DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-024, February 5, 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 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 SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1303: Sun 2229 on WRMI 7385 Mon 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0515 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 0030 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 1030 on WWCR 9985 Full schedule, including AM, FM, satellite and internet, 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 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml ** ARGENTINA. 6214, Radio Armonía, 0018-0107 Jan 30, Spanish language vocals program with a man announcer with Spanish talk segments. ID at 0100 followed by talk, another ID and some more music. Poor (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340 and a Drake R-8B, 500-foot wire essential north and a 200-foot wire essentially southwest, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345, Radio Nacional, 2230-2303, 04-02. Identificación: "La mejor audiencia, Radio Nacional, si pensás en música, pensás en Nacional". A las 2231, todos los sabádos Radio Nacional tiene un programa dedicado al Islam: "Aquí comienza Simplemente Islam, el programa del centro islámico de Buenos Aires, media hora de un viaje apasionante por el Islam". A las 2300: "Aquí finaliza simplemente Islam". "Argentina se informa por Nacional, la señal horaria indicó las 20 horas en todo el país, 26 grados en Buenos Aires". 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. VETERAN ABC BROADCASTER KEITH GLOVER PASSED AWAY yesterday, Friday Feb 3. In his long career with the ABC, Keith distinguished himself as a broadcaster, and particularly as a Radio Australia presenter. His career began with ABC in Queensland in 1947. Upon moving to Melbourne Keith worked with Radio Australia for many years, broadcasting from studios in the old 'cottage' at the rear of Broadcast House, the 'biscuit factory' in Lonsdale Street, and finally from the new RA complex at East Burwood. He was a consummate communicator and as presenter of Radio Australia's 'Listeners' Mailbag' became an 'interactive' broadcaster well before the term was popularised. He received a number of awards for international broadcasting. Keith's voice was also well known on 'home service' radio, presenting a wide range of programs including news bulletins, sporting panels, Anzac Day marches, and Royal Tours. Keith was seen regularly on ABV Channel 2 and presented a ballroom dancing program for a number of years. In the latter stages of his career Keith moved into management, working as Supervisor of RA's English Language programming and finally as Supervisor of Radio Presentation in Victoria. Keith retired from the ABC in 1985 (Harold - aus.radio.broadcast - 4 February 2006 via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) I have not been able to find any other reports of this yet. I remember him presenting 'Listeners' Mailbag' which was a very interesting programme (Mike Terry, UK, ibid.) Yes, his warm voice made many friends for Australia; we remember him fondly from our earliest SWLing days in the late 50s/early 60s (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Andy Sennitt adds: Although I never met Keith personally, my boss Jens Frost took a trip Down Under while I was working for the World Radio TV Handbook, and on his return he spoke very warmly of Keith. He was a good friend to shortwave listeners around the world, and helped to give Radio Australia its special, informal style. Of course, in those days, Radio Australia was still a worldwide broadcaster rather than the regional broadcaster it is now. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4657/259/1600/KGlover.jpg # posted by Andy @ 12:23 UTC Feb 5 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 9710, Strongest channel of RA in 31 mb at 0830 UT via long path Galápagos, Colombia, and Azores Atlantic Ocean, also S=8 on \\ 9580 and 9590 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11880, ABC via RA, Feb 4, 1732-1804, recorded 1993 interview with David Frost, ID: ABC Radio National, ToH: ABC News. Back to being a RA relay of ABC? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DXLD yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. UK, 9790, VRT Brussels via Skelton in Dutch to pensioners in southern Europe and Canary Islands, S=9 at 0835 UT (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Logos 6165 kHz --- Si no se ha podido captar todavía esta emisora boliviana, paciencia. Usa un tipo de antena - "lazy H" creo que la llaman - por la que se pretende impedir que la señal se propague más allá de la zona aledaña a la antena. La usaban también Radio Interoceánica, en 4840, y Radio Buen Pastor, en 4815, ambas evangélicas y del Ecuador. Me encontraba en el Ecuador cuando salió al aire Interoceánica y me costó mucho captarla en Quito y en Ambato. Años más tarde, la antena sufrió un desperfecto a resultado del cual pudo ser captada fuera de las fronteras del país (por ejemplo en Colombia). Con la Buen Pastor, pasó más o menos lo mismo, es decir muy difícil al comienzo, luego fácil, cuando cambiaron adrede el tipo de antena (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Feb 5, condig list via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. Radio Free Bougainville is not on the air (Sam Voron, Australia, Jihad DX Jan 11 via Feb NASWA LN via DXLD) ** CANADA. AN OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER February 1, 2006 Press Release For immediate release, Toronto: Dear Mr. Harper, Star Ray TV is an independent community television station in Toronto. Since 1997 we have been attempting to license the station through the CRTC. From then to now the CRTC has been using various bureaucratic devices to keep Star Ray's local programming off the air. Apparently we are perceived as a great threat to the elites that run broadcasting in Canada. CRTC actions in regards to Star Ray in this past year could best be described as shameless bald-faced fraud. These actions include manufacturing a complaint using a fictitious person, taking almost one year to answer correspondence, inventing a regulation to conveniently delay Star Ray's third application to the CRTC for a year, violating privacy rights, in sum denying Star Ray TV the due process of a hearing. Mr. Harper, the people of Canada elected you because they are tired of government corruption. The people want accountability restored in Ottawa. The CRTC's dealings with Star Ray TV clearly show a pattern of criminal fraudulent behavior. It is time that the CRTC be held accountable for what they have done to Star Ray TV and other new entrants into Canadian television broadcasting. We are not activists here in Toronto; we just want to run a local TV station. We can not begin to tell you how many countless hours we have wasted fighting the CRTC. We could have used this time productively informing and entertaining our neighbours. We are quite offended by the fact that a handful of corporations own 95% of all the television stations in this great country of ours. This cartel did not come about by accident. The CRTC has persistently shut out any new innovative applicants that would threaten this elite's monopoly in broadcasting. Mr. Harper, you give us hope that things will change. The CRTC must be disbanded. The CRTC has been using its so called "arm's length" status as a shield to prevent any accountably for its actions. It is time these arrogant, self -serving bureaucrats found themselves out of a job and prosecuted for their criminal actions. We cannot call ourselves a democracy when we have a corrupt, incompetent body like the CRTC micro-managing broadcasting and access to the airwaves. Freedom of speech should include equal access to broadcasting frequencies for everyone, not just for rich corporate insiders. Help us become legitimate broadcasters. More commentary on this issue can be found at TOchat.tv Star Ray TV's forum under the topic "The CRTC and Star Ray TV: Questions and Answers." Sincerely, Jan Pachul, General Manager, Star Ray TV --- For more information, please contact Jan Pachul directly at (416) 693-7400, email srtv @ srtv.ca, or visit the Star Ray web site at http://srtv.ca (via DXLD) ** CHINA. Re 6-023, UNIDENTIFIED, 9890/11810: But Nagoya DXCircle website shows: CNR-8 Kazakh 0100-0157 15670, 11810, 15390, 11630, 9890, 9455, 1143 0500-0557 15415, 11780, 15390, 13700, 12055, 11630, 1143 (9470, 7340 XJ) 0900-0957 15415, 11780, 15390, 13700, 12055, 11630, 1143 1400-1457 7120, 9890, 9645, 9630, 9420, 6180, 1143 (4330, 6015 XJ) Uighur 0000-0057 15670, 11810, 11630, 9890, 9655 9455 1143 (4980, 3990, 7195, 6120 XJ) 0600-0657 15415= 11780= 15390+ 13700+ 12055+ 11630+ 1143 (13670 11885 9560 7275 XJ) 1100-1157 11720, 9690, 12055, 11630, 9890, 9420, 1143 1500-1557 7120 9890 9645 9630 9420 6145 1143 (4980 3990 7195 6120 XJ) 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6065, China Business Radio/CNR-2, Feb 4; // 6155 // 7140 // 7245; at 1328 into the segment of the ``English Evening`` program called ``Studio Classroom Online`` hosted by Vickie and Steve (produced in Taiwan, audio online at http://studioclassroom.com/sc/sc_radio.php about ``Alicia Keys, Musical Prodigy,`` also with Ken and Rachael`s ``English Chat Room.`` Fair, 6065 & 6155 are consistently the best (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DXLD yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Re: 4940, Voice of Strait (presumed), Dec 3 (Sat.), 1408- 1534, programming in Chinese. Was looking for their show in English, "Focus on China," which is scheduled from 1430-1500, on Sat. & Sun., but it was not on. Greetings from California, I have continued to check for their "Focus on China" program but is still absent during the weekends, at their usual time (1430-1500 UT). Their web site lists frequencies of 6115, 7280 and 11590. I have checked some possible frequencies but so far have not heard their program in English. Last heard in March 2005. (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to the schedule at ttp://www.vos.com.cn/enroot/service/schedule.htm it should be on at 1430, but aren't all the times on the page local time? Then the time to check would be 0630 UT; at that time 4940 kHz is inaudible here in Finland (Mauno Ritola, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last year I often had decent reception of the "VOS" on Sat. and Sun., at 1430-1500 UT, on 4940 kHz and even received an e-mail from Jacqueline (Ms. Diao), thanking me for listening to Gary and her on their "Focus on China" program. Unfortunately her e-mail address is no longer active or I would ask her what happened to their show. Will have to keep checking. With the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), many people in the PRC had last week off, so maybe next weekend would be a good time to check (Ron Howard, ibid.) I asked her and she replied last Tuesday: "Last weekend is our Chinese Spring Festival, the most important festival in China, so we all had our holiday, but now we are back, so "Focus on China" will be go on broadcasting this week, Thank you!" I checked 4940 kHz both Saturday and today at 1430, but only Chinese was broadcast (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. 6139.8, Radio Líder, 2244-2303, 04-02, canciones en español, identificación: Radio Líder", "Las canciones de Colombia y el mundo escuchélas en Radio Líder, 730 AM". A las 2300 identificación completa: "Radio Líder, 730 AM... otra pontente emisora de la Cadena Melodía de Colombia". 23322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. 5985, (Republic), Radio Congo, 1954-2003 Jan 30, vocals in the clear with woman announcer giving ID in French and some talk prior to opening of Family radio at 2000. Poor to fair, but clear, until WYFR sign on (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340 and a Drake R-8B, 500-foot wire essential north and a 200-foot wire essentially southwest, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.6, 0945-0959, 05-02, Faro del Caribe, comentarios religiosos, música, identificación: "5055 y 9645 kHz. Faro del Caribe, en el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL: 5054.6, TIFC, Faro del Caribe, 2-sided, partial data (date and time) "TIFC-Lighthouse of the Caribbean" card, window decal and personal letter stating that I can listen to 1080AM by internet at http://www.farodelcaribe.org which is what I heard via SW. V/S, Lic. Ronald Ortiz R., Administrative Mgr. This in 42 days for $1 and an English report (Scott Barbour, NH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 9600, RHC with ID at 0130 UT, Spanish strong level S=9 +20 dB. (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) XEYU, beware! ** CUBA. PROBLEMAS GRAVES CON LA TRANSMISIÓN DE "EN CONTACTO" De nuevo se repetió el mismo problema de la semana pasada en Radio Habana Cuba, durante la transmisión del programa En Contacto. El dia de hoy los colegas Malena y Manolo comentaron lo sucedido el sabado pasado cuando iban a presentar una colaboración de REE sobre Radio Huaya "la voz de los campesinos", el cual se debió según los colegas a un problema del transfer del cd a la pc. Los colegas decidieron repetir esa colaboración esta semana nuevamente y ha pasado lo mismo, cuando lo colocaron solo salió al aire ruidos como chasquidos y golpeteos. Lo que me extraña de todo esto es que el encargado de hacer el montaje no se haya dado cuenta por segunda vez de este detalle, aparte de todo esto cuando terminó lo que era la colaboración de REE y Manolo y Malena despedían el programa, sus voces desaparecieron por varios segundos y se volvieron a escuchar los mismos ruidos y como cosa curiosa creo que el programa duró hoy menos tiempo. Ojalá los colegas de Radio Habana Cuba puedan solucionar este problema. Creo que el programa no debería repetirse en horas de la tarde con este grave error. Atte: (José Elías, venezuela, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. CUBAN JOURNALIST ON HUNGER STRIKE TO DEMAND UNRESTRICTED INTERNET ACCESS Reporters Without Borders has voiced its support for Guillermo Fariñas, the editor of the Cubanacán Press independent news agency, who has consumed no water or food since midday on 31 January and has told President Fidel Castro in an open letter he will pursue his hunger strike "to the death" if he and his fellow journalists are not allowed the Internet access they need for their work. Fariñas told Reporters Without Borders: "I want all Cuban citizens to have the right to an Internet connection, but also for the independent press to be able to report on the government’s activities, and if I must be a martyr for Internet access, so be it." In his open letter, he points out that the overwhelming majority of Cubans have no Internet access. Expressing its solidarity with Fariñas, Reporters Without Borders said: "The authorities use the US embargo as a pretext for a repressive policy towards the Internet. The chief reason for keeping citizens away from the Internet is to prevent them from being well- informed." Until 23 January, the journalists working for Cubanacán Press were able to send their dispatches from a public Internet access centre in the central city of Santa Clara, but since then they have been prevented. Cubanacán Press concentrates on covering human rights violations in Cuba and on reflecting viewpoints that are excluded from the official media. During the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in November, a Cuban government representative claimed that all Cubans would have unrestricted access to the Internet if the US embargo were lifted. Fariñas insists that this is a lie. Cuba is on the list of 15 Internet enemies that Reporters Without Borders drew up for the WSIS. It is one of the world’s most repressive countries as regards online free expression. Internet access is a privilege to which very few have a right and which needs express authorisation from the ruling Communist Party. Even if one manages to connect, often illegally, one only gets access to a highly-censored Internet. More information on the Internet in Cuba http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10611&Valider=OK # posted by Andy @ 11:47 UT Feb 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Contrary to info recently published here, that R. República on 6135/7205/7110 (and ex-6010 ex-5965 before 7205) is via Rampisham, UK, ILG lists this as Woofferton with a 282 degree antenna, altho no such antenna, or any beyond 182 degrees, shows up in HFCC listings for any other Woofferton transmission, to our knowledge. ILG also knows somehow that the Cuban jammers are running 50 kW non- direxional, apparently only one on each frequency, and only from a Habana site, all of which is also hard to believe (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos Julián, a las 0000 UT del 05-02-2006 continúa el jamming en la frecuencia 6010 kHz. Ya no se escucha a Radio República en esta frecuencia (José Bueno, Spain, condig list via DXLD) Ha dejado de emitir Radio República en los 6010 kHz; sin embargo el jamming cubano aún persiste por lo que está bloqueando a Radio Mil. Ojalá que los buenos amigos cubanos se den cuenta de esta situación cuanto antes y suspendan el mencionado jamming. Saludos, (Julian Santiago, 0018 UT Feb 5, ibid.) ** CUBA [non]. RADIO Y TV MARTÍ BUSCAN MEJORAR SEÑAL A CUBA CON NUEVO AVIÓN: Miami, 3 feb (EFE).- Con el propósito de mejorar las transmisiones de Radio y Televisión Martí a Cuba, hasta ahora limitadas por las interferencias de La Habana, un nuevo avión del gobierno de Estados Unidos iniciará vuelos en los próximos meses. "Es algo sumamente importante no sólo para nosotros en Radio y Televisión Martí, sino para el pueblo de Cuba, ya que va a ayudar a que la señal llegue más fácilmente y a muchas más personas", dijo a EFE Alberto Mascaró, jefe de personal de las estaciones. Las emisoras, creadas por el gobierno de EEUU para transmitir información a Cuba, hasta ahora han utilizado un satélite de la empresa mixta española Hispasat y un avión militar Commando Solo C-130 para emitir la señal a la isla, según el directivo, que no especificó detalles de la nueva aeronave. El funcionario señaló que la iniciativa, que forma parte de las recomendaciones que hizo en su informe la Comisión de Asistencia para una Cuba Libre al presidente de EEUU, George W. Bush, en el 2004, busca dar un nuevo impulso a las transmisiones a la isla. "Entre las recomendaciones que se hizo estaba esta iniciativa de tener una plataforma aérea que permitiera transmitir Radio y TV Martí con un avión, lo que básicamente es la nueva generación de las transmisiones aéreas", dijo Mascaró acerca de los vuelos que se iniciarán entre mayo y junio. En reiteradas ocasiones, Cuba ha acusado al gobierno de Estados Unidos de "agresión radioelectrónica" contra la isla por las emisiones de Radio y Televisión Martí que aseguran interfieren con las señales de los canales de la isla. El directivo, de origen cubano, se mostró optimista por lo que considera podría contribuir de alguna manera a una futura transición en Cuba. "Es una oportunidad para que la gente en Cuba tenga una ventana de información que hoy en día no les llega. Y todo es posible. No podemos decir que nosotros vamos a ser los responsables de una transición en Cuba, pero todo es posible. Cuando empiezas a poner un granito y otro granito, de pronto se llena el vaso", añadió. "La Oficina del Jefe", una parodia en la que el actor Armando Roblán interpreta al gobernante de Cuba, Fidel Castro, así como noticieros y diversos programas de análisis político, deporte y entretenimiento, son parte de la programación de ambas estaciones. De acuerdo con el funcionario, pese a que no tienen cifras exactas sobre el número de hogares que reciben la señal, la información que reciben de Cuba indica que las transmisiones llegan a "amplias" zonas de Pinar del Río, La Habana, Matanzas y Cienfuegos. El Congreso de Estados Unidos aprobó en 2005 fondos por más de 27 millones de dólares para cubrir los costos de funcionamiento de ambas estaciones, y 10 millones de dólares adicionales para el nuevo avión. Para la congresista cubano-estadounidense Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, los nuevos fondos destinados a Televisión y Radio Martí representan un esfuerzo de EEUU por contrarrestar el "puño de hierro" que controla la prensa en Cuba y aumentar las "transmisiones de democracia" a la isla. "Los nuevos fondos para Radio y TV Martí, combinados con el mandato adicional y los fondos para el avión, ayudarán a mejorar y expandir la capacidad de las transmisiones a Cuba, para que lleguen a todos los lugares en la isla y calmen la sed del pueblo cubano por información no censurada", dijo a EFE Ros-Lehtinen. Luis Zúñiga, director ejecutivo del Consejo por la Libertad de Cuba, con sede en Miami, destacó la importancia de los futuros vuelos para mejorar la señal, ya que considera es la "única opción" que tienen los cubanos para mantenerse informados sobre lo que acontece "tanto dentro como fuera del país". "El gobierno tiene una prensa estatal censurada donde informan al pueblo de sólo lo que ellos creen que debe conocer sobre lo que está pasando, y de la forma en que debe conocerlo", dijo el directivo de la organización del exilio cubano. "Indiscutiblemente, la persona que está más informada está más educada y preparada para la libertad", añadió. EFE Fuente: http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/12mia/6362039.html;jsessionid=IPQFLALGVTX2MCWIAA4CFFQKZAAGAIWC (Via: Dino Bloise, FLORIDA, EEUU, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5010, (Presumed), R. Cristal, 2306-2319, Feb.3, Spanish, Lite Spanish music with brief announcer at 2313. Weak/poor with summer-like static crashes. No ID noted (Scott Barbour, NH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3279.6, La Voz del Napo, Tena, 0502-0620, 05-02. Muy buenas condiciones en los últimos días para escuchar esta emisora, y en general toda la banda de 90 metros. Locutor y locutora, comentarios religioso: "Alabemos al Espítitu Santo". Lectura del Rosario. Identificación: "O horas 47 minutos, Radio María". "Somos Radio María, acompáñenos acercándonos a Dios". 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [and non]. Re Björn Malm memorial site: On January 27, 2006, I talked to Susana Garcés de Malm. She was pleased to learn that measures had been taken to preserve Björn's site on the Internet. She also sends her greetings to Björn's many friends all over the world. Med ovanstående kan vi nog anse att Susana har gett oss tillstånd att fritt använda Björns material. Det hade ju varit synnerligen tragiskt om allt hade försvunnit (Christer Brunström, SW Bulletin Feb 5 via DXLD) ** EGYPT. 7270, Radio Cairo in Spanish noted at 0120 UT via new 500 kW unit 330 degrees, which has been erected last year. Surprisingly nice audio, playing CeAM Marimba music to Lupita listener. 55555, registered 0045-0330 UT (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Pirate, 6285, Laser Hot Hits, 0320 Feb 5, Heard here in TN with fair reception. Oldies with lots of IDs, phone number, address etc. Nice clear peaks, but also deep fades. Very weak when I checked again a couple of hours later (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Quite good reception from the Finnish private station Scandinavian Weekend Radio on 11720 kHz at the moment. I've been listening since just after 1400 and although weak, the frequency is clear of any interference. Programming is currently in English (Dave Kenny, Caversham Berks AOR7030 + 80ft LW, Sat Feb 4, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Once a month; too late now (gh) ** GERMANY. ALEMANIA, 6130, MV Baltic Radio, 1300-1330, 05-02, locutor, identificación en alemán, comentario. Identificación en inglés: "MV Baltic Radio, we broadcast on Short Wave 6130 kHz. Information about our transmission: http://www.mvbalticradio.de We broadcast every first Sunday of the month 1300 on 6130 kHz". Música y canciones. 45444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escucha realizada en casco urbano de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500 antena de cable, 4 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. This year Evangeliums-Rundfunk is in its tenth year of broadcasting over the Mainflingen station on 1539 kHz. In 2005 a new antenna was built to reduce local interference to electric appliances and to enhance reception Europe-wide. Unfortunately for the Christian broadcaster, their programmes are still broadcast via the old antenna. Because the WRTH 2006 does not mention it, it might be of interest for QSL-hunters, that there are foreign language programmes on the mediumwave station Mainflingen 1539 kHz. Currently, there is the following line up (UTC): 0400 Mo Arabic, Tu Farsi, We Russian, Th Turkish, Fr Su Croatian, Sa English 0415 Mo Arabic, Tu Farsi, We Russian, Th Turkish, Fr Spanish, Sa English, So French (Radio Evangile) 0430 daily French (Radio Evangile) 0445 Mo Greek, Tu Arabic, We Russian, Th Turkish, Fr Croatian, Sa Kurdish-Sorani, So English. All programmes are religious in format. From 0500 to 2300 h the frequency is used for German (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, wwdxc BC- DX 30 Jan via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 8 OF 9 KHON MANAGERS RESIGNING AMID CUTS --- By Erika Engle http://starbulletin.com/2006/02/04/business/story01.html Eight of the nine managers at KHON have now expressed a no-confidence vote in the station's new owners, with their feet. Three more senior managers resigned yesterday, leaving only the station's chief engineer. The volume of voluntary resignations in protest of a new broadcast owner's plans for staff cuts is unprecedented, according to Rick Blangiardi, who already resigned as the station's senior vice president and general manager. Indiana-based Emmis Communications Corp. completed the sale of KHON and three sister stations to Calif.-based Montecito Broadcast Group LLC a week ago. Joe MacNamara, the new president and general manager of KHON, said he has never heard of any situation like this. "I would be lying to you if I said anything different," he said. It is not uncommon for a new owner to fire personnel, either for cost- cutting or for replacement by employees of their own choosing, but nobody interviewed by the Star-Bulletin could recall such a willing exodus of people who have no confirmed jobs waiting for them. Local sales managers Sharon Billingsley and Stuart Chang resigned yesterday. News Director Ron Comings resigned and cleaned out his office. The trio followed the recent resignations of General Sales Manager Cheryl Oncea, Marketing Director Linda Brock, controller Carrie Castle, Production Manager Jay Park and Jared Kuroiwa, information technology manager. Blangiardi announced his resignation earlier this month and left KHON just before the new owners took over. He returned to his position at the helm of KGMB, for which Emmis is seeking a buyer. Blangiardi said he did not orchestrate the exodus before his departure, which other managers confirmed. "(Blangiardi) told us not to forget that this was his decision, his alone, and that he absolutely did not expect, hope for, or suggest that we follow his lead," Oncea said. "Really, he was so very clear about that." Park, a father of three, said: "With all due respect to Rick, this is actually bigger than him. To me, this is about what is right and what is wrong. Period." Blangiardi said he finds the departures "tragic and completely unnecessary. I have complete admiration and respect for our management team and their principles and values. That has been the magic that has helped generate the revitalization and the new-found success we worked for and all experienced together during the last three years." He said the number of resignations are a direct result of "the shared belief system that has created the culture that existed with that station." In farewell e-mails to staff, KHON managers said they could not support Montecito's planned firings of one-third of the station's workers or its vision for operating top-rated KHON. Blangiardi and the department heads were supposed to create lists of employees to be fired to meet Montecito's cost-savings goal and automation model. All refused. MacNamara repeated yesterday that if the managers' hearts weren't committed, "I'm OK with them moving on." However, the departing leadership's e-mails show their hearts had been committed to making the station the best it could be. To her sales department colleagues, Billingsley wrote, "I love each of you and this team and the values and vision which we all have embraced on our journey to become the true market leader." She said she could not "reconcile my heart with SJL/Montecito's business model." Chang has spent the last eight months of his 22 years in television at the station. "The success of KHON lies purely in the hearts of every man and woman at 88 Piikoi. The assets of KHON are clearly in the people, not in the building, nor the equipment," he said. Blangiardi said the station produced record revenue in 2005. The effort created what Montecito officials last year called "a gem" that they wanted to buy. Faced with the departures, MacNamara said he will spend the weekend "looking at things." "I'm talking to several people on the staff who have an interest in stepping up, and if anything, you know, it's going to allow us to transition," he said. © 1996-2006 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin | http://www.starbulletin.com (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** ICELAND. ISLANDIA, 13865, Rikisutvarpid, 1217-1230, escuchada el 5 de febrero en islandés a locutora con boletín de noticias y locutor con comentarios, música de sintonía, SINPO 34232 (José Miguel Romero EA5-1022, Burjasot (Valencia), España, YAESU FRG-7700, SANGEAN ATS 909 Antena RADIO MASTER A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Delhi (?) noted sign on at 0330 UTC today 5 Jan 2006 on 7150 with News. Normally 7235 is scheduled at this time. Must check up in the coming days if it was a "punching error". By the way 7150 is scheduled from Delhi at 0030-0040 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. Media Alert - RTI readied for Satellite Launch --- MORE THAN THE POPULATION OF SLOVAKIA! London/Poprad 02 February 2006 – RTI is in the final stages of launching its first satellite service Europe wide just as BSkyB announced the satellite which will carry RTI is now viewed by 8.1 million homes* in the UK alone. RTI is now just days away from being available to ALL satellite homes in the UK and Europe, dish position allowing, and that will mean RTI will become accessible to more homes than the entire population of Slovakia. Eric Wiltsher, Director of RTI UK, said: ``Being on the same satellite as BSkyB gives RTI a fantastic opportunity to access the ever growing digital platform in the UK. ``However, the way RTI is configured within the satellite means that anyone, with or without a viewing card, can enjoy the programming from RTI. ``For Slovakia; RTI on satellite will be a unique 24/7 digital platform that will share information about the great tourist areas of Slovakia, the beauty of the High Tatras and more – whilst retaining its on-going commitment to it’s local FM listeners in the High Tatras. This is why we retain the balanced mix of English and Slovak. ``In 2006 RTI is exploring additional digital services as radio matures into the digital platform it will be worldwide in the future``. RTI will broadcast FREE TO AIR on the Eurobird satellite at 28.5 East. This enables anyone in Europe with a satellite receiver and suitable dish antenna to receive RTI. Tune in details will be on http://www.rti.fm in the coming days. * Source – BSkyB. On 1 February 2006, BSkyB reported ``Net DTH subscriber growth of 215,000 (2004: 192,000) in the quarter to 8.1 million (2004: 7.6 million)`` For more information: Natalia Balajova natalia @ rti.fm Telephone (office hours) - +421 (0)52 78 71 999 About RTI - Radio Tatras International (RTI) was launched on 09 April 2005. - RTI is Informative and Entertainment based music radio. - Musical orientation - the best of the old and new from around Europe Time Lines - November 2003, 94.2 granted by the Council for broadcasting and retransmission of Slovakia - January 2005 the U.K. regulator Ofcom granted RTI a satellite transmission license - April 2005 RTI started broadcasting - July 2005 the Latvian regulator granted permission for RTI to broadcast on 1350 AM - September 2005 RTI began broadcasting on 94,8 FM in Košice, Slovakia Place of broadcasting -Studios in London, Poprad and Riga. Coverage - 92.4 and 94.8 in Slovakia – 1350AM to western and northern Europe -Whole world http://www.rti.fm Audience - RTI is now claiming over a quarter of a MILLION listeners, nearly 70 thousand in Slovakia (Eric Wiltsher, RTI, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. PENTAGON INVESTMENT OF $200M IN IRAQ MEDIA WASTED: EXPERT The Pentagon's investment of nearly $200m in developing a free Iraqi media was a sheer waste with the radio, TV stations and a daily newspaper it funded remaining shunned by the majority of Iraqi people, a prominent London-based Iraqi journalist and author, Haifa Zangana, said on Thursday in an interview with Qatari daily The Peninsula. Zagana says that the radio and TV stations and newspapers set up in Iraq after the fall of Saddam have all become partisan and mouthpieces of some political party or the other and hence, no independent media exist now. Read the story: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=February2006&file=Local_News200602047043.xml # posted by Andy @ 11:17 UT Feb 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470, Radio Veritas, 2210-2300 04-02, Inglés, comentarios, identificación: "Your are listening to Radio Veritas, studios in Monrovia". Noticias, canciones africanas. 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. 17660, 1.2 1225. When I tried to listen to the new Libyan clandestine here, there was only very strong and very nice hot African pop music, with reggae and other goodies. Lots of the tunes in French which dealt with Africa and for instance Congo. Some sources say it is Radio Waaberi via Jülich. Far behind Arabic music was heard, which ought to be `Sowt Al-Amel` (Voice of Hope), Libya, who had a jamming station hanging above. Anyhow it could not deal with Waaberi. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Waaberi is only on Fridays (gh, DXLD) Hello DXers, checking 17660 around 1530 UT I noticed that the nonstop African music station is on!! No trace of Sout al amal around that time!? so why is it on around that time?? I wonder. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17660, (UNID), "African": Carrier came on 1129 Feb 2, African music started 1130. Libya carrier came on at 1140, very slightly out of phase so you could detect a pulsating effect on the channel. Libyan on-off tones at 1155-1200, then Libya s/on with NA and into all-Arabic music. Libya was stronger than the African music station, though the latter came up from time to time. Libya went off at 1400, leaving the African music station clear with a good signal. African music stopped at 1430, and the carrier was cut at 1431+. This programming was absent Feb 3 [a Friday: hmmm; gh]. Libya was there *1200-1400*, but nothing else either before or after. But it was back Feb 4, heard at 1400- 1430*. Also heard at 1401 Feb 5, after Libyan music station and Sowt Al-Amel (which moved back here from 17665) closed. The African didn't close at the usual 1430; it was still going at 1500. 17665, (CLANDESTINE), LIBYA. Sowt Al-amel, was here ex-17660. At 1150 Feb 2 a strong carrier came on briefly, went off, then came back, and at 1201 the Al-amel prrogramming started at very good level, in the clear, no jamming, to 1400*. Mostly talk, some music, many IDs. But back on 17660 Feb 5. To complicate things further, there was yet another Arabic-sounding station on 17665 Feb 5, heard weakly after 1400, closing 1430* after an NA that sounded like Libya's (but I'm not positive of that). (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Noted five transmitters in this 17660-17670 range today from 1300 UT onwards. 17770 AWR Madagascar in Vietnamese language ? S=2 poor, 250 kW transmitter on even frequency, not 'wandering' 50 kW unit at MDG. 17666.70 kHz whistle carrier parked here byside at 1300-1315 UT. The strongest station here in Germany of all. Moved to 17665.00 even at 1315 UT and started WeAfro-Cuban type of music. Moved to 17660.00 even at 1318 UT and played continuously WeAfro-Cuban type of music. 17665 only one poor station, UNID S=2 poor here in SoGER. Letting in the clear today at 1300 UT, no jamming station heard here, except 1315-1318 UT, and Arab-Libyan? music station later in second half hour, and still on air at 1406 UT. 17660.00 Heard a station with Arab-Libyan? music, but only S=3 signal from 1300 UT, like anti-Libyan clandestine Sawt al-Amal now appears to be. Full covered by the WeAfro-Cuban type of music station from 1318 UT onwards, had a break between 1401 and 1406 UT, and ceased at 1630 UT. I guess, that t w o different Libyan government secret service organizations playing JAMMING in this range against anti-Libyan clandestine Sawt al-Amal. In our western ears the WeAfro-Cuban type of music station is much more attractive. Acc to TDP list, Libya should own a lot - up to 20 - mostly Thomcast and RIZ made SW transmitters on various locations to set up a strong jamming service. But maybe jamming skips over Libya mainland audience, due of 1500 km dead zone around Sabrata and Tripoli. For example remote access to Gabon 500 kW site to play WeAfro-Cuban type music as Jamming against Sawt al-Amal northwards to Saharan North Africa would not work properly in order to move the frequency instantly, like happened today at 1315 and at 1318 UT, when 17667 replaced by 17665 and 17660 kHz then. At 1629 UT the UNID WeAfro-Cuban type station had same S=9 +10 dB level like CRI Bamako-MLI relay on 17880 kHz (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is who on 17665 at 1130-1430 on Feb 4-5 at least? I am not sure if this station is really Sawt Al-Amal as their tentative ID as "Izaatul jumhuriyati ... (third word is too crabbed - maybe Akhbar?)". Thank you in advance for any possible explanations (Mikhail Timofeyev, St. Petersburg, Russia, HCDX via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 11806.2v, Family Radio, 1814-1858* Jan 30, Swahili program with numerous IDs and Oakland, CA address. Fair signal (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-pedition, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340 and a Drake R-8B, 500-foot wire essential north and a 200-foot wire essentially southwest, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM (RTM) (presumed), Feb 4, 1541-1556, pop songs (Paul Young with ``Every time You Go Away,`` etc.), weak. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DXLD yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Hoy sábado 4 a las 2030 UT escuché música clásica y arias de ópera en los 6045 kHz tratándose de XEXQ Radio Universidad de San Luis Potosí, México. Por momentos alcanzando un SINPO de 5, posteriormente la escuché incluso en el radio de mi automóvil por ciertos lapsos alcanzando un SINPO de 2. Nuevamente en casa al filo de las 2200 la escuché con un SINPO de 5 hasta las 2330 en que algunas potentes emisoras cercanas causaban cierta interferencia. Hace unas tres semanas la Lic. Leticia Zavala, directora de Radio Universidad SLP me informó que la razón por la que había dejado de emitir desde principios de noviembre del pasado año erán "dificultades técnicas" (sin especificar de qué tipo) mismas que al parecer han sido superadas. Definitivamente es muy buena la recepción que logré hoy de XEXQ, tomando en cuenta que emite con solo 250 vatios. San Luis Potosí es una ciudad a aproximademante 400 km al norte de la Cd. de México. Saludos y felicidades a XEXQ ¿Habrán incrementado potencia? (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have been checking 6045 just about every morning around 1400/1430 and did not hear any signs of it today; maybe tomorrow (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Normalmente XEXQ inicia transmisiones entre las 1300 y las 1400 UT. Intenta mañana por la mañana y ojalá la puedas escuchar. Saludos, (Julián Santiago, DF, condig list via DXLD) Desde las 1330 UT pude captar en los 6045 kHz a XEXQ Radio Universidad de San Luis Potosí México, un SINPO máximo de 3 con interferencia de emisora adyacente (¿China?). Emite música clásica (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 5, condig list via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEXQ, 6045, back like it was a quarter-year ago, barely detectable in the morning here, Feb 5 before and after 1500 UT, peaks with classical violin music; subaudible heterodyne cycles from ``fast`` --- maybe 20 Hz, to zero, indicating the frequency is slightly unstable. Trying to figure out the source, checking out different listings for the 1300/1600 period we find: EiBi B-05: 6045 1310-0600 MEX XEXQ Radio Universidad S CAm 6045 0905-1605 CHN PBS Nei Menggu M CHN 6045 1335-1355 I RAI International AL SEE 6045 1430-1930 IND All India Radio UR SAs d 6045 0530-1630 ZWE Radio Zimbabwe Vn SAf NDXC B-05: 6045 XEXQ SLP 1100-0400 1234567 Spanish San Luis Potosi .25 ND MEX 10059W2201 XEXQ 6045 PBS Nei Menggu 0900-1600 1234567 Chinese Hohhot 839 50 36 CHN 11130E4112 NMRB=9520 6045 RAI INTERNATIONAL 1335-1355 1234567 Albanian Roma 100 52 I 1231E4148 RAI b05 6045 ALL INDIA RADIO 1430-1930 1234567 Urdu Delhi-Kingsway 50 ND IND 07712E2645 AIR 6045 VOICE OF RUSSIA 1400-1500 1234567 Russian Ekaterinburg 200 250 RUS 06036E5650 VOR b05 6045 VOICE OF RUSSIA 1500-1600 1234567 Russian Ekaterinburg 200 250 RUS 06036E5650 VOR b05 6045 R.Sarandi Sport 1100-1500 1.....7 Spanish Montevideo 0.3 270 URG 05619W3448 Monte 6045 R.Sarandi Sport 1500-0500 .23456. Spanish Montevideo 0.3 270 URG 05619W3448 Saran 6045 ZBC Harare 0530-1630 1234567 Shona/Ndebele/... Gweru 50 ND ZWE 02951E1926 ZBC=3306 [BTW, the NDXC B-05 schedule has disappeared, at least from its original URL, quite some time ago; fortunately, I saved the initial Nov 7 version] HFCC B-05 listings, all 301005 to 260306 D: 6045 0900 1600 43N HUH 50 263 0 206 CHN CRI RTC 6045 1315 1430 41N DEL 250 334 0 706 6075 Nepali IND AIR AIR 6045 1330 1355 28E ROM 100 52 0 301 Albanian I RAI RAI 6045 1400 2000 27-29 S.P 200 225 0 148 RUS VOR GFC 6045 1430 1930 41N DEL 250 334 0 706 6075 Urdu IND AIR AIR For propagational and/or power reasons we can pretty much rule all of them out except Delhi and Hohhot (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. El buen amigo Andrés Cruz, colaborador de XERTA me informó que como lo hemos notado, XERTA está fuera del aire desde principios de diciembre, esto debido a que cambiaron su antena del Volcán del Ajusco (suroeste de la Cd. de México) al centro de la Ciudad de México en donde están sus estudios --- cambio por demás absurdo. Al no tener buenos resultados ahora buscan poner su antena en el Cerro del Chiquihuite al norte de la Cd. de México en donde precisamente se encuentran prácticamente todas las antenas de las emisoras de TV que emiten en la Cd. de México. Él nos informará de cómo va este cambio (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, condig list via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XETRA-690 update --- They're running pathetic snake oil salesmen (i.e., infomercials for bogus "nutritional supplements") during the day, and canned BBD/NOS at night. So basically, the only thing that really happened on Tuesday was that they let all the on-air personalities go (it was the end of the pay period!) and added more infomercials. No sign of Spanish news-talk yet. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, 0326 UT Feb 5, IRCA via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 4770, RN-Kaduna, 2216-2232*, Feb. 3, English, OM with ID, SW and MW frequencies and local TC at tune-in. Different OM with "National Service of Radio Nigeria-Kaduna" in passing, rap music. Sign-off announcement at 2230, NA at 2232 sign-off. Poor/fair (Scott Barbour, NH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 9340, R Pakistan Islamabad very strong S=9 signal, BUT totally distorted at 0128 UT. Same bad audio reported recently by Chris Greenwood, who visited Islamabad recently. No content readable except of female reader's voice (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PETER I. The 3X0Y team departed Punta Arenas on 1 February. They stopped on King George Island (South Shetlands), boarded the "DAP Mares" and set sail at 1 UTC on 2 February. The voyage to Peter I should take three days and a half; it is possible they arrive around midday (UTC) on 5 February and get on the air on the 7th. The team is signing XR9A/mm during their voyage. QSL via N2OO. Bookmark http://www.peterone.com for updates, on-line logs, pictures, etc. (425 DX News Feb 4 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 6150, Radio Romania International, 0100-0200 Feb 4. Noted in English with features and news. Signal was fair here in Clewiston while it was mixing with the University Network broadcast on this freq. Checked the parallel 11970 and nothing was heard there (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Someone should inform the colleagues at Tbilisskaya site in Krasnodar about this transmitter fault: 5945 Armavir-Krasnodar noted - when monitored - in 0055-0130 UT time span at Feb 5th. Started with 800 Hertz tone procedure, but transmission covered by heavy BUZZ audio tone, a n d two accompanied spurious signals 30 kHz apart, on 5915(5912...5918) and 5975(5972...5978) kHz on s a m e BUZZY kind. Into VoRussia Spanish service ID at 0100 UT. On the other hand, DW's German service on 7430 kHz with 500 kW also via Armavir-Krasnodar to SouthAsia had a wonderful audio signal at same time ! S=9 +30 dB (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. 3390, 30.1 1500, AIR/Gangtok, Sikkim heard quite good this one time. Normally a lot of trash on the frequency. S 2-3. Nice Indie music. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Saludos cordiales, según anuncian en el programa de Cartas de los Oyentes en Radio Eslovaquia Internacional, las emisiones de Onda Corta continuaran durante el 2006, tras la aprobación por parte del gobierno del presupuesto necesario para sus transmisiones, por lo tanto la amenaza de cierre se aleja momentáneamente durante éste año. Andrés Bernate en contestación a varias cartas de oyentes donde hablaban sobre el posible cierre, contestó que las transmisiones de Onda Corta en español continuarían tras la aprobación de una importante suma económica que garantizaba la continuidad del servicio en Onda Corta y se alejaba la posibilidad de sólo transmitir por internet, daba las gracias por la gran cantidad de cartas recibidas protestando por el posible cierre (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: As announced on the Letters from Listeners program on RSI, shortwave broadcasts will continue during 2006, following approval by the government of the necessary appropriation for its transmission; thus the threat of closure has been put off during this year. Andrés Bernate, in answering several letters from listeners about the possible closure, said Spanish SW transmissions would continue following approval of a considerable sum which guaranteed continuation of the SW service, and lessened the possibility of transmitting only on internet. He expressed thanks for the great quantity of letters received protesting the possible closure (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg translated by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. RTI: see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** SOUTH AFRICA. Subject: Talk Radio 702 Ga-Rankuwa off air The trasmitter at Ga-Rankuwa has burnt down and 702 Talk Radio is off air. Frantic arrangements are being made to activate it on 540 kHz. See http://www.702.co.za/ for latest details 540 might present opportunities for N. American East coast DXers? (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa, Feb 5, MWC via DXLD) South Africa: Talk Radio 702 Ga-Rankuwa moves to 540 kHz Talk Radio 702`s Medium Wave transmitter at Garankuwa has been severely damaged by fire. It is currently not able to transmit our signal. An alternative signal is now available at 540 KHz. To continue listening to 702 you need to retune to 540 kilohertz on Medium Wave, or AM --- the first medium wave signal on the left hand side of the dial. Talk Radio 702 is also still available on line via our audio streaming (click here) http://www.702.co.za/onair/tunein/tunein.asp DStv audio channel 56, and via 702 Live on 083 9000 702 (cell phone rates). (via Steve Whitt, UK, MWC via DXLD) Such are the drawbacks of naming a station for a frequency (gh, DXLD) It could be that 702 kHz never returns to the air, as the station has applied for an FM frequency, and the damaged transmitter is more than 25 years old. Although owners Primedia say they have not heard anything official from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), there are unconfirmed reports that ICASA plans to offer the station an FM frequency covering Pretoria and the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. # posted by Andy @ 13:59 UT Feb 5 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 9440, DW in German via Trincomalee heard at 0130 UT with fine clear audio at S=9 level here in Europe (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. 4930, Turkmen Radio 2/1 2222 Turkic music, talk by OM at 2225 with mentions of Turkmen and Asgabat, seeming end of talk at 2237, followed by mentions of Turkmenbasi (leader of Turkmenistan, maybe the person speaking at length?), possible ID as "Miras" (third program) at 2239, more music, talk by YL, talk by OM, Turkmen national anthem at 2257, matches anthem at http://www.national-anthems.de/ants-t-z.html (Ralph Brandi, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Can anybody else report reception of Radio Dniprovska Khvylia on the new 5830 kHz? I found it after 0700 with UR1 relay, but the signal was extremely weak (open_dx - Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine) Here comes a weakish signal, buried under heavy noise. No recognizable audio at all. Therefore, reception is very tentative. (open_dx - Igor Danilevych, Zbarazh, Ukraine) Not even a carrier here in Moscow. (open_dx - Pavel Mikhaylov, Moscow, Russia, all: Signal Feb 5 via DXLD) ** U K. 7320 DRM. ENGLAND, BBC 2/3 1059 News; very little audio making it through on this 20 kbps signal, S/N ratio between 9 and 14 dB, allowing only occasional brief bursts of audio (Ralph Brandi, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U K. BBC RADIO 4 UK THEME TO BE RELEASED COMMERCIALLY The controversy over the plans to drop the five-minute medley of patriotic tunes that opens BBC Radio 4 each morning has taken a new turn. Musician Mike Flowers says he's producing a commercial release of the medley by the Royal Ballet Symphonia, that will be available on CD and download before the end of this month. Mr Flowers says he has the backing of Ingrid Spiegl, widow of the composer. However, he needs to record a new version because the BBC has copyright of the current recording. It will be accompanied by "Sailing By", the tune that introduces the late-night shipping forecast on Radio 4. Proceeds from sales will go towards the Light Music Society. The BBC has declined to comment. # posted by Andy @ 12:00 Feb 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. RADIO STATIONS IN THE UK --- The new 2006 (20th) edition of Radio Stations in the United Kingdom is now available from the British DX Club. Radio Stations in the UK is a comprehensive 60-page guide to BBC, commercial, community and low power AM/FM services on MW and FM, with lists in frequency order and by station name. It includes transmitter power and site details, plus contact information. Frequencies are cross-referenced to help you find parallels. It comes with a separate supplement - Radio Stations in the Republic of Ireland. Its been two years since the last edition was published, so there are lots of changes. This new updated edition can now be ordered for immediate despatch. Radio Stations in the UK is a must for anyone interested in UK domestic radio - from the keen mediumwave or FM DXer to the casual listener. Why not order a second copy to keep in the car - we have a special price for two copies! PRICE of the new 20th edition per copy (includes postage): to UK addresses: - 3 pounds. to Rest of World - 3.50 GBP, 6 Euros, 8 US dollars or 8 IRCs SPECIAL PRICE for 2 copies: UK: 5.50 pounds Europe: 10 Euros ** All orders should be sent to: British DX Club 10 Hemdean Hill Caversham Reading RG4 7SB UK UK Cheques/POs payable to British DX Club. Dollar/Euro payments by cash or Paypal only. E-mail enquiries/paypal payments to bdxc @ bdxc.org.uk - please add 5% to cover Paypal fees. Full details also on the BDXC-UK web site - http://www.bdxc.org.uk (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. LEAN AND MEAN --- I found it rather ironic that, on the very day of President Bush's State of the Union address, in which he said that the US is "addicted to oil", we learned that US government international broadcasts are cutting about 90,000 transmitter hours per year. High-powered international broadcast transmitters need a lot of fuel, and in most cases it's oil. The two are not directly connected, of course, but it's a coincidence that reminds us just how energy-inefficient broadcasting, and especially international broadcasting, can be. . . http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/media/int060202.html?view=Standard (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-023: Sorry, I made this mistake not for the first time --- Should read TIN Tinian, Marianas Islands, instead of Tinang, Philippines (PHT/PHX). Tinian maintained and operated by the private contractor RRC - Rome Research Corporation. Corrected: At present IBB deleted VoA programmes by 103hrs 45min, RFE 86 hrs, RFA 17 hrs, OCB 32 hrs. And decreased Tinian-MRA [not Tinang] outlet from 500 kW to 250 kW, as VoA by 21hrs, RFA 68 hrs. Decreased Sawa-Arabic 1431 kHz Djibouti to 300 kW, daytime at 11.5 hrs. Additional Turk 7285 1900-2000 UT via Lampertheim. Increase ERT-ERA5 via Greenville 17565 at 2000-2200 UT, now 500 kW (Wolfgang Bueschel, BCDX Feb 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. AFN 5446.5 USB shifted to 10320 USB by 1140 US Armed Forces Network station normally heard on 5446.5 USB was not heard this morning. AFN was heard last evening on 5446.5 here in New Jersey. However, the regular AFN programs appear to have been moved this morning to 10320 USB which is not heard here at 1140 UT when I tuned in today. AFN 10320 USB heard at 1140 --- program was "Radioscope" focusing on black entertainment news primarily music. The signal was similar in strength to AFN normally heard at this time on 5446.5 USB out of Key West, Florida but that signal was mysteriously absent today. My speculation is this is in someway preparation for today's US> football game championship Super Bowl XL (Pete Costello, Central New Jersey, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10320 is supposedly Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Has it not been there all along? (Glenn, ibid.) Yes, 10320 is Pearl Harbor. Something seems to be up, though, as I just checked 7811 which is usually audible here throughout the day and it seems to be missing as is 12133.5. I'll have to check 5446.5 as darkness approaches. Currently, 10320 is heard here, though weak (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, ibid.) ** U S A. WINB Nudged off 9320 kHz --- In recent months, a number of private US shortwave broadcasters have been required to move off coordinated out-of-band (oob) channels. One such instance happened in mid-January. NASB Member WINB was asked to vacate 9320 kHz because of interference reported by Andrews Air Force Base. OOB operation, largely successful for all involved parties for many years, is permitted on a non-interference basis. If a service with primary assignment on or near the OOB channel claims interference from the OOB operation, the FCC requires the broadcaster to leave the channel. Various security and emergency response concerns of recent times have escalated the importance of HF frequencies for communication in the perception of many entities. The impact of this shift of perception results in fewer channels available for shortwave broadcasters. (See the lead article in the December 2005 issue of the NASB Newsletter.) The short supply of usable channels for shortwave broadcasting is exacerbated by the present HF propagation conditions. HF broadcasters get compressed into the lower frequency bands during the ebb of the solar activity cycle (especially during nighttime hours). No relief is in sight for several more years. Present forecasts indicate that this solar cycle will bottom out in early 2007. Looks definitely like wall-to-wall occupancy in the propagating bands during prime time hours for the next few years! (Feb NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. KJES tells Jihad DX and hat their transmitter is down, but that they have ordered a new part and hope to be on some time next week. They don't seem to be comfortable operating the 5 kW transmitter these days as they have not used it the last two times their main unit has broken down (Hans Johnson, Jan 13, Jihad DX via Feb NASWA LN via DXLD) Subsequently returned as already reported here (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WMLK 9265 is listed for 2100* but it sure seems like they often sign off earlier than this. For instance, at 1952 they were already off today. Already off on another day at 2005 (Hans Johnson, Jan, Jihad DX via Feb NASWA LN via DXLD) ** U S A. KBRT-740 on day rig --- KBRT-740 Avalon, CA seems to be still running day power, clobbering KCBS after 7 pm PST [0300 UT Feb 5]. They're running an interview with Ann Rice. (To put it mildly, this station's format is a little loose; they don't consistently run mainstream Bible-based Protestant programming, so you'll often hear something that's a bit off-kilter like the program that's airing now). 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, ABDX via DXLD) Thanks! Just caught a 3 second fadeup with station ID at 8:00 p.m. PST (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, N/S longwire, AR-7030, ibid.) KBRT-740 was heard at 2317 EST with ID "K-Bright" and way on top of KCBS (Bill Block, Prescott Valley, AZ, R390A, Quantum Phaser, EWE (20x50x20), 150 foot longwire, ibid.) ** U S A. Just found the following info on WWAA: 1690-AM, AIR ATLANTA TO CHANGE HANDS IN APRIL We are sad to announce that WWAA-AM/1690, Atlanta's Air America affiliate, has been sold to the owner of WMLB-AM/1160. 1160-AM is a music format, and rumor has it that the new owner may not be a big fan of the progressive talk programming we presently enjoy at 1690-AM. We've also heard that Clear Channel (which carries Air America in some other parts of the country) will get Air America for our Atlanta market, where they have 24 affiliates. Whatever happens, 1690-AM will remain the same until sometime in April. We'll just have to see how this plays out; will post new information as it becomes available (source? via Max Van Arnhem, Netherlands, Feb 3, MWC via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Re 6-023: ``There are a number of shortwave stations still active in Uruguay`` --- Partial and somewhat incorrect posting from Dr. Barnard. Glenn says those stations are extremely irregular on SW. I believe that more accurately they are mostly inactive! The time only benefits 9621 SODRE which is 24h, and slightly off channel. It's real DX and they normally verify! SODRE 6125 inactive SODRE 9620 (9621), active R. Montecarlo 6140, inactive R. Montecarlo 9595, inactive R. Sarandí Sport 6045, inactive R. Oriental 11735, inactive (didn't know about a 6155 outlet for this one, as Barnard quotes. Instead...:) 6155 R. Banda Oriental, inactive, seems they are trying to save energy. 6055 R Universo, inactive. Never heard it, though owner said they were testing one year ago. He never wrote me back to say "Nigro... we are on the air now, can you hear us?" Em. Ciudad de Montevideo, 9650, active 1300-1700, and not only on Sun as Romais said sometime ago. And hello Moises Knochen!!! The first time I hear from you. I am also in Montevideo, Uruguay. 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. 5025 kHz, R Tashkent, Partial data type-written QSL- letter (excluding transmitter site) with a lot of personal lines, v/s Raisa Chismatulina. They still keep track of listeners letters and e- mails 'We did not hear anything from you since 2003! But we are glad you can hear uns via the Internet'. In 51 days for a report in German with 1 USD to Radio Taschkent, 49 Khorezm Street, 700047 Taschkent, Uzbekistan. [Report sent in December, before they left SW, e-mail sent in January for their internet-transmissions.] (M. Schoech, Eisenach, Germany, February 2006, GRDXC via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Heard this morning 0640-0655 unID in Spanish with phone in program; at 0652 short music and tent commercial. Signal was super weak and heavy disturbed - no ID. Any ideas?? tnx +73 abo (Andree Bollin, Wolfsburg, Germany, Feb 5, MWC via DXLD) Was that a commercial for a tent, or tentatively a commercial? (gh, DXLD) Andree, I was surprised to hear RASD Algeria here around 0800 a couple of days ago. Initially thought CBE with muffled audio. Later came up out of the muck with a decent peak playing bright Arabic style pops. No real regulars on 1550 although HJCB Radio El Sol has been noted a couple of times over the last couple of years. They were a MX rather than telephone chat station but you may have caught a listener's request? (Barry Davies, UK, ibid.) ** ZIMBABWE. Radio Zimbabwe heard on 3306 and 6612 (harmonic) this evening 1800 UT. 6612 can be heard locally in Zimbabwe with a stronger signal than 3306. Radio Zimbabwe's shortwave transmitter is from Gweru in Central Zimbabwe and is a relay site. 3306 and 6612 is very irregular due to power outages (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 11705, (CLANDESTINE). Radio Voice of the People via Madagascar, *1700-1756* Feb 4, opened with soft instrumental music followed by a man announcer with opening ID ("This is Radio Voice of the People broadcasting from Zimbabwe every day from 1900 to 2000 hours Zimbabwe time. Stay tuned for Zimbabwe's alternative voice. For more information write to Radio Voice of the People, P. O. Box 5750, Harare, Zimbabwe or e-mail vox pop zim, that's v o x p o p z i m @ yahoo.co.uk ") followed by regional vocals. The ID was repeated after each song and at the conclusion of the broadcast. Fair with deep fades but reception improved somewhat during the last twenty minutes. (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) No Sudan weekends UNIDENTIFIED. Hi! from Kari Helopaltio, Perttula, Finland UNID stations on 3360 and 3330 during good Indonesian, Japan, Solomon Islands skip on 28th of January between 1300 to 1400 UT. UNID 3360 exotic Eastern instrumental versions of Western rock songs, and others, no announcements, signal bit muddy UNID 3330 Western songs, non-accent English announcements like "the very best of music", deep fades, peaked around 1400 UT Looking into WRTH 2006 and Passport 2006 I can´t find anything that fits. Second harmonics ? Probably not. Best regards. (Kari Helopaltio, Finland, Jan 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This was delayed since he sent it to my hotmail address (gh) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 6-023, 4865: This is the satellite-fed HCJB ALAS service relayed by Centenario La Nueva, in Bolivia. The time mentioned is EST. See HCJB ALAS online schedule: 06:05:00 El Camino de la Vida Estudio bíblico evangelístico (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, condig list via DXLD) Gracias Henrik! El anuncio de un indicativo, que no pude llegar a comprender en su totalidad, y que se iniciaba con una "H" me confundio pero ahora sí me cierra todo. Ademas, revisando el ILG confirmo tambien que no hay alternativas ponderables a Radio Centenario La Nueva, Santa Cruz de la Sierra. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) No hay de qué, Aldo. A comienzos del año pasado se tocó el tema con bastante envergadura en la página de Björn Malm, qepd. Hubo varias propuestas con respecto a la UNID de Björn. Si querés, abrís el archivo de Björn correspondiente a enero y febrero de 2005. Allí, al final, se encuentra el tema que nos concierne. Curiosamente, varias de las entradas vienen fechadas "2004". Un abrazo (Henrik, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 5766.9 ... 5767 kHz centered frequency for an UNID English speaking station, noted around 0100-0130 UT on Feb 5th. Totally distorted signal, like Aurora affected via Northern Atlantic path, no carrier. Contained very low Upper Side Band portion level. When set the AOR 7030 and Sony ICF2010 to in LSB mode / SYNC detection mode function, centered frequency approx. 5766.9 kHz. We had very, very good propagation condition last night in 22 to 60 mb range. A lot of LatAM and Asian stations could be heard on all these overcrowded bands. http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/radio/shortwave shows AFRTS Barrigada-Guam, but I can't believe that path, due of daytime in Pacific between India, Anchorage and Los Angeles at this time span. Other stations nearby: 5765 WWCR The Overcomer Ministry Nashville but later scheduled, 5755 KAIJ Dallas; and 5770 Myanmar Defence Forces. I believe I heard "RRI" some times. Help to solve this puzzle (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9354, Spanish female NUMBER reader station at 0822-0830 UT. S=9, buzzy 60 Hertz tone in background. (wb wwdxc BC-DX Feb 5) (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ HAM QSL GALLERY The large collection of QSL cards (3100+) on Les Nouvelle DX's web site has been updated. Eight different galleries include cards for each of the 58 deleted DXCC entities (600+ QSLs), the ten Most Wanted DXCC Entities (100+ QSLs), obsolete prefixes (1200+ QSLs), Antarctic bases (500+ QSLs) & TAAF (Terres Australes and Antarctiques Francaises, 200+ QSLs), pre-1945 countries (200+ QSLs) and French Departments, US 48 States before 1945. Several cards are still needed and your participation is welcome - please visit http://LesNouvellesDX.free.fr and send your comments to LesNouvellesDX @ free.fr [TNX F6AJA] (425 DX News Feb 4 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ILG FAIRY TALES Re: Formerly 17565 1730-1800 VOA CREO GB 250 kW 174 deg 051030-051117 According to ILG B05 Premium version updated on January 30 or previous versions, Greenville 17565 uses 500 kW always. 17565 VOICE OF AMERICA 1730-1800 1234567 Creole 500 kW 17565 VOICE OF GREECE 2000-2200 1234567 Greek 500 Kw (Eric Zhou, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Eric, Don't believe too much in ILG's book of "fairy tales". You are too overcredulous on this matter. Trust more on HFCC, IBB, and Nagoya DXers Circle frequency files these days, than ILG. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ LANGUAGES OF SHORTWAVE Canada`s Aboriginal Languages (Pt 1) Background [unattributed; presumably by Fred Waterer] Canada`s Aboriginal languages can be divided into 11 distinct language families. There are between 53 and 70 Aboriginal languages in these families. The actual number is not clear, since the languages have not been standardized, and attempts at classification are complicated by the existence of dialects. Up-to-date information on Aboriginal language use in Canada is sparse and incomplete. Although this is tracked through the Canadian Census, recent information is not available, and there are often differences of opinion on how accurate figures are. Many Aboriginal people do not participate in the Census, and numbers of fluent speakers identified by Aboriginal organizations were often different from those reported elsewhere. This lack of baseline data is an issue for many organizations. It is being partially addressed through surveys conducted by Aboriginal organizations nationally, regionally and at the community level. Several recommended a national language survey or census to provide comprehensive, up-to-date data to support decision- making around Aboriginal languages. There is general agreement that many Aboriginal languages are in a critical state as the number of fluent speakers continues to decline. The 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP, 1996, pp. 604- 608) compiled figures on the state of Aboriginal languages in Canada based on the 1991 Canada Census and 1991 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. The Statistics Canada Aboriginal Language Survey is one of the most comprehensive surveys to date that provides data on reading and writing of the Aboriginal languages in Canada. The most recent round of surveys, however, were conducted in 2001, with results not available until 2003. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP, 1996) report states that ``only a small number of Aboriginal people speak Aboriginal languages. While more than a million people claimed Aboriginal ancestry in the 1991 census, only 190,165 said an Aboriginal language was their mother tongue, and 138,105 reported using their Aboriginal mother tongue in the home`` (RCAP, pp. 605-606). The RCAP report further notes that 92.5% of all individuals who reported having an Aboriginal mother tongue originated from three linguistic groups, namely Algonquian (especially Cree and Ojibwa/Saulteaux), Inuktitut and Athapaskan. Inuktitut The Inuktitut language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut language family. Inuktitut is a sub-branch of this family. There are approximately 16 Inuktitut dialects spoken in areas of Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Inuktitut is considered to be an isolated language separate from other North American languages. Western Canadian Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun reach from the Mackenzie River Delta to the Central Arctic straits and islands (from Cape Bathurst to the Boothia Peninsula). Eastern Canadian Inuktitut covers the Kivalliq and Qikiqtani regions of Nunavut, Arctic Quebec and northern Labrador. According to both 1991 and 1996 Census data, the percentage of Inuktitut mother tongue speakers was greatest in the Qikiqtani and Kivalliq regions of Nunavut, and Nunavik (northern Quebec), while the percentage of speakers was lowest in Labrador and the Inuvialuit region of the Northwest Territories (see following table). http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/em-cr/eval/2003/2003_01/5_e.cfm Inuktitut can be heard via the CBC Northern Quebec Shortwave Service. 01-04 UT Tue to Sat; 12-16 UT M-F; 1630-2330 UT M-F; 19-21 UT Sat; 20- 22 UT Su per http://www.eibi.de.vu/ If someone has an up to date copy of their schedule, I`d like to know if they still broadcast in Cree. I did a search of the CBC website for any information, but it`s one of those situations where if they told me, they would have to kill me. Nunavut, formerly the Eastern part of the North West Territories has quite a dynamic culture. It became a separate territory in 1999. Nunavik, is the name in Inuktitut for Northern Quebec. Talk about your distinct society. All the names (colonial names according to one website) in the region that people of my age grew up with have been replaced with Innu names, hence for example Frobisher Bay has become Iqaluit. Next month, I will take a look at the native languages one can hear from the North West Territories and the Yukon, and where and when you can hear them (Programming Matters, Feb ODXA Listening In, via DXLD) ARTICLES & TRANSLITERATION LETTERS Dear Fred: Happy New Year/Bonne Année. I just received my .pdf version of ODXA`s January ``Listening In`` through Phil van de Paverd and the NZ Radio DX League. As a former radio journalist at Vancouver’s original multicultural station CJVB/1470, I basically just about choked on the item ``A Rose by Any Other Name``. The whole lot of you have been hoodwinked by the ``geographic revisionists``. First, we were bulldozed by the Chinese as to English- language labels, viz Peking/Beijing, Guangzhou/Canton... balderdash. Then the Ukrainians let in: it is incidentally ``KYIIV`` that they wish, not Kyiv (note: two I`s). I had many a heated argument with the local producers when they took me to task with my usage of ``The Ukraine``. Basically, I told them to get lost. I can`t help it if Slavic languages don`t incorporate usage of a ``definite article`` i.e. ``the``. This is not a reflection of, ahem, regional description but simply good ol` fashioned English usage. It applies as well quite correctly to ``The Gambia`` and ``The Lebanon``. And if that doesn`t convince anyone, tell them to take a look at other languages` usage: our ``True North Strong And Free`` in French is strictly ``le Canada``. Do people who live in el-Kahira object to us saying Cairo? Well, mebbe those who trans-literate as al-Kahira do!! Possibly you get my point. In any case it`s time for our language users to say ``enuf``. (Theo Donnelly, Programming Matters, ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Theo, language has always fascinated me, in school I took French, German, Russian and Slovak classes, (both high school and university) and taught myself some rudimentary Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I hasten to add that I can understand the gist of a conversation in most or at least follow it, but am sadly fluent in none. The jury is still out in fact on my usage of English sometimes. The views expressed in the article were not mine, but someone at the CBC. I`ve always been fascinated by such language idiosyncrasies. For instance, there is endless debate when transliterating from Slavic languages to Latin ones concerning spelling and changing styles over time. Who decides these things? Sometimes its heavyhanded, other times just common usage. Why is it Moscow in English, Moskau in German, Moscou in French, but Moskva in Russian? When did ``they`` decide to alter Russian transliterations such as Romanoff (common in pre-Revolutionary and émigré texts) to the common Romanov of today. German used to be printed in heavy Gothic script, very difficult for non-Germans to pick up. The Nazis actually abolished its use during the war because it was easier and quicker to read and type in ``normal`` type. German is also currently going through a mild ``tweak``; language scholars have decided to drop the distinctive ``doppel-S`` ß from common usage. We as radio listeners pick up on the audible differences --- the Peking/Beijing example being among the most obvious. I think we would agree that some of these cases are a bit silly, and that was my point in posting the item in the first place. My personal view is that language should stick as close as possible to local usage, rather than some 17th century English or German illiterate corruption (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Feb ODXA Listening In via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ HIGH FREQUENCY COORDINATING CONFERENCE, HAINAN, 13-17 FEB The global co-ordination conference takes place twice each year to coordinate frequency and schedule plans for the shortwave bands worldwide. The meeting for the A06 season will be held in Sanya in the Hainan Province of China between 13 and 17 February 2006. More details at http://www.hfcc.org/hainan.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) more below Hi there. I know Hainan Dao; the beaches on the south side of the island are beautiful. Sanya is a typical modern Chinese city. Concerning the HFCC meeting: Every shortwave listener interested in separated bands for AM and DRM broadcasting should tell them now at info @ hfcc.org They know about the interference problem DRM causes on the SWBC bands and need a little help from us for finding a quick solution. Every mail counts. All big players will be there. Regards, (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Feb 4, HCDX via DXLD) READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP [England] The next meeting will take place on February 25th in the Main Hall, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading. Please note we are booked in a different and larger room this time, just to the left of our usual location. The meeting programme will include a look at the Sky Gnome portable radio receiver for reception of digital satellite radio from the Sky digibox, Radio Luxembourg in the sixties and the history of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, both with audio extracts. We will be in the Global Cafe/Bar from 1400 and move into the meeting room at 1430. The meetings last about two and a half hours including a refreshment break. The meeting rooms are at the back, the entrance is via a small passage just behind the RISC shop or ask for directions in the shop or cafe. For further information email mikewb @ dircon.co.uk or phone 01462 643899 (Feb World DX Club Contact via DXLD) WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE (WRC-07) World radiocommunication conferences (WRC) are held every two to three years. It is the job of WRC to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits. Revisions are made on the basis of an agenda determined by the ITU Council, which takes into account recommendations made by previous world radiocommunication conferences. The WRC-07 takes place at Geneva, Switzerland on 15 October to 9 November 2007. Details at http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/wrc-07/index.asp (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) NASB TO BE PRESENT AT VARIOUS EVENTS IN 2006 Here are some of the international broadcasting meetings where the NASB will be represented during the first several months of 2006: The HFCC, or High Frequency Coordinating Conference, takes place twice each year to coordinate frequency and schedule plans for the shortwave bands worldwide. The next meeting is coming up on February 13 to 17 in Hainan, a subtropical island off the south coast of China. The NASB always attends these meetings to represent our member stations and to work with the official delegation of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. This time Jeff Lecureux and George Ross of Trans World Radio (KTWR) in Guam will be the NASB representatives at the HFCC Conference. Guam, of course, is a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, so the folks from KTWR won’t have to travel too far to attend the HFCC in China. Then on March 3 and 4, there’s the annual Shortwave Listeners Winterfest, a meeting for shortwave listeners and DXers in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. This year NASB member station WMLK in nearby Bethel, Pennsylvania, will be representing NASB at the SWL Winterfest. Engineer Gary McAvin and his team look forward to meeting a lot of shortwave listeners from around North America and beyond at this convention, which is always a lot of fun for shortwave enthusiasts. If you want more information on the event, check out the web page: http://www.swlfest.com. On May 11, many NASB members will be participating in the 2006 meeting of the United States DRM, or Digital Radio Mondiale, Committee. And the following day, May 12, is our own annual meeting of the NASB. We are very pleased to announce that both of these meetings are being hosted this year by NASB member Adventist World Radio at the AWR world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is just outside of Washington, DC. As we get closer to these meetings, more information will be available on our NASB website, which is http://www.shortwave.org Make your plans now to attend. Again this year, there will be no registration fee. Hotel information will be available on the website shortly. Looking down the road just a bit further, to July 28 through 30, the NASB will be represented by member station WRMI in Miami at the 2006 National Meeting of Mexican Dxers. This year’s meeting is being held outside of central Mexico for the first time. The location is the city of Ascension, in the state of Chihuahua. Chihuahua is the largest state in Mexico, and it borders the US. In fact, Ascension is only a couple hours’ drive southwest of El Paso, Texas. So the organizers are hoping to have a number of DXers and shortwave listeners from the United States at the event this year. SWLs from all parts of Mexico and several other countries attend this annual meeting, as well as representatives of shortwave stations in Mexico and abroad. And language is never a barrier, as lots of people there speak English. It’s a lot of fun, and a chance to experience the real culture of Mexico. For example, Chihuahua state has the most important archeological ruins in northern Mexico, as well as the impressive Copper Canyon, which is larger than the Grand Canyon in the U.S. The Mexican DX clubs cordially invite listeners from anywhere in the world to attend in Ascension, Chihuahua, July 28-30. For more information, you can go to the WRMI website, http://www.wrmi.net and click on "Mexican National DX Meeting." NASB AT HFCC IN HAINAN The NASB's official representatives at the A06 High Frequency Coordination Conference in Hainan, China, from February 13-17 will be George Ross and Jeff LeCureux of KTWR-Guam. They will be working with Tom Lucey of the FCC as part of the FCC delegation. The NASB is now a member of the HFCC, but it participates in the conferences as part of the FCC delegation. We encourage NASB member stations who do not have their own representatives at the HFCC conference to submit their latest A06 schedule requests to George and Jeff so that they can make sure the schedules are accurate at the HFCC. (Of course, stations should have already submitted their requests to the FCC International Bureau.) Member stations' frequency managers can have access to a private area of the HFCC website which contains collision lists based on the latest submissions. George and Jeff can assist stations during the conference with any collisions that they may have with other stations. If you are a frequency manager for an NASB member station and you would like a user ID and password for the HFCC website, contact Jeff White at radiomiami9@cs.com as soon as possible. Also, if you would like to contact George Ross and Jeff LeCureux during the HFCC conference, send an e-mail to that same address radiomiami9@cs.com and your mail will be forwarded to a special secure e-mail address that George and Jeff will have access to in Hainan. They can then contact you directly if necessary. Glen Tapley of NASB member station WEWN also plans to attend the HFCC in Hainan. HFCC NEWS At the February 2006 HFCC Conference in Hainan, China, there will be elections for three Steering Board positions. One of these is HFCC Chairman. The current (and founding) chairman is Oldrich Cip of Radio Prague, and he is the only one nominated for this position. The second post is Systems Development Coordinator, which deals with software management for the HFCC database, etc. This post is currently held by Jan Willem Drexhage of Radio Netherlands, and Jan Willem is the only one nominated for this position as well. The third position is Rapporteur (i.e. Secretary). The current HFCC Rapporteur is Dennis Thompson of VT Merlin Communications, who has performed this job very ably for many years now. Dennis is retiring, and the only nomination to fill the post is for Geoff Spells, also of VT Merlin. See more about some of Geoff’s current activities below. For many years now, the HFCC has had very close cooperation with the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), and all HFCC conferences are now joint HFCC-ASBU conferences. Bassil Zoubi, from Tunisia -- a longtime member of the HFCC-ASBU Steering Board, will now be assisted by two other ASBU delegates -- Mahmood Al Rheda and Moaz Abu Al-Soud from Emirates Media in the United Arab Emirates. Both Mahmood and Moaz were very involved in the organization of the highly-successful HFCC Conference in Dubai in February 2004. Mahmood Al Rheda is now the official contact person for the Arab States Broadcasting Union. Yousef Ghadaksaz of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is the new chairman of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s HF coordination group. Yousef and his delegation are regular participants in the HFCC-ASBU conferences. HFCC vice chairman Horst Scholz has suggested that an FAQ section should be added to the public area of the HFCC website to provide more information about the HFCC/ASBU and its activities to the general public. The Steering Board has endorsed this idea. The HFCC web page is: http://www.hfcc.org Geoff Spells of Merlin reported that preparations for WRC07 (World Radiocommunication Conference 2007) are not progressing very well. Geoff says that although it is generally accepted that broadcasters have made a good case for their need for additional spectrum, the provision of that extra space would cause so many problems for other services that it is an almost impossible task. According to Geoff, many national telecommunication administrations have taken a position that additional spectrum for broadcasters is not needed. At present, only France, the Netherlands and the UK are pushing for additional spectrum for broadcasters in the international arena. Geoff says that if this situation continues, there will not be a European Common Proposal for broadcast spectrum expansion at the WRC07. Geoff Spells indicated that at one time NATO seemed willing to relinquish some of its spectrum to the broadcasting service providing certain conditions were met. However, this position seems to have changed now, possibly due to intense lobbying efforts by the United States. Geoff Spells said that this is a key issue for all HFCC/ASBU members, who must actively undertake to make both their own administration, as well as the administrations of any countries from which they transmit, aware of the need for additional HF broadcasting spectrum. In this way it is hoped that more administrations will support the Resolution 544 part of Agenda Item 1.13 at WRC07. He will be producing a form letter that can be used by HFCC/ASBU members to facilitate their lobbying of administrations. Copies of this letter and other relevant documentation will be placed on the HFCC website (Feb NASB Newsletter via DXLD) JULY 28, 29 AND 30, 12TH DXERS MEXICAN MEETING "Encuentro Nacional Diexista" in Ascensión, Chihuahua, Mexico. Ascension is a small city near to Juárez City Chih-El Paso Texas border cities. DXers around the world also are welcome to this friendly meeting! More information in English in: http://mx.geocities.com/diexismo73/12dxmeeting.html or profesor_miguel @ yahoo.com.mx (Miguel Rocha, Chihuahua, Feb 5, dxing.info via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ The Association of German Radio Listeners (ADDX) recently asked the HFCC to schedule analogue and DRM transmissions in different portions of the HF bands, since their members have encountered interference from DRM transmissions while trying to hear analogue shortwave broadcasts. The HFCC said that there are a number of reasons why this arrangement would be difficult to achieve in practice. For example, setting aside parts of the HF bands for DRM-only transmissions would "sterilize" those parts of those bands in areas of the world where DRM is not currently used. Thus, such an arrangement would be less spectrum-efficient. However, the HFCC said it would encourage its members to try to schedule their DRM transmissions in clusters. For example, it was suggested that some of the long daytime DRM transmissions on 7 MHz could be clustered together in a part of that band with Radio Netherlands, Deutsche Welle and Merlin taking the initiative. However, it is understood that this will need good cooperation from other HFCC/ASBU members in those instances where the transmissions of other members are involved. It was also recognized that some of the DXer complaints about interference refer to analogue transmissions that are not beamed to their target area. NEWS FROM CBC/RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL Jacques Bouliane of CBC Transmission Services reports that they have recently purchased a second DRM exciter, which will give them more DRM capacity than at present. Despite a recent increase in electricity rates in Canada, prices for DRM airtime will remain the same. Incidentally, Jacques says that they have analogue airtime available during the local North American daytime hours for those who would like to do supplementary shortwave transmissions during these hours. For more information, contact Jacques Bouliane at Jacques_bouliane @ radio-canada.ca or by telephone at +1-514-597-7618. (Feb NASB Newsletter via DXLD) FCC IBOC AUTHORIZED AM STATIONS (AS OF 2/3/2006) via Bill Hale 550 KFYI AZ Phoenix 560 KLZ CO Denver 560 WQAM FL Miami 560 WRDT MI Monroe 580 KMJ CA Fresno 580 WGAC GA Augusta 580 WTAG MA Worcester 600 KOGO CA San Diego 610 KOJM MT Havre 610 WTVN OH Columbus 610 WIP PA Philadelphia 620 KMKI TX Plano 620 WTMJ WI Milwaukee 630 KHOW CO Denver 630 WPRO RI Providence 640 KFI CA Los Angeles 640 WJNA FL Royal Palm Beach 640 WWLS OK Moore 650 KENI AK Anchorage 670 KLTT CO Commerce City 680 KKYX TX San Antonio 690 KSTL MO St. Louis 710 WOR NY New York 730 KBSU ID Boise 730 WKDL VA Alexandria 740 KBRT CA Avalon 740 KCBS CA San Francisco 740 WSBR FL Boca Raton 750 KOAL UT Price 760 KKZN CO Thornton 760 KJSL TX San Antonio 770 KCBC CA Riverbank 770 WWCN FL North Fort Myers 770 KAAM TX Garland 780 WBBM IL Chicago 800 KLDC CO Brighton 810 WGY NY Schenectady 820 WNYC NY New York 820 WOSU OH Columbus 830 KMXE CA Orange 840 WHAS KY Louisville 840 KXNT NV North Las Vegas 850 WXJC AL Birmingham 850 KOA CO Denver 850 KFUO MO Clayton 860 WAEC GA Atlanta 860 WWDB PA Philadelphia 860 KONO TX San Antonio 870 WKAR MI East Lansing 910 KPOF CO Denver 910 WFDF MI Flint 920 WHJJ RI Providence 950 WWJ MI Detroit 950 WPEN PA Philadelphia 950 WXGI VA Richmond 960 KQKE CA Oakland 970 WFLA FL Tampa 970 WHA WI Madison 980 WTEM NC Washington 980 WHSR FL Pompano Beach 990 WMYM FL Miami 990 WLGZ NY Rochester 1020 KTNQ CA Los Angeles 1020 WRHB FL Kendall 1030 WBZ MA Boston 1040 KCBR CO Monument 1070 KNX CA Los Angeles 1070 WIBC IN Indianapolis 1070 WNCT NC Greenville 1080 KRLD TX Dallas 1100 WWWE GA Hapeville 1110 KDIS CA Pasadena 1110 KFAB NE Omaha 1120 WTWZ MS Clinton 1130 KFAN MN Minneapolis 1160 KSL UT Salt Lake City 1170 WWTR NJ Bridgewater 1180 WHAM NY Rochester 1190 KEX OR Portland 1200 WRTO IL Chicago 1200 WCHB MI Taylor 1200 WOAI TX San Antonio 1220 KLVZ CO Denver 1230 WTPG OH Columbus 1250 WMTR NJ Morristown 1260 WYDE AL Birmingham 1260 WNDE IN Indianapolis 1260 WMKI MA Boston 1270 WXYT MI Detroit 1270 WCGC NC Belmont 1290 WTMI CT West Hartford 1310 WGSP NC Charlotte 1340 KCFR CO Denver 1340 WEXL MI Royal Oak 1340 WIZE OH Springfield 1340 WJYI WI Milwaukee 1360 WKAT FL North Miami 1390 WGRB IL Chicago 1400 WJLD AL Fairfield 1400 WVAE ME Biddeford 1400 WCOS SC Columbia 1410 WEGO NC Concord 1420 WHK OH Cleveland 1430 WXKS MA Everett 1450 KMRY IA Cedar Rapids 1450 WBYU LA New Orleans 1450 WCTC NJ New Brunswick 1470 WWNN NJ Pompano Beach 1480 WDAS PA Philadelphia 1490 KCFC CO Boulder 1490 WBAE ME Portland 1490 WOLF NY Syracuse 1500 WTWP DC Washington 1510 WLAC TN Nashville 1530 KCMN CO Colorado Springs 1530 WCKY OH Cincinnati 1540 WDCD NY Albany 1570 KCVR CA Lodi 1580 WSRF FL Fort Lauderdale 1590 WHGT PA Chambersburg 1630 WRDW GA Augusta 1640 WKSH WI Sussex 1690 WRLL IL Berwyn (AM Switch, NRC E-DX News Feb 6 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DSP Receiver KWZ30-2 preliminary specs (copied from KWZ website) Frequency range: 0 to 30 MHz, 30 MHz - 60 MHz optional Tuning Resolution: 1 Hz, tuning and display, tuning resolution selectable Frequency accuracy and temperature stability: ± 20 Hz, from 5 to 35 Celsius Reference Frequency: 10 MHz, external input optional Input Impedance: 50 Ohms Sensitivity: 0,5 ?V for 10 dB S/N at 2,3 kHz bandwidth Input Circuit a. Low-Pass Filter 30 MHz resp. 60 MHz b. High-Pass Filter 2 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz c. HF-Amplifier 15 dB d. Attenuator 20 dB Intercept Point 3. Order: +30 dBm at 20 kHz ratio Intercept Point 2. Order: +60 dBm typical Modes: AM, USB, LSB, FM, CW, DRM (optional) Demodulation: digital, for AM without selective fading Filter Bandwidths: 50 Bandwidths, 100 Hz to 9 kHz Shape Factor and Passband Ripple: S = 1,15 for 6/60 dB, R = 0,2 dB Adjacent Channel Attenuation: 80 dB Passband Tuning: ± 2,8 kHz BFO: ± 2,8 kHz, tuneable AGC Range: >100 dB AGC Time Constants: Attack Time = 20 ms Attack, Hold and Decay Times adjustable DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale): optional Functions: Automatic Notch Filter, Noise Reduction, adjustable, Squelch for FM and AM/SSB, threshold adjustable Inputs: Antenna, Mute, Power Supply 12 V=, VAC Power Line Outputs: External Speaker, Headphone (Frontpanel), Audio-Level Output, RS232-Interface for PC-Connection Loudspeaker: 8 Watts, mounted on the frontpanel, Audio amplifier 2 W Display: backlighted Color-LCD (QVGA) Display Spectrum Analyzer: optional Station Memory: 200 programmable Stations Control Elements: 1 Power Switch, 1 Main Tuning Knob, 1 Knob (user programmable), 1 Knob for audio volume, Keyboard with 16 Keys, 10 programmable Function Keys Power Supply: Internal Switched Power Supply (90 - 240 VAC), 12 V= Dimensions: mountable in a 19"-Rack, 3 RU (rack unit) Weight: 5 kg (via SW Bulletin Feb 5 via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Here, outside in the night air, all was quiet. Silence -- and yet one felt the mystery of these invisible waves, the miracle of the hidden voices, sweeping out through the night." ~ Journalist Leslie Baily ~ 1925 (ed. Ray Bauernhuber`s tagline on NASWA Flashsheet, via DXLD) ###