DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-041, March 8, 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 Extra 54: Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] WORLD OF RADIO Extra 54 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx54h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx54h.rm WORLD OF RADIO Extra 54 (low version, same as COM 04-09): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0409.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0409.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0409.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 54 in the true shortwave sound of mp3: keep checking http://www.piratearchive.com/dxprograms.htm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1266 Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 15825 ONDEMAND: from early UT Wednesday WORLD OF RADIO 1266 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1266 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1266.html [from Thu?] WORLD OF RADIO ON WORLD FM, NEW ZEALAND Hi Glenn, I should start airing WOR on a regular basis this week. It will be on World FM, 88.2 MHz, a 0.5 watt LPFM station broadcasting to the suburb of Tawa in Wellington, NZ. The initial airing of WOR will be 10 pm NZDT Thursdays (0900 UT), internet downloads permitting, with a couple of repeats over the weekend. I'm still finalising the weekend schedule. Station website is taking shape at http://www.worldfm.co.nz 73, (Chris Mackerell, NZ, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) However, DST ends in NZ on 19 March, so thenceforth WOR should be at 1000 UT Thursdays (gh) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh/R. Peace in Dari and Pashto via VT Communications: 0700-1200 on 21620 RMP 500 kW / 080 deg cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) Peguei a Radio Sohl (Afeganistão) transmitindo para o Oriente Médio em 17710 kHz, 1530 UT, no dia 06/03 (José Carlos, Brasil?, radioiescutas via DXLD) ** ALASKA. 7355, 1524-, KNLS, Mar 5. Very strong reception, initially in English (just caught the tail end), and then back into Chinese (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. A VISIT TO AIR PORT BLAIR by Jose Jacob, VU2JOS Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union Territory of India located about 1200 km away to the East of the Indian mainland. It is spread in an area of more than 800 km in the Bay of Bengal. Out of the 572 islands, only 36 are inhabited. It was a top tourist destination till the recent earthquake/tsunami there. There are several aboriginal tribes in some islands and some of them have no touch with other human civilizations. They have their own languages and cultures. The capital is Port Blair. It was used by the British as a penal settlement for the Indian freedom fighters from 1858. Later criminals from the mainland were also sent there. Lot of people presently there are their descendants. During the IInd World War, it was occupied by the Japanese from March 24, 1942 to October 6, 1945. After Indian independence on August 15, 1947, people from various parts of India began to settle there and it is mini India there now. Hindi is the common language there. Other languages like Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Nicobarese and English are the other languages spoken there. From the mainland, one can reach the islands by flight in about two hours while by sea it takes over two days. Entry to the different islands is restricted by the Government of India. In December 2004, National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad, where I work, conducted a DXpedition to Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Though part of India, these islands are counted as a separate Radio country by Amateur Radio operators and in some BC DX circles. Due to various reasons, the Govt. of India has been reluctant to give permission for Amateur Radio operators to operate from there. The last major operation from these islands was also by NIAR in 1987 of which I was also an operator. Since then, it became one of the most sought after Radio countries in the world. Though I was not a member of the operating team this time, I went there on 15th December 2004 for providing logistic support. Back in 1987, I had visited All India Radio – Port Blair there. So, this time, it was nice to see the developments there after long 17 years. During my last visit, they were operating only on MW but since then they added SW, added a new higher power MW transmitter and very recently added FM also. The Doordarshan TV which was in the AIR building then is now in a new complex, but in the same campus. The AIR studios and offices are at Dilanipur, located at an elevated place in 7.86 acres of land. AIR Port Blair was commissioned on 2nd June 1963 with a 1 kW NEC MB 122 A transmitter installed at the studio premises operating on 1440 kHz. Then on 6th November 1975, 2 x 10 kW BEL HMB 104 transmitters were added which used 680 kHz. Later it was changed to 684 kHz in the MW frequency reshuffle on November 23, 1977. This transmitter location was at Brookshabad located about 14 km away from the studios in an area of 39.5 acres. Till 2004 the 1 kW transmitter at the studios was used as a standby for the main transmitter as well as a standby for studio to transmitter link on 1440 kHz itself which is a rare thing for AIR. Once I had heard this standby transmitter on the mainland and got a QSL verification also. In 2004 it was dismantled and shifted to make space for the new 10 kW FM transmitter. The studio to transmitter link is on UHF 1440 MHz. On 11th March 1989 a 10 kW NEC HFB 7840 SW transmitter was started which now operates on 4760 and 7115 kHz. The SW transmitter can operate on 90, 60, 49, 41 & 31 meter bands and tested/used 6000, 6085, 7170, 7180 & 9690 kHz etc. also. SW is intended for the Northern and Southern islands in the long island chain and uses a dipole array. In April 2003 one of the two exciters of the SW transmitter became faulty and it could run only at 5 kW. As NEC was no longer producing those spare parts, the R&D Dept. of AIR made a replacement exciter and the transmitter runs at 8.5 kW from 14 January 2004. In May 2003, a 100 kW Thales transmitter has replaced the 2 x 10 kW transmitters which by the way is still in standby mode and used quite frequently. Also in second half 2004, a 10 kW VHF Nautel 10 NARFO36 transmitter operating on 100.9 MHz in Stereo was added which was installed at the studio complex itself. This carries the Vividh Bharati programs. Its new tower stands next to the old tower of the 1 kW transmitter and the tower of the Studio to transmitter link. The main language used by the station is Hindi. They also have programs in Bangla, Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu and Nicobarese. There are just over a 100 staff members there. On 30th March 1992 a new studio and office building was constructed adjacent to the old studio building on the hill top. These are in separate blocks. It was nice to meet and interact with Mr. K. S. Venkateswarlu, the Station Engineer there with who I was in touch for some time now. Unlike in most AIR stations, he takes special interest to send QSL verifications very promptly to DXers and is well known in DX circles all over the world. I saw the file of reception reports with him which has those from famous DXers world wide. During my visit to the station, I handed over to him reports on their MW frequency and also on their tests of their FM transmission. When I returned to my home in Hyderabad, his prompt QSL verification was already there. Unfortunately his term is ending there soon as he is being transferred. QSL cards are issued also from AIR HQ in Delhi. I have received several QSL verifications from this station. About their station heard on frequencies other than the normal ones occasionally, he said that it is due to human error, especially when new people are at the controls of the transmitter. On 22nd December 2004, a lecture on Amateur Radio were given at the AIR Conference Hall to the officials of AIR and Doordarshan TV by Mr. S. Suri, VU2MY, Chairman & Director of NIAR and Mr. Charles Harpole, K4VUD, a visiting ham from USA. Mr. Suri and Mr. Ram Mohan, VU2MYH, DXpedition team member, were later also interviewed by AIR for their Hindi and Telegu Service respectively. When the Ham DXpedition was going on in full swing, a severe earthquake and tsunami which badly affected the islands on 26th December 2004 turned it into an emergency communication system. When the earthquake was over the first thing that I did was to take out an Icom IC T90A walkie talkie which had general coverage receiver and tune to AIR Port Blair, which was intact and which shortly gave out information about the earthquake. I also monitored the local TV station’s audio on VHF Channels 8 and 10. AIR and TV were operating on generators by then. I noticed that radio was very popular there. Among other things, they also broadcast schedules of ships to the various islands. After the recent earthquake and tsunami there, AIR - Port Blair had cancelled their normal programs and was going live with telephone calls about the missing persons and other information with extended schedules for several days after the earthquake. The FM transmitter which was testing with Vividh Bharati programs from 6.00 am to 10.00 pm also cancelled their normal programs and broadcast those special programs. Another special transmission from a 250 kW transmitter at Delhi were also beamed to the islands for a month carrying Rainbow FM programs. [11585] The current SW schedule of AIR Port Blair in UT is: Morning: 4760 2355-0300, 7115 0315-0400 (Sat 0415, Sun 0500) Afternoon: 7115 0700-0930 (Sun 1000) Evening & Night: 4760 1030-1700/1730 Their language schedule is: Malayalam 0700-0730, Nicobari 1030-1100, Telugu 1100-1130 Tamil 1130-1200, Bengali 1200-1230 daily (0930-1000 Sundays) Hindi is there at other times. They also carry the news in Sanskrit and several programs in English from Delhi. Their address for Reception Reports is: Station Engineer, All India Radio, Dilanipur, Haddo PO, Port Blair 744102, Andaman & Nicobar, India. Email: pblairpb @ sancharnet.in To view some of my QSLs please click: QSL of emergency broadcast on 1440 kHz, 1 kW: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/portblair_1440jpg QSL of 5 kW, SW http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/portblair_4760.jpg QSL of 10 kW, SW http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/portblair_7170.jpg To view some of the pictures taken during my visit to AIR, please click: http://www.geocities.com/vu2jos/vu4 Other information on Andaman Dxpedition etc. is available at: http://www.niar.org Doordarshan TV is also co-sited in the AIR campus. In 1982 a 100 watt transmitter made by GCEL was installed in the AIR building. It carries the DD1 program on Channel 10 (Visual 210.2500 MHz, Audio 215.750 MHz). Later a separate building was constructed exclusively for TV. The DD1 transmitter was moved here and another 100 watt BEL MVV-137 transmitter operating on Channel 8 (Visual 196.2396 MHz, Audio 201.7396 MHz) (Sl. No. 84, 9/95) was added which telecast DD2 programs. AIR and Doordarshan there uses separate towers. The TV studios were started only on 2 Feb 1996 and the schedule of local programs is on: Wed & Fri 6 to 7 pm. other days 6.30-7 pm. At other times, they relay programs from Delhi. I was in the Andamans for about a month and besides Port Blair, I also went to Little Andamans to provide emergency communications by ham radio. At Hutbay in Little Andaman, I saw the damaged 10 watt TV Relay station with its Tower in tact. During my stay in the two different islands there, besides my hamming I spent lot of time for BCDXing also. I mainly used Icom 706 MKII G and Yaesu FT 757 GX II Amateur Radio transceivers which has general coverage receiver. For the lower bands and MW, dipole antennas for the 160, 80 & 40 Meter Amateur Bands were used. Reception conditions were very fine with low noise levels especially so after the earthquake and tsunami there when there was no power supply on the islands for several days. I used batteries recharged by solar panels. MW was full of stations from Thailand and SE Asia and it was not easy to get many AIR stations operating from the mainland. Even during mid day, I could get many stations from Thailand there on MW! Many SE Asian station were also monitored at strong level on the 49 & 41 meters during daytime. Of special interest was the Military station from Myanmar on 5770 kHz which was noted at excellent signal strength even at local midday. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India Tel: 91-40-5516 7388 Telefax: 91-40-2331 0287 EchoLink: Node No. 133507 VU2NRO http://www.niar.org dx_india March 6 via DXLD) ** ANTIGUA. Glenn: Re: Antigua / DW / BBC --- From what I've heard, the BBC is also moving most of their Antigua transmitter-hours to Montsinéry. A few hours will move to Bonaire. It does appear there will be a net loss of transmitter hours to the region in English; I haven't studied the Spanish transmitter-hours in detail (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rich, So what is the root problem at Antigua? Is it being phased out? Transmitters conking out? Temporarily down for refurbishing? (Glenn) Money-saving activity. For the BBC it appears there's a net gain -- yes, they'll pay rental fees to TDF but will save over what it would have cost to run Antigua. I don't know if DW's economics are similar. I know that Bonaire is run off diesel generators, I'm guessing Antigua is the same (I could be wrong). Crude oil at $53 per barrel probably doesn't help these broadcasters out. Long-term plans aren't certain, but the facility could potentially be sold. Where will the savings go? Probably to the Middle East...radio & TV services (Rich Cuff, ibid.) When I visited Antigua many years ago they were certainly run off huge Diesel generators. So how is Montsinéry powered? I suppose they have a lot of spare capacity with Switzerland closed down. But note all the recent reports of missing transmissions from GUF (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I honestly don't know how Montsinéry is powered, but I would think Diesel is a safe bet. It would seem that TDF, Merlin, and the broadcasters realized there was excess capacity between Montsinéry, Antigua, and Bonaire --- and that it made collective economic sense to operate two facilities each at, say, 80% of capacity vs. three facilities each at 55% of capacity (Rich Cuff, ibid.) ** ARMENIA. Estimados amigos: Reciban mi más cordial saludo. Les informo que en horas de anoche (hora local de Chile), logré recibir la transmisión de la Radio Pública de Armenia, en la breve transmisión en castellano, resaltaron que requieren informes de recepción de españoles e hispanoamericanos de preferencia. Esta radioemisora transmite solo 15 minutos, pero es bien simpática, creo que necesita un respaldo de los radioescuchas de España y América Latina, así es que tratemos de enviarles informes de recepción. Si desde Chile la calidad de recepción fue buena, creo que puede ser mejor desde otros países. Detalles técnicos recepción: 06 de marzo de 2005, 9665 [sic, should be 9965] kHz; Hora UT: 0330-0345. Sinpo: 44444. Receptor: SONY ICF 7601, antena normal propia del modelo. Resumen: señal distintiva, programa de saludos a oyentes, pronóstico del tiempo local y avisos al cierre de transmisiones. Mandar informes y contactos al siguiente correo electrónico: pr @ armradio.am (Patricio De los Ríos, Temuco, Chile, playdx yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. In updating the R. Australia listings on MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR, based on John Figliozzi`s latest previews, I regret to see that The Planet, that excellent show of world music, is gone, as well as Bush Telegraph; and Margaret Throsby interviews only appear on weekends, at least during waking hours here. From RA`s website: As a result of these changes, some ABC programs will no longer be available on Radio Australia, but you can still access audio and transcripts on the web. These links open in a new browser window. Visit Bush Telegraph http://www.abc.net.au/rn/telegraph/ Visit The Planet http://www.abc.net.au/rn/music/planet/ To see the complete schedule in UT, you have to pretend you`re in the UK, and starting with Monday: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/guide/unitedkingdom.htm#mond This may become impossible from March 27, as I don`t see any country on their drop-down listing which will then be on UT, such as Ghana! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, BANGLADESH Betar, tune-in at 1815 with time check for 15 past midnight. Into commentary. Listened until 1845 when killed by US ham. Program consisted of talks and music breaks of local music. Signal took some heat going thru the auroral path for sure. 242 Feb 21/05 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park AB, Logbook, March CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Quito 7/3 2005 *** Monday edition: *** Recording of 6134.80, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This is a recording from the station`s Indian language programming with music and ID. A very regular station, has been on this split many years. Comments, photos and recordings at http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Record, 6150.0, Mar 3, 0939-0948, Portuguese, clear ID, pop songs in Portuguese, poor/under QRM (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The CTV network seems to be eager to wipe out any trace of localism at its local stations. In Toronto, CFTO (Channel 9) dropped its "CFTO News" branding from its local newscasts last week, changing them over to "CTV News," just like the national news. So far, the new branding hasn't spread to Kitchener's CKCO, Ottawa's CJOH, Montreal's CFCF and the Maritimes' ATV, but we wouldn't be surprised to see the changes there, too (Scott Fybush, Northeast [sic] Radio [sic] Watch March 7 via DXLD) ** CANADA. All Comedy Radio affiliates: see OKLAHOMA [and non] ** CHINA. 4330, 1507-, Xinjiang PBS, Feb 28. Weak news by OM in presumed Kazakh. Parallel to MUCH STRONGER MW channel of 972! Dawn enhancement in progress. For those on the coast, it's worth checking the MW bands at dawn! (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940.0, Voice of the Straits program ``Focus on China``, Sat, Mar 5, 1430-1500, fair, one of the announcer`s names is Gary, not Jerry as I previously reported. A different mailing address and e-mail given during the program than the ones at their website, but I couldn’t quite make them out. An e-mailed reception report was bounced back: ``vos@am666.net: user is over quota`` (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Frequency change for China Radio International in Portuguese to Brasil: 2200-2257 NF 9410 KAS 500 kW / 294 deg, ex 7245 \\ 7160, 6175, 5990 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Luego de ser reactivada el 04/03, a las 2142 UT, he medido a Marfil Estéreo en 5909.93 kHz (más abajo de la inicial 5910.43), luego en 5909.98, el 05/03, y finalmente estabilizada el 06/07, en los 5910 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Yaesu FT- 890, Antena TH3MK3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, Marfil Stereo, 0147 Marzo 7, Escuchada esta emisora entre las 0147 y las 0232, con señal aceptable, aunque con bastante ruido de fondo. Programa consistente en canciones colombianas presentadas por locutor. Durante este tiempo se identificó varias veces entre canciones: "Ustedes están escuchando Mafil Stereo 88.8 FM". Anuncios comerciales de las ciudades de Villavicencio, Granada y San Martín. 24222 variando a 34322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should be clear in Europe now with Ukraine to 7440 (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6139.8, R. Líder, noticeably absent Mar 4-5, around 0930- 1100; noted back again on Mar 6, 1030 with Spanish songs, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6139.78, 02/03 0247 R. Líder, Bogotá. Px: "Discoteca automática y libre", pedidos telefónicos. QSA: 3 (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Casilla de Correo 950 S 2000 WAJ - Rosario ARGENTINA, playdx via DXLD) 6139.4, 2.3, 0615, Radio Melodía (Líder) with QSA 2-. Was heard good on MW [730] earlier in the morning, but completely gone there at this time. JE (Jan Edh, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 6, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6139.77, 27.2, 0600, Radio Líder, Bogotá was a real surprise! Outperformed Deutsche Welle for a quarter [hour?] or so, which had English on exactly 6140 kHz. Líder brought romantic music and several nice IDs: ``Ésta es Radio Líder – con la música romántica``. S 3-4! BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 6, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn. After much trying, I managed to log Radio Havana, Cuba, on Sunday 06th March 2005 at 0140 UT. The program was the English broadcast to North America on 6000 and I gave it an SINO rating of 3333. The program on air was related to radio and there was an ID as "...Radio Havana, Cuba. Celebrating 44 years on the air". It was surprising to get this broadcast because I am in Europe! I tried emailing RHC with my report in hope of getting a QSL card but my email got returned. Does anyone know if they have a different email address? The link to the online form given in WRTH 2005 does not work. Email addy appreciated. Thanks (Dave Harries, Bristol, England, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From over here it`s difficult to imagine RHC being a rare catch. Their internet connexion has always been sporadic; I know they have announced two or three different e-mail addresses, but am not sure which one is current and preferred. Since the frequencies announced are often outdated, even a current e-mail address announcement may be wrong. Does anyone have any suggestions? Dave did not say exactly what address he tried but WRTH shows radiohc @ enet.cu and the online form as http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/diexismo.htm I just tried that and it is Not Found, tho http://www.radiohc.cu reaches the homepage and the English page http://www.radiohc.cu/homeing.htm are there. Perhaps this explain it: ``Due to technical difficulties beyond our control, we have temporarily limited the photos and images on our Web site. Please forgive the inconvenience`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Reactivada la que presumo es la otra frecuencia de Radio María, en 4869.22 kHz, el 04/03, a las 2311 UT; emitía un noticiero. SINPO 43333 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Yaesu FT-890, Antena TH3MK3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Radio Bata, en 5004.98 kHz, captada el 06/03 a las 0607 UT, con SINPO 33333. Noticiero e identificación a las 0628: "Esta es Radio Bata (...) nuestra emisión comienza a las 5 horas (...)". Primera vez en 20 años como diexista que capto esta estación. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Yaesu FT-890, Antena TH3MK3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. WATCHDOG SAYS VOA CORRESPONDENT RELEASED BUT NOT FREE | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) on 7 March Reporters Without Borders voiced relief today at the release of Aklilu Solomon, the Eritrea stringer of the US governmental radio station Voice of America (VOA), after 18 months in secret detention, even if local sources say he had not been allowed to return to his home following his release. "It is too soon to cry victory because of the bitter taste to the end of this glaring injustice, as it seems the release of a political prisoner in Eritrea does not mean he is free to go home," the press freedom organization said. "Further more, at least 13 other journalists disappeared into Eritrean jails in September 2001 and have never been granted the right to a trial or even to know what they are charged with." Reporters Without Borders added: "Solomon's release should prick the consciences of those who have influence over President Isaias Afeworki and push them into demanding the unconditional release of all the journalists who are being unjustly held. As long as they are in prison, Eritrea will continue to be a sad exception in Africa, where the right to information is just a memory." It has only just emerged that Solomon was released on 31 December along with an unspecified number of other detainees after being held for a year and a half. The news website Asmarino said he was held in a metal container inside May Srwa prison, adjoining Adi Abeyto prison, a few kilometres north of Asmara. A VOA spokesman said Solomon was "released in December and is today at his home in Asmara" in "reasonably good" health. But a local source told Reporters Without Borders he was still in the western town of Agordat, "perhaps for a debriefing, or to receive military training or re-education". The same source said he was hospitalized several times while in prison because of malaria or tuberculosis attacks. Eritrean political prisoners are not automatically sent home after release because they may have to do military service. Solomon was arrested at his home on 8 July 2003, 10 days after being stripped of his official accreditation for referring in a VOA report on 21 June 2003 to the sadness of families on being informed at collective meetings of the deaths of loved-ones who fought as soldiers in the 1998-2000 war against Ethiopia. The state media had reported that the announcement of "martyrs" was greeted with cries of joy. Eritrean officials had announced at the time that Solomon was taken to a military camp to do his national service. VOA said he did part of his service but was exempt from the rest on medical grounds. Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres press release, Paris, in English 7 Mar 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. FRANÇA – Pelo menos alguém do Serviço Latino-Americano da Rádio França Internacional ainda tem a caridade de enviar confirmação aos ouvintes. Tratase de Alejandro Valente. Ele enviou carta QSL, em papel sulfite, digitada, a José Moacir Portera de Melo, de Pontes e Lacerda (MT). O Portera enviou sete relatórios de recepção correspondentes a todos os horários em que a RFI emite em espanhol. A direção da Rádio França Internacional está prestes a implementar cortes em algumas de suas emissões. As informações foram divulgadas pela própria emissora, durante a emissão, em português para a África, de seis de março. Os cortes são ``decisões governamentais``, disse a apresentadora. Acrescentou, entretanto, que a programação em português para a África não será afetada (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 5 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Radio Georgia on 11805 kHz at 0700-0827 missed today, seemingly station prepares their various foreign language programs on previous day (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GEORGIA. Radio Hara from Dusheti was heard today March 7 on 4875 kHz with very good signal, at peaks even S9 +10dB. The last 15 minutes was mainly continuous instrumental music with "Radio Hara" ID at 1828. Close down 1830 UT. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Terrible DRM signal of DW DRM Sines on 11830 kHz, covering 18 kHz wide 11822 ... 11839 kHz range on Sun 6th, 1600-1757 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ANTIGUA, RUSSIA ** GOA. INDIA. 9820, AIR-Goa, a friendly "almost a QSL" letter from S. Jayaraman, Superintending Engineer, thanking me for my report, especially CD, and saying they have been sent to New Delhi for verification. (We'll see how that goes; it did work with Bangalore.) In 7 weeks for mint stamps (not used). His E-mail address is airtrgoa @ sancharnet.in Postal address I used (and on their envelope): High Power Transmitter, AIR, P. O. Goa University, PIN 403-206, India. (I had not realized that Goa is a name that long preceded the arrival of the Portuguese. It is the name of the state within which Panaji is located.) (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer via DXLD) Usual non-verie letter from S. Jayaraman, saying that he could not verify and that my report had been sent to Delhi for verification. This has been the seal of doom for me, as my last umpteen reports to Delhi have gone unanswered. He also emphasizes that sending dollars and stamps is against the law and requests not to do so in the future. "It is our prime duty to send the reply to our valuable listeners," he concludes (John Wilkins, CO, ibid.) ** GREENLAND. 3815U, 1.3, 2100, // with 650 and almost the same signal strength (QSA 2-3). News and then popular music. Disappeared quite fast and was gone at 2120. Not on air all the time mentioned in WRTH? 3815U, 3.3, 2125, Greenland again. Now on air long after 22 and with very good readability 3-4. Much better than on MW 650. JE (Jan Edh, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 6, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then why is the logging at 2125. Do you suppose he meant 2225, or just that 2125 was the tune-in time? (gh to Thomas Nilsson) I suppose Jan Edh means that the first time he heard them on March 1 they disappeared already at 2120 (tune in at 2100) and when heard again on March 3 they could be heard long after 2200 (tune in at 2125) (Thomas Nilsson, ibid.) ** GREENLAND. 570.06, 25.01 0450- KNR, Nuuk, Groenlandia. In // 243 e 650 kHz (Andrea Lawendel & Renato Bruni, Faiallo DXpedition in Oulu, Finland, via DXLD) So look out for that 60 Hz het on 570.00 stations as tipoff. See DX-PEDITIONS below (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUANTANAMO BAY [and non]. Re Rush on AFRTS: Three years ago I took a cruise to the western Caribbean. As our ship rounded the southeast coast of Cuba, the AFRTS station at Guantánamo Bay came in loud and clear for about three hours. Rush's program was on at the time. I just figured it was some kind of cruel and unusual torture procedure being used by the inquisitors on the English-speaking detainees at the naval base in Guantánamo. 73, (Joe Buch, DE, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUANTANAMO BAY [and non]. Hope you caught the first story on CBS` 60 Minutes tonight -- about rendition flights, ties right in with the GUANTANAMO BAY [and non] item in 5-040. Pacific Zone repeat coming up at 7 pm! 73, (Glenn, March 6, dxldyg via DXLD) Later: Here is CBS page on this: includes video, altho I haven`t tried it: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678155.shtml (Glenn, ibid.) [Later2:] Video of this is freely available; the ``CIA Flying Terror Suspects`` is just a teaser from the Evening News with John Roberts; the actual 60 Mins item is titled ``Suspects Flown to Torture?``. However, for me this one stops abruptly after about 5 minutes; is something wrong, or are we still only being teased? I tried it twice. Two tail numbers are mentioned in this: N379P for the Gulfstream to the dead end in Dedham; and the 737, N313P --- http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?channel=60Sunday (Glenn Hauser, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. See ANTIGUA ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. SOME REASONS WHY WE STILL HAVE SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING. Tunisia is blocking websites even as it prepares to host the World Summit on the Information Society in November. Reporters sans frontières, 3 March 2005 http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=12734 Malaysian police question blogger. IFEX, 3 March 2005 http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65085/ Chinese web censorship as a National People's Congress convenes. New York Times via Wilmington (NC) Star-News, 3 March 2005 http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050304/ZNYT05/503040350/1002/Business (kimandewelliott.com March 7 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Online versions of old HHGG Infocom game --- There are two different (Macromedia Flash-based, different art work) XXth anniversary editions of the old Infocom text game "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" game at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml (Joel Rubin, NY, March 7, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAN. 6120, 0140-, Voice of Justice, Feb 28. About the strongest I've heard them in a long while. 'In the name of God' mentioned at 0138, and ID as the Voice of Justice. Parallel 9580 is clearly heard, but under CRI in English from Cuba. I suspect the 31 m frequency would be stronger if it was on a clear frequency. American accented YL and OM are the hosts of this program (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Received a request from the Tabriz Monitoring Station for updated info about schedules of Farsi broadcasts to Iran. While I seem to recall Iran has a monitoring service along the lines of BBCM to actually keep track of the content of broadcasts to Iran, I am hesitant to help them since the info could also be used to facilitate jamming. Any comments? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Some frequency changes for VOIROI/IRIB: 1730-1827 German NF 6215 and NF 7380.5#, ex 6165 and 9845 1930-1957 Italian NF 6215 and NF 7380.5@, ex 7295 and 9615 2100-2127 Japanese NF 7185, ex 7180 \\ 6145 # co-ch VOR in Romanian/Hungarian on nominal 7380 @ co-ch VOR in Slovak on nominal 7380 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) Nuove frequenze per la trasmissione serale della VOIRI, quella in onda dalle 1930 alle 2000 UT. La trasmissione è ora ascoltabile sintonizzandosi su 7380 e 6215, che hanno sostituito i vecchi ed interferiti 9615 e 7295 (Roberto Scaglione, March 8, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Checked 11630 [ex-11625, ex-11660, ex-15650] R. Seda-ye Mellat-e Iran again yesterday Sun 6th. Transmitter location still a puzzle, WRN brokered? Very poor signal level here in Germany, compared to Moldova, Bulgaria, Krasnodar etc. S=1-2. Both Clandestine Mellat-; but CNR8 Urumchi Kazakh was mostly much stronger, rather S=2-3 ahead. Both on even frequency. Iranian jammer started late around 1432 UT. Another jammer started 1433:30 UT on odd 11630.20 kHz. Lousy signal of R. Seda-ye Mellat-e Iran. Was so poor, that I couldn't determine the exact s-off time (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Some frequency changes for Rai International: 1430-1455 Arabic NF 11770, ex 11800 \\ 9670, 11900 1530-1555 French NF 6055, ex 5985 \\ 9570, 11680 1555-1625 Italian NF 6055, ex 5985 \\ 9570, 11680 1630-1655 Arabic NF 6175, ex 6040 \\ 11670 2000-2020 Swedish NF 6045, ex 6035 Mon/Wed/Fri \\ 9760 2000-2020 Danish NF 6045, ex 6035 Tue/Thu/Sun \\ 9760 2000-2020 Esperanto NF 6045, ex 6035 Sat \\ 9760 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3373.5(U), NHK Osaka, Mar 6, 1058-1120, traditional Japanese song, ToH time clicks (3+1), clear ``NHK`` ID, into talking in Japanese, assume Radio 2 programming, fair-poor (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 5428, Mar 3, 2045, JKM20, Mihara with NHK-program in USB. Heard now and then but usually disturbed from data traffic. SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 6, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. CLANDESTINE (Kashmir). 6100, R. Sedaye Kashmir (via Delhi), *1430-1445 Mar 6, good signal with usual s/on, but now the No. Korean station is right on 6100, ex-6100.27v, causing a big problem. The two were neck-and-neck at 1430, but eventually Kim's Choir took over as Delhi faded (John Wilkins, CO, Dxplorer via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?] 6421.16, 25.2, 1640, Voice of Iranian Revolution in Kurdish, Kurdish music, several IDs, often mentioning Iran, no jamming. Drifted a little. Also heard at 1755. 24333 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin March 6, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEPE [1700] has been running the same song over and over again - a different style of song each day. Yesterday afternoon they were running San Diego State Aztecs Basketball, which would normally be heard on XEPRS-1090, so that rumor is confirmed now. They were back to banda later in the afternoon, so perhaps the lease is not a full- time situation. Presumably the folks at XEPRS have filled out the proper paperwork, since they currently get their 1090 programming from the US. 73, (Tim Hall, San Diego CA, March 6, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. MEXICAN DTV --- The SCT seems to have revamped their website again - and the new one is IMHO a real winner. Anyway, this site contains an overview of the Mexican plan for the DTV transition. It also contains a table of DTV channel assignments. http://portal.sct.gob.mx/SctPortal/appmanager/Portal/Sct?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=B20045 This material will be in the VUD - April issue, I suppose. (the channel assignment table may be too big to appear in a single issue and may have to be spread among several months. I haven't finished typing it yet because unfortunately the SCT believes in PDF files...) A couple of highlights: - The Mexican DTV transition will take **seventeen years**. (beginning last July and not ending until the end of 2021.) That's just to get the DTVs on the air. The plan doesn't mention anything at all about shutting down the analogs. - It will happen in six steps, beginning in nine major cities. The stations in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Mexicali, Cd. Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Reynosa are expected to be on the air **by the end of next year**. - There are only five VHF channels in the transition table. Only one is low-band. (channel 2 in Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas) However, it should be noted the table is captioned "Table of Additional Channels for the DTV Transition" - I suspect these channels are considered temporary, in the same sense as many of the DTV assignments here in the U.S.. - (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com March 7, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. On 6 Mar at 1800 noted Voice of Russia in Bulgarian on 1503. Some time ago they were on 1566. The listed frequency is 1467. I presume this is the Maiac, MDA transmitter looking for a nice, clear frequency (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.85, R. Myanmar, Mar 3, 1508-1525, into English, talk about development, marching band music, ID, news, poor/QRM from 5985 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. On April 1, KFNY-AM 1640 in Enid, Okla., will become a full-time affiliate of the Fox Sports Network. They are dropping an all-comedy format to flip to all-sports using Fox Sports Radio and The Jim Rome Show. On April 4, KLTF-AM 960 in Little Falls, Minn., will become a Fox Sports Radio affiliate (visit Fox Sports Radio) (Brock Whaley, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KFNY`s sibling KCRC-1390 is ESPN Sports; wonder if that will change? Naaah, never enough sports in this stupid ballgame territory. Looks like ACR will be losing 25% of their full-time affiliates, per http://www.allcomedyradio.com/affiliates.php FULL FORMAT / 24 HOUR STATIONS The ``Laugh Buttons`` Kansas City , MO 1340 AM KCKN Oklahoma City, OK [sic] 1640 AM KFNY Phoenix , AZ 1480 AM KPHX Portland, OR 970 AM KCMD DAYPARTS --- Check your local station for specific air times --- then tune in and lighten up Austin , TX 104.3 FM KOYT Baltimore , MD 105.7 FM WXYV Colorado Springs , CO 1580 AM KWYD Charleston , SC 1340 AM WQSC Denver , CO 1060 AM KRCN Fresno , CA 105.9 FM KKDG Ft. Pierce-Vero Beach , FL 1490 AM WTTB Ft. Wayne , IN 1250 AM WGL Houston , TX 650 AM KIKK Los Angeles , CA 97.1 FM KLSX Norfolk , VA 1450 AM WBVA Reno , NV 1270 AM KBZZ Richmond , VA 1480 AM WTOX Seattle , WA 100.7 FM KQBZ Tampa , FL 1010 AM WBZZ Washington , DC 106.7 FM WJFK FEATURES (U.S.) Listen to these great stations for ACR comedy features which air at a variety of times during the day! Asheville , NC 96.5 FM WOXL Champaign , IL 92.5 FM WKIO Charleston , SC 105.5 FM WCOO Columbus , OH 107.9 FM WODB Columbia , MO 1400 AM KFRU Des Moines , IA 93.3 FM KIOA Evansville , IN 93.5 FM WJPS Manchester , NH 96.5 FM WQLL Merced , CA 94.1 FM KBKY Midland , TX 92.3 FM KNFM Portland , ME 93.1 FM WMGX Portland , ME 100.9 FM WYNZ Portland , ME 970 AM WZAN San Francisco , CA 107.1 FM KSAN Scranton , PA 106.9 FM WEZX Springfield , IL 100.5 FM WYMG Springfield , MA 102.1 FM WAQY FEATURES (Canada) We`re put`n the `oh` in ``Oh Canada``! Antigonish, NS 98.9 FM CJFX Bridgewater , NS 98.1 FM CKBW Calgary , AB 770 AM CHQR Calgary , AB 105.1 FM CKRY Cornwall , ON 101[sic] FM CJSS Edmonton , AB 630 AM CHED Edmonton , AB 103.9 FM CISN Edmonton , AB 92.5 FM CKNG Hamilton , ON 107.9 FM CJZY Kelowana , BC 104.7 FM CKLZ Kelowana , BC 630 AM CKOV Kingston , ON 96.3 FM CFMK London , ON 980 AM CFPL London , ON 103.9 FM CKDK Peterborough , ON 101.5 FM CKWF Prince George , BC 94.1 FM CIRX Red Deer , AB 98.9 FM CIZZ Saint John , NB 103.5 FM CFHA Thunder Bay , ON 94.3 FM CJSD Toronto , ON 640 AM CFMJ Toronto , ON 93.5 FM CING Vancouver , BC 730 AM CHMJ Williams Lake , BC 97.5 FM CFFM (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. As begathon month gets underway, I happened upon this blog regarding OETA, apparently almost a year old but still very pertinent! See the page for numerous links, some of which as I point out within, no longer work. (I have already chided OETA for removing its own pages explaining DTV, linking instead to PBS and of all places Smoky Hills PTV in Kansas): http://friends.macjournals.com/mattd/OETA LIFE AND DEATHERAGE --- WHY I DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO OETA That's the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, responsible for operating all public television in the state of Oklahoma. It includes four stations - KETA-13 in Oklahoma City, KOED-11 Tulsa, KOET-3 Eufaula, and KWET-12 Cheyenne - plus several repeaters. (Don't try finding that information on the self-congratulatory Web site, though, unless you have the direct link to OETA's coverage map [now gone --- gh]. I actually had to search Google with all four station IDs to find it.) OETA recently completed yet another of its "Festival" fund-raising drives, and normally, I'd strongly consider contributing a few bucks to it. I do often watch the Oklahoma News Report, Oklahoma's only statewide news broadcast, because it consists of OETA original news reporting on statewide issues such as the Legislature and the economy, augmented by reports from Oklahoma City and Tulsa stations on other issues. No crime blotter, no diet crazes, no helicopter shots of house fires. Of course, they shorten it by ten full minutes during the pledge drive, but you have to expect that. OETA also produces "Stateline" documentaries about Oklahoma, OKC and Tulsa local public affairs shows, and even a state arts show, "Gallery." Stateline and Gallery both won regional Emmy awards, as did an OETA production of the dedication ceremony for the new State Capitol Dome in November 2002. OETA is broadcasting in HDTV [now gone] in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, with the other two stations joining the digital party this year. So why do I refuse to consider contributing to OETA? Because it's a rich organization that strongly emphasizes serving and placating rich, conservative donors over actually serving the public. As the President and CEO of PBS says in a note to producers: ``PBS aims to increase awareness, provide multiple viewpoints, treat complex social issues completely, provide forums for deliberation, and strengthen ties between our viewers and Web users and their communities. Others may produce content within the same genres, but programming produced for PBS must always be distinct as well as distinctive.`` OETA is afraid of multiple viewpoints, ignores complex social issues, and provides forums for deliberating whether polka dancing is wilder than the waltz. Specifically, OETA has refused to air every major PBS-aired documentary or program on gay and lesbian issues, not just in the past ten years, but ever. OETA edited the highly-acclaimed miniseries version of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City to remove the female breasts. But even the edited version showed two men kissing, so OETA refused to air it until 10PM (the equivalent of 11PM on the east and west coasts, after prime time), and still was threatened with losing half its funding from the state for doing so. OETA hasn't made the mistake of honoring the PBS mission since. It refuses to show the award-winning PBS gay and lesbian documentary series In the Life, nor did it show the documentary "Scouting for All" about Eagle Scout Steven Cozza's efforts to get the Boy Scouts to admit gay and atheist members. OETA would not even air Out of the Past, the documentary of 400 years of lesbian and gay history. Why? Because OETA puts the fears and homophobia of its rich donors and supporters ahead of the PBS mission of "providing multiple viewpoints" and "treating complex social issues completely." When it comes to gay and lesbian issues - and, in fact, most progressive issues altogether - OETA goes AWOL. If it weren't for PBS series like Frontline and NOW with Bill Moyers, there'd be no progressive voices on OETA at all. What's more, the station regularly uses the pledge drives to hint that without more support from the left, it'll drop those shows, too. "We prioritize our schedule based on what you tell us as a contributor," OETA has said, for at least all of my life. It's not about multiple viewpoints - it's about the viewpoints of the people with money. Look at PBS's list of what shows OETA will air and see for yourself. Don't be fooled by the inclusion of shows like P.O.V. - I don't think OETA shows all of the episodes, censoring the ones the donors might not agree with. Furthermore, OETA is *rich*. It has offices in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and as this "virtual tour" shows, they're very nice offices indeed, including a studio capable of producing shows for national PBS distribution. When former OETA director Bob Allen (a classmate of my parents, btw) announced his retirement in 1999, the Legislature honored him with a proclamation that revealed that OETA brings in more than $2 million in fundraising each year, and has an endowment fund with more than $15 million. The State of Oklahoma provided $5.6 million for the conversion to digital TV, but the OETA Foundation matched that amount. And yet, just six months ago, outgoing director Allen (who stayed on until November 2003 while they found a replacement) told a state budget committee that funding at OETA was "fragile," and that OETA was doing without ten full-time employees than authorized, including two that would be seeking outside and federal funds. But if you look at the FY 2005 OETA budget, you see that nearly 60% of OETA's operating budget comes from private sources, and that the OETA Foundation provides "funding for programming nearly equal to that provided by state funds." Elsewhere, we learn that programming and production occupy about a third of OETA's budget (58% is broadcasting and technical, probably so high due to the switch to HDTV). If I'm doing the math right, that means the OETA Foundation provides the equivalent of at least 1/6th of OETA's annual budget each year, or about $575,000. The Foundation must be even richer than that to have provided $5.6 million for the DTV conversion. Normally, foundations and endowments return a maximum of 5% of the principal each year, so including the DTV gift would put the OETA Foundation's principal somewhere over the earlier-stated $15 million mark, with it growing every year since pledges all go to the OETA Foundation. What does OETA do with this money, other than the urgent and required DTV conversion? It censors gay and lesbian programming, it drops other controversial national PBS shows, and it produces exactly one show for national distribution: The Lawrence Welk Show Yes, that's right: OETA spends the foundation's and the state's money to produce all new episodes, each year, of the hour-long polka-kitsch fest that left commercial television 22 years ago. The shows apparently cannot include any songs written after 1968, and Lawrence Welk himself *died* in 1992. The show left production in 1982, but reruns lasted until 1987. That's when OETA, sensing an underserved audience with deep pockets, picked up the reruns, and began producing original new wrap-arounds and segments with the Welk Orchestra, combined with rerun segments. OETA has now produced something like a dozen Lawrence Welk specials, and claims that the show is the most popular "syndicated" program on public television today (PBS does not carry it). So, to recap: OETA has a wealthy foundation that could fund the entire statewide system on its own for a minimum of three years. It produces a popular nationwide show with that money, and brags to the legislature about how it uses less state money per capita (about $1) than any other statewide public television service. And yet despite that alleged comfort zone, it refuses to air most programs having anything to do with gay and lesbian issues, and would avoid all progressive issues if it could. Anything beyond Frontline (OETA's fourth most popular show) does not make it through OETA's broadcast tower. And while OETA can find the money to produce the Welk show, and for other programs to air instead of the multiple viewpoints that PBS promises, it can't do the same for other popular PBS syndicated programs. According to Slate from six months ago, the highest-rated cooking show on public television is America's Test Kitchen, from the folks at "Cook's Illustrated" magazine, a food source I hold in esteem just slightly below Alton Brown. ATK is a great show that shows cooking methods, ingredient tasting, equipment testing, along with science and trivia. It deserves its high ratings. So, of course, OETA runs it only at 10:30 AM on Saturday mornings, and pre-empts it several times per year for pledge drives. It's been off the air here for two weeks, returning just today with episodes from a new season that hadn't yet been seen in Oklahoma. Despite spending 58% of its budget on broadcast and technical issues, however, OETA aired today's episode of ATK the same way it does at least once per month: with the video half a second ahead of the audio. I guess it's lucky none of the cooks are openly gay, or we might not see it at all, with or without audio. When OETA shapes up its act - both technically and programatically - I'll consider contributing. As long as the statewide public television system considers it more important to censor minority views, produces only one national show of music intended to please only an ultra- conservative audience, and can't even bother to fix audio and video synchronization for the duration of an entire half-hour popular show several times per year, I'll spend my money on other causes. I don't know if you should do the same - I'm against the entire idea that donations should make public television responsive to your needs more than the needs of diversity and balance. That's how we got OETA in the first place. But as long as they're setting the rules that way, I'll vote for diversity and against the safe, bland, dear-God-let's- not-offend-the-Gaylords mentality that is today's OETA (Matt Deatherage, March 27, 2004 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4835.48, Radio Marañón, 1103-1110 March 8. Noted a couple of men and a woman in Spanish comments or news. Frequent TC's by the woman, "5 en mañana y 4 minutos ... Radio Marañón". Signal was good with little fades (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston Florida, http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/IMAGE19.HTML (NRD545 App) DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4995.7, RADIO ANDINA, Huancayo. 2340-0000 Mar 5. Program: Deporte UNO con comentarios del fútbol peruano. Anuncios de Cooperativa Santa Maria Magdalena, Diario Primicia, Curamicina Plus. A las 0000 ID: "....En el Corazón del pueblo, Radio Andina desde el corazón de Huancayo, capital ferial del Perú; llevando información, cultura, deportes y alegrías a nuestros hermanos de la ciudad y el campo; triple cobertura en simultáneo, oye Perú con Radio Andina, la Voz de los Andes del nuevo Perú..." (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, condiglist via DXLD) ** PERU. 5014.6, R. Altura, Mar 5, 1005-1042, in Spanish, ID, TC’s, ads, OA music. Slight drift noted (.01-.04), fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9570, R. Blagovest (via RVA): In a response to a follow-up E-mail, Pietr Sakharov says reports should be sent to RVA, not to him. He says, "What we prepare in Moscow is merely contents of the issues of 'Blagovest,' but it is not our responsibility to broadcast them. They are recorded by us on MD and sent by DHL to Manila . . . We never even hear them." He also seemed unhappy that his E-mail has become known and wants to know where it is published. He is now trying to find web sources where it appears so that he can "ask the masters to delete this kind of information." Sigh (John Wilkins, CO, Dxplorer via DXLD) Such as me (gh) ** POLAND. WORLD'S TALLEST RADIO/TV TOWER The Warsaw radio mast was the tallest structure ever built. However it only existed from 1974 to 1991. Designed by Jan Polak, it was 646.38 meters (2,120 feet) tall and weighed 420 tons. Construction was finished on May 18, 1973 and broadcasts were officially launched on July 30, 1974. The mast was located in Konstantynów, Poland at 19 48'23" Eastern longitude and at 52 22'14" Northern largitude, and was used by Warsaw Radio-Television (Centrum Radiowo-Telewizyjne) for long wave radio broadcast on the frequency 227 and later 225 kHz. The mast was insulated against ground for a voltage of 120 kV and stood therefore on a 2 metre high insulator. It served as an aerial of half wavelength for the used frequency 225 kHz. The signals from its 2 megawatt transmitters could be received across all of Europe, North Africa and even in North America. The Warsaw radio mast was a frame steelwork construction of steel tube. It had a cross section in form of a triangle. All three sides of this triangle had a length of 4.8 metres. The diameter of the steel tubes forming the edges of the construction had a diameter of 24.5 centimetres, the thickness of the walls of these tubes varied depending from the height between 8 and 34 milimetres. The mast construction consisted of 86 elements. Each element had a length of 7.5 metres. The mast was guyed in 5 levels with guys of 50 milimetres diameter, which were divided into multiple sections by special insulators. The weight of guys and insulators used for anchoring the mast was 80 tons. For better access to the flight safety lamps and other components of the mast, there was an elevator installed in the interior of the mast. The elevator had a maximum speed of 0.35m/s and required 30 minutes for a trip from the bottom to the top of the construction. On August 8, 1991, the mast collapsed during renovation work. Three people were killed and 12 injured when it fell. In 1995 the Polish government proposed rebuilding the tower, but this was successfully opposed by local residents. After the collapse of the radio mast at Konstantynow, the Polish broadcasting company used the old transmitter of Raszyn with its 335 metre high mast near Warszawa, which is used since 1978 during daytime for the transmission of a second programme of the Polish broadcasting service in the longwave range on the frequency 198 kHz, for transmissions on 225 kHz at nighttime with a power of 500 Kilowatt. During daytime the transmitter on 225 kHz was inactive, because the facility was not able to work on 198 kHz and 225 kHz at the same time. Because rebuilding the mast at Konstantynow was not possible after protests of local residents, a new transmitter site had to be searched for the new Polish longwave transmission facility. This was found in form of an old military area near Solec Kujawski. On this site a new longwave transmitter facility with a transmitter of 1000 Kilowatt HF- power for the frequency 225 kHz was built from 1998 to 1999, the Longwave-transmitter Solec Kujawski. The new transmitter uses as aerial two grounded masts 330 metres apart from each other with heights of 330 and 289 metres and went in service on September 4th, 1999. With its collapse, the KVLY-TV mast outside of Fargo, North Dakota, USA, became again the world's tallest structure, standing at 628.8 meters (2,063 feet) tall. http://www.answers.com/topic/warsaw-radio-mast (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Log Sunday March 6th: 9815 kHz RDP transmission via Sines has a markable delay of 3.8 to 4 seconds against all Pegões outlets on 11875, 15575, and 17710. But 21830 couldn't be traced so far today. SAT/SUN 0930-1100 9815 250 55 deg 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Some frequency changes for Voice of Russia from March 6: 1200-1300 Vietnamese NF 17570, ex 15460 1300-1500 Russian WS NF 9830, ex 7360 1300-1500 Russian WS NF 9900, ex 7315 1300-1500 Russian WS NF 17570, ex 15460 1300-1500 Dari/Pashto NF 9885, ex 9900 1500-1600 Hindi/Bengali NF 9885, ex 9900 1500-1600 English WS NF 9900, ex 7315 1600-1700 Russian WS NF 9900, ex 7315 1700-1800 Romanian NF 7420, ex 7320 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 6205, DW via Komsomolsk, Mar 6, 1039-1056*, Chinese program consisting entirely of German language lesson, DW IS at sign-off, good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. Glenn, I found out why I couldn't ID that logging. I printed out the EiBi frequency list on Feb 8th 05, and put it in a 3 ring binder. I've been operating off of it. I rechecked the page in my binder for 7430 kHz. It lists RFI, BBC, VOG, and TWR, in that order, but no FEBA. I checked online, and the FEBA listing for 7430 is now there. So, it's been added since Feb 8th. So, since this list continues to evolve past its "finish" date, from now on I'll consult it before I send you an unIDed logging (I printed it out and put it in a notebook for convenience's sake, to have next to the radio.) (Eric Bryan, WA, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the trouble with online references; they keep getting updated, we hope :) (gh, DXLD) ** SUDAN. 4750, R. Peace, E-mail QSL from Pete Stover, Educational Media Corp., for a Feb 13 reception. This was the shortest QSL I ever received (containing the word "verified"), and the fastest (1 sesquihour) for an E-mail report with a 4 minute MP3 file and a .pdf QSL Sheet I send with my reports. To pete @ edmedia.org I think the only way you can directly QSL R. Peace is to find the station and go there, or have someone do it for you. The MP3 file was decent enough for a verie (Bruce Churchill, CA, Dxplorer via DXLD) ** TAHITI. TAHITIPRESSE WEBSITE TO ADD ON-DEMAND TV BROADCASTS Delayed video broadcasts of daily television news programs in French and Tahitian will be aired on the "Tahitipresse" Internet website starting this week, along with a separate "subject of the day" programme and eventually a weekly TV news programme in English. The agreement announced by Agence Tahitienne de Presse (ATP), which operates the Tahitipresse website, and Tahiti Nui Television (TNTV) came after several months of work on the project. Although ATP has contacted the French RFO-TV and FM radio stations, there still have been no replies, said Eric Garnier, ATP general manager. Internet users visiting the Tahitipresse website need only use the Windows Media Player to play the video broadcasts of TNTV’s entire 15- minute separate news programmes in Tahitian and French of the night before. With a broadband connection, downloading takes only some 30 seconds, Garnier said. He noted that unlike TV news programmes in the US and other countries, the TV news is presented in Tahiti with no commercial breaks. Another video broadcast of a daily 10-minute daytime TNTV program is also available on the Tahitipresse website 10-12 hours later. This programme allows an invited guest to speak about a specific topic. "The evening news programmes can be viewed starting the next morning, but we are going to try to optimise this delay," Garnier said. The next object will be to offer delayed video broadcasts of TNTV’s weekly "Tahiti News" programme in English on the Tahitipresse website, he said. This programme presents a roundup of the week’s news in English. The target audience are the people from French Polynesia living overseas who are interested in keeping up with the news about Tahiti, Garnier said. The partnership will thus allow both Tahitipresse and TNTV to increase their international audiences, he said. A secondary audience will be business people and potential investors who would like to visit French Polynesia, Garnier said. Tahitipresse http://www.tahitipresse.pf/ # posted by Andy @ 09:28 UT March 7 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. TAIWAN – Saiu a nova grade de emissões, em espanhol, da Rádio Taiwan Internacional, que vai vigorar entre 27 de março e 29 de outubro de 2005. Confira! Entre 0200 e 0300, em 15215 e 17845 kHz. Das 0400 às 0500, em 11740 kHz. Entre 0600 e 0700, em 5950 kHz. Das 2000 às 2100, em 5960 kHz. Por fim, entre 2300 e 2400, em 15130 e 17805 kHz (Celio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 5 via DXLD) All these are via WYFR, it should be pointed out (gh) TAIWAN VIA ESTADOS UNIDOS – A Rádio Taiwan Internacional informa que interrompeu algumas emissões, em espanhol, devido a problemas técnicos ocorridos com o relay da Family Radio. Ficaram inaudíveis as freqüências de 5950, 11825 e 15215 kHz. Em 27 de fevereiro, o problema ocorreu às 2058 e 0200. Já em 28 de fevereiro, ocorreram às 0101, 0106, 0112 e 0124. As informações são do sítio da RTI (Celio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 5 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Summer A-05 schedule for Voice of Turkey: ALBANIAN 1130-1225 11875 ARABIC 0900-1055 11690 15520 1400-1555 11735 17790 AZERI 0700-0825 11730 15140 1400-1455 9645 BOSNIAN 1800-1855 5980 BULGARIAN 1330-1425 7210* * ex 7140 for A-04 CHINESE 1100-1155 17715 CROATIAN 1600-1625 11865* * ex 11970 for A-04 ENGLISH 0300-0350 6140 7270 1230-1320 15225 15535 1830-1920 9785 2030-2120 7170 2200-2250 9830 FRENCH 1930-2025 9535 11850 GERMAN 1130-1225 13760 1730-1825 13640 GEORGIAN 0700-0755 9760 GREEK 1030-1125 7295 9840 1430-1525 7180 HUNGARIAN 0930-1025 13770 KAZAKH 1500-1555 11860 KYRGHYZ 1600-1655 9575 MACEDONIAN 0800-0855 11690 PERSIAN 0830-0925 11795 15220* * ex 17705 for A-04 1230-1355 11940 ROMANIAN 0930-1025 9560 RUSSIAN 1300-1355 13720 1700-1755 9675 SERBIAN 1330-1355 11860 SPANISH 1630-1655 13720* * ex 13640 for A-04 TATAR 1500-1555 9855 TURKISH 0400-0655 9460 11750 15225 0700-0855 11750 11955 15350 0900-1155 11955 15350 17605* * ex 21715 for A-04 1000-1455 17705 Friday only 1200-1555 11955 13655 15350 1600-1655 5960 9460 9560 1700-2155 5960 7215 9460 9560 2200-0355 9460 TURKMEN 1530-1655 11905 URDU 1200-1255 13710* * ex 15170 for A-04 UZBEK 0100-0155 7175 1700-1755 6115 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. GERMANY: Radio Rhino International Africa in English: 1500-1530 on 17870 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Mon-Fri to EaAf cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. 7440, 0136-, Radio Ukraine International, Feb 28. RUI in English to North America. A wise change of frequencies from 5910. Strong signal, totally in the clear; rare on 5910 with the ever present ute or the Colombian causing QRM. The higher frequency seems to propagate better to WCNA than anything on the 49m band did (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. LATEST NEWS: Europa Radio International moves to Miami - -- Europa Radio International is to begin broadcasting via the facilities of WRMI in Miami on Sunday, March 20th on 6879 [sic] / 15725 to North America between 1900-2100 UT and on 9955 kHz on Wednesday 23rd March between 11 and 1300 UT to the Caribbean (from http://www.europaradiointernational.co.uk/ March 8 via DXLD) Presumably the times are correct, but not the frequencies, and furthermore will shift one UT hour earlier from April 3 (gh) Europa Radio International will be 1900-2100 UT Sunday on 7385, repeated Wednesday at 1100-1300 UT on 9955. Yes, everything shifts an hour UT when the time changes (Jeff White, WRMI, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRMI ** U K. GREEN PAPER SUGGESTS REDUCING NUMBER OF LANGUAGES ON BBCWS It doesn't seem to have been widely reported or remarked upon, but one short section of last week's Government Green Paper on the future of the BBC suggests that the World Service should consider dropping a significant proportion of its 42 language services: The World Service’s linguistic expertise and output distinguishes it from other parts of the BBC, giving it an enhanced capacity to interpret events in the light of specialised local and regional knowledge. However there are difficult challenges to face, and decisions to be taken, with respect to the viability and justification for the range of languages in which the World Service currently broadcasts. The 42 language services currently offered are more a product of the World Service’s historical development than of a realistic assessment of the United Kingdom’s role in the 21st century. Likewise, the World Service’s offering of broadcasts in 16 vernacular languages spoken in countries which formed part either of the Former Soviet Union or the Eastern Bloc of countries formerly under the Soviet Union’s domination is beginning to look anachronistic. Eight of those countries are now members of the European Union, while three more are expected to become members in the near future. In planning for the future the World Service needs to look seriously at the political justification for continuing to broadcast to some of these countries in any language other than English, which is rapidly becoming the accepted international language. The aspiration towards democracy, respect for human rights, freedom of speech and association, which had been the BBC`s rationale for developing Eastern European vernacular services, has now shifted eastwards and southwards, and in particular to the Middle East, the Far East and parts of Africa and the subcontinent. The World Service, in consultation with the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office], needs to consider a radical and creative reprioritisation of its vernacular output to take account of these shifts in global political and economic priorities. It must also look at the changes in audience size and preferences both in terms of content, and the delivery of content, across media. The vernacular language choices made by the World Service for its online service provide useful guidance for reprioritisation. There will undoubtedly be a case to be made for a number of other vernacular services to be offered by the World Service. However, the BBC`s limited list of eight online language services (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Urdu) should be the starting point for this discussion. Jonathan Marks comments on this in his Critical Distance Weblog for Friday 4 March. # posted by Andy @ 13:02 UT March 8 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Viz.: BBC WORLD SERVICE SHOULD AXE CERTAIN FOREIGN LANGUAGE RADIO SERVICE IN FAVOUR OF NEW VENTURES The new UK Green Paper on broadcasting is not just about the domestic services. There are some important points in it about the current mission of BBC World Service radio. Whilst there is no doubt that BBC WS is doing pioneering work in English to put British views and values on the global map, many of the other language services are lost in a time warp. They were started during the second world war and seem to have found ways of surviving ever since. A few years back, BBC WS thankfully cut the Radio 648 service to Europe, which was a tri- lingual rag bag in English, German and French --- in fact it was the same stuff in all three languages, but it sounded impressive to people who were monolingual. The improved European coverage in English remains a vast improvement; in fact it is worthy of airing on Radio 4. But the Green Paper hints that there is little justification for many of the language services the BBC STILL runs to Eastern Europe and which are hogging many of the FM frequencies. Take Prague, for instance, where BBC Prague is putting together 5 hours of Czech language material in Prague. Is this really needed now that the Czech Republic is a part of the EU? If so, will Czech radio ever be given equal access to the UK airwaves on FM or perhaps DAB --- no way, of course. So what might look like a good idea on paper, is starting to look like Empire building in the wrong direction. And BBC World Service still hasn't found the cash for a desperately needed Arabic language TV service. Time for the BBC to celebrate 60 years of broadcasting to many parts of Eastern Europe and retire. There are other areas where it could have far more of an impact. posted by Jonathan Marks @ 3/4/2005 09:05:00 PM (Critical Distance blog via DXLD) see also ANTIGUA ** U K. Finally found the Classic FM schedule links --- and no, the Stephen Fry show is no longer on it: http://www.classicfm.com/index.cfm?nodeId=4097&sw=1024 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Hope these links help. Monday to Friday schedule http://www.classicfm.com/index.cfm?nodeId=3824&sw=800 Saturday's schedule http://www.classicfm.com/index.cfm?nodeId=3927&sw=800 Sunday's schedule http://www.classicfm.com/index.cfm?nodeId=4015&sw=800 (Harry Brooks, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. I have just heard on Radio 2 that Tommy Vance has died, aged 63 following a stroke. He started his radio career in the United States, but later worked on Radio Caroline, the offshore Radio London, as well as having 2 spells with Radio 1, totalling 15 years. In the 1970s he worked for Capital Radio and Radio Victory, as well as later being one of the original presenters on Virgin 1215. He also did some programmes on BBC World Service. I last heard him in a revival of the Friday Rock Show on the digital station Virgin Classic Rock, earlier this year (PAUL DAVID, March 6, dxldyg via DXLD) DJ Tommy Vance dies after stroke --- Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tommy Vance dies at the age of 63 after suffering a stroke. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4323345.stm (via Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) Public welcome at funeral of DJ Tommy Vance --- Jon Roseman, the agent of DJ Tommy Vance who died on Sunday, says that his funeral will be an "open celebration of his life". The service for 63-year-old Vance will be held at Golders Green crematorium in north London on Tuesday 15 March, and Roseman says members of the public are welcome to attend. The BBC now has an online tribute page where you can add your comments. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4326161.stm # posted by Andy @ 14:01 UT March 7 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. It is with a very heavy heart that I pass along some terrible news. Good friend and fellow DXer Jim Conrad of Waterloo IA has passed away. He died of a heart attack on Sunday night 3/6. I have known Jim since 1991. For many years including last year, Jim hosted an informal May gathering of DXers which he called the "Conrad Family Reunion." I am proud to say that I attended all but a couple of them. They were enjoyable events and were anticipated every year. The first several years of this gathering were a travelling road show, with three held in Wisconsin Dells and the rest scattered throughout Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. In the past few years as Jim's parents and Jim himself experienced increasing health problems, the gathering was confined to Waterloo. Jim will be remembered for his great sense of humor, his love of music, his gusto for life, and of course his love of radio. He was an accomplished shortwave DXer. He was a Worldscan contributor to Passport to World Band Radio, among other hobby activities. He leaves behind many friends in the hobby. Jim had an adult life filled with health problems and knew suffering that few of us will ever have to face. He took everything in stride. As my friend Tim Noonan reminded me today, Jim is now in a place where his bad leg is healed, and he no longer needs the crutches and wheelchair. Anyone who ever met Jim will also remember meeting his wonderful parents, Wendell and Lee. Wendell died a couple of years ago. Jim is survived by Lee. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, March 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yes, Jim was an old friend back to the Review of International Broadcasting Days; we got to meet at some conventions (gh, DXLD) I had the privilege of meeting Jim several times, and he was indeed a fine man who bore his health problems with great dignity. The shortwave community has lost one of its best. My condolences to Jim's family and friends (Andy Sennitt, Holland, March 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) He had spina bifida ** U S A. Glenn: Till further notice (i.e. until they kick us off), we're staying on 7385 kHz for all transmissions to North America from 1300 to 1000 UT (Jeff White, WRMI, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Additional transmission for WYFR in English via VT Communications: 1700-1800 on 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg to WeEu (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. Some frequency changes for World Harvest Radio: 0100-0200 NF 5850 SHB 250 kW / 042 deg, ex 7535 0200-0600 NF 7580 SHB 250 kW / 042 deg, ex 7535 0600-0800 NF 5860 SHB 250 kW / 042 deg, ex 7535 1100-1300 NF 7580 SHB 250 kW / 025 deg, ex 7535 2200-0100 NF 7520 SHB 250 kW / 025 deg, ex 7535 (Observer, Bulgaria, March 8 via DXLD) So is the Furman = Cypress Creek SC site going to be known as ``SHB`` forever even tho it`s now WHRI?? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Jeff White tells me that WEWN has been ordered off 5825, much as WRMI was ordered off 6870, and WHRI off 7535. It looks like the USG is finally ``cleaning up`` OOB usage by broadcasters. So I have been checking the posted schedule. 5825 is still there for now, but the schedule has been modified: now if you hear it on both 5825 and 5810 between 0000 and 0500 it`s not a spur! But look out, 5840 and 5795!! Other mixing products possible when on two nearby frequencies: 7280 and 7715 at 0500-0800; 15645 and 15795 at 1700-2000 and 2200- 2300. First column is EST, even tho WEWN is in the CST zone! North America Latin America Europe/Africa English/Spanish Spanish English UT 7 PM 5810 7425/11530 5825* 0000 8 PM 5810 7425/11530 5825* 0100 9 PM 5810 7425/11530 5825* 0200 10 PM 5810 7425/11530 5825* 0300 11 PM 5810 7425/11530 5825* 0400 12 AM 5745 7425/11615 7570 0500 1 AM 5745 7425/11615 7570 0600 2 AM 5745 7425/11615 7570 0700 3 AM 5745 7425/11875 OFF AIR 0800 4 AM 5745 7425/11875 OFF AIR 0900 5 AM 5850 7425/11875 OFF AIR 1000 6 AM 5850 7425/11875 OFF AIR 1100 7 AM 5850 7425/11875 OFF AIR 1200 8 AM 9955 7425/15745 OFF AIR 1300 9 AM 9955 11530/15745 OFF AIR 1400 10 AM 9955 11530/15745 OFF AIR 1500 11 AM 13615 11530/15745 OFF AIR 1600 12 PM 5810 11530/15745 15695 1700 1 PM 13615 11530/15745 15695 1800 2 PM 13615 11530/15745 15695 1900 3 PM 13615 11530/15745 17595 2000 4 PM 13615 11530/15745 17595 2100 5 PM 9975 11530/15745 15695 2200 6 PM 9975 7425/11530 15695 2300 (from http://www.ewtn.org/radio/freq.htm March 8 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. VOA correspondent released but not free: see ERITREA ** U S A. Re 5-039 UNIDENTIFIED, the Amateur Radio Newsline report on Yosemite Sam, and 5-040 USA: Mike & Mike, Gee, I wonder why the transmitters were turned off around 0100 UTC on 17, Feb.? ;-) We could have saved the both of you a trip out to the reservation to be insulted near a fence. :-) Thank goodness it was only insults shouted this time mi Amigos. It's nice to know that we were not the only ones hunting. We still have not heard from another set of Hunters. To set the story straight, W5BI, W5YEJ and I knew where the Yosemite Sam transmitters were located on 15, Feb. We also knew there were another set of HF Hunters out there. We had thought it was WB8WFK and crew. We had also heard a group from AZ was headed east on I-40 to hunt from one of the HF Nets. On Feb. 16, late afternoon, Gary W5BI had placed the phone call to tell them that we knew who they were and what they were doing. The MATIC facility had immediately shut down the transmitters. Bill W5YEJ and I were listening on HF and confirmed the transmitters were off the air after Gary had placed the call. Every detail that we had gathered was then forwarded to Riley Hollingsworth on the evening of the 16 of Feb. We had decided to not mention where the site was. I am still impressed with the signal reports the YS transmitters were receiving on various SWL & Ham web pages. I would also bet the FCC HF DF Remote Sites were seeing multi-path on the HF signals due to the Canyon reflections. The only suggestion that I would make to the US Army CECOM's contractor, besides staying off of the Amateur Radio frequencies, is to make sure you contact the NTIA first, obtain a list of hf frequencies from the NTIA to set up a beacon on, then publish those frequencies in the SWL or Ham magazines, and ask for signal reports. Let's let sleeping dogs lie for awhile. The FCC knows what to do. 73 (Jay WA5WHN Miller, March 6, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to several reports, the Yosemite Sam transmissions are now on 10.00000 MHz -- heterodyning WWV in a rather large area and interfering with the operation of remote automatic setting clocks -- the so-called "atomic clocks" like the Zenit. If that`s true, I suspect that the manufacturers will complain. I have had my FT-847 listening to 10 MHz the past few hours and only have heard WWV. No Yosemite Sam (Bill Pasternak / WA6ITF, 0400 UT March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought those clox use 60 kHz LW WWVB, not any SW frequency. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Not the Zenit I have. Instructions said to place it on a wall or near a window where it can receive WWV on 5 and 10 MHz (Bill Pasternak, ibid.) Glenn, Some of the Broadcast Studios have a Zenit Clocks that can be synced up via the Internet, 60 kHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, depending upon the model purchased. They are not cheap (Jay Miller, NM, ibid.) Bill, I had read the same reports, however, we (about 9 NM Hams & 2 AZ Hams) had concentrated on the 3.7 MHz & 10.5 MHz frequencies. Occasionally, on the 10.5 MHz frequency, we would hear other stations with the same data burst but no audio, then we would hear the data burst and a partial repeat of the voice part after the MATIC transmission. Those particular signals were NOT originating from the MATIC building. KD5DJ was monitoring from Carrizozo. He had also heard only the data burst and partial audio transmissions on 10.5 MHz. The partial transmissions were stronger than the YS signal from the MATIC building. We never heard the YS signals directly on the WWV frequencies. 10.5 MHz is quiet now. On Dec. 23, we had heard the transmitter being turned off. W5YEJ had made the comment "It's either a Government site or a Government contractor." That's when we started our hunt. We knew YS would return. W5YEJ & WA5SOX were copying the 10.5 MHz ground wave signal. It was very weak, but both stations were consistent on their signal reports. We knew the source was between Zuñi & Rio Rancho on Feb 13. We had taken multiple bearings. The answer is obvious when plotted using Delorme Topozone 5.0. The Contractor, Laguna Indian Reservation & CECOM US Army are aware that we and the FCC know about their RF sources. Back to my siesta (Jay WA5WHN Miller, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still unexplained: whether YS transmissions were officially sanxioned at some level, what their real purpose was; and why didn`t MATIC/ Laguna anticipate the attention they attracted. If they had skipped the Yosemite Sam voice bit, I bet no one would have noticed (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 5-036, new webcaster KGLP Gallup NM: not sure if I misconverted or they changed it, but the correct time for Gallup Arts Crawl is UT Sun 0200-0400 after the first Sat, not two hours earlier, as heard March 6 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The big rocker that`s left on AM in San Francisco, KFRC 610, has been rumored to have been sold. There has been no announcement but there has been talk on other lists that it was sold to someone in Oakland, possibly KEAR [Fámily Radio]. Keep your ears peeled for what`s going on at KFRC (Kevin Redding, AZ, March 7, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A . Bill Harms asked if WOR was still using IBOC as of 1315 March 5th, 2005. Yes, it is (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Ben thanks: This is interesting. I don't hear IBOC here in Maryland. Perhaps they are running a quieter version of it. Apparently, someone reported that a station in Modesto California was running a different quieter version (Bill Harms, ibid.) IBOC is on and well (Tom Ray, KC2NTU, Corporate Director of Engineering, Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio, New York City, ibid.) ** U S A. Re CAM-D Not Afraid of the Dark --- Glad to see this. L. Kahn is an old fox who has had some great ideas that worked over the years including his approach to AM stereo that BIG money got swept under the carpet. He has always put his money where his mouth is. Problem with Clear Channel taking the challenge is, they are a major player in the ownership of Ibiquity, they have too much money invested in a flawed system to admit the truth. Talk about self serving. Over the years, I've come to believe, if Leonard Kahn says it's so, it's so (Jerry Kiefer, Pt. Orange, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Has there been a personnel change and NPR`s Weekend Editions? I have not been listening every week, much as I would like to, as there are only so many hours in the week. But this weekend, both WESAT and WESUN were presented by different hosts than Scott Simon and Liane Hansen, resp. NPR website still shows those two as hosts. Oh, finally heard a ``Sheila Kast, sitting in for Liane Hansen`` just before the puzzle (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 6140, R. Montecarlo/Oriental, transmitter again silent after last reported activity with bike competition. It is expected to reactivate under same characteristics on next "Semana de Turismo" ("Tourism Week," also named "Semana Santa" ["Holy Week"] or "Semana Criolla" ["Creole Week"]) from March 20 to 27 (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Dxplorer via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. 7160, 0200-, Radio Tashkent, Feb 28. Strong reception (comparatively) at about S7 with IS and into Pashto service. Greyline all the way with my sunset, and their sunrise. Get it while it lasts! Believe it or not, I can hear the parallels under BBCWS on 5975 and 6165 under Bonaire! Amazing! (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checked the Aló Presidente frequencies via Cuba Sunday March 6 at 1400: open carriers on 11875, 13750, and maybe 17750; however, an hour later, they were gone, so another no-show by Hugo Chávez Frías (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa: Hi once again Glenn, In DXLD 5-040 you mentioned that Meyerton, South Africa has no MW facilities, thanks for this info. Also that John Plimmer (a name I recall from the SADX Listeners Club when it existed in the 1990s, of which I was a member) has monitored SWR Africa on 1197 from the Western Cape Province in South Africa, around 0330 UT and comments on its similarity to the evening broadcast of WYFR from Lesotho which are listed as in English from 1600-1900 and then 2000-2300 UT. John suggests that the transmitter being used as a relay for SWR Africa is the old BBC 100 kW MW one located at Lancers Gap in Lesotho (S 029 19', E 027 33'), not far from the capital Maseru, Lesotho and I now agree that this is the likely site of the new MW broadcast. The SW transmissions on 3230 at 0300-0500 UT are from Sentech, Meyerton, South Africa as that frequency is listed as a 100 kW transmitter used by WYFR Family Radio. SW Radio Africa therefore is unable to use the MW frequency of 1197 for its evening broadcast (1700-1900 UT) as the transmitter in Lesotho is occupied by WYFR at this time and is only free for the early morning transmissions to Zimbabwe at 0300-0500 UT. What is interesting to note is that WYFR frequencies are used by both SW and MW; is there a connection between this church group and SW Radio Africa; is this the 'provider' that SWR Africa commented on in their news release regarding the new MW frequency? BTW: Lancers Gap, Lesotho is 1320 km distant, bearing 203 from my home location, Harare, Zimbabwe. [Later:] Hi Glenn, Sentech *do* transmit on MW from Meyerton,South Africa according to their website http://www.sentech.co.za 657 KHz Radio Pulpit (Commercial) and 576 KHz Metro FM (SABC). All the SW and MW frequencies aired by Sentech are listed here. Oddly, SW Radio Africa 6145 kHz, evenings 1700-1900 UT, is not listed anywhere. I am listening to SW Radio Africa on 6145, now 1720 UT. 73s (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They sure do, per that. I had in mind MW suitable for external services altho these are a respectable 50 kW per WRTH; still think 1197 be Lesutu (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: It seems as if this station`s evening broadcast on 6145 kHz from 1600 UT sign on, is being interfered with / possible jamming. Heard for the first time this evening Monday 7th March. A harsh co- channel modulated signal on 6145 can be heard, varying at times; however SWR Africa's signal is the stronger and so it merely affects the audio quality of its broadcast. With less than 4 weeks to go until Zimbabwe`s General Elections on 31 March, it could be possible that some form of radio intervention to 6145 could be at play? I will monitor 6145 evenings (1600-1900 UT) and the recently introduced early morning one of 3230 kHz (0300-0500 UT) to report on any continued deliberate interference. I request that listeners in the Southern part of Africa comment on these transmissions. 73s (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINA 1197, 25/02 0327, SW Radio Africa ``The Voice of Independent Zimbabwe``, Comentários. Transmissor em Lesotho ?? 1197, 28/02 0315-0350, SW Radio Africa, EE, comentários YL e OM. Recepção com fadings longos, Sinal 2 em alguns momentos. 1197, 05/03 0340, SW Radio Africa, musica tipica, 34433 (ESCUTAS DE SAMUEL CÁSSIO MARTINS, SÃO CARLOS-SP, BRASIL, SONY SW7600GR, GRUNDIG YB400, ANTENA: LOOP DZ 45, @tividade DX March 5 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ FAIALLO, OULU, FINLAND, JANUARY 2005 Glenn, An extended English language report cum audio clips of a DXpedition I and Renato Bruni recently made to Finland, can be found on http://www.faiallo.org/oulueng.html Not much luck with conditions (well, Southern Europe perspectives could differ at that...), still the experience was extremely enjoyable and we do hope to be able repeating it sooner or later. 73s (Andy Lawendel, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Includes numerous rm clips and a nice slideshow of the snow-covered QTH (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ NULLSOFT VIDEO Mr Hauser, Here is something you might want to put in your next Continent of Media program. NullSoft (the creators of the winamp media player) has created free to download tools to create and stream (broadcast) video over the Internet. http://www.scvi.net is the unofficial NullSoft Video website created as a resource and information for the NullSoft Video community. The site contains guides and tutorials and download information for the various official and community produced video tools. It seems that very soon the Internet will surpass Short wave and possibly Medium wave as the preferred medium of mass communication. Shortwave certainly has seen its better day unfortunately. Hope you find the information interesting and can pass it on. Regards, (Dave, KL7AF, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL RECONSIDERATION PETITIONS FILED; LEAGUE CEO SAYS COURT APPEAL PROBABLE http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/03/04/4/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 4, 2005 --- More than a dozen petitions for reconsideration have been filed in the wake of the FCC`s October 14, 2004, Report and Order (R&O) adopting new Part 15 rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) deployment. They include the ARRL`s Petition for Reconsideration, filed February 7. The FCC said this week that interested parties may file opposition comments (``oppositions``) to the petitions within 15 days of the date of public notice of the petitions in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred. Replies to oppositions must be filed within 10 days after the time for filing oppositions has expired. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, has expressed little confidence that the FCC will make any substantive rule changes in response to any arguments put forth in the petitions for reconsideration. In a March 1 interview with Marc Strassman of Broadband over Power Line World (BPLW), Sumner predicted that the BPL proceeding ultimately will wind up in court. ``Realistically, do we expect dramatic changes in the Commission`s rules as a result of the reconsideration petitions?`` Sumner asked in concluding the interview. ``Probably not. So we`re probably looking to the Court of Appeals before all the dust settles.`` In the interview with Strassman, Sumner discussed the League`s Petition for Reconsideration, which calls on the FCC to ``reconsider, rescind and restudy`` its unanimous adoption of the new Part 15 BPL rules last October. Strassman also interviewed Associate Counsel Brett Kilbourne of the United Power Line Council (UPLC), an organization promoting BPL development that also filed a reconsideration petition. Among other things, Kilbourne conceded to BPLW that Amateur Radio complaints and concerns raised about RFI from BPL could hinder BPL rollouts. ``Yeah, my concern is that you`re going to have --- whenever there`s a deployment --- people complaining automatically,`` Kilbourne said. ``To the extent that does happen, that`s going to discourage folks from getting into this space, I think.`` In its reconsideration petition, the UPLC calls on the FCC to not require 30-day advance notice of BPL operations. It also wants the FCC to extend the 18-month transition period that applies to marketing or installation of equipment. The various petitions for reconsideration came from BPL industry groups and proponents as well as from the League and other organizations and individuals concerned about BPL`s interference potential. All petitions for reconsideration filed in the two BPL- related proceedings --- ET Docket 03-104 and ET Docket 04-37 --- are available for viewing via the FCC`s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Once the filing window opens, those wishing to file oppositions to specific petitions may use the ECFS to do so, but comments supporting one petition or another are not welcome, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, points out. ``Individual radio amateurs are welcome to file oppositions on any petition with which they have specific issues,`` he said, adding that commenters should support their points with facts and statements. ``All statements should be specific to one or more arguments in a reconsideration petition with which the person filing an opposition disagrees,`` Imlay explained. ``They should not simply say, `I oppose this petition.``` Among other reconsideration petitions were those filed on behalf of BPL manufacturers Amperion and Current Technologies; Donald G. Everist, a professional engineer; the National Antenna Consortium; Aeronautical Radio Inc; the American Petroleum Institute; the Association for Maximum Service Television; G. Scott Davis, N3FJP; W. Lee McVey, W6EM, a professional engineer; Steven E. Matda, KE4MOB, and Cortland E. Richmond, KA5S. Imlay says the ARRL is reviewing all petitions for reconsideration filed in the BPL proceedings to see if any oppositions from the League will be required. Copyright © 2005, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ###