DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-060, April 6, 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 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1270: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 [note UTs now shifted one hour earlier] MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] [from early UT Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1270 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1270h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1270h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1270 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1270.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1270.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1270.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1270 in true shortwave sound Alex`s mp3 [anticipated]: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_04-06-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_04-06-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO ON RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL [not] We`ve kept RFPI on some of our schedule versions, since they kept WOR on theirs, even tho we haven`t been able to confirm it actually running for many months, presumably because of logistical problems. Now the April-May-June no longer has it: http://www.rfpi.org/RFPIsked.html (gh) DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** ALASKA. Re 5-058, 9615, KNLS at 1201 --- Yes, one of the five English broadcasts they now have. (Harold Sellers, Ont, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. Public Radio of Armenia noted on new 9775 parallel to 4810 April 5th with External Service in presumed Armenian 1715-1745, French 1745-1805, German 1805-1825 and English 1825-1845. 11640 was also announced but not heard. Strong on 9775, fair on 4810 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. American-accented preacher on 15390 at 1445 UT April 5 - -- at first I figured another new frequency for WWRB or ilk, but checking HFCC A05 I am reminded it`s only HCJB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. A05 schedule Radio Australia A-05 ver1.1 effective from 0000 UT Sunday 27 March 2005 (end Daylight Shifting) All English unless otherwise stated UTC - kHz - azimuth degrees * Mo-Fr only, Sa&Su English In = Indonesian M = Mandarin Chinese Shepparton A 100kW 2130-1100 15415 329 [apparently means English except:] 2130-2330 In, 0000-0030 In, 0400-0430 In, 0500-0530 In, 0800-0830 In*, 0900-0930 In* 1100-1900 9475 329 1300-1430 M [means English except 13-1430?] 1900-2100 9500 329 B 100kW 2330-0900 17750 329 0900-1300 11880 329 1300-1700 11660 329 1300-1430 M [means English except 13-1430?] 1700-2100 11880 050 2100-2330 11695 329 2130-2330 In [means English except 2130-2330?] C 100kW 2300-0200 17795 050 0200-0700 15515 070 0700-0900 13630 050 0900-1400 6020 030 0900-1100 Tok Pisin [means English except 09-11?] 1400-1800 5995 030 1800-2100 7240 030 2000-2100 Tok Pisin* [means English except 20-21?] 2100-2300 15515 030 D 100kW 0000-0200 17715 070 0200-0500 21725 355 0500-0800 15160 065 0800-1400 9580 070 1400-1700 7240 050 1700-2000 9580 070 2000-2200 11660 070 2200-2400 21740 070 E 100kW 2300-0800 13630 353 0800-1100 9710 353 0900-1100 Tok Pisin [ditto] 1100-1400 9560 353 1400-1800 6080 334 1800-2100 6080 005 2000-2100 Tok Pisin* [ditto] 2100-2300 13630 065 F 100kW 0000-0800 15240 030 0800-1600 9590 030 1600-2000 9710 030 2000-2200 11650 030 2200-2400 15230 030 Brandon G 10kW 2100-0800 9660 010 2200-2300 BBC 0800-1400 5995 010 0900-1100 Tok Pisin [ditto] J 10kW 2000-1200 12080 080 2200-2300 BBC, 0900-1100 Tok Pisin [ditto] Darwin (VIL) 0000-0130 17775 1400-1600 9625 2200-2400 13620 Taiwan 0500-0530 11745 In 0800-0830 11550 In 0800-1130 15240 2200-2330 15240 (Re-arranged from RA excel worksheet) [what a strange way to present a schedule --- gh] Further Relays according to VT A05 schedule: 6120 0000 0030 smtwtfs ABC Singapore 250 140 Indonesian SE AS 9720 2300 2330 smtwtfs ABC Singapore 100 13 Khmer SE AS 9770 1330 1400 ......s ABC Rampisham 500 95 English W EUR [DRM] 11550 0900 0930 smtwtfs ABC Taipei 250 205 Indonesian SE AS 11550 2130 2330 smtwtfs ABC Taipei 250 205 Indonesian SE AS 11920 0500 0530 smtwtfs ABC Singapore 250 13 Khmer SE AS 11920 0530 0600 smtwtfs ABC Singapore 250 13 Vietnamese SE AS 12010 1300 1430 smtwtfs ABC Singapore 100 13 Mandarin CHN 15110 2330 2400 smtwtfs ABC Taipei 250 225 Vietnamese SE AS 21780 0400 0430 smtwtfs ABC Dhabbaya 250 120 Indonesian SE AS (as of bclnews.it website) (via Eike Bierwirth, Germany, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Re Jack Weber's 1638 X-band 'loggings', 5-059: In Melbourne (Australia) I have carriers on ~ 1637.989 2ME 1538.028 About 12dB below 2ME 1637.996 About 20dB below 2ME The frequencies may be some a bit out but the relative frequency is within a couple of Hz (using spec-an program on PC) The difference between 1637.989 and 1538.028 [sic] looks the same as 1637.993 to 1638.032 (807, dxldyg via DXLD) I assume you mean 3ME in Melbourne, not 2ME on same frequency in Sydney; and 1638… not 1538… Difference would be 39 Hz (gh, DXLD) Having been away for a few days and back late today, I switched on at 1912 to check activity on 1638. The resultant plot is available at http://www.skylight.demon.co.uk/1638Apr4.jpg Two fuzzy carriers are clearly visible: one at 1637.989 and another on 1638.028. Slightly different from the 1637.993 and 1638.032 I saw before, but with exactly the same interval of 39 Hz so almost certainly just a result of change in the receiver. Anyway, what is interesting is that the carrier on 1638.028 appears to split in two at the end. Possibly two transmitters on the same offset but in different locations and therefore getting the sunrise effect at different times. Possibly the same signal arriving by short and long path propagation. Possibly different propagation modes with one signal getting ducted more. I wonder if anyone else saw this or has any theories. Regards (Jack Weber, UK, April 4, MWC via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. El motivo de mi correo es para informarles que estoy escuchando en los 4717.1 una emisora que cuando se identificó la señal bajó y no logro entender el nombre. Dicen que transmiten en los 4715 de la onda corta; luego de escuchar con cuidado creo entender que dicen: Usted escucha Radio Yura, La Voz de los Andes. Están colocando música andina y buenas cumbias y tecnocumbias. Pregunto: ¿Radio Yura se identifica como La Voz de los Andes? (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, 0125 UT April 5, Noticias DX via DXLD) [Luego:] Saludos colegas diexistas. En relación con la escucha anterior, logré escuchar ahora en mejor forma cuando dijeron: Radio Yura, aunque oigo Radio Yuta, lo que si escuché bien es que dijeron "La Voz de los Alpes" Atte: (José Elías, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4876.3, BRASIL, (Presumed), R. Roraima, 0123-0134, Apr. 4, Portuguese, Pretty much the same experience as Rich D'Angelo`s log: Off frequency, rough copy with lively music and talks. Thought it might have been R. La Cruz del Sur, Bolivia at first, but it was definitely Portuguese. "Canned" ID at 0132, very weak, but did hear mentions of "Brasil". Poor (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Caiari, de Porto Velho (RO), acaba de confeccionar um novo cartão QSL que será enviado a todos os ouvintes. A garantia foi dada pela diretora da Caiari, Alizângela Lima, ao radioescuta Saulo Gomes de Souza, que reside naquela cidade. A emissora pretende, ainda, confirmar todos os informes recebidos há algum tempo. "Estamos recebendo muitas cartas de ouvintes da Noruega, Estados Unidos e Japão", disse Alizângela a Saulo. Lembrando que a Rádio Caiari pode ser captada na freqüência de 4785 kHz publicado em http://www.romais.jor.br 73s! (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, April 3, radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re 5-059: Hi Glenn, MPB stands for Música Popular Brasileira. Radiodifusora Roraima se ha corrido más de frecuencia al ser reactivada la pasada semana. En enero se situaba en los 4874v y el 02/03 aparece en 4876.32 kHz. El pasado 05/03 la medí en 4876.36 kHz. Más de 1 kHz de variación entre enero y abril. Ya la extrañaba, es una de mis brasileras favoritas. 73s and good DXing, (Adán González, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. 7400, R. Varna, 0037-0110, Apr. 4, Bulgarian-?, Continuous pops/ ballads in native language. Pips, OM with (Tentative) ID, (Hans Johnson, via DX Tuner, sez it was "Horizont" news program ID), news brief, YL at 0107 with passing mentions of "Radio Varna". Music at 0110. Fair with occasional fades (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non?]. Sat. 9th April. There is an exciting, new radio project for Northern Ontario with Avant Ministries – a short wave radio station to reach Ojibwa & Cree Indians. Pray for this project (Galcom International prayer bulletin via DXLD) We thought they had given up since the March PB was not posted during March, but now Mar-Apr-May are at http://www.galcom.org/prayerbulletin/march/prayerbulletin.html where you can see hints of a lot more radio projects, not specifically mentioning short wave. They are really into handing out fixed-tuned radios so other voices can`t intrude. Everyone is supposed to pray for this on April 9, UT day? Cf earlier one in February (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. One night at 2210 while looking for the better frequency between 6195 and 9410 for the BBC, overlooking the fact that BBC closes on 9410 at 2200, I found a 55555 signal from China Radio International (in Portuguese, it seemed). I don`t remember ever hearing something other than the BBC on 9410 (as well as on 12095), so that sounded very strange. CRI is really the only international broadcaster against the mainstream these days, which proves beyond any reasonable doubt that no one really thinks that an internet web site reaches an international audience better than SW or MW. It`s just a matter of having money to keep the transmitters running --- or not! (Stefano Valianti, Southern European Report, and March 7 log, April BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) HFCC A-05: CRI 2200-2300 9410 500 kW 294 degrees from Kashi (gh) ** CHINA. 17765, Chinese Jammer, Xian Area, 34333 Beijing Opera. More of that Beijing Opera stuff. This time they must have given the drummers and/or percussionists Pay Bonuses! Either that or some "speed". Actually, the more you listen to it, the more you notice the interplay between the various instruments. What at first sounds like a lot of noise gradually develops into a recognizable pattern of interplay. Oh Oh, Look out! Phil's gone over the top now :) Relax, I'm not going to trade my guitar gear in for some strange Chinese instrument. 0101 UTC 4/6/2005 PA (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced CA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Apparently his reference says all the Chinese jammers are in the Xi`an area, which I doubt very much (gh) ** COLOMBIA. 6139.8, Radio Lider, 0540-0600 Abril 5; esta emisora se continúa escuchando bién por aquí hasta las 0600 que empieza a transmitir la Deutsche Welle en 6140 con programa en inglés. Programa de canciones románticas y de actualidad con indentificación entre canciones. En cambio no se escucha Marfil Estereo en 5910, que entraba bién hace unos 15 días. (Abril 5). (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6139.78, 0653-, Radio Lider, Apr 4. Superb S9 + 5 reception with EZL Spanish vocals. Nice ID at 06:52 as 'Este es, Radio Lider'. Much stronger than the other night. Great listening in SAM on the Ten Tec 340. The following day at 0115, still almost 2 hours before local sunset, reception is still rather good. Sure putting out a very powerful signal! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC`s 12000 transmission was breaking up with audio cutting in and out during the RHC theme at 1430 UT April 5, then mostly open carrier with audio occasionally cutting on. Are they ever going to tighten up their patch cords? No such problem on \\ 11800, 11760 or 9550; the latter had a slight reverb compared to 12000 when modulating, indicating a different feed route (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Numbers transmission on Venezuela relay frequency: see VENEZUELA [non] ** CYPRUS. CAT KILLER ON THE LOOSE AT CYPRUS BROADCASTING CORPORATION Police have been called in to hunt down a cat killer at Cyprus's feline-infested state broadcaster. Carers found six cats poisoned and others writhing in agony in the grounds of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC). "We went to feed them in the morning and found them dead," said Ulgen Scoatarin, who looks after the animals daily. Police said the incident was under investigation. A large and intrusive cat population has been a problem at CyBC for several years. Staff have reported them wandering through studios, meowing over live broadcasts and falling through false ceilings. Cat poisoning used to be common in Cyprus but has declined in recent years as more people are taking them in as pets. # posted by Andy @ 09:27 UT April 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]. DEREK KNIGHT sends in this article from the Scottish Daily Record reprinted in the magazine Tune into Yesterday. He was Scotland's very own Lord Haw Haw. Newly released secret documents have revealed the extraordinary story of Nazi Germany's plans to turn Scottish opinion against an "English war" using Donald Alexander Fraser Grant, a former Hoover salesman from Alness. The file, declassified by the Public Records Office, reveal that Grant`s efforts to influence the Scots via Radio Caledonia were scuppered when he refused to condemn his homeland. After two years of broadcasts, Grant, who was lured to Germany by the attractions of his Teutonic girlfriend, was taken off the air by the Nazis. When the war ended he evaded capture for a year before giving himself up in his desperation to return to his native land. Despite his treasonable actions, the War Office took pity on Grant and spared his life. The bizarre story began when Grant was born in the Ross and Cromarty village of Alness in 1907. After an undistinguished school career at Dingwall Academy, the 16 year old, known as Derrick by his parents, left to work in a woollen mill in Bradford. He worked as a travelling salesman, at one point for the Hoover Cleaning Company, and in the mid 1930's settled in London where he threw himself into the British fascist movement. His letters to his mother and father and to senior Nazis in Germany - on one occasion asking for literature on the "physical training of women in the new Germany" were routinely intercepted. The postscript to one letter to a Dr Hoffman, a German official, reads Perish Die Juden, evidence of his anti Semitism which led to his treachery. After his capture Grant told his interrogators he was in Germany on holiday for the first time when war broke out in 1939. He was on a four week visit to see a family after playing host to their daughter the previous summer in London he said. In f act Grant had travelled to Hanover to meet slim grey eyed brown haired young fascist Helene Jirka, the office manageress for a Nazi propaganda outfit aimed at Scandinavia. The MI5 investigation into the Grant case concluded Jirka, who saved Grant from internment, helped recruit him for Hitlers bizarre Radio Caledonia project. MI5 officers who interviewed Jirka after the war said "a tougher and less pleasant example of Nazi humanity could hardly be conceived". When she was interrogated Jirka did what she could to throw investigators off the scent burning all their correspondence. But a former friend told the investigators that she regarded Jirka as Grant's girlfriend and said that the Fräulein, four years older than the Scot, had recommended him for propaganda work. Grant then fell into the clutches of Dr Erich Hetzler at the Berlin offices of the German Rundfunk. "He suggested that we should start a small short wave radio transmitter to broadcast to Scotland with the aim of advocating peace and understanding between the two peoples," Grant later confessed. "I agreed for the following reasons: 1) I sincerely wanted to see the Scottish people at peace and devoting their energies to their future welfare. 2) Taking a purely objective view I could not see how the war really concerned Scotland." Grant was given a new identity papers and a valued Freedom pass. He had a flat in Berlin and was paid 600 marks a month. His parents in Alness were apparently unaware of their sons new job as an employee of Goebbels. His mother sent him Red Cross parcels care of Fraulein Jirka in Hanover. But if the Grants were embarrassed about their sons continued presence in Germany they appeared to have hidden it. A PC Macdonald of the Ross and Cromarty constabulary, who was asked to make enquiries about Grant in his home village, called on the local doctor, Farquhar Macrae, Grant's mother, it transpired, had told the doctor that "Derrick was very avid on the German Nazis". Radio Caledonia took to the air on June 1940. According to the German technician whose job it was to put out Grant's programmes it would be transmitted around 2000 hours British time "I could see him in his cubicle and I could also hear his voice" said Herbert Krumblegel. "I understood very little English at the time and therefore cannot say what he was talking about." Somebody was listening however because it was soon made clear to Grant that he was failing to stick to the line of denigrating the British state. After two years he was desperate to stop. "In August 1942 having long been of the opinion that the station was serving no useful purpose I begged Dr. Hetzler that it be discontinued. This was agreed and the last transmission was made a few days later. Meanwhile the infamous traitor William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw Haw because of his sneering speech, was still transmitting from other stations in the same building using his distinctive catch phrase parodied in Britain as "Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling". Grant did his best to avoid helping put, disapproving of Joyce's "tendentious" attacks on Britain. It was this reluctance testified to by other traitors that probably saved Grant from following Joyce to the gallows. Pilot Officer BRM Freeman, another broadcaster, is recorded as saying that while most of his colleagues constituted the greatest "collection of low English one could wish to make", Grant was different. "In passing I should like to say that one, Palmer (Grant`s alias at the time) was a sincere man. He managed to avoid becoming a hireling in the sense of the other men". However it is clear that Grant's anti-Semitism was as virulent as ever. A fellow traitor, William Griffiths, said he was "very anti-Jewish". while a Margaret Eberherd called him "anti-Jewish but not anti-British". In post war Berlin Grant managed to avoid capture for more than a year despite being number 22 on a "Civilian Renegades Warning List". He eventually gave himself up expecting to be hanged because of an "irresistible" homesickness on the last day of October 1946. He was transferred to a Major TPA Davies who ensured he was given a packet of cigarettes and a meal. In return the badly disillusioned Scot told all. In his report on the affair addressed to MI5, War office, Whitehall, Major General Lockhead, chief of the intelligence division, concluded that Grant was "a pathetic figure now reaping the fruits of misguided and illegal actions". Perhaps as a result of Lockhead¹s assessment Grant was sentenced to only six months imprisonment for aiding the enemy at a trial in London in 1947. He later emigrated to South Africa where he is believed to have died in the mid-1980's. MIKE BARRACLOUGH comments: Checking in Elich Howe's ``The Black Game`` and Bergmeir and Lotz's ``Hitler`s Airwaves``, Radio Caledonia broadcast for half an hour daily on 42.86 metres. Grant wrote and presented most of the material but was assisted by a Sergeant McDonald between June and November 1940 and for a few weeks in the winter of 1941-42 by Susan Hilton, alias Ann Tower, who also worked for the Departments Irish station in 1942 as Susan Sweeney. The station identified as Radio Caledonia - The Voice of Scotland. Grant appealed to Scotsmen to make a separate peace from the English by whom, he said, their native land had been exploited for far too long. He dealt at length with the German air- raids on Clydeside and the problems of the workers there. After Radio Caledonia closed Grant joined the Workers Challenge Station (April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Report and photos of Allen Graham visiting Brasil: http://www.amantesdoradio.he.com.br/dxcb_hcjb.htm (via gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT [and non]. Re: Radio ship planned to broadcast off Alexandria, Egypt - using CFA aerial! I will hardly be the only person to note that groundwave is unaffected by the diurnal changes to the ionosphere, and so the claim that "groundwave transmission can reach the USA and East Asia countries for some periods of the day" makes no sense. Either groundwave transmissions will reach these places 24 hours a day, or never. No prizes for guessing which I think would be the case in the unlikely event that this project ever comes to pass. Chris Greenway, BDXC-UK via DXLD) That claim apparently referred to the Isle of Man station on 279 kHz (gh) Quite right Chris, not to mention the other nearby transmitters in Turkey 1000 kW on 162 kHz LW and Cyprus 10 kW on 558 kHz MW at Paphos, only 100 miles away from this proposed 500 kW ERP ship. They cannot be serious? (Andy Cadier, ibid.). Hi All, This talk of the CFA concept prompts a question, can anyone tell me which station was testing a CFA installation in the Telford, Shropshire area some while back???? It cropped up in 'Communication' on several occasions but I don't recall the details. Thanks, (Brian Russell. BDXC-1262, ibid.) Last I knew it was delayed, and delayed again, due to flooding or otherwise inaccessibility to the proposed test site. Does any station currently use a CFA? (Mark Hattam, ibid.) We had a photo of the CFA installation in Shropshire on the cover of February 2001 issue of Communication. I believe the tests were carried out under a test and development licence from the former Radiocommunication Agency. My understanding is that various attempts were made to ge the CFA to radiate properly, but that it didn't work and the trials were eventually abandoned (Dave Kenny, ibid.) I had a look at the install in Telford some years back, and talking to various senior Engineers in the Broadcast trade the antenna was never made to resonate properly dispite a lot of time and effort (David Thorpe, ibid.) So a new (ERT - state broadcaster?) radio station for Alexandria. Has someone re-written the Egyptian media laws? A test licence perhaps. The ship with the two CFA aerial units is real is it? or a photoshop production? As for daytime 279 to "USA and East Asia".... You might like to read about the fate of the Australian CFA antenna. http://www.antennex.com/Stones/st0600/sydney.htm Or this on the CFA and other such small AM-band antennas. http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/04_rw_cfa_3.shtml There is a shortage of rave reviews of the CFA but was told that an Egyptian CFA works very well. Hearing is believing isn't it, so let's wait and see, what happens with Isle of Man on 279 kHz. Luxembourg has put in a (speculative?) application to the ITU to use 279 kHz at 300kW? It could fail the coordination process of course. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2005/GE75_112.pdf Also tentative LUX applications for 1098, 738 and 567 kHz (CHRIS McWhinnie, ibid.) I find it strange that the link page referred to in this post isn't even written in good English. Some of the other pages on the CFA site are. So is this gibberish English page meant to fool people into believing? I love the comments about customers can 'sail their radio ships into our harbour' etc. Is there a queue of radio ships waiting to have antenna masts erected? (Henry, 04.05.05 - 10:03 am, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Bata now appears to be using 5005 for the full transmission span from approx. 0500 to 2200 (Dave Kenny, April BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** FAROE ISLANDS. Faroes MW transmitter off air? This report in the current Radio Magazine presumably refers to the MW transmitter on 531 kHz: "It is thought that it could take as long as six months before the AM transmitter on Akraberg will be back in working condition. A key part of the transmitting equipment has broken down and currently no replacement part is available in the Faroes. Faroese Telecom, which is responsible for the maintenance of the transmitter, claims that it has requested funding for the replacement part in the past two years which has been denied by the Ministry of Trade and Industry who own the transmitter. The ministry claims that Faroese Telecom has had the money to have purchased if five times since 2000" (Radio Magazine 30th March-5th April via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Fill music frequently heard on France Inter on Monday. AFP reports a strike by administrative and technical personnel at Radio France took place on Monday and was expected to continue on Tuesday. The French press agency said programs on F Inter, F Bleu and F Info were disrupted, including the major 1pm (1100 UTC) newscast on France Inter. Officials with Radio France said 10 percent of Paris workers and 28 percent elsewhere participated in the strike. (Mike Cooper, GA, Apr 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII [non?]. KVM70 HF reception report new frequency 11500 I received this email today from The Hawaiian HF WXfax station KVM70. I heard them on 11500, which I hadn`t heard before and being unlisted and in the Broadcast band (voice of Russia were co-channel) I shot them an email, with the received map attached, and asked them if it was a change or an accident? The response was puzzling, A) they say that they don`t transmit on this frequency, and it must be some strange mixing product or atmospheric thing. When I (only later) read Alan`s Column from March when he said that they told him they were using it. b) they seem surprised a HF signal from Hawaii would be heard in Sydney c) they say the sig is relayed in Alaska and California --- not on the same frequency, with the same callsign, it ain`t. Looks like even here HF is low priority and nobody knows or cares what they are doing. ----- Forwarded message From: W-HFO Webmaster W-HFO.Webmaster@noaa.gov Subject: Re: HF reception report new frequency 11500 To: J Cullen Aloha, Thank you for your note. We do not broadcast over the frequency you give below. I can only think for some reason the signal was skipping over frequencies or that a relay somewhere was responsible. The marine fax is broadcast from here and relayed from points in California and Alaska. We were surprised to learn you could receive this signal so clearly at your location. Sincerely, Nezette Rydell, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, NWS Honolulu Date: Saturday, March 26, 2005 2:23 am Subject: HF reception report new frequency 11500 Hello and Haloha! As a shortwave and HF utility listener I often hear and decode you HF fax transmissions, but tonight I was surprised to hear you on a new and rather unusual frequency of 11501.9 Khz (in other words my ICom- R75 was sitting on 11500 KHz USB exactly) While your signal was very strong on the frequency (s7-9) it does seem unusual as it its in the Shortwave broadcast band and "the Voice of Russia" was quite strong in the background. I have attached the received image for your interest. Perhaps, I should introduce myself. My name is Jem Cullen and I live in the Blue Mountains of NSW Australia, about 75 km west of Sydney on the rural/urban fringe at about 400M above sea. I use an Icom IC-R75 receiver and my antenna is an AlphaDelta DXUltra Multiband dipole antenna, which is about 6 Metres above the ground. I received you image with direct detection via the sound port of my PC using JVfax software on windows XP. I wonder if this is a new frequency to be used permanently or perhaps a temporary or erroneous transmission. I thank for your time and I look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Jem Cullen, http://www.qsl.net/vk2jem (ARDXC via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525, Voice of Indonesia, Jakarta, 44434 Unknown [unknown what?]. A variety of music with various vocalists. 1725 OM announced "Voice of Indonesia" in presumed Indonesian. Followed by a song with a YL vocalist. 1738 OM in ENGLISH gave the Web addresses for The Voice of Indonesia, then another OM in Spanish announced "Music Pronto" followed by a YL singer. This one doesn't appear in either the ILG OR HFCC databases. 1721 UTC 4/5/2005 PA (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced CA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Spanish at 1730 long on their sked; you never know which of the external service frequencies will be in use, this or 11785 or 15120 (gh) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. NATIONAL | April 5, 2005 As Satellite Radio Takes Off, It Is Altering the Airwaves By LORNE MANLY The new medium of satellite radio is fast emerging as an alternative, and broadcasters are fighting back. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/national/05satellite.html?ex=1113364800&en=3287ce84d7910526&ei=5070 (via DXLD) ** ITALY [and non]. IRRS-Shortwave operational schedule for A05 (A05ANTXX) There are some modifications on IRRS-Shortwave (HFCC code: ANT) operational schedule for the period A05. Here is our operational schedule effective April 3 and valid until further notice: A05 operational - IRRS-Shortwave (Milan, Italy): 5775 1900-2030 UT (2100-2230 CET) Mon-Thu,Sat 20 kW - target (1) 5775 1900-2200 UT (2100-0000 CET) Fri & Sun 100 kW - target (1) 13840 0700-1200 UT (0900-1400 CET) Sat & Sun 20 kW - target (1) 15725 0800-1500 UT (1000-1700 CET) Sat 20 kW - target (1) (1) Europe, N Africa & Middle East (ITU zones: 18-19, 27-30, 37-39) Please notice that the following frequency was deleted as of April 1, 2005: DEL 15665 kHz 1100-1200 UTC (1300-1400 CET) Fri 100 kW IRRS-Shortwave is owned and operated by NEXUS International Broadcasting Association (NEXUS-IBA). Please check program schedules at http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/ All programs are also available 24/24 via our streaming services at : http://mp3.nexus.org and: http://www.egradio.org/ If you need assistance in coordination with the frequencies listed below [sic], please contact me directly at the numbers or email below. With best regards from Milano, 73s, -- Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association PO Box 11028, 20110, Milano, Italy email: alfredo @ nexus.org ph: +39-335-214-614 (try first)/+39-02-266-6971 fax: +39-02-706-38151 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) It is believed the 100 kW transmission cannot be from Italy, but hired time somewhere else, such as Bulgaria or Romania, if not the lower- powered broadcast also on 5775, but IRRS refuses to comment on this. Note they also refuse to publish azimuths which might give away the true location, just target areas (gh) Radio Mi Amigo --- The ultimate free radio station Dear listeners, Thank you for contacting Radio Mi Amigo! We are now broadcasting every Saturday between 0800 and 1500 UT on 15725 kHz. Thank you very much for your interest in Radio Mi Amigo! Radio Mi Amigo will be introducing lots of new programmes and presenters over the next few weeks and months, including some of your favorite presenters from the wonderful world of European offshore radio!. Keep listening and we promise you some of the best free radio programming for many years! SUPPORT MI AMIGO!!! You can support Radio Mi Amigo in the short term by buying a superb Mi Amigo t shirt or sweat shirt! T shirts cost £12.99 and sweat shirts cost £24.99 or the equivalent in any major currency, including delivery world wide. Featuring the classic Mi Amigo logo in gold embroidery on high quality black t shirts and sweat shirts, these garments are available in small, medium, large and extra large sizes. Please send cheques made payable to "mission radio international" to Radio Mi Amigo, 23, Alwinton Gardens, Gateshead NE11 0AP, United Kingdom. Thank you once again for your interest in Radio Mi Amigo... keep listening (Neil Gates, Radio Mi Amigo, via Swopan Chakroborty, DXLD) ** JAMAICA [non]. OOPS! No interview, either --- "The BBC has admitted to being "very embarrassed" after requesting an interview with Bob Marley -- 24 years after the singer died. The corporation asked to speak to the late reggae star, who died of cancer at age 36, for a documentary on his hit song "No Woman No Cry." The BBC said it had apologized to the Marley Foundation, which had been "extremely good humored" about the blunder." (Glenn, this via The Seattle Times Sunday Paper dated April 3, 2005 via Bruce MacGibbon, Gresham, OR, DXLD) BBC REQUESTS MARLEY INTERVIEW 24 YEARS AFTER DEATH LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - The British Broadcasting Corporation sent an e-mail requesting an interview with reggae star Bob Marley, 24 years after his death. The publicly funded broadcaster confessed on Friday it was "very embarrassed" by the mix-up which appeared in an e-mail to the Bob Marley Foundation. "We are obviously very embarrassed that we didn't realise that the letter to the Marley Foundation did not acknowledge that Mr Marley is no longer with us," said a BBC statement. The Bob Marley Foundation was not immediately available for comment, but the BBC said it had laughed off the mistake. "The Marley Foundation have been extremely good humoured about this and we have apologised for the error." It said the mistake occurred in a standard letter the BBC sent out to hundreds of "icons and musicians" it wanted to take part in a series on digital channel BBC-3. The approach followed the success of BBC-3 documentary "The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody" about the classic track by rock group Queen. A BBC spokeswoman said the statement was not an April Fool hoax. "It's a genuine mistake ... today of all days," she said. Marley died from cancer in 1981 aged just 36. The 60th anniversary of his birth in Jamaica was celebrated in Addis Ababa earlier this year in an event attended by more than 200,000 Ethiopians who shared the legend's Rastafarian faith. The BBC-3 programme was to have concentrated on Marley's hit song "No Woman, No Cry." (REUTERS RTna 04/01 0841 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. 4027, CLANDESTINE, (Presumed) V. of People of Kurdistan, 0258-0315, Apr. 4, Kurdish-?, Instrumental version of "Yesterday" at tune-in, ID, talks at 0300 with mention of "Kurdistan". Music at 0303 continuing thru tune-out. Good! (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6010.?, 0429-, Radio Mil, Apr 5. Watching this one for the past hour. Originally I assumed that it was Voz de tu Conciencia, weakly, but then started to hear frequent Radio Mil IDs. Very difficult to pinpoint the frequency. Seems to be either right on 6010 or a few 10s of Hz away. I just can't tell due to the several cochannels present. It's most apparent, but very much in the background. This frequency here is normally completely dominated by Conciencia, so it's a treat to hear Mil. Nice ID at 0438. Get it while it's hot! Mil is getting stronger as I type this. Totally dominating the frequency. It's a great test of my DX machines (the Ten Tec RX340 vs the Icom 756 Pro2, with the latter with a sight advantage right now!). (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOZAMBIQUE (probably). 7135, R. Terra Verde, a SW relay of an FM station in Maputo said to have strong links with Renamo (previously a terrorist movement, now the official opposition party, who used to run A Voz da Africa Livre many years ago). Noted from 1100 tune-in to almost 1800, but gone at 1900 re-check. In vernaculars, but mainly in Portuguese with PT news at 1300 and 1700. Probably a test; they mentioned being heard in almost all Mozambican provinces and in Zambia and Zimbabwe. No contact details have been offered. A very good signal here, but I doubt that this is a Meyerton relay -- the frequency moved up 0.08 kHz in a couple of hours, and this would be quite uncharacteristic of Sentech. Noted again yesterday and today but I did not have a chance to check the s/on and s/off times yet (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DXplorer via DXLD) Date? Not 1 April by any chance? (gh) ** NEPAL [and non]. RADIO NEPAL SAID BLOCKING BBC WORLD SERVICE NEWS RELAY | Excerpt from report by Nepalnews.com web site on 5 April In what seems an outright breach of contract, the state-run Radio Nepal has started blocking news transmissions of BBC World Service that it had agreed to relay over 103 FM in Kathmandu. No reasons have been given. "The station plays instrumental numbers based on songs of Chandani Shah starting the top of the hour gmt for 15 minutes," reported Nepali Times weekly. Chandani Shah is the pen name of late HM Queen Aishworya. The government has already barred over 50 FM radio stations in the country from airing news and current-affairs based programmes immediately after the imposition of the state of emergency on 1 February. Radio Nepal had started relaying the BBC World Service programmes from early November last year after entering into a contract with the latter. Kathmandu became the 140th capital where the BBC World Service could be heard over the local FM stations. BBC reportedly pays a hefty sum to Radio Nepal for hiring its FM frequency. Launching FM relay in Kathmandu last November, business development manager of the BBC for Asia and Pacific region Michel Lobelle had said there were more than 300,000 listeners of the BBC World Service programmes in English in Nepal. He hoped that the number would go up after the World Service programmes were launched over a local FM station. Addressing the function, the then executive director of Radio Nepal, Shailendra Raj Sharma, had said: "We are proud to be associated with a world renowned broadcaster like BBC, which is known for its objectivity and impartiality in news gathering, dissemination and analysis. The BBC has assisted us with training and donated equipments in the past, so we are old friends and hope to work together for many years to come." Sharma's successor, Tapanath Shukla, could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts by Nepalnews on Monday and Tuesday [4-5 April]. A British embassy official in Kathmandu refused to comment on the episode. He said he hadn't heard anything from the BBC as yet in this regard. BBC World Service broadcasts its programmes in 43 languages and has a global audience of around 146 million listeners worldwide, the organization said. In a separate incident, BBC World Service has decided to stop its hourly Urdu news bulletins on its partner station FM 103 in Pakistan. The move follows threats from authorities to cancel the licence of the local FM station. [passage omitted] Source: Nepalnews.com web site, Kathmandu, in English 5 Apr 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) Swopan, I am quite confused to read the news because at present, at the right moment, I am listening to BBC World Service [you mean in English? gh] on 103 FM. The government has ordered to stop to broadcast the program of BBC Nepali Service which used to be broadcasted by Radio Sagarmatha on 102.4 FM. Now we have to rely on either SW or Internet to listen Nepali Service (Sujan Parajuli, Kathmandu, via Swopan Chakroborty, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Report and photos, video of Alfonso Montealegre and Jaime Báguena visiting Brasil: http://www.amantesdoradio.he.com.br/nederland.htm (via gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE (DRM) DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE MEDIUM FREQUENCY BAND. Radio New Zealand (RNZ), in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Thales Multi Media and THL Australia, will hold a three day Symposium on the use of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) system in the medium frequency band. The symposium will take place from April 27 - 29 at RNZ House in Wellington, New Zealand. The Symposium programme will present an overview of the DRM system with special emphasis on full digital and simulcast modes which are possible within the region three band plan - i.e. - 18 kHz of spectrum allocation as compared to the 9 kHz available in region one (Europe). To demonstrate the system Thales are to upgrade a 50kW transmitter on a frequency of 657 kHz operating into a 220 metre mast. Three hours of demonstration are planned for each of the Symposium days. Day one, April 27 is planned as a non-technical system overview and demonstration, and as such, is suitable for managers and administrators. Day two, April 28 is designed for the more technically minded and will feature a more in depth overview and demonstration. Day 3, April 29 features a bus trip to demonstrate the capabilities of analogue versus digital modulation with decreasing signal strength. Further information on the Symposium can be obtained from Radio New Zealand's Transmission Consultant Dave Henderson - dave.henderson @ radionz.co.nz Phone +64 4 474 1750. Radio New Zealand wishes to also thank Rhema Broadcasting Group, Telecom New Zealand, Radio Deutsche Welle, the BBC and the DRM Consortium for their assistance in facilitating the Symposium (via Mark Nicholls, Chief Editor, NZ DX Times, NZ Radio DX League, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Re 5-058, KFXY-1640: I note facilities are shown as 10000/1000 ND B. Does ND stand for non directional? I understood that the signal was directional and away from Europe. Has this changed? (Barry Davies, UK, MWC via DXLD) I doubt very much it has changed; probably error in listing. Could be that KFXY is licensed as ND, but voluntarily runs direxional tho not required to? (gh, Enid, DXLD) ** PERU. 5014.53v, Radio Altura de Pasco escuchada hoy 6 de abril a las 1030 UT dando comienzo a un programa de curanderismo con la canción "Lo Bueno, lo lindo, lo malo y lo feo", voz masculina diciendo "Muy buenos días mis amables hermanos y hermanas a través de esta prestigiosa emisora Radio Altura..."; "...Ustedes ya saben hermanos míos que nosotros siempre con la sintonía llegando desde las cinco y media a las seis de la mañana... y aquí estamos ubicados nada más ni nada menos en nuestra única dirección... San Cristóbal 270, en el 2 piso... en la misma esquina de la Plaza Carriel (?)". La recepción llegó a un máximo de SINFO=35343. De acuerdo al WRTH 2005, la dirección de Radio Altura es Pasaje Tarma 127, Cerro de Pasco, Perú. ¿Se trata de una nueva dirección? o bien ¿Es la dirección de la sede de la organización que emite el programa? Saludos (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Rosario, ARGENTINA, Noticias DX via DXLD) The latter (gh) ** POLAND. DXLD 5-059: Is the L in Slawek crossed? Came over funny once (gh) The type is rather small, but it was crossed the first time but not the second (John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I expect it should have been the second time too, then (gh) ** SAO TOME. VOA-São Tomé: Here are 73 pictures of the IBB-VOA facilities: http://groups.msn.com/s9ss/voapictures.msnw?albumlist=2 (Jerry Strawman, IA, DXplorer via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [and non]. SOMALILAND POLICE STORM OPPOSITION PARTY OFFICES OVER RADIO STATION | Text of report by Somali Radio HornAfrik on 5 April Tension is high over a political issue in Hargeysa this morning, the headquarters of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland. The tension follows the forceful entrance by Somaliland police to the offices of the opposition Kulmiye Party offices in Hargeysa. The police stormed the opposition offices yesterday at 5.00 p.m. and left last night at 9.00 p.m. [both times local] Kulmiye Party officials termed the move wrong and said it damages the reputation of the Kulmiye Party. A party spokesman who spoke to HornAfrik this morning expressed his annoyance adding that he will not be able to discuss what has happened at their headquarters in Hargeysa. However, he said, party officials will hold a meeting today at 5.00 p.m. and issue a statement on the matter. Other politicians in Hargeysa have also expressed concern over conclusions arrived at by the government of [President] Dahir Riyale Kahin, which has ordered the police to investigate the opposition Kulmiye Party offices. The police were searching for a [private] radio [station] that was said to be supporting the opposition party. The chairman of Kulmiye Party, Ahmad Silanyo, said the radio [station] is not based at a place controlled by the party in Hargeysa but added that he supports the radio. Tension over the radio continues. Previously, two reporters working for [state-owned] Radio Hargeysa were arrested after their voices were heard on the radio. The radio was previously said to be broadcasting from London, UK. Source: Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali 0500 gmt 5 Apr 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) So which of the SW clandestines is this referring to??? (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Glenn, regarding the queries about REE on 6055 or 15385 -- I recently tried 15385 at 0000, and found VOA signing on at this time. REE has been inaudible here on 6055 at 0000 (Eric Bryan, WA, 4/5/05, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Even if REE has axually been funxioning normally on 15385 at 0000, recent geomagnetic events make it clear that it is too high to be a reliable frequency over this semidark path, and in the case of C & WNAm, high-latitude (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. I found something about Radio Peace (Sudan) upgrades. http://www.persecutionproject.org/pdfs/Africa%20Messenger%20(2005-03).pdf says they'll have rhombic antenna http://www.persecutionproject.org/pdfs/Africa%20Messenger%20(2004-10).pdf says there will be a 5 kW transmitter. Maybe these upgrades have already been done or are underway. Just wonder if they talk about the New Site location or about the planned Nuba area location (Jari Savolainen, Finland, April 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Livingstone Kiniaru, technical coordinator for Radio PEACE, installs the first of four 50-foot rhombic antennae for RP’s upgraded transmitter. [caption, guy climbing halfway up a tower] (Africa Messenger, March 2005, via gh, DXLD) And, respectively, illustrated with a studio shot: ``This is Radio PEACE...`` --- Last year, the Persecution Project — in partnership with Educational Media Corp’s Global Endeavor Ministry — established Radio PEACE, Sudan’s first and only Christian radio station. Today, Radio PEACE provides daily broadcasts in seven indigenous languages — programming that offers a clear presentation of the Gospel; solid biblical teaching and practical, culture-specific application; news and commentary; and uplifting praise and worship music. Until recently radical Islamist propaganda dominated the Sudanese air waves. Now, with the establishment of Radio PEACE, the light of the Gospel penetrates every corner of Sudan. And in December, we hope to upgrade to a powerful 5 kilowatt transmitter that will reach farther and broadcast more clearly than ever before! (Africa Messenger, Oct 2004, via gh, DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SUPPORTS SWISS BROADCASTER | Text of report in English by Swiss Radio International's Swissinfo web site on 5 April A parliamentary committee has come out against the "radical" cutbacks at swissinfo. In a statement, the committee said swissinfo's mandate as a news service for the Swiss abroad should be a priority for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). The SBC announced on 22 March that it would axe up to 80 jobs and eight language services at swissinfo, leaving only a reduced English department. Internet services in the national languages - German, French and Italian - would continue to be produced by SBC's regional units. The move should result in annual savings of 15m Swiss francs (12.4m US dollars). The decision is, however, subject to government approval. In a statement on Tuesday [5 April], the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives said that a majority of committee members - 16 to seven - had come out against the cuts at swissinfo. The committee, which reviews Swiss foreign policy issues, also called for swissinfo's public-service mandate to remain a priority for the SBC. "From the point of view of the majority of the commission, the services offered [by swissinfo], which are a valuable source of information for the Swiss abroad, must be maintained in their current amplitude," wrote the committee. No comment But the committee said it did not want to comment on the financial aspects of the situation, while a minority saw no reason to comment on the SBC's strategy at all. It added that Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and Economics Minister Joseph Deiss had attended Tuesday's meeting. The Traffic and Communications Commission is also due to look into the SBC's decision on 3 May. In June, the House of Representatives is expected to discuss swissinfo as part of an ongoing parliamentary debate on the new radio and television law. Swissinfo was launched in 1999 as the internet arm of Swiss Radio International. It is available in nine languages: English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese. The decision to cut the site back - just one year after a previous round of restructuring - has already been criticized by the Council of the Swiss Abroad, which represents the interests of more than 600,000 expatriates. Swissinfo's public council - which assesses whether the site is carrying out its mandate - has also condemned the decision. The SBC says that it has to reduce swissinfo in response to the government's decision to end funding for the site. It maintains that swissinfo will still have an English service and produce special dossiers in national languages for the Swiss abroad. Source: Swissinfo web site, Bern, in English 1942 gmt 5 Apr 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SYRIA. Gracias al hallazgo del colega José Miguel Romero, efectivamente estoy escuchando a la Radioemisora de la República Árabe Siria en los 9330 (5/4/05 0010 UT con ID y noticia) SINFO=33333, con QRM de una no identificada en inglés sobre misma frecuencia, tentativamente The Planet WBCQ, Monticello-USA (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. World Service of Radio Tajikistan heard in English 1652 April 5th on 7245, fair strength but adjacent channel interference. End of news bulletin, local song, identification 1659 and continued in Arabic (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) That would have started at 1645 (gh) ** THAILAND. Re 5-058: 9600, Radio Thailand at 1255 --- Yes, it was English (Harold Sellers, Ont, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From 1230 ** U K. 4025.8, UNITED KINGDOM, (Presumed), LHH, 0241-0258, Apr. 4, English, OM with heavy UK accent between pop music selections, bad cover of "Stairway to Heaven" at 0251. Rough copy/poor. QRM from 4027 at 0258 (see KURDISTAN) (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As in Laser Hot Hits ** U K [and non]. Finally on April 5 at 1240 check was able to hear BBCWS in English via WYFR on 9605, but only a fair signal, aimed at CAm. It took a geomagnetic storm to knock out the high-latitude signal from Asia which had been blocking it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here`s a schedule of BBC in English as heard in New York state in the first week of A-05. I had a list of frequencies I had heard them on in the past year or so, plus the new ones you gave us just before the change. I went thru the entire list once every hour. In most cases, whenever I heard BBC, I logged it on that frequency for that hour, even tho it may not have been on for the entire hour. Some of these loggings were on weekdays, others on weekend. When I found two or more frequencies in the same hour, it sometimes involved more than one stream of programming. Broadcasters make the most mistakes during the first week of a new schedule, so some of these may be errors which have already been corrected. Many of these transmissions were not good enough to enjoy listening to, but as you know, that can change from day to day. For that reason, I included everything I heard. So, check it out. You might just find some airings you weren`t aware of. You might even find some BBC isn`t aware of! 00 5975 17790 01 9410 15360 17790 02 5975 9825 12095 15360 04 5975 6195 9410 05 9410 06 9410 07 6005 08 09 10 6195 9740 15485 11 9740 11865 15400 15485 12 9605 9740 11865 15190 15485 17760 17830 13 15190 15485 15565 17760 17830 21470 14 15485 15565 17640 17830 21470 15 15485 15565 17640 17830 21470 16 12095 15400 15485 15565 17790 17830 21470 17 12095 15400 15565 17830 21470 18 9410 12095 15400 17830 21470 19 9410 12095 15400 17830 20 9410 12095 15400 17830 21 6005 11675(-2130) 15490 15400 22 5975 15400 23 5975 Take care, and JKDI! (Pete Bentley, East Aurora NY, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Humour: BBC7 programme ties into current events --- BBC7, which mostly plays old Radio 4 comedies, mystery, sci-fi and dramas, is running 15 minute readings from ... Joana Trollope's novel, Marrying the Mistress (1045, 1745, 2345 GMT) I sent them an email asking if the readings were also going to be postponed a day for the Pope's funeral. Since, as I said, the schedule consists almost entirely of programs that were on the Beeb years ago, one wonders exactly why this particular novel was chosen for the time near the royal wedding. A mere coincidence or a drone having a bit of fun with the nine-to-five? http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/ (Joel Rubin, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Might it have something to do with Prince Charles' comments about the BBC's royal correspondent he made to his sons while they were on holiday? (Ted Schuerzinger, ibid.) ** U S A. THE DUELING KYRGYZSTAN EXCLUSIVES OF U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. First, ousted Kyrgyzstan president Askar Akayev gives exclusive interviews to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Kyrgyz and Russian services. RFE/RL press release, 1 April 2005. Presumably not heard on the 30 kW medium wave outlet in Bishkek, from which RFE/RL was evicted while Akayev was still in power. Then, Voice of America touts its exclusive interview with the new acting president of Kyrgyztan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev. VOA press release, 4 April 2005. Was heard on VOA Russian Service. Unfortunately, VOA does not have a Kyrgyz Service. So, U.S. government funded VOA had the exclusive interview, while its archrival, U.S. government funded RFE/RL, has a Kyrgyz Service. More evidence that U.S. international broadcasting remains an unassembled kit (from http://www.kimandrewelliott.com where the releases are linked, via DXLD) ** U S A. OVERTIME PAY FOR GS-13 TV TECHS --- Dateline: Washington, 04/01/05. In a settlement agreement the Broadcasting Board of Governors agreed to provide backpay to eight GS-13 TV Techs who had filed a grievance through the Union claiming the Agency had refused to pay them time and one half overtime pay by illegally exempting them from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Many of the eight employees received checks worth thousands of dollars. The agency also agreed to reimburse the Union for the cost of all legal fees incurred in pursuing the grievance. The Union received a check in the amount of $13,504.20. The Agency also agreed to not exempt these employees from the FLSA in the future (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. AFN coming in nicely from Key West on 7811.0 USB (reference frequency, not 7812.5 as continues to be displayed at http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/radio/shortwave/ ), April 5 at 1434 with Consumer Report on cars, at 1438 // 6350 Pearl Harbor but slightly out of sync, as the 7811 signal was fading down (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHRA is running slightly reduced carrier. April 5 at 1427 noticed GCN program on ELF, contrail conspiracies caused the S-meter to move slightly at modulation peaks on new 15310. This was more obvious once the very strong signal was attenuated. Watched it for some time to be sure it was not random propagational fading. No. Is this deliberate or merely a symptom of an ailing transmitter? There was also a slight whistle, à la CRI/RHC. BTW, nothing heard on 15285 at first, but by 1445, WHRI South Carolina with a different program became audible but only poorly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WMLK, Bethel PA, 9265, Feb 24 at 1920, ``WMLK, broadcasting on 9645 (sic)``, religion, English; undermodulated (David Gascooyne, Staplehurst, Kent, April BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U S A. February 22, 2005 spin the dial http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/001794.php Last night, I sat in my kitchen and spun the dial on my shortwave radio, trying to find a numbers station (the Spooks mailing list and rec.radio.shortwave both said that E10 had been loud and clear on 6930 over the weekend and I missed it) when I came across a really cool little tune. It sounded like something I'd heard years ago from Voice of Russia, or Deutsche Welle. Though I was really hoping to hear a different tune, (like The Lincolnshire Poacher or Cherry Red), I left my radio tuned to that frequency and imagined that it originated in some obscure station on the other side of the globe . . . because that's why I listen to SW: there's something undeniably romantic and mysterious and wonderful about tuning in a broadcast from thousands of miles away. I don't know many people who listen to SW, and I don't personally know a single DXer, so I feel like I'm part of something that's sort of below the radar (er, via the ionosphere.) Anyway, the song continued for several minutes, and I still couldn't figure out what it was. I don't have a current WRTH and I didn't want to walk all the way to my office to google the frequency, so I just listened. When the song ended, a woman's voice came on . . . and all my romantic images were shattered. It turns out I was listening to Los Angeles wacko Dr. Gene Scott's SW broadcast. The woman announced that Dr. Scott had died earlier in the day, and urged listeners to get to the phones and send in their money. After a minute or so of this, the tune started up again. Yeah. The cool music I'd imagined coming from some former Eastern Bloc country was actually coming from my own city, from a guy who was part of the background noise of my childhood. For those of you who didn't grow up in LA, Gene Scott was a staple of UHF television. He was a televangelist, who (in)famously rambled for up to twelve hours at a time, about all sorts of crazy shit. The camera often framed him from the chin to the top of his ever-present Indiana Jones hat, giving him this look that was equal parts creepy and kind of cool. As far as hucksters go, he's no Robert Tilton, but for pure entertainment value, not even Wally George could beat this guy. You damn kids today probably don't watch UHF television, but when I was a kid, my friends and I would stay up late at night and watch this guy through the static on channel 56 or 62 or whatever, and just wonder what the hell was going on. The freaky thing is, just a few days ago I wondered aloud when Gene Scott was finally going to shuffle off this mortal coil. Which brings me to the moral of this story: my thoughts control the future, so watch out. Or maybe a better moral is: even if you don't find the numbers station you're looking for, spinning the dial in your kitchen is a good way to spend an evening. . . . and that's not a euphemism. Posted by wil at February 22, 2005 09:34 AM (blog of Wil Wheaton, CA, via DXLD) ** U S A. [Radio Free Nashville] As expected, WRFN-LP 98.9 made it on the air this weekend. "Community" format, similar to stations like WORT/WEFT/KGNU/etc. Coverage isn't the best. Car radio out to about 5 miles, it's also good copy on my DX system up here about 20 miles away. (but it won't much impact DX and should be completely nullable) Big problem is interference, from WANT-98.9 and WHOP-98.7 (Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com April 4, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Iowa state senators have introduced a bill asking the nascent Iowa Public Radio network to consider playing "modern progressive musical content." http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&Service=Billbook&hbill=SR21 (via Current via DXLD) ** U S A. Good Midday! I discovered this morning that Des Moines, Iowa - not New Mexico or Washington - has a TIS station on 1670. The call is WQVG-575 [but see below]. The paper indicates it is sponsored by the Department of Transportation and the Highway Patrol. Announcements of closures, slowdown, whatever are made through a cycle. Then there is a little music bridge followed by promotional announcements about Iowa and a few of our attractions here. These are also separated by a little music bridge. The "announcer" announces "And now back to the traffic reports" and so it repeats. Probably won't grab the ratings! I think this is the first TIS in Des Moines. Our freeway is in the worst phases of reconstruction! This station can't hurt! Besides the recording it also announces that emergency items will be broadcast immediately. Just for avid chasers of AM signals. I don't know any particulars. It is audible a couple of miles from the freeway in NW Des Moines. The suburb of Urbandale has a station on 1210 located in their fire station, if memory is correct. Much of the time it repeats the local NOAA station, WXL-57. Saylorville Dam just north of the city, a.k.a., Saylorville Lake also has a station on 1610 that has been there for 15 + years. The new installation seems to have better coverage than the other two. Why, my Dymeck-McKay AM-5 doesn't have the X-band on it! Have a good day. Doc (Tom Gruis, EdD, April 5, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) I think you have WQBG575 according to the FCC web site. They broadcast from two sites. For further information you can refer to http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi- bin/ws.exe/genmen/uls/uls_call_res.hts?db_id=19&callsign=WQBG575&application_ id= If you click on "SITE" you can see where the transmitters are located. Good luck (Bill Harms, MD, ibid.) ** U S A. Some additional comments on HD Radio, now that 8 Miami stations on the Gannett Tower (American Tower) are on. Some sound better than analog FM, and I'll be frank, some actually sound worse. The station I currently volunteer at (WDNA/88.9) blows them all away in fantastic fidelity once the radio goes into Digital. By contrast, the one I used to work for (WMGE/94.9, formerly WZTA), actually degrades tremendously when the radio 'locks in' to digital from analog. Want to know something?? I've mentioned before all our audio is noncompressed (in the storage sense). We use either CDs, or our stored audio is all .wavs, 44.1 kHz. I remember when I worked at WZTA, Clear Channel's beloved Prophet system stored everything in mp2 format. And most commercial stations that use an on air computer use a codec that compresses the audio in some form. I have a feeling that a lot of these stations that are investing loads of money into HD Radio are not realizing that the 'investment', in order for it to work well, will have to require a 'through and through' commitment that goes right down to the studio. I may not know what I'm talking about, it may also be compression issues (in the limiting sense). Bottom line is HD Radio sounds awesomely spectacular when it's worked well, but it can sound worse than analog if it's not done right. It's tricky stuff. Maybe someone better versed in digital audio can help me here (Tony, FL, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. The latest issue (April 2005) of Atlantic Monthly magazine has a long and interesting article about talk radio in the States. I found it informative. JTM (John T. Mayhall, ODXA via DXLD; also via Gerald T. Pollard) ** U S A. It's a national issue --- live, local, liberal talkers with strong loyal followings are canned in favor of other brand new syndicated liberal talkers --- or, conservative hosts. In Santa Fe, KTRC cancels Doug Stephan and Thom Hartmann and goes to Air America. Thom was very popular in northern New Mexico and now is back on the air with AM 1490 / Los Alamos. Even though Thom is nationally syndicated, he did very well in northern NM on KTRC. In Detroit, WXDX/Detroit cancels Tony Trupiano because they want to put on Air America programming --- although Tony is on some other affiliates on the state's talk network. In Vegas [NV!], KDWN wanted to move its programming further to the right and cancelled their own liberal host Doug Basham because he was critical of the President --- although he did broker up to 3 hours per day soon afterwards on the local brokered station KLAV. As Radio Info moderator Les pointed out once, local liberal talkers face strong competition today due to the increasing syndication of national liberal hosts. Les also pointed out that when Rush came along 15 years ago, the same thing happened to many conservative hosts who lost their jobs (This Tom, March 30, Radio-Info NM board via DXLD) ** U S A. MASTERS RADIO IS ON THE AIR Web posted Tuesday, April 5, 2005 By Kristy Shonka, The Augusta Chronicle http://www.augusta.com/masters/stories/040505/new_3808862.shtml Stuck in traffic on Washington Road? Tune your radio to 1300 AM and find out whether it's just your typical Masters Tournament traffic or an accident that is causing the delay. For the first time, Augusta National Golf Club is working with the city of Augusta to provide patrons with the most up-to-date traffic alerts over the airwaves. A spokesman at the course said a radio broadcast was something the club had talked about before, but that it wasn't until this year that everything fell into place. "It's strictly a service to the patrons," the spokesman said. If you're not sure what items are banned from the tournament, tune in for periodic reminders. The broadcast also alerts listeners to parking lot closures and information about weather delays, should there be any at this year's tournament. Player interviews and historical information about the tournament will fill the air between updates during the practice rounds. The station will begin carrying live play-by-play of the tournament starting Wednesday with the Par-3 Contest. Each night there will be a 30-minute show wrapping up the day's action and previewing the next day's round. The show will likely air at about 7 p.m. [EDT = UT -4] tonight and Wednesday and about two hours after play ends Thursday through Sunday. There also will be live traffic updates during the morning and evening rushes (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) Presumably very low power, limited range. So when is the tournament over? Sunday April 10? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT AL GORE TO LAUNCH TV CHANNEL FOR YOUNG VIEWERS | Excerpt from press release by San Francisco-based Current TV dated 4 April San Francisco, 4 April 2005: Offering a glimpse of the independent network first announced at last year's National Cable and Telecommunications Association [NCTA] convention, former Vice- President Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, joined by executives and on-air talent, revealed this morning that the name of the new venture, formerly known as INdTV, will be Current. The unveiling of the much-anticipated network's positioning, logo and prototype programming reel took place at a press conference in Current's San Francisco headquarters during NCTA '05. The first national network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience, Current will offer 24 hours of programming in a unique, short-form content format when it premieres 1 August. Current will invite audiences to move beyond their roles as viewers to become active collaborators, encouraging them to help shape the network's content and fulfill its mission - to serve as a TV platform where the voices of young adults can be heard. "The internet opened a floodgate for young people whose passions are finally being heard, but TV hasn't followed suit. Young adults have a powerful voice, but you can't hear that voice on television - yet," said Gore, who serves as the network's chairman of the board. "We intend to change that with Current, giving those who crave the empowerment of the web the same opportunity for expression on television. We want to transform the television medium itself, giving a national platform to those who are hungry to help create the TV they want to watch." The participatory model of Current marks a giant leap in seven decades of television. "Until now, the notion of viewer participation has been limited to sending a tape to 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' calling an interview show, taking part in an instant poll, or voting someone off an island," added Gore. "We're creating a powerful new brand of television that doesn't treat audiences as merely viewers, but as collaborators." Promising a slate of programming that's smart, fun and fearless (as a truly independent network), Current seeks to cater to the internet generation's need for choice and control. Reflective of its name, it will serve up the most current information on the people, places and happenings of interest to viewers 18-34, a demographic that no longer relates to traditional news. Taking its cues from their media consumption habits, Current will offer short-form programming in the TV equivalent of an iPod shuffle. Its "pods" will be 15-second to five-minute segments that range from the hottest trends in technology, fashion, television, music and videogames, to pressing issues such as the environment, relationships, spirituality, finance, politics and parenting, subjects that young adults can rarely find on television. Pod segments include "Current Playlist" (music for the digital generation), "Current Parent" (advice to first-timers), "Current Gigs" (career guidance) and "Current Soul" (trends in spiritual awakening). Drawing from audience submissions are such pods as "Current Courage" (profiles of heroism and altruism), "Current Video" (video clips from the next Spielbergs or Spike Jonzes) and "Current Rant" (inviting viewers to let off steam). "Google Current," built using samplings of popular Google search data, including from Google Zeitgeist, complements the free-flowing pod format with news updates each half-hour. Thirty seconds to three minutes in length, these segments buck conventional news practices by reporting not on what media editors decide is "news," but on the topics people are actually searching for right now. So news isn't what the network thinks you should know, but what the world is searching to learn. "We're pleased to collaborate with the entire Current team to help this network make the world's information more accessible," said Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder and president of Technology. "Current is an exciting new direction for TV programming that enables any viewer to have the opportunity to broadcast their video to the world," said Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president of Products. Guided by young hosts set in a club-like atmosphere, Current's free- flowing programming will include both professionally produced segments and viewer-created content. Current viewers will be able to easily upload their own segments through the network's online "Current Studio," available through the web site http://www.current.tv These submissions will be assessed and ranked by other viewers, potentially voting the best ones onto the air. To facilitate their participation, Current also plans to launch a comprehensive online training programme developed by some of the best young creatives in the industry. It will provide expert-led modules on storytelling, shooting and editing, effectively teaching anyone with a digital video camera and computer how to produce segments. Through this first-of-its-kind online training programme, the network seeks to cultivate a national, and eventually global, coterie of "Current Journalists" (CJs). In May 2004, Current laid the foundation for its national presence when the company's founders acquired Newsworld International (NWI), a 24-hour channel dedicated to global news produced by The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Current will build on NWI's reach into nearly 20 million subscriber households in the US with carriage agreements on DirecTV's "Total Choice" tier, Time Warner Cable's basic digital tier and Comcast systems in key markets. [Passage omitted] Source: Current TV press release, San Francisco, in English 4 Apr 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. "OVER THE TOP" -- DID MEDIA ABANDON CRITICAL ROLE IN PAPAL DEATH WATCH COVERAGE? American news media provided round-the-clock coverage in the hours leading up to the death of Pope John Paul II, but may have abandoned any role as an articulate critic of Vatican policy. New York Times writer Alessandra Stanley described the journalistic death watch as "intense but decorous" punctuated with "a few frantic stumbles." "The blanket coverage was as much a tribute to this pope's unrivaled stature as the millions of people who prayed for him day and night," added Stanley. Even the term "death" was considered taboo and "too harsh" in the endless speculation and media churn regarding John Paul's medical condition. Major cable outlets provided uninterrupted "continued coverage" of the pope's death, while the ABC, CBS and NBC aired periodic updates. Cameras remained riveted on the papal apartment windows, and even the occasional opening of a shutter was examined for its possible significance and possible sign that the pope had rallied. "Mystical phrases by clergymen were parsed for coded messages," noted Stanley. And even the most credulous statements by Vatican officials, such as the remark by Archbishop Angelo Comastri that "this evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope" went unchallenged by hardened anchors and commentators. "It was out of control, totally over the top," said American Atheists president Ellen Johnson in a statement issued to reporters. Indeed, coverage may have crossed the line separating critical journalism from run-away adulation and praise-mongering. Headlines described the pope as a semi-deity admired throughout the world, while minimizing the pontiff's role in maintaining the Vatican's role as a foremost opponent to secularism and social progress. "The World Prays" "Beloved, Charismatic and Controversial, Pope John Paul II Transformed the Papacy" (San Francisco Chronicle) "Despite Infirmities, Pope Perseveres; A Life-Affirming message Is Seen In His Suffering" (Philadelphia Inquirer) There was little in the way of substantive, critical commentary however. The German publication Der Spiegel carried an extensive opinion piece by renegade theologian Hans Kung ("The Pope's Contradictions") noting that John Paul's "anti-reformist tenure has plunged the Roman Catholic Church into an epochal credibility crisis" complete with a "self-absorbed hierarchy." Kung also took issue with a theme redolent in American press coverage, that John Paul almost single-handedly overthrew a sclerotic, "atheistic" Communist regime standing astride the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. "The role the Polish pope played in helping bring about the collapse of the Soviet empire is also emphasized, and rightly so," noted Kung. "But it is also heavily exaggerated by papal propagandists. After all, the Soviet regime did not fall because of the pope (before the arrival of Gorbachev, the pope was achieving about as little as he is now achieving in China), but instead imploded because of the Soviet system's inherent economic and social contradictions." Another of the few critics speaking out on John Paul's mixed legacy was Christopher Hitchens. In an op-ed piece published on the slate.com web site, Hitchens boldly treads where mainstream commentators feared to go, beginning with the story of fugitive Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston ("The man (who) knowingly reassigned dangerous and sadistic criminals to positions where they would be able to exploit the defenseless...") to the Holy See's penchant for meddling in American courts and politics. And there are lone organizations speaking out, hoping that a blizzard of press releases might make it over the transom and into the inked columns of the mainstream press, or be deemed worthy of a few seconds on the evening news churn. In a statement to reporters, Britain's Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association described John Paul as "one of the most implacable homophobes of all time." GALAH Secretary George Broadhead noted, "The Pope's opposition to gay relations and gay right has been relentless throughout his 26-year tenure of office, culminating in his book published this year in which same-sex marriage is described as part of an 'ideology of evil.' His catechism condemns gay relationships as 'intrinsically disordered' and a 'grave depravity.' In 2003, he even went so far as urging gay children and their parents to seek psychiatric treatment." It seems obvious now, especially in the wake of priestly pronouncements about the Terry Schiavo case, that the Vatican's emphasis on a "culture of life" remains clearly aimed at any technology or social policy which departs from the view that women must remained chained to reproductive biological destiny, and that family structures -- even political institutions -- should support that objective. In U.N. meetings and international gatherings to further the empowerment of women, the Vatican delegation worked to disrupt or undermine programs delivering birth control services, all under the pretense of "protecting the unborn." There were other troubling aspects of John Paul's tenure as Pontiff: * The Vatican has never fully revealed the facts behind the banking scandal that rocked international financial institutions in the early 1980s, including the pope's own Institute for Religious Works. * During his tenure in the papacy, John Paul faced charges even from critics inside the church that he was operating a virtual "saint factory," beatifying and canonizing a record number of candidates including some accused of fraud and even practitioners of self- flagellation and other questionable behavior. * Even in the wake of the Vatican bank scandal, the IOR/Holy See continued in its efforts to hide evidence that it was the beneficiary of large amounts of gold (and possibly other financial assets) confiscated by the Nazi puppet regimes in the former "Catholic State of Croatia" and elsewhere in Europe. Indeed, the Vatican has been pressuring U.S. courts to stop any disclosure of IOR assets and their origin. * The full dimension of the "pedophile priest" scandal may never be known, especially its extent outside the United States. It is doubtful that any meaningful U.S. or international inquiry will ever take place. Pope John Paul II may be tarred with the taint of this clerical impropriety. For further information: http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican2.htm (Gelli arrest is another chapter in sordid Vatican bank scandal) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican4.htm (Pope running 'saint factory'? Beatifies monk accused of fraud, philandering...) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican5.htm (Vatican corruption) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican7.htm (Vatican status at United Nations) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat7b.htm (The Vatican as political state, religious sect) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican8.htm (Bush chases Catholic vote, affirms support for special Vatican status) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vatican9.htm (Vatican accused of subverting rights for women) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat10.htm) (House votes to retain Vatican status) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat11.htm Vatican asks court, US government to dismiss suit over Nazi gold http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat12.htm (Fleeing sex scandal, pope canonizes huckster friar) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat13.htm (Report on Calvi autopsy, Vatican bank scandal) http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/vat14.htm (Vatican fights gay marriage) ** BUSH ORDERS FLAG LOWERED FOR PAPAL FUNERAL President Bush has ordered that all American flags be displayed at half staff on Friday to commemorate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The practice is usually reserved for U.S. officials including presidents and justices of the U.S. Supreme along with state governors, peace officers and members of the military. Chapter 10, Title 175, however, does give Bush the legal authority to order a half staff display "as a symbol of respect for other officials and foreign dignitaries." "It's inappropriate for the American flag to be lowered as a salute to a foreign religious leader," said American Atheists President Ellen Johnson in a statement issued today to news reporters. "There is no secular purpose for this, and Americans would be outraged if Mr. Bush ordered a similar acknowledgement for the death of an Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish or Protestant prelate." So far, news coverage of the Bush order has received little mainstream media scrutiny. A piece carried on the Voice of America web site ("Bush Hails Late Pope as Champion of Freedom") by correspondent Scott Stearns mentioned the move at the end of a five-paragraph story. Bush may also have a legal weapon to rebuff any court challenge to the half staff order, since the Vatican is both a religious institution and sovereign nation state enjoying U.S. Diplomatic recognition. Johnson said that even with this constitutionally-suspect status, Bush is wrong with his decision to order American flags throughout the country lowered. "By reserving this special recognition for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Mr. Bush is ignoring the religious diversity of the United States, and the fact that millions of Americans do not share his uncritical admiration for John Paul. "One of the things that our nation great is that we have the separation of church and state," Johnson added. "The flag should represent all Americans, and not all Americans believe that the Pope deserves such a special, government-sponsored recognition." RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS For membership information about American Atheists, send mail to info @ atheists.org. Kindly include your name and postal mailing address; ask for a membership information packet. You may also visit http://www.atheists.org and click on the "Join" navigation button. (AA Newsletter April 4 via DXLD) ** VATICAN. Just received a message from Vatican Radio. Please include this in Media News and also publicise this to all your contacts. SPECIAL BROADCAST ON 8TH APRIL FROM VATICAN RADIO. UT 0750-1000 7250 kHz, 9645 kHz Central Europe (German) 15570 kHz, 17760 kHz West Africa (French) 15330 kHz, 17750 kHz South America (English) [but see below!] (Alok das Gupta, DXAsia, via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) By scheduling the funeral at such an hour, they obviously don`t care about reaching a live audience in North America, and that is the worst time of night for SW propagation from Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note the following which says 15330 and 17750 will be in SPANISH, not English. Probably confused by E = Español, rather than English. This certainly makes more sense for S America (gh) Copertura radio per i funerali del Papa Radio Vaticana seguirà i funerali di Giovanni Paolo II in cinque lingue, a partire dalle 0950 locali, con una diretta che dovrebbe terminare intorno a mezzogiorno. Questa la schedule diffusa dall'emittente - in Italiano per l'Italia su kHz 5885 OC, per la Zona di Roma su kHz 585 e 1530 OM, MHz 105,0 FM e via Internet sul Canale 1 - in Polacco per la Zona di Roma su MHz 93,3 FM e via Internet sul Canale 2 - in Tedesco per l'Europa centro-occid. su kHz 7250 e 9645 OC, per la zona di Roma su kHz 1611 OM e via Internet sul Canale 3 - in Francese per l'Africa su kHz 15570 e 17760 OC, per la zona di Roma su MHz 103,8 FM e via Internet sul Canale 4 - in Spagnolo per l'Europa occidentale e America Latina su kHz 15330 e 17750 OC, per la zona di Roma su kHz 1260 OM e via Internet sul Canale 5 (via Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it via DXLD) Good catch. I was wondering about that myself. I also think they probably figure that the US/Canadian television networks will be all over this, and they're certainly correct about that (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Especially EWTN, tho they have always been a bit cool toward the competing Vatican Radio, never relaying its regular programs, tho that would tremendously increase VR coverage (gh, DXLD) [non]. Nothing directly from the Vatican in English -- which would have probably appeared as 'Ingles' anyway. However, WEWN will be carrying the service in English; the following are the apparent frequencies: 0800-0900 UT 7570 kHz (targeting Europe / Africa) 0800-1000 UT 5960 kHz (targeting North America) 1000- onwards 5745 kHz (targeting North America) See http://www.ewtn.com/radio/schedule.htm and http://www.ewtn.com/radio/freq.htm. (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Radio Amazonas sólo presente en el dial en las mañanas; escuchada este 05/03 a las 0937 UT, en los 4939.67 kHz. SINPO 33333. Ni rastro de ella en las noches. 73s y buen DX, (Adán González Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checking the RNV-via-Cuba frequencies at 2025 UT April 5, found it only on 9550, while 13680 was instead carrying a 5- digit Spanish YL numbers transmission! At about the same strength as the broadcast used to muster on 13680; ended at 2040, into open carrier which stayed on and at 2059, started another transmission with ``Atención 888,16`` but carrier cut off at 2101 as someone realized their mistake. At 2025, 11760 was in RHC Spanish, and from 2030 in English; nothing heard on 15230, and 17705 if on was totally blocked by Delano (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. BRITISH JOURNALISTS FACE TRIAL ON ACCREDITATION CHARGES | Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 4 April New York, 4 April 2005: Zimbabwean government prosecutors are pushing ahead with a criminal trial of two journalists from the London-based Sunday Telegraph on accreditation charges that could bring two years in prison, the journalists' lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said today. Toby Harnden, the newspaper's chief foreign correspondent, and photographer Julian Simmonds have been jailed since their arrest on 31 March at a polling station in Norton, a town near the capital, Harare. The journalists had travelled to Zimbabwe to report on that day's parliamentary elections. Harnden and Simmonds have been charged with working without accreditation under Zimbabwe's draconian media law, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which requires all journalists in Zimbabwe to register with the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC). The journalists also face a charge under Zimbabwe's immigration law, Mtetwa told CPJ. George Charamba, Zimbabwe's secretary for information and publicity, told the state-run Herald newspaper last week that the two journalists would be deported. But a trial was still scheduled for Tuesday [5 April], and prosecutors today invoked their authority to override a magistrate's decision granting bail to the journalists, Mtetwa said. According to state media in Zimbabwe, hundreds of foreign journalists were accredited to cover the elections. However, dozens were also refused accreditation and accused of political bias, including all journalists from the BBC and from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Charamba said in a statement that the BBC journalists were denied access because "they already perceive the elections as not free and fair," according to the Zambia-based independent daily The Post. At least one journalist from the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph's sister paper, was denied accreditation, which Charamba said was "due to having previously broken Zimbabwean and international broadcasting law". "The government's effort to pick and choose the international journalists covering the Zimbabwean election violates the spirit of international law, which affirms the right of all people to seek and receive information regardless of frontiers," said Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ. "Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds must be released immediately and unconditionally, and all charges against them dropped." Television journalist also deported CPJ also condemns the 1 April arrest and deportation of a correspondent for Sweden's public broadcaster, Sveriges Television (STV). Fredrik Sperling, who is based in South Africa, was arrested in central Harare and deported, despite having been accredited to cover the elections. Sperling told CPJ that he was brought to a police station outside of Harare on 30 March, after filming a large farm expropriated several years ago by the Zimbabwean government and now occupied by a relative of President Robert Mugabe. Initially released, Sperling said he was later arrested and deported by signed order of MIC Chairman Tafataona Mahoso. The editors-in-chief of two STV news programmes sent a letter protesting Sperling's deportation to Zimbabwe's ambassador in Sweden. Sperling is also appealing the government's decision to brand him a "prohibited immigrant," which bars his re-entry into Zimbabwe. Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 4 Apr 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ EiBi A05 SCHEDULES Direct Download bc-a05.txt - The current summer schedule (A05), only 80% completed --- http://www.susi-und-strolch.de/eibi/bc-a05.txt (via gh, DXLD) Please visit for BABUL GUPTA'S QSL COLELCTION http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/babul_g/album?.dir=717d&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/babul_g/my_photos (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 41 in slideshow RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ PHILCO MYSTERY CONTROL Re 5-059: Web page that covers this in detail: http://www.philcorepairbench.com/mystery/ Regards, (David Zantow N9EWO, Janesville WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TFK = 350-400 kHz (gh) CROSSED FIELD ANTENNAS --- See discussion under EGYPT [and non] IBAC Must get the wash out of the dryer and go to bed. Too bad the dryer doesn't have a radio. The mess in the lint trap looks like MW IBAC sounds (Phil Rafuse, PEI, Canada, 0302 UT April 6, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NASA ANNOUNCES NEW AURORA DATA Thanks to observations from the ground and satellites in space, scientists know that the North and South Poles light up at night with Auroras because a "solar wind" of electrified gas continually flows outward from the sun at high speed in all directions, including toward the Earth. Recently, however, NASA and university scientists looking at the Earth's northern and southern auroras were surprised to find they aren't mirror images of each other, as was once thought. From spacecraft observations made in October, 2002, scientists noticed that these circular bands of aurora shift in opposite directions to each other depending on the orientation of the sun's magnetic field, which travels toward the Earth with the solar wind flow. They also noted that the auroras shift in opposite directions to each other depending on how far the Earth's northern magnetic pole is leaning toward the sun. By knowing how auroras react to the solar wind, scientists can better determine the impacts of space weather in the future. The new discovery shows that auroras may be more complicated than previously thought. Details with still and motion pictures can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/dueling_auroras.html (From a NASA Press Release via Joe Buch, DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to minor storming. Isolated periods of active to minor storm conditions were observed at higher latitudes midday on 30 March while isolated active conditions were observed early on 30 March and again on 01 April. Otherwise, the period was dominated by quiet to unsettled conditions. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 06 APRIL - 02 MAY 2005 Solar activity is expected be at very low to low levels. A greater than 10 MeV proton event is not expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels 06 - 08 April and again on 22 – 25 April. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to active levels. A recurrent coronal hole high speed wind stream is expected to produce unsettled to active levels on 06 April. On 21 – 23 April, a small coronal is expected to produce unsettled to active conditions. Otherwise, expect quiet to unsettled conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2005 Apr 05 2215 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2005 Apr 05 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2005 Apr 06 90 15 3 2005 Apr 07 90 10 3 2005 Apr 08 90 5 2 2005 Apr 09 85 8 3 2005 Apr 10 85 15 3 2005 Apr 11 85 8 3 2005 Apr 12 85 10 3 2005 Apr 13 85 12 3 2005 Apr 14 85 12 3 2005 Apr 15 85 12 3 2005 Apr 16 85 8 3 2005 Apr 17 85 5 2 2005 Apr 18 80 5 2 2005 Apr 19 80 5 2 2005 Apr 20 80 10 3 2005 Apr 21 80 15 3 2005 Apr 22 75 15 3 2005 Apr 23 75 15 3 2005 Apr 24 75 10 3 2005 Apr 25 75 5 2 2005 Apr 26 75 8 3 2005 Apr 27 75 8 3 2005 Apr 28 75 8 3 2005 Apr 29 75 5 2 2005 Apr 30 75 8 3 2005 May 01 80 15 3 2005 May 02 80 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1270, DXLD) ### UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hi Glenn, Just a quick moment of your time, please: I wanted you to know how much I enjoy listening to your programs. Thanks for doing it. (Wil Wheaton, CA) Wil, Thanks very much! If you`re TNG actor, the feeling is mutual. I`d better check out http://www.wilwheaton.net/ to see if he`s a shortwave listener. 73, (Glenn to Wil, via DXLD) I guess this is the real Wil Wheaton; he does talk about SW on his blog, such as re DGS (above under USA) at http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/001794.php Wil has done a lot of acting before and after TNG, of course (gh) ###