DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-162, September 13, 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 1286: Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually; temporary] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours 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 or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO 1286 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1286 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1286.html WORLD OF RADIO 1286 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_09-07-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_09-07-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1286 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1286h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1286.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently? available: 1281, 1282, 1283, Extra 59, 1284, Extra 60, 1285, 1286) FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1287: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 2300 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 ON DEMAND: from early UT Thursday, change 1286 above to 1287 ** ABKHAZIA. 9495, Abkhazian Radio at 0550 27-8, relaying R Rossii // 9480. At 1518-21 new tune in with stable signal, using narrow filter, 34543 again relaying R Rossii until a Russian type signal starts on the frequency (i.e. the tones) (Zacharias Liangas, on ship to Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. RADIO AFGHANISTAN TO RETURN TO SHORTWAVE SOON The Indo-Asian News service quotes Abdul Rehman Panjshiri, director of international relations at the Afghan Radio and TV, as saying that "The 100 kW shortwave transmitter with seven antennas being installed by India at Yakatoot in Kabul is being completed this month. It will enable Kabul Radio programmes to be heard in South East Asia, South Asia, Africa and Europe. The people in remote areas in Afghanistan who remain cut off during the harsh winter months will now be able to follow the happenings in Kabul and other areas of the country through the programmes beamed on this shortwave transmitter." # posted by Andy @ 12:50 UT Sept 13 (Media Network blog via DXLD) WTFK? They should have coordinated the schedule already at HFCC Valencia (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345, Radio Nacional, 2105-2150, 11-09, programa "Fútbol Nacional", transmisión de los partidos de fútbol de la 6ª jornada del Torneo Apertura, narración del partido River-Arsenal. Identificación: "Estamos por Nacional para todo el país". Anuncios comerciales. 24322. El programa "Fútbo Nacional" se transmite todos los domingos desde las 0200 hasta las 0330 UT y desde las 1900 hasta las 0200 del lunes (Manuel Méndez, Spain, Grundig Yacht Boy 400, antena telescópica, escuchas realizadas en el casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Updated schedule for HCJB Australia (by frequencies): 11750 KNX 050 kW / 120 deg to SoPac 0700-0900 English Daily, strong co-ch TRT/Voice of Turkey in Turkish 15390 KNX 100 kW / 307 deg to SoAs: 1430-1530 English Daily, strong co-ch UNID (CNR?) in Chinese from 1500 15405 KNX 100 kW / 307 deg to SoEaAs: 0030-0045 Nepali Daily 0045-0100 Chattisgarhi Sun 0045-0100 Bangla Mon-Sat 0100-0115 English Sun 0100-0115 Chattisgarhi Sat/Mon 0100-0115 Bhojpuri Tue 0100-0115 Tamil Wed 0100-0115 Marwari Thu 0100-0115 Marathi Fri 0115-0130 Hindi Daily 0130-0200 English Daily 0200-0230 English Sun 0200-0230 Urdu Mon-Sat 15405 KNX 100 kW / 307 deg to SoAs: 1300-1315 English Sun 1300-1315 Chattisgarhi Sat/Mon 1300-1315 Bhojpuri Tue 1300-1315 Tamil Wed 1300-1315 Marwari Thu 1300-1315 Marathi Fri 1315-1330 Hindi Daily 1330-1400 English Sun 1330-1400 Urdu Mon-Sat 1400-1430 English Daily 15425 KNX 100 kW / 340 deg to EaAs: 1000-1030 Cantonese Daily 1030-1130 English Daily 15425*KNX 100 kW / 307 deg to SoEaAs: 1130-1200 English Daily 1200-1230 Indonesian Daily, strong co-ch BBC in French 1230-1245 Nepali Daily, strong co-ch BBC English by Radio in French 1245-1300 Hindi Sun 1245-1300 Bangla Mon-Sat 15525 KNX 100 kW / 340 deg to EaAs: 2230-2300 English Sun 2230-2300 Mandarin Mon-Sat 2300-2400 Mandarin Daily 0000-0030 English Daily DX Party Line - New schedule: Sat 0730-0800 on 11750 to SoPac (ex 0830-0900) Sat 1030-1100 on 15425 to EaAs (ex 1200-1230) Sat 1430-1500 on 15390 to SoAs (ex 1500-1530) (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Senado em 5990 kHz --- Olá a todos do grupo... Eu deveria ter postado esta notícia antes, mas por causa da falta de tempo, lá vai: Há algumas semanas eu recebi um QSL da Rádio Senado, e junto com o cartão, veio uma carta do Sr. José Carlos Sigmarina, coordenador da Seção de Ondas Curtas desta emissora. Nesta carta, ele comenta o baixo número de informes de recepção procedentes daqui do Ceará, em especial nas cidades do interior do estado. Devido a isso, ele me solicitou, caso seja possível, efetuar escutas nas cidades do interior e utilizando somente a antena do próprio receptor (eu utilizo uma loop magnética), pois eles tem necessidade de saber se o sinal da Rádio Senado está chegando a essas regiões com clareza. Como eu viajo muito pouco, gostaria de pedir aos amigos dexistas que moram no interior do Ceará que enviem seus informes de recepção para a Rádio Senado. O endereço deles é Rádio Senado Senado Federal Praça dos Três Poderes Anexo II - Bloco B - Térreo Brasília/DF Cep: 70165-900. Um abraço a todos e até mais (J. Carlos, Sept 12, radioescutas via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 5030 missing on several evenings recently; anybody heard them in the last few weeks? (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster Germany, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos cordiales, una nueva actualizacón del Africalist está disponible en su pagina web: http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist/ Este interesante listado de los amigos sudafricanos en formato pdf en la siguiente dirección: http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist/africalist.pdf Esta actualización corresponde al 28 de Agosto del 2005, una interesante referencia de las emisoras del continente africano. 73 y buen DX (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia) España, Noticias DX via DXLD) Altho it is not obvious, the Africalist is maintained by: Thorsten Hallmann in Germany, not ``South African friends``; and does not cover all African stations, as is clearly spelt out on the page (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Kevin R. asked: ``Is the CBC still on strike?`` to which Harold Sellers replied: ``Sure is and there doesn't appear to be much movement between the two sides.`` Actually, there is no one at CBC on strike, nor has there been for several years. The 5500 employees who are members of the Canadian Media Guild were LOCKED OUT on August 15. There is a big difference. A strike occurs when a bargaining unit withdraws its members from the workplace to protest lack of results in negotiations. A lockout occurs when the management of a company closes its doors to its employees when they don't really want to bargain at all. Good union answer, eh? It is foolish to believe that the lockout was anything but a calculated action by the CBC - we knew last winter the precise day we'd be on the street. We also had (have) a pretty good idea for how long. The feeling is that the CBC will want us back in time to get Hockey Night In Canada up and running. Personally, I don't care any more because this is the third time I've been on the street in six years and I no longer feel any loyalty to my workplace. When we go back, from that moment until my retirement, it will be a paycheck and nothing more. Don't even think of asking me for a tour because I'll just say no. You may wish to log on to http://www.cmgtoronto.ca and follow some of the links to, for example CMG on the line and CBC unplugged for information from the line. To establish a fair practice, you may also wish to log on to http://www.cbc.ca for their version of reality. You'll love the one about how CBC's loyal audience will all return to us when this is resolved. Uh-huh. But I'll refrain from further editorial comment. PO'ed but keeping busy, (Ori VA3XW Siegel, Sept 11, ODXA via DXLD) Ori: I'm completely sympathetic and understand your frustration. But isn't the "new" attitude you say you will bring to your workplace precisely what those who engineered the lockout WANT you to do? Breaking public broadcasting means breaking the spirit of people like yourself who have always felt that what they do is not just a job, but a craft --- Not just widget building but a true service to the public and for the public good. Respectfully, (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) You're right, John. It worked (Ori, ibid.) ** CANADA. CBC`S NOT PERFECT, BUT WE NEED IT Saturday, September 10, 2005, The Telegram, St. John`s http://www.thetelegram.com/news.aspx?pname=Editorials§ion=Editorials Some things reach the end of their useful life, run out and get thrown away. The manufacturers of the Bic pen, for example, announced on Thursday that they had manufactured their 100-billionth pen, meaning - -- when you look at the manufacturing announcement in a different light --- an unimaginably-huge pile of thrown-away pens somewhere. Other things are worth keeping, even though their flaws may be legion. Everyone probably has a battered old kitchen utensil somewhere — a vegetable peeler held together with string, an old pepper mill that perpetually falls off the stove --- that just seems to work better than any replacement version you try out. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation certainly fits that mould. With the current CBC lockout, the usual critics are coming out of the woodwork to ask that perpetual CBC question --- is the broadcaster worth its huge federal subsidies and, even more, is it worth those subsidies when it is competing so thoroughly with private broadcasters? As usual, there are other broadcasters who focus on the subsidy and simply say the CBC shouldn’t get public money, conveniently forgetting the millions of dollars private broadcasters take out of federal television production funds. It is an easy target because the subsidy is right there in front of your eyes --- not as visible, say, as million-dollar funding from federal business development funds, or free Crown land and tax breaks from provincial governments, or even the defacto government support of EI payments to workers in companies that specialize in seasonal industries. But the CBC is a more complicated equation than that. Is the CBC sometimes parochial, occasionally stodgy, and downright unable to decide whether it is a private business or a public broadcaster? Yes. Are their journalists paid substantially more than their private- sector counterparts in this province? And do they sometimes look down their noses at those private-sector compatriots? Yes, again. Does the CBC --- even locally --- have its own particular and sometimes frustratingly aggravating self-righteousness? Absolutely. But can anybody in their right mind honestly argue that we`d be better off without it? Absolutely not. And especially not in Newfoundland and Labrador. For weeks now, there has been a decided dearth of local broadcast news and current affairs. While they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, CBC radio and television have a crucial place in the broadcasting spectrum, especially in as far as their responsibilities as public broadcasters give them the opportunity and ability to broach topics that private broadcasters have long since quietly given up on. The continuing lockout is damaging our ability to hear one part of a range of voices and opinions. And the damage could be permanent. Monday was to have seen the relaunch of a one-hour supper hour Newfoundland and Labrador newscast on CBC Television, an effort to reverse the mistake that cost the province Here and Now. Now, you have to wonder if that relaunch will even happen. The CBC isn`t perfect, and it never will be. They are not the be-all and end-all of the news business. But they are an important voice in the province, and one we can`t afford to have silenced. No matter what anyone says, the CBC is not disposable media. This lockout has gone on long enough (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. New pirate on 104.9 in Toronto: DJ-FM, southern Ontario's dance music beat, playing all your dance anthems, yadda yadda... sounds like Clubland on Adelaide and Peter Streets (the Toronto party bar district). 104.9, my guess is 10 watts. For those in the area, I tried to direction-find and they're very strong near Jane and Outlook, between Lawrence and Eglinton. It gets very strong, but lots of nulls and crackles. I can't seem to find the spot where it really bleeds onto adjacents. The person who told me says he plans to complain to Industry Canada. So get this while you can. Found this on the web... The station does not appear to have a site, but someone has created a gag that mimics a CRTC approval for the station... http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/showthread/t-285548.html (Saul Chernos, Toronto, Sept 12, WTFDA via DXLD) This is a more-or-less edited copy of actual CRTC Decision 2005-366: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-366.htm which is the grant of CIMY-FM Pembroke. Note that they forgot to change "Pembroke" to "Toronto" at one point! Is CHOQ-105.1 on yet? (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, ibid.) ** CHILE. Re 5-161, impending demise of R. Beethoven: link to playlist in UT -4, is under ADVANCE INFO / MOSTLY CLASSICAL on my Monitoring Reminders Calendar. So far so good, still with nice webcast, player button atop. But from Oct 10, per WRTH 2005, if it still exist, UT -3. No, that was the 2004y date it changed; per http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2005b.html the 2005y date it switches is October 9, a Sunday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see INTERNATIONAL ** CHINA [and non]. China Radio International changes: 1600-1757 (ex 1600-1727) Swahili on 11600 KAS, 12000 XIA + from 1700 on 15125 BKO 1800-1827 (ex 1730-1827) Hausa on 11640 BKO, 13670 BKO (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) BKO = Bamako, Mali ** COLOMBIA [and non]. ``Yes, this is a station of the FARC`` is the title of a story [in Spanish] about Colombian clandestine Voz de la Resistencia which was aired on the KBS World Spanish language service in two installments, on August 6 and 13. To the write-up at http://argenpress.info/nota.asp?num=021617 a few pictures have been added from the studios of the guerrilla station somewhere in SW Colombia, one of the pics showing the manager of the station, `Lucero Palmera`, wife of `Simón Trinidad`, a high- ranking guerrilla who was detained in Quito, Ecuador, and extradited to the USA. The author, Dick Emanuelsson, labeled by KBS (and Argenpress) as ``a Swedish correspondent in Latin America``, has close and long-standing personal ties with the Colombian guerrillas, having facilitated the set-up of a Sweden-based website of the ANNCOL news bureau. Considered the principal mouthpiece of the Colombian FARC guerrillas, the ANNCOL website was suddenly moved from Sweden to Denmark just over one year ago. The president of the supporting local Danish organization is now facing terrorist charges, having publicly invited Danes to raise funds for the Colombian guerrillas. Commentaries written by Dick Emanuelsson were sometimes heard, in the latter part of the 1990`s, on Radio Patria Libre, the clandestine station of the ELN guerrilla movement (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s a long article in Spanish, with photos, said to be the first authorized visit by an outsider (tho obviously a sympathizer) to a FARC radio station, in this case the Bloque Sur outlet of Voz de la Resistencia, which is on FM, but WTFK? Normal hours are 6-10 am and 4- 8 pm [= 1100-1500, 2100-0100 UT], but goes off the air abruptly when planes are heard in the distance, or when lightning threatens the antenna (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB plans just a few changes for B-05: 9745 in morning to Mexico, 13-15 will change to 11960; 11720 to Ams in Spanish 23-01 moves to 11700 (Doug Weber, HCJB DX Partyline Sept 10, notes by Glenn Hauser for DXLD) And DX Parytline will soon be available for podcasting; see http://www.hcjb.org ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA? 15190, unknown if it is R Africa #2. On 25 August, I heard a religious program but signal is quite poor with 1103 and 4 m wire, sudden sign off at 1400 with quite much splatter from 15180 BBC Arabic service (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA: Voice of Tigre Revolution, 5500 audible every afternoon, but 6350 not heard for weeks, also not on former alternatives 6315, 7515 etc. Anybody heard them? (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster Germany, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940/6210, Fana, 1818 14-8, playing pop songs, OM talk in vernacular. 35333 for 6940 with 6210 slightly QRMed (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Test transmissions of CVC International via DTK T-Systems on September 12-17 via WER 500 kW / 180 deg to NoCeAf: 1500-1700 on 17545 (34443) 1700-1900 on 13820 (34443) 1900-2000 on 9775 (55555) (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) Languages? ** GUAM. Radio Baragada antenna site [sic : it is Barrigada --- gh] A few years ago when Super Typhoon Pongsang ripped Guam apart I was one of the few who was fortunate enough to view most of the damages to the island, and had the chance to view AWR, and KTWR up close, and also their damages. The one badly damaged antenna was Baragada, which was damaged so bad it was never repaired. In the same location but off in the distance was an antenna farm that seemed quite massive. I was later told by the local hams that it was shared with the AFN and also USCG's broadcast to the Pacific for weather warnings. The last few years I always drove by in hopes of getting a better glance of the antennas. But for years always saw these Government Property signs. My ship is also guarded by the same group who patrol the area. And in my quest for wanting to see it, I asked 3 of the guards about my chance of seeing it up close, fearing the answer would be no!? The answer was Why not!? So I did and was I in for a shock. At least 20 or 30 antennas and most of `em the same. They stood anywhere from 50 to 150 fee tall. I was kinda nervous to drive further down as I could see what looked like a guard shack but was wrong when I got closer. But the security guards told me not a problem as long as I am outside the gates. I never found the other side. I will forward some pics of the antennas as soon as I can transfer `em to CDR/RW. It was such a site to behold and wished I could find the door for the transmitters. 73's from (Larry Fields, n6hpx/kh2, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. R. Budapest B-05 English: 0200-0300 9515; 0330-0400 9775 both to NAm 1600-1630 9565, 6025; 2000-2030 3975, 6025 both to Eu 2200-2230 9735 Af, 6025 Eu (Bob Padula, via HCJB DX Partyline Sept 3 via DXLD) Seems unlikely the 0200 would be an hour long unlike all the others, probably typo. In B-04, extending into A-05? some but not all of the 6025 transmissions were relayed via Slovakia; will that still be the case? This was to be temporary until a RB transmitter relocated (gh) ** INTERNATIONAL. Dates and UT of DST ending (northern hemisphere) or starting (southern hemisphere), before the massive shifts on 29-30 Oct; note that the local date may be different than the UT date: Sun 04 Sep 0100 Namibia Sun 04 Sep 0600 Falkland Islands Sun 18 Sep 0300 Uruguay Wed 21 Sep 1930 Iran Fri 23 Sep 1700/1800 Mongolia [2 zones] Thu 29 Sep 2100 Egypt Thu 29 Sep 2300 Tunisia Fri 30 Sep 2100 Syria Sat 1 Oct 0100 Iraq Sat 1 Oct 1400 New Zealand Sat 1 Oct 1600 Tasmania Sat 8 Oct 2300 Israel Sun 9 Oct 0400 Chile Sun 16 Oct 0300 Brazil Sun 16 Oct 0400 Paraguay Thu 20 Oct 2100 Gaza Thu 20 Oct 2200 Jordan (extracted by gh, adding days of week, from http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2005b.html for DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Not URUGUAY on 18 Sep: see 5-163} ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Interesting behind-the-scenes look at the politics surrounding the CSR / Sirius Canada / CRTC decision In today's Globe and Mail. See http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050912/RSATRADIO12/TPBusiness/TopStories or http://tinyurl.com/8g9t8 The article primarily profiles the efforts of John Bitove to negate the lobbying push of the CHUM / Astral bid to have the satellite-based offerings rejected (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. 17680, 11/09 1600, RTE Ireland transmitter? Sport live, special football broadcast to Africa. Good signal parallel with lower 15255 Rx rx321 & t2fd Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** IRELAND NORTHERN. LISNAGARVEY MW TRANSMITTERS ON REDUCED POWER/OFF AIR FOR MONTH --- Planned work at the Lisnagarvey transmitter affecting reception of BBC Radio Ulster on 1341 kHz and Radio 4 MW The transmitting station at Lisnagarvey, near Sprucefield, Northern Ireland, will be undergoing some extensive essential maintenance during the whole of September in order to ensure the ongoing safety of the structure. Listeners to BBC Radio Five Live on 909 kHz should find that there is no change to their service during this work. Listeners to BBC Radio Ulster on 1341 kHz may find that their reception is slightly impaired during this work, although Radio Ulster on FM and DAB is entirely unaffected, and should offer an alternative for many listeners. During some of the work, it will not be possible for safety reasons to keep BBC Radio Four medium-wave (on 720 kHz) on-air. The BBC is working hard with its transmission provider to ensure that the service will be available during those programmes which are carried only on it and not on FM. There will be no disruption at all to ball-by-ball commentary of the cricket in Test Match Special nor during the Daily Service each weekday. At other times, Radio 4 is available throughout Northern Ireland between 92 and 95 FM, and on DAB digital radio. (BBC Teletext via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Teletext on another page says "Transmitters off air: Lisnagarvey - all mw - until 5 October" and on another page "Transmitters on reduced power: Lisnagarvey - all MW until 5 October". Apart from R Ulster (1341 kHz) and R4 (720) perhaps this work also affects R5 (909) Talksport (1089) and Virgin Radio (1215) from Lisnagarvey ? (Dave Kenny, Sept 11, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** KURE ISLAND. Kure-Osity Bulletin #4. Gentlemen, Please feel free to use this as you choose. Thanks and 73, Ward N0AX Silver Kure-Osity #4 7 September 2005 by H. Ward Silver, N0AX n0ax @ arrl.net K7C Team Member K7C Web site: http://www.cordell.org/htdocs/KURE/ Working and QSLing the Expedition Team members are converging on Honolulu to complete preparations and sail for Kure on the 15th of September. Captain Bill Austin is preparing the Machias to be our home away from home for the next month and local kahunas Kimo KH7U and Pat NH6UY are doing yeoman service in handling gear and shipping chores. For example, to prevent importation of invasive species to Kure, new clothing is required and all supplies will be deep frozen before shipping! To do my part, I've purchased the world's ugliest tennis shoes just for the island and you'll no doubt seen my colorful apparel in several photos. Now, the important part - working the Expedition. For those DXers located around the Pacific Rim, we ask your forbearance and patience as we take advantage of any openings to the other side of the world. Kure is very rare in Europe and the propagation path takes us directly over the North Pole and through the auroral zone. If the propagation gods smile upon us, we will be able to put many EU call signs in the log, but only if our friends closer to Kure give them a chance. The same goes for the various regions of North America - be disciplined and stand by when requested. While you are listening for Kure, also take some time to listen to the NCDXF beacon system's outpost in Honolulu, KH6WO. The system is described at http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html If you can hear that beacon, you can probably hear us and maybe we can hear you. We will be particularly interested in reports from the US, SA, and JA of 10- and 12-meter beacon reception. From EU, reception reports on 17-meters and up will be of interest. You can contribute those reports through our relay stations listed on the Web site and in the previous Kure-Osity Bulletin. Our first goal will be to give as many different DXers a contact with the island and that may mean focusing on the one or two most reliable bands for the first few days. Later in the expedition, we'll try to explore openings on more marginal bands. Pay close attention to the DXA Web site and to the K7C operators instructions and bulletins. Because we are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, we won't have the luxury of big openings on any band we choose. Be alert and don't depend on the spotting networks to lead you to us - keep that Big Knob turning! Speaking of DXA, the K7C expedition will aim for the highest standards of logging accuracy, even under trying conditions of personal or ionospheric circumstance, but don't presume that if the call sign is "close" you'll get a card. Use the band-mode status display on the DXA Web site http://www.cordell.org/DXA to confirm that your call is in the log. If it is, don't make "insurance QSOs", depriving some other DXer of their contact. Make sure that your clock and calendar are set properly to avoid time and date errors on your QSL. The mark of a good DXer is accurate logging and QSLing - after all, are we radio operators or computer screen watchers? If possible, I will file one more bulletin before the Machias shoves off from the pier and we begin our adventure. All is well, and we hope to be QRV on schedule from the oldest and furthest of the Hawaiian Islands, setting your imaginations and S-meter needles jumping! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-- (via) Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - kb8nw @ barf80.nshore.org --or-- kb8nw @ arrl.net Editor of the "Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin" (OPDX - "DXer's Tool of Excellence"), President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA), DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division, Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) (via OPDX via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) Here`s a page with lots of general info about Kure, a.k.a. Ocean Island, a.k.a. Moku Papapa, and links to more: http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/about/kure.php I was trying to confirm how it`s pronounced, but no help found so far; however, it was originally spelt Cure. Seems it was renamed every time it was rediscovered. There is also a city in Japan called Kure, which of course, is pronounced as in Japanese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. EMR RELAYS ON 9290 KHZ Sunday 18th of September 2005 at 0800 to 0900 and 1600 to 1700 UT. The EMR Mailbox programme with Mike Taylor will include letters and emails from last month`s programme. Also, you can phone the studio and take part in the programme yourself! Do not miss it. Good Listening 73s (Tom Taylor, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR [and non]. Burma/Germany: DEUTSCHE WELLE PROGRAMME TO BE AIRED IN BURMA | Text of report in English by Burmese newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on 10 September Yangon [Rangoon], 9 September: A German company has agreed to air its satellite programmes through the Myanmar Radio and TV [MRTV] for Myanmar [Burmese] audience at a meeting held today at MRTV. Deputy Director-General Dr Reinhard Hartstein of the German company Deutsche Welle (DW), and MRTV Director-General U Khin Maung Htay signed the contract in the presence of Deputy Minister for Information Brig-Gen Aung Thein and Charge d'Affaires of German Embassy Mr Dirk Augustin. DW and MRTV officials also discussed exchange of TV programmes between the two nations. Source: The New Light of Myanmar, Rangoon in English 10 Sep 05 p 11 (via BBCM via DXLD) Yet DTK, T-Systems also in Germany, is involved in transmitting the clandestine Democratic V. of Burma (gh, DXLD) BURMA/GERMANY: GERMAN EMBASSY CLARIFIES DEUTSCHE WELLE RE-BROADCAST DEAL | Text of report in English by Thailand-based Burmese exile publication Irrawaddy website on 12 September German public television broadcaster Deutsche Welle has signed an agreement offering Burma's state-owned MRTV [Myanmar Radio and TV] retransmission rights on its programmes, representatives of the Berlin-based network have confirmed. Deutsche Welle's Deputy Director-General Dr Reinhard Hartstein signed the agreement with Deputy Minister for Information Brig Gen Aung Thein in Rangoon on Friday [9 September], The New Light of Myanmar reported over the weekend. Claims by the state-run publication that the deal would see an exchange of programming between both parties was denied by the German Embassy in Rangoon, which said the relationship would be strictly "one-way". Hartstein was travelling back to Bonn, Germany on Monday [12 September] and was therefore unavailable for comment. The deal means that Burma's flagship channel can use Deutsche Welle programmes at no charge and subject to a maximum 24-hour retransmission delay. Concerned that the junta might manipulate its coverage, the German network included in the agreement a clause terminating the rights if transmissions are deemed to be "manipulated". The German Charge d'Affaires in Rangoon, Dirk Augustin, said Deutsche Welle has asked the embassy "to keep an eye" on MRTV 's usage of its service. "In general, though, I don't see a problem at the moment just with providing the [Burmese] people with some credible information," Augustin said. The German broadcaster has a policy of providing its coverage at no cost to countries "where it is known that the local TV programmes do not satisfy the information needs of the population", Augustin said. Deutsche Welle's service is already available in Burma but only by satellite, which, at a cost of up to 300 US dollars, is prohibitively expensive for most Burmese. MRTV, however, is available to anyone with a television set at no extra charge. Friday's signing ceremony ends months of negotiations, which began in February, by Deutsche Welle and its representative agents in the region. An agent that made the initial trip to Rangoon for discussions with the Ministry of Information, Susanne Merz, said Minister Kyaw Hsan was supportive from the very beginning but that the cabinet took months to approve the decision. Merz and Augustin confirmed there have also been preliminary discussions between Deutsche Welle and MRTV on the possibility of journalism training, although no agreement has been reached yet. Source: Irrawaddy website, Bangkok, in English 12 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Radio used: NRD 545. Antenna Used: Quantam QX Pro 1640, KFXY, 0446 [EDT?], Enid OK. Fair to poor using Sangean 909. Sports talk show with announcer mention Tommy John surgery on someone. 09-10-05 (John Hunter, GA, ABDX via DXLD) With WTNI gone ** OMAN. Radio Sultanate of Oman in Arabic noted: 0600-0800 on 17630 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu (registered 0600-1000) 0800-1400 on 13640*SEB 100 kW / 320 deg to ME (registered 0600-1400) * strong co-ch RDP Int/Radio Portugal in Portuguese on Sat/Sun (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Addresses of radio stations: http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/media_directory.htm (Reijo Alapiha, Joensuu, Finland, HCDX via DXLD) {Just a few, mostly in Quezon City} ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 1530, WCKY, 0131 [EDT?] Cincinnati OH. Blasting in with religion program with preacher saying that the Hurricane disaster was divine restitution for sin. Gave address as Box 611, Walterboro SC 29488. 9-12-05 (John Hunter, GA, ABDX via DXLD) Guess who? And guess who put his foot in his mouth again? (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. As mentioned earlier, REE`s ``La Bañera de Ulises`` is moving to Saturday from next week, said the host upon closing at 1454 UT Tuesday Sept 13. Also mentioned Radio Tres, so maybe that is where it originate; RNE Radio 3 described in WRTH 2005 as an FM 24 hour music program for young people. But he could not give us the time(s) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Re 5-161 Latest changes at SLBC, Sri Lanka: - what is actually their full short wave schedule at the moment? Guess also 15747 still is off. 73, (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, Sept 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Erik: All I can tell you dealing with 15747 is that Sri Lanka moved back to 15745 since three weeks ago for that 0030 to 0400 English sked. But reception around here is too erratic on that frequency, most of all due to propagation blackouts for the last week. // 9770 is currently coming audible after 0200 but fading after 0300. Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) FYI, Alok das Gupta tells me that he's trying to monitor their current schedule for publication on dxasia.info - I will post a message here when it's done (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Frequency change for SLBC in Sinhala to ME: 1610-1840 NF 11715*EKA 100 kW / 350 deg, ex 11775 * strong co-channel 1540-1640 Vatican Radio in Armenian/Russian For B-05: 1610-2040 on 11715 EKA 100 kW / 350 deg and 11775 EKA 035 kW / 350 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. Re DXLD 5-161: "4750, R Peace, 0250-0330, Aug 27, no sign of ..." --- but I'm quite sure that I heard their other transmitter on 5895 sometimes last week: slow song/gospel at 1750, s-off 1758. No more details, sorry (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster Germany, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, Omdurman, 1652 22-8, discussions between OM and YL. Fair signal but undermodulated, 44432 (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. EXTRA TRANSMISSION FROM GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ per gli appassionati di VLF: SAQ-GROUP From: Lars Kalland On Sunday September 25th 2005 there will be transmissions on VLF 17.2 kHz with the Alexanderson alternator at 0930 and 1230 UT. The station will be open to visitors and there will also be a "flea market" with surplus from Grimeton Radio and The Radio Museum in Gothenburg. -- (via Andrea Borgnino IW0HK, http://www.mediasuk.org/iw0hk http://www.mediasuk.org/archive http://www.biciurbana.org bclnews.it via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Mediascan returns, as a blog --- Hi everyone, Things have been pretty quiet on the MediaScan front recently, as my other duties at Radio Sweden have prevented me from compiling proper bulletins. What I plan to do now is update with media news, primarily about Sweden, on an irregular, but more frequent, basis, as a blog. You can find the blog itself at http://MediaScan.org But the blogs (published through Blogdrive) should also be available as an RSS feed: http://mediascan.blogdrive.com/index.xml I wrote a couple of new items yesterday. I probably won't have time today, despite a couple of interesting stories. They will probably have to wait a day or two. But give it a try, subscribing to the RSS, and let me know what you think. If you have trouble with RSS, you can always get yourself a My Yahoo page at Yahoo, and subscribe to MedisScan and other RSS feeds there. Also, don't forget that Radio Sweden's Monday to Friday programs are now available as a podcast! More details at http://RadioSweden.org Take care, (George Wood, Radio Sweden, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Problems with our Broadcasts Sunday Listeners may have noted problems with our broadcasts on Sunday. A computer at our transmitter station in Hörby apparently froze and many of our broadcasts were in the wrong direction and on the wrong frequencies. Our medium wave transmissions were off the air completely. Correct programming has resumed, while technicians try to work out what happened. (I'm going to try to keep MediaScan alive now as a blog, we'll see how well it goes.) Posted at 02:47 pm Sept 12 by gwood (via DXLD) And: ** SWEDEN [non]. New DRM Tests to Europe --- Through the courtesy of Radio Canada International, starting Sept. 12th Radio Sweden will be testing in DRM from Sackville to Europe in English on 15120 kHz at 1815-1845 UT. The test transmissions will last for at least 4 days. Posted at 03:36 pm by gwood More: http://mediascan.blogdrive.com/ (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) 20 over 9 here Sept 13 (gh, OK) ** SYRIA. SÍRIA – A programação em espanhol da Rádio Damasco foi sintonizada, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista, em 10 de setembro, às 2327, pela freqüência de 9330 kHz. Após o Boletin Sintético, a emissão foi encerrada. Ao dar os créditos, a apresentadora disse: ``desde los micrófonos sus amigas Amélia Puga y Adelina Moralez`` (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 11 via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 9330, R. Damaskus, 1659 22-8, with Arabic pop songs TA 1700 with Russian program, but did not find ID (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. TAJIKISTAN(non): New transmissions for Voice of Tibet in Tibetan to India: 1354-1427 and 1527-1600 on 17550 DB 100 kW / 131 deg. For B-05 both on 7465 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 13 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re 5-161: Glenn, I'm sorry I didn't mention the Moosbrunn frequencies that Ö1 used during the transmission of The Last Night of the Proms. They were 5945 kHz and 6155 kHz. Both could be heard loud and clear here in Portugal, with 6155 kHz performing a little better than the other. 73 (Fernando de Sousa Ribeiro, Oporto, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ll bet you could not have pried that info out of BBC (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES EXPANDED PROGRAMMING, TIME CHANGES FOR THE HORN OF AFRICA http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2005-09-12-horn-changes.cfm PRESS RELEASE - Washington, D.C., September 12, 2005 - The Voice of America (VOA) has doubled its Amharic language broadcast and moved the time and frequencies for Afan Oromo and Tigrigna language broadcasts in response to audience requests. Beginning today, VOA's Amharic language broadcast expanded to a full hour every day at 1800-1900 UT (9:00-10:00 p.m. locally/2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT). The half-hour expansion will allow VOA to provide new programs, including a Saturday audience-request music show and other features designed especially for young listeners. VOA also moved its half-hour weekday Afan Oromo and Tigrigna language broadcasts to new times starting today. Afan Oromo now begins at 1730 UT (8:30 p.m. locally/1:30 p.m. EDT) and Tigrigna begins at 1900 UT (10:00 p.m. locally/3:00 p.m. EDT). All three programs will move to common frequencies: 9875, 11905 and 13870 kHz. VOA Director David Jackson said the changes will make it easier for audiences in the Horn of Africa to listen to VOA's news, sports, features, and entertainment programming. "The time changes for Afan Oromo and Tigrigna and the expanded Amharic program reflect VOA's commitment to Africa, and especially to the Horn of Africa," said Jackson. "These changes mean that VOA's languages to this important region will be broadcast in an uninterrupted, two-hour time block to accommodate our listeners who want to hear news and programs in more than one language." VOA's Horn of Africa broadcast languages are believed to reach at least two-thirds of the total population of Ethiopia, and have a significant audience in Eritrea. VOA's Horn of Africa website, which is particularly popular with the diaspora, is also being enhanced to allow greater access to daily broadcasts and an archive of past programs. Visitors can listen and download VOA programs at: http://www.VOANews.com/horn/index.cfm (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg and via Md. Azizul Alam Al-Amin, Bangladesh, DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn, Some Afghani station heard on Sept 12 at 1630 UT on 15090 with news from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Arab countries and mentioned Radio Aushnoi (do not know if I got the name right). Then on Sept 13 on the same frequency at 1415 thought heard Watandar. Can't understand (Manikant Lodaya, location?, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Manikant, That`s the VOA service to Afghanistan via Kuwait, yes on an aeronautical band frequency. It`s scheduled 1430-1830 alternating Dari and Pashto. I believe the name they use is Ashna. Before that the same transmitter carries RFE (R Free Afghanistan) also alternating Dari and Pashto, 0930-1430. 73, (Glenn to Manikant, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO FREE ASIA BOARD APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT The Board of Directors of Radio Free Asia has appointed Vice President for Administration and Finance Libby Liu as the organization’s new President. Liu succeeds RFA’s founding president, Richard Richter, who retired in July. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Berkeley, an MBA from the Wharton School, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Funded by an annual grant from the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors, RFA is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information in nine languages to listeners in Asia where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. The RFA Board issued the following statement: "Finding a replacement for Dick Richter has been a difficult process. He created a broadcast organization with impeccable journalistic credentials to promote freedom and democracy in Asia. It is critical that RFA maintain and perfect that strong foundation. To find a successor, the Board initiated a nationwide search for potential candidates. The response to public notices provided a number of well- qualified applicants who were interviewed by members of the Board. RFA Board member and media executive Joaquin Blaya led the search and coordinated the interviews. "As the search and interview process proceeded, it became clear that the best candidate was already employed at RFA. As Vice President for Administration and Finance, Ms. Liu has demonstrated her managerial expertise in guiding RFA through a challenging period of internal changes. In her nearly two years at RFA, Ms. Liu has strengthened communication and trust between RFA management and its broadcast staff. "The Board believes Ms. Liu’s credentials will serve RFA and its mission well. With business and law degrees, experience in administration, strategic planning, and human resource management, as well as the practice of law, Ms. Liu offers a unique mix of skills well-suited to the continued recognition of RFA as a premier international broadcaster in Asia. Her Asian heritage and Mandarin language skills only add to her ability to connect with RFA’s employees and broadcast mission." # posted by Andy @ 14:15 UT Sept 12 (Media Network blog via DXLD) with her portrait ** U S A [non]. CZECH REPUBLIC/USA: ANNIVERSARY OF RFE/RL RELOCATION MARKED IN PRAGUE | Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Politicians, former anti-Communist dissidents and journalists marked the 10th anniversary of the moving of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from Munich to Prague at a ceremony at the station's headquarters in the former building of the Czechoslovak Parliament in Prague. They stressed that spreading free information to countries with totalitarian regimes is symbolic and important for Czech society given its past. Informal leader of domestic opposition Vaclav Havel, who became Czechoslovak president after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, said that he perceived the station supported and financed by the USA as a connection between dissidents and society. He said that while criminal prosecution and imprisonment threatened for contact with Radio Free Europe at the beginning, later this connection paradoxically protected dissidents since the regime did not dare to intervene against those who became publicly known thanks to RFE/RL broadcasts. Former journalist, dissident and first Czechoslovak post-communist foreign minister Jiri Dienstbier recalled how he had to listen to the radio broadcasts in Polish because its Czech broadcasts were jammed. He then exchanged information with Polish colleagues who listened to the Czechoslovak version of the programmes. "We thus improved the knowledge of neighbouring languages in such a way. From our point of view, millions of crowns spent on jammers were wasted money," Dienstbier said. Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek (senior government Social Democrats, CSSD) said in his speech that Radio Free Europe was a phenomenon which influenced deeply and permanently not only him. Constant attacks against the radio and futile efforts at downplaying its activities were proof that the then power stood on the clay legs, Paroubek said. "RFE/RL never was a mere radio station. It allowed us to feel a live contact with the Euro-American civilisation to which we had belonged for a long time," Paroubek said. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1750 gmt 12 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. NOT IN AGREEMENT: AFTRA (the primary Broadcaster's Union) and Viacom/Infinity, in the form of WCBS-FM/101.1. You may recall that the longtime Rock Oldies stalwart dumped it all to become "Jack-FM" (tm) a few months back; as that occurred of course all 'CBS-FM Jocks were swept out the door. AFTRA says Infinity failed to pay severance to the part-time airstaffers, in Contract violation; they say previous talks saw assurances by Management that any "planned" format changes (and subsequent staff terminations) would occur on or before 1/1/2005. (The station was "Jack"ed just after Memorial Day.) Allegedly, those talks only covered the period of time up TO New Year's Day; thus no severance for the ex-Jocks. Additionally, as the format was changed, CBS assured Oldies fans that the old format (replete with its many Jocks) would be available via Internet stream, and via its supplemental Digital ("HD Radio") carrier. AFTRA says it's not to be --- from a Union press release, via the New York Radio Message Board: "CBS has also broken its promise--made on its own Internet site and through the media--that the public would be able to enjoy many of the on-air personalities they have listened to over the years via an Internet stream and eventually on HD radio. The company has informed AFTRA that those plans 'didn’t work out' and that the services of the on-air personalities were no longer needed. ``'WCBS-FM has a right to change its format,' said Richard Larkin, Associate Executive Director/House Counsel of AFTRA’s New York Local, 'but it does not have a right to mislead the public, deceive the staff, and deceive the union. The staff at WCBS-FM were the legendary voices of rock-and-roll, pioneers of radio. They are professionals who have created memories for generations of New Yorkers. They deserve better treatment than what they are getting from a place many called home and from people that they considered family.'`` (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update Sept 11 via DXLD) Full UD appears in the dxld yg ** U S A. I happened to be listening to KCRW stream on demand of Sept 4 Le Show, around 2000 UT Sept 12, when the power failure in L.Á. hit, but no interruption in that listening whatsoever (this was not a download first). But when I refreshed the KCRW page at 2122, it became Unable To Display (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KPBS: 45 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE media bytes for monday, september 12, 2005 | http://sdradio.net/today.shtml Quite a detailed history and chronology of KPBS radio, San Diego; probably up for one week or less (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Philadelphia area pirate --- 95.3; strong signal, probably downtown Phila. Format is oldies, seguéd, interspersed with varying lengths of station jingles from long ago. The current string of jingles has now gone about 3+ minutes before ending just now. They must be playing an entire collection of jingle packs. This was also quite strong on my car radio at the office in Plymouth Meeting. Bearing from here is just about 135-140 degrees. I'd heard the same thing a couple of weeks ago, much weaker, and much more toward 90 degrees for one day. This has as strong a signal here as the one a couple of years back on 95.3 that the FCC finally busted - that was Radio El Sol and was Hispanic. Go get this before they're busted if you're anywhere near enough to hear some of the smaller licensed area stations! (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ),[15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], Sept 12, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. We can all regail about clueless Rat Shack employees until we are blue in the face. The problem is, however, that the stations really don't care about off air viewers any more. Yes, it's true..... Most stations look at cable as 95-99% of their market so the cost of a transmitter is a 'loss leader' they need to get the 'must carry' rules to work. The REAL bane of their existence is the ruling that 'must carry' does not apply to extra streams of digital on air broadcast so they are 'wasting' lots of money on extra streams that 'no-one' watches. Had a local station GM tell that to me, and she was rather taken aback when I asked 'Do I *really* look like no-one to you?" Well, *I* got a chuckle from it anyway. I will quote from an article I wrote for the Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts magazine back in April this year: "The FCC Media Bureau released a 24-page ``Staff Report Concerning Over-the-Air Broadcast Television Viewers`` on February 28 this year. It finds that well under 2% of off-air-only households watch DTV. According to the joint submission of the Association for Maximum Service Television and the National Association of Broadcasters, 177,000 off-air-only households watched DTV via antenna as of a Knowledge Networks/SRI spring 2004 survey (554,469 watch if you include off-air DTV viewing in cable and satellite homes). See http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/Filings/OTAAtt81104.pdf for details. "Some perspective may help here. There are 1,873,620 TV households in the Detroit Market alone. The Nielsen ratings company estimate there are 106,700,000 TV households in the US, meaning that about 0.5% (yes, 1/2 of 1 percent!) of all television households in the US watch DTV. According to Sara Jo Gallock, the program and marketing director of WJRT-12 in Flint (DTV channel 36) Nielsen doesn`t even rank DTV signals yet, and thus, any programming being provided there is running free --- ``stations can`t `charge` for ads run on those channels!" And you wonder why they don't advertize -- the phrase chicken and egg comes to mind, and yes, that was EXACTLY the problem with AM stereo. -- (KV Zichi, MI, Sept 12, WTFDA via DXLD) You are certainly right about stations caring little about off-air viewers in most markets. Cable accounts for about 72% of the households in the Topeka market with another 10% viewing via satellite. That's over 80% of TV households connected to CATV or satellite. However, there are many cable homes with sets not connected to cable -- usually smaller sets in kitchens, garages, etc. Cable penetration is dropping while satellite viewership is going up keeping at around the 82% level for both. This is a problem for stations in markets like Topeka which are located adjacent to major markets. In this case Kansas City. The KC market starts with the county just east of Topeka (Douglas County, Kansas). This county is important to Topeka stations which have a decent over-the-air and cable viewership and they receive significant advertising from Lawrence (Douglas County) businesses which cannot afford Kansas City prices. Kansas City stations are "must carry" on satellite services in Douglas County, but not Topeka stations which are not available via satellite in Douglas County. The only way to reach those homes is over-the-air and as I bicycle in Douglas County (and even in Shawnee County where Topeka is located) I am seeing a few more antennas pointed toward Topeka. Topeka stations need to hold on to these viewers to keep their audience there. Douglas County has the second highest number of TV households viewing Topeka stations. DTV signals are not "must carry" for cable systems unless the station transmits only in digital. The Cox cable system in Topeka does not carry NBC high definition although the local NBC station does transmit in HD. It does not have ABC HD either, but the Topeka ABC station does not transmit HD. The Fox station is LPTV and there are no WB, PAX or WB affiliates in Topeka. The only way to get HD from those networks is over-the-air from Kansas City. The stations in this market still have something to gain via over-the- air transmission. The addition of radar weather, news feeds, or WB and UPN programming could be used by stations to encourage over-the-air viewing to sustain market share (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) ** U S A. AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR MEDIA IN NEW ORLEANS The New York Times September 12, 2005 By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE [deals with print and TV, but not radio!] Newspapers and television stations, as many people know, have been losing readers and viewers for years. But in New Orleans over the last two weeks, when news was precious, the local media's customer base - and its advertisers - literally vanished, exiled from home in a vast diaspora beyond the reach of telemarketers and ad salesmen. New Orleans media outlets, including The Times-Picayune and seven television stations making up the nation's 43rd-largest media market, have been left to contemplate a surreal future of unknown duration in a city devoid of functioning businesses, with no goods to advertise and almost no people to buy them... [registration required] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/business/media/12media.html?pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. SEGMENT ON "MARKETPLACE" ROLE OF LOCAL RADIO AFTER KATRINA http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/09/12/PM200509127.html For those unfamiliar with "Marketplace", it's a daily half-hour US public radio magazine program on business and economic issues discussed in an approach that appeals to "normal human beings" offering multiple perspectives along the way. Upshot of the story is that local radio played a key role in Katrina's aftermath (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. RED CROSS STILL NEEDS HAM OPERATORS http://www.eham.net/articles/11992 (article refers to ARRL) URGENT! American Red Cross Still Needs a Steady Flow of Amateur Operators: from ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/ on September 11, 2005 The American Red Cross Montgomery Disaster Relief HQ and ARRL have made an urgent call for more Amateur Radio operators. This weekend, Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, ARRL Alabama Section Manager, called ARRL with an urgent renewed call for Amateur Radio operators for the Gulf Coast Red Cross disaster relief effort. Sarratt noted that while the initial response to the need for volunteers produced a very gratifying steady flow of operators, the number of new operators has dropped dramatically. He commented that just this morning he had 15 shelters, kitchens, and other support facilities pleading for Amateur Radio communications back to Red Cross Katrina Disaster Relief Headquarters in Montgomery, AL. Although many HF stations are set up around the region, the current need is for deployable 2-meter equipment. Amateurs should continue to bring a complete HF, VHF station and all personal supplies when traveling to the Gulf Coast region. "Contrary to what one may conclude from listening to the public media, cellular and land-line telephone service is spotty or nonexistent throughout the region. Amateur Radio remains the primary source of emergency communications for a number of critical disaster relief efforts," said Sarratt. Greg and his team in Montgomery have deployed over 75 volunteer operators so far that have traveled from all over. Many of these operators are approaching burnout or need to return to their families and jobs. Sarratt noted, "If an operator comes from a served facility, we need to put in another operator or we will cause a break in the vital communications linkage." Sarratt said that he is very concerned there may be an unfortunate misconception that operators are no longer needed for the disaster relief effort. In fact, the Red Cross expects to need a large number of Amateur Radio volunteers for at least another two or three weeks to ensure the people inside those shelters receive the proper care they deserve. Send your availability, deployable departure date and duration to the Montgomery Alabama Amateur processing center at: DR871-06RTT-RCO3 @ usa.redcross.org (via Clara Listensprechen, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. RUSH LIMBAUGH ADVANCES NUMEROUS FALSEHOODS WHILE DISCUSSING HURRICANE KATRINA Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast August 29, the storm and its aftermath have been frequent topics of discussion on Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated radio show. In the days since the storm struck, Limbaugh has advanced several falsehoods related to the storm and official efforts to bring aid to its victims. Media Matters for America has identified the following Katrina-related falsehoods spread by Limbaugh on his radio show. . . [with audio clips] http://mediamatters.org/items/200509120008 (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Paul Harvey parody on Air America`s Ring of Fire, Sept 10: http://www.ringoffireradio.com/video/ROF%20Sept%2010%202005%20Seg%203.mp3 (via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) Har, har, not really video, but sounds like his incredible text cited earlier. Same clip later exposes FEMA pimping for Pat Robertson`s Operation Blessing (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. URGE ABC, GOOD MORNING AMERICA AND HOST BILL WEIR TO RETRACT "NO ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES OR HURRICANE ZONES..." STATEMENT American Atheists Action Alert September 6, 2005 http://www.atheists.org/action/alert-06-sep-2005.html -- Ellen Johnson: Remark is "inappropriate and inaccurate During the Sunday, September 4, 2005 airing of the popular "Good Morning America" television program on ABC, co-host Bill Weir made the claim that there are "No atheists in foxholes or hurricane zones..." The statement was made at the end of a segment about church services in the disaster zone following Hurricane Katrina. Correspondent Mike Von Fremd reported on conditions in towns like Gulfport, Mississippi and the impact of the Katrina tragedy on members of church congregations. "People know this will be tough and they are leaning on fellow members of their church to get through it," said Von Fremd before turning the narrative over to Mr. Weir. The remarks are reflected in a transcript of the program obtained by American Atheists. "Inaccurate, inappropriate" In a statement to media, American Atheists President Ellen Johnson said that Mr. Weir's comments were both inaccurate and inappropriate. "There were many Atheists and other nonbelievers affected by Hurricane Katrina, and Atheists across the country are donating generously to the many secular relief organizations that are helping victims to recover." Johnson noted that American Atheists has established a resource and contributions guide on its web site http://www.atheists.org and that Atheists in the Gulf Coast region were also active "on the ground" in the relief efforts. "Mr. Weir was wrong on another point, too" added Johnson. "There are, and have been many 'Atheists in Foxholes' who defend this nation and our Constitution." She pointed to groups like the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), and that on Veterans Day, November 11, 2005 there will be a massive "Atheists in Foxholes" rally in Washington, DC --- http://www.atheistfoxholes.org CONTACT ABC, GOOD MORNING AMERICA TO ASK FOR AN IMMEDIATE, ON-AIR RETRACTION! Can you imagine a major television network allowing this type of comment to be made about an ethnic, religious or sexual minority? Claims like "There are no Atheists in Foxholes or hurricane zones" are inaccurate and inappropriate! American Atheists urges you to join our campaign and ask ABC and Good Morning America to make an on-air retraction of the statement made by Mr. Bill Weir on the September 4, 2005 program. * Comments to ABC/GMA should be cordial, polite and to the point. * State facts. For instance, the American Religion Identification Survey reflects that over 13% of Americans consider themselves to be nonreligious. Many use terms like "Atheist," "Freethinker" or "Humanist" to describe their philosophy of life. * State that you are contacting the network about comments made by Mr. Bill Weir on Good Morning America, September 4, 2004 where he made the (inaccurate and inappropriate) statement: "No atheists in foxholes or hurricane zones..." * There ARE "Atheists in Foxholes" and "Atheists in hurricane zones." Atheists and other nonbelievers are responding to the need for aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. See http://www.atheists.org * Urge ABC and Good Morning America to make an on-air retraction of this statement which stereotypes Atheists, insults millions of Americans, and is not factually sound. * Be sure to ask for a reply to your message! Include your name and address in any communication. If sending a letter, be sure to sign your missive. * Send copies of your e-mail or letters and any responses to American Atheists and we will post them on our web site! Visit http://www.atheists.org/action/alert-06-sep-2005.html Contact Information: You may reach ABC through their web site at http://abcnews.go.com/Reference/story?id=54216 which includes a list of different programs. Click on "Good Morning America." Or, send e-mail directly to: NETAUDR @ abc.com Snail mail may be sent to: ABCNews, 7 WEST 66th Street, New York, NY 10023. (AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.) (AA Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. A custom playlist lets you pick the CBSNews.com videos you want to watch and plays them one right after the other in the order you've chosen. http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?channel=national (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) But commercials not to be escaped (gh) ** UZBEKISTAN. COURT ORDERS INTERNEWS NETWORK OUT OF UZBEKISTAN | Text of report by US-based Internews website on 9 September In yet another blow to democracy and freedom of speech in Uzbekistan, Internews Network, a leading international media development organization, has been ordered by the Uzbek authorities to close its office in Uzbekistan. Internews plans to appeal the verdict. A Tashkent city court on Friday [9 September] found Internews Network guilty of a number of violations of Uzbek law and told it to leave the country. The US-based non-profit organization began operations in Uzbekistan in 1995 where it has helped develop the country's independent, private television stations through training, technical assistance and support of local news and information programming. In the last 18 months, there has been a crackdown on foreign non- governmental organizations (NGOs) in Uzbekistan, especially those supporting the development of democracy. Observers believe that the Uzbek authorities fear a repeat of the popular uprisings that brought down the governments in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. In May, relations between Western governments and the authoritarian regime of Uzbek President Islam Karimov worsened after Uzbek forces brutally quashed a popular uprising in the city of Andijan, killing hundreds of mostly unarmed protesters. In July, Uzbekistan gave the US six months to close its military base at Karshi-Khanabad. Friday's court order to liquidate Internews Network follows the convictions last month of two Internews employees for illegally publishing information and producing TV programmes without the necessary licences, charges that Internews denied. The court closed Internews on the basis of these convictions for conducting unlicensed activities, as well as using the Internews logo without registering it first with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), referring to itself as "Internews Uzbekistan" instead of "Internews Network Representative Office in Uzbekistan" and carrying out activities without getting prior permission from the MOJ. Such permission is actually not required, according to the Bilateral Agreement Regarding the Cooperation to Facilitate the Provision of Assistance between Uzbekistan and USA under which all American NGOs work in Uzbekistan. "They gave us one day's notice about the hearing and then sped through the proceedings at an incredible rate," said Catherine Eldridge, country director for Internews Network in Uzbekistan. "The judge refused our request to call witnesses, denied all our petitions and was blatantly biased. This is obviously a politically motivated case." Eldridge added: "The closure of Internews Network sets a precedent for the Uzbek government to liquidate other foreign NGOs on the basis of biased court cases and trumped up or trivial charges. This case and the criminal case against our two employees last month were a terrible loss for independent media and human rights in Uzbekistan." Internews has been subjected to a year of harassment by the Uzbek authorities. In August 2004, its bank accounts were frozen, thus forcing it to suspend all its programmes. In last month's criminal case, Internews Network's managing director and an accountant were convicted of violating Article 190(2)b of the Uzbek criminal code. Because they were female first-time offenders, they were automatically eligible for a presidential amnesty, so do not have to serve time in jail. But they now have criminal records. "We are extremely disappointed that the Uzbek authorities have decided to take such punitive measures against an organization that they previously welcomed," said Eldridge. "Uzbekistan's nascent independent media and the people of Uzbekistan will be the ones who suffer." Many of the most influential people in Uzbek media have been trained by Internews, whose projects have been supported by the US Agency for International Development and EuropeAid (the international aid branches of the US and EU, respectively) and the US State Department. Source: Internews website, Arcata, in English 9 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Observatorio Naval Cagigal --- Visto que hace tiempo está fuera del aire la estación de señales horarias Observatorio Naval Cagigal, en 5000 kHz y leído algún comentario sobre la preocupación de algunos colegas sobre que esta emisora quedara para siempre fuera de servicio, me he puesto en contacto que los responsables del Observatorio y me comentan que están inactivos temporalmente, para introducir mejores en la emisora y que, próximamente volverán a transmitir las señales horarias. Este es el mail que acabo de recibir por parte de ellos: "Buenas tardes, amigo Manuel Méndez, saludos desde la Patria de Bolívar. En respuesta a su atenta correspondencia le respondo que en la actualidad estamos haciendo mejoras en nuestro sistema de transmisión y por tal motivo estamos fuera de servicio, la cual estará nuevamente en servicio próximamente. Le agradezco mucho su preocupación ya que estamos concientes de la importancia de nuestro servicio y que sabemos que muchas personas de habla hispana nos copia y nos reportan sus impresiones como Ud. Reciba un cordial saludo de todo el personal que labora en el Observatorio Naval "Juan Manuel Cagigal". Atentamente, Jesús A. Escalona Hora Legal de Venezuela Dirección de Hidrografía y Navegación Observatorio Naval "Juan Manuel Cagigal" Caracas - Venezuela Telfs. 58-0212 481.2266 - 481.8666 http://www.dhn.mil.ve (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Cland, 7460, RASD, 1926 25-8, man talks as IF shouting across people. Many mentions of Watany, "ASD" Shu.i, 34443 (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. More 5745: A never ending story: I this Monday evening for the first time noted two Spanish speaking stations on 5745 kHz at the same time. My Ten-Tec RX 350D was adjusted to 5745.005 kHz. The two weak stations were very close in frequency and impossible to measure exact frequencies. WWRB Spanish up to ID at 2350 UT and the other station with religious music and talk. Both stations are drifting I think. 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador http://www.malm- ecuador.com Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn, Recently I have been hearing these ugly signals on different frequencies as I scan. Presently (1007 UT) I am tuned to 9515 kHz and there's one of them there. I am wondering if that might be a DRM signal or is my receiver going bad? It's a horrible sound! Have you noticed it? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, I looked thru the DRM schedules and don`t find anything on 9515, but that is inconclusive. I suspect China, for one, is running more and more unscheduled DRM test transmissions. As for whether it really is DRM, you can only compare it with known DRM, like 9800 in the afternoons from Sackville and see what you think. 73, (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) Glenn, Anyway, I opened my NRD545 and re-inserted the boards. I'll check the frequency again tomorrow morning. Thanks for your reply (Chuck, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 12130, R Asmalio as IDed but VoA? AWR? 1822 14-8, folklore songs. ID as R Asmalio Katkaloye California. About Christianity, antonio, Skadamay, Patriarch. 44444 (Zacharias Liangas, Ormos Isternion, NW Tinos, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, that was a Sunday, and EiBi shows a clandestine in Tigre to Eritrea: 12130 1800-1900 Su CLA Voice of Delina TIG ERI /RUS-a (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARAB AND WORLD MEDIA CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 5 DECEMBER | Text of report in English by Dubai newspaper Khaleej Times website on 11 September A host of issues, including the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists, will be discussed at the two-day Arab and World Media Conference scheduled to be held under the Arab Thought Foundation and the Dubai Press Club at Madinat Jumeirah from 5 December. Mohamed Al Mansoori, executive director of the Dubai Press Club, said: "Madinat Jumeirah is very well equipped to meet the quality and capacity criteria for hosting the Arab and World Media Conference, which is one of the leading events of the region. The importance of the event is evident from the list of prominent participants and delegates who have been invited to attend this year's conference. "The Arab and World Media Conference will create a platform for media personalities, politicians and businessmen from around the world to objectively discuss and provide constructive solutions to the region's most critical issues," he added. Serge Zaalof, resort general manager of Madinat Jumeirah, said: "The conference will be held at the Convention Hall which is ideal replete with all facilities to host such a major event. It has the main convention hall, a smaller hall and separate rooms for meetings. We are delighted to participate in this reputed event and will deliver our best to ensure the success of the event." The forum will highlight issues such as media and the political reform in the Arab world, technology, censorship, propaganda and accuracy in reporting, Arab youth media, democracy in the Arab world and some of the ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. Source: Khaleej Times website, Dubai, in English 11 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM RECEIVER UNVEILED --- HYBRID RADIOS SET FOR TAKE-OFF Radio listeners are soon to be offered a new type of radio which can play and record both digital and conventional radio. The new generation of such radio sets was demonstrated in Amsterdam at the IBC, International Broadcasting Convention, by the Digital Radio Mondiale, (DRM), consortium. They were first unveiled last week at a Berlin consumer electronics show. Peter Senger, DRM chairman and chief of Germany's international radio station Deutsche Welle, said that it is the first digital radio which can receive the main European radio systems: DAB, DRM, AM, FM/RDS and short wave. The rest of the article + picture at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4237010.stm (via Sergei Sosedkin, swprograms via DXLD) And the article says: "Currently, 40 European broadcasters send more than 500 hours of programming daily using the system." Well, I count 28, having checked both DRM schedules lists including non European broadcasters such as Radio Australia, Radio Taiwan International and Radio Korea International who use 9770 one day a week for a total of 2 and a half hours. The RTL English service they mention launched today; the webstream was cutting out and the 7145 DRM frequency is not working, only 52% of audio detected in Kent one day last week. The format and professionalism of the station has also been criticised in uk radio forums (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) It would behoove the DRM backers to be absolutely accurate and honest in their promotional claims. See also SWEDEN [non] (gh, DXLD) How much $$ for a standalone DRM receiver? According to an article on the BBC News website, early units are expected to cost "...about 250 euros (£169)." That works out to roughly $300 at today's exchange rates. Article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4237010.stm [not exactly the same URL as above] (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL RELATED Do you know if powerline ethernet devices like the one linked below http://www.netgear.com/products/details/XE102.php will cause BPL-like interference on HF? The page says, "It plugs into an electrical outlet and uses your existing electrical wiring to give your entire household access to your Cable/DSL connection." (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., DX LISTENING DIGEST) So I`ve heard (gh, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ANALYSIS: RADIO WITH WORDS AND PICTURES | Text of report by Ian Piper and Chris McWhinnie from International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam on 9 September Radio audiences are presented with a wider choice of stations and programmes than ever before. They are increasingly choosing to access the sound medium without using a radio receiver. The internet delivers thousands of traditional stations and even more music streams and podcasts - downloads for personal mp3 players. Satellites beam yet more. Delegates at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam have been considering the future of radio. They conclude that radio has a rosy future as it is entering a new era, where the sound is accompanied by pictures, textual information and other data. Visual radio According to Reidar Wasenius, of Nokia Multimedia, Finland, radio and mobiles go hand in hand. Many new generation mobiles already have radios in them and more people carry a phone than a radio. Visual Radio http://www.visualradio.com which started in Europe in March 2005, is a system of direct two-way interaction between the listener and the radio station. A broadcaster can create other content to display on the phone at the same time as being tuned to their FM radio station. This combines GPRS for the data and existing FM technology. Uses traditional FM Using traditional FM is controversial, when part of the radio industry is encouraging and investing in digital take-up. But the combination of two existing systems appears to be a simple solution. When questioned about the choice of FM and not digital, Reidar said that "FM rocks and it works!". Nokia wanted to use conventional technology so give access to the mass market of billions of FM listeners. The phone would show the artist and title of the music with an option to buy the track and download it as a track or ringtone. For the first time this would deliver impulse buying to radio. It would be possible to see the presenter, check a weather map, read about the current programme topic or take part in a phone vote or a competition. This is the equivalent of TV's red interactive button. So far a dozen stations across Finland, the UK and Germany have installed the additional server the system requires and all users have to do is to have their mobile phone handset enabled. The station will have to update the information. Inventors Nokia and marketing partners Hewlett-Packard are very exited about Visual radio. They hope to reach some of the estimated 760 million mobile phone users worldwide. Many users upgrade regularly, so it is easy for a manufacturer to introduce a new system. More choice Michael Mullane from the European Broadcasting Union said that people wanted more choice and radio on demand - alongside additional programme information. According to Michael "radio has never sounded so good" and is "a vibrant medium with a rosy future". James Cridland from Virgin Radio, which is only on AM in many areas of the UK is seeing a drop in AM listening. It has clearly decided to treat radio as multiplatform medium. Virgin Radio various brands are available via satellite, Freeview and one show alone notched-up 85,000 podcast downloads in a month. Chris Gould Unique of Interactive UK said that they key to making sense of all this radio choice is an Electronic Programme Guide, a feature more familiar to multi-channel TV viewers. An example is the radiotime website http://www.radiotime.com Such guides can offer programme links and is the way to ensure that listeners get "what they want when they want it." Source: BBC Monitoring research 9 Sep 05 (via DXLD) ANALYSIS: KOREA AND EUROPE BATTLE OVER MOBILE TV | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring Media Services at the IBC in Amsterdam on 11 September South Korea 's leading electronics companies are out in force at this week's International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, Europe's biggest broadcasting trade show. Companies including Samsung and LG are touting new generation mobile phones that allow users to watch live multichannel TV on the move. In their push into the European mobile TV market, they see next year's football World Cup in Germany as a crucial launch pad. But the Koreans face strong competition from European manufacturers such as Nokia. Over 30 companies keen to promote broadcasting to mobile handsets are exhibiting at this year's IBC. Who's ahead? Despite the high hopes of manufacturers, live TV services on mobile phones are still in their infancy in most parts of the world. At last month's World Athletic World Championships in Helsinki, the world's biggest handset maker Nokia combined with Finnish telecoms groups and broadcasters to test mobile real-time broadcasts on a smart phone equipped with an experimental TV receiver. The 300-strong trial panel brought in mixed reviews, with complaints that the device was inelegant and colour rendition was poor, although images were sharp. Jari Lahti, head of new media at Finnish broadcaster YLE, told AFP news agency that "the technology is ready" even if devices were "still bulky". South Korea 's top mobile operator SK Telecom and its affiliate TU Media launched a satellite pay-TV service to mobile phones in May this year. But TU Media admits that customer take-up has been sluggish, and blames this on high prices for combined phone/satellite TV handsets, costing up to 900 US dollars. Small is beautiful Trials have shown that conventional TV schedules do not adapt well to mobile TV, which needs short and self-contained sequences. Analysts say the key message about video programming for mobile phones is to think short and limit content to 90 seconds. The TV application must not impede the mobile phone functions. Another "must" is interactivity - the ability to use the phone as a back channel, for voting or linking to websites. And there are further issues that need ironing out: improving battery performance for handsets; ensuring reliable mobile TV reception; and using technology that will not increase the size of existing phones. Rival standards Rival technological standards could deepen consumer confusion. Dermot Nolan, author of a new Screen Digest report on the prospects for TV- to-mobile, warned delegates at IBC: "Numerous regional variations will likely lead to dis-economies of scale." Currently, the European market is dominated by digital video broadcasting for handheld (DVB-H) technology that was developed by Nokia. Mobile TV services with DVB-H technology are being piloted in Spain, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and the US . It is the current favourite to become the most common worldwide standard for mobile phone TV. Ranged against DVB-H is the competing Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) standard. Originally developed in Korea, DMB is based on the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard but can deliver video, pictures and data alongside audio. "There is a very strong battle between Korea and Europe," said Jorma Laiho, Director for Technology at Finland 's YLE. Independent analysts say both have their advantages. Ville Ollikainen, Group Manager for Multiple Media Systems at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) said DVB-H was "more flexible, less power consuming and providing bandwidth". But DVB-H could only broadcast terrestrial feeds whereas DMB allows for satellite delivery, he said. Elsewhere, for instance in Japan and the US, other broadcast systems have been developed to provide TV-to-mobile services. A sporting chance Media analysts say that when mobile TV services become mainstream, the big sellers will be football, comedy shows and adult content. "The opportunities for broadcasters like the BBC with vast archives and pay TV operators to repackage their content are tremendous," said Peter Simpson, Chief Technologist at British manufacturer Pace Micro Technology. But a report by Swedish analysts Berg Insight predicts that in western Europe, mobile TV will not be a major contributor to booming mobile content revenues until at least 2012, when transmissions are forecast to reach broadcast quality. Research in Germany shows 78 per cent of consumers already think mobile TV is a good or excellent idea, for which 82 per cent are willing to pay 12.50 euros a month. Another commercial mobile TV pilot in Helsinki found that 41 per cent of participants would be willing to purchase mobile TV services, and half thought that a fixed monthly fee of 10 euros was reasonable. In the United States, by contrast, two separate reports in mid-2005 - by In-Stat US and Parks Associates - concluded that only one in eight consumers was interested in paying for live TV or video content on mobile platforms. But Nokia's vice-president for multimedia, Richard Sharp, is very bullish about mobile TV. Speaking at IBC, he said: "Mobile TV will be a new distribution platform that will allow the media industry to expand its audience, widen prime time and re-use popular content." Handset manufacturers continue to see sports fans as the early adopters of mobile TV. And if the 2006 World Cup doesn't live up to expectations, a bigger commercial prize lies only two years down the road, at the Olympic Games in Beijing . By then, perhaps, broadcasters and mobile operators will also have worked out how to share the revenues. Source: BBC Monitoring research 11 Sep 05 (via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ K INDEX REQUIREMENTS FOR VISIBLE AURORA In order to see visible aurora at lower latitudes in the U.S. the local K index at Boulder needs to be at a 9 level for 6 hours continuously. The Boulder K only hit a 7 and the Kp a 9 for only three hours, so no lower latitude visible aurora observable. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Retired Meteorologist & Space Plasma Physicist, Lakeland, FL, USA, Sept 12, ABDX via DXLD) SUNSPOTS ON THE HORIZON THREATEN TO CRIPPLE SATELLITES AND NETWORKS A SUNSPOT that at its peak has been five times larger than Earth is likely to release fresh solar flares this week that could cripple satellites and black out radio communications. Sunspot 798 has already fired seven enormous X-class eruptions of radiation at Earth since September 7, including one monstrous flare on Wednesday that was measured as the fourth largest on record. While the sunspot has since shrunk a little, it is rotating across the Sun’s surface so as to line up with Earth, meaning that any activity this week is more likely to strike the planet head-on rather than catch a glancing blow. Yesterday astronomers predicted a 75 per cent chance of further flares this week, raising the possibility of serious disruptions to telecommunications. . . http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1777616,00.html (Times Sept 13 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ KATRINA AND THE TRAGEDY ON THE GULF COAST The Eschatology of the Blame Game Along with causing colossal damage to property and loss of life, Hurricane Katrina also had the effect of resurrecting the perennial "blame game" and the deeper questions of divine intervention (or, in this case, apparent non-intervention.) Popular media continue to exploit this dramatic theme, complete with evocative footage of survivors praying, often huddled together on the site of a demolished church. As with previous natural disasters, the living are "thankful to God" for being alive. The dead "have joined Jesus" in the hereafter, although this type of glorious event is often met with tears and sorrowful emotion. There is the on-going debate over why "God" or some other supernatural entity did not intervene, an Ultimate Question that frequently stirs memories of evangelist Pat Robertson. It was Robertson, after all, who in 1998 warned that a potential natural disaster was possible after city officials in Orlando, Fla. and the Walt Disney Company decided to sponsor a "Gay Days" weekend complete with banners, parades and other festivities. All of this, warned Robertson, invited God's wrath in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombs and "possibly a meteor." Earlier, Robertson made headlines when he "prayed" that a major hurricane forecasted to strike Virginia Beach -- home of his Christian Broadcasting Network and other business enterprises -- instead be diverted through supernatural intervention. The hurricane did change course, proceeding up the Eastern Coast of the United States leaving behind a swath of death and destruction. Robertson followed this gaffe with a similar mis-step, when he joined fellow evangelist Jerry Falwell in blaming the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 not on religious fanatics but a sinister cabal of gays, women seeking abortions and secularists. No sooner was Hurricane Katrina heading for the Gulf, though, than Robertson shifted gears to his own form of disaster control, putting the spin on his public call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Chávez has been a thorn in the side of U.S. policy makers, and Rev. Robertson's shocking outburst only served to provide the combative Latin American leader with more rhetorical ammunition. The Bush White House failed to publicly distance itself from the combative evangelist, however, perhaps in recognition of the ability of Robertson, his Christian Coalition and the rest of the American Religious Right to deliver whole congregations to the polls when election day rolls around. It makes what happened next even more surreal. Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast leaving record destruction and loss of life (there are 25,000 body bags ready for use according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency). Robertson did not go on television to shoo' Katrina away, but the philanthropic arm of his religious empire, Operation Blessing, somehow found its way to near the top of the FEMA list of charitable organizations accepting donations for hurricane relief. Max Blumenthal of The Nation notes that "dozens of media outlets" from the New York Times to CNN reprinted the roster, "unwittingly acting as agents soliciting cash for Robertson." One group that was outraged was Operation USA, which has carried out massive disaster relief programs on five continents for more than a quarter-century. "How in the heck did that happen?" groused OpUSA's president, Richard Warden. "That gives Pat Robertson millions of extra dollars." Indeed, there has been a sense that with President Bush promising to unleash his "army of compassion" -- DC belt-way-ese for faith-based religious charities that include proselytizing as part of their social outreach -- secular groups are still are not receiving the full measure of publicity and support they should from federal agencies. Blumenthal noted, "While relief efforts falter in the face of colossal bureaucratic incompetence, the Bush Administration's promotion of Operation Blessing has ensured that the floodwaters swallowing New Orleans will be a rising tide lifting Robertson's boat." There are many aspects about the Hurricane Katrina aftermath that have a distinctive social and religious sub-text. The victims are largely poor, black, elderly, the social strata that could not hop in an SUV for the 400-mile trip to safety. There are heart-breaking tales of people who literally could not find that extra $25 dollars to get out of town; payday was still two or three days away, an eternity for those living check to check. If anyone was praying that Hurricane Katrina would, through supernatural agency, be diverted elsewhere and not claim thousands of lives, those petitions were evidently not answered. Some have already proclaimed that the devastation was punishment for the moral laxity, ethical tolerance, sensuality and Bacchanalian ethos that characterizes New Orleans. By this account, the victims "deserved" their fate, punishment from the same Jehovah whose other mass executions are colorfully documented in the pages of the Good Book. It does not explain the suffering, though, of children, animals and others who seemed caught up in this orgy of life-taking. Perhaps God can sort them all out... Those who deserve our thanks and support are not gods, angels, deities or their self-appointed clergy. Despite the bureaucratic morass, within days helicopter rescue teams were on dangerous missions literally picking people like Harry off the roofs of houses and other buildings. Hour after hour it went on, and now the rescue effort continues with boats reaching victims stranded by the flood waters. These "first responders" are the real heroes of this saga known as Hurricane Katrina. They have risked life and limb to intervene, to do something tangible and good for their fellow human beings. More good works, the delivery of material aid and medical care, will follow. New Orleans is perhaps a caution about life in general on this delicate planet we call Earth; nature, to be controlled and commanded, must also be obeyed. And in times of calamity, we can forget the gods. All we have is each other. ** BUSH PRAYER DECLARATION IS "NONSENSICAL," UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND A SECOND-RATE POLITICAL KABUKI SHOW, CHARGES ATHEIST GROUP FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 9, 2005 Is Bush Trying to Outdo Pat Robertson? "Hands that Help are Better Than Lips That Pray." - Robert Ingersoll An Atheist watchdog group charged today that President Bush's proclamation of a National Day of Prayer (Thursday, 9/16) violates the constitutional separation of church and state and amounts to a "cheap political Kabuki show" to distract public attention away from the government incompetence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists said that the timing of Mr. Bush's declaration of public prayer "tells us that he would rather have people praying to a deity that apparently couldn't or didn't want to stop one of the most ferocious disasters in American history than focus on the more relevant issue of possible mismanagement of emergency and relief services." "The lesson here is pretty clear," said Johnson. "When faced with a crisis of epic proportions and charges of possible incompetence at the highest levels of government, play the 'religion card' to distract embarrassing public attention and outrage." "This makes no sense at all," added Johnson. "In the past, we've had evangelists like Pat Robertson trying to 'steer' hurricanes in different directions. Now we have the President of the United States telling us after the disaster that may have claimed tens of thousands of victims, including children, that we need to pray. What's wrong with this picture?" Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, said that Mr. Bush's Day of Prayer proclamation was unconstitutional, and amounted to government-sponsored promotion of religion. "I don't think the government should be telling the American people that they should pray or when they must pray." "If people wish to pray on their own, that's their option," said Mr. Silverman. "Right now, our President should be spearheading the relief effort and finding out what may have gone wrong." AMERICAN ATHEISTS is urging all Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and other nonbelievers to support aid efforts at its web site American Atheists is a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of nonbelievers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. ** RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS * For membership information about American Atheists, send mail to info @ atheists.org Kindly include your name and postal mailing address. Ask for a free membership info packet. You may also visit http://www.atheists.org and click on the "Join" navigation button. * For a free catalogue of American Atheist Press books, videos and other products, send mail to catalogue @ atheists.org. Kindly include your name and postal mailing address, and request a copy of the AAP catalogue. You may also shop directly at http://www.atheists.org -- click on the "Shopping" navigation button. * Current members in good standing of American Atheists may sign up for our free E-mail Discussion Group list, aachat. We have over 150 participants who discuss topics such as Atheism, religion, First Amendment issues, creationism and much, much more. Contact the Moderator, Ed Gauci through egauci @ atheists.org (AA Newsletter Sept 9 via DXLD) ###