DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-057, April 3, 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 AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1310: Wed 0930 on WWCR 9985 Updated, plus tentative A-06 DST-shifted schedule: 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 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 06-03: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0603.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0603.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0603.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Hi Glenn, today I heard a station on 15090 kHz tentatively identified as Radio Free Afghanistan. I almost certainly heard "Radio Azadi" and RFA's website lists 15090 kHz 0930-1430 UT. I picked it up at 1249 UT with strong signal and no interference, transmitting in a language similar to Farsi (WRTH 2006 lists Pashto 1230-1330). Lots of talks about Afghanistan, excerpts from US officials' speeches, etc. The signal strength faded rapidly as time passed and disappeared by 1400. Where is this frequency transmitted from? (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Moisés, 15090 is from Kuwait. Dari is the language like Farsi, not Pashto. Perhaps there has been a time shift from the Pashto hour at 1230-1330, with Dari before and after (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** ALASKA. KNLS heard at 08 UT on 11765 kHz (not 11870). 73 from (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But both registered: 11765 0800 1000 43-44,49-50 NLS 100 285 Mandari USA NLS FCC 11765 1000-1100 43-44,49-50 NLS 100 300 Mandari USA NLS FCC 11870 0800-0900 24-26,34-35,44-45 NLS 100 270 English USA NLS FCC 11870 0900-1000 22-26,32-35 NLS 100 300 Russian USA NLS FCC (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** ARMENIA. I also heard Radio Pública de Armenia in Spanish one hour earlier than before: I picked it up yesterday April 1st on 9965 kHz from 0230 to 0245 (previously 0330-0345), SINPO 45444, with news, weather report and some Armenian music. They continue announcing 0330- 0345. This short Spanish program follows the transmission in Armenian. Their nice interval signal is played a few times between the two programs. So far I couldn't find any useful information about their SW schedule in their website. Rx: Sony ICF-7600DS + 3 m wire (interior) (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Armenia never seems to be able to get its act together and announce correct times and frequencies. This is the usual summer time shift for them. Regards, (Glenn, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. 7355, UZBEKISTAN, Christian Voice/CVC International at 0105 April 1 in English, music requests from listeners, announcer sounded Australian. 0113 address given for CVC. Asked for letters. Fair (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And not to be confused with the perpetually about-to-be-reactivated- as-gospel-huxter WRNO (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Hi Glenn, I hear Radio Pio XII, Siglo Veinte, male and female talks in Spanish on 5952.50 kHz at 2255 UT with heavy QRM, SINPO 33233 (Maurits Van Diessche from Belgium, April 2, AOR 7030, MFJ 959b+dsp, MFJ 784, antenna LW 300 feet, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Últimas escuchas desde la Ciudad de Córdoba, España: 5952.50 kHz, Radio Pío XII en quechua y español, 2235-2247 UT, 01-04-2006, comentarios en quechua por locutor y locutora, intervienen los oyentes en el programa. 32432 (José Bueno, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.79, 31.3 0005, Radio Santa Cruz from Bolivia with Spanish LA-music, lots of evident IDs and time-ann. Also mentioned a lot of other names of radio stations. 23333 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin April 2, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – O governo do estado do Acre disponibilizou o sinal da Rádio Difusora Acreana na Internet. Quem quiser ouvir a programação da emissora, deve acessar o portal daquele governo, em http://www.ac.gov.br Lembramos que a emissora pode ser captada, em ondas curtas, pela freqüência de 4885 kHz. A dica é do biólogo Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM). (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX April 2 via DXLD) ** CANADA. MORRIS SORENSEN I have just found out, and confirmed, that Morris Sorensen passed away March 14. This really comes as a shock. I knew Morris for many years, and last saw him (perhaps 5-8 years ago) when he lived in Toronto and attended Ontario DX Association meetings. He was a very friendly person, and with our mutual interests in DX and nature we always had lots to talk about. I found the following obituary online: "OBITUARY: MORRIS SORENSEN With great sadness, we announce the passing of our dear nephew, cousin, friend and brother in the Lord, Morris Alfred Sorensen, The Urban Naturalist, September 16, 1947 - March 14, 2006. Morris was the only child of Pastor Harold Sorensen and Eunice (nee McEldon), both deceased. He touched the lives of all he met. Morris was steady and a strong character, a true friend and gentle man. His wisdom, memorable stories of nature and life will be missed. He leaves a void in the education of our youth and in our hearts. Morris was a member of the Manitoba and Ontario Naturalists, ham radio club, camera club and Kildonan United Church. 1 Thes.5; 9 - 11" As well, Morris' website http://www.wilds.mb.ca/urbanat has the following notice: "These pages will remain in his honor and an epitaph will be added." And, the Manitoba Naturalists website states: "Memorial Service for Morris Sorensen, April 8th, 10:30 at Silver Heights United Church, 199 Garrioch Avenue in St. James (near Mount Royal and Ness) (in or near Winnipeg). Morris was also an active DXer, as many of you already know from his frequent contributions to these lists and to club bulletins. This is sad news indeed; Morris will be missed (Saul Chernos, April 2, IRCA via DXLD) Morris had been a member of the Ontario DX Association for many years and during some of his years in Ontario, he was one of our editors. Morris was a keen mediumwave DXer. I had several opportunities to meet him and had communicated with him often by e-mail, discussing our mutual interests of DXing and nature. We will truly miss Morris (Harold Sellers, Ontario DX Association via DXLD) Hi Guys: With great sadness, I send this news. Live life like there`s no tomorrow! 73, (Joe Talbot, AB, via Bill Smith, IA, DXLD) OMG :(( 58 1/2 years old... life is was too short. I'll miss you very much, Morris. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, IRCA via WTFDA via DXLD) This hurts. I've always considered you folks in the WTFDA as friends and not subscribers, even if my only contact with you was by email. Morris was just one year younger than me (yes I hit the big 60 in July). In a club as small as ours, it hurts to lose a member, especially this way. I just mailed the April VUDs yesterday and one went to Morris. I hope he enjoys it, wherever he is. We'll take his name off the membership list. – (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT USA, ibid.) Well put. I've been at a DXpedition, and thus out of contact for a couple of days, and got the phone call about Morris (from a DXer who happened to be at a Federation of Ontario Naturalists event where his death was announced) within minutes of opening a pile of messages from an AM list where discussion was getting extremely heated over club politics. A very sad occasion like this puts everything in perspective and makes it very hard to get worked up over these kinds of issues. This is a hobby I really enjoy, and my enjoyment is almost entirely due to the fact that there are people I really like, who share this pleasure. Believe me, I may usually listen alone, but this is far from a solitary activity. I'm going to go on a nice long hike while I'm up here, to my favourite spot in the woods (a set of rapids along the Burnt River), and I'm going to dedicate that hike to Morris (Saul Chernos, ibid.) This is sad news indeed. I never met Morris, but I have enjoyed his reports, correspondence, contributions and presence in the pages of DX publications and on the various e-mail lists over the many years. Saul, or anyone else, can you supply an address for his club friends to send a card to his family? (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, ibid.) A few months ago, Morris, knowing my fondness for boatanchors, found some old issues of the Hollow State Newsletter while he was going through old papers and emailed me to see if I wanted them. They arrived in the mail days later and they helped me unlock some mysteries. I just now looked through them again. They will always remind me of him. A great guy (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ABDX via DXLD) I read with great sadness of the passing of Morris. Morris was more than a fellow hobbyist - he was my friend - one of the best friends anyone could ever be blessed with. Several times I gave him a ride to and from Terry Ferguson's get-togethers in Gravenhurst. I used to visit him when he lived in Scarborough and we kept in touch long after he moved to Winnipeg. We constantly checked each other's websites. He taught me a lot about mediumwave DXing and life in general. He wasn't a man of great physical stature but his character, honesty, and integrity made him a giant among men. Sleep well, my friend, you have left quite a mark on this world and will surely be missed (Mark Coady, ON, ODXA via DXLD) This news comes as a total shock. I had met up with Morris and others every December for the past several years when I was in Winnipeg over the Christmas Holiday Season. This past December because of my shortened visit and family commitments I was only able to chat with Morris on the phone. One just never knows. I always enjoyed going over to Morris' to chat radio, enjoy his company and view some interesting QSL collections, not only his but that of his late father that he fondly remembered. Both were past members and editors in the Canadian International DX Club. I had wondered why I had not received a reply from him recently about my e-mail regarding a new happening in the way of a new NHL broadcaster on AM in Vancouver. Morris always liked to keep AM DXers informed of where on the dial they could hear their favorite NHL, CFL or MBL games. My condolences (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, ibid.) Dear amigos: Very sad news seen here this Sunday. I had the many wonderful opportunities of sharing with Morris our common interest in AM medium wave band DXing, and he did very well indeed picking up some of the Cuban low power stations, the really hard to catch ones, not the 50 kW ones! Please receive my condolences , and pass them along to his family in our name (Your friend in Havana, Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK, Host of Dxers Unlimited, Radio Habana Cuba, ODXA via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6060, Sichuan PBS, Mar 31, 1120-1136, Chinese pop songs, BoH M&W with Chinese IDs plus M with clear program ID: ``This is the Voice of Golden Bridge``, fair. Conditions for this one vary a lot from day to day. 7245, China Business Radio, Apr 1, 1303-1330, English Evening program (bilingual: mostly English and some Chinese), reads the lyrics to ``Make a Rainbow`` followed by the song; explains about April Fools Day; 1330 into Studio Classroom Online, with program ``Speaking Slang``. // 6065, 6155 and 7140. Fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910 kHz, Marfil Estéreo en español, 0043-0050 UT, 02-04- 2006, canción "Sólo Tu", comentarios y fuerte jamming producido contra esa frecuencia (sin sentido), 32432 (José Bueno, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) The jamming is Cuban against R. República on its new A-06 frequency, but M-F/UT Tue-Sat only, so like they did on ex-7160, the dentrocubanos keep jamming going on weekends. On weekdays between 23 and 04, I doubt you would have any chance of hearing Marfil under all that, and I am surprised you could on a weekend (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [non]. Re 6-055: ``So Okapi is stressed on last syllable; haven`t heard it well enough myself to tell (gh, DXLD)`` It was rendered in Spanish as Okapí. Could be the word was pronounced with typical French ``even`` stress but rising intonation, which seems like stress on the final to Spanish and English speakers, altho I have been guessing it was oh-KAH-pee (gh, DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. 9470, Unidentified. 0410 Weak signal in unidentified language. ILG lists Voice of Croatia, in Croatian to South Pacific, relayed by transmitter in Germany. 04/01/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX (35 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth) NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) Earlier than before starting at 0400 (gh) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319, AFRTS at 2304 April 1 in USB with sports play- by-play (heard mention of Ohio State Buckeyes) and PSAs. Poor with RTTY QRM (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, RTD Djibouti (tentative) at 2223 March 31, just switching from woman to Middle Eastern sounding music. Believe she was speaking Arabic. Audio cut at 2224 and carrier off at 2225. They are listed for 2000 s/off. Fair (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 2280, 11.3 0120, Radio Anacaona, San Juan de la Maguana in Dom Rep for the first time, a big surprise, nonstop LA- music of various sort, ID as Radio Anacaona, La Reina del Sur 1140 AM. March 9 also a lot of ads and good strength. KO (Kenneth Olofsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 2, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 9990, Radio Cairo at 2132 March 31 with a beautiful signal and easily understood for a nice change! Woman with headlines, then news. Very good. 7270, Radio Cairo, April 1 at 0201, woman with program lineup, music to 0205 ``The Holy Kor`an and Its Meaning``. Very good (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Cairo gave their North American frequency at 23 UT as 11950 kHz (not 11885). Couldn't hear it here, but listened via their Hotbird satellite relay. 73 from (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, Denmark, dxldyg via DXLD) Indeed it is, with music, more than half a minute of dead air at 0021, and again at 0025; stopped at 0029:30, without any announcements, 0030:30 6-pip (5 + 1 slightly higher pitched) time signal half a minute late, into Arabic with Qahira ID, 0032 Qur`an. Good signal and modulation on music, better than Arabic service on 12050. Took them a year to move to 11950 from 11885 WYFR collision, and now, of course, 11885 is open (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial at 2123 April 1 with man in Spanish, hi-life music. Good at 2237 playing pop music. 2258 closing with anthem. Poor to good (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5005, Radio Bata, Bata 26 de marzo, 2147 - una mezcla de varias músicas africanas (principalmente kizomba y afropop) y una rumba cubana también con poco comentarios. Estaba finalizando las transmisiones con el himno nacional a la 2256 sin ningún comentario. SINPO 35433 (¡ de 2 sobre a 4 a las 2147 a 4 sobre 5 a la 2256!). Fue más poderosa que Burkina Faso 5030 para mí (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, HCDX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. SCOTLAND RADIO INTERNATIONAL, DUTCH PIRATE DATE: 02-04-2006, TIME: 0500 - 0520 UT, FREQUENCY: 6302 KHz, SIGNAL: INS./SUFF. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, PROGRAM: MUSIC (ABBA), ID. FOR TEST TRANSMISSION ALSO ON MW (NOT LISTEN HERE). AUDIO CLIP AVAILABLE ON http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com/ 73's (Francesco Cecconi, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 11720, SCANDINAVIAN WEEKEND RADIO, Apr 01, 1424-1439, with pop music and male comments, ID in English at 1437. SIO/322 (Ignacio Sotomayor, Santa María la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España, Rcvx: ICOM R-75, Anx: Hilo largo de 20 metros y Balun, dxldyg via DX LSITENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. The French-language article in DXLD 6-056 was a fascinating look at the use of part-timers and contract workers at RFI. I'd heard RFI was low-paying, but $600 to $1,400 a month to live in Paris? The disconnect between various language surfaces seems evident based on listening to the English service, which seems to have nothing to do with RFI's French-language output. Regardless, it's sad to think that such a fine product as RFI's 24-hour French service is produced on the back of slave wages. Who can blame them for doing on strike for a few days? Re Eric Bryan observation in DXLD 6-056, this was heard during RFI strike and was fill music, not a recurring program. RFI does list 10- or 15-minute "musical" segments on their Saturday and Sunday shortwave broadcasts in Spanish. New frequency schedule shows further cuts in RFI SW to the Americas. A year ago, there were 2.5 hours (1100-1200 and 1230-1400 UT) during local mornings and 0.5 hours (0130-0200) during local evenings. Now, only 1.0 hour remains daily (1130-1200, on 13640 15365 17800 and 1300- 1330 on 15515). No changes in the schedule for Spanish, with five half-hour broadcasts (Mike Cooper, Apr 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Deutsche Welle apparently has dropped its use of the World Radio Network to broadcast to North American listeners. DW had maintained a 10 am (EST) [1500 UT] seven day half-hour slot which could be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 140. The 10 am [EDT] slot is now occupied by Radio Prague, which also broadcasts three other times each day to NA via WRN. At this point, DW continues to appear on the PRI World (Sirius channel 136) schedule at 9pm (ET) weekdays with a broadcast of Newslink Plus. DW continues to broadcast in German on shortwave to NA each evening as well (John Figliozzi, NY, April 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. I`ve heard DW very well with its English at 0400 on 7225. Minor splash from 7220. Did not hear 9630; splash from 9620 Spain, and from 9635 R. Svoboda (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Glenn: These are the people to get in touch with to see about getting more English into The Voice of Greece" or make comments on "Greeks Everywhere." The Greek word "Apodimos" means "absent from home" or "living abroad." Their address is Apodimos_ERA5 @ ert.gr Regards, (John Babbis, MD, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good, but they still seem to have a narrow focus on the diaspora, for whom English is somewhat necessary. How about the rest of the English- speaking world? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 3815, 4.3 2100, Ammassalik Radio realying KNR heard on the club rig and 80-mb antenna. Very disturbed by data traffic the first five minutes then improving (Kurt Norlin, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 2, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4799.80, RADIO BUENAS NUEVAS, Apr 02, 0317-0410*, Religious comments, "...son las 9 y 22 minutos...". Final announcement: "Apreciables oyentes. Radio Buenas Nuevas ha llegado al final de su transmisión de este día. Hemos transmitido desde San Sebastián de Huehuetenambo, Guatemala, Centroamérica, en las frecuencias debidamente autorizadas de 4800 Kilociclos, onda de 70 metros y en 102.1 FM. Les agradecemos en todo lo que vale su amable sintonía, esperando que hayan gozado con los diferentes programas en los siguientes idiomas: español, chuey, delpalo (¿¿¿¿????). Nos despedimos de ustedes con las siguientes palabras de bendición... Al mismo tiempo les invitamos a sintonizarnos mañana a partir de las 4 horas. Deseamos una buena noche y hasta mañana" (Ignacio Sotomayor, Santa María la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España, Rcvx: ICOM R- 75, Anx: Hilo largo de 20 metros y Balun, dxldyg via DX LSITENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. HUNGRIA – Se as emissões da Rádio Budapest, em ondas curtas, cessarem, vai ser uma perda muito grande para quem admira uma programação cultural. Aos domingos, por exemplo, a programação em espanhol irradia o segmento Algunos Minutos de Cultura. São apresentadas as principais notícias do mundo cultural da capital húngara nos últimos dias, com destaque para a agenda de concertos musicais. Neste período A-06, em espanhol, a Rádio Budapest pode ser captada, em espanhol entre 0330 e 0358, em 3975 e 6025 kHz. Também das 2130 às 2158, em 6025 e 7250 kHz (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX April 2 via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. 9590, Radio Budapest, Jászberény or Rimavská Svobota, Hungary 0105 excellent with talk by man and woman in English, identified as "Spotlight on Hungarian-British Relationships," followed by item on Budapest airport plan to lower landing rates in order to compete with Prague and Vienna. Strongest I've ever heard Hungary, even on old classic 9833 frequency from years gone by. Later, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep operates on 9590. 04/03/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX, NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) a.k.a. nine and five sixths Mc/s. Rimavská Sobota is in Slovakia, formerly used relay site for some transmissions, not including this one, and no longer used by Budapest at all (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9524.96, VOI, Mar 30, 31 and Apr 1; noted various times between 1005-1338, in various languages, several English IDs, good reception. This station has one of the most erratic schedules: sometimes on for 4 or 5 days in a row and then off for a month or more and then it pops up again (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Suara Indonesia, 9525, April 3 at 1330 with usual English ID and reference to website for news summary, back to Indonesian, usual great variety of music. Next: Sousa`s ``Under the Double Eagle`` as background(?) to talk about China. Really enjoyed the music, but if I wanted people to pay attention to what I was saying, I would not be playing Sousa at the same time. Or any music. Off at 1400 after NA, carrier stayed on a while (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 9495, Voice of Justice, Tehran, Iran. 0207-0227, weak at tune-in, peaking to good at s/off, with English "features" on things that are perceived to be wrong with America, separated by brief musical stingers. One item talked of "trigger happy youth in Iraq," another told of FBI domestic spying, then a feature called "Social Paralysis in the U.S., noting that with the $90,000 ceiling on FICA wages, big biz CEOs paid off their debt in the first week in January, while the rest of us made FICA payments all year. At 0225 short Middle Eastern musical theme and closing announcements, listing SWBC, Internet and Satellite schedules for "Voice of Justice." Brief music, carrier off 0227:30. 04/01/06 I've been trying to keep up with the A-06 schedule changes, not expecting ILG data base to be able to move so fast, but note in DX Listener's Digest that the seasonal schedules have been posted prompted me to see what could be heard last night. Surprisingly strong signals in from North Africa and the Middle East, as I do mainly band survey type listening. I hope more of us will start playing around with SWBC, since there are hardly any 24/7 pests --- plus there's a lot of unintentional comedy (John Callarman, Krum TX (35 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth) NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 9345, Kol Israel, Yavne, 0135-0203 Strong, segueing romantic vocals from pre-rock era, all French except for "A Bachelor Boy" in English at tune-in. At 0158 began a series of commercial-type announcements in, presumably Hebrew as scheduled (likely promos, one program apparently called "Romantica"); then News by deep-voiced man, including item on John Dean, mentioning Nixon and Watergate. 04/01/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX (35 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth) NRD- 525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** ITALY. 11800, Rai at 0055 April 1, sign-on with ID, news. Poor to useless (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KALININGRAD. Is the Russian transmitter at Kaliningrad active on SW? Does anyone know if the Russian site outside of Kaliningrad (run by Kaliningradskiy ORTPC and formerly part of CRR-2) can still be heard on SW? I note that Radio Nederland's limited use of the relay for Dutch service to Western Europe on 6015 ended on 3/25/06, and I haven't seen a recent report of Voice of Russia on 6235, which also previously used this transmitter. They seem to still be active on MW, but are they off SW for now? Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks and 73 (John, April 2, dxldyg via DX LISTNENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. 24 MAR 1623 UT, 17870, La Voix d´Afrique de la Grande Jamahariya. Francés. (Libia). Transmitida desde Issoudun, Francia. Actualidades de Africa. Fuerte. Calidad Excelente (Adán Mur, desde Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 17700 after 1600 this Sunday 2 April, must be from Issoudun, the announcers repeated at least 7 to 8 times in 5 minutes slot, "La Voix de La Grand Jamahiriya", SIO 353. Just imagine if all broadcasters put in practice this, nobody else would ever miss the chance to identify the lowest signal in the poorest propagation conditions (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, April 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGESET) So R. Solh was off 17700 by then? I thought it was scheduled until 1800. I had previously heard Libya on 17695. Meanwhile, my log of Libya [non] today: VOA, April 3 at 1413 on 21695 // 17850, YL talking about a prize for human rights MAQ established in 1988. Chutzpah! 1426 OM with talk about Martin Luther King, then gave English schedule as 14-16 on these two frequencies; didn`t catch the target areas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 9875, Radio Vilnius, Sitkunai, 2253 strong at tune in with IS and with "This is Radio Vilnius from Lithuania" repeated every 15 seconds prior to s/on 2300; s/on announcement in English, then "The following half-hour program is in Lithuanian." Anthem, Lithuanian language program through 2329, ID, Music box theme for woman under, then features in English, continues strong (John Callarman, Krum TX (35 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth), April 1, NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 6024.9, Asyik FM (RTM) (presumed), Apr 1, 1253-1300; pop Asian songs, on-air phone in program (dial tones, ``Hello`` and mentions Kuala Lumpur), in vernacular; fair, but completely covered at 1300 UT by strong Chinese jamming on 6030. I have heard other RTM station IDs, such as Nasional FM (5964.9), Wai FM (7270), Traxx FM (7295) and Sarawak FM (7130//5030), so one day I would like to actually hear this ID, to complete my list. Will just have to keep listening in before 1400 UT. After 1400 this station is in the clear and usually fairly well heard, with distinct ``Radio Suara Islam FM Kuala Lumpur`` IDs, for the Voice of Islam programming. 7270, Wai FM, Apr 1, 1330 pop Asian songs, on-air phone in program in vernacular and singing station jingle. Reception during the past week has been very good. 7295, Traxx FM, Apr 1, for the last 4 or 5 days have not heard this station at all. Either they have a very weak signal now or they are off the air (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. German religious programming noted on XETX 540 tonight. Maybe this is a regular Sunday night feature on XETX, but I don't recall hearing it before (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O Los Álamos, New Mexico (DM65uv), 0245 UT Monday April 3, ABDX via DXLD) That`s 250 watts in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihua2, where there are a lot of Germans/Mennonites; amazing it makes it thru despite 150 kW XEWA SLP --- or is that really 150 kW any more? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They have the German Mennonites on. They have had it for years. First time I heard it was with Alan Lagerfelder some time back during a DX trip to Salt River (Kevin Redding, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA only audible in LSB. USB has a rather determined and omnipresent ute. XERTA signal strength varies from day to day. Off the air on 1 April from 0900 to 1200. 73's (Bob Pompano Beach, La Florida Wilkner, SW Bulletin via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6000.3, Radio Insurgente (presumed)??, 2244-2314, 24 Marzo, programa en que hablaban de Benito Juárez a los 200 años de su natalicio y ya casi al final de mi escucha mencionaron a José Martí, oí además una cortinilla de música instrumental mexicana; ¿acaso ésta es la tan célebre Radio Insurgente del Ejército Zapatista? Cabe señalar que la señal era baja con fuerte ruido atmosférico. Pero alrededor de las 21 no escuchaba nada en la frecuencia hasta las 2244 (Salomón Olvera Acosta, ?? [location unknown], Conexión Digital April 2 via DXLD) Maybe, maybe Habana. Where are you? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. PUBLIC RADIO PLAYS SAME SONG ALL DAY IN PROTEST - A A A + Wire services El Universal March 30, 2006 http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/miami/17572.html The 17 stations of the Mexican Radio Institute, a decentralized public radio network, are playing the same song over and over all day long on Wednesday to protest a new federal telecommunications bill being reviewed in the Senate. The new Federal Radio, Television and Telecommunications Law will be put to a vote by the full Senate on Thursday after two legislative committees decided on Tuesday not to modify the bill´s text after lawmakers submitted it to them. The bill has generated great controversy around the nation, in particular among small AM-frequency broadcasters, who say the passage of the law would hurt them more than Mexico´s large media groups, among them Televisa and TV Azteca. DISAGREEMENT In a statement, the public network - known as IMER - expressed its disagreement with the law and said that its stations would play the same song all day on Thursday because "a country without plurality of the communications media would be like hearing the same song all day." IMER, which is a non-profit group, said that the modifications of the radio and TV law "reduce the possibility of creating options ... (and) don´t recognize the importance of the public media" in the Mexican telecommunications environment. ISOLATED If the law is approved, "Channel 11, Channel 22, Radio Educación, the IMER Group and all the university, state, indigenous and community radio and television stations would be without the basic conditions to fulfill (their) social function," the statement said. One of the IMER stations, youth station Reactor 105.7, has been broadcasting all day a song that continuously repeats the phrase "you dance this rhythm backwards" followed by the reading of a statement protesting the law. The public radio entity also says the country needs a new law that is "plural, inclusive, equitable ... (and that) doesn´t benefit specific interests above the public interest." WAVE OF CRITICISM The law, which was approved in December by the lower house of Congress, unleashed a wave of criticism focused on the assertion that it strengthens control of the industry by private TV networks and does not foster competition. In the print media, stories have circulated that Televisa pressured lawmakers and telecommunications experts to back the bill. Televisa denied that charge in a statement. "If the bill is approved, public radio stations could disappear," said IMER, which set up an e-mail address and a telephone line to receive public opinion about the bill (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** OMAN. 9760, Radio Sultanate of Oman, Thumrayt, 0011-0102 tune-in and tune-out, must have been the fair-to-good signal in Arabic; listed with home service relay. Tried for taped ID at 0100 TOH, but lengthy chant that started before 0056 was still going at 0102. Dominant, even after another station began transmission at 0100. 04/03/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX, NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 15100, 25.3 0630, Radio Pakistan with half an hour program in English for Europe // 17835. This is interesting news. Unfortunately very bad audio quality making it hard to follow the program. Strong signal. CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 2, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should not that be 0730 UT for the new English broadcast, as previously reported? (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7120, Wantok Radio Light, Apr 1, 0947-0958, religious songs in English, YL announcer gives fax number (321 4465) to contact the station. A check of their website shows this to in fact be their fax number. Covered by a strong CNR-8 sign-on at 0958. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Primorskiy kray. Schedule A06, Radiostation Tikhiy Okean, 9765 kHz. WEB : http://www.ocean_dx.narod.ru (Roman Nazarov, Primorskiy kray / "open_dx") 0835-0900 = 810, 9765 kHz (Vladimir Emelyanov, Samara / "open_dx" via RUS-DX April 2 via DXLD) 9765, R. Tikhiy Okean, Apr 3, *0835-0840, usual IS and ID, with Russian programming, but they apparently had a problem, as program cut in and out, fair reception, this is a new frequency, ex 5960 and ex *0935-1000* (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. 9440 Radio Slovakia International, Rimavska Svobotá, Slovakia, 0124 good with women doing mailbag program in English, noting a Happy New Year greeting from listener in India. At end of program, indicated this was on Thursday and Sunday nights. At 0127 began sequence with six-note IS, man "You Are Listening to Radio Slovakia International," then 0128 women with station info in Slovak, IS again and Slovak ID, opening music and man and woman continue in Slovak. 04/03/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX, NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** SPAIN. 1755/1767 kHz, PALMA RADIO/CABO DE GATA RADIO, Apr 01, 2002- 2005, naval warning in Spanish/English, SIO/444. Paz y DX (Ignacio Sotomayor, Santa María la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España, Rcvx: ICOM R-75, Anx: Hilo largo de 20 metros y Balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Palma = Mallorca? Cabo de Gata is on mainland (gh) ** SPAIN. Just caught the end of an English Service from REE on 9840 near 2200, Sunday April 2, SIO 353. Strange for me listening to Spain on this frequency at this hour. Seemed a new service or maybe a change for A-06 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the Sat/Sun time and frequency for A-06, as primetimeshortwave reminds us: Spain R. Ext. España 2000-2059 Eu,Af, M-F 9595, 15290 2100-2159 Eu,Af, Sa-Su 9595, 9840 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Spain is using 9840 for their weekend English broadcasts to Europe, scheduled approx. 21-22 UT, but usually off on Saturdays as the transmitter is used for football in Spanish. On Sundays they usually first go on the air at 2135 UT. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, ibid.) Nothing beats axual monitoring! English is obviously their lowest priority (gh, DXLD) ** SWAN ISLAND [non]. ROBERT WILKINSON, CIA RADIO MANAGER Obituaries Sunday, April 2, 2006; C12 Robert Wilkinson, 89, a Cuban television producer and director who became general manager of a CIA-operated radio station in Miami, died March 21 at his son's home in McLean. He had dementia. Mr. Wilkinson was born in Catamarca, Argentina, the son of a civil engineer, and was educated around the world. While living in Hollywood in the early 1920s, the youngster appeared in several movies, including some of the "Our Gang" series. He also did voice- over work for several years. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Wilkinson's family moved to Cuba in 1942. He worked as a radio actor there, playing the role of El Fantasma in one of the more popular serials of the time. In 1951, he became a television producer and director of "Cabaret Regalias," a variety show that was the top- rated program on Cuban TV for 11 years. He later produced and directed "Esta Es Tu Vida" (This Is Your Life), a weekly drama. In 1960, Mr. Wilkinson joined the Central Intelligence Agency and, while in Miami, he became general manager of Radio Americas, which transmitted news, political commentary and entertainment to Cuba. The station was abruptly closed in 1968, and Mr. Wilkinson moved to Washington before being sent to Spain as a covert agent for four years. His last four years as a full-time employee before his 1976 retirement were spent training other CIA personnel. Mr. Wilkinson worked on contract with the agency until 1990. He enjoyed world travel and was a specialist in hieroglyphics and past vice president of the Institute of Maya Studies in Miami. His wife, Mary Louise Wilkinson, died in 1992. A daughter, Patricia Wilkinson, died in 1996. Survivors include his son, John L. Wilkinson of McLean; and a granddaughter (Washington Post via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. RADIO SWEDEN DRM TESTS FROM SACKVILLE SUSPENDED The transatlantic DRM project from Sackville, Canada with Radio Sweden programmes on 17880 kHz is off the air for technical reasons. A new DRM exciter has been installed in Sackville and it needs some testing and adjustments. It has not yet been decided when the transmissions will be resumed. (Source: Radio Sweden) # posted by Andy @ 12:18 UT April 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. QSL: 11925, R. Tatarstan Wave (Samara-Rusia) P. O. Box 134, Kazan, Tatarstan, Rusia 420136 Rusia (envio de 1 U$S) QSL card 20 dias (Hector Goyena, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina, Conexión Digital April 2 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Dear friends, I wish inform you that the Italian Section of VoT "Voice of Turkey" the past 9th March 2006, started the dx-magazine "Onde Radio" edited by Alfredo Gallerati (IK7JGI). The transmission starts at 1630 UT on 9610 kHz. We're just waiting for your reception report to the following address: "Voce della Turchia" - Redazione Italiana - P. O. Box 333 - 06443 Yenisehir- Ankara (Turchia). Thank you for listening Onde Radio. Have the very best DX! (Alfredo Gallerati - (VoT DX Editor, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15225, Voice of Turkey at 1247 April 1 ending ``Outlook``, followed by ``From Our Correspondents``. Good with QRM, // 15535 poor (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOT heard at 0300 in English on 6140, fair with co-channel [Cuba] and 6135 QRM, UT Monday March 27. They were still announcing the broadcast as 0400 on 6020, and other outdated times and frequencies. I note change in format; they close with brief news, at least tonight, until 0350 (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mejoró la señal de La Voz de Turquía! A la Voz de Turquía, pudimos captar con muy buena señal en la frecuencia de los 13720 kHz, entre las 1630 y 1730 horas UT. Así la captamos aquí en Venezuela: Escuchar en: http://qslproducciones.castpost.com/ 73´s. (Jorge García. Barinas, Venezuela, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** U K. Today April 1st item on new EU theme now online --- As Mark reported yesterday`s Today had a spoof item on how the UK Theme was to be replaced by the EU theme including comments from Neil Kinnock and former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore; the item is currently on listen again at the link below. There is also a link to the full 2 and a half minute Euro theme which has been composed by young musician David Schweitzer. Meanwhile the new recording of the UK theme has entered the British singles chart at number 29. April 1st Today item http://snipurl.com/ok6c Full EU Theme http://snipurl.com/ok6y (Mike Barraclough, UK, April 2, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. BBC: A FUTURE WITHOUT THE LICENCE FEE This article in Media Guardian today, from the editor in chief of Guardian Unlimited, is interesting, especially for our list members outside the UK, a few quotes: The BBC is to charge overseas users of its websites and will borrow £350m for global expansion. Evidence, argues Emily Bell, that it is preparing to be self-sufficient: "It is increasingly apparent that not only will this next licence fee deal be the last, but the corporation knows it and its strategy is now centred on life beyond a guaranteed income from the public's purses." "It is clear the corporation has already decided that it has to go down the route of ultra-competitive global media player rather than that of licence-fee funded public-service broadcaster, and that the next decade is all about traversing the divide." "The BBC has no mandate - not even from the Foreign Office - to become a significant commercial media owner in the US, yet this is now where the BBC seems headed." "The next and biggest step in the BBC's development, the release of the "interactive media player" - the BBC's on-demand programme catch-up service. Potentially this will signal the end of the BBC as a broadcaster. It will give the corporation the ability to charge for repeat services - which it undoubtedly will, given time." Ms. Bell`s full analysis is here: http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1745283,00.html (via Mike Barraclough, uk-radio-listeners via Rich Cuff, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Those of us in the USA who have enjoyed Radio 4 content might have to shell out some dineros in the future for that privilege (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. Hi Glenn, Sorry that I could not be more helpful with the A06 frequencies for VOA. During the past several years, I have written the frequency announcements for VOA News Now. This year, despite appeals to various VOA and IBB offices, I could not get an updated and accurate VOA News Now transmission schedule for regions outside of Africa. Because the schedule I did have was obviously outdated, I declined to write the announcements for this season. I won't provide listeners with incorrect schedule information (Kim Elliott, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA: Announcement during 0030 UT Special English said listeners in Southeast Asia may now hear Special English at 1630 on 1170 kHz. This frequency not mentioned in list in DXLD 6-056 (Mike Cooper, Apr 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1170 = megawatt Philippines ex-1143 ** U S A [non]. RUSSIA, 6220, V. of Joy, Mar 25 *1400-1406, 25432- 25331, English, 1400 sign on with IS, ID, Chorus music, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, JAPAN, Japan Premium via RusDX via DXLD) That was a Sat, presumably still the only day scheduled, but not reported in some weeks. Now will it change time and/or frequency for A-06? No reply to my inquiry (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Have you heard WORLD OF RADIO 1310? Not if you listened to WBCQ this weekend where 1309 was replayed by mistake, including UT Mon 0415 on 7415. And WRMI 9955 was inaudible here at 0500 April 3 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re CODAR, 6-055: Hi Glenn, Lucky me! I live in Monterey, about a half a mile from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, at historic Cannery Row. John Steinbeck wrote "Cannery Row" and made the place famous. A short distance south along the coast are Pacific Grove, Carmel and Big Sur, all in Monterey County. Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz County) is just across the bay, north of here. Seems this whole area will be saturated with the stuff. Certainly will make some frequencies more challenging, hi! (Ron Howard, CA, April 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Severe weather knocked off WILL FM 90.9 and TV 12 completely, including the 101.1 FM Urbana translator, which was damaged by power surges. Currently, WILL AM 580 is running full day power under emergency authorization, with continuous coverage of storm damage and power outages. I haven't tried the website, it may still have web radio from the AM station: http://www.will.uiuc.edu Reporters on WILL AM have noted that various (but unelaborated) radio stations are off from the areas already hit by the storm (Curtis Sadowski. Paxton, Illinois, 0132 UT April 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Per NRC pattern book it`s the same pattern day and night, NNW/SSE with a big null toward Topeka, but 5 kW instead of 100 watts! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Emergency coverage dropped at 2149 CDT [0249 UT], AM 580 then went to night power, resuming scheduled programming. I had the 101.1 translator tuned in shortly after that (they'd been up and running part of the evening), the classical announcer on there proclaimed in his sonorous, resonant voice "It's been quite a night!" Then he went into playing music as a filler until it was time for the next program. Just before 2200, I checked for 90.9 and TV 12, found both back on. WILL-TV was even running a program, I think it may have been the scheduled one, a local production called "Prairie Fire". All relatively back to normal after one hectic evening (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. KCKN, 1020, Roswell NM DX test: April 3 at 0600 heard ID from nearby KOKP Perry OK as usual dominating frequency, but at 0602 blown away by KCKN with news capsule, jingle IDs, etc. This should have been widely heard to the east, insofar as KDKA could be nulled or avoided (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KCKN-1020 DX Test heard in Tampa. Got to the rx about 0225 EDT. Heard four episodes of sweeps and CW in the following hour, quit after 0330 EDT. Sig only fair during first two, then a long dry period, two more weak episodes of sweep and CW hrd after 0315-ish. None of them good enough for any voice reception. Main problems were Reloj-1020 and what I think was Kendall FL with SS and FF music, taking turns, laidback DJ. I could not ID anything from KDKA. CW was a definite ID for KCKN. Checked 1080 which I think was WVCG, no KRLD. KWKH 1130 was decent, but I don't think westerly cx were that great. Rx a barefoot dx398 in the kitchen, turned to loop out noise, but favoring E-W. This test did not do as well as I had hoped, but I guess was too distant for a good single-hop. Tnx to all, (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, Sent at 0347 EDT April 3, ABDX via DXLD) Easy here in IL, but tough to phase KDKA a nuisance. Westerly cx have been poor this April, but easterly cx good and tonite's observations are no exception. The one hop (IMHO) distance to the west has declined a bit.. ie from near Chicago, KSL [Salt Lake 1160] is considerably weaker, and KNZZ 1100 [Grand Junxion] hasn't had much if any oomph with WTAM [Cleveland] phased for sunset skip. KCKN is close enough for 1 hop and likely received that way, but Tampa to Roswell is 1362 miles and under these cx, (IMHO and all it is, is an opinion) a bit far for 1 hop. New for me, and just about my closest strong western station never previously received as normal pattern shoots little this way. Sometimes I can phase null KDKA nicely and even have an email QSL from KTNQ [1020 Los Ángeles]. 73 KAZ Barrington IL (Neil Kazaross, ibid.) KCKN test heard in Georgia Despite the severe storm QRN and KDKA I managed to pull in the DX test. First heard 0217 with code and sweep tones. Heard at various other times also. Sometimes the sweeps were quite loud for the distance! Recording the whole test and will send a CD with the best clips on it. Single sweep tone at 0341 followed by code then back into sweep tones, single slow sweep tone followed by code then short sweep tones again as I type. Very good at this moment. Thanks to Don, Jerry, and Les for giving me my first NM station! 73's (John Hunter, Rossville GA, ibid.) 1:02am [CDT]: *something* noted about even with KDKA & the QRN. Sounds like country music, not convinced it isn't Mexican. 1:03-1:10am: gradually become convinced the country music is in English. Hear a few announcements that sound like "KCKN" but could be imagining things. ("KDKA" and "KCKN" sound dangerously similar...) 1:12am: Clear ID! "KCKN with the greatest hits of all time". 1:15am: mention of Collierville, Tennessee for some reason - Adam Myrow, maybe? 1:18am: "...VVV DE KCKN KCKN KCKN" Morse IDs, followed by tone sweeps 1:21am: "...KCKN 1020 the music..." 1:22am: seems to vanish, channel is 100% KDKA & QRN 1:28am: returns with tone sweeps, repeat Morse ID, and more tone sweeps. 1:30am: Too tired. Type up an email & go back to bed... New Mexico #1. Thanks to Mr. Niccum for running the test and to Les Rayburn for arranging it! (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, NRC-AM via DXLD) Heard here in New Mexico! :-) Test commencing at 0017 MDT. Alien giving callsign phonetically, into Morse code ID's then sweep tones. "Fifty Thousand Watts that sound like a Million", but wasn't the test supposed to be at only 10 kW? A little bit of KTNQ QRM underneath. http://www.gentoo.net/mike/radio/mwdx/mp3/KCKN-test-2006-04-03-0017.mp3 (Mike Westfall, Los Alamos, NM, ibid.) ** U S A. PIRATE AM BROADCASTER - BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA At 2300z on 1620 kHz - ``KQV Smokin` Oldies`` with professionally sounding oldies music program production. Request line: (954) 975-7485 or via SuperOldies @ aol.com Also IDs as ``Groovy QV`` (Bill, KK4XO, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also ID`d once as ``WKQV`` and mentioned Coral Springs, FL as the location. With ``Johnnie Andrews from the KQ Vehicle`` cruising local neighborhoods looking for station bumper stickers which may obtained by sending a request to the email address below. Offers $100 on-the- spot for any bumper stickers seen. The music request telephone number given may be (954) 935-7485 instead of the one originally listed in my email. I`ll be monitoring for this one more closely in the coming weeks. 73 (Bill KK4XO // WPE4FSJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bill, Tnx for your reports on ``WKQV``. This pirate has been around for quite a while. It`s just the tip of the iceberg. You might find this useful: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html BTW I lived in Broward for 3 yrs in the 80s. (no hurricanes) (gh to Bill, via DXLD) 1620 kHz at 2143z on April 2, 2006 – WKQV Coral Springs, Florida - signed on at 1743 EDT (approximately two hours before sunset) with usual re-play of KQV Pittsburgh oldies broadcast tapes interspersed with local Coral Springs area announcements. DJ was Johnny Andrews and one commercial mentioned a carnival in Boca Raton. Phone-in request line given was (954) 975-7485 and station bumper stickers were plugged via superoldies @ aol.com (Bill KK4XO Harrison, April 3, ibid.) WKQV Day 4 --- On for the 4th day in a row, even earlier this afternoon. WKQV 1620 "Coral Springs", already on when I first checked at 1330 edt 4/2. In fact, they were still on last I checked around 0130 est 4/1, so for all I know they may have been on all night, doubtful though. They've been promoting their personalities at the J&J Amusements carnival at the Mission Bay Mall on Glades Road and State Road 7 (441) in West Boca. Say they will be broadcasting live from the carnival. I've heard this before a few months ago, so suspect it may be a bit of fun. Hmmm, suddenly lost them at 2:24 pm ET, Apr 2 2006. Maybe they're moving the station to the carnival after all. I shall continue my vigil (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (southeast) FL, April 2, [Ten-Tec RX-320D; LFE H-800; GAP DSP; ANC-4], IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. 3 - 450 W - X banders on the way! FCC GRANTS 3 "low-power" AM Licenses to Part15.us Friday, March 31, 2006: Early this morning, I (MLR/Rick Collette) had a visit from FedEx - the contents of the package was a small novel (about 300 pages) outlining the special consession made by the Feds to allow Part15.us the rights to broadcast on the expanded band in 3 locations at "low-power". Low Power is being defined as 450 Watts, using a 1/2 wave antenna. Naturally, there are more rules regarding this that I just didn't have time to type up, however SCWIS will be scanning the document in and presenting it in PDF format for the website. The 3 stations will be located in Tucson, AZ (MLR), Seattle, WA (SCWIS), and Northern NJ (Madmage). http://part15.us/ (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) I would be a tad suspicious of the above, considering the date, unless independently confirmed. But the website does lead to a listing of part 15 radio stations, as claimed by the ops: http://part15.us/node/360 (Glenn Hauser, OK, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. OUT OF THIN AIR --- By Daniel Schulman The theme of the sermon was "get off the dime" and the message resonated with Clark Parrish, who, at the time, felt he was in need of some direction. Not long before, Parrish, then in his mid-forties, had left a job with a national Christian broadcasting network, where he'd spent close to a decade. Now he was casting about for a new pursuit, figuring out what he was going to do with his life. The sermon brought everything into focus. Among a congregation of thousands, it seemed that God was speaking directly to him. He left church that day imbued with a sense of purpose. He knew what he needed to do. Weeks later, in November 2002, Parrish founded Radio Assist Ministry, a nonprofit whose mission is to spread the gospel over the airwaves and to aid other Christian organizations in doing the same. That month, he also formed an engineering firm, World Radio Link, that would help broadcasters construct their networks, prepare Federal Communications Commission filings, and broker radio spectrum, selling frequencies obtained through FCC auctions. Parrish's timing couldn't have been better. The FCC was then preparing to solicit applications for FM translators for the first time in five years. Unlike a radio station, a translator, which resembles a stereo receiver in shape and size, doesn't originate programming, it simply receives and broadcasts a signal. Historically, translators have been used to fill in a broadcaster's coverage area, a means to extend a signal that would otherwise be blocked by geographical features, such as hills or mountains. In some rural areas, where placing a radio station is not financially viable, translators provide programming on frequencies that would otherwise broadcast static. Starting in the early 1990s, though, translators, or repeaters as they're sometimes known, began to take on a new purpose. For noncommercial broadcasters, whom the FCC allows to feed certain repeaters via satellite, they have proved a low-cost way (no staff, minimal equipment and overhead) to rapidly establish a broad radio presence. A translator setup typically runs between $4,000 and $10,000 (not including the cost of leasing space on a radio tower, on which the device's antenna is situated), and, with a satellite uplink, a broadcaster can beam its programming to any number of translators simultaneously. Evangelical Christian organizations in particular have seized on this model as a means of spreading the gospel. And they have prospered. Take the Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association, an organization that was recently in the news when it spearheaded a campaign to stop Ford, the automobile manufacturer, from advertising its products in gay and lesbian magazines. Wildmon first learned of the FCC's decision to allow noncommercial broadcasters to beam programming via satellite to translators in the late 1980s. He immediately grasped how this could benefit his organization's broadcast ambitions and, by extension, advance the group's conservative agenda. Within four years, between 1993 and 1997, the American Family Association was broadcasting on 156 stations in twenty-seven states. Its broadcast arm, American Family Radio, boasts on its Web site that translators allowed the organization to build "more stations in a shorter period of time than any other broadcaster in the history of broadcasting." Relying heavily on translators, Christian organizations such as the Educational Media Foundation and Calvary Satellite Network International (CSN) have enjoyed equally impressive growth. "You can do this dirt-cheap and the fact is you avoid any ownership limits," said Harold Feld, the senior vice president of the Media Access Project, a nonprofit, public-interest law firm that specializes in telecommunications. The FCC has long been warned that this loophole could be exploited to create national radio networks, according to Feld, but the commission has dismissed those concerns as "speculative and alarmist." He added, "The sad truth is that the agency is not very imaginative about these sorts of things." But even now that the practice has moved well beyond the realm of imagination, with broadcasters employing hundreds of translators to forge nationwide footprints, the FCC, seemingly unperturbed, has taken no action to discourage it. Around the time that Wildmon discovered translators, so did Clark Parrish. Then living in Marathon, Florida, midway down the Keys, and working as a repairman in an electronics shop, he had been taping a local Christian radio station, KILA, to share its programming with friends. He was particularly fond of a long-running radio drama called "Unshackled," which recounts the stories of people who say their lives have been transformed by Jesus. Using translators, Parrish realized, KILA's programming could reach a wider audience. In the late 1980s, he and a few friends established Tower of Praise, a nonprofit whose initial goal was to acquire a translator and use it to pipe the station's programming into their community. At the time, though, the organization was unable to obtain a translator. In 1992, Parrish moved to Idaho and put his electronics experience to work for KAWZ, a fledgling Christian radio station in Twin Falls. The station was looking to grow. With Parrish's help, it now serves as the broadcasting hub of CSN and its nearly 400 stations - most of them satellite-fed translators - in locations from coast to coast. Parrish left the company in 2001, but continued to work for it on a contract basis into early 2002. Eventually, he parted with CSN altogether. In time, he began thinking of using his knowledge of translators to build a broadcast enterprise of his own. When in the fall of 2002 a pastor told his congregation to "get off the dime," that was all Parrish needed to hear. For months before the FCC made an official announcement, it had been rumored that the commission would soon open a translator application window. On February 6, 2003, the day the FCC announced it would solicit applications that March, Parrish completed work on software designed to find open frequencies on which to place translators, which he'd been developing for months. On his computer, he could see the untapped possibilities spread out before him. Working with a small staff of radio engineers, Parrish spent the next month feverishly preparing for the auction. Many other broadcasters of varying size were no doubt doing the same. When the window opened on March 10, the FCC was deluged with more than 13,000 applications, close to four times the number of translators that were then in operation nationwide. Some broadcasters, Christian networks primarily, such as CSN and the affiliated Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls, filed for hundreds of translators. Parrish's Radio Assist Ministry and a second nonprofit, Edgewater Broadcasting, which one of his business partners, Earl Williamson, incorporated a day after the filing window opened, applied for more than 4,000 - less than half the number the companies had been prepared to file for. The influx caught the FCC's media bureau, which processes the applications, by surprise. Peter Doyle, the chief of the bureau's audio division, told me that the commission had placed no cap on how many translators one company - or two commonly owned firms - could own, and thus apply for. Nor did the commission require that a company prove it had the available capital to make good on its promise to provide programming. (According to their 2003 business filings, Radio Assist and Edgewater had a combined $38 in net assets and more than $380,000 in liabilities.) Nor, evidently, was the FCC particularly troubled when Parrish's companies began selling translator permits, which it had granted free, mostly to other Christian broadcasters, in deals ranging from $2,000 to more than $200,000 that began as early as July 2003. If Parrish's dealings were of no concern to the FCC, they riled advocates of community radio, such as the Prometheus Radio Project, which had pushed throughout the late 1990s for the commission to create a low-power FM (LPFM) radio service that would help to diversify the airwaves, acting as a counterweight to a consolidated media landscape. Though the commission eventually started an LPFM service in 2000 - it has licensed nearly 700 low-power stations, each of which has a broadcast radius of three and a half miles - the advocates now saw themselves locked in a battle for spectrum with companies like Parrish's. If Parrish and others succeeded in placing translators across the nation, would there be any room left on the dial for community radio? Among LPFM supporters, the spectrum grab became known as the "Great Translator Invasion." In their eyes, Clark Parrish, whom they accused of trafficking in spectrum, was seen as something like the Genghis Khan of the translator conquest. Indeed, Parrish and his two partners, Earl Williamson and Diana Atkin, who collectively sit on the boards of the nonprofits, as well as the for-profit engineering firm World Radio Link, have few defenders. Even Byron St. Clair, the president of the National Translator Association, an industry organization that represents the interests of translator operators, was critical of Parrish's companies, which he said had filed "clearly speculative applications." "No question in my mind. As soon as they get a [construction permit] they're out there trying to sell it." Nor does Parrish have an ally in the National Religious Broadcasters, a powerful industry association that lobbies on behalf of Christian broadcasters. "The idea of him brokering these things seems to be beyond the pale," the association's president, Frank Wright, told USA Today last spring. In February 2005 in Anaheim at the organization's annual convention, World Radio Link actively marketed translators on behalf of Edgewater and Radio Assist. It billed itself in the convention's newsletter as the representative of "the two largest filers of FM translator applications in the FCC's most recent FM filing window," and said that the companies "are making available for acquisition hundreds of these FM translator station construction permits to existing or new entrant Christian broadcasters throughout the country." Gloria Tristani, the former FCC commissioner who is now the managing director of the United Church of Christ's office of communication, told me that Parrish's companies appear to have broken the spirit if not the letter of the commission's rules. "A lot of the applications were hoarded by particular companies who were using them to go beyond the repeating of a local signal, using them to create networks," she said. "And that's not what translators were intended for." I asked her whether, in her estimation, the companies were engaging in routine commerce or, rather, spectrum trafficking. "It certainly appears that way," she said of the latter possibility. In March 2005, in the days before Michael Powell stepped down as FCC chairman, a coalition of LPFM advocates that included Prometheus, the Media Access Project, and the United Church of Christ filed an emergency petition with the FCC to halt the processing of translator applications. The brief centered on Parrish's companies, which the petitioners accused of fraud, trafficking, and deriving "unjust enrichment" at the public's expense. "Allowing the sale of naked construction permits in the broadcast services is contrary to the public interest and corrupts the integrity of the Commission's processes," the petition stated. But it left open the question of whether the firms broke any regulations: "It is possible that no individual transaction violated any specific rule governing either the application process or the sale of FM translators." It argued, however, that the commission is required to take action under the 1934 Communications Act (amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996) in instances where an applicant's actions, taken as a whole, make plain it "intended from the beginning to speculate in Commission licenses rather than provide service." In one of his final actions as chairman, Powell, along with his fellow commissioners, froze the grant of pending translator licenses while the commission considered their impact on LPFM and solicited public comment. Since then, comments have poured in from individuals, industry organizations, and public and private broadcasters, filling FCC docket 99-25, which now holds more than 16,000 filings. The application freeze, however, had little impact on Edgewater Broadcasting or Radio Assist Ministry. When it took effect, the FCC had already granted the companies more than 1,000 translator permits in locations across the country, of which the firms have since sold, traded, optioned, or donated more than 130. Parrish's companies have also inspired congressional legislation, introduced in September by Representative Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat. If passed, the Enhance and Protect Local Community Radio Act would place a cap on ownership of translators and impose restrictions on how they are sold and transferred. The legislation, which clearly alludes to Edgewater and Radio Assist, would also seek to revoke translator licenses that have created "unjust enrichment" and those that would not "serve the public interest." In many ways, it is beyond remarkable that one man in Twin Falls, Idaho, who felt called upon by God, set these events in motion. It's equally impressive that his companies, which reported a combined $38 in net assets in 2003, have so quickly laid the groundwork for a small powerhouse of a Christian network. Based on the average sale price for one of their translators, their remaining spectrum holdings, which the FCC granted free, could be worth as much as $8.7 million. Bisected by a wide thoroughfare, an expanse of strip malls, chain restaurants, and motels running in either direction, Twin Falls is a sleepy city of 34,000 at the foot of southern Idaho's Snake River Valley. When I visited in late November, World Radio Link, also home to Edgewater Broadcasting and Radio Assist Ministry, was headquartered in a two-story office park just off Blue Lakes Boulevard, the city's main drag. (In early December, the companies moved to new offices across town.) Several miles from here, down the same road, the Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls, the nerve center of CSN, is housed in a squat, pre-fab building surrounded by tracts of farmland. An antenna, with a small satellite dish fixed below, sprouts from its roof. No fewer than eight large dishes point skyward in a lot behind the church; two more are attached to the left side of the building. One morning, Parrish welcomed me to World Radio Link's spartan office suite. Tall, with medium-length gray-white hair and a neatly trimmed beard, Parrish is an earnest and friendly man of forty-eight who laughs hard and often. In person, the mastermind of the Great Translator Invasion seems nothing like the diabolical character some of his critics make him out to be. In some ways, Parrish is baffled that his companies have received so much attention. In others he saw it coming. "We did something really big," he said simply, seated behind a large wooden desk, not hiding a look of satisfaction. Nor does he mask his distress that some have labeled him, quite publicly, a crook. He wondered whether part of the reason his companies have drawn so much ire is political. "It was commonly thought that radio played a big role in the last presidential election and conservative radio seemed to have the edge. Did that play into it? Do we not like the programming, is that part of the issue?" He went on, "Translators have been primarily implemented by Christian broadcasters. Maybe there's a problem with that." Parrish's detractors would strenuously disagree that their position is in any way political, but there is no doubt that liberals in general find the nexus of Christian broadcasting and right-wing politics threatening, particularly since hot-button moral issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and stem-cell research proved decisive (and divisive) during the 2004 election. In the age of Terry Schiavo, intelligent design, and faith-based initiatives, and under an administration led by a deeply religious president who has said that he felt called upon by God to run for office, politics and religion are increasingly inseparable. To those who oppose the ideology of the religious Right, the notion that an aspiring Christian broadcaster with some know-how and a modest investment can spread the "good news" to a sizable public must be unsettling, to say the least. From his desk drawer, Parrish pulled a color-coded map of the U.S., an engineering study depicting free spectrum around the country, along with areas that have been claimed by translators. The map showed an abundance of open spectrum - that is, available radio frequencies on which to transmit a signal - though translators had clustered in desirable locations, near densely populated areas. "There are lots of channels to choose from," Parrish said. "Is it that we're blocking them [LPFMs] from having channels? I don't see that, but I think it's certainly been represented that way." (Doyle, of the FCC's media bureau, agreed that the issue has been misrepresented by some LPFM advocates. "You can often put translators in places where you cannot put low-power stations. So Prometheus is fundamentally, and frankly, outrageously wrong when it has claimed that every translator bumps out a potential low-power station." That said, he continued, "Common sense tells you that given the enormous number [of translator applications], there has to be some preclusive impact. Maybe it's a lot, maybe it's not much.") Parrish told me that from the beginning his intention, in creating a radio network, has been to "make a difference in people's lives" through Christian programming. To build a network from scratch, he and his partners crafted a novel strategy. "We didn't let this out of the bag to begin with," he told me, "but our plan was always a cart before the horse kind of thing. Get the translators, get them on the air however you can, then come back and provide the full-power stations. We call them the horses." When the translator filing window opened, he said, "I was probably the translator king. I'd been doing this for ten years, and I knew everything there was to know about translators. That's what made this possible." Their business plan evolved over time, and selling and trading (and even donating) some of the translator permits they acquired from the FCC eventually figured into their strategy. This served two purposes. One, it provided revenue to finance - at least in part - a network build-out, as well as the bargaining chips with which to trade other networks for FM stations - the proverbial "horses" to power their translators. It also allowed the companies to help other Christian organizations reach out through radio, which Parrish had always seen as central to their mission. To date, the companies have earned as much as $52,500 for a single translator and sold others for as little as $2,000. All told, they have entered into more than $900,000 in spectrum deals. Given that Radio Assist and Edgewater have accomplished this using free public spectrum, it's easy to see why some might allege impropriety, though one might just as easily accuse Parrish of being an exceedingly clever businessman. As Parrish pointed out, the companies are nonprofits, from which neither he nor his partners derive salaries - so financial gain is clearly not his motive. "I certainly have done nothing illegal," he said. It seems, in fact, that the companies have followed the rules, loose as they are, fastidiously. In conversations with several FCC officials, none suggested that Parrish's companies had strayed from the commission's regulations in obtaining or brokering translators, though two officials wondered, in retrospect, whether granting so much spectrum to the companies was the best use of public airwaves. "It's of concern to us, because in many ways these translators are not providing the type of local programming we really think the airwaves should be used for," an FCC official told me, requesting anonymity because the commission has yet to weigh in on this matter. "In certain instances, there's not such a public-interest benefit." Parrish, for his part, made two trips to Washington, D.C., last spring, after the translator freeze, to plead his case to various FCC officials. He said one commissioner assured him that the commission would not rescind any of the translator licenses it had already granted. He was also told that he was perfectly within his rights to sell some of his holdings. The FCC's actions since then appear to bear this out, since the commission, which reviews sale and transfer agreements, has continued to green-light the deals, even while pending translator applications remain in limbo. Taking their cue from the FCC, Edgewater and Radio Assist have continued to sell translators, entering into deals worth close to $100,000 last fall. The FCC official acknowledged that the agency must "refine" its regulations, placing limits on translator ownership and restrictions on sales. "You have situations where individuals have received them, then they've gone to the secondary market just to sell them off," he said. "And that thwarts the entire purpose." At some point, the FCC will sort through those questions, but the time frame for that is up to the commission's new chairman, Kevin Martin, the official said. As for Representative Slaughter's legislation, which could disrupt Parrish's plans, it seems unlikely at this point even to come to a vote. The legislation has yet to find a Republican cosponsor, which, in a highly partisan Congress, means it could languish, according to her spokesman. Meanwhile, Radio Assist and Edgewater are pushing forward, building their network in stages. In a series of sometimes complex deals that involved payments in both cash and translators, the companies have so far obtained five FM stations. One of them, in Markleysburg, Pennsylvania, recently went on the air. It will rebroadcast a local Christian station until Parrish's companies develop original programming, a task they're only just beginning. They're now completing construction on a radio studio in their new offices, and the city of Twin Falls has granted the companies a permit to install a satellite uplink. Things are starting to take shape. Thinking about what lies ahead - outfitting and programming what could be a formidable Christian network - Parrish sighed heavily. "I woke up this morning and I was thinking this very thing, how are we going to get this done? God help me. Everyway we can." Daniel Schulman is an assistant editor at CJR. CJR gratefully acknowledges support for this article from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Enjoy this piece? Consider a CJR trial subscription. © 2005 Columbia Journalism Review at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. The Bottom Line for K1MAN Here is the condensed version of the FCC Forfeiture Order. The FCC concluded that Glenn A. Baxter: 1. Willfully and repeatedly interfered with ongoing communications of other stations. 2. Willfully and repeatedly transmitted communications in which he had a pecuniary interest. 3. Willfully and repeatedly failed to file requested information pursuant to a Bureau directive. 4. Willfully engaged in broadcasting. 5. Willfully failed to exercise control of his station. The FCC decided that no hearing is required and they will not reduce or cancel the $21,000 Forfeiture Order. If Baxter fails to pay $21,000 to the US Treasury before April 29th, as ordered, the US Attorney for the District of Maine can sue Baxter in federal district court to collect the $21,000. If such a proceeding becomes necessary, the government will be using our tax dollars in a case that will be styled United States vs. Glenn A. Baxter. With that in mind, the Justice Department can ask the judge to make sure that Baxter will bear all of the costs of the proceedings against him, including the cost of any appeal(s) should he not prevail against the government. The US Marshals Service maintains a web page where more than 14,000 items of forfeited property are sold annually with gross sales of $200 million. The property offered for sale consists of residential, commercial real estate, land, business establishments, financial instruments and a wide range of personal property such as motor vehicles, boats, aircraft, jewelry, art, antiques, and collectibles. http://www.usmarshals.gov/assets/nsl.htm (Brian Crow, PA, K3VR, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE AIRWAVES' ROWDY, DISGRUNTLED VOICE OF THE LEFT --- MIDWESTERNER ED SCHULTZ PUTS A POPULIST SPIN ON LEFT-LEANING POLITICS. By Sean Mitchell Special to The Times April 2, 2006 From the Los Angeles Times RADIO ED SCHULTZ may be the most interesting radio voice to come out of the upper Midwest since Garrison Keillor, with whom he shares almost nothing except a throbbing aversion to George W. Bush. From a station in Fargo, N.D., the loud and hearty, meat-eating Democrat has attracted a growing national following of liberals, progressives, lapsed Republicans and other talk-radio listeners who hear in the rumble and flow of Schultz's impassioned populism a sound unlike any other on the AM dial. Carried live in Los Angeles on KTLK (1150) weekdays, noon to 3 p.m., and on roughly 100 other stations across the country, "The Ed Schultz Show" is a somewhat rowdy town hall meeting of the air, overseen by Big Eddie, as he is known in North Dakota — in reference to his 6- foot-2, 250-pound frame. Part town crier, part lay minister and every inch a performer, Schultz regularly lights a fire at the feet of the current administration while giving succor to the disgruntled and disenfranchised, which these days include all manner of registered Democrats and "lefties," a term he uses to describe himself. . . http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-ca- schultz2apr02,1,418714.story?coll=la-headlines-politics (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA FOUNDERS SEEK THEIR OWN STATIONS LIA MILLER Published: April 3, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/03/business/03air.html Anita and Sheldon Drobny, two of the founders of Air America Radio, are taking the next step to ensure that liberal programming stays on the air: obtaining radio stations. [caption] Anita and Sheldon Drobny want to spread liberal talk radio by buying stations across the country. The couple has announced plans to begin buying or leasing radio stations across the United States through their new company, Nova M Radio. The Drobnys, who own a venture capital firm called the Paradigm Group based near Chicago, started the new company with Dr. Michael Newcomb, and a handful of investors. The name Nova M is derived from Nova Miasto, the town Mr. Drobny's father came from in Poland. Mrs. Drobny said she and her husband were motivated in part by events that began in October in Phoenix, where a Christian broadcasting company called Communicom Broadcasting bought the station that broadcast Air America programming and subsequently changed the format to religious programming. "Shelly and I decided that we would start Nova M Radio and that we would work hand-in-hand with Air America delivering content and put it in the areas that we would move into," Mrs. Drobny said. Gary Krantz, the president of Air America, said listeners were "very vocal and very passionate" when the network went off the air in Phoenix in early March. He said the Drobnys subsequently leased radio station KPHX-AM in Phoenix, where Air America returns today. Air America programming is broadcast on 89 stations around the country. Sheldon Drobny said Nova M planned to acquire control of 20 to 25 stations in its first year and he said he thought the number could grow to more than 100 stations in three years. He said that while content was required to establish a network, "you also have to have distribution — that is one of the biggest risks we had as a network because all of the major frequencies were owned by the big three, Clear Channel, Infinity and ABC." The company is looking for stations in areas where liberal talk radio is underrepresented. He said that even if a community was mostly conservative, there was still a local audience for liberal talk radio. "In the radio business you are looking for market share, not to win an election." LIA MILLER (via Artie Bigley, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. UNDOCUMENTED WELDER TOPPLES SPANISH LANGUAGE RADIO TOWERS by Mac Johnson Posted Apr 01, 2006 http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13707 Arizona Spanish language radio station KMIA-AM (710) was knocked off the air this week when one or more undocumented welders used a blow torch to cut the steel support rods on four 197-foot tall radio towers, toppling them to the ground. Damage is estimated in the millions of dollars and the station expects to be off the air for several weeks. Station manager Tom Durán said he was not sure if the unauthorized toppling of the radio towers was related to this week’s massive marches by illegal aliens and their supporters, which were organized in large part by Spanish-language radio stations. Mr. Durán added, "It's disheartening to know that somebody would do damage like this to a federally licensed facility." I agree with Mr. Durán, you can’t have people wandering the Arizona countryside in the dead of night violating federal laws. Unless, of course, those people are foreigners violating federal immigration, identification, tax, and employment laws by sneaking into our country, and working illegally, off the books, under fake names and Social Security numbers in the unregulated underground economy. On the other hand, rebuilding the radio towers will contribute to the American economy and towers can be legally demolished by those with the proper paperwork. So perhaps the real problem here is simply that the aspiring welder did not have such documentation, which is often difficult for poor or uneducated people to come by. Also of great concern was the fact that, because of his undocumented status, the so-called ``illegal`` welder was forced to work ``in the shadows`` in a dangerous desert environment. No word on if ``humanitarian`` groups or church officials plan to begin providing water and acetylene near other radio towers in the area. But it is just a matter of time before some poor soul seeking a better life without unsightly radio towers is killed while journeying through the remote and hostile locations in which unauthorized tower demolition work can be found. Clearly, the time is now for comprehensive radio tower demolition reform. We cannot just enforce existing laws against destruction of property and expect this problem to go away. Some provision must be made for the undocumented welders among us to come out of the shadows and receive full welding certification, at government expense. Although the most enlightened thing would be to fully amnesty the undocumented steel cutters (many of whom are our neighbors, after all), middle America may not be sophisticated enough to understand this. So I would like to suggest a Comprehensive Undocumented Torch Manipulator and Operator Reform bill (the CUTMOR bill) modeled on the McCain-Kennedy-Specter plan for reforming our immigration system. Those who can prove they demolished radio towers prior to Jan. 1, 2007, will be able to pay a $500 fine and receive ``temporary guest welder`` status in our country. The fine means it is NOT an amnesty, and that should help sell it to the Weldo-phobic rubes that are not as smart as the proponents of full amnesty. Those guest welders who stay employed and un-convicted of any crimes they commit for a period of three years, can have their status renewed and then be put on the path toward master welder certification. Now, there are many who will say that the CUTMOR bill would simply reward lawbreakers and encourage others to violate laws in the future. But these people are not aware of how our modern economy truly operates or how outdated law ``enforcement`` is in the new global reality. If we want fewer towers cut down tomorrow, we must amnesty those who cut down towers today. That is the only comprehensive solution. Welders built this country. It would be un-American not to let them tear it down. For those of you slow to pick up on the joke, this satirical piece was written in the spirit of April Fool’s Day. Copyright © 2006 HUMAN EVENTS. All Rights Reserved (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Almost let another quarterly Capitol Steps comedy special slip by, but from their website here are a few more expected times on webcasting public radio stations: Monday April 3, 2330 UT WOI AM & FM also ondemand: http://www.capsteps.com/radio (Glenn Hauser, April 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. From recent monitoring I can assume that SODRE is currently not on the air on SW. Are my Argentinian neighbours listening to any signal from SODRE on 9621? I believe they aren't? I'm completely sure of this for 6125 (Horacio A. Nigro, Uruguay, Apr 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA. S0, WESTERN SAHARA. Antonio, EA5RM (S01R), informs OPDX that the S01R Western Sahara Dxpedition Web page has been updated. A few pictures of their QTH in the heart of the Sahara desert has been added and the announcement of Hitoshi, JH2UVL, will be the teams pilot for Japan. The team is departing from Alicante (Spain), April 10th, and they will spend their first night in Rabuni, capital city of the Saharauian refugee camps in Algeria. After their stay, the team will travel in 3 cars from Rabuni to Tifariti during a 8 hours trip into the desert. Probably, SØ1R will be on air between April 11- 16th with 4 different stations on 160-10 meters on CW, SSB, PSK31 and RTTY. Check out the news at: http://www.s01r.com/ (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 April 3 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** YEMEN [and non]. 9779.5, Radio Yemen, 0353-0402 fair to good, man talking rapidly in Arabic, musical theme, different man, lively drums and stringed music, woman over, then soft-voiced man, followed by flute-like music. Frequency zero beat with BFO. At 0358, carrier came on 9780, causing heterodyne whistle, but San'a remained dominant for good ID for tape at TOH. Then what appeared to be news. Carrier likely from Romania to North America, per ILG. Earlier on 9780, HCJB in German was very strong, but fortunately scheduled s/off was 0330. 04/01/06 (John Callarman, Krum TX (35 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth) NRD-525, 80-foot inverted L, ABDX via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 6612, ZBC Radio 2 at 2158 March 31, just poking through, with music. 2201 chorus. 2228 hi-life vocals. 2230 man in vernacular. Poor at 2230 check and fair at 2307, still audible at 0042 (Harold T. Sellers, Shadow Lake ODXA Radio Camp, Ontario, Japan Radio NRD-515 and 100 ft random wire antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. If you have a moment some time, I'd like to have your thoughts on the ID of the station that is on 7280 and // 7330 at 1107 and beyond with the very lively Asian music and Japanese rap music. Reception has been very good here the past few mornings but I simply have not yet caught the ID. 73 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s too early for me, but I would think 7330 is a Chinese jammer against BBC Mandarin. Maybe a Chinese jammer with same audio source against something else on 7280? (Glenn to Jim, via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ I found an old audio cassette having an off-the-air recording of Glenn Hauser (Radio Nederland DX Jukebox) giving an equipment review of the FRG-7. I did not write a date onto the cassette when I recorded it but I would guess it is about 1975 (now I reveal something about my own number of year). I converted the audio, about ten minutes, into an .mp3 file (JoAnn, FRG7 yg via DXLD) Hello Glenn, Interesting to see your old radio broadcast coming back to haunt you! JoAnn Sent me the file and I have successfully (I hope?) uploaded it to the group. Best Regards (Petra Henderson, ibid.) I hope people, especially Glenn, find it interesting and informative. I always have, when I first heard it and even now. I cannot recall with any certainty but I believe I recorded it using my long-gone Knightkit Star Roamer and a TEAC A-24 cassette recorder. I was living in Denver at the time. Remembering all of this makes me feel old (JoAnn, PA, ibid.) Thanks very much for the Glenn Hauser FRG-7 review. I remember it well and enjoyed hearing it again. And, of course, I always enjoy Glenn Hauser talking about anything (Jack, ibid.) I`ve also put it, less than 2 MB, less than 11 minutes, at (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/frg7.mp3 (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/frg7.m3u (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, perhaps you could tell me what the absolute mess is on 9800 kHz around 2100 GMT? I get a pegged meter on my R-5000 with splatter well above and below the nominal 9800. is it a digital transmission? If so, from where? there ought to be a law against the QRM generated above and below 9800 from this. It is horrible. Wasn't that RFI's local afternoon frequency in French years ago? Could it be them in digital? Probably a simple answer. I have been wondering about this for a long time. I just have no clue. Thanks (Steve Price, Johnstown, PA, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Steve, Yes, this is a DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) transmission, from Sackville, New Brunswick. It has been there for quite some time, relaying not only RCI but several other stations. Here is a DRM schedule including these: http://baseportal.com/baseportal/drmdx/main Yes, these are really annoying on an analog radio, since they cover at least 10 kHz with full signal out to the edges, unlike AM (Glenn, ibid.) see also SWEDEN [non] DRM update It was great to meet several of you at the Winter SWL Festival in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania. At the Fest, I organized a small display of DRM, the digital shortwave mode. We used a Ten-Tec R-320D receiver with a Fujitsu laptop. The DRM reception produced mixed results. The wire antenna close to the hotel roof captured a lot of noise from the hotel. This could be heard in the background of most analog signals. The DRM reception, however, was absolutely static free. On the other hand, after an hour or so of reception from Sackville or Bonaire, propagation would decline, and the DRM signal was lost entirely. If DRM can’t hang on to a signal from those relatively nearby transmitting sites, how useful can it be for shortwave broadcasting? Nevertheless, we should keep tinkering. For next year’s gala twentieth annual SWL Fest, I will try to get more DRM receivers and more transmissions. We’ll employ lower bitrates or may even text-only reception in an attempt to achieve useful trans-Atlantic DRM reception. We might also try amateur radio’s PSK-31 mode as a means of receiving broadcast news on shortwave. Finally, I’ll also try to acquire some of the new crop of internet ``radios.`` These devices, that look and feel like radios, are actually little computers or computer peripherals for the purpose of receiving streamed audio from the internet. They serve much the same function as a shortwave radio for receiving broadcasts from abroad, albeit without the thrill of DX (Kim Andrew Elliott, April NASWA Journal via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LOSS OF IMPORTANT SEC SERVICE On April 3, 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a press release announcing a call for public comment on the value of continuing real-time solar wind data, and products derived from such data, provided by the Space Environment Center. This is your opportunity to comment on the value of this service. The comment period starts on April 3 and continues for 45 days through May 18. Public comments will be incorporated into future plans to best meet the needs of the users. If you wish more background information, go to the special National Weather Service (NWS) web site http://www.weather.gov/os/space/ If you wish to express your opinion on this directly, send an email to solar.wind.comments @ noaa.gov Please redistribute this notice to other customers you may know who are also potentially affected. This is a one-time opportunity to provide your input on this matter. Brief Background: Currently there is no plan to replace NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite when it or the monitoring instruments ultimately fail. ACE is now the only source of real-time solar wind data. During the next 6 weeks, you can let the NWS know of the importance of solar wind data and products. You may wish to comment on: -- The value of real-time solar wind data and the products that use it (alerts, warnings, forecasts, models) -- The economic consequences to your business, or negative impact on your activities, if real-time solar wind data are unavailable -- The need for follow-on solar wind monitoring once ACE fails Please send an email to solar.wind.comments @ noaa.gov or contact: NWS Contacts: Beth McNulty or Dorothy Haldeman P-Mail: National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services Aviation Services Branch 1325 East-West Highway, SSMC2 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-713-1726 x116 or 301-713-1726 x130 Thank you for using the SEC Product Subscription Service. https://pss.sec.noaa.gov (SEC User Notes April 3 via DXLD) NICE PROPAGATION ADD-ON FOR FIREFOX BROWSER USERS: PROPFIRE I have found a very nice extension add-on for the Firefox which may be interesting to list members who also use that outstanding web browser. The extension is called Propfire, and it adds a small HF propagation condition box to the browser status bar. It shows current Solar Flux, A and K index via the NOAA web site and it updates automatically. I have found it very convenient to keep an eye on the current conditions. You can find more details and the free download at http://www.n0hr.com/Propfire.htm 73, -- (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, Tennessee, Winradio G313e, Icom R75, Palstar R30C, Sony ICF-6800W, Ten Tec RX320, Member: NASWA, IRCA, NRC, MWC, AM DX Tests Info: http://www.dxtests.info IRCA via DXLD) ### MORE LONG HAUL TRANSEQUATORIAL FM DX, CARIBBEAN TO SOUTHERN BRAZIL [presumably UT, in time order tho frequencies are first; unexplained why even MHz are given to 2 decimal places; ITU country abbrs., SINPO] 97.3, 25/03 0146 LCA R. St Lucia, Castries, px de música country, OM, EE 43343 97.00, 25/03 0147 GDL RFO, Basse-Terre, OM/OM, talks, FF 43333 91.1, 25/03 0149 ATG Observer FM, St John’s, OM/YL, risos, mx caribenha, EE 45344 94.00, 25/03 0154 MRT RFO, Trinité, mx caribenha, OM, FF 45344 94.3, 25/03 0155 MRT RFO, Morne-Rouge, OM, FF 32332 97.9, 25/03 0156 MRT NRJ Antilles, QTH??, mx caribenha, FF 35333 89.3, 25/03 0158 MRT R. Sud Est, QTH??, mx caribenha, FF 34333 89.8, 25/03 0200 GDL R. Haute Tension, Basse-Terre, mx caribenha, FF 35233 90.1, 25/03 0207 LCA Joy FM, Castries, mx caribenha, EE 45333 92.9, 25/03 0211 BRB Voice of Barbados, Bridgetown, mx caribenha, EE 43343 90.7, 25/03 0214 ?? Unid, mx pop EE, idioma?? 34333 90.7, 25/03 0219 BRB BBS, Georgetown, mx pop EE, EE 33343 91.9, 25/03 0220 ATG Hitz FM, QTH??, mx pop EE, EE 44243 91.2, 25/03 0224 MRT RCI, QTH??, YL, FF, QRM Observer FM - 91.1 MHz 23232 (ESCUTAS DE RUBENS FERRAZ PEDROSO, BANDEIRANTES-PR, BRASIL, @tividade DX April 2 via DXLD) ###