DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-195, November 11, 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 1293: Fri 2100 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Sat 1700] Sat 0500 WOR VoiceCorps Reading Service, WOSU-FM subcarrier, cable Sat 0900 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1100 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 & WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7 Sat 1700 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 Sat 1830 WOR WRN to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sat 2200 WOR WRMI 7385 [if back on air] Sun 0000 WOR Radio Studio X 1584 http://www.radiostudiox.it/ Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0600 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3215 Sun 0930 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] [if back on air] Sun 0930 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR WRMI 7385 [if back on air] Sun 1830 WOR WRN1 to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 2000 WOR RNI [on sked, but not played last week] Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 Mon 0515 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 1900 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1500] Wed 0030 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually but temporary] Wed 0100 WOR CJOY INTERNET RADIO plug-in required Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO 1293 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1293h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1293h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1293 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1293.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1293.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1293.html [not yet] WORLD OF RADIO 1293 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1293h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1293.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently: 1288, Extra 61, 1289, Extra 62, 1290, 1291, 1292, soon 1293) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Do you have Radio Sohl B05 sked?? Pl send if me if you have. Urgent. (Swopan Chakroborty, India, to gh, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The revised schedule of the Radio Solh PsyOps transmissions: 0200-1200 on 11675 (Dhabbaya-UAE), 1200-1500 on 15265 (Rampisham-UK), 1500-1800 on 9875 (Rampisham-UK). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-188) Thanks for the R Solh sked. I logged correctly at 1530 UT on 9875 kHz. They are heavily disturbing NHK English to SW Asia. Do you have their email ID or do they verify with QSL cards? Regards (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India swopan @ vsnl.net via DXLD) Can anyone answer his question? (gh) ** ARGENTINA. Altho LTA could be on USB or LSB, or both, Nov 11 at 2214 check, whatever Bs As station 15820 was relaying was on LSB only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 1670 Khz: misterio develado --- Central-AM 1670, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, identificada a las 1323 UT del 11 de Noviembre de 2005. Música romántica en español (Trío Los Panchos, etc) y anuncio de la Escuela Científica Basilio. Identificación: "Desde la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, transmite Central-AM 1670" Anuncian el teléfono 1548700081 como una "línea momentánea de comunicación". Se trata de un teléfono celular (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condig list via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ACMA POLICY ON SPECTRUM RESTRICTIONS FOR DIGITAL RADIO Taken from ACMA media release (Nov 9 2005) Digital radio services are set to commence in the next 2-3 years, following the federal government’s announcement of the framework for the introduction of digital radio on 14 October 2005. For digital radio to be introduced, a pre-requisite is the availability of suitable spectrum. Different digital radio technologies require different frequency bands and the candidate bands are already extensively used. In most cases the candidate bands are also under continuing demand for other services, especially analog radio and digital television. In contrast to the situation with the digital conversion of free-to-air television, shortage of suitable spectrum is likely to be a significant constraint on the development of digital radio in Australia. For this reason, ACMA has adopted a general policy that gives consideration to restricting the availability of remaining broadcasting services bands spectrum that may be needed for digital radio. ACMA will consider each issue case by case taking into account the potential and utility of the spectrum for future digital radio services. This policy may have the effect of restricting the availability of additional analog AM radio services as well as reducing the reliance on VHF spectrum for additional digital television services. The initial digital radio services will use the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard (also known as Eureka 147). This is a technology that has been developed for use in two frequency bands VHF Band III (174-240 MHz) and L-Band (1452-1492 MHz). Both bands are extensively used by existing services. VHF Band III is widely considered to be superior due to its better coverage and lower infrastructure costs; however, only limited opportunities exist due to the use of the band for analog and digital television services. ACMA has legislated obligations to plan for digital television services. Accordingly ACMA has adopted a general policy that allows for use of VHF Band III for analog and digital television after consideration of the availability of spectrum for digital radio. Wherever possible in each area at least one VHF Band III television channel should be left available for digital radio use. L-Band spectrum is outside the BSB and the use of this spectrum is currently restricted to preserve digital radio options by a statutory Frequency Band Plan --- see /_1.5 GHz Band Plan_/ http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.65674:STANDARD:433157187:pc=PC_284 It is unlikely that the DAB technology could ever provide the extensive regional coverage achieved by today`s analog radio services. For this reason alternative technologies need to be considered. Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), for example, could provide the wide coverage needed to cover regional and rural areas, and it appears the dual standard DAB/DRM receivers are likely to become available. DRM services can be deployed in the medium frequency (MF) band currently used by analog AM broadcasting services. To preserve options while the DRM standard matures and consumer receivers become available, ACMA has adopted the general policy to consider further analog use of MF spectrum on a case by case basis, having regard to the utility of that spectrum for use by DRM digital radio services. The potential to use the spectrum for digital radio is likely to be given considerable weight however there will be exceptional circumstances where the Authority will decide to use a particular frequency for an analog service. This would include, but not be limited to, the need to meet capacity the Minister has reserved under section 31 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. The DRM technology is also being adapted to operate in broadcasting frequency bands below 120 MHz. While this includes the current FM radio band, the most promising spectrum likely to become available in Australia is the current VHF Band I television spectrum used for channels 0, 1 and 2 (i.e. 45-50 MHz and 56-70 MHz). To encourage the development of the DRM standard for use in this spectrum and to preserve spectrum capacity, ACMA has also adopted the general policy to avoid new use of VHF Band I television spectrum, other than short term Defence usage or trials of new systems or technologies. The articulation of this general policy is intended to advise industry and the public of ACMA’s stance on broadcast planning issues. However it should be noted that, in law, ACMA cannot fetter its discretion to vary a licence area plan or digital channel plan in any way should it consider the circumstances require it. -- (via David Onley MW/FM/Tropical Band DXer, Belmont 3216, Victoria Australia http://people.aapt.net.au/~onley/ ARDXC via DXLD) ** CANADA. Yet another screwup: Nov 11 at 1532, 13675 in Chinese, which I doubt is coming from Austria as scheduled via Sackville. Maybe they swapped transmitters again without also swapping the input to match. They really need someone to figure out a fail-safe to avoid all these mixups. Maybe a good start would be to have actual human beings monitor their own output (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. R. Martí B-05, daily except silent period 04-10 UT Mon: D = Delano, G = Greenville 17670 15-22 D 15330 14-20 G, 22-24 D 13820 13-1930 G, 1930-03 D 11930 13-24 G 11775 00-07 G 9805 04-07 G 9565 20-22 G 7405 03-10 G, 12-15 G 7365 00-04 G, 07-13 D 6030 22-10 G, 10-12 D 5980 07-13 D 5745 10-14 G (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Martí is no longer using 11845 at all in the B-season, but the Cuban commie jammer is still pulsing away on that frequency, noted at many times, including 2249 UT Nov 11 at a rate of about 132 per minute, or slightly over two pulses per second. So that makes it a bad frequency for anyone else to use. Rechecked after 2300, however, the jammer was off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. On Friday Nov 11 I carefully monitored the Kulina service of HCJB on 12020. 2251 tune-in to open carrier. 2253 HCJB IS begins. 2254 opening in Portuguese, introducing the Kulina Genesis service; conch shell(?) and chanting, fading out and 2255 begin program 13, reading from Genesis 4 in the masculine dialect of Kulina. Just before 2258 some more chanting, which reminded me somewhat of Dineh, but more melodic, at least to the Western ear. 2259 cut off amid chanting. After a false start, transmitter back on before 2259:30 introducing Portuguese service on both 12020 and 11920. Still not clear why there is a transmitter break as these are supposedly on the same power and azimuth. At this rate, it will take until doomsday to get to Revelation 22:21. One can only wonder, bemused, how the poor Kulina- speakers are taking this. The only station in the world broadcasting in their language, and not a word about what is going on in the real, current world?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. ETHIOPIANS IN DIASPORA ACCUSE VOA OF INCITING ADDIS VIOLENCE | Text of report in English by Ethiopian news agency ENA website Addis Ababa, 9 November: Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia residing in the United States asked the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to take appropriate measures to stop the VOA [Voice of America] Amharic staff in inciting violence, encouraging civil strife, hatred and anarchy in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Observer posted on its web site that Ethiopians, Ethiopian-Americans and friends of Ethiopia, who are concerned and disturbed by the VOA Amharic language service deliberate incitement and encouragement of civil unrest and violence in Ethiopia, requested the BBG to take immediate and expeditious measure. "The VOA is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the US government through the BBG. It is paid by American tax dollars to render services strictly to foreign audience," they said. VOA is an extension of US foreign policy and a means to extend democratic influence and American values to the rest of the world, they added. They recalled that the Amharic service of the VOA has been on air since 1982 and has been serving the people of Ethiopia in various educational, entertainment and current affairs programmes. However, they said, in the past two decades the style and content of VOA Amharic programme has been dependent up on the political and ideological inclination of the individual broadcaster or announcer. In fact, lately it has been extremely partisan and highly politicized, they added. They further said when one of the Ethiopian opposition parties, namely, Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) announced its plan to incite strikes, demonstrations, and street violence beginning 31 October it officially declared the Amharic programmes of the VOA as its main propaganda tool. To this end, the CUD called up on its members and followers to only listen to VOA as its main communication outlet, they added. For quite some time, they said, even before CUD's announcement, the Amharic programme of the VOA has been the mouthpiece of the opposition, contravening the principles and ethics of journalism. Since the Ethiopian democratic election of 15 May 2005, VOA has been airing partisan propaganda bent on destabilizing the peace and stability of the Ethiopian people, they recalled. CUD had also officially declared the Amharic programmes of the VOA and Deutsche Welle Radio as well as certain private newspapers as its main propaganda tools. The executives of CUD called up on its followers while announcing its programme of violence here on 29 October 2005 to listen only the stated media, including Tinsae Radio, which are its main propaganda outlets. Source: ENA website, Addis Ababa, in English 9 Nov 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290 kHz Relays this weekend Sat 12 November Radio Six 0700-0800 UT [Scotland] Radio Casablanca 1100-1200 UT [Germany, not Morocco] Sun 13 November RWI 0800-1000 UT [Radio Waves International, France] RTN 1000-1100 UT [what and whence? Never in DXLD in 2005] Radio Six 1200-1300 UT [Scotland] Radio 73 1300-1400 UT [whence?] Good Listening (Tom Taylor, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. Hi Glenn; I know this isn't a short wave-related story but it shows the shift to FM in Africa. It's a huge mistake since short wave covers so much ground plus gospel programs are mainly talk anyway. I support the president of the United States and the Coalition troops in the global war against Islamic fascism [tagline]. Yours, (Bruce Atchison, VE6XTC, http://gideon.www2.50megs.com/music/iprices.html http://www.bookadz.com/batchison.htm DX LISTENGING DIGEST) Viz.: UCB MAKES PROGRESS IN SOLIDIFYING A RADIO PRESENCE IN AFRICA ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: http://www.assistnews.net Wednesday, November 9, 2005, By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service MADAGASCAR (ANS) -- It is now five years since the inception of the idea to establish a radio station called Radio Andrea Madagascar in Antsohihy, Madagascar. Chris Johan Fourie signing the contract, while Jeanette Fourie and Dr Roelf Petersen look on [caption] "Antsohihy is a major town in the North West of the island. The area has a history of neglect by previous governments due to tribal differences and the Sakalava and Tsemehity peoples living in the North are backward and disadvantaged in many respects," says Dr Roelf Petersen, CEO of UCB Africa, in a report obtained by ANS. Petersen says Christianity is a minority faith in the area, with animism and Islam dominating. "The poor infrastructure, terrible roads and difficult terrain make it even more difficult to reach the peoples with the Gospel message, therefore Christian radio is a very real solution as instrument of spreading the Good News," he says. Photo of building of Radio Andrea The Fouries, Chris and Jeanette, who run the station on the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, planned to build a theological center in Antsohihy, which could be used to provide theological training and education to the local population. During a visit to the Fouries in 2000 by Dr Roelf Petersen of Radio Pulpit, the vision of also including a Christian radio station as part of the project was formed. "Political unrest and Muslim resistance were obstacles to the idea for a number of years, until 2004, when a Christian became the new president of Madagascar," Petersen said. "This opened the door and the Fouries were then contracted by Radio Pulpit/UCB Africa in August of that year as the radio project team and they relocated to Antsohihy in December 2004 for the purpose of starting up the project." Station manager Mary Moshoeshoe with Roelf Petersen [caption] Petersen says that despite many difficulties and problems they are persevering and the project is slowly but surely progressing. The going-on -air date is estimated to be June 2006. Meanwhile, Harvest FM, the only Christian radio station in Maseru, capital of Lesotho, is surviving despite the poor state of the economy of Lesotho, Petersen said. UCB Africa was asked for help by the station manager Mary Moshoeshoe early in 2004 and a covenant agreement was signed between Harvest FM and UCB Africa, he said. "This included the provision of financial, technical and training assistance to help the station grow to self sufficient within twelve months. Since that date the station has recovered satisfactorily and is now providing 75 percent of its financial needs. The training and mentoring role of UCB Africa is continuing." (via Bruce Atchison, AB, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 1050 AM --- Viernes 11 Nov., 0400. Tras un mes del paso del Huracán Wilma por la Península de Yucatán, Radio Imagen no parece recuperarse. En su defecto se escucha "La Raancheera! de Monterrey, 1050 A.M. ... 99.1 F.M." identificación que se escucha constantemente, casi que canción tras canción. Lo curioso es que La Ranchera llega con la misma señal que se recibía a R. Imagen desde Quintana Roo, permitiendo presumir que se puede tratar del mismo transmisor, pues si cada emisora empleara la misma frecuencia regularmente, recibiríamos una tremendo choque de señales del mismo país, y francamente nunca he tenido esa percepción en el pasado (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RADIO BEMBA, HERMOSILLO, CINCO AÑOS Queridísimos, mañana 11 el noviembre al crepúsculo estaremos cumpliendo 1825 días de la primera ocasión en la que montamos el incipiente transmisor de un watt dentro del campus de la UNISON en Hermosillo; nunca antes se había tomado por propio derecho el ejercicio de la libertad de expresión por medio de un equipo de radio en nuestra región norteña. Desde el día 01 de octubre regresamos al aire por medio de un permiso otorgado el 31 de mayo de este mismo año, transmisiones de prueba hasta el día de hoy, período en el cual el transmisor de 2.5 kW de funcionamiento valvular generosamente donado por ``Radio Bilingüe`` del Centro California, ha quedado a punto con la solidaridad de Don Panchito, un técnico local que guió a nuestro incansable compañero Santiago a que retomara su vuelo. Tecnología que a las radios comunitarias en México estaba muy lejos de nuestra realidad. Desde este viernes tomaremos los micrófonos para reinstalar la programación que se quedó esperando el 4 de junio del 2004 --- informativos, discusiones, propuestas ciudadanas sonarán de nuevo en el dial hermosillense, ahora en el 95.5 MHz y desde la gloriosa Colonia Cinco de Mayo. Este día haremos una maratónica sesión de comentarios para renovar nuestro compromiso en la democratización de los medios, y el ejercicio legítimo de cubrir un espacio comunicacional jamás permitido en nuestro país hasta este 2004. Haremos entrevistas, comentarios, un recorrido por nuestro quehacer de un lustro. A las 7 pm nos reuniremos de nuevo en el mismo lugar donde iniciamos para junto con Radio Universidad de Sonora recuperar el espacio a base música alternativa. A nuestros amigos de las radios de AL y compás solidarios que deseen comunicarse con nosotros durante este día nos dará infinita alegría escucharles; empezaremos a las 12 PM, (+7 GMT = 1900 UT); nos pueden sintonizar por Internet en http://www.radiobembafm.org Por la noche esteremos celebrando, fiesta en nuestra casabemba. Y LA JUSTICIA ASOMÓ LA NARIZ [And Justice Shows Its Nose] Colectivo Radiobemba FM (52) 662 2159005 Hermosillo, Sonora, México (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re: Dutch soccer station, 5-194: This item is complete nonsense. The station, Radio Voetbal, does not plan to obtain any "broadcast rights" and has never said so. What is planned, if it ever starts, is a talk station for soccer fans, similar to the UK's TalkSport but on a much smaller scale. The delays are most likely beacause Mr Appelboom has not managed to obtain sufficient funding and/or cannot find a transmitter site. The station is planned for 1332 kHz, and will be low power. Mr Appelboom's mobile telephone number is on his (temporary) website at http://www.radiovoetbal.nl/. We have reported on this project in the Media Network Newsletter and will continue to do so if there's anything to report (Andy Sennitt, Nov 11, Radio Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. (cf. DXLD 5-193 of 09 Nov) Please FORGIVE ME FOR HAVING MISSED THOSE 2 WORDS ("imagined that"), without which the sentence is incomplete ! ---------- Bernie O'Shea in Canada, I also listened to RNZI 9870 on Tuesday. afternoon (here in SW Europe) and immediately ---- i m a g i n e d t h a t ----- the non-stop classical music program was the result of an amendment of a B05 of some station, thus ruining the fair reception of Rangitaiki during this season . . . (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. A station on 4770 is being heard at 1840 UT Nov 11; tentatively Nigeria, last heard about three months ago (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1340, KTFX now La Grande --- My local KTFX-1340 recently changed hands and has switched from gospel "Love 1340" to Spanish programming. First noted yesterday with Mexican-style music. Heard a "La Grande KTFX (kah-tay-eh-feh-ek-kees)" ID this evening at 1800 CST on the drive home (Bruce Winkelman, AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, Nov 8, ABDX via DXLD) y si jamás se identifiquen en inglés, suena asi: ``que ti ef ex`` (gh, DXLD) ** PALMYRA. PALMYRA AND JARVIS ISLANDS, KH5. Kimo, KH7U and Mike, KH6ND are QRV as KH7U/5 and KH6ND/5, respectively, until November 19. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. The operating times are limited to their late afternoons and evenings given they are doing work for the Nature Conservancy group. QSL KH7U/5 via AH6NF and KH6ND/5 via K2PF (ARRL DX News Nov 10 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. FEBC, 9435, Nov 11 at 2229 with `Jesus Saves` IS, 2230 opening Indonesian, ``Inilah Radio International FEBC``. Very good signal, supposedly aimed 215 degrees from Bocaue. Off the back would be 35 degrees favoring North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. VOICE OF RUSSIA RADIO EXPANDS BROADCASTING IN GREAT BRITAIN | Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 11 November: The Voice of Russia [government-owned radio station, part of the state media holding company] has expanded its broadcasting in Great Britain, the company told RIA news agency on Friday. "The Russian state broadcasting company the Voice of Russia started broadcasting another programme in Great Britain - World Service hour in English in London. The programme will be aired daily on Sunday- Friday from 1300-1400 gmt, the agency's interlocutor said. The programme will consist of news from Russia, topical comments, exclusive interviews and talk shows. The programme World Service hour in English in London continues the first project of the Voice of Russia in Great Britain - A Russian hour in London, which is oriented towards Russian speakers in London and its suburbs and has been on air for six months already, the interlocutor added. Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0614 gmt 11 Nov 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK??? Spectrum 558? (gh, DXLD) ** THAILAND. FYI: Monitored Radio Thailand on 9810 at 1230 for the past 3 mornings. Signals were strong enough to listen in my automobile (Yaesu FT100 / Atas 120) while commuting. Their website, http://www.hsk9.com/Schedule.html however, lists 9600 at this time (James Olson, Powder Springs, Georgia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s admittedly the old A-05 schedule, so we`ll have to give the new schedule for them: R. Thailand B-05 English, via Udon Thani u.o.s.: 0000-0030 9680 Af 0030-0100 5890 NAm (Greenville) 0300-0330 5890 NAm (Delano) 0530-0600 13770 Eu 1230-1300 9810 As/Pac 1400-1430 9725 As/Pac 1900-2000 9805 Eu 2030-2045 9535 Eu (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Hey Glen[n], Just noticed the BBC WS on 5975 sounds like its feed it cutting out for a second or two every 30 seconds or so at 0030 UT on 11/12/05. Have you ever noticed this before? Regards, (Chris Campbell, Columbus, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I sure have. It keeps on happening, especially on the French Guiana relay. This has been going on sporadically for many months (Glenn to Chris, via DXLD) see also RUSSIA [non] ** U K. BBCWS director replies to criticism of language service closures --- WE BELIEVE IN FREEDOM, BUT WE ALSO NEED LISTENERS The BBC World Service must stay in tune with its global audience, writes Nigel Chapman --- Thursday November 10, 2005. The Guardian Peter Preston misrepresents the arguments surrounding the closure of some BBC World Service language services (World disservice, October 31). He says that I believe Europe no longer matters to us; that we're moving out and moving on. However, the decision to close the 10 services was taken after considerable thought - taking into account three broad criteria: relative geopolitical importance; the availability of alternative independent media similar to the BBC; and the current audience size and prospects for the future. The closures are necessary to fund a package of radical new investment which includes an Arabic television service; increased depth and presence in new media, including interactivity and video-on-demand on our language websites; increased funding to ensure better FM radio distribution; and the modernisation of some international bureaux. Preston says that media freedom is still a constant struggle in Bulgaria and Croatia. Yet in those countries the BBC's argument was less about the state of the media (though both have broadly improved since 1999) and more about the number of listeners - about 2% of the population each week, according to BBC surveys. It is hard to justify millions of pounds of investment when the audience is telling us, despite good distribution and high-quality programmes, that they don't need us as much as we would like to believe - and in particular when there are demonstrably greater audience needs elsewhere, such as the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Preston also claims that people's access to free media was behind the closure of the Kazakh service. But here, no one would argue that there is a strong indigenous independent press. The critical factor was poor audibility. There have been no FM partners for the BBC in Kazakhstan recently - and, as a result, a very low audience, less than 0.3% of the population each week. Given that most of these listeners already use the World Service Russian service, we cannot justify our investment in Kazakhstan. In Europe, use of English is growing rapidly. In all the countries where language services will close later this year, the BBC's audience for its English output - on radio, television and online - is growing, often to levels which now match the audiences of the language services. Those schedules include specialist coverage of European issues: the notion that "Europe doesn't matter" to the BBC any longer is simply untrue. With our strong newsgathering presence, we are committed to following the impact of EU entry on the new member states and the effect these changes have on European institutions. What would be a tragedy, to use Preston's words? Failing to respond to changing audience needs in our top priority markets, by ignoring the importance of television and new media as well as radio. There the real risks lie; the World Service needs to produce news and information in the right media for each market. Carrying on with the current portfolio of language services would prevent us meeting this challenge. Nigel Chapman is director of the BBC World Service (Media Guardian via Mike Barraclough, UK, DXLD) see also UZBEKISTAN ** U S A. BROADCAST OFFICIALS DEFEND US-FUNDED ARAB TELEVISION | Text of report in English by VOA News.com website on 11 November US broadcast officials have defended the American-funded Arab satellite television station, Al-Hurra, against allegations of mismanagement. A House subcommittee held a hearing looking into the charges, and the impact the station is having in the Muslim world. Al-Hurra television broadcasts in 22 countries in the Muslim world, and is a key part of an overall US government public diplomacy strategy aimed at counteracting the influence of Al-Jazeera television. The State Department recently confirmed that its inspector-general is conducting an audit of Al-Hurra, which officials have described as routine. However, the subcommittee on oversight and investigations of the House International Relations Committee called a hearing in response to complaints from former employees about alleged financial improprieties and hiring practices. These involve issues of outside services contracted by the station, specifically to Associated Press Television, and a Beirut-based company Quantum Communications. Some Al-Hurra employees have alleged what they call a narrow Lebanese bias in programming, resulting from a staff stacked with talent from Lebanon. One former employee (Magdi Khalil) has spoken of "mismanagement and blatant abuse of power" at the station, which he said raised doubts about the US government's ability to compete successfully with established Arab channels. At Thursday's [10 November] hearing, Al-Hurra News Director Mouafac Harb, who is originally from Lebanon, said there has been a campaign waged against the station by individuals, who he does not name, opposed to Al-Hurra's mission. He said Al-Hurra broadcasts on what he calls a battlefield of ideas, and has won high viewing rates across the Middle East. "Congress asked us to provide objective and accurate news and information, and to explain US policy, believing that even if audiences do not like the policies or us, at least they will understand us, then we will have done our job. And that is what we do, day in and day out." Responding to questions from Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Mr Harb said a decision to use contract services of Associated Press Television was necessary for news coverage. As for the allegation that programming has been influenced by Lebanese staff members reducing its impact for the greater Arab world, Mr Harb said he does not believe this is a problem now. Democratic Congressman Howard Berman described Thursday's hearing as an opportunity for Mr Harb to respond to allegations, adding he hopes the importance of US Arabic-language broadcasting is not lost in the controversy. "This war on terrorism is much more than a military struggle, it's a war of ideas. Broadcasting is the only means for America to reach out to the broader public in the Arab world." In testimony to the House subcommittee Thursday, the board's chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson, said the station in a short time has succeeded in opening what he calls a new window of truth for the Middle East. But critics of Al-Hurra, as well as the US-funded Arabic language Radio Sawa, say they have failed to achieve the level of audience impact originally hoped for. Critics also accuse the Broadcasting Board of Governors overseeing Al- Hurra and other US-funded international broadcasters, including Voice of America, of not exerting strong enough control over the station, a charge board officials strongly dispute. Congressman Adam Schiff cites Nielsen surveys he says show that Al- Hurra is having an effect. "The most weighty issues involve are we succeeding in our outreach through Al-Hurra and Radio Sawa? And the Nielsen findings I think are very impressive. The market share that both enjoy is quite astounding given the short tenure of both." But critics have complained about what they call misleading statistics used by the station to give the appearance it is having a greater impact. Andrew Kohut, Director of the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press, says while Al-Hurra can help improve America's perception in the Arab world, US policies remain the source of anti-Americanism. "The primary sources of anti-Americanism is not values, this is not an argument about values and culture. It has to do with American policies, and that is a very important thing to understand," he said. "The ongoing conflict in Iraq continues to fuel anti-Americanism. The war on terrorism is perceived negatively in the region, and the perception that the United States acts unilaterally in foreign policy is a big negative not only in the Mideast but around the world." The Broadcasting Board of Governors says it is awaiting results of the State Department audit of Al-Hurra television. Source: VOA News.com website, Washington D.C., in English 11 Nov 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) see also ETHIOPIA ** U S A. Nov 11 at 2213 I checked WBCQ 18910 again and this was definitely on LSB with carrier, very little audible on USB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. This Friday night, The Lost Discs Radio Show is playing tunes from some of the 'Yorkville Sound' groups of the mid sixties. WBCQ in Maine, 7415 & 5110 at 10 P.M. EST [0300 UT Saturday]. Propagation at this distance and this time of year may not be great. But, they have a website with streaming audio at http://lostdiscsradioshow.tripod.com/ (Ken Grant, VE3FIT, ODXA via DXLD) I enjoy listening to this show every Friday night, for the simple reason that don't follow the standards of most oldies programs from the great corporations or major stations that bore the audiences with the same material all the time, whether it is AM or FM radio and even Internet. I guess the same thing is doing satellite radio. With Lost Discs RS you can listen back to recordings that were forgotten from 30 to 40 some years ago, from the heyday of AM 45's Radio. But there's always a drawback: there's no room for R&B or Soul music that in the same way played a major role in 45s history. That's a task still pending for Jim E. Night. In some sense, it´s that the good job in the past from Rick Adcock's Rock the Universe, has been diminished I'd guess by the influence of someone else, maybe Steve Cole, by playing the same conventional oldies material of all time. Not that they don't play them at all, but to intercalate those all-time R&R favorites with some more obscure recordings, as Rick did from the beginning (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Saludos cordiales, espero estén bien; quisiera hacerles partícipes de una curiosa anécdota propiciada por el listado de horarios y frecuencias de la WYFR, Fámily Radio, para el período B-05. No sé si hay algún precedente anterior, pero si acceden a los listados de algunas emisiones para el periodo B-05, podrán observar que tales listados han sido publicados con tachones y anotaciones hechas a mano; es el primer caso que conozco de unos listados sobre horarios y frecuencias rectificados a mano y publicados en internet. Tales listas pueden ser vistas en la página web de la WYFR: http://www.familyradio.com/index.htm Cómo me han parecido anecdóticas, unas copias las he colocado en Valencia DX. http://es.geocities.com/jmromero782004/ Se pueden acceder a ellas a través de la galeria QSL. Atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Nov 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR schedules corrected by hand: For example: http://209.10.202.163/international/schedules/B01/spanish_b01.html http://www.familyradio.com/international/schedules/B01/english_b01.html (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. A FOND FAREWELL TO THE UNITED RADIO BROADCASTERS OF NEW ORLEANS Saturday, November 05, 2005 Dave Walker http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/living-5/1131173813142250.xml?nola The grand alliance of the airwaves dubbed the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans was expected to conclude its run late last night. Scrambled together in the dark days after Hurricane Katrina, rival air staffs employed by the very large and very locally competitive ownership groups Clear Channel and Entercom will now return to their respective sides of the radio ball yard. "It's appropriate at this time," said Dick Lewis, Clear Channel's Baton Rouge-based regional vice president. "You can over-news people to a certain point. The original function of United Radio was to be in as many places as possible and reach as many people as possible to get the critical information out." The United Radio share-cast originated from Clear Channel's Baton Rouge headquarters, and Clear Channel stations there carried the signal for a while. It also aired on New Orleans outlets of both companies. "Now that (New Orleans) is beginning to repopulate," Lewis said, "people are trying to get their lives back to normal." Same goes for the radio business. "We're getting back to normal as quickly as we can, just like everybody else," said Diane Newman, program director for WWL-AM, one of the Entercom radio stations in New Orleans that carried the simulcast and supplied its voices. "We still have some challenges, so it's going to be almost back to normal." Some of Entercom's operations -- including the WWL talk shows -- will remain based out of Clear Channel's Baton Rouge offices for the near future, said Newman. Starting Monday, the AM-870 weekday talk schedule -- which will also be simulcast by Entercom stations WTKL FM-105.3 and WSMB AM-1350 indefinitely -- will be Bob DelGiorno, 5-9 a.m.; John "Spud" McConnell, 9-11 a.m.; Bob Mitchell and Vince Marinello, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Garland Robinette, 2-5 p.m.; Deke Bellavia, 5-9 p.m.; sports talk, 9 p.m.-midnight; syndicated programming, overnight. Notably absent: Rush Limbaugh's syndicated talk show, which had a midday slot pre-Katrina. Newman said Limbaugh's initial return may be to a nighttime slot, but added that there is no timetable for his restoration to WWL's schedule. "We're playing that by ear," Newman said. "It's all based on the needs of the community. We have listeners who have expressed a real desire to have Rush back. We're going to be bringing him back. It's just a matter of when it works out technically and when it will be appropriate with regard to what's going on in the community." The on-air community created by the combined Clear Channel and Entercom deejays, reporters and talk hosts was at times a thing of wonder. "It exposed FM-ers to the AM world, and jocks from all of the FM stations became talk hosts," Newman said. "It was a challenge, but they rose to the challenge." Monica Pierre, who Monday will return to her position on the WQUE-FM wakeup team, said she's "never been more proud," and dubbed the United Radio Broadcasters effort as "historical, needed and necessary." Working with such diverse personalities was easier than expected, she added. "I told myself that it was not really about me, that it was about the information," she said. "I worked with everybody I wanted to work with -- which was everybody." During the post-Katrina period, Entercom flipped the frequencies of oldies outlet WTKL (marketing handle: "Kool FM") and classic rocker WKBU ("The Bayou"), which is now heard at 95.7 FM. Phil Hoover, Entercom's New Orleans vice president/market manager, said the WKBU transmitter was wrecked by Katrina flooding, and the frequency swap was made to get the popular Texas-based Walton & Johnson morning show back on the air and at full power in New Orleans as quickly as possible. The new WTKL frequency, FM-105.3, will carry the WWL simulcast for the time being, but will eventually switch back to an oldies format. Hoover said there have been some deejay changes at both of the flipped stations but added that the KOOL morning team of Mitchell and Marinello, now scheduled fill a midday slot at transitioning WWL, will return when the music does. (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. BOGUS SURVEY DESIGNER ADMITS INTENT TO DECEIVE November 11, 2005 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST I'm not the only one who thinks that some Chicago radio stations are deliberately deceiving listeners with a direct-mail marketing piece. So does the guy who designed it. As reported here last week, Infinity Broadcasting is the latest company to use a mailing disguised as an audience research survey to promote one of its stations. In this case, recipients are directed to "monitor" rhythmic Top 40 WBBM-FM (96.3). The bogus survey is identical to one used in the past by Infinity, Bonneville International, Salem Communications and others here. In every case, station bosses defend it as a legitimate research tool. Now a prominent radio consultant who was in on designing the ploy for Impact Research has come forward to acknowledge the deception. "Speaking as one of the architects of this piece, it's time for us to cut the crap," declared Mark Ramsey, founder and president of San Diego-based Mercury Radio Research. Writing this week in his blog http://radiomarketingnexus.com Ramsey said: "The 'survey' was designed to target opinion givers and radio fans, the two groups primarily responsible for replying to Arbitron diaries. It was, in other words, a homing beacon for diarykeepers. It was also designed to deceive. "There is no inherent reason why a direct-mail piece targeting radio fans and opinion givers needs necessarily to be deceptive in order to be effective. . . . Yet this fundamental deceit is a stain on our industry, a stain on research, and a stain on any station which buys it or any manager who rationalizes it. "There are many legitimate and non-deceptive ways these targeting strategies can be developed into a direct-mail piece. . . . It's unfortunate that our industry would rather embarrass itself in the pages of the nation's largest newspapers and actively propagate the notion among listeners that we are cheats and liars." Dialing: ABC Radio sale? All signs are pointing to a sale of ABC's radio network and most of its radio stations -- including news/talk WLS-AM (890) and oldies WZZN-FM (94.7) -- by Thanksgiving. Inside Radio confirmed a Drudge Report item Thursday listing Emmis Communications, Entercom Communications and Cumulus Media as bidders. The sale would not include ESPN Radio, parent of WMVP-AM (1000), or Radio Disney, parent of WRDZ-AM (1300). (Robert Feder, Chicago Sun-Times via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ABC NEARS SALE OF RADIO NETWORK, STATIONS; FINAL BIDS DUE THIS WEEK **Exclusive** DISNEYABC CEO Robert Iger is prepared to sign off on the sale of the network's ABC radio network and ABC radio stations, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. Negotiations between DISNEY and three major suitors have intensified in recent weeks; contenders were asked by bankers representing ABC to meet via phone to discuss their final questions. Final bids are due this week, a top source says, with DISNEY then having a 15 day window to accept an offer. A sale of ABC RADIO, with the network's sensational constellation of 60+ stations, including WABC in New York, the nation's top-rated talkstation; WLS in Chicago; KGO and KSFO in San Francisco; WBAP in Dallas; influential WMAL in DC; WJR in Detroit, and others, is expected to rock and roil the radio industry. EMMIS, ENTERCOM and CUMULUS MEDIA each have their hat in the bidding, sources say. One company is said be approaching Iger's asking price. A deal would not include Radio Disney or ESPN radio; it will be a "reverse Morris Trust" transaction, where DISNEY shareholders will hold half of the newly merged radio company. "This is the biggest shakeup at radio stations in a generation," a top source directly involved in the action said Thursday. "I think we will know around Thanksgiving if it's happening this round," said a second well-placed insider (Drudge Report via Brock Whaley, Nov 10, DXLD) [earlier:] ABC RADIO SALE SLOWS TO EYE RIVAL AUCTION -- sources Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:29 PM ET By Julie MacIntosh http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-10-25T192926Z_01_N25247586_RTRIDST_0_MEDIA-DISNEY-ABCRADIO.XML PHILADELPHIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Radio sale process is moving at a snail's pace, sources say, because Disney hasn't yet decided which parts of ABC Radio it wants to sell and is waiting for broadcaster Susquehanna Media to wrap up the auction of its 33 radio stations. Disney is aiming to make a decision on whether and how it will sell ABC Radio by Thanksgiving after pushing back that loose guideline several times, sources said, but several of them doubted a winning bidder could be picked by then. The auction has been slowed in part by the sale of privately held Susquehanna's radio assets because several bidders, including Cumulus Media Inc., have shown interest in both businesses. Sources say Cumulus, with financial backing from private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, is now in the final stages of a deal to buy Susquehanna's radio stations for around $1.2 billion or more. But Cumulus is also mulling a private equity-backed investment in ABC Radio, which could pit it in that larger-scale runoff against Entercom Communications Corp. and Emmis Communications Corp., as well as Citadel Broadcasting and other interested parties, sources said. Because there hasn't been a similar large-scale radio sale in several years, some sources suggested Disney may want to use the final valuation of Susquehanna's radio assets as a measuring stick for its own process. The Susquehanna and ABC Radio deals, if they both take place, would employ vastly different structures, however. Disney wants to spin off ABC Radio, a relatively small part of its vast empire, and merge it into whatever company wins the auction, giving Disney shareholders a stake of at least half of the company to make the deal tax efficient. A private equity-backed cash buyout of Susquehanna's radio assets by Cumulus would take a more straightforward approach. If Susquehanna radio's business is sold for $1 billion to $1.2 billion, it would imply a trailing deal multiple of 13 to 14 times cash flow, Merrill Lynch analyst Laraine Mancini said earlier this month. One source said on Tuesday that the actual sale price could come in above those numbers because of the strength of the radio assets. Sources said price is the biggest area of contention in the ABC Radio sale process, largely because it isn't clear yet what Disney will put on the block. ABC Radio could sell for anywhere from $2.5 billion to $3 billion or more, sources have estimated, depending on whether Disney includes or excludes pieces of the business like the ESPN Radio stations or the ESPN Radio Network. ABC's radio stations are clustered in lucrative urban markets including New York, Los Ángeles and Chicago, and sources expected Entercom and Emmis in particular to go after the assets aggressively. York, Pennsylvania-based Susquehanna is also selling its cable television business. The company had initially hoped to sell its radio and cable operations to one buyer, but because of a pact that gave No. 1 cable provider Comcast Corp. the right to first refusal of any Susquehanna cable assets, Comcast is expected to announce as early as this week that it will buy Susquehanna's cable business for around $700 million. Susquehanna's cable operations serve 230,000 subscribers concentrated in Pennsylvania and the Midwest (via Kevin Redding, Oct 26, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. JEAN SHEPHERD INDUCTED INTO THE RADIO HALL OF FAME http://nwitimes.com/articles/2005/11/07/news/top_news/0657d4509fbde869862570b20006fa3d.prt This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, Nov 7, 2005 12:05 AM CST Remembering radio fame --- BY PHILIP POTEMPA CHICAGO | Regis Philbin described Jean Shepherd as the man who created "free-form talk radio." "It was Shepherd who gave birth to the nonscripted, casual storytelling radio entertainment loved by so many today," said Philbin, who presented the honor of induction into the Radio Hall of Fame on behalf of the late Shepherd's memory at an awards dinner Saturday in Chicago. Shepherd's humorous and spirited recollections of growing up in Hammond served as the foundation for many of his musings, from popular radio monologues to his 1966 written collection of stories "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash," which inspired him to write and narrate the popular 1983 film "A Christmas Story." Irwin Zwilling, who was Shepherd's accountant and close friend until Shepherd's death in 1999, accepted the award. "I would talk to Shep each day," Zwilling said. "Even if I would be traveling, my wife and I would still hear from him by telephone." Shepherd's wife, Leigh, died in 1998. They never had children. Although Shepherd shared his views, opinions and stories with millions of radio listeners and fans of his writings throughout the years, Zwilling described him as a private person who preferred to talk about day-to-day dealings rather than memories of Northwest Indiana or his famous connections. "I met Shep in 1978, and I think what he liked most about our friendship was that I wasn't a fan who asked a lot of questions about his life experiences," Zwilling said. Radio legend Paul Harvey said Shepherd would be "doubly pleased" with Saturday's induction at the Chicago event because he was a proud fan of the Chicago White Sox. Shepherd fan Amy Stocky, of Calumet City, was among the guests at the $500-a-plate black tie dinner. The previous night, Stocky helped organize an event in Hammond to celebrate Shepherd's induction. "I enjoyed Jean Shepherd's humor as a kid," said 36-year-old Stocky, who also helped organize last year's first Jean Shepherd Festival in Hammond. "And I still appreciate his talents as an adult." Zwilling, who now controls all of the creative licensing and intellectual rights for Shepherd's work, said he always admired Shepherd's uncanny wisdom about what appealed to others. "Shep had a great voice and he'd receive many, many offers to do commercials and voice-over work," Zwilling said. "He'd turn most things down because he would never sign on to anything he didn't believe in. I think one of the few commercials he ever did was for Sealtest Ice Cream, and that's because he liked it." But Zwilling said Shepherd realized from the beginning that director Bob Clark's filming of "A Christmas Story" would be a movie that would live on forever in the hearts of fans. "I remember Shep talking about 'A Christmas Story' and saying 'Irwin, people are going to watch this movie over and over because it's done well and there's a connection,'" Zwilling said. He also recalled how Shepherd turned down his director friend Stanley Kubrick, who wanted Shepherd to be the voice of HAL 9000 the computer in his 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." "Those two men never spoke after that, until Kubrick called Shep just four days before his own death in 1999, which was the same year Shep died," Zwilling said. "What's best about Jean Shepherd is he lived the stories and memories he shared with so many others. And his voice still lives in his work." Other famous names inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame on Saturday included Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, newswoman Ann Compton and sports voices Mary Brennaman and Myron Cope (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. WNSB415-1620 mystery solved --- I have identified my mystery station on 1620. `Tis none other than wayward WNSB415 South San Diego (CA-905 @ Beyer Blvd. between I-5 and I-805), now giving actual IDs instead of test messages. This station began on 1610 to alert motorists to illegal aliens crossing the freeways. It moved to 530 (probably to avoid interfering with WNUB568 Chula Vista), where it promptly got clobbered by XETIM-540 (now XESURF). Then they moved to 1700, where they promptly got clobbered by XEPE. Now they are on 1620. CalTrans really didn't do their homework on this one (again!). On 1620, they get clobbered by XEUT-1630. A wiser choice would have been 1500 (far enough away from Qualcomm Stadium station which only runs OC these days) or 1600 (where the original San Ysidro TIS used to be I think... XEKTT is gone from 1600 and WNUB568-1610 Chula Vista mostly just runs OC these days. The Ensenada station on 1590 doesn't get out enough to pose a problem). 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, Nov 3, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. =====DX TEST ALERT==================== Tests are off to slow start this season, but we're working hard to arrange more. To start us off, we've got a Western test and a rare simultaneous test from two stations! ======================================= KKLF 1700 kHz Richardson, TX DX Test Date(s): December 3-4, 05 (Late Saturday-Sunday Morning) Time: 0006-0015 AM CST (0606-0615 UT) 9 Minute long Test Modes of Operation: 1 KW Non-Directional Programming: Morse Code superimposed over regular programming. Notes: Station prefers to receive reports via e-mail. If you wish to send a snail mail QSL request, please include an SASE. Station notes that as the same audio is available on KLIF 570 kHz, no verification without audible proof of reception of 1700. Please include an MP3 file with e-mails, or a CD/Cassette with snail mail reception reports. Reception reports via e-mail only: Hue Beavers, hbeavers @ dfwradio.com Special thanks to Bill Hale of the NRC for helping to arrange this test, and to Hue Beavers and the staff/management of KKLF for this rare X-Band test! WNTP 990 khz Philadelphia, PA DX Test WFIL 560 khz Philadelphia, PA DX Test Date(s): December 10-11, 05 (Late Saturday-Sunday Morning) Time: Midnight EST-0100 EST (0500-0600 UT) Modes of Operation: 1st Half Hour: WNTP 50 KW DA-D WFIL 7.1 KW DA-D 2nd Half Hour: WNTP 2.5 kW NDA WFIL 2.5 KW NDA Programming: Morse Code ID's, Sweep Tones, Voice Announcements. Notes: A simultaneous DX Test from two stations! CE Rene` Tetro is very interested in hearing what differences listeners notice during the NDA period of the test when both stations will be running the identical power levels from the same tower site. Reception reports should go to: rene @ wfil.com All standard mail reports should go to: Rene' F. Tetro, Chief Engineer Salem Communications - Philadelphia WNTP-AM/WFIL-AM 117 Ridge Pike Lafayette Hill, PA 19444 Thanks to Rene Tetro and the staffs of WNTP/WFIL for arranging this test! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, IRCA-NRC Broadcast Test Coordinator, Nov 11, IRCA via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. "FINANCIAL PROBLEMS" BEHIND BBC'S PULL OUT FROM UZBEKISTAN - expert The reason for the withdrawal of the BBC World Service's office from Tashkent is financial problems within the corporation, a report attributed to an expert of the Politika information and analytical centre, Sharofiddin Tolaganov, has said. However, the BBC has not told the world about this. Instead, it decided "it would be more impressive to present themselves as `fighters for the freedom of speech victimized by the regime'". The following is an excerpt from an article entitled: "Fighters for `the freedom of speech' or moral and professional bankrupts" published in the Uzbek newspaper Narodnoye Slovo on 8 November: According to recent Internet reports, the Uzbek information space has suffered an irreplaceable loss. The BBC has published a statement, which says: "The BBC World Service's office in Tashkent is temporarily suspending operations. All staff will be removed from the country in six months and will await a decision on their future employment. We are taking this step due to concerns for staff safety." We agree with the fact that without the glorious Uzbek language service [of the BBC World Service], which has been operating since 1994 within the framework of the Central Asia and Caucasus Service, and had a regional office in Tashkent and correspondent offices in neighbouring countries, the BBC World Service (existing since 1932, and which used to be called an Imperial service) will lose a lot. Even though it broadcasts in 43 languages and has 150m listeners. [Passage omitted: the author praises Uzbek hospitality and says that Uzbeks have different mentality] I must disappoint the British colleagues: nothing will change after their departure. A journalist's joy is a crisis in a competitor's editorial office. Other world agencies will immediately fill in the gap in informational slot. The CNN, Deutsche Welle and EuroNews, not to mention the Russian media, are freely operating in the information field of our young country at present. [Passage omitted: Uzbek people have access to all kinds of information] So why the journalists from the United Kingdom are letting their numerous rivals take up the huge information market? The regional head of the BBC World Service, Behrouz Afagh, said that four months after the Andijon events the staff of the office had been subjected to "a campaign of harassment and intimidation". He is talking about almost "a forcible expulsion". I beg your pardon, respected guests, but the official authorities of Uzbekistan have never raised an issue of closing your office in Tashkent. Of course, it is not very pleasant when the hosts politely point to outrageous inaccuracies in the reports being circulated around the world. They know the real situation in their neighbourhood, and much better than the dear guests do! [Passage omitted: criticism on the BBC's coverage of a detention process last year] It is no secret that experienced journalists have an opportunity to try and invent news themselves if there are not any. Is it not the reason for certain foreign journalists, including those of the BBC, to report news made to order? Though they understand very well that circulating false and biased information on a particular topic might contribute to another "colour revolution" or at least create an illusion of authoritarianism in a particular country. After several similar facts discovered at the open trial of Andijon terrorists, it is uncomfortable even to mention that the journalists from the BBC regularly covered what was happening only from the terrorists' camp and only from their point of view. They did not notice the seizure of the military unit, the storming of the prison, atrocious humiliation of hostages. Nor did they notice terrorists setting fire to private cars and the regional theatre... [ellipsis as published] But in their reports they really lashed out at servicemen, who, sometimes at cost of their own lives, protected the people of Andijon from terrorists and restored constitutional order in the town. [Passage omitted: any information should be checked before it is circulated] Numerous complaints about the BBC's one-sided and biased approach to the coverage of events have become so overwhelming that the British authorities had to take measures. The British government has recently said that the BBC might be fined if it does not comply with the rules and fulfil its responsibilities. Under the new law on communications the corporation has to pay 250,000 pounds in fines. [Passage omitted: quote from a Canadian media magnate who said stricter measures should be taken against media for biased reports] Even against this generally negative background, the BBC is leaning towards the worse. As a result, trust in its reports is falling, which in turn has affected its income. Due to financial problems, the leadership of the BBC World Service decided to dismiss about 3,000 people working in its offices abroad. The dismissals also affected journalists working in Central Asia. At the beginning of May this year, the management of the Uzbek language service dismissed five journalists. And now, the entire service is being shut according to the plan. Certainly, the world community could have been told about this. But it was more impressive to present themselves as "fighters for the freedom of speech victimized by the regime"! We feel sorry for the journalists who have lost their jobs. We are even sorry for the BBC correspondent, Monica Whitlock, who allegedly "had to leave the country because of the pressure exerted on her by the authorities", as they say in the corporation. [We feel also sorry for] Six people, who, following her, had to leave Uzbekistan for another "hot spot", where they might really suffer, or sacrifice their lives for the glory of the freedom of speech. As my parting words, I would like to ask a purely professional question. The profession of journalists is interesting because when they are shown the door, they will try to come back through the window. So where is the famous bulldog's grip of the British journalists? Have they become so soft in the conditions of traditional Uzbek hospitality that they have lost their fighting spirit? Will they return to their kennel in the foggy islands like beaten dogs? We'd like to believe it is not like that. [Passage omitted: the author says it is safer to work in Uzbekistan than in Iraq or the Middle East] Good luck, dear guests, in a new place. Have interesting and unbiased news. You should rescue the BBC which is ageing and losing its professionalism, before it is completely disbanded at persistent requests of British taxpayers... [ellipsis as published] Source: Narodnoye Slovo, Tashkent, in Russian 8 Nov 05 pp1-2 (via BBCM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1610 test signals, response to inquiry. Using Mike Hardester's suggestion of the possible source of the test transmissions heard on 1610 a few days ago, and additional info from a Web search, I wrote to LBA Group, the licensee of WC2XKX. I explained the situation and asked if they were performing tests at the time reported on these lists. They have responded and state that their facility was not operational on 11-7, the date several reports were made. They also generously agreed to entertain any other questions that I might have. I had only half expected any reply at all, so I am quite pleasantly surprised. My inquiry and their response is appended below. The source of the tests is still not known, but one possibility at least has been eliminated (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (Southeast) Florida, Nov 11, IRCA via DXLD) Viz.: -----Original Message----- From: W. Curt Deegan Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 10:38 PM To: lbagrp @ lbagroup.com Subject: Questions regarding test transmissions. LBA Technology, Inc 3400 Tupper Drive Greenville, North Carolina Gentlemen [sic]: I am writing to inquire about the possibility that AM broadcast band test transmission that have been heard, may have originated from your test facilities in Pactolus, NC. The FCC license that your company holds for such transmissions on 1610 kHz is what prompted this inquiry. The test tones of these transmissions have been heard on 1610 kHz from locations as far removed as Florida and Illinois. Among the states reporting hearing the test tones are: Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. One set of reports are from between the hours of 7 and 9 am, EST, Monday, 11/7. Your response one way or the other with regard to whether these transmissions originated from your Pactolus facility or other facilities, would greatly assist resolution of conjecture on this issue amongst the group of AM radio monitoring enthusiasts who detected these signals. If indeed these transmissions did originate at one or more of your facilities, then any details regarding the test that could be shared - - such as the purpose, equipment involved, origin of the transmissions, specifics of the transmissions such as power and directionality, and any test schedule -- would be of considerable interest to those who have monitored these signals. Thank you very much for your time. Respectfully, W. Curt Deegan, DigImage Visions, Boca Raton, Florida From: Heather lbagrp @ lbagroup.com To: W. Curt Deegan WWWR @ earthlink.net This site was not operational on 11-7. Feel free to reply with any other questions. Thank You, Heather Nelson, LBA Group, Inc (via Deegan, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15280, heavy continuous buzz/pulsing centered here and spreading at least 10 kHz plus/minus, Nov 11 at 2220. Don`t know what it is, but even tho it is not DRM, it does not belong here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ RE DXLD 5-189, "I feel uneasy using it in Spanish, when there is a perfectly good native word." Don't go too far with this attitude, Glenn. It`s useless. We had this before here in Germany. The German Nazis (?) had a campaign in the 1930s (?): 'Für jedes Fremdwort gibt es auch ein gutes deutsches Wort' (for every foreign word there also exists a good German word). I guess because of this campaign the Germans still say, for instance, Röntgen-Strahlung (instead of X-Ray) or Fernsehen (instead of television as the rest of the world says ..). (Martin Schoech - PF 101145 - 99801 Eisenach - Deutschland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx for your advice, but I also like diversity: why give up the German origin of X Rays, or Farseeing? Let`s not associate this with Nazism. I already see plenty of English terminology in a German magazine, Radio Journal (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING see also AUSTRALIA ++++++++++++++++++++ RE: Email to Kerry Richards of WOR on Radio-Tech Kevin, that was great stuff and fun to read, but why even bother to debate with someone like Richards? Someone who says IBOC is THE answer for the ills of AM radio (or who thinks DRM is the key to making shortwave popular) is either too disingenuous or too stupid to be worth the effort to engage in a rational debate. You might as well try to teach your dog how to conjugate irregular French verbs ("Okay, Rover, repeat after me: je suis, tu es. . . . . "). The eagerness of so many people associated with terrestrial AM/FM/SW to believe in the IBOC/DRM fantasy reminds me of the people you see lined up in front of those cancer clinics near the bull ring in Tijuana. I suspect those unfortunate people don't really believe that an injection of dried and granulated apricot pits will really cure their cancer, but when you're dying you're willing to try anything. And, in the same fashion, I suspect a lot of terrestrial broadcasters know their problems don't stem from AM/FM/SW not being digital, but when you're. . . . . (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ABDX via DXLD) "9% OF HOUSEHOLDS WILL POSSESS AN HD RADIO BY 2010" Exploding the momentum myth of HD radio Reading the Inside Radio headlines - not to mention the full pages sponsored by iBiquity - one would think that we're on the verge of an explosion in popularity for HD radio, that all we need to do is "get the word out" or "get the radios in cars" and we're home free. Well, that's the perspective from the folks selling the technology who are interested, first and foremost, in selling the technology. For a sense of where the momentum is we need to refer to more neutral parties. Ideally, folks whose job it is to measure trends, not fudge them. For that, you have to refer to the Forrester study released earlier this year which showed where HD radio is expected to track between now and 2010. As the graphic clearly shows, even by 2010 podcasting will be more popular than HD radio. Satellite will be twice as popular, and mp3 players and online radio will be four times as popular. HD is estimated to be in 10 million households by then. That's out of a projected total of 115 million households. In other words, less than 9% of households will possess an HD radio by 2010. Compare that to the 99% of households that have at least one conventional radio now (the average is five per household). As an industry, we have to understand that, while our future is digital, it's not necessarily HD radio. "Digital" comes in many flavors and we must pick the right racehorse if we expect to win the race. "Digital" and "HD" are anything but synonymous. How does it benefit radio to develop a technology which, by 2010, will be used by far less than one in every ten households when each of those same households now has five conventional radios? How does this suit the interests of our advertisers? When twice as many consumers pay to subscribe to something as choose to get it for free, what does that teach us? How does it benefit radio to develop a marginally appealing technology when the trends clearly indicate that consumer interest is elsewhere? How does it benefit radio to ignore much more obvious methods of "being digital" and instead distract ourselves with HD radio in the vain hope we can once again "own the pipes"? For the sake of our industry I urge you to print out this post and paste it where you can always be reminded of it. I urge you to forward this post to your friends and associates in power. I urge you to return to the truth whenever you're overwhelmed by the myth. I urge you to think - hard - about what your company has to do in the future in order to compete. You will never see this news in a full-page sponsored ad. Posted by Mark Ramsey on November 08, 2005 | Permalink http://www.radiomarketingnexus.com/2005/11/exploding_the_m.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Another aspect to this. Because iBiquity requires anyone building an HD compatible radio to license the technology, there will always, for the forseeable future, be a barrier to any manufacturer wanting in. It will continue to be cheaper to build non-HD radios, so they will continue to be made and sold. This is not at all unlike digital TV, which despite the fact that it's been around for several years, is still somewhat more expensive to make & buy. As a result, there are still many people buying analog TVs, even today. And that's without the additional licensing cost that HD Radio has. Even though digital TV clearly has a better quality picture (or is at least capable of it, though the broadcasters may be choosing to send multiple streams rather than HD), many people still find analog to be a better value. Somehow I have a feeling that in 2010, those 10 million HD radios will be sitting either in closets or museums (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA (GMT -0800), DX-398 / RS Loop, ibid.) DIGITAL RADIO STILL HARD TO HEAR DIGITAL RADIO STILL HARD TO HEAR By John Borland --- Story last modified Wed Nov 09 04:00:00 PST 2005 In most major cities in the United States, the future of radio is already on the air. But hardly anyone is listening. The problem is, hardly anyone can. More than 570 stations around the county are now broadcasting in the new digital radio format, but only a relative handful of actual digital radio receivers have been sold, or are even available to consumers who want to buy them. . . http://news.com.com/Digital+radio+still+hard+to+hear/2100-1025_3-5940548.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RE: SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES ANALOG TV SHUTOFF HARD DATE The real driving force now behind the conversion to HDTV is that the spectrum currently allocated to analog TV is urgently needed for next-generation wireless services, especially broadband. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say the most valuable "real estate" in America today isn't found in Manhattan or La Jolla but instead is located around 700 MHz. When the conversion to HDTV is complete, many new wireless services will operate on locally vacant HDTV frequencies; several technologies in development will automatically search for locally vacant channels using a technique called "dynamic spectrum allocation." The IEEE 802.22 standard now in development wil define how most of these new services will use the new HDTV channels and co-exist with HDTV. If you want to DX HDTV, better do it now; even locally vacant channels are going to have a lot of QRM on them in another decade! But I suspect some of us are going to be DXing these new wireless services - -- maybe "utility DXing" will enjoy a renaissance in the VHF/UHF range. . . . . . . instead of AM or FM DXers, we might morph into "WiMax DXers" or "MediaFLO DXers." While the analog TV shutoff date has been extended a couple of times, I think 2009 is going to be the absolute end this time. It's important to remember that you won't even notice the closure if you get TV via cable or satellite --- and most households today, even those below the federal poverty line, have cable or satellite service (the latter is one of the more fascinating facts from the 2000 census). For those who rely on over-the-air reception, there seems to be a consensus emerging in Congress to provide converter boxes for those with a household income of less than twice the federal poverty line. With the economies of scale, manufacturers like Korea's LG say they can offer converter boxes at a retail price of $40 or less. In other words, you won't have to buy a HDTV set unless you want one. As with all consumer electronics, the prices of HDTV sets have been steadily dropping as sales ramp up and economies of scale kick in. Drop by somewhere like Best Buy or Circuit City on a weekend afternoon, and you might be surprised at consumer interest in HDTV and how rapidly sets are selling. As to whether HDTV is "worth it," that's strictly a question of personal preference. We got our HDTV set (a Panasonic LCD model) in February 2004, and find it's more enjoyable for viewing DVDs than most HD programming. HDTV really brings out the limitations (such as lighting) in the program source material; you can really tell which sports arenas and stadiums are poorly lit! HBO and Discovery consistently provide high-quality HD source material, while the four broadcast networks vary (but the trend seems to be toward improved material). But I can't figure out why TNT bothers with a HD feed; it's almost always grainy, even for shows (like "Law & Order") that have been broadcast previously in HD on another network. But, as I said, HDTV is great for watching DVDs. We've essentially stopped going to the movies; why bother with parking, traffic, $6 bags of popcorn, $8 tickets, and idiots who don't know how to turn off a cell phone (or stop talking) during the movie when you can wait three months and rent the movie from Netflix? BTW, did you know the Navajo word for television is "besh ba gowah," which means "wallpaper that speaks"??? (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ Oct 24, ABDX via DXLD) RE: ONE OTHER THING ABOUT EXTINGUISHING AM STEREO Darwin, It may be frustrating to you as a listener, but that's not what really matters here (sorry). As was already explained quite clearly and correctly by Scott, the bottom line is going to be satisfying the most listeners (nowadays, that's generally the people in the primary service area), and creating as little extra work as possible for the engineer. For example - let's say the engineer has a few moments to peer inside the rack. He sees this old stereo exciter, and thinks to himself - wow, this thing is old. I know it works fine right now, but since it's in the middle of the chain, all it takes is a minor failure to take down my station. Since "no one is listening in stereo anyhow", I might as well make my life simpler, and yank it the next time I have the chance. Granted, there *are* a few people listening in stereo, but how many will actually take the time to complain? I make decisions like this all the time, in my position as an IT Manager. If a piece of equipment or software only provides minor functionality, then as soon as I can eliminate the need for that functionality, it's history. I don't need the headaches of supporting another application or old piece of hardware. Where *would* one go to get one of these things repaired, anyhow? And we might as well face facts --- there are so few AM stereo capable radios out there, and even fewer people that would notice if the pilot light went out, that it's not worth a whole lot of effort anymore on the part of the station. If it makes their life simpler, then they'll be willing to put up with a few complaints. And that's all it will be anymore, because with most AM programming being talk, most listeners couldn't care less. They might notice reduced "loudness", but would probably attribute it to something else. If you complain from the perspective of an occasional visitor to the area of the station, who happened to notice that the stereo was gone the last time you were in town, then fine. That's a legitimate complaint. But if it's just because I heard that stereo was discontinued, and I might someday in the future happen to visit town with my stereo radio, that's pushing it a bit. If you are simply a DXer who listens from afar, only long enough for an ID, then a complaint is out of line. If they want to sacrifice coverage for simplicity, then it's their prerogative to do so. As for public file complaints, it's probably a waste of time. No one ever looks at those files anyhow. Technically, I believe that they are already obligated to put your letter in the public file, but by pointing it out, you are marking yourself as more than just a common listener. How many people even know that there is such a thing as a public file? Yes, it's true that a well-engineered station, broadcasting in stereo, can potentially sound wonderful, and enjoy increased coverage at the same time. But today, when most AM programming comes off of a highly compressed digital stream, often from satellite, and rarely consists of music anymore, what's the point? Yes, stations USED to be concerned with how good they sounded, how "loud" they were, how much coverage they have, etc. Apparently that's not really true anymore. Unfortunate, but that's what it is. And when you're an overworked engineer, whose primary job is simply to keep all of your stations on the air at all times (because it's almost unheard of for an engineer to be responsible for just one station anymore), then many other things go out the window. Call it corporate greed if you like, but the days of a crew of people sitting at a transmitter site waiting for failures to occur, taking readings, and tweaking things for the best performance are long gone. If it results in a lot of stations going silent, or moving to FM (where space is available), then that would be good for DXers in the long run. If stations want to shoot themselves in the foot (as I believe they are doing with IBOC), then all we as DXers can do is sit back and watch the bloodbath, and hope that there's something left to DX when it's all over. Personally, I can't think of many instances where I feel that I have legitimate grounds for complaint. I listen only rarely to radio for entertainment purposes, and those stations that I do listen to tend to have very strong signals here. Obviously others may have a different situation, but in most cases, I don't think it's fruitful to complain, and unfortunately, in many cases (as was well-documented by Scott) it is counterproductive (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA (GMT -0800) DX-398 / RS Loop, Oct 31, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ A HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE FIRST IMPRESSION OF MY NEW E1XM, SERIAL NUMBER 1243 My E1 was waiting for me when I arrived home yesterday night. I had ordered it at Circuit City on Sunday - they were out of stock at the actual store, but could take my cash payment (I don't use credit cards) and promise delivery on Tuesday to my house, which is exactly what happened. They didn't have the XM module, even for web order, so I picked one up at Best Buy, even though the unhelpful employee assured me that it not only wasn't in their store, but that it didn't exist at all! I found several of them next to some temptingly nice-looking stereo receivers that were also XM ready and which screamed, "potential Christmas gift" to me, and now I am fully operational. I am the fortunate owner of many excellent radios including a Sony 2010, Drake R8, FRG 7, Satellit 700 and 800, etc., but this radio has become my absolute and total favorite already. I admit to being much more interested in DXing to know everything that is going on in the world as opposed to logging every possible remote station (although that has its charm...) That said, the E1 is, for me, Radio Nirvana. This is my PERFECT radio! It is a wonderful size, neither too big to carry around nor too small to house a meaningful display and speaker. The sound is delightfully clear and well- balanced. It picks up all the fuzzy semi-local FM classical stations that elude me on nearly every radio I own unless I hook them to the roof antenna. The MW is extremely sensitive - I didn't miss the ferrite bar at all - and it did very well with my Quantum Loop as well as on its own. The SW is excellent - the tuning options were exactly right for my needs. and the radio is bursting with stations here in SW PA. I heard some stations last night that I haven't picked up in years. What a delight! The SSB is easy to use, and since I love to listen to the local hams, this matters enormously to me. I've never been able to get those signals so clear so quickly. The XM is almost too much fun - this is my third XM radio - and although I wanted this radio primarily for SW, I keep tuning in to the occasional song on XM as a guilty pleasure. The module picks up well from some locations where my other XM antennas failed to find a signal. I think I'm in love. Oh - and what a marvelous surprise to find that the clock sets itself! I look forward to loading up my memories today, and reading the manual in detail. This truly was worth the wait and expense. (The expense was considerable since I had to let my husband buy $500 worth of DVD's to keep it fair!) (Emily Keene KB3MKQ, Uniontown, PA, Nov 2, ABDX via DXLD) Kinstar MW Antennas Now Much Easier To Get FCC Approval For those of you who may have been following the testing and approval process of the new Kinstar AM broadcast Antenna, this story came from the CGC E-newsletter: SIMPLIFIED FCC PROCEDURES FOR USING NON-D KINSTAR AM ANTENNAS By this Public Notice, the Media Bureau announces simplified procedures for AM station construction permit applications which specify non-directional KinStar antennas. Based on its review of the KinStar field tests and submitted reports, the Bureau announces that it will not routinely require the submission of a proof of performance, current distribution measurements, or a formula for the vertical plane radiation characteristic for non-directional AM facilities which utilize these relatively short antennas. FCC Links: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2741A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2741A2.pdf ------------------- I was living about five miles from their test site between Abingdon and Bristol, VA when Kintronics was testing this about three years ago. I have also spoken with Tom King of Kintronics extensively on the subject, and even did a few informal comparative antenna measurements on my own to satisfy my curiosity when the tests were being conducted. Bottom line on this antenna is that it has been shown to be about 98% efficient when compared to a standard 1/4 wave broadcast antenna. Now that the FCC has made it easier to get approval for the Kinstar, many AM stations who have difficulty with installing new or replacement towers due to zoning, height, and NIMBY's have a fighting chance. The Kinstar is only the height of a tall telephone pole. If you are unfamiliar with the Kinstar Antenna check out Kintronics description and testing data at their website: http://www.kintronic.com/site/systems/kinstar.asp The full technical paper presented to the NAB is also available in pdf form at: http://www.kintronic.com/site/techpapers/KTL_NAB_Paper.pdf When I saw the antenna during the tests, my first reaction was: hey, what a great 160 meter antenna this would make! 73, (Rene' Tetro, Lansdale, PA , USA, N2GQL, WPXG816, WPXU288, PG-2-16913 Coordinates: 40D12'32"N 75D18'23"W Grid: FN20IF Email: rtetro @ pobox.com Website Moderator: http://www.radioveronica.us and http://www.dxhub.com Oct 30, ABDX via DXLD) WJR - no pilot? Hello, It appears that WJR has abandoned C-QuAM, judging by their lack of response to my e-mail inquiries. It is too bad, as I enjoyed listening to the University of Michigan Saturday football games in AM stereo (now they have dropped U-of-M in favor of Michigan State University football). Years ago they had Detroit Tigers and Red Wings in stereo, and these were absolutely stunning broadcasts to hear. It literally sounded as though I was in the stadium. I will also miss the Thanksgiving Day parade in C-QuAM stereo. If you would like to drop a line (even Bob Green can do so), please write online to WJR at: http://www.wjr.com/contactus.asp Also, letters and telephone calls can be directed as follows: WJR-AM Attn: Mike Fezzey, WJR President & General Manager 3011 West Grand Blvd. Fisher Building Suite 800 Detroit, MI 48202 General Information: 313-875-4440 WJR is owned by ABC Disney, which will have their 70 radio stations on the auction block (after the Susquehanna radio auction closes, to determine value based upon multiples of cash flow). ABC had spent millions of dollars to silence WFRO and to construct a new 50 kW facility for WFDF in Monroe county. They also are testing HD Radio, and program Radio Disney on this AM station. If the discontinuance of C-QuAM was a corporate ABC missive, then WBAP and WLS are not far behind (get those air checks recorded now). I can receive WLS here in southeast Michigan at night, and they are an awesome sounding station. I also listened to WBAP from Columbus, Ohio at night when WOSU left the air. Driving around I have not noticed any WJR coverage changes from stereo to mono, though have asked Kit Sage and others to note any ifferences. Due to WJR's decreased audio bandwidth, I can hear WSB and WABC better at night. We need to get those letters written to WJR and support AM stereo. Crawford will be dropping C-QuAM by 2008 on all of their AM stations, so two additional local AM stereo stations will be lost as well. Thanks for listening, (Jeff Deck, Meduci America, http://Meduci.com http://AMStereoTuner.com Oct 29 ABDX via DXLD ``Any station that can't answer their listeners are cowards. If a damn fast-food restaurant or even an insurance company treated their customers like that, they would be in real hot water with the BBB. What gives radio stations the God-given right to ignore people's complaints (or if they don't, belittle them)? Make sure you request your letter or email to be included in the stations Public File and CC the FCC.`` [--- unattributed quotation] It's behavior like this that explains why I'm no longer eager to tell engineers on a station visit that I'm a DXer. I don't know Chris Arnault at WJR personally, but I know he's had a hell of a lot of work piled on his shoulders lately. The whole move of WFDF 910 from Flint to a brand-new 8-tower site 20 miles south of downtown Detroit? That's his responsibility, and I can assure you that his bosses at ABC are a heck of a lot more interested in having him spend his time on that than on answering a DXer's question from California. If he's being worked like most of the other engineers I know, he's also responsible for everything that happens at the WJR transmitter site and for studio maintenance at the Fisher Building downtown. That's two hours of driving a day right there, before anything else can even happen, plus a lot of late-night work bringing the new array into pattern, running monitoring points, and a whole lot of other time-consuming and annoying tasks. Sorry to be so blunt, but as DXers, we are *not* paying customers of distant radio stations, and they have *no* obligations to us. It's a courtesy for them to answer our QSL requests (and most do, time permitting) and other questions. It's a courtesy for them to broadcast in stereo to the half-dozen listeners who still have tuners. They have *no* obligation to do so. Ratting them out to the FCC for something that's not even a violation (but which probably will still get their lawyers involved, at big expense to the station) does NOTHING to endear the DX community to the broadcast engineering community. It only breeds hostility that's entirely counterproductive. Most - the vast majority, in fact - of the engineers that I've met on hundreds of station visits have been sympathetic to the DX community. Most wish they had more time in their schedules to answer questions from DXers, conduct tests and - yes - even to do some DXing themselves. Every last one of them is overworked, in my experience. They have a job to do that's high in stress, low in recognition, and in which catering to the needs of DXers is a very low priority. The best way to make sure that it falls right to the bottom of their priority list is to do something like this that will make them answer questions from the general manager that they don't need to be taking the time to answer. (It also, I'd add, fuels the perception, now widespread in the engineering community through the inadvertent efforts of Mr. Tekel and his ilk, that the AM stereo aficionados are a bunch of cranks. I know of several stations that have shut off stereo not because there was any good reason to, but only because they knew it would tick off Kevin. How's that for unintended consequences?) Again, it's not my intention to be so blunt - just to warn you of how actions like this are perceived on the other side of the fence, which is where I spend most of my time these days. I try to stick up for the DX community whenever I can. Actions like this (plus the public branding of stations as "cheaters" when they're not, which happens too often on the lists) make that a very hard stance to take sometimes. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Thanks for opening a few eyes, Scott. This is a good representation of the other side of the fence. I too have gotten a little perturbed at stations who wouldn't even answer an email or send out a form letter email with the usual reasons for shutting off stereo. And at the same time I have been honored to indeed receive a response from some of the big engineers at the big stations --- such as Tom Ray himself, and the guy at WGN. I wrote to them when they shut off stereo there. Nothing that was any kind of attack --- just a "I was just curious" kind of quick note. And he did write back. I hate having to be drug down in the tracks of Mr. Tekel in this instance. There are indeed himself and a few others that are over the edge and have given stereo-lovers a bad name. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing because I care. I keep the stereo on here not just for myself, but for others here in Evanston that happen to have AM Stereo. You can't stop EVERY car on the street in town and find out. There really ISN'T anything more than an "estimate" or "average" to look at. I can look at every car that passes and say what the chances are that they have AM Stereo capability in their car. And I think it's a lot higher than many engineers want to give it a chance. I can tell you right now most people take it for granted when they see the stereo indicator light up on KEVA. And I think if you were to ask those people, they'd say "Hmm...I thought all stations were stereo." There are a LOT of cars out there on the road that have it. And some of those people care. Others don't or don't even know they have it because they're young and don't listen to AM or because they don't like Classic Country and don't listen to KEVA. I think there are a LOT more stereo-capable radios out there than many want to admit. Just look at the cars out there. Look at the radios that are STILL being manufactured today and put into vehicles. There are still some that have it. Anyway, this isn't a stereo argument. Just an observation and I hate having to admit I like stereo if it puts me in a class with Mr Tekel. (yuk) But we ain't going IBAC any time soon here. We'll be C-quam for a long time. For putting out the same coverage area and the same modulation (I don't believe the coverage myths ---I still have seen no proof) I leave it on. Ya never know who's listening in stereo out there. It certainly isn't costing us any more to be stereo than it would otherwise. I agree with most of what you said and it's an eye-opener. As DXers, engineers are our friends and we need to be nice to them. Most of them are nice folks just like us and many times are just following orders from above. I'm certainly not going to put a curse on Kent if he drops stereo on WOKI and decides to put IBAC on all his stations and stop doing DX tests --- most of that would probably be ordered from above - -- not his decision. I think we're lucky to have a lot of good people AND engineers here on the list. This is why we try to keep things civil. I think I can see some of the "workload fallout" myself. Honestly, I have had some DXers really whining to me offlist because they never got their QSL from last year's DX test. I really wish my saying "I'll get to it as soon as I can, I just haven't had time." were enough. I was really happy to see Kent's posting recently that HE hasn't done his QSL's either --- and his test and MY test ran on the same night!! So I guess I'm not the only one that's overloaded these days :) Anyways, I digress (Michael n Evanston Wyo Richard, ABDX via DXLD) WORLD OF TELEPHONES +++++++++++++++++++ SBC TO TAKE AT&T NAME AFTER MARRIAGE http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2005-10-27-att_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA WASHINGTON (Reuters) — SBC Communications (SBC) said Thursday it will change its name to AT&T after completing its $16 billion purchase of that company, restoring a 120-year-old brand to what will become the largest U.S. telecommunications company. The future of the AT&T name, which had lost some luster among consumers in recent years, had been a lingering question around SBC's purchase. USA TODAY reported Oct. 6 that SBC planned to take the AT&T name. SBC said it would launch a new logo and marketing campaign, along with a new stock symbol, once the merger closed. That could come as soon as next month, depending on approval from federal and state regulators. The purchase will make SBC, formerly known as Southwestern Bell, the largest U.S. provider of traditional landline and wireless communications services to homes and businesses with about $90 billion in annual revenues. AT&T, whose history dates back 130 years to the invention of the telephone, has been slammed by increasing competition from SBC and other dominant local carriers in the long-distance market. AT&T's market value and revenue peaked in 1999, and the company announced last year it would no longer compete for residential customers. The combination of AT&T and SBC reunites "Ma Bell," as AT&T was known for years, with a "Baby Bell," one of the local phone companies spun off from AT&T because of antitrust rulings in 1984. SBC has estimated the deal could generate savings and a slight increase in revenues with a net current value of $15 billion, or about $2 billion a year through 2008, with the amount rising to $3 billion by 2011. About 85% of the improvements come from cost reductions, which include nearly 13,000 job cuts. Industry analyst Jeff Kagan said SBC will need to update the AT&T name "to play in the new game of telephone, television, Internet and cellular, but that will be easy compared to trying to carve out a new name like SBC in market after market around the country." Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited (USA Today Oct 27 via CGC Communicatior via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ###