DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-055, March 27, 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 1268: Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0700 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html [also with Week of Confusion and DST schedules] WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] WORLD OF RADIO 1268 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1268h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1268h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1268 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1268.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1268.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1268.html WORLD OF RADIO 1268 in the true shortwave sound Alex`s mp3: WORLD OF RADIO 1268 mp3 in the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-23-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-23-05.mp3 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS March 27 edition: http://worldofradio.com/dxp0gms.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Rodio Solh (as they pronounce it), very nice signal on 17700, presumably still via UK, at 1429 March 27, giving frequencies and ID, much better than BBC on 17630, 17830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [non]. Here`s the response of Christian Voice to usurping the only frequency of LRA-36, 15476 --- it`s all OK, because VC is targeted at Brasil, and LRA-36 is not --- as if there were no overlap! AFAIK, LRA-36 was not represented at the HFCC, so it may as well not exist as far as the big guys are concerned. It may well be that the 100 kW of Santiago can override any interference from LRA-36 in Brazil, but also everywhere else where LRA-36 was formerly audible. Possibly in regions of Argentina close enough to Santiago to be in its skip zone, LRA-36 can still make it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE – A Voz Cristã informa que a escolha da freqüência de 15475 kHz, para emitir entre 1200 e 2400, está de acordo com as decisões tomadas na última reunião da High Frequency Coordination Conference – HFCC, realizada na cidade do México, no México. Ocorre que, em 15476 kHz, entre 1800 e 2100, emite a Rádio Nacional – LRA-36, da Base Esperança, na Antárctica, o que poderia ocasionar algum choque. Os critérios de escolhas das freqüências são ``o alvo populacional e geográfico que a emissora quer alcançar``, conforme explica o apresentador da Voz Cristã, Edson Bruno Zilse. Assim, o ouvinte que a Voz Cristã quer alcançar é o brasileiro. Por sua vez, a LRA-36 não considera o Brasil como alvo de suas emissões (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 27 via DXLD) ** ANTIGUA. Made a point of listening to what was presumably the final gasp of Antigua relay, March 27 until 0600* on 6100 with DW in German. No mention was made of this historic occasion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar in English, some music heard but barely audible in English, 1230-1236 on 7185. I did hear a time check for 1230 UT; somehow it was hard to hear any talk with some QRM from China R. International in Japanese 5 kHz up the dial. Reception not as good as it was two weeks ago with increasing sunlight and deteriorating 41 mb signals from Asia (Joe Hanlon, March 25 using the Sony ICF-SW7600G with the AN-LP1 loop antenna, set up at a table (with trees nearby for the loop) in Mays Landing, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [and non]. Hi Glenn, more on RVI. I kept the livestream of RVI on from 2100 UT until now 2330 and there was no English at all, there was no RVI ID's either, only something that sounded to me like Radio 3, but might be Radio 2 [twee]. Programs were mostly modern music. Will see if there is something tonight at 0500 UT, which by now I doubt (Ernesto Hernández, México, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But there was English, Music from Flanders including ``My Way``, on SW 11730 at 2200 via Bonaire, and presumably also at 0500 on 9590 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hello Everyone, I have not seen any talk of RVI closing here in the group lately. Last night I caught the last broadcast of music from Flanders. It was very good, as always. I tried accessing their website this morning to see if they archive any of the programs but found the site to only be in German/Dutch. I was just there about a week ago and the English page was easily found. I'm not sure if it's me or they have pulled English on the site from us as well. I have the two last programs recorded on a digital recorder and will be transferring them to a .wav later. If anyone would like copies, let me know (Chris Campbell Columbus, Ohio, March 27, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: RVi relay in Dutch, 11730, via Bonaire, 2248- 2256, talk about end of SW services from RVi and mention of BBC and R. France International in discussion, some music, then farewell at end of show; excellent (Joe Hanlon in Vincentown/Mays Landing, NJ USA, Sony 2010/7600GR, Sony AN-LP1 loop, RF Systems EMF antenna, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Vlaanderen goes off the air --- Staff said bye in many languages --- Played My Way in Flemish --- Finished with Don't Cry For Me Argentina, then open carrier for 10 minutes (CKUT International Radio Report March 27, notes by Ricky Leong, via DXLD) See SWEDEN [non] ** BULGARIA [and non]. RB, 9700 at 0034 26 March with program on church music and Slavonic prayers, a neat way to hear Old Church Slavonic. One can hear Ancient Greek (liturgy) on the Voice of Greece at 0800, with Modern Greek commentary, on 9770. I'll have to check for the summer time (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LI STENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hello all, The March 27 International Radio Report has been uploaded onto our archive site: http://mediajct.homeip.net/radioreport PLEASE NOTE** I recently learned about a new job I will be starting in Calgary, Alta. This means that, for the moment, this will be the last International Radio Report summary/audio archive I will be producing. It has been a pleasure to do this almost every Sunday for the last five years or so. And who knows, this service may resume one day. What already exists online will remain. Perhaps I will eventually post some "best of" IRR there (including such popular editions of the show as the radio-resource program that aired in November), but I have to take care of moving and settling down in my new home first. For audio archives, I invite you to take advantage of the CKUT audio archive page. It is good for listeners who have a decent computer and a relatively fast connection (MP3 format at 32, 64 and 128 kbps). http://www.ckut.ca/archives.php 73 and happy listening, (Ricky Leong, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. There are still few enough DTVs in Canada to make it possible to list all of them. These stations are authorized, but some of them may not be on the air yet. British Columbia: CBUT, Vancouver ch. 58 30,500w 615m CIVT, Vancouver ch. 33 900w 740m Ontario: CITS, Hamilton ch. 35* unknown CKXT-1, Hamilton ch. 15 8,600w 193m "CDTV", Ottawa ch. 67 48,420w 215m CBLFT, Toronto ch. 24 2,500w 491m CBLT, Toronto ch. 20 38,000w 491m CFMT, Toronto ch. 64 15,000w 304m CIII-41, Toronto ch. 65 3,000w 459m CITY, Toronto ch. 53 2,000w 515m CJMT, Toronto ch. 44* 15,000w 304m CKXT, Toronto ch. 66 3,000w 458m CFTO, Toronto ch. 40 17,400w ? Quebec: CBFT, Montreal ch. 19 250,000w 300m CBMT, Montreal ch. 20 107,000w 300m "CDTV", Montreal ch. 64 3,000w 110m CFJP, Montreal ch. 42 7,000w 302m The "CDTV" stations are temporary demonstration operations. * CITS applied for channel 21. CBC objected (too close to CBLT-20) and suggested channel 35 instead. CITS accepted the CBC suggestion but I don't think Industry Canada has acted on the channel change yet. * CJMT holds a permit for DTV operation on channel 44, but they have in fact moved their *analog* operation from 69 to 44. They have filed for a digital operation on channel 24, but the CBC is using that channel (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. Warmley Sask --- Most first-world countries have some sort of gazetteer for all place names (towns, districts, lakes, rivers etc.). For Canada you might use http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search/search_e.php to find Warmley, Saskatchewan. It usually gives the latitude and longitude and offers a poor quality petrol map as an aid to finding, along with the appropriate Canadian national map sheet title or number. ------------ For the "World" you might try the U.S. military "bombing coordinates" at : http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp [U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency] Geoscience Australia http://www.ga.gov.au/map/names/ etc., etc. Eventually everyone visits Oddens (University of Utrecht, geoscience) as a one-stop finder and linker http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/browse_result.php?category=28&limit_result=0 (Daniel Say, BC, who knows how many Deer Lakes there are in Canada and the U.S, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. Es from Florida rolling up through 10 meters (28 MHz) here. Also seeing some scattered spots on the 6m logger. Also -- for those of you who follow such esoteric matters -- there is some TE happening right now. Am hearing the Chilean FM muzak stations on the 48-49 MHz band LOUD right now (possibly an E-link?). 49.2 is as loud as I have ever heard it, and I have two different signals battling it out. One is a traditional beautiful music service, the other is more poppy and vocal. Interesting (Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M. N4LI Germantown, TN/EM55 901-624-5295 2204 UT March 26, WTFDA via DXLD) Thanks for that note -- I have now heard the Chilean muzak for the first time! About 20 minutes after Peter posted that item, I hooked the antenna to my TS-680 and tuned to 49.2. Had a really weak wideband FM signal, just detectable with the BFO on. It faded WAY up about 10 minutes later, but only for a few seconds. (startled the heck out of me as I was in the shower at the time & forgot I'd left the radio on...) Didn't hear any vocals (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, ibid.) ** CHINA. CRI DEBATE --- Sorry I'm a bit late to this. I used to work in CRI: I went there as a Chinese [language?] graduate and SWL. I knew what I was getting into, or at least I thought I did! Some of the management in the English service are convinced CRI is a Public Service Broadcaster. But they have made their careers there, it's their livelihood, and it means they have an apartment to live in, and can give their children a good education. Some people are able to form methods to keep going at it, most foreigners don't. Many people in CRI are members of the communist party, and 99% of the management are (the few others are looked after by the party). Joining the party is a career choice: you have better chances of promotion if you do. One of the biggest restrictions on programme content, has been CRI's role as an alternative to BBC, VOA, RFA etc for domestic audiences: The idea being that a learner of English can listen to CRI on MW/FM rather than going and getting a short wave radio – do note this is my interpretation of things I have seen and been told, not any policy I heard directly stated. But do remember that China has long had autocracy, and its culture has developed in that context. The education system is very nationalistic. Go to the CRI forums, and see how people take any comment on China very personally. And that's nothing to do with being in the media! Also bear in mind that the news in a one-party country will sound very different from what we may be used to. In short, official statements in China are more full of glib guff and formulaic parroting than even the politicians here in Europe or in the States. So how are we supposed to turn that into presentable news? I remember in my time (about 8 months polishing news stories) only managing once to turn the given facts around enough to make it sound like a real news story, though a careful news hound would have asked for more. Of course there are conservative types in CRI. But most of the people you hear on-air are young people who are just trying to get on with their first job out of university. I have to say, this is all my own opinion, and does not reflect personally on individuals in CRI English. Finally, below is a letter which was sent out today, reproduced with the permission of the writer. Dear Friends and Former Colleagues, It is now over three months since I left CRI, and a letter to you is called for. I worked at CRI for 9.5 years. The main reason I stayed so long was that I thoroughly enjoyed working with most of you. Thank you for your friendship. I also wish to set the record straight. On November 10, a senior member of the English Service sent an email to all the foreign staff except Richard and me. One paragraph reads, in part: "CRI's contract with both Stuart and [Name deleted] expires at the end of November .... the Foreign Experts Office discussed the matter with the English Service. And the English Service held meetings too. Last week ... I had brief talks with Stuart and [Name deleted] separately, telling them that CRI (will not) renew the contract with them. I said ... it's normal without ill-intention. ...." Until I was told my contract would not be renewed, it was correctly assumed without discussion every year by both CRI and myself that I would continue in my position – indeed, for six of those years, I was not even asked to sign a new contract. In my case, therefore, the words "it's normal" are not true. During my brief talk with the author of that letter, I was told that the English Service wanted to bring in "new blood". Even the decency to come up with a plausible reason was lacking. It has never been a secret that I did a significant amount of work outside of CRI. This extra work never interfered with my duties at CRI. Several months before, this same person had accused me of giving my other work priority over CRI. This accusation was preposterous. It was also illogical. The excellent quality of my work is widely known in Beijing. A few seconds of intelligent thought would lead to the conclusion that, over the years, I have been offered full-time positions with many of the organizations I did part-time work for, almost all of them offering me more money and fewer and more reasonable hours than was the case at CRI. This conclusion would be correct. I refused every single offer, because I did not want to stop working with my CRI friends and because I felt a strong sense of loyalty to CRI. I see now that my loyalty was completely misplaced, as was my assumption that, after over nine years of service, and in accordance with one of the fundamental principles of socialism, I had a modicum of job security. With best regards to my friends at CRI, (Stuart, March 27, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. March 27 at 1400, CRI English via Cuba was still on 17730 with usual crummy audio, instead of A-05 scheduled 13740; guess they`ll get around to changing when they`re good and ready (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, V. of the Strait(s), Fuzhou, Mar 27 (Sun.), 1430-1440, in English, usual station ID but no introduction ID for program, jumps into brief items about China (there are concerns about the quality of the food being served at fast food restaurants in China, mentioned KFC, Pizza Hut and MacDonalds being very popular, etc), ``Focus on China`` promo, fair-poor. This was a repeat of the Mar 26 (Sat.) program. Did not find any //s (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. In 1990, I wrote an article on TI4NRH, the first Latin American SWBC station (and 5th in the world) http://donmoore.tripod.com/central/costarica/ti4nrh.html It included the following lines about Charles Schroeder, the first North American to receive and QSL a Latin American SWBC station: " ... TI4NRH wasn't noticed in the U.S. until the October, 1928 issue of Radio News, when Charles Schroeder of Philadelphia mentioned hearing but not being able to identify a Costa Rican station. By this time, Don Amando had changed frequency from 39 meters to 30 meters. North American DXers began looking for the station, and by December, 1928, he was flooded with reports. Schroeder had soon identified the station and sent the first reception report from the United States. In appreciation, Don Amando had a chair of Costa Rican tropical woods made for him. The chair was made of disassembled pieces for easy shipping with written instructions for their assembly, a rare practice in those days. Shipped by sea mail, the chair arrived in just 12 days according to Schroeder! ..." So, the first US SWBC QSL from Latin America didn't come with a pennant, it came with a chair. And, it turns out that this chair still exists. Charles Schroeder passed away rather young in 1956. However, the family has kept the chair and I recently heard from his daughter, who came across my article. She sent me some photos, which can be seen at the Costa Rican graphics section of my website http://patepluma.sphosting.com/ticogrph.htm (Don Moore, IA, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very interesting; watch out for popups ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, RTD, *0300-0316 Mar 24, opening under Guatemalan station with music followed by a woman with ID and sign on announcements in apparent Somali language. Horn of Africa vocals followed by a long talk by a man. Transmitter break at 0316 and didn`t notice a return in twenty minutes of following the frequency. Under Cultural Coatán at sign on but gradually picking up in strength to dominate frequency. Fair. Also *0300-0402 Mar 26, instrumental music opening followed by ID some talk and Koran recitation. Announcer returned at 0310 followed by another man with seemingly religious talk. 0322 announcer returned with Horn of Africa vocal selection. ID and news at 0331. Good signal but began fading around 0400 (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL QUINEA. 15190, R. Africa, Mar 26, 1752-1811, in English, mission radio programming, preacher mentions having the largest black congregation on ``Radio Africa``, into ``Power for Living`` program, weak/deep fading (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [and non]. RFI A-05 English To Africa and the Middle East 0400 - 0430 Moy 7315 (3) 0400 - 0430 Moy 9805 (4) 0400 - 0430 11700 0500 - 0530 Moy 9825 (3) 0500 - 0530 Moy 11995 (4) 0500 - 0530 15160 (3) 0500 - 0530 13680 (4) 0600 - 0630 15160 0600 - 0630 17800 0600 - 0630 Asc 11665 0700 - 0800 Moy 15605 1200 - 1230 Asc 17815 1200 - 1230 Asc 17815 1200 - 1230 21620 1600 - 1700 Mey 15160 1600 - 1700 Mey 7170 1600 - 1700 17850 1600 - 1730 17605 1600 - 1730 15605 To India 1400 - 1500 Ch 7180 (4) 1400 - 1500 Ch 9580 (3) 1400 - 1500 15615 (3) until September 4th (4) from September 4th (RFI website via Jean-Michel Aubier, France, March 27, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Good morning; perhaps somebody will be up at 0430-0500 and 0530-0600 to check for a possible last show from Ismaning? Somehow I feel that there will be no such transmission but that it's over now. 1197 came up at 2230, until 2300 carrying VOA Music Mix. Earlier schedules showed the RFE South Slavic program to start at 2230, so obviously it had been cut back to 2300. But for whatever reason IBB did not adjust the transmitter schedule, so VOA Music Mix had been put on as filler. Probably the only AM transmission of Music Mix at all? From 2300 RFE Serbian ("South Slavic") was carried until 0100, i.e. it did not close at 2400 as some schedules suggested. At 0100 the audio was cut during the fade-out of the show's closing song. Carrier off just a few seconds later, here into Coldplay from Virgin Radio. Kept recording a little bit, then stopped and saved the file. Yet another swan song for my eerie collection. For now: Good night (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0123 UT March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Deutsche Welle is still using the B-04 schedule as of 0022 UT March 27. I suspect they do not change to the A-05 until after 0600, the end of "Block 12" on the DW Technical Monitors schedule. That said, Antigua relay station closes at 0600 UT March 27on 9640 (0400-0600) and 6100 (0500-0600) all in German. Another one bite the dust! 73 (Mick Delmage, AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. ALEMANHA – Desde primeiro de janeiro de 2005, o Serviço de Informação Técnica da DW passou a se chamar Serviço de Atendimento ao Cliente. Outra mudança: após 35 anos de trabalhos na emissora, Waldemar Krämer aceitou a aposentadoria. Ele agradeceu a todos os monitores que tanto ajudaram ``no generoso campo de observação de freqüências``. Krämer foi substituído por Werner Neven. As informações são do monitor oficial da emissora, Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, de São João Evangelista (MG). (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 27 via DXLD) see also UK ** INDONESIA. RRI Sorong (Presumed), 4870.98, Mar 25, 1115-1124*, pop Indo. music and songs, off in mid-song. Fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. TDP FREQUENCY SCHEDULE A05 Denge Mezopotamya 0400-1600 11530 AM mtwtfss Kurdish ME Voice of Liberty - Eritrea 0600-0700 15675 AM ..w...s Tigrigna Africa Maeva 6015 1100-1300 6015 AM .....s. Dutch Europe Que Huong Radio 1200-1300 15680 AM mtwtfs. Vietnamese Asia Radio Free Vietnam 1230-1300 9930 AM mtwtf.. Vietnamese Asia Maeva 6015 1300-1400 6015 DRM .....s. Dutch Europe TDPradio 1400-1600 6015 DRM .....s. English Europe Voice of Delina 1500-1600 15660 AM .....s. Tigrigna Africa TDPradio 1600-1800 11900 DRM .....s. English America R. V. of Oromo Liberation 1700-1730 12120 AM m..t... Oromo Africa Dejen Radio 1700-1800 12120 AM .....s. Tigrigna Africa Radio Horyaal 1730-1800 12130 AM mtwt.ss Somali Africa (TDP website via Eric Zhou, China, dxldyg via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 11630 [x11625, x11660, x15650] R. Seda-ye Mellat-e Iran [probably via Issoudun, France] n o t observed today Sunday March 27 at 1430 UT. New time or new frequency in A-05 season ? I guess heard R Cairo Azeri and CNR Uighur co-channel instead. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. AL-SHARQIYAH TV TO START TERRESTRIAL BROADCAST Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV in its second year of existence is to start terrestrial broadcast to northern, central and southern Iraq on the following frequencies: In central Iraq, on UHF channel 48; in the north of the country, on UHF channel 42, and in the south, on UHF channel 44. Source: Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 1520 gmt 26 Mar 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ITALY. Rai International A05 schedule Now available at http://www.raiinternational.rai.it/engl/radio/shortwave/index.shtml The pdf(in Italian) under the map is actually a ms word doc in English from 2004 (Harry Brooks, March 27, dxldyg via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5030, R.M. Sarawak (tentative), Mar 27, 1503-1540, in local language, possibly news, into program of pop music & songs. Poor-very poor/under China (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. THE MEXICO FM DIRECTORY, 2005 Edition Just in time for the sporadic-E season (tho some may feel it started early, already in March), the Worldwide TV FM DX Association has just published a new edition of this very handy reference to FM stations in Mexico, edited by Jim Thomas. Each of the 31 states has a full-page map showing frequencies and callsigns in each town. There is a separate listing by frequency, then state and city showing call, power, slogan, format. Geographic and by-frequency listings are exactly those needed for practical use during a DX opening from Mexico. Most frequencies have fewer than 10 or 12 stations in the whole country, so it`s easy to scan thru the listings to see if what you are hearing matches an ID, locality, slogan or format. Or if you are sure where the opening is coming from, check the maps for a quick idea of other frequencies which may be propagating. In addition, there is handy reference material: official state postal abbreviations; state government radio networks; each map also has population figures for states and major cities, and a scale. Spanish alphabet pronunciation key; a full page about music formats unique to Mexican radio, explaining how to distinguish: Mariachi, Ranchera, Regional, Grupero, Norteño, Banda, Tejano, Romántica, and others. Just the radio facts --- no distracting lakes or highways are shown. One minor drawback is somewhat hit-and-miss accentuation, but I understand Mexican sources themselves are unreliable for this. Comparison to the FM Atlas and Station Directory is unavoidable: besides being two years out of date now, the FMA has never included Mexican info by frequency! And its Mexican maps are ever-more cluttered and confusing with regions and insets, rather than state-by- state. Highly recommended! 56 page booklet on heavy stock to hold up to lots of use or travelling. More info, including a sample map, and ordering details: http://fmdx.usclargo.com/wtfdamexicanfm/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. Well - since I'm in Kathmandu this is not really DX, but I'm happy to report that the Radio Nepal Dhankuta transmitter on 648 kHz is up and running again. It was damaged a while ago by Maoist rebels and off air for a few months. I'm just listening to them, while the Surkhet transmitter on 576 kHz also appears well and healthy but is battling with the AIR Thiruvananthapuram on the same frequency, which has cricket news in English right now, at 1630 UT. 576, 1615-1630, Radio Nepal, Mar 27, Surkhet with Sarangi music and special weather report in Nepali, some QRM from AIR Thiruvananthapuram. (TR) 648, 1630-1650, Radio Nepal Mar 27 Dhankuta with typical Tamang folk songs and announcements in Nepali. (TR) 73 de (Thomas Roth, DL1CQ, 27º42'N - 85º12'E, RX: JRC NRD-345, ANT: Dipole 20m long, HCDX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RE: [dxld] IBB MUNICH MEDIUMWAVE CLOSING Paul David writes: "So, this means there will only be 3 international services on MW in Europe, namely BBC, Russia and Sweden." Hmm, that will come as great surprise to my colleagues at Radio Netherlands. We have downsized following government budget cuts, but we're still here, as are two mediumwave services: 0500-0557 UT in Dutch via Orfordness 1296 kHz 2300-2400 UT in English via Radio Sweden's transmitter on 1179 kHz (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And what about all those China Radio International broadcasts via Luxembourg, not to mention the various transmissions from Russia and Lithuania on 1386 kHz. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, ibid.) ** PERU. 5020 at 0015 UT: Can anyone ID the station playing new age music now on 5,020 kHz? [Later]: To answer my own question, positively identified as Radio Horizonte, Perú. A most pleasant musical program indeed (Daniel L. Srebnick, NJ, UT March 27, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PERU. 4775, R. Tarma, Mar 26, 1029-1042, in Spanish, many IDs, LA music and songs. Fair. 4955, R. Cultural Amauta, Mar 25, 1100-1109, in Spanish, choral anthem, clear ID, OA music & songs, fair-poor. 5014.57, R. Altura, Mar 27, 1106-1126, in Spanish, many IDs, OA music and songs, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE noted with two different programs in Spanish at 1434 UT March 27: one on 21700 and 21570, the other on 21610. Indeed, online schedule for A-05 confirms this; and it appears that REE will not be making the schedule changes it did last A-season, allowing us to hear Nuestro Sello at 1400. http://www.rtve.es/rne/ree/OndaCorta/p-h-f1.htm which is labelled in effect from March 26, selected programas, neglecting news on the hour: 1240-1255 Mon-Fri Crónica en Lenguas Cooficiales [Catalan, Basque, Galician; time presumed, sometime during the 1200 hour, ex-1340] Af 21540; Am 21700 21570 15170 11815 9765; Eu 15585 13720; ME 21610 1400-1500 Tue La Bañera de Ulises: Af 21540; Am 21570 17595; Eu 15585; ME 21610; also Sun Eu 15585, ME 21610 1500-1600 Mon-Sat Españoles en la Mar: Am 21700 21570; Eu 15585; Sat Af 17760 15385 2200-2300 Tue La Bañera de Ulises: Am 15110; Sun Am 17850 15110 11815 9765 0100-0200 Tue-Sat Nuestro Sello: Am 15160 11680 9620 9535 6055 6020 0105-0125 Sun Amigos de la Onda Corta: Am as above Also this strange entry on the English program pages, accompanied by 23 mp3 files of 14+ minutes; I listened to the last one, which was described as final program for now, and can only describe it as silly: The Spanish Sponge It all began when Muhangrad, the great druid, carried out a new recycling process on the planet. All creatures were summoned in the dark continent of Exterior, where some were killed, while new beings were born. The new narrator of the story and a tiny insect were sent to Spain for five hundred years. Muhangrad warned them that they could or could not become a different creature every day. The Spanish Sponge can absorb ideas not only from all of us in the English Language service, but also from you. There’s only one rule: the story has to take place within Spanish territory. Send us an email with your suggestions to emisioningles_ree.rne@rtve.es (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie, 0324-0415 Mar 25, non-stop easy listening pop vocals. At 0400 a woman announcer gave ID and quick talk in Dutch language followed by more music. Poor to fair with deep fades (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. Caught the tail of R. Sweden Sunday March 27 until 1400, closing Network Europe, mentioning that someone from VRT had contributed --- so that is still a way to hear Belgium on shortwave! I was not paying attention to the analog FRG-7 dial, but I think this must have been on 15230 instead of 15240 by mistake at Sackville, since RHC was uncovered when it closed. 15230 had been the CRI relay frequency from Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re BBC`s incredible arrogance: Sandy, That was essentially my point. If the BBC is/was a business, one of its primary drivers is to get the most for the least. We can debate the chicken and egg details, but a transition from AM HF is occurring. We all know that much. That's why the NRD 535 and Drake R8b have been discontinued. (The latter was like the death of a dear friend to me. I had to sell mine several years ago for financial reasons (and Bill, the buyer is a #swl regular who sorta stayed quiet about its actual resale value, Growl), and had been nursing a feeble dream that I could afford another one day.), and those manufacturers clearly had economic reasons. Things are changing regardless of our personal nostalgia. We can piss and moan to the BBC, which you already said is pointless, or we can focus whatever influence we do have on the same distribution system that the BBC hopes to use anyway. I have fond memories of listening to faraway stations in my youth. Now I can hear a better selection just by clicking. Sad but true. Of course I know broadband is nowhere near everywhere. But, intentionally or not, the BBC is doing its small part to create the demand needed to drive the expansion of broadband. That's just business. It is still true that 5975 almost melts the front-end of my 706 Mk IIG on most evenings. Yet, even after that's gone, stations like the BBC are still accessible throughout my house on 802.11g. And folks, I'm sad to say it's much cheaper than that cherished R8b I've dreamed of (Scott Royall, swprograms via DXLD) Scott et al: It's not an either/or proposition. It's as simple as that. To pretend that it is (as the BBC is doing) is disingenuous and what they do has repercussions. And they know it. And since when is the BBC is "business"? It's a state-sponsored enterprise. It's like pretending that dollars are votes. Not everything can be downconverted to currency. Public service is one of those things. I cringe every time I hear someone in my government agency (where I work) refer to our constituents/clients as "customers". It's a gross distortion and just because everyone is doing it these days because it's in vogue doesn't make it correct or accurate (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Remember that BBC did this same stunt before (July 2001), only to return some airings to the Americas. I will not miss them as much as I would have 10 years ago. If I want tabloid journalism, I'll listen to Radio Havana. The upside to the current "web delivery" trend of big stations is how much easier reception of some rarer DX stations will become without powerhouse station clutter on multiple frequencies. If only it were bible-banger stations going off the air, it would be a real silver lining! (Chris, Buggs Island, Kerr Lake, Virginia, ibid.) The BBC knows what they are doing has repercussions --- but the bottom line is that they don't give a d***. The public can go to hell as far as they are concerned. Look at all the good work Ralph Brandi did--- they just slammed the door in his face and went on their merry way. I had such high hopes for Michael Grade. So what if he came from ITV? But hubby warned me an ITV man at the helm was only a harbinger of things to come at the BBC that would eventually make inroads into the World Service and we are seeing that now, with a lot of what is happening with management treating the WS as a business/commercial enterprise. I remember the howls of objection from the purists when the BBC Shop opened. Now look at the mess WS is in now. Can this radio station be saved? I don't think it is much a matter of helping "Western ideas and ideals better resonate with the cultures of the Middle East" as much as the US (at least) roaring into that part of the world and saying "you MUST accept our version of democracy and this is how you are going to do it." Remember when TV Martí started? Similar situation. And the recent rhetoric about the so-called "concerns" about (alleged) eroding "democracy" in Russia --- ditto. The US has a LOT to learn. We just can't continue to be the world's bully. What is happening is that the US is showing a basic lack of UNDERSTANDING of cultures, traditions and peoples of other lands. And that is where shortwave can be a great educator. Just my opinion-mileage may vary (Maryanne Kehoe, GA, ibid.) I would be interested in finding out how people are making out hearing the BBC during day light hours. 21470 is the best for me this morning but it isn't great (Sandy Finlayson, Philadelphia, PA, ibid.) Sandy, 21470 was the only audible signal I could receive from the BBC around 1500utc (S5-7). Now, currently at 1719, 15565 is pulling in an S9 here in Columbus (Chris Campbell, ibid.) 12095 has been the strongest signal for me since around 1630, when I first tuned in. It carries the Europe stream and is still going strong at 1730 (John Figliozzi Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) Maybe we should keep it under wraps that we can still hear the BBC in North America. They might start jamming the frequencies if they found out! dg (David Goren, ibid.) As expected, BBC WS now closing 15190 at 1400, just in time to prevent us from hearing Talking Point, the one program which ought to be on the air to every part of the world live. 15190 reception in the 1300 hour was fine via French Guiana toward Mexico, altho fading a bit more than it used to from Antigua. Best BBC frequencies here after 1400: 21470 and 17830 Ascension, also audible on 17640 UK. On weekdays the documentaries and other features don`t start until after 1400 on the Americas stream, while they are after 1200 on the European and other streams --- I think (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had decent reception from 0000 - 0200 on 9410 this evening. I didn't see this frequency on the schedule for this time period but it was coming in fairly clearly (Sandy Finlayson, PA, swprograms via DXLD) Best I can figure that is from Cyprus bound for South Asia. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/frequencies/ass.htm (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) 5975 with a good signal during the 0300 UT Monday hour, unlike UT Sunday; probably Delano now (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here's what's worked best from my location today.... 1630-2000 12095 (Europe stream until 1900, then East Africa stream) [good to excellent throughout] 1630-1900 21470 (East Africa stream) [fair fading up to good by 1700] 1700-2300 15400 (West Africa stream) [fair fading up to good by 1815, then fair 2200]] 1630-2100 9410 (Europe stream) [poor at start, fair by 1830, good after 1915] 1630-2100 17830 (West Africa stream) [poor at start, fair by 1745, good only by 2030] 2100-2200 15390 (Americas stream) [good] 2200-0100 5975 (Americas stream) [good; excellent sig, but audio was hollow] Several other frequencies were noted and were audible, but none progressed to better than fair in my estimation. 0100-0200 Not much of an alternative. 9410 and 15360 (South Asia stream both) noted but only poor to fair. 0200-0400 5975 (Americas stream) [same as noted earlier] 0200-0300 9825 (Americas stream) [fair to good; 12095 inaudible] 0300-0400 7160 (West Africa) [good; 6195/9410 (Europe) fair; 7120 (West Africa) fair] 0400- 6195 (Europe) [good, sometimes excellent; 9410 fair; 7160 fair to good; 7120 poor to fair]. Anything noted as good or excellent will be audible on a reputable portable with whip (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, Drake R8B, A/D sloper, dxldyg via DXLD) You didn't ask, but a check at 0345 UT (my first time with the radio today) yielded the following: 5975 (Delano to C AM / Mexico) -- VG - excellent 9410 (Cyprus to Russia) -- G-VG 7120 (S. Africa to W. Africa) -- F 7160 (Ascension to W. Africa) -- G As of 0408 UT the scene has changed: 6195 (UK to Europe) -- G 7120 (S. Africa to West Africa) -- F 7160 (Ascension to West Africa) -- G 9410 switched to UK transmitters at 04 -- could no longer hear it. 5975 is kaput QTH: East-Central Pennsylvania; Gear: Sony 2010, whip antenna (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U K. Are we pissed at the BBC for making it ever more difficult to hear them in English on SW in North America? So are the Brazilians. Portuguese to Brasil has just been cancelled completely, and BBC fouled up the farewell broadcast, which according to advance publicity was to be Sunday March 27. But it was a no-show, not too surprisingly, since March 26 was the last day of the B-04 season (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) REINO UNIDO VIA ASCENSÃO – A última emissão da BBC Brasil, em português para o Brasil, em ondas curtas, após 67 anos e 13 dias, foi um verdadeiro fiasco! De Norte a Sul do país, radiófilos recorreram aos gravadores com o objetivo de deixarem registrado na história a derradeira edição nas desprezadas ondas curtas, prometida pela direção da emissora. No entanto, quando chegou 19h30min, no horário oficial de Brasília (DF), o que se ouviu não foi nem de longe o que a tradicional estação britânica costumava brindar a audiência! Em Porto Alegre (RS), o colunista ligou os 11965 kHz e encontrou outra emissora asiática, em mandarim. Em Osasco (SP), Michel Viani ligou três receptores ao mesmo tempo, nas freqüências em que o programa seria irradiado. Em 9865 kHz, Viani encontrou uma emissora em árabe. Foi aos 19 metros e, por volta de 19h50min, conseguiu captar algo em 15390 kHz: muitos ruídos! Lamentável! É a palavra que os sócios do DX Clube do Brasil acharam para tachar o que ocorreu. O coordenador e fundador do DX Clube do Brasil, Samuel Cássio Martins dos Santos, de São Carlos (SP), foi um dos poucos privilegiados que ouviu a última emissão da BBC Brasil em português, nas ondas curtas, para o Brasil. Com um pequeno detalhe: já que o sinal não aparecia em ondas curtas, ele acessou o sítio da emissora e conseguiu, em certo momento, ouvir poucas palavras por parte de uma apresentadora. Na verdade, ele escutou palavras de desculpas, uma vez que a poderosa BBC Brasil estava ``enfrentando problemas técnicos``. Sarmento Campos, no Rio de Janeiro (RJ), acessou o sítio, mas não ouviu nada. Em Barbacena (MG), Adalberto Marques de Azevedo também ficou frustrado. Ironicamente, quando o amante das ondas curtas precisou da ferramenta Internet, foi justamente neste momento que ela falhou! Em Olinda (PE), José Machado teve um pouco mais de sorte: ele acredita que conseguiu ouvir os cinco minutos finais da emissão em 19 metros. As emissões, em português, da BBC para o Brasil já fazem parte da história do rádio (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 27 via DXLD) Olá amigos, Hoje domingo, dia 27 de março de 2005, iria ao ar a última emissão da BBC de Londres em português para o Brasil, com um prometido programa "BBC e Você", sendo o último e de despesdida dos ouvintes. Tentamos as três frequências da emissora para o Brasil, notadamente 9870 kHz, 11965 kHz e 15390 kHz e nenhuma transmissão em português. Fomos até o site na Internet e o audio no período de 22:30-23:00 UTC (19:30-20:00 hs) e o sinal estava ativo, porém, sem voz alguma. Tudo leva a crer que a emissora londrina não cumpriu o prometido no inicio do mês, numa nota ofical sobre o final das transmissões em português para o Brasil, que anunciava para esta data, um "último programa BBC e Você" de despedida. Já entramos em contato com a emissora e aguardamos um pronunciamento da mesma neste respeito. Com a palavra, para esclarecer esta dúvida, o pessoal da BBC Brasil, como é mais conhecido o Serviço Brasileiro da BBC de Londres. Atentamente, (Jailton C. Amaral, Pres. do SRDXC, Noticias DX via DXLD) Para que o pessoal tenha conhecimento, segue mensagem do Samuel Cássio Martins, de São Carlos (SP): Pessoal, A Transmissão existiu sim pela Internet; houve problema no início, a partir de um determinado momento pude ouvir. A apresentadora pediu desculpas pelos problemas e que o programa será colocado inteiro novamente no site. Eles conduziram como se realmente estivessem transmitindo o ultimo programa em ondas curtas. Creio que com o novo período de transmissões que começa hoje, a transmissão já nao fazia parte do schedule. Enfim, depois de tantos anos, este é um final rídiculo. Um abraço a tudos (Samuel Cássio, via Célio Romais, Noticias DX via DXLD) Olá amigos, O inteiro último programa "BBC e Você" já foi colocado no site da BBC Brasil. Pelas Ondas Curtas e pela Internet não consegui ouvir o mesmo, tendo monitorado de 19:40-19:50 hs. (22:40-22:50 UTC), deste domingo, dia 27/03/2005. A BBC de Londres poderia ter respeitado mais seus ouvintes neste último programa especial de encerramento. 73´s (Jailton C. Amaral, Pres. do SRDXC, ibid.) AINDA SOBRE o melancólico fim das transmissões, EM ONDAS CURTAS, da BBC de Londres para o Brasil Olinda (PE), 27 de março de 2005, Prezado Célio Romais Contrariando o que muitos imaginavam, o fim das transmissões em ondas curtas da BBC destinadas ao Brasil foi uma opção do próprio serviço brasileiro com o objetivo de dispor de mais recursos financeiros para investir em sua página da internet, ou seja, "relocação de recursos". Ao que tudo indica, a "luminosa" idéia teve dificuldade de ser digerida pela cúpula da BBC, razão pela qual somente foi dada carta branca à mencionada destruição pouco antes do término da elaboração do orçamento anual daquela famosa instituição, pois o povo inglês é muito apegado às tradições, sendo os programas da BBC através das ondas curtas uma delas, e motivo de orgulho do país. Entretanto, a justificativa de nossos conterrâneos é demasiadamente pueril: "existe um número maior de brasileiros acessando nosso site na internet do que ouvindo as nossas transmissões em ondas curtas." Nessa linha de raciocínio, eu diria: há mais passageiros entre São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro do que São Paulo/Recife, assim sendo, deveriam ser cancelados os vôos entre São Paulo e Recife. Argumento "genial", não acham? Talvez o "iluminado" que produziu essa idéia mesquinha seja um daqueles que encaram o computador muito além de uma eficiente máquina de trabalho; algo parecido a um dos deuses do Olimpo, capaz até de propiciar o amor. Foram tipos assim que propagaram a ruína do teatro, em decorrência do cinema; o desmoronamento da chamada sétima arte por causa da TV em cores; o fim do rádio em ondas médias, face ao advento das estações de FM estéreo etc. Não se trata aqui de mania de passado ou aversão ao progresso. O fato é que os nossos compatriotas lá da BBC não se dignaram a descer do trono e apreciar a opinião dos ouvintes. Eles não levam em conta sequer o crescimento demográfico, e com ele, a possibilidade da convivência harmoniosa dos diversos meios de comunicação, porquanto são insensíveis e calculistas: há mais pessoas consultando o site na internet do que ouvindo as ondas curtas, então que se danem os ouvintes das ondas curtas. Essa gente não considera também a despesa que implica a internet: no mais tímido cálculo, um custo mensal equivalente a 1/3 do salário mínimo vigente no Brasil, enquanto o preço de um receptor de ondas curtas fabricado pela Motobrás fica em torno de R$ 190,00, e o consumo de energia elétrica desse aparelho, por mês, é desprezível. Além disso, na internet existem os hakers e outras espécies de marginais, uns furtando dinheiro de conta corrente ou "clonando" cartão de crédito, outros extravasando o seu instinto mórbido ao praticar a pedofilia. Portanto, a internet está muito aquém da elevada conceituação da BBC na opinião pública internacional, firmada ao longo de seus 72 anos. Vale ressaltar que a desconfiança na internet não é apenas no Brasil. Com objetivo de ilustrar, transcrevo um e-mail recebido da Rádio Deutsche Welle, em 29.06.2004, "DW-WORLD: Sua janela para a Europa. MANIPULAÇÕES COM E-MAILS. Infelizmente estão sendo enviados atualmente inúmeros e-mails falsificados com o nome da Deutsche Welle como remetente. Muitos desses e-mails contêm vírus. Chamamos a atenção para o fato de que nem a Deutsche Welle, nem DW-WORLD são os verdadeiros remetentes dessas mensagens. Estamos fazendo todo o possível - apesar das limitações impostas pela técnica - para por um fim a tais manipulações de terceiros com a utilização do nome da Deutsche Welle." A atitude de certos patrícios lá na BBC foi distinta da adotada pelos brasileiros da Rádio Nederland, quando no ano de 1993, por falta de verbas, o governo da Holanda decidiu reestruturar toda a programação de ondas curtas. Lembro-me de que o pessoal do serviço brasileiro, ao sentir a probabilidade de eliminação das transmissões em português para o Brasil, incentivava que escrevêssemos para a direção daquela emissora. Porém, um esforço ilusório pois a situação financeira da emissora estava crítica, o que a levou a encerrar suas transmissões para nossas plagas no ano de l994. E não somente o serviço brasileiro; encerraram, igualmente, o mais antigo e prestigiado programa das ondas curtas: Estación de la Alegría ou Happy Station, inicialmente apresentado por Edward Startz (Dom Eduardo), no começo dos anos 30. Já o caso da BBC foi matreiramente programado a fim de se tornar um fato consumado, irreversível. É verdadeiramente inexplicável o poder destruidor desses burocratas que conseguem a passos largos arruinar algo edificado ao longo de sete décadas, um dos orgulhos do povo inglês, que teve início no dia 19 de dezembro de 1932, com as palavras "This is London calling". Para os que têm o hábito de informar-se através da sintonia de ondas curtas e consideram a internet um acessório, resta tão-somente ignorar o site da BBC Brasil, consultando a BBC nas páginas apresentadas em outros idiomas. Afinal de contas os radioescutas gostam mesmo é de obter informação e entretenimento pelo rádio, meio mais econômico, livre de censura, cuja praticidade é inigualável até hoje. PS. A despedida das transmissões da BBC foi vergonhosa e frustrante, pois o transmissor da freqüência de 15390 KHZ só entrou no ar às 23:50. Nessa hora as demais freqüências (em 25 e 31 metros estavam sem portadora. Tendo em vista que nos resta apenas ignorar o site da BBC Brasil, já providenciei o cancelamento de minha assinatura do serviço de manchetes por e-mail da BBC Brasil. 73, (José Machado, radioescutas via DXLD) ** U K. TOUGH TIMES --- From the editor's desktop --- Pete Clifton, editor of the BBC News website, takes a look back at a difficult week in the newsroom. Last Updated: Thursday, 24 March, 2005, 19:52 GMT There's no point embarking on a column like this without taking the rough with the smooth, and this week has been dominated by the latest announcement from director general Mark Thompson on job cuts. A fair bit of the detail was covered by us here -BBC to cut 2,000 programme jobs and here - BBC job cuts at a glance, followed by union anger: BBC faces strike ballot deadline. [linked stories] Several of you have written to ask what it means for this website. The 15% cuts proposed over three years apply to most areas of the BBC, including BBC News Interactive - which includes this site, the Ceefax and digital text service and interactive TV news. For us it means a proposal to close about 12 journalism posts directly related to this website in the coming year. We have yet to finalise our plans for years two and three, but by the end of that period we are planning to have trimmed ?4.3m from News Interactive's total annual budget. . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4379975.stm (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U K. For an obituary of Oliver Whitley, one of the pioneers of the BBC Monitoring Service who later went on to very senior positions elsewhere in the BBC, go to: http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=623041 (Chris Greenway, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: OLIVER WHITLEY --- KEEPER OF THE BBC'S CONSCIENCE WHO WAS SACKED BUT CAME BACK TO BE ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL 24 March 2005 Oliver Whitley, a former Managing Director of External Broadcasting and Chief Assistant to the Director-General, was regarded by many as the keeper of the BBC's conscience. Oliver John Whitley, broadcasting administrator: born Halifax, Yorkshire 12 February 1912; Head of General Overseas Service, BBC 1950-54, Assistant Controller, Overseas Services 1955-57, Appointments Officer 1957-60, Controller, Staff Training and Appointments 1960-64, Chief Assistant to the Director-General 1964-68, Managing Director, External Broadcasting 1969-72; married 1939 Elspeth Forrester-Paton (four sons, one daughter); died Benderloch, Argyll 22 March 2005. Oliver Whitley, a former Managing Director of External Broadcasting and Chief Assistant to the Director-General, was regarded by many as the keeper of the BBC's conscience. His father, J.H. Whitley, after whom the joint industrial councils were named, declined the customary viscountcy when he retired in 1928 after seven years as Speaker of the House of Commons. Nor would he accept the proffered knighthood (KCSI) for his chairmanship of the Royal Commission on Labour in India. Then, in 1930, he was appointed Chairman of the BBC and was among the best in the corporation's history, serving until his death in 1935. Oliver Whitley's mother, Marguerite, was the daughter of one of Garibaldi's officers, Giulio Marchetti. Whitley inherited his grandfather's courage and his father's austere integrity. Despite outstanding service he steadily refused to allow his name to be submitted for inclusion in any honours list. Early in his career he resigned, and was then sacked from the BBC on an issue of principle in which he was in dispute with the Director-General. Yet five years later he was welcomed back and eventually rose to become the acting Director-General himself. He was born in 1912 in Halifax, where his father was the Liberal MP, and educated at Clifton and New College, Oxford, and after qualifying as a barrister, and shortly after his father's death, in 1935 he joined the BBC. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Monitoring Service was established at Wood Norton, near Evesham, with Richard Marriott as Director and Oliver Whitley as the Chief Monitoring Supervisor. Together they managed a well-knit polyglot team whose reporting and analysis of foreign broadcasts and the Nazis' internal communications were making an important contribution to the war effort. In 1941 Marriott and Whitley, both dedicated and efficient men, considered that a plan to move the Monitoring Service from Wood Norton to Caversham Park near Reading would be unwise. Invaluable members of the specialised staff would be lost, thus breaking up the esprit de corps, and reception conditions would be technically worse. The Director-General, F.W. Ogilvie, Sir John Reith's sadly inadequate successor, was adamant that the move must take place, despite misgivings expressed by his deputy, Sir Cecil Graves, and other senior staff. Marriott and Whitley both felt the decision was insensitive, whatever reasons Ogilvie might have had for it, and decided to resign and enlist in the forces. The situation was aggravated when Ogilvie went to Wood Norton to justify the decision and tell the monitoring staff they must obey orders, but excluded both Whitley and Marriott from the staff meeting. Moreover his address, according to the monitors (who were notably expert at accurate reporting), was such a travesty of the managers' reasons for resignation that Whitley, before departing, gave vent to his indignation in a confidential note to each of the Governors telling them what he thought of Ogilvie's conduct. Oliver Whitley forgot that (under a system ironically devised by his father) the Director-General's secretary doubled as clerk to the Governors. She intercepted his complaints and passed them to Ogilvie. A dispatch rider straightway drove to Wood Norton with instructions to Whitley to return his pass and bicycle immediately, and to leave without working out his notice. However the Governors were not prepared to support Ogilvie in the enforcement of his discipline and two of them - Lady Violet Bonham Carter and Harold Nicolson - wrote Whitley friendly letters hoping that he would return after the war. A few months later the Governors decided it was time for Ogilvie himself to resign. In fairness to Ogilvie there were good but secret reasons for the decision to move to Caversham, though whether he was fully privy to them at the time is not clear. Winston Churchill had learnt through Otto John, later a notorious double agent, of the German manufacture of heavy water at Peenemunde, and was contemplating moving the Government to Evesham if London should be subjected to atomic bombardment. Accordingly the BBC had been warned it must be ready to vacate the area. In fact the Monitoring Service moved to Caversham, where it still is, in April 1943. Whitley joined the RNVR, served first with the Coastal Forces in Scotland and later with Combined Operations in both Europe and the Far East. He had volunteered for one of the most hazardous roles - the command of a landing-craft rocket launcher. Marriott joined Fighter Command and won the DFC and Bar. After the war Whitley, like Marriott, had no trouble in rejoining the BBC, although the former Director- General had summarily dismissed him. The BBC seconded Whitley to the Colonial Office Information Department to facilitate the establishment of radio in many colonies still awaiting independence. At that time the BBC had an unrivalled world reputation and the Government called on the corporation to lend staff to help set up broadcasting organisations modelled on BBC rather than on American commercial radio lines. The snag was that it was virtually impossible to collect licence fees in developing countries. The colonial administrators were unkeen to spend money on what some regarded as a frivolous optional extra, and in the event many colonial broadcasters had to depend on advertising for their revenue. In 1949 Whitley returned to the BBC as Assistant Head of the Colonial Service and then rose steadily through a succession of posts in the External Services, as the World Service was then called. After nine years he moved to Broadcasting House to take charge of staff recruitment, training and promotion. His rectitude and fund of common sense helped to ensure that good people were appointed and promotions were fair. He also established short residential courses for staff under consideration for senior management at a rural conference house near High Wycombe named Uplands. In addition to the BBC top brass he managed to attract outside speakers of great distinction to come to Uplands and lecture to those of us who were immersed in syndicate studies of complicated BBC problems in austere living conditions. In 1964 Oliver Whitley became the Chief Assistant to the Director- General, Sir Hugh Greene. One of his duties was to handle the relations between the BBC and the political parties, never an easy operation, for each is inclined to believe the BBC is secretly in league with its opponents. He soon earned the respect of both the Government Chief Whip, John Silkin, and the Opposition Chief Whip, William Whitelaw. But not all political problems could be resolved by his tact and patent integrity. External events exacted their toll. "The nation divided always has the BBC on the rack" was a phrase coined by Whitley at this time and frequently quoted by others since. Another duty was to put a brake on some of Greene's more impulsive actions. It was Whitley, for instance, who restrained Greene from his immediate instinct to resign when he learnt that Harold Wilson was switching Lord Hill of Luton overnight from the chairmanship of the Independent Television Authority to that of the BBC. In 1969, when Greene felt that his pending second divorce did require his resignation as Director-General, Whitley was himself already within three years of the BBC retiring age. He was thus regarded as outside the running for the succession, although otherwise admirably qualified. Charles Curran was appointed DG, and Whitley returned to Bush House to the vacated position of Managing Director of the External Services. He was also appointed to act for the new Director- General whenever he was absent. Whitley had long experience of Bush House problems, the main one of which is the recurring instinct of governments under economic pressure to slash the Grant-in-Aid that funds it, preferably with the support of an official review body. Such a one was the small committee headed by the financier Sir Val Duncan which reported in July 1969 with the élitist recommendation that the BBC's broadcasts abroad should be directed merely to English-speaking listeners of the educated and professional classes, in support of British diplomatic or commercial activities. Whitley's verdict on the Duncan Report in a note to the Foreign Office encapsulated both the Bush House ethos and his own philosophy: The main value of the External Services is not that they may help to sell tractors or nuclear reactors, nor even that they may so influence people in other countries, nobs or mobs, as to be more amenable to British diplomacy or foreign policy. Their main value is that, because they effectively represent and communicate this British propensity to truthfulness or the adherence to individual right to the perception of reality, they help to increase the inherent instability of political systems based on a total inversion of morality and reality for ideological purposes. The Duncan Report recommendation was quietly shelved. In 1972 Oliver Whitley and his wife, Elspeth, retired to Oban, where he enjoyed gardening and wrote many perceptive reviews of books about broadcasting. His magisterial notice of Lord Hill's memoirs in The Listener in 1974 declared: He describes the impressions made on himself and his fellow Governors by each of the members of the staff when they were interviewed for the post of Director-General in succession to Sir Hugh Greene. Later, on another matter, he quotes from the minutes of the Board of Management, which are, of course, strictly confidential. Whitley continued: It is pertinent to ask by what logic it is reprehensible, as Lord Hill evidently regards it, for junior staff to "leak" BBC confidences to the press, but legitimate for the Chairman to publish BBC confidences as soon as possible after he has left. From Whitley, father or son, such conduct would have been unthinkable. Leonard Miall --- Leonard Miall died 24 February 2005 [who`s he? Obit written before Whitley died by Miall before he too died?] And another obit for Whitley in Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1538632,00.html (via gh, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBC FURIOUS AT DUTCH WEBSITE THAT SEARCHES TELETEXT The BBC is said to be furious at a website based in the Netherlands that permits users to find content on its BBC1 and BBC2 analogue teletext service Ceefax, as well as the Aertel service of Irish public broadcaster RTE. A report in the Financial Times says that the BBC is taking steps to have the site shut down. The site has been set up by Hendrik Noorderhaven, a computer consultant and former candidate for the European parliament. He doesn't believe he has broken any laws. It appears to be part of a larger project to include other teletext services, as the domain textview.tv has also been registered and contains a holding page marked 'under construction'. The Ceefax.tv site should be popular amongst British expats in the Netherlands who view BBC via the Dutch cable. Since the cable companies started relaying the digital satellite feed of BBC1 and BBC2, there is only a very limited version of Ceefax, and BBCi - which replaces Ceefax on the BBC's digital services - is not available at all. The site, which can be viewed by anyone in the world, is very fast, and we were able to locate and display pages containing search terms much more quickly than using teletext on a TV set. Ceefax.tv http://www.ceefax.tv (Thanks to Ray Woodward for help with this item). # posted by Andy @ 12:28 March 27 (Media Network blog via DXLD) I've never understood why Ceefax was dropped from the Digital service, no matter what claptrap the powers that be come out with, Ceefax is much quicker than the Digital service and given that it is still paid for by the UK Licence fee, should be available on all platforms. (Paul (the other one) 03.27.05 - 8:53 pm, ibid.) Well, the content is the same, so in that sense you still get what you paid for. But the initial implementation of BBCi was poor, and has now been somewhat improved with the addition of page numbers, so you can now select a favourite page automatically as you can with Ceefax, and indeed on Sky's interactive pages. Part of the problem with the digital service is, I believe, due to the slow performance of the Digibox on the satellite platform. I have not seen any speed comparisons with the Freeview implementation, but it didn't seem very fast when I tried it at my sister's place over Christmas (Andy, 03.27.05 - 11:27 pm, ibid.) I can press text, 160 and have regional headlines on my TV in less than 8 seconds; took just over 50 just to get to the regional news menu on a Digibox. There are 5 headlines on the Digital service, 7 on the analogue. Give me analogue teletext anyday (Paul (the other one). 03.28.05 - 12:04 am, ibid.) BBC managers are clearly living in the past. You'd think that they'd be happy for more people to see their content, by way of a search engine (Paul, 03.28.05 - 12:45 am, ibid.) ** U S A. The WWCR posted schedules show that for this week of confusion only, the 2200 weekday hour in Spanish will be on 7465 instead of 9985 which is now carrying transmitter 4 instead of 1; then from April 3 Spanish shifts to 2100+ when 15825 will be in use. This affects Mundo Radial, Tue 2230, Wed 2200, Fri 2215 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Según el nuevo esquema de WWCR para A-05, durante esta única semana confundida, del 27 de marzo hasta el 3 de abril, la hora en español a las 22 se encuentra en 7465 en vez de 9985, incluyendo Mundo Radial, el martes a las 2230, miércoles a las 2200, y viernes a las 2215. Desde la semana siguiente, una hora más temprana, y en 15825 (Glenn Hauser, Oclajoma, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Would appreciate some informal reports of how well World of Radio is heard Sunday at 1730 UT via WRN via WRMI 7385. Thanks, (Glenn, dxldyg via DXLD) Poor signal at 1730 on 7385 here in Michigan. Running about S3 on the R8 with a 70' N-S wire (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, ibid.) Not at all here in upstate NY, Glenn. Only a faint het (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Inaudible here on ATS-909 portable outside with whip; inside, with all computers and TVs closed down on FRG-7 with 100` E-W external longwire, barely audible, deep fading averaging about S6, peaks to S9 but with lots of noise (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WEWN 5810 at 0148 26 March with Mass. //990 and 1090, but SW much better, S9+20. At 0354 the MW stations were in sync with each other but not with SW. A daily occurrence. 990 has now an obnoxious signal rather than very obnoxious. It's been S9 at nights during the past few weeks rather than S9+30. 73/Liz (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. HBO DOCUMENTARY - BEHIND SCENES AT AIR AMERICA By Denis Hamill http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/293720p-251485c.html Air America can thank Kate O'Callaghan, Patrick Farrelly and the horse they rode their movie in on after "Left of the Dial," a terrific new documentary about the launching of the fledgling liberal radio station, airs Thursday night at 8 on HBO. "When we were done, after we'd shot 350 hours of tape over nine long months, and after we'd spent all our savings, ran up our credit cards, we had no money left for editing," Farrelly said. "So I called my sister on her farm back in County Cork in Ireland to borrow some money," O'Callaghan said. "And she said we were in luck, because her daughter had just sold a fine horse named Jose and that they could lend us the money from that." In Irish circles, this is known as the Paddy Factor. The horse was resold and wound up in New Jersey, and so Jose, too, can tune in this week to see his hoofprints on "Left of the Dial," a thoroughbred piece of documentary filmmaking by this Irish immigrant husband-and-wife filmmaking team of the Bronx that got a start working for Michael Moore's two TV series, "TV Nation" and "The Awful Truth." "We learned so much from working with Michael," Farrelly said. "We'd never done TV before, and so he gave us both a chance to learn the business. Moore showed us how to make films with a point of view, sort of like the new journalism in the 1960s. "Michael showed us that a political film can be highly entertaining, and that humor is often the best way to make an argument," O'Callaghan said. Both filmmakers honed their craft working for New York Times Television, doing documentaries for the Discovery Channel. In one, O'Callaghan follows paramedics as they treat the wounded in the midst of a tornado in Oklahoma City. "If you can shoot during a tornado, you gain the confidence to shoot under any circumstances," she said. During one of the most contentious presidential election years in American history, all the filmmakers' skills are in evidence as "Left of the Dial" chronicles a suspenseful, humorous, highly entertaining warts-and-all peek behind the curtain of the launching of a brand-new liberal radio network in a nation where the national conversation had been steered by right-wing talk radio since the early days of the Clinton administration. "When we first heard that Air America would happen, with Bush in office, with Iraq on everyone's mind, we just thought it would make a very dramatic film," Farrelly said. The filmmaking couple struck a deal with Air America honchos, and, assisted by additional camera operators Erica Soehngen and Robert Palumbo, just started filming. And during the jittery 12-day countdown to launch, the camera probes into all the lefty nooks and crannies as people such as Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron and the hilarious Randi Rhodes try to find their sea legs on the airwaves of this operation that in its early stages resembles the set of a Marx Brothers movie. The camera is there March 31, 2004, the triumphant first day of air time. It's there at home with Rhodes, the only host with seasoned radio experience, who comes out of Brooklyn and Queens as a sassy, wickedly funny tough broad who on the first day on air hammers out Ralph Nader in a first-round knockout, causing the potential liberal spoiler to hang up. The camera also is there to chronicle Franken's endless wit, offering a liberal corrective to Rush Limbaugh's daily screed. It chronicles Garofalo's loving but contentious debates with her conservative father. It captures morning host Maron's daily preshow meltdown. The cameras are also there when paychecks start bouncing, medical coverage flatlines, Chicago and L.A. affiliates shutter, and it's in the distressed faces of the short-circuiting financial backers, harried techies, frustrated producers and unpaid worker bees when it looks like the curtain might fall. "The irony was that at the same time Air America was running out of money, so were we," Farrelly said. "We were shooting this independently, on speculation, without a release deal, and we were just financially in over our heads." The cameras are there when new funding is found, and when the first Arbitron ratings show that Air America is kicking butt against most of their conservative counterparts in the crucial New York market. The only thing missing is the day when Sheila Nevins, head of HBO documentaries, snaps up "Left of the Dial" for a national airing. "It was a triumphant day," O'Callaghan said. "Sheila Nevins is a truly remarkable woman to work with." "Plus we were thrilled to come out with a small profit," Farrelly said. From which they oughtta buy Jose the horse some oats (via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. 24HR COMMUNITY RADIO FM STATION, WBCR, ON-THE-AIR http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~2784908,00.html Volunteer radio WBCR up and running By Ellen G. Lahr, Berkshire Eagle Staff GREAT BARRINGTON -- WBCR, the new grass-roots radio station that began on a shoestring with a core of feisty volunteers and a series of technical glitches, has been broadcasting 24 hours a day for the past week at 97.7 FM. With the station's antenna operations adjusted after it twice had to go silent since starting up in late October, WBCR has been broadcasting a steady mix of live hosted shows and automated play lists. People are welcome to submit their programming ideas to the Berkshire Community Radio Alliance, and to host a live show or produce a prerecorded show in advance, said Ann Condon, a volunteer for the alliance. Training is provided for interested show hosts, she said. Plans are in the works for hosting everything from Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic in Lenox, to mainstream music shows, classical music, alternative music, talk shows, drama readings and comedy improvisation, said Condon. "We're getting loads of ideas," she said yesterday. An open house yesterday drew a small crowd to the station's new studio in the refurbished basement of the Pink Cloud gallery on Main Street, next to Brooks Drugs. Busy day on air Friday was a busy day for live programming: Michael McCarthy did a live, two-hour show, "Phat Man Blues." Two other live shows, including a jazz program, were interspersed throughout the day. The station has equipment for playing vinyl records, and a collection of donated CDs; more are always welcome. During down time, the station plays a steady offering of downloaded automated music, which has been running all night long, all week. The station organizers kept a low profile during the first week of operation to make sure the technical deficits are resolved. The radio station's new digs, rented for $400 per month, will require ongoing fund raising, unless an alternative free space turns up elsewhere in town. The station met its Oct. 25 Federal Communications Commission deadline to get its signal on the air, but it soon became apparent that the signal from its antenna on the roof of Fairview Hospital was interfering with a signal from WAMC (FM 90.3), the public radio based on Albany. That led to a temporary shutdown while antenna troubles were worked out, but another glitch occurred and more repairs were needed. WAMC pitched in to help pay for the antenna adjustments, but WBCR's organizers have said they aim to repay the larger station for its help. The radio alliance had a March deadline to raise $9,000, which would trigger the release of a $25,000 federal matching grant for the station. The station's budget for the first year of operation is around $50,000; around $40,000 had been raised as of December. Updated financial information was not available yesterday. Wide-ranging signal The 100-watt station's signal is reaching as far as Lee, Otis, Sheffield and Egremont. The studio will host an open house every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at the offices at 195 Main St. WBCR operates as a low-power FM radio station, which means it must maintain its status as a not-for-profit organization; low-power station status is designated for community-based programming. The alliance will offer several upcoming workshops for interested volunteers: On April 8, the workshop "Techniques of Interviewing" will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Zenn New Media. It is hosted by Tom Laurenson, educator and founding member of OBAN-FM radio in Scotland. On April 16, the workshop "Designing a Show" will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Friends Meeting House, led by Glen Brooks, a 20-year veteran of public and commercial radio. For information, call (413) 528-9797. Some live music performances are scheduled as fund-raisers for the radio station. Folk performer Greg Greenway will perform at Club Helsinki on Sunday, April 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $7.50 for children under 12. Brunch fare is available. Local musicians Graham and Barbara Dean will open for Greenway. On the Web: http://www.berkshireradio.org or http://www.wbcr-lp.org (via Pete Costello, March 27, DXLD) ** U S A. Do the old calls go back into a "pool" when they are relinquished by the station? Are they available for other stations to use? For example, if I were to buy a 250 watt station in western Kansas, could I request (and receive) KVOO??? (Bruce Winkleman, Tulsa, NRC-AM via DXLD) Nope - because the KVOO callsign is still in use, on the 98.5 FM in Tulsa. Actually, that's not completely true. Because the KVOO callsign isn't in use on AM, you could request and receive permission to use KVOO on AM - but not from the FCC. You'd first have to go to Journal Broadcast Group, which owns KVOO-FM, and ask them if it's OK to duplicate their calls on AM. Then you could apply to the FCC for the KVOO calls on your AM. (The way it works, incidentally, is that the rights to the callsign rest with whoever's been using them longer. To use the WDAF example that was raised earlier in the thread: there's a WDAF-TV on channel 4 in KC, owned by Fox Television Stations. There's also WDAF-FM on 106.5 in Liberty MO, a KC suburb, owned by Entercom. If I wanted to have WDAF on AM here in Rochester, the decision would rest with Fox, since it's had the WDAF-TV calls on channel 4 since that station signed on, whereas the WDAF-FM calls have been in use on 106.5 only since 2003, when they moved there from 610.) If the base four-letter call is dropped completely by the old owner, it then becomes available again for anyone to grab and use at will. s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) This has been a consistent source of confusion for some time. Salem, you see, is an EXTREMELY conservative company. I speak not of its politics (though the statement's reasonably true there as well) but of its policies on preserving historic callsigns, especially three-letter ones that are gone for good if they go away. So follow the bouncing ball that is "WHK" as we take a little trip through recent Cleveland radio history... WHK, of course, was the heritage call on 1390, later 1420, under a series of owners that ended up with Malrite (in tandem with WMMS, ex- WHK-FM) and eventually Salem. In 2001, there was a complex three-way exchange of stations in northeast Ohio that went down thusly: Bob Conrad, who owned stand- alone classical FM station WCLV 95.5 in Cleveland, needed cash to keep the station alive. Salem wanted an FM signal for its "Fish" contemporary Christian music programming. Clear Channel wanted to strengthen its cluster of stations in Cleveland and nearby Akron- Canton. So Conrad sold the 95.5 facility (a full 50,000-watt class B) to Clear Channel, which promptly traded it to Salem. In exchange, Conrad got Clear Channel's 104.9 Lorain OH, a class A rimshotter from the west side of the market, along with Salem's 1420 signal (the original WHK) and the intellectual property (adult-standards format and staff) of Salem's 850, which had been WRMR. (This was the old WJW, years ago.) Salem got 95.5. Clear Channel got Salem's 98.1 in Canton, another big class B signal covering Canton and Akron. (It had been WHK-FM under Salem.) All at once in July 2001, WCLV's classical music went from 95.5 to 104.9. The standards went from WRMR 850 to what was now WCLV(AM) 1420. Salem reshuffled the rest of its AM lineup, moving the WHK religious format to 1220 (ex-WKNR, and WGAR before that) and moving WKNR's calls and sports format to 850. 95.5 became "the Fish," WFHM. 98.1 became top 40 WKDD, targeting Akron. And the former home of WKDD, the Akron- licensed 96.5 signal that had recently moved to a tower giving it full Cleveland coverage, became the new home of "Kiss" WAKS, which had been on 104.9. Complicated? Confusing? Heck, yeah. But it was actually even MORE complex than that, because Salem was bound and determined never to put the actual three-letter WHK callsign on a signal that it didn't have complete control over. (Remember that in the process of doing these deals, there were a lot of LMA-until-closing agreements, in which the buyer of the station would operate it even before all the paperwork was done to legally transfer ownership.) So a couple of months before the July 1 switchover date, Salem quietly changed a few of its AM calls. WHK 1420 became WHKK and WCCD 1000 Parma OH (a Salem station that was not otherwise involved in the switches) took the WHK calls. And here's a key point: the stations' branding DID NOT CHANGE - they were still "WHK 1420" and "WCCD 1000" at all times except the legal ID. When the formats switched on July 1, WHKK 1420 became WCLV. WKNR 1220 temporarily became WHKC, though it only used those calls once an hour and was otherwise "WHK 1220." It took several months for all the paperwork to change hands and for Salem to become the official licensee of 1220, and it was only then that 1000 went back to WCCD and the WHK calls moved to 1220. (There was also a brief period right after the switch when 95.5 Cleveland was legally WHK-FM, though it didn't last long.) Peter is correct that 1440 in Warren (ex-WRRO) became WHKW around this time as well, serving as the Youngstown-market simulcast of whichever Cleveland station was religious "WHK," whether 1420 or 1220. Complicated? Confusing? It gets WORSE. Last year, Bob Conrad decided to pull the plug on the standards format on 1420 (which had in the interim dropped the WCLV calls and gone back to the old WRMR calls from 850), and he entered a deal with Salem to sell 1420 to them. Salem promptly began operating 1420 under an LMA, and in the process tweaked its formats and branding. 1220 kept the religious preaching and teaching that had been identified as "WHK," but it was now branded as "WHKW," which - yes - are still the legal calls on 1440 Warren OH, which is still simulcasting. The "WHK" branding moved back to 1420 along with Salem's talk network (Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, etc.) But this is Salem, and Salem doesn't put a valuable three-letter call on a facility it does not fully own. So the actual WHK calls remained - and still remain - on 1220. 1420 identifies as "WHK Cleveland" for most of the hour, and you have to listen very carefully at :06, after the news, to hear them say the legal calls of "WRMR Cleveland." 1220 identifies as "WHKW 1220," and it's only once an hour that you hear the legal calls "WHK Cleveland, WHKW Warren-Youngstown." At some point Salem will finally close the circle on all this and put the WHK calls back on 1420, WHKW on 1220 and something else on 1440 Warren. Until then, though, log 'em with "WHK" for 1220, "WRMR" for 1420 and "WHKW" for 1440. Everything else is just a slogan, in the eyes of the FCC. s (Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) They should put WHK back on 1420, put WGAR back on 1220, send WKNR back across Lake Erie to Detroit. But there is a good reason to have WHK on 1220 because it is the most powerful signal of all of them. So, go figure (Paul Smith, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) I like the idea of putting WHK back on 1420 where it belongs. The WGAR calls live on at 99.5 on the FM dial in Cleveland, so at least they're still alive in the market (and not available to Salem for 1220 use.) And while I'd love to see the Keener calls back in Detroit, I wonder if they'd still mean anything to most people there. It's been what, at least 30 years now? Now, if you were suggesting putting the WJW calls back on 850, there's a parade I'd gladly lead! (Those calls are still in the market too, on Fox's channel 8 TV.) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** U S A. Dear Glenn -- You can still get ABC NEWS NOW on Comcast.net, it is only avaliable to CHSI Subscribers. (Comcast High Speed Internet) Also have you heard the "ABC WORLD NEWS NOW POKA"? If not go to: http://www.geocities.com/netnewsmusic/abc.html (Paste It into your Browser. & Turn on your speakers) Look for World News Poka (Paul Armani, Denver CO, UT March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló Presidente Sun Mar 27 at 1511 check was very good on 11875 via Cuba, but not found on any other frequency; actually it was Bolivarian promotion, not Chávez himself at this moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 4739.85, Son La Broadcasting Station (Presumed), Mar 26, 1355-1401*, distinctive chanting (Buddhist?). Language sounded right for Vietnam. Weak (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Now on 7460 kcs, I think I have Radio Nacional de la RASD via Algeria right now. In Arabic, signal is at threshold of noise, I've been monitoring since 2115 UT, female announcer between songs. Music sounds like a flute of some sort. Anybody can confirm this??? (Chris KC5IIE, Receiver: IC 745 Antenna: Inverted L, Tulsa, OK, March 26, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Forget about it after 2200 when WWCR now opens on 7465; from March 27 it`s transmitter #1, ex-9985, instead of #4, which does not come up on 7465 until 0000. The *2200 start of 7465 continues for the rest of A- 05 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa via Rampisham, 11995 at 1812 3/26 with interview with two experts on political/democratic future of Zimbabwe; good. Also heard at 1640 3/24 on 11845 at fair level (Joe Hanlon, Drake SW8 with the RF Systems EMF antenna, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW Radio Africa, very nice strong and clear signal on new 15145, from 1600 UT Sunday March 27; leisurely programme summary including Behind the Headlines and Letter from America. Wonder if this is Ascension instead of UK. If still on 11845, now blocked by dentroCuban jammming and Radio Martí (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) (Clandestine). 15145, SW Radio Africa, Mar 27, 1612-1645, in English, Easter program of Richard Allfrey, fair, nice to have no jamming (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6416.2, tune-in around 0337, good signal, M talk in local language (not Arabic), outro music 0345, into W pop vocal, 0348 M possible ID, talk to 0353, bumper music, more talk, music swells out, 0400 M talk over what sounded like flutes, talk continued to 0413*. Jamming, same strength as station and there from tune-in, ceased with end of transmission. Signal lost ground with time, fade consistent with East Africa propagation this time of year. Didn't sound like typical Mideast clannie. Two clips - one at 0348, the other at 0400, are up for a few days at: http://www.alcue.com/6416.mp3 (Al Quaglieri-NY/March 25, HCDX via DXLD) The language sounds Farsi to me. 73, (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6790 with jammer sounding ?? 0244, 343, pers? om comments, Mar 26 05 (Michel Lacroix, France, HCDX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ RE: [dxld] DXLD 5-053 UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Regarding the rant by Joe Talbot which suggests that publications such as WRTH "never give anything back to the DX hobby". Mr Talbot says that WRTH charges people for their own information. During my time at WRTH we used to give free copies of the book to all those who supplied us with a significant amount of information during the year. I always used to tell people that what they were actually paying for was not the information itself (which, I agree, is in the public domain), but the time and effort involved in organising it into a format that made it possible to find things easily. The strongest critics were always those who have never actually done it. The strongest praise was from people who worked on DX magazines or other publications and knew how much work is involved. As for "never give anything back to the DX hobby" I regret now that I spent thousands of hours of my own time working for a number of different DX clubs, writing scripts for DX programmes for which I didn't get paid, and helping to finance World Music Radio and Radio Earth. If had realised that I wasn't giving anything to he DX hobby, I would be thousands of pounds richer and had a lot more free time over the years (Andy Sennitt, Holland, March 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GRUPO SWL RADIOGRUPO SUR PRESENTACIÓN: Radiogrupo Sur tiene múltiples actividades en su sede ubicada en el Centro de Montevideo, además de editar una Revista, realizar activaciones con su Grupo DX desde zonas ecológicas en fechas conmemorativas, islas e incluso una activación aérea instalando las estaciones oficiales del club en un avión de la Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya. Actualmente se esta trabajando en la construcción de un parque de antenas, el cual esta bastante adelantado con dos grandes torres y antenas multibandas y monobandas para utilizar con sala de radio e informática y una construcción para el hospedaje de los radiooperadores. En tal sentido los radio oyentes diexistas no estaremos ajenos a las actividades institucionales y radiales de Radiogrupo Sur, en el marco de un Grupo SWL, procurando captar adherentes dentro de los socios de la institución así como aficionados no socios tanto en Uruguay como en el Exterior. OBJETIVOS: - Difundir la afición a la radioescucha diexista por todos los medios posibles, en el marco institucional. - Promover actividades, charlas, concursos y cursos para entender y practicar el diexismo. - Incentivar el relacionamiento con destacados diexistas de Uruguay y el Mundo. - Fomentar el intercambio informativo con editores, clubes y asociaciones diexistas. - Estrechar lazos de amistad y cooperación con emisoras de radio que transmitan en onda corta con especial atención a las que tengan en su programación espacios diexistas. - Desarrollar en la biblioteca del club, un espacio diexista donde archivar el material impreso y electrónico que recibimos para mantenerlo a disposición de los socios en modalidad de lectura en sala. Todos los temas vinculados con las actividades del "Grupo SWL en Radiogrupo Sur", son en consulta y en coordinación con la Comisión Directiva, contándose con un archivo de gestión en la sede. Agradecemos desde ya su colaboración en la difusión del Grupo SWL de Radiogrupo Sur y le invitamos a participar. (Por mayor información pueden comunicarse con nuestro Coordinador por coreo electrónico swlrgs@montevideo.com.uy o por teléfono al (05982) 924.14.24) (Grupo SWL Radiogrupo Sur, Coordinador Gabriel Gómez, http://www.radiogruposur.tk swlrgs @ montevideo.com.uy March 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ MINIATURE FM TRANSMITTERS Re 5-054: Hi Glenn - I still have a Sound Feeder as well -- didn't realize that was still available. Another product that seems to be getting better writeups than the BeamIt is the Belkin TuneCast II. Its big advantage is that you can select from any FM frequency -- not just the lower end of the band. At the Amazon.com website you can read a comparison of four different FM transmitters -- see the "Spotlight Review at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001F22PA/ref=pd_sbs_pc_1/002-5122182-0692003?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846 or http://tinyurl.com/48cn8 The author liked the Belkin unit the best (Richard Cuff, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ATOMIC CLOCKS FOR NA This is a little OT for this list and is probably only of interest to those in NA (though it IS LF radio :) I was in Walgreen's Drugstore today and bought a very nice "Atomic" clock for 19.99. Wall/Desk. This unit does 12/24 Hour time, NA timezones ONLY (probably because it uses NIST), has nice large 1 3/4 inch digits that are easy to see, day/date AND room temperature (in F). It automatically sets itself to NIST 60 KC, though I believe that here in California it will only "self set" at night, I manually set it right now ;-) NOW, if there were just a way to set it to read GMT. You could "manually" set it to GMT but that would defeat the reason for an "Atomic" clock. Even if used only manually, it's still a nice clock, but I'll use it automatically and do the GMT conversion in my head (All official logging is done on the computer, set for GMT anyway). BUT, it DOES look like a nice clock with a lot of features for the price (remember when these first came out?) If you're in NA you might want to check these out at your local Walgreen's store (I have no pecuniary interest in them, just a satisfied customer). 73 de (Phil, KO6BB, 991 Different NDB's heard to date. http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/ Merced, Central California, 37.3N 120.48W CM97sh Atchley, swl at qth.net via DXLD) BMW to have HD Radios [puff alert, puff alert!!] RADIO --- BMW drivers will receive a new signal Everyday Hero BY HERB SHULDINER, MOTOR MATTERS, March 27, 2005 Digital radio via satellite has become a big thing for drivers. XM and Sirius have developed a pay-radio service that provides alternative programming for motorists. The growing popularity of pay satellite radio has even begun to alarm conventional broadcasters, who don't want to lose their listeners. Now conventional broadcasters have a new weapon in the arsenal to compete with XM and Sirius. Some home listeners are already enjoying free digital programming from conventional radio. Now drivers will begin to enjoy this feature. BMW, in a 2006 model that debuts this fall, will become the first automaker to include an HD Radio receiver, which provides digital-quality sound on the FM band and also improves AM reception dramatically. BMW has not yet announced which model will carry HD Radio. . . http://www.nynewsday.com/mynews/ny-swradio4191206mar27,0,4981746.story (via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) Thus, I suppose, giving a new reason for medium wave stations that eat three channels (Joel Rubin, ibid.) ETON E1 Please see the description below for the new Grundig/Eton 900 and see if you have the same reaction I did. Something is missing, post it, see if you agree with me. Honestly would you buy a new 2006 model high end 'porto-top' without it? What are they thinking and why? Originally announced as the Grundig Satellit 900, the Eton E1 is the world's first radio that combines AM, FM, shortwave and XM Satellite radio into one ultra high-performance unit. In development for more than ten years in collaboration with RL Drake Company and XM Satellite Radio, the E1 is simply the finest full-sized portable in the world. 1. XM Satellite Radio or Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) ready 2. Continuous Shortwave with Selectable Single Sideband (SSB) Reception 3. Dual Conversion Superheterodyne Circuit Design 4. Digitally Synthesized PLL Tuner with Synchronous Detector 5. Passband Tuning and Selectable Bandwidth Filters 6. 1700 Station Presets with Memory Scan Function 7. 5.7 inches Oversized Illuminated Multi-Function Dot-Matrix LCD Screen 8. Stereo Line-Level Audio Inputs/Outputs and External Antenna Connections 9. Dual Clocks and Programmable Timers 10. Separate Bass and Treble Controls Dimensions: 13.1W x 7.1H x 2.3 inches. Weight: 4 lbs. (approx.) (via Larry? Via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Surely you all know that Passover comes two full moons before the first e-skip climbs beyond chennel 4 for two days in a row. When the Lord parted the waters of the Red Sea, so that Mozes might lead the Israelites out of slavery, the waters rose with such great force that there were great electrical storms, and on the eighth day the atmosphere was ionized. (Book of Propagation, Verse 73). All this talk about Pesach, a month early, is pure Michigan-ah! ;-) (Saul Chernos, Ont., WTFDA via DXLD) ###