DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-026, February 11, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 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 1263: Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Sat 0000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0000 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream Sat 0600 WOR SIUE Web Radio [NEW] Sat 0900 WOR WRN1 to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Telstar 12 SAm Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1130 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 2030 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0430 WOR WRMI 6870 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WXPN Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1030 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1100 WOR RNI [archive] Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [week delay] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1100 WOR RNI [archive] Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0700 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1100 WOR RNI [archive] Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] WORLD OF RADIO 1263 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1263h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1263h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1263 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1263.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1263.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1263.html WORLD OF RADIO 1263 in the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_02-09-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_02-09-05.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. /UNITED KINGDOM, 13650, Internews R, via Rampisham, *1300-1430*, Jan 29 and 30, Pashto ID: ``Da Salaam Walantaar``, news about Kabul and Pakistan, 1400 Dari news and talks, Afghan music, 55555 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) 21620, R Solh, Kabul, via Rampisham, *0700-1200*, Jan 29 and Feb 03, 05, 07 and 08, mainly Afghan folksongs and short comments in Dari and Pashto, or IDs ``Da radio Solh`` in between two songs. At 0730 excellent signal, 55545, but 0930 signal was only S2 in Greece. But opposite in Denmark: 25333 improving to 35434. New schedule 0700-1200, ex 0800-1200 (Liangas, Petersen and Vestesen, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** ALAND ISLANDS. 756 MW. I have not seen Radio 756 http://www.radio756.0catch.com mentioned here so far, so perhaps people know about the information below and have already discounted it. Today the site does not seem to say much, but it still mentions SW. In the past it has said that R 756 will operate on MW (756, presumably) and also on SW in the future, maybe from the summer. This could be a pirate or near-pirate type of enterprise, and I have found over the past 30+ years that ``pirate`` and ``fantasy`` go together very naturally. The only reason for mentioning R 756 and SW now is that this is supposed to be based in the Aland Islands. Not quite Finland and not quite anything else, but not as microscopic as Baarle-Hertog, Llivia etc. (e.g. it has its own real flag and stamps). So, neither a microcountry nor a country, but from a SW DX point of view the place could count as a new minicountry. If the information on the web site isn't a traditional pirate fantasy, that is. Keep tuned (to the site), I guess (John Campbell, UK in Dxplorer, Feb 02 via DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. 252 LW, RTA Algers now closes down at 0200* all nights and signs on again at *0500. In between Radio 1, Ireland is audible even in Malta (Zerafa via Monferini, Feb 04) ** AUSTRALIA. Coming Changes at Radio Australia --- With the station's summer vacation schedule coming to an end, there are some changes afoot at Radio Australia. 1. The "Grandstand" weekend sports program will continue to air on all shortwave frequencies, instead of on just a few special frequencies as had been the case in the past. 2. When the Australian Football League and National Rugby League seasons commence this fall (spring in the Northern Hemisphere), RA's weekend audio streaming will initially have to go silent--as it did over the summer (winter) when the station was broadcasting a considerable amount of cricket. Telstra owns the streaming rights to AFL and NRL broadcasts. However, RA is working on the creation of an alternative program schedule for its audio streaming service that would run as a substitute for Grandstand on the weekends. The station hopes to have this alternative in place by sometime in March. At that time the streaming service will once again be 24/7. 3. "The Buzz" and "Earthbeat" are no longer being carried on the RA schedule. Substitute programming will air until 28 February, when an entirely new program schedule is to go into effect. 4. One major feature of that new schedule will be a new daily two hour magazine-type current affairs/conversation/cultural program designed and produced by RA specifically for its primary audience in the Pacific and Asia. Details will be forthcoming. (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, Feb 11, dxldyg via DXLD) A reminder that John`s extensive hour-by-hour RA program previews appear twice weekly on the dxld yahoogroup; RNZI too, weekly (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Frequency change for AWR in German via MOS 300 kW / non- dir to WEu 1600-1630 NF 6015 (55555), ex 7235. First noted on Feb. 3 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. R. Municipal, 4845.18, 0915-0945+ Feb 4, CP music, Spanish talk, IDs, fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOTSWANA. VOA, 4930, 0340-0355+ Feb 4, VOA news in English, IDs; \\ 4960-São Tomé. Both weak to fair but in the clear (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4930, 1709-1730, VOA, Feb 7, Very good longpath signal at Botswana sunset. Man and woman announcers in African language giving news items from around Africa, and mentions of many regional locations. Brief mabira music selection 1711, and back to news or political talk. Woman with mention of 'Washington DC' at 1713, followed by '909 AM' and 'shortwave 11975 and 17895 kHz' , and what sounded like 'Voi Amerika' or similar at 1714. Man with 'Washington, DC' at 1729, and 'This is the Voice of America' by woman in English at 1730, and into English programming with mention of upcoming features and news. Surprisingly strong at more than two hours past local sunrise. Also heard VOA Botswana at a very good level on 2/8 at 1657 with VOA NewsNow report on human rights in Laos (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Latest Recordings 10/2: 4865.05 R. Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul --- Quito 10/2 2005 Thursday edition: *** Recording of 4865.05 kHz R. Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul. This ID site has not been updated the last week - we are moving up to new built 2nd and 3rd floor (where my radioshack now is). R. Verdes Florestas is a religious, catholic station and is dominating the frequency here in Quito. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 9725.95, R Clube Paranaense (presumed), 0820, Jan 30, and dominating over World University Network (Brother [sic] Scott) via Costa Rica this day. The Brazilian was broadcasting religious songs, so may be another one now operating to a religious theme. Fair strength (Noel Green, UK, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Thus two different religious persuasions compete on the listeners on this channel in two languages! (DSWCI Ed, ibid.) I believe CR is also off-frequency, judging from the het here in the mornings against a FE station (gh, DXLD) COSTA RICA, 9724.8, University Network, Cahuita, 2303, Jan 28, English religious propaganda; 33442, RFE QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** BRUNEI. RTB-Brunei launches tsunami charity CD : (10 February 05) Radio Television Brunei has launched a charity CD to raise money for victims of the Asian tsunami disaster. The CD, called Asia Aid Hari Baru, features four songs specially composed by local songwriters as a tribute to the tsunami victims, the Borneo Bulletin reported. RTB will also hold a charity concert on 12 February near the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. More than 30 artistes will take part, with all the proceeds going to victims of the disaster. The charity CD will be on sale at the concert and is also available from RTB for 7.00 Brunei dollars (just over US$4.00). Brunei was not hit by the tsunami but has sent 17 tonnes of aid to Indonesia’s devastated Aceh province along with a team of specialists and volunteers (ABU WEBSITE via MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, RAJSHAHI, BANGLADESH, DXLD) ** CANADA. Well, I am one who definitely remembers Earle Fisher. His Listeners' Corner program was the first shortwave program I ever wrote to. I guess I was in about 7th grade, and he actually read my letter on the air, and I was so embarrassed to hear my own words coming back over shortwave that I actually turned the dial away until my letter was over. Once at night I was listening to CBM, and I heard him doing the late night news. Only once did I ever hear this. Don't know if he did other shifts on 940, could not get CBM during the day in Rochester (Tim Hendel, AL, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Shortwave File http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:99568 When I would go to England to visit my grandmother, I loved listening to the shortwave stations on her portable radio. In Europe, it's much more common for radios to tune in shortwave signals, and there's a ceaseless variety of shows in a multitude of foreign languages. When Grandmother died at the age of 90, I took her radio home as a keepsake. In the U.S., the bulk of shortwave broadcasts are about Jesus Christ and occasionally his alleged father, God. But the shortwave band's also where a lot of small local Spanish music stations end up. I've also tuned in soccer (a.k.a. football) games from Ireland and Spain, talk shows about nutrition for pets, and delightful "pirate radio" airings where the pirates gleefully read off lists of illicit non-FCC- approved shows they've heard. My favorite shortwave stop is Radio Canada International, which took over the frequency left behind by BBC when that media monolith jettisoned its shortwave operation in favor of improving its website. RCI's a straightforward national broadcaster in the BBC mold, but its morning talk show is a lot better -- more literary, more verbal -- than what you'll find on TV or NPR. Its leisurely weekend storytelling variety show "The Vinyl Cafe" kicks Lake Wobegon's ass, and the news reporting is balanced and upbeat. RCI also provides programming for Canada's French and Korean [er, that`s RKI, er, KBS Warudo relay for the USA --- gh] populations, and a regular show on the country's Parliamentary government [The House, just before Vinyl Café]. For those who said they'd have to move to Canada if Bush got elected, but then wimped out, at least you can get your news and entertainment from there (Christopher Arnott, New Haven Advocate, via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** CHINA. China Radio International --- To celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, CRI aired a number of special programs from February 5 to 12. You could log on to CRI website: http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/radio/index.htm There on the column of "Audio on Demand", where could find any of these programs. Clicking the subject, could listen to every program, and read the related scripts at the same time. The English Service of CRI held a Spring Festival party, which included a few self-directed performances (MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, GOURHANGA, GHORAMARA, RAJSHAHI- 6100, BANGLADESH, via Rachel Baughn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Deleted freqs of China Radio International via BEI 150 kW: 7255 / 312 deg in Russian 1000-1157; 1300-1357; 1500-1557 7255 / 312 deg in Mongolian 1200-1257; 1400-1457 9365 / 322 deg in Russian 1700-1957 9870 / 322 deg in Russian 0000-0057 9885 / 312 deg in Russian 1600-1757 Frequency change for China Radio International in Spanish to SoAm: 2300-0057 NF 9445 (55555) via KAS 500 kW / 269 deg, ex 7160 \\ 9800 (55555) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. R. Marfil Stereo 88.8 FM, 5910.47, 0635-0745+ Feb 5, local pops/ballads, Spanish talk, announcements, IDs. Good and in the clear. Heard earlier at 0215-0300+ but with a very poor signal due to strong QRM from Ukraine on 5910 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. 5985, 1713-1750, R. Congo, Feb 8. Fair to good level at Brazzaville sunset (1715). Male announcer in African vernacular; into French at 1723 with 'Ici Brazzaville, Congo' ID at 1731. Enjoyable Soukous music selections starting at 1732, but unfortunately by 1740 the signal was weakening and getting noisy. However, Congo was still listenable with a fair signal even past 1800 (10 am local time PST). Strongest on southwest Beverage (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. University Network, mixture of frantic blues and idiotic preaching. Cheers (Pat Privat, France, Feb 10, HCDX via DXLD) WTFK? WTTT? Never mind; we can guess. See also BRAZIL ** CROATIA [and non]. 13820, Voice of Croatia. Feb. 6 at 0700-0715. SINPO 35433. ID in English at 0700, followed by news in English. Interview in Croatian from 0703. The same program was also heard on 9470 with SINPO 35433 (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, R Africa No. 2, Malabo, 1620-1640, Jan 29, English Christian program, ``halleluja, halleluja Jesus``, QRM from BBC World Service Antigua-relay. Audio disappeared suddenly at 1628, but signal strength remained the same. 32322 (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Direction finding has confirmed that this signal really is coming from Equatorial Guinea! (DSWCI Ed Anker Petersen, ibid.) Was there any doubt? (gh, DXLD) ** FIJI. Ocean City State Park is north of the well-known Grayland DXpedition site, and across Grays Harbor on the sandy, flat Ocean Shores pennisula. Most visitors head straight for the resorts and casinos of the pennisula, but the smart ones do their gambling by stringing out a Beverage antenna and DXing! An empty logbook is cheaper than an empty wallet if things don't work out... Those interested in seeing some photos along with the DXpedition loggings can check out this URL: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/oceancity_2005_02.dx 558, R. Fiji One, Feb 7 1445 - Low level island music of acoustical guitar and choral singing; woman announcer in pres. Fijian. Noted parallel to 639 and 684, all with weak signals. I found it interesting that all three frequencies began and ended their long fades into the noise at the same time, and then rose again at 1454. More guitar and choral singing over the top of the hour. 639, R. Fiji One, Feb 8 1505 - Better reception than last night 2/7, with a fair-good signal on peaks. Beautiful island vocals and instrumentals, and song introductions by man in Fijian, parallel to 558 and 684. Fiji giving way again to 8RN Katherine by 1515. 684, R. Fiji One, Feb 8 1509 - Heard during a brief peak with island music and male announcer in Fijian, parallel to 639. Poor (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** FINLAND. 11690, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1055-1200*, Sat Feb 05, strong and clear in Denmark. At 1100 ID in English with request for reception reports. Program in Finnish with DJ’s Janne and Peeveli playing Finnish pop songs and giving DX-news mentioning Mike Spencer and the next EDXC Conference. 35444, but some CWQRM from 1130. 11720, Scandinavian Weekend R, *1200-1255*, Sat Feb 05, weaker now with Finnish DJ Häkä Show OnTheRoad -Matkalla with Finnish pop songs. 35333. Unintentional transmitter break 1235-1242 and again from 1255 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) monthly ** FRANCE. Jean-Pierre Penaud in Paris Reports the start of the programs of Radio De La Mer on 1080 kHz. Heard very well near Paris at 1845-1900 UT on 10 February. Radio de la Mer 59, rue Lepic 75018 Paris,France. Président: M. Brosseau. Tel. :+33 01 49 23 50 01; Fax :+33 01 49 23 50 01. For your email report you may utilize this link : http://www.radiodelamer.com./contact1.php 1080, 10 Feb. Radio de la Mer, 1845- F, YL singing ID first day Very Good. Adios, Spain (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Frequency change for RFI in Polish via ISS 250 kW / 040 degrees: 1700-1757 NF 5910 (55555), ex 6085 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA [and non]. GEORGIA/BRAZIL 11805.16 kHz Georgia || 11805.22 Globo Brazil. 11805.2, R. Globo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, on 31 Jan at 1933-1953, news + info feature "Globo Cidade", music, TCs, advertisements; 35332 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 4 via DXLD) Am heutigen Morgen war gegen 0805 UT Georgien auf 11805.16 kHz mit kurzen Wortfetzen des deutschen Programmes zu hoeren. Zur gleichen Zeit gab es ein schwaches Signal auf 11805.24 kHz, welches in den folgenden Minuten immer staerker wurde. Gegen 0820 gab es dort das hoerbare fade-in mit eindeutiger Identifizierung um 0830: Radio Globo. Bis zum fade-out um 0835 UT wanderte Globo nach 11805.22 und spaeter - -- nur noch auf dem Spektrum sichtbar --- gegen 11805.20 kHz. Das gleiche *Wandern* war schon am 23.01. beobachtet worden. An diesem Tage konnte ich Globo jedoch nur nach Hoereindruck vermuten (Wolf- Dieter Behnke, Germany, A-DX Feb 2 via BC-DX Feb 11 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Some DTK T-Systems changes: Pan American Broadcasting (PAB): 1430-1445 13820 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Mon SoAs in English --- new 1630-1645 6015 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg Wed EaEu in English, not Russian Free People's Mission: 1630-1700 13820 WER 250 kW / 105 deg Sat ME in English --- new Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN): 1915-2015 7260 WER 125 kW / 210 deg Fri CeAf in Arabic -- cancelled Radio Voice of Women / Radyo Seda-ye Zan 1900-1930 9495 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME in Persian -- cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. DW To Help Rebuild Radio Station in Aceh Germany's Deutsche Welle will support the reconstruction of radio stations in the tsunami-stricken province of Aceh on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The announced was made in Bonn by Erik Bettermann, the Director-General of Germany's international broadcaster. Bettermann said that Deutsche Welle has been working as partners with a number of broadcasters, primarily small FM stations, in northern Sumatra for over 40 years. Most of the stations - eight in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and in the city of Meulaboh - were entirely destroyed by the tsunami and the quake. In the regions most affected by the catastrophe on the western coast of Sumatra, the devastation has left the survivors with no access to information about aid measures and the general situation in their homeland. Radio 68 H is one of DW's partner stations in Indonesia, which rebroadcast programming by DW-RADIO in Indonesian. This internationally funded news broadcaster distributes its programmes via satellite to over 400 private radio stations throughout Indonesia. Every day, Radio 68 H broadcasts one hour of the DW-RADIO / Indonesian Service and is planning to rebuild a number of radio stations in Aceh. Director-General Bettermann announced that DW will provide funds for the construction of up to nine new radio transmitters. In addition, with the help of sponsors, Germany's international broadcaster is planning to purchase roughly 1,000 radios and distribute them in the reception camps of the province. In view of the destruction of the media infrastructure, this measure is aimed to help get information to the people about developments in the region (The Radio Newsletter via Ray Browell, BDCX-UK via DXLD) ** GREECE [non]. ``Never on Sunday,`` that quintessential Greek song, was heard on VOG via Delano, 15485, and Greenville 17565, Feb 10 at 2150, YL vocalist, perhaps Melina herself. With its heavy emphasis on music, I wonder how often this tune pops up on ERA on rotation? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. Rikisutvarpid Reykjavik schedule has not changed since Oct 2003: For Europe 1215-1300 UT 13865 kHz (125 degrees) 1755-1825 UT 12115 kHz (125) for N America 1410-1440 UT 13865 kHz (251) 1835-1905 UT 13865 kHz (251) 2300-2335 UT 12115 kHz (251) Schedule is shown on this link http://www.textavarp.is/227/2.html which 'Johanna' at Rikisutvarpid sent me within mins! Thank you, Johanna! (Finn Krone, Denmark, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5, 2005 via DXLD) ** ICELAND. 9980 USB, AFRTS, Grindavik, 0825-1310, still here Jan 29 and Feb 02, English ann, ID: ``This is NPR - National Public Radio``, news about Iraqi elections, also heard at 1620. 25243 heard // with strong 7590 also from Iceland and very weak on 7811 presumaly from Key West, Florida, USA (Anker Petersen and Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9425.0, AIR Bangalore, National Channel, Feb 10, 1601-1627 BBC-WS `Sports Detectives` program in English, presented by Matthew Kenyon, 1627 into vernacular and sub-continental music, AIR ID and AIR programming in English, about school teachers. Reception very good. 11585.0, AIR Delhi (tentative), Feb 10, 1522-1600, Indian pop music, news headlines (vernacular), could not make out an ID but assume they are back to the External Service (see DXLD 5-025), fair-poor. Sorry that I was not able to hear the recent relay of FM Rainbow, but it never came up to this level when I checked here before (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Re 5-025, 11885v reactivation of RRI: Thank you, Wolfgang, looks like that. I've lost them around 18z, but definitely it was NOT external service (VOI). So language was Indonesian (I was in doubt between that and Malay). Audio quality improved towards the end, but very short dropouts became more frequent (few per minute, less than second in length). If reactivated as it looks, - not in good shape I must say. Cimanggis' 11860 looked perfect at the same time. Even 9525 VOI's quality was not bad as to my ear. General: while been slightly into GeoMag-storm, signals coming here from East appeared more clear/sharp (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Feb 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) 9550 0900-1300 51 UJU 7 0 0 700 311004 270305 D INS RRI 9565 2200-2400 51 UJU 5 85 0 206 311004 270305 D INS RRI 11750 0800-1200 54 UJU 250 280 5 206 311004 270305 D INS RRI 11750 2200-0300 54 UJU 250 280 5 206 311004 270305 D INS RRI 11885 0900-1300 51 UJU 100 85 5 206 311004 270305 D INS RRI Wasn't there a report a couple of years ago about someone visiting the station and stating that the whole site was buried in the jungle and the visitor estimated it the return to air to be very improbable? But who knows (Mauno Ritola, Finland, DXplorer feb 9 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3385, RRI Kupang [Timor] is inactive again! In September/October 2004 it was only heard for a few days. 4869.98, RRI Wamena, 0940, Feb 06, heard in the Philippines as well as RRI Sorong on 4871. Both stations are sporadically on the air. 4871, RRI Sorong, 0945-1035, Jan 23, Bahasa Indonesia, clear ID’s, but was reactivated only this day! (However, back Feb 06, as mentioned above. Ed). Poor modulation and much atmospheric noise (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. DW helps rebuild Aceh stations: see GERMANY ** IRAN [non]. R. Farda audible also on 1170 // 1575. I guess 1575 is the new 800 kW transmitter built by Thales and partners, referred as "Al Dabiyah II". It was planned to be completed in the beginning of 2005. The "Al Dabiyah I" was the 1170 kHz 800 kW transmitter. Info about these transmitters was given by Wolfgang Buschel and Bernd Trutenau in DXLD 4-114 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Dec 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) more under UAE ** IRAN [non]. 6421.2, Voice of the Communist Party of Iran, *1628- 1745*, Feb 06, Ouverture, Farsi ID: ``Seda-ye Hezb-e Kommunist-e Irana``, ``Internationale`` song, talk mentioning Komalah and Iran, no jamming heard here, but to be safe it jumped to 6426.2 at 1655(!) 35443. Also heard on // 4376.0 (42442) and 3880.0 (43442) - both jammed. They continued until 1808*! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) see also KURDISTAN [non] ** IRAN [non]. 11620, Voice of the Iranian Nation, 1430-1500, Jan 27, was heard on new frequency with the ID: ``Seda-ye Mellat-e Iran``. Strongly jammed by Iran (Ray Merrall and Noel Green, UK, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD). Ex 15660 (DSWCI Ed) From where? ** IRAN [non]. Radio Voice of Women / Radyo Seda-ye Zan, 1900-1930 9495 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME in Persian – cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) All gone, or moved? Too bad; why? (gh) ** IRAQ. See KURDISTAN ** IRELAND. 6210, Laser Hot Hits, 0915-1000, Jan 30, has apparently been off-air on 49 mb for some time, but is now regularly back. DJ Colin Dixon. Heard // with 6218.8. 23333 (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3607.5(U), NHK Tokyo-Shobu, Feb 10, 1022-1143, programming in Japanese, some traditional Japanese music and songs. Programming rather non-descriptive. Fair-good. Most of the time this was // to 6005.0(AM), NHK Sapporo. In the past I have always found these two to be //, so I was surprised to find this exception. NHK-Osaka, on 3373.5(U), also heard with fair signal. A good night for these low powered relays (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. 11810, R Jordan, Qasr el Kharana, 1245-1315, Feb 08, live transmission of ceasefire speeches held at the Israeli- Palestine Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Premier Ariel Sharon spoke in Hebrew at 1300-1308, but was simultaneously interpreted into Arabic. Applause from audience. 1308 ID and Arab song to string music. Historical broadcast! 45434 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 3025, Frontline Soldiers R, 2100-2200, Jan 17-23, Channel 2 in Korean with TS, 3 short plus 1 long time pips, mention of Pyongyang, relayed a domestic programme // 2850 and 3220 and from *2200 also // 3959.8. Also heard two days till -1030*. The station is not heard every day (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Schedule now seems to be 2000-1030v (DSWCI Ed.) ** KURDISTAN. IRAQ. The only active stations in Iraq broadcasting on SW at present are the Kurdish stations which were clandestines during the regime of Saddam Hussein. After his massacre on the Kurdish population and suppression of the Shiits in Southern Iraq following the Saddam defeat in the first Gulf War, the USA, UK and France in 1992 introduced two prohibited Flight Zones within Iraqi airspace North of 36 degrees and south of 32 degrees. This was a success and particularly gave the Kurds a kind of autonomy with only little influence from Baghdad. Covert SW broadcasts flourished in that region from various tribes and political groups. Some argued for full independence from Baghdad, others for a united ``Kurdistan`` including the Kurdish tribes in Northern Iraq, NW Iran, NE Syria and a large part of Eastern Turkey. Because of this, some of these clandestine stations were - and still are - directed towards these other countries who all are strongly against the idea of a united ``Kurdistan``. Although their local languages cannot be understood by most DX-ers, it is still exciting to listen to their broadcasts also in year 2005! Below are the current details on the few domestic SW stations in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq taken from the updated Domestic Broadcasting Survey. All stations have been heard in 2005: 4025, Voice of the People of Kurdistan, Al-Sulaymaniyah, 0230-0300, 0500-0600, 1400-1600, 1630-1700, 1900v-2000v. Surani Kurdish, ID: ``Aira dangi Gelli Kurdistana``, 0300v-0500 1700-1900v A, ID: ``Huna idha’at sawt Sha’b Kurdistan, sawt al-Ittihadi al-Watani al- Kurdistan``, 1600-1630 Turkmen; ID: ``Burazy Iraq Türkmen Sesi Radiouzel`` (i.e. ``This is the Radiovoice of Turkmen Iraq``). d 4023- 4027; jammed. Produced by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) lead by Jalal Talabani. (Often QRM from Europirates on 4025.3) 4160, Voice of Independence 0300-0330 1500-1700 Kurdish, ID: ``Era dengi Sarbakhoye, izgay Parti Parezgani Kurdistana``. Operated by the Conservative Party of Kurdistan. d 4158 – 4167; irregular. 6315, R Roj (= Sun) r 1400-1900* Kurmanji Kurdish, ID: ``Azad Radyo Roj (pronounced: Rozh)``, d - 6310. New clandestine station. 6340, Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan, Salah al-Din 0300v-0700v 1400-1500 1700-1800v Kurmanji Kurdish, ID: ``Aira dangi Kurdestana Iraqa, dangi demokrati Kurdestan``; 1500-1700 A, ID: ``Huna Sawt Kurdistan al-Iraq, Sawt al-Hizb al-Dimuqrati al-Kurdistani al-Iraq``. Produced by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) lead by Mas’ud Barzani; d - 6310 [moved to 6335: see 5-025] Besides these ``pure domestic`` stations, there is a SW station well heard, broadcasting towards Iraq probably via Maiac, Moldova: 11530, Voice of Mesopotamia, Belgium, 0500-1700, Kurdish dialects: Kurmanji/ Zazaki/Sorani, ID: ``Denge Mezopotamya`` Backed by ``Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress`` (KADEK, former PKK). Broker TDP. Some days off. It is interesting to note that on Feb 02, 2005, after the recent Iraqi Election, the KDP leader Barzani declared that their end goal is an Independent State of Kurdistan! On the other hand, it is expected that the leader of the other group, PUK, Jalal Talabani, is going to get one of the leading positions in the new Iraqi leadership. It will be interesting to follow this political development - also on SW (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE, 3930.0, R Voice of Komala, *1700- 1835*, Jan 29, Ouverture, Kurdish ID: ``...dangi Komala``, frequency announcement, webaddress, talk; 1800 Farsi program began, ID, talks. The jamming was on *1709-1842*. Until 1709: 34333. Nothing was heard on // 4610 that day (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) 3970.2, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, Al Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, 0305-0435, Feb 08, Call to prayer, 0311 Kurdish ann, ID: ``Aira dangi Kurdistan Irana`` and talk by woman mentioning Iranian Kurdistan and Iraq, 34444, heard // 4860.0 (34333), but 4610 was off the air. No jammers noted that early in the morning! At 0405 the Kurdish broadcast had jumped to 3985.1 (jammed) and heard // 4860 still not being jammed. Kurdish ID, talk, march and folksong. 0428 began a similar programme in Farsi on both frequencies, first with ID by woman: `` Seda-ye Kordestan-e Iran.`` (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 9880 DRM, Radio Kuwait, Feb 7 at 1704 News in Arabic, mentions of Kuwait and ruling sheik; S/N about 15 dB, fine for 11.64 kbps bit rate. Audio about 98% present (Ralph Brandi, NJ, DXplorer Feb 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Radio Marabu / EMR 9290 KHZ Radio Marabu 13 February [Sun] 1300-1700 UT ----------------------------- EMR TO EUROPE 20th Feb 2005 [Sun], 1500 to 1620 International music programme 1500 to 1545 International letter box 1545 to 1615 closedown 1615 to 1620 ------------------ EMR WORLD SERVICE 26th of February 2005, 2100 to 2200 [Sat] GOOD LISTENING (Tom Taylor, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Baltic Waves Vilnius, 612 kHz, 100 kW, ND: 0400-0600 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarusian 0800-1000 Voice of Russia-Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio, Russian 1000-1400 Voice of Russia-Sodruzhestvo, Russian 1400-1600 Voice of Russia-Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio, Russian 1600-2200 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarusian 2200-2230 Polish Radio-Radio Polonia, Belarusian Radio Baltic Waves International Sitkunai, 1386 kHz, 500 kW, ND: 2002-2100 China Radio International, Czech 2100-2200 China Radio International, English 2200-2300 China Radio International, German Siauliai, 1386 kHz, 3 kW, ND [From March 1, 2005]: 0500-1600 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian Sitkunai, 1557 kHz, 150 kW, ND: 1800-2000 China Radio International, Russian 2000-2100 China Radio International, Polish 2100-2200 China Radio International, Chinese (Rimantas Pleikys 10 2 2005 via Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, 1617-1633, R. National Malagasy, Feb 8. Probable. Man and woman with discussion or interview in heavily African accented English, over/under AIR Thiruvanathapuram in Hindi. Good signal, but very difficult to follow due to the Indian at equal level. Language changed to presumed Malagasy 1628 with announcements by a man; brief drumming, then woman in French at 1631with possible mention of 'Malgache' beneath AIR's subcontinental music. I was surprised to hear English on this frequency at tune-in; unfortunately the level was so low I couldn't make out the subject or topic (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Re unID 5030: Yes, R. Malaysia-Sarawaku on 5030 had reactivated since early Dec. 2004. Monitoring in Japan, it's carring same program on 7130 kHz in evening time (Kenji Takasaki with JRC NRD- 545/535D/515, Mie prefecture, Japan, Feb 11, HCDX via DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. In case you missed the Radio 4 Programme- Crossing Continents - on the Maldives - you can go here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/4248085.stm Strongly recommended (David Hardingham, Friends of Maldives, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents was broadcast on Thursday, 10 February, 2005, at 1100 GMT. The programme will be repeated on Monday, 14 February, 2005, at 2030 GMT (above site, also audio link, via DXLD) Excellent; just heard it. BBC site above has visuals of Minivan presenter and acting President Gayoom (gh, Feb 11, DXLD) 11810, Minivan R. via DTK, Feb 7, 1638-1652, 33433, Vernacular, 1638 IS. ID at 1643. Talk and music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** MALI. 4783, RTV Malienne, Bamako, 0636-0800*, Jan 31 and Feb 06, nice signals, Malienne highlife music program with no ann. Female at 0650 in Vernacular followed by indigenous instrumental music (xylophone or similar and drums) and man talking in Vernacular. Female in French at 0653 then more highlife music. At 0659.5 indigenous instrumental music and woman in French followed by man in French at 0700. Slightly undermodulated signal but SINPO 35533 with QSB (Jerry Berg, MA and Bruce Churchill, CA, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA, R Transcontinental de Amércia, Cd. de México, 0736-fade out 0955 (!), Mon Jan 31, Spanish religious program, announcing phone number, postal and e-mail addresses, playing music; 53443, adjacent utility QRM. Inaudible the following day at same time, with the same sort of utility QRM present. This is listed as putting just 500 watts – it’s hardly believable (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD). They normally broadcast during weekends only (DSWCI Ed) ** MEXICO [non]. 6000, R. Insurgente, via R. Habana Cuba (Cf DX-Window no 264. Ed). On Fri, Jan 28 at 2100 I could hear only a weak Voice of Russia (IS 2100). (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Who says it`s via Habana? This was merely speculation. Remains to be confirmed that it ever exist at all on SW from anywhere (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Having noted a sporadic-E MUF up to 60 MHz a few hours earlier Feb 10, tho from the E rather than the S, in the form of WCBD- TV, ch 2, Charleston SC --- a common catch during the Es season, but a rarity in February --- I made a point of checking 25620 for this week`s DRM tests from R. Educación in México DF --- and at 2140 UT, there it was, the DRM buzz peaking about 10 over S9 on the FRG-7 with E-W longwire. Roughly the same signal levels were in from HCJB on 15375 (power and gain?) and TDF French Guiana on 21645, but no Voz Cristiana, Calera de Tango on 21500, already off for the day by that hour as per schedule. There were also several Spanish-speaking 2-way transmissions within the 11 meter broadcast band, so it was definitely open. Distance from the DF to Enid is about 1.9 megameters, too close for F2 skip at this frequency. Tho I have no DRM receiver, I monitored the 25620 signal for about 10 minutes. Unlike the lower DRM frequencies, it had a regular steady fade cycle, which I doubted was propagationally caused. When tuned to the center of the channel the fades were slight but detectable on the S-meter, and the ear, about every 12 seconds. It seemed as if the frequency were shifting back and forth by a few kHz, but this is hard to pin down with DRM via analog! Then when I tuned off to one side, the fades were much more pronounced, but less frequent, roughly 25 seconds apart. Perhaps some DRM expert can recognize these symptoms and explain them? After listening intently for several minutes, I began to detect a bit of analog audio mixed in, or was it my imagination? Or overload from Delano on 15485 or 17670? Hybrid DRM/analog is an option, but it has rarely if ever been used. But, why not on such an auspicious test transmission? Altho I might be able to contribute something useful in the way of scheduling and propagation observations such as this, I am not registered on the DRM forum because of excessive invasion of privacy in its registration setup. But anyone can read the fora. I have been looking in vain for anything about 25620. The week has almost gone by and no one has started a thread on that transmission from Mexico at Reception Reports – Recent Posts http://www.drmrx.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=bf7d439b88a7f0484c36304ef72aadf8&forumid=22 and a search of the entire site for 25620 produced zero results (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5770, Defence Forces BC Unit at 1346-1405 on Feb 2. Presumed with YL vocal music, very Burmese-sounding and similar to what is heard on 5985.8 kHz; YL spoke in language at 1359-1405 UT; more music followed but signal was deteriorating by now. Fair at best but better than usual (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Feb 2 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** NEPAL. On Feb 01, King Gyanendra removed the Government of Nepal and pointed out a new one which declared the country in State of Emergency. The Maoist rebel movement whose goal it is to abolish the monarchy and introduce a socialist state, is said to control large parts of the country. The Maoists also perform some terrorist attacks in the easternmost provinces of India, and this event did cause a diplomatic crisis Nepal vs. India. In Nepal all communications, including e-mail, have been cut and privately-owned FM radio stations have been ordered to drop their news bulletins. But TV and state-owned radio programmes are unaffected. On SW R Nepal has been heard with domestic broadcasts during the past months on 5005 kHz with reduced power, but not every day. It was still heard here in Denmark on Feb 06, but its weak signal did not propagate on other days. 5005.4, R. Nepal, Khumaltar, 1520-1540 (fade out), Feb 06, orchestral music, 1530 Nepali talk by woman, 1536 more music before disappearing in the noise. 24121. It is evident that this S 3 dB signal for the past year or more is not coming from a 100 kW transmitter. AIR Thiruvanathapuram on nearby 5010 (100 kW) was heard at the same time with S 9 + 10 dB! On Feb 05 and 06 I tried R Nepal on 5005.4 at their usual sign on time *2315, but the station did not propagate (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Radio Nepal, Kumaltar, is not heard on daily basis. However pretty good reception noted February 2 at 16 UT. S7-8/2-3. Frequency is 5005.35 kHz. In the 70´s, did they use 3415 kHz. That was a good one. Just now Feb 11 at 1615 no trace of Nepal on 5005. What´s the transmitting power? 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW CALEDONIA. New Caledonia is a lush and mountainous country of 200,000 people, situated to the east of northern Australia. A little under half the people are Melanesian (called Kanaks) and the rest are mostly French settlers. It is a French speaking country that is governed as a province of France. New Caledonia exports about a third of the nickel in the world, and is a wealthy country by Pacific Island standards, although it is apparent that most of the wealth is in the hands of the local European community and many Islanders live outside the capital of Nouméa in very squalid circumstances. Pacific Partners - New Caledonia is now legally established and applying to the government of France for a national Christian radio license (Padula in World Broadcasting Magazine 337, Feb 04 via DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) Let us hope they will use SW! (DSWCI Ed) ** NIGERIA. 6049.89, R. Nigeria, Ibadan, *0555-0630, Jan 28 and Feb 03, interval signal followed by ID ``Radio Nigeria, the network of the millennium``, English news on oil industry, clear frequency, poor audio, 34333 (Martien Groot, Holland and Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 15120, 1700-1950+ Feb 4, English news, commentary, IDs. Preview of upcoming programs. 1900 News, then ``Landmark`` program about local people and their culture. Afro-pops. 1915 ``People & Places`` program. Believe sign-on was around 1700. Fair level; audio quality varied from poor to very good depending on program. 15120 also 1135-1210+ Feb 6, English Q&A program, ID, 1200 News. Poor in noise and with co-channel QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change for V. of Nigeria in English: 1700-2100 NF 15120, ex 7255, re-ex 9690 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) for the moment ** PAKISTAN. National news in English of Radio Pakistan noticed on three frequencies at 16 UT Feb 9: 11570 kHz with weak and distorted audio, 5080.3 kHz with signal strength S9 +5dB and fair to good reception. Similar reception on 4790 kHz by Azad Kashmir Radio. Not noted 5027 Quetta since October. It´s a hard one to hear. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4960, 1112-1116, Catholic Radio Network, Feb 7. Talk or interview about Catholic and family planning issues. First noted at 1035 with Christian contemporary music. Poor-fair level, but seemed to be slowly improving. Also heard at 1707 on 2/8 with choir music; weak signal (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5940, R Melodía. After two months I received a full data QSL- letter signed by the Manager Dña. Elba Álvarez Delgado, plus a postcard from the city of Arequipa signed by the broadcasting team. My report was enclosed one 1 US $. Extracts from their letter in Spanish (translated by your DSWCI Editor): ``Radio Melodía, A.M. 1220 Khz. F.M. 103.3 Mhz. Onda Corta 5940 Khz. 49 mts. San Camilo nº 501-A Cercado, Teléfonos A.M. 205811 - 223661, F.M. 285152 - 206095. Telefax 054-204420. Arequipa - Perú.`` R Melodía went on the air Oct 21, 1972 and was founded by its Director Gerente, Sr. Hermógenes Delgado Torres. It broadcasts two different programs, on FM as well as on MW and SW.`` Furthermore this about the Region of Arequipa: ``The city of Arequipa is located in the Region of the same name, and is domicile of our radio station. It is the second largest city in Peru with more than 862,747 inhabitants, and an altitude of 2335 metres above sea level. Arequipa is situated at the Río Chili river banks, and surrounded by three majestic volcanos: the still active ``Misti`` of 5825 metres above sea level, ``Chachani``, 6075 metres and ``Pichu Pichu`` with 5664 metres. The climate is dry and pleasant with 300 days of sunshine per year. Regarded by UNESCO as a part of the World Cultural Heritage, our city has four Universities and is also the trade center of the Macro-Región in Peru. Arequipa is known as ``Ciudad Blanca`` - the white city because of its typical colonial buildings made by volcanic lava ashlars, a unique structure of the whole world. ``The Región of Arequipa counts eight provinces: Arequipa, Camaná, Caravelí, Castilla (Aplao), Cayllona (Chivay), Condesuyos (Chuquibamaba), Islay (Mollendo) and La Unión (Cotahuasi). It is situated in the southern part of the country covering 63,345 square Km and has a population of 1,140,000 inhabitants. From the sea to the Andes, the region counts an enormous biodiversity and very varied climates, to throw into relief the ``Valle y Cañon del Colca``, the big touristic attraction, and during summer the beaches of Mollendo and Camaná. On the culinary aspect should be mentioned the delicious camarones (shrimps from the rivers) in various preparations and a big amount of various fish and shellfish.`` (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) This already appeared here in Spanish ** PERU. R. Victoria, Lima, 6020.27, 0745-0805+ Feb 5, Spanish religious talk, Spanish religious music, ballads. Fair; much weaker on \\ 9720.03 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. All logged Feb 11: 4388a, Radio Imperio, Chiclayo; 1132 enthusiastic Man in Spanish with religious sermon, suddenly breaking out into a song with piano accompaniment! 4824.4, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos; 1125 Man & Woman in Spanish with announcements. Disco music in background 4950, Radio Madre de Dios, Puerto Maldonado; 1105 brief religious music, Man in Spanish with local announcements, mention of a local woman selling goats! (La señora Maria Elena... se vende cabritos). Local announcements with bits of flute music in the backround 4955, Radio Cultural Amauta, Huanta; 1109 Man in Spanish with religious sermon 4965, Radio Santa Mónica, Cusco; 1111 Man & Woman in Spanish alternating with news stories, ads 4975, Radio del Pacífico, Lima; 1112 Man & Woman in Spanish with Christian sermon, ID "Radio del Pacífico" 5460a, Radio Bolívar, Bolívar; 1122 huayno vocal music with flutes and strings (Steven Wiseblood, Brownsville, TEXAS, Radio Shack DX-399, 50' center-fed wire @ 15 ft, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Updated B-04 schedule for Radio Veritas Asia: Bengali 0100-0125 11790 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg 1400-1425 11725 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg Burmese 2330-2355 9805 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1130-1155 15450 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Cantonese 2300-2325 9805 PUG 250 kW / 331 deg Filipino 2230-2255 7265 PUG 250 kW / 331 deg 1500-1525 11765 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg Wed/Fri/Sun 1500-1555 11765 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat Hindi 0130-0155 11790 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg 1330-1355 11725 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg Hmong 1000-1025 11780 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Indonesian 2300-2325 11820 PUG 250 kW / 222 deg 2300-2325 9505 PUG 250 kW / 222 deg 1200-1225 11795 PUG 250 kW / 222 deg Kachin 0030-0055 9505 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1230-1255 15225 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Karen 0000-0025 9505 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1200-1225 15225 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Mandarin 2100-2255 6190 PUG 250 kW / 350 deg 1000-1155 9520 PUG 250 kW / 355 deg Russian 0230-0325 17830 PUG 250 kW / 015 deg 1500-1555 9570 PUG 250 kW / 330 deg Sinhala 0000-0025 11820 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1330-1355 9520 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Tamil 0030-0055 15520 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1400-1425 9520 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Telugu 0100-0125 15530 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1430-1455 9520 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Urdu 0200-0225 15350 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg 1430-1455 11725 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg Vietnamese 2330-2355 9670 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 0130-0225 15530 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1030-1125 11850 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg 1300-1325 11850 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg Zomi-Chin 0230-0255 11895 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 11 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 9581.90, PBS, Marulas, Valenzuela, 0500, Jan 19, Tagalog programme, but transmitter or antenna problems causing horrible splatters up to 9740! Seems to be regular here as before. Is back from 9619.10 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Re Harris press release: One of the poorest European countries has now a potential of at least 8 powerful MW powerhouses, thanks to human race friend G. W. Bush administration (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 8, BC-DX via DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN [and non]. I note that in Bill Hale's column in the Feb 7 DX News, WVUV has applied to move from 648 to 720 and that new station applicants in American Samoa and Guam are requesting 900 and 1170. These are some of the even frequencies of the 9 kHz separation used in the Pacific area so it would appear that listeners in our territories are trying to get in line with U.S. mainland stations, probably because of the digital dials on their American car radios. That is also most likely why most of the Caribbean stations moved to even frequencies. Too bad about these Pacific moves which will make reception of our territorial stations virtually impossible over here (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, Feb 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Conditions appear to be gradually improving, so here is a selection of what I've been hearing over the past hours when monitored BSKSA Riyadh, especially the 'ODD frequency' transmitter, but latter may change from day to day! In 1800-2300 UT slot, no ODD freq measured (wb, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 3) Thanks for this updated Saudi schedule [cf 5-021], and also for the confirmation that 9675 does go off air "around 0900". I have listened for this one many times after 0900 and could not hear it - and not in the local afternoon period when it should/would have propagated if on air. Frequency 9715 was "discovered" by a certain dx-er in Blackpool last year!!! It used to be blocked some days by WYFR, but the Americans are not currently propagating on 9 mHz at 0700 UT. I heard 9715 fairly recently, but it doesn't seem to be audible on a daily basis. I would guess that it is via one of the 50 kW Jeddah senders - but 9675 is listed via Riyadh, and often sounds louder than Jeddah does. The problem I have currently is from co-channel Cançãao Nova Brazil [9675 omnidirexional 500 kW] Currently - 1130 UT - I cannot hear the buzzy 21495 - has it blown up! But 21705 is S9+ and Indonesian on 21670 only peaking S6+. It's not a very good time to monitor stations - conditions etc. - so you've done well to hear all of this! (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 3 via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.9, 1737-1740, SIBC, Feb 7. Honiara still in at a good level with BBC news relay in English, 2-1/2 hours past local sunrise. Panel discussion about economies of Middle Eastern countries (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 7530, R Hargeisa, I have not seen any loggings for a long time. Periodically I check this frequency and on Jan 12 at 1503 there was a weak station with possible Somali talks. The mode was apparently AM/USB with reduced carrier. But the following days no trace of this station (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Jan 26, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) The latest logging in DBS monitoring goes back to Nov 2003! (DSWCI Ed) ** SPAIN. Hi Glenn, I tried that Radio Sefarad web site. I couldn't make it work. All I got were lists of "graphic images." Of course, using the speech software, images don't work at all. If you make it work, let all of us know, especially if there is any programming in Judeo-Espanol. By the way, I doubt that there is. When I have listened to the Ladino program from Spain, any time they have interviewed a rabbi or prominent Jewish person from Spain, that person has always spoken standard Spanish (Tim Hendel, AL, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sent him link to the specific page with ADSL and MODEM buttons (gh) ** SRI LANKA. Dear Anker, Christoph and Wolfgang, I think it's time to take account of our joint initiative to collect money to support Victor's and his ham friends' activities for the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. Since there has been only one donor in the last three weeks, I feel there will be no more donations. The tsunami is yesterday's news in the papers, and most people have all but forgotten about it. Thus: We have had a total of 39 donors, 36 individuals and three clubs (DSWCI, a local DARC club and a local Austrian ham club) and the total amount collected was Euro 2535,- of which 2000,- already have been transferred, the rest will follow tomorrow. At the moment we can't fully tell the donors what the money has been used for, but I am sure that Victor will send a full report as soon as he finds time to breathe. I would appreciate if you would include a short notice in your respective publications. Thank you very much again for your support and efforts (Gerhard Werdin-D, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 8 via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. US-BASED SYRIAN OPPOSITION PARTY TO OFFER OPPONENTS radio air time | Text of report by Bahiyah Mardini in Damascus headlined "First Syrian opposition radio station"; carried by Elaph web site on 10 February Those in charge of Radio Free Syria, the first media outlet for the opposition abroad that is operated by the US-based opposition Syrian Reform Party, have decided to contact all the opposition movements in Syria to invite them to participate in the radio's programmes. The radio programmes will be aired daily and around the clock. In a statement sent to Elaph, Ali al-Haj Husayn, the official spokesman of the Syrian Reform Party, said: "We are in contact with several political movements, civic institutions and cultural organizations belonging to Syrian nationalities and ethnic groups. They will be able to air their special programmes on the radio of Voice of Free Syria gratis". He pointed out the media programmes will concentrate on democracy, human rights, and public liberties in addition to cultural, artistic and literary varieties". Al-Haj Husayn said that a study is under way of all the opinions and suggestions pertaining to expanded radio transmission via satellite in order to have a broader coverage. He said: "This radio station is the first media outlet of the Syrian opposition. Therefore, it should be the media outlet and mouthpiece of all the movements so that its voice would represent the voice of the Syrian general public and a forum for democracy to safeguard and raise the voice of truth". He added: "The door to participation is open to independents, human rights activists, and civic society activists of all the sectors of Syrian society in the homeland and abroad". Source: Elaph web site, London, in Arabic 10 Feb 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) SW has been only weekly (gh) ** TAIWAN. Radio Taiwan International also airing some holiday related program on Chinese Lunar New Year from February 5 to 13 (MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, GOURHANGA, GHORAMARA, RAJSHAHI-6100, BANGLADESH, via Rachel Baughn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. [?] If UAE Radio, Dubai, left 21605 for 12005, what`s the source of the carrier on 21605.0, very weak between Sa`udi Arabia and Spain, Feb 11 at 1430? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. Just now February 11 at 1515 UT I´m enjoying Radio Farda´s superior reception on new 1575 kHz. Yesterday there was some QRM by IBB/VOA Ayutthaya and Farda noted also on 1170 kHz. BTW, as far I know Ayutthaya is the former Capital of Thailand. No contest between Farda and Thailand here today. 800 kW would easily explain signal strength S9 +10 dB. [see also IRAN [non]] Also Radio Asia from Ras al Khaimah on new 1557 kHz (ex-1575) coming through today Feb 11 at 1525. Fair to poor signal and lots of fading. A couple of days ago very strong "bubble" jamming on 1557. Jamming is now increasing, so the jammer must be located in the Far East and in certain country, China? Are they jamming Kouhu? 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, RX: AOR 7030 Plus, Ant: A 95 meter lw to east, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC2 OR NOT TO BBC --- WHY BBC RADIO ROCKS MY WORLD http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:99568 They may have crapped out on their obligation to worldwide shortwave radio listeners, deep-sixing the BBC World Service broadcasts a few years back in favor of upgrading their website. But what a website! There are seven different streaming BBC channels to choose from. But beyond that, there are dozens of previously broadcast shows which you can conjure up with the flick of a mouse. It took years for the BBC to arrange for some of its most popular shows to be downloadable. Now there's an embarrassment of radio riches. In an average week, I listen to: the latest episodes the long-running radio soap opera The Archers, a charming Dickensian saga set in rural England; the Top 40 pop records in Wales (often the same dance-club crap we get stateside); an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes or some classic Britcoms on BBC7, which archives classic comedy and drama; a music documentary about the beginnings of punk; headline news from Ireland; an original radio play by a celebrated British dramatist; a news quiz show; a charity concert involving major UK bands; and, if I'm feeling daring, something on golfing or knitting (Christopher Arnott, New Haven Advocate, via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) See also CANADA ** U K. Thanks for the fine pictures of the Brookmans Park station. I once caught site of it from the outside when speeding down the East Coast main railways line towards Kings Cross, but don't recollect seeing such details pictures of the inside previously. And re "The Talksport installation must have been upgraded since the pictures were made, provided that indeed 400 kW are in use now as listed in WRTH 2005." Time passes so quickly that it is difficult to recall exactly when the BBC installed new senders at their main AM transmitting sites, but I think it was before such as Talk Sport and Virgin came into being and took over some their frequencies 1053 1089 1215 & 1458 etc. And mentioning Virgin - they also have a transmitter at Brookmans Park listed as 125 kW on 1215 kHz. I have long thought that the powers listed by the commercial stations at their high power sites is very suspect, and that they are quoting another figure. And this seems to be so, from the details given in the Technical Brief at the bottom of the page. I think Talk Sport is quoting PEP [i.e., 4 x 100 = 400 kW]. And that may also apply to the power of 500 kW quoted for Droitwich. How Sunrise arrive at their figure of 125 kW I don't know! Even if using directional aerials, this is a very high figure when the frequency has to be shared with other 1458 transmissions in the UK. And perhaps the 125 kW quoted by Virgin is also not the actual transmitter power either. The BBC group using 1215 didn't use such a high power. The BBC on the other hand do seem to quote transmitter power in their listings rather than some other figure. At Brookmans Park the London Regional station using 908 formerly listed 140 kW - an unusual figure which always stuck in my mind. I would guess that the transmitters shown in the photograph replaced that. It was well received up here - except when DDR 904 was on air! (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 30 via DXLD) Here's the story of the Brookmans Park 140 kW tx: Already before WWII building works for a new high powered station had started at Sitkunai, north of Kaunas. A 120 kW transmitter had been ordered from Standard Telephones & Cables Ltd. in the UK, but shipment was prevented by the outbreak of WWII. This transmitter was later installed at Brookmans Park for the BBC European services and later served as regional key transmitter for the London region for many years with a power of 140 kW. After WWII the building at Sitkunai was used as a school. Brookmans Park transmitters on 1152, 1458 and 1548 are highly directional so that they will provide a good signal all over London despite being located some distance away (and avoid interfering with co-channel stations). (Olle Alm, Sweden, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 31 via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. The prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies at London University has entered the media-monitoring business. A SOAS press release says the school has established an Arab Media Unit "to produce a weekly analysis of Arab media coverage of political developments in the Middle East." It adds that "the weekly reports are for use by various UK government departments under a contract awarded to SOAS by the Ministry of Defence." The press release reveals that the monitoring unit "also uses a number of external Arab contributors, mostly journalists, to provide input into the weekly reports." It is not clear to what extent the SOAS venture covers the same ground as existing services, such as BBC Monitoring (Roger Tidy, UK, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. HELP VOA'S TALK TO AMERICA! --- On Feb. 10 the VoA's phone- in show hasn't received a single call. In the end, TTA's host Doug Bernard said that the show has been on the air for 9 or 10 years and that the amount of phone calls received just keep dropping. So now he is thinking about having a real phone-in show only once a week or so. On other days there might be some other kind of talk show. Right after the program I sent Doug a note saying that I actually wanted to call during the show but the phone # was announced only once in the very beginning! I'm forwarding his reply because it concerns not only me. I think Talk to America is a fine show and it should continue with some form of interactivity with its listeners. You can email Doug with your thoughts and comments at talk @ voanews.com You can also participate in the show on weekdays from 1605 UT (note the new time slot!) by calling 1-202-619-3111. VoA accepts reverse charges. Here are the frequencies for the program: http://www.voanews.com/english/About/frequenciesatoz_e.cfm Live online streaming: http://www.voanews.com/real/live/newsnow.ram Finally, here's the message I got from Doug: Hello Sergei; Doug Bernard with TTA here; thanks much for the email, and the thoughts. You're right; I only gave the number out once today. Why was that? Well, I have become so accustomed to giving out our phone and email address over and over throughout the program, and yet receiving no calls! Frankly, I think it sounds bad -- like we're begging for calls but no-one's listening -- and I know it makes our guests very uncomfortable as well. Have you phoned in or written before? Are there topics that you would really like to call in and ask about? Or what about a program on an international story everyone knows -- say the Iraq war -- and just open the phones for opinions; would you like to participate in something like that? We're just very curious what listeners like and what they don't like, and I think this is one of the best ways to conduct audience research. --dbj Doug Bernard, Voice of America, 330 Independence Ave SW, Suite 2110 Washington DC 20237 USA (via Sergei Sosedkin, swprograms via DXLD) Maybe that`s why he and Kim weren`t totally positive about there being a show for Kim to appear on the first Friday of each month (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. REMARKS BY KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON CHAIRMAN, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS TOWN HALL MEETING, FEBRUARY 10, 2005 We have good news involving BBG and VOA and President Bush's FY '06 budget request to Congress. And when we have good news we like to call Town Meetings. Allow me to introduce my colleagues, Ms. Blanquita Cullum, Mr. Jeffrey Hirschberg, and Mr. Steven Simmons. Overall, BBG got a ten percent increase in the budget request --- and considering the cuts elsewhere in the budget this is great news demonstrating that the Bush White House and our new Secretary of State Rice believe in the importance of what we do. A significant part of this increase is for war on terror priorities inside the Voice of America --- and my colleagues at VOA understand this is no accident. The Board and the Bush Administration made the conscious decision to turn to VOA to undertake important expansions. I should emphasize that the extraordinary success of VOA's Persian television played a major role in this decision. I am going to speak to you in general terms because the supplemental which will be announced in coming days is a part of all this --- and I cannot speak about what I might know about the supp. But let's just say the VOA part of the President's request shows a direct six percent increase in VOA spending --- and considering the impact of all the spending for VOA-related projects --- new television studios, IBB spending to support VOA expansion --- the real increase in VOA's FY '06 budget would amount to 14 percent. Pretty soon, David Jackson, we're going to be talking about the kind of increases VOA enjoyed when Ken Tomlinson was director! Seriously, VOA should understand that this Board and this Administration and the Congress are turning to VOA to do a job. VOA Persian satellite television to Iran will be expanded. We will launch a VOA Urdu television project for Pakistan. We will propose a VOA pilot television project to Afghanistan --- and we are going to find ways to increase our presence in Indonesia. The philosophy behind these plans is straightforward. Alhurra and Sawa have the Arab-speaking Muslim world covered. We are turning to VOA to expand to take our message of freedom and democracy to the non-Arabic speaking Muslim world. And we believe you will do the job. I don't have to tell you that whenever Congress talks about creating a "Radio Free"-as they have done a number of times in the past decade -- - it is not to VOA that they turn. But the BBG-and I believe we will be backed by Congress --- wants to demonstrate that VOA belongs at the table. In recent months a lot of us have had fun shooting at one another with petitions and statements to the press. Some of us even think we scored some points. But the time has come for us to put our differences aside and work together. It's time for us all to get on the bus together --- and demonstrate VOA can do the job. The FY '06 budget contains no further cuts in English broadcasting. And let me add that to reach our FY '05 reductions in English broadcasting, we do not envision any RIFs. Now we can debate English broadcasting until we are red in the face, but there is no mistaking the fact that English doesn't have the numbers to rate the kind of expansions we are going to see in the non- Arabic speaking Muslim world. But we will not lessen our commitment to English in strategic places like Africa and China-and I have heard about some pilot projects, in India, for example, which could build our English audience and reverse the fortunes of English broadcasting. We simply have to show some audience before expanding English becomes a priority. You simply cannot understand the financial situation we face without recognizing that in the ten years following the end of the Cold War the budgets for international broadcasting were slashed a very real 40 percent. Budgets are about priorities. I hated like hell to close down our broadcasting to the Baltic States --- but just as the Cold War was our priority in the Reagan Administration, the war on terror is the priority in this Administration-and this is where increases in spending will go. If VOA wants to be in the front of the line when we establish spending priorities, VOA must demonstrate that it can do television with the best of them. Today television is what it's all about. In recent years, VOA has been paying quite a price for maintaining a short-wave strategy at a time when the satellite dish was transforming international broadcasting. That has to change. But we want VOA veterans to know that we don't want to leave you behind. We will retrain you to be a part of the future. We will continue to use outside contractors in the way the Patriots use Belichick to help us maintain a high standard. In the end we expect the people of VOA to be the answer. Let me mention one more aspect of what we plan to do to help VOA do the job. When I was at Reader's Digest and more recently at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, we brought in people from MacKenzie to help us more effectively do the job. We can't bring in Mackenzie, for various reasons, but we do plan to bring in a nationally-known consulting firm to examine the structure of VOA. Consultants consult. I expect whoever comes in will spend as much time in the trenches as in the front office. These consultants will not change the way we do journalism. They will study our organization. Trust me. I believe over the last 25 years I have earned your trust. We will not do anything to damage VOA. We don't see VOA as the problem. We see VOA as part of the solution. Now let me pause and discuss some of the budget realities that even in the face of expansion make these days so difficult for all of us. The Congress --- which has been extraordinarily friendly to international broadcasting --- did pass rescissions--- or, across-the- board cuts-totaling something like $8 million dollars for FY '05. We are expected to absorb some two to three million in cost of living pay increases in FY '05. Rescissions are a legislative action that cancels budget authority. All this is a fancy way of saying, we are all for you expanding to be a part of the war on terror, but you have to take part of these new programs out of your base. This is, in part, why we had to turn to hiring freezes to get us through FY '05 and '06. I hate hiring freezes. They're no way to manage agencies or businesses. But these mandatory reductions force us to resort to extreme measures to keep our heads above water. In addition, because of challenges in the area of Persian and Urdu, we have taken the initiative to begin new programs to "crisis" areas by reallocating existing funding. This too has placed pressure on our budget. All these help explain the realities we face in trying to manage this Agency. But I am here to promise you that we will not let the good employees of VOA be left behind. When President Bush submitted his budget, he said: "This is a budget that focuses on results. Taxpayers of America don't want us spending our money on something that's not achieving results." And VOA and BBG and all these elements that comprise the BBG are going to be about achieving results (via DXLD) ** U S A. Annual Program Reviews and Language Service Reviews indicate that BBG's broadcasting to Near East and South Asia is improving, with audience reach to Arabic-speaking populations increasing dramatically in the past two years. InterMedia and AC Nielsen have also conducted independent surveys that indicate BBG's Radio Sawa is one of the most popular international broadcasters in the region. The weekly audience reach in 2003, which measures the percent of target audience tuning in, ranges from a low of 1.1% in Bangladesh to a high of 49% in Afghanistan, indicating a wide range of impact on the target populations. Program Review schedules, results and action plans; Language Service Review analysis and results (from page 356 of a 512- page pdf document DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS PART ASSESSMENTS, of which pp. 326-361 deal with BBG broadcasting to strategic parts of the world, via gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LESS MONEY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. LESS FOR HEALTH CARE. LESS FOR NATIONAL PARKS. WHICH FREES UP MORE MONEY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. Bush Administration's proposed 2006 budget calls for 21 percent increase for public diplomacy. Budget for U.S. international broadcasting would be $652 million, up ten percent from 2005. "The Voice of America will increase the number of hours it broadcasts to countries in the broader Middle East, with significantly increased television programming in languages such as Persian, Dari, Pashto, and Urdu." Office of Management and Budget http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/state.html And if you can download this 3.4 MB pdf file http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/pma/state.pdf read pp. 326-361 to see why U.S. international broadcasting is rated "moderately effective." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. FIRST, VOA. NEXT, BOA? Inspired by the creation of the Voice of America in 1942, technology columnist suggests "Bits of America" to be transmitted to $100 laptop computers distributed abroad. USA Today, 8 February 2005 http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2005-02-08-maney_x.htm (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR Spur, 4915, 1010-1030+ Feb 2, from 5070 and 9985 mixing together, two different programs on 4915. 9985 minus 5070 = 4915. Fair signal (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. No sign of WMLK on 9265 past several weeks when checking around 1600-2100 on Thu and Fri. Not even a weak carrier (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Yesterday, while I was in the areas north of Indianapolis, I took the opportunity of making another visit to the SW station WHRI in Noblesville. I have often visited this station over the years, and at one stage many years ago back in the days of Jeff White with his Radio Earth, the old AWR DX program, "Radio Monitors International" was on the air from WHRI. On this occasion, I had difficulty in just locating the station due to the fact that a new housing estate has been built right up to the property. As a result of this visit, I found that the two net-style log-periodic antennas have been dismantled and removed. The two 100 kW transmitters will be removed and re-installed, one at WHRA near Bangor in Maine and the other at the station in South Carolina. According to the information I was given, the callsign of WSHB has been legally changed to WHRI (Adrian M Peterson-USA, via DXplorer Feb 4 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Forty-one years ago tomorrow night, on February 11th 1964, Herb Jepko opened a microphone into a crisp Rocky Mountain night blanketed by the 50,000 watt signal of KSL radio to begin what would become a 30 year adventure and ultimately create the first ever network talk show. From Larry King to Art Bell and Donahue to Ellen, Herb was the pioneer who opened the way for countless others. I`ll be updating the Last NiteStand Page on the http://www.nitecaps.org website tomorrow evening. If you`ve not posted there yet, or would like to send an update, if you send me something before 6 pm mountain time, I`ll be sure to get it posted before the midnight anniversary. I hope you`ll join me tomorrow night at midnight, or just before retiring for the night, with a prayer for Herb, or whatever _expression_ of gratitude you find appropriate to honor each of the wonderful gifts, friendships, and joys that Herb and the each of the other Nitecaps created for us all. As for me, I`ll plan to wind up Tinkerbell and let her play for awhile (Joseph G. Buchman, Ph.D., 175 Paradise Road, Park City, Utah 84098, 801 403 4648 office, 435 649 7927 home, via Les Rayburn, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Clear Channel is reducing the bandwidth of some of its AM stations with talk format, including KPRC-950, KTRH-740 and KBME-790 here in Houston. Sounds awful, very rolled off, especially when there is music in themes or commercials, but allows adjacents to be heard again, such as WBBM-780. One FM station here announces it is running IBOC, Cox`s 107.5, but I can`t hear it when tuning off to the side (George Thurman, TX, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I can't think of a single station that has a Monday morning silent period any more. The last one that I can remember is WMVP 1000, and I believe that ended in 1995. Does anyone on the list know of any 24-hour station doing a weekly SP? 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, NRC-AM via DXLD) WNAX-570 [Yankton SD] used to have one from 0115 to 0545 every Monday until just a couple years ago, when there was an ownership change. The basic reason I still pull those occasional all-nighters on Monday mornings, Bill, is on the off-chance that I just might happen to catch a 50 kw blowtorch going off for unannounced and/or unscheduled maintenance. On those mornings, I usually start at 2300 CLT (Sunday) and tune in the big boys in the Eastern Time Zone first (WSB, WJR, WHAS, etc.) to see if they're off, then stay up for about three or four hours in hopes of catching someone off. Ex-IRCA member David Reitz and I caught WTAM (then WWWE) off one Monday morning in October 1990 doing that. You just never know, when something like that happens, it's a stroke of luck if you happen to land on the right frequency (Rick Dau, Omaha, Nebraska, ibid.) ** U S A. LATEST METRO-BOSTON PIRATE / LOW-POWER BC SCAN On Monday (7 FEB) I did a scan for low-power local broadcasters just before an afternoon medical appointment. I parked near Spot Pond in Stoneham, MA. This is about 7 miles north of downtown Boston. 530 total TIS jumble 540 R. Log good with young African-American female announcer who mentioned "This is the station for girls." Reggae and rap music was played. 870 Afro-Haitian folk music; over Maine 1580 two weak stations: one was Patchogue, NY 1610 slop from 1600 & 1620 1620 loud! At local strength with Haitian music, Creole French talk, and ads for businesses in Dorchester and Lynn. 1630 talker; weak 1640 weak station with punk rock & heavy metal 1650 Logan Airport TIS; good 1660 NJ with oriental-language woman 1670 mellow French-Caribbean music, somewhat religious-sounding at times 1680 mix spur (590+1090) over likely NJ 1690 Haitian French talk; good over other 1700 Haitian French reggae/zouk music; distortion on audio peaks; well over other(s) 1710 mix spur (680+1030); would need a high-Q loop to "suss this out" for pirate activity Cf. Bruce Conti's last list http://members.aol.com/baconti/bostonLP.htm (Mark Connelly, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) 1710 is definitely Haitian programming from Dorchester. While I'm unable to receive it in the car at Logan Airport due to the WRKO / WBZ interference, it comes in fairly well on the Drake R8B with 15/23/15-m Ewe antennas during the day in Nashua. I'm assuming that it's R. Nouveauté ex-1640 but haven't heard an ID yet (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, via Mark Connelly, NRC-AM via DXLD) On the desert Beverage last week, 10 miles inside the Utah border with Colorado, just North of I-70, I was copying two spoken-word signals on 1710; one sounded like religious or self-improvement. The antenna was listening in the direction of Mark's house out there in the Nordeast. (Mark Durenberger, UT, ibid.) Could it have been an image, or possibly some sort of mix? I'm racking my brain trying to think the last time anyone has logged any pirate activity between Chicago and San Francisco on the AM band. A pirate getting out as far as your QTH would be chore, but I guess it would be possible. (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) A spur or image would be at the lower end of my list, since I'm so far from any broadcast towers. And I've been pretty careful about isolating receivers from each other. But I suppose it's possible (Mark Durenberger, ibid.) I get Lubavitcher 1710 here near Chicago under the best conditions and it is better up in Wisconsin by Lake Michigan. It wouldn't surprise me if Mark's Bev could pull it in that far west. What one can get on a well constructed Bev that long aimed right at the DX can be amazing. I do think there are some TIS's now on 1710, however ?? Anyhow, here's an example of what a good long Bev can do from a very quiet QTH. With the Bev at 70 degrees bearing that I had in the hills between Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe, California I could get KHOW 630 5 KW at 829 miles daytimes [Denver]. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Absolutely AWESOME; was there any French? 1710 Dorchester has been French when I've heard it, but maybe it also does English. The Lubavitch pirate is easy to determine if you recognise talk about Judaism (or can offer up a recording here). (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) No French that I heard. I'll pull out the recordings and listen again. (MD, ibid.) I don't have recordings, but I have heard traces of something on 1710 with a male voice speaking. It sounds like a newscast, but the signal is so far in the mud I can't hear exactly what they are talking about. If the signal peaks again, I'll record it. However, for those of us not treated to the Jewish station in NY being a somewhat regular, can someone describe what they normally do? Is it just spoken word, or do they play some music? (Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) Usually, an old man goes on for what seems like forever, in sometimes slightly broken English, sometimes in Hebrew and/or Yiddish. Lots of words, like "Messiach". Mostly talk but there is some music, the nature of which can vary but it's usually religious in nature (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) ** U S A. TV 12 news reported that WJR's Karl Haas is dead at age 91. Karl was the host of the afternoon classical music program that aired in the 1970's. Thanks to Larry Russell, some additional links include: Chamber Music Society loses founder Karl Haas - 02/08/05 http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0502/08/F01-82849.htm Karl Haas, Birmingham: Former host of radio show - 02/08/05 http://www.detnews.com/2005/obituaries/0502/08/B02-83264.htm Radio Hall of Fame - Karl Haas, Classical Music Host http://www.radiohof.org/discjockey/karlhaas.html Ed.: My memories of him date back to the late 60’s, and he had such a love and enthusiasm for this program and the music. He was truly one of the great people of Michigan broadcasting (Joe Miller, MARE Tipsheet Feb 10 via DXLD) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL --- INSIDE THE NATION'S LIBERAL RADIO NETWORK --- by Christopher Arnott - February 10, 2005 Here she is--Air Ammerrrica! Here she is--your idealism! Air America, the national liberal talk network, turns one year old in March. Its growing pains--skepticism from established broadcasters, widely publicized financial woes, sniping from critics--are behind it. There's a warm familiarity to the voices of erstwhile radio newbies Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron, Lizz Winstead and Chuck D, and a true camaraderie has developed with the established radio talent-- Mark Riley, Katherine Lanpher, Rachel Maddow and others--that Air America enlisted to help the comics-turned-talk-hosts with their broadcast baby steps. Then there's the seasoned talent like Randi Rhodes, a self-contained wonderment who neatly blends her lengthy, fact-filled, articulate anti-Republican rants with firmly focused, exquisitely controlled conversations. . . [much more] http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:99568 (Christopher Arnott, New Haven Advocate, via Rich Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. A small tip for fans of Comedy Central`s Daily [sic] Show. When in reruns, like this week, the original date of broadcast magically disappears from the very beginning of the opening --- but not from the closed caption! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4910, 1634-1708, ZNBC, Radio One, Feb 7. Male announcer in African language, with sermon; numerous mentions of 'Janni' or 'Juani' and 'Patmos', which was likely a Bible story relating to the apostle John who was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos. Announcer with voice- over organ music at 1656; hymn and choir 1658; 2+1 time pips at 1700. Female announcer with possible ID and mentions of Lusaka 1701, followed by news items read by a man, mentioning Zambia, Angola, Malawi, and other locations. Choral anthem or national song at 1704. Bassy modulation. Very good signal, with AIR Jaipur faintly in background 1634-1650 with sub-continental music. Surprisingly strong even at 1 hour 40 minutes past local sunrise and peaking at 1705, which is Lusaka sunset. Still in at a fair to good level at 1735 recheck, 2+ hours past SR with fast-paced advertisement mentioning many African music styles such as makossa, soukous, mbqanga, hilife, and others. Also heard 2/8 with a good signal. 4965, 1706-1715, R. Christian Voice, Feb 8. Presumed. Woman in English giving web address ('www..' something) at tune-in; Christian contemporary music 1707; short prayer or devotion 1712, and into Black Gospel music. Weak signal, nearly two hours past local sunrise (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXing at Ocean City State Park, WA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 750 ft. southwest and west Beverage antennas, HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1187.85, 09-Feb-2005 2320 with Horn-of-Africa music/ songs (similar, but not 100%). Faded out at 2340. Came back at 2349 with Kor`an recitation, 2359 what might have been NA, short OM talk, short music, sign-off. O=3 in maximum peaks. QRM by IRN Radio Payam on 1188.00; the unID came in from the same antenna direction (ESE). Not // 819, so the only candidate is Yemen, which is sched to sign off at 2300, however. Will try again tonight (Günter Lorenz, Icom R75, Grahn magnetic loop, Currently near La Spezia, Italy, MWC via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4990, at weekends with religious programs 0800-0900 best around 0830-0845. I doubt if this station is R Apintie. I can only listen at these times at weekends only due to present commitments. Mostly international Christian songs. Any audio heard appears to be English. Difficult to read here due to utility QRM on upper side and on lower side I am hampered by strong signal from R Brasil Central on 4985 at same times. Any ideas? (Patrick Cody, Nenagh, Ireland, Feb 06, DSWCI DX Window Feb 9 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6500, Yosemite Sam "I'm a goin to blow you to smithereens" 30 sec repeat 2/10 0130 10500, Yosemite Sam "I'm a goin to blow you to smithereens" 30 sec repeat 2/10 0130 (unidentified reporter, in MI or vicinity, MARE Tipsheet, via DXLD) I finally heard the mysterious Yosemite Sam station. I am noting it at present [Feb 10] on 10500 from 1727 UT and still there as of 1740 but seems to be fading out. Fair at first deteriorating to poor. Nothing noted on 6500 or 3700. Yosemite Sam was noted again this morning [Feb 11] on 10500 with very poor signal improving a bit to poor, monitored from 1636 to 1709 UT. The voice transmissions seemed to be spaced about 40 seconds apart and on at least 3 occasions, the voice transmissions were preceded by a brief data burst (not more than 1 or 2 seconds in length). Still nothing noted on 6500 or 3700 kHz (Carl DeWhitt, KI5SF, Ponca City, OK, Kenwood ts-680s and Radio Shack 10 meter mag mount with Grove Minituner 3, Feb 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SDG&E EXPLORES OFFERING WEB ACCESS (BPL) By Craig D. Rose UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER February 10, 2005 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20050210-9999-1b10sdge.html San Diego Gas & Electric is inching closer to a pilot project that would tap its electric grid to provide customers with high-speed Internet access. SDG&E says it has a team at work defining the elements of a pilot project to provide high-speed access in the form of broadband over power lines, or BPL. The service could potentially reach all of the utility's 1.3 million customers. The company had previously said only that it was studying the technology. But SDG&E said it does not have a start date or even a target date for submitting its proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission, whose approval would be required to proceed with any pilot project using the regional power grid. BPL would make dual use of SDG&E's electric transmission lines by having them carry high-speed Internet communications at the same time they deliver electricity to customers. Advocates say that among the advantages of BPL is its potential to provide high-speed access to all who are connected to the power grid. A spokesman for SDG&E also said the technology might save money for the utility's electricity customers. "BPL has the potential to increase operational efficiencies and also has the potential to bring broadband to isolated areas," spokesman Ed Van Herik said. The utility's broadband service would compete with offerings from SBC and local cable companies. In two regions of the country where such service is offered by utilities, the electricity providers price their service substantially below that of the existing broadband providers. A municipally owned utility in Manassas, Va., for example, charges customers $27 per month for high-speed Internet access. A Cincinnati utility is charging from $27 to $39 per month, depending on the speed of the hookup. These charges compare with $40 monthly or more typically charged for high-speed access by SBC and cable operators in this region. "(Utilities) deliberately price their service less than cable," said Karen George, a principal with Primen, a unit of the Electric Power Research Institute that recently produced a report on the technology. "And they are getting some cable customers from their initial marketing." George estimated that perhaps three dozen utilities are currently involved in pilot projects or testing of BPL. But SDG&E's project would be the first in California. Pacific Gas & Electric Company, which serves the Bay Area, was exploring the possibility of a pilot project until AT&T, its partner in the project, bowed out last year as it retreated from consumer businesses. A spokesman for PG&E said the utility remained open to discussions with potential partners to continue the planning. Southern California Edison, the state's other major utility, says the technology is promising. But because of technical challenges, it has no current plans to invest in BPL. The PUC, meanwhile, recently issued a draft plan designed to expand broadband access in California, including the use of BPL. "We just think it's crazy that California does not have a BPL pilot project," said Ross Lajeunesse, chief of staff for PUC commissioner Susan Davis, who is overseeing the effort to clarify the regulatory environment and encourage broadband projects. Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers' Action Network, said he was "thrilled" by the prospect of BPL service coming to San Diego. "The utility deploying its power lines to provide broadband access may be one of the best things SDG&E can give to the community," Shames said. In addition to providing high-speed Internet access to areas without such service, BPL could allow a host of energy efficiency programs that would trim regional power use, he said. That includes such innovations as remote control of air conditioning. Shames said California had lagged in deploying BPL because the state was preoccupied with the aftermath of the energy crisis. But he expects BPL technology costs to decline quickly, and he said such service should be regulated by the PUC. "There is no easy way to (separate) this function from electricity service, he said. "It should be regulated and hopefully it will be regulated." (via Ken Kopp, Amateur Radio - KKØHF, dxldyg via DXLD RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ YES, SAH! I've enjoyed the items about SAH, frequency measurement, etc., that ran recently. One semi-important point I forgot to add in my post last week was the concept that SAH would not only allow detection of the frequency separation between two carriers (by measuring the horizontal spacing of the beat display on the scope x-axis, if the timebase were known) but it would also show the presence of a weak signal under a much stronger carrier (by measuring the y-axis displacement of the beat note). While the conventional wisdom was then and is still today that an audible ID must be heard to claim a station, GPN [Gordon P. Nelson] enjoyed the new technical concept of detecting the presence of a signal by other-than-audible means. In this example there might be a beatnote of a few tens of millivolts of amplitude displacement present on AGC DC voltage of several volts. If the beatnote time rate was the correct value for the SAH in cycles/second it would help to presumptively identify the station and the amplitude of the beat measured the strength. The presence of a weak signal would be then demonstrated, even when it was much too weak to either produce any audio, or to even register on a S-meter due to the ballistics (inertia) of the meter pointer. Hope this can be added to the other material (Bob Foxworth, FL, Feb 10 NRC- AM via DXLD) And I think where the problems arose was that Gordon would often talk or write about 'seeing' a station, without qualifying whether it was one he'd heard and seen a number of times before, or a possible new log to chase, or if in fact he was actually claiming a new log. Those in the 'audience' were never quite sure (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) RAILROAD TRACK ANTENNA They use a small voltage or RF signal. While not high enough to hurt you if you touch the rail, it is high enough that connecting a radio to it will not yield good results. RF reception can be enhanced simply by standing on (not advisable) or being near the rail because of the ground plane effect of the rail. However, I would not suggest using the rail as a direct ground. Again, there are signals being transmitted in most rails (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) I used to work for a company that manufactured railroad equipment. There are all kinds of signals on the rails for operating block signals and track occupancy detection. The system I was most familiar with was the "grade crossing predictor" that detected the presence, direction of travel and speed of a train approaching a grade crossing. It did this by coupling an constant current audio frequency sine wave on the rails at the crossing. At the far end of the approach, the tracks were shunted, either with a straight wire, or a tuned shunt for the specific frequency being used. The receiver wires are connected to the other side of the crossing to monitor the phase and amplitude of the sine wave. As the train crosses the shunt, the magnitude and phase of the monitored signal change as the train gets closer to the crossing, and the GCP is able to predict when the train will be at the crossing, and signal the gate arm controller to drop the gates at the appropriate time. If the train stops before it gets to the crossing, or if the train is moving away from the crossing, the GCP will raise the gates immediately. If the train stops on the crossing or within so many feet of it (also known as being in the "island"), however, the gates remain down. In an area where there are lots of crossings, there are also lots of insulated joints in the rails to separate different circuits. Even out in the country there are insulated joints here and there (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O Los Alamos, NM (DM65uv), ibid.) ###