DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-050, March 23, 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 NEXT SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1309: Sat 0600 on WRMI 9955 Sat 0900 on WRN Bulgaria DRM 15735 Sat 1330 on WRMI 7385 Sat 1700 on WWCR 12160 Sun 0330 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0530 on WRMI 9955 Sun 0730 on WWCR 3215 Mon 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0500 on WRMI 9955 Mon 0515 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 For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.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 ** AFGHANISTAN. For several weeks I've been trying to get a decent ID from Radio Peace/Radio Solh on 9345. R Netherlands occupies the channel 1400-1600. And Israel starts around 1700. So 1600-1700 the channel has been clear. Most days the Afghan signal has been rather poor, but last couple of days "good". On 22 March noted couple of ID's as "Inja Radyo Solh Bagram". Then mentions "MHz" and "meter". At 1630 a news or information program. They have long music segments, some talk programs and Afghanistan info spots. Haven't yet heard any English ID (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. KNLS A06 Frequency Schedule Effective from March 26 to October 29, 2006 UTC kHz m Language 0800-0900 11870 25 English 0800-0900 11765 25 Mandarin 0900-1000 11870 25 Russian 0900-1000 11765 25 Mandarin 1000-1100 9795 31 English 1000-1100 11765 31 Mandarin 1100-1200 9615 31 Mandarin 1100-1200 9655 31 Russian 1200-1300 9615 31 English 1200-1300 9780 31 English 1300-1400 9615 31 Mandarin 1300-1400 9795 31 Mandarin 1400-1500 9615 31 Mandarin 1400-1500 9795 31 English 1500-1600 9615 31 Mandarin 1500-1600 9795 31 Russian 1600-1700 9615 31 Mandarin 1600-1700 9795 31 Russian 1700-1800 7355 41 Russian 1700-1800 9615 31 Mandarin Source: KNLS Chinese homepage (via Eric Zhou, China, dxldyg via DXLD) Surely they will be making intra-seasonal changes before Octend (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio 2 Network in receivership --- Bit of a shock downunder (News via aus.radio.broadcast forum) WorldAudio limited (Radio 2 Network) have announced the appointment of Administrators, saying they have been unable to find investors willing to provide longer term funding. It's interesting to note that Radio 2 lease frequencies from companies like Promo Radio. Here's a list of what's theirs, and what's not --- and you can work out the differences (Bearcat) This is what they have: 1611 Flowerpot, Hobart, Tasmania 1611 Alice Springs, NT 1620 Seaspray, Victoria 1620 Bright, Victoria 1620 Natimuk, Victoria 1620 Nelson Bay, NSW 1620 Thredbo, NSW 1629 Tamworth, NSW 1629 Green Island, QLD 1629 South Grafton, NSW 1611 Kelcey Tier, Devonport, Tasmania 1611 Dubbo, NSW 1620 Gladstone, QLD 1629 Compton, Mount Gambier SA 1620 Bayswater, Melbourne, Victoria 1611 Badgerys Creek, NSW 1620 Geraldton, WA 1611 Kalgoorlie, WA 1611 Esperance, WA 1620 Trangie, NSW 1629 Mackay, QLD 1611 Swan Hill, Victoria 1611 Rockhampton, QLD 1629 Archer, QLD 1611 Dongara, WA 1620 Mclaren Vale, SA 1629 Collingwood Heights, Albany, WA 1629 Tumby Bay, SA 1629 Hay, NSW 1629 Port Lincoln, SA 1629 La Grange, WA 1629 Yass, NSW 1611 Mt Stuart, Townsville, QLD 1611 Jindabyne, NSW 1629 Chidlow, Perth, WA 1611 Mackay, QLD (what the? They already have 1629 in town) 1611 Launceston, Tasmania And this is what they don`t have --- All owned by Promo Radio 1620 Echuca, Victoria 1611 Portland, Victoria 1629 Williamstown, Melbourne, Victoria 1629 West Wyalong, NSW 1611 Griffith, NSW 1620 Wagga Wagga, NSW 1620 Yamba, NSW 1620 Queanbeyan, ACT 1611 Cowra, NSW 1620 Eden. NSW 1629 Mango Hill, Brisbane, QLD 1611 Dalby, QLD 1611 Bowen, QLD 1611 Pialba, Hervey Bay, QLD 1611 Whyalla, SA 1611 Broome, WA Auscoast Broadcasting has the following 1620 Cairns, QLD 1620 Toowoomba, QLD 1620 Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, QLD This is an impressive list, with a fair few being leased. It all adds up (via David Onley, Belmont 3216, Victoria, Australia, Mediumwave/Shortwave/FM Dxer since 1976, Icom R75, Drake SPR4, Trio 9R 59DS, Kingsley AR7, http://people.aapt.net.au/~onley/ ARDXC via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. Radio Österreich 1 --- Esquema de programación Del 26 de marzo de 2006 al 28 de octubre de 2006 A06 http://oe1.orf.at/service/international_es EUROPA - ONDA MEDIA Noticiero de Austria 22.55-23.00 ME(S)Z 1476 kHz [2055-2100 UT] EUROPA - ONDA CORTA 0400-2208 UT 6155 kHz 0400-1730 UT 13730 kHz 1730-2208 UT 5945 kHz MUNDO ENTERO - ONDA CORTA Oriente Próximo 0500-0600 UT 17870 kHz América este 0130-0200 UT 9870 kHz América oeste 1500-1600 UT 13775 kHz [via Sackville] América central 0100-0130 UT 9870 kHz América sur 0030-0100 UT 9870 kHz Asia/Australia 1200-1300 UT 17715 kHz (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) English, German and Spanish segments, no doubt on the usual complex schedule depending on day of week (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Estimado Glenn, Hoy pude escuchar la ID de R. Logos en 6165: 22/Mar. 2006, 1045-1058 UT escuchado con programa en Guarany (de R. Transmundial con ID), ID "Ud. escucha R. Logos en 6165 kHz desde Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia", 1100 programa "Mensaje a la Conciencia". 22/Mar. 2006, 1803 UT, relay de HCJB con noticias, música religiosa. Señal baja, bien inferior a R. Santa Cruz, creo que están con 1 kW. 73 (Rogildo F. Aragão, Quillacollo, Bolivia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Excellent! First known DX report of R. Logos. The HCJB relay would be the ALAS satellite net feed (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6025, R Illimani, La Paz. On Mar 10 I got a letter from the Brazilian DX-er Rogildo F. Aragão. He mailed the letter from Bolivia. I found two wonderful QSL's from R Illimani which I heard during our Denmark visit in 2004. One QSL was directed to a listener in Chemnitz - Germany and one was for me. The other card I sent to the DX-er. He is also very pleased about the new QSL and the new radio country. It was a new radio country for us. On this way I want thank the Brazilian DX-er living in Bolivia. After 631 days I got this special highlight. By the way I got a mail from Rogildo F. Aragão. He was working in La Paz until February. So he could go to the station R Illimani to visit the director José Luis Almanza at that time, who was an old mine friend. And before he was replaced (because of the new government), he went to visit him and then he saw a lot of reports from worldwide asking for QSL. José Luis gave the letters to Rogildo and he prepared the QSL (it's a design by Rogildo!!!!) and posted it on his own initiative because he knows, how important it is for a DXer. After sending it by mail, he returned all reports back to R Illimani. That is indeed a very good work! (Eckhard Roescher, Dessau, Germany, Mar 14 and 21, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) Thank you to Rogildo for helping DX-ers to get the highly appreciated QSL! (DSWCI Ed) ** CATALUNYA. R. Liberty antenna demolition stories in this issue are under SPAIN ** CUBA. ¡Saludos cordiales queridos compañeros DXistas! Siguen otras noticias desde mi primer viaje a Cuba: Fui en conversación con un hombre que trabaja para la seguridad del hotel - tiene como yo una gran afición para la radio y la música (conoce cantantes de todos los países hispanofonos). Aprendí la razón porqué la emisora "La Voz de Cuba" está muerta. La razón es que Radio Rebelde fue considerada mucho más importante que La Voz de Cuba, como una gran cadena nacional. Entonces, La Voz de Cuba fue destruída para encadenar Rebelde sobre las frecuencias de La Voz de Cuba y hacer la cadena Rebelde más poderosa. ¿Por qué no podía escuchar por nada a Radio Taíno? La razón es que Radio Taíno no se considera una gran cadena nacional, solamente una emisora para los turistas y se escucha principalmente en la región de La Habana. Probablamente es la razón porque el DXista Estadounidense de Enfield, estado Connecticut, Michael Bugaj, la captó en 98.1 durante condiciones de tipo e-skip (esporádica) DESDE VARADERO. Varadero esta más cerca de La Habana y es probablamente la ciúdad turística más importante de Cuba (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague was on air in English language on the 22nd of March 2006 at 1400 UT on 11600 kHz, SIO 444 as usual here. They have their new schedule already on their Website at http://www.radio.cz/en/ follow link "frequencies". Radio Prague also reports on their Website about a Czech journalist beaten in Belarus. jpk (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 9485, Voice of Liberty (Eritrea), via Moscow, *1600- 1700*, Su Mar 05 and Fr Mar 17, opened with ID and program in proper Arabic: "Huna sawt al-huriyah - Idhaat al-hizb al demokraty al- Eritrey", frequency announcement, another ID and news, 1612 Horn of Africa music, 1615-1659 program in a local language related to Arabic, maybe Tigrinya, with political comments about Syria, Iran and Sudan, and later on about democracy in Eritrea with a comparison to the tsunami! 1644 phone number in London followed by songs from the Horn of Africa. At close 1659 another ID in Arabic like the two at 1600, 55454 deteriorating to 35233. By the way, Arabic is not a language spoken by the local people of Eritrea! (Vashek Korinek, RSA in Dxplorer and Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) It is on the air We/Fr/Su (DSWCI Ed) ** FRANCE [non]. FRANCE/GABON, 9580, Impact du Plein Évangile (presumed), via Moyabi, *2300, Wed Mar 15, a transmission in the French language but QRM was too intense to understand what it was. Please look in WRTH 2006 at page 458 top left. Up to 2300, I heard Africa #1 9580 at fairly good strength before 2300 but with lots of splash from Medi #1 9575. I heard a clear ID and frequency announcement but, just before the hour, a transmission in Chinese started - possibly CNR and a jammer? (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) How does this gospel-huxter program qualify for its own listing in the WRTH as if it were a station, merely by purchasing a quarter-hour per week on this transmitter, while countless other gospel huxter programs purchasing time on other transmitters do not? Altho too many others like this do get listed (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See GABON ** GABON. Re 6-049: I think it is appropriate to discuss responsibilities now, with sufficient evidence that the Moyabi transmitter plant works as jamming station on behalf of Libya: The owner of these facilities appears to be Africa Média S.A., the French company behind Africa No. 1. However, the HFCC registrations for all but the NHK transmissions were done by TDF, so I assume that Africa Média contracted the operation of the Moyabi transmitters to TDF. Now Libya is a good customer of TDF's shortwave transmission department, using quite a lot of airtime on their otherwise idle Centre E plant at Issoudun. To put it short: But they still seem to hesitate from doing this kind of dirty work from French soil, i.e. Issoudun (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. The University of Hannover is testing DRM for broadcasting local radio on 11 meters. For avoiding QRM from far away stations during band openings they are trying a new frequency hopping system. They are transmitting 80 watts in DRM on changing frequencies, including 25705, 25825, 25915, 26035 and 26045 kHz. Because they do not have a program of their own, they relay local FM and DAB stations from the Hannover area instead. At present they do not have a fixed schedule, but as soon as they have their test receivers in place they will be on the air around the clock (Harald Kuhl in Dxplorer, Mar 20 via DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) This is also mentioned on their website http://www.digital11.de (Christoph Ratzer in Dxplorer, Mar 20, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Remaining DW via Sines: see PORTUGAL ** ICELAND. On Mar 20, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Nicholas Burns, announced that the U.S. Air Force units which have been on Keflavik Air Base since 1941, may leave Iceland by September this year. The consequences for the U.S. Naval relay station of AFN at Grindavik are unclear, but if you wish to get their QSL, you better report them now on 7590 or 9340! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Ed, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) 12115, Rikisutvarpid, Reykjavik (USB), *1807-1840*, Mar 08, later s/on and s/off than listed, news in Icelandic by male and female, economic reports, music bridge, 1825 ID, political reports with mentions of Iraq, Lebanon, China, Condoleezza Rice and Israel, moderate to weak with fading starting at 1832 (Roland Schulze, Stuttgart, Germany, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. 11860, RRI Jakarta, Cimanggis, 1330 fade in - 1816v fade out, Mar 06, 07 and 11, "Pro Tiga" program in Bahasa Indonesia, on the full hours "Song of Coconut Islands", ID and short news. Phone-in program with listeners, popular and Gamal music in between. Sign off time varies from day to day. Good to weak (Roland Schulze, Stuttgart, Germany, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) Not reported on 11860 since July 2005! (DSWCI Ed) ** JAPAN. EXPANDING NHK WARIDO UNDER DISCUSSION TOKYO, March 22 (Kyodo) -- An advisory panel to the foreign minister held its first meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss measures to step up Japan's capacity to transmit information abroad, with the expansion of the international services of Japan Broadcasting Corp., known as NHK, on the agenda of their discussions. In an opening address, Foreign Minister Taro Aso called for NHK to provide an overseas broadcasting similar to the BBC and CNN, saying there is a "need for the public abroad to understand and like Japan." The international exchange panel comprises 17 members and elected as its chairman Fujio Cho, vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. The panel will discuss ways to raise the profile of Japan in international society such as by discussing the expansion of overseas broadcasting by NHK and the use of commercials as a source of revenue to fund NHK. The panel is also set to consider reforming the ministry's cultural exchange activities by promoting Japanese pop culture overseas. In the past, the ministry had focused on promoting classical Japanese arts such as Noh and Kyogen drama. The panel aims to submit recommendations to the foreign minister after two years. NHK's operations are funded at present by fees to be collected from all TV owners in principle (KY 03/22 0830 BC-Foreign via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, R City, via Ulbroka, *0900-1000*, Su Jan 22 and Mar 12, ID in various languages: "Radio City, Sweden". "Radio City, the station of the car". "Radio City - La Voz de Automobil". Songs and ann. 45333 in Kazan, 44433 in Córdoba, Spain and 45444 in Lugo, Spain. (José Bueno in Noticias DX , Manuel Méndez, Spain and Dmitri Mezin, Russia, Mar 16, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) Scheduled Sunday *0900-1000*. (Tom Taylor, ibid.) ** MOZAMBIQUE. 7135, R Terra Verde, Maputo, partial-data e-mail verie in basic English in 32 weeks, V/S Florentino Escova (Director). QTH: flordosares @ hotmail.com RTV was last heard on 7135 during the 2005 Easter, and obviously their broadcasts did not last more than a few days. In fact from the program content at the time I gathered that they have been on SW for only a day or two. In his e-mail to me Mr. Florentino Escova, the station's director, mentioned that they would like to carry on with SW broadcasts, but their relevant transmitter is currently broken and they do not know where to have it repaired. He also enquired about the possibility of having it fixed in South Africa. Not knowing the make or any other details of the transmitter, in fact not knowing anything about transmitters in general, I referred him to the Economic Office of the S. African High Commissioner in Maputo. He said he would contact them and let me know the results. He reiterated that they would like to return to SW as they had good response to their last year's SW broadcast from every province in Mozambique and from virtually every southern African country (Vashek Korinek, RSA in DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. I have been advised by my colleague Ehard Goddijn that there is a mistake in the frequency listed on the English programme pages for the 0400 transmission to western North America for A06 - 9845 should read 6165. I hope this will be corrected before the weekend (Andy Sennitt, RN, dxldyg via DXLD) Andy, Great; on this week`s WOR I say 00, 01 and 04 are all on 9845. And how about John Norfolk`s question: will the 06 and 07 English broadcasts carry the previous day`s programming, or be the first airings of a new day? (Glenn, ibid.) The "day" refers to the local day in the target area, so indeed the first playout of a new programme will be at 0600 to New Zealand. BTW the earlier timeslots for broadcasts to the Pacific are temporary, based on predicted propagation conditions. It's not ideal, but we don't have the budget to hire airtime from transmitters nearer the target area. I don't know why the mistake in the 0400 UT transmission occurred. I no longer work in the Programme Division, and I don't have anything to do with the making of those pages. I have forwarded the correction to the Editor of the English website, and hope it will be done tomorrow (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) ** PAKISTAN. Hello Glenn, Tuned into "Good Morning Pakistan" at 0806 on 15100. The program sounded interesting, but the audio quality let it down. Tried to get the phone numbers and e mail that they announced but too "Muffled" The signal was weak too. Nonetheless, it's well worth a listen (Christopher Lewis, England, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Starts at 0730 ** PHILIPPINES. 11730, Radyo Filipinas, Tinang, 1840-1930*, Mar 12, "Taglish" (the mixture of Tagalog and English as the Filippinos call it!) program hosted with "Love is on the air", love songs, asked for short "love letters" written as snail mail, moderate signal, but fading started at 1917 (Roland Schulze, Germany, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Here is a picture of the Sines transmitter hall as it looks today, small but certainly sufficient to recognise the place: http://www.bclnews.it/qsl/europa/germania/dw2003.jpg I recall a quite noticeable change of modulation characteristics when the old Marconi transmitters were replaced by the new Thalès gear. And somehow got it burned into my memory how back in the nineties Deutsche Welle started a transmission in Italian via Sines, just one of the European language services abandoned since. By now German was supposed to be the only Deutsche Welle programming to be still carried (in AM) from Sines to Central Europe. However, also for A06 again Polish 1630-1659 on 15595 is scheduled. Actually Deutsche Welle planned to take it off shortwave already two years ago, but apparently they hesitate from doing so for whatever reason (perhaps evidence of a still existing audience for the shortwave service?). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. As recently as this month, news surfaced about the property used by the former RFE/RL station at Glória do Ribatejo, amounting to 198 ha (!). As I reported back in 2003, the compound was being taken care of by Portugal Telecom, which received it from the Government after RARET closed for good. The current owner of the place, Herdade Nossa Senhora da Glória, intends to develop the property by building a golf academy, a hotel, a few other smaller buildings, 77 semi-detached houses plus 233 plots for detached houses, cf. http://semanal.omirante.pt/index.asp?idEdicao=222&id=23372&idSeccao=2954&Action=noticia and also http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?article=2251476&visual=6 The "freguesia" (translated into parish, but has nothing to do with any religious administrative division) of Glória do Ribatejo, which belongs to the municipality of Salvaterra de Magos, approves the idea despite being an area under the influence of the --- Communist party! I'm sure they miss the amenities the company managing the site, RARET, provided to the locals, ranging from health services to schooling and training, which, I admit, was the sole good aspect of the project that lived till 1999 during which time most locals, including the staff, were simply & apparently (...) unaware of what sort of programs were actually emanating from the station. I would not believe in this naïveté, sorry. I learned today the towers were taken away last Summer, so only the buildings remain. Without wishing to speculate on the subject, since the property is now in private hands, I believe it's natural that the new owners wish (over)compensation for their investment after having bought the place filled with old stuff to be taken down, thus surely meeting the both the Government and Portugal Telecom intentions since the beginning. Despite what many might imagine, municipalities run by leftwingers are known to be too keen in accepting certain sorts of investment, chiefly of this kind. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SPAIN ** RUSSIA. GTRK-Magadan's local program back on SW According to my monitoring in Japan, GTRK-Magadan reopened to service its own local program on SW since middle of March. Since long ago, this station had carried only R. Rossii on SW frequencies. I received local program on 234 and 7320 kHz at 2010-2100 (general program), 2300-2310, 0200-0210, 0700-0710 (local news and weather report) on weekday, but not checked 5935 kHz yet. As for my all information it is for all people. But I prohibit the fact that all ILG's personnel utilize. 73 & FB DXing! (Kenji Takasaki, Mie pref, JAPAN, w/JRC NRD-545/535D/525/515, March 21, HCDX via DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA. Hello All, What follows is from Bruce Salt, ZD7VC, a Ham on the island of St. Helena way way out there in the Atlantic Ocean. He received my QSL card two weeks ago, along with about one hundred others. Just take a look at how mail leaves this remote island. "Fortunately a small cruise liner offered to take mail off to a neighbouring Island of Ascension, otherwise it would have been a still another 4 weeks before I could have gotten mail off the Island. This vessel left the St. Helena Island yesterday evening and will reach Ascension Island ZD8 tomorrow afternoon, from there the mail will be flown via an old Lockheed (ex US Military) 1011 RAF aircraft on it's way from VP8 - Falkland Islands to the UK where it will be sorted and then flown across the North Atlantic to the States. So with a bit of luck you should receive my card in the next two weeks." Just a friendly reminder that despite the postal problems we all experience, someplaces on the planet are thrilled to get even junk mail! (Duane W8DBF Fischer, March 22, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** SAIPAN. KFBS SAIPAN A06 Effective date: March 22 [sic], 2006 Time (UT) Freq Language and day - SuMTuWThFSa 0900-1100 11650 Russian 1100-1130 11650 Mongolian 1130-1200 11650 Russian(Su, M, Tu, W, F, Sa) Mongolian (Th) 1200-1330 11650 Russian 1330-1345 11650 Udmurt (Su,Tu), Tatar(M), Mari(W), Uzbek(Th), Kazakh (F,Sa) 1345-1400 11650 Udmurt(Su), Tatar(M,Tu), Chuvash (W), Ossetic (Th), Kirghiz (F,Sa) 1400-1530 9465 Russian 1530-1545 9465 Russian (Su,M,W,Th,F), Ukrainian (Tu,S), 1545-1600 9465 Russian (Su,W, Th,), Ukrainian (M,Tu,F,S,) 0800-1400 11580 Mandarin (Chinese) 1000-1030 15580 Sasak 1030-1130 15580 Indonesian 1200-1230 11830 Sundanese (Su,M,Tu,W) 1230-1300 11830 Gorontalo 1300-1400 9920 Vietnamese 2230-2300 12090 Vietnamese Saipan local time is 10 hours ahead of Universal Time Co-ordinate FEBC Radio International Radio Station KFBS PO Box 500209 SAIPAN MP 96950 USA Telephone: +1 670 322 9088 Fax: +1 670 322 3060 Email: kfbsadmin@febc.org Internet: http://www.febc.org ----------------- (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Radio Slovakia Intl A06 Time UTC Target Area Lang Freq mb Azi 0100-0130 North America English 5930 49 305 0100-0130 Central, South America English 9440 31 245 0130-0200 North America Slovak 5930 49 305 0130-0200 Central, South America Slovak 9440 31 245 0200-0230 North America French 5930 49 305 0200-0230 Central, South America French 9440 31 245 0230-0300 South America Spanish 11990 25 245 0230-0300 South America Spansih 9440 31 245 0700-0730 Australia, South Asia English 9440 31 65 0700-0730 Australia, Oceania English 15460 19 85 0730-0800 Australia, South Asia Slovak 9440 31 65 0730-0800 Australia, Oceania Slovak 15460 19 85 0800-0830 Western Europe German 6055 49 305 0800-0830 Western Europe German 7345 41 285 1300-1330 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 7345 41 50 1300-1330 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 9440 31 65 1330-1400 Western Europe German 6055 49 305 1330-1400 Western Europe German 7345 41 285 1430-1500 Western Europe Spanish 9440 31 245 1430-1500 Western Europe Spanish 11600 25 245 1500-1530 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 7345 41 50 1500-1530 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 11715 25 65 1530-1600 Western Europe Slovak 5920 49 275 1530-1600 Western Europe Slovak 6055 49 305 1600-1630 Western Europe German 5920 49 275 1600-1630 Western Europe German 6055 49 305 1630-1700 Western Europe English 5920 49 275 1630-1700 Western Europe English 6055 49 305 1700-1730 Western Europe French 5920 49 275 1700-1730 Western Europe French 7345 41 285 1730-1800 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 5920 49 50 1730-1800 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 9485 31 65 1800-1830 Western Europe German 5920 49 275 1800-1830 Western Europe German 6055 49 305 1830-1900 Western Europe English 5920 49 275 1830-1900 Western Europe English 6055 49 275 1900-1930 Western Europe Slovak 5920 49 275 1900-1930 Western Europe Slovak 6055 49 275 1930-2000 Western Europe French 5920 49 275 1930-2000 Western Europe French 6055 49 275 2000-2030 Western Europe Spanish 6055 49 245 2000-2030 South America Spanish 11650 25 245 (Jana Hrbekova, RSI via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Pals, las antenas de Radio Liberty. DE: G. I. Barrera ASUNTO: Radio Liberty - E, QEPD [que en paz descanse = RIP] He aquí un interesante artículo relacionado con una de las emisoras propagandísticias de Estados Unidos instalada en España, cuyas antenas, tras 47 años de existencia en la costa de Pals, han volado por los aires. Salud ! 73's GIB ****************************************************** PALS (GIRONA).- Una veintena de explosiones controladas ha puesto fin, poco antes de las cuatro de la tarde y en apenas unos segundos, a 47 años de existencia de las antenas de Radio Liberty que el Gobierno estadounidense instalo en la localidad gerundense de Pals para transmitir propaganda política a Rusia y a los países del Este. Centenares de personas, provistas de prismáticos y cámaras fotográficas y de video, se han congregado en las inmediaciones de la playa de Pals para presenciar e inmortalizar un "momento histórico tanto para Cataluña como para el Estado", según ha destacado el conseller de Medio Ambiente, Salvador Mila. La fuerte tormenta que ha empezado sobre las 15.30 horas en la zona hacia presagiar un retraso de la demolición, pero la lluvia ha cesado inesperadamente durante unos 20 minutos y los técnicos han dado inicio, cuatro minutos antes de las cuatro de la tarde, a la voladura controlada de las antenas, para lo que se han utilizado 16 kilos de explosivos adosados a las torres. En las operaciones de derribo ha participado un amplio dispositivo formado por un centenar de efectivos de los Mossos d'Esquadra y Policía Municipal, así como por personal de los Bomberos y de la Cruz Roja, que han acordonado las 33 hectáreas que ocupaban las históricas instalaciones de Radio Liberty, utilizadas por los estadounidenses durante la Guerra Fria como vehículo propagandístico. El derribo de las 13 torres, agrupadas en cuatro grupos de tres, menos uno de cuatro, se ha producido en pocos segundos, tras los cuales se ha dibujado un paisaje completamente diferente de la playa de Pals, que durante cerca de medio siglo ha convivido con estas inmensas instalaciones, algunas de las cuales medía 165 metros de altura. Salvador Mila ha recordado que "son 47 años de presencia de una instalacion muy asociada a una época histórica afortunadamente superada", cuya desaparición permitirá recuperar "uno de los espacios naturales más importantes de Cataluña". El conseller ha señalado que este "día histórico tiene doble significado". Por un lado, uno geoestratégico, ya que representa "la superación de una etapa de la historia de Europa y del mundo de confrontación de bloques que tenía en esta playa de Girona uno de sus elementos simbólicos". Pero por otra parte, ha subrayado Mila, supone "un elemento de reflexión en el sentido de que esto nos ha permitido preservar uno de los espacios más importantes de la costa catalana", por lo que "la historia tiene multitud de lecturas". Mila ha hecho un llamamiento a los ciudadanos para que respeten este nuevo espacio, en el que aun se deberá trabajar para retirar las 600 toneladas de hierro de las antenas, que podrían desaparecer completamente de la playa "en dos o tres semanas". En este sentido, el conseller ha explicado que se llevará a cabo un seguimiento ambiental e incluso fotográfico de la influencia de estos soportes en las dunas y en la flora, aunque los encargados de las voladuras han asegurado que no quedará rastro ni de oxido ni de hierro en la playa. Fuente: EFE, en El Mundo, E, 22/03/2006 (via Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, playdx yg via DXLD) Dismissing RFE/RL as ``propaganda stations`` is uncalled for, but frequently done now by those who have no real knowledge of them, and want to get in an anti-American jab. They were a lifeline to what was really going on in the world, and their own countries, to those behind the Iron Curtain. Now, would you call the old R. Moscow and R. Station Peace & Progress ``propaganda stations``? You`d better! (gh, DXLD) You can see a video about this news (in Spanish) at: http://www.antena3.com/a3noticias/ then to Sociedad and then to "Derribadas las antenas de Radio Lyberty (sic), uno de los símbolos de la Guerra Fría en España" and http://www.informativos.telecinco.es/pals/radio_liberty/torres/dn_22382.htm Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As of 1747 UT March 23 I don`t find it; apparently already removed. Or do you have a direct link to the Antena 3 video? The Telecinco video shows the towers only before the demolition (Glenn, ibid.) DERRIBADAS LAS TORRES DE "RADIO LIBERTY" EN PALS Vídeo: Una herencia de la guerra fría AGENCIAS 22 de marzo de 2006 http://www.informativos.telecinco.es/pals/radio_liberty/torres/dn_22382.htm Las trece espectaculares antenas que la antigua emisora norteamericana Radio Liberty tenía en la playa de Pals (Girona), desde donde realizaba emisiones propagandísticas a los países de la órbita soviética, ya son historia. Dieciocho kilos de goma-2 han volado las estructuras metálicas cuando faltaban cinco minutos para las 16 horas y avanzándose de esta manera unos minutos al horario previsto inicialmente. La voladura controlada se ha realizado sin incidentes y ante una gran expectación de autoridades y centenares de vecinos y curiosos que han podido seguir este momento histórico desde distintos puntos de Pals y de Begur. Por este motivo, los Mossos d'Esquadra y la Policía local desplegaron entre los dos cuerpos un centenar de agentes para evitar incidentes y establecieron un perímetro de seguridad restringiendo el acceso a las zonas más próximas a la emisora. La demolición obligó a desalojar durante unas horas las viviendas más próximas a las antenas, así como a los clientes que se encontraban en un hotel situado a pocos metros de la emisora. La voladura se realizó pese a la fuerte lluvia que desde unas horas antes al momento previsto de la demolición caía en la zona. La emisora, fundada a finales de los años 50, dejó de emitir el 25 de mayo de 2001. El Ministerio de Medio Ambiente recuperará la titularidad del espacio que ocupaba la antigua emisora y cederá su gestión a la Generalitat mediante un convenio que en las próximas semanas firmará la ministra de Medio Ambiente, Cristina Narbona. El secretario general para el Territorio y la Biodiversidad del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Antonio Serrano, que fue una de las autoridades que asistió al acto, destacó hoy que la voladura "es un ejemplo de colaboración entre administraciones" y remarcó que "a partir de ahora los ciudadanos podrán disfrutar de este espacio". Serrano recordó que hace unos meses se había estudiado la posibilidad de mantener alguna de las antenas en pie para instalar captadores meteorológicos de distintos elementos, pero que finalmente se había descartado esta posibilidad. El último recuerdo de la Guerra Fría en la Costa Brava Las instalaciones de Radio Liberty quedarán desmanteladas 47 años después de la primera radiación propagandística norteamericana hacia la Unión Soviética desde este paraje natural que en el periodo de un año formará parte del parque natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes y el Baix Ter. Las explosiones de hoy acabaron con los trece gigantes que la Guerra Fría trajo desde los Estados Unidos hasta una villa agrícola, medieval, habitada por medio millar de personas y que empezaba a recibir, como todo el litoral español, el turismo sofisticado y curioso del Reino Unido. El futuro de las torres empezó a fraguarse en el año 1958, cuando la Guerra Fría ya era un hecho y las dos superpotencias resultantes de la II Guerra Mundial, EE.UU y la URSS competían en aliados, armamento, carrera espacial y propaganda. Precisamente, este último concepto fue por el cual los EE.UU se interesaron por la playa de Pals, en el nordeste de la Península. El Gobierno del general Franco, en su particular lucha contra el comunismo, compró y cedió 333.000 metros cuadrados de terreno para que el Gobierno de los EE.UU., entonces dirigido por el ex-general y republicano David D. Eisenhower [sic], instalara allí una emisora de Radio Liberty. Radio Liberty debía radiar los programas enlatados que diariamente, y hasta en tres ocasiones, llegaban desde Washington para que los ciudadanos del bloque soviético, desde Yugoslavia hasta la URSS, oyeran los mensajes de la "libertad". "Govorit Radio Svodova" ("Habla Radio Libertad) fue el saludo inicial de los millones de programas que las antenas radiaron desde que se iniciaran las emisiones el 23 de marzo de 1959 hasta su cierre, el 25 de mayo de 2001, y que aún debe resonar en las cabezas de muchos ciudadanos de las antiguas repúblicas ex-soviéticas, al estilo que hace el "Good morning Vietnam", famoso gracias a la infinidad de películas sobre el conflicto bélico del sudeste asiático. Les emisiones empezaron cuando no se habían levantado aún todas las torres ni se habían acabado los edificios y todas las instalaciones, en las que llegaron a trabajar 270 personas. Casi medio siglo después de la llegada de los norteamericanos a Pals, las trece antenas -siete de 165 metros y seis de 78- dejaron de romper el paisaje que se veía desde cualquier punto del golfo que forma el Mediterráneo en este rincón de la Costa Brava (telecinco via DXLD) Comentario: Ya era hora que destruyeran las antenas que destrozaban un entorno ecológico y que era el símbolo fascista y cobarde de los americanos. Ahora podremos ir a bañarnos denudos [sic] sin tener el remordimiento de ver lo que era la información manipulada (Anónimo, Jueves 23 de Marzo a las 15:03, ibid.) CATALUNYA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWWTRmOM28&feature=Recent&page=4&t=t&f=b is the url where one can see the antennae towers at Platja de Pals being charge-demolished on the scheduled date, 22nd March, courtesy of Carlos Mourato CT4RK. I still wonder why no other station wanted to use the site, even if antenna repositioning was needed as Pals and the 2 stations here in Portugal had their aerials screened towards you know where. On the other hand, however, I admit the Pals' image can be spoiled just by the look of towers so close to the shore, which is by no means the Portuguese case, where HF stations are located at a lot more discrete places. Even the Sines station is adequately located: near the shore, but not easily visible as it's 3.6 km away from the nearest beach (São Torpes). In fact, a lot more unappealing is the coal-driven power station, at not more than half a km from that beach! (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PORTUGAL FIN DE UN SÍMBOLO DE LA GUERRA FRÍA Pals estrena paisaje sin antenas o La imprudencia de un helicóptero adelantó unos minutos la voladura de Radio Liberty --- CRISTINA BUESA, PALS El oído humano sólo captó una quincena de explosiones aunque enseguida la vista se fijó en cómo caían unas sobre otras. Las más altas, quedaron enredadas. Las pequeñas opusieron poca resistencia. Todo fue rápido y unos minutos antes de la hora prevista. Las antenas de Radio Liberty de la playa de Pals (Baix Empordà), omnipresentes durante décadas en este tramo del litoral especialmente plano, desaparecieron ayer definitivamente. Cuando la nube de humo se disipó, apareció el amasijo de hierros. La naturaleza recuperó ayer el paisaje horizontal, truncado desde finales de los 50 por esas gigantescas torres de entre 55 y 167 metros de altura. Fueron 44 detonadores que, colocados estratégicamente en las bases de las torres, provocaron la caída. Faltaban tres minutos para la hora fijada, las cuatro de la tarde, cuando se oyó el primer bombazo después de la sirena de aviso. La empresa responsable de la voladura, Control Demeter, ya había avisado de que las explosiones se sucederían en fracciones de segundo. No obstante, la meticulosidad organizativa se vio alterada por un helicóptero. A pesar de que estaba rigurosamente prohibido sobrevolar la zona del operativo, una productora audiovisual que elaboraba un documental sobre el desmantelamiento de Radio Liberty se atrevió a hacerlo. Además, según la responsable de Control Demeter, Patricia Mas-Beya, hizo caso omiso de las advertencias de que se alejase del área. "Pensamos levantar un acta notarial de la actuación y denunciarles", aseguró. Así, para evitar que la onda expansiva afectase al helicóptero rebelde, la detonación se avanzó unos minutos. La firma que retirará las estructuras partidas y dobladas, Tracsa, tardará unas dos o tres semanas en sacar de allí las 600 toneladas de hierro. La operación, responsabilidad del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, también comportará sacar los depósitos de combustible que había en el recinto y reordenar estas 33 hectáreas de primera línea de mar, una operación que acabará en verano. El secretario general de Territorio y Biodiversidad, Antonio Serrano, explicó en Pals que el Estado y la Generalitat están "ultimando" un convenio para decidir qué usos se dan a algunos edificios que pretenden mantener. El conseller de Medi Ambient i Habitatge, Salvador Milà, que asistió a la voladura de las 13 antenas, calificó el acto de "día histórico" y apuntó que, paradójicamente, la ubicación de las antenas a lo largo de un sesquikilómetro de la playa "ha permitido preservar uno de los espacios más importantes de la costa catalana". Los terrenos formarán parte del futuro parque natural del Montgrí, las Medes y la playa de Pals. "Es obvio que aquí no se construirán pisos", subrayó el conseller, que también invitó a los visitantes a no acceder al perímetro donde yacen las antenas. La Conselleria de Medi Ambient vigilará los trabajos que se lleven a cabo en el recinto y controlará la afectación en el sistema de dunas de la playa (Noticia publicada en la página 46 de la edición de 23/3/2006 de El Periódico via Oscar Prieto, Noticias DX via DXLD) He visto las fotografías de los destrozos en la estación de Pals. Los carísimos equipos trasmisores desvalijados y supongo vendidos como chatarra. Equipos que valen millones de euros. Se de la ya destrucción de las antenas, que aún son más caras que los equipos. ¿Nadia sabía utilizarlas, ni alquilarlas en España? En Alemania cuando no utilizan todos sus centros emisores los alquilan, y así mantinen su capacidad de emisión a muy bajo coste. Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito, es verdad, pero esa estación tiene su historia y algo se debería de conservar, entre ese algo algunas antenas. En Andorra las antenas de Radio Andorra están erguidas y así continuarán; las han declarado patrimonio histórico. Otro dato que me parece incomprensible es el coste de desmantelamiento de las antenas. Pero vivir para ver (Vicent Marí, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. UNITED KINGDOM/CYPRUS --- The BBC World Service Trust has launched a humanitarian radio programme for Darfur in Sudan called ``Darfur Salaam``. The 15-minute programme includes five minutes of news from the BBC Arabic Service. Quoted schedule is: 0500-0515 on 11820 and 1700-1715 on 9640, both via Cyprus. 9640, BBC, via Cyprus, *1700-1715*, Mar 14, intro music, female announcer and Arabic ID, news review in Arabic. At 1706 short Horn of Africa music jingles and Sudanese (I think) comments by Darfur residents lasting 2-3 minutes each and separated by more Horn of Africa jingles. At 1715 intro music again, announcement, another ID and off. Although signal strength is reasonable, it is wedged between Vatican R on 9645 and Finland on 9630, both massive signals splattering all over Darfur Salaam making copy very difficult. Overall, poor at best with 31442 (Michael L. Ford, Newcastle, UK, DSWCI DX Window March 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. The controversy over the cuts recently announced at the Voice of America has one silver lining for former VOA employees: they are queuing up to write articles attacking the decision. The latest one is published today in the Baltimore Sun by Ed Warner, a recently retired VOA broadcaster-editor. Warner says "Since, comparatively speaking, it costs so little, what's the problem? Many say it is political. Every administration in Washington tries to nudge VOA this way or that way politically, but the pressure exerted by the current administration is said to be unprecedented." Read the op-ed: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.voa23mar23,0,5559219.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines (Media Network blog via DXLD) Viz.: DON'T LET AMERICA LOSE ITS VOICE AROUND THE WORLD By Ed Warner, Originally published March 23, 2006 The enemy media fire hard and fast, said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a recent speech, and we must return the fire just as fast. As an example, he cites the extensive coverage of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Why not respond, he asks, by reporting on the mass graves of Saddam Hussein's victims - torture answering torture, as it were. And non- journalists may have to paid to do the job. It is a kind of shock and awe of the media, a crucial part of the war on terror. The Voice of America, to be sure, does not do this, and therein lies the problem. Dismissed as old-fashioned, stodgy and slow-moving, it is slated for drastic cuts by the supervising Broadcast Board of Governors. Broadcasts in their own language to Turkey, Greece and Thailand, among others, are to be cut in 2007. Also on the chopping block is, surprisingly enough, English. The world's pre-eminent language is not really needed, says the board, because it can be heard elsewhere. That is true, but will it be in the best of hands? While VOA opts out, China, Russia and the Arabic station Al-Jazeera are cranking up global English radio and TV broadcasts. They will convey America to the world instead of the voiceless Voice of America. Is this in the national interest? There's not much dispute that VOA over the years has been in the national interest. Just ask listeners around the world what they think of the Voice. Their response is overwhelmingly positive, and that includes those who once lived under communism. Many say VOA helped sustain them during this time of travail and then contributed to their liberation. It did this by not pummeling them with propaganda. There is a mistaken assumption that because it is government radio, VOA skews the news. Both its charter and tradition prevent that. Its mission is to report America in the round, to explain and offer debate on a broad range of U. S. policies. It carries more news of events abroad than other American media do. All this is done in a sober and balanced fashion. What it may lack sometimes in brilliance, it makes up in reliability. Since, comparatively speaking, it costs so little, what's the problem? Many say it is political. Every administration in Washington tries to nudge VOA this way or that way politically, but the pressure exerted by the current administration is said to be unprecedented. In the journal Foreign Affairs, former VOA Director Sanford J. Ungar, now president of Goucher College, has provided a long list of examples of political interference with VOA scripts, and staffers can add plenty of their own. This interference is not unique to VOA. It reflects what has happened at the Pentagon and the CIA, where dissenters have been demoted, reassigned, fired or otherwise silenced. When members of VOA's respected Arabic service protested its abolition in favor of more frothy - and far more expensive - broadcasts (Radio Sawa and Al-Hurra TV), they were visited by security personnel warning them not to contribute to "negative publicity" about the agency. If this seems an abridgment of freedom of the press, it is accompanied by secrecy of operations that is new to the Voice. Gone are the daily staff meetings at which ideas could be exchanged. Management is aloof and impenetrable. The staff is not consulted on its fate, while the governing board meets behind closed doors and then springs its surprises. Still, the staff has not been silenced. The year before last, it sent a protesting petition, signed by nearly half of VOA, to Congress, and it regularly solicits help where it can. More to the point, it continues to do its job regardless of the pressures. Kenneth R. Timmerman, a leading neoconservative, is not altogether happy with VOA, but he cites its "tremendous talent" in an article for FrontPageMagazine.com and urges strengthening and expanding VOA. Mr. Timmerman does regret that VOA is prevented by its charter from subverting unpleasant foreign governments. True enough. But wait: If the Voice is broadcasting the breadth and variety of America to the rest of the world over the years, perhaps that is most subversive of all. Crises come and go, but alas, anti-Americanism seems now to be a permanent feature of the global scene. Who better to address it than VOA? And Congress, to make the Voice whole again. Ed Warner is a recently retired broadcaster-editor of Voice of America. His e-mail is egw24 @ hotmail.com (via DXLD) see also SPAIN ** U S A. As I said to Prof. Coro, I'm a retired IBB/VOA/Radio Martí transmitter tech. 32 years spending the taxpayer's money. If truth must be told, my favorite SW station was our own Radio Martí. I just loved the Martí programming. I had to listen for monitoring purposes (to see that the transmitters weren't on fire]. (And one of the Martí transmitters DID catch fire on my watch! Two technicians trying not to poop our shorts while putting out the fire and then fixing the thing!) But Martí's programs of jazz, old Cuban orchestras, talk, and news were absolutely great! And that's one reason why I'm a bit uncomfortable while Prof. CO2KK is reading. Oh, and by the way. I did once or twice tune a 250-kW IBB transmitter on 6000 on top of Radio Habana Cuba. Well now! That's something that could have gotten me in a lot of trouble. But it wasn't long. So I guess Prof. Coro would not find that amusing, and neither would the Government of Cuba! Technically, that makes me a jammer transmitter technician --- for about maybe 5 minutes total. International criminal. Can any of you see the total irony of me corresponding with Arnie through ABDX? My minds boggles. I retired from IBB due to cancer. The cancer has long since defeated and I perhaps would like to go back to IBB Greenville (NC) as a transmitter tech. But I'm 58 and the technicians at Greenville rotate through three schedules: 0000 - 0800, 0800 - 1600 and 1600 - 2400. Hard on a person --- although there are occasionally techs who volunteer for the 0000 - 0800 shift. If you can accommodate yourself to that shift, it is perhaps the best shift! An excellent balance between bust-butt work and long hours of just chatting in the control room. Prof. CO2KK, someday if you operate CW we may QSO. Right now, I can't talk because of cancer damage, but I'm going to make that change! Damn straight or some doctors are going to DIE! Maybe CO2KK and WD9INP can meet at Havana International and just fight. Wouldn't I be in a world of trouble? My experiences working for IBB were sometimes like something from a novel. By the way, IBB is the parent agency for VOA, Martí, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Sawa and some others. Any IBB site could, in principle, be used for any of the above stations. As an IBB Delano (California) employee, in fact most of my salary and benefits came via Martí because most of program loading was from that station. So I was a Martí employee, you may say. IBB trades transmitter time with Voice of Greece and BBC and some others, as most of you know. I operated several BBC WS frequencies out of Delano --- and got to laugh myself silly at times with the broadcast over BBC SW of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". And, yes, with only two techs on duty, we had to put out a fire in Delano's DL-4 transmitter --- and, for heaven's sake BOTH of us had the first thought "What can we get on the air immediately to keep Martí-6030 on the air." My supervisor said "Wait, we're supposed to make sure we're safe first before we worry about the fire. Hell with programming, make sure we're safe and then let's try to get the fire out." We somehow kept our cool. I found that a BIG fire extinguisher wouldn't go into the transmitter vault, so we managed to put out the fire with little hand-held extinguishers. AND THEN we expected that DL-6 would be down at least a week, but with the help of a third technician called in on overtime, we got it back on the air in time for the next frequency in five hours. After the fire was out, Delano Fire Department showed up. They first went to California Bureau of Prison's North Kern [County] prison because they thought IBB Delano was a prison! And once as acting (temporary) shift supervisor at IBB Greenville, I thought seriously of operating English To Africa 15580 kHz for a while intentionally on the wrong frequency, 15585 kHz because the one site carrying the transmitter, site B, had a failure of intersite control. It was Saturday, there was only a rent-a-cop guard on duty, and we could not get an unmodulated GB-8 transmitter to go off the air (lost modulation and control, couldn't take the transmitter off the air!). So it was radiating a dead carrier on 15580 kHz. I was going to bring the other site's (Site A, where I worked) transmitter GA-1 up on 15585 kHz because we would be jamming ourselves otherwise. Luckily, it was about time for me to go home and Site B was on my way home, so I busted all the speed limits on back roads and on US-264 and got to Site B in record time --- and then STILL couldn't get GB-8 off the air until I changed its frequency and KNOCKED it off the air! By that time, GA-1 was up and on the air on 15580 kHz. Later, while at Delano Transmitting Station, I happened to talk to the assistant station manager about that fool incident. It was a "what-if" discussion. If I had operated GA-1 on 15585 kHz, that would have been INTENTIONALLY operating a transmitter off its assigned frequency --- and to good purpose. He seemed to think that even High Management in Washington would have been forced to agree that that would have been a good approach. This is not a joke. It and many more weird things happened on my watch! I wonder if Radio Habana Cuba has crazy people like me. It really happens! 73 de Chollie (Charles A & Leonor L Taylor, Greenville, North Carolina, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. I have been working with a contact at AFN for quite some time on the QSL situation. A formal announcement is expected soon, but some techs at the relay sites have been leaking details recently. I am not sure at all that the QSL link on the AFN website is working, nor I am sure it will be used when the new QSL answering service is set up. When I get the official news, I will release it via DXLD and you will see it here. Last I heard, we were about 4-6 weeks away. I have been relaying updates from this source to Glenn and NASWA over the last several weeks. Also, contrary to reports in other SW pubs, the AFN maintains that these relays are supposed to be 24/7 and not subject to shutdown for priority military traffic. The feeds are unmanned. They are interested in reports of reception and non-reception as DXers are often the first to alert them to a transmitter that is off the air. The source told me in one email that they know when Key West is off the air because they receive complaints from yachtsmen and charter fishing boats when the broadcasts are down!!! (Russ Lay, March 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO on WRMI A-06 DST timings: Glenn: I think the Sat 1330 will actually go to 1430 UT, as we will stay on 9955 till 1400, then go to 7385 from 1400 to 1600 (Jeff White, WRMI, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR Summer (A06) Tentative Schedule Transmitter #1 - 100 KW - 46 Degrees Freq Time (CST) Time (UT) Dates 9985 4:00AM- 5:00AM 1000-1100 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 15825 5:00AM- 4:00PM 1100-2200 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 7465 4:00PM- 6:00PM 2200-0000 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 3215 6:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-1000 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 Freq Time (CDT) Time (UT) Dates 9985 4:00AM- 5:00AM 0900-1000 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 15825 5:00AM- 5:00PM 1000-2200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 7465 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 3215 7:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-0900 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 9985 4:00AM- 5:00AM 0900-1000 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 15825 5:00AM- 5:00PM 1000-2200 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 7465 5:00PM- 8:00PM 2200-0100 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 3215 8:00PM- 4:00AM 0100-0900 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 9985 4:00AM- 5:00AM 0900-1000 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 15825 5:00AM- 5:00PM 1000-2200 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 7465 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 3215 7:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-0900 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 Transmitter #2 - 100 KW - 85 Degrees Freq Time (CST) Time (UT) Dates 13845 7:00AM- 7:00PM 1300-0100 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 5935 7:00PM- 7:00AM 0100-1300 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 Freq Time (CDT) Time (UT) Dates 13845 7:00AM- 8:00PM 1200-0100 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 5935 8:00PM- 7:00AM 0100-1200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 13845 7:00AM- 9:00PM 1200-0200 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 5935 9:00PM- 7:00AM 0200-1200 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 13845 7:00AM- 8:00PM 1200-0100 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 5935 8:00PM- 7:00AM 0100-1200 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 Transmitter #3 - 100 KW - 40 Degrees Freq Time (CST) Time (UT) Dates 9985 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1300-1500 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 12160 9:00AM- 5:00PM 1500-2300 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 5070 5:00PM- 7:00AM 2300-1300 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 Freq Time (CDT) Time (UT) Dates 9985 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1200-1400 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 12160 9:00AM- 5:00PM 1400-2200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 5070 5:00PM- 7:00AM 2200-1200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 9985 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1200-1400 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 12160 9:00AM- 6:00PM 1400-2300 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 5070 6:00PM- 7:00AM 2300-1200 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 9985 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1200-1400 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 12160 9:00AM- 6:00PM 1400-2300 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 5070 6:00PM- 7:00AM 2300-1200 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees Freq Time (CST) Time (UT) Dates 7465 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1300-1500 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 9985 9:00AM- 1:00PM 1500-1900 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 9975 1:00PM- 4:00PM 1900-2200 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 9985 4:00PM- 6:00PM 2200-0000 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 7465 6:00PM- 8:00PM 0000-0200 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 5765 8:00PM- 7:00AM 0200-1300 26 Mar 06-01 Apr 06 Freq Time (CDT) Time (UT) Dates 7465 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1200-1400 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 9985 9:00AM- 1:00PM 1400-1800 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 9975 1:00PM- 5:00PM 1800-2200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 9985 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 7465 7:00PM-10:00PM 0000-0300 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 5765 10:00PM-7:00AM 0300-1200 02 Apr 06-31 May 06 7465 6:00AM- 9:00AM 1100-1400 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 9985 9:00AM- 1:00PM 1400-1800 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 9975 1:00PM- 5:00PM 1800-2200 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 9985 5:00AM- 8:00PM 2200-0100 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 5765 8:00PM- 6:00AM 0100-1100 01 Jun 06-31 Aug 06 7465 7:00AM- 9:00AM 1200-1400 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 9985 9:00AM- 1:00PM 1400-1800 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 9975 1:00PM- 5:00PM 1800-2200 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 9985 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 7465 7:00PM-10:00PM 0000-0300 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 5765 10:00PM-7:00AM 0300-1200 01 Sep 06-29 Oct 06 (notification to FCC, March 22, from Zach Harper, Operations Manager WWCR, 1300 WWCR Ave., Nashville, TN 37221 via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or for April-May, we may simplify as follows: WWCR-1: 09-10 9985, 10-22 15825, 22-24 7465, 00-09 3215 WWCR-2: 12-01 13845, 01-12 5935 WWCR-3: 12-14 9985, 14-22 12160, 22-12 5070 WWCR-4: 12-14 7465, 14-18 9985, 18-22 9975, 22-24 9985, 00-03 7465, 03-12 5765 Frequencies which are used by more than one transmitter: 9985: 09-10 WWCR-1, 12-14 WWCR-3, 14-18 & 22-24 WWCR-4 7465: 12-14 WWCR-4, 22-24 WWCR-1, 00-03 WWCR-4 Slight timeshifts for June thru August: WWCR-1: 7465 to 3215 one hour later at 01 WWCR-2: 13845 to 5935 one hour later at 02 WWCR-3: 12160 to 5070 one hour later at 23 WWCR-4: 5765 to 7465 one hour earlier at 11; 9985 to 5765 at 01 instead of 7465 at 00-03 WORLD OF RADIO: no changes except one-hour timeshifts from April 2: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 1600 12160, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3215, Wed 0930 9985. MUNDO RADIAL: Mon & Fri 2115 15825 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn; I wanted to let you know that we've posted our Summer (A06) Tentative Schedule on our website at: http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_transmitter/wwcr_transmitter_schedules.html We're also updating our program guide and specialty programming guide, too-and it should be on the site in a week or so. Cordially; (Jerry Plummer, WWCR, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO FREE NASHVILLE SAMPLER Check out a sample of the RFN show ``Jack This,`` featuring `80s music you won`t likely hear on other radio stations. As host Daryl explains, ``This is the music that dorky kids like me used to get our butts kicked in high school by jocks for listening to.`` And visit http://www.radiofreenashville.org to listen to live streaming audio. RSS/XML — Subscribe to the SceneCast RSS Feed MP3 — Download Radio Free Nashville Sampler http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Arts/Music/SceneCast/2006/03/23/Radio_Free_Nashville_Sampler/index.shtml (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. NPR gets special treatment because of their political carriage -- their vast ranks of loyal listeners, who will mobilise on their defence if NPR suggests that they're under some kind of threat (just as they do every time someone in Congress threatens to reduce or eliminate the tiny federal proportion of their funding). NPR listeners, including myself, consider NPR a vital resource that should be preserved. Unlike most of their listeners, however, I don't consider them sacrosanct, and I've had some awful battles against the national office both at the FCC and in Congress. NPR gets kudos for keeping their listeners informed with balanced news on everything -- except, apparently, NPR itself. NPR did not present a fair and balanced account of the LPFM debate, and in fact went out of their way to shut us down using tactics that I would have years ago assumed beneath them; you can bet that I will never make that assumption again. And in my native Connecticut, NPR tried to seize control of a station that is far better than anything that they themselves have the courage to pursue. So let's say that I enjoy their programming and producers, but there's not a lot of love lost between me and the national office. I shook hands with Kevin Klose once, and thought that he was one of the chilliest people I had ever met in my life -- a shrewd, savvy Cold Warrior, who cut his teeth on VOA before coming to NPR: paranoid, resourceful, and ruthless. He serves NPR's interests well, but not their soul. In the old days, so-called 'Public Radio' didn't belong exclusively to NPR -- and it still doesn't, there are plenty of non-NPR-affiliated public radio stations -- but NPR worked hard to make it so that 'public radio' became synonymous in the public mind with NPR, which is how we got to 'Public Radio' now. No strict definition for this term exists, legally or otherwise, but generally, 'public radio' is any radio that is funded in any significant degree by money that comes from the public, either through direct donorship (the primary channel for what I'll call "small-letter" public radio) or publicly-managed funding, such as NPR's receipt of monies from Congress. Now, it's worth pointing out that the disparity of public funding, in comparative *proportion*, is very great between small-letter and big- letter public radio. A station like WPKN Bridgeport (Conn.) gets 100% of its funding through direct listener contributions. (In fact, their by-laws disallow them from accepting corporate underwriting or any other non-listener funding.) By comparison, although the exact amount varies from one fiscal or congressional cycle to another, NPR receives only about 4% of its funding from Congress. After that, the breakdown varies from one affiliate station to another -- as each is, at least on paper, a wholly independent entity -- but the information I've gotten suggests a rough average of around 30% funding for each station from direct listener donations. The rest, which you've noticed is the bulk of the budget, comes from underwriting, both local and national. Locally, public radio stations (most of them, of all kinds) obtain underwriting from area businesses, often to sponsor a specific programme, wherein they receive a 'spot' announcement. The same is done for national underwriters, who often underwrite the better-known nationally syndicated programmes. These announcements are required by law for underwriting, but the way they're done at NPR stations often comes strikingly close to advertising. NPR has gaggles of lawyers to work with them on this, and they've spent years studying the question of how close they can come to advertising without crossing the line. Legally, a spot becomes an ad when it contains a "call to action," such as "Shop Smart, Shop S- Mart". This is why, as you may have noticed, there is a curious omission of verbs in many of these NPR spots; you'll hear something like, "[bit about sponsor] -- INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT [website]." Why the omission of the expected verb "is"? Because, by any legal logic, the complete absense of *verbs* in an informational spot makes a call to action entirely impossible, no matter how enticing the spot may sound. NPR will include a major underwriter's slogan, if it does not contain a call to action, even if it contains some other motivating remark. GE, who provided the starting money for the widely syndicated and very successful "Marketplace," not only got their slogan, "We bring good things to life," at the end of the programme's credits -- literally, the last words an early listener would hear -- but even got their jingle right under those words, at the very end of the show's closing theme music. Although GE is no longer listed as a "Marketplace" underwriter, the jingle is still there, if you listen for it. Money does indeed buy some extraordinary things in this world. Although each NPR station is ostensibly independent, they typically band together in tight affiliate associations for purposes of promotion across large areas, and this is most often done at the state level (although very large or populous states may have multiple area groups). Although most programmes are produced at a particular station, for legal and promotional purposes syndicated programmes may be "owned" by the larger affiliate group. Once upon a time, such a group, called Minnesota Public Radio, was chugging along like all her sisters, when an extraordinary bit of luck came their way: One of their programmes, "A Prairie Home Companion," hit upon incredible and unexpected national success. MPR seized on the show's popularity with a massive merchandising push that today is a respectable enterprise in itself. They hit gold again with "Marketplace," and in under a decade, MPR became one of the richest NPR affiliate groups ever, far surpassing most others, and even approaching the fiscal and political power of the national office. Of course, NPR's entire system depends upon their apparent poverty, so that even with a massive deathbed endowment from McDonald's founder Ray Kroc's widow, they still do their regular begathons. This is extremely important, because they have to establish and nurture a direct relationship with their listeners, or they lose the mystique of 'public radio' and come under scrutiny from their listeners, who also provide their only political clout. Nowadays, when they get most of their funding from underwriters, they need a lot of monied donors not because they need their money, but because they need to be able to show their underwriters that their dedicated listenership includes a lot of people who can buy stuff. MPR, embarrassed with wealth, needed a way to disguise that fact, so they created American Public Media, as the production "brand" for their out-of-state marketing. APM now produces or distributes over a dozen regular programmes, plus occasional special features. In the LPFM wars, we mostly saw the face of the national office, NPR, but documents that later came our way revealed that it was MPR who initiated the Public Radio push against LPFM, and their immense weight moved the national office to go to the trenches on their behalf. Nationally, MPR and NPR are nearly the same weight; the choice to put Kevin Klose on the front lines was purely a political decision, because MPR would have had trouble lobbying heavily out of state (because of the exposure this would bring them, with the inevitable questions), and having the national office do the job meant that they could mobilise Public Radio listeners across the country, in every electoral district. This gambit was enormously successful, and in the end, NPR did far more damage to the low-power movement than our much larger opponent, NAB, ever came close to (despite the reported hundreds of millions they spent against us). NPR's issue with low-power, and pretty much everyone else in public radio, is that they don't want to share. By this time, NPR has become an enormous and very shrewd corporation, and they don't want any competition, especially in the restricted bands, which they consider their own territory. They have used every tactic they can come up with to drive the rest of us out. It was NPR who convinced the FCC to sunset Class-D, the original low-power FM. It was NPR who took advantage of the national chill in public radio in the wake of the 1978 Pacifica case, and convinced colleges and universities to hand over management of their public radio stations to NPR affiliate corporations -- most of them run entirely by staff who are paid directly by the CPB. (And it was CPB who convinced the FCC that LPFM would cause unacceptable risk of interference to TV6, in confoundment of all science and logic.) And it was NPR who fought for and won special (and entirely illogical) concessions against LPFM from a fearful FCC. The FCC fears NPR's power, and with good reason, because they can swing a mighty political bat, especially against more conservative incumbents. (The deep politicisation of the FCC is evident to anyone who has ever dealt with them on any regulatory issue.) The FCC fears other major broadcast incumbents, but not in the same way or to the same degree. They are more afraid of NAB, for example, who represent some 85% of all commercial media in the U.S. They are less afraid of the handful of gigantic religious broadcast groups, such as Calvary, because although they, too, pack a lot of fiscal and political power, they don't have the same breadth of influence as NPR, and the same ability to strike fear into the hearts of incumbents. NPR supporters tend to be wealthier and more politically connected, and to have important civic roles that give them more political leverage, while religious broadcasters, even very large ones, tend more often to be relegated a more dispersed and less connected listenership. It's really the major religious syndications, such as Focus on the Family, that have this kind of power, and last I looked at it, those groups were more interested in acquiring their own large networks than in defending the interests of the major religious distributorships; after all, if one of those groups fails, it's easy pickings for someone like Don Wildmon to buy it up and make it his own -- as long as the rules favour both of them equally, why should he care about their market penetration? In theory, the FCC decides each translator dispute on a question of "public service" and in this realm, NPR usually wins out over others, for the reasons cited above. However, in some areas, it's the other way around, because NPR is not very interested in market penetration where the listenership is very dispersed or doesn't promise a good donorship return, because ultimately, they need monied and connected listener communities to maintain themselves in the style to which they've become accustomed. If you think of NPR as Starbucks, and think of religious broadcasters as storefront churches, imagine any city, and imagine where you're more like to find one than the other -- and that will give you a fair idea of the different market strategies of these two groups, and why you may find a lot more of one in some places than the other. In respect to religious translators, if we set aside for a moment the elephant in the room -- NPR -- we are looking at two or three different sorts of groups. There are a handful of gigantic "godcasting" groups, who dominate translator service in some areas, even threatening NPR's hegemony in some places, but either way pose an insurmountable challenge to small-time broadcasters of all sorts. (There are also national distributorships, but these are mostly syndicators with little or no broadcasting ownership, so I'm not counting them here.) Some areas have small religious networks, which tend to fall more in line with the FCC's concept of what translators and repeaters are for. And there are some groups that own or operate just a few stations. I believe the FCC is not interested in these smaller groups, but only in the unfair market power and legal leverage of the really big guys. As I understand it, the FCC's interest in these groups has nothing to do with their content, but in reports that they are operated by corrupt broadcast investors who buy and sell broadcast allocations like spot market shares, using the content as a shield against suspicion and allegations, especially by their own listeners. Putting the best possible face on it, we might suggest that well- meaning religious broadcasters hired outsiders to manage these networks, and became victim to corrupt dealers in their employ. I might accept that, had it not gotten so big and gone on for so long. Any organisation with such assets invariably secures the oversight of an outside set of trustees, to make sure that their operators are acting in their interests. So it's very hard for me personally to believe that the owners really didn't know what was going on right under their own noses. I think that the view that a lot of us have is probably more correct, that a lot of people who call themselves good people of faith really are not, but make a good living by taking advantage of the good nature of those who are. The FCC may or may not have its own opinion of religious broadcasting, either on its own terms or in comparison to NPR or others, but they are not empowered to act on this in any way. When it comes to a specific question of public service, the FCC will often rule in favour of an NPR affiliate over a religious broadcaster, but this is because the former pledges to serve a broader listenership; I would hope that I would get the same ruling, were I given the opportunity, and this is not because I think less of them, but because I, too, believe that I would serve a broader community. But the FCC is not empowered to make judgements about religious content, and in fact, they have been disallowed by Congress from even asking these kinds of questions. For example, Congress continually reminds the FCC that they will not allow them to even ask the question, does religious broadcasting constitute "educational" broadcasting, for purposes of compliance with NCE [non- commercial educational] qualification? By that same token, the FCC may not consider a question of anti- religious discrimination. In reality, where it comes to allocation, only the FCC could commit such an act, but because Congress won't allow them to even talk about such issues, it's essentially impossible for the FCC to engage in such discrimination. MPR gets the nod because they make a better public service case, plain and simple, and as much as I'm no fan of theirs, I have to agree: If your broadcasting is exclusively Christian, then I'm sorry, but you're not making a public service proposal as broad and inclusive as MPR's. By statute, the FCC must make its ruling on that basis alone. I realise this is probably a disappointment to many religious broadcasters, but many of us would agree, however reluctantly, that this is still the correct decision, because it promises to serve a larger and broader community. So, I can't get into that discussion here, though I will say that in the most ideal vision, a truly universal community station should be able to serve the needs of everyone under their umbrella. (For example, a community station in a very diverse community could broadcast Muslim programming on Fridays, Jewish programming on Saturdays, and Christian programming on Sundays, mixing or rotating programming to accommodate as many views as possible. I would personally be very proud to operate such a station.) This also has to do with my own philosophy that a station should serve its community, not its owners, but that's also not part of this discussion. But I do agree that the major incumbent groups -- NPR, MPR, and the giant godcasters -- must be forced to share, in the interests of meeting the Commission's statutory obligation to promote "diversity". While the FCC is not allowed to see the difference between one broadcaster and another in terms of specific content, they can still see that one owner is different from another in name, and should work harder to see more names in their list of allocation owners. However, this might result in major godcasting taking the same strategy as NPR, and instead of owning lots of stations, simply affiliate large networks of ostensibly independent entities over large areas. This would be an end-run around the conglomeration issue. But if nothing else, it would probably mitigate or eliminate the high- ticket wheeling and dealing that seems to be going on within the really big broadcast groups, by reducing their size and reach, and turning over large numbers of their assets to smaller entities. And while some backdoor affiliation is probably inevitable, I think we still can't help but come out of it with a greater diversity of broadcasters, which is a goal I assume we all share (Wesli AnneMarie Dymoke, Exec. Dir., Providence Community Radio, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FUTURE UNKNOWN FOR AIR AMERICA BY ALYSSA ABKOWITZ Published 03.22.06 Creative Loafing, Atlanta WWAA-AM (1690), the local affiliate of liberal talk-radio network Air America, might get silenced. One of the only liberal talk-show radio stations in a market saturated by conservative signals might not survive the year. Two-year-old WWAA-AM (1690), the local affiliate of progressive radio network Air America, was sold to JW Broadcasting for $12 million in late January from Intermart, a Scottsdale-based broadcasting company. Intermart says the sale was always part of their plan. "The station's stockholders wanted to sell the station from the beginning," says Bill Brown, a spokesman for Intermart. "There have been several offers since the station has been on air. The right opportunity just came along." But it's unknown what the new owner will do with the signal. . . http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A39651 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. I think Kevin may have a misconception about the CCU corporate office - for starters, that there is "a" corporate office. It's actually a remarkably decentralized company. "Corporate corporate" is in San Antonio, but that's basically the financial people and nothing else. Corporate engineering is split among several locations. Steve Davis runs the show from an office in Tulsa, but there are more corporate engineers in Cincinnati as well, including Jeff Littlejohn's "future of radio" thinktank and all their allocations expertise. In any event, most engineering decisions are made either by market chiefs like Kent or by regional engineering VPs scattered around the country. Stations that need music get it from an office in Cincinnati. The HR department that I deal with (at the subsidiary of a subsidiary of CCU that runs 100000watts.com) is at a completely different office in Cincinnati. Nobody at any of these offices makes programming decisions. Those are handled by regional VPs at a variety of locations, as well as "format chiefs," also at a variety of locations. From what I understand, the local market managers rarely, if ever, deal with "corporate corporate." They report to their regional VPs, and as long as they make their budget targets, San Antonio leaves the local guys alone. It's about the least centralized big broadcasting company I know, and it's run VERY differently from Cumulus or Citadel or CBS. I'm not convinced that anyone beyond a very small group of us media folks has any image at all of CCU on a national level. Most people in LA probably have no idea who owns KFI or Star or KOST, any more than anyone here in Rochester (aside from the geeks) pays attention to who owns WHAM or Mix or Kiss. A lot of it really just depends on which station has the heritage of being the "news station" in any given market. Here in Rochester, that's WHAM, of course, and under every owner it's ever had, from Stromberg-Carlson to Rust to Lincoln Group to Jacor to Clear Channel, it's continued to be the place to turn when there's an emergency. WHAM is the only radio newsroom in town that's staffed at night and on weekends, and they've consistently been willing to blow out national programming and go local when conditions dictate. Same deal with WSYR in Syracuse or WGY in Schenectady/Albany. But in Boston, where the three CC stations have never been the "news" stations in town, listeners know that CBS's WBZ is the place to turn when something's happening. It's not a CC thing - it's just local market conditions from city to city. As for the smaller markets, the lack of local news at off hours long predates the growth of Clear Channel. When I started in the business, doing news at WCAP in Lowell, Mass. back in 1991, I'd leave the newsroom at noon on Saturday, and that was it for local news until the morning newsperson started her shift at 5 on Monday morning. All hell could have broken loose in Lowell at 12:30 Saturday afternoon, and nobody would have been around to cover it on WCAP. And this, mind you, was one of the ultimate mom-and-pop stations - still owned, even now, by the same guy who put it on the air in 1951. Nothing at all corporate about it. The radio industry - all of it, local stations as well as group-owned - has done far too good a job over the years of training listeners to turn to TV when there's an emergency. That's a problem, yes, but it's hardly exclusively a Clear Channel problem, which is why Kent and I bristle a bit when stories get posted here with subject lines or attached comments that seem to hold out CC as being somehow especially deserving of criticism just because it's such a big target (Scott Fybush, NY, ABDX via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent: Over and out See enclosed message. Summary: In a letter received yesterday the editorial staff of Radio Tashkent International wrote that they expected the service to be entirely closed effective March 31. But now it seems that the foreign service ceased to exist already today, since the related audio streams do not work anymore. Just checked and found that indeed both stream addresses, http://217.29.119.164:3079 and http://217.29.119.164:2129 respectively, no longer connect to a server. So another one bit the dust. Wonder who will be the next one? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: -----Original Message----- Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:50:42 +0100 Subject: Radio Taschkent International ist nun wohl Geschichte... From: "Helmut Matt" Liebe Freunde, Wie ich gestern durch einen Brief von Radio Taschkent International erfuhr, rechnet man in der Redaktion damit, dass die Auslandssendungen zum 31. März dieses Jahres gänzlich eingestellt werden. Es sieht allerdings nun so aus, als hätte man diesen Schritt bereits heute vollzogen. Jedenfalls ist auf der Webseite http://ino.uzpak.uz nur noch ein Audio-Link ohne Funktion. Schade. Die Sendungen aus Taschkent waren immer sehr hörenswert. Ein bitterer Verlust, wie ich finde. Es grüßt euch alle sehr herzlich, Helmut (via Kai Ludwig, Germany, DXLD) Sad news, I remember being excited to get a very nice personal response from them in 1973. I had fun listening to them (Andy K3UK O`Brien, Fredonia, New York, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 22 March around 1800 noted afropops on 6613. There is Russian mixing product on 6612 here at that time, so no chance to check if there was anything else. Recheck at 1958 on 6613 shows the usual Zimbabwe song, drums, at 2000 "It's ten o'clock", ID and news in local language. 6612 was empty at that moment. If this is a harmonic, the basic frequency should now be 3306.5 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3365 kHz, 1546 UT, English station very weak and unable to catch its callsign; made mention of Music mix, heard also on 3390 (Larry Fields, Indian Ocean off Somalia, March 22, swl at qth.net via DXLD) VOA images or mixes? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6012-6013v, March 23 at 0650 found a wa-wa-wa-wa-wa carrier constantly fluxuating in frequency, causing a variable het against XEOI-6010. Could have been malfunxioning La Voz de tu Conciencia, Colombia; or a jammer artifact, one of the leftover Cubans against R. República, 6010, long vacated earlier in the UT day. Similar but not identical sound accompanied the bubble jamming on 5980 against Martí, in the 5982-5983 range. If they were related, the mid- frequency would be 5998 or so, where there was nothing, tho RHC was on 6000. Hmm; ``wobblers`` like on MW? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Still hanging on your every word (ha, ha); using a multi-band boom-box now instead of old clock radio. Best reception: Wed 23 UT 7415 WBCQ, Sat 17 12160 WWCR, UT Sun 0330 5070 WWCR (Peter Ho, Toronto ON) pre- DST timings PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH 2006 – Frequency Lists The Central America, Caribbean & Mexico MW frequency list in WRTH 2006 inadvertently omitted Mexican stations between 530 and 900 kHz. This listing incorporates these stations. http://www.wrth.com/files/RevisedCAm2006FrqList530-900kHz.pdf (via Dr. Anton J. Kuchelmeister, Germany, March 22, HCDX via DXLD) SONIDOS DEL MUNDO Un nuevo postcast [sic] en español está en la red. http://qslproducciones.castpost.com/index.html Bienvenidos! a este postcast que tiene como objetivo promocionar la buena música global, acompañado de la más reciente información sobre el apasionante mundo del "Diexismo". ¡Saludos! Jorge García. Barinas, Venezuela. Productor del Postcast "Sonidos del Mundo" (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) The layout is confusing. Seems there is no link to this one yet like there is for other files down the page. Or maybe the other two files are the only ones that are supposed to be playable: 1) Rafael "Pollo" Brito remozó "Una casita bella". And 2) Radio Budapest está en peligro (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ For reception of analog AM at night, widespread adoption of AM IBOC will make an already "noisy" band sound like absolute hell. I can't see how it could have anything but a negative impact on the protected areas of many existing broadcasters, with lawsuits to follow. Adjacent channel interference will go up by a significant degree, and the real losers will be ordinary listeners, not DXers. For example, if WOAI- 1200 goes to night IBOC operation, I guarantee you that Metroplex listeners to KFXR-1190 and Rio Grande Valley listeners to KUBR-1210 will notice some interference and the coverage of those two stations in their target markets will be impacted. And affected listeners will not file complaints with the FCC; they'll just get tired of that "sssshhhhiiiisssshhhhhhhh" interference and tune away. Stations going IBOC will also find their coverage area reduced by interference from other stations' IBOC sidebands. We've already seen how the few existing AM IBOC receivers (like the now-legendary BA Receptor) seem to need a pristine AM IBOC signal for successful demodulation; it will be interesting to see what happens when they try to sort out multiple AM IBOC sidebands. One of the best ways to screw someone over is to give them exactly what they say they want, and night IBOC operation on AM is an example of that. I suspect the net impact on night AM IBOC will be to drive even more listeners away from the AM band and to FM, satellite, etc. Rather than being the answer to the dropping AM radio audiences, I feel night IBOC will only exacerbate that trend. And you know I wouldn't lie to you, because you're all my friends (Harry Helms W5HLH Smithville, TX EL19 http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ March 20, ABDX via DXLD) My perception is that both IBOC and DRM have a common problem. Engineering is something; marketing is another; public acceptance is still another thing!!! Consider a test I had the opportunity of actually hearing "in situ" in Johannesburg, South Africa way back in 2003. The DRM short wave signal was sent from Europe. Propagation conditions were pretty good, but the DRM beautiful sounding signal suffered from what in my opinion was something absolutely unacceptable by any radio listener in the world. The "near FM quality" audio will suddenly CUT OUT, then silence was there for a while --- stone wall silence. After a few milliseconds or seconds, then the audio came back from the loudspeaker. No fading, no swift return of the distorted audio resulting from the destruction of the proper relationship between carrier power and sidebands power, just that horrible dead sound. Then my second thought: The DRM system, however advanced it may be from the "transmitting station side" is way back at the "receiving listener side". DRM Consortium does not even issue DRM software for receivers to enjoy the freeware category. AND, if there are no receivers to pick up what a broadcast station sends out on the air, the broadcaster is losing his time and his money!!! A NEW DIGITAL radio broadcast technology that will really catch up will require a very different approach, but the DRM and IBOC "gurus" don't seem to understand this at all. Comments invited. Signed Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich ( Arnie Coro ) March 22, ABDX via DXLD) DRM: see also GERMANY My hunch is that we're going to end up learning three things as a result: 1. Fewer AM stations will go HD than we all think. I know of several big AM groups that have already said, more or less publicly, that they're not interested in adding HD, period. There are other groups that have more quietly made the decision to try HD on FM, where they at least have the promise that multicasting holds, but not to bother on AM. And of course there are thousands upon thousands of small AMs - not just the classic "mom and pop" stations but all the ones owned by small groups, too - that won't bother. Out of 4500 AM stations, I'd be surprised if more than 500 or so ever go HD. 2. Most of the AM stations that go HD will cause few real-world problems as a result. For most of the stations on regional or graveyard channels, the additional adjacent-channel skywave from nighttime HD operation will be just a minimal addition to the already substantial noise levels on the band. But a station like my local WHTK 1280 here in Rochester already has a rather directional signal at night, aiming most of its juice north over Lake Ontario and away from places where its sidebands could cause problems to stations on 1270 and 1290. Conversely, its nighttime interference-free coverage is already fairly small, so the additional on-channel noise its analog signal might take from HD stations on 1270 and 1290 won't make much difference. 3. BUT - and this is the big one, of course - for the relatively small number of stations on the clear channels, I think night HD will have a measurable impact. My friend Bob Savage, who owns WYSL 1040 just south of Rochester in Avon NY, will certainly lose nighttime coverage, even within his relatively small protected contour (he's only 500 watts at night), if WBZ goes 24/7 HD. WBZ itself will lose coverage from KDKA and WHO, and of course if Bob were to add HD (he has no plans to do so), it would wipe out WBZ here in Rochester, which is well within BZ's own protected skywave contour. There will be high-profile cases, and maybe even lawsuits. I don't know how it will play out in the end, but I'm inclined to agree - if this is what the big boys in the business really think they want, let's let them try it (Scott Fybush, NY, ABDX via DXLD) I deeply regret that I have been totally unable to resist the terrible temptation to write, based upon the anticipated FCC decision to mandate IBOC at night, new lyrics to the old hit by Herman's Hermits, covered by Perry Como, as follows: There's a kind of a hash all over the dial tonight, All over the dial you can hear the sound of IBOC! You know what I mean! The music is gone, with nobody analog, I'm hearin' a sound like drainin' a clog! So, listen very carefully, with earphones on and you might be Able to tune a null through the ruin. The only sound that I can hear is just a sizzle in my ear. The stations are gone, forever and ever! There's a kind of a hash all over the dial tonight, All over the world you can hear the sound of IBOC! It isn't a dream! Just the digital can be heard right where Once there was good DX; now it's only a nightmare. (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BLAW BLATHER Re: ``They also have a nasty failure mode in hurricanes, as there are no guy wires to damp the oscillation of the upper section of the tower if the wind comes in regular gusts (John Andrews, LW messageboard via DXLD)`` Is that so? The 620 kHz (WDAE) twin B-K towers on the Gandy Bridge approach, St. Petersburg, have survived quite well for over 50 years and plenty of passing storms (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A & K Indices The A index doesn't immediately reflect a geomagnetic distrubance. But it also depends on your perspective. For instance a DX'er who devotes the majority of efforts toward foreign DX, 'auroral conditions' (a sustained A index over 20 or a shorter period over 50 just to use some very rough numbers for illustration here) present an opportunity for greater DX toward South America. Briefly, to the extent it's possible to do it briefly, auroral activity moves the normal area of absorption (which normally settles in as a somewhat narrow ring centered on the earth's magnetic North pole in Northeastern Canada) southward. As this occurs, stations whose signal path from transmitter to your receiver will be subject to absorption - often to the point that some of the large powerhouse clears to the North, East or West may become unlistenable due to interference, or disappear completely. Many times, this reveals stations to the south which can only be heard during auroral conditions. But there are also other things going on in the overall that can depress DX even during periods of low A index. For instance year after year conditions for Trans-Atlantic DX follow a pattern where there are periods excellent condiitions in the Fall which often disapper during December, January and part of February, only to return again - that effect has become known as the "MidWinter Anlomaly", which is not yet well understood. And of course summer, with lengthening hours of daylight, depresses conditions too because of what we know as 'absorption' of signals - this is the same principle which says I won't hear KMOX-1120 in the daytime. Since there's been some recent discussion, it may be appropriate to directly explain the relationship between the two. The K index is measured every 3 hours from various sites. What we see on the reports posted to the list is the 'Mid-Latitude K Index'. Mid- Latitude is defined as 20 = 50 degrees latitude, which includes most if not all of the lower 48 states and adjacent Canada and Mexico. Usually, these measurements are made from the station in Boulder, CO, although on occasion reports from another US mainland monitoring station may be used. The A index is a mathematical construct which averages the prior 24 hours' worth of K index values according to the scale below: K 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a 0 3 7 15 27 48 80 140 240 400 Therefore because the A is an average of the past 24 hours' K indices, it will naturally lage behind the K, which is a current value. This becomes especially noticeable when there is a sudden large change in the value of K as we've seen this past week. Similarly, the A will lag behind the K in the recovery phase which we're currently entering from the recent disturbances. Hope this answers the lingering questions (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, IRCA via DXLD) ###