DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-183, October 23, 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 For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1290: Days and times here are strictly UT. Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually closer to 0418-] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1400] Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually but temporary] Wed 0000 WOR CJOY INTERNET RADIO plug-in required 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 [NOTE: From Oct 30, most times shift one UT hour later, and some frequencies change. Watch for updated edition.] 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 1290 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1290h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1290h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1290 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1290.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor12909.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1290.html WORLD OF RADIO 1290 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_10-19-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_10-19-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1290 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1290h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1290.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently: 1285, 1286, 1287, 1288, Extra 61, 1289, Extra 62, 1290) MUNDO RADIAL Octubre-Noviembre: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0510.ram (descargar) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0510.rm (descargar mp3) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor.htm (guión) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0510.html En el aire: Domingos en WRMI 9955, 1130 del 30 de octubre Lunes y Viernes 2115 in WWCR 15825 [2215 en 7465 del 31 de octubre] ** ARGENTINA. No Identificada: Emisiones entrecortadas, presumiblemente en carácter de prueba, estoy escuchando en la frecuencia exacta de 6289.43 Khz con música ciudadana desde aproximadamente las 2130 UT, con buena señal (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Rosario, Argentina, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Friends: Radio Bosques was on the air with musical program and Contacto DX on the new frequency of 6289.5 kHz, 2316-2325*, Oct 23 with the following IDs "es un mensaje de Radio Bosques, Gonet La Plata"; "en el aire ésta es Radio Bosques, Gonet, La Plata, la única emisora libre de tu dial" 34232 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. After what seemed to be a 'drought' in QSL replies, these replies came in these past several weeks to relieve this dilemma. 7875U, ABC Perth/Western Australia Service Short Wave Relay. Returned my PPC's, signed and stamped, also accompanying letter, simply stating that it was their broadcast. Also noted that they no longer have QSL Cards, and to accept this letter as confirmation. Sent 720 ABC DJ Bookmakers and 720 Sticker. Reply in 24 days with report sent to this address: ABC Western Australia Service 30 Fielder St. (cnr Royal) East Perth, Western Australia; GPO Box 9994 Perth, Western Australia, 6848. v/s: Mark Yates, A/Resource Manager (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, Alberta, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. BBS to expand its SW services Contrary to what was reported in the various e-groups some time back instead of shutting down their SW services BBS is going to continue and will also expand their SW services. Incidentally, I visited the AIR high power transmitters at Khampur at outskirts of Delhi along with other DXers and the station engineer over there, Mr. V. K. Baleja informed that he recently came back from a trip to Bhutan after doing extensive repairs on the BBS SW transmitter (50 kW SK45S3). Apparently the transmitter had modulation problem & Mr Baleja was deputed to fix the same. He showed us photos of BBS transmitter and the repairs carried on over there. He also informed that BBS is soon going to install another 100 kW SW transmitter with the help of Indian government. After I came back from there checked the BBS website & here's the official bid invitation notice: INVITATION FOR BIDS The Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation has received a grant from the government of India for the purchase of a 100 KW SW transmitter in Thimphu. BBS invites sealed bids from eligible bidders/manufacturers of SW transmitters for the supply, installation, and commissioning of 100 KW SW transmitter for the purposes of the project. A complete set of bidding documents may be purchased by any interested eligible bidder upon payment of a non-refundable fee of US $ 500 between 1st November and 30th November 2005. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security of not less than 2% of the total bid price and must be delivered in accordance with the instructions to bidders on or before 10th January 2006 12.00 noon. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information on the bid form and bidding documents at the office of the: Managing Director, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, P.O. Box 101, Thimphu, Bhutan. Tel: +975-2-323580/322770 Fax: +975-2-323073 email: md @ bbs.com.bt For advertisements on Television and Radio as well as on the Website, contact us at telephone number +975-2-328661 or +975-2-323071/322866/326862/326863/326864 and ask for extension no. 220 and/or fax us at +975-2- 323073. Or e-mail us at webmaster @ bbs.com.bt Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Oct 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is that SOP, having to pay just to get the forms? (gh) ** BIAFRA [non]. 7380, (CLANDESTINE), NIGERIA, Voice of Biafra International via Meyerton, 2120-2146 Oct 22, nice Nigerian vocal selection followed by English talks, ID and frequency announcement and more anti-Nigerian government talk in English. ID and language change into Igbo with announced news analysis feature. Fair (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Sat & Wed only (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.77, Radio Fides, La Paz, emite "La Hora de la Biblia" 1402 UT, inusualmente escuchada en la región del Río de la Plata a esta hora. "Son las 10 de la mañana dos minutos" (hora de Bolivia). Mejor recepción en LSB SINF0=35343. Anuncian que están repartiendo monedas de Juan Pablo II en la sede de la emisora en calle Jenaro Sanjinez Nro.799 esquina Avenida Sucre (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Rosario, ARGENTINA, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Hello ALL. I've received Radio Nacional da Amazônia on 6180 instead of 6185 kHz, around 0900 UT since 19th Oct. // with 11780 kHz. 73 & FB DXing! (Kenji Takasaki, in Mie pref, JAPAN, w/JRC NRD- 545/535D/525/515, Oct 22, HCDX via DXLD) Hello Kenji, Yes, correct, last days I observed the 'change' from 6185 to 6180. 6180 is the official frequency from Radio Nacional da Amazonia, but last time RNA moved their signal (????) to 6185 kHz. It is correct, // 11780 kHz. 73 from São Bernardo (20 km from the big city of São Paulo!), (Rudolf Grimm, http://www.radioways.cjb.net http://www.ondascurtas.com radioescutas yg via DXLD) They switch back and forth unpredictably (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. UNIDENTIFIED. Last night I heard a relay of China Radio International in English on 1540 kHz at 2300 UT Saturday. Does anyone know which station would be relaying it at this time? According to CRI's website they are carried on WNWR Philadelphia on 1540 at "1000-1100 local time" and the WNWR website isn't much help either. Can anyone confirm if they carry CRI at this time? WNWR isn't often heard in Europe, but Trans-Atlantic reception was excellent last night (Dave Kenny, Caversham UK, Lowe HF225+ 100m beverage, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surely CHIN 1540 Toronto, as scheduled: http://www.chinradio.com/amfm.asp 73, (Glenn, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CUBA. 890 with WLS off: see U S A [and non] ** CUBA [non]. 530, FLORIDA AIRSPACE, Radio Martí (via PANG EC-130 aircraft); yet another non-log of this at 2200+, 22 October, 2005 check. No surprise, with Hurricane Wilma approaching. But, will "Air Martí" return when the weather quiets down? It's been many weeks (with a few decent weather condition weekends between) without the broadcast flights (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) Were Saturdays only ** CUBA [and non]. 590, Radio Musical Nacional, Santa Clara, Villa Clara; off the air at 1943 check, 23 October, 2005. This transmitter is spastic, but wonder if Hurricane Wilma may have resulted in pulling it offline. 590, FLORIDA, WDIZ, Panamá City; 1949-2010, 23 October, 2005. The Beatles "I'll Follow the Sun" followed by net-bought spots, more oldies, male canned quasi-illegal ID "The Breeze, WDIZ 590-AM, Panamá City, Florida" at 2000, into Roger Whittaker song. Very good, with the Cuba transmitter off. 1180, Radio Rebelde (two sites); 2356-0005, 21-22 October, 2005. Big signals, both at equal level, but one transmitter running about one second behind the other, a true audio nightmare, with Hurricane Wilma studio coverage by man. Radio Martí (Marathon, Florida) at fair level underneath these two just to add to the brew. 5025, Radio Rebelde; like 590 kHz Musical Nacional, also off the air on 1944, 23 October, 2005, but back on at 2004 recheck, with Instituto de Meteorología live Hurricane Wilma update (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. The Dutch SW pirate Alfa Lima international will be active again this weekend. Just as last week the frequency's used will be 15070 and 21860 kHz, both in Amplitude modulation. Last week we haven't been that much on 21860 as we planned but most likely we will be also there this weekend a lot more. During the transmissions we will be a lot in the SW pirates chatroom on http://www.alfalima.net/chatroom/ and keeping our eyes on the sw pirates forum at http://www.alfalima.net/forum contact information is below. If you like to get more information on sw pirates our tip would be http://www.egroups.com/group/SWpirates Greetings from Alfred Zoer ( Alfa Lima Int ) (via Philip Atchley, swl at qth.net via DXLD) See also FINLAND 15070 still on air, doing fine, receiving reports from Russia, Central and North America, and Australia, also hearing us? http://www.alfalima.net or info @ alfalima.net 15070 AM already whole day in the air. Greetings from Alfred Zoer (Alfa Lima Int) ------------------------------------- Our email address info @ alfalima.net Surf to Alfa Lima web Short-wave Pirate Radio http://www.alfalima.net _____________________________________ Our QSL Card? Send your report to: Alfa Lima Int Pobox 663 7900AR Hoogeveen, the Netherlands Enclose 1 euro or dollar for reply _____________________________________ Online Radio listening/logs and electronics forum http://www.alfalima.net/forum _____________________________________ SW pirates group!!! Receive the latest SW-Pirates info Simply subscribe by sending a blanc email to: SWpirates-subscribe@egroups.com More info at: http://www.egroups.com/group/SWpirates _____________________________________ The group on internet related to building and repairing your own transmitters and radios. join up!! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Radio_and_Transmitter_Electronics (Alfred, ALI, 1424 UT Oct 23, HCDX via DXLD) Hearing you here in Enid, Oklahoma, from 1430, better at 1601 UT with contact info, ID. Peaks maybe S6 on FRG-7 and E-W longwire. But not strong enough vs the noise level to get much out of the music. 73, (Glenn Hauser to ALI, via DXLD) AL, 15070: At 1700 on 22-10-05 with very low signal at S1, gradually better to S7 on 1710. Today 23 at 1106 with S7. The powerline noise is quite low in that bandpart at S2.5 helping for good audio reception to SINPO 45433. System: R75. 2x16m inverted V, and MFJ1025 dephaser off (Zacharias Liangas, 22+ 23 Oct, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15069.51, NETHERLANDS (PIRATE), Alfa Lima International; 1803-1935*, 23 October, 2005. Peaking at times to a great level with decent US and Euro-pop/dance, US country vocals and techno instrumentals, the usual heavily-accented (but quite professional) male DJ (slight-reverb) with two clear IDs at 1821 and 1822 on a nice, strong peak. DJ back at 1830, referencing a listener in California. Signal kept improving. Amusingly, he inserted a Radio Reloj (Cuba) audio slice at 1832, with Spanish ID and time sounder! Shout out to a Canadian listener at 1836. Techno song, and seemingly off at 1935. I always like hearing ALI, a really fun Old School "piraat" format pirate (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) 15069.4 (EUROPIRATE) (Netherlands?), Alfa Lima International, 1648 at Oct. 21, Euro pop music with very nice signal averaging an S6 here (John Figliozzi, NY, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 15069.4 (EUROPIRATE) Alfa Lima International, 1615+, Oct. 21, Alfred's usual program of Euro pops and frequent announcements. Sent him a quick e-mail update with audio clip. Acknowledged receiving e- messages from me and another DXer on the air. Good level and much better than last weekend (John Herkimer, NY, ibid.) 15789.9 (EUROPIRATE) (Netherlands? - yes - ed, see address in log below), Radio Black Arrow, 1458 on Oct. 21, Euro dance music w/female vocalist and a thumping beat; announcements by male with British accent. Drifted up to 15790 and off apparently at 1513. 20W! (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) 15789.9 (EUROPIRATE) Black Arrow, 1440-1513, Oct. 21, on tip from George Maroti, in suprisingly well for 20 watts with program of techno/dance music and English IDs by operator Alex giving e-mail and postal addresses. Sent a quick mp3 file of my reception to radioblackarrow @ hotmail.com and received a reply from Alex with a photo of his rooftop antenna. He says, "Thanks for signal report and your audioclip, went down to 0.1 watt and still could be heard at the east coast. I am very happy with that, my antenna is a Quad height about 7 meters looking to the USA. Transmiter SK010 using Grit [grid?] modulation. Max power with audio 20 watts." Postal address: Black Arrow, P.O. Box 128, 9410 AC Beilen, The Netherlands (John Herkimer, NY, ibid) ** FINLAND. Eurovisión en OC. Saludos cordiales, el pasado Sábado 22 de Octubre se conmemoró el 50 Aniversario de Eurovisión, programa retransmitido por la mayor parte de televisiones de Europa, también fue retransmitida por la YLE Radio Finland, escuchada por los 6120 kHz a las 2120-2130 en finlandés, programa en paralelo por lo que se estaba viendo por televisión, SINPO 55444 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [and non]. ERT S.A.: THE VOICE OF GREECE B05 SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE Effective from 30/10/05 to 25/03/06 (0000) UTC AVLIS 1 AVLIS 2 AVLIS 3 KAVALA 1 KAVALA 2 GMT/UTC Freq Azi Freq Azi Freq Azi Freq Azi Freq Azi 0000-0100 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 9375/240 12105/095 0100-0200 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 9375/240 12105/095 0200-0300 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 9375/240 12105/095 0300-0400 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 *9375/240 *12105/095 0400-0500 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 15650/095 17520/095 0500-0600 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 15650/095 17520/095 0600-0700 *5865/292 *7475/285 9420/323 15650/095 17520/095 0700-0800 11645/226 15630/285 9420/323 Silent Silent 0800-0900 11645/226 15630/285 9420/323 Silent Silent 0900-1000 11645/226 15630/285 9420/323 15650/095 21530/095 1000-1100 Silent Silent Silent Silent Silent 1100-1200 #9935/285 15630/285 Silent 12105/355 17525/095 1200-1300 #9935/285 15630/285 9420/323 12105/355 17525/095 1300-1400 #9935/285 15630/285 9420/323 12105/355 *17525/095 1400-1500 #9935/285 15630/285 9420/323 12105/355 **7430/355 1500-1600 #9935/285 15630/285 9420/323 *12105/355 **7430/355 1600-1700 *#9935/285 15630/285 9420/323 7475/355 **7430/355 1700-1800 #7450/323 15630/285 9420/323 7475/355 **7430/355 1800-1900 #7450/323 15630/285 9420/323 7475/355 **7430/355 1900-2000 #7450/323 *15630/285 9420/323 7475/355 **7430/355 2000-2100 #7450/323 7475/285 9420/323 9375/355 12105/095 2100-2200 #7450/323 7475/285 9420/323 9375/105 12105/095 2200-2300 *#7450/323 7475/285 9420/323 9375/105 12105/095 2300-2400 5865/292 7475/285 9420/323 9375/240 12105/095 DELANO GREENVILLE GMT/UTC Freq Azi Freq Azi 0600-0700 9775/296 0700-0800 9775/296 1200-1300 9775/075 1300-1400 9775/075 1400-1500 9775/075 1600-1700 15475/075 1700-1800 15475/075 1800-1900 15475/075 1900-2000 15475/075 2000-2100 15475/075 17565/164 2100-2200 15475/075 17565/164 *Transmission ends 10 minutes earlier **Foreign language transmissions #ERT 3 -- Radiophonikos Stathmos Makedonias (Thessaloniki) MEDIUM WAVE GMT/UTC KAVALA RHODES 0900-1000 792 1000-1500 792 1260 1500-1800 792 1830-1900 792 2100-2230 792 2300-2400 792 LIVE AUDIO URL: http://www.ert.gr Reports via e-mail: era5 @ ert.gr Technical information: bcharalabopoulos @ ert.gr ERA 5 "THE VOICE OF GREECE" Messogeion 432, 15342, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis Tel: +301 606 6308, 606 6297, Fax: +301 606 6309 General Direction of ERA (Engineering Div.): Messogeion 432, 15342, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis Tel: +301 606 6257, Fax: +301 606 6243 MACEDONIA RADIO STATION: Angelaki Str 2, 54621, Thessaloniki Tel: +303 124 4979, Fax: +303 123 6370 (via John Babbis, MD, Oct 23, DXLD) ** GREENLAND [and non]. Still unbuilt WQTH 720 Claremont NH recently suffered yet another in a seemingly endless series of setbacks in getting on the air. Until a week or two ago, the most recent application for modification of CP had specified 2500W N (from a six- tower array south of Claremont). The proposed day facilities are 50 kW from four of those six towers. Both patterns are basically teardrops aimed north. Anyhow, WQTH has now dropped its proposed night power to 670W, which is enough to cover 88% of Claremont. The FCC should find that acceptable. However, the reason for the power cut is interference to an internationally notified 720 in Greenland (a Class A, I believe). I don't know whether the Greenland station is or isn't on the air, but it doesn't really matter if it is notified. Also, since 720 is evenly divisible by both 9 and 10, it doesn't matter whether Greenland is on 9-kHz or 10-kHz spacing. But can somebody tell me what the AM channel spacing is in Greenland? Is Greenland considered to be part of Europe or North America. Looking at a globe, I'd say it could be either or neither. – (Dan Strassberg, AC 707, Oct 22, NRC AM via DXLD) This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it may be possible that Greenland is trying to use a frequency that works with either plan, though I seem to recall a 650 in Greenland, which would indicate use of the NA plan, The new allocations in the far Pacific made by the FCC for 720, 1440 and 1530 would indicate a conscious FCC effort to pick frequencies that work on both plans. That could work here as well, but I don't know that. Recently on another list it was stated that Greenland plans to shut down all of their AM operations due to aging transmitter plant, high cost of operation and declining AM listenership, a familiar story in other places. I think the Newfoundland expeditions heard 720 a couple of years ago. From the standpoint of WQTH it would be a shame for them to be now locked into an allocation due to a notification that may go away; however I'd think that even if the Greenland AMs are razed, the notifications will stay around forever. It is an interesting theory that a low power signal from NH could cause all this interference in Greenland, to regular radio listeners; however a Greenland signal is next to impossible to even detect by "trained professionals" down here using sophisticated receivers and antennas. Such is life when politicians legislate the laws of physics. (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) Those weren't FCC allocations, per se - they were applications from the broadcasters out there to use those frequencies. I know the fellow who owns WVUV in American Samoa, which is now on 648 but has applied to move to 720. He said he put in that application because all the cars out there are shipped from the US with 10 kHz-step radios, so he can't get any audience on 648. He has a pending application for a new station on either 900 or 990 as well, for the same reason. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Scott, I find it interesting that WVUV is moving to 720 as KUAI is on there. I would think he would go after a channel without a Hawaiian. Hawaii is very strong throughout the Pacific. WVUV used to be on 1120 back in the 60s/70s. That is where I first heard & QSL'd them, then later on 648. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Apparently it is considered to be No America as 2005 WRTH lists MW stations in Greenland on 570 650 720 810 & 900. Many years ago the US Air Force operated a station at Thule AFB on 1425 kHz. This station was heard by a handful of DXers in the Northeast US including Gordon Nelson in Watertown, MA around 1969 (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) I'm probably one of a handful of people on this planet to have an ID of this station. Go here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to it. http://fmdx.usclargo.com/hearditonam/ -- (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ICQ# 33-140-101, ibid.) Marc, I was one of the handful too. But my logging did not come until 1975. DXing from an apartment with my old E.H. Scott RBO2 with a simple non amplified air core loop in Astoria OR. I even got a nice form letter QSL and a copy of their Thule Times Newspaper. One of my favorites. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) All of these but one have been heard by me in Newfoundland. A few of them have come in all day long. There was one night when with a flip of the antenna switch we could toggle between Uruguay and Greenland on 810 kHz, with Spain in the background. I think it was the 900 station I haven't heard from there (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, ibid.) ** GUYANA. 3291.2, Radio Guyana 2, 0043-0100, Oct 23, English, Male announcer in English with news items at tune in. 0047 same male announcer with announcements to individuals to contact various people. 0048 music. Fairly rough copy with static crashes. Above noise floor most of the time. Best I have heard this station since last winter (Bob Montgomery, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4910, All India Radio, Jaipur, Rajasthan State. Full data 'Lions-on-Elephants Flanking entrance to bhoga-mandapa, Konarak' QSL Card. Reply in 49 days, after sending a follow-up report (for Feb. 6. 05) to Delhi, with no reply from Jaipur direct, yet. v/s: Y.K. Sharmad Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy) This makes my 26th Indian regional verified, with Ranchi the only one yet to be heard and verified (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, Alberta, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9524.97v, VOI, Oct 20, 0841-0903, English programming, several IDs for VOI, 0858-0903, `News in Brief,` into programming in Bahasa Malaysia. Seems as if their transmitter is working better now and they are back on a more routine schedule. Some QRM from Star Radio, till about 0900 (Ron Howard, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Big open carrier on 9525, Oct 23 at 1320, just like the good old days of VOI a few months ago, except they used to run modulation {until} 1400. Periodic rechex still found nothing but OC, but of surprising strength, at 1427, when the usual Indonesia/Iran het was audible on 15150v, and OC on 9525 still past 1600, when I thought they might have started Arabic. This was very close to 9525.0 unlike the previous offsetting, so if it is VOI, they have apparently fixed that too. Now all they need to do is decide to provide some modulation rather than kilowasting their kilowatts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. NORTH KOREA REMAINS AT BOTTOM OF PRESS FREEDOM INDEX | Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo Paris, 21 October: North Korea remained the worst violator of press freedom, according to the World Press Freedom Index released by the media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday [20 October]. The Paris-based group said in releasing the fourth annual index, which covers 167 countries, that North Korea was at the bottom followed by Eritrea and Turkmenistan. It said these countries are the "black holes" for news, where the "privately owned media is not allowed and freedom of expression does not exist." "Journalists there simply relay government propaganda. Anyone out of step is harshly dealt with," the media group said. Japan came in 37th, up from 42nd last year, while South Korea ranked 34th, along with Jamaica and Mauritius. The group also expressed concerns over the media situations in other Asian countries, including Myanmar [Burma] (163rd), China (159th), Vietnam (158th), Laos (155th) and Afghanistan (125th). Many countries in the Middle East did not fare well, either. Iran ranked 164th, Iraq 157th, Saudi Arabia 154th and Syria 145th. In these countries, the group said, "journalists have the toughest time" and "government repression or armed groups prevent the media from operating freely." Some Western democracies slipped, including the United States, which nose-dived to 44th from 22nd last year due to the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and "legal moves undermining the privacy of journalistic sources." The organization said at least 24 journalists and media assistants have been killed so far this year in Iraq, the worst figure since World War II. Since the beginning of the war in March 2003, a total of 72 media personnel have been killed in Iraq. Denmark was at the top of the index, along with Finland, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, it said. Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 2255 gmt 20 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. PAN-LATIN AMERICAN TV CHANNEL TELESUR BEGINS 24-HOUR PROGRAMMING | Text of report by Mexican news agency Notimex The Telesur television channel has begun 24-hour programming after successfully passing through a two-month experimental phase, which had the aim of developing a critical audience and fostering integration, its director Aram Ahoranian reported today. Speaking to Notimex, the executive explained that Telesur is a channel financed with Venezuelan, Argentine, Uruguayan, and Cuban capital, which in his opinion guarantees 24 hours of "well structured programming." Ahoranian declared that the dissemination campaign of the new channel began on Monday with three news programmes, 12 news previews, a two- hour morning show, that "does not talk about cellulitis but rather Latin America-in-review". He stated that the information segment will be very dynamic and innovatory because "the genres of chronicles, features, and in-depth interviews that have been abandoned by the majority of mass media will be reclaimed". The director of the channel, which has its headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, said that it is very important to "recover the great journalistic genres that have been lost and that make it possible to provide more context for the events that occur daily in our region." He explained that the journalistic focus represents between 45 and 50 per cent of total programming on Telesur, which also airs documentaries, films, musicals, and biographies, as well as chronicles and features. Telesur is also a space "for debate on ideas and the big issues that affect Latin America, such as the place of the military, energy integration, why the United States and Europe now want to protect the Amazon region," he outlined. Another interesting subject to discuss on Telesur, Ahoranian added, is the alleged presence of 4,000 US soldiers in the border area shared by Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, just above the largest (Paraguayan) reservoir of water in the world. "We have issues that must be debated. Debate is about ideas, opinions and to do something that commercial television does not do: commercial television forms consumers and sheep, and we are working on the education of a critical public with its own views," he said. The executive maintains that "the responsibility of Telesur is to provide balanced, contextualized, and fast information so as to give the citizen the opportunity to draw his or her conclusions about what is happening." In Ahoranian's opinion, "the point is not to replace a hegemonic message with a counter-hegemonic message; it is to switch to diverse messages so that citizens can draw conclusions." He maintains that Telesur arose after doing an "diagnostic assessment of the Latin American reality. For 513 years, we Latin Americans have been trained to see ourselves through foreign eyes. "In Latin America we do not see ourselves as we are and for that reason it is necessary to recover the power of speech. We lack knowledge of our origins that we need in order to know where we are headed; otherwise, they are going to impose visions and contents on us," he emphasized. The new television channel also has the commitment to "recover the public domain and stimulate projects to integrate communications, taking into account that it is a political initiative launched by nation-states," he said. It is also, however, a "strategic project because it is going to be an alternative to all those channels coming from the North, with a stereotyped and northern vision of what Latin America is," Ahoranian said. "In the North they see us in black and white, generally in black, because they only see us when we have a disaster or misfortune strikes," he said. He maintains that in Telesur, by contract, "we consider ourselves to be a multicolour continent full of diversity, plurality; on the other hand it is a paradigm shift, concerning what it means to be alternative. "For years we were convinced that to be alternative was to have a small publication, or a community radio outlet, or a small television [station] and we obtained financing for that from organizations in Europe, North America, New Zealand," he said. He added, however that "these alternative projects all stayed in their small niches and the mass media remained in the hands of the powerful." In Ahoranian's view, the alternative communication media can and must be mass media and not remain on the margins; that is the proposal that Telesur is gambling on. The editorial line of Telesur, as a political and strategic project is to "contribute to the process of Latin American integration from an approach based on continental diversity and plurality," he said. Source: Notimex news agency, Mexico City, in Spanish 1914 gmt 18 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) TELESUR TO BEGIN LIVE NEWSCASTS FROM 31 OCTOBER The Venezuela-backed satellite TV channel Telesur says that it will begin broadcasting live newscasts on 31 October. The channel launched in July, but up to now all material has been pre-recorded. Telesur's president, former Venezuelan information minister Andres Izarra, told a news conference yesterday that twelve correspondents will report from eight Latin American countries, and a reporter will also be based in Washington. The station is a cause for concern in the US Congress. Representatives have approved a measure to transmit US radio and television broadcasts into Venezuela as a countermeasure if Telesur broadcasts material that Congress considers anti-American. Telesur station manager Aram Ahoranian said there is no basis for these fears, and insist that Telesur will simply provide independent journalism from a Latin American perspective. # posted by Andy @ 12:27 UT Oct 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. 18727, (CLANDESTINE) Radio Maluumaati - Coalition Forces Information Radio; 1715-1801 23 October. Clear and fair on peaks with Mid-east vocals and occasional man and woman in unID Mid-east language (seemingly not Pashto/Dari, which seems to be mostly the language(s) during my 6125U 2350+ GMT logs here). AM, or at least DSB-injected mode, as audible both USB/LSB and AM mode (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Hurricane Watch Net http://www.hwn.org The Hurricane Watch Net will activate Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. EDT - 2100 UT, for the purpose of identifying and listing potential reporting stations, including EOC`s, Red Cross and Salvation Army Shelters, etc., and remain on frequency until 11:00 p.m. EDT - 0300 UT or until the 20-meter band closes, which ever comes first. We will reconvene Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. EDT - 1300 UTC and remain active as long as Hurricane Wilma remains as a threat over the US Mainland. In the meantime, please stay tuned to this webpage for the latest updates of our activation plans http://www.hwn.org/home/activationplans.html (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) The latest activation plans update has the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 activating Monday morning at 1200 UT "or early if conditions allow," although they give the time in EDT as 7 a.m., which would be 1100 UT. BTW, although they do not mention it, 3950 has been known to be used by the net at night in the past (John Norfolk, ibid.) more about Wilma, Florida under U S A ** ITALY. Re EQUATORIAL GUINEA, 5-182: Hi Glenn, Well, looks like our beloved Prime Minister is finally back doing some business abroad, and in an exciting and highly competitive market as well. Digital Multimedia Technologies, or DMT, http://www.dmtonline.com/ is part of the Mediaset galaxy. It goes back to 2000, when Mediaset's Elettronica Industriale decided to spin off its infrastructural activities (antenna masts, radio relays, cellular base stations, TV towers and so on) to a smaller company, DTM srl, later to become DTM SpA (a privately held stock company). At the same time, Elettronica Industriale acquired some 30% of DTM's equity. Now DTM is, guess what?, going strong in our terrestrial television conversion to digital, or Digitale Televisivo Terrestre (DVB-T). Is Berlusconi looking after the next electoral base after his popularity in Italy is dropping? Ciao, (Andy Lawendel, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650 [via CANADA], KBS World R., 1200-1300, heard SIO 444 and all week without usual interference from co- channel Voice of Korea. No sign of DPRK on frequency last couple of days. 73 best DX your way (Rick Barton - Central Arizona, USA, Oct 22, R-8, HQ-140X l.w. and r.w.'s + hrd w/ DX-440 and mobile set-up, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 9290, Unidentified Relay via Latvia transmitter Oct. 23 1345-1401* Managed to hear a male speaker with British accent with program, mentioning to write to the UK address and the cost is 20 pds, followed with pop music. At 1350 managed just to catch this partial ID. 'You are listening to ____ on the west coast of the UK....' followed with a segment of techno music. Reception was ruined at times from ship-to-shore LSB traffic in Spanish and noise swizzler. Noted to 1400-1/2 with programming was cut in mid-song, to carrier off at 1401. Heard best on 225 foot long wire, with Drake R8A Receiver (Edward Kusalik - Alberta, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Edward, ERI was scheduled, as in DXLD 5-182. That`s Europe Radio International, I believe. 73, (Glenn to Edward, via DXLD) Glenn, I thought it might be them, but since I couldn't get a positive ID I left it as unidentified. At times I don't want to list something, especially when I'm not sure of the actual station broadcasting. Thank you again for the heads up (Ed Kusalik, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 6184.96, XEEP, Radio Educación, México DF; 0006-0115, 22 October, 2005. Local level with traditional Mexican vocals, 0014 man with "Radio Educación onda corta" ID followed by a few words in broken English, back to music until end of program at 0058. Man again with Spanish/English sentences, time check, schedule, and U time and frequency announced in English followed by a mailing address and requesting reception reports to said, into "El Nuestro Mundo" or some such internally-produced news program, mostly Hurricane Wilma atop Cozumel tonight. No audio from MW 1060 making it in here, though even if it was, the shortwave programming is often a defacto dedicated 'external service' of sorts and not parallel 1060 (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. BONILLA CHAPTER XIII - EMMIS REPLIES In Bonilla Chapter XII (CGC #708), Broadcast Company of the Americas ("BCA") had asked the Commission to deny the sale of nine Emmis television stations, claiming that "Emmis is not of fit character to hold a Commission license....," a statement made in apparent retaliation for Emmis' having joined with Lazer Broadcasting in alleging numerous technical defects at the Bonilla stations in Mexico. Now, Emmis responds to BCA's petition, and appears to tear BCA's arguments to shreds. http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/DOC000.PDF BONILLA CHAPTER XIV - PROPOSED $10,000 MICROWAVE FINE Pacific Spanish Network has tentatively been fined $10,000 for unauthorized 22 GHz microwave operations in the U.S., adding to the list of problems facing the Bonilla stations. The FCC's Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL") is at the first URL below. The microwave system in question is presumably used to beam multiple audio programs across the U.S./Mexican border to feed Mr. Bonilla's Mexican stations, which in turn beam the programs back to the U.S. In an unrelated action, the FCC has issued an NAL to Uniradio (a program supplier to XEMO(AM), Tijuana). A series of NALs have also been issued to a variety of other U.S. companies - many involved in cross-border manufacturing. Apparently these companies have been beaming unauthorized microwave signals across the U.S./Mexican border to coordinate plant activities. Bonilla Case: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-261716A1.html Uniradio Case: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-261720A1.html Entire NAL List: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/ Congratulations to the San Diego FCC field office for taking an active role in policing the electromagnetic spectrum in the U.S./Mexican border zone. It never hurts to send the field office a note of appreciation; use mailto: wzears @ fcc.gov (CGC Communicator Oct 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** NEPAL. FM STATIONS ORDERED TO STOP BROADCASTING NEWS "IMMEDIATELY" | Text of report by Nepalese radio Kantipur FM on 23 October [Presenter] The Ministry of Information and Communication has ordered FM stations based in Kathmandu to immediately stop broadcasting news programmes. The government directives were given by the acting secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication, Suresh Man Shrestha, and spokesperson Ratna Raj Pandey after summoning more than a dozen representatives of FM broadcasters at the ministry today. The meeting between the government officials and FM station representatives lasted about three hours. According to FM representatives, the government has warned of stern action if the ordered are defied by FM broadcasters. On their part the FM operators told the government officials that they would make their response to the government after discussions were held among FM operators. [Kantipur FM station Manager Prabhat Rimal] We have a committee comprising FM broadcasters. With reference to Kantipur FM, where we were attacked two days ago, we will all take a joint decision on how to respond to the government's orders. [Presenter] The move by the government is an effort to implement the controversial media ordinance. On Friday night, the government seized satellite uplink equipment belonging to Kantipur FM. Meanwhile, a petition has been filed at the Supreme Court by professional organizations challenging the government's media ordinance. Filing the petition, legal professionals argue that the media ordinance violates the country's constitution. Source: Kantipur FM, Kathmandu, in Nepali 1245 gmt 23 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) NEPAL CIVIC GROUP TO FILE PETITION AGAINST MEDIA LAW | Text of report by Nepalese daily newspaper Rajdhani on 23 October Kathmandu, 22 October: The Nepal Bar Association [NBA] and civic society on Sunday [23 October] decided to file a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the recently promulgated media ordinance. The government issued the ordinance on 9 October. NBA officials said they have prepared a petition asking the court to revoke the ban on the media, the new fines and the provisions contravening the constitution. A petition demanding the rejection of the media ordinance has already been filed at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has already ordered the government and the petitioner to appear before the court on 30 October to discuss issuing an interim order. Source: Rajdhani, Kathmandu, in Nepali 23 Oct 05 p1 (via BBCm via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re 5-182: The programme/format changes only apply to weekends. Our Mon-Fri programme format and content remains unchanged. Full details are in On Target, which hopefully is now being distributed (though I haven't seen a copy yet) and will also be on the website (Andy Sennitt, RN, Oct 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENIJNG DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Re comments about RNZI's use of DRM for the Pacific. The strategy involves RNZI using a DRM transmitter to targeted island broadcasters, who are supplied with free DRM receivers by RNZI. The local broadcaster can then relay the RNZI broadcasts as effective stereo FM quality over local FM transmitters, or as effective studio quality broadcasts over local AM and/or SW transmitters. An example is SIBC Solomon Islands, whose new SW transmitter will be DRM capable. This will be used to relay SIBC and RNZI programs to low power FM relay transmitters outside Honiara. At the same time, depending on the bit rates used, SIBC can theoretically generate revenue by feeding government voice or teletext type messages to outlying government offices at cheaper rates than the local telephone company. It could also, theoretically, carry music or news programs from a private FM station in Honiara to private FM relay transmitters co-sited with its own FM relays, thus giving distant parts of the country access to a second radio service. And generating revenue. The new VBTC [Radio Vila] AM transmitters gifted by the NZ Government, are also DRM capable. Here again, the option is available for point-to-point use for relays via low power FM transmitters in isolated parts of Vanuatu, and new revenue generation. The end user [listener] doesn't need a digital radio, just their existing battery operated FM or AM radio. As explained in our radio heritage documentary on Pacific DRM trends on Mailbox earlier this year, this is a different end use for DRM than that contemplated in Europe, the Americas, or Australia. RNZI, Radio Australia and UCB Pacific have all relied on either SW or satellite delivery in the past, but the sudden collapse of service earlier this year when the main Pacific satellite went out of orbit, has been a strong reminder of how fragile satellite radio delivery actually can be. Add to this the expense of installing satellite dishes on small islands, with little or no technical maintenance skills available locally, plus the easy destruction of dishes during cyclones, [hurricanes], as well as wet and humid conditions for sensitive computerized equipment, and the decision to run DRM via SW with analog backup makes engineering and economic sense in the Pacific. Some islands [New Caledonia, Tahiti, Fiji] may develop local DRM broadcasts, but with British, French and American digital systems all potentially clashing [like TV's PAL, NTSC and SECAM already do in the region], then using DRM for point-to-point retransmission is a sensible early transition into the new technology. RNZI will be testing the new DRM transmitter towards Tonga in November, using different bit rates for different program streams and quality levels. This will be during the Pacific breakfast program. UCB Pacific [who had relied on the defunct satellite to deliver their Pacific program stream to their Tonga, Solomons, Vanuatu stations] are also investigating being able to share the RNZI DRM transmitter to provide point-to-point delivery to their growing number of stations.] UCB Pacific are part of the larger Rhema Broadcasting Group [RBG] which participated in the April DRM tests in New Zealand via the 657 AM Wellington outlet of their Southern Star program stream. (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net Oct 23 DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. RFA QSL: see U S A [non] ** PERU. 4965.82, (tentative), R. Santa Ana, the new one being heard by Björn Malm; carrier on at 1025 Oct 18 (a good LA morning), but very weak and all I could make out was music; nothing heard on subsequent mornings (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. As an example of the super MW conditions underway, last night, UT Oct 23 around 0530 there were several reports from NW USA and SW Canada of VOR in English via Germany on 1323 kHz, e.g. Dennis Vroom, Vancouver WA, IRCA; Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, HCDX. It is most unusual to be getting European MW signals with identifiable audio out there. Many other MW and LW frequencies are reported (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 22 October follow. Solar flux 75 and mid-latitude A-index 8. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 23 October was 0 (03 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** SARAWAK. (Kuching, Malaysia) 7270, Wai FM (RTM), Oct 19, 1335-1411, pop music with woman DJ, several different distinctive ``Wai FM`` singing jingles, ToH five minutes of ``Berita Wai FM`` (news), more pop music, good reception (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15205, SA'UDI ARABIA. BSKSA, Riyadh; 1706-1714, 23 October, 2005. Strong but with 60-cycle hum, Qur`an recital, Arabic male announcer between (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Oct 23, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA [and non]. I am puzzled why Glenn writes "Why no Czech?" at the end of the B05 schedule for Radio Slovakia International in DXLD 5-182. I am not aware that they ever had any broadcasts in Czech, certainly not on shortwave. Or have I missed something? (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I suppose they have not, but it occurred to me it would have been the thing to do to keep in contact with their former partners, or even Czechs abroad. But then there isn`t much if any Slovak to be heard from Czechia. So be it (Glenn, ibid.) ** SOMALIA. SOMALILAND: PRIVATE [shortwave] RADIO STATION CLOSED DOWN | Text of report in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times on 23 October Somaliland security forces closed down a private radio station in Boorama on Wednesday [19 October] only a few days after it started broadcasting Somali songs. Police raided a workshop for repairing radio and television sets on late Wednesday afternoon arresting a technician called Deeq Muhammad Du'ale and confiscating devices suspected of being used as transmission and broadcasting equipment. The station broadcast on shortwave (SW1) from 1900 to 0200 [local time] and was easily heard through out Boorama town. The transmission was first detected on last Sunday. Broadcasting hasn't resumed since Wednesday. This is the second time in less than three years that a private radio station has been shut in Boorama by the police. The Somaliland government banned the establishment of private radio stations in the country. The minister of information, Abdullahi Muhammad Du'ale, has justified the move by saying that the country had not yet adopted broadcasting regulations. He also claimed that private radio stations, if allowed to operate in Somaliland, would destabilize the country. Du'ale in a similar incident in which a private radio station established in Hargeysa was closed down, demanded that all broadcasting equipment already in the country be surrendered to the government. He warned that delinquent perspective broadcasters would be prosecuted. Somaliland has six private newspapers and one independent television station. Most Somalilanders depend on the independent media for information on the situation in the country. The government-owned media, three newspapers and a radio/TV station, suffers from a credibility problem stemming from a public perception that the official media is a propaganda arm for those in power. Source: The Somaliland Times, Hargeysa, in English 23 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) SOMALILAND: EDITORIAL RAPS GOVERNMENT FOR CLOSING RADIO STATION | Text of editorial in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times on 22 October Wednesday's closure by the security forces of Boorama's independent radio station which started broadcasting only a few days earlier, is yet another clear indication of the extent to which president Riyale's government is ready to go to make sure that no private broadcasting services are introduced in this country. By throwing the station's technician, Deeq Muhammad into prison and confiscating the broadcasting equipment, the government has shown how indifferent it was to the tremendously positive changes brought by recent parliamentary elections to the country's domestic political landscape as well as international standing. According to Mr Riyale and his Information Minister Abdullahi Du'ale, if independent radio stations were allowed to operate here, it was most likely that they would incite people into communal violence. They often cite the case of the notorious Rwandese Radio Television libre des Mille Collines, whose 1994 programs had deliberately encouraged Hutus to massacre Tutsis, as an example of the terrible things that private broadcasting can do. This argument is of course wrong and baseless simply because the Rwandese radio in question was actually owned by the incumbent Rwandese government at the time and not by someone from the private sector. The attribution of neighbouring Somalia's lack of peace and reconciliation to Mogadishu's seven different private radio stations is also another excuse that Mr Riyale and Mr Du'ale usually employ as justification for the government's ban of the establishment of independent radio broadcasting services. However, as almost all independent observers would agree, Mogadishu's thriving radio operators have been more of a stabilization factor than a destabilization one. But the fact that Somaliland has its own vibrant private newspapers and at least one independent television stations, which have won praise for their coverage of the country's political situation in the last 14 years, has been in itself a powerful reminder in the eyes of the public that there were no justifications at all for the government's policy banning private radios. The actual reason for the government's behaviour lies some where else. Given Somaliland's oral society and high illiteracy rate, president Riyale's government has been aware that radio remains the most effective medium of information communication. It has been simply scared by the scenario of private radio stations capturing a lion's share of this country's potentially large audience. But by banning private radios the government has been in breach of the constitution which guarantees citizens the right to own their private radio stations. The newly democratically elected parliament must bring the government's habitual violation of the constitution to an immediate stop. The legislators should also introduce, after consultation with the independent media representatives, a law governing broadcasting operatives. The policy banning private radios has not only deprived citizens of enjoying their freedom of the press but has also stigmatized Somaliland's democracy internationally. The next House of Representatives should ensure that his shameful government policy ceases to exist forthwith. Source: The Somaliland Times, Hargeysa, in English 22 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK, and what is the upper limit of ``SW1`` ??? It all depends on the receiver design, don`t they know? And thus should not be referenced in publication (gh, DXLD) ** SOMALIA. SOMALI YOUTH LAUNCH "RECONCILIATION" FM STATION NORTH OF MOGADISHU | Text of report by Kenyan television NTV on 22 October [Presenter] Across the continent of Africa, and in countries that have been destabilized by war, the most hit have been the youth, who in many cases are recruited into fighting wars they hardly understand their causes. But somewhere in the heart of Somalia, a group of youth have put down the guns and picked up the pen. The youth are also taking advantage of the power of radio to educate themselves. Yasin Juma visited Radio Johwar FM station and filed the following report. [Juma] It is 12 noon. Like every other hour, 23-year-old Ahmad is live on air, airing the news as it breaks in Somalia. This is Radio Jowhar FM, the only radio station in the whole of Middle Shabelle Region [north of Mogadishu], which has now become the seat of the new Somali government that recently relocated from Nairobi. The station is housed in a simple three-roomed building. Like many buildings in Somalia, it is being rehabilitated from ruins, a legacy of the 14-year-old civil war. One unique thing about this station, established three years ago, is that it was started by the youth. It is the likes of Ahmad and fellow youths of Jowhar who run it, an initiative gathered towards healing the wounds caused by the war. [Muhammad Nur, chief editor] And we are actually very divided into clans, so we met here, we organized debates, we were telling the importance of the youth to sit together and talk about their problems and differences. [Juma] During the war, the radio which plays an important role in the lives of Somalis, was controlled by some warlords and used for propaganda messages. Today, the station is being used to sow seeds of peace and reconciliation. [Ahmad Muhammad, broadcaster] And I have decided to tell them what they don't know. We decided to tell them that they [must] put [down] the gun and take the pens. [Yasin] Well, I'm sitting in the broadcasting house of Radio Jowhar. It may look very simple from Kenyan standards but this radio station has gone towards helping the youth in many issues, especially after the 14-years of war. With the war coming to an end, the youth operating the FM station feel obliged to fight yet another war, this time a war against poverty, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and female genital mutilation. [Nur] A lot of things have changed and we started people to talk freely, express their ideas. [Juma] A major impediment however, has been lack of finance. The station has no sponsor and none of the 27 reporters, technicians and broadcasters get paid. They are all volunteers depending on handouts from well-wishers. But for Ahmad and his colleagues, the love for his motherland and hopes of a peaceful Somalia outweighs everything. And that is the essence of Radio Jowhar FM. Source: NTV, Nairobi, in English 1800 gmt 22 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC TO MERGE EVENING HINDI AND ENGLISH SERVICES 21 October 2005 --- Robin Viegas in Bombay reports that effective Monday October 24, 2005, the SLBC will be merging their Hindi & English services in the evenings at 1330-1530 UT. Now there will be a Hindi & English announcer and programing will be heard on 11905 & 7275 kHz daily (from dxasia.info via Alokesh Gupta, HCDX via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. From 30.10.2005 onwards, IBC London, Tamil service plans to change the frequency from 73150 [sic] to 6055 kHz at 0000- 0100 UT (K. Raja, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Hi Glenn and all, Sound of Hope, 10/23/05, SINPO 23333, 1300 - 1400, 7310 in Mandarin. Sign-on with fanfare, fast moving articles by woman and man announcers with musical bridges in between. Sign off with same fanfare as at beginning. Some Chinese `firedrake` jamming under signal. Said to be transmitted from Tan Shui, Taiwan with New York, USA producers. This received on R75 with 42 Meter dipole (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. CHINA (Taiwan), 9745, Voice of Han (via CBS). Full data multicolored Satellite Dish / Armed Services card, with accompanying schedule brochure. This in response possibly to a follow-up with I sent recently to this address: The Voice of Han Broadcasting, B Building 5 F No. 3, Sin Yi Road, section 1, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. Reply time was a total of 16 months, 53 days after sending out a follow-up (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, Alberta, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 15225 1230-1330 Turkish Radio-TV Corp Turkey 1234567 English 500 Emirler At 1310 UT on Sunday 10/23/05, excellent signal and in English according to hfradio.org the only place had them listed in English at this time, should say a whopping signal here in Herkimer, NY with Turkish music (Daryl Rocker, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not the only place, e.g. see http://www.susi-und-strolch.de/eibi/dx/freq-a05.txt and that`s where VOT has been for the past 7 months (gh, DXLD) ** U K. COUNTING THE FREELOADERS --- By Norman Lebrecht / Oct 19, 2005 http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/051019-NL-freeloaders.html It was Clausewitz who said that fighting a war on two fronts is not a good idea, but facing both ways on the same front is surely indefensible. Last week the BBC announced the end of music on the World Service while, in practically the same breath, assuring Parliament that it has an absolute right to deliver music to all corners of the earth. Bewildered? So are the troops. The BBC World Service is dropping music, classical and pop alike, in order to fund an Arabic TV station to counter Al-Jazeera, Osama Bin Laden`s channel of choice. The cuts have provoked the usual outcry - `Needless destruction of a cultural treasure` wailed one headline - led, as ususal, by the music industry which relies on the Beeb for free promo. There will probably be a lobbied compromise before the last beans are counted. But while the heart aches, it truly does, to see Britain`s historic window to the world shutting out music like a cloud of mosquitoes, the mind recognises a different reality. Much of the world is now on-line. The rest will follow as $100 laptops hit Asia, where the aim of several big charities is to put every child within reach of the internet. A world that receives BBC Radios 1, 2 and 3 on the web no longer needs music from the World Service. What it requires - by the end of next week, if possible - is a language conversion button on all BBC websites to allow kids in Togo and Tahiti, mums in Mumbai and Mexico City, to log onto the best of British culture in the comfort of their own vernacular. The World Service has no further role as a cultural ambassador. This may not have been what head mandarin Nigel Chapman wanted to convey, but by calling time on music, he has brought into focus the sole purpose of his Service, which is to provide news and commentary in as many languages as the Foreign Office will pay for at an impeccable standard of clarity and accuracy, unmatched elsewhere in the BBC. All else is inessential. For the BBC has outgrown its World Service and become a global brand, dominant in the medium that delivers the bulk of the world`s information and entertainment. On-line, the BBC News website is required reading for world leaders. BBC America has more hits than most US cable channels have subscribers. And Radio 3 (where I am a presenter) is a web hub of classical music and cultural discussion, an evolution that has ruffled some political feathers. Last week, Radio 3`s inspired summer offering of live Beethoven symphonies for free download was attacked by John Whittingdale, Tory chairman of the Commons select committee on media and culture, for damaging 'small and fledgling' offshoots of a struggling music industry. The BBC replied that it had consulted the industry in advance and was sharing its data with all interested organisations. The matter grumbles on and Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, has promised the committee a fuller explanation. I am in a position to shed more light on the results. An internal breakdown of the Beethoven downloads reveals that the biggest proportion, 295,000 or 21 percent, were taken in the US, closely followed by Britain (240,000 or 17 percent), Holland (80,000), Germany (58,000), Belgium (57,000), Canada (55,000) and Russia (55,000). Nation was speaking peace unto nation, in the spirit of the BBC's mission, and if the bulk of the chat was to members of the same civilisation that, surely, was only to be expected when the topic was the supreme composer in the western symphonic tradition. What is remarkable, even astonishing, is the extent of interest outside the old league of nations. Music seekers in Vietnam, for instance, took 17,000 Beethoven downloads, there were 15,000 in Thailand and Mexico 13,000, in Taiwan. People in 26 different countries joined the Beethoven wave, giving the BBC one of its biggest web footprints and Britain immeasurable credit as a cultural provider. And the wave will continue to roll. Regardless of political objections, Radio 3 plans to offer some free downloads from its Bach bonanza in the ten days up to Christmas - a 214-hour relay of 500 organ works, 371 chorales, 215 cantatas, 200 keyboard scores, 40 chamber works, 14 passions and much else - though it has not yet been decided how much Bach will go for free. The case for giving it away runs something like this. The BBC employs three orchestras in London and Manchester and wants the public to have ready access to their work in all media. Beyond raising awareness in classical music and the vitality of British cultural life, the initiative is also educating consumers the world over in how to make a legal download of a large symphony, something the mega- labels have conspicuously failed to achieve. The music industry has nothing to fear from the freebies, when the BBC is freely sharing its database of world users. There is full support from chairman Michael Grade and from DG Mark Thompson, who has pledged that culture will be `right up there` with news and sport at the centre of the BBC`s output. However - and here the BBC loses the plot - television has resisted the call to cultural renewal and is stuck in a primordial rut. A Sunday dauber continues to teach art, a toothy gardener to present the Proms. In its commissioning process, the artistically tame prevails over the potentially daring. Cultural documentary is all too often indistinguishable from promotional puff. Alan Yentob`s Imagine series is a tour of narrow horizons. BBC2`s Culture Show mistakes events for ideas. The disengagement from creative momentum is almost total. The most contentious opera of the new century, Doctor Atomic by John Adams, opened a fortnight ago in San Francisco amid furious debate over the motives of the men who made the first atom bomb. The opera has not been shown on the BBC. Next week, China will see its first Wagner Ring, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Millions in Britain and around the world will want to know how he got on. They need not turn to the BBC for enlightenment. So ambivalent is the BBC's outlook that there is no certainty that Harold Pinter's speech, when he receives the Nobel on December 10, will {be} considered for a live relay on News 24. Content is the key to winning on the web and the BBC is missing out on far too much. Culturally, it is facing both ways, claiming educational kudos while actually dumbing down. The time for an upgrade is now, or never (via John Norfolk, dxldyg) ** U S A. Ambiguously Anonymous http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801717.html Fish, fowl, whatever. First came news Aug. 9 that veteran Bush media guru Mark McKinnon -- an erstwhile Democrat -- was nominated to a seat on the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- which oversees outlets such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Martí -- to replace Democrat Joaquin Blaya on the nine-member board. Senate Democrats, particularly Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and ranking Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) objected, saying someone who pulled in millions working for Bush hardly qualified as a Democrat by their lights. The White House, showing its "uniter, not divider" credentials, agreed. Next thing you know, the White House on Monday pulled the nomination and renominated McKinnon to replace Republican board member Fayza Veronique Boulad Rodman (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. PALAU. "USA", 9905, Radio Free Asia (via KHBN/Palau Island) Full data (minus site) 18th Annual SWL Winterfest QSL Card, in response to a e-mail (2nd) follow-up. In an e-mail response to my follow-up inquiry about my reception report, this reply from AJ Janitschek at RFA: One last bit of news; currently we are not confirming any transmitter sites on our QSL cards; even IBB sites. I believe the term, ``in the interests of Homeland Security`` were the exact words used by our Director of Program Delivery. Thanks again for your note and for your patience. Best wishes from Washington DC (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, Alberta, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11540, Radio Free Asia, 2025 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA, QSL card full data in six months for a reception report in Tibetan language. The picture on the front of this QSL card commemorates 2005 as the Year of the Rooster which began on February 09, 2005. No V/S (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, playdx via DXLD) EiBi says this one is Kuwait, if at 15-16 UT. Way to go, writing a report in Tibetan? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. A reminder to check 9530 at 2000 UT Sunday Oct 23 for a possible unscheduled repetition, like I happened upon last week, of V. of Joy Music Hour via Sackville, this time the shape-note singing episode. Tho I seem to be the only one interested in this. 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DXLD) Nothing here at 2002 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, ibid.) Nor here (gh) 9530, USA. Voice of Joy Music Hour (via Sackville), 2000 Oct 22, ID, address, into program of music by Sacred Harp Singers in Alabama, gave URL http://www.fasola.org Interview 2017, more music 2034, to 2059*. ID: "This is the Voice of Joy Music Hour broadcasting from Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada on 9530 kHz. Our address is Box 610411, Dallas, TX 75261. Our E-mail address is voiceofjoy @ comcast.net " Strong, tho very slight defect in the audio throughout. Heard per GH item in DXLD. Apparently Sat only (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI TO SHUT DOWN FOR WILMA 1:00 pm Eastern Time Sunday, Dear WRMI Clients: Here we go again. This time South Florida is being threatened by Hurricane Wilma. It is expected to be a category two hurricane when it arrives in South Florida. The latest reports indicate that conditions are going to deteriorate quickly around midnight tonight (Sunday), and will probably remain bad until Monday afternoon. Miami is basically going to shut down on Monday, and peopleare advised not to go out after late this evening. The winds will certainly be high enough to potentially affect our antennas, not to mention the flooding and probable power outages. Because of these reasons, and the safety of our transmitter site operators, we have decided to shut down our transmissions as of midnight tonight (Sunday) until Wilma passes through. At the moment, we are tentatively planning to resume broadcasts as of about 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday, assuming there is no damage and that we have electricity. However, we could be back on the air earlier or later, depending on conditions (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO KEEPS LISTENERS AWARE WHEN POWER FAILS NICK MASON Herald Staff Writer Posted on Sat, Oct. 22, 2005 http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/12967864.htm MANATEE - Hunkered down in closets, Tampa Bay hurricane victims last year were grateful to hear weather information on portable radios. "We got some nice notes from people listening to Bay News 9 in their closet," Mike Gautreau, the TV station's news director, said Friday. When the power goes out, Manatee County residents can tune in several radio stations on portable radios to hear current information about weather conditions, forecasts and official warnings. "If the power goes out, radio is the way to basically communicate," said Larry Leinhauser, public information officer at the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center. "Even FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) recommends everyone have an AM radio with fresh batteries." Bay News 9 audio is simulcast during weather emergencies by several radio stations, including WBRD-AM, WKZM-FM, WRBQ-FM and WSJT-FM that reach into Manatee County. "It is at the discretion of those stations to decide when they want to carry our signal in its entirety," Gautreau said. WBRD-AM management is happy to partner with Bay News 9 to keep listeners informed during a hurricane. "They are much more qualified from a meteorological standpoint to give us the most updated weather forecast rather than our local studio trying to do that," said Bill Bailey, WBRD-AM's general manager. "Our main concern is keeping the station on the air in a time of emergency, and they can provide the programming to our listeners." Bailey said his station was not simulcasting the Bay News 9 audio on Friday but will pick up the television station's audio signal as Hurricane Wilma approaches. "Once the storm comes out of the Yucatan peninsula, we will make a decision when we would revert to full-time programming with Bay News 9," Bailey said. Clear Channel provides Manatee County emergency weather information to listeners on two AM and four FM stations, said Ryan Rafferdy, assistant program director for WSRQ-AM. "We broadcast anything and everything we can get our hands on related to a hurricane," Rafferdy said. "Our stations do have backup generators, too. So we will be on the air here even when the power goes out." Robert Pankau, a reporter for WFLA-AM, said his Tampa station reports weather news from government emergency centers from Citrus to Charlotte counties, including Manatee. "We stay in touch with emergency managers from all the Tampa Bay-area counties," Pankau said. "We carry news conferences live from the state Emergency Operations Center and the National Hurricane Center. We are pretty hurricane intensive. If a storm threatens this area, we go to constant coverage around-the-clock." Tune your dial Here are local radio stations that broadcast detailed information during a weather emergency: WDAE, 620 AM WFLA, 970 AM WDDV, 1320 AM WBRD, 1420 AM WSRQ, 1450 AM [what, no public radio stations?? --- gh] WLTQ, 92.1 FM WFLZ, 93.3 FM WSJT, 94.1 FM WBTP, 95.7 FM WXTB, 98 FM [sic – no US FM station lacks an odd decimal point!; 97.9] WMTX, 100.7 FM WFUS, 103.5 FM WKZM, 104.3 FM WRBQ, 104.7 FM WTZB, 105.9 FM WCTQ, 106.5 FM WSRZ, 107.9 FM (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RE: WILMA: Bradenton FL radio targets As a slightly related side comment, when we went through those storms here in Tampa last year (and, of course, power was out), the radio dial here in Tampa was packed with station after station broadcasting storm information. Many of these were simulcasting with each other. The information was overwhelming, particularly since we were sitting in the dark (trying to conserve batteries), and there was no entertainment or other programming. Channel after channel, AM & FM, all you could pick up was storm information. Anybody who has ever been through one of these storms knows that the information is repeated over and over, because not much changes in a storm within an hour or two. And when you multiply this repetition by the number of stations there are in the Tampa area, and add the fact that many of them are simulcasting, it is strictly overkill. We got to a point where we just turned the radio off and left it off for several hours. I think that during a major storm radio executives should give some thought to programming at least one of their stations with some kind of pre-recorded entertainment, that would allow people who are sitting in the dark to get some relief from the monotonous repetition of storm information. The public, when listening to it, could easily switch to one of the other 40 or 50 stations to hear the latest storm information. These comments are not meant to be critical of the great job these stations did in covering the storms. It's just a matter of how much repetition and duplication are useful (Dick W., FL, ABDX via DXLD) September Poll Question: "How would you rate radio station preparedness in emergencies?" (NRC-AM via DXLD) Here in Hurricane central in Florida, it Sucks, quite plainly. No preparation. Of all the stations I can receive locally, there are only 2 that do anything other than hook up to TV audio and consider that their civic duty and public service. Whole clusters will hook together and get the same TV station. TV does pretty good, but way over hypes things and in many cases, stages the news (Paul Smith, Sarasota, FL, Oct 21, ibid.) FORT MYERS Hurricane Wilma broadcasts: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9789173/ FORT MYERS - The following radio stations will simulcast NBC2/ABC7 programming as needed during Hurricane Wilma: WCNZ - Naples - 1660 AM WVOI - Marco Island - 1480 AM WMYR - Ft. Myers - 1410 AM WAY FM 88.7 [really WAYJ per FM Atlas 2005 --- gh] WAVV 101.1 FM WWGR 101.9 FM WJGO 102.9 FM WGUF 98.9 FM WSGL 104.7 FM Decisions on if/when to take our programming is made by the individual radio station, if they feel storm coverage is needed on their airwaves (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. **OFF AIR FOR TOWER MAINTENANCE** Sunday: 12:00 AM - 4:00 AM Due to scheduled maintenance on our broadcast tower, WLS is off the air until 4 am. Nate Clay will not be heard this week, but will return next week. Unfortunately, routine maintenance has to happen in order to keep our signal as clean and clear as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Thank you for listening to WLS! (from http://www.wlsam.com/showdj.asp?DJID=29152 via George Thurman, Chicago, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From the program schedule of WLS 890 Chicago, this really does refer to early Sunday Oct 23, 0500-0900 UT, not Monday morning. Presumably something to do with the WMVP-1000 business altho I do not find anything corresponding at http://www.am1000.com/ (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) [and non] I checked around 0530, and WLS was indeed off, the channel dominated by the Cuban, with non-stop discussion of H. Wilma; along with a strong het on 891, no doubt Algeria, which these nights can be heard anyway with WLS on (but capturing audio is another matter). WLS cut back on at 0548 in the midst of discussion of some silly ballgame involving a team wearing socks (seems like a good idea; I can`t understand wearing shoes without socks). I guess the show was still being webcast during the AM silent period. It may have gone off again around 0600, or maybe just a fade as I went QRT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Only thing heard on 890 here in Central PA during WLS off was Progreso, Cuba, in with a strong signal. Traces of another station briefly heard under (Brett Saylor, R8 with 100' sloper, dxhub yg via DXLD) 890, CUBA, R. Progreso, Oct. 23, 0600 UT - in like ton of bricks with WLS off. Usual bombastic commentary, read alternately by man and woman; several mentions of Guantánamo. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yeah, but nothing else, unfortunately (Rich Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) On 890: Only Progreso, very strong. Hoping for Algeria-891 but only a weak het (Greg Coniglio, Rochester NY, ibid.) Likewise here --- this was a non-event. I did timed recording on 890 and tried to null Progreso when I set it up, but they were still the only readable signal with WLS off. Interesting to note that WLS was running tests at 0300 EDT, but with an ESPN audio feed --- just silence during the breaks. They signed back on at 0500 EDT (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC'S MARTIN SHAKES UP COMMISSION, SHAPES IT TO HIS LIKING In the seven months since Kevin Martin took over the chairmanship of the FCC, he has initiated a staff shake-up that has reached far into the agency, replacing chiefs at five of six bureaus, and moving many staffers to new assignments. Some observers say the changes reflect the deep division between Martin and his predecessor, Michael Powell. http://mediachannel.org/blog/book/print/1463 (CGC Communicator Oct 23, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. DAVID REHR TO BECOME PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NAB David Rehr, president and chief lobbyist for the National Beer Wholesaler's Association, is slated to become the new president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters on December 5, 2005. Mr. Rehr is "credited by some as being good at generating funds," according to the Radio World account at the URL below, but there is no indication that Mr. Rehr has electronics or broadcast experience. http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=7921 (CGC Communicator Oct 23, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. DIVINE INTERVENTION AXES SCHOOL STATION By Jaclyn Pelletier/ Beacon Villager Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - Updated: 01:55 PM EST http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=107694 Today's lesson: Don't cross Christian broadcasting. Maynard High School's radio frequency, 91.7 FM, is being seized by a network of Christian broadcasting stations that the Federal Communications Commission has ruled is a better use of the public airwaves. ``People are furious,'' said faculty adviser Joe Magno. Maynard High's WAVM, which has been broadcasting from the school for 35 years, found itself in this David vs. Goliath battle when it applied to increase its transmitter signal from 10 to 250 watts. According to Magno, that ``opens the floodgates for any other station to challenge the station's license and take its frequency.'' Using a point scale that considers such factors as audience size, the FCC ruled the Christian broadcasting network the better applicant. WAVM is given 30 days to appeal, and has done so. If the FCC refuses to overturn its decision, WAVM will fall silent. ``The little guy does not stand much of a chance. Legally, we don't have a leg to stand on,'' Magno said. Although WAVM applied for the power increase five years ago, the group just heard about the outcome of the application process and were told the frequency was designated to another applicant. Maynard school Superintendent Mark Masterson has written a letter of appeal to the FCC and sent copies of it to every federal representative decrying the decision (via Keith McGinnis, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) The newspaper doesn't specify which "network" of Christian broadcasters is involved. An attempt to look at the legal actions against the power increase application is unsuccessful. I wonder if this is THE network who saturates as much of the country as possible with as many low-power stations as possible. I can't speak for this particular one, but I fail to see how they serve the community interests at all when the only mention of the community in any of their programming is in the required hourly ID (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) ** U S A. Glenn, I found this article from the Associated Press in the Indianapolis Star (no doubt in other papers as well) concerning the so-called 'king of all media' Howard Stern and his possible successor once he leaves terrestrial radio for satellite radio. Later, (Steven Cline, Indianapolis, IN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO HAS A SIRIUS PROBLEM: REPLACING HOWARD STERN --- Satellite service's deal with shock jock leaves land-based stations seeking a hot talent. --- By Larry Mcshane, Associated Press NEW YORK -- They fade in and out like stations along the radio dial, some with more frequency than others: the reputed replacements for departing shock jock Howard Stern. There's David Lee Roth and Adam Carolla, Jon Stewart and Geraldo Rivera, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Bonaduce. One or more could fill Stern's vacant morning drive-time seat in January, when the radio icon surrenders his syndicated kingdom for Sirius Satellite Radio. But it's time to face the truth, for better or worse: Terrestrial radio may never see another Howard Stern... http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051022/ENTERTAINMENT05/510220351&SearchID=73224177682140 (via Steven Cline, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. CX 16 RADIO CARVE, NUEVAMENTE AL AIRE Tras lo señalado en el anterior apunte enviado bajo el titulo URUGUAY; CX 16 Radio Carve, silenció su Voz, este Sábado 22 de Octubre la histórica emisora uruguaya retorno al aire. Para quienes no queríamos acostumbrarnos a la idea de dos frecuencias vacías tanto los 850 de radio Carve, como los 1010 de su emisora hermana Nuevotiempo, nos hemos encontrado con el feliz retorno de ambas emisoras y sus programaciones. El comunicado puesto al aire por el personal de la emisora en la voz de Jorge Vignola, Jefe de Informativos, modalidad de acercamiento con la audiencia ya realizada el 19 de octubre al señalarse el corte de las transmisiones, señalaba lo siguiente. ``Estamos nuevamente al aire. Su apoyo, su permanente presencia de ese lado del receptor, sus constantes llamados y expresiones e solidaridad, nos animaron a plantear este desafió que concluyo con buenos resultados después de tres días de interrupción de las emisoras Carve y Nuevotiempo. Volvemos al aire gracias a un sector de accionistas, que se avino a escuchar nuestros planteos. Hoy les vamos a contar, porque atravesamos 72 horas muy duras de mucha angustia e incertidumbre. Se reunieron los accionistas, los propietarios de las dos radios, deliberaron durante 5 horas, largas para nosotros que esperábamos su decisión para realizar nuestra asamblea. Salió humo Negro, porque un sector con total falta de sensibilidad se opuso reiteradamente a las propuestas de solución del otro. Hoy lo decimos con nombre y apellido, la convicción del Sr. Jorge De Feo y la voluntad expresa del señor Raúl Fontaina Islas, permitió alcanzar la solución que esperábamos para volver a la comunicación con ustedes. Aseguramos la fuente de trabajo de 50 compañeros de las dos radios. Sus familias hoy recuperan la tranquilidad. La solución para nosotros como alguien lo dijo en la asamblea, es un acto de fe, porque alguien se comprometió a impulsar las soluciones, pero confiamos que la situación además la vamos a consolidar entre todos. También con ustedes. Nos quedamos atentos, vigilantes, no obstante para pulir las soluciones a fin de que nuestro funcionamiento sea el mejor. Ya tendremos tiempo para apuntar a otros objetivos y mejorar nuestras programaciones en beneficio de ustedes. Les pedimos disculpas de corazón por habernos llamado a silencio durante casi 60 horas. Volvemos con todo, con ganas, con todas las ganas que acumulamos en estos días de mirar de lejos el transmisor`` Nuevamente esta al aire CX 16 Radio Carve, los 850 kilohertz ya no están vacíos en el Uruguay, solo resta desear que la programación de Carve retome el esplendor de otros tiempos, por lo que posible es, solo el tiempo lo dirá, pero detrás del receptor estamos nuevamente quienes no solo por historia, sino por respeto y calidez estamos expectantes a su sintonía. Su identificación ha vuelto a sonar en los receptores de radio : Revivamos las voces del pasado Radio Carve empezaba a llegar nuestra radio que nació con ilusiones se ganó los corazones de todo el Uruguay. En Radio Carve nacieron personajes, los más grandes que la Radio pudo dar, por eso ahora que el tiempo ha pasado, seguiremos a su lado, como todo el Uruguay (Gabriel Gómez, Montevideo, Uruguay. Diexista e Historiador de la Radio. Telefono: (05982)924.14.24 Mail: gabrielgomez @ montevideo.com.uy Web: http://es.geocities.com/archivoradio/gabrielgomez.html Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Un complemento a la información dada por Gabriel viene de esta nota publicada en http://www.coloniadigital.com/ --- Ayuda a comprender el trasfondo de esta crisis: "En el trasfondo hay una lucha interna entre De Feo y los accionistas minoritarios, las familias Fontaina Minelli y Fontaina Islas, lucha que llegó a los estrados judiciales. Hace cuatro meses se eligió un nuevo directorio, integrado por Héctor Vera, Carlos Giacosa y Alejandro Fontaina, que había regularizado el pago de salarios. Pero hace un mes ese elenco renunció porque la discrepancia entre los accionistas frenó la capitalización que todos consideran imprescindible para la continuidad de las emisoras. Según las versiones circulantes, De Feo sólo acepta integrar capital si los otros socios lo hacen en proporción. Estos, por su parte, entienden que ya han sostenido a la radio desde la crisis de 2002. La radio comenzó a emitir el 12 de octubre de 1928 por iniciativa de Carlos Carve, al que pronto se asociaron Jaime Farell, Juan De Feo, Roberto Fontaina y Raúl Fontaina. Actualmente atraviesa por una crisis, pero transmite con CX24 Nuevo Tiempo y es parte de un grupo económico, liderado por De Feo, que integra Saeta Canal 10 -- donde tiene mayoría accionaria --, Portal X, la transmisora de TV cable, TCC, la Fiesta de la X y emisoras de radio y televisión del Interior. Además, integra Equital y la Red Uruguaya de Televisora Color, entre otras empresas." Como complemento general incluyo la siguiente información: Organigrama de los medios de comunicación en el Uruguay http://www.radio36.com.uy/mensaje/2004/08/m_310804.htm ``MAPA`` DEL PODER ECONÓMICO EN LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN EN URUGUAY http://alc.amarc.org/legislaciones/CD/cd/anexos/Anexos%201.4a.doc (via Horacio Nigro, oct 21, condig list via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. This week`s incomplete observations of ``Aló, Presidente`` -- Sunday Oct 23 at 1410, 11875 was on, strong and distorted with co-channel QRM; 13680 was open carrier, 11670 seemed to be open carrier along with WYFR; 13750 had no signal. At 1423 recheck, 11670 with AP, but big hum on audio, unlike stronger 11875; 13680 quite weak but parallelable, monolog from a guy about Venezuela, presumably HCF already (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hello: I like your World of Radio segment on WRN. I`ve also heard it as an MP3 download. I don`t think I`ve ever received your program on shortwave. I`ve enclosed a donation. Good luck to you and to your efforts (Sean Martin, f.k.a. Schuland Leung, EDI Notebook & Desktop Systems, Albuquerque, Oct 8) = formerly known as? PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ FM ATLAS, 20th Edition Two months after it was first announced and ordered, it has finally arrived, meter-marked Oct 17 with $1.42 of US Media Mail postage. We are very glad to have this at last, and it will be referred to very frequently both at home and in travels. Just a few first impressions: the maps are noticeably more cluttered than they were two years ago, which as Bruce acknowledges, is inevitable if all stations are to be included, and there are more of them, in a book of the same size and format. Many of the maps have insets with portions of states moved around to fit on the page, and they are very hard to follow. But at least the info is there. Bruce says he is moving into computerizing the maps, but there is no sign of that yet. The masters must have multiple layers of little pasted-on strips, resulting in poor alignment under any city`s entry. Some of the very fine print bleeds a bit, not as sharp as we would like. There are still unnecessary distractions in the forms of lots of little lakes outlined which are certainly off-topic to anyone but a Minnesota myrialaker. I point this out with each new edition, but they are sacrosanct. Some info does not appear to have been updated, or relies on outdated official listings rather than reality. For example the KENW translator in Tucumcari NM shows at 103.9 as it did in the previous edition, but we have just reconfirmed by local monitoring there that it is still on 104.5. Looking at the OK listings, it seems as if Enid has more translators/LPFM stations than any other city in the state! But only if you overlook the fact that several of the frequencies listed are not on the air, and we hope, never will be: 92.1, 93.3, 100.9, 106.1. One more, 89.1, is noted on the map as not on the air, but not so in the directories. It saves Bruce a lot of work, but it is still inconvenient for the user, that LPFM stations on the maps do not have their calls shown, just `LPFM`. There is less than 100% correspondence between the info on the maps and in the directory. We noticed this quickly, as we looked up some location of particular interest to us. Las Vegas NM 91.1, KEDP – not on the map, but still shows in both versions of the directory. With this massive amount of information, some such problems are inevitable, and Bruce himself will no doubt have a bunch of FMistakes in his next FMedia! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SHORTWAVE NEWS Here is an URL providing daily newsfeeds for the word, "shortwave" http://copyexchange.org/radio_for_peace_international/ (Franklin Seiberling, IA, Copy Exchange, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DX GASOLINE I wish I'd saved all the roadmaps I'd collected from DX and other stations --- hah --- DX stations, service stations --- parallel hobbies. I used to ride my bicycle around Corvallis, Oregon, picking up the various oil company road maps --- and one time, when we visited my uncle's place in Oklahoma, when I was 14, I and my first cousin hopped a bus into downtown Oklahoma City and toured the oil company headquarters, garnering a surprising number of maps, direct from the source. That was in 1949. It was always a thrill to go into a different geographical area and pick up those freebie maps from not just DX stations but stations that were rare "DX" because they didn't serve Oregon. Richfield --- Tidewater Associated "Flying A" --- Signal --- Chevron - -- Union 76 --- Standard of California --- the ubiquitous Texaco and, of course, Shell --- were some of the brand names I remember from way back when. We had to go to Oklahoma to get Phillips 66, Conoco, Cities Service (later Citgo), and Texas to find Humble and Shamrock. It felt almost like hearing WSM in Nashville from Corvallis when I got my hands on my first Pure map from the Deep South. I recall the programs some of the West Coast oil companies sponsored. My parents (and I, of course) used to listen to the Richfield Reporter every night at 10 p.m. on whichever NBC station put in the strongest signal, either KFI-640 or KPO-680. Though KGW-620 was only 85 miles away, at night KFI or KPO put out the strongest signals. Signal Oil Co. sponsored a mystery program called "The Whistler." Tidewater Associated sponsored college football broadcasts, both on Saturday and Sunday. The Pacific Coast Conference teams --- Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Idaho, USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal --- played on Saturdays. On Sundays, the smaller West Coast teams --- Santa Clara, St. Marys, College of the Pacific, Pepperdine, Occidental, University of San Francisco --- would play. I remember following the exploits of St. Marys' all-American, Herman Wedemeyer -- - COP's Eddie LeBaron --- USF's Ollie Matson --- on those Sunday afternoon "Flying A"-sponsored play-by-play games. Humble Oil was the football sponsor for the Southwest Conference teams on into the '60s. Back in those days, there was only one sponsor for the play-by-play broadcasts. Many of the freebie oil company road maps would add a list of the radio stations in the state, to keep this on topic. Lucky for me, I've saved all the QSLs I've collected --- but unfortunately, I did not save all the service station road maps. I do have a few from the '60s and early '70s --- but the OPEC oil crisis in the '70s that killed most of the locally-owned full-service stations (even selling the national products) also killed the free maps. Between OPEC and deregulation, locally-owned and operated service stations, radio stations, and just about any other retail outlet have become nothing but memories (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, ABDX via DXLD) I still have a bunch of those old maps. The boxes listing radio stations helped get me interested in DXing, and not just from DX brand gasoline. Then I discovered they were very incomplete, emphasizing network affiliates, when that mattered in the 50s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE TITANIC RADIO ROOM - PICTURES AND STORIES Here is a nicely constructed web site on the Titanic's radio operations. Even if you only have time to review the pictures, it's worth it. High speed Internet connection recommended. (CGC Communicator Oct 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) CROSSED FIELD ANTENNA ANALYSIS PRESENTED AT IEEE BROADCAST SYMPOSIUM The height requirements of AM antennas and arrays can sometimes be troublesome for broadcasters, whether it’s due to zoning requirements or objections by local citizens or even ``mother nature`` as some broadcasters learned during this year’s hurricane season. Consequently, development of an efficient, short AM antenna has been seen as a ``holy grail`` by broadcast engineers. Back in 1999 a new, short AM antenna was first described at an NAB convention in a paper entitled ``Four Egyptian MW Broadcast Crossed-Field Antennas,`` authored principally by Dr. F. M. Kabbary, then with Egyptian Radio and TV Union, Cairo, Egypt. Since then, the CFA (as it`s known) has been the subject of substantial controversy as claims and counter- claims have been traded regarding its performance. In what is perhaps the most credible analysis done to-date, Prof. Valentin Trainotti of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina presented at last week`s IEEE Broadcast Symposium a paper (co-authored by graduate student Luis Dorado, also of Argentina) entitled ``On the Crossed Field Antenna Performance`` which sheds some light on the theory behind this technology. [...] Throughout this analysis Dr. Trainotti makes comparisons between the CFA and a ``reference monopole`` of similar height. He concludes that the CFA performance is always a little worse than the reference monopole in gain and bandwidth, and that the CFA antenna performance increases as either the antenna height or top loading is increased, in the same way as for any standard short monopole. He also notes that: • A simple monopole has a similar or better performance with an easier tuning system; • The disk presence has always a deleterious effect, decreasing the antenna performance; • A CFA antenna has the same radiation pattern and near field distribution as any short monopole, and no ``Poynting Vector Synthesis`` can be seen close to the CFA antenna. The graph shown here, taken from Dr. Trainotti`s paper, compares measured data obtained from a CFA antenna built and tested in San Remo, Italy to a short monopole of similar height as well as to a similar theoretical CFA model installed over a flat artificial ground plane and average ground. To obtain a copy of the full paper contact Dr. Trainotti via email at vtrainotti @ ieee.org (Radio TechCheck, NAB, Oct 17 via Ben Dawson, DXLD) ###