DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-148, August 28, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 60: Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually closer to 0418-] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours [stream has been down] Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru 1400 Tue] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours [stream has been down] Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours [stream has been down] Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 60 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx60h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx60h.rm (WOR Extra 60 is the same as COM 05-06, with WOR opening added to hi) WORLD OF RADIO Extra 60 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0506.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0506.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0506.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 60 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3 keep checking http://www.dxprograms.net/ == due to poor propagation could not record at 2200 Wednesday WORLD OF RADIO Extra 60 downloads in studio-quality mp3: [Unfortunately this site +podcast were down as of August 26-28!] (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/worx60h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/worx60.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently [not] available: Extra 58, 1281, 1282, 1283, Extra 59, 1284, Extra 60) ** ARGENTINA. R. Continental, Buenos Aires, 5400-LSB, 0145-0205+ Aug 20, Spanish talk, LA music, 0203 ID; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 2005/08/27 -- Dia del diexista en Argentina Argentina - 27 de Agosto - La Radio celebra sus 85 años de vida!!! Casi simultáneamente con los Estados Unidos comienza en la Argentina la transmisión regular de radio. Por iniciativa de cuatro jóvenes, uno médico y otros estudiantes de medicina, Enrique T. Susini, Miguel Mujica, César J. Guerrico, y Luis Romero Carranza, el 27 de agosto de 1920 un grupo de personas oyó desde sus casas una transmisión. Instalaron en el techo del Teatro Coliseo una larga y complicada antena y en dependencias interiores del teatro un transmisor de 5 watios, con una bocina parecida a la de los fónografos de la época pero de dimensiones mayores. Estaba Yrigoyen en la presidencia y dicen que comento así la hazaña: "Cuando los jóvenes juegan a la ciencia es por que tienen el genio adentro". En 1921 fue posible transmitir casi todas las funciones del "Coliseo". Tres años después ya funcionan en el país 60.000 receptores y pioneros del medio realizan experiencias fundamentales, como la difusión de eventos deportivos y la utilización de publicidad (por primera vez en el mundo según historiadores). . . http://www.rti.org.tw/spanish/Extractos/content.aspx?ExpId=2111 (via Dino Bloise, FL, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 15425, HCJB Australia, 20 Aug, 1205-1225, in English. Too weak before 1200, and after 1200 the station suffers from co- channel QRM caused by BBC in French. That's why SINPO is only 22432. Songs and believers' stories. On 28 Aug HCJB-Australia must resume broadcasting at 1300-1600, cancelled some time ago because of bad 19 mb propagation to Asia during this time. Previously, station used 15405 kHz at 1300-1430, and 15390 kHz after 1430 (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. Strong Es Bahamas to Massachusetts --- both 100.3 and 104.5 logged; 107.1 and 107.9 trying for; trying for 97.5; 94.9 won't come thru WMAS slop - but 100.3 and 104.5 VERY strong stereo (Adam Rivers, MA, 2204 UT Aug 26, WTFDA via DXLD) Bahamas here too --- 94.9, 102.9 and 107.1 for sure. Possible on 102.1 (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, 2245 UT Aug 26, ibid.) 1720 [presumably EDT = 2120 UT] MORE94, 94.9, Nassau (Presumed) Caribbean hip hop; accented English announcers; "Five O'Clock Road Block" (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (360' ASL), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], 40:08:45N; 75:16:04W, Aug 26, FM: Yamaha T-80 & APS9B @15', ibid.) I've been in Nassau and 107.1/107.9, the ZNS stations, were not heard at Cable Beach. They used to used for STL and were very low power (Ken Simon, FL, ibid.) That's wild. My old worn copy (2000 ed) of WRTH doesn't even list 107.1 or 107.9. Here is one link I found for stations down there. http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/bah/Radio_Tv_Frequencies.asp I recorded my session so I'll try to pull out some audio of 107.1 and post it on the WTFDA forum later today (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, Aug 27, WTFDA via DXLD) Not in WRTH 2005 either, just 104.5 for ZNS-FM, Power 104.5 apparently separately programmed from the AM stations (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS [and non]. GERMAN BROADCASTER MAKES WAVES WITH RUSSIAN- LANGUAGE PLANS --- By Jan Maksymiuk [as referenced in 5-144] In June, Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle announced its plans to launch a Russian-language information program for Belarus called the "Belarusian Chronicle." Official Minsk has so far remained silent about plans for the daily show, which is scheduled to begin in October. But many of Belarus's opposition and pro-democracy circles -- who in theory could only benefit from such an endeavor -- have reacted with alarm, indignation, and even hostility. They want Deutsche Welle to speak Belarusian to Belarusians. Media have since reported that Deutsche Welle won a European Commission tender to organize radio broadcasts to Belarus. Bidders reportedly included international broadcasters Euronews and BBC World Service. Brussels will spend 138,000 euros ($169,000) annually to support Deutsche Welle's Belarus project, which is to continue for three years. It was initially reported that Deutsche Welle would broadcast 15 minutes a day to Belarus, but Deutsche Welle's Russian Service Director Cornelia Rabitz later signaled that her team might in September come up with a 30-minute daily program in which 15 minutes would be devoted to European developments and another 15 minutes to Belarusian domestic news. Aleh Trusau -- chairman of the Belarusian Language Society, a nongovernmental group working to support the mother tongue of most Belarusians -- was the first to urge Deutsche Welle to launch its Belarus broadcasts in Belarusian. "[Deutsche Welle broadcasts in Russian] would plunge Belarusian listeners deeper into the Russian information space and increase their isolation from Europe," Trusau argued in an open letter to Deutsche Welle in June. And in an interview with RFE/RL's Belarusian Service later in the month, he clarified his position further by saying, "There are a lot of Russian- language sections in international broadcasters -- Voice of America, BBC, Deutsche Welle -- that employ emigrants from Russia with an imperial point of view. For them, Ukraine and Belarus are not full- fledged nations." 'Better Than Nothing' Belarusian opposition leaders seeking the role of a joint democratic candidate to face President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the 2006 presidential ballot were cautious after news emerged of Deutsche Welle's plans. United Civic Party leader Anatol Lyabedzka said Deutsche Welle's broadcasts in Belarusian would be a more appropriate option but immediately added, "If we cannot influence the development of events, Russian-language broadcasts are better than nothing at all." However, most opposition leaders with any chance of securing the democratic parties' presidential nomination have chosen not to comment on the issue in any way. As for anti-Lukashenka intellectual circles in Belarus, Deutsche Welle's project has sparked a heated debate over the fate of the Belarusian language in particular, and the country's political and civilizational choices in general. Belarusian political scientist Vital Silitski, in an emotional letter published in the Minsk-based "Nasha Niva" weekly earlier this month, appealed to Belarusians to boycott Deutsche Welle's Russian-language broadcasts. Silitski argued that the choice of Russian for broadcasting to Belarus is the result of a "complete misunderstanding" of the Belarusian situation by "European bureaucrats" who, according to Silitski, are following Lukashenka in his attempts "to instill the notion in public opinion that the Belarusian language has no prospects or real demand among Belarus's citizens." Silitski claimed that the EU decision to sponsor broadcasts to Belarus by Deutsche Welle's Russian Service is "absurd," since the service employs people "for whom Belarus is just an extra job and from whom one cannot expect a deep knowledge or understanding of processes under way in Belarus." Silitski stressed that "the revival of national consciousness is a necessary condition for democratization of any nation" and again scolded "European bureaucrats" for what he perceives as their support of "the tendencies than consolidate the dictatorship in Belarus." "Nasha Niva" called on its readers to become signatories to Silitski's appeal. Will Brussels Think Twice? German diplomat Hans-Georg Wieck, former head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Minsk and a staunch advocate of EU-sponsored broadcasting to Belarus, responded to this wave of protests in Belarus through RFE/RL's Belarusian Service earlier this month. Wieck said that neither Brussels nor Deutsche Welle is against Belarusian- language broadcasting. According to Wieck, there is currently no money to organize Belarusian-language broadcasts. "This is a problem of means. Now in Russian, later in Belarusian," Wieck said. "The [Deutsche Welle] new project is only the beginning." Wieck stressed that reaction to the Deutsche Welle project in Belarus is quite understandable. Wieck, who was instrumental in uniting the cantankerous Belarusian opposition behind a single challenger to President Lukashenka in the 2001 presidential ballot, is doubtless among the most knowledgeable Western experts on Belarus. He is also one of the very few who seem to understand the important role of the Belarusian native linguistic and cultural heritage in the possible democratization of the country. In 2001, some forces in the anti-Lukashenka electoral coalition all but sabotaged the opposition campaign because of what they regarded as a disastrous choice of opposition candidates. Uladzimir Hancharyk, the single candidate "imposed" by Wieck on the Belarusian opposition in 2001, was a Soviet-era trade-union functionary who remained utterly indifferent to the revival of the Belarusian language and culture. This revival, which is being ardently advocated by a significant segment of the Belarusian opposition as a sine qua non for Belarus's "return to Europe" and no less stridently opposed by Lukashenka as a major obstacle to his "back-to-the-USSR" drive, has now been dealt a serious (even if indirect and/or unintended) blow by Brussels and Deutsche Welle. Will Brussels, as Wieck expects, think twice and take a more favorable stance toward the Belarusian language (read: find money for Belarusian-language broadcasting) in the future? Judging by all appearances, not in the not-so-distant future. Because Brussels still faces the task of crafting a strategic policy toward Lukashenka's Belarus that would map out long-term priorities, not just "emergency measures" on the eve of major political campaigns in Belarus, to which Deutsche Welle's Belarus project appears to belong. Belarusian Self-Awareness It is difficult to imagine any "colored revolution" taking place in Belarus next year. And it has already become obvious beyond any doubt that Europe's assistance to pro-democracy activism in Belarus -- if it is to be efficient -- should not limit itself to training in election techniques but rather embrace a much wider program of activities intended to bolster Belarusians' awareness that they are not a "Russian" nation (as recently suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin) and that they actually belong to Europe, not to Eurasia. The promotion of the Belarusian language, whether as a tool for imparting free and unbiased information or a means for attaining a stronger sense of national pride by Belarusians, arguably should be one of the key priorities in such a strategic program of European assistance to Belarus. Deutsche Welle's Russian Service Director Rabitz told Belarusian journalists that her company should be praised rather than criticized for its Belarus broadcasting project. "It is stupid to say that Russian is bad and Belarusian is good," Belapan quoted her as saying on 8 August. Rabitz also noted that Deutsche Welle has been broadcasting in Russian to five post-Soviet countries in Central Asia, where she said these programs are valued, not criticized. Rabitz's irritation is perhaps to be expected. However, as far as opponents of Russian-language broadcasting from abroad to Belarus are concerned, both of those arguments miss the point. Apples And Oranges First, nobody in Belarus appears to be imposing such a "bad-good" evaluation on the two languages. The protests are directed primarily against what is perceived as Deutsche Welle's emblematic support for the policies and ideology of Russification promoted by Lukashenka in Belarus. Some might ask, not without reason, why Deutsche Welle found funding five years ago to sponsor Ukrainian-language broadcasting to Ukraine -- the country Russified to a level comparable to that of Belarus -- and was unable to repeat the act with regard to Belarus. Rabitz's implicit comparison of Belarus with post-Soviet Central Asia, her opponents in Belarus say, does not hold water either, since none of those five post-Soviet republics has launched the kind of nationally traumatic linguistic and cultural policy that Lukashenka did 10 years ago in Belarus. In no former Soviet Union republic is the situation of the titular language so pitiable as in Belarus. Although the 1999 census suggested that 73.7 percent of Belarus's population declared Belarusian as its native language and 36.7 percent said it speaks Belarusian at home, Belarusian has been almost completely replaced by Russian in public life and state-run media. On the other hand, while many Belarusians (including many with university diplomas) find it difficult to speak or write freely in Belarusian, the overwhelming majority has no problems whatsoever in understanding the language. Therefore, a Belarusian-language broadcaster could reach the same audiences in Belarus as a Russian- language one. This was amply demonstrated by the highly successful, private, Belarusian-language Radio 101.2 in Minsk, which was closed down by the Lukashenka administration in mid-1990s because, as one commentator put it, it broadcast in the language of freedom, not that of suppression. One of the participants in the "Nasha Niva" discussion about Deutsche Welle's planned broadcasts to Belarus said the use of Russian language strips the project of any practical efficiency. He argued that tuning in to the Deutsche Welle Russian-language program on shortwave (over which Deutsche Welle will broadcast to Belarus) would be incomparably harder than tuning in to a Belarusian-language broadcast because of a multitude of other Russian-language stations on the shortwave spectrum. Thus the use of Belarusian by Deutsche Welle would arguably be a more pragmatic option. Some in Belarus believe that argument is even more appealing than any case based on Belarusian trauma resulting from its government's linguistic and cultural policies (RFE/RL Media Matters Aug 23 via DXLD) ** BELIZE [and non]. Huge FM Es all over eastern / southern US --- Belize, Mexico, Central America to the top of the band from here. 97.1 Integrity Radio Belize has been in for over 40 minutes now. Big FM northeast to midwest, MUF over 144 MHz. Good DX (Randy KW4RZ Zerr, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, 2305 UT Aug 27, EM60qk http://www.geocities.com/kw4rz WTFDA via DXLD) An interesting station. 87.9 Spanish, crummy audio, music and talk, might be an ID in that. Several Belize and Guatemala FM's including a good copy on 97.1 "Integrity Radio", 88.3 and 88.9 Love FM, 94.7 all Belize. Not a peep out of 108-118 MHz air beacons, nor 144 MHz as usual. Strange to see Es like this so late in the season. Good luck DXing (Zerr, 0135 UT Aug 28, ibid.) ** BOTSWANA. Can anybody suggest me the valid email address for Voice of America Botswana relay? I used rnelson @ bot.ibb.gov (as stated in WRTH-2005), but my mail was returned due to unknown recipient. Looking through Martin Schoech's QSL Info Pages, I noted that most recent VoA-BOT verifications were signed by Thomas R. Powell, Transmitter Plant Supervisor. Shall I try tpowell @ bot.ibb.gov then? (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Aug 27 via DXLD) ** CANADA. DX LISTENING DIGEST REPORTING OF CBC LOCKOUT As a CBC employee of long standing, it is very refreshing to see reporting of events in the non-judgemental style with which Glenn Hauser presents the issues. Thank you, Glenn, for just reporting all sides of the issue without comment. I highly urge all radio enthusiasts to read DXLD. I will be one (of certainly many) to make editorial comments and you no doubt know where I stand on this. If you don't, then it will become abundantly clear in a moment or two. The CBC's position is presented in one of their many self-fellating press releases and, speaking as a person who has never been a strong union man, I have rarely read such disingenuous claptrap. The CBC's timetable has been as predictable as the tide's rise and fall, and many of us knew months ago, to the exact day, when we would be locked out. Taking the holier-than-thou position that they DIDN'T want this to happen, you should know that they took their shots at the first possible opportunities. The first big shot came earlier this summer when the CBC suddenly called in federal mediation while both sides were actively bargaining. The clock began running at that moment. True to form, the CBC gave their 72-hour notice of a lockout at the very first opportunity to do so. So much for the lie that they were interested in negotiating. At one minute past midnight on Monday August 15, they pulled the plug. On day one, Arnold Amber of the Canadian Media Guild, in his address to the assembled picketers outside the CBC's Toronto headquarters made it clear that the Guild was prepared to go back to the table at any moment the CBC was prepared to pick up the talks. The CBC is apparently willing to come back to the table but only on the precondition that the main stumbling points of the contract talks are conceded by the union BEFORE the resumption of "negotiations." So much for meaningful bargaining. It's been like this for 15 months. So why are 5500 employees out on the street while the majority of CBC's bloated management sits on their thumbs with little to do inside other than counting their hefty salaries? Damned good question. Are they suggesting that future management hiring will be done on the same basis upon which they wish to treat the rest of the staff, that is to say as temporaries and casuals? Yeah, right. And to our management/ supervisory colleagues who are members of APS (Association of Professionals and Supervisors), perhaps they ought to consider how long the CBC is going to be willing to keep them around doing nothing while the people they supervise are all on the street. At some point, our "cost-conscious" leadership is going to figure on saving another bundle by having their jobs put on standby. Well, not likely. If nothing else, CBC management takes care of its own. I do not approve of vulgarity in postings to a group such as this one, or any other for that matter. But I'm sorry, and at the risk of offending people I truly respect, I can honestly say that I've never read so much bullshit as I have when reading the CBC's screeds. It is up to CBC's listeners and viewers, those that are left, to hound their MPs in order to pressure the CBC to return to the table with a mind toward conducting REAL negotiations, and not continue the ersatz pap of a dictat that they've been spewing so far. I'm going to bed (Ori Siegel, VA3ORI - VA3XW, Aug 26, ODXA via DXLD) Sorry for not being on here recently, My dear husband came home from the hospital today, after having a cancerous brain tumor removed. The surgeon got it all out but radiation is needed. Saw the following web site on yahoo.com: http://www.cbcunplugged.com (Maryanne Kehoe, GA, Aug 27, ODXA via DXLD) Links to lotsa blogs; hope recovery is swift and complete (Glenn) ** CANADA. CBC Lock-out --- I been reading the comments posted on the ODXA's group on this topic. I've decided to post my 2 cents worth. I'm an avid CBC Listener, mainly to CBC 1010 (Calgary) or 100.1 (In Lethbridge). Every morning I turn the radio on and listen to the morning news, comments from Calgary, plus the daily weather report. During the day my radio (at the work site) helps the day go by faster. And at the [end of the] day, it's Jeff Collins, with his show on the drive home. On Saturday's the radio out in the Garage brings the programming from the early morning to late afternoon with the 50 Tracks, DNTO etc. etc. Sunday's it's the Vanilla [sic] Cafe, and Cross Country Canada. As for me, I for one, miss CBC regular programming. This labor dispute between management and the union is needs to be settled and quickly. The only people it's hurting is the employees, the public and the Canadian Broadcasting image. So tomorrow, I'm calling my local MP (that's Member of Parliament) and giving him a earful (Edward Kusalik, One Canuck who supports the CBC as a Public Broadcaster, Aug 27, ODXA via DXLD)) [and non]. I have been reading these with great interest as well and something has occurred to me as I do so. Can it be merely coincidence that the BBC, CBC, ABC-Australia, NPR and PBS are all suffering under the same or similar management-induced difficulties? Am I being too much the conspiracy-theorist to point out that all of the governments nominally in charge of things in these nations have been particularly hostile to media in general (except the very large commercial ones who contribute mightily to political parties and campaigns) and especially toward public broadcasting in particular? Just because we're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not out to get us (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) ** CANADA. Re CBC overnight programming now? I could only check the local R. 1 (90.5 FM) and Moncton 1070. Both were on at 3 a.m. local time with // soft-rock/pop music, no announcements between songs (Jean Burnell, NS, Aug 27, MWC via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI`s best morning frequency, 13655, was AWOL, Sunday Aug 28 at 1330 during an interview with Ken Burns about his film ``Unforgivable Blackness`` on boxer and bon-vivant Jack Johnson. It was not due to propagation as everything else was normal. I started listening on noisy 9515 and had to go back there; 17800 was on but with the usual CCI until 1350. Finally at 1510 recheck, 13655 had come on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Letter RE CKEC move to FM As per CKEC's website http://www.ckec.com 1320 CKEC is looking for support in its battle against two rimshot broadcast companies [and a third non-rimshot] who wish to usurp CKEC's wish to flip to what is apparently the only FM allocation left for their area. I've copied and pasted my email to CKEC owner Doug Freeman. Doug is no spring chicken, but is an old time broadcaster of the finest sort. His son Michael is now GM. -----Original Message----- Sent: August 24, 2005 4:27 PM To: CKEC Subject: Support for FM application Attention: Doug Freeman Dear Mr. Freeman, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to lend my support to your application for a Class C1 FM license for New Glasgow. While I now live in Prince Edward Island, I lived in Stellarton and later New Glasgow, Nova Scotia from 1992 to 1999. I was very impressed with CKEC and was very pleased to find that CKEC has a superb signal throughout central and eastern PEI. I remain a regular listener to CKEC. I was born and raised in a radio family as my father, the late Bruce F. Rafuse, worked at CJFX Antigonish from 1953 until his death in 1980, serving first as staff announcer, then Assistant General Manager commencing in 1961 and then as General Manager commencing in 1970. My father always spoke well of CKEC and in particular, to your personal commitment to effective community based broadcasting. I remember very well when CKEC increased its power from 5000 watts to 25,000 watts. This power increase and transmitter site location transformed CKEC from a modest power local station to a high power station with strong regional coverage and a solid commitment to the people of Pictou County and beyond. While I would prefer that the CRTC amend its policies to permit permanent simulcasting of AM and FM on a case by case basis for deserving regional stations with a strong community focus [FM for local urban coverage and AM for regional rural coverage] as I believe such a policy would best serve the public interest by providing quality coverage to rural and urban listeners alike, I believe that CKEC will continue to serve its listeners in Pictou County [and hopefully northeastern Nova Scotia and parts of PEI as well] with a top quality radio service for years to come. As well, I hope that CKEC will remain locally owned and operated. My only concern is that the coverage limitations of FM radio may prove to be a challenge for CKEC, given the well documented loss of coverage experienced by CJFX radio when it "flipped" from AM to FM which necessitated an additional FM rebroadcaster as a partial solution. Such loss of coverage was also experienced by CFNB in 1994 when they too "flipped" from a high power AM service to FM. I understand that the CRTC will also be considering applications from three other broadcasting companies. I will comment on two of these. With respect to Astral's bid, it is no secret that Astral owned CKTO and CKTY already have good signals in Pictou County. Indeed, it is my understanding that these two Truro NS stations sell advertising in Pictou County already. I believe Astral already has a strong presence in the Pictou County market and thus their application for a new FM station for New Glasgow is unnecessary and would be detrimental to CKEC and in the long term, the people of Pictou County. With respect to the bid submitted by Atlantic Broadcasters' Limited [CJFX], I would note that CJFX already has a strong signal in Pictou County with a strong advertising base now coming from the greater New Glasgow area. Indeed, CJFX's 3 mv/m contour covers nearly half of Pictou County and its 0.5 mv/m contour covers all of Pictou County. If CJFX wishes to operate two radio stations, they should have maintained their 25 kW state of the art AM Stereo AM operation and added a second station in Antigonish, on FM, with distinct programming on each station. They chose not to do so; however it is worth noting that 580 kHz remains available, should CJFX wish to establish a new AM radio station. In conclusion, it appears that the 4 applications for an FM station in New Glasgow are mutually exclusive, all predicated upon one available frequency, 94.1 MHz. Astral and Atlantic Broadcasters Limited already have an opportunity to serve Pictou County and their local markets with their existing facilities. While in a perfect world, I would like to see CKEC continue to prosper with its powerful AM signal, I recognize that the presence of CJFX, CKTO, CKTY and to a lesser extent, CHLQ, CFCY and CHTN Charlottetown, require CKEC to move to FM in order to allow it to continue to provide the people of Pictou County and beyond with a strong community based voice. I look forward to CKEC receiving a Class C1 FM license and I look forward to being able to continue to listen to your station here in PEI. Regards and best wishes, (Philip J. Rafuse, 5 Stewart Avenue, Stratford PE C1B 1B1, Aug 25, via ABDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake on 11805, Aug 27 at 1413 consisted of so much higher-frequency music and percussion, that it was inescapable 5 kHz away on RHC 11800 in Spanish, even by tuning to the lower side of that frequency. Commies vs Commies! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Re. ``Frequency change for China Radio International in Bulgarian: 2030-2057 NF 9720 KAS 500 kW / 308 degrees, ex 6145 ISS 500 kW / 098 deg \\ 7160 (Observer, Bulgaria, Aug 26 via DXLD)`` --- Actually the Issoudun 6145 transmission still exists, just confirmed until 2057 cut-off with extremely strong signal and programming (not // 9720) in a Slavic language I unfortunately cannot further specify. The audio was no longer of the telephone quality that used to be typical for the CRI relays via European shortwave sites (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Marfil Estéreo, 5909.98, 0015-0115+ Aug 21, Spanish talk, ID, ranchera music. Good; irregular, not heard every night (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see MEXICO ** CUBA. We've run across a number of instances previously where one network is carried during the overnight by stations which broadcast another during the day. I think we could get into a situation where we're chasing our tails if we work within the mindset that any specific Cuban outlet carries only one program. The same is getting to be true with multiple transmitters in different parts of the island now occupying the same [MW] frequency. I no longer assign much credibility to published powers and locations for Cuban transmitters, and with multiple programs on the same station or even multiple stations on the same frequency makes it tougher. Any Cubans I hear anymore aren't even counted as new in the log unless I haven't heard one on that frequency ever before. Otherwise I can't presume it's a different station unless I hear two different programs on the same frequency at once (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NNW Philadelphia), NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CUBA. Arnie Coro already in progress with DXers Unlimited, Sat Aug 27 at 2105 tune-in on 11760; I then found it was an echo behind // 9505 which was much weaker. So there must be two transmitter sites and/or program feed routes/methods involved. It was over at 2114:30 which means that if it is about 17 minutes long, it must have started as early as 2057, the first airing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See Also CHINA; VENEZUELA ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Nacional, Bata, 5005, 2215-2258* Aug 19, Spanish talk, Afro-pops, hi-life music. 2255 ``Radio Bata`` ID, and lengthy NA; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. R. Ethiopia, 7110, *0259-0315+ Aug 21, IS, 0300 talk in vernacular; 0305 Horn of Africa music. Weak-poor; // 9704.18 weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. YLE Radio Finland had some nice Finnish choral sacred music around 1345 Sunday Aug 28 on 15400; I retuned at 1358, just in time to hear a few words of Nuntii Latini, as the transmitter cut off well before this weekly 5-minute feature was over! Does it always go off at 1358? Pori needs to get coördinated with Helsinki (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6045 kHz, Hamburger Lokalradio (Relay via Jülich, in July 2005), detailed computer generated QSL-card with personal notes (including transmitter site), card shows the address and the telephone number, no v/s. Also contained a sticker and a personal letter from Michael Kittner, Stationsleiter. In 25 days for a report in German with 1 EUR in German stamps to Hamburger Lokalradio, Kulturzentrum LOLA, D-21031 Hamburg Schoech, Germany, August 2005, GRDXC via DXLD) See also LATVIA ** GERMANY. Meanwhile an audio file of the 1485 kHz DRM transmission at Berlin has been posted at http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?s=7ae834522c9553391ea6490a30d5de74&threadid=1151 Sounds very strange, with most of the original audio missing. The ``RADIO 1`` label discussed in the DRM forum is just identical to the RDS-PS on FM, so not so much a surprise. Re WRN English on the Berlin cable net: Do they have a contract with Kabel Deutschland? This could be decisive here, since Kabel Deutschland recently removed the relay of FM 106.8 from the Berlin cable net after Radio Teddy did not conclude a service contract with them (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. During the entire 0000-0400 UT period to North America last night, Avlis 3 on 9420 again was silent; although 7475 was doing great with fair reception from 5865. I can't get anything out of the 9420 frequency during the rest of the day either. I tried other frequencies, but nothing there either. I'm beginning to believe that the problem is with the transmitter (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, USA, Aug 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) During the entire 0000-0400 UT period to North America last night, Avlis 3 on 9420 again was silent; although 7475 was doing great with fair reception from 5865 (John Babbis, Aug 28, ibid.) ** GUINEA. TEXT OF DECREE PERMITTING PRIVATE BROADCASTERS | Text of report by Guineenews website on 23 August Here is the full text of the presidential decree signed by the Guinean president, Gen Lansana Conte, on the liberalization of the airwaves in the republic of Guinea as was read on the radio on Saturday 20 August, 2005. Office of the President of the Republic General Secretariat of the Government Republic of Guinea Work-Justice-Solidarity Decree 037D/2005/PRG/SGG on the conditions for the establishment and operation of radio and television stations in the Republic of Guinea. The President of the Republic In view of the constitution in its Articles 7, 21, 22; In view of Law No 91/05/ CTRN of 23 December 1991 on the freedom of the press, radio, television and communication generally; In view of Law No 91/06/CTRN of 23 December 1991 on the establishment of the National Council on Communication; In view of Law No 95/018/CTRN of 18 May 1995 on regulating radio communications in the Republic of Guinea; In view of Decrees No D/2004/010/PRG/SGG of 23 February 2004, No D/2004/017/PRG/SGG of 1 March 2004 and No D/2004/019/PRG/SGG of 8 March 2004 on the appointment of cabinet members; In view of Decree No D/2004/081/PRG/SGG of 9 December 2004 on the appointment of a prime minister Decrees: Article 1: Every Guinean citizen enjoying his civic rights or every moral person of Guinean rights with the exception of political parties and religious organizations can establish, own, operate a private radio broadcasting station and or television broadcasting station in Guinea, within the respect of the legislative measures and regulations in force. Article 2 : Private radio broadcasting station and television broadcasting station are meant to be understood in terms of the current decree as any station with a share capital owned in the majority by physical or moral persons with private rights and of which the broadcasts transmitted through the airwaves, cable or all other means are intended to be received directly by the public. Article 3: Private radio and television broadcasting stations are classified into two categories: commercial stations; community stations. Article 4: No private radio and television broadcasting station must directly or indirectly identify itself with any political party, religion, a region or an ethnic group. It must ensure that the broadcasts respect the dignity of the human person and the need for national unity and public order. Article 5: Nobody can own more than one radio broadcasting station and/or television broadcasting station at a time. Article 6: With the reserve of the benefit of an international pledge undertaken by the Republic of Guinea and comprising either a clause of assimilation to the national, or a clause of reciprocity in the area of the audiovisual, no foreigner can own directly or indirectly over 30 per cent of the share capital or voting rights in the audiovisual industry. Article 7 : The permit for the establishment and operation of a private radio and television broadcasting station shall be issued by the Ministry of Information, on the advice of the National Council on Communication. Article 8: The National Council on Communication shall exercise over these private radio or television broadcasting stations: a general right of control over their programmes; a right of protection and promotion of free, exact and complete information. Article 9 : The private radio and television broadcasting stations can be asked to perform under the same conditions as the public media general interest services defined by the decision of the National Council on Communication. Article 10: The private radio and television broadcasting stations can receive subventions from the state as well as from non-governmental organizations, NGOs. No private radio broadcasting station or television broadcasting station can directly or indirectly receive aid from a foreign country without prior permission from the government. Article 11: Foreign radio and television broadcasting stations wishing to establish themselves in the Republic of Guinea shall sign an agreement for establishment with the Ministry of Information, acting on behalf of the government. Article 12: The allocation of frequencies, their management and control are under the control of the Ministry of Telecommunications. Article 13: The National Council on Communication can take, for the benefit of conserving, measures for the suspension of a radio or television broadcasting station for a period of seventy-two (72) hours or more in the event of an offence against the internal or external security of the state without running the risk of being pursued in court. The suspension and withdrawal of the permit are actionable before the Supreme Court in the event of the abuse of power. Article 14: A decree by the Ministry of Information shall spell out the procedures for the issuance of the permits. Article 15: The regulation of the annual licence fees and the tax applicable to the private radio or television broadcasting stations are fixed by a joint decree of the Ministries of Information and Telecommunications. Article 16: The Ministry of Information, Ministry of Telecommunications, Ministry of Economy and Finances and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization are charged, each in what concerns it with the application of the current decree. Article 17: The current decree, which takes effect from the date of its signature, shall be registered and published in the official gazette of the republic. Conakry, 20 August 2005 Gen Lansana Conte. Source: Guineenews website in French 23 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. And now for something a little bit different. I am listing where to find other nations on satellite. I am sure there could be a different format for doing this, but this is a first try. I am only listing those nations that can be seen in the clear - e.g. - not encrypted and are generally only on an MPEG2 system. Contact me for specific frequency details or use internet to get Lyngsat or others. Abbrs used = IA - Intelsat Americas, T5 - Telstar 5 which is now called Intelsat Americas 5. Most all of these services are on Ku Band. Well - here goes --- Albania - US originated? - IA5 Ku transponder 14 Algeria - IA5 XPDR 8 Armenia - US originated? - IA5 - XPDR 26 China, PR - several services on PAS 9 C Band XPDR 10 Colombia - several services in 4DTV on NSS at 40 West Croatia - IA5 - XPDR KU 24 Cuba - PAS 9 - XPDR 8C Ecuador - Satmex 5 - XPDR 5 C Germany - PAS 9 - XPDR 16C Iran - IA5 - XPDR KU4 Iraq - IA 5 - Ku 25 Israel - IA5 - Ku Italy - PAS 9 - Ku 3 also PAS 9 C21 Japan - PAS 9 - XPDR 18C Jordan - IA5 - XPDR Ku 11 Korea, S - PAS 9 XPDR 10C Kuwait - IA5 - XPDR 15 Ku Lebanon - PAS 9 - XPDR 21C Macedonia - IA5 - XPDR Ku 14 Mexico - Satmex 5 also IA 805C Myanmar (Burma) - IA5 - XPDR 14 Ku Malaysia - IA 5 - XPDR Ku 7 Amrita TV Netherlands - IA5 - XPDR Ku 11 Oman - IA5 - XPDR Ku 25 Peru - IA805 C Poland - IA 805C Portugal - PAS9 - XPDR 16C Qatar - IA5 - XPDR Ku25 Romania - IA5 - XPDR Ku 7 Russia - Telstar at 37 West - Ku Saudi Arabia - IA5 Spain - see Hisposat at 30 West Sudan - IA5 XPDR Ku 25 Syria - IA5 - XPDR Ku 25 Taiwan China - many originate from US except Buddhist TV IA5 - XPDR Ku23 Thailand - IA5 - XPDR Ku 14 Tunisia - IA5 - XPDR Ku4 Turkey - IA5 - XPDR Ku 14 Ukraine - IA5 - XPDR Ku 14 United Arab Emirates - IA 5 - XPDR Ku 25 (includes Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, etc.) Uruguay - NSS 40 West C Band Vatican City (or Italy) - Telepace - IA5 - XPDR Ku 11 Venezuela - NSS 40 West - Vietnam - IA5 - XPDR Ku 14 (they actually have a Vietnamese version of "Wheel Of Fortune") Yemen - IA5 - XPDR Ku 25 That's all for now - Many other countries are up there, but are either encrypted or in another color system (e.g. PAL or SECAM). Suggestions and questions are welcome on this effort) See you in 30. "73"s and Good DX (GEORGE W. JENSEN, Baltimore, MD, SCISATMAN @ AOL.COM SATELLITE NEWS, Sept WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) TeleSur: v. MEXICO ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. PIRATES RETURN TO THEIR FORTRESS The annual Radio Essex reunion is this year not being held in a West London restaurant, but in the Thames Estuary aboard the mororised sailing barge 'Greta' this coming Tuesday. Radio Essex, owned by Southend businessman Roy Bates broadcast from a WW2 offshore naval fort called Knock John from October 1965 until December the following year. It is hoped to sail around each of the three forts used for pirate broadcasting during the 1960's while taking photos, listening to recordings and chatting about those exciting bygone piratical days. Though the life of this station was rather short and it's field of reception fairly small, the people involved with the station have remained in touch. David Sinclair, who now lives in Canada, is coming over for the event. The weather forecast, if it can be believed, is for a sunny day with a force 4 breeze. The maximum number of passengers on the Greta is limited to 12, so extra guests cannot be included. If anyone fancies a Thames boat trip in this wonderfully restored vessel visit http://www.thamesbarges.co.uk --- the boat's history is interesting (Andy Cadier, Aug 27, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Hurricane Katrina info is now under U S A ** JAPAN. HISTORY OF RADIO JAPAN (NHK) NHK began radio broadcasting on June 1, 1935 to the east coast of North America and Hawaii using a 20 kW shortwave transmitter. Then the call sign was 'Radio Tokyo' which used to broadcast daily one hour of Japanese and English programs which consisted of music and various performance shows. During the Second World War Radio Tokyo increased the language broadcasts to twenty-four and new 30 kW transmitters were put into service. The one hour English service was increased to five broadcast hours per day. Japanese and American English program hosts were introduced after the Second World War. Radio Tokyo changed its call sign to Radio Japan. During 1959 the international broadcasts were increased to six hours and repeated ten times a day. Regional language broadcasts were introduced in various languages including Korean, Swedish, Russian, Chinese etc. Also 3 x 100 kW, 2 x 50 kW and 2 x 20 kW shortwave transmitters were commissioned into service. During the 1960's huge economic growth took place in Japan. Coal replaced oil and the economy flourished. In 1964, 28 countries and 24 organisations from Asia formed the Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU) at Tokyo. An essay contest was conducted by Radio Japan during this occasion and five winners were invited to visit Japan. 1964 also saw the Tokyo Olympics being held in Japan. During the 1970 World Expo, in which 77 countries participated, was held in Japan and 100 hours of program relay went on air from Radio Japan. In 1984 the transmission facilities of Radio Japan expanded. During the period of the Cold War Olympics were held at Moscow in 1980 and at Los Ángeles in 1984. Radio Japan covered both Olympics extensively. NHK World relayed its programmes for the first time from Moyabi (Gabon). During 1988 the Yamata Transmitting Station was inaugurated with 4 x 300 kW, 4 x 100 kW transmitters and 17 directional antennae, The introduction of new transmitting station and relay services brought letters and reception reports from listeners in all corners of the world. Radio Japan/NHK received 60,000 letters from 160 countries around the globe. 1990's also saw the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War. New programming and change of program aspects also took place at NHK. Now NHK broadcasts to the world through shortwave, satellite and internet. Radio Japan relays its programs from nine relay stations in the U.K., Ascension Islands, Gabon, UAE, Singapore, Canada, French Guyana and Netherlands Antilles. The new multimedia platform helps listeners to listen to programs from the archives, if they miss the shortwave service. During its 70th anniversary Radio Japan is looking to the broadcast years to come. Compiled by T. R. Rajeesh VU3PIK with excerpts from 70th Anniversary Hello from Tokyo Show in January 2005 (Report from India, Sept World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Last night at 2315 UT heard Radio Caroline on 1350 kHz with a strong signal. Audio was distorted (overmod? clipping optimod?) and it suffered fading and some interference. I presume this is Latvia, though I've not seen other reports of this yet. 73s (Steve Whitt, UK, Aug 27, MWC via DXLD) I've heard Radio Caroline via Radio Tatras Int'l (RTI) on 1350 Latvia on several occasions during night time over the past couple of weeks, so I guess this is a regular thing. Reception of RTI here in Denmark is extremely good evenings and during night time. SINPO: 55555 or very close to that - when using my K9AY. The signal is very stable and the interference from other stations is very close to nil. I haven't noticed any problems here with the audio. Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, ibid.) ** LATVIA. QSL report: 9290 kHz, ARDXC (Relay via Ulbroka), detailed computer generated QSL-card with personal notes (including transmitter site), card shows the symbol of the ARDXC in green, v/s John Wright. Also contained the Australian DX News - August 2005. In 63 days for a report in English with 2 USD to ARDXC, c/o John Wright, 29 Milford Rd, Peakhurst NSW 2210, Australia. LATVIA - 9290 kHz, Hamburger Lokalradio (Relay via Ulbroka, in January 2005), detailed computer generated QSL-card with personal notes (including transmitter site), card shows the address and the telephone number, no v/s. Also contained a sticker and a personal letter from Michael Kittner, Stationsleiter. In 25 days for a report in German with 1 EUR in German stamps to Hamburger Lokalradio, Kulturzentrum LOLA, D-21031 Hamburg (M. Schoech, Germany, August 2005, GRDXC via DXLD) see also GERMANY ** LIBERIA [non]. Star Radio, 11965 via Ascension, *2101-2200* Aug 19, sign-on with local tribal group singing ``Star Radio`` jingle. 2102 opening ID announcements, English news. 2108 & 2111 IDs. 2112 sports news; 2131 ``Messages`` program. Good signal. Star Radio, 9525 via Ascension, 0845-0859* Aug 20, tune-in to interviews with local people riding a train; IDs. 0853 into vernacular talk. 0858 back to English with ID and Star Radio jingle to sign-off; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. V. of Africa, via France, 7320, 0222-0225 Aug 20, brief English segment with ID and news headlines; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEOI, R. Mil, dominating 6010, Aug 27 around 0556; Conciencia may have been off, and nothing on 5910 either. There was still a slight het on 6010 from something. Mil gave a full ID mentioning the SW frequency and 50 kW in such a way that it sounded like they were claiming that power on SW, not just for MW 1000, but I`d have to listen again carefully to be sure (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. TELESUR MAY SOON BE ON CABLE TV SYSTEMS IN MEXICO Mexican viewers may soon be able to watch Telesur, the TV station backed by Venezuela's government, according to the network's general director Aram Aharonian. He said Telesur is negotiating with Mexican cable networks to make the channel available in a few weeks, first to viewers in Mexico City, then across the country. Aharonian also said that plans to expand Telesur to the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Russia, Spain and Italy are also in the works. Telesur, launched last month, is regarded by the US administration as a mouthpiece for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and Congress has already approved a budget for US broadcasts to Venezuela as a countermeasure. # posted by Andy @ 09:37 UT Aug 27 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. [Re 5-145:] BURMA ACCUSES BBC OF "INCITING UNREST" WITH COUP REPORT - Xinhua | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Yangon [Rangoon], 28 August: The Myanmar [Burma] government formally denied Sunday for the first time that a coup had taken place during the past week, saying that Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Sr-Gen Than Shwe still remained in post and in good health. "Head of State Sr-Gen Than Shwe is discharging the state responsibilities with very good health," Kyaw Hsan, who is minister of information, stressed at special press conference here, refuting a news report of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 23 August, which said there was a change in Myanmar's top leadership. "Based on BBC's false news, other media broadcast slanderous and instigative news which were absolutely untrue," he said, blaming the BBC for the responsibility for broadcasting the fabricated news purposely. Kyaw Hsan reiterated that the present government is continuing to take charge of the state duties with the leadership of Than Shwe and collective responsibility and coordination of SPDC Vice- Chairman Vice Sr-Gen Maung Aye and SPDC members. He also blamed BBC's broadcast for encroaching on the state stability and national solidarity, creating public panic, misleading people and inciting unrest to deal a devastating blow to the nation by means of the unrest to anarchy. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0733 gmt 28 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. Don`t you believe that the new gospel huxter service for here will be on 5500 kHz, as mentioned on this week`s DXing With Cumbre, heard at 0511 UT Aug 28 on 9510. As we already explained here, that was supposed to be 5050, and the station is actually WWRB, apparently still not yet started, nor on 15250 in the daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Dart: to the Daily Disappointment for not covering the public protest at OKC`s KHBZ-AM for condoning domestic violence. The bigoted host writes a column for the Disappointment`s tabloid! Dart: to Tulsa radio station KFAQ (1170 AM) for biased commentary and guests calling for closing America`s public schools. Hosts are Michael DelGiorno and Gwen Freeman. If public education is a failure, they are exhibit A (Frosty Troy, Observerscope, Oklahoma Observer Aug 25 via DXLD) It started on the airwaves, but now a dispute between a Tulsa City Councilor and popular morning radio host could be headed for a courtroom. City Councilor Bill Christiansen is suing Michael DelGiorno and his radio station, KFAQ for defamation and emotional distress. . . http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=88243 (via The Insultant, Aug 18, Radio-Info OK board via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. What`s going on in OKC? On Sunday morning, Aug 28, at least two channels were broadcasting dead air/black screen! KWTV-9 was doing so for three or four minutes around 1430 UT, perhaps a foulup in the unnecessary 30-minute tape(?) delay they impose on CBS Sunday Morning --- like getting the last tape rewound and cued; and an hour later, KOCO-5 had a sesquiminute of black at 1530 and then instead of This Week from ABC, they ran a 1992y infomercial sponsored by mining companies, followed at 1557 by another sponsored by Caterpillar on agriculture, ``America`s Most Crucial Industry``! This Week should have been recorded an hour earlier from network. Maybe the summer interns are in charge, getting OJT at viewers` expense. Then at 1600 played Rebecca`s Garden. Any explanation of this on the website, http://www.channeloklahoma.com ? Of course not; and posted schedule still shows This Week (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman, 15140, *1400-1500 Aug 20; 1400 English news; IDs, pop music, techno-pop dance music; 1500 into Arabic. Weak but in the clear; improved to fair level by 1445 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Techno-pop dance music?! No features about Omani culture? What`s the point of doing an hour in English, then? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I presume this is a relay of the domestic English language network (throughout Oman on FM, cf. WRTH page 303) and not a program produced for listeners abroad. Same pattern like in the English SW transmissions from some other Arabic countries, like Jordan. 73, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi! Yes, indeed it is a relay of Oman's "Radio 2" which also can be heard on the digital Hotbird satellite. You can also hear their English FM program via their web site: http://www.oman-tv.gov.om/rdeng/default.asp You might compare it with 15140 kHz at 14 UT. 73, (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, ibid.) Hi, R. Sultanate of Oman on 15140, it's heard in Japan just now, with very weak signal. Thank you for your suggestion (TOKUSA Hiroshi, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, JAPAN, ibid.) 15140, 1400-, Radio Sultanate of Oman, Aug 28. Fair reception at sign- on with a time check of 6:00 PM and ID as Radio Sultanate of Oman. Signal dramatically improved to at least an S7 with very nice western EZL music when I tuned away at 1425. Glad to see them back! A nice opportunity to try my various receivers. I preferred the audio in the following order: Ten Tec 340, Collins HF-2050, Icom 756 Pro2, AOR 7030+, and finally my 'lowly' JRC 535D! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) TG for a source of EZL music! (gh) ** PERU. 2950, Radio Illucan [sic], 1450 kHz por 2, 2 armónico, UT 2350, sinpo 24232, Cajamarca - Cutervo, transmisión musical, 00.00+ avisos por OM (emisora full propagandas) OM ID "Radio Illucan, Voz de Cutervo para todo el Perú" sigue música soft, 21 agosto, EWE (Héctor Álvaro Gutiérrez, Lima Sur, Perú, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia What`s New http://www.vor.ru/English/Exclusives/what_new.html MUSICAL TALES (on the air as of Tuesday, August 30th) Romance is probably the most popular music genre of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. All the Russian composers of the time created these little music novellas. Many of these love songs were written to the verse of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The best of them will be featured in the next edition of MUSICAL TALES weekly program. Tune in to MUSICAL TALES on Tuesday at 03.00, Wednesday 02.30 and 20.30, Thursday 01.30 and 17.30, Saturday 06.00 and 16.00, Sunday 04.00 and 18.00 and Monday at 04.00 UT. RUSSIA: PEOPLE AND EVENTS (on the air as of Monday, August 29th). On a busy square in the center of Moscow, placed on a high pedestal stands a bronze statue to the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. This is one of the most beautiful and admired monuments in the city. Few people, however, know about its creator, the talented Russian sculptor Alexander Opekushin. Our next edition of RUSSIA: PEOPLE AND EVENTS weekly program is devoted to this artist. Tune in to our programs for RUSSIA: PEOPLE AND EVENTS on Monday and Wednesday at 20.30, Thursday at 01.30 and 17.30, Friday at 15.30, and Sunday at 02.30 and 07.30 UT. You can read the text version of the program on our Web site at http://www.vor.ru/Events/personalities.html THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE FROM MOSCOW (on the air on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28). In the next edition of The Christian Message from Moscow we will offer you the monologue of a nun, Paraskeva, from the Holy Assumption Convent in the town of Vladimir, some 190 kilometers to the North-East of Moscow. It was featured on the TVC channel of Moscow television. We believe this story will be of interest to you. Tune in to our broadcasts for The Christian Message from Moscow on Saturday at 01.30, 05.30, 08.30, 15.30 and 19.30 and Sunday at 18.30 UT [If times are on the hour, add 11 minutes; if on the half hour, add one sesquiminute.] (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. (Asiatic RSFSR), 12065, Bible Voice Broadcasting (via Khabarovsk), 5890 (via Vladivostok), full data Globe Reaching Nations card with schedule in 72 days. Report mailed to UK, but reply came from this address: P. O. Box 1160, Mount Albert, Ontario, LOG 1MO ((Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIA/GERMANY 15430, Radiokanal Sodruzhestvo (via Juelich, Germany), 15 Aug, 1444, rather strong (43443) and making interference to the Russian service of DW on 15425 (Signal No.149 - Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia via DXLD) But the handbook "Broadcasting in Russian" lists Russian International Radio on this frequency. And, if I remember correctly, I heard RIR a while ago myself on 15430. Of course, I realize that it's hard to distinguish these two stations - broadcasting style is similar, though there is more music on RIR (Signal No.149 - open_dx - Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine) No RIR but Sodruzhestvo during my subsequent checks. Parallel frequencies: 11830 kHz with fair signal, and fair-poor 7370, 9800, 9920 kHz. Best audio is on 15430 kHz, but DW from 15425 kHz causes considerable splash. Not the best frequency coordination (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** SUDAN. Re 5-147: Also some FM stations planned to air US funded programs. From: http://www.sol-sd.com/politics/t10-8-1.htm ------- Wednesday, August 10, 2005 U.S. EMBASSY-KHARTOUM RE SIGNING OF AGREEMENT WITH SRTC U.S. Embassy-Khartoum, August 10, 2005- The U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to Sudan, Ambassador John W. Limbert, signed today with the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation (SRTC) a LETTER OF INTENT for future coöperation in radio broadcasting. The intent of the parties is to enter into an agreement for the United States Government to fund the SRTC's purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of up to twelve (12) frequency modulation (FM) transmitting stations intended for the exclusive broadcast of USG funded radio programming. The Head of Sudan Radio and Television Corporation, Dr. Amin Hassan Omer, signed on behalf of the Government of Sudan, and the American Charge Limbert signed on behalf of the United States Government (via Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NOW SHOWING: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY AMERICANS --- EXPORTING THE WRONG PICTURE By Martha Bayles, Sunday, August 28, 2005; Page B01 "But what benefit is there in Radio Sawa's heavy rotation of songs by sex kitten Britney Spears and foul-mouthed rapper Eminem?" . . . http://tinyurl.com/a2q5f (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Must read: re VOA, USIA, etc. See also SUDAN just above ** U S A [non]. USA/RUSSIA. 11510, WYFR (via Armavir/Krasnodar), 15 Aug, 1425, in Urdu or Hindi, religious songs and announcements, 54444. Bulgarian DXers discovered this new frequency in May, but at that time it carried Pashto/Dari broadcast at 1400-1500. On the contrary, I clearly heard "Khamchatke program..." when the song ended - it points to an Indian group language. Needs further monitoring (Signal No. 149 - Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia) Not clear yet. Transmitter doesn't switch on at exactly 1400, and there were no announcements at 1430 during my new checks. Transmission is not parallel to 7510 kHz with WYFR either in Urdu (as ILGRadio states), or in Bengali (according to WYFR Web site). And I don't hear scheduled WYFR transmission in Hindi on 15520 kHz - so nothing to compare with. At 1458 on 27 Aug WYFR address in Oakland, California was given - but no local address followed, so the language is still a puzzle (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Aug 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re Katrina: Glenn: I think the transmitter was on at 0500, but we lost the audio feed. Everything is OK at the transmitter site now, but we have had various problems with power outages, phone lines out and DSL lines out at the transmitter, office and my house. I still have no phone or DSL at home. I hope things will be back to normal over the weekend, although Bell South isn't promising anything till Tuesday evening (Jeff White, WRMI, Aug 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I see the WRMI website is still stuck in April, but we recently had their complete new schedule in DXLD. WOR barely audible Sat 2100+, 7385 (gh) ** U S A. New Orleans Media --- Anyone know what the plans are for media in New Orleans? I'm guessing someone may have to leave their studios, or is everyone able to remain in their home base? Thank You for your time, (Glen Briggs - KBØRPJ, Grundy County Amateur Radio Emergency Services Coordinator, http://grundy.ares-mo.org/ - North Central Missouri Amateur Radio Club, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) And how far below sea level is the WWL 870 transmitter site? If this info is not in the FCC database, why not? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, That's a Scott Fybush question if I ever heard one. I'm not sure if he's even on this list. Anyway, I've turned up some archival photography that makes me wonder about it too: http://members.tripod.com/broadcastmuseum/wwl1.html I hope they've moved the site since then (Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Including: The Hurricane of 1947 [illustrated] A newpaper story reports that the Chief Engineer of WWL was in danger of drowning as he tried to reach the flooded WWL transmitter site in Kenner at the lakefront. J. D. Bloom is shown in the picture below as he perched for 9 hours on the hood of a truck that stalled in the high water on Williamson Ave. near the lakefront. Pictured below are views of the WWL tower site, transmitter building and downed power lines in the rising waters of "Lake WWL" in Kenner near the edge of Lake Pontchartrain (via Sadowski, ibid.) The WWL Transmitter is located at 29 50' 14" N, 90 07' 55" W, about 8 miles south of downtown New Orleans on the Eastern edge of the Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, just off Highway 45, Barataria Boulevard. Much of the Preserve is marshland and swampland. According to http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nhp/la/hik_bata.htm the HIGHEST point in the preserve is five feet above sea level. Regards, (Fred Laun, K3ZO, ibid.) WWL TV in New Orleans is live streaming at: http://www.wwltv.com Have yet to locate any news or info radio stations streaming out of the region so far. Still looking (Sheldon Harvey, QC, 1724 UT Aug 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Layla Morcos of WWL (AM) did a report on MSNBC around 1850 UT, concluding with the station`s own situation. Studios are in a high- rise downtown, and I think she said they have another location (presumably studio) they can broadcast from if needed, but they don`t expect their towers to survive 200 mph winds. Also monitor the Radio-Info Louisiana board http://www.radio-info.com/mods/posts?Board-louisiana (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sunday, August 28, 2005 --- As of 7:00 a.m. CDT – 1200 UTC, Hurricane Katrina, now an unbelievable Category 5 Hurricane packing sustained winds of 160 mph. The Hurricane Watch Net will activate Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. CDT - 1900 UTC on 14.325 MHz. Our mission on Sunday afternoon and evening will be to accumulate a list of stations in the affected area who can be available, primarily with measured weather data beginning at 8:00 a.m. CDT – 1300 UTC on Monday morning. In the meantime, we request all interested parties to maintain a close watch on all storm related data made available here on our web site, http://www.hwn.org As usual, during any net activation, we encourage all mariners and residents in and around affect area to please come to net frequency (14.325 MHz) for all the latest information and for the purpose of providing reports of conditions in your area. Please help to spread the word to people in the affected area while also requesting any available reporting stations in the area to please come to net frequency (14.325 MHz) with their observed and/or measured weather data. Any update to this plan will be announced as necessary. We will be requesting measured/observed ground truth data from the affected area. Under direction of the National Hurricane Center, those may be solicited from specific locations and/or with specific criterion attached (such as people experiencing sustained winds in excess of 35 knots, or those with rapidly degrading conditions, etc.). Temperature and dew point information is not needed. We remind those reporting stations to "please" do not report to us the weather information reported by your local media. We are interested ONLY in your personal observations, preferably measured by calibrated instrumentation. Note: The above criteria may be changed without notice. Throughout this event, we remind everyone that we are also available to provide backup communications facilities to official agencies such as Emergency Operations Centers and Red Cross officials in the affected area. We will also be interested to collect and report significant damage assessment data back to FEMA officials stationed in the National Hurricane Center. Please honor our request that you should not check in to the net unless specifically requested to do so. We will attempt to handle all communications within the capabilities of our own members, and only when required assistance is needed will we ask for your help. While our mission is specifically to provide storm related information into and out of the storm, please understand we are not involved in Health and Welfare traffic. That traffic will be handled by the SATERN net on 14.265.00 MHz, whenever activated, as well as on their website of http://www.satern.org On the SATERN homepage, you will find a link for Health and Welfare Information. Fill out that form and they will get back with you as soon as possible. We will likely be reporting other emergency frequencies to be set up by local emergency management nets in the affected area. Please monitor 14.325.00 MHz for that information as it is made available. As a final reminder, please monitor this web site for storm related advisory updates, graphics displays, and other data made available from the National Hurricane Center. Thanks in advance for your support and cooperation during this extremely dangerous storm. Sincerely, Bobby Graves - KB5HAV, Assistant Net Manager Hurricane Watch Net (HWN activation page via gh, John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. Some HF amateur emergency frequencies (in kHz) from http://www.w4uvh.net/nets2you.html Louisiana Traffic Net 3910 Louisiana ARES Net 3973 Southwest Traffic Net 3935 Mississippi Phone Net 3862 or 3862.5 Alabama Traffic Net & Emergency Net 3965 Region 5 Traffic Net 7280 Mercury Amateur Radio Association 3872.5 Gulf Coast Hurricane 3845 3873 3925 3935 7225 7235 7245 7260 7290 Hurricane frequencies by Bill Snyder: http://www.hurricanefrequencies.com (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. KUT may be off the air in Austin for up to 10 hours on Sunday, August 28th beginning at around 9 a.m. [CDT = 1400 UT] We will be making tower and transmitter upgrades ahead of our upcoming conversion to HD Radio. This will result in a higher quality and more reliable digital signal for KUT. You will still be able to hear us online and in San Angelo at KUTX, but we may be off the air most of Sunday here in Austin. Thanks very much for your patience as we work to bring you a better sounding KUT (from http://www.kut.org via DXLD) ** U S A. The subject of an FM High School station broadcasting two high school football games at once, one in the left channel and one in the right channel, came up in the engineering board. I seem to recall hearing of one such station in Texas. Anyone know which station it is? Can it be heard in the North Texas area? Thanks, (Robert Bass, Aug 26, Radio-info TX board via DXLD) KHSN IN "Shine on 9" in Liberty, Texas, east of Houston. They have Liberty games in one channel and Dayton in the other. They stream at KHSN.com WITH instructions how to listen to each (edwardrmurrow, ibid.) By adjusting balance on wmp (gh, DXLD) It`s actually KSHN 99.9 FM Liberty/Dayton And the website is http://www.kshn.com (j_u_a_n, ibid.) Despite the stupid double-ballgames, seems to be a fine local service station, even with daily ``Radiograms`` available by e-mail or online with lotsa local news. I listened for a few minutes to both channels at once, in parallel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I asked Kevin Kelly of http://www.publicradiofan.com why he had a new listing for KSUT, since they had been webcasting for some time? (gh) It's actually more complicated. There are actually two co-owned stations in Ignacio, Colorado: KUTE-FM 90.1 "Four Corners Public Radio" KSUT-FM 91.3 "Southern Ute Tribal Radio" The stations run mostly parallel, but 91.3 breaks away for several hours per weekday of tribal programming. Several things make this situation more confusing. They use the name "KSUT" to identify both stations on air, though the legal owner of both stations is "KUTE, Inc." The 91.3 was the original station and used to be called "Four Corners Public Radio." The 90.1 has only existed since 1998, and the separate programming may be even newer than that. Since then, the "KSUT, Four Corners Public Radio" format has essentially been moved from 91.3 to KUTE-FM 90.1, making way for the tribal programming on 91.3. So, as I just learned recently, the stream and program schedule that I had been listing as "KSUT" was actually not the programming of KSUT- FM, but rather KUTE-FM. Since I generally try to use proper call letters rather than slogans (especially misleading ones), I renamed that station on my site from KSUT to KUTE. But then, a couple of days ago, I found out that they had started streaming the true KSUT, the tribal station. (Previously only the FCPR service had been streamed.) Therefore I added a new database entry for this newly-streaming actual KSUT. So that's the new listing you saw. I'm not sure why the station perpetuates misinformation about its call letters. Google "KSUT 90.1" and you'll find 42 wrong documents. And while Radio-Locator.com gets the calls right for 90.1 and 91.3, they have all the translators of KUTE incorrectly listed as being translators of KSUT. And that info may come directly from the FCC. Surely a longer story than you expected, but there it is (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MINISTER MIXUP FORCES PAUL HARVEY 'KILL' ORDER August 26, 2005 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder26.html A mixup in ministers prompted ABC News Radio to issue an emergency order to 1,300 affiliates to kill Paul Harvey's news and commentary broadcast on Wednesday. Harvey, 86, whose Chicago-based broadcasts routinely rank at or near the top of the most widely heard radio programs on the planet, meant to deliver a commentary on the controversy over Christian Broadcasting Network host Pat Robertson's call to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. But after the 15-minute taped broadcast already had been fed to affiliates for airing, sources said, it was discovered that Harvey had mistakenly referred to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, another prominent Christian minister, instead. ABC immediately sent out an urgent "mandatory kill" order and re-fed affiliates a corrected version. It is not known whether the first version aired anywhere. In Chicago, Harvey is carried on Tribune Co.- owned news/ talk WGN-AM (720). (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) So did Harvey approve or disapprove of this idea, whoever put it forward? Hundred megabux they pay for this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHAT WAS ROBERTSON THINKING? Byline: Kenneth D. MacHarg Date: 08/25/2005 (SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA) Pat Robertson's image has been all over local TV news in Latin America. The Virginia-based TV evangelist was shown telling his "700 Club" audience that controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ought to be assassinated because he's making Venezuela "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." . . . Click here to read this story online: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0825/p09s01-coop.html (via Jim Moats, DXLD) Ken MacHarg, better known for DX Partyline, Tips for Real Living, and the National Radio Club QSL column (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. TALK RADIO SHOWS' RECEPTION SEEMS TO BE GETTING WEAKER Tim Rutten: Regarding Media Talk is cheap — unless it's political talk on the radio, and then it's influential. At least it has been. Now some people think the talk bubble has, if not burst, begun to lose its wind. Since these days the medium is overwhelmingly and partisanly Republican, those on the blue side of the aisle fervently want this to be true. . . http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-rutten27aug27,2,159562.column (LA Times via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. No staffers are to be cut, but AP All-News Radio is. The format, which went out to some 46 stations at last report, is being discontinued, while AP sports coverage is being scaled back. AP all- news radio was launched in 1994 as a 24-hour-per-day packaged news service for radio stations specializing in all-news. AP Radio spokesperson Roger Lockhart said all employees will be retained, sometimes in other divisions or other departments. While all-news stations nationally are successful, the growth in the format is seen as local, not national. Barbra Cochran, Radio-Television News Directors Association president, emphasized that ``people are looking for local information, especially news.`` (July-Aug FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: The Wandering KYNO-1300 --- Albert, Sounds like the old 10-kHz South East Asia band. Do you report the frequency errors to the stations? (Charles A. Taylor, NC, ABDX via DXLD) I tried reporting frequency errors to stations a few years ago, but I didn't like the results. One station that was 370 Hz low claimed that it must have been a foreign station that I heard because US stations never drift that far off frequency. Now I just keep a list of frequency measurements and post them at http://home.att.net/~aelehr/pfm.htm KYNO was on the high side for about a day, then they jumped back down to 1299.706v kHz (Albert Lehr - Livermore, CA, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checking for ``Aló Presidente`` this Sunday Aug 28: at 1404 on 11875, frequency listing but did not catch them all. One definitely mentioned was 17750, where I could hear nothing but a very strong WYFR. Then confirmed // on 11670, also with WYFR but somewhat atop it; and very good on 13750, much better than 13680. Meanwhile normal RHC programming continued on 9550, 11760, 11800, 12000, 15230. However, the Aló frequencies were actually as usual also programmed by RHC at the outset, going into the weekly news review Mundo Siete at 1407. When I rechecked at 1505, 17750 actually had enough signal from Cuba to cause a SAH to WYFR, but nothing more. 13750 had vanished, but 11875 and 11670 were still on; however, at 1509 they were giving the RHC e-mail address, not RNV. I guess Hugo was late or MIA as often happens (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE (Vietnam), 15555, Radio Hoa-mai (via WHRI [sic], Hawaii). Returned the two prepared station QSLs, which I mailed back to them, returned signed by Trinh Ngoc Anh. Reply in 20 days (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. R. Tanzania-Zanzibar, 11735, 1800-2059* Aug 20; 1800-1810 English news, 1810 into local language, 1814 local music; IDs heard at 2055, 2058. Sign-off with short NA; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS --- see CANADA ++++++++++++++++++++++++ COMMENTARY ++++++++++ Graham Mytton Responds About a month ago, I critiqued a piece by Dr. Graham Mytton asserting there had been no decline in shortwave listenership. Dr. Mytton has responded to my post, and you can view my original comments and his response here (Harry Helms, August 22, 2005, futureofradio blog via DXLD) viz.: TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2817026 {does not work apparently unless clicked on from Helms site} Listed below are links to weblogs that reference "Shortwave Decline Doesn't Exist": Comments I did not respond to this earlier because I was travelling in Nigeria and Pakistan. I stand by everything that I wrote in the article referred to. Let me answer the various points made by this writer, who unless I have missed it, does not give her/his name. If he would give me his contact details I can write with more detailed answers but for general readership, let me answer his charges! The point that I was making is that nobody apart from hobbyists ever listens to shortwave. They listen to radio and use whatever medium provides what they want. This is often shortwave and especially in places where local media are stifled and controlled by dictatorships. I will give one example. In the closing days of the military dictatorship in Nigeria a survey in 1998 showed that the BBC enjoyed a higher rate of listening than it enjoys in most countries anywhere in the world. The weekly reach was 29% of the adult population. In the north it was very much higher - in Kano City is was higher than it is in the UK! At that time listeners in Kano and elsewhere listeners [sic] had several services on FM. But they chose to listen to the BBC in large numbers on shortwave because it provided what they otherwise could not obtain. Independent and credible news about Nigeria and the region. This has been published in a book and if anyone wants the reference and a copy I can provide the details. Yes, it is true that many shortwave stations have been cutting back and even closing down. But as I have shown in several studies, based entirely on survey research, conducted for the BBC and the VOA and others, these cutbacks have less to do with survey evidence and more to do with imagined declines in shortwave use. It is true that when countries liberalise and free up their media there is a decline in the levels of listening to international shortwave. But there are still many areas in the world where liberalisation of the airwaves has not yet happened or else it has happened so far only in the cities and major towns. In the area of Nigeria where I have just been there is no FM. If you want to listen to the radio, there is only shortwave to listen to. There are many parts of Africa and Asia that are still like this. As to the quality of shortwave, I stick to what I said. Many of the major international broadcasters have spent large amounts of money in improving delivery quality. When my wife and I were recently on holiday near Dar es Salaam in Tanzania we listened to the BBC World Service daily. It is available both on local FM and on shortwave from Seychelles. On many occasions the quality of the shortwave was better than the FM. Why? I don't know but it probably has to do with poor maintenance of the local FM and the excellent quality of shortwave coming across the sea. But the same is true in many places that I have visited recently, including the Gambia and parts of Asia and Europe. Some of the other things he says are true. There has been decline in some areas, but this has nothing to do with quality but everything to do with what else is available. The points made about DRM and its availability in poor countries are true and a major challenge to international broadcasters. The problem for them all is that if they want to continue to be accessible to everyone they need to spend more money on making sure that they are available on every important platform - the Internet, DRM, analogue shortwave, local FM, mobile phones, and other services. That is the dilemma. The point that I want to make with huge emphasis is that the most important thing that international broadcasters must continue to do is to remain on old fashioned analogue shortwave so that the information have-nots of the world can continue to receive the services that they need and enjoy. Graham Mytton gmytton @ gn.apc.org Posted by: Graham Mytton | Aug 19, 2005 5:25:03 PM # For the benefit of Dr. Mytton and anyone else who might be confused over the authorship of this blog, I --- Harry Helms --- am the sole author of all content here unless I clearly indicate otherwise. If you want more details about me or wish to contact me via e-mail, see the "About" and "E-mail me" links at the upper right of each page. I thought this was obvious, but whatever. . . . Unfortunately, Dr. Mytton's response is, in many respects, non- responsive. For example, I took him to task in my original comments for not supplying data about the supposed "countless surveys" that support his contentions. In his reply, however, he still gives no details about such "countless surveys" outside of a single reference to a survey taken in Nigeria, and whose validity is supposedly attested to by publication in a book. That's not adequate, Dr. Mytton; if "countless surveys" support your contentions, then supply details - -- or, better yet, web links to such survey results --- and let everyone evaluate for themselves whether the available data support your conclusions. This is the internet era, and sweeping generalizations with vague claims of supporting data don't cut it any longer; you have to provide the documentation when you claim objective data supports your argument. When Dr. Mytton writes "But as I have shown in several studies, based entirely on survey research. . . . " it is his responsibility to provide the details on such surveys and how that data was obtained; this lets others decide how reliable such data is. Dr. Mytton is making an ex cathedra argument, and I want to see his data. As for the shortwave vs. FM audio quality argument, I'll just ask everyone to try this little experiment: find even one signal on shortwave that sounds as good as the signal from a local FM station. Nonetheless, I am grateful for (if not persuaded by) Dr. Mytton's response, and I offer him all the space he wants here should he wish to give a summary of his survey results and other supporting data for his positions. Posted on August 22, 2005 (Harry Helms, futureofradio blog via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM-CAPABLE CONSUMER RADIOS TO ARRIVE AS MAJOR BROADCASTERS ANNOUNCE DRM CONTENT Press Conference at IFA, Sept. 4 -- Industry Briefing at IBC, Sept.10 Berlin and Amsterdam – The world’s first, affordable DRMTM -capable consumer radios will arrive at Europe’s media exhibitions IFA and IBC in September, as major commercial and public broadcasters simultaneously announce new and extended DRM broadcasts. DRM is the world’s only non-proprietary, universally standardized, digital on-air system for short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave. Texas Instruments and RadioScape will unveil several manufacturers’ multi-standard consumer receivers with DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale™), DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), FM - RDS, LW, MW and SW capabilities based on TI’s DRM350 multi-standard digital radio baseband. Also, Coding Technologies, AFG Engineering GmbH and Himalaya (Power) Electronics will present a DRM-capable radio based on Analog Devices’ Blackfin®. RTL Group will discuss its DRM strategy and will broadcast live RTL programs in German, French and English. Deutsche Welle will reveal its upcoming DRM expansion, and will broadcast live from IFA along with RFI. BBC World Service launches its DRM Europe service to the Benelux countries, and neighboring France and Germany. Radio Netherlands will add special broadcasts to its existing DRM line-up during IFA and IBC. DeutschlandRadio, Voice of Russia, TruckRadio, TDPradio, and CVC will send DRM broadcasts. TDF and French broadcasters RFI, Radio France, RTL, Europe 1, Radio de la Mer, Superloustic, Radio Orient, Radio Télérama, Radio Nouveaux Talents, Beur FM and Littoral AM join together for a special DRM transmission. T-Systems will broadcast RADIO1 during IFA. DRM will showcase the consumer radios and outline broadcasters’ plans at two events: September 4, Berlin: DRM Press Conference at IFA consumer electronics show, featuring DRM Chairman/Deutsche Welle COO Peter Senger, RTL Group, BBC World Service, RadioScape, Texas Instruments, and World DAB Forum President Annika Nyberg.11:30 -12:30, in Hall 5.3 (TWF Stage). September 10, Amsterdam: DRM Industry Briefing at IBC, featuring DRM Vice Chairman/Radio Netherlands Director General Jan Hoek, Peter Senger, WRN, and manufacturers.10:30-11:30, at the DRM Stand (8.490). Recently, UK commercial broadcasters Virgin Classic Rock, Classic Gold Digital, Asian Sound Radio, Premier Christian Radio and CVC conducted a MW DRM pilot scheme in the UK, provided by VT Communications. DRM programs from Radio Sweden, TDF Radio, Radio Vatican, Radio New Zealand International, Radio Australia, Radio Taiwan International, TalkSPORT, Radio Kuwait, Radio Korea International, BYU Radio, SWR Das Ding, biteXpress, B2-B5akt and Campus Radio are also available in Europe. An open standard, DRM has received the endorsement of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC). While DRM currently covers the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz, the DRM consortium voted in March 2005 to begin the process of extending the system to the broadcasting bands up to 120 MHz. This will enhance the range of non-proprietary, digital radio solutions offered worldwide by the DRM Consortium and the World DAB Forum, which work together on projects of mutual interest. The design, development and testing phases of DRM’s extension are expected to be completed by 2007-2009. DRM at IFA At IFA, September 2-7, DRM will be featured at various locations. The DRM Consortium Booth (Hall 5.3 -TWF, Stand 05) will display DRM products from Atmel GmbH, Coding Technologies GmbH, Fraunhofer IIS, RadioScape, Robert Bosch GmbH, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG, Texas Instruments and others to be announced at IFA. The DRM Receivers Booth (Hall 5.2, Stand 102), organized by RTL Group, Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands, BBC, DeutschlandRadio, Voice of Russia, TruckRadio, DRF, Radio de la Mer and Littoral AM, will showcase consumer products and broadcasters’ plans. Several DRM members will also highlight their DRM plans at their own IFA booths. Following the DRM press conference at IFA on September 4, Peter Senger and various DRM members will participate in a DRM Symposium, ``Talk In TWF,`` in the same location, Hall 5.3, TWF Stage, 13:00-16:15. Participants include BBC World Service, Fraunhofer IIS, Robert Bosch GmbH, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG, Texas Instruments and T- Systems. DRM at IBC At IBC, September 9-12, DRM-capable equipment and live DRM broadcasts will be showcased at the DRM Stand in the Radio Hall (8.490). Equipment from BBC, DIGIDIA, Coding Technologies GmbH, Nero AG, RadioScape, Texas Instruments, Sat-Service Schneider, STARWAVES GmbH, and others to be announced, will be on display. DRM-capable products and live DRM broadcasts will also be available at the stands of DIGIDIA, Harris Corporation-Broadcast Communications Division, Nautel Ltd., RadioScape, RIZ Transmitters Co., TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG and Thales Broadcast & Multimedia. About DRM The DRM Consortium, founded in 1998, includes broadcasters, broadcasting associations, network operators, manufacturers, NGOs and others. DRM Consortium membership is at a record high of 93 members from 30 nations. With DRM, broadcasters can integrate data and text with audio, giving consumers new features such as up-to-the-minute news scrolls and traffic data. DRM broadcasts are now available in Europe, North America, and North Africa. Testing is underway in Latin America and Asia. DRM is online at www.drm.org (DRM Consortium Web site), as well as www.deutsches-drm-forum.de (German), www.drmfrance.com (DRM France), http://www.radiostationru/drm/index.php (Russian) and http://www.usdrm.com (U.S.A. DRM Group). DRM Members Commercial Radio Australia (Australia); TDP, TDP Radio (Belgium); Nautel Ltd., Radio Canada International/CBC (Canada); Academy of Broadcasting Science of China, Communications University of China (China); RIZ Transmitters (Croatia); HFCC (Czech Republic); ESPOL, HCJB World Radio (Ecuador); Digita Oy, Kymenlaakso Polytechnik (Finland); CCETT, DIGIDIA, DRF Committee, Radio France, Radio France Internationale, TDF, Thalès Broadcast & Multimedia (France); ADDX, APR, Atmel Germany GmbH, Coding Technologies GmbH, Deutsche Welle, DeutschlandRadio, DLM, Sender Europa 1, Fraunhofer IIS, Georg-Simon- Ohm – University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, IRT, Medienanstalt Sachsen-Anhalt/Digitaler Rundfunk Sachsen-Anhalt, Micronas GmbH, Nero AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Sony International Europe, SWR Südwestrundfunk, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG, T-Systems International GmbH, University of Applied Sciences - FH Merseburg, University of Hannover, University of Ulm, VPRT (Germany); Antenna Hungaria, National Communications Authority Hungary (Hungary); Basamad College, Tehran (Iran); Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., NEC Corporation, NHK (Japan); Samsung Electronics (Korea); Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting (Libya); Broadcasting Centre Europe, RTL Group (Luxembourg); Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (Malaysia); Agentschap Telecom, Nozema, Radio Netherlands, Technical University Delft (Netherlands); Radio New Zealand International (New Zealand); Voice of Nigeria (Nigeria); Telenor/Norkring (Norway); Radiodifusão Portuguesa (Portugal); RTRN/Voice of Russia (Russia); Government of Catalonia, Cadena SER - Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión, Universidad del País Vasco, (Spain); SR International/Radio Sweden (Sweden); EBU, International Committee of the Red Cross, ITU (Switzerland); Arab States Broadcasting Union (Tunisia); BBC, Christian Vision, Digital One Ltd., Imagination Technologies Ltd., QinetiQ, RadioScape Ltd., VT Communications, WRN (U.K.); Broadcast Electronics, Inc., Dolby Laboratories Incorporated, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Continental Electronics Corporation, Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division, IBB/VOA, Kintronic Laboratories, Inc., National Association of Short-wave Broadcasters, Sangean America, Inc., TCI International, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated; Via Licensing Corporation (U.S.A.); and Vatican Radio (Vatican City).# # # (Siriol Evans, Director, Press & Communications, DRM, pressoffice @ drm.org http://www.drm.org Aug 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see GERMANY RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BRING BACK THE OLD FM BAND! Half serious, half zany, this editorial is based on an old idea whose time may have come. An article by Pennsylvania broadcast engineer Mark Humphrey concerning testing by temporary station WA2XMN Alpine NJ got me thinking. Why not bring back the old 42-50 megacycle FM band? I know Armstrong liked it, but I was too young to have paid attention to the arguments for and against relocating FM to 88 to 108 Mc/s. The idea is not to replace the current band, but to add to it in this age when FM real estate is valuable, even in small markets. I think it was Larry Tighe of WRNJ 1510 AM in Hackettstown NJ who suggested an additional FM band, something like in the 220 MHz region. That idea didn`t fly, probably because of opposition from point-to-point communications interests. [and hams] With the latest testing at Alpine, it was found very little use is made of the old band, or at least the spectrum around 42.8 mc/s. My mother once had the dual band Zenith FM radio with AM pictured. The bands were labeled ``FM 100`` and ``FM 45``. It received all the new band FM stations, but nothing was heard on the 42-50 megacycle band, not even the Minnesota State Highway Patrol, when they were using those frequencies. Now for the zaniness --- imagine a windfall of 8 MHz for new FM stations. They could be commercial, noncommercial or a combination of each. Ownership could be like LPFM, one station to a customer, or they could be in regional or national groups. Stereo, mono, SCA/SCMO, in- band, on channel digital audio broadcasting, or technologies not yet dreamed of, could all be accommodated. Indeed, like its predecessor, the new band could be designated at least in part for experimenting with new technologies or programming. Chile is using spectrum in the old FM band for Muzak type services --- music in the clear with no need for subcarriers or encryption. And the stations have been widely heard by scanner enthusiasts via skip. Let your imagination soar. A new FM band could be a reality. Bring back the old Zenith two-band FM radio and others like it! Once stations are on the air, manufacturers will make the sets, the public will demand them and the nation will be better served (Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D., July-August FMedia! via DXLD) PREMIUM RECEIVERS Re 5-147, correct URL is: http://kahuna.sdsu.edu/~premium/ or http://kahuna.sdsu.edu/~premium/index.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE KANGAROO IS BACK! [Re 5-147, CANADA] A number of years ago, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ran an LPTV station for one day during the Indianapolis 500. Fans could bring mini-TVs and pick up the in-the-clear UHF signal, which was broadcast from the top of the control tower. I had a hand-held TV in Turn 1 and could get the signal, which varied as I turned back and forth. They used just enough power so the signal wasn't supposed to be visible outside the track property. (In Indianapolis, the 500 is still seen on tape-delay, and they didn't want to cut into their live gate). The channel was somewhere in the 40s, I think. It was a one-year deal. The following May, the giant screens began to spring up around the track (Tim Cronin, Worth, IL (vroom), WTFDA via DXLD) Crystal Ball Refractions Here's an interesting -- and sobering -- article for all those of us - - me included -- that like to think that we have at least a limited ability to anticipate what the future will hold for telecommunications. Parenthetically, I am reminded of the head of the US Patent Office in 1900 who said rather emphatically words to the effect that just about everything that could be invented had been invented. I suppose I can console myself with the knowledge that at least I've never said that. (John Figliozzi, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: CONFOUNDING MACHINES: HOW THE FUTURE LOOKED By PETER EDIDIN August 28, 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/weekinreview/28edid1.html (via John Figliozzi, ibid.) ###