DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-037, February 27, 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 1305: 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 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 06-02: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0602.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0602.rm DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Feb 28: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN. I was interested to discover that both the 400-kW MW transmitters (R. Afghanistan on 1107 and IBB on 1296) are strong enough to put a daytime groundwave signal into Islamabad. 1296 is much stronger than 1107. R. Afghanistan now remains on 1107 throughout the evening. I believe that a year or so ago it was switching to the lower-powered transmitter on 1278 at 1400. (I didn't hear 1278 at all.) R Kunar in Asadabad on 1575: I think this is the station I heard once. But of course after dark the channel is completely dominated by Radio Farda from the UAE. By the way, I had forgotten to mention that I heard late last year from a fairly reliable source that Radio Helmand in Lashkar Ga (where the British troops are going) is on 1580, not 1680 as in WRTH). However, just over a week ago it was reported that the station was off the air because of persistent power outages. (The same source said that Radio Sabawoon is on 88 FM in Lashkar Ga, as in WRTH.) Additional comment: For Laskar Ga, as I noted, 1580 may still be off the air. Last November it was reported by our source as operating at 1130-1430 GMT only (Report from Chris Greenway listening in Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Radio Solh/Radio Peace 1200-1500 15265 WOF 250 kW / 074 WeAs Dari/Pashto (x RMP 500 kW) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA [non]. Re ``UNIDENTIFIED. 11915, something fairly strong in French, under WWRB and with a SAH of about 6 Hz, Feb 23 at 2027. Can`t find anything listed; a recent change or error? Not // RCI 17835, nor VOA 11985 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Identified as Algeria with Chaîne 3 ID at 2102; off at 2104, back on at 2106 Feb 27. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11915 previously reported, 6-034 as a France or Gabon relay frequency but only in the morning (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) 17755, RTV Algerienne. Back on shortwave! Via either Gabon or Issoudun – the jury is out at this point – French news format 0615, Free song ``All Right Now``, slick presentation; sounds almost European, 25/2 (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. Glenn, I suppose the other material you referred to is at http://www.netangola.com/lfbettencourt/ the radioamateur who was mastered the space tracking station at Mulemba (not Mulembos!), near Luanda, Angola, so my recent article "Radio Nostalgia" is not a repeat. The stuff was published in your DXLD issue nº 5-194, dated 10th November last. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? And Mulenvos is the main transmitter site for RNA, as in WRTH 2006. So there are two, or three places with such similar names? (gh, DXLD) Good evening, Glenn. As you might have seen on the photo gallery, the Mulenvos site was founded by the former EOA-Emissora Oficial de Angola, the equivalent of EN-Emissora Nacional, here in Portugal. Even its programme 2, which would start in the early evening only, was dedicated to classical music & alike, again, like EN 2 and now RDP 2 or Antena 2 "A Rádio Clássica" so its slogan says. Mulenvos, Mulemba (most certainly nearby)... Mutamba (square where the the town hall & a major bus station were located) ... Mussulo (a luxurious island & a bay just south of Luanda), the Maianga quarter in Luanda, hi hi. I can't remember more similar names! Needless to say those were vernacular names kept by the Portuguese, just like the name of the capital itself, Luanda (old form, Loanda). I'm sure they'd have been a lot different, if the settlers were of British stock; in other words, the places would have most certainly been British ones. Cazenga was another RNA site; whether also used by the EOA, by any of the other existing private stations or built after 1975 I don't know. It seems to be inactive or simply replaced by Mulenvos. Or maybe it was where the utility station CPRM-Companhia Portuguesa Rádio Marconi was installed. At any rate, I suppose Mulenvos and Cazenga are also near to each other. I still remember having seen quite a number of antennae there, just north of Luanda's main harbour. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. New evening schedule for Voice of Armenia: 1900-1930 Arabic Daily on 4810 1930-2030 Fr/Ge/En Mon-Sat on 4810, 9965 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) And there have been reports of another unID language following at 2030. Could it be --- Armenian? (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. Australia has lost one of its few clear channels: SBS Radio (Special Broadcasting Services) has a station on 1035 kHz out of Wollongong, New South Wales. It replaces 1485 khz // 1107 and 1413. It`s a blow to local DXers who have heard Solomon Islands, Pakistan and ZB New Zealand on this outlet in the past (Dave Onley, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Feb 27, MWC via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 1413, Bangladesh Betar, Comilla; Bengali OM/YL talk, instrumental music, clear ID as `Bangladesh Betar` by YL at 1459, news presumed; don’t mix with BBC OMAN Hindi until 1445, then English and Urdu at 1500. Listed 10 kW, DX183 First. W/Fair peaks 1437 3/2 ss (Stefan Schliephacke, AR7030 (Collins), DX183 beverage Antenna Farm, Fjerritslev, Denmark, MW News via DXLD) ** BELARUS [non]. Deutschlandfunk report about European Radio for Belarus, contracted by European Union to the Berlin-based Media Consulta company: http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/dradio/2006/02/25/dlf_200602251721.mp3 Script: http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/marktundmedien/473611/ Mainly an interview with the managing director (or CEO, if you prefer that term) of Media Consulta. Statement specifically about their radio operations, referring to Deutsche Welle and their already existing Belorusskaya Khronika programme: ``On shortwave you have always these funny noises, actually nobody would voluntarily listen to it. Only advantage: It`s cheap and you can reach the whole of Belarus. But we will achieve the same coverage with better quality through our strategic partner Radio Baltic Waves in FM and in mediumwave by means of transmission masts scattered around Belarus in Lithuania, Poland, the Ukraine and so on.`` Indeed he said ``in mediumwave``. The report also deals with the planned TV programmes, to be aired via RTVI, a Russian Pay TV (!) station. No comments from my side, at least for the time being. Re. the http://www.turkishpress.com item: The picture shows a curtain antenna farm, shot from a distance with an extreme telephoto lens. Of course it is unrelated, but still I wonder which site this is? Usual suspect for an AFP photo would be Issoudun (the old Centre E installation now used by Libya and probably to be used by Algeria), but the surrounding hills do not fit (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. Re earlier discussion of MW transmitters on all night: Tonight Belgium is still transmitting on 927 & 1512 at 0015 UT. Usually these channels are clear well before midnight. Has BRT/RTBF changed schedules? Have these gone 24hrs? [Herman, have you any news?] (Steve Whitt, 25 Jan 06, March MWN via DXLD) I'll probably have an answer for you tomorrow. My first guess was that the channels were being kept on air because of Belgian tennis players being active in the Australian Open, but I don't think there were any games at that time of day (Herman Boel, Belgium, 27 Jan 06, ibid.) Yes, I noted it too. This might have to do with the Australian Open tennis tournament and will soon be over. Can't find anything about a prolonged schedule on the VRT website. This morning I noticed better conditions on the lower MW band. 610 and 790 were going strong. Unfortunately I had to leave for work. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, 27 Jan 06, ibid.) I have new on this (and you're not going to like it): During the winter months the medium wave transmitters of both the VRT and RTBF are on the air all night long. There are two reasons for this: 1. the management cannot accept that during the night far away stations can be received with loud signal here. Rumour has it that those foreign stations have elevated their power output and no one can verify it. Only the electricity bill rises of course. 2. When 540 and 621 kHz are switched off, the temperature in the transmitter room at Waver drops substantially. So they prefer to keep the transmitters on so that things don't freeze (a part of the transmitters is water-cooled). So, basically the management does not tolerate any form of competition. Sad but true (Herman Boel, http://www.emwg.info 27 Jan 06, ibid.) Yesterday evening (Sat) and today (Sun), 621, 927 and 1512 kHz are back to their normal signing off times (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, 31 Jan 06, ibid.) Further to my earlier message, I have some further news. It seems that the VRT has conducted nightly DRM tests in the recent past. Unfortunately, they messed up such that they blew their main transmitter and had to use their spare transmitter for some time. They told the press there had been a lightning strike. As they are now back with their main transmitter, this may be the reason why the current transmissions seem to come with higher power. I have also heard that VRT has (had?) an option for a DRM transmitter at Telefunken. This is all highly internal information of course, which is very hard to come by, even in a 'western' country as our own (Herman Boel, 01 Feb 06, ibid.) Belgium 927 has been 24 h on many nights for some time. 1512 was 24 h for a week or so only (Olle Alm, Feb ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. Voice of Biafra International 2100-2200 7380 MEY 250 kW / 340 WeAf English Sat (x Wed/Sat) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Xinjiang People's Broadcasting Station (XJBS) as at February 21, 2006 Chinese Service UTC: 2330-1800(not Tu. 0800-1100): 11770 0300-1200 5060 2330-0300, 1200-1800 9600 0300-1300 7310 2330-0300, 1300-1800 7155 0300-1200 3950 2330-0300, 1200-1800 5960 2330-1800 Kazakh UTC: 0000-1800(not Tu.Th. 0800-1100): 9470 0300-1200 6015 2330-0300, 1200-1800 7340 0300-1200 4330 0000-0300, 1200-1800 Mongolian UTC: 0000-0330, 0530-1030 (Tu.Th. 0800), 1230-1800: 6190 0000-0330, 1230-1800, 9510 0530-1030 7230 0530-1030, 0000-0330, 4500 1230-1800 Kyrgyz UTC: 0330-0530, 1030(Tu.Th. 1100-1230: 9705 0330-0530, 1030-1230 7120 0330-0530, 1030-1230 Uighur UTC: 2330-1800 (not Tu. 0800-1100): 13670 0200-1400, 7195 2330-0200, 1400-1800 11885 0300-1200, 4980 2330-0300, 1200-1800 9560 0300-1200, 6120 2330-0300, 1200-1800 7275 0300-1200, 3990 2330-0300, 1200-1800 Nei Menggu PBS Chinese Service 675, 89.0 2150-1605 (Tu. not 0600-0850) 9520 0120-0900 6045 2150-0115, 0905-1605 Azi. 36 7165 0120-0900 4620 2150-0115, 0905-1605 Azi.263 7105 0120-0900 4000 2150-0115, 0905-1605 Azi. 52 Mongolian Service 1458, 95.9 2150-1605: 9750 0045-0800 6195 2150-0040, 0805-1605 Azi. 36 7210 0045-0800 4785 2150-0040, 0805-1605 Azi.263 7270 0045-0830 4525 2150-0040, 0835-1605 Azi. 52 Gannan People's Broadcasting Station Feb 1, 2006 2220-0100, 0950-1400 UTC Tibetan/Chinese 5970 3990 (2300, 1300 relay CNR8) (Nagoya Dxers Circle via Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Re 6-036: The broadcaster on 7105 kHz at 2200-2300 is probably Ming Hui Radio - see DXLD 6-034 (Dave Kernick, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why has nobody suggested this, which I reported in DXLD 6-034: "MH radio, founded in mid November, 2005, was created to clarify the truth to all Minghui readers. The radio now broadcasts twice a day on two different frequencies. The schedule is from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. [2200-2300 UT] on 7.105 MHz, and from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. [1300-1400 UT) on 6.03 MHz." (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fortunately, I changed MHz to kHz so frequency 7105 would have been searchable had we tried that. See full item in 6-034 (gh, DXLD) Glenn and Andy, Thank you for cracking the query. There will be a need to amend a number of databases. Transmitter possibly Tainan? Bearing in mind the nature of the programmes, no wonder the Chinese jam it so heavily. 73's (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to the HP of Mingha Radio, a Falun Dafa related clandestine broadcasting to China, in Chinese http://www.mhradio.org the recent schedule since Dec. 30 2005 is as follows; 2200-2300 7105, 1300-1400 6030, 1500-1600 11700. Schedule given in DXLD 6-034 confuses AM with PM (Takahito Akabayashi Japan, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. Croatian Radio Domestic Service. I heard English news and weather from 1905 UT to 1916 on 6165 on Monday February 27. Announced " This is Croatian Radio the Voice of Croatia" a few times. Back to Croatian at 1916. A good signal (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. VQ9, CHAGOS ISLANDS. Jim, ND9M, now active as VQ9JC, is planning to be on 80 meters CW from Diego Garcia Island (IOTA AF- 006) March 2nd and 3rd. He should be on the air at around 2315z for both days. This will give Jim about a 90-minute window to hit North America before he has to leave for the boat launch back to the ship to start his workday at 0200z. Look for Jim on 3505 kHz (+/-), listening up 1 or 2, or possibly up the band a bit to give the U.S. Generals, Advanced operators a shot. QSL via ND9M, direct or through the bureau (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Feb 27 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** EGYPT. I didn`t know what it was when I found a poorly modulated signal on 15670, Feb 27 at 1518 in the skirts of WHR 15665; there was some rustic music including vocal bits, audio cutting in and out; 1551 recheck seemed to be open carrier only until at 1553 I heard a bit of music cutting in; finally went off a few seconds before 1600. EiBi shows this as the Pashto service to Afghanistan from R. Cairo, 1430- 1600. Yet another total loss (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. UNMEE 0900-1000 17670 WOF 300 kW / 114 EaAf English/Vary Sun (x DHA 250 kW) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** GOA. AIR Panaji SW Audio problem solved! Dear Friends, The problem of the "hissing sound" heard on AIR Panjai 2 x 250 kW SW transmitters has been sorted out now. They are heard with very good quality now. Congratulations to Mr. S. Jayaraman, the "new" Suptg. Engineer who set it right. The problem was there since its installation long back. The current schedule is: 7115 1615-1730 Persian, 1730-1830 Malayalam (ME) 7250 0130-0230 Nepali (Nepal) 9705 2245-0045 English (E SE Asia) 9810 0130-0230 Nepali (Nepal) 9820 1300-1500 Sinhala (Sri Lanka), 1530-1545 HS 11740 2300-2400 Hindi, 0000-0045 Tamil(SE Asia), 0045-0115 Sinhala, (Sri Lanka), 1530-1545 English 11715 2045-2230 English (Australia/ NZ) 11775 1215-1330 Tibetan (Tibet), 1330-1430 Nepali (Nepal) 11840 0315-0415 Hindi (ME) 12025 1615-1730 Hindi, 1730-1830 Malayalam (ME) 15410 1115-1200 Thai (SE Asia) 17810 1115-1215 Tamil, 1215-1245 Telegu (SE Asia) More details (about sending reception reports to them) shortly! 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, Feb 27, dx_india via DXLD) ** GREECE. What is actually the current schedule for Voice of Greece? Looking through their HFCC registrations is usually a mere waste of time. Existing facilities at Avlis would be 2 x 100 kW, and one of them is between 1100 and 2250 occupied by the Thessaloniki program, just tentatively reconfirmed on 7450, assuming that the Greek programming without audio processing there is indeed Radiofonikos Stathmos Makedonias. So between 2300 and 1050 two further Voice of Greece frequencies could be on air alongside the Kavála outlets (i.e. altogether four ones), during the remainder of the day only a single one (three frequencies in total). More than four or three, respectively, frequencies on air from Greek soil would indicate that indeed ex-Glória transmitters were put in operation. Otherwise it would be an educated guess that they are still in storage and the two Marconi rigs at Avlis are the only operational shortwave transmitters of Elliniki Radiofonia at present (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Audio cleaned up: see GOA ** INDIA [non]. RUSSIA(non). Frequency change for TWR India to S Asia in various SAs languages: 1230-1530 NF 7525 IRK 250 kW / 224 deg, ex 7530, re-ex 7535 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Media in Iraq - updated February 2006 --- RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Al-Mirbad radio and television launched in the south of Iraq in the summer of 2005 with the aid of a grant from the UK Department for International Development and technical, infrastructure and training from the BBC World Service Trust. All Al-Mirbad staff undertook an eight-week training course in Jordan with WST trainers, the Trust said. Al-Mirbad TV is available on terrestrial transmitters in Basra (Ch 59), Al Amara (Ch 42), Nasiriyah (Ch 46) and on satellite via Arabsat 2C, 11182 MHz vertical polarization, SR 2894, FEC 3/4 and 12518 MHz vertical, SR 27500, FEC 3/4. The Dubai-based Iraqi television channel Al-Fayha confirmed on 1 February that the UAE authorities had terminated the station's transmission licence. The station reported that there had been a number of street demonstrations throughout Iraq calling on the Iraqi government to hold talks with the UAE to re-instate Al-Fayha's licence." On 25 January, the Toronto-based internet television company Jump TV announced that five Iraqi television channels would be available on the internet via a subscription service. The stations are: The stations carried by JumpTV include Al Baghdadiya, Al Fayha, Al Sumariya, Al Diyar and Beladi TV. Audiences According to figures released by the US-based Middle East Broadcast Networks, the non-profit, US government financed organisation that operates the Al-Hurra TV channel and Radio Sawa, American-funded television and radio reaches some 71 per cent of Iraqis. Citing research by KA Research Limited, a regional research company operating throughout the Middle East and North Africa in November and December 2005, Al-Hurra TV and Radio Sawa together reach an unduplicated weekly audience of 71 per cent of Iraqi adults 15 and older. Radio Sawa alone reached 51 per cent of Iraqi adults, making it the most listened to radio station in Iraq, said the survey. Al-Hurra alone reached 42 per cent of Iraqi adults weekly, ranking fifth among the more than 200 satellite and terrestrial TV stations that can be viewed in Iraq. The only four stations with larger weekly TV audiences than Al-Hurra were Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Iraqiyah (each with 71 per cent weekly reach) and Al-Sharqiya (67 per cent weekly reach). According to the data, the majority of viewers of Al-Hurra TV and listeners to Radio Sawa considered their news to be reliable. Seventy- three per cent of Al-Hurra's weekly viewers said the news on the channel was reliable and 63 per cent of Radio Sawa's weekly listeners said that station's news was reliable. Radio Sawa was also cited as their number one source of radio news by 32 per cent of respondents in the survey followed by the BBC Arabic Service (13 per cent) and Radio Monte Carlo (nine per cent). Regulation and press freedom On 3 January 2006, the state-controlled public service TV channel Al- Iraqiyah TV aired a report which claimed that "some" satellite channels may influence people into "committing criminal and terror acts" through the transmission of "suggestive material". The channel interviewed a number of sociologists and academics, and condemned, without naming, television channels whose programmes are "driving misled people into committing criminal and terror acts" The station called acts such as abduction, robbery and killing "against Islam", and blamed television channels - and in particular, "world satellite channels" - that routinely reported and showed graphic images of such activities for influencing people into taking up crime as "a kind of hobby". In October Muhammad Harun Hassan, an editor and the executive secretary of the Iraqi Journalists Association, was killed in Baghdad. On 7 January 2006, an American reporter working for the Christian Science Monitor, Jill Caroll, was abducted in Baghdad by unidentified gunmen. Her interpreter was killed. On 24 January 2006, Mahmoud Za'al, a reporter for Baghdad TV, was killed in Ramadi. The International Federation of Journalists called for an investigation into his death, citing reports that he was shot during a gun battle between US forces and insurgents. By the reckoning of some international media watchdogs, including the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the number of journalists and media staff killed in Iraq since the US invasion in March 2003 now exceeds 100. An IFJ report, published in January 2006, called Iraq "a death trap for journalists". On 11 January, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the authorities in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region to overturn the 30- year jail sentence handed down to journalist Kamal Karim, an Austrian citizen, for defaming the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mas'ud Barzani. New Satellite TV Channels since November 2005 In November 2005, Ahl al-Bayt (The House of the Prophet Muhammad), a new satellite channel aimed at Iraqi audience was noted testing on the Arabsat satellite at 26 degrees East. On-screen captions indicate that the channel will air predominately Shi'i Islamic programming. In the run-up to the 15 December Iraqi National Assembly elections, a number of new television channels were noted undergoing testing. Babil TV on the Atlantic Bird 2 satellite was noted offering programming in support of the Sunni Iraqi Front for National Dialogue. Biladi TV was noted on the Nilesat 101 satellite, with programming in support of the United Iraqi Alliance. Afaq (Horizons) TV on the Atlantic Bird 2 satellite was noted showing video footage in support of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party and the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan-operated Al Hurriyah TV, and the Iraqi Turkoman Front-operated Turkomaneli TV, both of which already broadcast terrestrially, were noted broadcasting via the Altantic Bird 2 satellite in December 2005. RADIO BBC Monitoring can confirm hearing the following broadcasters as of February 2006: AM stations (all frequencies in kHz) 594 People's (Al-Nas) Radio - 0400-1500 603 Republic of Iraq Radio - southern Iraq 675 Republic of Iraq Radio (parallel with 98.3 MHz) - 0500-1510 [Inactive when checked in January 2006] 909 Radio Nahrain (IMN), Basra 999 Radio Bilad (Lands) - 0500-1300 1030 Al-Salam Radio - 0700-1700 1053 Al-Salam Radio - 0700-1700 (alternative to 1030 kHz) 1071 Radio Babil (IMN), Hilla 1116 Dar al-Salam Radio - 0500-1800 (parallel with 1152 kHz and 91.0 MHz) 1152 Dar al-Salam Radio - 0500-1800 (parallel with 1116 kHz and 91.0 MHz) 1179 Voice of Iraq - 0400-1800 1206 Voice of the People of Kurdistan, in Arabic and Kurdish 1305 Al-Mustaqbal Radio (parallel with 95.5 MHz) 1395 Al-Mustaqbal Radio - southern Iraq 1593 Radio Free Iraq, in Arabic/VoA in English, Kurdish, Persian FM stations in Baghdad (all frequencies in MHz) 88.0 Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East, in Arabic and French (carries some RFI French newscasts) 88.6 Panorama FM 89.0 BBC World Service in Arabic 89.5 Turkoman FM 90.2 Radio Al-Nur 90.5 Today Radio 91.0 Dar al-Salam Radio - 0500-1800 (parallel with 1116 and 1152 kHz) 91.5 Radio Rashid - 0300-2300 92.5 Holy Koran and Religious Programmes (IMN) 93.5 Radio France Internationale in French 94.8 Radio Diyala (IMN) - 0400-2100 95.5 Al-Mustaqbal Radio - 0500-1700 96.0 Radio Al-Mahabah (Love), Voice of Iraqi Women 96.6 Radio Al-Nas (People) 96.9 BBC World Service in English 97.3 Voice of the University 97.5 Voice of the People of Kurdistan (PUK-run) 97.9 Freedom Radio 98.3 Republic of Iraq Radio - 0000-2400 (parallel with 1071 kHz) 98.8 Ur FM - 0000-2400 (owned by Channel 4 Radio Network, UAE) 99.4 Ashur FM, in Arabic and Assyrian - 0610-1700 99.9 Sumar FM - 0000-2400 100.4 Radio Sawa 101.2 Radio Shafaq (Twilight), in Arabic and Kurdish - 1200-1700, rpt 0500-1000 101.5 Congress Radio, Voice of the Iraqi National Congress 102.4 Radio Free Iraq (RFE/RL)/VoA in English and Kurdish 105.2 Radio Dijla - 0500-0115 106.0 Peace 106 FM - 0000-2400 106.9 BFBS Radio 1 in English 107.7 AFN-Iraq ("Freedom Radio") in English FM stations in southern Iraq (all frequencies in MHz) 88.0 BBC World Service in English 88.8 Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East, in Arabic and French 90.0 BBC Arabic Service, Basra 91.6 Voice of the South, Basra 92.8 Al-Nakhil Radio - (the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) 95.7 Radio Sawa 96.0 Republic of Iraq Radio 102.0 BFBS Radio One 105.0 Radio Free Iraq 106.0 BFBS Radio Two 107.0 Radio Sawa Republic of Iraq Radio is the successor to Iraqi Media Network-Radio Baghdad, which was operated by the Coalition Provisional Authority. It is currently observed on air in Baghdad round the clock on 98.3 MHz FM, and for a shorter daily period (0500-1510 gmt) on 675 kHz mediumwave. It has also been observed in southern Iraq on 603 kHz. Republic of Iraq Radio started broadcasting via the 13 degrees east Hotbird satellite to Europe in April 2005, in parallel with transmissions on the Arabsat 3A and Arabsat 2D satellites. Radio Dijla - Iraq's first independent talk radio station, Radio Dijla (Tigris Radio) identifies itself as "Radio Dijla from Baghdad, the first independent Iraqi radio". Radio Dijla broadcasts on 105.2 MHz in the FM band in Baghdad, on a slightly variable schedule of 0800-0415 local time (0500-0115 gmt). The station is also available with a live audio stream available from its website at http://www.radiodijla.com As far as can be ascertained, Radio Dijla is not available on satellite. The commercial station, which is the first independent talk radio station in Iraq, was founded by Dr Ahmad al-Rikabi, a former London bureau chief of US-funded Radio Free Iraq. After the Coalition war against Iraq in 2003, Rikabi helped to set up Coalition-run radio and TV stations in his role as head of the Iraqi Media Network. Radio Dijla carries a mix of programming including live phone-in programmes during which callers express their opinions on issue of concern to the Iraqi people and society; interviews; programmes on social issues; and Arab and Iraqi pop songs and entertainment programmes. During phone-in programmes, the announcers say: "Our opinion does not count, but what always counts is your opinion." According to a feature article in the London newspaper The Guardian on 10 June 2004, the station broadcasts in the local Iraqi dialect and not classical Arabic, and operates from "a modest family house somewhere in a western Baghdad suburb". It receives up to 18,000 calls a day, although it can only answer a fraction of that number. "It has become Baghdad's favourite," the Guardian reported, noting: "Radio Dijla has also become required listening for the country's new authorities." Voice of Iraq was launched in Baghdad in summer 2003, and is currently on the air at 0700-2100 local time (0400-1800 gmt). The station has a website entirely in Arabic at http://www.voiraq.com which states that the radio "covers an area with 12 million Iraqi inhabitants". The site adds, among other things: "The Voice of Iraq, which transmits from Baghdad on 1179 kHz, is the first independent radio in Iraq's history. It started transmitting on 15 July 2003 after a month of testing. The founders of the radio wanted the station to be a distinguished media organ in terms of both accuracy and objectivity, broadcasting all news reports and analysing developments in a serious, impartial, professional and unbiased manner. "The Voice of Iraq presents a wide variety of intellectual talks, field investigations, panel discussions and many programmes on various subjects. "The radio is eager to safeguard unity and amity among the Iraqi people following decades of attempts to foment sectarianism and practise murder and oppression against the majority of the Iraqi people and the rest of Iraq's citizens. "The editorial policy of the Voice of Iraq takes great care of the Iraqi people's national unity, encouraging close relations among the various ethnic groups - Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans - who must have equal rights without any form of prejudice. "The Voice of Iraq is also eager to strengthen relations with neighbouring states and peoples and promote them in a way that would eradicate the harm that the defunct regime's aggression against these states had caused." Al-Mustaqbal (The Future) Radio - The radio is operated by the Iraqi National Accord movement (INA) and transmits from Baghdad on FM 95.5 MHz. The station no longer broadcasts on 1305 kHz. The radio describes itself as "the voice of the Iraqi National Accord." The INA movement has a website in English and Arabic at http://www.wifaq.com Al-Salam TV and Radio from Baghdad - The following report headlined "This is Al-Salam television and radio from Al-Kazimiyah city" was published by the Iraqi National Accord newspaper Baghdad on 14 February 2004: "After the fall of the former regime and the end of the phase of propaganda media and obscuring the voice of others, Al-Salam Television and Radio station was established in Al-Kazimiyah City, in Baghdad, to broadcast programmes that call for love and harmony among the people of Iraq. "This station also provides people with useful media and reflects the wishes of the people from all ethnic, religious and sectarian affiliation within the framework of democracy and freedom of _expression, which they were deprived of under the former regime, without favouritism or taking the side of any sect or religion, and without circulating this or that ideology. "The television station has started its daily test transmission on Channel 5 from 1600 until 2000. "This station has an elite range of well-known media figures, including announcer Amal al-Mudarris, director Ali al-Ansari, writer Sabah Ruhaymah, and announcer Samirah Jiyad." Al-Salam (Peace) Radio is on the air daily at 1000-2000 local time (0700-1700 gmt) 1030 or 1035 kHz mediumwave. It is not known if this station has any connection with a similarly named music station on 106.0 MHz FM, Al-Salam Radio FM. Dar al-Salam Radio - Dar al-Salam Radio (Haven of Peace) broadcasts from Baghdad and identifies itself as the radio of the Iraqi Islamic Party. The station was first monitored on 24 March 2004. Initial broadcasts focused on the activities of Iraqi Islamic Party leader Mushin Abd al-Hamid and Islamic issues. In its initial broadcasts, Dar al-Salam Radio highlighted the importance of Islam in Iraqi society. The station also aired religious songs. BBC Monitoring observed a station identifying in Arabic as Dar al- Salam Radio on 91.0 MHz in the FM band at 1400 gmt on 18 September 2004. Programming on this new frequency was in parallel with the mediumwave service on 1152 kHz, first observed in March 2004. "Telephone FM" is a new radio programme produced in the German capital Berlin by young Iraqis and targeting a youth audience inside Iraq. Since 10 July the 90-minute "Telephone FM" programmes has been five afternoons a week by the Baghdad-based private station Hot FM, which is on 104.1 MHz. As well as reports and interviews conducted by telephone for the most part and then compiled in Berlin, Telephone FM will air a mix of Arabic and mainstream Western music. The project is sponsored by the German Foreign Ministry, which has provided 102,000 dollars in aid. Al-Nas ("People's") Radio broadcasts nationally on 594 kHz from Baghdad, planning to open an FM outlet in June 2005. Rebroadcast's German external radio Deutsche Welle for four hours per day. Ashur Radio was first observed on FM in Baghdad by BBC Monitoring on 24 July 2004. Programmes in Arabic and Assyrian are broadcast at 0910- 2000 local time (0610-1700 gmt) on 99.4 MHz FM in Baghdad. Ashur was one of the ancient capitals of the Assyrian Empire, situated on the River Tigris in northern Iraq. A clandestine radio station of this name broadcast on 9155 kHz shortwave prior to the 2003 Iraq war. Bilad Radio operates on 999 kHz mediumwave in Baghdad. Programming consists entirely of Koranic recitations and the call to prayer. The station is on the air daily at 0800-1600 hours local time (0500-1300 gmt). Radio Friendship, Voice of Iraqi Women (Radio al-Mahabbah, Sawt al- Mar'ah al-Iraqiyah), a Baghdad-based station aimed at a female audience, first noted by BBC Monitoring on 10 June 2005 on 96.0 MHz. British Forces Broadcasting Service BFBS radio and TV stations are available as follows (all frequencies are in MHz): BFBS Radio 1 Umm Qasr 106.5 Shaybah 106.5 Basra 106.5 Al-Amarah 106.5 Baghdad 106.9 BFBS Radio 2 Umm Qasr 102.1 Shaybah 102.1 Al-Amarah 87.5 Basra 102.1 BFBS Gurkha Radio Basra 104.0 BFBS TV is available only via DTH satellite and closed cable systems. US American Forces Radio AFN-Iraq has been observed on 107.7 MHz in Baghdad with local programming, identifying on air as "Freedom Radio" and "Freedom Radio 107.7." AFN Radio on 92.3 MHz in Baghdad carries a separate non-local programme stream. AFN Radio is available on the FM band as follows (all frequencies are in MHz): Baghdad 92.3 (Voice Channel) & 107.7 (AFN-Iraq/Freedom Radio) Balad 107.3 Kirkuk 100.1 & 107.3 Mosul 105.1 Quyarrah/Q-West base 93.3 Sinjar 107.9 Tallil 100.1 (Voice Channel) & 107.3 (Bright AC) Tikrit 93.3 AFN-Iraq has a website at http://www.afniraq.army.mil The following are stations in operation before April 2003 that continue to be heard inside Iraq: Voice of the People of Kurdistan, operated by the PUK, currently broadcasts on 1206 kHz mediumwave and 4025 kHz shortwave, and also on 97.5 MHz in Baghdad. Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan, operated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), currently broadcasts on shortwave 6340 kHz and FM 91.4 MHz (Salah al-Din), 91.5 MHz (Arbil) and 93.3 MHz (Dohuk). This station also noted on 13 February 2005 broadcasting via the Hotbird 6 satellite at 13 degrees east. Radio Azadi, Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan Voice of the Iraqi People, Voice of the Iraqi Communist Party - The station broadcasts from northern Iraq, possibly using Kurdish facilities. Radio from Iran in Persian and Arabic, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Egypt and Israel is also heard at times. TELEVISION --- TV stations in Iraq ([vision/]sound frequencies in MHz) E5 175.25/180.75 MHz Al-Salam E6 182.25/187.75 MHz Al-Nahrain, Wasit-al-Kut E7 189.25/194.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah Television (IMN) 189.25/194.75 MHz Al-Ghadeer TV, Najaf E9 203.25/208.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah (IMN) E22 479.25/484.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah Television (IMN) 479.25/484.75 MHz Al-Fayha TV, Basra 503.25/508.75 MHz Al-Ghadeer TV, Najaf [E25] E26 511.25/516.75 MHz Iraq Online TV 511.25/516.75 MHz Al-Nakhil, Basra E30 543.25/548.75 MHz Kurdsat, Sulamaniya E31 551.25/556.75 MHz Al-Hurriyah E33 567.75/572.75 MHz Kurdistan TV (KTVS) 567.25/572.75 MHz Voice of the South, Basra E36 591.25/596.75 MHz Al-Rashid E37 599.25/604.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah (IMN) E41 631.25/636.75 MHz Nahrain TV E42 639.25/654.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah, Mosul E44 655.25/660.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah, Basra E45 663.25/668.75 MHz Ashur TV E46 671.25/676.75 MHz Al-Hikmah E48 687.25/692.75 MHz Al-Iraqiyah E51 711.25/716.75 MHz Al-Rafidain E54 735.25/740.75 MHz Al-Mashriq (test transmission) E56 751.25/756.75 MHz Al-Diyar TV E61 791.25/796.75 MHz Al-Wataniyah E68 847.25/852.75 MHz Ahl al-Bayt, Karbala Al-Iraqiyah, formerly known as Iraqi Media Network television launched on 13 May 2003. The station now broadcasts 24-hours a day. IMN TV was renamed Al-Iraqiyah TV in November 2003. The station is available on different channels in 26 major cities and towns across Iraq. For channel details, see the IMN website at http://www.iraqimedianet.net Al-Iraqiyah TV also broadcasts on the Arabsat 2D and 3A satellites at 26 degrees east. Surveys carried out in mid-2004 indicated that Al-Iraqiyah, whose coverage area extends to between 70-80 per cent of Iraq, was the TV station with the most viewers. The leading pan-Arab channel was Al-Arabiyah, followed by Al-Jazeera. These two shared almost two-thirds of the satellite TV audience in Iraq. Al-Sharqiya satellite TV - Al-Sharqiya, launched in March 2004, is owned by Iraqi businessman Sa'd al-Bazzaz, who is also the publisher of the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Zaman. The channel began regular transmission on 4 May 2004. It describes itself as "the first private, national media project that does not represent any political, ethnic or sectarian group". Al-Sharqiya is a channel with an Iraqi flavour. The channel's newscasts focus on developments in Iraq and the political, economic and social conditions there. Between newscasts, the channel carries talk shows and interviews, Iraqi music and drama programmes and cartoons for children. All drama series are Iraqi in terms of production, actors and dialect. The only non-Iraqi content is the cartoons. Al-Sharqiya does not air religious programming and does not carry the calls for prayers or Friday sermons. The channel frequently broadcasts the slogan seen in its logo "Al-Sharqiya - the truth television". Al-Sharqiya broadcasts 24 hours a day via satellite and terrestrially. It has offices in Baghdad and Dubai Media City. The channel is reported by the Lyngsat satellite chart to be transmitting from the Arabsat 2D, Hot Bird 2 and Nilesat 101 satellites, all in digital format. The channel has a website at http://www.alsharqiyatv.com Al-Diyar TV - Al-Diyar (The Homeland) began official transmissions on 20 June 2004 on the Nilesat 101 satelite after a period of testing. Al-Diyar is also available on Arabsat 2B (30.5 degrees east) and Hot Bird 4 (13 degrees east). The station is run by Iraqi media figure Faysal al-Yasiri in cooperation with the pan-Arab satellite pay-TV service Arab Radio and Television Network, ART, which contributed to setting up and financing the new channel. ART is owned by the Saudi billionaire entrepreneur Salih Kamil. Under Saddam Husayn's regime, Faysal al-Yasiri served in various high- level media posts, including head of Iraqi Radio and Television. Baghdad Satellite Channel, began transmission in August 2005 on the Nilesat and Eutelsat W6 satellites. The station has a Sunni Islamist orientation, appears to be aligned with the Al-Tawafuq Front grouping of political parties, and is opposed to the US military presence in Iraq. Many of the station's programmes appear to be of an Islamic nature. The station's website at http://www.baghdad-tv.net is currently inactive. Al-Baghdadiyah is an Iraqi satellite channel broadcasting on the Nilesat and Hotbird satellites. It appears the channel may be operated by the same group as the Al-Furat newspaper. The channel's director general is Arshad Tawfiq, Iraq's former ambassador to Spain and a former Ba'th Party official. He is now a member of the Supreme Council for National Salvation. The station is opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, and refers to Iraqis killed by these troops as "martyrs". Programming mainly consists of entertainment, news and music. Al-Mirbad, a television channel based in Basra for the southern part of Iraq. The station was partly financed by a UK government grant, and much of the facilities and training was provided by the BBC World Service Trust charity. The station is available on the Arabsat satellite, and via terrestrial transmitters in Basra, Al Amara and Nasiriyah Al-Anwar (The Lights), a Shi'i satellite channel, was observed on 15 September 2004 broadcasting test transmissions on the Nilesat 102 satellite at 7 degrees west. Al-Anwar was observed to carry the following two messages to describe itself: "Al-Anwar: A truth in the centre of the sky" and "Al-Anwar: Truth has only one colour." The channel has a website at www.alanwar.tv containing only the technical paramters required to receive Al-Anwar. Al-Furat (The Euphrates), based in Baghdad, began test transmissions in June 2004. The channel transmits via the Arabsat 2D satellite at 26 degrees east, Arabsat 2B at 30.5 degrees east and Nilesat 101 at 7 degrees west. In an on-screen message on 4 January 2005, Al-Furat described itself as "the voice of genuineness and moderation". Al- Furat was observed to express its total support for the election platform of the Unified Iraqi Coalition, which has the backing of Iraq's most senior Shi'i cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and whose electoral list comprises other key Shi'i figures such as Al- Sayyid Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim, Dr Ibrahim al-Ja'fari, Dr Ahmad Chalabi, Dr Ibrahim Bahr-al-Ulum, Dr Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i and others. The station has a website at www.alforattv.com featuring reception parameters, contact details and a live feed of the channel. Al-Sumariyah (reference to Sumer, an ancient region of southern Mesopotamia in present-day southern Iraq) - This satellite TV channel began broadcasting from Beirut on 27 September 2004, via the Nilesat 101 satellite at 7 degrees west. It is also available via PanAmSat 4 at 74 degrees east. The channel stated that although it "operates under the licence of the Iraqi government", it would start its broadcasts from the Lebanese capital "for security reasons." Its shareholders are predominantly Iraqi. Al-Sumariya describes itself as "an independent satellite television which aims at showing the world the true face of Iraq, and not only images of violence." The station is owned by CET (Communication Entertainment and Television) SAL (Offshore), according to its website. Al-Sumariyah TV has a website at http://www.alsumaria.tv Al-Fayha ("The Vast", one of the Arabic names for Basra), is an Iraqi satellite channel that began test transmissions from the UAE in July 2004. The channel uses the Nilesat 102 satellite at 7 degrees west and is reportedly licensed in Dubai Media City. It is also available on Hot Bird 2 at 13 degrees east. Muhammad al-Ta'i, chairman of the board of directors and director- general of the channel, has described Al-Fayhaa as "a purely Iraqi national channel with no links to other regimes, governments or parties", according to the Iraqi Shi'i group's Iran-based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin on 27 July. On 15 May 2005, one of the station's announcers said that it would be forced to close following the UAE government's decision not to renew its licence. The station confirmed this in a news bulletin monitored on 1 February 2006. The station has a website at http://www.alfayhaatv.net/ Nahrain TV is a Baghdad-based terrestrial TV channel which announced plans to launch in August 2004. Nahrain ("rivers"), was financed by an initial 25m-US dollar investment from Naguib Sawiris, chief executive of Orascom, an Egyptian telecommunications group. Orascom also owns Iraq's main wireless operator, Iraqna. It is operated by Video Cairo Sat, an Egyptian production company. Mohammed Gohar, the founder of Video Cairo Sat, told the International Herald Tribune in remarks published on 16 August 2004: "We have no agenda... We just want to inform and entertain and basically to help people to cope with their daily lives in what is a very shaky and chaotic situation." Nahrain's offices in Baghdad employ a staff of around 80, all of them Iraqi nationals. A poll published by the Egypt Times on 3 May 2005 found that Nahrain TV was the "most popular terrestrial channel" in Iraq. According to the International Herald Tribune, Nahrain's 10-hour daily programming schedule "includes ample doses of news and public affairs content... interspersed with musical variety shows, children's cartoons and recent Arabic sitcoms or dramas from Egypt or the Gulf". The station has a website at http://www.imnsr.com/ Arabic News Broadcast - A UK-based pan-Arab satellite TV channel, on the Hotbird 4, Eutelsat W1 and Nilesat satellites. The channel is reported to have four regional bureaus in the Middle East and is believed to be uplinked from Beirut. ANB is a venture launched by a group of businessmen from different parts of the Arab world and has "the single goal of conquering the Iraqi market", according to the Transnational Broadcasting Studies (TBS) journal (spring-summer 2004). The general manager of ANB is Butrus al-Khuri, who states that ANB "is financed by a group of businessmen from Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and Tunisia, and will depend exclusively on advertisements for revenue. It will not be based only in London, but will have centres in all of those countries. ANB's programming will be entirely in Arabic, except for one daily news bulletin in English, as well as a weekly talk show that will host an English native speaker." Al-Mashriq TV - An independent television channel which started broadcasting in June 2004 on UHF channel 54 in Baghdad. Channel describes itself as "Al-Mashriq, the television of Iraq and Iraqis". Ashur TV - This terrestrial TV station transmits on UHF channel 45. It is run by the Assyrian Democratic Movement. The channel has been observed to carry a variety of programmes that include newscasts, science programmes, songs, drama series and other programmes. Ashur TV has a website at http://www.ashurtv.org. Kurdsat television - broadcasts in Kurdish on UHF channel 30 and via the Hotbird satellite. It is run by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Al-Hurriyah [Freedom] television - broadcasts in Arabic on UHF channel 31. It is also run by the PUK. Kurdistan Television - received in Baghdad on UHF channel 33. It is run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Karbala - a local TV channel was launched on 16 April 2003, according to United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi TV on 6 May. Similar small-scale local channels are reported to be operating in Najaf and Kut, according to BBC News Online reporter Tarik Kafala, who visited the stations in June 2003. Ninawa TV was launched in mid-July 2003. The Baghdad newspaper Al-Ittihad reported on 14 July that an independent radio station called Ninawa Radio also operates. Mosul TV was the "first station" to resume transmission in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Husayn, Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya TV reported on 10 May 2003. Kirkuk TV channel started broadcasts on 23 April 2003 "under the supervision of the coalition forces", according to a report by the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Brayati on 25 April. PUK TV in Kirkuk - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan launched a new TV channel in Kirkuk on 23 March 2004, the Baghdad newspaper Al-Mashriq reported. The report says that its broadcasts covers Kirkuk and surrounding areas. An official source at the station said that its goal was to enhance brotherly relations among ethnic groups in the city. He added that broadcasting will be in Arabic, Kurdish, Turkomen and Syriac to include all ethnic groups in Kirkuk. ATB TV in Kirkuk - Local TV channel ATB began test broadcasts in Kirkuk in June 2004, initially for eight hours a day. The channel is affiliated with the Kurdistan Communist Party. "ATB is the seventh television channel broadcasting to Kirkuk citizens, along with other channels affiliated with the main Kurdish, Islamic and Turkomen parties, in addition to Kirkuk Television, sponsored and supervised by the coalition forces. Moreover, Kirkuk has eight radio stations broadcasting programmes in local languages spoken by various ethnic groups in the governorate," the Baghdad newspaper Al-Ahali reported on 16 June 2004. Turkomaneli TV and radio was launched in Kirkuk in April 2003 and broadcasts on behalf of the Iraqi Turkoman Front. Turkomaneli Radio opened radio stations in Talla'far and Mosul on 6 and 8 May 2003 respectively, the Iraqi Turkoman Front newspaper Turkomaneli reported on 11 May. The channel is available on UHF channel 56 in Kirkuk, and on the Eurasiasat satellite at 42 degrees east. The channel operates a website at http://www.turkomenelitv.com Dijlah (Tigris) satellite channel, with headquarters in Mosul, launched at the start of August 2004. It broadcasts in Kurdish and Arabic. Zagros TV, a Kurdish language satellite channel, based in Arbil and available on the Eutelsat Sesat satellite at 36 degrees east orbital position. IRANIAN BROADCAST MEDIA ACCESSIBLE IN IRAQ --- TELEVISION The Iran-based Al-Alam TV channel in Arabic and English is a 24-hour news channel transmitted on four satellites (Arabsat, Asiasat, Telstar and Hot Bird satellites) and can be received in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and America. Al-Alam broadcasts into Baghdad from a powerful transmitter about 150 km away, just over the Iran-Iraq border. It is the only foreign channel that can be viewed by Iraqis without a satellite dish. That has sent its viewership soaring among Iraqis, who cannot afford a satellite dish and receiver. The Arabic channel began broadcasting in February 2003. English content currently is limited to horizontal news subtitles or news tickers. The station has a website at http://www.alalam.ir Sahar Universal Network 1 and 2 television, Iran's external satellite TV service on the Hot Bird 1-6 satellites, is viewable across Iraq and includes Arabic programming. It broadcasts on the 13 degrees East Hot Bird 1-6 satellite daily from 0500-2300 gmt. Its website is located at http://www.sahar.tv Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran television in Arabic is based in Tehran and sponsored by the state-run Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It broadcasts daily to Iraq on the Intelsat 902 satellite at 62 degrees east, 10973 MHz, vertical polarization. RADIO Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI) external service in Arabic can be heard on mediumwave and shortwave inside Iraq as well as via the Internet at http://www.irib.ir INTERNATIONAL MEDIA Major international radio and television stations, such as pan-Arab satellite television stations, the BBC Arabic and World Service radio, the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East, US Radio Sawa and US- sponsored Radio Free Iraq are available in Iraq. BBC World Service is now 24 hours a day on FM in Baghdad and Basra. The FM frequencies for Arabic programming are 89.0 MHz in Baghdad and 90.0 MHz in Basra. BBC World Service in English can be heard on FM in Baghdad on 97.9 MHz, and in Basra on 88.0 MHz. Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East is on FM on 88.0 MHz in Baghdad for 24 hours a day. Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East can also be heard in Basra on 88.8 MHz and in Mosul on 88.0 MHz. Programming is mostly in Arabic, however with 30-minute news bulletins in French from Radio France International three times a day. Radio France Internationale started a relay of its French-language programme on 93.5 MHz in Baghdad on 16 February. Radio Sawa is on FM in Baghdad (100.4 MHz), Arbil (100.5 MHz), Mosul (106.6 MHz), Sulaymaniyah (88.0 MHz) and Basra (107.0), as well as on 1548 kHz MW from Kuwait. Panorama FM replaced MBC FM on 88.6 MHz in the latter half of 2004, both brands being owned by the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corporation. 98.8 FM is owned by the Channel 4 Radio Network, which is also based in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Hurra TV - Since 14 February 2004 satellite viewers in Iraq and the rest of the Arab world have been able to watch a new US government- funded Arabic-language satellite TV channel, Al-Hurra (meaning "the free"). The station broadcasts free-to-air via the direct-to-home Arabsat and Nilesat satellites. It is also distributed via other satellites. In April 2004 a second channel, Al-Hurra Iraq, was added specifically for Iraqi audiences. It is available by satellite and terrestrially in Baghdad and Basra. Syrian Arab Republic Radio is the Syrian state-owned radio. The Main Programme broadcasts on shortwave on 12085 and 13610 kHz. It has also been heard in Iraq on the MW frequencies of 819, 828 and 918 kHz. Radio Kuwait is the state-owned Kuwaiti radio. It can be received in Iraq on the MW frequency of 540 kHz 24 hours. MAIN PRINT MEDIA The following is a list of the main newspapers published in Iraq. Although more than 250 newspapers and magazines appeared in Iraq since the fall of the former regime in April 2003, reportedly only about 100 are still publishing, many of them on an irregular basis. Al-Adalah - daily published by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq Al-Ahali - independent weekly; website - http://www.ahali-iraq.com Al-Basa'ir - weekly published by the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq; website - http://www.basaernews.com Al-Bayan - published by the Islamic Da'wah Party, chaired by prime minister Ibrahim al-Jafari; website http://www.idp-baghdad.org/bayan/ Al-Bayyinah - weekly published by the Hezbollah movement in Iraq Al-Da'wah - daily published by the Islamic Da'wah Party Al-Dustur - Independent daily published by former journalist Basim al- Shaykh Al-Furat - political daily; website - http://www.alfourat.com Al-Iraq al-Yawm - weekly newspaper published by Isra Shakir Ishraqat Al-Sadr - Islamic weekly associated with Muqtada al-Sadr Al-Ittihad - daily published by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Al-Ittijah al-Akhar - weekly of the United Nation Party, led by Mish'an al-Juburi; website - http://www.alitijahalakhar.com/ Al-Mada - independent daily published by Al-Mada Institution for Media, Culture and Arts; website - http://www.almadapaper.com Al-Manar al-Yawm - independent daily Al-Manarah - independent political daily published by Sawt al-Janub press, print and publishing institution in Basra; website - http://www.almannarah.com Al-Mashriq - daily published by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments Al-Mu'tamar - daily published by the Iraqi National Congress Al-Sa'ah - biweekly of the Unified National Movement, led by prominent Sunni cleric Prof Ahmad al-Kubaysi Al-Sabah - daily published by the Iraqi Media Network; website - http://www.alsabaah.com/ Al-Sabah al-Jadid - independent political daily; website - http://newsabah.com/ Al-Shira - independent daily Tariq al-Sha'b - political and cultural weekly of the Iraqi Communist Party; website - http://www.tareekalshaab.com Al-Taakhi - daily published by the Kurdistan Democratic Party Al-Ufuq - political daily published by Al-Ufuq Cultural Foundation; website - http://www.alufuqnews.com/ Al-Zaman - Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily; website - http://www.azzaman.com Al-Zawra - weekly published by the Iraqi Journalists Association Ansar al-Mahdi - Islamic political weekly affiliated with Shi'i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Baghdad - daily published by the Iraqi National Accord Bahra - general political weekly of the Assyrian Democratic Movement; website - http://www.zowaa.org/BahraADM.htm Dar al-Salam - weekly of the Iraqi Islamic Party; website - http://www.dar-ussalam.net/ Sawt al-Ahali - political daily (published weekly for the time being) of the National Democratic Party Source: BBC Monitoring research 24 Feb 06 (via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Corrections in IRRS-Shortwave schedule, 100 kW / non- dir to WeEu/NoAf: 1800-1925 Friday on 9380, ex 1800-1855 1930-2300 Friday on 5775, ex 1900-2300 2000-2300 Sunday on 5775, ex MIL 020 kW Additional transmission of Brother Stair TOM via IRRS, 030 kW / non- dir to WeEu/NoAf: 1300-1555 Sat/Sun on 13840 Additional transmission of Brother Stair TOM via IRRS, 100 kW / 195 deg to Eu/NoWeAf: 1200-1300 Friday on 15750 from March 3 (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) Not even ??? for sites now (gh) ** KENYA. 846.05, Voice of Kenya, Niyamninia; in Swahili, ID "KBC", good Afro-pop music; heard 2101-2110 sign-off 9/2, 0145 sign-on to 0359, F/G. 1386.07, KBC Maralal; "This is KBC" in English all night stable signals F/VG, 0210 9/2. boc4 (Dario Monferini & Giampiero Bernardini, Bocca Di Magra (La Spezia), Italy. AOR 7030, Drake SPR-4, RF Space SDR-14, Ciao Radio H101, Degen 1103, Sangean ATS 909, Grundig Satellite 500, Wellbrook LFL 1010, MW News via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Radio Sea Breeze/Shiokaze (new via VT Communications) 1400-1430 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Daily 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Korean Mon 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE English Tue 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Chinese Wed 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Thu-Sun 1900-1930 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Daily (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Open Radio for North Korea (new via VT Communications) 1500-1600 5880 IRK 100 kW / 110 KRE Korean (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** KOSOVO. Kosovo 1413 re transmitter plans: The main problem here is that of funding. The old transmitter on 1413 kHz was bombed during the war and to rebuild it would cost some 6 million euros. The transmitter is much needed, but there are no funds. We will carry on with the existing transmitter, which does not have too much power and provides a reasonable coverage only of the nearby area (Station engineer via Ullmar Qvick, Feb ARC Info Desk via DXLD) That reminds me, the new Napoli restaurant in Enid, yes, Italian cuisine, is run by Kosovars. I nailed them when I heard them talking Albanian to each other (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 4405, Voice of the Strugglers of Iranian Kurdistan. 1515 with instrumental music & no ID, mixed Voice of Korea in English, but jumping to avoid the Iranian jammers in range 4390- 4415. At 1525 ID ``Dengi Khabatti Kurdistana Irana``, in Kurdish, 11/2 (Rumen Pankov, (Sony ICF7600SW, Folded Marconi, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA EAST. Re 1475, Voice of Malaysia (Suara Malaysia), RTM's external service in Tagalog for the Philippines, reception surprisingly poor round here for a service supposed to be using 700 kW (Alan Davies, Surabaya, Indonesia, ARC via DXLD) Finnish DXers agree that the actual power appears to be much lower than the official figure. -ed/ (Olle Alm, Jan ARC Information Desk via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA WEST. 7295, RTM, Kuala Lumpur. Reactivated a few weeks back, very strong, pop music 1209, English service, 25/2 (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, Rohde & Schwarz EK-890, Icom R75, Horizontal Loop, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA [non]. Re 3290 log: It's pretty obvious to me now this must've been Guyana instead of Namibia. In order to absolve myself of any responsibility for this error, I will blame the influence of bad companions and the 2006 PWBR. Thank you (Harry Helms, W5HLH, ABDX via DXLD) Which does show 3290, as a 24 hour alternate frequency to 6175. And 6175 is a 24 hour alternate frequency to 3290! (gh) ** NEPAL. Re 6-036, QSLs: Hola Pepe y Arnaldo, quiero dar mi opinión respecto a lo de las QSL de Radio Nepal. Siempre he leído que Radio Nepal era una emisora difícil en lo que a conseguir QSL respecta. Puede que a algunas personas les verificara bien y rápido, pero hay que ver lo que pasa con muchos dx-istas para saber si una emisora es buena o mala verificadora. A mí una emisora me puede verificar rápidamente y sin problema, pero, a lo mejor, a otras 100 personas no les verifica y, entonces, yo podré decir que a mi me fue bién, pero esa emisora en realizad, de buena verificadora nada. Yo creo que para aclarar un poco la cosa, debemos visitar la página QSL information Page, de Martin Schoch en lo que respecta a Nepal http://www.schoechi.de/az-npl.html y veremos que hay pocas confirmaciones de Nepal, una emisora que lleva muchísimos años en el aire, y las que hay recibidas, tardaron muchísimo tiempo en llegar, hasta casi dos años. Incluso hay en esa página, un comentario, de una persona que visitó la emisora, debido a que, un amigo suyo había enviado 12 informes de recepción y no había recibido respuesta, y le enseñaron montones de cartas con informes que estaban sin contestar. Como en tantas y tantas emisoras, esas cartas terminarán en la basura, pero no sin antes haberles retirado los dólares ó IRC que llevan dentro. Pero bueno, tomemos las cosas con buen humor y pensemos que, a lo mejor, esos dólares que enviamos con las cartas sirven para, que la persona que tiene capacidad de decisión en la emisora, la siga manteniendo en la onda corta, y así, estaremos ayudando a que muchas de esas emisoras no cierren. Y, Pepe, respecto a lo de los carteros, ya hemos cambiado impresiones sobre esto en más de una ocasión y ya sabes mi opinión al respecto. Para mí, en el 99% de los casos el problema está en las emisoras y en sus países de origen y no en los carteros. En fin, que yo escuché ayer Radio Nepal y mañana enviaré un informe de recepción; veremos que pasa, pero, la estadística lo dice: un 90% de probabilidadesde que termine en la papelera. Un abrazo para los dos y para todos los amigos de la lista (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) Una buena observación, Manuel. Coincido con vos. Vos sabes en cuántas ocasiones recibí una QSL con una carta indicándoseme que me escribían porque era de la tierra de Maradona...? A veces, las razones por las que recibimos una confirmación tiene que ver con motivos totalmente ajenos a nuestra lógica y nos sorprendemos por lo insólitas de las motivaciones de las respuestas. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) Hola Manuel y Arnaldo, creo que los dos llevais razón; lo de correos no las tengo todas conmigo debido a que a mí se me han perdido hasta paquetes certificados y en un foro de coleccionismo en el que estoy, e intercambio cromos antiguos con otros compañeros, alguna que otra carta se ha perdido, sobre todo las voluminosas pero también llevas razón el porcentaje de cartas que llegan puede rondar mas del 95%. Nuestro sistema de correos no es muy malo, pero el de los países de destino de esas cartas ¿quién se la juega por ellos? Lo más seguro es que se pierdan en el trayecto una vez salen de Europa, ya que en Europa el porcentaje de pérdidas no es muy alto, es más bien del 1 o 2%, así que la verdad es que posiblemente la culpa la tengan, o los correos de esos países de destino o la propia emisora, y con respecto Arnaldo, a el tema de la verificación por causas ajenas al DX también es cierto, ya que Indonesia y Papua Nueva Guinea a mi me verificaron porque les extrañó, que les llegara una carta de un país tan exótico como España (¡ahí queda eso!). Saludos. Pepe (José Hernández Madrid, Spain, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS. DUTCH JOURNALIST ENTERS MEDIA PARK WITH ILLEGAL WEAPONS Journalist Alberto Stegeman managed to enter the Hilversum Media Park http://www.mediapark.nl/default.htm adjacent to Radio Netherlands, this morning with a bag containing illegal weapons without being stopped. Stegeman, who works for commercial TV station SBS6, was guest on a 3FM radio show to promote the programme "Undercover in the Netherlands", and wanted to prove that security in the Media Park is still far too lax. Pictures of Stegeman in the Media Park with the bag containing weapons will be shown this evening on SBS Action News. The Ministry of Justice said it was shocked to learn of what happened this morning, and is launching an enquiry. # posted by Andy @ 15:27 Feb 27 (Media Network blog via DXLD) There is no security at all. The site owners are too keen that everyone parks their car at the Media Park, so they can rake in the cash (Jonathan Marks, 02.27.06 - 8:26 pm, ibid.) ** NIGERIA. 7255, V. of Nigeria, Ikorodu. unID language in normal discourse then into excited description of sporting activity (?). Signal at good strength with medium level of noise. 0810 15/2 (Charles Jones, DX-Pedition Yeranda, Barrington Tops area NSW, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) Late reception via LP, Hausa ID 0930, indigenous music – only possible this late in our summer months, 9/2. I have no doubt it would have still been there past 1000, but the thunderstorm noise got the better of us & we packed up and left soon after this (Craig Seager, Limekilns DXpediton, near Bathurst NSW, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Mouth of Mohamed Radio, 6925: http://www.rfma.net/archives/000690.html (Radio Free Mount Airy via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Notes from Victor Rutkovsky in Yekaterinburg (amendments to WRTH 2006) 180 Chita: is Mayak 216 Birobidzhan: don't know if on the air, but at least no local programmes of any kind 225 Surgut: no local programmes for a long time 243 Razdolnoye: not on the air at least since 2004 261 Chita: R Rossii 270 Orenburg: closed for good 270 Novosibirsk: only local programmes 693 Anadyr: has been closed already for very many years 828 Nizhniy-Novgorod: has been closed for many years 999 Birobidzhan: Yunost & local programmes 1008 Tuapse: R Rossii? 1053 Orenburg: R Rossii & local 1152 Khanty-Mansiysk: where is this from - there has never been anything 1197 Balakov/Balashov/Ershov: who has heard? No one at least 10 years 1197 Berezovo, probably not on the air 1386 Obninsk: empty 1395 Lyubim/Volga/Dubki: empty 1449 Livny: empty 1458 Valuyki: empty 1512 Chaykovskiy: closed 1593 Irkutsk: hasn't been on for a very long time State broadcasters: 873 Khabarovsk -- off 1485 Oktyabrskiy -- off 1602 Gayny -- off for a long time Private: 675 Oyash -- off 738 Vladivostok -- Evropa+ 765 Khabarovsk -- tested in 2005y 936 Dalnegorsk -- off 1107 Samara -- off 1296 Irkutsk -- off, it must be for ever 1575 Usol'e-Sibirskoe – off (Feb ARC Info Desk via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 17 Jan, 0330, 1053 kHz, Radio Rossii switched to domestic service program entitled "Tvoya Zemlya" (Your Earth). Might be Orenburg. Transmitter is on the air tentatively at 0200-1730. Co- channels: RUS/Spb (Mariya), UK/Engl, IRN/Fars and heavy het (NDB ../_.). WRTH-06 suggests Orenburg, 50 kW, Radonezh + local. Any comments? (open_dx - Vladimir Titarev, Kremenchuk, Ukraine, via Signal via DXLD) I can only hear R.Shanson from Krasnoyarsk on 1053 kHz here. (open_dx - Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, ibid.) Yes, that is Orenburg. 1053 kHz is the main regional frequency after close-down of 270 kHz tx. I can hear 1053 kHz very loud here in Yekaterinburg. (open_dx - Victor Rutkovsky, Yekaterinburg, Russia, ibid.) ** SENEGAL [non]. West Africa Democracy Radio 0700-0800 12000 RMP 500 kW / 190 WeAf English (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 0800-0900 12000 RMP 500 kW / 190 WeAf French (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 0900-1000 17860 SKN 250 kW / 190 WeAf English (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 1000-1100 17860 SKN 250 kW / 190 WeAf French (x WOF 300 kW / 195) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** SERBIA. 3338, Serbian Pirate. Harmonic of 1669 here, poor signal but 3338 booming in, also at 2030. Here it is very difficult to listen to 90 metres due to the Greek and Serbian pirate harmonics, coming from 1600-1800 kHz MW, 11/2 (Rumen Pankov, (Sony ICF7600SW, Folded Marconi, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 6960, R. Shabele, Mogadishu. Good clear signal in unID language. This is the best strength this station has ever been received by me, 2004 15/2 (Charles Jones, DX-Pedition Yeranda, Barrington Tops area NSW, Mar Australian DX News via DXLD) ** SPAIN. EL PLAN DE SANEAMIENTO DE RTVE CERRARÁ RADIO 4 Y REDUCIRÁ LOS CENTROS TERRITORIALES El Plan de Saneamiento y Futuro de RTVE mantendrá los centros territoriales, pero reducirá su estructura y programación. Además, cerrará la emisora en catalán, Radio 4, y el centro de producción de Canarias. La reducción de plantilla aún no se ha concretado. RTVE acumula una deuda hasta 2005 de 7.551 millones de euros y una plantilla de 9.212 trabajadores. Los independentistas catalanes de ERC han pedido una justificación para el cierre de Radio 4. . . Entre estas medidas se encuentra el cierre de la emisora en catalán Radio 4, el centro de producción de Canarias, y la reducción de la actividad de los centros territoriales a la elaboración de un informativo territorial de media hora y su labor como corresponsalía de los servicios informativos centrales. La 2 y Radio 5 perderán sus desconexiones territoriales. . . http://www.libertaddigital.com/noticias/noticia_1276273152.html Paz y Dx (via Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, DXLD) Hi Glenn, COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT RNE [registration required] http://www.lavanguardia.es/web/20060227/51235542784.html Thanks Jordi Brunet (Catalunya) (Dario Monferini http://www.playdx.com Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Sudan Radio Service 0500-0600 9525 RMP 500 kW / 140 EaAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (x WOF 300) 1500-1700 15575 SKN 300 kW / 110 EaAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (x WOF 300) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Taiwan's 228 observation ----- Forwarded message from RTI eNews newsmail @ rti.org.tw Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 23:00:00 +0800 Subject: National Security Council to report Monday to President about abolishing NUC And you'll notice it is the first observation of the 'incident'' [the same word for massacre as Beijing uses for 4 June 1989 TianAnMen Massacre. The top story for the day was the president's intention to abolish the NUC (National Unification Council) which pushes further independence and could mean increased beilligerance (war) from the Mainland. -ds] (p2 of 6) No apology at KMT's 228 ceremony Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday that the KMT is "not without responsibility" for the 228 Incident. His remarks fell short of an apology at the first memorial ceremony the KMT held for the 228 Incident at Taipei's 228 Memorial Park. The ceremony was attended by party officials and victims' families. Ma said, "It was the government that made decision regarding the 228 Incident, not the KMT. Yet the KMT was the governing party, so we cannot say that the KMT was not responsible". Ma pointed out the 228 Incident was not a conflict between different ethnic groups but was the result of the KMT's oppression of the people. Ma said to prevent it from happening again, the government needs to avoid corruption. When asked why he did not apologize, he said that he apologized many times in the past. His failure to apologize, though, upset some of the families. The 228 Incident started Feb. 28, 1947 when a protest movement began over the KMT's repression. Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek sent KMT troops from China to quench the rebellion and eventually killed an estimated tens of thousands of people. Chiang Kai-shek's grandson, KMT Legislator John Chiang was also present at the ceremony. His presence created some turmoil as some families of the victims wanted him to apologize for his grandfather's actions or be expelled from the ceremony (via Dan Say, DXLD) Check out the Feb 27, and when available, Feb 28 stories behind the headlines at http://english.rti.com.tw/Content/NewsArchives.aspx 27/02/2006: Today in History Taiwan challenges China by abolishing unification council Opposition threatens to recall president DPP to rally against Anti-Secession Law on March 18th Two sides to sue over 228 Incident Taiwan to fly flags at half-mast on Peace Memorial Day Weather for Tue, Feb 28th, 2006 (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Some changes for VT Communications Relays from Jan. 4 and Jan. 31 [3-digit figures after kW / are degrees azimuth] [this is the full report; some of the more interesting items are duplicated in this issue under the appropriate [non] country] Gospel for Asia 0000-0130 6145 RMP 500 kW / 085 SoAs SoEaAs langs (x DHA 250 kW) 1230-1330 15515 WOF 300 kW / 082 SoAs SoEaAs langs (x DHA 250 kW) Bible Voice Broadcasting Network 0030-0045 6040 RMP 500 kW / 076 SoAs Bengali (x DHA 250 kW) 0030-0045 6020 RMP 500 kW / 085 SoAs Telugu Sat (x DHA 250 kW) Adventist World Radio 0300-0330 9550 SKN 300 kW / 110 EaAf Oromo (x DHA 250 kW) 0300-0400 9760 MEY 500 kW / 007 EaAf Amharic/Tigrigna (x DHA 250 kW) 1300-1330 11720 WOF 300 kW / 045 EaAs Chinese Mon-Fri (cancelled) 1300-1330 11720 WOF 300 kW / 045 EaAs Uyghur Sat/Sun (cancelled) 1330-1500 11720 WOF 300 kW / 045 EaAs Chinese (cancelled) 1500-1600 7480 SAM 250 kW / 117 SoAs Nepali/English (x 9530 SKN 300) 1500-1600 5865 SAM 250 kW / 140 SoAs Punjabi/Hindi (x 11695 DHA 250) 1630-1700 17595 RMP 500 kW / 105 EaAf Somali (x DHA 250 kW) 1730-1800 6180 DHA 250 kW / 230 EaAf Oromo (x 225) FEBA Radio 0445-0500 6125 TAC 200 kW / 183 WeAs Baluchi (x DHA 250 kW) Sudan Radio Service 0500-0600 9525 RMP 500 kW / 140 EaAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (x WOF 300) 1500-1700 15575 SKN 300 kW / 110 EaAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (x WOF 300) Radio Solh/Radio Peace 1200-1500 15265 WOF 250 kW / 074 WeAs Dari/Pashto (x RMP 500 kW) West Africa Democracy Radio 0700-0800 12000 RMP 500 kW / 190 WeAf English (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 0800-0900 12000 RMP 500 kW / 190 WeAf French (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 0900-1000 17860 SKN 250 kW / 190 WeAf English (x WOF 300 kW / 195) 1000-1100 17860 SKN 250 kW / 190 WeAf French (x WOF 300 kW / 195) UNMEE 0900-1000 17670 WOF 300 kW / 114 EaAf English/Vary Sun (x DHA 250 kW) Trans World Radio Africa 1800-1830 12035 RMP 500 kW / 140 EaAf Amharic Mon-Fri (x DHA 250 kW) 1800-1845 12035 RMP 500 kW / 140 EaAf Amharic Sat/Sun (x DHA 250 kW) Radio Sea Breeze/Shiokaze (new via VT Communications) 1400-1430 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Daily 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Korean Mon 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE English Tue 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Chinese Wed 1430-1500 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Thu-Sun 1900-1930 5890 IRK 100 kW / 125 KRE Japanese Daily Open Radio for North Korea (new via VT Communications) 1500-1600 5880 IRK 100 kW / 110 KRE Korean Leading The Way 1700-1730 7290 SKN 300 / 110 WeAs Persian/English Tue/Fri (x RMP 500) 1700-1730 7290 SKN 300 / 110 RUS Russian/English Sat/Sun (x RMP 500) HCJB 1700-1730 9805 SKN 300 kW / 090 RUS Russian (x RMP 500 kW) Voice of Biafra International 2100-2200 7380 MEY 250 kW / 340 WeAf English Sat (x Wed/Sat) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. The latest on WRNO New Orleans: There was more damage to the site than at first thought, including to the feedline. There were difficulties negotiating with the insurance company, but now that has been settled and repair work is starting. Target date: April (George Thurman, TX, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 960, WPBI, North Palm Beach, FL, is on the air with music and the announcement, "WPBI North Palm Beach, conducting equipment tests." This is the first time audio has been heard, previously there has only been an open carrier. The audio was first heard this morning from 1130 ET, 2/27/06 until 1157, when they abruptly left the air. Back on at 1203 with music and repeated announcement with occasional audio signal fluctuations, likely to be an ongoing process. The signal is a modest S9+ with some QRM. An audio clip (8 kB) of the test announcement is here [only a few seconds]: http://ScooterHound.com/WWWR/radio/960_022706_123011.mp3 (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Ratón, (southeast) FL, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Hisslessness no more. Alas, today I found WWNN 1470 Pompano Beach, FL, abandoned the serenity of hisslessness, re-stoking their hiss engine sending plumes of vile putrescence cascading across the radio dial. They had let the flames of disruption die 2/10, after a period of on- again, off-again inconstantence. This longer reprieve had raised hopes the monster had been buried deep to end its dragon breath stench, but now it is too obvious such was not the case. Further on the fine art of hissyness, for the first time today I heard 560 WQAM Miami, promo'ing their HD broadcasts as "crystal clear digital". Funny how that crystal clearness doesn't compare well at all with 610 WIOD. Both Miami, both 5 kW, both with daytime patterns that match across my abode -- the only discernible difference is the better sound from WIOD. Much more background noise on WQAM, and off tuning just a bit -- like a normal human being might with a typical radio -- added hiss joins the weaker signal to give a curious new meaning to crystal clear. But then maybe I don't understand the notion of crystal clear sports talk. The reference may be more a comparison with what one might expect from a cat's whisker (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (southeast) FL http://ScooterHound.com/WWWR/radio/sefliboc.html Feb 27, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-036: WDAB 1580, Traveler`s Rest SC, DX test heard here in its last few minutes, Feb 27 at 0558; no voice IDs made it thru the mush, but sweep tones and VVV DE WDAB (repeated ID), and ran past 0600 UT to 0601 or so; seemed to have finished by 0602. Heard both on FRG-7 with 100` E/W longwire, and on TRF with internal ferrite bar antenna, better on the former (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1580 WDAB test heard, NE Oregon --- Many thanks to Glenn Hauser for the reminder of the 1580 WDAB test -- I would have totally forgotten it otherwise. WDAB was heard fairly easily for the full hour, beginning with a good fadeup right at the start with the distinctive morse code "VVV VVV VVV DE WDAB WDAB WDAB", then into the equally distinctive sweep tones, starting at 0501 UT. This was repeated throughout the next 60 minutes, with the last code and sweep tones heard at 0600. KBLA with black gospel preaching was hugely dominant most of the time, with brief fadeups of KGAL. Only morse code and sweep tones were heard from WDAB (Steve Ratzlaff, AA7U Elgin, OR (NE Oregon), AR-7030, E/W longwire, IRCA via DXLD) The code and tones are making it into southern Alberta with no problem tonight. No discernible voice IDs noted yet, but the code is very clear (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, Kenwood R-5000 and K9AY antenna, 0527 UT Feb 27, ibid.) Hi All, sweep tones and faint morse code heard on 1580 between 0050 and 0052 [EST] on 2/27. I'm amazed. I didn't expect to hear it given only 5 kW. 73, (Dan Riordan, Sherwood OR, Drake R8, Sony 2010, Sony ICF SW35 Palomar Loop, 75' random wire, ibid.) The WDAB test was heard here in the Denver area. Throughout the hour I heard rising pitch sweep tones and some code that was too weak to copy. No identifiable voice due to constant interference from an UNID Radio Disney (presumed AZ) and an UNID C&W that I believe was // to an FM and using the FM ID. I did get some of the test on tape. Thanks to everyone involved in arranging this test and thanks to Glenn for the reminder since I did forget (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, ibid.) WDAB Test in Toronto - It's a Heartache for Bonnie Tyler, whose song is being played. Not for me - the signal is top-notch. Code, sweep tones, other weird tones, A Spanish and English legal ID (and then some), plus ID using '...delta alpha bravo..." Heard often at Burnt River ON and here in Toronto, so the test, while appreciated, is not new for the logbook. Nice to see it's really getting our. Thanks to the staff there and to those who organized and publicized this (Saul Chernos, Toronto ON, ibid.) Morse code and sweep tones fast and slow, from 1580 WDAB DX test heard very clearly here in southeast Florida. Recordings made on three receiver/antenna combinations, will take a while to sort out what all was heard. The sweeps and code came in loud and clear even on one receiver with just a rod antenna. Full report and MP3's will be submitted soon as possible. Thanks to all involved for this test (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Ratón, (southeast) FL, ibid.) Heard very well here in Central PA with full ID, CW, sweep tones, etc. starting shortly after midnight EST. Dominant on frequency, (Brett Saylor, R8 w/ 100 ft. E-W sloper, ibid.) Blasting into Memphis at 0002 EST with Morse code, voice IDs and sweep tones. Ah, just like the good old days! Paul, please thank the engineer for the great test for us all, and tell him he is being heard coast to coast (Rochester, NY to Seaside, OR). (Jim Pogue, ibid.) WDAB 1580 sweep tones & code heard in CO at 0030 EST. Paul, Please convey greetings and thanks from Colorado. This is SC #1 for me from here! (Craig Barnes, Wondervu, CO, Drake R8A & 140 ft. E/W KAZ, ibid.) WDAB heard at 0029 with sweep tones and code ID in Arizona! Thanks for the test (Bill Block, Prescott Valley, AZ, ibid.) After hearing the code and tones clearly for most of the hour, was finally rewarded with a voice ID at 0055 [EST]. Great test, thanks (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, ibid.) CW ID and sweep tones loud and clear here in Providence. Kind of a stepped sweep noted as well. VVV VVV DE WDAB WDAB WDAB (sweep tones) 12:32 am EST. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. (balance of announcement) Mention Paul Walker. Into female voice mentioning transmitter testing, 12:33 am EST. VVV VVV DE WDAB WDAB WDAB (sweep tones) 12:34 am EST. Into music at 12:35 am. On top of frequency, clearly audible. Some noise. R8B receiver in 4 KHz AM mode, 19" indoor untuned ferrite loop, DX Engineering RPA-1 preamp (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Heard WDAB-1580 on their DX Test from 0000-0020 EST with EE and SS male IDs, sweep tones, Morse Code IDs, female phonetic IDs, and occasional oldies. Signal moderate to strong with little QRM, some noise, and little fading. Signal a little clearer after 0012 EST when I remembered to use the synch detector on my ICF-2010! First DX Test heard from a SC station since the test from WBSC-1550 in July (yes, July!), 1970 arranged by Harry Helms! (Steve Howe, St. Albans, VT, Sony ICF-2010 and Radio West loop, ibid.) Sweeps and CW ID quite clear in Tampa at 0003 [EST], voice heard but soft spoken (Bob Foxworth, NRC-AM via DXLD) WDAB 1580 test heard in Rochester NY --- Totally dominating the channel here right from the get-go - call ID in English and Spanish at 0000, then code, sweep tones, female voice ID. s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, Drake R8A, McKay Dymek DA5 amplified ferrite rod, ibid.) 1580, WDAB, SC Traveler's Rest --- 2/27 0005 [EST] --- Test heard here with sweep tones and morse code ID; "VVV VVV VVV DE WDAB WDAB WDAB". Fair signal, with some slight QRM (Rick Turner, Bemidji MN, YB400PE, Select-A-Tenna 541, ibid.) Noted here at 0002 EST with repeated code IDs, then followed by sweep tones. Then a pause, then back to code and sweep tones. The pause is probably voice IDs, which so far I cannot hear. But the code is coming through pretty well. Good enough as I was talking to fellow DXer Bill Block in AZ on my cel. I put the cel up to the speaker and Bill could hear them over the phone without any trouble. Caught more morse code at 0034 EST, followed by a woman's voice at 0035, but I could not understand it, too much Radio Disney QRM (AZ). But the code & sweep tones are loud and clear, over and over and over again. I am still hoping on some voice IDs too. It is fantastic to hear another SC station!!! This made my day... That beverage does cook! 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) WDAB-1580 test is making it into Jacksonville, NC (287 miles) with code, IDs and presently, musical selection. Fair at best with co- channel QRM de M in English with talk (Mike Hardester, Jacksonville, NC. (34.47 N — 77.23 W +/- a couple of nanoseconds), ICOM R-70 - 2 x 75 foot (23 meter) random wires, Orientation: E/W and N/S, Quantum Phaser and Patience, ibid.) Test is being heard here well over Spanish speaker, etc. Female announcer WDAB-1580 with phonetic ID and with morse code IDs repeated 3 times followed by cycle tones heard at 0005 EST. New logging (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner SC, ibid.) The engineer will be playing some music from 1978 and 1978, singer and songwriter era type stuff. That will be mixed in with codes/tones/sweep stuff and Spanish/English IDs. This comes from the horse`s mouth, as I'm on the phone with him as I type this (Paul B. Walker, Jr., http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com ibid.) Mixture of CW (nicely done), sweeps, gal with phonetic ID, occasional Spanish announcement with phone number, location, occasional oldie record. Ranging from s-5 to s-8 with fading, no real QRM to bother. Stayed with it until 0030. This was well done, thanks, good fun to hear. Recorded digitally, CD will go to Les. RX a DX398 barefoot. Took it outside, not too chilly (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, 0038 EST Feb 27, ibid.) Scott is not the only one in Rochester hearing the WDAB Test. I'm getting them loud and clear also - just a beautiful signal. Thanks to Les and Paul for helping out with this one (Jerry Bond, Rochester, NY, ibid.) Test heard with code, tones, ID's, music. Very good signal. TNX Les, Paul and WDAB (Greg Myers, Largo, FL, ibid.) At 0034 EST, Announcer also congratulated Scott(NY) & Patrick(OR) for their reception of WDAB! (Fred Nordquist, ibid.) Fred, That is so cool!!! Thanks. I wish I could have heard that! I will check the cassette again to see if I got any voice IDs I could catch too. I'll be sending Les a CD tomorrow!!! This did make my day! No doubt about that!!! 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) The Morse Code ID's and sweep tones are coming into Winnipeg MB Canada very clearly on my Drake R8 with my four foot box loop. The they have been audible from 0002 to 0006 EST A new station for me here! 73 and Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Blasting in here at 0004 EST with woman announcing transmitter testing, followed by morse code and then sweep tones. Thank you Les, etc, for the new log ...and now, back to bed (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Hearing sweep tones and CW here at this very moment 0524UTC. Last time I heard WDAB was back in Nov 95 one afternoon around sunset local time (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, ibid.) Coming in fair here, most voice IDs have been unintelligible but sweeps are clearly audible and morse can be easily copied. I've been recording since 0458 so I'll have a complete recording to submit along with my report (Joe Veldhuis, KD8ATU Grand Haven, MI - 42:59:40N 86:7:27W - EN62wx Modified Sangean ATS818A w/ internal antenna, ibid.) Station mixing with black gospel at times here in Nashville. Otherwise, coming in strong with sweep tones, female voice, and CW (Chris Carter, ibid.) 1580, WDAB, SC Travelers Rest - 02/27 0015 [EST] - Various sweep tones and Morse code above the mix, cutting through the static. I heard the test from 0015 to 0018. The test stopped and then I heard a Spanish version of "House of the Rising Sun" in the mix (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia Proudly Serving You Since 1964! SANGEAN ATS 909 & Select-A-Tenna, IRCA via DXLD) Well received here in the Florida panhandle. Congrats to Patrick Martin for getting a shout-out during the test (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, ibid.) No Joy. I live 5.1 miles from 50 kW blast furnace KMIK on 1580. Almost nothing short of an EMP blast could get through that mess (Kevin Redding, Gilbert AZ, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Does a nation still coming to terms with the impending loss of UPN and The WB really need another new TV network? Whether or not it does, it's getting one - at least in NEW YORK and nine other markets where Fox Television Stations needs something to fill the prime-time slots about to be left empty by the demise of UPN. Fox will replace UPN on WWOR (Channel 9) with something called "My Network TV," a mini-network that will launch with two English-language "telenovelas," an attempt to translate the success of that format in the Spanish TV world, where nightly hour-long dramas that run for several months at a stretch are a programming staple. "My Network TV" will also be offered to non-Fox stations in other markets, on terms that may be more favorable to stations than the initial contracts being offered by the other new network, The CW. That should make for an interesting horse race over the next few months in markets such as Buffalo and Syracuse, where former WB and UPN affiliates are all trying to figure out who'll land where this fall. In other markets where CW affiliations have already been announced, "My" will become an obvious choice for the station left out - Sinclair's WCWB Pittsburgh, LIN's WCTX New Haven/Hartford, and Tribune's WPHL Philadelphia. And then there's the Boston market, where Shooting Star's indie WZMY in Derry, New Hampshire has itself been branding as "My TV" since last September. It's reportedly considering legal action against Fox over the name - though since the corporate rivalry between Fox and CBS will likely prevent former UPN affiliate WSBK in Boston from becoming a "My" affiliate, it's not at all out of the question that the dispute could yet be resolved with the two "My" contenders hooking up (Scott Fybush, http://www.fybush.com/support.html NE Radio Watch Feb 27 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1610 kHz: after checking out the WDAB 1580 DX test (above), after 0600 UT Feb 27, I noticed on 1610 a buzz which sure sounded like IBOC, but could not get a match on 1590 or 1630 in case a 1600 or 1620 station were running it. 1610 is of course almost vacant of analog broadcast signals, so maybe it was just analog splatter from adjacents (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3360, 5-digit Spanish YL numbers, Feb 27 at 0626, but with very high background noise level and/or interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4675: re 6-036: I was watching a ute file sent for other Spanish colleagues that usually listen to this kind of stations and I saw that on 4675 you can hear NAT-D of the MWARA system. So, this question is solved (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, I picked them up yesterday around 1835 UT with mainly songs. About the language spoken it ain't Arabic by all means. I'm 90% positive it's either Kurdish or Turkemani (Northern Iraq Languages). NAT-D was observed as well. I thought it was an ID, but it turned out to be NAT-D. Will keep listening and hopefully will be able to get something. BTW any idea when they sign off? I heard them till 1900 UT yesterday, but I had to go for the footy match Lazio Vs. Roma :) All the best guys (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Feb 27, ibid.) Hi Tarek. Agree with you about the language. 26 Feb they were still on at 1953, but when rechecking at 2006 they were gone. So sign-off might be around 2000. Yes, there is some flight traffic at times on the same frequency, but weak here in Finland. 73 (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6005: For over a week I have been hearing on 6005, Arabic and lots of North African / Middle Eastern music and on one occasion a phone in program which suggested a domestic service. It came on any time after 2000 UT, the time varied and was off at 2200 with usually no announcements. The signal usually became very strong, blocking completely Deutschland Radio and the much weaker BBCWS to E. and S. Africa on the same frequency [Seychelles]. It sounded a lot like Algeria when it was on a short while back. The recently listed (in DXLD) frequencies for Algeria at this time (from Feb.15) have not been heard. So I am wondering if it could be Algeria on an unlisted frequency. Today, Monday Feb. 27 it was there at 1955 tune in, much earlier than usual and with what sounded like news at 2000. The signal became stronger as the transmission progressed, especially after 2100. From 2030 to 2114 a male and female were reading from a text with a few bars of western classical music frequently. Then the usual local music and off at 2200 with a very short announcement (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTMONIALS +++++++++++++++++++++++ Hi Glenn, Thank you for posting these digests. I find them very useful and informative. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure countless others do as well. 73 (n0yai Duane Jenson, who sees DXLD notices on the DX- 398 yg) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK Glenn, Reply from Wolfgang Bueschel directly to me concerning my WRTH comments. 73, Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Manassas, VA --- Dear Kraig, I know the problems with visual acuity, since 1967, when I had to use glasses for the first time. I've been working on the editorial and printing industry for 47 years. BUT, all this matters in question YOU urged as OPPOSITION, -- were urgently WISHED by the WRTH readership in 1998 to 2003 year, on many complain letters to the WRTH chief editors these days: use thinner paper for a book of nearly 700 pages, - like of 38 grams/sqmeters on telephone and yellow pages books, and small Switzerland font letters, all in order to make the WRTH handier/thinner on the desktop or near receivers desks on expeditions a.s.o. That's life ... kind regards de (Wolfgang df5sx Büschel, via Krist, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ COGNITIVE RADIO "Scientific American" Explains Cognitive Radio --- Yep! And it's as succinct and accurate a description of cognitive radio as you're likely to find. Read it. Posted on February 27, 2006 (Harry Helms, Future of Radio blog via DXLD) Viz: FEATURE ARTICLES March 2006 issue INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Smart radios and other new wireless devices will avoid transmission bottlenecks by switching instantly to nearby frequencies that they sense are clear --- By Steven Ashley WIRELESS SIGNALS jump automatically to an available, open frequency in cognitive radio. The result would be much more reliable transmissions- -and maybe lower communications costs in the future. Your favorite radio station transmits on a specific frequency. When you set your receiver to so many cycles per second, you tune the antenna circuit to pluck that station's frequency out of the ether. If other transmitters interfere with your reception, your only real option is to wait out the problem. In the best of all worlds, though, your receiver would respond by switching immediately to an open backup frequency that carries your station's broadcast. Such a solution is beyond today's radio technology, and perhaps that example makes the problem seem trivial. But now imagine that interference is interrupting an urgent, emergency cell-phone call. In that case, rapid transfer of the call to a clear cell channel would be more than merely convenient -- it might save a life. Engineers are now working to bring that kind of flexible operating intelligence to future radios, cell phones and other wireless communications devices. During the coming decade, cognitive radio technology should enable nearly any wireless system to locate and link to any locally available unused radio spectrum to best serve the consumer. . . [much more] http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000C7B72-2374-13F6-A37483414B7F0000&ref=sciam&chanID=sa006 (via DXLD) Axually, the initial example is a very poor one. Beyond today`s technology?!?! Such automatic frequency-switching is already common on European car radios, where national networks cover each country on a variety of frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ###