DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-086, May 24, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1274: Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1274 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1274h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1274h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1274 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1274.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1274.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1274.html WORLD OF RADIO 1274 in true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_05-22-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_05-22-05.mp3 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1275: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 ON DEMAND: from early UT Thursday change 1274 above to 1275 WORLD OF RADIO TIME CHANGE ON WBCQ Was anyone able to hear WOR (1274) on WBCQ 7415 at 0430 UT Mon May 23? Inaudible here, suspected off the air. Tnx, (Glenn, dxldyg via DXLD) Dear Glenn, WOR is on from 12:15-12:45 AM Mondays EDT. Transmitter problem took us off the air a bit early last night. Cheers, (Allan Weiner, WBCQ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So has been rescheduled a quarter hour earlier, 0415-0445 UT Mon on 7415. Is Herald of Truth cancelled across the board at 0415 M-F? (gh) MUNDO RADIAL, INFORME DX DE GLENN HAUSER, MAYO 2005: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0505.ram (descargar) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0505.rm (guión) http://worldofradio.com/mr0505.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. KARZAI STATEMENTS AFFIRM IMPORTANCE OF BROADCASTING TO AFGHANISTAN http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=126&mode=general (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA [and non]. Voz Cristiana, Africa nº 1 y LRA 36 GABON-CHILE-ANTÁRTIDA. Retomando un tema que fue ampliamente debatido, especialmente en World of Radio de Glenn Hauser, la interferencia que está causando Voz Cristiana a LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, la primera transmitiendo en 15475 y la segunda en 15476, comentaba yo hace dos meses, que Voz Cristiana no había salido muy favorecida por el cambio de frecuencia de su programa en portugués de los 21500 a 15475, ya que además de interferir ella a LRA 36, cosa que no creo que le importe mucho, Voz Cristiana es fuertemente interferida por Africa nº 1, también en 15475. De hecho, aquí en España, mientras está en el aire la emisora africana, no se escucha para nada Voz Cristiana. Y decía, hace tiempo, que la esperanza de que esta abandonara esta frecuencia venía dada, no por que ocultara a la emisora de la Antártida, sino porque ella misma tenía que estar siendo muy perturbanda, aun en Brasil por los potentes transmisores de Africa nº 1. Pués bién, pude comprobar, durante mi estancia en la República Dominicana, que esa interferencia de Africa nº 1 a Voz Cristiana es allí fortísima, casi tanto como lo es en España. Veamos los datos: GABON, 15475, Africa nº 1, 1854, 12-05, Programa en francés, comentarios: "Le journal des auditeurs, Africa nº 1". "Vous écoutez Africa nº 1, la radio african". Señal muy fuerte. 44444. Sólo al cierre de esta emisora, a las 1900 se puede escuchar Voz Cristiana, también en 15475 con su programa en portugués, en este caso, ese día, con un comentario sobre educacón de los hijos, y con SINPO 34333, pero antes, completamente eclipsada por Africa nº 1. En muchas zonas de Brasil, especialmente en el norte, esa interferencia tiene que ser también muy fuerte (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. 16879 kHz - Varna Radio (LZW) - Varna - Recebida carta QSL full data, carta pessoal e folheto com a história da estação. 386 dias (59 dias após follow up). V/S: Stefan Dimitrov (Chief Officer/ Manager). Obs: Segundo o V/S, a estação usa um transmissor Broadband Shunted Dipole (Z inp = 300 Ohms) de 1 Kw. Ele ainda informa que o site da estação é: http://lzwsat.navbul.com:55555 (onde pode-se obter o schedule da estação). O e-mail da estação é: radio @ navbul.com . QTH: Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), Varna Radio LZW, 1 Primorsk Blvd, Varna, Bulgaria (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes, PR, Brasil, Conexión Digital May 23 via DXLD) CW only? ** BURMA [non]. OPPOSITION RADIO DVB TO LAUNCH WEEKEND HOURLY TV PROGRAMMES | Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 22 May Dear listeners. Democratic Voice of Burma [DVB] will commence broadcasting its television programme from Saturday 28 May. This is to inform listeners that they will be able to watch the DVB TV programme via a satellite dish. The TV programmes will be broadcast for an hour every Saturday and Sunday. The programmes will be on air from 2000 to 2100 [1330 to 1430 gmt] on Saturday and from 1200 to 1300 [0530 to 0630 gmt] on Sunday. The DVB TV programme can be received via the PAS 10 satellite, 68.5 degrees east, frequency 3940 vertical polarity with symbol rate 3000. In order to allow the listeners to tune in to the satellite, the trial DVB TV programmes will run from 2000 to 2030 [1330 to 1400 gmt] from Monday [23 May] to Friday [27 May] via the PAS 10 satellite. The frequency is 3940 vertical polarity with symbol rate 3000. Viewers will be able to watch DVB TV programmes from Saturday, 28 May, which will include local and international Burmese news, news reports, music video, documentaries, and other interesting issues. Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 22 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CHINA. Death by a Thousand Blogs --- By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Op-Ed Columnist, Published: May 24, 2005, Beijing The Chinese Communist Party survived a brutal civil war with the Nationalists, battles with American forces in Korea and massive pro- democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. But now it may finally have met its match - the Internet. The collision between the Internet and Chinese authorities is one of the grand wrestling matches of history, visible in part at http://www.yuluncn.com That's the Web site of a self-appointed journalist named Li Xinde. He made a modest fortune selling Chinese medicine around the country, and now he's started the Chinese Public Opinion Surveillance Net - one of four million blogs in China. Mr. Li travels around China with an I.B.M. laptop and a digital camera, investigating cases of official wrongdoing. Then he writes about them on his Web site and skips town before the local authorities can arrest him. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/24/opinion/24kristoff.html?ex=1117598400&en=7d2c4ffc4ad65b53&ei=5070 (via Rich Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. On Saturday May 21st I could hear Radio Reloj from Medellin – Colombia on 830 KHZ. AM, with typical Colombian music, ID by OM: ``Esta es Radio Reloj. Tu emisora`` between songs. But the most amazing was to find this station with the same signal on 1210 kHz. AM. I`m looking for information about this station like QTH so as to send a Reception Report and if they Verify with QSL. Thanks in advance. El sábado 21 de mayo a eso de las 0430 UT escuché a Radio Reloj desde Medellín por los 830 khz AM, con música típica colombiana, la hora entre canciones e identificación por OM "Esta es Radio Reloj, tu emisora``. Lo raro es que también estaba su señal en paralelo a los 1210 AM con la misma señal. Alguien tiene información sobre esto, indicar QTH para dirigir informe de recepción (CESAR PEREZ DIOSES, CHIMBOTE, PERU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) La colombiana es de Caracol, cuya dirección en este caso es como sigue: Carrera 79 A No. 39-45, Medellín (Antioquia). Si responden, no lo sé, es cuestión de voluntad, como tú sabes. Te mando un cordial saludo, (Henrik Klemetz, ibid.) ** CUBA. Last night, I listened to 5025 Radio Rebelde (often local- like on fading ups! I bet they were stronger than even Radio Havana Cuba!) and while enjoying the great Cuban music, I was reading a book about the history of Cuban music. They were a couple of singers that wanted to leave the country along with homosexuals, transsexuals and too practicant Catholics (the communists wanted to make all the people athees!) that in the 60's a couple of years after the Cuban revolution were put in working camps with forced work and very bad treatment. My father told me they couldn't do the work for a too great amount of time, because due to the bad treatment and poor quantity of food, after just some weeks, months or so, they will be dead. It's really awful! Another intriguing fact was that Fidel Castro wanted the Cuban music to be primarily addressed to the nation's people, so they weren't many international CM hits in that period. I can't wait until I will be at the salsa part of the book, how this music started; by the way a great salsa artist from Cuba was Sonia López with Sonora Matancera or something like that. It's on the Spanish CD I burned yesterday; her best song is Laberinto; I actually have only about the 3 quarters of the file; the last quarter is missing so the track abruptly ends. This happened on all the "Sonia López - Laberinto.mp3" files I downloaded. I think they do this maybe to prevent piratage or maybe due to a virus? Well, that's it for now! I haven't contributed in a long time to LatinMWDX! I have sleeped about a half-hour this afternoon and since tomorrow there is no school, I'll be able to DX until late in the night. 73 and good DX, (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, May 22, Latin mwdx yg via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. 1539 kHz, 1845 UT, Radiodiffusion [Télé]Vision Djibouti, Djibouti. Great surprise to hear this in presumed Afar language with sensational exotic music. Took a wild guess and checked 4780 to find this in // but 1539 was stronger - amazing!!! Heard well throughout the morning, including commentaries at 1915, thank goodness 5TAB 1539 is not 24 hours yet (Craig Edwards, Coorong, South Australia. Dxing from a caravan park cabin in Meningie (150km south of Adelaide). Using Icom R75 (off 12V DC), pre-amp and EWE facing Asia/Europe on April 16th and April 30th, HCDX via DXLD) ** DOMINICA. See WINDWARD ISLANDS ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.1, R. Amanecer, May 22, 0334-0359*, religious songs, ID and choral anthem at sign-off. Fair, best in LSB to get away from 6030 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Dear friends: My name is CESAR PEREZ DIOSES; I am a 43- year-old high school teacher here in CHIMBOTE, an industrial city and seaport located in the north coast of Perú in South America. I like Dxing hobby since 1978, and I need your help to identify this station: Radio Ondas Ribereñas in 620 AM. Last night May 22nd, 2005, I heard an unknown station with typical Mexican music like rancheras and corridos played by a orchestra band, the ID given by OM ``RADIO ONDAS RIBEREÑAS 620 AM, Ayer, hoy y siempre``, no advertisements so as to identify the QTH. There is not any information in the WRTH 2005 and former ones. Anoche Mayo 22 a las 0320 UT, escuché una emisora que no pude identificar de donde transmitía con música ranchera y corridos mexicanos tocados con banda orquesta. Se identificaba como "RADIO ONDAS RIBEREÑAS 620 AM, ayer, hoy y siempre" por OM entre canciones, durante mas de 30 minutos, no anuncios comerciales ni nada por el estilo que permita identificar su QTH. No hay información en el WRTH 2005 ni anteriores (CESAR PEREZ DIOSES, CHIMBOTE, PERU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola César: La emisora que escuchaste en 620 debe ser Ondas Quevedeñas, del Ecuador, 12 Calle No 207 y 7 de Octubre, Quevedo, Los Ríos, Si responden, no lo sé, es cuestión de voluntad, como tú sabes. Te mando un cordial saludo, (Henrik Klemetz, ibid.) *** Sunday edition: ** Recording of 620.00 HCHA2 Ondas Quevedeñas, Quevedo (Ecuador) New frequency for Ondas Quevedeñas, ex 630 kHz. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. La Voz del Napo, Tena, 5/19/05; 3279.50 kHz. SINPO 14232, 1010-1032 UT. Andean music, flute bridge to a prayer by a man, more Andean music. Several mentions of "Radio María". Weak but listenable signal until fade out at 1032. This was the only station in the 90 meter band this morning at my location (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3280, LV del Napo fair-good at 0925 with Spanish talk; TC and ID at 0931 5/20 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA ECUATORIAL. 5005 kHz 20/5. R. Nacional Guinea Ecuatorial, 2025-2050, Español, ID "Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial", locutor, lectura de carta, música pop española, SINPO 44333 (José Miguel Romero, EA5-1022, Sacañet (Castellón) España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena telescópica, playdx yg via DXLD) 5005, 2200 22/5, Radio Bata, Guinea E., songs, ottimo. Rx Degen 1103 - ant. Stilo, QTH Bocca di Magra (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GABON. Africa Number One`s collision with Christian Voice on 15475 at 1600-1900 is covered in this and previous issues under ANTARCTICA ** GRENADA. See WINDWARD ISLANDS ** INDONESIA. 15150 kHz, Voice of Indonesia (The Overseas Service of Radio Republik Indonesia), Jakarta, 379 dias. Recebido: Cartão QSL, carta, adesivo, schedule. V/S: Deutsche Redaktion der Stimme Indonesiens. QTH: Medan Merdeka Barat 4 - 5, P.O. Box 1157, Jakarta, Indonesia. Escuta realizada em março de 2004 durante viagem de negócios à Alemanha (Rx: Sony ICF SW7600G, antena: AN-71 (carretel)). Detalhe: Em casos como estes, os colegas alemães me recomendaram escrever direto para o Departamento Alemão, em cujo horário ouvido estava transmitindo o seu serviço. O resultado deu certo (Rudolf W. Grimm, Sao Bernardo, SP, Brasil, Conexión Digital May 23 via DXLD) ** IRAN. Saludos cordiales, ultima escucha. 15085 kHz 23/5. V. de la Rep. Isl. de Irán, 2036-2045, Español, ID, frecuencias, horarios y direcciones, boletin informativo. SINPO 55444 (Jose Miguel Romero2, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) WRTH A-05 supplement has this only on 7300, 9650; transmission error, or change? 15085 is scheduled before then in Eurolangs (gh) ** ISRAEL. RE: Radio Riddler Delights (and Stumps) Israeli As I was still awake, I was just listening to Reshet Bet to hear Mishpat Chamitzer. It turns out that someone "won" the latest contest on this past Thursday. They said that Mishpat Chamitzer will return "soon" with a new riddle. As is usual with Kol Israel networks, the show doesn't start until after the news headlines on the hour (Doni Rosenzweig, NYC area, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. KOL ISRAEL to end --- "Please note Shortwave transmissions is due to cease on June 30, 2005" per http://www.israelradio.org --- What, or who, is next? (Konnie Rychalsky, May 22, HCDX via DXLD) Weasel words: ``due to`` --- they`ve had countless reprieves before and keep crying wolf. However, it could really happen one of these times. There have been hints that this date will not stick either (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Radio history http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2005/2005-05-23-04.asp "A proposed high frequency radio transmitter for the Voice of America in Israel's Arava desert, which would have been the world's largest radio station, was blocked from construction on environmental grounds, in part related to concerns about potential effects of radio frequency fields on migrating birds. In February 1993, the U.S. government decided to cancel the project in Israel and relocate the transmitter to Kuwait." (via Andy Sennitt, DXLD) ** ITALY [and non]. L'intero archivio MP3 di Studio DX, l'unica trasmissione DX in italiano diffusa in onde corte, onde medie, FM, satellite e internet, è ora disponibile all'indirizzo http://www.radioascolto.net/studiodx Domenica 29 maggio andrà in onda la puntata n 100 (bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** JAMAICA. Times are CDT; 5/23/2005, Es, 2046, 89.9, "KLAS FM-89" reggae type music, English DJ, "FM-89 The rhythm of the people". 73 and gud dx (Steve AB5GP Wiseblood, Boca Chica Beach, Texas, TECHNICS SA-200 $Receiver Antennacraft FM-6 yagi at 40', CM #9537 antenna rotator, ABDX via DXLD) ** KENYA. More on VOA FM relay problems here: VOA was taken off the air by Nation Media, where the transmitter is located. IBB has a contract with another company, BATL, which apparently has not been paying NM for this. BATL worked fine for the past four years, but has undergone some major changes and has become very difficult to contact. It may be necessary to find another contractor (Aaron Zawitzky, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KENYA. FOUNDATION TO DISTRIBUTE 10,000 WIND-UP RADIOS | Text of report by Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation website on 20 May A foundation linked to a mobile phone firm is to distribute over 10,000 self-powered radio sets among rural communities. The Safaricom Foundation will work with a South African-based charity the Freeplay Foundation, to target communities in remote parts of Kenya. The purpose is to give them better access to information and education at no cost, as the radios do not need batteries. The Safaricom Foundation Lifeline radio set is designed for long distance school broadcasts and other humanitarian projects, and can operate in the harshest of climates. In Kenya, the radios will also be used as a launch pad for a scheduled community radio service broadcasts by the Kenya Meteorological Department. Some have been donated to the Kenya Meteorological department in a pilot project targeting seven community radio stations countrywide. Speaking during a launch ceremony presided over by Vice President Moody Awori, Safaricom Foundation board of Trustees chairman, Les Baillie, disclosed that the Ministry of Education and the Kenya Meteorological Department are some of the government agencies earmarked to receive the unique radio sets valued at more than 38 m shillings [approximately 500,000 dollars]. Other recipients include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, the Green Belt Movement and a leading medical charity, PATH Kenya. Baillie noted: "The obvious scarcity of newspapers and television as well as the "digital divide" among rural Kenyan communities, reinforces the importance of radio in Kenya." The programme is part of Safaricom Foundation's efforts to facilitate rural development and poverty alleviation. "Knowledge and information skills are essential for people to successfully respond to the opportunities and challenges of social, economic and technological changes," added Baillie. Following the launch, the Freeplay Foundation will work with Unilever Kenya and the Coca Cola Africa Foundation to transport the radios. This is the largest distribution ever undertaken by the Freeplay Foundation in Africa. Source: Daily Nation website, Nairobi, in English 20 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** LATVIA. This Wednesday May 25th There will be a relay on 9290 kHz Media Zoo RTI from 1900 to 2300 UT. Good Listening (Tom Taylor, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RTI = Radio Tatras International; wondered what had become of them after all the hype; Eric Wiltsher`s Media Zoo used to be on offshoreradio.com (gh, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. AFP reports Olivier Peguy, correspondent for RFI in Madagascar since January 2001, has left the country because its authorities did not renew the journalist's work permit. Peguy said in a statement that the Madagascar government gave no reason for the denial. Peguy also filed reports for RFO Reunion, the French service of Deutsche Welle, France Info, France Inter and TV5 (Mike Cooper, GA, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. No word lately from Steve Wiseblood about the status of XHRIO/XHHUPN-2 Matamoros. And if XHFM-2 Veracruz is fully following XHAI-9's schedule, XHFM was also on the air (per XHAI's website schedule; the schedule is actually from last week): http://www.veracruz.televisa.com.mx/parrilla.htm On the bright side, XEFB-2 and Televisa Veracruz (XHFM-2) are in the process of building new websites. If these new sites are like the sites of Televisa's XHI-2 and XHQ-3, they will contain updated logos and schedules (Danny, Shreveport, LA, Oglethorpe, May 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Mexico City's XEUR, now calling itself "Mariachi Estéreo," plays the old-style mariachi music, with romantic vocals, etc. Sort of '40s and '50s stuff, the Mexican equivalent of music of your life. (I suppose it could be called "bland, melodic music!") Another Mexican that's surfaced (before KZNX became a powerhouse and obliterates the frequency here) relays XEX-FM (that's the only ID I've heard), but it plays a much more lively format, dubbed "Los 40 Principales," with lots of telephone talk with listeners and Latin rock ... occasionally dropping in an English pop-rock vocal. Fred Cantú's site says the station in León has picked up the L40P format, and its 100-watt nighttime power sounds a lot like its 10 kw daytime power here. The 1530 syndrome, you might call it (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, May 22, ABDX via DXLD) Does anyone know if this station *actually* is Stereo, or is it, like many others just a "fanciness ploy"? (Tony/Miami, ibid.) Must remember that useful term I have been trying to come up with (gh) ** NIGERIA. 6090.84, Radio Nigeria Kaduna, 2020-2105 UT, May 21, Vernacular, national news or something, local ID by OM at 2030. Very good. Is the power truly 50 kW? Regards (M. Kusumoto, Tokyo, Japan, HCDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOCB-34 (WB) and KOKH-25 (Fox) in OKC, actually managed by same company, Sinclair, have been running a crawler across top of screen, that their agreement with Dish Network for carriage expires May 31, and while under negotiation, may not be renewed. This could also impact access to these channels by some cable systems (probably including Cox here in Enid, which used to pick them up off the UHF air, and could still do so at reduced quality if they had to), so viewers were invited to write to their cable provider and Dish (Glenn Hauser, May 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE. ISRAELI FORCES REPORTEDLY SHUT DOWN THREE PALESTINIAN RADIO STATIONS | Text of report by Palestinian radio Voice of Palestine on 21 May Occupation forces continued their aggression against citizens and their properties in various cities. These forces arrested six citizens during their incursion into the Balatah camp and the areas of Ra's al- Ayn and Al-Jabal al-Shamali in the city of Nablus this morning. The occupation army launched a raid campaign in the city of Hebron, setting up several military checkpoints in the southern area of the city. This comes after occupation forces shut down three local radio stations in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus yesterday, using the pretext that their broadcast disturbs communication between Israeli airplanes and the control tower at Lod Airport. These forces seized equipment from the premises of the Voice of Jerusalem radio station in the city of Ramallah. Source: Voice of Palestine, Ramallah, in Arabic 0504 gmt 21 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7120, Wantok Radio Light: On Thursday I received an E-mail from Dave Olson, the HCJB engineer who is overseeing Wantok Radio Light's installation: "Hi Guy, heads up. We will likely install the transmitter tomorrow (Friday May 20, your time) and do some intermittent testing. Next week we will be on some more and by next Thursday hope to have it fully operational. Testing will only be between 9 AM and about 4 PM our time. 7120 kHz, 1 kW. Our antenna is an NVIS which means it has a beam pattern essentially straight up. Our predictions do not show much headed your way so it will be interesting to know if you can hear us. We are 10 hours ahead of GMT, so you can figure the time zone differences. We are also the same time zone as Sydney. Let us know if you hear us." I've been recording and monitoring between 2300 and 0600 UT, but haven't heard any sign of this station. In fact, the only activity I've noted at all has been the BBC-Meyerton between 0300 and 0500. I haven't run the numbers through a propagation prediction program yet; I suspect the best chance for North American reception will be past their current daylight testing hours, and into the PNG evening (Guy Atkins, Puyallup WA, DXplorer via DXLD) [Later:] 7120, 0830-1200 May 23, Wantok Radio Light, Port Moresby. Tentative reception of this new PNG Christian outlet first noted with religious-sounding music fading in at 0830. Four musical tones noted at 0900:20, followed by possible ID by woman. Signal improved very slightly past 0900, with continuous Christian contemporary and possibly PNG church music. The language sounded Pidgin at times, but was much too weak for positive language identification. At 1101:38, I heard a distinctive 'Bird of Paradise' call (national bird of PNG, I believe). An MP3 recording of this can be heard at: http://www.guyatkins.com/files/tentative_WRL_7120khz.mp3 (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, mod. ICOM IC-756Pro & mod. ICOM R-75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO, 450 & 700 ft. Beverage Antennas, HCDX via DXLD) The 7120 PNG station is on air according to Chris Hambly. He heard it around 0630 using his R75 but said it was a bit muffled the audio. He has been sitting on this frequency for months. Heard 23/5/05. Hope all is well (Johno Wright, Australia, ARDXC via DXLD) Wantok Radio Light, a Christian broadcaster based in Port Moresby, has now commenced its new HF operation on a test basis, using 7120, 1 kW, to a 24 hour schedule. The station is the "Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Network", and it's simulcasting the FM network, which was inaugurated in January 2002. It trades as "Wantok Radio Light". Excellent reception here in Melbourne from as early as 0800 on May 23! The official launch date is planned to be Saturday June 11. Note that the transmitter location is at Kaupena, Southern Highlands. As an aside, you may be interested to know that the PNG Forest Authority donated K60,000 worth of wooden poles to assist antenna construction. These are eight eucalyptus robusta poles, four of which are 18 metres, and four are 12 metres. The poles have been pressure treated with copper chrome and arsenic chemicals usually known as CCA. They can last for at least 50 years, according to a report from PNG Business and Tourism. Total estimated cost for setting up the shortwave facility is K360,000, according to PNG B and T. I have offered professional engineering support to the installation team, to assess primary and secondary coverage. Regards from Melbourne! (Bob Padula, dxing.info via DXLD) WANTOK RADIO LIGHT ON SHORTWAVE FROM PAPUA NEW GUINEA A new Christian shortwave station has begun broadcasting in Papua New Guinea. Wantok Radio Light is transmitting on 7120 kHz with 1 kW of power. The station is part of the Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Network (PNGCBN), and rebroadcasts Wantok Radio Light (93.9 MHz) in Port Moresby. The shortwave transmitter is located in Kaupena in the Southern Highlands province. Non-denominational programming consists of gospel music, Bible teaching and Christian talk programming. Officially Wantok Radio Light will be launched on June 11, but the station plans to be fully operational on May 26, and the first tests have already been aired. The station was first reported heard by Bob Padula in Australia on May 23. Wantok Radio Light will be broadcasting 24 hours a day. Contact information: Wantok Radio Light, P.O. Box 1273, Port Moresby, NCD, Papua New Guinea. More information about the station can be found in the Oceania forum of the DXing.info Community (DXing.info, May 24, 2005 via DXLD) ** PERU. Some days ago I heard R. Cultural Amauta, Huanta 4955.00 kHz with relay of (// 6070) Voz Cristiana, Chile - something I have not noted before. I think it was at 0030 UT. http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Em Mérida, na Venezuela, Leonardo Santiago sintonizou, em 16 de maio, às 0035, a Rádio La Voz del Campesino, que emite desde Huarmaca, pela freqüência de 6955 kHz. Segundo ele, a emissora apresentou o seguinte slogan: ``orgullo del Perú!``. A estação encerra sua programação às 0500 (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX May 22 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 12065, Radio Station Tikhiy Okean (Radio Station "Pacific Ocean"), May 21, 0847-0900*, Russian programming, C & W type song in English, possible ID and website given, light pop song in English, off in mid-song. Fair-poor. May 22, *0835-0900*, chimes, Russian programming, various Russian music and songs. Poor/QRN (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. ZARQAWI SPEECH BROADCAST ON RADIO TAJDEED By Nick Grace May 23, 2005 Radio Tajdeed, a satellite program targeting Saudi Arabia and run by a man with extensive al Qaeda ties, broadcast extensive audio of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Saturday, May 21. Global Crisis Watch (GCW) Middle East correspondent Marwan Soliman reports exclusively in a special edition of the program that the station fulfilled a promise made during an earlier transmission to air the speech. "They started the speech by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi exactly at 1800 hours UT. I noticed that after around 30 minutes they stopped and just announced the frequency they are using on the (Eutelsat) Hotbird satellite. And then it was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi back again. I noticed that they did not complete the whole speech this time. Before the end of the speech they began transmitting some Islamic chants and rhymes talking about that Jihad and that they should fight the Saudi government." TheZarqawi recording, Soliman reports, is the same that was released on May 18 and not a new one. Although Radio Tajdeed, which has also broadcast songs that promote Usama bin Laden, broadcasts chiefly to Saudi Arabia its signal can be heard inside of Iraq. The broadcast is also streamed live on the Tajdeed Web site, which Soliman notes can also be accessed in Iraq. An excerpt of Radio Tajdeed introducing the speech and of the speech itself can be heard in GCW's latest program. http://www.clandestineradio.com/gcw/050523.mp3 It remains unclear why the station broadcast the speech and what, if any, actions the British government will and perhaps can take. British authorities raided the station's studios on May 6 as it was live on the air and its sponsor, Dr. Mohammed al-Massari, later said that the investigation is related to alleged ties with the kidnappers of Australian national Douglas Wood in Iraq. Developing... Global Crisis Watch, Clandestine Radio Watch and ClandestineRadio.com's weekly current affairs podcast, brings listeners to the front line on the War of Ideas and interviews people who are fighting tyranny and terrorism with the pulse of freedom (CRW May 23 via DXLD) ** SPAIN [and non]. Was a bit surprised to hear ``O, Canada`` on 15170 at 1306 UT May 22; that was introducing an REE program in Spanish about Canada, starting with 400 years of history in 4 minutes. Fortunately I had the good sense to tune over to 13655 at 1311 for the real thing, CBC`s Sunday Edition with a montage about the amazing Liberal Party and how it holds onto power. REE was more original 49 hours later during the 1400 UT hour Tuesday May 24, when 17595 direct was best tho not optimum, for ``La Bañera de Ulises``, variety of music from around the Mediterranean, tho I heard Canada mention again in some context, with Turkey? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [non]. TBC, LONDON BASED TAMIL RADIO STATION TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS BROADCASTING DUE TO ALLEGED BREAK-IN London, 23 May (Asiantribune.com): Tamil Broadcasting Corporation, a Tamil radio station based in London reports of the station temporarily suspending its broadcasting services, as alleged saboteurs have broken into TBC studio in the early hours of 22nd May 2005 and vital studio equipments have been stolen and the cable connecting the up-linking facility has been severed. In a press release from the TBC it states: "The deliberate manner in which the up-linking facility was severed point the finger towards a terrorist organisation whose supporters have regularly issued death threat to the TBC programme director if he continues the TBC service." "TBC administration strongly suspects that the banned terrorist group LTTE instigated this break-in," statement adds. TBC program director in the press release said that the readers may know that the TBC is the only Radio station to broadcast impartial news and provide a platform for alternate points of view. He appealed: "We call upon the people, and all our listeners to protest to the local LTTE office and demand them to publicly disassociate with these criminal acts and condemn those who are engaged in these activities." Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=14512 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Right now and the following three weeks ahead, Teracom Sweden tests DRM transmission on 5910 kHz, between 0800 and 1200 UT. Reception reports are welcome to drm @ teracom.se They are coming in well here in middle of Sweden right now with a SNR: 17-21 dB signal on my Digital world traveller receiver and a 5m wire antenna! Best wishes (Bernt-Ivan Holmberg, Möklinta, Sweden, May 24, HCDX via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. Installation of an IBB MW transmitter at Orzu continues to be delayed as the workers have been showing up only occasionally. The project is about a month behind now, so could not be on the air before late June or early July. And it has not yet been decided which of several proposed antenna designs will be used (Aaron Zawitzky, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN [and non]. RFE/RL SITE REMOVED FROM INTERNET "FOR STRATEGIC REASONS" A note on the website of US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says that "For strategic reasons, the RFE/RL Turkmen site [Azatradio.org] has been removed from the Internet." No other explanation is given. However, in its country report on Turkmenistan for 2004, the US Department of State noted that "In June, the Turkmen Telecom began blocking customers' access to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service website; access was not restored by year's end." http://www.azatradio.org now goes to the English site. # posted by Andy @ 15:24 UT May 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC alternate frequencies --- 15360 kHz at 0500 from Singapore is starting to give good reception here in northern Nevada (Alan Johnson, NV, May 21, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Good news: the best and most reliable BBC frequency here in Florida (and perhaps the southeast) has been 15390. Bad news: it signs on at 5:00 PM EDT and signs off promptly at 6:00 PM EDT [2100-2200 UT, Guiana French, including Caribbean cutaways]. It is a clear reminder of how strong a signal the BBC is capable of providing to this area of the world, if it only wanted to (Ira Holmes, ibid.) ** U K. BBC staff strike over job cuts ** BBC TV and radio programmes are affected as journalists and technicians begin a 24-hour strike over job cuts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4570237.stm (via Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) BBC PROGRAMMES CANCELED AS STAFF STRIKE http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-britain-bbc.html By REUTERS Published: May 23, 2005 Filed at 3:55 a.m. ET LONDON (Reuters) - BBC journalists and other employees began a 24-hour strike over job cuts on Monday, forcing the cancellation of most live news programming. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and two other unions representing technical workers were striking to protest against plans by BBC Director General Mark Thompson to cut about 20 percent of its workforce, or about 4,000 jobs. BBC News 24 and the BBC World Service were running large blocks of pre-recorded programming on Monday morning. Its flagship ``Today'' radio news program was canceled. BBC One's Breakfast television program was running with a basic service and one presenter, and some regional radio programs were presented by managers. Staff for the foreign language service of the World Service also joined the picket line, the NUJ said. The BBC said it regretted the strike action and would do everything it could to produce the best possible service. ``Industrial action will not remove the need for further consultation or the need for the BBC to implement changes which will enable us to put more money into improved programs and services,'' it said in a statement. The NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear called on the BBC to ``understand and respond to the anger and concern at job cuts which will undermine quality, threaten the working conditions of staff and devalue the BBC for viewers and listeners.'' The NUJ along with the Bectu and AMICUS unions voted on May 12 to authorize four strike days: 24 hours on May 23, 48 hours over May 31 and June 1, and a fourth day without a set date. They chose to avoid big events like the Wimbledon tennis tournament, televised on the BBC. The unions had said they would call off the strike if the BBC granted a 90-day moratorium to the planned staff cuts, guaranteed that any redundancies be voluntary and protected conditions of jobs set to be outsourced (via Joel Rubin, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) "World Update" was also largely cancelled. I tuned in at rougly 0930 UT to hear "The Interview" after the news update and a statement regarding a "job action by some BBC journalists and technicians..." (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) STRIKE BRINGS BBC TO STANDSTILL Owen Gibson, media correspondent Monday May 23, 2005 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1489976,00.html A strike today by up to 11,000 BBC journalists, producers and technicians over a move to cut 4,000 jobs will drastically alter radio and TV schedules. Politicians, newspaper editors and more than six million other listeners who start their day with Radio 4's Today will be hit, with the familiar tones of John Humphrys and James Naughtie replaced by recorded comedy and drama. The 24-hour strike ends at midnight tonight, followed by a 48-hour stoppage next week. There is widespread anger across the corporation at director general Mark Thompson's aim to do away with one in five BBC jobs and cut budgets by 15% across the board in order to release ?355m to reinvest in programming within three years. Staff, including some senior executives, are convinced it will lead to a drop in quality, and leave those remaining overworked and lacking in essential support services. Today's main 1, 6 and 10 pm TV news bulletins will be cut to between five to 15 minutes. Because technical staff, graphics artists and cameramen will not be working, the programmes will resemble a 1970s nostalgia show - with just a newsreader, a desk, and a single camera. BBC News insiders said it was "impossible to say" in advance who would read the news; staff who did not have a show would be told to stay at home. Darren Jordan, a regular on the One O'Clock News, has been lined up to present some of the main bulletins, but was believed to still deciding whether to work last night. In the last big strike in 1989, Nicholas Witchell was branded a scab for reading the Six O'Clock News. George Alagiah was scheduled to present this show today, but will not cross the picket line. Other well-known presenters refusing to work include Fiona Bruce, Moira Stewart and Sian Williams. Feelings are highest in the news division, where several managers privately support the staff action. "This is a very sad day for the BBC," said broadcast union Bectu national official Luke Crawley yesterday. "It's a shame that it's come to this, but there's no question that Mark Thompson's cuts will cause huge damage in the short and medium term. We realise there will be disruption for viewers but believe it is for the greater good," The skeleton staff has the added complication of the unions refusing to talk to BBC crews about major stories of the day; instead, the BBC is likely to have to buy footage from Sky or ITN. Regional programmes that follow the early evening news will be hit even more severely, with managers presenting bulletins of a few minutes rather than a half hour; some will be without an autocue and speak to a single fixed camera. The BBC will attempt to air some news in place of the Breakfast show, although regulars Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinsky will not cross the picket line and the show will be drastically cut. BBC2's late night Newsnight will be off air. Jeremy Paxman has already questioned the validity of the cuts, which Mr Thompson argues are essential to remodel the BBC for the digital age and convince the government to hand it a generous licence fee settlement. "I don't understand why it's necessary, particularly at a time when you can spend hundreds of millions building new buildings, moving staff to Manchester and all the rest of it," Mr Paxman told the Guardian earlier this year. Picket lines will surround Television Centre in west London, Bush House, Broadcasting House and other offices around the UK. Unions also plan to picket the Chelsea Flower Show, where the BBC2's live coverage will try to recruit freelancers to stay on air; because unions have no legal right to protest there, the corporation is likely call police to move them on. Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live will be among the worst affected, with nothing live for most of the day. On Radio 4, the Today programme, the World at One, and PM will be replaced by recorded programming. Short hourly bulletins will be read by managers or freelance staff willing to break the strike. Radio 5 Live stars Nicky Campbell and Victoria Derbyshire will not work, but the network is determined to continue coverage of the British Lions against Argentina from Cardiff tonight. In the absence of reporters, it is believed former internationals Jason Leonard and Martin Bayfield will try commentary as well as punditry. The National Union of Journalists, Bectu and Amicus said yesterday said support had been "overwhelming", with applications to join them running at record levels. Mr Thompson sent a conciliatory email to BBC staff on Friday, insisting he wanted to talk to the unions "at the earliest possible moment", and adding that management would not begin talks "in an intransigent spirit". However, the unions want a 90-day moratorium on the cuts, no compulsory redundancies, and a promise to negotiate over total job losses. Otherwise, the next strike will go ahead a week tomorrow for 48-hours, with the promise of further action into summer (via Dan Say, DXLD) A Google news alert pointed to a clever, satirical page on the BBC strike -- go here: http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69940#comment108315 Things seem back to normal today; no mention of the work stoppage (surprise!) during the 45 minutes I had "World Update" on this morning (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA, May 24, swprograms via DXLD) WALES UNIONS AND BBC MANAGEMENT TO MEET ON THURSDAY The UK governmment-funded Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has been called in to try and help bring an end to the industrial action that is currently disrupting the BBC. The BBC issued a short statement this afternoon saying "We can confirm that we have accepted an invitation today from ACAS to meet the unions at their offices on Thursday." Not unexpectedly, the broadcasting unions and BBC management are at loggerheads over the effectiveness of yesterday's 24 hour strike. According to the unions, it was the most successful in the corporation's history, with between 13,000 and 15,000 staff refusing to work normally. But the official BBC figures say that 10,500 out of a total of 17,000 people expected to work had turned up. The unions are planning a further 48-hour strike on May 31 and June 1, unless Director-General Mark Thompson agrees to "meaningful negotiations." Despite the threat, Thompson appears determined to stick to his plan to cut 3,780 jobs from a 27,000-strong global work force. "I clearly regret the fact that some programmes and services will be disrupted today... I believe it is a price worth paying to secure a strong BBC in the future," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian. As a result of Monday's strike, almost every BBC service was affected with those that rely on live programmes hit the hardest. A number of live radio and television shows, including the flagship Today news programme on Radio 4 in the morning and BBC 2's Newsnight, were replaced with recorded items. BBC News 24 and BBC World initially switched to recorded news bulletins, though they later resumed some live news broadcasting. "This is the worst disruption at the BBC for over a decade..." said Paul Mason of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). "We fear that what the public is seeing on screen today may be an image of the future once these huge job cuts take place," he said. Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the NUJ, said "we are absolutely delighted with the level of support we have received for the strike". Earlier he said "we have made it clear we will not accept cuts which decimate programmes, devalue the BBC, short change licence fee payers, increase pressures on staff and worsen working conditions". # posted by Andy @ 14:20 UT May 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Radio 2 was partly affected. Jeremy Vine's show was replaced by an A-Z selection of song titles. The World Service broadcast hardly any news coverage apart from 5 minutes an hour. That must have been a massive embarrassment as the news output is broadcast by hundreds of partner stations around the world (Andy, 05.24.05 - 5:27 pm, ibid.) ** U K. BBCWS gets into Podcasting --- I came across my first instance of BBCWS podcasting today -- at the website for "From Our Own Correspondent". Other WS podcasts will include "Go Digital" (no surprise there) and archived documentaries, but these have not yet "gone live". The best reference page for the WS initiative is http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/ (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, May 24, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. As expected, the Radio Sawa studio relocation was completed May 15, from the Cohen Building in DC with VOA, to Springfield VA near the Middle East TV Network. However, Radio Farda has not been relocated yet, and there are short, frequent interruptions in Radio Sawa service caused by the automation equipment. Middle East TV Network (Al Hurra) has two channels at present, and a third has been approved for funding. This one will target Arabic- speakers in Europe and vicinity, and will require an additional Trans- Atlantic satellite feed channel. Target date unknown (Aaron Zawitzky, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AFGHANISTAN; ISRAEL; KENYA; TAJIKISTAN; TURKMENISTAN ** U S A [non]. OUTSOURCING STORY HITS FLORIDA Dateline: WASHINGTON, 05/23/05. The incredible story that the Voice of AMERICA is offshoring its overnight English news writing positions to communist China hit the Palm Beach Post this weekend. The story is titled: "Voice of America Outsourcing News, 'Jamming Itself'" (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) No link ** U S A. IT'S ALL NEWSWEEK'S FAULT New York Times May 22, 2005 By FRANK RICH IN the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Fareed Zakaria wrote a 6,791-word cover story for Newsweek titled "Why Do They Hate Us?" Think how much effort he could have saved if he'd waited a few years. As we learned last week, the question of why they hate us can now be answered in just one word: Newsweek. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/opinion/22rich.html?pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. WBCQ time change for WOR: see top ** U S A. WWCR would like some reception reports from Australia and New Zealand regarding which frequency works better in the 0700-1100 UT period, 5070 or 5770? It wants to reserve some time especially for listeners there (Glenn Hauser, May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BEETHOVEN BACK, MUCH MORE MAHLER Monday, May 23, 2005 http://www.detnews.com/2005/screens/0505/23/E01-189760.htm Detroit radio station will tune to classical --- WRCJ to switch format in July under the supervision of Detroit Public TV. By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News Metro Detroit's long-suffering classical music fans will finally get what they've been pining for on July 1 -- a local classical music station for Detroit for the first time since 1997, when classical WQRS-FM (105.1) flipped to a modern rock format. The deal isn't approved and signed yet, but the Detroit Public Schools and Detroit Public Television have agreed on the terms to turn over operation of the Detroit Public Schools' radio station WRCJ-FM (90.9) to Detroit Public Television, which owns and operates WTVS-TV (Channel 56). July 1 is still the target date for WTVS to start broadcasting the agreed-upon mix of daytime classical (5 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and nighttime jazz (7 p.m. to 5 a.m.) on the station, which will occupy a state-of- the-art teaching / radio facility in the brand new Detroit School of the Arts at 123 Selden Ave., between Woodward and Cass avenues. Robert Scott, WTVS vice president for programming and education, will be the general manager for WRCJ-FM. Detroit Public Television already has two television studios in the Detroit School of the Arts, and having a radio studio in the building too will give students the learning experience the DPS insisted be part of the deal. To start, there will be at least one local host, most likely holding down the morning shift, and others will be added later, Scott says. He's already been inundated with resumes from hopefuls. Scott also promises WRCJ will be a historical resource. "I was just listening to CBC (Canada's classical FM) two weeks ago, and they were playing a newly released SACD of a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert, recorded in 1953 at Cass Technical High School, with Paul Pare [sic -- - it`s Paray, as any classical buff/announcer/liner notes reader should know --- gh] conducting," Scott says. "It's that kind of information that this audience will appreciate, both cultural and historical." That goes for jazz too, with Detroit's rich jazz history. "That's not one iota less important," Scott says. "There have been so many people who have come out of here, the Heath brothers out of Pontiac; Donald Byrd, all the time Miles Davis spent here." (Relayed by H.J. van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada; Artie Bigley, DXLD) MORE old articles on WDTR --- DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS RADIO GIRDS ITSELF TO BECOME A MARKET PLAYER. by Ann Mullen 2/11/98 http://www.metrotimes.com/news/stories/news/18/20/RadioWvs.html DETROIT SCHOOL SYSTEM KEEPS WDTR AS ASSET FOR TEACHING Originally published in Current, March 26, 2001 By Mike Janssen http://www.current.org/rad/rad0106detroit.htm MORE ARTICLES: http://www.detnews.com/2002/detroit/0206/05/s08-500120.htm http://www.detnews.com/2003/detroit/0309/03/s06-195976.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Currently IBOC in the Cleveland area: 89.7 WKSU, 92.3 WXTM, 104.9 WCLV, and 107.3 WNWV. I am sure more of this junk is on the way. THE FIX IS IN, 1100 WTAM does not seem to be as tough to get around anymore on 1090 and 1110, even in wide mode a weak WBAL could be heard on 1090 before sunset. I am guessing WTAM has narrowed its bandwidth - -- the sound is not as good, they still sound OK, but not as good as before, but I am sure most people won’t notice. I would like to take this opportunity to thank radio companies and individual radio stations running IBOC for contributing to the slow and painful death of what was once a great hobby. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio, (Cleveland), May 22, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Sure they didn't narrow the analog in preparation of adding IBOC? That is part of the AM problem with IBOC --- the analog bandwidth is decreased (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) ALL DIGITAL SYSTEMS decrease coverage. You don't need any proof --- it's right there on your radio dial! Increasing modulation will produce distorted sound quality; keeping the modulation down to a point where it doesn't interfere with adjacent channel stations is best for superior AM sound quality. You're thinking of Digital TV for the "digital only" scheme; if AM and FM went digital only, then they would have to broadcast with ten times the power of analog mode. For instance, a digital-only AM station would need 500 kW to equal the coverage of 50 kW, while a digital-only FM station would need up to 1000 kW to equal the coverage of 100 kW. 73, (Eric (N0UIH) Bueneman, MO, IRCA via DXLD) Eric: First – remember that the IBOC power is only 6.4% of the analog power in the current IBOC system. Second – if you look at the measurements made to date, IBOC coverage is a bit less than analog coverage. Let’s just say it’s half, although it is a bit more. Put those together: you need nowhere near today`s analog power to get identical IBOC coverage. Furthermore, in the pure digital form of IBOC, there will be no need to transmit redundant information in the secondary and tertiary subcarriers. That means IBOC will be even more efficient when compared to analog. The basis for all of this is the underlying reason the world went to digital: you can have degradation of a signal and still detect bits (zeroes and ones) properly in cases where the analog is damaged beyond repair. What it means in reality is that analog signals require 40 – 60 dB of signal to noise ratio to be acceptable while a digital signal with good error correction can easily get by with less than 20 dB of signal to noise ratio (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Up to this point, I wasn't completely sure about whether I had heard the effects of IBOC. It was kind of weird. I was listening to both 1180 KERI and 1200 KYAA. KYAA was playing oldies and I could hear it, but it was also like I was standing behind a couple of jet engines at half throttle. Tell me I'm wrong. Please... 73 (Doug Pifer, May 22, IRCA via DXLD) Doug, You've got it!!! IBOC in its lovely "Hi Fi" sound. Using a 1500' beverages aimed East and having KEX 1190 S9+15 DB, with IBOC on 1180 & 1200 at S8. I can just imagine the fun we will have when IBOC goes NSP. I can't wait. "NOT"!! 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) You heard right! Jet whoosh noise an apt description. Imagine AM and FM filled with it. ClearChannel and 'partner' Ibiquity propose this magic elixir to 'save AM radio'. Disingenuous 90's doggerel. Eric is right on. Digital fine above 1 GHz. Why should FCC even bother requiring minimum signal levels over broadcast areas so as to assure listener coverage? Moot, thanks to this cacophonous jalopy driven by 90's crony-capitalist inebriates in need of a breathalyzer. In rare moments of candor, I/CC admits AM coverage will be reduced to forty miles. What an achievement! Conversely, why should radio manufacturers bother producing quality sets? DX-398, ICF-2010, SR-III, myriad others have good sensitivity. IBOC negates this, reducing sets' to pulling endless glops of jet- noise - except from Clear Channel & 'partners' - in same manner that one with terminal streptococcal sinusitis can only pull yellow glops from their nose. Undersigned worthless correspondent is suspended from another bulletin board whose moderator can't tell allusion from comparison, claims they're 'in charge & bow to no one', yet makes my point. Clear Channel participants were 'offended' by this scribe's commentary style, i.e. pithy, boorish, pedantic, verbose, and proudly pig-ignorant. One board contributor expressed it beautifully, to wit: Castro's stations jam by producing spurs, heterodynes, hums, wobbles, etc. He should just go IBOC. Well said, Hr. K. Interference is what is offensive. What to do? Radio World reads of late like IBOC house organ. Good intel source. Next move? IBOC goes to Wall St. wooing investors. Anything stopping us from expressing our concerns? Let's do it. And as Patrick says, write stations we no longer enjoy thanks to this noxious contrivance. Let's cut these snake oil hawkers off at the pass. It's talent that grabs listeners, not more 'feelies'. For couple years, Clear Channel earnings are up but listeners are down. Says it all. They'll continue to drop as long as they ignore the human element in favor of more techno-sludgery. Same blood tick bit the intel community during 90's, with lovely results. There's lots of great talent out there, and it doesn't dump noxious pink-noise pig-pig trash all over the spectrum. Everything one need know about this can be discerned by examining carefully the promo photos of Ibiquity and Clear Channel personnel. The eyes have it, to which stance attests. Trashily, -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasoviet Key, FL, 22 2343Z MAY 05 BT, IRCA via DXLD) Well put Mr. Z., How do you really feel?, hi. Just kidding. I appreciate the confirmation on what I was hearing and I guess it looks like I need to do some writing. I think about the best words I can use for IBOC's effects are, that it is incredibly nasty sounding. Perhaps disgusting works also. Having heard it personally makes all the difference in the world (Doug Pifer, ibid.) Right, Other than the aforesaid, I've no opinion on the matter one way or the other. The sound is dreadful. Gary US Bonds used phasing/jet noise on his fantastic oeuvres "Quarter to Three" and "Dear Lady Twist" to good aesthetic effect. IBOC is the Anti-US Bonds. Horrid. IBOC's little calling card reminds one of those left on living room carpets by housethieves dissatisfied with the take. This is so obvious yet they're getting away with it, another 90's mark of drexxelence. Typical of thugs, promoters minimalize damage done to others. Sounds like a dirty waterfall. Typical 90's, it's misleadingly named, neither in-band nor on-channel. How could it be? The noise just oozes across spectrum as does blood across hospital tile when projectilely vomited from the esophageal varices of the Mens' Wino Chorale. Choralistically, -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasoviet Key, Sarasuspended County, FL, BT, ibid.) Imagine whoosh noise smothering your favorite program. IBOC's charming dulcet tones are most effective at masking whatever one wishes to hear. Close approximation also might be weak FM or TV signal in which noise obfuscates intelligence. Sounds similar to the waterfall downstream from Providence, RI's 1890's slaughterhouses located along scenic Moshassuck River. Imagine favorite signals to be clear water. Visualize IBOC noise to be bovine colon, spleen and snout chunks, adroitly sprinkled into formerly pristine waters. Mmmmm. 'Yummy yum", as Aunt Constance would say while dining at Gosford Park as Ivor Novello just goes on and on and on...... Let's give Wall St. investors the ingredients list of this meal from Bile Hell. As Bob Grant implores: "Your influence counts. Use it." Nomenklatura who suspended this worthless scribe myopically admits IBOC 'affects our hobby'. No, not about our hobby. We're astute listeners issuing early warning of impending ruin to AM's many listeners who depend upon daytime and skywave coverage. Suspension was for one week or until this lowly scribe could be 'civil'. Civil, in manner of those pushing spectral blight? But where's the fun in that? Anyone can be suspended. My counterproposal: Banished for Life. Why serve oneself to those equating 'coercion' with 'civility'? François X. Duvalier, M.D., Papa Doc, ruled Haiti 14 years, introduced the 'W.C.' as he termed it, to his people, fine innovation. Papa Doc was President For Life. Papa Doc, fine company, that. -Z.-for-Life- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, living in exile, Manasoviet Key, FL, BT, ibid.) I remember being on this list years ago begging you all to comment on 99-325 which is the IBOC item on the FCC`s agenda. I begged and begged you all to comment. Very few of you did. Why are you all so upset when it happened and many of you never lifted a finger to stop it? I am sure you all will be upset with me as you always are but I have to say now, ``I told you so.`` Since it`s here, all your expensive Drake R-8s, R-390s, Sony 2010s, ICOM R-75s will be pretty much neutered on the MW band due to all the crap on the air. My advice, you can go three ways with this. Write your congressman and senator and tell them you want to get rid of IBOC. When an IBOC radio finally gets sold, buy it and DX IBOC. Stop whining and DX analog until there is no more analog. I did tell you this day was coming and I did ask you all over and over to comment. I have no idea why you all are complaining when most of you didn`t lift a finger to comment when the window was open. I commented all through the time the window was open. The names of the commenters are readily available at the FCC site. I know I have the right to bitch up a storm about it; I made my thoughts known. If I was a BOD member here I would be more likely to accept what`s coming, and look forward to DXing IBOC because that`s what we are all going to get. If I was a BOD member I would stop whining about it. Not enough of us made our opinion on it known to the FCC and IBOC is here. Whining about it here and not telling your congressman what you think about it is not productive. Me, I am waiting for the Boston Acoustic Recepter that receives IBOC to come out so I can DX IBOC. Make the best of things and stop whining. The time to stop IBOC has passed. It`s time to look to the future. I know the flames are coming. I’m putting on my Nomex ? underwear (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) THE IBOC TRAIN IS STALLED AT THE STATION AND MAY NEVER LEAVE. Both pro- and anti-IBOC advocates seem to be forgetting about this thing called "a market" and those people known as "the public." It is the market --- not the FCC, nor Ibiquity --- that will determine whether IBOC will succeed. Ibiquity is a for-profit company, and without revenues from radio broadcasters and receiver manufacturers it can't survive. And that, in turn, depends on whether the public is enthusiastic enough about IBOC to go out and buy IBOC receivers in sufficient numbers to make it worthwhile for receiver manufacturers to tool up for IBOC and for radio stations to continue to pay Ibiquity each month for the privilege of broadcasting in IBOC. Eventually, Ibiquity has to generate enough revenue from IBOC to be self-sustaining. That is not yet happening. Ibiquity is still living off venture capital and has had to return to its investors repeatedly for cash infusions instead of filing for an IPO. (And you can bet your life they would've gone the IPO route by now if their numbers were anywhere near acceptability.) For all the hype it's gotten, IBOC/HD has made very little impact on the public. Compare this to the impact podcasting has made, even though the term "podcasting" was only coined ten months ago! The difference in the impact is because podcasting offers people something they really want, namely control over when, where, and how they listen to audio programming. Satellite radio offers the public a real benefit --- a wide range of programming choices --- and so it has likewise taken off. So what is IBOC/HD offering the public that is not already available from other new media delivery platforms, such as satellite radio and podcasting? Every time I ask this question of IBOC advocates I get a non sequitur, and I suspect it's because even the biggest IBOC diehards know, in their heart of hearts, they don't have a strong product. IBOC/HD can't be forced down the public throats, even by law, if the public doesn't want it. (Remember how successful the national 55 MPH speed limit was? Or how the U.S. was going to be 100% metric by 1985? Or how about Prohibition?) IBOC/HD won't succeed until the public decides they need it. Ibiquity can't keep on collecting licensing fees from broadcasters and receiver manufacturers for much longer at the currently low adoption rates; eventually those two revenue sources will start balking at the low returns on their investments in IBOC programming and products. The market, and market revenues, will determine IBOC's fate. And so far the market isn't being very kind to Ibiquity or IBOC, and Ibiquity doesn't have a lot of time left to develop some compelling reasons for consumers to adopt IBOC/HD and to effectively communicate those reasons to consumers. If they don't, IBOC/HD is going to remain essentially a stillborn technology, like the interactive videodiscs that were "the next big thing" a decade ago. I took apart a pro-IBOC report today on my blog: http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/05/ibochd_radio_nu.html (Harry Helms W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00 http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ABDX via DXLD) Well, I heard HD Radio on AM yesterday. I'd heard it before, on WQAM, a nonmusic station, and the impressions were less than stellar, like a bad Net feed. But yesterday I got to hear it on our local Radio Disney affiliate, WMYM/990. Music, in Stereo. At first, the radio jumps into "core" mode, mono, and you think "it's nice, but no big deal". Then comes the full "enhanced" mode, Stereo, and wow, it's f*$ing amazing. I'm not going to say it's the best digital audio I've heard in my life, but it's well worth it for AM, my friends. Most definitely enough of an improvement (and much more then some) to be worth it (Tony/Miami, May 24, ABDX via DXLD) I guess WMYM stands for, or evokes, ``MickeY Mouse`` (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: [WTFDA] Odd? FM audio on TV6 ``WNYZ-LP Channel 6 in NYC is broadcasting their audio using FM width modulation and a FM stereo generator. This is the first time I have ever caught this combination. They are actively trying to promote this operation as a FM and TV dualcast. Does the FCC care? (Karl J. Zuk)`` Strangely enough, this might be legal..... 73.1570 limits full-power stations to aural modulation that doesn't "...exceed 100% on peaks of frequent recurrence,..." then defines 100% as +/-25 kHz. FM modulation is +/-75 kHz, or 300% by TV definitions. [0 = note below] 74.790 is a list of the full-power regulations that also apply to low- power stations. 73.1570 is NOT on this list! ``Will TV sets be forgiving enough to decode FM stereo as TV stereo? (probably not).`` I would be quite sure TV sets will NOT decode this as TV stereo. The pilot frequency is different -- 15.734 kHz for TV, vs. 19 kHz for FM. If the TV set doesn't see a 15.734 kHz pilot it won't turn the stereo decoder on. Even if it did, the TV set contains a DBX volume expander in the L-R channel. It would attempt to expand the non-compressed FM L-R signal, completely screwing up the separation (among other serious problems) -- [0] Strangely, it also says "...unless some other peak modulation level is specified in an instrument of authorization.", suggesting that the FCC might issue TV licenses specifying a different aural modulation level! (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com WTFDA via DXLD) ** VATICAN. Re: DXLD 5-085 on amateur radio at the Vatican: The May 20 ARNewsline has yet to be distributed by e-mail or posted on their yahoogroup (I assume it`s due to the Dayton Hamvention this weekend), but it is up at arnewsline.org, and there is a brief item at the beginning following up their previous report, but the report was not transcribed: WORLDBEAT: HAM RADIO AT THE VATICAN - PART II Ham radio may not be completely off the air at the Vatican after all. At least not yet. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Mark Abramovich, NT3V, has more on the Amateur Radio situation in the Papel city: PKG HERE: Audio only. Hear it at http://www.arnewsline.org Mark says that he will keep following this story and will have more in future Amateur Radio Newsline reports (Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1449, May 20, 2005 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US [and non]. WNRP Gulf Breeze, FL. Seems day power. Measured 1619.92 here. "Cat Country" "Pensacola's Classic Country" (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, 0230 UT May 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) Got it here tonight, giving the "stuck on day power" WDHP in the Virgin Islands a run for the money (Jerry Kiefer, Port Orange, FL, ibid.) Jerry: When I was in the car with a friend headed across the bridge to Merritt Island, I could hear WDHP 1620. It comes in pretty well on the bridge(s) due to the lack of city noise/electrical interference. You can still hear it while diring [driving? dining?] on Merritt Island or Cocoa beach, but not as well. Btw, I'm assuming WNRP 1620 is 10 KW Day/1 KW night (Paul B. Walker, Jr., Station Manager/Chief Operator, WTIR-AM 1300 Cocoa Beach, FL, ibid.) You're half assumingly right; they evidently have forgotten they're required to lower power at night. Been this way for a couple years. You'll get them every night in central Fla. Seldom do they have the same programming on two nights in a row (Jerry Kiefer, Port Orange, FL, ibid.) WDHP was an infrequent visitor to the crowded wilderness of the Florida panhandle, due to WTAW's remarkably efficient night power and antenna arrangement. You'd swear they were on 10 kw day power. We'll hear WDHP again up here, one of these days. Just not tonight (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, ibid.) The difference in WDHP reception between Tampa and the Atlantic Coast is substantial. Last time I was over that way, I had them at near- entertainment quality with good soca music around sunset heading out of Daytona for about a half hour or so. Car radio/car whip (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, ibid.) I checked my local station list to satisfy myself what I had on 1620 wasn't local. Positive ID, WDHP, St. Croix, VI, playing country music, oldies. Fooled me at first, didn't expect anything to be coming so strong, S9+10 (W. Curt Deegan/ Boca Raton, (South East) Florida [JRC NRD-535D, LF Engineering H-800 & M-601, Quantum Phaser, ANC-4 noise canceler, GAP DSP], ibid.) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 7466 kHz, 23-05-2005, 2255 UT, LV de la Rep. Árabe Saharaui en español. Comentarios sobre el 20 de Mayo. 32332 ¿nueva frecuencia? Receptor: JRC NRD 535, Antena: PBX 100, Lugar: Casco urbano. Muy atentamente, 73's (José Bueno - Córdoba - España, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** WINDWARD ISLANDS. WIBS, Windward Islands Broadcasting Service http://www.news-dominica.com/heritage/heritage.cfm?Id=314 Brought to you from the forthcoming book by renowned historian http://www.lennoxhonychurch.com/home.cfm Dr. Lennox Honychurch. From 1955 to the end of October 1971 Dominica's local radio service was operated by WIBS, a regional broadcasting network with headquarters in Grenada, inaugurated in 1955. Transmission took place locally on medium wave while the Eastern Caribbean was covered by short wave from a 5 KW transmitter [always from GRENADA]. Dominica's transmitter was located at the Stock Farm. The first local studio was in a room in the old hospital on Bath Road and, when that building was destroyed by fire in 1965, it moved to a room behind the Public Library. The establishment of the station and the running costs for the first few years were provided by British Colonial Development and Welfare Funds (CDW). The Windward Islands of Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Lucia shared the air time throughout the day with Dominica having a news time slot at 1.15 pm (a time that has been maintained up to today) and in the evening. It enabled much closer communication and news information exchange between the islands than today. The first WIBS announcer for Dominica was Mrs. Daphne Agar followed by Mrs. Mary Narodny and then Messrs. Francis Andre, Barnet Defoe and Jefferson 'Jeff' Charles. In the late 1960s Premier Eric Gairy of Grenada decided that he wanted his own national government radio station and WIBS fell apart with each island going its own way. Radio Dominica (now DBS) opened its new premises and went on the air, 1 November 1971 as WIBS came to an end (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. ZIMBABWE'S SW RADIO AFRICA FACES CLOSURE http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/fm8.12675.html By Staff Reporter Last updated: 05/23/2005 11:37:22 AN AWARD-WINNING Zimbabwean radio station in exile on Sunday warned it could be forced to close down by the end of this month if pledges of donor funds are not delivered, its manager said. In April, the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) awarded SW Radio Africa, which broadcasts to Zimbabwe on shortwave from London, the 2005 "Free Media Pioneer" prize for being a "voice to the voiceless". The radio will receive the prize on Tuesday at the end of the ongoing IPI general assembly in the Kenyan capital. "If the funds promised by our donors do not arrive before the end of the month, we will be forced to stop our activities," said Gerry Jackson, the founder and manager of radio. However, it was not clear how much money the exiled station needed in order to continue operating. Jackson, a Zimbabwean journalist, set up the station in December 2001 after being forced to leave Zimbabwe following the closure of an independent station he set up after being fired from a public radio station. According to IPI, the radio, which has nine employees in London, "remains a rare independent voice" in Zimbabwe. The Harare government regularly jammed broadcasts in the months before the March legislative election, and continued after them, according to the press watchdog, which also in its report in March chided the Southern African nation for limiting press freedom. Previous winners of the prize, created in 1996, include the Russian NTV television station and the Serbian B-92 radio station. TO LISTEN TO SW RADIO AFRICA: http://www.swradioafrica.com JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS http://newzim.proboards29.com/index.cgi? (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ I strongly recommend Glenn's "DX Listening Digest" to anyone interested in radio communications; that's why I have it listed under "Essential Reading" on my "Future of Radio" blog. Because of DXLD's size and scope, you may have to sift through a lot of material to find those items you are interested in, but I think you'll usually find it worth the effort. Now if Glenn would just start using permalinks to make it easier to link to his site (Harry Helms, W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00 http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ABDX via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I had the good fortune last night to hear your show for the first time on WWCR (5070 at 0230-0300 on 5/22 UT) and now will make it a point to be a regular listener. I was a shortwave fan as a kid and, some 30 years later, am getting back into it again with a JRC NRD-525. Keep up the good work, and consider yourself having enlisted a new fan. Best, (Jim, Arcadia, Calif.) World of Radio was and still is one of my favorite shows to listen to on short wave. I find it to be a valuable source of info. Thanks for your hard work and dedication (Jeff Snyder) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Speaking of shortwave --- a nephew from Coppell and his son, not DX'ers but good climbers, have installed a couple of tree-to-tree wires, one 140 feet oriented SSW and another 87 feet oriented SSE, that I'll plug into my Quantum Phaser when I find the 12V DC power source. The raw wire brings in some good SWBC signals, and I was surprised to hear a familiar voice as I tuned the shortwave bands. It was Derry Brownfield, whose Brownfield Network agriculture broadcasts were popular in the '70s and early '80s on WMIX-940, Mt. Vernon, IL, where I worked for 11 years before moving into the print journalism at the Mt. Vernon Register-News. Brownfield's current show, which fits on among the religio/politico shows that seem to dominate the SWBC specturm, reminded me of a gathering where the paths of Derry Brownfield and Glenn Hauser crossed. It was at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association spring convention in 1981 which I hosted in Mt. Vernon. Brownfield was the Saturday night banquet speaker, and he was funny --- he had the broadcast newsmen rolling in the aisles. One of the panel discussions I had put together involved the potential to use SWBC voice cuts in local newscasts, and my panelists were Jeff White, then of the Chicago area, and Glenn Hauser, then at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. My memory does not cover whether Glenn was in the audience when Brownfield spoke --- but, 24 years later, I sense some irony in this dredged memory! (Qal R. Mann, the Krumudgeon, ABDX via DXLD) I guess he was listening to the Derry Brownfield Show, M-F 1500-1600 UT on WWCR-3 12160 (gh, DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ LENGUA EN RADIO Y TELEVISION El presidente de la Academia Argentina de Letras, Pedro Luis Barcia, alertó hoy sobre la 'grave situación' de la lengua en la radio y televisión, en las que 'un número considerable' de profesionales muestran una 'ignorancia lingüística incomprensible' y exhiben una 'pobreza y vulgaridad idiomáticas preocupantes'. Barcia realizó estas consideraciones en la conferencia que pronunció esta tarde ante los alumnos de la Escuela de Lexicografía de la Real Academia Española, a la que cada año asisten una veintena de filólogos de diferentes países hispanoamericanos. En su conferencia, titulada 'La lengua en los medios orales de comunicación', Barcia hizo una amplia reflexión sobre 'el deterioro' que sufre el idioma en esos medios, no tanto en los programas informativos o de opinión como en los de entretenimiento y 'chismes', en los que la lengua 'es convertida en una mujer golpeada' y a cuyos responsables no se les pide ser profesionales sino 'carilindos' (en el caso de televisión), 'estar dotados de simpatía arrolladora y de una 'vitalidad' contagiosa'. Quienes están al frente de los programas de entretenimiento suelen someter a la audiencia 'a todos los vicios y deformaciones de la sintaxis, a la vulgaridad expresiva, a la reiteración de lugares comunes' y 'al empobrecimiento' que supone emplear 'unas pocas voces para todo uso'. 'Lo quiera o no, radio y televisión son cátedras abiertas de prédica de formas y contenidos. La conciencia de responsabilidad social debería operar en ellas, antes de esperar que obre la legislación', dijo el presidente de una de las principales Academias de la Lengua de Hispanoamérica, quien deja claro que los académicos no hacen 'votos de casticidad, y menos, tal vez, de los otros' y son conscientes de que 'la pureza del idioma es un concepto relativo'. Ante estos problemas lo frecuente es 'la condena apocalíptica de los medios y la jeremiada frente a la desastrada situación generalizada', añadió Barcia, para quien ni la una ni la otra 'modifican ninguna realidad. Solo la mano operativa que se mete en ella, guiada por un proyecto definido, la modifican'. En este sentido, destacó el importante papel que desempeñará el Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (DPD) que, elaborado por todas las Academias hispanoamericanas de la Lengua, se publicará el próximo otoño y contribuirá 'a mejorar la situación de la lengua en todos los niveles de uso, y, por supuesto, en los medios'. Los principales diarios cuentan con sus libros de estilo, obras entre las que el 'Manual del español urgente' de la Agencia EFE tiene carácter 'fundacional' y que, 'con salutífera vida y periódicas actualizaciones, viene cumpliendo un beneficio probado para los medios'. Pero 'el mayor deterioro de la lengua no se comprueba, por supuesto, en los medios escritos sino en los orales', en los que apenas hay lugar para la revisión y la corrección, ni para la 'Fe de erratas' que tienen muchos periódicos, que permite salvar 'los gazapos' cometidos en días anteriores y leer a veces correcciones como la que se hacía en un matutino porteño: 'Donde decía 'Los travestis avanzan', debió decir 'Avanza la canonización de sor Ludovica'. A su juicio, 'la ignorancia lingüística en un comunicador oral es incomprensible como la impericia de un cirujano en el manejo de un bisturí. Es inconcebible que el directivo de una radio o un canal no elija como comunicador de su medio a los más duchos y avezados en el manejo del instrumento comunicativo por naturaleza, la lengua'. Pedro Luis Barcia cree que más preocupantes que la incorrección sintáctica, la invasión de anglicismos o la posible ruptura de la unidad de la lengua que auguran algunos, son 'la pobreza y la vulgaridad idiomáticas', dos notas 'de pesante gravedad que se han afirmado en los medios orales de comunicación'. En su opinión, el Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, 'la obra más completa en su especie', puede contribuir a solucionar esta situación, como también lo haría incrementar la presencia de los estudios de lengua en las Facultades de Comunicación, exigir 'mayor profesionalidad a los comunicadores' en el manejo de la lengua y 'la intervención de los gobiernos en el control de estos desajustes'. fuente: http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articulo/barcia_alerta_grave_situacion_lengua_303742.htm (via Gustavo Fernando Duran, Argentina, Conexión Digital May 23 via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ REVIEW OF ``MAKING WAVES --- STORY OF RADIO ESSEX`` As promised,my review of the book requested by Mike Terry a while back. I sent off for this book some weeks ago now when the book was first published. This was with confidence, because I have purchased several books already from Bob Le Roi's website and every one has been excellent and well produced. David Sinclair has written a full and revealing report on life on the offshore radio station that I received in Middx courtesy of an aerial wire in the back of my transistor portable. Then i put the radio into my bookcase and left the glass doors open at each and got a filtered sound which was very good. The daytime signal was fine like this and in the evening it was possible to listen to the station without an aerial. The only small criticisms I have is that I can see scanning lines on pictures pages 15, 77 and 78. These are on adjoining pages and it is possibly an error at the printers. Fortunately all of the others are perfect. I like the bold font that the book is printed in. The book is soft covered, with a plastic cover on it --- they have included a title on the spine so you can spot it on the bookshelf. Mine has come detached from the front and back cover because the printer has bound the book into the adhesive cover and not stapled it to the spine --- fortunately the main book is bound together OK --- I am now trying to work out how to fix it back without using adhesive. Inside the covers is the flyleaf which is not sufficient to hold the 90 page book inside the cover alone. This is a great book though, well written, and made me laugh many times whilst reading the text. In saying this I will not be able to tell you too many specifics because this will spoil the book if you plan to buy and read it. It gave me a different image of Roy Bates as a boss and businessman than I had previously. It also has pictures of and mentions Roy Bates son and daughter. His son features strongly now in the operation of Sealand as a principality. 88 pages of splendidly researched and illustrated writing. All photos and stickers are in black and white. The inclusion of station stickers and items like QSL cards make this a full and unique tribute to this splendid radio station. They also include a plan of the Radio Essex Knock John Deck Plan. Bob Le Roi has also includes his own personal introduction to the text written by David Sinclair. It also takes the story right up to Sealand on the Roughs Tower, never used for offshore radio. The book is recommended by me. If you fancy a quick flick through it there are enough pictures to fill up at least ten minutes or more, all well captioned. I hope that somebody will do a similar book about Radio Sutch and then City in due course. To my knowledge it is not for sale in a book shop. I ordered mine direct from Bob Le Roi's site and paid by pay pal. This resulted in me receiving the book almost by return of post. It was well packed and arrived through my letterbox in mint condition. The cost is £7.50. Please do not let my experience with the book binding put you off enjoying this gem! Available from Photoradio PO Box 299, Whitstable Kent CT5 2YA United Kingdom for £7.50 or at http://www.bobleroi.co.uk http://www.wirelesswaffle.co.uk/ressexbooks.htm (Keith Knight, May 23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ HAMS ENCOURAGED BY NEW MOTOROLA BPL TECHNOLOGY http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/05/23/1/?nc=1 Newington, Conn., May 23, 2005 --- ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, announced today that ``The ARRL is pleased to hear Motorola`s announcement of its Powerline LV system. This is the first Access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) system that has been designed from the start with radio interference concerns in mind.`` Motorola`s Powerline LV system avoids using the medium-voltage (MV) power lines and introduces broadband signals only on the low-voltage (LV) side of the power transformer. This greatly reduces the potential for interference to and from radio users, especially radio amateurs. ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner commented, ``We know that medium-voltage (MV) power lines are no place for broadband energy, since there is overwhelming technical evidence that radio interference from BPL is unavoidable if MV lines are used. By confining their Access BPL system to LV lines and by adding hardware notch filters for additional protection to amateur radio frequency allocations, Motorola has addressed our interference concerns.`` While sometimes pictured by BPL proponents as opposing all BPL implementation, the ARRL has always maintained that radio amateur ``hams`` are not interested in blocking new technology but are justifiably concerned about pollution of the radio spectrum. Significant interference has been documented at numerous sites where other BPL systems are being tested, and other BPL developers have been unwilling to share information about their systems. By contrast, Motorola invited ARRL`s suggestions and welcomed its input during product development. Sumner concluded, ``We look forward to seeing the first Powerline LV system in operation, and to continuing to work with Motorola to ensure that their new product is indeed the first BPL system that is a solution, not a problem.`` There are approximately 670,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States. Many other countries are watching events unfold in the US as they plan their own BPL systems. There are approximately 2.5 million Amateur Radio operators around the world. If the new Motorola system lives up to its initial promise in actual deployment, this new ``shortwave-friendly`` system will have many advocates. Information about Amateur Radio is available from the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or by calling 1-800-32-NEW HAM. The URL for ARRL`s home page is http://www.arrl.org Information about Motorola`s ``Powerline LV`` system can be found on their Web site http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detailpf/0,,5519_5509_23,00.html Copyright © 2005, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Es question for amateur ops I have a question about the Global Ionosonde foEs Alert Page http://w3.dxers.info/noaa/na_foEs.php The two numerical columns after the Location column - Average foEs & Current foEs --- What do those numbers represent and are they indicators that can be monitored for ionospheric activity? The page refreshes automatically every couple minutes, just like the 6 meter map does. I've noticed that the numbers do change when it refreshes, so I presume that there is some type of monitoring equipment that is feeding into the system the latest measurement from that location. I really appreciate any explanations offered. I'm one of those optimistic individuals that keeps looking around, thinking that someone's going to eventually be on to something that can lend itself in 'almost' predicting e-skip occurrences :-) (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, [40 mi north of Denver] 40.22.830'N 104.59.500'W, Yamaha TX-900/APS 13 @ 20'/RDS mgr, May 23, WTFDA via DXLD) Hi Jim, I use this page all the time, monitoring Boulder and Pt Arguello. If either or both are over 6, it's very likely that there's skip here. (Pt Arguello is near Lompoc, on the central CA coast). foEs is, I believe, the highest usable frequency for Es. The average is over the past hour (last 4 readings). The current is within 15 minutes. If you click a link it gives the past 24 hours in graph format. You'll note that when there's Caribbean Es, Ramey is often up around 10. When there's AuEs, College, KSalmon, Sonderstrom, etc. are up. When it hits 5, the color turns yellow. I think that red is 8 or higher, but I could be mistaken. You can also access this info straight from the source (at NOAA) for more up-to-date info, including F2 info. I can send you the links if you'd like. Here's a link to the monitoring station's data files around the world. These will often have data that doesn't show up on the maps.dxers.info website. http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/ftpdir/lists/iono_day/ (David Williams, OR, ibid.) Fo is the critical frequency. This is the highest frequency reflected straight back to the ground when sent straight up (i.e. vertically incident). There are formulas that estimate ionization density based on this, and then MUF can be derived. However, these formulas has been proved inaccurate in many (most?) cases. Bottom line is that foEs gives you a rough idea of the ionization density straight overhead from the location reporting. I use the ionosondes to get an idea if anything is happening or not (i.e. a litmus test). A lot of this has been covered in the Es review I wrote/compiled a few years back: http://www.amfmdx.net/propagation/Es.html (Michael Hawk, ibid.) I saw a chart once showing the skip distance on 10 meters and a graph showing the MUF and skip distance for higher frequencies. The maximum Es usually around 1350-1400 miles but at times longer; one explanation of this is tropo on one end extending the distance. I have worked single hop Es on 2 meters up to almost 1600 miles (John Tudenham, W0JRP, Joplin MO EM27RB, ibid.) I see two peak times for skip. There seems to be a spike in number of high MUF skip between 10 and 11 am local time and again between 5 and 7 pm. The skip that lasts long into the night, say after 10 pm on FM is usually left over from strong skip earlier in the day --- but not always. I am sure a WTFDA'er will enlighten us with some more scientific observations and data. This year I am hoping to get some New Mexico FM skip. That's a state I desperately need. My closest unheard state is Vermont. I have had TV from Vermont by tropo, but never FM. Somebody pinch me when 92.9 or 107.9 Burlington, VT make it down this way (Dan Oetting, Elkton, MD, WTFDA via DXLD) I'd agree with you that the prime time for the best Es is in the late morning and early evening May 15-Aug 15 with the peak around June 15- July 15. But not always! In 17+ years of VHF Dxing on 50 MHz, 144 MHz, and everything in between, mother nature never fails to amaze me. And surprise too. I've seen TV and even FM Es in the wee hours in the morning when previously there was nothing. Likely scenarios may be that an "E cloud" moved into radio view rather than formed at such hours. But who knows! Just last Friday I had a good Es opening into the FM band starting around 6:30 PM that built up fast then slowly faded until the last shreds of Mexican TV-2 fizzled out around 10:30 PM. I kept the TV on as I did other projects and a surprise came around a quarter past midnight with a rapid build up of Es in the same direction. Peaking well into the FM band. Es was still cranking past 2 AM! Some folks may remember May 26-30, 1990. I don't think Es ever left the VHF spectrum. I got out of bed and checked TV channels at 3 and 4 AM a couple of those nights and found signals and test patterns on various TV2-5 from 1-hop Es range plus diehard DXers on six meters and beacons, beacons, beacons. The FM band was open during much of that period and two meters too. Check the logs of total minutes of FM band Es for May 1990 on WA5IYX's website compared to May in other years: http://home.swbell.net/pjdyer/iyxfm90s.htm I've never seen that happen again since though but surely have missed plenty of openings similar. There is still no good explanation and may never be. One resource for the VHF DXer that may help predict Es to some degree is the Space Weather website by NOAA. http://www.sel.noaa.gov/today.html I've noticed that solar storms and flares USUALLY will wipe out Es and for hours afterwards and if the sun calms down after and you see low green bars in the graph of the satellite environment plot (like tonight) there may be some good Es. But not always! And there is no telling where it will show up. I guess that's why it's called "sporadic E". And it's the reason some of us only get sporadic z's this time of year! ((((yawn)))) With that, good DX to all! Tomorrow`s another day and it's only getting better (Randy Zerr KW4RZ, Fort Walton Beach, Florida EM60qk, http://www.geocities.com/kw4rz Beautiful white sand beaches of the Gulf Coast WTFDA via DXLD) PATTERN-POWER CHANGE TIMES BY LATITUDE Speaking of night power, is there a LATITUDINAL directive for lowering AM stations to night power/pattern change/ IBOC off? I note that San Francisco stations change powers/ patterns, shut off IBOC now at 8 PM, while Los Angeles stations do the same at 7:45 PM [PDT = UT -7] And those in eastern Washington State are doing the same at 8:45 PM (all roughly the same longitude, but different latitudes, which means different daylengths/ sunset times). I have seen KGA in Spokane do it at 9:45PM in June when the sun was still up, but if L.A. did theirs at the same time (same longitude), it would be full-on black-sky-with- stars nighttime, and they would be in violation. Can anyone fill us in on this? Clearly, if you are trying to DX for a far-north station in your time-zone in summer (like S. California-Washington, Texas- Minnesota or Florida-Maine), and it is dark at your southern location, it may be that the station that you are trying to hear to the north is still in broad sunlit-daylight and has not yet changed patterns or power for the night (thus you can't rely on night-pattern data until you know that station to the north has changed at the later time due to their later sunset time). (Darwin, Thousand Oaks, CA, May 22, ABDX via DXLD) Darwin, I would not call it a ``latitudinal directive`` but of course the sun rises earlier and sets later the further north you go in the summer, as you point out. FCC has a way of computing ``official`` SR/SS times for power/pattern change purposes, which are rounded off to the nearest 15 minutes at any given location and change every month. As I recall this is based on the COL and not the transmitter site. DXers aware of how this varies by month and by season can use it to their advantage. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/srsstime.html 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Both IRCA and NRC have at one time or another offered a set of 12 sunrise/sunset maps which show the "slant" each month. Years ago, when those stations that now broadcast at night with ridiculously low power signed on at sunrise and off at sunset, it was fun to log and tape their sign-on and sign-off announcements. Now, they just suddenly appear in the morning and disappear in the afternoon! In addition to the "Local Sunrise / Sunset Calculations" link Glenn provided, looking up any station in the "AM Query" FCC link http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html then clicking on the Time Zone link labeled Approximate Sunrise & Sunset Times will give the month- by-month "official" sunrise and sunset times for each AM station (Qal R. Mann, the Krumudgeon, ibid.) ###