dexistas da Noruega, Finlândia, Suécia, África do Sul e Estados Unidos, sendo que alguns informes eram espantosamente detalhados. O único momento chato foi quando encontrei um "informe" do maldito Bellabarba (até tirei uma foto do envelope). Ao contrário deste verdadeiro pilantra (que pelo que vi faz isso há muito tempo), encontrei uma fita cassete com a gravação de uma escuta em 2470 kHz por um Dexista Finlandês na década de 80. Encontrei também informes de recepção de colegas conhecidos como Cláudio Rotolo de Moraes e Antônio Ribeiro da Mota. No informe do Cláudio há até uma citação ao meu time do coração, o Esporte Clube São Bento, time da cidade que disputou durante mais de 3 décadas consecutivas a primeira divisão do futebol paulista. Aproveitei a visita para tentar instruir a pessoa que me atendeu para que voltasse a confirmar os informes de recepção, bem como o uso do IRC (na pasta encontrei alguns nunca usados). Sugeri que utilizasse a carta QSL utilizada na década de 80 como padrão, que é bem completa. Além disso, informei algo que nem o próprio pessoal da emissora sabia exatamente: na verdade, há mais de 6 meses a emissora vem transmitindo na frequência de 2370 kHz ao invés dos 2470 kHz. Na verdadeu eu consigo sintonizar a emissora nas duas frequências, porém o sinal em 2470 kHz é praticamente imperceptível e em 2370 kHz o sinal é muito forte. Bem, finalizo esta mensagem informando o endereço da emissora. Creio que ajudará bastante enviar os informes aos cuidados do Sr. Edir Correa. Rua Saldanha da Gama 168 Centro Sorocaba/SP 73, (Ivan Dias - Sorocaba/SP, Membro do DXCB, DXCB, o mais tradicional clube dexista do Brasil, Junte-se à nossa família! http://www.ondascurtas.com radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Clube do Pará, 4885, 0644-0700+ Jan 23, Portuguese. Variety of music including hip-hop and more traditional LA music, played non-stop between echo style announcements. Good signal and copy overall. Belém mentioned (possibly ads, too) (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4865 kHz, R. Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul AC, 15 Jan, 2345-0008, rosary, many messages from listeners; 44443, QRM de B itself. DSWCI’s DBS-6 has language and/or spelling mistakes, and the text under the entry of this station is a shear example, as if the station belonged to a Spanish-speaking country! It should read: (...) OM e 4865 (...), pertencente à Fundação (...)”. Another funny example concerns R. Alvorada 4865 of “Rede Mariana de Evangelização” as the word “marina” in the DBS “suggests” something of the maritime business, but “mariana” comes from “Maria”, Mary, so in this case this evangelical network is dedicated to the cult of the so- called Virgin Mary (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, @tividade DX Jan 23 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5080 21/01 0930 UNID, programa evangelico, Sinal muito distorsido. Tenho ouvido esta transmissão desde 13 de Janeiro, mas não identifiquei a origem do sinal (SAMUEL CÁSSIO MARTINS, SÃO CARLOS - SP - BRASIL, receptor Kenwood R-5000, antena longwire 35 metros, @tividade DX Jan 23 via DXLD) Not an image of 5980? ** BRAZIL. Faz algum tempo que a Rádio Cultura, de Araraquara (SP), não é sintonizada, em 3365 kHz, em 90 metros. A constatação é do Fernando Bergamini, de Fernandópolis (SP). Agrega que não é a única emissora brasileira que está inativa em 90 metros. A outra é a Rádio 79, de Ribeirão Preto (SP), que transmitia em 3205 kHz. Uma pena! BRASIL – A Rádio Difusora Seis de Agosto, de Xapuri (AC), está no ar, em 3255 kHz, no seguinte esquema: das 1000 às 1400 e entre 2200 e 0200. As informações são do funcionário da emissora, João Sirley, em entrevista a Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM). BRASIL - A Rádio Gazeta, de São Paulo, é a única emissora brasileira que ainda emite na faixa de 19 metros. Desde primeiro de janeiro foi ouvida, novamente, na freqüência de 15325 kHz, retransmitindo a programação católica da Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista. Os interessados em obter a confirmação da Canção Nova podem enviar os informes para o e-mail: dx @ cancaonova.com Esporadicamente, a Canção Nova transmite, nos sábados, um programa que fala de dexismo e ondas curtas, às 2100 UTC, em 4820, 5955, 6105, 9675, 9685 e 15325 kHz, que são as freqüências da Gazeta e da própria Canção Nova (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Jan 23 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. No trace of Cambodia on 11940v kHz anymore. Maybe gone forever (Uwe Volk, WWDXC, touring SE Asia, BC-DX Jan 24 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CORUS, ASTRAL GET REGULATORY APPROVAL OF QUEBEC RADIO STATION SWAP --- WebPosted Fri Jan 21 15:54:35 2005 Montreal --- Canada's broadcast regulator gave its approval on Friday for Corus Entertainment Inc. to buy eight Quebec radio stations from Astral Media Inc. In return, Astral will get five FM stations in Rimouski, Amqui, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu and Drummondville from Corus as part of the $11 million deal. Corus gets six AM stations, one AM repeater station and one FM station in Quebec City. Many intervenors objected to Corus's plans for CKAC The approval came despite protests over plans by Corus to change CKAC, a French-language AM station in Montreal, into a mainly all-sports station. CKAC is the oldest private French-language radio station in the world (established in 1922) and now employs more than 20 journalists. The Corus proposal would reduce that to three journalists. Instead, Corus said it would create a pooled news arrangement involving 17 journalists at three stations it owns in the Montreal-area. Under terms of its approval, the CRTC stipulated that CKAC must provide 60 hours of local programming per week in 2005-2006, growing to 80 hours a week in two years. The other seven stations being picked up by Corus must provide at least 27 hours a week of local programming in 2005-2006, rising to 37 hours a week in two years. Corus had been offering to provide up to 40 hours per week of local programming on CKAC, the main asset in the deal. "Corus Entertainment is pleased to receive the CRTC's decision today regarding the swap of radio stations with Astral Media," said Pierre Arcand, the president of Corus Quebec, in a statement. "But it will require some analysis before we make further comment. The conditions are new and financial circumstances have changed since the hearing, so we need to assess the matter carefully," he said. Corus sells two Alberta radio licences Corus also said Friday that it has struck a $9 million deal to sell its Red Deer radio stations Zed 99 FM (CIZZ-FM) and KG Country (CKGY- FM) to Newcap Inc., a subsidiary of Newfoundland Capital Corporation. The deal is subject to approval by the CRTC. Copyright (C) 2004 CBC. All rights reserved (via DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. 9590 kHz, January 21 *1700- Radio Centrafricaine, Bangui (?) commencing program. Language vernaculars. Site in France? Who knows more? Wish [for] Central African Republic´s return in the 60 mb. First 30 minutes even S9 +10 dB and after that reception getting weaker very fast. 73´s de (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE [non]. IOWA GRAD STUDENTS START INTERNATIONAL RADIO SHOW IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Two University of Iowa graduate students have started the school's first internationally syndicated college radio show. The one-hour show, called Sesiones, is taped in Spanish at the KRUI studio in Iowa City for broadcast in Chile. Through the program, American independent music is showcased for a university in Chile called the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Marcelo Mena, 29, is one of the show's hosts, said the program offers an "unfiltered nexus'' to the college indie rock scene and Iowa City's music scene. Mena and co-host Óscar Vega, 30, both are graduates of Chilean universities. KRUI adviser Kelvin Soukup said the show is new territory for the college station and is scheduled to air for the rest of the year (via Bill Smith, IA, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CRI's English service replied to a reception report about the 17625 transmission listed as Santiago de Chile with a statement that they wouldn't use this frequency: (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hallo! Anfang Dezember konnte ich China Radio Int. um 1347 UT mit dem Engl. Programm auf 17625 kHz empfangen. Laut WRTH werden diese Sendungen über Sendeanlagen der Voz Cristiana in Chile ausgestrahlt. Nun kam als Antwort auf meinen Empfangsbericht vom englischen Dienst von CRI eine Karte, auf der mir mtgeteilt wird, das CRI diese Frequenz gar nicht benützen würde. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, Jan 23, A-DX via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) Well, Andrew Flynn of Christian Voice confirmed to me face-to-face in Dallas that they are relaying CRI from Santiago, altho we didn`t discuss the exact schedule. In Beijing, they are either ignorant or in denial (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Dear all, Just a quick note to say I was one of the lucky winners in China Radio International Zhejiang competition. I mainly listen to CRI on a regular basis as I am interested in its culture. I spent 10 days in China, 5 days in Beijing 5 days in Zhejiang Province South China. I even did a cultural exchange with Shaoxing City and Newcastle Upon Tyne where I am a City Councillor. Apart from being in the newspapers, television with 7 other prize winners from France, Germany, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, Japan and Korea. I was also interviewed by CRI. You can catch the interview in Listeners Garden on Saturday 29 th January. The trip was out of this world; I learnt so much and had a great time, even meeting Ozzy Osbourne at Heathrow as he was flying back to LA and I was flying to China. Regards (Bill Thorkildsen, UK, Jan 23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** CHINA. HOME BROADCAST SERVICE TRANSFORMS VILLAGE http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/24/content_411646.htm (China Daily) Updated: 2005-01-24 09:06 A 70-year-old farmer founded his very own radio station which broadcasts from his home, a village in Wuming, Guangxi Zhuang. And since it went on air the station has brought about a dramatic change to village life by helping to educate locals and give them a sense of community. Huang came up with the idea of setting up a radio station a year ago, following a spate of crimes in and around the village. He bought the necessary equipment then set about making programmes, broadcasting the latest news on State policy, agricultural technology, general news and the good deeds of locals. To fund his radio station Huang raises ducks and grows fruit trees. He also receives help from locals, the majority of whom wholeheartedly support his brave move. The impact of the radio station has been considerable and is changing the atmosphere of the village, making it more of a community, reports the Nanning Daily. [This report leaves some questions unanswered. If it is a real radio station (i.e. with its own transmitter) on AM or FM, is is licensed? And is this the only such station in the whole of China? Andy] (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CROATIA. Croatian Radio spur on 5040, 2127 UT Dec 22, ``Silent Night`` in local language \\ 6165 and 1134 --- 5040 in sync with 1134 but 6165 was one second in front of both; SIO 342 (Nick Rank, Buxton, Derbyshire, Tropical Bands Logbook, Jan BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Rest of the story: mixture with another transmitter had to produce this spur: 6165 minus 1125 = 5040 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Björn, en cuanto a la pregunta que formulas en tu página sobre los dueños de la emisora quiteña MCI Radio, ex Radio Sideral, en 1330.1 kHz, pienso que puede ser la iglesia evangélica colombiana del mismo nombre, o sea MCI. En Bogotá funciona desde hace tiempo MCI Radio (en 1550 kHz), emisora que, a finales de los 90, para sorpresa de muchos, estaba en el 9o. lugar del rating local para emisoras de AM. Los fundadores de la iglesia son muy conocidos en el medio local e incluso fuera del país. Tanto es así que han sido invitados a Suecia por lo menos dos o tres veces en los últimos dos años. A Gran Bretaña otro tanto. Los Castellanos tiene mucha convocatoria no solo en lo pastoral sino por lo visto también en lo político. La esposa, Claudia, fue senadora de la República. El esposo y los hijos sobrevivieron un atentado hace unos 10 años. Sobre MCI véase más en: http://www.mci12.com/ Re: Your question as to the ownership of MCI Radio, Quito, on 1330.1 I do not know if there is a local branch of the influential Colombian evangelical church MCI in Quito. But if there is, then they are likely to be the owners. See: http://www.mci12.com/english/Home-engl.html (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Conexión Digital Jan 23 via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. On 23 Jan at 1645 a weakish (poor conditions) Spanish speaking station on 5005. Mostly telephone comments/reports and some African music. Last couple of minutes lot of talk about radio and Malabo. Carrier went off at 1703. Can't be anything else than Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, hopefully soon starting afternoon/evening transmissions on this frequency (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DXLD) Signal S9 in Thessaloniki, Heard at 1645 with talks abut Mexico, Cuba continental Party and reports At 1702 with mention of Malabo and sign off Lowly modulated 34232. Strong local QRN. Tried to change my antennas at 1658 and just heard the end of programming (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, ibid.) Wonder if they closed 5005 as early as 1703 in order to move the same single operational transmitter to 15190. Has anyone heard 15190 and 5005 at the same time, overlapping? On another occasion, Petersen heard 15190 opening as early as *1445 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Nacional (Bata), 5005, 0613-0651 Jan 23. Spanish program, no music heard, some commentary on U.S. Political news and other topics. I did not hear a formal ID but I did hear mentions of Nacional, Bata, Ecuatorial, etc. Broadcasting right on 5005 (not lower as some have reported recently). Fair copy, good strength, at least 45 minutes past local sunrise. Faded out by 0651. 6250 Malabo not heard this evening/local morning (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. Some interesting QSLs have arrived lately: Voice of Delina, Eritrean clandestine on 15650 kHz. E-mail, confirming my reception report on the initial broadcast on January 1st. QSL from Tesfa Delina Foundation, tesfa @ delina.org V/s: Tes. http://dmsi.delina.org (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. RTV Gabonaise (tentative), 4777, 0632+ Jan 23. Tough copy; I thought it was French, all studio work by an OM announcer, no music, only talk. Near local sunrise in Gabon, no discernible ID however, so tentative. Using LSB, I believe TWR Swaziland was still broadcasting and audible on 4775 at that time, definitely a different program on 4775 but very weak. I have been working hard to log Gabon; this is the closest I have come so far (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Some interesting QSLs have arrived lately: Truck Radio, new German AM-station with transmitters in Jülich (702), Nordkirchen (855) and Stuttgart (738). I heard them on 855 kHz. QSL-card and letter. V/s: Tanja Göpfert. http://www.truckradio.de (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 13820-THE VOICE [y otra, FVM] Hola chavales: Hoy sábado 22, desde las 1615 hasta las 1725, cuando ha desaparecido la señal por completo, he estado escuchando una emisora que se identificaba como THE VOICE. Tengo que reconocer que no he estado muy atento porque han dado varias veces su dirección y teléfono en Inglaterra, pero no lo he grabado, así como su página web, que me da la sensación que es http://www.voiceafrica.com aunque está en construcción. Durante su programa han dado lectura a cartas procedentes de Africa y aparte de música pop han dicho en varias ocasiones que se trataba de una transmisión piloto. De 1630 a 1700 hubo interferencia de lo que en la lista del ILG definen como la FVM, que no sé muy bien a qué corresponde., pero se trataba de un programa religioso en inglés. ¿Sabe alguien algo más acerca de esta misteriosa emisora, al menos para mí? Gracias por anticipado. Paz y DX (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, Jan 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY 13820 T-Systems site Wertachtal 250 kW, 105 degrees Sats only Hola Ignacio, see FVM Freie Volksmission Krefeld on Saturdays to zones 39 Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Pen. 40 Iran, Afghanistan http://www.freie-volksmission.de/ "FREIE VOLKSMISSION KREFELD e. V." "FREE PEOPLE'S MISSION KREFELD INC." Proclamation of the full gospel --- Freie Volksmission Krefeld e.V. Free people's mission Krefeld Inc. P. O. Box 100707, D-47707 Krefeld, Germany, postmaster@freie-volksmission.de 13820 1630-1700 39,40 105 7 010105 270305 WER 250 FVM!! Saludos desde (Stuttgart, Alemania, Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc TopNews, http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm ibid.) Freie Volksmission, Am Herbertzhof 15, D-47809 Krefeld, Germany Tel:+49/2151/545151 (Peter Kruse, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No chance of hearing it here with jamming and Martí on 13820 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Major reduxions in output are planned for R. Deutsche Welle for the A-05 season. German to Asia is proposed to be reduced to 6 hours daily, at 08-14. At present, 10 hours daily, 06-16. German to Au and As, at present 06-08, is to be deleted entirely. English to Asia to remain at 4 hours daily, 22-01, and 16-17, with these available as a secondary basis to Au. Proposed frequencies for English to As: 22-23 9720 from Trincomalee, 23-24 9890 from Kigali, 00-01 9825 from Wertachtal, and 16-17 17595 also from Wertachtal. Note that only one channel is designated at any given time for Asia (Bob Padula, EDXP Forum via HCJB DX Partyline Jan 22, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GHANA. Ghana BC, 4915, 2340+ Jan 16. Co-channel R. Nacional (Brazil) covers this frequency at this time, but today, Ghana with distinctive music and African style announcers was clearly heard underneath (and over at times) Brazil. I believe it was a DJ request program on Ghana, in vernacular (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. There has been some discussion in DXLD about the KNR station on 3815U. It seems this station has been heard in Finnish Lapland DX-pedition LEM206. Date is 11 Jan. See the loggings at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/lem206log.dx 73 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 3815 USB, 11.1. 2200 +, KNR Tasiilaq. Perhaps the first time that this shortwave station has been heard outside Greenland. However, there used to be a MW transmitter in the same location, heard also in northern Europe. Greenland on Shortwave --- There are only relatively few active shortwave stations that we still haven't identified, so shortwave was not a major target, and neither was it very practical, as much of the time the tropical bands were completely dead. However, one very interesting station was heard; Kalaalit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) from Tasiilaq, Greenland, was picked up on 3815 kHz USB. This was presumably the first time that the station had been heard outside Greenland (Håkan Sundman and/or Mika Mäkeläinen, Lem 206 log via DXLD) Great, but details, ID? (gh) Principles of logging a station – by Mika Mäkeläinen Most DXpeditions in Finland have two participants, but an attempt is made not to listen to the same station at the same time, so rare stations are finders keepers until the following day. However, listeners keep each other constantly posted on all identified stations to ensure maximum utilization of the ever-changing propagation conditions. Identifying stations is hard work, and to maintain reliability, it should be taken seriously. Logging stations just based on the language, an educated guess or probability, or even based on evidence from simulcasting frequencies, is not regarded as good enough. Unless labeled as tentative (tent.), all stations logged are positively identified either by obtaining a station identification or other local announcement, which rules out all other potential stations (from http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/lognotes.dx via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. There was a power failure in my neighborhood this morning Jan 24 which started at 1030 UT (Probably maintenance?), so I got up and did some DC DXing on my NRD545. Heard the following toughies usually for me [...Peruvians...]: 2320 kHz, unID, 1135-1158. This station was pretty fair at times starting out with praying, then TC's "...5, 45 minutos" which put it in the -6 time zone. He probably gave ID, but I didn't catch any, although I heard "Guatemala`` often. This is probably a harmonic? Signal was fair at times. When the power came back on at 1158, this station was covered by the line noise I have here on this low frequency (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TGRI, R. Izabal, Morales is the only 1160 Guattie listed in WRTH 2005; then there`s TGY 580, R. Progreso, Guatemala (gh) ** GUINEA. 1385.8 kHz, R. RURALE, Labé noted several times after sign/off 2300 UT of CRI Beijing in German via Kaliningrad. Good reception indeed tnx to geomagnetic storm (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030 Plus, Ant: 95 m lw to E, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. AM changes in Hawaii: The fallout from the Cox/Salem swap of stations in Honolulu ends up like this - KHNR 650 Honolulu HI goes from Salem to Cox and drops news-talk for easy listening; KAIM 870 Honolulu stays with Salem but flips from contemporary Christian to classic country; KHCM 940 Honolulu goes from Salem to Cox, changes calls to KJPN and switches to Japanese-language programming; KJPN 1170 Honolulu stays with Salem and takes the KHCM calls and country format from 940; and KGMZ 107.9 Aiea HI changes hands from Honolulu Broadcasting to Salem, with a format change from oldies likely in the offing (100000watts.com Jan 6 via DXLD) ** INDIA. (?) AIR: 7250 kHz at 0209, traditional music with tabla, mostly male voice, male announcer, apparently in Hindi, to fadeout at 0220 (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be Goa site, scheduled in Nepali 0130-0230 along with a few other frequencies, per WRTH 2005 (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. 11585, 13/01, 0858, NON IDENTIFICATA con musica dance e tk YL in un inglese con apparente accento asiatico. Relay Rainbow FM SF- BN [fair to good]. Questo è quanto *testualmente* avevo scritto sul mio block notes al momento dell'ascolto, poi (vedi ATLANTE RADIO di GRAL RADIO&MEDIA) ho appreso che in effetti ciò che avevo ipotizzato era realtà (LUCA BOTTO FIORA QTH: Rapallo (Genova) RXs: R7 Drake - Satellit 500 Grundig (filtri FM 110-80-53 kHz) KH-WS1 Hitachi (filtri FM 80-80 kHz) - Stabo XR1900 - DX Tuners ANTs: Ferrite 85cm LW-MW amplificata - Dipolo 49m - Filare 20m Dipolo telescopico FM, Play-DX via DXLD) Checking 11585 on 24 Jan at 1250 and (as logged by others already) noted FM Rainbow in Hindi via AIR Delhi. Very strong signal but unfortunately very distorted audio at that moment. Real lively programming compared to other AIR stations on shortwave. IDs as "FM Rainbow 102.6" jingles and Indian pop music (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Jose, thanks for the additional info and the kind reminder of your web site. Regarding: "At 1500 Parliament News is scheduled (when is session)"... are there set frequencies for this transmission? (David Norcross, Hawaii, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. I observed the following regarding AIR External Service in Sindi at 1230-1500: 20 Jan 2005 6145 noted instead of 6165 23 Jan 2005 6100 noted instead of 6165 (mixing with Radio Sadaye Kashmir from 1430!) Later it went back to 6165. Note: Their old MW channel 1071 is off air for long time now but it is still being announced! The other parallel frequency 11585 has special program for Andaman now instead of Sindhi. ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. The special broadcast for Haj pilgrims in Urdu by AIR is as follows: Till 23 Feb 2005, 0530-0600 UT, 11730 15770 17845 ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR INDIAN REPUBLIC DAY --- Dear Friends, AIR will broadcast special programs in connection with the Republic Day celebrations on 26 Jan 2005 25 Jan 2005: 1400-1430 UT : President's address to the nation 1630-1830 UT : Kavi Samelan 26 Jan 2005 0350-0645 UT : Running Commentary of Republic Day Parade Hindi: Delhi 6155 9595 11620 15135 English : Delhi 6030 11830 15020; Aligarh 9910 These programs will be broadcast by all stations of AIR. Because of this, there will be some modifications to AIR External Services in Urdu (i.e. Commentary in Hindi will be broadcast instead of Urdu Service from 0350 on 6155 9595 11620) With Republic Day Greetings, Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India. Tel: 91-40-5516 7388 Telefax: 91-40-2331 0287. EchoLink Node No. 133507 VU2NRO, http://www.niar.org dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 558, Radio Suara Juwana, Juwana-Pati, C Java, has not been heard for some time and may be inactive or moved to FM. 1116, RRI Pekanbaru is inactive. Pekanbaru is still on 927 kHz with a split schedule. 1251, RRI Banda Aceh not confirmed after the tsunami 1278v, RPD Kabupaten Bogor (Radio Tegar Beriman, Cibinong, Bogor) has moved to FM 95.3 MHz and is now inactive on MW. The Bogor stations on 873 and 1170 kHz have also been heard recently simulcasting on FM at times, so their days on mediumwave could be numbered. On a positive note, some new MW stations heard since Nov 2004 are listed below. IDs are mostly 'as heard', so their spelling may vary: 720, Radio Gracia 720 AM, Jakarta (news/Christian) 783, no ID heard yet, but I'm pretty sure it must be new RRI Ende, with local news reports and 'radiogram' family messages for S Flores area, Nusa Tenggara Timur, and also frequent RRI news relays from Jakarta. 1026, Radio Deva (or Diva), Denpasar area, Bali 1251, RKPD Probolinggo, E Java, has been inactive for some time, but the frequency has been on again intermittently since Sep 2004 with the ID 'Bromo FM' and announcing 88.3 MHz (Alan Davies, Indonesia, 4.1.2005, ARC Information Desk 17 Jan 2005 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Some interesting QSLs have arrived lately: Coalition Maritime Forces – Radio One on 15500 kHz. Letter from v/s: J J McGovern, US Naval Forces Central Command and U S Fifth Fleet (Björn Fransson on island of Gotland, Sweden, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. ARRESTED REPORTER CHARGED WITH ANTI-STATE ACTIVITIES | Text of report by Iranian Baztab web site on 22 January Tehran, 22 January: Last week A S, charged with working against the state and cooperating with a medium belonging to the American CIA, was arrested. According to the report, following a complaint filed by a government institute, the individual was summoned to Desk 3 of Revolution Court of Rasht [Gilan Province] last Monday [17 January]. He was informed of the accusations and, since he did not pay the bail, he is now in prison. The individual has a background of insulting religious jurisconsults, taking steps against public security and extensive cooperation with Radio Farda - affiliated to the CIA. Based on a writ by the Revolution Court following a complaint filed by a government institute, he is now under arrest. Because the activities of the defendant and the charges against him have been different from those of the reporters who have recently been arrested by the Tehran Public Prosecutor's Office, the Journalists Association has not yet taken any position in this case. Source: Baztab web site, Tehran, in Persian 1144 gmt 22 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. After 4+ months, just in time for the elexions, BBC Monitoring has published another Iraqi media update, now available at http://www.w4uvh.net/mediraq.txt We may excerpt some of the broadcasting info in next DXLD (gh) ** IRAQ. USA/IRAQ: US FIRM HARRIS GETS NEW IRAQI MEDIA NETWORK CONTRACT | Text of press release by Florida-based Harris Corporation dated 20 January Melbourne, Florida, 20 January 2005: Harris Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a three-month, 22m-dollar contract by the Iraqi Media Network (IMN). The contract scope includes training, programming support, systems integration and deployment work for IMN, the country's public television and radio broadcasting organization. The network has operating locations in Baghdad and in more than 30 other locations throughout the country. Funding for the contract will be provided solely by the Iraqi government. "We're pleased to support Iraq's public broadcasting network at such a crucial point in this country's transition to democracy," said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris Corporation. "IMN will play an important role in reporting on the upcoming national elections, and Harris and its local partners will provide vital support services through this contract." Work on a previous IMN contract was successfully completed in early January. Originally awarded to Harris in January 2004 by the Defense Contracting Command, that contract scope included requirements for broadcast and printing equipment, broadcast studio and transmission systems design and integration, network operations and employee training. "In spite of the obvious security challenges, the Harris team created a world-class broadcast environment and successfully upgraded the production capabilities of Al-Sabah, the national newspaper," Lance said. "As the capabilities of the media network have grown, so have the dedication and professionalism of the more than 1,000 IMN employees, who are all Iraqi citizens." The Harris team completed construction of a news studio and an entertainment studio in central Baghdad. The public television network, named Al-Iraqiyah, now has a 24-hour news desk and programming that features 80 per cent Iraqi content including news, sports, business and weather coverage. Public radio programming includes both "talk" and "music" formats. IMN has full capability to produce live entertainment and news commentary programmes. New equipment and facilities for the Al-Sabah newspaper helped to increase production capabilities from 60,000 to 350,000 copies per day. Harris Corporation was supported by two important teammates on the contract: the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) and Al-Fawaris, a Kuwaiti company with Iraqi ownership. Harris Corporation is an international communications technology company focused on providing assured communications products, systems and services for government and commercial customers. The company's four operating divisions serve markets for government communications, tactical radio, broadcast and microwave systems. Harris provides systems and service to customers in more than 150 countries. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at http://www.harris.com Contact information: Sleighton Meyer, Harris Corporation, Government Communications Systems Division smeyer @ harris.com 321-727-6514 Tom Hausman, Harris Corporate Headquarters tom.hausman @ harris.com 321-727-9131 Source: Harris Corporation press release, Melbourne (Florida), in English 20 Jan 05 (via BBCM, also via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** JAPAN. ANALYSIS: JAPANESE PUBLIC BROADCASTER UNDER PRESSURE | Text of editorial analysis by Steve Metcalf of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 20 January Japan's national public broadcaster, NHK, is currently under pressure from two directions. A series of financial scandals have triggered a revolt from the licence-fee payers who provide its funding and have left the corporation's president on the brink of resignation. And allegations that it succumbed to political pressure in the editing of a controversial programme have raised questions about its integrity and independence. The charges of political interference concern a programme broadcast in January 2001 about sex slavery during the Second World War. A mock trial organized by a women's rights group looked at the subject of the so-called "comfort women" forced to provide sex for the Japanese military and concluded that Japan's emperor bore the ultimate responsibility for this abuse. But last month a producer involved in the programme said that four minutes of footage - including interviews with some of the women and the verdict on the emperor's role - had been cut shortly before transmission. The producer said that this had occurred after intervention by two right-wing MPs, both members of a parliamentary committee looking into the content of school history textbooks. The story was broken by the liberal newspaper Asahi Shimbun, which published details of a meeting between the MPs and top NHK officials. One of the MPs, Shinzo Abe, who is now secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, admitted that he had met officials from the broadcaster. However, he strongly denied putting pressure on the corporation, saying that he had merely stressed the importance of balanced and objective reporting. The corporation has also denied the allegations. Media reactions to the report have been split. Liberal newspapers suggested that NHK had violated the Broadcast Act and acted as a public relations agent for the government, while conservative papers said that the mock trial was biased and that NHK had a duty to ensure fairness. The group which arranged the trial - Violence Against Women in War - filed a suit against NHK and two production companies over the changes. A Tokyo court ordered one of the companies to pay 1m yen (9,500 dollars) compensation. Both sides have appealed the judgment. NHK's financial problems stem from a series of scandals that emerged last year. In the largest of them, a senior producer is suspected of having defrauded the corporation of around 400,000 dollars over several years. A subsequent investigation revealed more incidences of embezzlement and falsifying of expenses by other members of staff. Japanese TV viewers responded by refusing to pay their viewing fees. Each TV household in Japan has to pay between 150 and 250 dollars a year, depending or whether they receive terrestrial or satellite TV. The boycott grew when NHK broadcast only edited reports of a parliamentary hearing into the affair, while a rival channel broadcast the proceedings live, including the questioning of the corporation's president, Katsuji Ebisawa. By the end of November some 113,000 households had refused to pay an estimated 9.5m dollars in fees. Although NHK broadcast a special programme of apology in December, the numbers continued to grow. There have been calls for Ebisawa to step down from the trade unions and from the International Federation of Journalists, which said: "The credibility and integrity of one of the world's leading public broadcasters is at stake." Ebisawa initially rejected the calls, but in a New Year statement he indicated that he might not see out his full term of office, due to end in July 2006. NHK's budget for the coming financial year has to be approved by parliament by the end of March, and Ebisawa said that he wanted to see the budget signed off and to ensure that the reform and restructuring of the corporation was under way. Once that had happened, he said, he would consider his future. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 20 Jan 05 (via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. R. Japan`s 2300-2400 UT broadcast on 17605 via Bonaire Jan 22 was filled by western classical piano music, including Chopin, with Japanese announcements every few minutes. Hard to believe NHK Warudo would do this every Saturday; suspect it was a backup filler program played from Bonaire in the absence of usual feed direct from Tokyo, perhaps due to loss of that Intelsat over Pacific several days ago, still no replacement arranged? However, at 2355 went to talk segment, news? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. Laos noted the whole day in very fine audio quality on 6130 kHz, seemingly on full power of 25 kW again. Registered 2000-1500 UT, except 0830-0930 UT, Sat 1300 En, Sat 1330-1400 Fr. Regularly I missed 7145 kHz transmissions due to very few hours on air. Registered three times a day: 2330-0030, 0500-0630, 1130-1400 UT (Uwe Volk, WWDXC, touring SE Asia, BC-DX Jan 24 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, Stoer-Sender from Ulbroka with a f/d QSL card and picture sheet showing the area where the studio is located (near Schwerin in West Pomerania) in 49 d for the October 17, 2004 broadcast. Reported via e-mail to info @ rrms.de Signer was Roland (last name unreadable). The Stoer is a river just south of Schwerin, thus the name Stoer-Sender. Thanks to Bernd for this one as I had pegged the wrong broadcaster leasing that day! According to the e-mail response on 12/3, my report was the first received for this broadcast from the U.S. - don't know if anyone else over here logged that day or not. Stoer-Sender is not a frequent user of Ulbroka (Bruce W. Churchill, Fallbrook, CA, Cumbre DX Jan 20 via Rus-DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. R. Educación, 6185, provides detailed playlists apparently at least a day or two in advance: http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/HojaProg1.html I found that the balladeer I mentioned previously in the 0600 UT hour Jan 21 was Óscar Chávez, and the song I described was ``El Angelito`` by Ricardo Rojas, lasting two and a half minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. I've been hearing Radio Huayacocotla on 2390 kHz for the past several nights, when I take my DX398 and wire antenna out into the woods away from the electrical noize of civilization. Are they still 500 watts? Do they QSL? (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Alamos, NM,(DM65uv) Online logbooks at http://dxlogbook.gentoo.net Dec 7, DX398 yg via DXLD) Also has a small QSL gallery (gh) I heard it too, Just barely about 1400 UT and an hour or so before local sunrise. I had to dig for the upper sideband in the noise but it was there. I have a 50' random wire in my attic which feeds my 909 via 40' of RG-58 through a 9:1 impedance transformer I wound on a little toroid core (Paul Kleinkramer, Exeter, CA, Jan 20, ibid.) 1400 UT is pretty late for Huaya, 8 am local, must be more than hour after LSR even in midwinter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XERTA, R. Transcontinental, 4810, 1141 Jan 22. Modulation is a bit off, non-stop music typical of this station (more traditional style ballads, etc.) Good signal (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, 20/01, 0644, VOICE OF NIGERIA, Ikorodu, RIATTIVATA dopo alcune settimane di silenzio ma con la solita modulazione distorta. MB [very good strength] (LUCA BOTTO FIORA QTH: Rapallo (Genova) RXs: R7 Drake - Satellit 500 Grundig (filtri FM 110-80-53 kHz) KH-WS1 Hitachi (filtri FM 80-80 kHz) - Stabo XR1900 - DX Tuners ANTs: Ferrite 85cm LW-MW amplificata - Dipolo 49m - Filare 20m Dipolo telescopico FM, Play-DX via DXLD) ** OMAN. Completo esquema de la estación relay de la BBC en A'Seela (250 kW), vigente desde el 31/10/2004 al 27/03/2005: 0000-0100 Ingles 5970 0030-0100 Bengali 6065 0100-0130 Hindi 6065 0100-0300 Ingles 11955 0130-0200 Urdu 6065, 11750 0230-0300 Hindi 11725 0230-0300 Farsi 11750 0300-0330 Ruso 9670 0300-0500 Ingles 15575 0300-0600 Ingles 15310 0330-0600 Arabe 15180 0500-0600 Ingles 11760 0700-1400 Ingles 11760 0700-1600 Ingles 17790 0830-0900 Dari 17870 0900-0930 Pashto 17870 0930-1000 Dari 17870 1000-1030 Pashto 17870 1030-1100 Dari 17870 1100-1130 Pashto 17870 1300-1330 Indonesio 6030 1400-1445 Hindi 6140, 7205 (LaS) 1400-1500 Hindi 6140, 7205 (Dom) 1445-1500 Ingles 6140, 7205 (LaS) 1500-1600 Urdu 6035 1515-1545 Sinhala 6140 1545-1615 Tamil 6140 1600-1630 Uzbeko 9635 (SyD) 1600-1700 Uzbeko 9635 (LaV) 1600-2000 Farsi 6090 1630-2000 Arabe 6030 1700-1730 Hindi 7235 1730-1800 Urdu 7235 2000-2200 Arabe 6030 2100-2115 Albanes 7205 (LaV) 2200-2300 Ingles 7105 2200-2330 Mandarin 7150 2330-2400 Thai 6060 QTH para reportes: BBC Eastern Relay Station (BERS), Senior Transmitter Engineer, A'Seela, Sultanato de Oman (via Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital Jan 23 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. FM DE LA RADIO ESTATAL CON CALIDAD DE LA AM El 30 de diciembre de 2004, el Sindicato de Funcionarios de Radio Nacional del Paraguay (Sinfuranp) remitió una nota a César Talavera, ministro secretario de la Secretaría de la Función Pública para denunciar que la emisión simultánea de Radio Nacional del Paraguay de sus frecuencias AM y FM perjudica la calidad tonal de la segunda. La transmisión en forma simultánea fue una de las disposiciones para el presente año del director general de la emisora estatal, Héctor Flaviano Díaz. La nota indica que "al realizar este tipo de 'emisión simultánea' se perjudica la calidad tonal, debido a que 'toda emisión que se trasmite de la amplitud modulada (AM) es 'mono', es decir 'sale' por un solo parlante, y lo que se trasmite en frecuencia modulada (FM) es 'estéreo', es decir, se escucha por ambos parlantes. A pesar de que en los años 60 se inventó el estéreo que mejora el sonido y que es la base de toda emisión en frecuencia modulada. A partir del 2005, en Radio Nacional del Paraguay se implementará un sonido 'mono' en una emisora 'estéreo"'. Según la denuncia de Sinfuranp, esta disposición del director general de la radio tiene relación con la persecución y discriminación de que sus afiliados vienen sufriendo en Radio Nacional del Paraguay. "El único motivo para que la emisora de la FM Nacional 95.1 'retroceda' 45 años en la calidad de sonido es dejar a todos los funcionarios afectados en ese horario en la FM, que coincidentemente son afiliados a Sinfuranp, sin trabajo específico. Y al dejarnos sin actividad específica al grupo de compañeros, el siguiente paso es ponernos a disposición de la función pública para su traslado a otra institución". En su defensa, Díaz señaló: "Radio Nacional del Paraguay no es una emisora privada y comercial. No es una emisora que tiene que entrar a competir con las demás emisoras. No es nuestra función, ni debe ser. A nosotros lo que nos interesa es cumplir estrictamente con lo que dice el artículo segundo y dentro de las precariedades que tenemos y dentro de las posibilidades que tenemos es lo que hacemos. El día que podamos contar con los sofisticados equipos técnicos que puedan servir de soporte para agradar el oído de la gente. Nuestra comunicación es la palabra. Nuestra comunicación es nuestra cultura y es la música paraguaya y la música paraguaya no necesita de estéreo". Respaldando la emisión simultánea, Miguel Soloaga, jefe de prensa, declaró: "Desde el mismo inicio de la transmisión en FM, eso no está saliendo en estéreo. Nunca salió en estéreo esa radio, porque está saliendo de forma precaria desde que salió y hasta ahora está trabajando en forma precaria. Nunca tuvo todavía un transmisor en estéreo. Vamos a tener alguna vez". Soloaga agregó que Radio Nacional del Paraguay es una sola radio, no dos radios (Extraído del diario asunceno "ABC Color" 23 de enero 2005 via Levi P. Iversen, Paraguay, condig list via DXLD) Sounds like they are not aware that the true stereo programming on an FM stereo signal could be mixed down to mono on the AM simulcast (or for that matter, broadcast in AM stereo) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. R. Huancayo will soon be back on SW. They have a new SW transmitter (the owner's hobby). (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan via John Sgrulletta, NY, Dxplorer via DXLD) Old frequency was 5955 (Jerry Berg, ibid.) ** PERU. R. San Antonio (presumed), 4939.7 1052-1117 Jan 22. OM announcer in Spanish, talk and ballad music with numerous mentions of Peru and some addresses, but I could not obtain a clear ID. Consistent with prior loggings I have of this station. A tough copy lately for me due to severe local QRM this frequency. Faded out by 1117 (Jeffrey Heller, Naperville, Illinois USA, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC-4, Par Z end-fed slopers (41 and 67 feet), Ant., Supermarket trap dipole (40 feet), DX LISTENING DIGEST) Beware, Venezuela near same off-frequency, but this would be a bit late for that (gh, DXLD) ** PETER I. 3Y0X PETER I ISLAND DXPEDITION UPDATE (New Dates). On January 21st, the following was a press release sent out by Team Co- leaders Ralph Fedor, K0IR, and Bob Allphin, K4UEE: "Our last press release announced a delay in the 3Y0X Dxpedition to Peter I. We can now give you more specific information. The vessel we have chartered could not meet the original sailing date. The renovations and modifications taking place on the ship were not completed on schedule. K4UEE and LA6VM just returned from a visit to Chile that included an inspection of the team's chartered vessel, a meeting with the CEO of the charter company and the shipyard project supervisor, and an inspection of the team's equipment/supplies in our sea container stored in Punta Arenas. We were disappointed to see that the ship is still not ready. Work is progressing, however, and the charter company tells us they expect to be ready to sail for Peter I on February 10. We are not entirely confident the work can be completed on time, but the team is prepared to assemble in Punta Arenas, Chile on February 8. If all things go well, we will arrive at the island about 6-7 days after departure, depending on the route, weather, and ice conditions. Our landing operations will commence immediately once the weather allows for safe helicopter operation. We will first establish a safe, secure, and self-sufficient camp. Once this is complete we will begin setting up stations and antennas. We will be on the air as soon as possible, but this too is dependent on the conditions on the island. Blizzards, high winds, and low visibility are very real potential problems. We still plan to bring up 9 stations with amplifiers and a large array of antennas. Despite the schedule change, the team still hopes to spend 2 full weeks on the island. And, very importantly, our entire team remains intact. The state of preparation of the ship, the location, complex logistics, weather, and sea ice are all challenges and largely out of our control. We will do all that is within our power to complete this Dxpedition safely and within this new time frame. If all goes well and we sail as planned on February 10, we will return to Punta Arenas on March 10th. Check our web site, http://www.peterone.com regularly for updates." (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Jan 24 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Radyo Pilipinas - The Voice of the Philippines observed yesterday at 0200-0230 UT on 15120, 15270 and 12015 kHz (Tinang A/B), O=4-5. On 15120 often transmision breaks, on 15270 a little co-channel unid-QRM. Excellent, informative program about the Philippines. In their letterbox program "Hello Friends" on past Saturday the station asked eagerly for listener's letters. Usual address ... via Visayas Avenue ... has been given. A listener letter from UK (... King) were quote in full length. In a statement the station promised Mr. King explicit that the station will keep shortwave distribution also in future (Uwe Volk, WWDXC, touring SE Asia, BC-DX Jan 24 via DXLD) ** POLAND. Some interesting QSLs have arrived lately: Twoje Radio Ilza, new Polish station on 1602 kHz. V/s: A. Nowak, e-mail: biurowanda @ pro.onet.pl They started regular programming January 15th 2005, according to the mail. 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. V. of Russia, 12260 = 2 x 6130, at 1629 Nov 28, VOR WS announcements, news in English, SIO 222 (David Cascoyne, Staplehurst, Kent, HF Logbook, Jan BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 3940, 8.1 1510, Voice of Russia World Service med engelska. Varifrån? QRK 2. RFK (SW Bulletin Jan 23 via DXLD) 3940, 8 Jan, 1510, Voice of Russia World Service in English. From where? QRK 2. RFK (Ronny Forslund, Sweden, SW Bulletin Jan 23, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) That part of the 75m band below 3950 is supposedly not available in Europe for SWBC, but in Asia/Pacific goes down to 3900. I don`t think Asian Russia has used it before either, as all of Russia is/was considered part of the Eurafrican region (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SICILY. Buona notizia mattutina --- I 189 khz da Caltanissetta sono accesi anche stamattina, per i ritardatari c'è ancora qualche possibilità d'ascolto e di conferma per l'unica trasmissione in onda lunga in Italia di prossimo spegnimento. Tra qualche minuto il "Giornale Radio della Sicilia"... Il segnale è comunque debole, come quello che negli ultimi mesi è riuscito a fornire il trasmettitore di riserva da 1 kW (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, Jan 24, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Below a discussion how a remark made in R. Slovakia International`s German program today (Jan 23) should be interpreted. I would put it this way: Shortwave got another reprieve until June 30, but this is still uncertain (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: In der heutigen Sendung um 17 Uhr UT, 5915 kHz - übrigens mit dem von Markus Weidner gut gestalteten RMRC DX Programm - wurde der gesicherte Sendebetrieb bis Ende Juni 2005 erwähnt. http://www.slovakradio.sk/rsi/ Die Sprecherin drückte sich sehr vorsichtig aus: "Vorläufig sollen wir auf Kurzwelle bis 30. Juni 2005 senden. Aber es gibt noch Unklarheiten." (Wenn ich alles richtig verstanden habe). Bezeichnenderweise wurde nach der erfreulichen Meldung, das Lied "Nix ist sicher" gespielt. Der Empfang war heute Sonntag um 1430 UT // 1700 UT auf 6055 kHz sehr gut. 1430 UT auf 7345 kHz etwas schlechter, 5915 1700 UT sehr gut. Die Abendsendung ab 1900 UT war/ ist nur sehr, sehr schlecht hier aufzunehmen --- 5915// 7345. Hoffen wir das Beste. Auf jeden Fall ist wieder normaler Programmablauf, nachdem heute der erste Hörerbriefkasten im Neuen Jahr gesendet wurde. Eine frohe Botschaft darin war das noch genügend QSL-Karten mit alten Radioempfänger- Motiven auf Lager sind und das mit neuen QSL-Karten (vielleicht) im 2. Quartal 2005 zu rechnen sein wird. 73 (Paul Gager, Austria, Jan 23, A- DX via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 6O0, (Update). Silvano, I2YSB, updates OPDX and its readers on the upcoming February 3-17th DXpedition to Somalia. The tentative transmitting frequencies for 6O0CW (CW and RTTY) and 6O0G (SSB) are as follows: CW - 1820, 3505, 7005, 10115, 14055, 18095, 21055, 24910, 28055, 50100 SSB - 1840, 3790, 7050, 14210, 18140, 21270, 24960, 28450, 50110 RTTY - 3560, 7035, 10130, 14079, 18120, 21080, 24935, 28080 kHz Silvano states, "We understand that proposed frequencies may sound 'unusual', however we made this proposal due to the recent delays announced by the 3Y0X major expedition to Peter One Island, originally scheduled for late January-early February but now probably overlaying our 6O schedule. Our aim is to minimize QRM, avoid confusion and give everybody a better opportunity to work us. Comments and suggestions are welcome, and please note that new frequencies might be selected based on actual local conditions. We expect to start operations on February 3 evening (UT)." Comments and questions can be sent via E-- mail to: i2ysb @ i2ysb.com For more information and updates, please visit the following Web page at: http://www.i2ysb.com/60 (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Jan 24 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** SUDAN. R. Peace, 4750, 0355 Dec 8, OM talk, 0408 ethnic music with strings, keyboard. Church-style choral vocals. Lucky peak of SIO 242 at 0415 ID ``This is Radio Peace`` and off, otherwise SIO 141 and in vernacular (Tony Edge, Blackpool, Lancs, Tropical Bands Logbook, Jan BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie, (presumed), 0130-0312 Jan 23. Not much talking tonight. From 0130 until 0200 program consisted of religious type music i.e. "Rock of Ages". At 0200 more music, but this time it seemed to be African Hilife type music which threw me for a loop? I didn't expect to hear that from Suriname. This continued until after 0300. After 0300 ordinary music presented. Never caught an ID, but the announcer eventually spoke in Dutch. The signal was at various degrees of poor during listening period in Clewiston, Florida (Chuck Bolland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. There was a special transmission of SAQ on January 19 to mark the visit of some American guests to Grimeton and a birthday greeting was sent. Reports came in from the British Isles and continental Europe, as far south as Greece, and at several locations in North America (LWCA) SAQ in Grimeton, the only remaining pre-electronic transmitter for transatlantic work, on the Unesco World Heritage List. On July 2, 2004, Unesco decided to put SAQ, Varberg Radio in Grimeton, on the Word Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee declared that The Varberg Radio Station at Grimeton in southern Sweden (built in 1922-24) is an exceptionally well preserved monument to early wireless transatlantic communication. It consists of the transmitter equipment, including the aerial system of six 127-m high steel towers. Though no longer in regular use, the equipment has been maintained in operating condition. The 109.9-ha site comprises buildings housing the original Alexanderson transmitter, including the towers with their antennae, short-wave transmitters with their antennae, and a residential area with staff housing. The architect Carl Åkerblad designed the main buildings in the neoclassical style and the structural engineer Henrik Kreüger was responsible for the antenna towers, the tallest built structures in Sweden at that time. The site is an outstanding example of the development of telecommunications and is the only surviving example of a major transmitting station based on pre-electronic technology. (SAQ usually goes on air once a year on "Alexander Day" on 17.2 kHz). By Carl Henrik Walde, SM5BF - more at http://hem.passagen.se/sk0mt/saq.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Utilitárias --- 17919 kHz - China Airlines - Recebido PPC e carta pessoal. 45 dias. V/S: Albert Yang - General Manager. QTH: 131, Nanking East Road, Sec. 3, Taipei, Taiwan 104. Esta é a primeira empresa aérea que me retornou o PPC. Além disso, na carta pessoal (bastante amável por sinal) o V/S informou que com certa frequência recebe informes de recepção, que tem um grande prazer em respondê-los e que admira muito a nossa atividade. Tenho obtido um nível de retorno bastante alto usando um conjunto de técnicas relativamente simples: carta pessoal explicando o que é o Dexismo Utilitário e solicitando gentilmente uma resposta + PPC. Tão importante quanto isso é destinar o informe ao ``Flight Operations`` da empresa aérea. O informe de recepção foi gerado a partir de uma escuta em modo HFDL. Esta foi mais uma das maravilhosas surpresas que o Dexismo Utilitário tem reservado para mim. Somando isso a todas as dificuldades que esta variante do nosso hobby possui, digo com toda certeza que a sua prática é a que mais me trouxe felicidade nos últimos anos (Ivan Dias, Sorocaba, SP, Brasil, @tividade DX Jan 23 via DXLD) ** TANZANIA. Radio Tanzania on 6105 --- Radio Tanzania has reactivated a second SW transmitter. Noted today shortly after 1300 GMT on both 5050 and 6105. (Chris (in Nairobi) Greenway, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Dear Chris, and Zanzibar is off on 11734v, but still on air 6015 kHz?? Did you monitor these outlets? 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 4920, Xizang PBS-Lhasa, 1110-1121, Jan. 22, Tibetan, Ballads and talks over music by OM and YL. Poor. // 4905 slightly better (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has anyone heard their `Holy Tibet` show in English lately? Used to be at 1100 for up to half an hour, plus a couple of other times. O, WRTH 2005 has it only at 0700 and 1630 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. APATHY CHEWS UP UGANDA TELEVISION --- The Monitor (Kampala) January 23, 2005 --- Agnes Asiimwe, Kampala It is shortly after 9 a.m. but Uganda Television offices are yet to come to life. Most of the offices are empty; neither staff nor furniture. In the compound, the Outside Broadcasting (OB) van lies idle. It is obvious the van hasn't moved anywhere for a long time. On this day, there is some activity going on inside the van. Some technical officers are at work. . . An excellent piece from The Monitor newspaper: http://allafrica.com/stories/200501240298.html (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. UNITED KINGDOM: BBC RELAUNCHES IMPROVED INTERNET RADIO SERVICE | Excerpt from BBC press release on 24 January This week, the BBC relaunches its internet Radio Player to make almost every BBC Radio programme available live and on-demand for seven days after broadcast, creating a massive, ever-changing library of music, talk shows, dramas and documentaries. Latest figures show more than 10 million hours of BBC radio is consumed online per month and, from 25 January, the new Radio Player will offer 500 extra hours of programming and offer a range of new features. The relaunch puts audiences in control of their listening, allowing them to listen at convenient times, control their schedules and fast- forward through programmes while exposing them to new shows - and perhaps whole networks - they otherwise wouldn't come across. The new Player provides all the programmes and benefits of the current model - which makes many of the BBC's radio programmes available online - but includes over 80 more programmes, making virtually all of the BBC's national radio output available on-demand via the internet. [Passage omitted with details of available programmes] The new Radio Player also features live streaming of every one of the BBC's English local radio and national stations: Radio Scotland and Radio Nan Gaidheal; Radio Wales and Radio Cymru; Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle; all 40 of the BBC's local radio stations. The improvements follow 30,000 emails received from listeners about the Radio Player since it first launched in June 2002 and record online listening figures. In addition to the wealth of new programming, the new Radio Player makes it even easier for listeners to navigate, with lists of the most popular programmes and links to allow listeners to click through to any programme related to their favourite genre. For the first time it will also be possible for listeners to stop a programme at any point, switch off the computer and then resume listening from that point at any time during the seven days the programme is available. It will also be possible to explore the other content on offer without interrupting the listening experience. The new Radio Player enhances the live listening experience by providing details of what programme is on now and next for each station and is integrated with the BBC's News, Sport and Weather Players, providing one-click access to a huge range of audio and video from the BBC's News and Sport divisions. Radio Player - some facts A record 6.15m unique users visited BBC Radio web sites in November 2004 - a 55 per cent year-on-year increase. 48 per cent (3.2m) of those visitors made use of the BBC Radio Player, listening live for 6.2m hours and requesting over 7m programmes on- demand. More than 10m hours of BBC radio is listened to online each month (live and on-demand) - a year-on-year increase of nearly 60 per cent. More than 160m page impressions are generated per month. Some programmes are available as mp3 downloads including Five Live's Fighting Talk and In Our Time (which received 70,000 download requests in November 2004). In Our Time is also available via podcasting - the BBC is the first British broadcaster to use this technology. Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy illustrated the popularity of internet radio with an incredible one million on-demand listens. Source: BBC press release, London, in English 24 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) Not mentioned in the press release is the fact that the audio-on- demand service is completely suspended until 1700 UT on Tuesday 25 Jan. # posted by Andy @ 1335 UT Jan 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. SATCHMO BLOWS UP THE WORLD: JAZZ AMBASSADORS PLAY THE COLD WAR By Penny M. Von Eschen, Harvard University Press, $29.95, 329 pp BOOK REVIEW --- All that propaganda --- To conquer communism, the United States once sent "jazz ambassadors" abroad to promote democracy. By Jonathan Yardley | The Washington Post Posted January 2, 2005 In the mid-1950s, one of the world's most influential Americans was a man most Americans had never heard of: Willis Conover, whose Music USA broadcasts over the Voice of America reached, according to Penny Von Eschen, "an estimated 30 million people in 80 countries -- a number that would more than triple, to 100 million, over the next decade." ... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/booksmags/orl-livjazz_bkrv010205jan02,1,7529989.story?coll=orl-books-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. 3185, WWRB, Manchester, Tennessee at 0005 Jan 22 with classical music program hosted by David Frantz. He announced an FM frequency of 94.1. Strong (Harold Sellers, Burnt River, Ont., NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Second report we`ve had of such an anomaly. Of the four TN FM stations on 94.1 the closest to Manchester in the FM Atlas is WRLG, Smyrna- Murfreesboro-Nashville with only 3900 watts at 72 m, slogan ``Fish``, but that info is more than a sesquiyear old. In fact 100000watts.com now shows that in Sept 2003 it became WFFH, with a contemporary Christian format, whatever that mean, with a transmitter site just WNW of Izmir. And they have a CP to move it a little closer to Nashville; wonder why??? According to the 3185 schedule at http://www.wwrb.org 0000 UT is one of many unsold hours. So what is the connexion between WWRB and 94.1? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New times for some WWCR musical programs: Rock the Universe, UT Mon 0605 on 3210; Ken Berryhill`s Old Record Shop, Sun 1030 9985, 2130 15825; Fri 1830 15825 (Adam Lock, Ask WWCR #196, Jan 6, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11714.99, KJES at 1634 22 Jan in Spanish. 2004 PWBR says 1500-1600. Don't have a 2005 copy. Poor signal (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts, http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DXLD) Same in ``2005`` PWBR --- they apparently do not realize, unlike WRTH 2005, that this station makes DST shifts in its schedule, shown in the latter as currently 1400-1700, including English earlier (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. For you TV guys, this is how I spent my last week. This is our new second stream on the DT channel. Note, this file is about 60 megs, so don't attempt viewing without broadband. If anyone gets it on skip, and wants a QSL, a special QSL will be issued which is different from the main program QSL. http://www.vobbe.net/videos/WLIO-DT8.wmv For you SWLs, it looks like due to inability to find equipment, WLIO will be terminating WPLP549, the IFB transmitter on 26410. I may run it for a couple of weeks if there is anyone that wants a QSL from this system, but we're decommissioning the station on April 1st and moving the operations to a UHF digital channel. I would love to keep it running, but it's getting impossible to find equipment for it, and those with surplus parts are asking dollars on the dime for what amounts to discarded equipment. Time to move on (Fred Vobbe, Lima OH, WLIO-TV, Jan 22, NRC-AM via DXLD) He was running WRN on it, except when needed for station talkback during newscasts, etc., and it was possible to DX ionospherically (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. In the middle '30's I visited the transmitter site of KDKA which was then at Saxonburg, Pa. I was just a teenager but was impressed by all the wood towers, some of which were for KDKA's SW relay W8XK. Also enjoyed all the "gadgets" in the transmitter building. Saxonburg is about 20 miles from center city. And just around that same time visited the KDKA studios in Pittsburgh's Grant Building on the night of their dedication. Truly a unique station, a pioneer. Had their own studio orchestra and vocalists and studio players. Broadcast "Messages to the Far North" on Saturday nights (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. US RADIO $28M CAMPAIGN FOR LISTENERS 19 January 2005 --- In the largest co-operative effort in the industry's history, American radio companies have agreed to spend $28 million on a six-week marketing campaign to convince the public to listen to the radio. Faced with competition from the new satellite radio services that already have 4.5 million subscribers, and from internet radio which Arbitron says attracts 4.1 million listeners, this radio industry promotion is based around the tag line "radio - you hear it here first". http://www.theradiomagazine.co.uk/News.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Would make better sense if the spent the money on MAKING BETTER PROGRAMS! (Sorry for shouting; thought some of this might get through their thick heads if I did.) (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) ** U S A. WKAT 1360 North Miami FL will flip from classical to Salem's conservative talk format Jan. 31 (100000watts.com Jan 21 via DXLD) ** U S A. HUB AIR AMERICA STATIONS NET LISTENERS ON THE WEB By Dean Johnson Saturday, January 22, 2005 http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=64740 It's one of radio's few unbreakable commandments: Never admit you have a bad signal. But the two local Air America affiliates - WKOX-AM (1200) and WXKS-AM (1430) - are doing that in a commercial on the stations' simulcast signal. The solution? The stations are now streaming their programs over the Web at http://bostonsprogressivetalk.com so anyone with online access can hear their liberal mix of talkers, including Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Stephanie Miller. A company spokesman said the ad is intended to inform listeners the stations' programs are now available online rather than to emphasize the stations' troublesome signals. He also said WKOX/WXKS owner Clear Channel is looking into ways to improve signal strengths, though he wouldn't provide specifics. Meanwhile, the fledgling progressive network now can be heard in 46 markets, including recently added stations in the Washington, Cincinnati and Brattleboro, VT (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Re Boston area pirates: Nothing to the south but great conditions to the east at Burnt River ON for Niel Wolfish, Ken Alexander and myself. On 1710 kHz at 1837 [EST Jan 22] a hyper man talking in French. At 1904 a much more mellow woman taking phone calls with "Allo, Bonsoir" and gave a number that sounded like 617-265-2005, but that was out of service so I suspect I got a digit wrong. Very good signal, until an open carrier appeared at about 1925 and a few minutes later the Lubavitcher station ended any hope of better copy. Both stations still in at 2024. Can anyone get better copy? Boston pirates noted on 1670, 1690, 1700 and also some Caribbean music on 1580 (Boston pirate?). (Saul Chernos, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. I have two candidates for special/different/weird radio stations I've visited. 1- a legal licensed station was WHPY (I think) 1530 in North East, PA. This was back around 15 years when the original owner, a guy likely in his late 70's at the time. He insisted in reading his own newscasts and commercials. He could take the material for a 5 minute newscast and read thru in 15 minutes, same with commercials, a 60 second ad took 2 minutes to go thru. Lots & lots of dead air. On my way to one of mid-west NRC conventions I stopped in passing to see if I could pry a verie out of them. I had 6 different receptions, all with 2 or 3 follow-ups with no luck. His daughter was serving as receptionist that day and he was on the air. She told me her Father hated DX'ers and refused to answer them even though he opened them and kept the stamps, she said. I went to the next town and bought a post card of North East, took it back to the station, his daughter signed it stamped it with their address rubber stamp and I have my verie. Wonder how many others are our there? 2- Was a little 100 mw operation about a mile and a half from where I was working at time. I tracked it down to a Day-care Center where eight or nine 5-to-10 year old kids were amusing themselves playing radio station. They took turns playing records/tapes, announcing neighborhood news and had ads from the neighborhood Drug Store's ice cream counter. Free cones to pay for the ads. Once her husband came home (he was a CE in Syracuse) and convinced her I wasn't dangerous I got a verie for that 'station' too, signed by all the kids involved. Also got interviewed on the air by a little 8 year old girl (Ken Chatterton, NY, Jan 22, NRC-AM via DXLD) WTFK? ** U S A. Radio station WHO, 1040 kHz, Des Moines, Iowa, will soon move from the studios it has occupied since 1932. The new studios, located a short distance from the old, are state-of-the-art equipped, three times the size of those used for 73 years and will commence use in March. Since WHO began broadcasting in April 1924, this is only the third ever studio location. When WHO first went on-air, the 500-watt transmitter, aerial and studios were all located on the top floor of the Liberty Building, also in downtown Des Moines. On April 22, 1933, the 50,000 watt transmitter went on the air from the Mitchellville, Iowa site. The transmitter was connected to a wire antenna which stretched about 750 feet. The antenna wire was supported by two 300 foot towers. That transmitter site remains in use today although the original transmitter and tower have long since been replaced. WHO moved to its familiar 1040 kHz frequency on March 29, 1941. This was part of a general realignment of radio stations in the United States, required to comply with provisions of the North American Radio Agreement (~ Bill Smith, Jefferson, IA, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. January 23, 2005 CONSUMED Easy Listening By ROB WALKER KCRW.com As part of the CMJ Music Marathon this past October, a New York band called Brazilian Girls performed a danceable set of songs in multiple languages before a crowd at the Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan. The sponsor of this particular event was KCRW.com, which presents live music on a regular basis in New York these days, at venues like Joe's Pub and the Mercury Lounge. But residents of the tri-state area who look for the station on their FM dial will be frustrated. KCRW is based in Santa Monica, Calif. Why is a Southern California public radio station promoting events on the other side of the country? Because while new media and old media are supposed to be enemies, KCRW.com is trying to make them allies, by building an online listener base -- and in the process trying to create what amounts to a national brand. For the past few years, KCRW.com has broadcast three ''streams,'' including a 24-hour music option. It's hard to come up with a solid figure for the number of online listeners, since the station's Netcasts travel not just from its own site but also through AOL and Apple's iTunes software. But one gauge of popularity that seems relevant to a public radio station is the number of people well outside the traditional broadcast range who become ''members'' -- that is, who donate money. With each KCRW pledge drive in recent years come scores of comments from contributors who listen online. ''I adore your station and listen to it every day here in beautiful Brooklyn, U.S.A.!'' one donor wrote recently. More than 1,000 New Yorkers have become members since 2000; similar comments come from all over the country. KCRW has long had a certain tastemaker status, centered on the weekday show ''Morning Becomes Eclectic,'' which lives up to its name by giving time to artists across a swath of genres, from Eleni Mandell, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, to club favorites like the Scissor Sisters and indie-rock bands like Franz Ferdinand. That has continued with that show's current D.J., Nic Harcourt, who has been the station's music director since 1998. He says KCRW was the first radio station to play Norah Jones, and the first in the U.S. to play Dido and Coldplay. (He is also host of a weekly sister program, ''Sounds Eclectic,'' now syndicated on more than 30 public radio stations in cities across the country.) Evening shows like Jason Bentley's dance- and-electronica-oriented Metropolis, and Tom Schnabel's and Chris Douridas's wide-ranging weekend programs, all combine to give the station a playlist that's full of surprises. Along the way, these D.J.'s and others at the station have become music supervisors (basically song pickers) for film and television soundtracks and commercials. Harcourt has been a particular champion of raising KCRW's profile. The station has sponsored and held more and more music events in Los Angeles, and in the last year or so, has done the same in San Francisco and New York. The idea is that as commercial radio has become increasingly timid, canned and predictable, there is an opportunity for a station like KCRW to leverage its tastemaker status. And while satellite radio is providing one alternative, it's built on the idea of restricting your tastes one genre at a time. So stations like KCRW (along with Philadelphia's WXPN and its syndicated ''World Cafe'' show, and a few others, like WFUV in the Bronx) are now crucial to idiosyncratic bands like Brazilian Girls, the smaller record labels that promote them and the music consumers who want to be surprised. The Brazilian Girls, a kind of house band for the East Village club Nublu, made an EP last year that found its way to Harcourt. Their music got a lot of KCRW airplay and even earned them a live set on ''Morning Becomes Eclectic.'' They have an album coming out on Verve. According to Jill Weindorf at the label, early promotional posters include a blurb from Harcourt. ''Because of the dot-com following, and some of the music supervision he's done, he's actually becoming a name that even a consumer would recognize,'' she says, noting that she has seen Harcourt quotations on CD stickers as well. ''KCRW is starting to be a brand that means cool.'' (From the Sunday New York Times Magazine, Jan 23 via Matt Francis, DC, DXLD) ** U S A. VOLUNTEERS DELIVER RADIO NEWS FOR THE BLIND By SHEILA SMITH H&R Staff Writer Herald & Review, Illinois Friday, January 21, 2005 DECATUR - The only time Kitty Halton-Berns reads a newspaper is when she is doing it over the radio air waves. Halton-Berns, 40, begins her shift around 1 p.m., by placing a headset over her head and has an attached microphone. Sections of different newspapers are laid out on the desk in front of her. She then hits a button on the computer generated Adobe Audition recording system (the Cool Edit program) and says, ``Hello this is Kitty Berns for the Illinois Radio Reader....'' Halton-Berns, who owns a kennel and grooming shop for animals in Savoy, is one of 70 volunteers that stop at Illinois Radio Reader to read the news, obituaries, columnists, letters to the editor, and ads, which are recorded and broadcasted over the radio for the visually impaired to hear. Illinois Radio Reader located in Champaign was started nearly 27 years ago by the Junior League of Champaign/Urbana. The radio service also covers the Decatur, Bloomington, Champaign and Danville areas. For more, see Saturday's Herald & Review. http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/01/21/news/breaking_news/1005372.txt (via Leon Gilbert, blindnews, via Paul David, DXLD) ** U S A. A non-directional graveyarder will normally have a coverage radius of about 20-25 miles to its 0.5 mV/m contour, depending on ground conductivity of its region for 1 KW. At night, however, a GY's local coverage area will be much less due to the very high night limits (skywave interference) from all those other GYs, even though they normally also run 1 KW at night. At night, a GY will be lucky if it can be heard 8-10 miles away. A good example is the station I managed in Abingdon, VA -- WABN, 1230. We had a 305 foot (about 153 degree) tower, an excellent ground system, and our daytime signal could be heard in most directions a good 35-40 miles away. At night, it was difficult, if not impossible, to listen to the station in Bristol, VA, a short 10 miles down the road. The station's new tower, installed in 2004, is only 90 degrees, and their coverage is even less. Another GY I worked for (back in the 70s) was WALL, 1340, in Middletown, NY. You could easily pick up the station 30 miles away during the day with their 90 degree tower. At night, you could hear the station about 12 miles away. When WALL put up a new tower in the early 1980s, it was taller and the commission forced them to cut back their power to 800 watts to prevent interference with WNHC in New Haven, CT. Eventually, I am told that they were able to bring it back to 1 KW, once they proved that their was no interference. About the same time the FCC allowed most GYs to operate with 1KW at night, rather than dropping down to 250 watts. Even with 1 KW, their nighttime area now is not as good as it used to be due to increased skywave, even though they run four times the power! (Of course, so is everyone else). It's difficult to hear them 7-8 miles away. So, in short, on an average a GY is good for about 23 miles day, and 8 miles night (Rene' Tetro, Lansdale, PA, N2GQL, WPXG816, WPXU288, PG-2- 16913, Jan 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Possible WMVP and WLS technical changes --- Over on radio- info.net, a Milwaukee engineer is suggesting WMVP-1000 [Chicago] is having to rebuild their towers and may not be permitted to do so at their current site (due to local zoning issues, not the FCC). He's suggesting WMVP may temporarily diplex into the WLS-890 tower, which would leave them non-directional but almost certainly at reduced power. The thread also suggests both stations may eventually permanently relocate to a new transmitter site west of the existing site. Could be an interesting opportunity for KOMO... – (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, Jan 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) I think there is a statement like "do it elsewhere and don't do it in my back yard"! [That`s NIMBY --- gh] Any move westward for WLS and WMVP would put them closer to my location. I am now 20 miles due west of WLS xmtr site. Years ago I lived about 1 1/2 miles SW of WLS site when the area was wide open farm fields. Now the WLS site is almost completely surrounded by developments. I am sure that land values are up and tempting for the owners to sell out and move. The same for WMVP located in Downers Grove, they are boxed in pretty well. There is still open farm land west of me and if they move out this way all I can say is BAD NEWS! When and if WMVP begins to use the WLS site it will shift their location from NE to due east and allow a N/S null which should open new opportunities to the south. Have already heard and verified KOMO years ago (Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL, ibid.) That might benefit WMVP. As I recall from the old CFL days, the night signal shot east with a null towards KOMO. I also recall some folks to the west of Chicago saying that they can tell on car radios when WMVP dumps to night pattern. Moving west might help them. I would think WLS might be the one with the most to loose. Hypothetically, they would have to provide protection that they don't now to some newer stations (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) ** U S A. KFBK 1530 Test Problems --- Like many of you, I stayed up late listening for the KFBK 1530 kHz DX test without success. This morning's e-mail brought an explanation from their Chief Engineer, Ross Duclair. I'd encourage everyone to send a brief e-mail of support to Ross at: rossduclair @ clearchannel.com I replied to Ross, letting him know that everyone understands about transmitter problems, and encouraging him to reschedule the test for February 20-21st (Les Rayburn, N1LF, IRCA CPC Chairman, ODXA via DXLD) Les: I regret to say that KFBK-AM 1530 kHz was taken off the air 24 January from 00:04 hrs until 03:28 hrs. [PST = UT -8] Friday and Saturday KFBK transmitter failed to change patterns. At the normal command to change patterns the main transmitter would completely shut down. After repeated attempts the auxiliary transmitter was put on-line. Sunday evening/Monday morning, Chief Engineer Ross du Clair, and Contract Engineer Dale Harry began trouble shooting the phasor cabinet. Burned RF contactor points were found along with arcing damage to a coil in the day time 'T' network. Temporary repairs were made and KFBK was returned to the air. Replacement parts are on order. The phasor assembly should be repaired by next weekend, 29/30 January 2005. When I can find the very next opportunity to insert our special DX Test audio, I will let you know so you can pass along the information. Again, Les, I'm very sorry we couldn't get the test up this morning. There wasn't enough time to let you know the problems we were having. (via Les Rayburn, IRCA CPC, via ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glen[n], I don't know if its been reported to you yet, but just last week I just discovered a new format on an existing station. It's on 94.1 FM KLEY, which used to have a tejano/spanish music format for the longest time. Now they play pop favorites from the '60's up to the 80's. The station has no DJ's and is similar to our other "robot station" 103.7 KMFR FM, which also has no DJ's and very few commercials. It's about time San Antonio got a decent station. Out of all of Texas, I think we here in San Antonio, the corporate HQ of Clear Channel, have the most boring and banal TV and Radio stations in the entire state. There was also an article in the San Antonio Lightning web newspaper site that mentioned that the owner of KMFR was in discussions to launch a new AM talk radio station which will have all local live talent (probably those who were and who will be fired from KTSA 550 AM) later this year. I certainly hope so. Ever since Carl Wigglesworth was fired from KTSA last year, our talk radio has been lobotomized to appeal to the lowest common denominator and merely entertains instead of informs and stimulates. This applies only to KTSA. The other 'talk radio' is Clear Channel`s flagship station, WOAI 1200 AM, which is totally syndicated from 9 AM to 4 PM, but the live portions are completely useless (Pete Medellin, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Quito 23/1 2005 *** Sunday edition: *** Recording of 4939.68 kHz, R. Amazonas, Puerto Ayacucho --- The only Venezuelan station left on the tropical bands. Good reception here in Quito with the high A-index we have had lately. Listen to this very typical Venezuelan "sound". Comments and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 6870.0, JUFAN3-Venezuelan National Guard, calling CUF in ALE, at 0305 (Watson-UK, Utility World, Feb MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) O o, QRM from and to WRMI (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. The Venezuelan President´s talk show "Aló Presidente" has been canceled for today Jan 23. For background, see http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.asp?id=141134 and http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/international/americas/23colombia.html (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: Internacionales / Suspendido el programa ``aló presidente`` por la marcha de apoyo al gobierno de Venezuela 01/22/2005 - 08:59:00 Escuchar Audio Fuente: Caracol El presidente Hugo Chávez Frías decidió suspender su programa "Aló Presidente" correspondiente al domingo 23 de enero, para darle espacio a la Marcha en Defensa de la Soberanía de Venezuela que recorrerá Caracas desde Petare hasta el Palacio de Miraflores. La decisión fue anunciada el Ministro de Comunicación e Información (MCI) Andrés Izarra en el Cabildo Metropolitano, donde se realizó el Foro "Defensa de la soberanía y contra la agresión de la oligarquía colombiana" organizada por la Alcaldía Metropolitana como preparativo a la movilización popular convocada para este domingo. La marcha partirá desde Petare a las 10 de la mañana. La concentración será en la redoma. William Lara, director de la organización del Movimiento V República (MVR), el partido del presidente Hugo Chávez, dijo a Caracol Radio que también se entregará una nota de protesta en el consulado de Colombia en Caracas, que queda en la ruta marcada para la manifestación. "Será una gran marcha que saldrá de Petare (extremo oeste de la capital) y terminará frente al palacio de Miraflores (sede del Gobierno). En el camino entregaremos una nota de protesta en el consulado de Colombia y otra en la Fiscalía General", informó Lara a los periodistas. Lara explicó que se trata de apoyar al Gobierno en el caso de la captura del guerrillero de las Farc, Rodrigo Granda (via DXLD) Pity the two neighboring Bolivarian republics can`t get along (gh) ** VIETNAM. One correction to 5-012: VOV HS 0930: 9875 Me Tri, 5925 Xuan Mai. These are // while 9875 (corrected from 9835) is on (David Norcross, Hawaii, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Some interesting QSLs have arrived lately: Radio Que Me, Vietnamese clandestine on 15385 kHz. E-mail from Penelope Faulkner, Vice-President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights & Que Me in Paris. http://www.queme.net (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. DXLD 5-013: Re Al-Balagh Radio query -- Hi Glenn, To quote the UK Ofcom website http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/sat/SA109.htm [Al-Balagh Radio is] an Arabic cultural service to portray what Arab immigrants have gained in cultural knowledge and transmit it to the Arab world. Featuring analytical programmes, seminars, translation, literature, Arabic music, statistical studies and news broadcasting. This is on Hotbird 13 degrees East on 11939 MHz/H/SR 27500/FEC 3/4. "Balagh" means "announcement" or "message". Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3945-LSB, 2320 UT Dec 28, Dutch or Afrikaans? Church service, hymns, mentioning Ramallah, Palestine; organ music, English hymn to 2329*, SIO 343 (Alan Pennington, Longton, Lancs, Tropical Bands Logbook, Jan BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Pirate in Holland? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ HFCC A05 MEXICO CITY FEB 7-11 Found this detailed introduction via the XEEP website, which could also be useful to anyone else contemplating visiting the DF: http://www.hfcc.org/mexico.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ KO6BB`s QSL ALBUM I've uploaded some QSL photos to the following location. This has the advantage of displaying all of them at once in "Photoalbum" style. See them at the following URL. They will be added to and rotated on a regular basis. CLICK ON A PHOTO TO SEE A FULL SIZED PICTURE. http://photobucket.com/albums/v289/KO6BB/ 73 de (Phil, KO6BB http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/ Merced, Central California, 37.3N 120.48W CM97sh swl at qth.net via DXLD) VIETNAM, ST. HELENA, SYRIA, THAILAND, TOGO POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BROADBAND OVER POWERLINES INFO GOES ONLINE http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/01/21/1106110927943.html Sydney January 21, 2005 --- Broadband over powerline (BPL) technology is being tested in Australia and a Federal Government website http://internet.aca.gov.au/ACAINTER.3997752:STANDARD::pp=PC_2703,pc=PC_2845 has been set up to provide information about it. Power companies are interested in the technology and are considering using it to provide broadband data access to consumers as well as to manage the electrical supply network, Australian Communications Authority (ACA) said. ACA's website now houses an information portal giving background information about the new technology and details of interim trials. Acting chairman Bob Horton said ACA had developed regulatory guidelines for testing BPL technology. "The ACA had also started a comprehensive examination of the communications regulatory issues associated with BPL for delivery of telecommunications services using electrical power wiring and is consulting with interested stakeholders," Dr Horton said. A discussion paper would be released in early April calling for public comment (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald via Barry Hartley, NZ, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ###