DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-215, December 15, 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 Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html NEXT BROADCASTS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1297: Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 2000 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 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 1530 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 Sat 1830 WOR WRN to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] 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 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 WRMI 7385 Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1830 WOR WRN1 to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 2000 WOR RNI Sun 2230 WOR WRMI 7385 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 Wed 0100 WOR CJOY INTERNET RADIO plug-in required Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 WRN ON DEMAND [from Fri]: 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 1297 (real high): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1297h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1297h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1297 (real low): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1297.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1297.rm [mp3 files pending shortly UT Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1297 (mp3 high): (download) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1297h.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1297 (mp3 low): (download) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1297.mp3 (lower download) http://www.piratedxer.com/worldofradio_12-14-05.mp3 (lower stream) http://www.piratedxer.com/worldofradio_12-14-05.m3u (WOR 1297 summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1297.html [not yet] WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml MUNDO RADIAL, diciembre-enero: en el aire del 16 de diciembre: en WWCR 7465, viernes y lunes a las 2214 TU; en WRMI 9955, domingos a las 1130 (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0512.ram (descargar) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0512.rm (descargar mp3) http://www.obriensweb.com/mr0512.mp3 (texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0512.html ** ARGENTINA. 15820 LSB, Radio Continental, 0920-1001, 15-12, locutor y locutora, comentarios: "20 grados en Buenos Aires, máxima prevista para hoy 29 grados". Comentario sobre final torneo apertura fútbol argentino: "Boca 40 puntos, Gimnasia 37...". A las 1000 noticias: "Servicios informativos Continenta, 20 grados 9 décimas". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km W. de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Domestic HF Came across this on the ACMA database... He has 5 licences for Domestic HF Broadcasting from different capital cities all on 2368.5 kHz. Anyone have any idea what this is about? Actually I see a few others have licences on this frequency as well (Richard Jary, Dec 15, ARDXC via DXLD) As I recall this came up a few years ago, and the assumption was that this is a foot-in-the-door for some possible digital broadcasting. Altho the emission designation on these is 6K00A3E. 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) ** BAHRAIN. The voice of Bahrain was silenced yesterday with the death of radio pioneer Ahmed Suleiman. Mr Suleiman, whose voice was the first to be heard as the English-language Radio Bahrain was launched nearly 30 years ago, died in the BDF Hospital, aged 76. . . http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=129868&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=28270 (via Andy Sennitt, Dec 15, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. 6035, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Thimpu, 0110-0230 fade out, Dec 09 and 10, Dzongkha talks, instrumental music with flutes, native singing and talks in between. Heavy QRM until 0200* from NHK/UK 6030 and R Romania Int. 6040, and from 0200 QRM from Colombia fading in on 6035! Best at 0200: 23322 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) Heard in Indochina: 6035, BBS, Thimpu, 1106-1135, Nov 25, Dzongkha news (tentative), 35333 , but at *1110 Kunming came back on the air and mostly covered BBS 31331. In Vietnam and Cambodia 6035 was totally covered by Kunming! (Anker Petersen, Thailand, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. BHUTAN BROADCASTING SERVICE TO GET NEW TV CENTRE, SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTER Bhutan Broadcasting Service is planning major upgrades, with the construction of a 1,600 square metre television centre, a 100 kW shortwave transmitter, and an uplink to an Indian satellite. This will enable the TV service to go nationwide from February 2006. The projects are being paid for by the Indian government. Read the full story in Kuensel Online http://www.kuenselonline.com/article.php?sid=6332 # posted by Andy @ 13:44 UT Dec 15 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. On Dec 18, Bolivia is going to have one of the most important parliamentary elections in its history. Aymara Indian Evo Morales (46) runs for President as the first Indian, socialist candidate against Jorge Tuto Quiroga from the Podemos Party. The results can be followed on shortwave (Anker Petersen, Ed., DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. Heard in Indochina: Despite several attempts, the following former Cambodian SW-station could not be heard in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Thailand: National R of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, on 4907, 6090 and 11940 which definitely is off the air (Anker Petersen) The following MW stations of the National R of Cambodia were audible in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Bangkok: 918 kHz, Phnom Penh heard around 0910 on Nov 21 and 1400 on Nov 20 and 25 in Khmer, mentioning Kampuchea and King Sihanouk, 55555. 999 kHz, Battambang heard around 1400 on Nov 25 in Khmer. (Anker Petersen, Cambodia and Thailand) The following FM-stations were heard in Phnom Penh 1400-1440 (2100- 2140 local) on Nov 20, most in Khmer: 88.0 MHz (Sweet FM), 89.2 (BBC in English - was off at 2113), 90.0 (FM 90), 90.5 (Ta Phrom R), 91.2 (New station in Khmer mentioning Phnom Penh), 92.0 (R France Int. in French - also noted at 2113-2138), 93.5 (FM 93.5), 94.0 (New station in Khmer), 94.2 (distorted R Bayon FM // 95.0), 95.0 (R Bayon FM), 97.0 (R Apsara), 97.5 (Love FM with Nokia ad and English songs), 98.0 (FM 98), 99.0 (FM 99), 99.5 (FEBC - ID heard), 100.0 (BBC World Sce in English - also heard at 2100 UT), 101.0 (New station in Khmer), 101.5 (R Australia heard at 2108), 102.0 (WMC R), 103.0 (Municipality R - also heard at 2112), 105.0 (Sombok Ka Mum = R Beehive relaying VOA and RFA in Khmer and Chinese), 106.0 (Municipality R - weak // 103.0 heard at 2112) and 107.0 (Planet FM). (Anker Petersen, Cambodia, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) 105 MHz FM, Beehive R, has a website at: http://www.sbk.com.kh The station owner Mam Sonando was recently arrested. Here is the link to the story from RFA: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/cambodia_sonando Beehive R does broadcast RFA's and Voice of America's Cambodian programming, so that may be part of the reason behind Sonando's troubles (AJ Janitschek, DC, Dec 12, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) The following FM-stations were heard in Siem Reap 1335-1355 on Nov 23, most in Khmer: 90.2 (New, weak station), 91.4 (Two new, weak stations), 92.0 (RFI Musique, France, in French with ID, strong signal, so probably also a Siem Reap transmitter), 93.0 (R Bayon FM 93), 94.0 (R Bayon FM - weak // 93.0 ), 95.75 (New station in Khmer - strong with phone in), 96.5 (FM 96.5, Sisopohon ? - strong), 97.5 (Love FM - strong, so probably also a Siem reap transmitter - ID in English: "97.5"), 98.0 (New station with phone-in in Khmer - strong), 98.7 (Love FM heard // 97.5 - weak) and 100.5 (Sweet FM, ID - strong). At 1955-2049 on Nov 23 and 2120 on Nov 22 (around 0300-0400 local) all stations had closed, except RFI Musique on 92.0 MHz. (Anker Petersen, Cambodia, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Maybe something is finally being done about the collision between sputnix on 15230: Dec 15 at 1453 I noticed that RHC was in the clear on 15230, no CRI English via Canada as had been the case at 1300-1500 since the start of B-05, and in the entirety of B- 04. A quick scan of the 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 MHz bands did not find any new frequency for this. There was however a suspicious open carrier on 15435; see UNIDENTIFIED. Or it could be that the Sackville 15230 transmitter was just down for some reason (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estereo, 0649-0810, 15-12, canciones románticas, locutor, identificación: "Desde Colombia, Marfil Estereo". "Llega la época más esperada del año, Feliz Navidad les desea Marfil Estereo". "Así se vive la Navidada aquí en Marfil Estereo". "Dos sistemas radiales propagan nuestras ondas, 88.2 FM Marfil Estereo y en la banda de AM, 1530 kHz. Alcaraván Radio, las 24 horas del día a través del medio de comunicación más ágil, la radio". 34333. 6139.8, Radio Lider, 2301-2314, 14-12, Anuncios comerciales. "Les invitamos a escuchar nuestro himno nacional, siéntase orgullos de ser colombiano". "Radio Lider, 730 AM". "Estas son las noticias de hoy en Radio Lider". "Radio Lider, lider en información". "Feliz Navidad, Radio Lider, lider en buenas noticias, 6 de la tarde 8 minutos". 33333. También escuchada 0557-0700, 15-12, canciones colombianas, identificación: "Dos de la mañana, en Radio Lider, 730 AM esta es la hora exacta". Interferencia de la Deutsche Welle con programa en inglés en la misma frecuencia. 22222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km W. de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. As I remember, Kai Ludwig from Germany asked for schedule of HRVATSKI RADIO 1 = Croatian Radio 1 (HR 1). Well, I am not in the mood for translating it, so here is the weekly schedule in Croatian language. As I already told you, GLAS HRVATSKE (Voice of Croatia) is transmitted via Juelich, Germany and mediumwave transmitters in Croatia. However, HRVATSKI RADIO-PRVI PROGRAM (Croatian Radio-First Program = HR 1) is broadcasted via shortwave transmitter site DEANOVEC in Croatia: 0500-2400 UTC DEANOVEC 6165 kHz OND 100 kW, quadrant antenna 0500-0800 UTC DEANOVEC 7365 kHz OND 10 kW, Marconi discone 0500-1800 UTC DEANOVEC 9830 kHz OND 100 kW, RIZ vertical monopol (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, DXLD) Rather than publish this very long schedule in Croatian, is there a webpage we can refer to? (gh, DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. Croatia/Germany: A few days ago the DRM tests from Osijek on 594 started. I had no opportunity for own observations yet, but reportedly co-channel Hessischer Rundfunk gets severely disturbed already within Germany. The DRM signal from Osijek is so strong that some listeners even got the impression that Hessischer Rundfunk run a DRM test, but not so. A lament about the interference of Hessischer Rundfunk has even been posted at http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1280 And yes, Rodgau-Weiskirchen runs 6 or 7 kHz audio bandwidth, which is legal. DRM fans time and again bring up this matter after all the critics of the perceived bandwidth of DRM signals, as if sidebands of AM signals are the same thing than a signal with the transmitted energy equally spread over the whole occupied spectrum. Hmm, wouldn't it promise a nice flamewar if somebody would defend IBOC by pointing at the occupation of 20 kHz by all those AM stations running 10 kHz audio? All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Radio Rebelde. Booming in on 15575 just after 1700 UT, Tuesday Dec. 13 (listed on 15570 in PWBR 2006). Gradually faded and gone by 1730. Also heard (only just) on parallel frequency of 11655 under Radio Netherlands in Dutch. It too was gone by 1730 (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Rebelde. Heard on 15575 at tune in at 1650 UT Thursday, Dec. 15, but was back on the scheduled 15570 when I checked again soon after 1700. Parallel 11655 was also heard with a 9 over 5 signal until 1700 when RN almost obliterated it (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, ibid.) Acabo de escuchar a las 0405 UT, la despedida del colega Manolo de La Rosa en su programa diexista a traves de Radio Rebelde por la frecuencia 5025 kHz. Un fuerte abrazo para todos (José Elías, Venezuela, UT Thu Dec 15, Noticias DX via DXLD) The last we knew, this was UT Sat, approximately 0405-0412 (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Asunto: Nuevas QSL DE RADIO PRAGA PARA 2006 La emisora checa ya ha editado las nuevas QSL para el 2006. La serie "Ciudades balneario checas" dará paso este 2006 a las 8 targetas dedicadas a científicos e inventores checos. He aquí el listado: Jan Janský. Médico, descubridor de los cuatro grupos sanguíneos. Jaroslav Heyrovský. Químico e inventor del polarógrafo. Otto Wichterle. Químico, descubridor del hidrogel. Josef Ressel. Técnico y inventor de la hélice para barcos Václav Laurin y Václav Klement. Fundadores de la industria automobilística checa. Frantisek Krizik. Ingeniero en electrotécnica e inventor. Josef Bozek. Mecánico e inventor y Jan Evangelista Purkyne. Fisiólogo y biólogo. Más información en: http://www.radio.cz/es/html/qsl2006.html (via EDUARD BOADA I ARAGONES, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319 USB, AFRTS Feeder, *1500v-0258v*, Dec 07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12, reactivated, English talks, "AFN Sports", 44444 // Key West 12133.5 USB. On Dec 12 the frequency shift from 12579 already had taken place at 1451, other days first at 1517. On Dec 13, however, 4319 was off the air! Cf. AFRTS frequencies in U.S.A. below! (D'Angelo, Berg, Churchill, Herkimer, Liangas, Anker Petersen, Ritola, Titarev and Wilkner, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) 12579.0 USB, AFRTS Feeder, *0258v-0538 and 1200 (fade in in Denmark)- 1500v*, Dec 07, 08, 09, 11, 12 and 13, reactivated! English talks about Washington, Iraq and Afghanistan, 1400 NPR news, 24444 heard // Grindavik 9980 (Berg, Koie, Anker Petersen, Ritola, Titarev and Wilkner, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) 4319(USB), AFRTS/AFN, Dec 13, 0047 two men talking about sports (mentions coaches, female wrestlers, etc.), 0056 clear AFN ID, weak, lost by 0100, probably //7811(USB) which was fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3810, 0540-0555, 15-12, Estación de señales horarias HD210A, Instituto Oceanográfico de la Armada, Guayaquil, Señales horarias, al minuto exacto: "Al oir el tono serán las 0 horas 49 minutos", y así cada minuto. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km W. de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, the call is HD2IOA, even tho erroneously shown in some publications. There is only one number in the call and the last three letters abbreviate the name of the institution (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9560.8 kHz, Radio Ethiopia. Dec. 10 at 1559-1630. SINPO 34333. Guitar music till 1600, then IS & ID in English as "This is the External service of Radio Ethiopia." News summary at 1601, followed by Ethiopian popular songs (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** FINLAND. 5980, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1350-1457, Sat Dec 03, Finnish discussion, rock music; inaudible earlier that day on 49 mb, but now surprisingly good, 44444, QRM 5975 Chinese talk and from *1457 covered by the Voice of Turkey. 11690, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1000-1135, Sat Dec 03, Finnish talk, pop songs, "Jingle Bells" in Finnish, first QRM from TWR in Mandarin until 1045*, then clear and SINPO 45434, but from *1130 covered by DW in Turkish. 11720, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1350-1400, Sat Dec 03, Finnish talk heard // 5980, 32332 QRM China R Int., fading out (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re ITALY: ``DTT``: This abbr. means ``Digital Terrestrial Television`` and appears to be kind of a UK creation to me. It refers to the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard used outside the USA and Canada also for terrestrial transmission in a version with appropriate modulation schemes called DVB-T. Basically this is TV of course, but DVB can be also used for radio distribution. This is common practice on satellite, and in the UK DVB-T (marketing term there: ``Freeview``) carries radio programs as well. Elsewhere this was uncommon so far, primarily to protect DAB, but since August one DVB-T bouqet at Berlin carries alongside two TV programs a lot of radio stations, cf. http://people.freenet.de/davidbeyer/Berlin-Brandenburg.htm#Mix3 The latest DAB news from Germany, not related to the latest developments in Sweden of course, but to tell them anyway: Hamburg-based commercial station 106acht closed down its DAB program ``allRock``. Herewith five programs are on air via DAB in Hamburg, three of them (two NDR programs and ``Digital 1`` from the commercial Radio Hamburg) with 128 kbps, thus with unacceptably poor audio quality despite the arrogant and stupid claims recently made by an alleged flagship BBC programme. A few days ago also the Potsdam-based BB Radio abandoned DAB, leaving the system in Berlin and Brandenburg without any participation by the established commercial broadcasters. Already some time ago BB Radio moved from the only DAB ensemble with full coverage of Brandenburg to a local L band ensemble at Berlin and ceased to promote DAB at the same time. Herewith the remaining DAB offerings in Berlin and Brandenburg are RBB and Deutschlandradio programming available on FM as well, a relay of Halle-based 89.0 RTL on the Brandenburg-covering ensemble (to prevent a situation with a mere four programs on it I guess), an additional L band ensemble in the greater Berlin area with a relayed webstream from Mallorca and two Berlin-based broadcasters (Radijojo and Joy FM, the latter one at present on FM 104.1, the frequency now allocated to NPR). A lone L band transmitter on the Berlin TV tower relays the Digital One ensemble from the UK to promote DAB, and that was it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CROATIA; SAAR ** INDIA. Still no move down from 90m to 60 m.b. of 3223, 3315, 3390 continues (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, Dxplorer, Dec 07 via DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) 4760, AIR Leh (presumed), *0215, Dec 12, signing on with a different interval signal than the usual one from AIR. My recording can be heard at http://webdisk.planet.nl/mvarnhem/publiek/album/4760%20s%20on.mp3 The last part of the recording is a female talk some minutes after the sign-on. In the past I listened several times to the s/on of AIR Leh, always with the common IS (Max Van Arnhem, Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4990, AIR Itanagar, Dec 12, 1445-1517, in language; subcontinental music and songs, 1450-1500 news (PM in Kuala Lumpur, report in English about the petrol storage area near London exploding), fair. The strongest AIR station on 60 meters (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. STATION PROFILE --- A Visit to AIR Nagarcoil At the Southern most of India, where the Arabian sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal meet, lies Kanyakumari, an important pilgrim center near to Nagarcoil. The Nagaraja Temple is situated here. So the name in comes. The images of the Jain Theerthangar, Mahavira and Parsavanathar are found on the pillar of the Temple. Nagarcoil is 19 Kms from Kanyakumari and 669 Kms from Chennai. In Nagarcoil I was stained two days in mid November. One day I visit to see an active SLBC listener Mr. A. P. S. Ravindran. He monitors all the SLBC AM, FM stations and sends report through telephone. He monitors through Sony ICF 2000. The next day he arranged a car to visit the station. The road passes through the Green Valleys. AIR Nagarcoil offices and studios are in the out of town Konam. The station was inaugurated on 30 October 1984. This is India`s first Local Radio Station (LRS). There I met station Engineer Mr. Jeyaraman and Asst. station Engineer Mr. Anantha Prapothan. Two studios are there. One for play back and one used for multipurpose. The transmitter site is also in the station campus itself. The Asst. Engineer on duty Mr. Anantha Prapothan described the function of this station. The Transmitter is BEL with a power of 10 KW. He didn`t want to tell the model number of the transmitter. It operates on 101.0 MHz. The studio to transmitter link through the cable. One KW valve transmitter was on the air from 30 October 1984 to 1997. At that time they broadcast on Medium Wave. The primary coverage area is 100 Sq. Km in the Kanyakumari districts and some parts of Kerala. AIR Nagarcoil station broadcast on Tamil and weekly once they give the Malayalam program. There are three broadcasts and timings are 06.00-10.00 am, 12.00-4.00 pm (Sundays up to 5.00 pm) and 5.30-11.00 pm. The station is now heard widely in different parts of Kanyakumari districts. Its postal address is All India Radio, Konam, Nagarcoil 629 004, Tel: 04652 - 260 241/43 (Sakhti Vel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. WATCHDOG CLAIMS CHINA AND CUBA ARE TOP JAILERS OF JOURNALISTS | Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 13 December China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia are the world's leading jailers of journalists in 2005, together accounting for two-thirds of the 125 editors, writers and photojournalists imprisoned around the world, according to a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The United States, which is holding journalists in detention centres in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rose to sixth among countries jailing journalists, just behind Uzbekistan and tied with Burma, CPJ found. "Antistate" allegations, including subversion, divulging state secrets and acting against the interests of the state, were the most common charges used to imprison journalists worldwide. Seventy-eight journalists were jailed under such charges, many by the Chinese and Cuban governments. A sudden and far-reaching crackdown on the Ethiopian press this fall fuelled an increase in the number of journalists jailed worldwide, according to CPJ's census of those held on December 1, 2005. The global tally is three more than the 122 imprisoned journalists CPJ found in its 2004 census. Twenty-four countries imprisoned journalists in 2005, reflecting an increase from the 20 nations included in the 2004 census. "We're disturbed to see the number of jailed journalists rise, and we're particularly troubled that the list of the worst abusers now includes Ethiopia and the United States," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "Journalists covering conflict, unrest, corruption and human rights abuses face a growing risk of incarceration in many countries, where governments seek to disguise their repressive acts as legitimate legal processes." For the seventh consecutive year, China was the world's leading jailer of journalists, with 32 imprisoned. Fifteen, or nearly half, of the cases in China involve internet journalists; more than three-quarters of the cases were brought under vague "antistate" laws. Cuba ranked second, with 24 reporters, writers and editors behind bars, most of them jailed in the country's massive March 2003 crackdown on dissidents and the independent press. Eritrea was the leader among African countries, with 15 journalists in prison, many of them held incommunicado in secret jails for reasons the government would not fully explain, according to CPJ research. Neighbouring Ethiopia imprisoned 13 journalists, all of whom were swept up by authorities seeking to quell dissent amid civil unrest in November. Ethiopian police blocked most private newspapers from publishing; raided newspaper offices, confiscating computers, documents and other materials; and issued a "wanted list" of editors, writers and dissidents. Uzbekistan ranked fifth among countries, with six journalists in prison. Burma and the United States followed, with five apiece. U.S. detention centres in Iraq were holding four journalists, while the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo held one. Here are other trends and details that emerged in CPJ's analysis: - Forty-one journalists whose work appeared primarily on the web or in other electronic forms were in jail, accounting for just under one- third of the cases worldwide. - Nine were charged with criminal defamation, the second most common allegation used to imprison journalists worldwide. - Another five were jailed for reporting what governments called "false" information. - No charge was publicly disclosed in 11 cases. The United States and Eritrea each account for five such cases. - The longest-serving journalists in CPJ's census were Chen Renjie and Lin Youping, who were jailed in China in July 1983 for publishing a pamphlet titled Ziyou Bao (Freedom Report). Co-defendant Chen Biling was later executed. One of the imprisoned Chinese journalists, Shi Tao, was honoured with CPJ's 2005 International Press Freedom Award. A freelance journalist for internet publications and an editor for Dangdai Shang Bao, a business newspaper, Shi is serving a 10-year sentence for "leaking state secrets abroad." Shi was imprisoned in November 2004 for posting online notes detailing the government's instructions on how the news media were to cover the 15th anniversary of the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. The government did not classify the instructions as secret until after the fact. CPJ is waging a campaign seeking Shi's release, collecting signatures from prominent journalists and press freedom advocates. Two of three imprisoned journalists honoured by CPJ since 2003 - Burma's Aung Pwint and Cuba's Manuel Vazquez Portal - were freed due in part to the international advocacy campaigns of CPJ and others. The third, Burmese documentary filmmaker Nyein Thit, remains in jail. CPJ believes that journalists should not be imprisoned for doing their jobs. The organization has sent letters expressing its serious concerns to each country that has imprisoned a journalist. In addition, CPJ sent requests during the year to Eritrean and US officials seeking details in the cases in which journalists were held without publicly disclosed charges. Eritrean officials did not respond directly to CPJ, but Information Minister Ali Abdu told Agence France- Presse that the jailings were an internal issue that did not warrant explanation. Journalists jailed in Iraq were deemed security threats by US and Iraqi officials, according to US military officials, but those officials would not disclose specific charges or supporting evidence. A US military spokesman would not discuss the detention in Guantánamo. CPJ's list is a snapshot of journalists incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2005. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at http://www.cpj.org CPJ conducted its annual census one month earlier than in past years to provide a more timely year-end analysis. CPJ considers journalists imprisoned when governments deprive them of their liberty because of their work. Journalists remain on CPJ's list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released Journalists who either disappear or are abducted by non-state entities, including criminal gangs, rebels or militant groups, are not included on the imprisoned list. Their cases are classified as "missing" or "abducted." Details of these cases are also available on CPJ's website. Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 13 Dec 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. New RFI .pdf schedule mentions availability through SIRIUS in the United States and Canada. "RFI in French on Premiere Plus and Info Plus and RFI in Russian on RCI Plus," it says. First I've heard of any non-Canada participation in these Francophone radio services. RFI also still available through Dish Network (Mike Cooper, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. This country is reputed to be a major jammer of enemy broadcasts, such as Radio Farda, but I must say I never hear any jamming on R. Farda signals, which can be quite good here, such as 15410, Dec 15 at 1524 check. So is Iran really jamming this? Perhaps only with low-power groundwave transmitters in major cities rather than skywave from one part of Iran to another and bleeding all over the world as in the case of China? Iran certainly have plenty otherwise unaccounted for 500 kW transmitters. From http://www.rferl.org/listen/shortwave/default-frd.asp R. Farda SW schedule, in case others would like to check on this: UT Iran time 0030-0830 0500-1300 9585 0030-0600 0500-1030 9795 0030-0230 0500-0700 11995 0230-0400 0700-0830 7105 0400-0600 0830-1030 12015 0600-0830 1030-1300 15290 0600-0800 1030-1230 17675 0800-1030 1230-1500 11845 0830-1700 1300-2130 13680 0830-1400 1300-1830 15690 1030-1230 1500-1700 17595 1230-1400 1700-1830 9555 1400-1700 1830-2130 9435 1400-1700 1830-2130 15410 1700-1800 2130-2230 7520 1700-2130 2130-0200 7580 1700-1900 2130-2330 11845 1800-1900 2230-2330 11500 1900-2000 2330-0030 6140 1900-2130 2330-0200 9335 2000-2130 0030-0200 9785 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Re 5-214: ```what exactly does ``DTT`` stand for? (gh)``` Articles down below about the end of DAB in Sweden and the sale of Thales suggest DTT stands for "digital terrestrial transmission" -- which ostensibly includes audio and video. 73, (Ricky Leong, AB, dxldyg via DXLD) Digital Terrestrial Television (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As opposed to DET = Digital Extra-terrestrial Television? (gh, DXLD) Glenn, FYI "DTT" means "Digitale Televisivo Terrestre", based on DVB-T standard, as opposed to satellite digital TV. According to a 2001 Parliamentary rule, analogue terrestrial TV should have been switched off at the end of next year. By that deadline, however, not enough DVB-T set top boxes or digitally enabled TV sets are now thought to be in place for the phasing out of Plain Old Television to take place safely. Along with digital satellite services, there's now a second serious DTT competitor in the form of DSL- (or in a lesser proportion fiber-) based IP TV, by providers like Fastweb or Telecom Italia. At this time, both DTT and analogue TV share the normal UHF bands. As for digital radio, the only official terrestrial standard regulated in Italy is Band-L Eureka 147 or DAB, with just a few experimental "ensembles" active on Band III at the moment with highly partial land coverage (due to lack of interest by private FM networks and a slowly implemented conversion of former Band-III analogue TV frequencies). Since last spring, DAB licenses are to be granted on Band L (and on Band III, but only on a Band-L unavailability basis), but I'm not sure anyone asked for them, apart perhaps RAI. RAI should also start its DRM tests here in Milan. As for digital radio in the International Vacuum a colleague of mine, an Italian correspondent based in New York, tells me about satellite radio plans for Italy most likely carried on by Worldspace and a local publisher. Several national (public or commercial) and international radio channels are now offered by our digital satellite provider, Murdoch's Sky Italia, while RAI's digital radio ensembles, normally available on DAB, are being carried on DTT channels too. Also, cellular phone operator like TIM or Vodafone Italia are keenly interested in alternative digital broadcast standards like DVB-H (for "handheld") or DAB evolutions such as DMB, Digital Multimedia Broadcast, wich could be carried both terrestrially or on satellite, Korea-style. In this dynamic picture, one really wonders why broadcaster should convert to digital in old fashioned analogue bands like FM, which is widely popular, or local mediumwaves (which almost nobody cares any longer about). Perhaps only a few hundred DAB receivers have been sold in Italy (and that's highly optimistic) while DRM, of course, is not a serious commercial option at the moment. Best, (Andy Lawendel, Italy, Dec 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4010, Kyrgyz R, Bishkek. The President National of the Telebroadcasting Corporation, Mr. K. S. Moldokasymov, sent me a letter confirming my reception report. The letter came 5 weeks after a follow up to the station (Max Van Arnhem, Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) I also received a letter and a card in 34 days for US$ 1. Address: Blvd. Jash Gvardiya 59, 720010 Bishkek, Kirghiz Republic. E-mail 11 [sic, was that supposed to be attached to the address or was it a stray pdf page number?] snbckr @ hotmail.kg and ntrk @ ktr.kg V/S Moldokasymov K. S., President, Natl Telebroadcasting Corp., The Kirghiz Republic (Pat Robic in A-DX via BCDX via DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** LAOS. Heard in Indochina: 4678, R Nationale Lao, Xam Nua, *2300- 2340, Nov 15 and 23, Lao ann, Laotian songs, 25332. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam and Cambodia) Also heard 1039-1042, Nov 25, Lao ann, native singing, 15121 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam and Thailand) 6130, R Nationale Lao, Vientiane, 2340-0020, Nov 18, 20 and 23, Lao news, 45444. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam and Cambodia). Also heard 0925- 0927, Nov 18, Lao ann, 45444. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) and 1117-1515, Nov 13, Lao talks, martial march and choir of men, talk with martial music in the background, 25222 (Anker Petersen, Thailand) 7145, R Nationale Lao, Vientiane, 0020-0025, Nov 18, talk in Khmer, 24443 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) All Laotian SW and MW stations had signed off when I checked the bands in Savannakhet at 1650, Nov 14 (2350 local time). On FM I could only hear stations in Savannakhet or Thailand on 88.0, 92.5, 96.0, 99.3, 100.0 and 105.0 MHz at 1655 - thus a very quiet place in the world! (Anker Petersen, Laos) The only Laotian MW-station I ever heard, was Khantabouly on 585 kHz which I heard in Hue, Vietnam at 2235, Nov 15 with 55555! There was no signal on any of all the other frequencies: 567, 640, 705, 800, 1000, 1030, 1215 or 1370 kHz! (Anker Petersen, Vietnam, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290 kHz, Radio Casablanca via Ulbroka. Dec. 10 at 1105- 1201*. SINPO 25332-35333. Old pops and folk songs with announcement in German. ID was heard at 1126, 1147 and 1154 (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA [non non]. Re 5-214: Well, don't you believe everything which is distributed via anorak forums. The last year has again seen plenty of disinformation and hoaxes (like alleged tests from a mediumwave transmitter in "Transdnistria", also covered in DXLD, to mention just one). The Xmas transmission of Radio 390 on 1386 will be carried out by Radio Baltic Waves International (RBWI) in Lithuania. RBWI will lease a 50 kW transmitter in Klaipeda for Radio 390, the time will be 2200 and 0200 UT according to RBWI. There will be no other "test transmission" before that date (24 December), and there will be no transmission via the "Kaliningrad" (Bolshakovo) transmitter. It was pointed out repeatedly in DXLD that according to an interstate agreement between Lithuania and Russia, the Bolshakovo transmitter on 1386 is not authorized to be on the air except for a few hours in the evening when it carries Voice of Russia. The present authorized block is 1600-2000 UT; from 1 January reduced to 1800-2000. A nighttime operation is out of the question (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anybody who quotes Anorak Nation as a source is asking for trouble. There is more misinformation on that site that virtually any other I've ever come across. Some of the people on their forums deliberately post misinformation to wind other people up. Others just make comments out of ignorance. Only about 10% of the stuff I see there about the Dutch media scene is accurate. It's harmless enough as long as nobody takes anything on there seriously. Sadly, it appears that at least one person does :-( (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) What the operator of Radio 390 claims is often at variance with what actually occurs. The shortwave service is supposedly to be for North America. Click on About 390 at http://radio390.org/ He says the station has received 29,783 emails between April and October and has been listened to online in 100 countries (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Heard in Indochina: 5030, RTM, Kuching, Sarawak, 2235- 2308, Nov 15 and 17, Bidayuh news about relations Malaysia - Bosnia- Herzegovina, 44444 stronger than CNR 1. Also heard 1057 and 1458-1500, Nov 16 and 25, Bidayuh news, 22332 under CNR-1 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam and Thailand) 5965, RTM. Kuala Lumpur, 0935, Nov 18, Bahasa Malaysia talk, 24332. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 7130, Sarawak FM, Kuching, 2222-2225, Nov 16, Malay (t) talk about music and carnival, local music, 35434. Also heard 0918-0920 and 1542, Nov 15 and 18, Bidayuh ann, song, 25333 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 7270, Wai FM, Kuching, Sarawak, 2228-2231 and 1459, Nov 13 and 15, Iban ID: "Wai FM", light music, 35333. (Anker Petersen, Thailand and Vietnam) Despite several attempts, the following former Malaysian stations could not be heard in Vietnam, Laos , Cambodia or Thailand: 4845 RTM Kuala Lumpur, 5979 RTM Sabah, 6050 RTM Sibu, Sarawak, 6060 RTM Miri, Sarawak, 6175 RTM Kuala Lumpur and 7295 RTM Kuala Lumpur. They all seem to be off the air at present (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Heard in Indochina: 5040.4, R Myanmar, Yangon, 1503-1510*, Nov 15 and 16, Bamar (t) talk, mentioning Myanmar, 32432 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 5770, Defence Forces BC, Tanggyi, 1505, Nov 15 Bamar (tentative) talk, 24332 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 5986, R Myanmar, Yangon, 1512-1532, Nov 15 and 16, English ID: "This news comes to you from Myanmar R, Yangon", western songs, jazz, 45444. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) Despite several attempts, the following former Burmese stations could not be heard in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Thailand: 4725 R Myanmar and 5973 Myawaddy R Station (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) MYANMAR/BURMA. 5985.8, R. Myanmar, Dec 13, 1517-1543, in English; marching music, ``Good evening. This is Myanmar Radio, Yangon. Here is the news read by... ``, news items about the activities of the military government leaders, weather (``partly cloudy ... mostly fair ... Winds will be moderate in Myanmar waters ... The outlook for the next few days . . .``), political slogans (``The duty of the state is for unity and law and order . . .``), ``You are listening to Myanmar Radio,`` 1530 into program of orchestra music. Fair-poor. The best reception so far this DX season (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. From 2200 December 24, until 0600 December 25, KRMG-740 will be playing the music of Mannheim Steamroller (Art Blair, Folsom, CA, IRCA via DXLD) CST? = UT -6. Normally newstalk ** OKLAHOMA. http://www.jazztulsa.org has anyone heard of this station? Yes. I noticed it when visiting family in Tulsa over the holiday. It's a low power FM on 107.9 that broadcasts smooth jazz in mono. I believe the calls are KJZT-LP (Kent, Dec 8, radio-info.com OK board via DXLD) On November 4th, a new noncommercial radio station returned Smooth Jazz to the Tulsa airwaves. KJZT also aggressively promotes the other nonprofit and civic organizations in Green Country. Jazz Tulsa is currently seeking a limited number of ``underwriters`` – that is, local businesses that provide tax-deductible contributions to the station in return for on-air acknowledgment. When your business underwrites KJZT programming, you help support an important community resource while providing yourself with a unique marketing tool at the same time (from http://www.jazztulsa.org/underwriting/default.asp via DXLD) Also has current playlist; no streaming (gh) ** PAKISTAN. ANALYSIS: THE USE AND MISUSE OF FM RADIO IN PAKISTAN | Editorial analysis by Steve Metcalf of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 14 December Across the world generally, radio is perceived as being a complementary, secondary medium. Surveys regularly show that, for most people, television is the medium of choice for news and information. In India, for example, radio advertising accounts for only 2 per cent of the country's advertising market. Radio is seen as providing mostly light entertainment and easy listening - for those on the move, whether around the house or in cars and public transport. However, as recent events in Pakistan have shown, there are places and circumstances when radio can come into its own. The earthquake of 8 October destroyed the premises of Pakistani radio and television in Muzaffarabad, the main centre of Pakistani- administered Kashmir. On 8 December the Associated Press of Pakistan reported that Pakistan TV had drawn up a plan to build seven relay stations to restore TV services to the affected areas. However, the relays will cost over 400,000 dollars each and will not all be ready to operate until the end of 2006. In contrast, some local radio stations were back in service by the end of October. Radio Muzaffarabad lost its AM transmitters, not to mention many of its employees. But within two weeks of the tragedy it was able to resume limited services, operating from a tent studio and using a low-powered FM transmitter. Temporary licences Pakistan's media regulator, PEMRA, responded quickly to the emergency. In September, as part of its overall FM expansion plan, it had invited applications to set up private FM services in the northern regions. This formal process can take several months. But, responding to the urgings of a hastily-formed association of independent FM radio operators, within days it had approved the issuing of 10 temporary FM licences for stations in Kashmir and the North-West Frontier Province. Seven of these stations are currently broadcasting, in addition to Radio Muzaffarabad. One of them is operated by the Mass Communication Department of the University of Punjab. Educational stations, or campus radios, hold nine of the 88 FM licences so far granted in Pakistan. Another indication of the value of radio came in a "snapshot survey" on information access conducted by the media training NGO Internews. This was carried out two weeks after the earthquake in six of the worst-hit towns. According to the survey, almost all the households that had possessed television sets had lost them in the quake. However, 24 per cent of radio sets had survived, and international donors pledged to provide radios as part of the relief effort. The survey also indicated a change in radio listening habits after the quake. Radio Pakistan had previously been the station of choice for the majority. But afterwards, equal numbers reported listening to Radio Pakistan and the BBC. No news However, most respondents also indicated that in the aftermath of the earthquake they were dependent on word of mouth for news and information. It is this information vacuum that the temporary FM stations are attempting to fill. Radios have pooled their resources to provide shared programming, especially on health education matters. But it is difficult to make a distinction between information and news. And in Pakistan, as in a number of neighbouring countries, the expansion of FM radio services has been accompanied by restrictions on their airing news and current affairs programmes. In both India and Pakistan, news bulletins on terrestrial transmissions, whether radio or TV, are still considered the prerogative of the state or national public broadcasters. Similar restrictions were imposed this year in Nepal after the declaration of a state of emergency. On 14 November Mast FM 103 in Karachi was raided and closed down after rebroadcasting BBC Urdu Service special programmes on the aftermath of the earthquake. Earlier this year Mast FM was obliged to stop carrying BBC news bulletins after the authorities took legal action against it. Religious incitement Not far away from the earthquake-affected area, a different type of FM broadcast is causing problems for the authorities. A report in Lahore's Daily Times on 8 December said that seminaries and other religious bodies were illegally running over 90 FM stations in various parts of the North-West Frontier Province. The report said that the broadcasts were using frequencies reserved for police and security agencies and operating with home-made transmitters with a range of up to 29 kilometres. It quoted local sources as saying that all the broadcasts were by groups from Sunni, not Shi'i, sects. The Daily Times quoted an assistant to a member of the National Assembly from the area as admitting that he was operating an FM transmitter. But, he added: "We broadcast Koranic translation and ulema's [cleric's] speeches. We do not use the transmission to promote religious hatred." A similar phenomenon in the Khyber area near the Afghan border was reported by the Dawn newspaper of Karachi on 10 December. It said that tribal elders had demanded the closing down all of all FM stations in their area and the expulsion of two religious leaders. The two were accused of fanning sectarian hatred in their broadcasts. The elders' statement warned of inter-tribal bloodshed if the broadcasts did not stop and criticized the area administration for failing to take any action against the illegal stations. Source: BBC Monitoring research 14 Dec 05 (via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7120, Wantok R. Light, Port Moresby, 1205-1301, Dec 07, poor at first but building and not much amateur activity this morning. Religious sermon until 1225, then into program of choral music with some upbeat pop sounding songs. Songs and announcements occasionally but voice level way down compared to music. Finally peaked 1241 when woman gave ID, program info ("Night Light Show"), time check, then back to music program (John C. Herkimer, Caledonia NY, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Hi Guys, Just to let you know I reckon I've found a new PNG station. Last night while starting my tuning session at 6 pm local or 0830 UT I started at 531 kHz as per usual and was about to quickly tune past the regular NBC 585 but I stopped because something wasn't right. There were two stations. NBC Port Moresby had music porgramming // 4890 but there was something in English underneath. I hung around thinking maybe the local ABC Radio 8GO in Gove was overloading the radio - but no. There were local news items in English which was heavily accented like a Pacific Island station. Over the next 30 minutes this station was actually equal to or even stronger than NBC Port Moresby. I'm yet to go through last nights recording to give more detail but basically on December 14 on 585 kHz from 0845 to 0915 UT I heard in Pidgin English Radio Sandaun with local news items mixing with NBC Port Moresby who were having a music show. At 0900 both stations had NBC News // 4890 with a slight half a second difference between the two. Once I realised the ID's for Radio Sandaun I checked 3205 and it was //. After news 585 had separate programs again. Both were heard through the next few hours. I last check Radio Sandaun around 1145 and it was there but gone (just like 3205) at 1208 UT so I presume it is 1200 sign off. I arrived in Nhulunbuy last week and stated listening from Sunday evening December 11. On December 11, 12 and 13 585 only had Port Moresby. I can't think why on earth PNG would commission two stations on 585? This is very weird and I'll monitor this over the next few nights. Cheers (Craig Edwards, Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia, Dec 15, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 4385.9, Radio Visión (ex Radio Imperio), Chiclayo, 0000+, December 08, Spanish, romantic songs, Complete ID by male as: "Desde la ciudad de Chiclayo, Ciudad de la Amistad, en los 1350 kilociclos, amplitud modulada, transmite Radio Visión", TC as: "las 7 con 0 minutos", announcement s: "te presentamos, con mucho cariño, lo mejor del cancionero andino". Thanks Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, for the tip in CondigList, 25442 (Arnaldo Slaen, DX Camp Chascomus, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5939.26, Radio Melodía, 1003-1025 Dec 15. Noted a number of different persons in comments during the listening period. At 1012, a canned ID heard, "...Radio Melodía...". Couldn't grasp the particulars. Signal was pretty good around 1020 to 1025 even with the splatter from nearby stations (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Heard in Indochina: 9620, PBS, Valenzuela, 2236-2240, Nov 15, Tagalog talk, 45343. (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) But I was unable to hear the two utility stations on 17260 and 17366 around 2300 as mentioned in DX-Window no. 284 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. RDPI, 15690, Thu Dec 15 at 1442-1446 with an interesting little segment, ``Consultório Lingüístico``, to help you speak and write better. This episode discussed the distinxion between ``rentável`` and ``rentível``. I expect Carlos Gonçalves would like this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. UPDATED B05 schedule of RADIO ROMANIA INTERNATIONAL, Bucharest (20. Nov. 2005 - 25. Mar. 2006) [UT] ARABIC 0730-0800 11710 11905 15280 15330 1500-1600 9655 15235 AROMANIAN 1600-1630 6175 1800-1830 7130 2000-2030 6035 CHINESE 0500-0530 15160 17870 1400-1430 9720 11755 ENGLISH 0100-0200 N.Am. 6150 9615 0400-0500 N.Am. 6115 9515 India 9690 11895 0630-0700 W.Eu. 7180 9690 Au. 15135 17780 1300-1400 W.Eu. 15105 17745 1800-1900 W.Eu. 7120 9640 2130-2200 W.Eu. 7145 9650 N.Am. 9755 11940 2300-2400 W.Eu. 9610 11730 FRENCH 0200-0300 Canada 6045 9615 0600-0630 Eu. 7170 9650 1100-1200 Eu. 15255 17845 Maghreb 15315 17790 1700-1800 Eu. 7135 9690 2100-2130 Eu. 7260 9715 GERMAN 0700-0730 7160 7275 9655 9690 1200-1300 7160 9610 9690 11940 1900-2000 6140 7140 ITALIAN 1630-1700 6175 1730-1800 6035 1930-2000 7260 ROMANIAN 0100-0200 N.Am. 6040 9690 0200-0300 N.Am. 6080 9640 Sun.0800-0900 15370 15430 17775 17810 Sun.0900-1000 15380 15430 17745 17775 Sun.1000-1100 15260 15380 17735 17825 1300-1400 Eu. 7120 15170 17825 1500-1600 Eu. 9595 11970 1700-1800 Israel 7195 9790 1800-1900 Eu. 7140 9625 1900-2000 Eu. 7125 9640 RUSSIAN 0530-0600 7210 9690 1430-1500 9720 11755 1600-1700 7195 9685 SERBIAN 1530-1600 7105 1730-1800 6035 1930-2000 7260 SPANISH 0000-0100 Argentina 9665 11960 Mexico 5960 9525 0300-0400 Argentina 5960 9635 Mexico 6080 9765 2000-2100 Spain 9620 11940 2200-2300 Argentina 9575 11940 UKRAINIAN 1500-1530 6145 1700-1730 6135 1900-1930 6135 (via Dragan Lekic, Serbia, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 5960, Radiostantsiya Tikhiy Okean, 0935-1000 Dec 15. Noted a woman in Russian comments until about 0942, when she is joined briefly with a man in Russian comments. Can't pull out the parallel on 7330 kHz if there is one? At 0945, music presented. Woman continues comments at 0949. Sounds like news again at 0950 with a man reporting. At 0953 woman broadcasts again and continues until sign off at 0959. When the station finally closes, an abundance of other stations fade in. Signal for RTO was very poor with Pacific type QRN (natural noise) layering the copy. There were short periods where the audio came in very well, but dropped back to poor. For me this is what I call true DX, now even more since Radiostantsiya Tikhiy Okean has shifted her frequency from 12065 to 5960 kHz (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, USA, NRD545, Wire Dipole - Home Brew, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 936 MW, Voice of Russia, via Lviv, Ukraine(?), 1800, Dec 11, Italian program announcing its new frequency on MW. The frequency, likely from a transmitter [sic]. We can report a quite good reception here in Florence notwithstanding interferences from Italian RAI Radio 1 on the same frequency (transmitters in Venice and Trapani). On SW the best frequency for the same programme is here 6000 (Luigi Cobisi and Paolo Morandotti, Italy, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** SAAR. Saarland considered as separate radio country: This also brings up the matter of ``East Germany`` and ``Berlin``... By the way, I understand that only the American, British and French sectors of Berlin were considered as this radio country per NASWA definition while the Soviet sector of Berlin was considered as belonging to ``East Germany``? Not exactly true, although it was obvious how the Soviet sector was treated more and more as regular part of the GDR over the time, reflected by the official phrase ``Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR`` (Berlin, capital of the GDR) shown on traffic signs etc. Interestingly at the same time ``Westberlin`` became ``Berlin (West)`` in official GDR speak. But to speak about Saarland: There are reports about a rather disappointing performance of new 1179. The modulation is described as rather muffled with poorly set-up dynamics compression, and reception becomes noisy just 30 km away from the transmitter, hardly adequate for 10 kW (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Sobre R. Eslovaquia, sigue sin director general. Noticia extraida de su página web: El director de Radio Nacional Eslovaca no resulta ser elegido en la votación de hoy Ni la votación de hoy ha permitido la elección del nuevo director de la Radio Nacional Eslovaca. Pese a que el Consejo de la Radio aprobó que se votará dos veces, ninguno de los dos candidatos, ni el ex director, Jaroslav Rezník, ni ¼uboš Machaj recibió los 10 votos necesarios. La Radio Nacional Eslovaca desde el 7 de octubre está dirigida por dos representantes estatutarios, la directora económica, Hilda Gajdošová, y el director de programación, Vladimír Puchala. Como resultado de la actual situación, el Consejo de la Radio deberá convocar una tercera elección. Se preve que ésta tenga lugar en el mes de enero (via José Miguel Romero2, Dec 14, DXLD) SLOVAK RADIO BROADCASTS ABROAD SHOULD BE FUNDED BY STATE, SAYS MINISTER | Excerpt from report by Slovak radio on 15 December [Passage omitted] After a news conference, journalists received only a written statement by the [Slovak Culture] Ministry about stopping Slovak Radio broadcasts abroad. [Passage omitted] [Reporter] [Passage omitted] The minister [Frantisek Toth] draws attention to the fact that he initiated at the Radio Council's session in July the drafting of legal analyses, which indicated - I quote: The state has duty to finance broadcasts abroad. [Passage omitted] Why has Slovak Radio decided to stop broadcasts abroad? [Slovak Radio official Hilda Gajdosova] [Passage omitted] We have welcomed the culture minister's initiative of having legal reports drafted, we have also welcomed talks with the Finance Ministry. [Passage omitted] If the state is interested in this programme service and if its financing from the state budget is ensured, we are ready to continue our broadcasts abroad - this is what I said at a session of the Radio Council. Otherwise, we have no other option than to stop this short- wave broadcasting, due to the lack of our own resources. [Passage omitted] Source: Radio Slovakia, Bratislava, in Slovak 1700 gmt 15 Dec 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Sudan Radio Service, via UK, 11705, Dec 15 at 1747 in vernacular, mentioning Sudan, with QRM from weaker station on slightly different frequency, presumably V. of People, Madagascar to Zimbabwe. Could not hear any noise jamming, but wonder if Zimbabwe really needs to do that with this kind of collision going on, virtually since the beginning of B-05. Strange that either of these transmitter sites would be off-frequency, or maybe that low het was actually caused by jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ZIMBABWE! ** TAIWAN. The Voice of Han, 9745, verified my receptionreport 7 weeks after a follow up with a full data QSL card and a program schedule (Max Van Arnhem, Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. At 1750 UT Dec 15, on 11850 a station in English quoting the South China Morning Post. Could not hang around for more clues, so looked it up later in EiBi and found that it`s RTI via France to South Africa: 11850 1700-1800 TWN Radio Taiwan Int. E SAf /F (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Heard in Indochina: Despite several attempts, the following former Thai domestic SW-station could not be heard in Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia: 6070 R Thailand, Pathumthani. It is definitely off the air (Anker Petersen) On MW the following 24 hour frequencies were heard in Bangkok at 1935- 1955 (after local midnight) on Nov 13: Bangkok stations strong on 540, 594, 657, 675, 747, 792, 963, 999, 1053, 1179, 1305, 1350 and 1422 kHz. Other Thailand stations heard weak on 1089, 1107, 1269 and 1503 kHz. On FM I counted 84 stations in Bangkok at 0440 (local noon) and about 50 stations at 2000 (0300 local time). (Anker Petersen, Thailand) Back in Bangkok on Nov 25, I heard the following Thailand MW frequencies at 1350-1415 (2050-2115 local): 540, 576, 594, 630, 657, 675, 747, 792, 819, 873, 891, 945, 963, 999, 1053, 1089, 1107, 1179, 1233, 1242, 1269, 1305, 1350, 1422, 1494 and 1503 kHz (Anker Petersen, Thailand, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. UNMEE broadcasts via Dhabbaya (250 kW , 255 degrees, heard Sun Dec 11 0905-1000* on 17670 in Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya and 0945 English, but the broadcast Tue Dec 13 [1030-1130 on 17565] was inaudible! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) Also filed previously under ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons] ** U K. AN ESTIMATED 280 BBC STAFF FACE COMPULSORY REDUNDANCY The impact on individuals of the BBC's plans to cut 6,000 jobs and save £355m a year has become clearer today, following Director General Mark Thompson's monthly e-mail to staff. Thompson revealed that 88% of the job cuts can be achieved by voluntary departures, but the other 12% will have to be compulsory redundancies. Calculations taking into account factors such as outsourcing and natural wastage produce a figure of 280 individuals who will come into this category. Mr Thompson put a positive spin on the figure, saying that "the actual number of compulsory redundancies will be far lower than many people feared, given the scale of the changes we have to make." But the National Union of Journalists was not impressed, and says it will oppose all compulsory redundancies. The NUJ made clear that the threat of industrial action remains. Any decision on such action will be made after union leaders meet in January, so the Christmas and New Year programmes are safe, but there will be a distinct lack of seasonal cheer behind the scenes. # posted by Andy @ 10:16 UT Dec 15 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. A tabloid newspaper for the broadcast industry to which I subscribe had an article about the HF shore station KPH that used handle maritime traffic via Morse CW prior to the move to satellite communications. A group of the former operators and engineers are restoring the station that was abandoned when it ceased operations. They are putting it back on the air periodically and even on a limited schedule as frequency sharing allows. I suspect this would be a nice one to confirm and QSL. For those of us who cut our "radio teeth" on HF CW communications (and still can copy at a respectable speed) this is preserving a bit of heritage that is dying all too fast (Paul Dobosz, Mare Tipsheet via DXLD) Viz.: THE WIRELESS GIANT OF THE PACIFIC: 'NIGHT OF NIGHTS' MORSE BROADCAST MARKS 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF KPH; by James Careless [illustrated] http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/06_rwf_KPH.shtml A century of radio history was marked on July 12, 2005, when ex-RCA coast station KPH returned to the airwaves 100 years after first transmitting Morse Code traffic from San Francisco. In its heyday, the ex-RCA station was part of a global network that relayed CW (Continuous Wave) messages between ships and shore, providing a reliable, vital marine communications system for all concerned. Shut down and left to the elements with the cessation of commercial U.S. Morse traffic, KPH has been since been restored by the volunteer- run Maritime Radio Historical Society and the National Parks Service. Since 2000, the MRHS has staged annual "Night of Nights" Morse Code broadcasts to revive the romance of Morse on America's airwaves. "After this year's broadcast, we were deluged by letters from people from around the world, who had been waiting with their earphones for KPH to return to the air," says MRHS secretary and chief CW operator Richard Dillman. "Many wrote and said they used to listen to KPH's ship-to-shore traffic for years, and never ever expected to hear it again after the 1999 closing. "Hearing KPH alive again means a lot to these folks." A century of service Seven years before RCA founder and then-CW keyman David Sarnoff tuned into the Titanic's Morse Code distress calls, KPH began Morse Code service from San Francisco's Palace Hotel (hence the PH in its name). Displaced by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, KPH's operations center moved to a number of locations until settling into Point Reyes in 1946. Today, the site is part of the National Parks Service's Point Reyes National Seashore. Meanwhile, KPH's transmitter and antenna site remains at Bolinas, Calif., where it has been since the early 1920s. It is located at the old American Marconi Company facility for trans-Pacific point-to- point communications, which was established in 1913. From 1905 to 1999, KPH was known as "the wireless giant of the Pacific." Twenty- four hours a day, 365 days a year, CW operators manned their keys, sending out commercial messages from shore and receiving replies, status reports and distress calls from sea. Officially, KPH's radio turf was the Pacific Ocean. However, when shortwave propagation conditions cooperated, "its signals could be heard around the world," says Dillman. During its history, the wireless operators at KPH saved countless lives as they heard and responded to ships' SOS calls. Their "Den of Thieves," as the operators within the crowded KPH operator room were known, were the best; "able to copy the worst fists" - incompetent CW operators - "and the highest speeds on the air," states the historial society's site http://www.radiomarine.org When U.S. commercial Morse signed off on July 12, 1999, it was a sad day for the station's crew and fans, among them Dillman and MRHS President Tom Horsfall, who were in the room when the final Morse message was sent from Half Moon Bay. Two years before, KPH's Point Reyes center had been shut down. As a tribute to the operators' decades of careful listening, KPH Station Manager Jack Martini didn't turn off the room's radio receivers. Instead, he left them running, maintaining a silent vigil over the Pacific's airwaves. Reborn A few years after KPH had been taken out of service, Horsfall and Dillman returned to the station. Having successfully restored a 4U Radiomarine console from the World War II Victory ship Rider Victory/ KQTK, the men were eager to keep KPH from decaying into history. "We managed to talk our way past a security guard, and get into the Ope- rators' Room," Dillman recalls. "As we approached it, we could hear the radio receivers through the door. They were still on, just as Jack Martini had left them. Meanwhile, the room itself was a time capsule: It was intact, just as if it had been abandoned only five minutes earlier." Steve Hawes checks the frequency of an exciter for a PW-15 transmitter. The same could not been said for KPH's transmitter hall. "Moisture and salt from sea air had gotten in through the vents, and windows that were no longer sealed," says Horsfall. "Many of the 1950s' vintage RCA transmitters were damp inside from condensation." Despite these obstacles, the MRHS decided to tackle KPH's restoration. With the active support of the National Parks Service, Horsfall, Dillman, broadcast engineer Steve Hawes and former KPH operator Denice Stoops (KPH's first female operator), they cleaned and weatherproofed the transmitter hall, then started restoring the station's equipment. "Wherever possible, we used original parts to do the repairs," Horsfall says. "Fortunately, KPH's engineers kept a big inventory of replacement parts in stock." Repairs were also made to the station's extensive antenna farm; a task that required much restringing of wires. The big night and beyond KPH's return to the airwaves on July 12, 2005 was a triumph for the MHRS on many levels. Not only did a big crowd turn out for the event - "the largest we've ever seen for the Night of Nights", Horsfall says - but the station received lots of CW responses from ships and other shore stations. "One of the ships who contacted us in Morse wanted to know if we were available to actually relay messages, just like the old days," Dillman says. "Meanwhile, Coast Guard communications station NOJ in Kodiak, Alaska, replied to us in flawless Morse, even though the Coast Guard stopped using it in 1993!" Also on air for the Night of Nights were WLO, Mobile, Ala., and KLB Seattle, plus the Coast Guard station NMC which is co-located with KPH. In addition to bringing KPH back to life, the MRHS launched KSM, the first commercial CW station to be licensed by the FCC in decades. "KSM's purpose is to keep commercial Morse traffic alive in the U.S.," says Horsfall. Although KPH's owners Globe Wireless have been very supportive of our efforts, they are increasingly using KPH's channels for data communications. This is why KSM needs to exist, to ensure that channels are always available for CW traffic." Co-located with KPH, KSM is licensed to operate on 426, 500, 6474 and 12993 kHz. For actual on-air times, check http://www.radiomarine.org "Ultimately, we want to keep CW alive as a form of wireless communications," says Dillman. "After all, it is very bandwidth and time-efficient, and able to cut through atmospheric conditions that foil voice and modern data communications. We also think that it just makes sense to have radio communications that still uses actual human operators. For this reason alone, Morse deserves to be preserved." James Careless is a frequent RW contributor. He wrote in the Nov. 9 issue about the MusicToGo service. [As of 11-Dec, no indication on this site as to when the next broadcast might be. Check the section titled "Night of Nights VI" for a list of frequencies and addresses of participating stations.] (via MARE Tipsheet Dec 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. duPont-Columbia Broadcast News Award Winners Announced Radio winners of the 2006 ALFRED I. DUPONT-COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Awards include NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC RADIO's WUNC/CHAPEL HILL for "NORTH CAROLINA Voices: Understanding Poverty," PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL, WGBH/BOSTON, and the BBC WORLD SERVICE for "The World: The Global Race for Stem Cell Therapies," and NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO and THE KITCHEN SISTERS for "Hidden Kitchens." The awards will be presented at an awards ceremony on JANUARY 18 with CBS' BOB SCHIEFFER hosting (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. GREATER MEDIA NEGOTIATING TO BUY WCRB/BOSTON The winner in the bidding to buy CHARLES RIVER BROADCASTING Classical WCRB/BOSTON is GREATER MEDIA, which will enter a period of exclusive negotiations with a target date of FEBRUARY 1 for a definitive agreement. GREATER MEDIA Pres./CEO PETER SMYTH says that "this acquisition would give GREATER MEDIA`s BOSTON cluster a significant signal upgrade, which will be critical as we expand our investment in HD and multicasting. We are grateful for this opportunity." The company presently owns Talk WTKK (96.9 FM TALK), AC WMJX, Classic Hits WROR, Adult Alternative WBOS, and Country WKLB in the market. CHARLES RIVER Chairman MARY MARSHALL added that her company "is delighted at the prospect of entering into an agreement with GREATER MEDIA, a BOSTON-based company. We are confident that their respect for listeners, strong BOSTON ties and excellent management team would ensure a smooth and successful transition." (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Someone forwarded this piece by a former Fox News Channel Employee that I thought was compelling enough that those who enjoy the exchanges here at "Soundoff" would find interesting (Tom Bryant / Nashville, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) Viz.: ----------------------------- Re "The War on Christmas" Date/Time: 12/14/2005 11:42:04 AM From CHARLIE REINA, former Fox News Channel producer: As with many conflicts, particularly the manufactured kind, dishonesty, greed and ignorance are the culprits behind Fox News Channel's so-called "War on Christmas." But their enabler, as Dr. Phil might call it, is that well-intended but wholly misguided scourge of society -- political correctness. Rather than promoting tolerance, inclusion and understanding, as advertised, p/c has had the opposite effect. It has made us not a freer society, but one of timid, tongue- tied slaves to convention who substitute glib code words for the more difficult task of actually treating each other with respect. It's the kind of shortcut that sooner or later circles back to bite you. But first let's look at what political correctness is, and is not, in this context. Wishing your customers or co-workers, "Happy holidays," isn't p/c; it's common sense. Try saying, "Merry Christmas, happy Hannukah, a joyous Kwanzaa and a prosperous New Year" every time you leave the office, and before long they won't let you back in. But taking something that's recognized everywhere - by people of all religious beliefs -- as a Christmas tree and renaming it a 'holiday tree' is political correctness, pure and simple. It adds nothing, reaches out to no one. It's as offensive as it would be to call a Menorah a 'festive candelabra,' or Santa Claus 'Jolly old Good-guy Nick.' Granted, as a cause for war, this holiday p/c is no Pearl Harbor. But in its own naïve way, it provides the warmongers with just the ammunition they want. It's no surprise, of course, that this phony call to arms, this "Christmas (ergo, Christians) Under Attack" hysteria, emanates from the bowels of Fox News Channel. The network is, after all, ground zero in the culture wars that polarize so much of America these days. Make no mistake about it: Fox is on a mission. Its slogans say, "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide." But in the six years that I worked there, what I heard most from Fox management were mission statements - about turning things around, taking news back from the liberals, and giving 'middle America' a voice long denied it by the 'east coast media elite.' In other words, using its news report to bring about change -- in the media and, ultimately, in the direction of American culture. As FNC's man at the top, Roger Ailes, knows well from his years as a political operative, there is no more effective wartime strategy than to divide and conquer. That's why so much of his network's programming is confrontational. The 'us against them' gambit animates not only FNC's night-time entertainment shows, like "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity & Colmes," but the network's daytime "news" report, where anchors regularly browbeat guests who are on the wrong (Democrat or liberal) side of issues. But what really separates Fox from the competition is its unabashed use of religion as a divisive weapon. Common sense -- and common courtesy -- have long dictated that personal religious beliefs be kept out of news reporting unless the story at hand involves religion. But on Fox, it's not uncommon for an anchor to raise the issue of a guest's religion, or lack thereof, a propos of nothing. The most glaring example I can recall is a 2002 interview with a guest who had been cited for his charitable acts. At the end of the discussion the anchor said (paraphrasing here), 'so I understand you're an atheist.?' The guest acknowledged that this was so. "Well," said he anchor, "we're out of time now, but I'd be glad to debate you anytime on the existence of God," and, with that, ended the segment. This past July, during FNC's hurricane coverage, another anchor asked a guest: "Do you think God was looking over the people of the Gulf Coast," by sparing them from a new storm on the heels of Hurricane Ivan? A loaded question if there ever was one. Not only does it presume that the guest believes in God (which, anyone at Fox will hasten to tell you, 95% of Americans do); it puts anyone who might answer, "No," for whatever reason (including, simply, a deference to hurricane science) on the spot. Now that guest has to decide: Do I answer honestly and be seen on national television as a heathen, or do I take the easy way out and just say, "Yes"? Not much of a choice, as any fair and balanced newscaster should realize. Fox anchors will tell you that no one in management dictates that they bring up religion. But my experience at FNC is that, once management makes its views known, the anchors have a clear blueprint of what's expected of them. In this case, the point man is network vice president John Moody. A scholar and biographer of Pope John Paul II, John is a devout Catholic who seldom holds back on matters of the church, or in framing his views in "good guy, bad guy" terms. For example, during the 2001 Senate hearings on John Ashcroft's appointment as Attorney General, Moody's daily memos to the staff repeatedly touted Ashcroft as "deeply religious" and the victim of Democrats' intolerance. One memo suggested a question of the day: "Can a man of deep Christian faith be appointed to a federal job, or will his views be equated with racism, intolerance and mean-spiritedness?" He added: "(K)eep pounding at the question: should Ashcroft's detractors try to be as tolerant as they would have him be?" Then there's Fox management's view on the separation of church and state, and on those who support it. One not-so-subtle hint came in March, 2004, after a Baghdad bombing gave reporters at a hotel in the Iraqi capital a scare. Moody's memo that day advised FNC staffers to "offer a prayer of thanks for their safety to whatever God you revere (and let the ACLU stick it where the sun don't shine)." So, again, it's no wonder this "War on Christmas" (now in its second successful year) is a production of Fox News Channel -- the very network that has made accusation, recrimination and confrontation the gold standards of cable "news," and whose personalities have fashioned a self-serving "war" out of whole cloth, thanks to a scattered handful of p/c dupes and a shameless management willing to use even Christmas for its own political ends (via Tom Bryant, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3944.8, Radio Vanuatu (presumed), Port Vila, 0750+, December 08, Vernacular, Report, interview by female to a male, local song, 25442 (Arnaldo Slaen, DX Camp Chascomus, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** VANUATU. About 10 years ago I waited for Christmas eve here in Sri Lanka for their extended coverage and heard them having special services for Christmas going to 1330 and I bagged them, thru some QRM from NSB to get a QSL letter. That is one of my best Pacific QSLs. (Victor Goonetilleke in Dxplorer, Dec 07, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) So give it a try on Dec 24! (DSWCI Ed, ibid.) Must be referring to 3945v (gh) ** VIETNAM. Heard in Indochina: 5925, Voice of Vietnam 2, Xuan Mai, 1450-1508, Nov 15, French language lessons, also heard in Vietnamese at 2048, 0015 and 0905, 34443 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 5975, Voice of Vietnam 1, Son Tai, *2200-0015, 0906-0935 and 1508- 1605, Nov 14, 15, 18, 19 and 20, Vietnamese announcements, music, 34443 heard // 7210 and 9530 (Anker Petersen, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) 6020, Voice of Vietnam 4, Son Tai, *2158-0015, 0930 and 1510, Nov 15, 18 and 20, Rade/Sedane ID after National anthem, 34443 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam and Cambodia) 6165, Voice of Vietnam, Xuan Mai, *2200-2312, Nov 14, 15 and 16, H'Mong talk, orchestra music, 34444 QRM CNR 6. (5035 was not heard!) (Anker Petersen, Laos and Vietnam) 7210, Voice of Vietnam 1, Son Tai, 0020, 0907 and 1543, Nov 15 and 18, Vietnamese, 34443 // 5975 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 7220, Voice of Vietnam 6, Hanoi, 2308, Nov 14, Khmer (tentative) talk, 33333. (Anker Petersen, Laos) However, not heard 2143-0022, Nov 15, 17 and 18 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 9530, Voice of Vietnam 1, Son Tai, 2220, 0907 and 1500-1600, Nov 13, 15, 17, 18 and 19, Vietnamese programs, 35333 heard // 5975 and 7210 (Anker Petersen, Thailand and Vietnam) 9550, Voice of Vietnam 1, Son Tai, 2221-0021 and 1540-1550*, Nov 17, 18 and 19, Vietnamese programs, *1600 FS in English, 25333 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) 9875, Voice of Vietnam 2, Son Tai, 2205-2210, Nov 15, Vietnamese announcement // HS-1 5975, 44444. Also heard 0905, Nov 18 // 5925 (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) Despite several attempts, the following present or former Vietnamese stations could not be heard in Central and Southern Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia or Thailand: 4739.8 Son La, 4930 Yen Bai, 5035 Hanoi, 5597 Lao Cai, 5733.8 Yen Bai, 6347 Yen Bai, 6442 Dien Bien Phu (After my tour I learned that it had moved to 6317 which was not checked!), 6495 Cao Bang, 6664 Lao Cai, 7120 Hanoi, 7145 Son Tai and 7156 Ha Giang. All except Son La and Dien Bien Phu are probably off the air (Anker Petersen) In Hué nine stations were heard on FM at 2330. In Qui Nhon on the East Coast all MW and FM stations had signed off when checking them at 2105 (0405 local time) (Anker Petersen, Vietnam) In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at 2239-2311 on Nov 19 (around 0554 local) I could hear these local Voice of Vietnam (VOV) stations on MW: 558 kHz VOV-2, 610 VOV-H, 657 VOV-1, 711 VOV-2 (Can Tho) // 558, 747 VOV-4 and 873 VOV-2 (Can Tho) // 558 kHz. But all had closed down when checked at 1600 (2300 local) on Nov 18 (Anker Petersen) In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at 2220-2235 on Nov 19 (around 0530 local) I could hear no less than 15 FM-stations in this pulsating city: 90.7 (weak) // 92.5, 91.0 // 102.4, 92.5 (strong), 93.5, 94.4 // 93.5, 95.0, 96.5, 97.5, 101.0, 101.8 (distorted) // 97.5, 102.4 // 91.0, 102.5, 102.7, 104.5 and 105.9 (distorted) MHz. But at around 1600 (2300 local), Nov 18, I noticed only these stations on FM: 92.5 (-1610*), 99.9 // 100.4, 104.5, 105.7 Voice of Vietnam FS in English heard // 9550 SW (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 14 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. 'NOTORIOUS' CIO RAID VOP RADIO STATION OFFICES Thursday, December 15 2005 04:10 PM GMT Contributed by: correspondent http://zimdaily.com/news2/article.php/20051215161054625 Central Intelligence Organisation operatives today raided the Harare offices of Voice of the People (VoP) --- an independent radio station that broadcasts to Zimbabwe via the Radio Netherlands Madagascar relay --- and frisked the offices before confiscated tapes and files. Reporters at the radio station who spoke on condition of anonymity said five CIO officers came to the station in the afternoon and asked for John Masuku, the station manager who was out on business at the time. The officers then produced a search warrant which, according to the reporters, stated that the CIO had reason to believe that Masuku was in possession of subversive material. The warrant was to search the VoP offices. The officers proceeded to search the three offices and studio and took away some documents and tapes. They also recorded the details of the station's seven employees. The reporter said that the officers questioned him in a ``harsh manner.`` At the time of writing, the officers were still at the offices where they were said to be looking for the station`s transmitter. The reporter said he was questioned on the activities of VoP. This is not the first time that government has cracked down on the station. In 2002, the radio station`s studio was bombed, completely destroying its production facilities. The independent radio station broadcasts into Zimbabwe on shortwave. Since its inception six years ago, it has been a thorn in the side of the Mugabe government which has consistently refused to allow opposition views to be expressed on the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Faced with the overwhelming ZBC bias towards Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party prior to the general election in 2000, former employees of the ZBC got together to create Voice of the People, with funding from the Soros Foundation and a Dutch non-government funding organisation. They decided to hire airtime outside the country, and chose a 50 kW transmitter at the Radio Netherlands' Madagascar relay station since this provided blanket coverage of Zimbabwe. Media watchdog Media Institute of Southern Africa condemned the raid on the radio station. ``This development is sad and unprecedented,`` Misa Zimbabwe director Rashweat Mukundu said. Government describes VOP as a "pirate radio station", which "churns out anti-Zimbabwe propaganda from Europe." The government is quoted as describing VOP as "nothing short of a criminal and terrorist group." The Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President, Ambassador Tichaona Jokonya recently said he was piqued by independent radio stations and journalists and said he would deal with them. Government is on record saying the setting up of the Voice of the People was an example of European interference in Zimbabwe's affairs (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Thu Dec 15 at 1452 I found a strong and steady open carrier on 15435. I figured it was BSKSA tuning up for the 1500 start of the Holy Qur`an Service. But at 1458 the OC continued, and a het about 0.2 kHz high came on which was obviously the HQS. This situation continued past 1600, by when the Sa`udi signal had faded down greatly in comparison. Rechecked at 1724 the OC was still on, but it went off at 1728* What could this be? One theory was Sackville, replacing the CRI relay on 15230 which was missing before 15230; see CHINA [non]. But there were no clues, like a split second of RCI IS, that 15435 was Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ YOU CAN`T CALL YOURSELF SHORTWAVE-ANYTHING!! Just thought you might like to see the official announcement of the outcome of the court case. "By an Order made in the High Court on Monday, December 12, 2005, Short Wave Magazine Limited (now Nice One Publishing Limited) and Kevin Nice are prohibited from trading under names including Short Wave, Short Wave Magazine, shortwavemagazine, The Real Short Wave Magazine, SWM or any name confusingly similar thereto and from using logos belonging to PW Publishing Limited or any logos confusingly similar thereto. They must also assign to PW Publishing Limited the SWM_Readers newsgroup, the domain name shortwavemagazine.co.uk and various trade mark applications. Although PW Publishing Limited has now combined Short Wave Magazine with another of its titles, Radio Active, to be published under the name Radio User, it retains all rights to the name Short Wave Magazine." Regards (Roger Hall, 12.15.05 - 12:06 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING see also CROATIA; GERMANY; ITALY ++++++++++++++++++++ HD RADIO FOR SALE AT J&R HD Radio on the market. I've been watching the press for the first signs of a HD radio available for sale to "anyone" (not just broadcasters and media people who have some kind of 'inside track' on availability) and it seems that Boston Acoustics has the fastest horse out of the gate. In today's (Thu 15 Dec) New York Times on page C10 is a full page ad by J&R Music World. Their Portable Audio listings, of which there are 9 items, includes the BA HD offering, along with CD, MP3, Ipod products, and also a Grundig 6400A all-band portable $99 receiver. The BA ad says "Boston Acoustics Receptor Radio (r) HD stereo Digital HD AM/FM Radio. HD Tuner. Multi-line Display. Input for Ipod and other sources. Bass-Trac circuitry. 20 AM-FM presets. 2 alarms." - Just Arrived. Free ground shipping on this item. $499.00. Item BA RADIOHD- PL. The device is a rectangular box, appears roughly 6 x 12 inches front x maybe 8 inches deep (but hard to visually scale it). There is a circular speaker grille on the left and a rectangular display window on the right with 2 rotary knobs and an aux device that appears to be a remote control. It actually is my kind of device - simple, functional, no-nonsense styling. Just is not quite my kind of pricing. I think a buck-and-a- half would get my attention. But, to answer "where are the receivers", let the games begin. J&R is at 800-221- 8180, 212-238-9000, http://www.jr.com (Bob Foxworth, FL, Dec 15, IRCA via DXLD) We have had the RRHD receivers on order from Boston Acc. since JULY 05 ! They "may" ship by the end of the year. Don`t hold your breath (Lee Freshwater, Broadcasters General Store, Ocala, FL http://www.bgs.cc ibid.) For those who are well heeled, HD Radio is here! http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4038338 It`s here and it`s only $499 (Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ REMEMBERING A FORGOTTEN RADIO PIONEER: MARSHFIELD TO MARK ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC BROADCAST By Shamus McGillicuddy, The Patriot Ledger, Boston, December 10, 2005 http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2005/12/10/news/news05.txt He is the forgotten pioneer. Yet anyone who has ever tuned a radio dial has experienced Reginald Aubrey Fessenden's legacy. A Canadian- born scientist and inventor, Fessenden is said to be the first man to make a radio broadcast. And he made that broadcast from Marshfield. ''People first envisioned radio as a way of communicating, - point to point communications,'' said Edward Perry, owner of Marshfield radio station WATD. ''What Fessenden did was he demonstrated that you could entertain people with it.'' ''He's a forgotten hero,'' said Dave Riley of Marshfield, a ham - or amateur - radio enthusiast. ''He gave us most of what we have today (in radio).'' Next month begins the 100th anniversary of one of the most important years in radio and communications history. Fessenden's legacy in Marshfield began in 1905 when he and his associates came to Brant Rock and built a 400-foot radio tower in what is today the Blackman's Point trailer park and campground. He arranged the construction of a second tower in Macrihanish, Scotland. The towers were completed within a few months, and on Jan. 2, 1906, Fessenden recorded his first historic moment. He made the first two- way radio communication across the Atlantic Ocean by transmitting Morse code signals between Marshfield and Scotland, and by the end of that year, used radio waves to broadcast music. Now, 100 years later, people in Marshfield are preparing to celebrate the anniversary of Fessenden's pioneering year of radio in Marshfield. Riley and several other locals have restored the masonry base of Fessenden's radio tower, which was torn down in 1912. They have a dedication planned at the tower's base in Blackman's Point at 1 p.m. on Saturday. And on Jan. 2, Riley and hundreds of other ham radio operators across the world will transmit Morse code signals to each other to mark the anniversary of the first two-way transatlantic communication. Specifically, he will send a message to radio enthusiasts gathered in Macrihanish. Others in town are talking about a summer celebration to mark the year. Perry and Robert Demers of the Marshfield Historical Society said the town will form a committee to plan an event. Until that two-way radio transmission on Jan. 2, the signals had been sent only one-way by Guglielmo Marconi. Fessenden continued to experiment with radio throughout the year. In November, while sending Morse code signals to Scotland, he accidentally transmitted his voice as well, becoming the first person to transmit voice across the Atlantic. But late in 1906 a storm destroyed the tower in Scotland. Riley said this dashed the hopes of Fessenden's fledgling company, the National Electric Signaling Company, which intended to sell his technology based on demonstrations of the two-way communication. Then Fessenden decided to try something else. U.S. Navy vessels and ships of the United Fruit Company had been equipped with radio equipment Fessenden had built. The equipment had been used only for point-to-point Morse code communications. The day before Christmas Eve 1906, Fessenden sent a message to those ships, telling them to listen for a message on Christmas Eve. They were surprised when they heard Fessenden's voice. ''All the shipboard operators were astonished when they heard this coming over their radio instead of the beep beep beep (of Morse code),'' Perry said. Fessenden began his legendary broadcast with a brief introduction about what he planned to do. Then he played a phonograph record of George Frideric Handel's ''Largo.'' He followed that with his own violin solo, playing ''O Holy Night.'' He read some passages from the Bible, wished his listeners a merry Christmas and signed off for the evening. Ships reported hearing him up and down the Atlantic coast, as far south as the Caribbean. Perry said Fessenden's broadcast was historic. ''We think it was Fessenden that laid the groundwork for radio to become a broadcast medium rather than point-to-point communication. We see him as the founder of entertainment radio communications.'' Perry said it took another 15 years for the radio entertainment industry to get going with the country's first commercial radio station, KDK[A] in Pittsburgh. ''But Fessenden was at the beginning of this thing,'' Perry said. Unfortunately, Fessenden's Pittsburgh-based investors were not interested in transmitting voices and music. As the radio entertainment industry exploded in the 1920s, Fessenden's legacy was forgotten. It wasn't until 1928 that he won $500,000 in a lawsuit over some of the patents he had lost to his investors. Riley said he wants to mark the centennial because he hopes Fessenden's inventiveness will inspire other aspiring technological pioneers in the area. He also wants Fessenden to get the credit he is due. Many historians remember Marconi as the father of radio. ''He never really got the credit I think he deserves,'' Demers agreed. (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL in the Philippines (Sponsouring Computers etc. to local PHL school) to "put the shoe into the open door" Ulrich Bihlmayer DJ9KR writes: Dear Arasu, the US-American firm "Nextream", together with a local provider, wants to transmit TV, Internet and VoIP over powerlines (Broadband via Powerlines). This would be in a part of the Philippines. To introduce ("to put the shoe into the open door...") a local PHL school were donated computers, video equipment, a language lab, software for Chemistry and LEGO plastic stones. Here is the news in details. Source: IARU EMC Reflektor, SUN STAR News ******************************************************************+ Sent: Thursday, 15 December 2005 03:41 Ref.: BPL on Philippines (donation to school) FIRM OFFERS CABLE TV CONNECTION VIA POWER LINES Saturday, November 12, 2005, By Joel E. Capundan ROXAS CITY -- For the first time in the country and probably in Asia, the Capiz Electric Company (Capelco) would provide cable TV, telephone, and Internet connection through its power lines to far- flung barangays in Capiz. This was bared by Retired General Pedro G. Dumol, chairman of Nextream Broadband Philippines Inc., and a native of Pontevedra, Capiz. The new communication and information technology would soon be available after Capelco inks its joint venture with Nextream, a foreign firm that provides new technology called Broadband Power Lines or PBL. The launching of this product was held on November 7 at the La Hacienda Hotel here. Dumol said that two officials of Nextream are from Capiz and Iloilo. They are Ty Javillana, Chief Executive Officer, a native of Iloilo and Ronald Fesallon, chief technical officer from Romblon whose wife is from Cogon, Panay. Provision According to Fesallon the venture would provide broadband Internet, voice, and video services via power lines where radio energy passes through power lines. These would be distributed into homes through a devise in the plugs a normal wall outlet and typically provides an Ethernet connection to a computer or home network. Mixed Feelings Governor Vicente Bermejo said that he has mixed feelings about this opportunity for the Province of Capiz. "We have to exercise diligence in managing this venture with foresight and without losing our sight from our real mandate. Senator Mar Roxas pointed this out and I wish to reiterate this concern once again", said Bermejo. Primary Function Earlier, Roxas was worried that because the technology proposed would use the same facilities used by Capelco in delivering electricity, all their officials must exercise greater diligence in evaluating the said business opportunity and always weigh benefits relative to the stability of its primary function, which is to provide electricity at affordable prices to all Capicenos. "There is a need to slowly evaluate this contract because any mistake will ultimately be shouldered by the consumers of Capelco," Roxas said. Background Check Capelco for instance, must seriously look into the background, experience and capability of the Florida-USA based Nextream to deliver the said service. Assuming Capelco that his office would always be ready to assist in this engagement, Roxas also urged the electric cooperative to "negotiate hard for a good deal and not just grant long-term exclusive rights to the foreign proponent in exchange for an unspecified investment promise." Also, if possible, the Senator said, public consultation with cooperative consumers should be held to increase broader awareness and gain public support. Guests During the launching, 10 units of computer, video equipment, language lab, chemistry software, and Lego building kits and software for their science lab were turned over to the Capiz National High School and received by its principal Narcisa Artates. The launching was attended by City Councilor Pepe Del Rosario, representing Mayor Antonio Del Rosario, Engineer Edgar Diaz, lawyer Lolita Quisumbing, vice president of Capelco, Jelly Farrinas, President of Capelco Board of Directors; some local officials and several others. (November 12, 2005 issue) Sun.Star message board ********************************************************************** Hi Arasu, could you contact the relevant members of the Philippine Amateur Radio Society to make them aware of the threat to amateur radio. Tnx! Fraternally yours in the Intruder Watch Business, Ulrich (Uli) Bihlmayer DJ9KR, Coordinator of DARC Monitoring System Intruder Watch (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ###