DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-058, April 3, 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 AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1269: Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1268] Mon 0430 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 0900 WOR WRMI 9955 Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0600 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html 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 1269 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1269 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1269.html WORLD OF RADIO 1269 in true shortwave sound Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-30-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-30-05.mp3 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS April 3: http://worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ALASKA. 9615, KNLS at 1201 with IS, 1202 sign-on, Poor with QRN and QRM Apr. 2 (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In English, at new time? (gh) ** ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760, 1429-, AIR Port Blair, Mar 31. Quite nice reception this morning with Indian music with about an S6 signal. As is so often the case, the voice modulation is less than the music, and more difficult to understand. About an S5 signal. Presumed logging as I could not hear any ID at 1430 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 15390, 1502-, HCJB, Apr 2. Pleasant surprise to hear DX Partyline in progress at good level, but with occasional deep fades. In the clear, so a pleasant listen. It's been a while since I've monitored this program on SW (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, Bangladesh Betar at 1228 April 2, instrumental music, 1230 pause then English s/on by man. Very soft at first, but then volume increased. Gave postal address, program lineup, news. Fair (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Quito 2/4 2005 *** Saturday edition: *** Recording of 3375.14, Radio Municipal, São Gabriel da Cachoeira. Municipal always has a little bit distorted sound and has often difficulties with QRM from R. Educadora, Guajará Mirim on 3375.08 (I have a recording of this station and will present it later on) and sometimes from R. San Antonio on 3375.12 kHz. Enjoy this "big" ID with QTH and frequencies! (Björn Malm, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, 1430-, Voice of the Strait, Apr 2. Fair signal with English programming. Not as strong as previous weekends, but the male announcer has a very readable accent. News at the BOH. The YL is still difficult for me to follow clearly. About an S7 signal. Short pieces interspersed with musical bridges (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. See VENEZUELA [non] ** COLOMBIA. 6139.78, 0426-, Radio Líder, Apr 3. Nice S5 to S7 reception, best in LSB to avoid the het, with an ID at 0425 (approx), as 'Radio Líder, romántico'. EZL light Spanish vocals. Again an ID, with just 'Radio Líder' at 0429:30. Not sure why I haven't heard this one before (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 3350, R. Exterior de España (Presumed), Mar 31, 0515- 0538, in Spanish, seemed to be non-stop discussion, with endless mentions of ``España``, BoH time pips (5+1), no ID noted, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [and non]. English from Voice of Croatia now heard here 1805-1815 on 6165 13830 and 2215-2230 on 1125 1134 and 9925 (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) More sloppy announcing, as I heard them say it was at ``8 pm`` (gh, DXLD) ** CYPRUS. Please note since Monday 28th March 2005 the Cyprus station Zygi on 1323 kHz has been off the air from 0200 to 0400 UT. This is rare as normally the station is off later in summer during the hours 0600-1000. I will keep you informed. No announcement made on the frequency if there is anything wrong. Normally there is a notice to say if the station is off for servicing. Tonight I am off duty. The BBC is my companion as I work through the night in my job (Costa Constantinides, Limassol, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 1 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague Annual competition: Radio Prague is running a new competition for listeners. To enter, just send us a few sentences on the following subject: "What Czech beer means to me." The winner will receive a week's stay for two in the Czech Republic, while runners-up will receive other attractive prizes. The best answer will be broadcast on Radio Prague. The winner and a friend will be accommodated in family style in the heart of Prague, at the hotel Falkensteiner Maria Prag, while your flight will be courtesy of Czech Airlines - Your travel partner to the Czech Republic. Please send your entries to the following address before June 15th: Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99, Prague 2, Czech Republic or you can use our email address: cr @ radio.cz (Source : Radio Prague Website via MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN GOURHANGA, GHORAMARA, RAJSHAHI-6100, BANGLADESH, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. I keep checking HCJB 11710 to see if any change has been made because of collision with Argentina. April 2 at 2353 the Spanish service was running that special-English Spotlight show, this one about ``The Railway Children``; there was a station underneath producing a SAH, but on this weekend I don`t think it was RAE, as they are further off-frequency and Portuguese is M-F only; think the QRM was Chinese (HFCC A-05: Beijing 100 kW, 285 degrees). Anyhow, the frequency announcement in Spanish at 2359 I think said ``11880 y 21455``, but I was not paying close enough attention or taping. Not 11710, anyway, tho that was where they were and continued after 2400. Perhaps 11880 is to be the replacement? It was clear at that time. But April 3, not heard on either after 2100 and 2200 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. As early as Wed March 30, I noticed that not only this week`s DXPL but the next`s audio was already availablized at http://www.hcjb.org/dxplaudio.php Actually, I was thinking that even the April 16 program was there, but maybe I was dreaming as it is not when rechecked April 3. Apparently Allen is off on another trip and advance programs had to be done (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENIN GDIGEST) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo English to Europe continues to be heard 2115- 2245 on 9990. English transmissions to South Asia 1215-1330 on 17835 and 1630-1830 to Africa on 11880 have also been noted here (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. ¿ÚLTIMO CAPÍTULO EN LA HISTORIA DE RADIO VENCEREMOS? Recientemente encontré, en el rincón de la librería de mi universidad, un interesante libro publicado en 1999, por la fundación Heinrich Böll y escrito por el periodista austríaco Ralf Leonhard llamado ``Ondas rebeldes, ondas conformes``, donde resume la historia de la Radio Venceremos y de Radio Farabundo Martí, aunque principalmente sobre la primera, desde la perspectiva de sus luchas por sobrevivir en un medio tan saturado como lo es la radio salvadoreña, después de haber sido legalizadas por los acuerdos de paz de 1992. El libro cuya edición fue de únicamente 500 ejemplares es bastante objetivo, a pesar de haber sido escrito desde la perspectiva de las decepcionadas fuentes de financiamiento externo que las radios tenían, pues esta misma fundación, ligada al partido verde alemán, fue una de ellas. La ``legendaria`` Radio Venceremos, que durante los años de guerra civil en El Salvador se convirtió en todo un mito y cuya influencia, no solo ideológica sino también psicológica, fue reconocida incluso por sus enemigos, parece haber llegado totalmente a su fin. Los cambios de nombre apenas dejan entrever los cambios en el formato e ideología de la estación, de Radio Venceremos paso a ser RV estéreo, RV Mix, en un intento fallido de ser la única emisora bilingüe inglés- español en el país, luego 100.5 a secas qué es hasta donde el libro reporta. Finalmente, ahora se denomina ``Viva 100 cinco``, con una programación prácticamente de solo música ``adulto contemporáneo``. Por cierto que un programa del extinto Media Network de Radio Netherlands se mencionó que inclusive se pensó alguna vez en utilizar el nombre de Corazón Estéreo, pero por alguna razón no se hizo. Y no fue posible simplemente porque el nombre ya estaba en uso por otra emisora de FM. Independientemente de la ideología del espectador, la historia de Radio Venceremos es muy apasionante y llena de intrigas, que a pesar de los libros escritos hasta el momento todavía hace falta documentar y escribir la historia completa del período de postguerra, si bien el libro que refiero es un buen documento, talvez sea más apropiado escribir una novela. Saludos (desde San Salvador, El Salvador, Humberto Molina http://www.geocities.com/hmolina.geo March 30, condiglist via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, (BATA) Radio Africa at 1434 tune-in April 2 going into a Christian preaching program. At 1504 another preacher, "Let the Bible Speak". 1533 California address given for Radio East Africa. Religious programs heard until 1800. Not heard at recheck at 1903. Fair-good (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. Re 5-057: Noticed months ago, "Radio Réveil" was relayed each Thursday and Friday until 2315 via Moyabi africa n 1's transmitters. Days need to be confirmed again (E-Cordier, Rennes, France. http://radioafrique.site.voila.fr DX LISTENING DIGEST) If ...Paroles de Vie, it`s also on Jülich (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. DW-Germany --- Bonn, March 2005, from Waldemar Krämer Dear friends of Deutsche Welle, This year, the summer transmission period starts on March 27th and ends on October 29th. As always, you will find enclosed herewith the entire circular as well as the list of times and frequencies for your specific target area. At present, shortwave listeners all around the world are experiencing increased interference on the propagation paths, sometimes even leading to a total breakdown of all shortwave connections. We are, however, sure that we have left rock bottom and that the propagation conditions will continue to improve. Some important changes, which we would like to tell you about: On January 1st, the Technical Advisory Service left the Transmission department and became part of the Customer Service within Deutsche Welle's Strategy and Marketing department. However, caring for and co- operation with our technical monitors and answering all technical questions listeners and viewers have are still among our main activities, so there will be no charge with regard to our contact with you. For me personally, there will be a somewhat drastic change: After more than 35 years with Deutsche Welle, I'll be going into retirement in May of this year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all very, very much for the excellent co- operation and assistance during all those years. Mr. Werner Neven will be my sucessor. tb @ dw- world.de (via Paul Gager, Vienna, Austria, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Radio Multi-Kulti-Berlin in Romanes via DW, on Sunday only 1030-1100 UT, 15275/Nauen 17765/Wertachtal, f/d QSL card comes via RBB, Masurenallee 8-14, 14057 Berlin/ Germany E: multikulti @ rbb- online.de http://www.multikulti.de 73 (via Paul Gager, Vienna, Austria, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Stör-Sender renamed and via Jülich ++++++Stör- Sender -- MV Baltic Radio- News ++++++ Der Stör-Sender wird zu MV Baltic Radio und sendet aus Deutschland am 03. April 2005 um 14 Uhr CET im 49m- Europa- Band auf 6045 Der Standort des Senders ist Jülich und die Sendeleistung beträgt 100000 Watt. Mehr in unserem Programm am 03. April 2005. The Stör-Sender turns into MV Baltic Radio and broadcasts from Germany on 6045 kHz short wave in the 49 meter – Europe-band. The first transmission from Germany will be on April 3rd, at 1200 UT. More information in our transmission on April, 3. ++++++Stör- Sender - - MV Baltic Radio- News via Joachim Thiel, ADX via Kai Ludwig, Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) I assume that MV refers to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Until now these program producers used the Riga-Ulbroka transmitter (9290). (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) WB sends along an audio clip, partly in English, saying they will broadcast on the first Sunday of every month at 1200, back on May 1 (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. [and non]. Hellenes Around the World is gone again; in B-04 had been Sat 1500-1600 on 15485 via Delano; now with DST, the 1500 UT hour on weekends only, stays on Delano 9775, extended an hour later than weekdays; but April 2 that was in Greek. Also checked 17705 before and after 1700 UT but was not propagating well enough to the car radio to tell what language it was in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOICE OF GREECE ENGLISH PROGRAMS If things go as they did for the A-04 Season we may get Hellenes Everywhere in English from 1600 to 1700 UT on 15630 or 17705. But, don't bet on it! Right now they are in the midst of Futball or its preliminaries -- it looks bad for Hellenes Everywhere (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, 1518 UT Sat April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I looked at Eike Bierwirth's rendition of Voice of Greece's Web site and did not see any English listed. I punched the Programma button on the left and brought up the Analytical versions in Greek for the Daily and Sunday programs (the Saturday version is for the old B- 04 and has not been updated yet). The other Daily, Saturday, and Sunday Program Schedules in Greek said invalid or corrupted -- perhaps not updated yet. This is what I have so far for Voice of Greece in English. Day UTC Program and Frequencies Every Day 0600-0700 BBC English 665 AM, 107 FM Sunday 0905-1000 It's All Greek To Me (Musical Program) 792 1260 AM, 9420 11645 15630 15650 21530 Every Day 1830-1855 News In English (Orientation Program) 665 AM, 107 FM, 12105 It does not look good for Hellenes Everywhere on Saturday in English at 1600 UT. Right now we have the Radio Newspaper; keep your ears open today (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, 1637 UT Sat April 2, ibid.) Voice of Greece English is now heard 1830-1900 on 12105. The Sunday only It`s All Greek to Me music programme was heard April 3rd 0905- 1000 on 9420 11645 15630 15650 and 21530 following a tip off from John Babbis in DX Listening Digest (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 3815, 21.3 2101, KNR-Tasiilaq, Grönland talk program and music. The interval signal was heard loud and clear, though. 3/2-3 THE (Tor Henrik Ekblom, Finland, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3815, 1.4 2110, Grönland extremely weak, but there! Mostly talk, but occasionally some music. S 2. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, ibid) 3815U, 26.3 2100, Grönland with talk, vanishes normally after 5-10 minutes. 1-2 LRH (Leif Råhäll, Sweden, ibid.) GREENLAND ON 3815 KHZ USB --- Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) is indeed again using short wave and they have been doing so since the summer of 2002. At first the transmissions were unofficial but now they are official. There have been some breaks in transmissions though, but they've been on regularly since sometime late 2004. This is what I wrote on HCDX on Dec. 20 2004: Although it apparently never has been reported outside Greenland, KNR continues to use short wave from Tasiilaq on the Greenlandic east coast. The frequency is 3815 kHz (USB) and the current schedule is: 1500-1615 and 2100-2215 UTC. The power is 200 W and the aerial used in an omni-directional cage aerial (Stig Hartvig Nielsen for WRTH 2005) Reception of KNR on 3815 has recently been reported by DX'ers in many countries. I was told that the transmitter/aerial on 3815 was to be "upgraded" soon - but I think this has already happened, and this service overhaul is the reason for the improved overseas reception of 3815. Moreover - there are still plans to give up broadcasting on Medium Wave and use Short Wave instead. Currently five 5-10 kW MW transmitters are on the air and it is rather expensive to keep these transmitters on the air. One single short wave transmitter could probably do the same job (serve the fishermen at sea). A plan for conducting test transmissions on 2 or 3 frequencies (in the 3-4 MHz and 7-10 MHz range) with 200-1000 W on each frequency from Nuuk in order to determine coverage has been prepared and is now awaiting confirmation from the management of KNR. The go ahead might come anytime between next month and in a couple of years (sic). There is also a chance that the management of KNR might jump to establishing permanent Short Wave transmissions without any previous test transmissions. The political situation in Greenland is very different to most Western countries and has been compared to the situation in some African or Latin American station, and so it is difficult to predict what will happen. Time will tell :-) PS! There has never been (in recent history) any service in Greenlandic and Faroese on short wave from Denmark. Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDIA. Dear Friends, The new A-2005 Home and External Services schedules of All India Radio is now available in their official site http://www.allindiaradio.org/schedule/fqsch.html 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio dx_india via DXLD) ** ITALY. Further to my letter about IRRS. I found the address of Free Speech Radio News, c/o KPFA Radio, 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Box 73, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA., on the internet at the library but the lady told me to be careful as they would want a payroll number for donations. I suppose I'll have to write via IRRS, but why does IRRS ask for IRC's then don't write back, they must be making a pretty penny. They say they have special numbered QSL cards I have wrote several times with no reply. Next time I won't put in an IRC but tell them they have all the other IRC's, they can use them (G. Skinner, April World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** JAPAN. 8466.5, 1555-, Kyodo News Agency, Apr 2. For something totally different, try FAX. I'm watching as a Japanese newspaper is being faxed. Perfectly readable if I could read the script! There, there was a header, with 'Kyodo News Sports'. My Fax list has a frequency listed as 8467.5 with F3C at 10 kW, 60/576 RPM/IOC. Just another fun part of the hobby! Sorry that it's a little off topic as far as SWBC is concerned. Parallel is 12744.5. I use USB, with about 600 Hz offset from the 'mark' at 2000 Hz. MixW is the program. Very easy to use. The latter frequency is listed a kHz higher, with 15 kW. Equally strong. 17069.6 is weakly readable (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. NHK Warudo via Bonaire, 17605, once again UT Sat April 2 at 2335 noted with western classical piano music, no announcements until 2354, and at 2355 theme and into talk about Indonesia, Sumatera, but I am not sure it was a current newscast. Some more classical music squeezed in before 2400* My theory is that this is a pre-recorded fill music program, played when the feed from Tokyo to Bonaire be lost, as heard once before I think also on a UT Saturday. Could one of our Japanese readers please check the program schedule for this broadcast to see if it is supposed to contain classical piano music every Saturday (0800 Sunday JST) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. From April, Radio Japan plans to introduce a monthly "DX" program, known as "DX Corner", within its English "Hello from Tokyo" feature, produced by the Japanese SW Club, on the first Saturday, and repeated on the following Sunday and Monday. The first program is planned for Apr 2, 3, and 4, covering the Winter SWL Fest which was held recently in Kulpsville, USA. Correct reception reports for the "DX Corner" segment will be acknowledged with the JSWC QSL, if sent directly to JSWC, PO Box 29, Sendai Central, 989-8691, Japan. Return postage of 1 IRC or US$1 is requested. Reports will be acknowleded by Radio Japan with its own QSL card. The May program will be later, on May 14. Details of actual frequencies for each target area are available at http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radioguide_e.html JSWC and NHK are anxious for feedback on this new program initiative! (as to JSWC ) (via Paul Gager, Austria, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Sounds like it might be something more than the rote recitation of sesquimonth-old-logs which is all they do on DXPL. John Norfolk looked up the schedule and it appears there will be one more broadcast this week (gh) UT MONDAY 0110-0200, Japan: HELLO FROM TOKYO. Middle East and North Africa 17560 5960* (*via UK); North & Central America 17825; South America 11935 via Bonaire; Southwest Asia 15325 [Includes DX Corner from Japanese SW Club Monday after first Saturday but May edition scheduled for May 16] (John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio, per the latest WHR schedule, has made the one UT hour timeshift, to Sat 1200 and Sun 1300, both on new 11785 via WHRI South Carolina. Note that other days of the week at the same time, 15285 is in use; see U S A (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA [non non]. Europa Radio International --- Hello again - it's been a long journey but now we're back (and on 9290 kHz too!). We've been away over Easter, nursing our venerable old transmitter on its journey to its final resting place, and we've travelled across the Atlantic too to carry out some tests via our good friends at Radio Miami International, WRMI - thanks to everybody who responded. However, the travelling's over, the job's nearly done and the Big News is that we returning to familiar territory and will once again re- commence broadcasting from the Ulbroka transmitter in Latvia on 9290 kHz later this month. Keep checking back at our website, http://www.europaradiointernational.co.uk for more details. Regards (Alan Day, ERI, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. R. Vilnius 2330 English broadcast confirmed on 9875, at 2343 UT April 2, fair-good (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG. RTL has registered 7145 0600-1800 for DRM transmissions to the UK (Wolfgang Bueschel, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Not heard yet on daily checks. 7145 is in the expanded section of the 40 metre band UK radio amateurs are now using on a secondary basis. Belarussia is heard here on 7145 but the DRM transmissions will wipe out at least 15 kHz, a pity they did not decide to conduct these tests on a frequency above 7200 as the band is certainly not fully occupied. It would be better public relations (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** MEXICO [and non]. WATCHING 105.7 MHZ, TECATE, MEXICO Uncertainty and anticipation surround Jaime Bonilla's 105.7 MHz Class C1 station now allocated to Tecate, Baja California North, Mexico. Will the station unleash its new program format on April 1 as planned? Will it increase power from Class B to Class C1 with a directional antenna designed to protect Hemet and Ludlow? (C1 status with these radiation restrictions has been approved by the FCC.) How will program material be shipped from the U.S. to the Mexican transmitter site on Cerro Bola since Section 325(c) cross-border authority is apparently still lacking? Why has Mr. Bonilla elected to keep his apparently unauthorized cross-border digital STL system on the air for his other stations (620, 1030 and 1700 kHz) following an FCC inspection, and will that system be used to carry 105.7 audio too? Stay tuned to your radios. No telling what lies ahead (CGC Communicator March 31, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. Radio Dniestr, Moldavia Republic now heard at 1600-1630 still on 5960, good signals but best on USB due to Netherlands on 5955. They are registered on new 5910 for the A05 season (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Dear Mr Dasgupta, This is the first time I write to you. Mr. Tore Larson, a WRTH editor for Latin America, introduced me you as an editor for Nepal. I visited Kathmandu in March, and I compiled a list of FM stations heard in the city. I hope this is useful for you. FM stations heard in Kathmandu 1) 90.6 Times FM 2) 91.2 Hits FM 3) 91.8 Nepal FM 4) 94.0 HBC 94 FM 5) 94.6 Metro FM 6) 96.1 Kantipur FM, simply the best 7) 97.9 Image FM 8) 98.8 Radio City 9) 100.0 Star FM 100, best of the best 10) 102.4 Radio Sagarmatha 11) 103.0 BBC relay 12) 104.2 ECR FM (Environment Cycle Radio) 13) 104.8 FM Adhyatma Jyoti 14) 105.4 Bhaktapur FM 1) Valley FM Pvt. Ltd., P.O.Box 8975, EPC 906, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-552-0586; 90.6@timesfm.net; http://www.timesfm.net 2) Hits Nepal Pvt. Ltd., P.O.Box 21912, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-449-0191; hitsfm@mos.com.np 3) Rainbow FM Pvt. Ltd., Rabibhawn-13, Kathmandu 4) Himalayan Broadcasting Co. (HBC), P.O.Box 8974, CPC 94, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-449-9788; hbc94fm@hbc.com.np; http://www.hbc.com.np 5) Metro F.M., P.O.Box 299, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-444-1248; khagendrakc@hotmail.com 6) Kantipur FM Pvt. Ltd., P.O.Box 14360, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-552-2731; kfm@info.com.np 7) Image FM Pvt. Ltd., P.O.Box 5566, Kathmandu FAX +977-1-424-1260; kath979@wlink.com.np; http://www.imagechannels.com 8) National Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd., GPO 19192, Anamnagar info@radiocity.com.np; http://www.radiocity.com.np 9) Star FM 100 MHz Pvt. Ltd., House No.120, Gautam Buddha, Marg, Anamnagar, Kathmandu; FAX +977-1-422-8865 starfm100@enet.com.np; http://nepalpages.com/starfm/ 10) Sagarmatha F.M., GPO Box. 6958, Kathmandu ; FAX +977-1-553-0227 stationmanager@radiosagarmatha.org; http://www.radiosagarmatha.org/ 11) [no entry] 12) Youth Awareness Environment Cycle Forum (YAEF), GPO 19355, Lalitpur; FAX +977-1-556-0782; yaf@wlink.com.np 13) FM Adhyatama Jyoti Pvt. Ltd , GPO 3390, Dillibazar-33 tel: +977-1-442-4448 14) Bhaktapur FM Pvt. Ltd., GPO 111, Bhaktapur-11 tel:+977-1-661-0607; bhaktapurfm@bhaktapurcity.com Additional information: His Majesty Government of Nepal requested Japan to donate the following for Radio Nepal: 1) 50 kW shortwave transmitter and antenna: 2 units 2) 10 kW medium wave transmitter: 1 unit 3) 18 vacuum tubes for 100kW MW transmitter 4) 9 vacuum tubes for 10kW MW transmitter 5) Rehabilitation of transmitter building at Bardibas. A study has been conducted by NHK Integrated Technology Inc., a subsidiary of NHK, on behalf of the Government of Japan. Detailed contents and construction schedule will be formulated in the final report scheduled to be presented in June 2005 (Tetsuya Hirahara/Japan, April 2, to Alok Das Gupta, cc to gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re 5-057, RNZI not currently using 17675; I must have been thinking of 15720. Note: I am correcting myself, and am not the least embarrassed. I should hope others feel the same way when I correct them. None of us can get everything right 100% of the time, but letting errors go is a disservice to everyone (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Nueva emisora en Nueva Zelanda --- Estimado Sr. Glenn Hauser, saludos cordiales. En la página neozelandesa http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0504/S00008.htm aparece una información acerca de una nueva emisora: "Radio Trackside", que según dicha página saldrá al aire el día 9 de abril de este año, para dedicarse exclusivamente a carreras de caballos. Asimismo aparecen las frecuencias en AM y FM por las que transmitirá y que se podrán escuchar en distintas ciudades. Fuera de dichos eventos las frecuencias serán usadas por RadioWorks para su programación habitual. 73's (Ángel José Nicolás Esteve (EA5-0957), Redactor de la Sección OL-OM de EL DIAL (AER), Valencia (España), April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, Voice of Nigeria, April 2, 1700 s/on by woman with ID, program lineup, GMT time check. Fair, QRM from VOA (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Reports that KFNY-1640 Enid would flip to Fox Sports on April 1 were slightly exaggerated. I checked it briefly on that date, but hit a commercial block and could not stand to listen long enough to confirm (O, how spoilt I am by SW and public radio). Then UT Sunday April 3 at 0545 I notice it is still All Comedy Radio! 100000watts.com explains that the flip will not actually happen until Monday April 4, which makes a bit more business sense, start-the-week and all that, but the call change to KFXY already happened March 30; at 0549 they plugged KFXY Coming Monday (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KFXY 1640 kHZ Format: Sports Network: Fox Sports Radio Shows: Jim Rome Slogan: Fox Sports 1640 Licensed: Enid, OK Owner: Chisholm Trail Broadcasting Co. Co-owned: KCRC, KNID, KQOB, KXLS Began Operation: 2003 Facilities: 10000w/1000w ND B Transmitter: 36 25' 14" N 97 52' 28" W History: Format Change Sports from Talk on 4/4/2005 Talk from N/A on 12/23/2003 N/A from cp-new on 11/1/2003 Slogan Change Fox Sports 1640 from All Comedy Radio on 4/4/2005 Station Change KFXYAM from KFNYAM on 3/30/2005 (100000watts.com via Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Radio Nacional de Paraguay noted active again April 2nd at 2230-2250 with a mixture of sport and news items on 9737.5, good signal here (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) The sporadically active R. Nacional was there April 2 at 2345 check on 9736.9, natch with rapid sports commentary, the only programming that really matters to them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5544, 2.4 0155, Radio San Andrés, Cutervo with quite good strength to be the first logging. Mentioning "...de Cutervo" a few times. At first "variedades musicales", then Ecuadorian music. Lots of QRM on both sides. KO (Kenneth Olofsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15190, Radyo Pilipinas, P.B.S., Apr 2, *1730-1802, IDs: ``Radyo Pilipinas, the Overseas Service of the P.B.S.,`` ``PBS, Radyo Pilipinas, the Voice of the Philippines,`` into program in English and assume Tagalog, giving the history of a Manila university that is ``celebrating 100 years of excellence in education,`` with light pop music and songs, mentions the Overseas Filipino Workers (`OFW`), fair. Had been listening to R. Africa (Equatorial Guinea) at 1724, but PBS totally covered them (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. DANZIG STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATES RADIO MARYJA AT REQUEST OF LECH WALESA --- by Wolfgang Jörissen © Copyright 2005 by RadioSzene, and translated and republished with the permission of Herr Ulrich Koering. RadioSzene is not responsible for the translation. My gratitude, too, to Herr Jörissen for correcting an error of translation. Danzig, Mar 23 (RadioSzene) --- The State Attorney General of Danzig has launched an investigation of the national Catholic radio station Radio Maryja. The basis for the action is a written complaint from the former Polish President Lech Walesa to the Polish Justice Minister in reaction to a specific broadcast in which he was accused of working with the Communist Secret Service SB. ``The written complaint of the former president was sent to the State Attorney General of Danzig through official channels, and the State Attorney General in this case is obliged to give a hearing to Lech Walesa as complainant,`` said Krzysztof Trynka, press liaison for the Polish PAP. The present case resulted from a specific broadcast of Radio Maryja in which Walesa was reproached for working together with the SB. The tenor of the complaint: ``He has done espionage work for the Communist secret police about the [Solidarity] dissidents. The Round Table between the Opposition and the Communist leadership has betrayed the Polish people.`` The ex-president complained about that to Justice Minister Andrzej Kalwas, specifically the disclosure of a "possible" collaboration with the SB, and Walesa sated that neither at the time of "the round tables" nor at any other point of time had any secret agreement been hammered out. Walesa has in recent times frequently been negative over the conservative Catholic radio station. He has maintained that the Station and its director, the Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, has brought shame to the Polish democracy and the image of the Polish Church in the World. Walesa strongly made his case even by calling for people to cut off financial support. The station finances itself primarily by donations, in part from mysterious sources. A week ago Walesa was the object of a snowball attack in Gizycko. The thrower, a member of the extreme right Youth organization Miodziez Wszechpolska (All-Poland Youth), was arrested (Catholic Radio Update April 4 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. A report to RDP International at the address in WRTH, Apartado 1011, 1001 Lisboa Codex, was returned undelivered. I then used the street address in the front section, Av. Marechal Gomes da Costa 37, 1849-030 Lisboa, and got a reply in 3 weeks (Allen Dean, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 11985, 1522-, Voice of Russia World Service, Apr 2. More difficult in A05 to monitor VOR during this time period. I was able to find this frequency at fair to good level, (listed on their website as to the ME), parallel to better 15455 (to Europe). 9660 to SEAs possibly very weakly heard. Sites unknown, at least until I can get an ILG A05 or similar database. English program about the 1945 storming of Königsberg (now renamed Kalinigrad). (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. VOR German no more via Tbilisskaya The A05 season brought remarkable changes in the shortwave transmissions of VOR's German service. Cf. http://www.vor.ru/German/Liste/liste.html (but beware, 15780 is DRM as well and 7380 the autumn counterpart of 9795, perhaps except for the 1800-1900 period where it is shown as well). The German service from Moscow was carried via Tbilisskaya "forever" to me, at least since the first half of the nineties. I still remember the 7360 winter and 11980 summer frequencies used then. Especially 11980 was a massive signal here, I assume produced by one of the 1000 kW units, perhaps run at 500 kW "only". The audio quality from the feed circuit was characteristic, with the typical gating being very obvious. Later the line became faulty and delivered frequency-shifted audio ("Donald Duck") until finally being replaced by a satellite feed a few years ago. By then 11980/7360 had been changed to 15455 summer / 11980 autumn / 7300 winter. Now no transmissions via Tbilisskaya are scheduled anymore. Instead VOR German appears again on 12010 via Samara. Back in the nineties they were taken off this outlet in favour of Radio Maryja. Later this 12010 disappeared in favour of other frequencies, furthermore Radio Maryja transmissions were transferred from Samara to Tbilisskaya. So the revival of this very 12010 after a break of almost a decade is quite a surprise. 15455 for 0900-1000 had been moved from Tbilisskaya to Samara as well. Makes me wonder why VOR and/or RTRS did this site switch at all? (To make sure, I can confirm Samara modulation characteristics indeed for both 12010 and 15455.) And finally let me mention a certain point about Voice of Russia on 630 kHz: This is the first time that VOR uses a "western" mediumwave transmitter. (Quite a lot of people still consider Wachenbrunn as a relic "they" just missed to eliminate, and Zehlendorf is an old GDR station as well.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. 6960, 23.3 1915, RadIo Shabelle, Somalia, dull talk pROGRAM. Also here March 2-3. Utility QRM! THE (Tor Henrik Ekblom, Finland, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST)) ** SOMALIA. QSL 6O0CW --- More than 1200 direct cards have been processed and mailed, and Silvano, I2YSB has run out of blank cards. Please be patient while a new batch is being printed, and note that I2YSB handles direct requests only (bureau cards should be sent to M5AAV). Silvano also reports the sad news of the untimely passing of Adam Nuur Maxamed Islam, 6O0N. Adam was the director of Daljir Radio, from whose premises 6O0CW operated, and he was instrumental in the success of the DXpedition. The home page for the 3-17 February operation from Somalia is at http://i2ysb.com/6o/index.htm (425 DX News via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) RIP ** SOMALIA. T5. Joe, VA6JWT, [Talbot] is QRV as 6O0JT from Galkayo. He has been active on 20 meters around 2015 to 2315z. QSL to home call (ARRL DX News March 31 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Hello Glenn, I checked a number of regular favorites to see if they had reverted to their usual Spring-Summer skeds a week ago. The first day, I heard REE very solid on 15385 at 0000 UT with their sign-on. Left the room around 0025 for a few minutes, came back, Spain GONE! I wondered if they had gone to a half hour program, but haven't heard REE since. I have checked the frequency almost every day, no joy. don't know if due to conditions, or is REE off? I did read your newsletter about a jammer on the frequency. I have heard that. Did I miss something re: Spain? Don't know if you have time to reply to this, but thank you for any light shed. 73 (~Rick Barton, AZ, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Rick, I don`t have anything further about that; have not checked it myself yet. I see in the HFCC A-05 they have registered both 6055 and 15385 at 0000. Their own website has schedules a year old. Will check further. 73, (Glenn to Rick via DXLD) Could someone further east than OK check before 0100 UT to see if Spain`s English broadcast still exist on 6055 or 15385? Here, 15385 has some FE station with QRM I cannot pin on Spain so far, and nothing on 6055. One would have expected them to go up from 6055 to 15385 a week ago, but the schedule at http://www.rtve.es/rne/ree/OndaCorta/lextrj.htm is still for A-04!!! Thanks, (Glenn, 0019 UT April 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm not hearing anything there (15385) either (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, 0033 UT April 3, ibid.) HFCC A-05 shows on 15385 IBB Tinang 250 kW 332 degrees after 0000 and per VOA schedule, yup, this is in Mandarin, so likely jammed. I also checked both REE frequencies before 2400 when French ought to appear; pas (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** SUDAN [and non?]. Radio Peace, 4750 e-mail from Peter Stover after trying several different addresses. He tells us about test transmissions at 0600-0630 and 2000-2030 local time in Sudan on 5895 kHz (it is not obvious from where the transmissions originate). (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably 0300-0330 & 1700- 1730 UT (gh) ** SUDAN [non]. Tentative: Madagascar, The Radio Nile, 12060 at 0445 April 3, cheerful, excited man in African language with Afro-pops, off suddenly at about 0458, fair signal (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie at 0625 April 2 with pop music, such as Celine Dion and Lionel Ritchie, with no DJ announcements for long periods. At 0645 man with "Radio Apintie, number one" in English. Fair (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4990, Radio Apintie, 0924-0940 April 3. Noted music to begin, then a man in the Dutch language comments. At 0932, man gives ID, "...Radio Apintie...". At around 0934 noted religious music presented. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Hello everybody! For all listeners of R. Taiwan International is available a web page of new QSL cards at the following address: http://www.rti.org.tw/aspx/QSL/index_spanish.aspx Web form report at: http://www.rti.org.tw/aspx/ReceptionReport/Spanish.aspx 73 (Nino Marabello, Italy, http://web.tiscali.it/ondecorte/ Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) We finally find out what QSL means: Qualified Shortwave Listeners (gh) Radio Taiwan International A05 Schedule March 27, 2005 - October 30, 2005 All times UT [the WYFR relays only here:] Mandarin 0100-0200 daily SAm 15215, 17845 WYFR 100 0400-0500 daily wNAm 5950, 9680 WYFR 100 0500-0600 daily CAm 9505 WYFR 100 2200-2400 daily wNAm 15440 WYFR 100 2200-2400 daily eNAm 5950 WYFR 100 Hokkien Days Area kHz Site kW 0000-0100 daily wNAm 15440 WYFR 100 2100-2200 daily eNAm 13695 WYFR 100 Cantonese Days Area kHz Site kW 0100-0200 daily wNAm 15440 WYFR 100 0100-0200 daily eNAm 5950 WYFR 100 0500-0600 daily wNAm 5950 WYFR 100 0500-0600 daily cNAm 9680 WYFR 100 2200-2300 daily Eu 11565 WYFR 100 Hakka Days Area kHz Site kW 0000-0100 daily eNAm 5950 WYFR 100 0200-0300 daily wNAm 15440 WYFR 100 English Days Area kHz Site kW 0200-0300 daily cNAm 9680 WYFR 100 0200-0300 daily eNAm 5950 WYFR 100 0300-0400 daily SAm 15215 WYFR 100 0300-0400 daily wNAm 5950 WYFR 100 0700-0800 daily wNAm 5950 WYFR 100 2200-2300 daily Eu 15600 WYFR 100 French Days Area kHz Site kW 0700-0800 daily Eu 7520 WYFR 100 2000-2100 daily Eu 18930 WYFR 100 2000-2100 daily eNAm 13695 WYFR 100 Spanish Days Area kHz Site kW 0200-0300 daily SAm 15215, 17845 WYFR 100 0400-0500 daily cNAm 11740 WYFR 100 0600-0700 daily wNAm 5950 WYFR 100 2300-2400 daily SAm 15130, 17805 WYFR 100 German Days Area kHz Site kW 0600-0700 daily Eu 7520 WYFR 100 (RTI Taiwan, via wwdxc BC-DX March 17 via Wolfgang Büschel, April 1, dxldyg via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand English to Europe heard 1900-2000 on 7155 and 2030-2045 on 9680 (Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 9600, Radio Thailand at 1255 with ad or promo for Bangkok Airways, sports report, 1259 closing announcements and off, Fair Apr. 2 (Harold T. Sellers, SHADOW LAKE RADIO CAMP near Stouffville, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 200 ft east wire, N 44 02.384, W 79 15.95, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably English at 1230 on new frequency (gh) ** U K [non]. Finally up early enough April 2 to check 9605 which is supposed to be the only remaining hour of BBC WS relay via WYFR, but at 1230 the channel was dominated by something in Chinese. Could not tell if the interference under it was BBC. At the same time 15190 via Bonaire was audible, tho not especially strong as it is beamed south. After 1300, I listened to BBC for the only hour on 15190 via French Guiana. This was marred by audio drop-outs ranging from more than one a minute to one every few minutes, each lasting a couple of seconds -- - exactly the same problem reported recently on GUF`s evening relays of RFI. While it`s likely the problem resides in Montsinéry, I`ll bet this would not be happening, unrepaired, if the feed chain all the way from studio microphone to SW transmitting antenna were totally analog! In between the dropouts I was listening to the news, Pick of the World, and Write On, the latter with the usual excuses about cancelled programmes and transmissions. April 3 at 1230: same situation on 9605. Another good frequency for BBCWS they would not like us to know about in NAm, where they are attempting to prevent people from listening to them on SW, is 17655, April 3 at 0005 with news about PJP2 QRT (what else?). HFCC says this is 250 kW at 25 degrees from Thailand, i.e., unavoidably toward us after East Asia, the same facility heard on 17760 in our morning. There was a little bit of polar flutter but better than 5975 French Guiana, which was running a few satellite-hops ahead of 17655 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Posted at the Media Network blog -- the BBCWS has announced it will be discontinuing Westway (the serialized drama) as of October. The BBC responded this is part of a plan to emphasize news & factual programming on weekdays, with the arts more prominent on the weekend. My take: I personally won't miss Westway, because that's not why I listen to the BBCWS. However, I hope they don't simply add another 15 minutes to The World Today or World Briefing -- I'd rather see additional themed programming, closer to the ABC's Radio National model than to the World Today model. This might result in music programming being moved to weekends; we'll see (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list March 31, via DXLD) World Service soap Westway axed ** BBC World Service radio soap opera Westway, heard by millions of people worldwide, is to be axed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4400735.stm (via Richard Cuff, ibid., and via Chris Evans, DXLD) They have their own site http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/westway/index.shtml And the actor's union, Equity, is furious: The Independent (London, UK) Axed: soap with more followers than 'Coronation Street' By Ciar Byrne, Media Correspondent http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=625330&host=3&dir=61 (via Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) Never one of my personal favorites, but the article points out why it is to many across the globe and why it was important. So let me get this straight. There was nothing deemed wrong with the quality of the program. And it was evidently quite popular. So, of course, it should be axed! Given the "logic" pursued rather relentlessly by BBCWS management of late, this reasoning is perfectly consistent! And while you might think I'm just being sarcastic, I am. But I'm also being factual. PS: Somewhere along the line in the various BBC-related threads the past few weeks, someone commented that if the BBC truly wanted to same some scratch, it really ought to scrap one of its worst decisions from the past decade --- that being the seven (or is it nine?) program streams which, with the exception of the Africa streams, just broadcast the same programs but at slightly different times. I wholeheartedly concur and have been saying this from almost the beginning of this addled idea. Given the stripped down version(s) of the BBC we have today (in comparison to even the recent past) and the apparent plans on the drawing board in 2006 to strip it down further, all that's really needed is a worldwide stream and an African stream. Even an all-news stream won't be necessary any longer because that will be the natural state of the new BBCWS in 2006 apparently! As someone in Monty Python once said, "What a stupid concert." (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, dxldyg via DXLD) No, it cost a lot in fees to the various actors. They've dropped the English languages lessons via the English World Service, required too much. Now the BBC Imperial Service has no drama, requiring actors, directors and assorted staffs along with writers. The unilinguals to the English service might not listen to the Pushto service but they've had a local language drama for a long time. I'll refer you to the BBC WS Trust: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pressreleases/story/2004/04/040429_nhnl10yearconcert.shtml It's to be done cheaply until the Blairite Foreign office decides to drop it in favour of licensing various FM retransmitters for ex-pats. They don't want to conceive of the concept of soft diplomacy in the modern age. And ex-patriates only want the market report for their shares, and the weekend soccer pools for their punts. (The Saturday soccer results was an essential piece of 'colonial' Canuckistan and Australand local broadcasts for many years, and everyone knew it was for the love of sport, but the love of betting) (Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) Ah, so I would expect that those in the corporate board room have given up their limousines, golf club fees and assorted other perks for the greater good of the corporation then (Figliozzi, ibid.) "New Home, New Life" received a lot of positive press following the Afghanistan invasion of 2001-2002. As for the WS in English, there are still plans to keep drama as part of the weekend schedule as of the late 2005 schedule reorganization. Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA /sarcasm on... Wait a minute here. We're talking about a public service broadcaster, right? Why should popularity matter? After all, popularity -- ratings – is one of the measures that commercial broadcasters use, right? I thought public service broadcasters were supposed to use benchmarks other than popularity to prioritize what goes on air. /sarcasm off... Meanwhile, let's talk about the multiple streams matter a bit. The BBC seeks to become a "global local" broadcaster. You know, "think globally, act locally". That's the way global entities who serve multiple cultures and multiple constituencies operate. One does this in order to enhance performance -- however measured -- by each individual audience. I'll grant you that the creation of multiple streams has added a layer of complexity to the management of the distribution of broadcasts from Bush House up to the satellites and back down to the transmitters. It also requires continuity for each stream between individual programs. What are your other beefs regarding the concept? The concept of "streaming" becomes moot in the world of on-demand listening / podcasting anyway. Each listener creates their own "stream". Just so we in the group don't propagate errors, the weekday emphasis as of late '05 is to be "news & factual". This would include programs such as "From Our Own Correspondnet", "Assignment", the documentaries, "Essential Guide", the Science / Health features, and "The Interview" in addition to the news programming. It will be interesting to see if the "All News" stream is maintained as a separate stream later this year. Since Sirius is switching to the PRI feed, which is slightly different than the "all news" feed, there is no specific outlet -- other than the website -- for the "all news" stream (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) If, with the increasing unavailability of BBCWS on shortwave, you are listening to BBC on the 'net, you might consider the various domestic networks. For example, many of the news, comedy, games and drama programs on BBCWS can be found on Radio 4 (Joel Rubin, ibid.) Sort of. The comedy/games series -- which, interestingly, is currently "in remission", appear to start on Radio 4 and move to the World Service approximately one season later. AFAIK "Play of the Week" originates on the WS. Didn't know there was any other drama on the WS. News programs on R4 are somewhat different than you'll find on the WS. The R4 versions carry more domestic news of national interest than the WS carries, and references to the UK government are more in shorthand on R4. For example, the WS might refer to "British Prime Minister Tony Blair" while R4 might just say "Tony Blair". I have also found that programs such as "Crossing Continents" on R4 are edited into editions of "Analysis", but they're just slightly different in emphasis. By no means do I wish to discount R4 as an interesting alternative to North American listeners. I'll often mention R4 programs in my "non-Shortwave tip of the month" in the NASWA Journal (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U K [non]. Radio Tatras International, brain-child of a certain Mr Eric Wiltshir, has been slated for a 9 April start. . . Now, call me a cynical old hack, but I`ve lost count of the number of pop radio stations that have, despite the hype, never made the light of day. The industry seems to attract those with well intentioned but ill- coinceived business models. If this one launches in April I shall eat my WRTH! (Martin Peters, LM&S, April Short Wave Magazine [UK] via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Free Asia is advertising for a President, according to a block add in the March 29 Wall Street Journal (via Mike Cooper) Viz: http://www.rfa.org/english/about/jobs/2005/03/28/president_job/ President - Radio Free Asia 2005.03.28 --- Radio Free Asia, a private, non-profit corporation funded by the federal government, is seeking a President. The President reports directly to RFA’s Board of Directors and is responsible for strategic direction and overall management. RFA broadcasts objective news and information to East Asian countries whose own media is suppressed by their governments. Its headquarters and 260 employees are located in Washington, D.C., while over 200 contractors and staff members are based in seven Asian bureaus and other news centers around the world. RFA broadcasts in nine languages, making for a highly multi-cultural staff. The successful candidate must have proven success in effectively leading and managing people in complex and diverse organizations. He/she must be able to effectively represent RFA to various outside stakeholders, including Capitol Hill and the Administration, as well as federal agencies and the broadcasting industry. He/she must be able to lead strategy development to ensure that RFA meets its mission and goals and that all employees achieve maximum potential in a fair and equitable manner. Knowledge of international broadcasting is highly desirable. Familiarity with target countries preferable. Competitive Not-for-Profit salary with excellent benefits. Must have or be able to obtain security clearance. Qualified candidates are encouraged to forward cover letter and resume including salary history to Norman Thompson at thompsonn @ rfa.org Radio Free Asia is an Equal Opportunity Employer (via gh, DXLD) So Richard Richter on the way out ** U S A. This month`s media show with Kim Elliott on VOA Talk to America from April 1 is now available via http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/TTA-Archive-Page.cfm (Glenn Hauser, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On VOA's Talk to America, 1 April, I interviewed Radio Sweden's George Wood about his station's experiment with podcasting. We also heard the last minutes of the VOA Munich medium wave relay and RVI Flemish World Radio (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) April 2 at 2138, VOA on 15445 seemed to be winging it with news of PJP2 QRT, announcer ad-libbing same basic info over and over, apparently hoping to bring in some correspondents. Isn`t this supposed to be a music hour? BTW, per HFCC A-05 15445 is now Greenville, 250 kW 94 degrees at 19-22, so excellent for CNAm reception off the back; 15580 is no longer from US site, but 15-20 from Botswana; and 15410 17-22 is from Morocco (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) With all due respect to Kim Andrew Elliott and others with the VOA, now and previously, I for some reason have never been able to accept the VOA in the same way as I can accept the BBC WS. Even though I know they strive to present a non-propagandist source, it nonetheless still seems to always come off as propagandist to me. It may be simply in their choice of voices doing the crossovers between programmers, or their choice of fill music, or the voices of the newscasters - I'm not sure what it is. But I know that whenever I run across a VOA broadcast on the wireless, I can recognize it almost immediately, and my gut, inside reaction is to keep tuning past them in search of something else. Call this shallow, but in 25-plus years of listening to shortwave, I can't seem to shake it. I can't seem to find myself to see the VOA with the same credibility as I so easily came to ascribe to the BBC, or even RNW or RCI (just to name a few more international broadcasters). My mind always wants to assume there is an agenda hidden behind VOA choices of what it says and how they say it. I'm thrilled to hear that others in the world have, and apparently still do, looked to the VOA for news and information. Somehow I can't. Off the soapbox (Kevin Anderson, Dubuque IA USA, K9IUA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. HFCC A-05 no longer shows WJIE 24 hours on 7490, just: 7490 0900 2400 11-13 JIE 50 155 1234567 270305 301005 D USA JIE FCC with WHR usage the rest of the day until 0900, so there should now be no overlap if this is being observed. And I see that WHR has made further frequency changes per their website (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ Schedule Update, March 31, 2005 --- Here is the latest schedule update from Monticello. All times Eastern [now UT -4]. * The Voice of Reason adds two hours Sunday, now 7-11 pm on 9330 * Good Friends adds Monday 5-6 pm on 9330, displacing Jean Shepherd * Good Friends adds Monday-Thursday 6-7 pm on 9330 * Good Friends adds Tuesday 5-6 pm on 9330, displacing Radio Caroline * Good Friends adds Mon-Fri 7-8 pm on 9330, replacing Spirit of Elijah * Allan Weiner Worldwide adds Friday 9 pm repeat on 5105 * Good Friends adds Saturday at 4 pm on 9330 * Full Gospel Hour moves from Sat at 6 pm on 9330 to Sat 5 pm on 17495 * 9330 is now offline from 6-10 pm Saturdays, removing Mystery Babylon, Allan Weiner Worldwide, and a simulcast of Marion's Attic (Larry Will, the WBCQ Program Guide and wbcq.com, dxldyg via DXLD) Now that the clox have all been adjusted, can we express such schedules in REAL time, 24-hour UT? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Here is the frequency schedule posted for all WHR stations, in case there are any changes: WHRI - Angel 1 UTC Eastern Frequency 0000 - 0300 Mo-Fr 8PM - 11PM 9515 0000 - 0300 Sa,Su 8PM - 11PM 7315 0300 - 0500 Mo-Fr 11PM - 1AM 5835 0300 - 0500 Sa,Su 11PM - 1AM 7315 0500 - 0900 1AM - 5AM 7315 0900 - 1200 5AM - 8AM 9495 1200 - 1400 Mo-Fr 8AM - 10AM 15285 1200 - 1400 Sa,Su 8AM - 10AM 11785 1400 - 0000 10AM - 8PM 15285 WHRI - Angel 2 UTC Eastern Frequency 0000 - 0300 8PM - 11PM 7490 0300 - 0800 11PM - 4AM 7465 0800 - 1200 4AM - 8AM 7520 1200 - 1500 8AM - 11AM 9840 1500 - 1700 11AM - 1PM 12020 1700 - 2200 1PM - 6PM 15785 2200 - 0000 Mo-Sa 6PM - 8PM 15120 2200 - 0000 Su 6PM - 8PM 9840 KWHR - Angel 3 UTC Eastern Frequency 0100 - 0600 9PM - 2AM 17510 0600 - 0900 2AM - 5AM 13700 0900 - 1100 5AM - 7AM 9930 1100 - 1800 7AM - 2PM 11555 KWHR - Angel 4 UTC Eastern Frequency 0500 - 1000 1AM - 7AM 9510 WHRA - Angel 5 UTC Eastern Frequency 0100 - 0500 9PM - 1AM 5850 0500 - 0700 1AM - 3AM 7490 1200 - 1500 8AM - 11AM 15310 1500 - 1900 11AM - 3PM 17640 1900 - 2100 3PM - 5PM 15665 2100 - 2300 5PM - 7PM 11765 2300 - 0100 7PM - 9PM 7520 (via John Norfolk, April 1, dxldyg via DXLD) Yes, there are several new frequencies. Seems they revamp their schedule every week or so; will it now stabilize? New ones above would be 9510, 9515, 15285, 11785, 12020, 15120, 13700, 15310, 11765 at least (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. I wrote to Jack Van Impe Ministeries International, 3910, 6295, 12255 kHz [via pirate Reflexions Europe, Ireland] at 1630 UT. They sent me, someone who is disabled, a lovely magazine called 'Beyond the Grave'! (good grief ! (ed)). I wanted to join their JVI Inner Circle Club, but for $20 a month you get a bible bookmark, a lapel pin, and their monthly intelligence report. Where do they get their monthly intelligence from. People who give them money have not got any intelligence. I guess I won't be writing there again. (GS 2457). (G. Skinner, April World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U S A. WIMA has a DX test scheduled for this Monday morning. Below is an E-mail that I received from Mark Gierhart regarding the test. The audio that I made up for him consists of Morse code, sweeps, 1 kHz tone, National Emblem March, and there will a special message at the very end of the test! Fred Vobbe This Monday morning at 2:00 AM [EDT = 0600 UT] WIMA will be running a 6 minute DX test in cooperation with the National Radio Club. During the test, WIMA will be in a non-directional pattern and will interrupt normal programming with Audio Tones and Voice Identifications. Fred Vobbe (WLIO-TV) will be doing the Voice work. Because of the possible confusion with the Time Change, we will also repeat the test at 3:00 AM. [0700 UT] I have designed a website: http://www.1150wima.com/dxtest.html which will allow listeners a place to post their reports. I have also posted the results of our last test in 1992, where WIMA received reports from 11 different states and Canada. Listeners who fill out a Signal Report will receive a nice Verification Letter/Card which they can hang on their wall. I will also post the results of this test on the same Website. Mark D. Gierhart Director of Engineering Clear Channel Communications 667 West Market Street Lima, Ohio 45801 (419) 223-2060 Office (419) 229-3888 Fax "Even a Mosquito Doesn't Get A Pat on the Back- Until He's Done his Job..." To help those of you ID WIMA-1150, I've provided a link to listen off my GE SuperRadio in my office at WLIO. NOTE: This will not work on Windows Media Player! You need WinAmp (available at WinAmp.com) or some other audio stream program that will play OGG files. http://stream.nrcdxas.org:8000 The stream may be behind as much as 20 seconds. Also, the signal is not the best. There is computer noise, trash from other TV equipment, and the loop is oriented towards my home which is 90 degrees off WIMA (Frederick Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) Here's the recap of the test for WIMA. It should work fairly decent as WIMA __will__ be in Non-directional, 1 kw, for each of the tests. WIMA-1150 in Lima OH will conduct a DX Test on April 4, 2005 from 02:00 to 02:06, and again from 03:00 to 03:06 Eastern Standard Time. (03:00 to 03:06, and again from 04:00 to 04:06 Eastern Daylight Savings [sic] Time.) [0700 & 0800 UT] This test will consist of audio test tones, sweep tones, Morse code IDs, and voice IDs. Note, this test only runs for 5-minutes. Reception reports for WIMA's test should be sent to; Mark Gierhart, Director of Engineer, WIMA Radio, 667 W. Market Street, Lima OH 45802. No phone calls please. E-mail reports can be sent to MarkGierhart @ ClearChannel.com Attached MP3 files should be less than 1 mb. Details and results of the test will be provided at http://www.1150wima.com/dxtest.html This test has been arranged by the N.R.C. C.P.C. (Fred Vobbe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Alternative music comes to the expanded band Former ENTRAVISION Alternative KHRO (HERO ROCKS)/EL PASO returns as "1650 AM HERO ROCKS" and worldwide at http://www.herorocks.com under former PD JOE "JOJO" GARCIA on APRIL 1st (and this is not an APRIL FOOL'S DAY joke). All the old HERO DJs are returning. ENTRAVISION pulled the plug on Alternative on NOVEMBER 30, 2004 and replaced HERO ROCKS 94.7 with Spanish Contemporary Hits as KYSE "Super Estrellas," under GARCIA, who will now program both stations. GARCIA notes, "After HERO went away, listeners literally begged us to come back on the air, with nearly 4,000 emails, letters-to-the-editors, and so forth. We are just answering the demand." (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, March 31, DXLD) ** U S A. 1700, KKLF, TX, Sherman - 04/01 0745 [EST?]- Traffic report for the Dallas area (Ira Elbert New III, ABDX via DXLD) That's a new call. I wonder if they stopped re-xmitting KTCK 1310 and started re-xmitting KLIF 570? (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) It sounded as though they were saying KLIF at times, but I'm sure they were saying KKLF rather hurriedly. I checked Radio-Locator and it listed the call as KKLF, but the an ethnic format was listed (New, ibid.) Hi Ira, Yes, they are saying "KLIF". KKLF on 1700 relays KLIF on 570. Seems, as I understand this, it`s to provide a better signal in the Northern areas of Dallas and surrounding towns. If you check 100,000 watts web site, they show it`s in simulcast. Regards (James Niven, Moody Texas, ibid.) ** U S A. Florida PBS to owned by New York PBS - Friday, April 1, 2005 Barry University Sells WXEL-FM & TV To WLIW & WNET/N.Y. Parent The Miami-based private university sells National Public Radio affiliate WXEL-FM and co-owned PBS affiliate WXEL-TV in West Palm Beach to Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the licensee of PBS affiliates WLIW & WNET/New York. Barry has owned the stations since 1997. Both parties expect the deal to close within the next three to nine months; a purchase price was not disclosed (radioandrecords.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) N.Y. entry wins WXEL derby --- By Alexandra Navarro Clifton http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zwxel02apr02,0,7339071.story?coll=sfla-business-front (via Dino Bloise, FL, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. All Lady Day All the Time --- Streams at wkcr.org http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/294810p-252400c.html WKCR offers all-Holiday music By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER WKCR (89.9 FM) has put its money on great jazz artists for decades now, and for two weeks starting tomorrow, it's betting 2-4/7 on Billie Holiday. To honor what would have been Holiday's 90th birthday next Thursday, WKCR is playing the complete Holiday catalogue starting tomorrow and running through April 15. Actually, this being WKCR, her recordings are only the start of it. The relentless jazz department has scarfed up every studio recording, outtake, live recording, TV show, radio show, interview and random breath she ever took within pickup distance of a microphone. The two weeks will also be punctuated with commentary by hosts like Phil Schaap, whose narratives are a signature of 'KCR marathons. Happily, WKCR's recent antenna upgrade has made programs like this more accessible to many people who lost the signal when WKCR lost its antenna on 9/11. The entire Holiday event will also be available on the Web at http://www.wkcr.org (via Joel Rubin, Swprograms mailing list March 31 via DXLD) ** U S A. UPDATE ON SAN DIEGO'S 96.9 MHZ PIRATE --- This long-running pirate is still on the air after a short period of silence and a transmitter relocation to the Golden Hills section of San Diego (in the vicinity of 23rd and B or C Streets according to one report). The pirate continues to defy the FCC's cease and desist requests, and that could spell serious trouble for said pirate. The FCC still regards this case as an "active investigation." (CGC Communicator March 31, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. CBS' FENTON DELIVERS THE 'BAD NEWS' Reporter's book says TV standards have slipped http://g.msn.com/0MNBUS00/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7221392&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1 (via Scott Royall, Key West, swprograms via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 7260.16, 0901-, Radio Vanuatu, Mar 22. S7 to S9 signals, but with lots of static crashes. Summer must be close at hand! In English ('You are listening to....'), but then switched into French at 0902. Very clean French, so I'm wondering whether this in fact is a RFI relay (i.e. doesn't sound local). In general, French isn't heard all that often on Radio Vanuatu (Bislama is by far the most common, then English, and finally French). Take away the static, and reception would be quite nice. Nothing heard on 75 meters. Radio Vanuatu ID in English at 0916, so cut away from what I'm assuming was RFI programming, and into local islands music. As I continue to monitor, reception is improving with less static. Radio Vanuatu (VanuaTU) ID at 0920 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [and non]. Vatican R. at 1730 on 13765 to Africa. Some news on the Pope for about seven minutes, then African economic news. Repeated at 2000. 1730 was about the time news of the Pope's death were circulating, tnx to the Italian press, so I can see why VR was cautious. Even so, I'm surprised they didn't present more on him. Believe it or not, cable news was very good today, much better than WWJ 950, which is a CBS affiliate. (1 April) 73/Liz Here's some observations about the Pope's now imminent demise. WEWN 5810 at 0244 w/usual fare. Different program than 990//1090. True, they don't have live reporters from the Vatican, but you would think that they would at least run a documentary. Ditto for cable. My snide remark for the day is the KJES probably doesn't even know who the Pope is (UT 2 April, Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Vatican announced the demise of Johannes Paul II in a multilingual transmission at 2000, (at least) on 4005 and 5885. Here is a recording of this broadcast: http://www.ratzer.at/Vatican_020505.mp3 [not found by the time I checked --- gh] I only caught very end of the transmission, with prayers til 2015 cut- off: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/050402_a2.ram Reactions of German radio stations: It seems that Deutschlandfunk took most attention. The news announcer came up at about 1958, and after his read-out mourning music started only after 26 seconds, as if the console operator was aware of silence detectors which would kick in after 30 seconds. Some other stations gently adjusted their music selections. Many if not most stations did nothing at all (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0016 UT April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vatican Radio is an interesting place to listen tonight. I've been monitoring them since late this afternoon via shortwave and the internet. Classical music with a periodic mention of the passing of the Pope in Italian, Spanish, English and French on the web relay of FM105. This is the overnight program which usually broadcasts classical music at that time. The music is contemplative, but not somber. On SW, the regular individual language segments to the Americas are the same and are being broadcast at their regular times. Try 7305. 9605 appears to be missing; at least I'm not hearing it as I did last night. All the segments, Portuguese, Spanish so far; French and English (the latter starting at 0250 UT) to come. All discuss the passing of the Pope and talk about his legacy (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, dxldyg via DXLD) John and Company, Spanish has a near perfect signal now at 0356. Very faint // on 9605, tho' that frequency was inaudible for the English broadcast. Perhaps there is a transmitter problem. WEWN finally got its act together and has a program now (0350+) about the Pope, unlike yesterday when it was mostly business as usual. Not // 990 WDEO and 1090 WCAR barely audible, despite the fact that I live closer to its antenna. The poor folks at Vatican Radio probably don't know what to do. I wonder how many of them worked there when John Paul I and Paul VI died. Surely the VR bigwigs must have met one or more popes. I must confess that I cannot wait to see what VR will broadcast during the conclave. Despite my criticism of the station yesterday, it's good, and it will certainly avoid the nutty antichrist conspiracies that must now be blowing gaskets in WWCR`s transmitters. Kindly, (Liz in Michigan Cameron, 0406 UT April 3, dxldyg via DXLD) 7335, 0420-, Vatican Radio, Apr 3. Strong reception in an unknown language until 0419, then just as the IS was starting, they cut, and changed bearing and/or transmitter, since at 0420 the resultant IS and ID was much weaker. I still can't tell for sure the language. Bells ringing, presumably announcing the death of Pope John Paul II. Using LSB to avoid CHU, plus notch helps (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In B-04, this frequency had Belarusian at 0420, which I suppose you would recognize, and Romanian at 0520, so probably now Romanian at 0420 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Media reaction in Poland is more than obvious. Unfortunately I am not able to catch the Poles on FM here, but at least Polskie Radio Jedynka on longwave: Only solemn classical music and faint talks. The Polish VIVA TV suspended its transmissions altogether; I understand that they still have not resumed programming by now. Screenshot: http://www.directupload.net/images/050403/xPA62CHm.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0930 UT April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, preliminary details, more to follow. It commenced today at 1500 UT: Following the death of Pope John-Paul II a special channel of Vatican Radio programming is now available 24 hours per day on Sky channel 934. WRN has arranged with Vatican Radio to have this channel available for the next two weeks (Jeff Cohen, WRN, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Commies vs. Commies! Just as they did thruout the A-04 season, CRI (via Sackville, 250 kW, 285 degrees in HFCC A-05) in English, and RNV via Cuba in Spanish (not in HFCC of course) are BOTH on 13680 again during the 2300 hour, as noted here at approximately equal levels April 2. BTW, the CRI schedule at http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/about/frequencies.htm has not been updated since January 8! And still shows for the 2300 broadcast: 11970 for ENAm, and (not obviously to CRI a typo) 11976 for WNAm! This page also annoyingly scrolls horizontally rather than vertically (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. This Sunday I was tuned to 11875 at 1400 waiting for the start of Aló, Presidente via Cuba. The show actually opened with the *Cuban* national anthem, followed by frequency announcement of this plus 11670, 13680, 13750 and 17750, then into RHC-produced program ``Mundo Siete``, a week-in-review. So I checked the other frequencies. Nothing on any of them, not yet, except 13750 which was actually // other RHC programming on 9550, 11760, 11800, 12000 etc. If anything was on 17750 it was blocked by WYFR. At 1418, 11875 which had been very strong, was suffering from co-channel, seemingly in Indonesian, altho the censored and incomplete version of HFCC A-05 shows RVA Philippines in Bengali during this semihour. Another recheck at 1515: Pres. Hugo Chávez Frías, who considers himself a Catholic/Christian, was now on, pontificating about, what else, the late PJP2 with an emphasis on his social programs. By now, some of the other frequencies had come up: 11670, poor with weak co-channel; 13750 now with this show but much weaker than 11875; nothing on 13680; and 17750 was actually equal to or above WYFR in English at peaks with a subaudible het of about 5 Hz. This collision with WYFR on 17750 has gone on for years. Even tho they are unwilling to participate in HFCC, can`t the dentroCubans see that it would be in their own self- interest, and their clients`, if nothing else, to take note of WYFR`s schedule, and avoid those frequencies at all costs? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Voice of Vietnam English broadcasts are now being heard at 1600-1630, 1800-1830, 1900-1930 and 2030-2100 on 7280 and 9730 and at 1700-1730 on 9725 via Moosbrun (Edwin Southwell, Mike Barraclough, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** WALES [non]. No sign of WRI this Friday/Saturday? Altho we just published the WRI schedule as coordinated for A-05, it seems there will be no need for it: from http://wri.cymru.net/celtic/notes/notidx.htm#trans where there are mp3 files of the final and several previous broadcasts: This is the last edition of the present series of Celtic Notes. We are going off-air on March 28 for a period of several months and hope to return in the Autumn. Short wave transmissions end at the end of March but during April the WRN English satellite service will transmit some repeat programmes --- chosen specially from our archives. Thank you all for letting us into your homes. We do appreciate your loyalty, letters and interest. Thank you very much for listening in so many different parts of the world. We shall miss sharing our wonderful country with you all..... (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, ZNBC, Apr 2, 0249, Fish Eagle IS, //4910, first time I have heard them on this frequency. Poor, under heavy QRM (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. Hi Glenn, Just happened to have the sign-off announcement for SWRA on 15145, Mar 29, before 1800*, before the change over to 11770. Hope this helps (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, DX LSITENING DIGEST) Yes, he definitely said ``double one, double seven` (gh) SW Radio Africa, heard in Harare 31 March on 12145 (1600-1900 UT) without any jamming. This is a new frequency and propagates very well into Southern Africa. 15145 (1600-1800 UT) & 11770 (1700-1900 UT) heard with jamming & 3300 (1600-1900 UT) severely jammed. SW Radio Africa, heard in Harare on 1 April on 12145 (1600-1900 UT) with jamming. This frequency is now being jammed. 15145 (1600-1800 UT) was heard in the clear, no jamming. 11770 (1800-1900 UT) heard with jamming & 3300 (1600-1900 UT) severely jammed (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15145 is clear, 12145 is jammed moderately, 1730 UT, 2 April (David, ibid.) UK, 15145, 1606-, SW Radio Africa, Apr 2. Good to Very Good reception with sign on at 1600 with the usual 'Aaafricaa...' sign-on with mentions of frequencies. They asked the listeners to 'get those thumbs handy. You'll find us in the 25 meter band'. Parallel 12145 was only a little less powerful, but perfectly readable. On recheck at 1620, loud squeal on LSB side, from 12143.5, so use USB, and faded way down. Don't know if this is deliberate, or a ute. Then into election results. Mentioned interesting parallel to Ukraine's recent elections at 1617 with the call for thousands to rally and protest the fraudulent results. '50 won't work --- thousands are needed'. (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It appears that EVEN State radio & TV is having a hard time within themselves during this election period. Election results are out. Bad news for us here in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has won ?? the 2/3rds majority he requires to change the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, apRIL 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: BROADCASTING BOSS DEMOTED OVER TSVANGIRAI FOOTAGE Thur 31 March 2005 HARARE - The state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) has demoted the editor-in-chief of its Newsnet division, Tazzen Mandizvidza, for showing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on television accusing President Robert Mugabe of running down the country. Mandizvidza is now an executive producer after his editor's post was given over to Chris Chivinge, a former editor-in-chief of Newsnet, who had left the corporation to join a joint broadcasting venture between Namibia and Zimbabwe that has collapsed due to lack of funds. A ZBH official confirmed Mandizvidza's demotion but said it was normal movement of staff within the company, the sole television and radio broadcaster in the country. "The issue you are referring to is not peculiar. It is part of staff movement and we can't talk about our staff movements to the press," the official said. Newsnet has in the last two weeks ran several reports on opposition rallies with Tsvangirai telling supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party that Zimbabwe's unprecedented economic and food crisis had nothing to do with sabotage by Britain as alleged by Mugabe but was all because of the President's mismanagement and wrong policies. The state broadcasting firm had until a few weeks ago blacked out Tsvangirai and his MDC party only lifting the ban on the opposition because of Southern African Development Community election guidelines requiring equal access to public media by all political parties. It was not possible to get a comment from Mandizvidza yesterday (via David Pringle-Wood, Harare, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3120, 26.3 0400, unID LA which probably is a harmonic (2 x 1560), but only readable a few times. 0-2 RÅ (Roland Åkesson, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3923.7, 2035, unID with Russian just when I asked the other old men around the table if the old Russian man in Moscow, which I always heard in Ygne (small village on Gotland), probably has become old or deceased. In that case it is Radio Samorodinka, on the move. Of course it might be something else! Only talk! Vanished after a while! S 2-3 BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6108.46, 0913-0923 April 3. Noted a man in possibly Spanish comments here. Couldn't definitely ID the language due to a weak signal (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6935 at 0138 March 26 in African French. USB. Doesn't sound like a ute or a pirate. Probably the former, because utes often rebroadcast programs but still unID (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7600, good signal from an open carrier at 2258 UT March 31, and lowly modulated telephone-type busy-signal. Probably a ute as not much broadcasting on this frequency, nothing in A-05 HFCC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ SHORTWAVELOG & PRIMETIMESHORTWAVE In regards to DXLD 5-057 mention of ShortwaveLog. Due to a recent design change in the Prime Time Shortwave DBase file Prime Time Shortwave will not work with the program. Once I have some time again I plan on getting back to looking again at how I can get it back in working order with ShortwaveLog (Daniel Sampson Prime Time Shortwave http://www.primetimeshortwave.com April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST ANDY PENNANT MUSEUM http://www.bclnews.it/qsl/andy/andy.htm (VIA JESUS MANUEL LIRA FELIPE, IZTAPALAPA DISTRITO FEDERAL, MEXICO, codiglist via DXLD) RADIO STAMPS, or rather PHILATELY ++++++++++++ +++++++++ For the first time ever tried to cash some IRCs. There were three clerks behind the counter with me as the only customer. Although each claimed to have sold IRCs over the years, none of the post office employees had ever cashed them before. It took twenty minutes including several phone calls to other post office branches in the county before they could figure out the proper steps for redeeming them which included me pointing out that each IRC was good for one unit of airmail postage. It was an interesting first time experience that I hope not to repeat any time soon (RICHARD A. D'ANGELO, PA, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) A good lead for a follow up. Here in Northampton there has never been a problem. All three ladies at the local shop credit them without a blinking an eyelid, even the former small coupon which in its heyday was seldom cashed as it was considered to be good international currency. Over the years many stories about the value the IRC to the DXer have appeared in our columns. The late Peter Willars dug his heels in to get answers from top post office management about the value of an IRC overseas. Mr Willars was told that the receipts of all IRC transactions for each nation were analysed by the Universal Postal Union annually. After being converted into a standard value called 'postal dollars' sales were matched against redemptions and the country concerned received a credit/loss balance. A country receiving a debit notice would have settle with the Universal Postal Union, but a credit for redeeming more than the number sold would bring that country useful foreign exchange which many 'Third World' countries might spend on food (or maybe armaments). But their rulers were too dim to see this and refused accept the IRC whatever the consequence. Therefore by sending an IRC to some obscure third world stations brought a reply that they were of no use to them. This led to enclosing a US dollar bill, or two, which brought about the claim that DXers were buying QSLs. Of course there's more to tell on this subject, so maybe one or two of you out there may wish to continue what Rich has started (Arthur Ward, ibid.) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Believe it or not, there is a difference in something as subtle as Cubans that live in Cuba now, and those of them like my parents, that exiled themselves 40 years ago. Even words used are different...."OK" that my parents (and I've been taught to) say is just like you say it in English. However, by the time communism took its grasp, the Anti- Americanism was so much, that they "Cubanized" it so that it was "Oh- Kah", in Spanish. Also, we tend to use "Señor" and "Señora", but they use "Compañero/a" (as in "Comrade", another communist term). – (Tony/Miami, ABDX via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ In case anyone else was as mystified as I was about what HFCC means in plain English: "HFCC, also known as High Frequency Co-ordination Conference, earlier High Frequency Co-ordination Committee, is a group active in informal co-ordination of frequency channels used in short wave broadcasting. The group co-ordinates transmission schedules of about 60 organisations from more than 30 countries. They represent about 75 to 80 percent of the global output of short wave broadcasting. " The files in question don't appear to be operating schedules. Beats me what they are, but maybe I'm the only one? 73 - (Ken VE3HLS, ODXA via DXLD) Ken, et al: Although broadcasters might not follow this to the letter, there is enough good information in here - especially the txt file A05ALL02 where you can scroll by frequency and check on transmitter sites (Mark Coady, ibid.) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ MOUNT ISA Here's a VERY entertaining article by Australian DXer Craig Edwards. Note the refernces to serial killers and a prominent Massachusetts DXer, hi! http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/mountisa_2005_02.dx (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, MA, NRC AM via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ TEXAS BPL PILOT PROJECT SHUTS DOWN, LEAGUE WITHDRAWS COMPLAINT http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/03/30/100/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 30, 2005 --- An Irving, Texas, BPL pilot project that was the target of an ARRL complaint two weeks earlier has shut down and removed its equipment. In mid-March, the League called on the FCC to shut down the system and issue fines for causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio communications. The ARRL`s March 15 filing to the FCC`s Enforcement Bureau, its Office of Engineering and Technology, system operator TXU and equipment manufacturer Amperion supported a complaint from ARRL member and North Texas Section BPL Task Force Chair Jory McIntosh, KJ5RM, who regularly commutes through the BPL test zone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. ``I just got back from reviewing the site and can confirm that the BPL installation in Irving, Texas, has been removed and is no longer operating,`` McIntosh told ARRL this week. ``Things are so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Definitely quite a change!`` He said when the system was running, interference in its vicinity was 20 dB over S9 or stronger on all amateur bands from 40 through 6 meters. The ARRL became involved after FCC failed to respond to a formal complaint McIntosh filed last fall. ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, also took measurements at the Texas site that verified McIntosh`s observations. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, thanked McIntosh for his help in bringing the situation to a head. ``I hope your example inspires other amateurs facing similar situations to get involved,`` Sumner added. On the basis of McIntosh`s report, the ARRL this week canceled its complaint to the FCC seeking the system`s shutdown and fines for the operator. ``ARRL therefore withdraws its complaint with respect to the TXU/Amperion site and requests that the Commission turn its attention to the remainder of the BPL sites which are actively causing interference to radio amateurs, including Briarcliff Manor, New York,`` ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, wrote the Commission. There`s been no word from TXU as to its reasons for shutting down the system and removing the equipment. The test report the League included with its complaint pointed out that the interference was not confined to Amateur Radio spectrum but included additional HF spectrum. The ARRL said the system even failed to protect many of the bands that the FCC`s new BPL rules require to be notched. The Irving BPL test site is the third using Amperion BPL equipment to shut down following complaints from Amateur Radio operators. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last June, Alliant Energy cut short its BPL ``evaluation system`` after the utility and Amperion were unable to resolve ongoing HF interference to amateurs. In the Raleigh, North Carolina, area last October, Progress Energy Corporation shut down Phase II of its BPL field trial after pronouncing the test a success. Despite an FCC inspection report to the contrary, local amateurs said Progress and Amperion had only limited success in mitigating interference on amateur frequencies in that trial. While initially saying it had no plans for a large-scale commercial rollout of BPL in its service areas, Progress later backed away from that statement, contained in a memorandum announcing the shutdown. The ARRL formally supported Amateur Radio complaints in Iowa and North Carolina. Energy East --- a cooperative of New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric --- decided last summer against deploying BPL in its Western New York service area. It reportedly based its decision in large part on the high levels of radio frequency interference that an engineer and company officials observed during a visit to Penn Yan. Last October, a BPL field trial in Menlo Park, California, where now- former FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell earlier had extolled the technology`s virtues, was aborted before getting very far off the ground. The BPL demonstration was co-sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company and AT&T, which said it decided to direct its business energies elsewhere. In January, the Borough of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, decided against plans to offer broadband Internet service via BPL. The Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) spearheaded ham radio opposition to the plan in the eastern Pennsylvania community of some 17,000 residents through an informational campaign. Copyright © 2005, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyg) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ POWERSIDE EXPLAINED Latest "Wrath of Khan" explains his PowerSide transmitting system (first time I've seen this information): http://www.wrathofkahn.org/default.php (Harry Helms, ABDX via DXLD) That`s the March 30 edition, later moved to site`s archive YAESU PICKS PIRATE FREQUENCIES How do illegal `pirate` operators choose the frequencies that they use? I have often pondered the question and after having asked folk who have had to deal with these people, I have discovered the simplest of reasons. Apart from the pirate 6 MHz operators, who, it seems, have some sort of channel system, the short answer is that half the time the pirate communicators don`t choose their frequency. They are selected for them by the manufacturers of the radios that they use. I am told that the inexpensive `base` model Yaesu transceiver, the FT- 840, is popular amongst illegal operators in Africa, South America and Eastern Europe. The set is a basic all-mode amateur transceiver. When the set is initially turned on the frequency synthesiser defaults to pre-programmed frequencies on each band. As an example, when the FT-840 is switched on in the 40m sector of the amateur band, the radio is set to 7000 kHz. Similarly on the 10 MHz band, the radio`s default frequency is 10000 kHz. In South Asia these pirates like to have a drink and this is reflected in their transmissions with much hollering and snatches of music being heard. Often these people will move off their ``calling`` frequency, but they don`t go far away --- LSB or USB --- they don`t care. I have found that identifying the `default` frequencies for the more basic model of HF amateur transceivers has enabled me to capture some different, if not very enlightening, transmissions (Ben Hogan, SSB Utilities, April Short Wave Magazine [UK] via DXLD) 7000 default is understandable, since that is the beginning of the ham band; but 10000? Woe betide the Standard Frequency & Timesignal Community (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ R. Budapest heard with strong signal here evening of 4/1/05 on the East Coast (NYC), 0100 UTC on 9590 kHz. DX Corner show at approx. 0120 UTC discussed a DRM conference, I believe it was held in Germany. Story was that DRM will reduce costs for SW stations. Does it really use less power to transmit a digital signal? Aside from electricity, I assume most of the cost of running a SW broadcast station is upkeep of an often aging transmitter. On the other hand, if an SW pirate can be heard on a shoestring budget, maybe the big broadcasters have the wrong strategies. (Ed Stone, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In DXLD 5-057, Eed Stone asks "If DRM is really meant to revive SW broadcast, where are the affordable DRM receivers?" On 28 March in the Media Network Weblog we published the item 'Via Licensing announces availability of DRM patent licence' which means that, for the first time, there is an easy way for receiver manufacturers which are not members of the DRM Consortium to access all the information and technology they need to manufacture DRM receivers. I am sure a number of companies will do so. However, it is not the responsibility of the DRM Consortium to make commercial decisions on behalf of individual companies, so each manufacturer is free to make its own decision on whether or not to make DRM receivers, and also to decide on pricing. It will be interesting to watch what happens in the coming months. http://medianetwork.blogspot.com/2005_03_27_medianetwork_archive.html#111201593163612487 (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Happy Anniversary To Us --- This is the first anniversary of the DXLD Yahoogroup. I`d like to thank everyone who has joined and participated for making it so useful! 73, (Glenn, April 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Gosh, hasn't the year gone quickly. And thank you for setting up the group which is always a joy to read - full of topical and interesting information. If anything of importance happens in the international radio world we can be sure that DXLD will report it. 73s (Mike Terry, ibid.) Well done and thanks for the fine resource that DX Listening Digest is (CHRIS EVANS, BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND UK) ###