DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-149, August 29, 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 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru 1400 Tue] [or 1284?] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours [webcast has been down] Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours [webcast 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 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_08-28-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_08-28-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO Extra 60 downloads in studio-quality mp3: [Unfortunately this site +podcast were down as of August 26-29!] (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) DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA CONTROL VOICE FREQUENCIES UPDATE: After some seven months or so of operation there are now some slight alterations to the Voice Control Net (VCN) frequencies: Delete 3700, 10212, 20632 kHz; Add 15972 kHz. Now monitored continuously are: 5696 (SAR), 5878, 9340, 12172, 15972, 22868 kHz. After initial contact traffic may QSY to discrete frequencies. ICAO selcal facilities are available and phone patches can be arranged (Airservices through WA, Utility DX, Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) Note 12172; is that why we don`t hear WWRB there any more, or do we? (gh, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Dear DXers, Bangladesh Betar SW Service (External) bound to stop her broadcast, reported Deputy Regional Engineer. He informed due to transmitter failure BB SW service now out of order. Please note Bangladesh Betar still uses valve type of transmitter. Engineering Department struggling hard to overcome this fault. But the main problem is spare parts. Please check it and report to Bangladesh Betar External service. 73's from (Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last active frequency was 7185 (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6180, R. Nacional da Amazônia, Aug 24, 0823, noted back on their old home frequency, good signal, in the clear (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. IN BRAZIL, A COLONIAL LANGUAGE FINDS NEW LIFE Two years ago, in fact, Nheengatu, as the 30,000 or so speakers of lingua geral call their language, reached a milestone. By vote of the local council, São Gabriel da Cachoeira became the only municipality in Brazil to recognize a language other than Portuguese as official, conferring that status on lingua geral and two local Indian tongues. As a result, Nheengatu, which means "good talk," is now a language that is permitted to be taught in local schools, spoken in courts and used in government documents. . . [MORE] http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/28/news/brazil.php (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg, and via Gerald Pollard, DXLD) ?? Portuguese was the colonial language; Nheengatu should be called native or pre-colonial. Story goes on for several pages, mentioning that a local radio station was broadcasting in Nheengatu. Which one not worth mentioning. Seems to me there is a SW station there (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. No announcements between songs, but recorded announcements on the hour explaining the absence of the hourly news, accompanied with obligatory apology or regrets. Opposite to the lack of radio news, it appears the CBC is ploughing its resources into providing a round-the-clock TV news service. One-minute newscasts on CBC Newsworld (all-news cable channel) continue as usual during late nights and overnights, and a ten-minute management-produced news program preceeds 30 minutes of BBC News at 10 p.m. local time (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I think that politicians in general are much more comfortable with State rather than Public broadcasters. I do make a distinction between the two, even if legally one does not exist. Here in Canada we have had multi-party opposition to the CBC, the tide changes based on who is in power at the time. No, I'm not saying the CBC is perfect, far from it. I hope this lock-out is over soon. Whoever is running the operation during these days is not even capable of replaying different shows. There is one particular episode of Venture that I counted 4 or 5 showings during the first week alone. I can't believe advertisers are still paying for their ads. Regards, (Vince Ferme, Ottawa, ON, Aug 28, ODXA via DXLD) As part of the recent labour dispute. CBC-TV once again yesterday televised a CFL football game with no commentary other than the stadium announcements. This time it was the B.C. Lions vs Saskatchewan Roughriders. As with the Toronto vs. Edmonton game last week I could get the audio from CJOB-680 which simulcast the local station (in this case, CKRM) which was broadcasting the game. I noticed that their audio was about 7-10 seconds in advance of the TV video (Morris Sorensen, Winnipeg MB, Aug 28, ibid.) [and non]. Re 5-148: You've blended two themes here -- public broadcaster mismanagement, and governmental pushback. First, with the governmental matter: Most all of these governments you've mentioned have become more conservative, no matter who's in power, since the Vietnam war days. The shift escalated after the Berlin Wall fell and ideological competition transformed into economic competition. Would you say that the broadcasters in question did not shift right to the same degree as the governments in question? If they did not, then there's your source for the growing tension. Now, with respect to mismanagement: All of these public broadcasters, except for perhaps NPR, were created when there were relatively few alternatives, and the powers-that-were decided that a public-mandated broadcaster would be the best way to move this novel technology forward and protect the public utility that is the airwaves. I assert the broadcasting landscape is vastly different now than it was whan all of these public broadcasters were created. By necessity, Public Service broadcasters exist for different reasons nowadays. There is great debate over the role that a public service broadcaster should have. I would wager there would be plenty of diverse opinions in the group on this. It is that debate -- what should the CBC (BBC, RA, VOA, etc...) be in 2005? And why? NPR, imho, is somewhat the oddball on your list. It could be argued they have prospered vs. these others, though the funding model is being challenged. It seems the Tomlinson-led pressure has abated somewhat --- at least I haven't seen it the headlines as much recently. It's imperative that public service broadcasters engage their audiences in order to prosper. This is because the driving forces for their existence are waning -- the underlying technology has matured, the brand equity of the CBC, BBC, ABC, etc. has devalued, and the ideological separation between these broadcasters and the governments creates funding and content pressures. Canada's situation -- having a cabinet-level Heritage ministry -- might be different than these others. The problem this creates is that, if broadcasters believe they must engage their audience to prosper, they become too mainstream -- they seek the largest audience in order to maximize public interest. Perhaps public service broadcasters need to realize they must, paradoxically, marginalize themselves to prosper. Certainly these are challenging times for them (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ODXA via DXLD) I don't disagree with anything you say. However, you leave one aspect out -- and it's an important one. And that is what I will call "the human factor". A lot of what's going on certainly appears to be "personal". While everything you point out is a factor, the personal drives behind those pushing an ideological imperative trumps all. Or at least those in the drivers' seats appear to be acting as if this trumps all. To allow successful public service models to flourish flies in the face of what the ideologues hold dearly -- that the public sector cannot, by definition, do it as well as the private sector. It's the same drive behind dismantling social security in the US -- the most successful "public service" model of all. I know the analysts' mindset won't care for this explanation. It's part of the "black box" that political science theorists used to use to describe the parts of the system that did not lend themselves to a metric (or easily quantifiable means of measurement). I grant you that there is a certain subtlety to this; but having had a nearly three decade career in the public service I assure you -- it is there and as real as the words on this page. And it is the primary driving force behind the CBC labor situation. In this case, it's not about *improving* the public service model; it's about destroying it (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Satellite radio: see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** CHINA. Gannan People's Broadcasting Station August 17, 2005 --- 2220-0100, 0950-1400 UT Tibetan/Chinese 5970 3990 [including:] (2300, 1300 relay CNR8) Nei Menggu PBS --- Chinese Service 9520 0120-0900 6045 2150-0115, 0905-1605 7165 0120-0900 4620 2150-0115, 0905-1605 7105 0120-0900 4000 2150-0115, 0905-1605 Mongolian Service 9750 0045-0800 6195 2150-0040, 0805-1605 7210 0045-0800 4785 2150-0040, 0805-1605 7270 0045-0830 4525 2150-0040, 0835-1605 (Nagoya Dxers Circle via Sept ADXN via DXLD) See also TIBET ** COSTA RICA. 5054.6, Faro del Caribe, Aug 24, 0853-0910, M & W talking in Spanish, ID, ToH music program. Finally the audio has increased to a decent level (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. US-BASED OPPOSITION TINSAE WEBSITE CLOSED FOR DEFAMING PREMIER MELES | Text of report in English by Ethiopian news agency ENA website Addis Ababa, 29 August: The US-based web host, Globat, has permanently shut down the Tinsae.com website because Tinsae failed to substantiate its false and defamatory accusations against a number of senior Ethiopian government officials and other Ethiopian citizens. The web host says Tinsae.com's accusations violated Globat's policy against hosting defamatory content. Tinsae reported on its website: Our web hosting company has received a complaint that http://www.tinsae.com has false and defamatory statements. In order to continue hosting us, the company needs to provide a written response. We have less than 72 hours to save or shutdown Tinsae website. However, as Tinsae failed to provide any support for its defamatory allegations, the web host suspended Tinsae.com from its servers. It is now weeks since the Ethiopian defamation victims lawsuit against Tinsae was announced, and neither Tinsae nor its operators have written a single word to support or explain their malicious lies against the defamation victims. Indeed, Gashu Habte, one of the defendants, suggested in an online forum that the defendants lacked any evidence to support their allegations. Gashu admitted, The core of [the] challenge is evidence, and went on to say, Tinsae has reported that they have international bank accounts, if they say no, let them prove it. But it was Tinsae which made these allegations, and it is Tinsae who should prove them. Clearly Tinsae cannot. In the same forum, Gashu complained that [people] in the USA say Bush is international terrorist. But we can't criticize our government. Gashu is wrong again. Criticism of the government is every Ethiopian's right. This lawsuit is not about criticism. It is about Gashu and his co-defendants extremely specific and grave allegations that are false, against respected Ethiopian citizens. Gashu and his co-defendants know their allegations are unsupported by any evidence. But, defendants have no concern for the facts or the truth. Instead they seek to injure the people they have attacked without concern for the truth. They have attacked Ethiopian citizens who have been unselfish in dedicating themselves to the interests of the people of Ethiopia. Such vicious attacks are not protected by US law or the law of other civilized country. If one attempts to access http://www.tinsae.com one will read that This domain has been suspended. Source: ENA website, Addis Ababa, in English 29 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) Is this related to the Tensae (different spelling) V. of Ethiopian Unity clandestine on SW? (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. From September 2 to September 7th 2005. Special broadcasts to Berlin (for IFA show), from Radio France on short wave in DRM. It will be a relay of the musical programme F.I.P. The frequency will be 7135 kHz, day time. One hour per day (from 0900 to 1000 UT) also on 7135 kHz, "Canal DRM France" will be on the air; it's a cocktail of programmes from the following stations: RTL, Europe 1, la Radio de la Mer, Superloustic, R. Orient, TéléramaRadio, R. Nouveaux talents, Beur FM, Littoral AM). Best regards from France, (Christian Ghibaudo, Nice, France, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Again, nothing on 9420 from Avlis 3 at 0000-0400 last night (Regards, JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, USA, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. KVM70: HONOLULU. After some time transmitting on 11501.9, this USN station which sends weather fax on behalf of the U.S National Weather Service, Honolulu, will new return to the listed frequency 11090. Scheduled hours are 0354 - 2320 (ALRS/NOAA, Utility DX, Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Could Ottawa intervene with the CRTC regarding satellite radio? That is the buzz the past couple of days, anyway. The government has until September 14th to officially challenge the decision. See http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=40d24100-7aaf-4b38-986c-47d9dafbaf16 or http://tinyurl.com/abmey From the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050827/RADIOSB27/TPNational/Canada or http://tinyurl.com/8sysp. (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) MINISTER SEEKS REVIEW OF SATELLITE-RADIO RULING By CAMPBELL CLARK AND RICHARD BLACKWELL Globe and Mail (Toronto,Ont.) Saturday, August 27, 2005 Updated at 2:40 PM EDT http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20050827.RADIOSB27/BNPrint//Idx WINNIPEG AND TORONTO -- Heritage Minister Liza Frulla will ask the cabinet to send a controversial decision to issue satellite radio licences back to the CRTC for review, sources told The Globe and Mail yesterday. After intense lobbying from industry and her own caucus, Ms. Frulla has prepared a written proposal that calls for cabinet to tell the CRTC to reconsider after Liberal MPs raised concerns about Canadian and French-language content. The proposal has yet to be approved by a cabinet committee or the full cabinet, which has a Sept. 14 deadline to send the decision back to the CRTC or cancel it entirely. So far, it appears the cabinet is likely to approve the proposal, although it is not yet certain, a source said. "It's possible it will turn, but that's less than 50 per cent," the source said. That comes after intense industry lobbying, especially from CHUM Ltd. and Astral Media Inc., which were granted a similar licence. Those firms insist their business model will not work after a June 16 CRTC decision also granted satellite-radio subscription licences to Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. and Sirius Canada Inc., two consortiums with U.S. partners that plan to beam hundreds of channels of radio content from U.S.-owned satellites to Canadian subscribers. The Liberal Party's Quebec caucus of MPs has asked for the licences to be cancelled. But a government source noted that the satellite-radio systems are North America-wide, and the best that can be expected is that the U.S. firms will marginally increase the 10 per cent of Canadian content, not augment it dramatically. Business and cultural groups appealed the decision of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to the cabinet, mainly on grounds that the services will not carry enough Canadian content. The loudest voices for cancellation or reconsideration have come from Quebec because of the small number of French-language channels on the satellite systems. Under the licences issued to Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. and Sirius Canada Inc., the satellite providers must produce eight original channels in Canada and one francophone channel for every three English-language stations. Most channels will be American. The Liberal cabinet faced intense lobbying this week at a three-day caucus meeting in Regina and a cabinet meeting yesterday in Winnipeg. John Bitove Jr., head of Canadian Satellite Radio, flew to Regina to press his case that the licences should stand. Pressure also came from Liberal MPs. The Quebec caucus, upset at the small number of French-language stations, called for cabinet to cancel the licences. "It looks like cultural dumping," Montreal MP Denis Coderre said in an interview yesterday. "We're not asking just to revisit it. We truly need to have it stopped and redo the homework." But some MPs, including many in the so-called "auto caucus" -- ridings with car plants and their workers -- want the CRTC decision to stand. Car buyers are a key market for satellite radio systems. Ms. Frulla said she could not say what the cabinet will decide -- although she is sensitive to concerns about content. Kevin Shea, chief executive officer of Sirius Canada, said he intends to boost his firm's content in the near future to create an equal number of English- and French-Canadian channels. Mr. Bitove also promised to expand French content. Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) and a comment on the futility by a weblogger at http://www.bigsnit.com/blog/20050827.html (Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. KLSD's 50,000 WATTS CLAIMED TO BE GREAT FOR SHIPS AT SEA Regarding the proposed 50,000 watt full time operation at KLSD, 1360 kHz, San Diego, one CGC Communicator contributor writes: "KLSD's proposed antenna pattern has most of the watts [going] out to sea." As evidence for this claim, one may inspect the new day and night radiation patterns at: http://tinyurl.com/9hyzt (Daytime Pattern) http://tinyurl.com/cqpqh (Nighttime Pattern) The red line in the polar chart is the electric field pattern. The blue line is an "expanded scale" enlargement (probably 10X) of the field pattern in the null zones. Note the deep nulls. It would be interesting to examine the present vs. proposed coverage patterns of KLSD to determine how landlubbers will be affected by the new 50 kW facility (Robert F. Gonsett, W6VR, CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. 11965 kHz, Star Radio, info @ hirondele.org --- Tarjeta QSL y carta. Tardó en verificar 44 días (Antonio Javier Pérez Baldó, Alicante, España, Aug 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6185, R. Educación, Aug 24, 0826, good signal, in the clear with Brazil [q.v.] on 6180 for a change, music of Mexico and into program of modern orchestra music. Aug 26, 0751, Brazil back here and mixing badly with Mexico. Was nice for one night! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. I heard Robert Green announce tonight that his Insight commentary program on RN will be discontinued. Apparently a new chief editor at Radio Netherlands wants to flex his muscles by making a change. But why get rid of something so good? Green's commentaries have always been clever, interesting, entertaining ...and yes, insightful -- perhaps even brilliant at times. They are one of the gems of shortwave listening. They should not get the axe! Green has become one of the main reasons I tune to Radio Netherlands. In these difficult times, he has been an intelligent voice for Progressive values. But you don't have to be Progressive to enjoy his commentaries. His engaging persona of humorous cynicism lets through occasional glimpses of a poetic soul. Just the right mix for making sense of our irrational era. RN is apparently taking advantage of Green's approaching 65th birthday (retirment age) to give him the axe, if I understood his comments tonight. That's pretty disgusting, if you ask me. If other DXLD readers have enjoyed Green's work, I urge you to flood RN with lots of politely indignant email to save his program. Something this good doesn't deserve to get the axe. And we need it (Ed Stone, New York, UT Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I heard that too; seconded (gh, DXLD) Radio Netherlands thanks the many people who have expressed their appreciation for Rob Greene's weekly commentaries. We think they're great, too, which is why they have continued for as long as they have. Unfortunately, Radio Netherlands is facing a further round of budget cuts, which will entail a number of job losses. For that reason, the government's rules regarding employment are being applied fairly across the board, with no exceptions. Sadly, Rob has reached the age where the law says he has to stop working. We did look at ways of getting round this problem, but the law is the law. The good news is that Rob has agreed in principle to start a Weblog, which will give him the freedom to comment as often as he likes on as many things as he likes, unconstrained by limitations of time or the number of words. There's also the possibility that he will be able to work for Radio Netherlands on an ad hoc basis, as this does not come under the definition of regular employment. We look forward to lots of "politely indignant E-mails" which will be forwarded to Rob to show him how much his work has been appreciated. And we'll be working with him to get the Weblog up and running as soon as possible (Radio Netherlands, Aug 29, via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Hi Glenn - Here's the Oman ID at 14 UT taken from the Hotbird satellite. Kind Regards, (Erik Køie, DK-2840 Holte, Denmark, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Added to the Station Sounds file in the dxldyg (gh) ** PALAU. T8. The following was a press release sent out by Tim Totten, N4GN, on Tuesday, August 23rd: THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU - AN IDEAL DX HOLIDAY SPOT Martti, OH2BH (T88BH) and Tim, N4GN (T88GG) AT IT AGAIN Those in the game for some years will recognize the Western Carolines, KC6, as one of the regulars on the DX scene. It was in 1994 when the islands gained independence as T88, and this particular entity has been more difficult to reach from Europe and the United States ever since. Only a handful of locals and sporadic DXpeditions have kept Palau on the map. But no more. Tim, N4GN, and Martti, OH2BH, have decided to challenge the matter and put two T88 signals on the air at the same time; T88GG mostly on CW and digital modes and T88BH on SSB. The activity begins on August 25 and continues until September 5, including the All Asian DX Contest during the first weekend of September. QSL cards featuring this newly independent Republic can be obtained via Jarmo Jaakola, OH2BN: Kiiletie 5 C 30, Helsinki FIN-00710, FINLAND. This DXpedition is supported by Vertex Standard (Yaesu) both in radio and manpower terms. Yuichi, JN1WTK/T88YK, will be on the team to make sure that you can hear the cleanest audio on the bands from the latest lineup of state-of-the-art Yaesu gear, but not around the clock as ladies are involved, too--Joana and Leena OH2BE/T88BE expect to establish a reasonable routine between radio and beach time while still guaranteeing that peak hours in both activities will not overlap as the path can be critical during these days of low sunspots. http://www.api-japan.com/palau/radio/english/radio1-e.htm You are invited to visit Palau and use the Yaesu supported luxury radio room. Maybe you can start your own dream tour today by studying the Republic of Palau for your next travel destination. http://www.visit-palau.com/ http://palau.panpacific.com/ (via KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re 5-148: "Asiatic RSFSR"? RSFSR stands for "Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic", which was part of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist when the USSR was dissolved in December 1991 and the Russian Federation was founded. The misunderstanding is probably based on the NASWA country list which has got the development a little bit wrong: RUSSIAN REP. - ASIAN (Asiatic R.F.S.S.R.) (AS) Asiatic part of R.F.S.S.R. until Dec. 15, 1991; part of Russian Republic since. RUSSIAN REP. - EUROPEAN (European R.F.S.F.R.) (EU) European part of R.F.S.S.R. until Dec. 15, 1991; part of Russian Republic since. "Russian Rep[ublic]" should read "Russian Federation", and the terms "Asiatic R.F.S.S.R." and "European R.F.S.F.R" [sic, should read "R.S.F.S.R."] are no longer valid (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) Aside from the bad nomenklatura, the two continental divisions of Russia still exist as far as NASWA radio countries are concerned, since they once existed as defacto radio countries, even tho there was no political justification for this, just an arbitrary geographic fiat. Complicated by uncertainty about exactly where along the Ural Mountains the arbitrary border between Europe and Asia lies. Much like certain Australian DX circles unilaterally dividing the USA into East and West, and then not being sure which part certain SWBC stations belong in. Was it the Mississippi or some other dividing line? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. Tibet Peoples Broadcasting Station August 17, 2005 Chinese 2000-1730 UT (not Tue 0600-1000); [including] 2030-2100 M-F, 2230-2300, 0030-0100, 1030-1100 relay of CNR1 11950 (290d) 0158-0857 / 7240 (290d) 2000-0157, 0858-1730, 11860 (085d) 0200-1057 / 7170 (085d) 2000-0157, 1200-1730, 6050 (nd), 5935 (085d), 4820 (nd) 2000-1730 Tibetan 2100-1800 UT (not Tue 0600-1000); [including] 2300-2357, 0400- 0457, 1300-1357 relay of CNR8; 0700 and 1630 UT in English "Holy Tibet 9490 (085d) 0200-1000 / 7125 (085d) 2100-0200, 1000-1800 9580 (290d) 0200-0930 / 7385 (290d) 2100-0200, 0930-1800 6200 (nd), 6130 (290d), 6110 (220d), 5240 (nd), 4920 (nd), 4905 (nd) (Nagoya Dxers Circle via Sept ADXN via DXLD) No times for the last group; does that mean they are on thru the entire 21-18 span? Formatting confusing. Note that none of the azimuths are especially favorable for NAm, in the northward/southward quadrants (gh, DXLD) ** U K. BBC WILL LET PROGRAMS BE DOWNLOADED LONDON (AP) - The British Broadcasting Corp. is planning a new service to let Web users download its television and radio programs up to a week after they have aired. BBC Director General Mark Thompson, who unveiled the plans for the company's ``MyBBCPlayer'' at the Edinburgh International Television Festival Saturday, said he hoped the service could be active by 2006. Under the outline he presented, Thompson said the player would let Web users download original BBC radio and television programming from its Web site for as long as seven days after it originally aired. But complete details weren't released and any plan to make the material available for download would have to be approved by the government-owned broadcaster. Also not disclosed was whether the BBC would charge users a fee for the downloads or how it would protect the digital rights of such programming. Thompson said the plan is part of the BBC's efforts to expand its operations beyond traditional forms of media. ``I accept the premise that if the BBC remains nothing more than a traditional TV and radio broadcaster then we probably won't deserve or get license-fee funding beyond 2016,'' he said. ``That is very definitely not our plan.'' The dominant broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC operates a pair of public television channels, a 24-hour news channel, and several digital channels, as well as national and digital radio networks. http://www.bbc.co.uk 08/27/05 13:28 (via Ed Stone, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Re 5-148: According to recent WYFR data, 11510 is carrying Urdu at 1400-1500 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Discussion of public broadcasting: see CANADA [and non] ** U S A. NOTE: this lengthy group of postings concerning Hurricane Katrina mostly are from Sunday evening before the brunt of the storm hit and were mostly posted ASAP on the dxldyg; it can be expected that many of the stations referred to may no longer be on the air or webcasting --- gh I'm not on the WTFDA-AM list (two AM lists is plenty for me), but I did answer Glenn's question earlier today on the NRC list, and I'll reprise that here (with one addition - yes, the site has moved since 1947, when that nifty photo of the boat tied up to the flooded WWL transmitter building was taken. The old site was, if memory serves, in Kenner, west of New Orleans. The new site is about five miles south of New Orleans.) Like most of New Orleans, it's just about precisely at sea level (0.3 meters for the WWL site, to be exact.) Unlike most of New Orleans, the site actually sits outside the network of levees that are supposed to protect the city from rising waters (and usually do, except in extraordinary circumstances like the present.) For FM and TV stations, the FCC database includes information about height in three forms - antenna height above mean sea level, antenna height above ground and antenna height above average terrain - because such information is essential to determining the coverage of a VHF or UHF signal. (To be technical, the FCC info is actually for "radiation center" above MSL/ground/average terrain, since some FM and TV stations use multiple-bay antennas that can be anywhere from a foot to 20 or 30 feet tall.) For AM stations, height per se isn't a factor in the signal, except to the extent that the physical height of the tower is related to the electrical length of the antenna that it forms. The FCC needs to know the electrical length of the antenna, which is expressed in degrees (the station's wavelength in meters, divided by 360), but that's all. That said, you can still find the site elevation (above mean sea level) of many AM stations' towers in the FCC database, provided that they're tall enough (generally 200 feet or more) to be registered in the antenna structure registration number (ASRN) database. I like to use the excellent search tool at http://www.fccinfo.com for this purpose, and here's how: Input the calls of the station you're searching for, and then select the license record you want from the list that comes up. In certain cases, generally when a technical application has been filed in the last couple of years, fccinfo will show tower information right there, complete with a clickable link to the seven-digit ASRN. In most cases, that data's not yet linked up to the station record - but you can still get it. From the station record page, click "New search" (in the upper left corner), and you'll be returned to the fccinfo main page, but now it's populated with the data from the station you were just searching. Scroll down to "ASR Coordinates Within," which should now be filled in with the coordinates of the station you were searching, and hit the search button. If there's an ASRN record for the tower(s) in question, it will now appear, complete with elevation info. In the case of WWL, we get two records, one for each tower, telling us that the structure height for each one is 190.5 meters, and that each structure is 190.8 meters above sea level, which tells us that the elevation at each tower's base is 0.3 meters. We also learn that the towers were built in 1975, and we find out who to contact (Marty Hadfield, Entercom's director of engineering) about the towers, should the need arise. Another note on those ASRNs, for those who like to tower hunt: if you ever find yourself at a mystery tower, you can mark down the ASRN (which is supposed to be prominently posted in public view, and the FCC's been fining stations that don't comply) and run it through a search later on to help figure out what it is you were looking at and who owns it. I've done that on more than one occasion! (Scott Fybush, Aug 28, ABDX via DXLD) Keep your ears open. Hurricane Katrina will have many Gulf Coast stations running wide open with emergency comms. You may hear a new station and some interesting news as it happens (Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Or if a tower other than the reference one blows down, and then we'll wind up with lots of new patterns (that FCC usually lets run at 10 kW on a temporary basis). (Darwin Long, Thousand Oaks, CA, ibid.) WJBO Baton Rouge is streaming Katrina coverage http://players.eonstreams.com/FastAim/Player/Player.php?PlayerID=94 This is the direct stream from CCU`s WJBO 1150. They are more likely to have coverage of this massive and powerful storm throughout than the New Orleans stations. All the CCU stations in the area are carrying this feed. If this doesn’t work, try to Google WJBO 1150 and click on listen live. Are there any other internet streams carrying this emergency communication for the storm? There are a lot of people headed out since the NOAA stated that gusts from this storm has hit 185 kts or about 235 MPH. This storm is very dangerous and has a strong chance to affect the whole nation through increased oil prices due to damage to Gulf oil platforms. Keep a radio on to see if you are able to get some hurricane emergency DX. To those in the way of this huge storm which will certainly affect those far inland, God speed. I hope you can get out of the way, if not, I hope you are able to ride it out safely (Kevin Redding, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) Recent posts from http://www.radio-info.com/mods/posts.php?Board=louisiana Assuming WWL is the primary -- or one of the primary -- EBS stations (or whatever it's called now) for the New Orleans metro and surrounding areas, and that their usual 50 kW DA-1 is by choice and not required by the FCC (à la WBZ), would they perhaps switch to non- directional during the hurricane emergency in order to fill in possible inferior signal coverage in the bayou areas south of New Orleans? Or does the DA-1 get out into the gulf before any nulls appear? I can't get a good "read" on this from radio-locator.com Their website seems to indicate they are now in nonstop Katrina coverage. I can't however find any indication on the site that WWL streams. (I have briefly checked the live coverage stream from WWL- TV.) (oldiesfan, Aug 28, radio-info Louisiana board via DXLD) There was non-stop live information last night, and I am sure they will continue for the next several days. I did not get to listen long, so I don't know if they are simulcasting on some of their other stations in the market, but I suspect they are. I'm in extreme SW Georgia, not far from the Gulf, so I can get them weakly by groundwave during the day (but covered up today by lightening). At night, they come in very well by skywave. I don't see them changing patterns unless one of their towers suffers damage, since the DA gives them a boost into the city of New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast (ngriffin, ibid.) Listening to WTIX AM stream --- sounds like most people are out of the general city but the outskirts are still backed up. Not sure what 870am is doing but couldn't get their stream --- anyone else? That`s tix stream: http://wtix690.com/live.html or http://66.135.12.147:8000/live (Davidbyrnefan, ibid.) I'm curious, are most stations in New Orleans in wall-to-wall hurricane coverage yet? Or are many of the FMs still playing music? What about WSMB? Are they still airing Air-America best of programming, or by chance are they simulcasting WWL now? Thanks! (FridayNiteInTheBigTown, Aug 28, ibid.) Although this is not about AM or FM radio in Louisiana, there is a link to another kind of radio in New Orleans that will be of interest to many with Hurricane Katrina expected to strike the Louisisna Gulf Coast sometime Monday (August 29th). Via Nola.com, you can get streaming audio of the National Weather Service's NOAA Weather Radio from New Orleans, of great interest with Katrina's approach. The direct link to the webcast, which will be launched in a separate window, is at http://www.nola.com/weather/radio/?/weather/radio/content.ssf/weather As with all webcasts from the New Orleans area, it's possible that the storm could prevent such webcasts from going on the Internet during the height of the storm. Thus, webcasts from the area during the storm are not guaranteed. WWL-4 has begun hurricane coverage (which will likely continue until either the storm passes through the New Orleans area, or the station gets knocked-off the air, a possibility as the storm should intensify to a class 4 by landfall with a couple of forecasters at the National Hurricane Center hinting there's an outside chance of an intensification to class 5 status), and it's being streamed on the Internet. To access the WWL webcast Click-on http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_wwltv&props=noad Since WWL is a CBS-TV affiliate, it's possible that once the storm gets closer to Louisiana, the station's coverage may also be webcast at http://www.cbsnews.com Should the CBS News website end up streaming WWL's storm coverage, you may find better picture and sound quality there than on WWL's website as the CBS News website will be able to accommodate more users for streaming video than WWL-TV's (Joseph Gallant, Aug 27, ibid.) RFLA suggested that WDSU-6 would also stream their coverage. As of this writing (3 A.M. EDT Sunday, August 28th), WDSU's coverage is being streamed. It's actually a simulcast of their Weather Plus digital sub-channel, but instead of the usual combination of NBC- produced Weather Plus forecasts along with local weather maps and radar, the Weather Plus feed is broadcasting WDSU's live storm coverage. You can access it directly at http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38202.asx It will open up the feed on Windows Media Player. Since WDSU is an NBC affiliate, it's possible that at some point, the station's live streaming hurricane coverage may also become available at MSNBC.com. Personal observation: Around 2:30 A.M. EDT, I had a chance to view the WDSU webstream, and the video quality wasn't as good as that of WWL- 4's (I have a DSL connection). (Joseph Gallant, Aug 28, ibid.) IMHO listening to WDSU on 87.75 [TV 6 audio] was far more useful than WWL. WDSU provided traffic info, weather updates, and useful information. WWL was airing listeners' opinions of the hurricanes (Steven NOLA, Aug 27, radio-info Louisiana board via DXLD) For those of us that complained about last storm coverage (as of Sunday night), here we go... CC's WQUE, WYLD, and the new 104.1 are completely off the air (I believe Q93 has back up facilities, but I can hear 104.1 off just the exciter and there's nothing on 104.1) CC's 99.5, 101.1 are relaying from WJBO BR (Where all of the BR CC stations are broadcasting too) All of Guaranty Houma is linked together (107.5, 106.3, 96.7, 1490) Coastal's 100.3 is airing swamp pop, with WTIX FM playing oldies. Citadel's stations 92.3, 106.7 are apparently airing WGNO (which is relaying WBRZ ch. 2 Baton Rouge) (Can't catch 102.9 and 106.1 from my vantage point) Entercon's WWL-AM is being broadcast over 95.7, 97.1, 105.3, and 101.9 On-top's 104.5 is playing hip-hop as always WYES TV 12 is off the air also currently. TV news is supposed to be moved to Baton Rouge stations for WWL-TV and WGNO, Rumored WDSU is headed to Jackson (RFLA, 0135 (UT?) Aug 29, Radio-info.com Louisiana board via DXLD) Re rumored WDSU heading to Jackson: This is true. Anchorwoman Kriss Fairbairn and the meteorologist (can't think of his name right off) are camped out at WAPT-TV 16. Kriss is on the air right now (11:30 PM) with WAPT anchors Scott Simmons and Joyce Brewer (Golden Eagle Boy, 0427 Aug 29, ibid.) WWL and WDSU TV in New Orleans are streaming LIVE real-time video of the coverage right now (Coolcat713, 0150 Aug 29, ibid.) WDSU.com is currently streaming video originating at sister station WESH in Orlando, while WDSU staffers make their way to H-A's WAPT in Jackson where WDSU staff will set up shop later tonight. Kudos to Hearst-Argyle for providing continuous coverage to their viewers in the New Orleans area, while at the same time allowing their staff to get themselves out of harm's way. Best of luck to all in that part of the world from here in New England. http://www.wdsu.com http://www.thejacksonchannel.com (Banjomax, 0224 Aug 29, ibid.) WLOX http://wlox.com out of Biloxi, MS is also streaming live (timbuc2, 0208 Aug 29, ibid.) Know WNOE 101.1 is taking coverage from 1150 WJBO in Baton Rouge. At least one station in Biloxi is doing the same. CC stations in BR are all simulcasting WJBO's coverage (mightynine, 0108 Aug 29, ibid.) According to the announcer, all CC stations "in the southeast" are supposed to be getting fed from WJBO. However WQUE, WYLD-FM, and 104.1 seem to be off the air right now (RFLA, 0149 Aug 29, ibid.) From the NRC-AM list: Actually, WWL is 50,000 watts, ALWAYS directional. They're one of two former Class I-A clear channels that's directional by choice. The other is WBZ, and for the same reason: using a simple two-tower DA avoids wasting power over water and pumps more signal over land. I had the chance, a few months ago, to interview WWL's CE about the emergency plans they have in place there. (He was conducting a seminar on emergency preparedness at the NAB convention in April.) They have an entire studio ready to go at the local emergency management office a mile from the transmitter site, and the transmitter building itself is mounted on concrete pillars 12 feet above the bayou where it sits. If they lose that site completely, they have an aux facility using a longwire antenna at the WWL-TV site. Fascinating stuff (Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) On Sun, 2005-08-28 at 11:10, Glenn Hauser wrote: ``How far below sea level is the WWL transmitter site? If such info is not in FCC data, why not?`` It isn't. The FCC doesn't seem to track elevation data for AM stations, except for the height of the towers themselves. I'm sure that's because unlike FM, the elevation of the ground surrounding the towers is not particularly important in determining coverage. Judging from the map: http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapsurfer?map.x=421&map.y=355&infact=2&outfact=2&act=move&tlevel=-&tvar=-&tmeth=i&mlat=29.837222&mlon=-90.131944&msym=bigdot&mlabel=&murl=&lat=29.9696808&lon=-90.3122482&wid=0.360&ht=0.130&conf=mapnew.con I would say WWL is going to need those 12-foot stilts. I don't think they're *below* sea level by much if any, but they sure aren't *above* it by much more than those 12 feet either! On a vaguely related subject... About an hour ago, the Weather Service issued a Tropical Storm Watch for central Tennessee (judging from the maps it probably applies to West Tennessee as well). Sustained winds of as much as 40 mph and gusts to or above 60 with tornadoes. To hit late tomorrow into Tuesday. Could trigger emergency nighttime operation by stations considerably further inland than WWL. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, (Nashville), TN EM66, ibid.) The average elevation of New Orleans is -8, that 8 feet below sea level. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, ibid.) WWL is indeed directional. It has 2 towers just over a half wave tall at 870; most of the power goes north away from the Gulf. The directional pattern looks like a mushroom (Dave Gardiner, WVCH 740, Chester/Philadelphia, ibid.) I seemed to recall WWL simulcasting on 730 AM, just on the north side of Lake Ponchatrain for Hurricane Georges in 1998 (Airchecked a few hours of coverage from northerly Chicago, IL Metro) also noteworthy for nighttime service possibilities for DX is the 1350 in New Orleans; they are a direct sister station to WWL, forgot the call sign (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) The 730 is WASO Covington LA, 250 watts day, 20 watts night, and listed (at least at 100kw) as silent right now. Sure they were simulcasting the WWL radio coverage - or were they doing what so many little stations do and simulcasting with WWL-TV (which is not co-owned with the radio anymore)? The 1350 is WSMB, which has been doing Air America recently as "Progressive Talk 1350." They're 5 kw DA-N, and yeah, it's not at all out of the question that they might be simulcasting 870 and/or going ND in the event of disaster down there. There's been some talk at Entercom about building another backup facility for 870 at the 1350 site, which is just across the river from downtown New Orleans. WWL's coverage is also likely to be heard on three sister FM stations: WEZB 97.1, WKBU 105.3 and WLMG 101.9. The Entercom studios are in a tall office building in New Orleans' central business district; the emergency plan there pretty much begins with the evacuation of the studios and the move of programming for the cluster to the emergency management offices south of the river. Scary stuff. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) I was listening to WWL 870 on and off this evening, hampered by strong local T-storms here; they do list a string of relay station IDs at hourtop, which I was unable to catch in detail. I expect the list will grow (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTIX-690 New Orleans is loud here, presumably on day power, with hurricane coverage, ID 2156 ELT [=EDT = UT -4 = 0156 UT Aug 29], mixing with semi-local WELD's oldies. Now dominant at 2219 with WELD off, mixing with R. Progreso from Cuba. WWL-870 usual strong signal all evening, with an unID Christian music station in Spanish underneath, and possible R. Reloj from Cuba now and then. WWL is IDing as parallel to 1350 and a number of FMs (David Yocis - Shannondale WV (far eastern panhandle) - R8B, various LWs, ibid.) Here is a list of stations that could stay on day power for good coverage of Katrina. This stations do get out very well, and should be easy to here. Stations marked with a star are news/talk All stations listed are known to have stayed on the air with day power in the past. (Willis, WB5KHD, Monk, Old Fort, TN, ibid.) BIRMINGHAM 690 WJOX 50000 500 BIRMINGHAM 850 WXJC 50000 1000 *BIRMINGHAM 960 WERC 5000 5000 BIRMINGHAM 1070 WAPI 50000 5000 HUNTSVILLE 1550 WLOR 50000 500 HUNTSVILLE 1700 WEUV 10000 1000 MOBILE 840 WBHY 10000 ----- MOBILE 1410 WABB 5000 4400 MONTGOMERY 740 WMSP 10000 335 MONTGOMERY 1170 WACV 10000 1000 *MONTGOMERY 1440 WLWI 5000 1000 MONTGOMERY 1600 WXVI 5000 1000 *ATLANTA 750 WSB 50000 50000 BATON ROUGE 1150 WJBO 5000 5000 GOLDEN MEADOW 1600 KLEB 5000 72 MONROE 540 KNOE 5000 1000 MONROE 1680 KRJO 10000 1000 *NEW ORLEANS 870 WWL 50000 50000 SHREVEPORT 710 KEEL 50000 5000 SHREVEPORT 1130 KWKH 50000 50000 *BILOXI 1640 WTNI 10000 1000 (Willis Monk, Old Fort TN, NRC-AM via DXLD) The radio station listed in radio - locator.com as WPMI, 710, Mobile, AL comes up as WNTM when you click on the streaming audio lightning bolt, and appears to be streaming audio from one of the Mobile - Pensacola TV stations doing non-stop Katrina coverage. Didn't stick around to see which TV station (Chris K4CME, Taylors SC, ibid.) That would be (shocker!) WPMI-TV, the NBC affiliate in Mobile. It and WPMI 710 are Clear Channel sister stations. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) From amfmtvdx at qth.net: Anyone got word on some rumors I've heard that WWL/a and perhaps WWL- TV will be off the air tonight from about 7 pm to 12 am so they can move their operations to houston? Again just rumors I`ve heard. I know WDSU is planning on switching operations to Jackson, MS if they need to (Glen Briggs - KBØRPJ, Grundy County Amateur Radio Emergency Services Coordinator, http://grundy.ares-mo.org/ - North Central Missouri Amateur Radio Club, Aug 28, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Shouldn't Houston stations be offering their facilities to WWL, perhaps to work in tandem? Or stations even closer in, on both sides of where the `cane is targeted, and definitely further inland? I work as a journalist and am trying to imagine the logistics of deploying a team of journos around a story like this when the risks might be so high. You need your people to get close, but... The last `cane to threaten N.O., a few years ago, hit AL instead. I just got back from a week away. Haven't seen the kind of reports yet that I'd want to see to see how flexible the forecast strike is. I really hope nothing serious happens. I've been to N.O. and have met journalists there who have done tremendous work looking at issues surrounding the possible occurrence of a strike there. If there is a strike by a major `cane, it's serious S***. Anyhow, I think WWL AM and any FM stations are key, not TV. If power goes out, radio rules. The clips you get for TV are for after-the-fact (Saul Chernos, ON, ibid.) Just confirmed a friend talked to WWL-TV, they are leaving, and shutting down ops, not sure when though. Are WWL/A and WWL-TV housed together? (Glen Briggs, ibid.) Just got a further update on WWL-TV they are moving to the Superdome press box soon (Glen Briggs, 2235 UT Aug 28, ibid.) The SuperDome press box is a good idea, but it'd make sense to team up with other stations in neighbouring areas in a case like this, especially in an era of huge conglomerate owners. So you have key stations in Houston, Mobile, etc., ALSO serving affected areas in Louisiana for a while. That is, where their signals extend to those affected areas. I'd imagine 740 in Houston is well received in New Orleans, for example, or 690 In Birmingham AL (Saul Chernos, ON, ibid.) From the ABDX list: Re: WWL Streaming video: http://www.wwltv.com/cgi-bin/bi/video/makeadplaylist.pl?title=beloint_wwltv&live=yes is the direct link to stick in your WMP player, BTW. Got it as a desktop shortcut already, and watching it now. What doesn't cease to amaze me is that the WWL-TV keeps putting commercials on every 1/2 hr during this extreme emergency. Give it up. No one is paying attention to them and the advertisers know they aren't getting their money's worth while everyone is leaving New Orleans. Also funny that the commercials are streaming. Does the ban on commercials streaming simultaneously on broadcast and net hold only for radio stations? (Darwin Long, Thousand Oaks, CA, Aug 28, ABDX via DXLD) Darwin, I'm guessing you've never worked in TV news? I'm guessing that the commercials are being run just to give the anchors - and, more important, the directors and producers behind the scenes - a minute or two to catch their breath before launching into the next half-hour of coverage. I'm watching the WWL-TV coverage right now, too, and it's pretty remarkable stuff. These folks deserve a great deal of praise (especially since they're putting themselves in harm's way - anyone who's seen the WWL-TV studios knows that they're pretty much at sea level, like the rest of New Orleans, and highly susceptible to flooding), not nitpicking. My hat is off to them! s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) The two anchors have been on now for at least 5 hours now. Reminds me of the yeoman work many did around here during the Blizzard of 78 here in Eastern New England (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, ibid.) Scott, That's a very large part of it. BUT, there is still a cost involved in doing public service broadcasting. The station has a contract to show said commercial and they will do it. I see nothing wrong with that. Granted, they do need a break, more than just every half hour. When I worked in master control there was many times I needed to get to the head but couldn't, things were happening to fast (Willis, WB5KHD, Monk, Old Fort, TN, ibid.) NOAA Hurricane Warning MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOODFRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOMEWALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLYTHE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED (via Kevin Redding, ibid.) One of the cable channels, it may have been Discovery Channel, or A&E, did a piece on Camille (1969) which hit near Biloxi-Pascagoula-Pass Christian. They think it was a cat 5. One of only a handful in this century. There was a two-story brick apartment building in which something like 25 or 30 people stayed behind for a hurricane party. The building was demolished, stripped down to the bare concrete base. None of the walls remained. One body was reportedly found, miles away. The rest of the people were never located. Now, moving on to the present. I would guess that one scenario for those in high rise buildings is the risk of not being to get back down due to flooding, loss of power, possible destabilization of the building foundation due to wave action. Jeff Fischer on WFLA 970 just interviewed someone at the Barone Plaza Hotel, going to ride it out. No place to go to now. This is a big lesson for Tampa which faced a potentially similar type situation, though on a smaller scale, with Charley mid-August 2004, a lot of people ignored the warnings. Patty and I went up to Pasco county, probably not far enough, but enough to escape the storm surge. The last-minute hook into Punta Gorda etc, is all that saved us. My place is in the third of 5 evacuation bands, so I follow these things. The bands follow the coast line and are based on expected flood levels. I think this will be historic on many levels. 2138 edt, WWL 870 loud and clear, reporting 904 millibars, 160 mph, moving N 11 mph. Some fades, Reloj QRM, 3 Hz SAH (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, ibid.) If the levee system is breached it will take 6 months to pump out the city of New Orleans. Here is my last posted weather forecast: http://www.kn4lf.com/flwx1.htm #103 Published Sunday August 27, 2005 at 4:45 pm EDT As of the 5:00 pm EDT advisory CAT 5 Katrina has a sustained wind of 165 mph, down from 175 mph, is at position 26.9 deg. N 89.0 deg. W, with a minimum barometric pressure of 26.64" a continued fall and is currently on a NW heading at a speed of 13 mph. I still think that Katrina will turn NNW-N-NNE due to the influence of the strengthening and digging mid level longwave trough currently located over the Southern Plains region. But as timing will be off now due to the slowly accelerating forward speed, Katrina will make initial landfall near Pilottown on the Mississippi River Delta. This will still threaten the Louisiana Delta with total inundation as well as on the east side of the City Of New Orleans. Therefore I am shifting my second landfall window westward now to Pass Christian, MS on the left side and Gulf Shores, AL on the right side, with a bulls eye on Gautier, MS. But due to the enormous size of this tropical cyclone the damage window will extend from Morgan CIty, LA in the west to Apalachicola, FL in the east on early Monday morning 08/29/05. It now appears that the western Florida Panhandle will be spared the worst of Katrina but it will still receive a serious blow. If Katrina were to hold her present strength then we would be looking at an incredible storm surge of 15-20 feet, with some spots seeing 28-32 feet just to the right of the eyewall at landfall. Some of the surge may also reach the west coast of the Florida peninsula too. It takes a special set of circumstances for a CAT 5 tropical cyclone to form and it is very hard for a tropical cyclone to hold at a strong CAT 5 level for very long. But she is so strong that she may only weaken back to a weak CAT 5 (oxymoron) at landfall. But at some point she will undergo another eye wall reformation cycle (ERC), will leave the very warm loop current, enter shallower shelf water and dry air entrainment and wind shear will increase and she may weaken back to a CAT 4 at landfall. But a CAT 4 will still cause catastrophic damage. And last and least we now have T.D. #13 which is at 15.4 deg. N 46.8 deg. W or 965 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, has a sustained wind of 30 mph, a minimum barometric pressure of 29.74" and is moving WNW at 13 mph (Thomas Giella, ibid.) A member on Dennis' AM stereo list is live-streaming WWL 870 from his QTH near Atlanta, GA. He is using a Superadio III, oriented towards New Orleans to null a SC station, curtailing his net-radio "4-decades" 1000-track format to provide this service to people. mms://hothitsradio.audio-stream.net/WWL-AM (Darwin Long, Thousand Oaks, CA, ibid.) Getting it here on wmp but trying to watch WWL TV around 0400 UT, the audio only comes on in fits and starts, and video freezes, keeps buffering. What I did hear was repetitive, caught in a loop? Could be their server is overloaded; shortly afterwards, gone (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCA AM 1110 Bay Minette, Alabama in loud at Illinois. Aug 28, 2005 21:43 PDT with audio from a Mobile, Alabama local TV news broadcast. Continuous Hurricane Katrina coverage. I assume they're running full daytime power of 10 kW. I finally got a local ID on the TV audio, FOX 10 news (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Silver Lining --- In all storm clouds there is supposed to be a silver lining. Well, this might be it this time around. While looking for stations in Louisiana that might be live streaming Hurricane Katrina coverage, I came across this unique station. I hope it makes it through the storm as this one might be fun to listen to when all this is over. The few minutes I tuned in today were a real pleasure. What an eclectic mix of music, including several cuts featuring local area music. Here is the station, together with an item about the station from their website. KBON- Mamou, LA 101.1 FM http://www.kbon.com/ ``South Louisiana has undoubtedly the most diverse musically rich culture in the whole world. It took Paul Marx's foresight and guts, along with his staff, to return dignity to the various genres of our beloved music. I hope KBON makes a fortune and proves to non-believers that there is feasibility in a 24 hours radio station playing our Louisiana Proud music...`` (Sheldon Harvey, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did not try it until 0512 UT; it was running simulcasting KLFY-TV 10 Lafayette, which itself is apparently not streaming (gh) WWL New Orleans seems to have gone off of the air, and I hear a Spanish announcer there with a clock ticking in the background. Radio Reloj in Cuba perhaps?? (George Thurman, Houston, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was still on at 0500 UT but a few minutes later when rechecked 870, gone, leaving quite a gap. Our chance to hear Argentina (LRA, 100 kW), or dozens of other LA stations. The temp webcast mms://hothitsradio.audio-stream.net/WWL-AM was still running at 0600 with whatever signals traces are there lacking WWL. Let`s hope they manage to get on somehow, but the transmitter may have already been flooded if not antennas blown down, as speculated earlier. Wonder if the closed down voluntarily, or just went off without warning (Glenn Hauser, OK, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWL, 870, New Orleans, 0530 UT Aug 29. Live remote broadcast from concrete structure. Calls taken mostly from New Orleans residents who had fled Katrina. Road info and various messages passed over the air. Apparently New Orleans TV stations moved their operations out of harm's way and were broadcasting from other cities. I think this may have been the only broadcast coming directly from New Orleans and was relayed on 4 or 5 of WWL's sister stations. Signal went abruptly off the air at 0545 UTC. Still off at 0945 recheck. I'm hearing what sounds like R Reloj in the background on 870 in the absence of WWL (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I dozed off listening to WBCA, after I awoke I tuned back to 870 KHz.. For the past ten minutes the only thing on this frequency has been Radio Reloj from Cuba, not a peep out of WWL New Orleans. Granted, a reception issue is a possibility, but I have a sinking suspicion they got knocked off the air (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, 0610 UT Aug 29, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) At 0140 EDT [0540 UT Aug 29], WWL-870 just kicked off the air. At 0150 they haven't returned. Hope it's not permanent. [later at 0555 UT:] With WWL off the air, you might want to tune 1640 from Biloxi, MS. They are still on and having continues coverage. Nice signal into Tennessee. Also WTIX 690 is still on from New Orleans (Willis Monk, TN, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) KATRINA BLOG REPORTS LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN NEW ORLEANS As Hurricane Katrina continues to pound the city of New Orleans, we note that the Katrina Blog of local TV station WDSU Channel 6 is doing an excellent job of reporting the latest developments without embellishment or sensational reporting. Katrina Blog http://www.wdsu.com/news/4908558/detail.html # posted by Andy @ 15:05 UT Aug 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. What do you bet WRNO uses this as an excuse to further delay its return to SW, already put off month after month after month after month until ``September``? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CLASSICAL RADIO PIONEER DIES --- WFMT'S RAY NORDSTRAND BECAME ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL EXECUTIVES IN CHICAGO RADIO HISTORY. By John von Rhein, Tribune staff reporter, August 27, 8:24 AM CDT When young Ray Nordstrand was growing up on the North Side in the 1940s, radio was his window to the world. The only child of Swedish immigrant parents, he loved listening to the giant console radio in his parents' living room. The comedy of Fibber McGee and Molly, the sounds of Glenn Miller's big band, the wartime dispatches of Edward R. Murrow, all seized his imagination. He eventually became one of the most influential executives in Chicago radio history, whose stewardship of WFMT-FM 98.7 from its early years made it one of the most respected fine arts stations in the world. Mr. Nordstrand, 72, died Saturday morning at a Northwestern Hospital hospice unit in Chicago of complications following a series of strokes, the most recent of which was in late July, said his longtime companion, Ethel Polk. He had been at the hospice for the last week. "His ingenuity and his faith in the good taste of people are what made WFMT," said veteran Chicago author and broadcaster Studs Terkel, a fixture at the station virtually since its inception in 1951. "He believed the public -- and by that he meant ordinary people -- deserved the best in broadcasting." "Ray's passion, vision and devotion to WFMT fueled its growth for over 40 years," said Steve Robinson, senior vice president of WFMT and the WFMT Radio Network. "The success we enjoy today as one of the première classical music radio stations in the world is due in large part to his uncompromising standards and unending enthusiasm for the station." Young Ray invented and "programmed" an imaginary station he called WIOU. He used to read racing results and baseball scores into a cigar- box microphone to his pleased father. Years later he picked up a real microphone for the first time and a Chicago broadcasting legend was born. Mr. Nordstrand had been in declining health since suffering a heart attack followed by triple bypass surgery in 1993. He also suffered a series of strokes in more recent years, said Polk. While Mr. Nordstrand had a passing familiarity with classical music, he was by his own admission a businessman, not an arts connoisseur. His real forte was the uncanny business and economic savvy he picked up as a student and teacher of economics at Northwestern University. He put his fascination with the business end of radio to productive use in a 52-year association with WFMT that ended with his death. Norman Pellegrini, the station's longtime program chief, may have set the station's unique tone, but nobody did more to solidify WFMT's reputation than Mr. Nordstrand. Named WFMT's president and general manager in 1970, he helped to turn an anomaly, a cultured bandwidth in a tough town, into a broadcasting powerhouse known and heard throughout the world. What's more, WFMT today towers over a shrunken landscape that has seen many classical radio outlets go out of business, dumb down their programming or switch to pop, rock or jazz formats. Mr. Nordstrand liked to claim there was nothing to equal the station anywhere in the United States, but he modestly shunned the label of tastemaker. "I enjoy having an overview and I enjoy being a catalyst, but I don't feel I'm powerful," he told the Tribune's Eric Zorn in 1985. Others would disagree. WFMT was essentially a mom-and-pop operation in 1953 when the Evanston-born Mr. Nordstrand, then a 20-year-old economics student at Northwestern University, came on board as a part-time announcer. Until then, the announcing was shared by Pellegrini, and Mike Nichols, who later left the station to become a legendary stand-up comic and theater and film director. Nichols was auditioning on-air talent when he happened on Mr. Nordstrand. The gangly 20-year-old had dropped by the WFMT studio with a friend who was trying out for an announcer's job. Mr. Nordstrand, whose only previous experience was as a part-time announcer at tiny WNMP-AM and Northwestern's WNUR-FM, was hired instead. Mr. Nordstrand stuck to announcing for much of his first decade at WFMT until it became clear to Bernard Jacobs, who had founded the station with his wife, Rita, that Mr. Nordstrand had what it took to run the station and keep it solvent. His meticulous, methodical approach to building a financial base for WFMT earned him the nickname "The King of the Abacus." He soon became Bernard Jacobs' detail man and worked closely with the station's co- founder to help sell advertising. In 1955, he and a colleague at Northwestern produced "A Qualitative Analysis of the Audience of WFMT," a landmark study in broadcasting that determined the station's marketing techniques for the next 30 years. Although the practical, soft-spoken Mr. Nordstrand and the musically savvy, outspoken Pellegrini were, as Terkel observes, "from different planets," they made a strong management team. Named general manager, later president, in the mid-1960s, Mr. Nordstrand took charge of the business end while Pellegrini oversaw the artistic side of the operation. Together, they built on the Jacobs' core beliefs: quality and diversity of programming, excellence unsullied by gimmicks. That approach helped separate WFMT from the other 25 or so commercial classical stations in the country. WFMT has never pulled in whopping ratings and its audience was long labeled, unfairly, as elitist. Mr. Nordstrand always preferred the word "select." Under Mr. Nordstrand, the station ran jingle-free, announcer-read ad copy, hired informed program hosts and adhered to an eclectic program formula: lots of live (as well as recorded) classical music, poetry, drama, critical commentary, and "The Midnight Special," the weekly melange of folk music, blues, show tunes and satire that Mr. Nordstrand hosted along with Pellegrini for many years. Mr. Nordstrand sounded more prepossessing on the air than he looked in person. He moved awkwardly and wore baggy suits that hung on his stoop-shouldered, 6-foot-2-inch frame. His on-air delivery was punctuated by long pauses and "uhs." Friends tell of the time he was eating peanuts while a record was playing. One caught in his throat just as the record ended. Listeners heard him coughing for several long seconds. He recovered and, in his best WFMT tone, announced, "We had a peanut caught in our throat." Former WFMT employees recall how he used to go from office to office passing out paychecks to everyone. He was criticized for taking credit for virtually all the station's successes, but that was because of his remarkable command of WFMT facts, figures and anecdotes. He talked about little else except baseball and folk music; indeed, folk music was a passion that made him something of a patron saint to Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, which gave several benefit concerts in his honor. In 1976, Mr. Nordstrand turned the station's program guide into a slick monthly, Chicago magazine, that quickly garnered huge amounts of advertising and became a cash cow before WFMT's corporate parent sold it. (Chicago magazine is now owned by Tribune Co., publisher of the Tribune). And it was his vision that led him to create, in the late '70s, what is now the WFMT Radio Network, one of the world's most successful producers and distributors of classical, folk and jazz programming. But the shifting economic climate of the 1980s raised the stakes and made it increasingly difficult for niche-market stations such as WFMT to carry on business as usual. To some people around him, Mr. Nordstrand seemed reluctant to change with the times. Some insiders said the station had become a two-man operation in which Mr. Nordstrand and Pellegrini refused to allow anyone else much authority -- a charge Pellegrini, speaking for himself, vigorously denies. Mr. Nordstrand was asked to step down as publisher of Chicago magazine in 1993. Eventually, both he and Pellegrini were relieved of their posts at WFMT amid listener complaints that the once-revered station was being turned into a "classical Muzak" outlet. But while Mr. Nordstrand's fall from corporate grace rankled, friends say, he maintained a close working relationship with the station. After his heart attack in 1993, he worked part-time as a consultant, overseeing ratings surveys and selling advertising. WFMT played almost continuously on his home radio practically until the end of his life. "WFMT was his life," said Polk. A celebration of Mr. Nordstrand is being planned for later this year at the Old Town School of Folk Music. In addition to Polk, Mr. Nordstrand is survived by a daughter, Erika; a granddaughter, Kya; and his former wife, Diane Nordstrand. Copyright (c) 2005, Chicago Tribune (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) Seeks a Permanent Headlines Editor --- APPLICATION DEADLINE: Sept 9, 2005 Send resume and cover letter within the body of an e-mail to: fsrn-headlines-hire-05 @ hotmail.com JOB DURATION: Permanent WHAT: Headlines Editor, 3/4 time, Monday-Friday, starting at 9 am EST [sic] START DATE: Oct 5 LOCATION: Home studio or local radio station. JOB DESCRIPTION: To deliver 5 minutes of headline news in a suitable electronic format, on deadline, as part of 29-minute daily radio newscast Free Speech Radio News http://www.fsrn.org This is a 3/4 time position with the possibility of becoming full time. JOB REQUIREMENTS: Familiarity with and access to an assortment of daily news outlets. Daily news reporting and editing experience; ability to meet deadline with minimal supervision; ability to work in a collective decision-making process; experience with digital audio editing required. PAY: $112.50 per day (Potential for benefits if current negotiated merger with the Pacifica Network succeeds) Free Speech Radio News is a half hour daily national/international newscast broadcast on about 100 community and public radio stations, and web radio stations around the United States. Approximately 300 freelance reporters around the world contribute to the newscast. We try to use local reporters rather than sending people from the US to provide coverage. FSRN is a worker-run collective. JOB TASKS: * Attend the daily morning editorial conference call, bringing headline ideas * Perform story selection in keeping with the overall mission of Free Speech Radio News and the sensibilities of its listeners. * Watch for breaking news through deadline and be prepared to update headlines as needed. * Assign stories in the morning to appropriate news reporters. * Maintain contact with reporters to make sure they meet deadline. * Edit stories written by reporters in preparation for production. * If necessary, record reporter's stories by phone, maintaining the highest possible production standards. * Provide instruction and assistance for reporters who send sound and/or file stories electronically. * Research, write, and conduct any necessary interviews for important stories where no appropriate reporter is available, upon agreement with editorial team. * Electronically transfer stories from reporters to digital workstation. * Write appropriate story leads for the headlines portion of the cast. * Confer with Features Editor to evaluate day's newscast and determine any necessary changes in headlines or features. * Edit, voice and mix anchor leads. * Assemble stories in an order that encourages sustained listening and is sensitive to the news-worthiness of each story. * Electronically edit stories and leads to fit for time --ideally, 5- minutes. Confer with the Engineer if extensions are necessary. * Deliver assembled headlines package to an electronic site, on deadline, as designated by the Engineer. * Assist Features Editor with editing and story development. * Help represent the Editorial Team at FSRN Steering Comm. Meetings REQUIRED EQUIPMENT: Producer should own or have access to recording equipment, computer with high speed internet access, audio editing software, high quality microphone, quiet space to record, high quality phone hybrid for recording interviews and headlines delivered over the phone. Access to an ISDN is ideal, although not required. DESIRED SKILLS-QUALITIES: *Good ear for sound quality *Ability to work well under pressure and on deadline *Responsible and Punctual *Creative problem solving *Ability to work independently *Understanding of languages *Knowledge of news sources, web, print and personal *Knowledge of and dedication to grassroots radio/independent journalism *Ability to work with reporters from diverse backgrounds and at various skill levels People of color, women, LGBT people, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people who have lived in poverty are strongly encouraged to apply. http://www.fsrn.org/ (via Sergei Sosedkin, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC SETS ASIDE K1MAN LICENSE RENEWAL The FCC has confirmed that the agency has set aside the license renewal application of Glenn Baxter, K1MAN, of Belgrade Lakes, Maine, after routinely granting it on July 22nd. As previously reported, Baxter received a $21,000 Notice of Apparent Liability from the agency which has not yet been paid. His current license expires on October 18th. In years past, if a person contested a fine and his or her license expired during the period when the matter was being adjudicated, that person could continue to operate until a final determination was made. That all changed in November of 2004 when the agency enacted the so-called ``Red Light Rule.`` With the ``Red Light Rule`` in place, the FCC can decline to renew a license during the appeals process and order the person off the air once his or her current license expires. The agency`s July 25th notice to K1MAN was signed by Tracy Simmons who is Associate Chief for Licensing Operations of the Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure. Division of the FCC. In it, the FCC says that the set aside is for enforcement review purposes. Whether or not the regulatory agency will invoke the Red Light rule in Baxter`s case won`t be known until after October 18th unless he pays the NAL or settles the matter in another way before that date. (Various –-- confirmed by FCC via Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1463, August 26, 2005 via John Norfolk, dxldyg) A PRIMER ON THE FCC`S RED LIGHT RULE What is the Red Light rule and what does it mean to you? We asked Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, to research it: Back on November 1, 2004, the FCC`s put its ``Red Light`` rule into effect. Under it, the agency must withhold action on applications and other requests for benefits when the applicant is shown in the FCC`s database as being delinquent in non-tax debts owed to the Commission. This means that the regulatory agency will no longer accept applications from debtors, process their pending requests, or provide other benefits until the delinquency is resolved. To make this work the Commission checks its records against each application under that applicant`s federal registration number to determine if the applicant or any other entity using the same taxpayer identification number is delinquent in any debt owed to the Commission. If the Commission finds that the person to be a delinquent debtor, the request is ``red lighted.`` The Commission then stops the processing and notifies the applicant that he or she has 30 days to either pay the debt or make arrangements for payment of the debt. If payment arrangements or correction of the records is not made, the Commission will dismiss the application or request. There are three extremely limited exceptions to this rule. First, if the applicant through an attorney files a timely administrative appeal or has contested the existence or amount of the debt, the debt will not be considered delinquent under the red light rule until the order in question is final. Also, the FCC will not consider it to be an immediate debt if the automatic stay provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code have been invoked and are deemed to be applicable in a given case. Lastly, the Commission will process applications for emergency or special temporary authority involving safety of life or property including national security emergencies. Other than these, the delinquent applicant either must pay up or take the chance of loosing his or her ability to continue on the air. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. The FCC has created a website covering the Red Light Rule. You can find it in cyberspace at http://www.fcc.gov/redlight (Researched by ARNewsline™, Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1463, August 26, 2005 via John Norfolk, dxldyg) ** U S A. REPLY COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED FOR LOW POWER RADIO SERVICE The FCC has extended the Reply Comment deadline in the Low Power Radio Service proceeding (Docket 99-25). The new Reply Comment deadline is September 21, 2005. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2348A1.doc According to Radio World, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D- N.Y., is said to be planning to introduce a bill to expand the number of LPFMs by instructing the FCC to drop third-adjacent channel protections when allocating LPFMs: http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=7610 (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. L-A-X AIRPORT RADIO: THE MAN BEHIND THE SOUND At 530 on the AM dial, AirRadio veteran broadcaster Ned Skaff commands the airwaves from a windowless studio at LAX, where for the past 10 years he's been the morning drive time and fly time host of airport traffic and parking news. August is forecast to be the busiest month at LAX since the 9/11 terrorist attacks as 6 million travelers are expected to pass through the facility. http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1787827.html (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. UZBEKISTAN COURT SENTENCES RADIO LIBERTY REPORTER TO SIX MONTHS A court in Uzbekistan sentenced a reporter for the US Congress-funded Radio Liberty to six months in jail for insulting a government official, the convicted man's lawyer and relatives said today. The court in the eastern city of Namangan handed down the sentence against Nosir Zokirov, an Uzbek national employed by the station's Uzbek language service, at a hearing on 26 August, lawyer Alisher Ergashev said. The charges against Zokirov related to a telephone conversation he had with a senior official of the Namangan regional branch of the National Security Service, Ergashev said. Radio Liberty's Tashkent office confirmed that the reporter had been jailed, but declined to comment further. Ergashev said he intended to file an appeal. Zokirov, earlier a dissident with the Birlik (Unity) opposition party, served a year in jail in the early 1990s. President Islam Karimov's administration has put extra pressure on media in the Central Asian country following a bloody military crackdown in the eastern province of Andijan on 13 May. Radio Liberty's Uzbek service was one of the few media sources to broadcast information on the crackdown that did not conform to the government line. Last month another Radio Liberty reporter, Lobar Kaynarova, was badly beaten near her home in southern Uzbekistan. She was in her third month of pregnancy. # posted by Andy @ 12:20 UT Aug 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** VIETNAM SOUTH [non]. VOICE OF VIETNAM REMEMBERS LIBERATION RADIO A The website of the Voice of Vietnam currently has a feature about Liberation Radio A, which operated from 1962-1975, and was heard by shortwave listeners around the world. Liberation Radio A - unforgettable memories http://www.vovnews.com.vn/2005_08_29/english/polictics3.htm#Liberation%20Radio%20A%20-%20unforgettable%20memories # posted by Andy @ 10:39 UT Aug 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) viz.: Liberation Radio A - unforgettable memories On February 1,1962, Liberation Radio was established from a revolutionary base in South Vietnam. The enemy tried every means to jam its broadcasts though the station’s coverage at the time was very narrow. To increase liberation station’s broadcasting strength so that listeners living in the north and south of Vietnam as well as foreign listeners could listen to its programs, Radio Voice of Vietnam on April 30, 1962 decided to create a relay station, which was named Liberation Radio A. These station was located at 56 Quan Su street in downtown Hanoi, next to Radio Voice of Vietnam, and staffed by over 400 people. Though not directly facing the enemy’s fire, we considered ourselves as soldiers on the battlefield. During wartime, it was not easy at all to broadcast a current affairs program or a feature. Due to different reasons, such as obsolete equipment and harsh weather conditions, the signals transmitted from Liberation Radio B (in South Vietnam) were very weak and even distorted. A five to-seven minute commentary took us between two to three hours to transcribe and put on air. Looking back at what we achieved at the time, it seems almost unbelievable. The revolution in the south was strongly developed, particularly the political campaigns in Sai Gon and other urban areas. The 1975 Spring General Offensive was launched by the Liberation Army, and all radio staff in the north felt very anxious, as if we were on the frontline. We worked round the clock for many days in order to bring up-dated information about the battlefield to listeners. A busy atmosphere was prevailing all over the station. Recalling the historic days in April 1975, journalist Vinh Tra from Liberation Radio A said: ‘In those days, we all bustled about doing out jobs. Every one worked like a machine in the production chain between the station and the information centre. We tried our hardest, but no one felt tired. We were really happy then whenever I think of those days, tears again well up in my eyes.’ Though Liberation Radio A existed for just 13 years, it fulfilled well its mission as an effective and important tool in the ideological field of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam. It also contributed sizably to the success of the national liberation war and the reunification of the country. For the over 400 staff of Liberation Radio A, 13 years was a good period of time, which has been engraved in their hearts and minds and provided a lot of fond memories about what they did for the nation (VOV as above via DXLD) Don`t believe they referred to A & B on air I am amazed to discover they had 400 staff for that clandestine radio station. They always claimed (at the time) that it was coming from the South, when even now they admit the studios were next door to the Voice of Vietnam in Hanoi. A rather crackly station ID is here http://www.intervalsignals.net/files/vtn-z-liberation_radio_ow_0575.ram (Jonathan Marks, 08.29.05 - 3:20 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. SITE 6040.0, Aug 26, 0201-0214, VT Merlin loop with the usual test transmission wording in English. Good. Who will be here after their tests? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE 30TH FRIENDS OF OLD-TIME RADIO CONVENTION October 20 - 23, 2005 Holiday Inn - North, Newark NJ Special Convention Guests who have given definite or tentative acceptance of our invitations: West Coast Guests Shirley Bell - Little Orphan Annie Sonny Curtis - Singer, songwriter "Love is All Around" Mary Tyler Moore TV theme Jimmy Lydon - Let's Pretend; Young Love Bob Mott - Sound Effects Artist; author Noel Neill - Singer; actress (Lois Lane in 2 Superman Serials (1948, 1950) and TV 1953-1957 Dave Parker - The Lone Ranger Cynthia Pepper - (TV) My Three Sons Jon Provost - (TV) Lassie Elliott Reid - March of Time; Lorenzo Jones Hal Stone - Jughead in Archie Andrews Frank Thomas - Tom Corbett Darlene Tompkins - (Movie; Blue Hawaii) Beverly Washburn - (Jack Benny); TV (Star Trek) Peggy Webber - Dragnet, Mystery in the Air New East Coast Guests Larry Conroy - Voiceover Coach Jeff David - Theater 5; (TV) Robot on Buck Rogers Bob Diamond - Director of Joe Franklin's television show for 30 years Irving Fields - Pianist and Composer Mickey Freeman - (TV) Phil Silvers Show Susan Gordon - singer, actress (Movie) the Five Pennies, many others (TV) Many guest appearances Michael Gwynne - Drummer, DJ, actor (Movie) Payday, many others Simon Jones - British Actor on Radio (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy); (also TV, Movies Theater) Al Markim - Tom Corbett Paul O'Keefe - singer, Broadway actor (Oliver) TV (Patty Duke Show; As the World Turns) Jay Siegel - Musician, lead singer (The Tokens) Larry Storch - Comedian (TV) F Troop Returnees Arthur Anderson - Let's Pretend, Mercury Theater George Ansbro - (Announcer) ABC Don Buka - Let's Pretend Cliff Carpenter - County Seat, Terry and the Pirates Fred Foy - (Announcer) The Lone Ranger Joe Franklin - Joe Franklin Show in New York Will Hutchins - (TV) Blondie; Sugarfoot Elaine Hyman - The Lone Ranger Ron Lackmann - Let's Pretend Peg Lynch - Ethel and Albert Corinne Orr - Theater Five; (TV) Voices for Speed Racer; Trixie and Spritle Bill Owen - (Announcer for ABC) Bobby Ramsen - Comedian Rosemary Rice - Archie Andrews; Let's Pretend Larry Robinson - Let's Pretend Lynne Rogers - Light of the World Jean Rouverol - One Man's Family Soupy Sales - TV personality Margot Stevenson - The Shadow For complete information, check out: http://www.lofcom.com/nostalgia/fotr/update05.php3 (via Pete Kemp, Aug 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ Re Graham Mytton and Harry Helms` response: http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/08/graham_mytton_r.html Despite the fact that I am still an avid shortwave listener, I have to agree with Mr. Helms on this one. As a psychology graduate, who has read countless research articles with generalizations and sub-standard standards: What are the specifics of this research data? I would be very interested in knowing because I am amazed that a 25 year-old exchange student that I have talked to from Germany had no idea what shortwave even is. Not only that, but my Pakstani-born physician said that once FM came out, he never bothered with shortwave anymore, and was surprised when I told him stations still exist! Even as a shortwave enthusiast, even I must admit that I would have to see the data on this one. Let's face it, shortwave is mainly a hobby, and unless some major communications satellites are knocked off, it will probably stay that way. It seems that I remember Mytton saying something about when content was available on shortwave that the consumer is seeking, then they are more apt to turn to shortwave than FM. Well, that stands to reason. That's why anybody does what they choose. That is why people who watch TV, watch TV. People who listen to FM, then FM. And of course, the same applies for shortwave as well. It is called motivation. Read some Abraham Maslow, if that concept is confusing. Come on, we need data. Real data, not speculation and over-generalizations. Posted by: (Jason | August 22, 2005, futureofradio blog via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ FOCUS ON AM IBOC - PART II Last week, Barry McLarnon's "AM IBOC: Daytime Problems, and Disaster at Night" article was mentioned as MUST reading for all broadcast engineers involved in the AM IBOC roll out. This week, the edition of Radio Guide where the article appears has been web-posted. Just click on the URL below: http://www.oldradio.com/aug.pdf EARLY IBOC SURPRISES CONTINUE Early adopters of IBOC continue to be plagued with equipment reliability problems on both the AM and FM sides. Most engineers commenting to the CGC Communicator are asking that their reports be attributed to "anonymous," or not published at all. One engineer writes (about both Harris and BE gear), "IBOC is very, very FAR from reliable. In fact, I have found the hardware to be VERY fragile.... Bump it and it quits...." Of course, reliability issues will be cleared up over time as the industry matures and - conveniently - as the window for comments to the FCC closes. However, as the nationwide Beta Test of IBOC continues, the interference will undoubtedly continue to grow, especially in the AM band. One magazine editor writes, "Maybe someone will actually do something in DC that will stop this train wreck." On the positive side for IBOC is this USA Today story directed at the general public and touting the virtues of HD Radio: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-08-23-digital- radio_x.htm (both: CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAN DIEGO BPL UPDATE Questions remain about the imminent BPL trial at San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) involving Ambient Corp. BPL equipment. With so little predicted use of the system (involving only about 10 SDG&E employees per SignOnSanDiego), will parts of the system simply "squelch off" for lack of data flow? If so, the test will not be meaningful from an RFI standpoint. To answer this and other questions, CGC called Ambient Corporation and asked to talk to a systems engineer. No such contact would be allowed, Ambient said, unless CGC first signed a non-disclosure agreement, which we refused to do. As a consolation, however, Ambient invited us to send a letter with our questions, which we did. They answered as follows: "Thank you for your inquiry regarding the upcoming SDG&E BPL trial. All public information regarding the BPL trials in San Diego can be found on SDG&E's website http://www.sdge.com/bpl I invite you to continue to check their site for updated information." As of this writing, nothing new has been posted, and we would be very surprised if anything new is posted. ______ According to a recent communication from SDG&E, "Ambient is the first of several vendors from who we plan to purchase equipment and training to trial as part of our BPL pilot project. The contract with Ambient was a result of a competitive bid to all manufacturers of BPL product. We intend to bid for the next trial by the end of this quarter...." (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ 10-CODES TO BECOME EXTINCT -- "10-4 ON THAT" The Federal Emergency Management Agency has mandated the implementation of "NIMS" - the National Emergency Management System - by October 1. This means, in part, that police and other emergency agencies will be required to phase out the use of "ten codes" in favor of speaking and writing in plain text - this to assure that messages will be understood when large-scale disasters require different agencies to work together. All recipients of federal preparedness funds must adopt and use NIMS as a condition for the receipt of FY06 preparedness assistance funding, and they must use plain language on a day-to-day basis, not just for large-scale emergencies. http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=3755471&nav=2gQcdeGY http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2005/08/14/news/news03.txt http://www.nimsonline.com/ http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nims/concerning_nimsweb.pdf (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) CELLPHONES IN AFRICA ARE THE RAGE In just five years, the number of wireless users in Africa jumped from about 7 million to more than 76 million, as remote villagers grasped for technology that few outsiders thought they needed or wanted. Villagers in the two jungle provinces of Congo are so eager for service that they have built 50-foot-high tree houses to "catch" signals from distant cell sites. In spite of the obstacles faced in recharging handsets from scarce automotive batteries, the phones are being put to uses not even imagined by those erecting the networks. http://tinyurl.com/at5vv (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) with some excellent illustrations (gh) A POSSIBLE WAY TO END DANGEROUS POLICE PURSUITS A Virginia start-up called StarChase will soon unveil a system aimed at taking some of the danger out of police pursuits by using compressed air to fire an epoxy-coated projectile at a fleeing vehicle, thus attaching a GPS chip set, wireless modem and power supply to enable continuous remote tracking. Field tests will begin soon, and StarChase intends to officially unveil the system at next month's IAPC Conference in Miami. . . http://mrtmag.com/news/starchase_vehicle_tagging_082405/ (CGC Communicator Aug 28 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ###