DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-005, January 6, 2006 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 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid5.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1300: Sun 0330v on WWCR 5070 Full schedule, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WOR 1300 summary: http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1300.html [later] WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml ** AFRICA. Saludos cordiales, nueva actualización del Africalist, para mas información: Welcome to Africalist 22 december 2005 http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist/ http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist/africalist.pdf (José Miguel Romero, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. The exact mailing address is: Public Radio of Armenia, (English, German, French...) Service, 5 Alex Manoogian St., 375025 Yerevan, Armenia. A small correction to the address given in WRTH and Passport (PRA via Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 5 via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. He venido experimentando una disminución en la potencia de ZNS 1540, casi a menos de la mitad de su fuerza con la que antes llegaban. Su escogencia musical ha venido igualmente a menos desde el buen Smooth Soul que antes ofrecían a canciones pop más convencionales (Raúl Saavedra, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, Jan 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BELARUS [non]. POLISH MINISTRY SAYS RADIO FOR BELARUS WILL START IN TWO MONTHS | Text of report in English by Polish news agency PAP Warsaw, 5 January: In the next two months, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to open a radio station broadcasting to Belarus, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Fotyga told the Senate on Thursday [5 January]. Fotyga said the programmes will be broadcast in Belarusian and Polish by an independent radio station financed from NGO and government funds, and mainly addressed to Belarus' Polish minority. She declined to name further details. In August, then Prime Minister Marek Belka granted 950,000 zlotys [about 302,000 dollars, or 172,000 pounds] to NGOs involved in the project. Source: PAP news agency, Warsaw, in English 1557 gmt 5 Jan 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** CANADA. CBC weekend highlights From the CBC Hotsheets: SATURDAY 3. STEVE THE SECOND: (Successor to O'Reilly on Advertising) Tune in to CBC Radio One this Saturday for Steve the Second, a rip- roaring, blast in your face, up your nose, heavily dramatic, totally extreme, hip & young, post-apocalyptic comedy that is 100% Zombie free. Twenty-five years after Steve, The First, dark times have returned to the city of Orontonto. Colleen sends a young warrior named Sophie to Old New Liskeard in search of the son of Steve, while the army of Phil Green, Jr. attempts to capture the city. That's Steve the Second, Saturday morning at 11:30 (noon NT) on CBC Radio One. SUNDAY 1. THE SUNDAY EDITION: Michael Enright once watched Ariel Sharon striding along a corridor in the Knesset in Jerusalem, surrounded by several young men wearing earpieces, sunglasses and bulging suit jackets. Striding is the wrong word. Pounding is more accurate. This week on The Sunday Edition, a look at the man who managed to contain all the varying strands of Israeli politics --- fighter, negotiator, visionary, nationalist, political sophisticate, hard-working farmer, seeker of peace, hard-nosed adversary of terrorism. That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. [et al.] 4. THE INSIDE TRACK: ***pls note early start*** 20th Anniversary Special. Host Robin Brown takes the show on the road to Stephenville, Newfoundland, joining her colleagues from Hockey Day in Canada for an island celebration. The show will feature stories and voices from two decades of sports coverage. There will be updates on many of the stories from the past 20 years, including Geoff Drover, the first Newfoundlander to play in the CFL, and Trent McCleary, the Montréal Canadiens player who nearly died when he was hit in the throat by a slapshot. Robin will also take a critical look at the explosion in sports broadcasting that has taken place since The Inside Track made its debut in 1985. Former hosts Mark Lee and Mary Hynes will drop by to talk about highlights from their years on the show. There will also be special guests from Newfoundland, plus a little humour and some traditional island music. The Inside Track 20th Anniversary Special, Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT; 4 PT) on CBC Radio One. 10. ON STAGE: This week, to mark the passing of Irving Layton, On Stage presents Irving Invectus: poet, short-story writer and essayist, Layton was perhaps the best-known of the Montreal poets who battled against romanticism in the 1940s. His "tell it like it is" style won him both enemies and worshippers, but Layton bestowed his love of words, sound, and life itself upon audiences and readers. Veteran actor Kenneth Welsh and Governor General's Award-winning playwright Jason Sherman illuminate Layton's legacy, with music by David Buchbinder of the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band. That's On Stage, with host Shelley Solmes, Sunday night at 8 (9 AT, 9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBLM, 1090 kHz, Marathon, ON. Full/Data ``Judy Maddren, World Report, CBC Radio`` meticulously handprinted jumbo-sized card from v/s Gene Balec, Plant Technologist, CBC Thunder Bay, in 5 months (but with follow-up phone call & e-mail) for mint stamps. CBEH, 1010 kHz, Terrace Bay, ON. Full/Data ``Michael Enright, The Sunday Edition, CBC Radio One`` meticulously hand-printed jumbo-sized card from v/s Gene Balec, Plant Technologist, CBC Thunder Bay, in 5 months (but with follow-up phone call & e-mail) for mint stamps (Alan Loudell, DE, Verie Interesting, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ?? Both these are 40-watt LPRTs, which would be terrific catches from Delaware. Suspect these were logged while visiting SW Ontario and Manitoba, along with some non-LPRT QSLs reported, AM & FM, but this should be made clear (gh, DXLD) Hi Glenn, Absolutely, and I'll take the blame for that. I will mention this in next month's column. Alan and I had a good conversation about the amazing success he has had verifying AM stations. He doesn't hide that fact that some of his reports are done while on vacation, including that information in his reports. Here is a short excerpt from his letter to me when I asked him how he does it. "I've noted little difference in response-rate between whether one -- honest-to-God -- got the station with incredible skip from one's home location, or whether one was DX'ing from a vacation location much closer to the station, or even driving through a station's daytime reception area, and plotting the most distant receivable point (As I did with the low-powered, 40-watt, CBC stations north of Lake Superior!) I usually exert more effort -- with follow-ups -- from stations representing exceptional DX! -- or, from novel locations received during vacation-trips I'm not apt to listen to again!" Thanks for your input Glenn, at least I know someone actually reads the column, hi! 73 (Mick Delmage, ed., AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CHAT's official switch to FM (94.5 MHz) will happen on Monday, January 9th at 8:00 am local time [1500 UT, Medicine Hat]. It's nice to see they appreciate some of the history, as they'll be having voices from the past that morning in the countdown to the change, with the final voice fittingly being that of Orv Kope, CHAT's first announcer, from 59 years ago. In a way it's a bit sad, being the end of the AM radio era in this part of Alberta, but it'll certainly help my DXing, as 1270 has become a very messy signal over the last year. Of course 1270 will continue to be on the air for up to 3 months after Monday, but will be simulcasting the new FM (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta (about 1 km from the CHAT-AM towers), Jan 5, IRCA via DXLD) ** CHILE. No sign of usual Voz Cristiana on 17680, Jan 5 at 1440 check, nor on 15485 --- BBC was in the clear, nor on 21500 DRM. However, at 2150, 17680 and 21500 were on, and after 2200 15485 was also audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Re: ``CRI Russian was very strong on (new?) 6020, which is unlisted and went off at 1100.`` Meanwhile we saw it listed as Xi`an 500 kW, amongst other additional CRI outlets. So this must be another new transmitter complex, just put on service like the new Beijing facilities. I think Xi`an was previously known as site of various 120 kW transmitters (the ancient Russian design)? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Re Radio República and ``Some have maintained that it is not ... DTK``: Were there really arguments about T-Systems transmitters as possible origin? They could have well hired airtime there without Jeff White being involved. Two notes on other discussed transmitter operators: I understand that Nozema never ever leased airtime at Flevo to other customers than RNW. A few years ago there used to be RCI transmissions via Flevo, but this should have been an airtime exchange with RNW. And the CRI as well as the RTI transmissions via Issoudun take place within an airtime exchange of these stations with RFI as well, so they are no TDF customers on their own. Of course it is a bit funny that RFI maintains such a deal with both sides. By the way, I read that RFI cancelled its airtime exchange with the then Radio Beijing for political reasons, but started it again a few years later. Must have been around 1990 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Cuba has finally started jamming the 6010 frequency of R. República, as checked at 0152 UT Jan 6: but R. República was on top here, the jamming no real problem. Yet, the jamming also continued on 5965 which RR abandoned weeks ago, and is still occupied by RHC, Cuba vs Cuba! It must take a while for word to filter down to all the individual jamming stations of the Revolutionary Committee for the Prevention of Diffusion of Alternative Ideas, so their efforts are being diluted unnecessarily. More bad news, tho for Radio Mil. Perhaps the jamming, and massive protests from the DX and Radio Mil community, will encourage another QSY away from 6010. It seems as long as RR was announcing 5965, the jamming stayed there, but now that they announce 6010, on comes the jamming (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio República escuchada el viernes 6 de enero universal a las 0130 con el slogan ``Voz del Directorio Cubano Democrático transmitiendo para Cuba con fe en la victoria`` anunciando cambios de frecuencias. Las horas señaladas deben corresponder al horario en Cuba: 0600-0800 PM en 6135; 0800-1000 PM en 6010 y 1000-1200 PM en 7110. ``Despierta Cuba`` es el programa iniciado a las 0131 UT, mejor captado en 6010 LSB; despiertacuba @ radiorepublica.org es la dirección electrónica anunciada (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No es un cambio de esquema, sino el habitual. También sintonicé a las 0152, escuchando por la primera vez jamming en 6010, aunque abajo de RR. Y se continúa jamming en 5965, Cuba contra Cuba! Se demoran las comunicaciones a la red de interferencia provocada, así compartiendo sus esfuerzos. Mala noticia aún para Radio Mil. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Radio República escuchada en estos momentos 0210 UT tapando totalmente la señal de Radio Mil en los 6010 kHz aquí en la Cd. de México!!! Lo mismo la interferencia de "La Voz de Tu Conciencia" (Colombia) que había anunciado cambios tapa a Radio Mil desde las 0400 UT hasta las 1300 UT; esta interferencia ya lleva tres años ¿Cuándo habrá ORDEN y RESPETO en esto de las frecuencias? (Julián Santiago, DF, Noticias DX via DXLD) ?? RR moves to 7110 at 0200, tho maybe the 6010 jamming went on after 0200, altho I did not check it that date; or maybe RR also decided to stay on 6010 instead of 7110? Axually, moving up a band later in the night over a TA path does not make sense propagationally (gh, DXLD) Aquí en mi área (Rosario-Argentina) hay que agregar Radio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte-Brasil en 6010.22 Khz con señal considerable en estos momentos (0234 UT). ¿Qué pasará con Paranicota, Putre-Chile en 6010 (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Noticias DX via DXLD) USA [sic], 6010, R. República, 0030-0040, escuchada el 5 de Enero en español a comentarista con proclamas contra el régimen cubano; sufre jamming cubana, SINPO 43343 (José Miguel Romero, EA5-1022, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. PLANE MAY HELP OVERCOME CUBA'S `NEWS BLOCKADE' BY PABLO BACHELET, Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - One TV Martí show features an actor portraying Cuban leader Fidel Castro as a cranky and infirm boss. Another has a Havana woman complaining about the nearly constant electricity blackouts. Most Cubans are unable to view these political satires because of their government's powerful jamming. But TV and Radio Martí are preparing to hit the skies this spring with a new broadcasting airplane they hope will improve their ability to break through the jamming and the Cuban government monopoly on the island's mass media . . . http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/13555536.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Much like previous stories but seems to go into more detail, comment (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. some thoughts on the ``Letter from Prague`` in DXLD 6-003: ``Because we had to have three copies - all signed by the big boss, just as in the old days`` Today the bosses may approve the stuff digitally, if they want to do so. See http://www.digasystem.com/English/bilder/produkt/large/DBM_main.gif and note the flags. About editing: ``Today the same process takes just a few minutes on the computer.``: 40 edits are not done in just a few minutes also when using the computer. At least not if the product is supposed to sound fine. ``So have we lost anything on the way? Well, maybe one thing has gone forever --- that sense of experience and adventure, as you go into the old green baize studio, shut the heavy door behind you and wait for the red light to come on. Cyberspace and megabytes can't really compete with that ultimate radio experience.`` Indeed they can't, but this is not a thing of the past. Go into the new studio, looking so nice with the wooden panels, either shut the heavy door or just don't care about occasional noises being picked up by the U87's, since times have changed. But radio is still radio. Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. 7560, R. Horyaal, Jan 01 *1730-1737, 32432-33433, Somali, 1730 sign on with ID, Kor`an, Talk, ID at 1734. 7560, V. of Delina, Jan 01 *1800-1810, 34333, Tigrigna, 1800 sign on with ID, Eritrean pops, Opening announce, Music and talk. 7590, V. of Ethiopian People, Dec 27 *1700-1715, 35443-35433, Amharic, 1700 sign on with IS, ID, Opening music, Opening announce, Ethiopian pops music and talk. 7590, V. of Ethiopian People, Dec 31 *1700-1712, 35433-35333, Amharic, 1700 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Ethiopian pops and talk 7590, V. of ENUF, Jan 01 *1700-1711, 34443-34433, Amharic, 1700 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Music and talk. 7590, R. V. of Oromo Liberation Front, Jan 02 *1700-1710, 35333, Oromo, 1700 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Talk and local music. 9485, V. of Liberty, Jan 01 *1600-1610 24432 Tigrigna, 1600 sign on with IS, Opening announce, Eritrean pops and talk. 9820, V. of Ethiopian Salvation via DTK GERMANY, Jan 01 *1600-1621, 22431-23432, Amharic, 1600 sign on with IS, Music and talk. 9820, V. of Oromo Liberation via DTK, Jan 01 *1700-1710, 25432-33432, Oromo, 1700 sign on with opening music, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Open carrier, dead air, when tuning in YLE on 15400, Jan 5 at 1443. Finally 2.5 minutes later, some music started up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio --- Mañana sábado, como todos los primeros sábados del mes, será una buena oportunidad para tratar de sintonizar una emisora que resulta bastante dificil de captar, por la escasa potencia con la que transmite. Se trata de la finlandesa Scandinavian Weekend Radio, que está en el aire los primeros sábados de cada mes. En realidad comienza sus transmisiones a las 2200 UT del viernes, para finalizar a las 2200 UT del sábado. Sus frecuencias y horarios serán las siguientes: 2200 Viernes a 0700 Sábado en 5980 y 11720 kHz. 100 watts de potencia 0700 Sábado a 1200 Sábado en 6170 y 11690 kHz. 100 watts 1200 Sábado a 1900 Sábado en 5980 y 11720 kHz. 100 watts 1800 Sábado a 1900 Sábado en 5990 kHz. 100 watts. 1900 Sábado a 2200 Sábado en 5980 y 11690 kHz. 100 watts. En su página web tienen un modelo de informe de recepción para imprimir y enviar a la emisora: http://www.swradio.net/rec_repo_4.pdf y para conseguir su tarjeta QSL hay que adjuntar 2 IRC, 2 US $ ó 2 Euro. Dirección: SWR P. O. Box 99 FI-34801 Virrat FINLAND e-mail: info @ swradio.net Web: http://www.swradio.net/index2.htm (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Jan 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So far no press release direct from SWR about this (gh, DXLD) ** GABON. Re Savolainen, 6-004: 4777 also heard here on Jan. 3 until 1902. Seems to be the new pattern. There was definitely no reactivation a month ago or so. I heard it frequently since October and before it was reported several times until may. So it was maybe just the summer which made it practically inaudible in Europe for a while (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4777, RTV Gabonaise, 0549-0630 Jan 5. Noted a woman in French language comments until about 0554. At that time music was presented until the hour when ID and news presented by a man. At 0626, the music changed to Hilife type. Signal poor (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR GOS, 11620, better than usual at 2150 Jan 5 with Indian classical music; 2158 previews of programming on the 10-11 UT transmission, 2200 news. Some trans-polar flutter but good signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 7289.9, RRI-Nabire, Dec 29 0810-0823*, 35433-35333, Indonesian, Jakarta news relay, ID at 0817, Music, 0823 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Hello to all of you from the Bavarian Forest near the border to Czech Republic. Maybe anyone can help me: For weeks I am trying to get any trace of Voice of Indonesia on 9525, 11785, 15150 in Spanish, German or English. Unfortunately nothing to hear, only mighty QRM-Noises. Or could it be Indonesia is not any longer on air? My receivers are NRD 535 D (mod. Pühler) on active antenna, Sony ICF 2001D, Lowe 150, etc. Would be glad to hear anything about this. Kind regards, (Harry Bauer, Deggendorf, Bavaria, Germany, Jan 6, HCDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. New Year`s Eve SW monitoring, UTC: 1100, 15530 kHz RNZI, Pips, An, Auld Lang Syne; 1300, 9580 Australia, same song plus "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang 1500, 21630 Japan in the New Year Hitparade 1500, 6250 DPRK, Nat. Anthem, miltary march 1600, 4895 Mongolia, Anthem at 1555 1700, 4830 Thailand at 1650 speech of the King 1900, 4635 Tajikistan and 5015 Turkmenistan, before that 17 minute speeches of both presidents 2000, 4810 Armenia, 12 bell gongs, speech of the Head of the Orthodox Church 2100, 9495 Abkhazia; also Putin's speech only 3 minutes on 6235; also Madagascar 5010 N. Anthem, speech in French 2300, 6165 Chad, speech in French (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 5 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Favourite voices --- Big following on this matter in 6-003 but none in 6-004. Well, here is mine and I feel this is based upon the quality of voices more than personalities, for which you would have to have at least a little talk with each of these announcers. Current. With all due respect there is a shortage on today's voices. 1. Dave DeForest VOA 2. The Morning Show host CBC. Andy Barrie? 3. Roger Broadbent RA Hall of Fame 1. Jerry Cowan RN 2. Pancho Ibáñez RN Spanish Service 3. Ian Mc Farland RCI 4. Bob Zanotti SRI 5. Pamela Creighton BBC 6. Brian Matthew BBC 7. Willis Conover VOA I'd rather stop here, but of course there are lots more (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. ATTITUDE PROBLEM If broadcasters merely repeated the same programmes every day for 10- 11 days over Christmas and New Year, or switched off altogether, there would be an outcry. So why is it considered OK to close down a major website for that period? Is there an attitude problem? http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/media/web060105?view=Standard (Andy Sennitt, Media Neetwork newsletter Jan 5 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 4375.9, V. of Iranian Revolution, Jan 01 *1425-1435m 35232-22332, Kurdish, 1425 sign on with IS, ID, Opening music, Talk, 1430 Jamming. 4376, V. of Iranian Revolution, Dec 29 *1426-1434, 35322-32322 Kurdish, 1426 sign on with IS, ID, Opening music, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. ISRAEL RADIO AND TV REPORTING ON THE CONDITION OF SHARON (update) Mike Brand reports: Due to the hospitalization and serious condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, all of Israel’s TV stations' normal programming came to a halt last night, and only reports and interviews with Knesset members and senior doctors and professors etc were and are being broadcast. All of Israel`s Government and commercial radio stations are playing quiet music, and are linking up to the news bulletins of either the Israel Broadcasting Authority news or with the Channel 2 or Channel 10 news bulletins. Israel Radio`s Network B cancelled all its regular programmes as of last night, and is concentrating only on the hospitalization of Sharon, as is the Army radio station Galei Zahal. The Israeli/Palestinian Radio All for Peace has also canceled all of its normal music programmes, and is only playing quiet music. # posted by Andy @ 21:23 UT Jan 5 (Media Network blog via DXLD) [Earlier:] 6973, Galei Zahal. 01 Jan 06. 0115-0154. First log of 2006. Sounded like a US Top 40’s station from the 1970 and 1980’s. All music in English including ``Call Me,`` ``Abra Cadabra,`` ``Man Eater,`` ``Billie Jean,`` and many others. OM announcer in Hebrew every fourth or fifth song. Best heard on 6974. Good (Joe Wood, TN, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** ITALY. 6100, RAI, 0630-0800 Jan 5. Noted various persons in Italian language comments. Once in a while, Italian pop music presented. Couldn't find this frequency listed in any of my references (don't have the newest WRTH yet). Went to RAI's web page and found the frequency listed for Eastern Europe between 0630 to 0800 all in Italian. Earlier the signal was fair but seemed to be some Jamming type splatter interfering. Seemed like the jammer was on 6090 or nearby. By 0740 signal was still audible while the interference mentioned above, was fading (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DIPOLE, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAMAICA. JBC 720. Parece que esta habitual emisora jamaicana está por cambiar de propietario y de nombre. Sintonizada alrededor de las 0430 con canciones tipo reggae/roots para pasar luego al menos soportable reggae/rap o hip hop jamaiquino (Raúl Saavedra, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, Jan 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, 1230-1300z+ 12/31/05, Korean Central Broadcasting Station. Choral and martial music with frequent voice- overs. Announcers' voices more emotive than on their international service. Excellent signal: 35334; some high-latitude flutter with some QRN from storms to the east. Receiver: Hallicrafters SX99 and 500 ft unterminated wire (Steven Zimmerman, Golconda, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. SOUTH KOREAN STATE BROADCASTER UNION CALLS STRIKE FOR 11 JANUARY | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 5 January: The union of South Korea's state-run broadcaster KBS on Thursday [5 January] resolved to walk off the job next week after wage negotiations failed. The strike will start at 5 a.m., Wednesday, the union said. In their first round of negotiations, the union demanded a 9 per cent pay increase, while their management insisted on a freeze. The government's labour committee later recommended an adjusted 4.5 per cent increase which the management accepted, but the union refused. The resolution was decided via a three-day union vote from Dec. 26, in which 91 per cent of the unionists voted in favour of the strike. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 1524 gmt 5 Jan 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) No such nonsense in Korea North ** KURDISTAN [non]. 7590, V. of Mesopotamia, Jan 01 1654-1659*, 35443- 34443, Kurdish, ID at 1654, Closing music, 1659 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Radio Veritas, 5469.97 at 2337 31 Dec with slow sermon. Good signal (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 4759.90, ELWA, 0600-0625 Jan 5. Noted a man in English comments until 0604 when religious type music was played. Copy was difficult and the audio had disappeared by 0625 (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010 heard with music and ID until 1900/1905 on Jan. 2nd and 3rd. So the usual pattern (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Special DRM transmissions for Consumer Electronics Show Today (5 January) and tomorrow (6 January) --- we will have an extra DRM transmission from Bonaire on 15525 kHz at 1800- 2155 UT beamed to the NE part of the USA (350 degrees). This is connection with the Consumer Electronics Show that's taking place in Las Vegas (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Jan 5 via DXLD) But, but LV is in the SW USA? (gh, DXLD) Indeed it is, and that's why I didn't say it was beamed to Las Vegas :-) I don't know why it's not on 320 degrees, but there is presumably a good reason. I only pass on information I receive, and this literally came in while I was preparing the Newsletter for mailing, so I didn't have time to ask questions (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Well, it`s strong enough here halfway between, just before closing time (gh, OK, DXLD) ** PANAMA. Aquiíi Cahuitaaa!!! Vacacionando en mi Caribe, propiamente Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, hay la oportunidad de escuchar con mas claridad, estaciones de AM que se dificulta escuchar en nuestro Valle Central. CPR en Colón. 640. Ha sido una visitante en este litoral aún durante el día, desde hace 40 anos, cuando la escuché por vez primera con un magnífico programa de Northern Soul incluyendo a Jackie Ross cantando Selfish One y Tony Clarke con The Entertainer. Siento que ha perdido patada en la señal. Ahora se anuncian igualmente en 101.5 F.M. RPC 560. Con características más de tipo Talk Radio que de entretenimiento. Muchos temas políticos y comunitarios. Su señal es aún mejor que la de CPR (Raúl Saavedra, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, Jan 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PERU. Hi Glenn, 3375.1: R. San Antonio, San Antonio de Padua; *1000v-, poor on 06/01/01. Huayno music and OM talk with TC. R. Educadora Guaraja Mirim moved to 3375.1 kHz, but it was absent on that day (Hideki WATANABE, Radio Nuevo Mundo, JAPAN) ** PERU. Hi Glenn; I was able to spend an RFI-free New Year's weekend in far southern Illinois. These were the most interesting things that I heard there. Hope you had a good holiday season. 6535, 0300-0330z+ 1/1/06, R. Huancabamba. Many mentions of Perú, with Huancabamba mentioned close to 0300. Call-in show with occasional LA music running in background. Music only at 0322, and back to festive- sounding call-in at 0325. Zero beat in usb to skirt utility QRM. Signal: 32543 in AM and 34544 in usb. Receivers: Yaesu FRG7700 and Hallicrafters SX99. Antenna: 120m half-wave dipole; very effective on this frequency as it is close to an odd harmonic of the low end of 120 meters (Steven Zimmerman, Golconda, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. In general R. Romania International broadcasts to North America are either faint or not heard. Happened to be home on January 6th and checked the 1300 UT broadcast to Western Europe. RRI received on 17745 kHz, SINPO 35533. Weather item about major snow storm in Romania, "Radio Newsreel", commentary and "Press Review". Not heard on // 15105. Used Sony ICF-SW7600G portable receiver with built-in whip antenna. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also listened. 17745 is very weak here in Copenhagen, while 15105 was off until 1309, and after 40 seconds (at 1309.40 UT) audio was put on. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, ibid.) ** RWANDA. Radio Rwanda, 6055, 2023 UT with some nice Afropops, on 1/4. Regards (Christopher Lewis, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE [non]. Don't forget to keep a watch on AWR's English transmissions directed to Asia, for the reactivated "Wavescan". [in red] These are scheduled for every Sunday, Guam local dates. The planned schedule, effective Jan 1 (subject to change) is: 1130-1200 11915 KSDA 1200-1300 15110 Dhabbiya [sic, surely not an hour long unlike others] 1530-1600 9530 Dhabbiya 1600-1700 9585 KSDA [sic, surely not an hour long unlike others] 1600-1630 12065 KSDA 1630-1700 11980 KSDA 1730-1800 9980 KSDA 2130-2200 11960 KSDA 2230-2300 11855 KSDA (Bob Padula, Victoria, Jan 6, dxing.info via DXLD) Therefore, all except the 1130 and 1200 must be on UT Saturday! Confirmation by monitoring, please (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, R. Omdurman, Dec 29 1645-1702, 44444, Arabic, Local music and talk, ID at 1700. Also Jan 01, 1607-1618, 44444, Arabic, News and talk, ID at 1608 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. 8000, V. of Sudan, Jan 01 1550-1559*, 24442, Arabic, Local music, ID at 1552, 1559 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. Hello there and a happy to year. Heard Tatarstan Wave, 0934 on 11915 on 1/5, nice audio and good signal with SINPO of all 5's. Have mailed a report, with 2 IRCs; have heard they verify, would be a nice one to get (Christopher Lewis, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per EiBi site for this is s-Samara (Zhygulevsk) 53N17-50E15, RUSSIA (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. Re VOT`s new Italian service: Incoraggiamoli a migliorare! Masticano un italiano ai limiti della comprensibilità, ma stanno migliorando di giorno in giorno. Sono i due redattori del neonato programma italiano della Voce della Turchia, di professionalità non ne hanno neanche un pò, però alla terza giornata di programmazione non hanno più ripetuto le papere della giornata precedente, a dimostrazione che ce la stanno mettendo tutta per migliorarsi. Stasera hanno ringraziato coloro che già hanno inviato email di saluto, a dimostrazione di quanto incoraggiante per loro possa essere ricevere messaggi. Non facciamoli sentire soli in questa comprensibile fase di imbarazzo iniziale. Scriviamogli tutti quanti qualche parola di incoraggiamento! Il loro indirizzo di posta elettronica è: italian @ trt.net.tr (Mauro Corradi, bcl.ita via playdx via DXLD) Noticia vía Frecuencia DX, nos informa Jorge García: Estimados Colegas de Frecuencia DX, Reciban cordiales saludos desde Barinas, en Venezuela. Mi nombre es Jorge García y les escribo para informarles que La Voz de Turquía a partir de mañana Sábado estará sacando al aire una nueva sección denominada "Nuestros Corresponsales", donde tocarán aspectos noticiosos diversos ocurridos en América Latina. Así que no se pierdan mañana a partir de las 1730 UT por los 9780 Khz de la onda corta, este nuevo espacio del servicio en español de La Voz de Turquía. Cordiales 73´s. Jorge García Rangel. Barinas, Venezuela (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, DXLD) ** U A E. Re 6-004, off shortwave: OK, well that explains why I didn't hear it then [smiley]. I checked the frequencies listed in the HFCC schedule for B05 beamed to Europe. That'll teach me to rely on official documents [smiley] (Andy Sennitt, 01.04.06 - 8:13 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. I don't know how long it will last, given BBCWS' apparent disdain for U.S. listeners, but BBCWS audio is now available FTA (free to air) in MPEG digital form on Galaxy 13 satellite, 3800 MHz, vertical polarity, symbol rate 27690, audio PID 1820. I recently e- mailed BBCWS asking why the encrypted BBCWS audio feed on PanAmSat 9 could not be unencrypted (thereby increasing the potential audience at absolutely no cost) but never received the courtesy of a reply. In my e-mail, I pointed out that there are no FM stations relaying BBCWS within hundreds of miles of Atlanta, a large American city (Mike Cooper, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. January MT BBC-in-NA Guide --- Got the January '06 Monitoring Times a few days ago; there's a useful article in it that is a guide for North Americans to listen to the BBC around the clock. However, I noticed one major omission -- it doesn't mention 15565 kHz in the 1500-1600 UT hours timeframe. It does cite 17640 kHz, and I always considered those two frequencies as a pair. I listen every weekday to one or the other of these to catch the science programs at 1505 UT; usually 17640 but sometimes 15565 is coming in better or the transmitter being used on 17640 keeps getting dropouts on a particular day so I stay on 15565. Also, 17640 is wiped out at 1600 (by WYFR, I think) but 15565 is listenable for the 1600 hour and that gives one a chance to hear "Analysis" at 1645 UT. I haven't checked other timeframes in that listing yet; anybody else have additions or corrections to that guide? 73, (Will Martin, MO, Jan 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15565 also the best here, such as it is (gh, DXLD) ** U K. The following was listed in the latest BBCWS newsletter: Off the Shelf: MARGRAVE OF THE MARSHES - by John Peel and Sheila Ravenscroft http://er.bsysmail.com/go.asp?/bBBC001/qAXN052/xIDM9G In October 2004, much-loved music broadcaster John Peel died suddenly while on holiday. He had already started writing this autobiography, which was recently completed by his wife Sheila and their four children. 9-13 January - programme times Australasia: Sun-Thu 2145 rpt Mon-Fri 0745, Fri 2145; East Asia: Mon- Fri 0145, rpt 0645, 2145; South Asia: Sun-Thu 2145 rpt Mon-Fri 0445, 0845, 1345; East Africa: Mon-Fri 0645 rpt 1145, 2345; West Africa: Mon-Fri 0845 rpt 1345, 2145; Middle East: Mon-Fri 0745 rpt 1145, 1645, Tue-Sat 0045; Europe: Mon-Fri 0445 rpt 0845, 1245, Tue-Sat 0045 ; Americas: Mon-Fri 0445 rpt 0845, 1345, 1945, Tue-Sat 0045 (via Peter Bowen, ON, Swprograms mailing list, via DXLD) ** U K. Radio - Rachel Cooke Monday 9th [sic] January 2006 http://www.newstatesman.com/Life/200601090026 ANDY KERSHAW, WHO WANTS TO GET YOU AND YOURS OFF THE AIRWAVES, IS ALREADY MY HERO OF 2006, writes Rachel Cooke I have made several radio New Year resolutions. The first is to forswear listening to things that I know will make me angry - chiefly, late-night programmes on BBC 5 Live and, on slow news days or when Carolyn Quinn is having a day off, Radio 4's Today. My weird addiction to the former is easily dealt with. Once installed in my bath, I shall listen to improving, calming Radio 3 or, failing that, to the idle drip of the cold tap. My addiction to the latter is more of a problem. I have an idea that if I miss Today, I will be unable to join in with the "national conversation". This is total rot. I can't remember ever having walked into the dry cleaner's, or the newsagent's, or even the office, only to find everyone talking about what David Cameron said to James Naughtie at 8.10am. But it is hard to break the habit, especially when you look at the alternatives. The last time I tuned in to Terry Wogan on Radio 2 he lacked the urgency I need to get my day started. On the other hand, Chris Moyles on Radio 1 and Nicky Campbell on 5 Live make me so stressed, that I am in danger of doing other commuters an injury once I clamber on the bus. My other resolution is to give some of my betes noires a chance. This decision has been inspired by one man - Andy Kershaw - who used to loiter in the darker recesses of Radio 1, but these days can more often be heard on Radio 3. Kershaw is turning into a kind of trade unionist for radio listeners. He has the accent (Lancashire, and as heavy as an Eccles cake) and I presume he still has the donkey jacket. Most of all, however, he has the rallying cry. This rallying cry is, of course, "Get Veg Talk and You and Yours off our airwaves." Kershaw first ranted about these issues on - here's an irony - the Today programme shortly before Christmas. Asked what he thought about the axing of Radio 4's "whimsical" Home Truths, which used to be presented by his mate John Peel, Kershaw seized his moment. Why stop at Home Truths? The Radio 4 schedules are crammed full of cuddly, boring dross. Why had Veg Talk, a programme about - yes - vegetables, been commissioned over and over again? Why is You and Yours, in which John Waite and Winifred Robinson sombrely discuss credit cards and dental floss, broadcast every a day? His tone throughout all this was marvellous: as self-righteously indignant as a stout housewife who's just been sold the wrong kind of tripe at Bury market. Previously, the idea of Kershaw and his precious world music made me feel ill; I hate pan pipes. But now I performed a swooning volte-face and decided he was the best thing since, ooh, Peter Hobday. And so it was that, on 25 December (10.15pm), I listened to Christmas In Ashgabat, in which Kershaw visited Turkmenistan. Apart from a repeat of Mark Lawson's Front Row interview with Alan Bennett on Radio 4, this was by far the best thing I heard all holiday. The Turkmens' music was lovely, if weird, and Kershaw is a great guide. It was hilarious listening to him describe his fat government minders, or the personality cult of Saparmurat Niyazov (aka Turkmenbashi - the Turkmen leader), a fellow who throws public holidays in honour of melons. "It's very Radio 3, isn't it?" Kershaw tittered, watching Ashgabat nightclubbers clamber over writhing strippers who, oddly, were performing in a doorway. The year is young, but Andy Kershaw is already my hero of 2006. Meanwhile, I will investigate the options at breakfast, and report back to you (New Statesman, via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U K. FYI; pirate radio contributing to ethnic conflict in UK? [two mentions of pirate radio in the article] (David Cole, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BRITISH RACE RELATIONS Jan 5th 2006 The changing face of racial conflict in Britain IN 1985, the MP Enoch Powell issued a prognostication of doom. By the end of the 20th century, he claimed, fully 8% of Britain's population would be black or brown-skinned, and a third of the residents of some cities would be non-white. The result, he thought, would be a nation "unimaginably wracked by dissension and violent disorder". Few took Powell's forecast seriously. He had been a familiar anti-immigrant bugbear since 1968, when he was exiled from the Conservative front bench for fulminating against "wide-grinning piccaninnies" and seeming to anticipate race war between blacks and whites. . . http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5356681&no_na_tran=1 (via David Cole, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-004, SAVVIS chosen to stream IBB: BAD MOVE --- SAVVIS has THE WORST network in the known world. The latency level is always bad even though it's a local hop. This company doesn't have a CDN. Listeners to VOA and IBB streams won't like this. This company did not have any federal contracts until this one. All Native systems sounds like a systems integrator, and I'll bet they are from Alaska or Oklahoma and owned by either an Eskimo or native American tribe. This is going to be an uphill battle. Kind of like building a shortwave station over a large vein of Iron (Lou Josephs, 01.04.06 - 11:36 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) American Indian tribe the Winnebagos own this company. Google `em. They are in Nebraska (Lou Josephs, 01.04.06 - 11:48 pm, ibid.) VOA and the IBB have signed a contract with one of the worst internet providers on the planet. SAVVIS. I have two servers hosted at a site in Seattle that runs on SAVVIS pipe and I can't reach them to upload content because the latency is too high. SAVVIS is the company out of St Louis that had the CEO who owned American Express several thousand dollars for a night with the young ladies at Scores in New York City, a "gentlemen`s club``. Is everyone in DC on the take? Seems like it (Lou Josephs blog http://wvbf.blogspot.com/ via DXLD) ** U S A. This week`s Dispatches on CBC Radio One was about the use of jazz as a weapon by the US in the Cold War, with the author of ``Satchmo Blows Up the World`` --- We know that VOA and Willis Conover played a major rôle in this, but was either ever mentioned in this entire half hour? Of course not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15000: WWV at 2316 with leap second announcement, last one of the year. The actual leap second was heard on 5000 at 23:60 UTC --- without fanfare. Neat. WWVH not audible on any frequency (Liz Cameron, MI, 31 December 2005, MARE Tipsheeet via DXLD) Liz -- WWV *will* QSL that leap second if you send in a report -- I have one with the time as 23:59:60 'verified' in my collection..... and by definition we've just defined ourselves as 'wierd' that we find this 'neat' .... :o (MARE ed., ibid.) ** U S A. GLOBAL COMMAND SYSTEM NETWORK CONTROL As monitored here every hour on the hour the above noted net control of the US Military has been transmitting a listening watch list. The transmissions are very well received here in the East. They claim to come from Andrews AFB in Maryland, are in USB and identify as follows. This is the first time that I can recall the US Military giving out watch frequencies on the air. "Andrews maintaining watch on 4724 6739 8992 11175 13200 15016" (USB) These are great frequencies to start with if you are just getting into utility listening. Patience is required as long periods can pass with no traffic then suddenly a brief interchange of information. Increasingly the two parties arrange to initiate a data transmission and the audible data follows. Night time favours the lower frequencies, daytime the higher ones. 11175 and 8992 have a fair bit of traffic (Robert Ellis, Worldwide Utility Column, Jan CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** U S A. MEMORIAM: RAMONA BELL --- Art Bell's beloved wife of fifteen years, Ramona, died unexpectedly last night after an asthma attack. At present, the exact cause of Mrs. Bell's death has not been determined. It apparently took place during her sleep. Until her death, Art and Ramona Bell had not been apart a day since they were married. Mrs. Bell had suffered from asthma for years, and took her normal steps to control the attack, which occurred sometime last night in Laughlin, Nevada where the Bells were taking a brief vacation. Ramona Bell was 47 years old. Our deepest condolences to Art and his family (from http://www.coasttocoastam.com/ Jan 6 via Steve Lare, MI, DXLD) ** U S A. Re fire at Seattle-area stations: KARR was still off this evening. Their pattern is/was quite tight with almost no signal to the south. At night, they're inaudible when you're more than a few miles south of downtown Seattle (Bruce Portzer, WA, Jan 5, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. 1129.94, KFAN, Minneapolis MN; traffic news, "... traffic on the 3's, AM 11-30 KFAN", xd WBBM [sic: must mean WBBR NYC]; off- channel mystery solved, though odd/new format - where's ESPN? Weal/Fair peaks, 1116 4/1 (Martin A . Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. NRD- 545, RPA-1 preamp, beverages: 513m at 240 degrees, unterminated; 506m at 290 degrees, terminated; 588m at 315 degrees, terminated; 550m at 340 degrees, terminated. http://www.gorrell.supanet.com/index.html MWC via DXLD) ** U S A. 1710, Radio Moshiach and Redemption, MW Pirate, 0215 UT 12/4, ID, asking for contributions, gave mail and web addresses, told people to tune to 1620-1640. Does that mean several local relays? (Larry Russell, MI DXPedition, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) They always claimed to be in the 1600s, not the 1700s (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re new DC NPS TIS on 1670: Checked it out yesterday --- it screams! Heard near RFK Stadium on east side, in Springfield, VA on the south side, and in Tyson's Corner, VA on the west! I'd think this is loggable at least regionally. 1670, listen for mentions of the mall and Wash DC tourist stuff. 73, (Bruce WB3HVV Collier, York, PA, Jan 5, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. Re this item (part of it) in 5-226 - - -`` Washington, D.C. - In a series of moves dramatically altering the radio dial in Washington, Bonneville International Corporation has announced that WTOP Radio, Washington's 24-hour all news station is moving to 103.5 FM today to expand its reach and penetration. Additionally, WTOP will partner with The Washington Post to form a new radio station broadcasting on the 1500 AM and 107.7 FM frequencies in late March.`` I assume the local night-time array for this one is headed eastwards as WTOP 1500 is one of the most regular USA stations audible at my location on MW, propagation permitting. The 1500 frequency is nicely spaced between where I usually hear France 1494 and a mix of stations usually dominated by BBC Stoke on 1503. There are often co-channel transmissions audible on 1500 - as heard around 0745 today Jan. 5th - but I have yet to catch an ID of one of them such is the usual strength of WTOP. I don't see any mention of what the The Washington Post new radio station will broadcast - anyone know? 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DXLD) To answer Noel's question, this is in today's Media Guardian online: WASHINGTON POST HITS THE AIRWAVES John Plunkett, Friday January 6, 2006 Washington Post: radio service will feature content from the paper, interviews and phone-ins A US newspaper is taking podcasting one step further by becoming a fully fledged broadcaster with its own news radio station. Washington Post Radio will use content from the Washington Post with contributions from the paper's columnists and reporters. Post executives said the station, due to launch in March, would be like a "long form" version of the paper, with news, interviews and phone-ins. "It will allow us to do creative things on the radio that you can't do in print," the paper's executive editor, Leonard Downie Jr, said. The station will also feature news and commentary from journalists and broadcasters from outside the paper. The station's content will be produced by the Washington Post and Salt Lake City-based broadcaster Bonneville International, which operates more than 30 radio stations in cities including Washington, San Francisco and Chicago. "This is a wonderful opportunity for the Washington Post to encourage the radio audience to read more of the newspaper," said the publisher, Boisfeuillet Jones Jr. Washington Post Radio will broadcast on the 1500 AM and 107.7 FM frequencies currently occupied by Bonneville's all-news station, WTOP. It is not the first time the two have been linked. The Washington Post owned the station for 24 years, selling it in 1978. It was bought by Bonneville in 1997. Newspapers are turning to audio platforms in growing numbers in a bid to offer their readers something different. Ricky Gervais's exclusive podcasts on the Guardian's website topped the download charts in both the UK and the US. The Daily Telegraph launched a daily podcast of a selection of its news and features last month (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Dear Bill, Re 6-004: I agree. I live in the "hinderlands" [sic] of AM broadcasting as there are not many high-powered, full-service AM stations east of the Chesapeake. We really don't even have much in the way of "informational" FM stations, except WSDL 90.7 FM in Ocean City that recently went over to NPR while its sister station WSCL 89.5 in Salisbury stayed Classical. Our local AM stations are more news- talk and aren't more than 5 kW. Our local WDOV-1410 in Dover (a Clear Channel outlet, of course) is completely useless for news, local or otherwise. During a recent snow, I had to tune to Wilmington stations 30 miles away to see if my local schools were open or closed, as WDOV totally dropped the ball. WDEL-1150 up in Wilmington is better (I used to work there so I have to say something nice about them hi!) but they only run news at 6-9 AM and 6-7 PM. Since Baltimore has no all-news station, it's either KYW or WTOP and since I'm a native Washingtonian, I gravitate toward WTOP. I can barely pick up 103.5 FM here in Delaware but 1500 always put a good signal in here, day and night. Granted, Delaware is not in WTOP's service area, but when a disaster hits the region, how will people east of the Chesapeake get their info? As you said, the bean-counters seldom think about the listeners outside their region. Reading a local radio blog out of DC, the observation was made that Bonneville seems to think AM radio is dead, so why not move the Golden Goose to FM and dump the Posties on AM? If the 1500 outlet was 5 or 10 kw, I could see it. But waste a 50 kw station on what amounts to a gamble, or a programming experiment? I don't see the logic in that. They could have put the Washington Post programming on 107.1 instead and kept all news on 1500 (along with the Nationals and Redskins as there is a lot of talk as to where their broadcasts will end up) and that would have made more sense (John Cereghin, Smyrna DE, IRCA via DXLD) One thing that's missing up and down the dial, at least where I live, is in-depth news on a clear channel at night. My Rochester NPR talk station is on AM and fizzles at night, the same is true of the NPR AM station in Buffalo, and the Buffalo FMer has jazz. I often tune to 880 WCBS for news at night, but that's mostly of the headline variety. The rest of the dial is filled with useless right-wing and X-Files talk shows until NPR returns in the morning. So WTOP with more news features might be a good one for me, plus I enjoy reading the Post (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) Right now we have all news on 103.5 and 107.7 plus the repeater at 104.3 Classical music has replace Z 104 so the old RKO owned WGMS is now at 104.1 and 103.9 both of these stations have an awful signal. WTOP AM still at 1500 with a repeater at 820 AM. Confused? Think of how the listeners in DC are going to feel. Expect the Post all news operation to add Baseball and football. Unless team owner Dan Synder buys the Mega FM group to carry his Washington Redskins US football games. You may remember the name Bonnevile from shortwave radio history. They were the owners of WNYW Radio New York Worldwide, and sister FM WRFM. (Lou Josephs, 01.04.06 - 11:41 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A . Washington DC radio changes --- Some sudden changes on DC's AM and FM radio dial, with the move of WTOP to FM (to simulcast on existing 1500 AM and 107.7 FM until March 30), a frequency shift for the classical music WGMS, the demise of Z104, and plans for a Washington Post news and talk station. More from today's Washington Post: Z-104 SILENCED; POST RADIO TO DEBUT IN STATION SHUFFLE By Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 5, 2006; A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010400849.html?referrer=emailarticle Radio broadcaster Bonneville International Corp. shook up Washington's airwaves yesterday by moving its all-news station WTOP and classical outlet WGMS-FM to new frequencies, eliminating pop music station Z-104 and announcing plans for a news-and-talk station it will program with The Washington Post. The moves involve three local stations that occupy six slices of the AM and FM bands. By reshuffling its station lineup, Bonneville is attempting to place its most popular and lucrative programming -- news -- on the frequencies that have the strongest broadcast signals. At the same time, it essentially is backing out of the music field, eliminating airplay of contemporary recordings and consigning classical to one of its weakest signals. With only a perfunctory on-air announcement, the Utah-based broadcasting giant at noon yesterday triggered the local radio version of musical chairs. It abruptly knocked WGMS off of 103.5 FM and moved WTOP into that slot. WGMS, in turn, moved to 104.1 and 103.9 -- the former homes of the pop station Z-104, which immediately disappeared. In a flash Z-104's listeners went from hearing upbeat deejays and adult-contemporary singles to a dulcet-toned announcer introducing a Rachmaninoff piano concerto. On March 30, two of WTOP's frequencies (1500 AM and 107.7 FM) will switch to Washington Post Radio, news and talk programming that Bonneville will produce with The Post, which owned WTOP from 1949 to 1978. Bonneville will continue to own the stations under a new trademark and content-licensing agreement. Although details of the Post-programmed stations are being worked out, the stations -- likely to be called WTWP, sources said -- are expected to become the home of Washington Nationals broadcasts. Bonneville is close to finalizing an agreement to carry the baseball club's games this season, sources said yesterday. Bonneville Senior Vice President Joel Oxley said the company would like to land the rights to Redskins games. The team's contract with WJFK-FM expired with Sunday's final regular-season game. Bonneville's repositioning of its stations will strengthen WTOP by expanding its reach, local radio executives said. Broadcasting at 103.5, WTOP's news, weather, sports and traffic reports will blanket the region with one signal instead of the three relatively weaker ones (two AMs and an FM) the station has used. In addition, the station will extend its signal by broadcasting in a monaural format instead of sonically cleaner but less pervasive stereo. Station officials said WTOP's signal would be the most powerful in the region, with a "footprint" stretching from south of Fredericksburg to north of Baltimore and incorporating parts of Maryland's Eastern Shore. "We'll reach people all over the place," said Jim Farley, WTOP's vice president of news and programming, at a news conference in the station's broadcast studio. "If you're working at home, if you're in the car downtown, we'll be your nonstop news source." WTOP, which usually ranks among the area's top five stations in audience share, is the market leader in advertising sales. It generated about $41 million in revenue in 2004, according to BIA Financial Network, a media consulting and research firm based in Chantilly. The station's success reflects not just the size of its audience but also its attractive demographics; news consumers are generally perceived by advertisers to be among the best educated, to have relatively high incomes and to pay closer attention to the radio than those who listen to music stations. WTOP is the area's only all- news commercial station. Classical music fans, particularly in the District and Montgomery County, will find it harder to get a clear signal for WGMS at its new frequencies. The station's broadcast towers are in Waldorf and Frederick, and the potential for interference or lost signals could drive away some listeners, an executive at a rival radio company said yesterday. Yesterday's announcements underscored the changing nature -- and to some extent, the slow shrinking -- of radio as a music medium. Although radio airs many kinds of music, direct competition among genres is rare. Washington, for example, was left with only one contemporary rock station (DC101, WWDC-FM) after WHFS-FM switched to a Spanish-language pop music format last January, and with one major classical station (WGMS) after WETA-FM switched to news and talk in March. Z-104 (WWZZ) promoted its format as "modern music" -- a mix of Green Day, Kelly Clarkson, Nickelback and other pop hitmakers -- and competed for much of the same audience and advertisers as rivals Mix 107.3 (WRQX-FM) and Hot 99.5 (WIHT-FM). Moreover, music stations are in an increasingly tough battle with such music-delivery technologies as iPods, podcasts, satellite radio and cell phones. Thus, Bonneville sought a distinctive format that would help differentiate the station and broaden its appeal, Oxley said. "Let's face it, Matchbox Twenty doesn't sound very different in Minneapolis or Los Ángeles or Wáshington," he said. "Washington Post Radio can be very local," with exclusive content. "It's going to be NPR on caffeine," he said. "It will be non-drowsy public radio." In a rare nod to its competitors, Z-104's Web site yesterday carried this message: "Saying good-bye to Z-104 doesn't mean saying good-bye to the music. Mix 107.3, DC 101 and Hot 99.5 all play modern music." Bonneville, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will lay off the station's staff of 35. The company then will hire about 25 people for the new Post stations, including a program director and two producers. According to BIA, Z-104 had revenue of $9.9 million in 2004, slightly more than WGMS's $9.3 million. But company analyst Mark Fratrik estimated that WGMS was more profitable because of the lower cost of operating a classical station compared with a pop station, which requires heavy promotion and relatively highly paid deejays. The Post-programmed stations, meanwhile, are wild cards that will face strong competition for news audiences from National Public Radio affiliates WAMU-FM and WETA-FM, news-and-talk station WMAL-AM, C-SPAN radio and WTOP itself. Farley and Tina Gulland, The Post's director of radio and TV projects, said the stations will be the "long-form" version of WTOP's shorter news reports, with interviews, commentary and news provided by The Post's journalists. Several features heard on WTOP, such as "Ask the Governor" and Mark Plotkin's weekly politics program, will move to the Post stations. But Fratrik said it might take some time for audiences to figure out what the stations are offering. Post officials said the agreement could help cross-promote the newspaper and take advantage of its news-gathering resources. "This content-sharing relationship will enable us to put Washington Post journalism regularly on the radio in our circulation area," said Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor of The Post. "It will allow us to do creative things on the radio that you can't do in print." Under the agreement, Bonneville will pay The Post a license fee and the two companies will split ad revenues after an undisclosed sales level is reached. Sources said The Post came to terms with Bonneville after discussing similar deals with WETA and Clear Channel Corp., which operates eight stations in the Washington area. The collaboration comes as The Post and other newspapers battle declining circulation and growing consumer enthusiasm for new media. "It seems a pretty good move," Paul Ginocchio, a newspaper analyst at Deutsche Bank, said of the radio partnership. "I don't know that it will have a huge impact on the revenue stream, but it enhances the brand and reaches more people." Staff writer Steven Levingston contributed to this report (via Matt Francis, DC, Jim Moats, OH, Mike Cooper, GA, Ray T. Mahorney, DXLD) I'm glad that the classical music station did not get lost in this game of "musical chairs." (Tom McNiff, Burke, Virginia, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTOP RADIO MOVES FROM LONGTIME SIGNAL By Dan Caterinicchia, THE WASHINGTON TIMES [Moony], January 5, 2006 http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20060104-094641-6609r.htm Washington's all-news radio leader, WTOP, yesterday moved to 103.5 FM, the station broadcasting its parent company's strongest signal. Local listeners had long complained about spotty WTOP broadcasts on 1500 AM -- where it had broadcast for more than 60 years -- and 107.7 FM in certain areas downtown and throughout the Washington region. After trying unsuccessfully to buy a station with a stronger signal, WTOP parent Bonneville International Corp. decided to give its best performer its best signal, said Jim Farley, WTOP's vice president of news and programming. "It is a historic shift for people in Washington, but they followed us over to the little FM and they'll follow us to the bigger FM," Mr. Farley said. Bonneville's revamped local lineup now features classical music on WGMS on 103.9 FM and 104.1 FM. The Salt Lake City company ended the nearly two-year run of modern rocker Z104. "TOP has gotten so big that we wanted people to be able to hear it no matter where they are," said Joel Oxley, general manager of Bonneville Radio in Washington. Starting yesterday at noon, 103.5 FM and 820 AM became WTOP's permanent frequencies, but the station will be simulcast on its previous carriers until March 30 when Bonneville starts Washington Post Radio on 1500 AM and 107.7 FM. The three-month transition period will include a marketing blitz to educate listeners about the changes, Mr. Farley said. WTOP celebrates its 80th anniversary on the air this year. It was WJSV until 1943 when it became WTOP. 107.7 FM was added in 1998 when Bonneville bought WTOP. Z104's staff were among 35 persons Bonneville fired yesterday, Mr. Oxley said. He added that the company will hire 25 persons, including a program director who will report to Mr. Farley, for the new station. Shortly after noon yesterday, Z104's Web site showed a note reminding its former audience that modern music still could be heard on other stations: "Saying good-bye to Z-104 doesn't mean saying good-bye to music. Mix 107.3, DC 101 and Hot 99.5 all play modern music." "It makes sense to move TOP to the strong FM signal. That station is an institution around here," said Joe Howard, Washington bureau chief for Radio & Records Inc. "But it's always hard to see a station get shut down, always hard to see people lose their jobs." WGMS' classical offerings were a consistent ratings winner for Bonneville, and were buoyed when its competition, WETA 90.9 FM, dropped classical music in February to become a news and talk station. Mr. Oxley said Bonneville is negotiating with Major League Baseball to broadcast Washington Nationals games on Washington Post Radio. He previously said the company's goal was to carry all of the team's games on Z104 to continue last season's relationship. Chartese Burnett, a Nationals spokeswoman, would not comment Tuesday because no deal was in place for the upcoming season. She did not return numerous calls yesterday. Washington Post Radio will feature radio journalists interviewing the newspaper's staff about national, international and local news. WTOP's "Ask the" series, "The Politics Program With Mark Plotkin" and "Newsweek on Air" will be moving to the new station, Mr. Farley said. It will be a "long-form news station" built to compete with National Public Radio, Mr. Oxley said. NPR programming can be heard locally on two FM stations: WETA and WAMU 88.5. "This is a big deal. It's exciting, but there are a lot of questions," said Caryn Mathes, WAMU's general manager (via Tom McNiff, DXLD) BONNEVILLE/WASHINGTON BIDS FAREWELL TO Z104 STAFF Bonneville/Washington SVP Joel Oxley confirmed on the air this morning on Hot AC simulcast WWVZ & WWZZ (Z104) that the entire staff of Z104 had been fired, in the aftermath of Bonneville/Washington's station shakeup. On-air talent directly affected by the frequency changes at Bonneville/Washington include morning guy Mathew Blades, PD Sammy Simpson, APD/Music Director/PM Driver Sean Sellers, midday talent Jenny Chase and night-time personality J.V. In the final minutes of Z 104's Hot AC broadcast, the song selection included Jewel's "Foolish Games," Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and Michelle Branch's "Are You Happy Now." A few beats of Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You" provided an introduction for Oxley, who came on the air to announce the changes at Bonneville/Washington. He thanked the staff of Z 104 for their "tireless energy" and its listeners for "letting us into your lives." Oxley concluded, "Z 104 now takes its place among the great radio stations in Washington's history." In all, 35 Bonneville/Washington employees, including the staff of Z 104, the sales staff of WGMS and part-timers from both stations, were given pink slips this morning. Sources inside Bonneville/Washington report that "everyone who was terminated received severance and outplacement help." (Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006 radioandrecords.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Atlanta update: 610, WPLO, Grayson back on the air. IBOC now on 860 Atlanta (Brokered Religion) and 1100 Hapeville (Spanish Religion). 1100 is a daytimer. 860 and 1100 are co-owned and share a transmitter site and one of 860's two towers. 860 is DA night. Null towards Toronto (Brock Whaley, Lilburn, GA, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MY BLUE HEAVEN --- By MICHAEL STARR DAMN you, NBC. Or words to that effect are coming from a religious watchdog group that does not like what they've seen on an upcoming network series, "The Book of Daniel," which portrays an Episcopal priest as "drug-addicted" and shows him consulting with Jesus. Donald Wildmon, who runs the American Family Association, is urging his members to sign an online petition that will be sent to NBC chairman Bob Wright, demanding the network show "a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." . . . http://entertainment.myway.com/celebgossip/pgsixceleb/id/12_29_2005_1.html (via DXLD) TWO NBC AFFILIATES THROW BOOK AT 'DANIEL' http://channels.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?id=2006010504340002545042&dt=20060105043400&w=RTR&coview= LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two NBC affiliates in Arkansas and Indiana are turning the page on upcoming series "The Book of Daniel," which has been drawing criticism for its portrayal of Christianity. The series depicts an Episcopalian minister, played by Aidan Quinn, struggling with an addiction to Vicodin, among other problems in his diocese. Jesus is actually a character on the series, depicted in imagined conversations with the minister. Last month, the conservative American Familuy Assn. began calling on affiliates and advertisers to bail out of "Daniel." Many stations have been flooded with e-mails and calls from viewers objecting to the series. KARK-TV in Little Rock, Ark., and WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, Ind., announced Wednesday they would pre-empt "Daniel," when it premieres Friday at 9 p.m. Both are owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, KARK-TV declined to air "Daniel" citing "careful consideration" of viewer feedback. Little Rock's WB affiliate, KWBF-TV, will air "Daniel" instead. However, WTWO general manager Duane Lammers said he is not pre-empting "Daniel" due to its content but rather to protest what he views as the networks' strong-arm approach to affiliates, as well inconsistent federal oversight of indecent content. "This has nothing to do with the program and has nothing to do with the AFA," Lammers said. "I think the system is screwed up. I think the network thinks we are going to do whatever they tell us to do. I think the regulatory environment is flawed." The network stands by the series, according to Vivi Zigler, executive vp current programming at NBC Entertainment, who cautioned not to judge the series on the basis of promotions for the show. "People are reacting based on not having seen it," she said. "They're seeing the advertising, not seeing what the core of the show is." Jack Kenny, executive producer of "Daniel," dismissed claims that the series is anti-Christian. "We are not in any way satirizing Christianity or Jesus," he said. "It's done with love, honoring those things." But Lammers isn't taking exception with "Daniel." Rather, he is using the pre-emption to air multiple grievances with industry practice -- especially network-affiliate relations. "In the last few years, the networks have responded in a unilateral manner in their treatment of affiliates, whether it's about compensation, exclusivity or other issues," he said. "I am now reaffirming my right to treat them unilaterally." Lammers also decried what he sees as a double standard in the lack of content regulation regarding cable. "I'm saying the regulatory atmosphere is unfair," he said. "If this gives me a chance to talk about it, that's fair." WTWO is alone so far in its pre-emption of "Daniel," but other affiliates wrestled with the decision. "There's been an enormous amount of discussion about the show," said Steve Poulsen, vp marketing at KSL-TV, NBC's affiliate in Salt Lake City. "This one happens to have religious overtones to it and is causing a little stir. We determined on this one to let the viewers determine the success or failure of this show." KSL, which caters to a heavily Mormon viewership, has not been shy about joining the small group of stations that have pre-empted NBC programming in the recent past. Among the NBC series that have been yanked in recent years, include "Coupling," "God, the Devil and Bob," and "Stressed Eric." Lammers, who also serves as executive vp and chief operating officer of WTWO parent company Nexstar Broadcasting Group, is known for taking aggressive stands on behalf of his company. He pulled multiple Nexstar-owned stations off Cox Communications and Cable One cable systems for most of 2005 in order to negotiate cash for carriage -- an unprecedented arrangement. Both operators settled with Nexstar late last year. WTWO, which is the 150th-largest television market in the U.S., will air theatrical "Simon Birch" instead of back-to-back episodes of "Daniel." Reuters/Hollywood Reporter (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. MAKING TV NEWS SEEM MORE...NEWSY It's a tough job, making broadcasts filled with canned fluff and hours-old taped packages seem up-to-date. So, starting way back in the nineties, I chronicled the practice at NBC Nightly News of inserting the word "tonight" into the copy more than a dozen times per broadcast. My theory: it made the newscast seem more newsy. Now comes Marvin Block (hat tip: TV Newser), who deconstructs a recent Anderson Cooper script to find similar topical weaseling afoot. At this moment, this is what's going on, tonight (Harry Shearer, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-shearer/making-tv-news-seem-more_b_13337.html via DXLD) Viz.: AUTOPSY OF AN ANDERSON COOPER SCRIPT --- By Mervin Block Jan. 5, 2006 When a newscaster says an event is "happening right now," what does that mean? You guessed it: it depends on the meaning of happening and now, right? Happening right now is a happening phrase at CNN, and a newscast that uses the phrase happens to be "Anderson Cooper 360º." Cooper, the anchor, is quoted in CNN ads saying, "Find the facts, find the truth." So let's. . . http://www.mervinblock.com/cooper.html (via DXLD) ** U S A. TED KOPPEL AND OTHERS JOIN DISCOVERY By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Wed Jan 4, 5:35 PM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_en_tv/tv_koppel_discovery NEW YORK - Less than two months after leaving "Nightline," Ted Koppel agreed to a three-year deal Wednesday to make documentaries for the Discovery Channel, bringing nine of his former ABC News producers with him. Koppel agreed to do at least six programs a year for Discovery, and said he expected the first to come in late summer or fall. It was a coup for the basic cable network, prime-time home of "American Chopper" and many hours of programming on sharks, particularly given that Koppel and his executive producer, Tom Bettag, had been talking to HBO about a production deal. Koppel said it was a more comfortable fit at Discovery, given that HBO was essentially an entertainment network. Discovery also offered more immediate access to airtime if, for example, his team wanted to respond to a story like the West Virginia mining disaster by producing a special on mine safety, he said. "There is an enormous flexibility here and even more important, just tremendous enthusiasm for doing this sort of thing," he said. Koppel won't have a news organization behind him like at ABC, but Discovery chief Billy Campbell noted that Discovery Communications distributes BBC America and Koppel would have access to the BBC's material, if necessary. The longtime ABC News anchor left "Nightline" after 25 years in November. The late-night news show he originated has continued on ABC with three new anchors, dumping Koppel's single-topic format for a magazine approach. Bettag said Koppel's team plans to continue the old "Nightline" tradition of exploring topics — crime and punishment, race relations and international news — that have few outlets at other TV news organizations. With 250 shows a year at ABC, only about 5 percent were truly great, Koppel said. "Our challenge here at Discovery is to do nothing but the great shows," he said. "Will we succeed at that? I don't know. But that is our goal." Koppel said he didn't talk to CNN, Fox News Channel or MSNBC about a job because he couldn't see any of them — like the broadcast networks — agreeing to set aside a night of prime-time programming for a documentary and town hall-style meeting on a topic. The cable news networks seem preoccupied with "a desperate race to be first with the obvious," he said, and pay more attention to what is recent rather than what is important. CNN does some solid documentaries, "but they tend to bury them," said Koppel, whose daughter, Andrea, is a CNN correspondent. Discovery is available in more than 90 million of the nation's 110 million television homes. Campbell said when it became clear Discovery had a chance to land Koppel, "we pursued them as hard as we could." Financial terms were not disclosed. Koppel was appointed managing editor of Discovery, which he conceded was little more than a fancy title he had grown accustomed to while at ABC News. (via Lou Josephs` Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. Put this away for next summer if you happen to have Duluth MN via Es and are confused. Last fall, KBJR-6 took over operation of KDLH-3, firing most of the Ch-3 staff. As a result, you may see the NBC peacock at times on 3 and/or the CBS eye. Sometimes both are visible at the same time. KBJR-6 runs whatever local newscast is carried on 3, so the peacock may be visible, confusing one to think an NBC station is being received on 3. It hasn't seemed to work in reverse: No CBS eye on 6 has been noted (YET??). Since times are slow, I thought this is a good time to post this reminder (John Ebeling, Bloomington, MN, Jan 4, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Mine Survivor Moved to Pittsburgh (Jan 6, 2006) -- Randal McCloy Jr, KC8VKZ, the only miner to survive Monday's explosion at the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia, has been transferred to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for specialized treatment. He remains in critical condition. Hams may wish to send a note of support on a QSL card to Randal McCloy Jr, KC8VKZ, PO Box 223, Philippi, WV 26435 (ARRL via Bill Smith, W0WOI, DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. Hoy por hoy WDHP 1620 es la mejor señal que recibo por acá en la Banda X. Programación bastante festiva con música soca y algo de baladas reggae. Es común escuchar una cadena de instrumentales en su medianoche, 0400 UT. Con un cambio radical en su programación del domingo por la noche con música country, pero que hace Frankie Avalon en este segmento, que parece ser un programa pregrabado repetido por enésima vez (Raúl Saavedra, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, Jan 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Saludos cordiales, 1550 R. Nacional Saharaui, 2302- , escuchada en español a locutor con ID "Esta es la Radio Nacional Saharaui, la voz del pueblo Saharaui"; anuncia emitir por los 1550 de AM y 7470 de OC. Chequeo ésta frecuencia y no escucho nada, tampoco en 7460 ni en 7466; emitiendo música pop y reggae, SINPO 33332 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxld via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. VOP raided http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?id=559 BY LANCE GUMA Three journalists from an independent radio station, Voice of the People (VOP), who were arrested by police during a raid on their offices last week, have been told they will be charged under two separate but similar press laws. Maria Nyanyiwa, Kundai Mugwanda and Nyasha Bosha who are being held at Harare Central Police Station will face charges under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) for allegedly practising without accreditation. A further charge under the Broadcasting Act for allegedly operating an illegal radio station without a licence is set to be added to the case. The station has been operating in the country as a Communication Trust since its creation in 2000. According to Itayi Zimunya from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, the police are still looking for the station manager John Masuku, Chairperson David Masunda and Editor Shorai Kariwa. They have since told lawyers for the journalists that their clients will not be released until the radio station's directors hand themselves over. Five Central Intelligence operatives raided the stations offices in Beverly Court Building, Harare. After failing to find any broadcasting equipment, they confiscated computers, tapes and files before arresting the three journalists present. They also asked for John Masuku, the station manager who was away at the time. It`s reported they produced a search warrant which according to witnesses stated that the CIO had reason to believe Masuku was in possession of subversive materials and that the warrant empowered them to search the offices. Government recently started jamming the shortwave transmissions of the station, which broadcasts in the country via a Radio Netherlands transmitter in Madagascar. This happened soon after SWRA switched to medium wave following persistent jamming of its own signal. In August 2002, VOP's offices in Milton Park were destroyed by a bomb blast. The blast also completely destroyed their production facilities. This took place soon after threats by government officials on the operations of private radio stations in and outside the country. - SW Radio Africa Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests. "Robert Mugabe's government is cracking down harder on dissenting news media and, in the face of an economic and political crisis, is behaving in an increasingly despotic manner," the press freedom organisation said (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 2280, 0130z 1/1/06, LA music without any IDs or announcements. The audio was somewhat restricted and distorted, although it was very listenable; nothing like some of Cairo's transmitters. Signal: 25333. About 0200z into open carrier which was there beyond 0600z. BCB harmonic? (2 x 1140 or 3 x 760 maybe?) Heard on both the FRG7700 and the SX99 on the 120m dipole (Steven Zimmerman, Golconda, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BDXC WEB SITE UPDATES Several of the reference pages have recently been updated on the British DX Club web site including: AFRICA LISTS, compiled by Tony Rogers, in both Country and frequency order. Now in pdf format for easier downloading and printing. DX PROGRAMME GUIDE - updated with details of the new AWR Wavescan DX programme. UK RADIO MUSEUMS - updated with new entries for the Marconi hut in Essex and the new Museum of Communications in Fife. The above are available on Articles index at http://www.bdxc.org.uk On the main Home page we have also updated the DX DIARY page to include the main meteor shower dates for 2006 (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ADVENTURES IN AMPLITUDE MODULATION "Shudder with amazement as The Professor schools ... on the finer points of surfing the AM band and picking up shortwave signals. Read about his DX-ing adventures in three parts": 1 | 2 | 3 http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/12/adventures_in_a.html (via Russ Johnson Lexington NC, IRCA via DXLD) This blog has some interesting stuff; unfortunately some of his logs are bad guesses; e.g. he thinks CFCF is still on 600 and CBF on 690 (gh, DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Re 6-004: Glenn, Unesco's study can be downloaded for free from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001421/142186e.pdf French version at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001421/142186f.pdf Found another link with a search from Unesco Web site main page but it didn't match (server non found). The above worked nicely. 73s (Andy Lawendel, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ NEW USPS INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE RATES Glenn: I'm behind in reading a few issues of your great DXLD newsletter, so in case no one else has sent this in, here is information on the new postal rates. As of January 8, 2006 the USPS has five country groups for international airmail, and the rates vary by country / group. This may not seem like much to a casual mailer, but if a regular SWL or Ham does a lot of mailing the listener could end up paying too much over a year for postage. Here are the rates by "Group": Group 1 and 2 = 63 cents for the first ounce, 90 cents for 2 ounces Group 3 = 84 cents for the first ounce, $1.70 for two ounces Group 4 = 84 cents for the first ounce, $1.80 for two ounces Group 5 = 84 cents for the first ounce, $1.65 for two ounces Here is a direct link to the "Country Rate Group List" to determine which group the country to which you are mailing is located: http://www.usps.com/ratecase/html_rates/CountryRateGroupList.htm Here is a direct link to all International Rates, but the international airmail rates are found about half way down this page. The table is titled "AIRMAIL LETTER-POST" : http://www.usps.com/ratecase/html_rates/International.htm Aerogrammes to all countries / groups will cost 75 cents. (All links were tested and working as of 1/5/06 at 1530 UT) (Lee Silvi, Mentor, Ohio, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ 2006 PREDICTIONS? 2006 is upon us. Anyone care to make predictions on what we will see in the coming year in broadcast media? Topics can be these and more: 1. DX With AM iBOC, FM iBOC, switching power supplies feeding our powerlines, and more Part-15 noncompliant devices spewing buzzing, hash, humming, heterodynes, etc all over the spectrum, it will keep getting harder. And radio manufacturers are making radios that are not as selective and sensitive anymore. FM iBOC destroys your ability to DX an adjacent channel for meteor pings, Es and tropo-ducting reception, and more and more FMs are going iBOC. Daytime AM DXing is harder now with iBOC, but if iBOC AM ever goes nighttime, look out. It is already harder to DX at night because of AM iBOC stations because they leave the brick-wall narrow-bandwidth in place at night, which causes those "creaky" or "chirpy" sidebands that interfere with other adjacent stations worse than regular NRSC-curve stations. Also, iBOC stations have lower hybrid-mode analog modulation than a regular analog stereo AM station, but they keep their modulation like that at night when they shut off the iBOC, making signal harder to hear at a distance at night when DXing them. So all-in-all, DXing will only get harder in the U.S. through 2006. Oh, and more and more car manufacturers are moving toward short-stubby or hidden antennas, so less reception in the car. It will get EASIER to DX AM and harder to DX FM if you live in Canada, as they mindlessly shut off AM stations altogether in favor of lower- coverage FM allotments. 2. HD Radio Unless AMs and FMs offer EXACTLY the SAME mix of programming as each other, HD will fail miserably. AM HD will not take off SOLELY because people want to hear the High Def stereo sound, and talk will not cut it to utilize the technology. 50 kW AM stations should be offering music with their HD service, not the same talk. FM does not see as much of a remarkable difference between analog and digital, and people are getting fed up with the lousy programming on FM, too. So, unless the PROGRAMMING changes at the same time an AM or FM station switches on iBOC, it will NOT be something the average consumer will want to go out and spend hundreds of dollars for a receiver to hear. I will NOT buy an HD radio to hear an AM "news-talk" station all day, but WOULD DEFINITELY buy one to hear a 50 kW AM full-service soft-rock or classic rock music station. And where I live, good luck for FM iBOC with the mountains blocking L.A.'s stations from clear reception- iBOC won't work well with tropo- scatter reception. So HD is dead right out of the box. We should have invested in a better, more stable, non-interfering digital system here in the U.S. or just left the perfectly-viable stereo analog modulation solutions in place. 3. Terrestrial radio Despite what is happening to the strength of this industry (slumping), broadcasters will continue taking the same tired paths: AM stations will continue to yank music and stereo to cram boring syndicated talk on the band, and FMs will keep moving toward pre-packaged DJ-less airplay lists with butchered shortened tracks (overcompressed in low bitrate on a harddrive in a back room somewhere). People will tune out and move to satellite because of this (better sound, better selection, better programming). Listeners simply don't care if some stations stick an HD exciter on... same crappy programming in digital? Who cares? Terrestrial radio is now CTD (circling the drain), and will begin its big decline this year because of broadcaster's years of cumulative bad decisions finally biting them in the B-hind. 4. Satellite radio and TV This will be where media will see huge growth. People want something new and are willing to pay for it. If people are willing to pay to watch TV on their cellphones, they'll fork out ten bucks a month for premium radio and more for a bunch of exclusive TV channels, too. 5. Corporations and the radio business Stocks will keep drooping here. But they are waking up now to the fact that... nobody really is tuning in anymore (surprise?). Because of #3 and defections of radio personalties to satellite, where less impact of censorship is seen, and where there is a real effort to make good programming (with no commercials, too), satellite will be where the growth is, and the corporations that are associated with satellite- based entertainment will be the winners. 6. FCC Ha! Really expect any change with these guys? They'll do less this year than last --- too busy meddling with the first amendment while letting interference-causing technology slip by unnoticed. 7. Personalities ...will be leaving terrestrial over-the-air TV and Radio in favor of satellite or pay-TV delivery services. TV will begin taking on what radio is doing now - separating over-the-air programming and selection from cable and satellite. Look at Monday Night Football. 8. Will this be the last year for AM stereo? Not unless I die or my 890 LP goes off the air. But since KABC 790 and KFOX 1650 are the last bona-fide analog stereos in L.A. and ABC is pushing iBOC hard, probably KFOX 1650 will be the last licensed AMS in L.A by the end of the year. I still enjoy KJUG 1270 classic country in AMS on my drives between Atascadero and Monterey. Hey... 2006 was supposed to be the last year of LF beacon operation in favor of pure satellite-based aeronautical navigation (and LORAN 100 kHz going away in 2010)... but only a couple beacons have disappeared here in the past 5 years, while some new ones have actually come on, both in the US and Canada (Darwin Long, CA, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DIPLEXING Re 6-004: Glenn, Well, the diplexing item caught my attention, particularly since some of those mentioned were designed in our office. I am not sure about the closest spaced DA, but for non-DA I think the winner is the 1290/1340/1490 triplexed slant wire fed non-DA in Santa Barbara. 3.73% for the 1290/1340 pair. Closest spaced high power DA I know of (if it has been rebuilt after a tower failure) is the 630/729 pair of 200 kW's (13.5%) in Dong Hoi, North Vietnam, constructed by Harris and designed and commissioned by Ron Rackley and me. (2 towers) Highest powered diplexed array I know of is Flevoland, which was designed for a 600 kW pair but as far as I know never regularly operated above 400 kW, 747/1008, 2 towers, designed and commissioned by Peter Bruger and Bernd Waniewski. If you are an AM antenna junkie and have never looked at Bernd's website, it's pretty cool! http://www.waniewski.de/id208.htm I'll do a little survey and see if I can come up with for tight spacing contenders (Ben Dawson, WA, Hatfield & Dawson, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CAR-TO-CAR FM RECEPTION I had an interesting bit of reception Wednesday morning on the way home from work. I was in a hurry, so I hopped on I-57 at Rantoul. I got up to highway speed at 68 MPH, and settled in with a pack of cars travelling at that relatively sedate speed (the Illinois State Police usually doesn't ticket unless you're going at least 70). So anyway, I settled in for the ten mile drive, and tuned the radio looking for anything of note. I found it right away on 88.5, with a couple of network type commercials, into the morning report from the Wall Street Journal. OK, right off that caught my attention. Reception was strong, and in stereo, and it had that sound small market stations have when they pull network shows off the bird. I stayed tuned in, mightily curious about who was doing commercial broadcasting in the non-comm band. Towards Paxton, I started slowing up to exit. Then the station started fading out, slowly at first, then quite rapidly as I neared the exit, with one final gasp of an ID "This is XM-DR channel 53", if I remember it right. Yes, the white SUV several car lengths ahead was putting out a strong FM signal for some hundreds of feet around. I've had reception before that I suspected was car-to-car, but this is the first one I can actually confirm (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, WTFDA via DXLD) IRIS STATIONS Dear Glenn: Have you ever picked up an "Iris Station"? If any of your listeners of Continent Of Media or World Of Radio are into numbers stations, you might want to pass this Web address along to them. http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/2_0_62_1.asp?FlashEnabled=1&uS ubSection=62&uSection=5 (Paul Armani, Denver CO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not to my knowledge; but I`m not set up to identify frequency-hopping transmissions; or spread- spectrum. I don`t see what IRIS stands for (gh, DXLD) TV REPAIRMAN KEEPS UP WITH THE TIMES By Tom Bell, Portland Press Herald | January 1, 2006 http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/01/01/tv_repairman_keeps_up_with_the_times?mode=PF PORTLAND, Maine --When Dick Waterhouse started repairing televisions 47 years ago, the old tube sets were encased in wood consoles and built to last. Not any more. "This really is a cheap set," he said, holding up a circuit board from a recent-model Philips. "See all the parts that are missing. It's ridiculous." With some new models today selling for less than $100, many old ones aren't worth fixing, he said. And technology is moving so fast that a three-year-old set is already obsolete. "It's a losing battle," he said, sounding the lament of the TV repairman, a profession quickly going by the wayside in America. In 1985, there were roughly 48,000 TV repairmen in the nation, according to the Professional Service Association. Today, there are fewer than 8,000. The Dick Waterhouse TV Center on Washington Avenue in Portland continues to prosper, in part because many of his competitors have gone out of business. Waterhouse's Maine customers now come from as far away as Saco and China. Waterhouse, 72, is a model of steadiness and permanence in today's throwaway consumer society. He has worked in the same building for 37 years and has been married to the same woman, Janice, for 45 years. They've owned only one house. On Monday, he was chatting with his friend George Tinkham, 73. The two worked together in the 1940s in the Maine General Hospital kitchen. "I like things to last a long time," Waterhouse said. He still raves about RCA's 1958 model, a color set with a 21-inch round tube, and Curtis Mathes, which produced color sets in the 1960s that were the Cadillacs of the industry. At home, Waterhouse has a five-year-old 36-inch flat-screen Toshiba. If he were to buy a TV today, he said, he would get one with liquid crystal display technology. The LCD sets are those expensive, flat- panel models that hang on a wall or tripod. He said they should last a long time. Waterhouse said he can fix any set as long as he has its schematic diagrams, which can be ordered for most TVs. Technology is changing so quickly that he doesn't keep many on file. He has two file cabinets full of schematics that he will never use. At his shop Monday, Ted Asherman of Falmouth came by to pick up a 36- inch flat-screen Sony that cost nearly $900 two years ago. The set had stopped working after lightning hit the house. Asherman said another repairman told him the set could never be fixed, but Waterhouse got it working for $180. "I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, and that was the only alternative," Asherman said. "But Dick Waterhouse is the guy who can do it." Tinkham, who visits Waterhouse every day at his shop, said his friend would make more money if he weren't so honest. "He won't waste people's money on it if it ain't worth fixing," Tinkham said. Waterhouse grew up in South Portland, where he lives today. In the 1950s he worked as a welder at the South Portland shipyard, but the work wasn't steady enough. He got started fixing televisions when a South Portland TV repairman agreed to teach him the trade if he carried the sets for him. Waterhouse figures he has a couple of years before he retires. He wants to sell his business and is willing to work a year with the new owner to teach him or her the trade. "It would be very hard to give it up," he said of his shop. "I've been doing it so long. Some day I will have to, but not right away, I hope. I'd like to teach someone the business and teach them how to make a dollar." (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LONGWAVE, EUROPE TO ALBERTA The good conditions for Longwave TA's from Europe continues. Virtually every station I've been hearing the past 2 nights was in again, with audio on 153, 162, 171, 177, 189, 198, 207, 225, and 279. Just a few carriers on medium wave with 1314 producing faint audio. Only one additional station heard tonight, not new, but I haven't heard it since February 2001 and back then it was ID'ing as Atlantic 252. 252, Ireland, Clarkestown, 0251 01/06 with light classical music. Followed by a male voice speaking English. In spite of it being a S-6 level signal, it was quite difficult to understand everything that was being said due to the low modulation level used. No ID at TOH, but right in to news read by a woman. At TOH + 2 minutes I heard "This is Radio 1 in ?? and Belfast" Good signal at times (Mike in St Isidore AB Stonebridge, with AOR 7030, Quantum Phaser, EWE's of 120 & 100', longwires of 750 & 300' and a 30' vertical, Jan 5, IRCA via DXLD) ###