DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-088, June 18, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO Extra 68: Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WWCR 9985 Complete schedule including non-SW stations and audio links: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For 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 ** ALGERIA. See ECUADOR ** BELARUS [and non]. Re 6-087: Hi Glenn: Thank you for the explanation, which came as a relief - I have never had any reason before to suspect you for being naive with stereotyped ideas about Eastern Europe. And what you say about the Russian domination in Belarus is no doubt true. A sad story, really. Russia has started expanding again after the lean years, and who knows what will come out of it in the end. Still I have had very nice contacts with the Radio Belarus people, especially Larisa Suarez who is a lady with intellectual outlook. I also want to mention Elena Osipova of the Voice of Russia, always helpful and correct. Radio Ukraine International is also interesting, and I got in touch with Alexander Yegorov, their CE who knows DX matters well and who helped me to get a couple of MW transmitters verified. You can often find that the broadcasting services of a country are much better than the general state of affairs in that country. CRI is giving excellent service, also their listener relations are very good and their programme contents are much more realistic with regard to the situation in China than you could expect. Listening to CRI is often a pleasure. Compare this to VOA, its program output and listener service! What can we say? The best thing to say I think is that broadcasting is a sadly neglected medium for the international relations of the world's only superpower. And by just concentrating on troubled areas which are of strategic and economic interest to USA, the giant nation of the world misses the chance of a dialogue with its potential friends, the very important give and take of ideas and opinions. What is the use of listening to VOA when we have got BBC? is the opinion of many listeners all over the world. But in Washington nobody cares, as it seems. No wonder if people out there think: USA wants us as friends, but isn't friendship a mutual relationship? VOA has never been much of a friendship builder compared to other broadcasting organizations. Kind regards, (Ullmar Qvick, Sweden, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 6-087: Glenn: The term "Red Russian" comes from the Russian Civil War and denotes the political allegiance, not any kind of ethnic background. The "White Russian" is a little trickier since it not only describes an opponent of the Red Russians in the Civil War. - In the past the term used to be applied to Belarusians. (The White Russian is the literal translation of the word Belarusian into English.) Finally, for most people today the White Russian is the famous cocktail of vodka, Kahlua and milk. Easy to get confused there :) As a reminder, the main point of my original post was that European Radio for Belarus, in its present form, is a waste of money. It has no reliable delivery platform and no competitive content to speak of. State radio in Belarus broadcasts almost exclusively in Belarusian. However, the private commercial stations broadcast in Russian since they are mostly concerned about their ratings. Both Belarusian and Russian are the official languages of Belarus. The linguistic policy in Belarus can be compared to that of Canada on the federal level - bi-lingual, tolerant and rational. Do not expect any mass language re-education campaigns in either country any time soon. Who should decide what language the Belarusians should use? I guess that shouldn't be up to Brussels, Enid, Moscow, Warsaw or Washington. Not even up to Minsk, for that matter. Let the individuals make their own choices. The majority of Belarusians today do prefer Russian language. No wonder, VoA's weekly broadcasting into Belarus is conducted exclusively in Russian. DW's Belarus-targeted programming is done mostly in Russian with brief segments in Belarusian. Contrary to your suspicions, the Russians do not look down on Belarusians. Actually, according to the recent poll, they consider Belarus to be the most friendly nation in the world. Other "Russia- friendly" countries include Kazakhstan (2), China (3), Germany (4) and India (5). Hope that was helpful. Keep up your great work! (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In German they are still called Weißrussen and the country Weißrußland, accordingly. You are aware of the background of this station [European Radio for Belarus]? It is the product of Media Consulta, a TV production agency at Berlin that otherwise produces PR stuff for Germany's federal government and other customers. Radio was not their business so far, and I think they mostly if not entirely rely on Radio Baltic Waves (the company of Lithuania's former communications minister R. Pleikys) for distribution of their program, beyond putting it on Eutelsat Hotbird in a ridiculously poor audio quality. Media Consulta's CEO also dismissed DW's programme in an interview, saying "shortwave, that's where you always have these funny noises, it's nothing anybody would voluntarily listen to". In the beginning it was entirely in Russian and called Belorusskaya Khronika, simply because DW's Russian service produces this program. This resulted in a really controversial debate, up to accusations that DW would be in favour of Lukashenko, again resulting in a reply "it is just stupid to say that Belarusian is good and Russian is bad". However, in March, when checking out a temporary relay of DW Russian via Lithuania, I noted that they put a prominent announcement "vypusk i russkom a belorusskom yasiku" into the opener, and in print the name of the programme reads now Belaruskaya Khronika. But basically it is still in Russian, just with some alibi segments in Belarusian, right? Look for EBR and DW in the DXLD yg's Station Sounds section (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY ** BULGARIA. WRN OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES DRM REGIONAL CHANNEL For the past six months, WRN`s DRM Regional channel has successfully broadcast the WRN English language network on shortwave from a site in South East Europe. The channel offers excellent coverage of the whole of the UK and Western Europe. The directional antenna allows the signal to be beamed toward specific regions, providing those key national markets with almost FM-quality audio. WRN is now officially launching the DRM channel, offering up slots to its clients. According to WRN, this is a now or never opportunity to get onto DRM before it is commercially launched [sic], when, predicts WRN, prices will soar and prohibit smaller broadcasters from securing a place on DRM. WRN believes that DRM is set to revolutionise the shortwave and AM radio market, and says that, with new DRM receivers set to go on sale shortly, it won`t be long before this technology supercedes existing analogue AM services. (Source: WRN) June 16th, 2006, 10:13 UTC by Andy Andy Sennitt comments: I was under the impression, from announcements by the DRM Consortium, that the ``commercial launch`` in Europe took place already in September 2005, so I`m not sure what the phrase ``commercially launched`` refers to in this context. David in Dresden Says: June 16th, 2006 at 10:48 As a motivated radio consumer I`ve been looking around for ages for an affordable DRM radio receiver and haven`t been able to find one. So it doesn`t seem to me that any commercial launch has taken place. Or if has taken place, it must have been a bit of a disaster. And I`ve read a hundred stories about DRM receivers going on sale shortly. Soon I`ll start thinking that the most practical thing to do is to wait until one falls in to my lap. Ray Woodward Says: June 16th, 2006 at 10:57: ``Affordable recievers`` have ``coming within the next eighteen months`` since 1999 .. DRM the D/D2MAC of radio … David in Dresden Says: June 16th, at 13:58 Why then are people like the BBC World Service and WRN broadcasting in DRM? Who is listening to these broadcasts? It`s all a bit of a mystery for me. Andy Says: June 16th, 2006 at 14:43 It`s the classic ``chicken and egg situation``. The receiver manufacturers won`t commit to mass production until they`re confident there`s a demand for the receivers. People won`t buy the receivers unless there`s something worth listening to that they can`t already receive. Receiver companies can produce and display prototypes, but when the engineers try to make the business case for going into mass production, it isn`t there, at least not yet. The optimists still think DRM has a chance. Time will tell, but the cost of the existing DRM transmissions from international broadcasters is a tiny, tiny fraction of their total budget. I don`t believe any broadcaster has had to cancel or reduce any other services to support their DRM transmissions. We`re still in a ``wait and see`` situation. The problem is that the areas of the world where DRM would be most useful are the ones where people can least afford to buy a new DRM receiver (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CANADA. GRANTS FOR NEW STATIONS: 560, NEW, YT, Dawson - The CRTC has approved an application by the CBC for a new station here with U1 400/400 to replace CBDN-FM Dawson. The new station will simulcast CFWH-570 Whitehorse. The CBC stated that it has been approached by a local communication society who has expressed interest in taking over the FM station, operating it as a community-owned station (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. Vancouver, BC --- With the CRTC cracking down on Gary Farmer`s Aboriginal Voices Radio, AVR is making efforts to at least get the station in this city on the air. Originally, it picked a different frequency that CRTC found unacceptable. If granted, 106.3 with 9000 h,v; 600 m, d-a, from Mount Seymour, it will serve Vancouver, but lost would be much of the Vancouver area coverage now enjoyed by Christian-formatted ``Praise 106.5``, KWPZ 106.5 Lynden WA (Bruce Elving, June FMedia! via DXLD) ** CHINA. See CUBA: ** CUBA [and non]. Adil Mina, a Vice President at Continental Electronics with 40 years of industry experience, mentioned that in the last four to five years over 90% of new shortwave transmitting equipment has been purchased by the Chinese (later he mentioned that China will be installing seven 500 KW transmitters in Cuba this year). (Report on the May NASB meeting, June NASB Newsletter via DXLD) From full report below under DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** CUBA. Atención Editor de Conexión Digital: Hace varios días que estábamos probando la nueva antena Cortina de Dipolos HR- 4, 4, 1,0 en el rango de frecuencias de 6 a 12 megaHertz. Ya a partir de ayer día 14 de Junio la hemos dejado operando permanentemente con el siguiente plan de transmisión: Antena tipo HR- 4, 4, 1,0 Acimut del centro del haz : 160 grados ancho de los puntos a - 3 dB (aproximadamente 130 y 190 grados Ganancia estimada en la frecuencia central de operacion : 19.5 dB sobre un dipolo de media onda a 0.5 lambda de altura sobre el terreno. Angulo de salida vertical del haz principal: centrado entre 10 y 15 grados sobre el horizonte La antena la estamos utilizando hasta ahora en los siguientes horarios y frecuencias: De 1100 a 1500 UT (7:00 AM a 11.00 AM Hora de Cuba) Frecuencia 11805 De 0000 a 0500 UT (8:00 PM a 1:00 AM Hora de Cuba) Frecuencia 9600 kHz [so much for the planned reactivation of XEYU, primetime at least] Esta antena sustituye por el momento a la vieja rómbica dirigida hacia 130 grados, que estuvo en operación desde los inicios de Radio Habana Cuba en 1961. Agradeceremos mucho los reportes de recepción de nuestras transmisiones con la nueva antena cortina de dipolos HR- 4,4, 1.0 Atentamente, Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich, Asesor Técnico-Consultante de la Dirección General, Radio Habana Cuba, Instituto Cubano de Radio y Television (via Nicolás Eramo, June 17, condig list via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. Re 6-087 ``eggbeater antenna``: Kai, This is an interesting photo. It reminds me of a bow tie UHF TV antenna from the days before yagis became popular. Did you see this steerable antenna personally? And can you explain the construction? I'm having trouble understanding how it operates. I wonder if it was designed for short range use. The antenna doesn't look like something that would be particularly effective for low angle radiation because the dipoles are only about 8 meters above ground. I can't make out all of the construction details about how it steers. It looks to me that a reflector screen is between the camera and the dipoles (assuming the cones are the actual dipole radiators). The screen appears to be supported by the short tripod masts shown in the foreground. But the screen doesn't look steerable. Thanks for the information (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This picture originates from HCJB German service. I was not able to still find it on their website (they relaunched it since I saved the photo), so I posted it into the yg. I also found no description of this antenna's design so far, but at least they preferred it for transmissions aiming at the whole of America; two azimuths shown for a single frequency should reliably indicate that they run it with this antenna. Some others of the now removed Pifo site pictures can be found at http://www.dxradio-ffm.de/WELT.htm This page also contains photos of the Algerian longwave transmitters (it almost hurts to see the three-mast arrays for 153 and 198 kHz in the desert -- about the poorest place for longwave stations!) as well as the Kigali and the defunct Antigua stations (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Re V. of Oromia Independence: THIS sort of thing is the ONLY future for short wave as we know it, apart from tropical domestic broadcasts, in other words for us, back to pure DXing, a full circle, and so distanced from 16 x 500 kW simultaneous beams to the east coast of North America at 2300 UT from Radio Moscow, remember? (Ken Fletcher, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GAMBIA. GAMBIAN MINISTER EXPLAINS POOR RADIO RECEPTION Mrs Neneh MacDouall-Gaye, the Gambian Secretary of State for Communication, Information and Technology, on Monday told the National Assembly why the reception of the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) in the Central River Division (CRD) and Upper River Division (URD) is poor. Responding to questions from Hon Edrissa Samba Sallah, National Assembly Member for Sami Constituency, SoS MacDouall-Gaye said most parts of the CRD and URD receive GRTS broadcasts from the 1 kW and 5 kW transmitters in Bansang. She said the 5 kW transmitter recently developed a fault and its required spare parts have been ordered and are ``due to arrive``in three weeks` time. According to her, once this transmitter is repaired, GRTS broadcasts in the area will go back to normal. She added that Gamtel is also working on a contingency plan to deploy an additional 1 kW transmitter in Basse to mitigate against such future occurrence. On the frequent GRTS Radio breakdown in Basse, SoS MacDouall-Gaye explained that it is due to electricity problems. She said that Nawec [the electricity company] has not been functional in Basse for more than a year and a half now and both Gamtel and GRTS have been running on generators. These generators, she added, are not meant to operate continuously and thus so far Gamtel has gone through five generators, the most recent one being about two weeks ago. According to her, Gamtel is making urgent arrangements to procure a sixth generator to be taken there as soon as possible, but this is not very easy as very few companies keep in stock heavy duty generators of 100 KVA and above. Source: Daily Observer via R Netherlands Media Network weblog The lack of power in Basse would explain why 747 kHz is inactive. I can't access http://www.grts.gm either so maybe no power there either? I'm not sure whether both transmitters in paragraph are MW; WRTH & EMWG list a 10 kW unit in Basse which is 40 km of Bansang (Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re 6-087: ´´0400-0430 5945 SIN 250 kW / 040 deg Belorussian, new service from Aug 1´´ Aha? Apparently the frequency managers were the first to hear about this, at least no press release about this appeared on DW's website so far. But finally I found this page: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2058108,00.html Says that the current 15 minute transmissions about Belarus are to be expanded to an own slot of 30 minutes, no longer within the Russian program but on an own frequency (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BELARUS; LATVIA ** GUAM. APPLICATIONS: 612, KUAM, GU, Agaña - Applies to change frequencies to 630 kHz with U1 10000/10000. I received an inquiry from a reader asking what`s up with the application from a Pacific Island station under FCC control to change frequencies --- notably WVUV-648 [see SAMOA AMERICAN] requesting to move to 720 (and now KUAM-612 requesting 630 kHz in this Issue). Well, it`s those darn American cars with 10 kHz spacing on their digital radios. I can`t believe it would be that expensive to add a 9/10 spacing feature, as most quality communications receivers have. What? 50 cents?? The KUAM application clearly stated this fact for applying for the change. A lot of good trans-Atlantic and -Pacific DX is garnered simply due to these stations on the `split` frequencies. It just happens that 630 and 720 are part of the normal 9-kHz spacing arrangement. As are 540, 810, 900, 990, 1080, 1170, 1260, 1350, 1440, 1530 and 1620. See the pattern? (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 690, KORL, Honolulu. Per Honolulu Star-Bulletin, just a few weeks after Salem Communications` KHCM moved to 1180 from 1170 (see DDXD-W 73-26 Ed.-WI), Salem announced it would be swapping KHCM`s facilities for KORL’s sometime this summer. The move would put KHCM`s country format back on a 10 kW transmitter (Salem sold KHCM`s old channel of 940 in 2004 to Cox Radio), while the coverage area of 1180 would better serve KORL`s audience (despite running only 800 watts). KORL recently reduced its Japanese output while adding more Filipino and Spanish programming. (DP-HI) 720, KUAI, Ele`ele. Now carrying CBS news at TOH daytimes, but different from the CBS news airing at the same time on sister stations KQNG 570 and KAOI 1110; perhaps tape-delayed? (Dale Park, HI, DDXD- West, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) 1180, KHCM, Honolulu. 5/4 0110 [EDT]. Heard here for the first time, ex-1170, with regular sounding programming, C&W music and Classic Country songs. IDs between each selection are ``AM 11-80 KHCM,`` ``11- 80 on your dial, KHCM`` or ``11-80 on your radio dial, AM Country KHCM.`` Poor signal, over/under KERI CA, KOFI MT, and possibly WHAM NY. Must be testing; heard only irregularly, not daily, since, including 5/17 at 0548. The move from 1170 to 1180 seems pointless to me, as it brings KHCM closer to KZOO 1210, leaving a separation of 30 kHz when all other Honoluluans are at least 40 kHz apart. Also, KSSK 590 produces a 2nd harmonic on 1180 which is troublesome in some parts of Oahu (KNDI 1270 is heard on 2540 and/or other mixing products here) (Richard E. Wood, BIHI, DDXD-West, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. "ZULU STATIONS" STAND DOWN IN INDONESIA Jun 16, 2006 The Amateur Radio "zulu stations" activated to handle emergency communications in the wake of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake in late May Indonesia's main island of Java, have now stood down. Indonesia's International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society, the Organization of Amateur Radio for Indonesia (ORARI) coordinated an emergency communication network comprised of zulu-suffix emergency communication stations on HF and VHF. Radio amateurs involved with the emergency effort now say West Java provincial emergency managers have declared the emergency phase at an end and that a recovery or "rehabilitation" phase has begun. Wyn Purwinto, AB2QV, an Indonesian native who's been keeping tabs on the Amateur Radio response, says all "zulu stations" that have been supporting the emergency response effort in the disaster areas of his home country were deactivated effective June 12. The action includes YE1ZAB, a zulu station that had been supporting the provincial health department's disaster relief unit. Purwinto says all emergency radio volunteers who came to hard- hit Yogyakarta area following the quake will return home, although local club stations and emergency volunteers will remain on standby. The quake left more than 5000 people dead, injured more than 6000 others and leveled entire communities (ARRL via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. IN MEDIA, REX [get it?] --- TCS Daily, By James Pinkerton, 15 Jun 2006 The British are coming! And so are the Arabs, the Chinese, the French, and the Russians. In fact, the age of the SOMSM [State Owned Mainstream Media] is upon us. The what? Perhaps I should explain. As everyone knows, the Mainstream Media (MSM) are in deep trouble. The business model is collapsing, chewed up by the presumption that online content should be free, even as online advertising dollars go elsewhere. . . http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=061506C (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Just as I was reading this I was listening to this week`s Sunday morning special on KUT, 1606 UT, from the Stanley Foundation: (gh) "24/7: THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF ARAB MEDIA" is a new public radio documentary hosted by David Brancaccio. As a part of the Stanley Foundation's Security in an Era of Open Arab Media, it examines the dramatic expansion of open media in the Arab world and the security implications this phenomenon has for the United States. Listen with RealPlayer --- Read the print version (89KB pdf) (from http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/ NOT to be confused with .com, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Investigating Commission of Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea announced that they have changed the schedule of "Shiokaze" broadcast directed to North Korea since June 15. The new schedule is as follows; 1st broadcast 2000-2100 9785 kHz reading of the details of the kidnapped or missing Japanese, reading of the letters from the bereaved families, direct recorded messages from the bereaved families, all in Japanese; 2nd broadcast 1030-1100 9855 kHz reading of the details of the kidnapped or missing Japanese in Korean, English, Chinese, news and commentary about the kidnapped Japanese by North Korea in Japanese, Korean, English (Takahaito Akabayashi, Japan, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still via eastern Russia? I assume the times cited are UT, which means 5 am and 7:30 pm local. English used to be on Tuesdays; still? (gh, DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Don`t you believe the DX Mix Bulgaria item recently that Hmong Lao Radio via WHRI has moved from 11785 to 11940. Confirmed still on 11785 during the Saturday 1300 UT hour June 17, and the same on Sunday. Where does DX Mix get its info? They never say. No sign of 11940 here: http://www.whr.org/index.cfm/fa/frequencies nor when searching Hmong under program title here: http://www.whr.org/index.cfm?fa=chooseSchedule#DETAILED_SCHEDULE_SEARCH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA [non]. EMR - MV BALTIC RADIO, 18-06-2006, 1200-1206 UT, 6045 kHz. SIGNAL: INS. WITH QRN & QSB. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH. PROGRAM: ID. MUSIC. Audio clip available on http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com/ 73's (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: http://francec58.multiply.com/music/item/140 [``play this entire playlist`` is to be mashed] (gh, DXLD) Hello Radio Friend, Here is my last [means latest] log from Italy. 6045 R. EMR - MV Baltic Radio, Germany, 1201-1215, June 18, Full ID in English, good music from EMR, song of Fleetwood Mac at 1210 UT followed by info station, email address, new QSL card features and then male announcer; next September transmission in English. SINPO 34433. 73s from Treviso, Italy -- RX: SONY SW7600G 10th years 1996 - 2006 Ant. VHF outdoor at 250 degrees http://web.tiscali.it/ondecorte/emr.html Nino Marabello seems to have an aversion to using his name (gh, DXLD) Re 6-087: Tom Taylor mentioned MV Baltic Radio in regard to today's EMR transmission via Jülich: This was in fact a cooperation, cf. http://www.mvbalticradio.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=207&Itemid=21 MV Baltic Radio used to broadcast as Stör-Sender via Ulbroka until they changed the name and site. They still have pictures of the shortwave antenna and transmitter at Ulbroka on their website: http://www.mvbalticradio.de/index.php?option=com_akogallery&Itemid=8&func=viewcategory&catid=77 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 6050, RTM Sibu, June 18, 1017-1032 music program, poor/splatter from Japan on 6055; 1141-1218, W. announcer talking in vernacular over piano music (theme from Love Story?), light pop songs, 1200 singing jingle `` ? – FM``, musical fanfare, news in vernacular (not // to 7270 nor 5965), 1205 singing jingle for ``RTM – Kuala Lumpur``, news continued, 1211 musical fanfare, singing jingle for RTM FM? (not positive), M. with program of on-air phone calls (``hello, hello, hello –``). Fair, about the same level as 5965, 7270 and 7295. Needs more work to get a positive FM ID. This has been off the air for some time now. A big ``Thank You`` to John Wilkins for the alert on this one. He measured this at 6049.65. Good job John! [Later:] 6050, RTM Sibu, June 18, 1356-1429, reciting from the Qur`an, ToH religious program Suara Islam (Voice of Islam), mostly talking in vernacular, more reciting from the Qur`an, several "Suara Islam" IDs, fair. In the past 6025 always had this program at 1400, but recently covered by some type of interference (QRN). (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. MARCOS OCUPO LA FRECUENCIA DE LA 6.20 PARA EXIGIR JUSTICIA RADIO INSURGENTE entra al aire y demanda liberar a atenquenses [note: obviously written by someone unfamiliar with radio. ``6.20`` must refer to the 620 kHz MW station in México DF, not 6.2 MHz. Several Mexican stations have ``6-20`` in their IDs --- gh] La noche del lunes Radio Insurgente, "La voz de los sin voz", a través del subcomandante Marcos, "ocupó" las frecuencias de la estación 6.20 de amplitud modulada ("la música que llegó para quedarse") para demandar la libertad de los presos de Atenco y acusar a los gobiernos de Vicente Fox y Enrique Peña Nieto de la muerte de Alexis Benhumea Hernández y Javier Cortés; de la violencia de los días 3 y 4 de mayo en Texcoco y Atenco, y de los ultrajes sexuales a las detenidas durante aquel operativo gubernamental. El subcomandante Marcos insistió en los principales planteamientos de la otra campaña, en sus críticas a los partidos políticos y el manejo de las campañas como promociones comerciales "que parecen vender desodorantes". Llamó a la audiencia para que, "vote o no vote, piense", pues mejor que alguien piense por nosotros "es pensar por nosotros y tomar nuestro propio destino". Cuando Radio Insurgente inició transmisiones a las 20 horas del lunes, en la 6.20 se vio suspendida la emisión casi en cadena del debate entre los candidatos a la jefatura de gobierno del Distrito Federal. En el espacio del programa Política de banqueta, producido por el Frente del Pueblo (como "tribuna" para los habitantes de la ciudad y la zona metropolitana), el delegado Zero programó la música, entrevistó al entrevistador habitual de dicho programa (a quien tocó reseñar el ataque policiaco contra San Salvador Atenco) y criticó los anuncios transmitidos en el corte comercial del medio tiempo. "Los anuncios que escucharon son puras mentiras", señaló Marcos, en referencia a un promocional que alababa las acciones en materia de seguridad pública del Senado de la República, "encabezado por ese ratero de Diego Fernández de Cevallos". A lo largo de la "transmisión especial" de Radio Insurgente en el corazón de la metrópoli, el delegado de la Comisión Sexta del EZLN habló repetidamente de las mujeres ultrajadas por la policía, de los presos políticos en el estado de México y de la muerte de Alexis Benhumea. "Las compañeras recibieron agresiones sexuales. Cualquier mujer de esta ciudad sabe que no puede ir, o incluso estar en el trabajo, sin ser molestada por los hombres. En este caso, fue la policía la que las agredió indignamente." Apuntó que la otra campaña "está tratando de organizar a las mujeres que luchan, no por sacar raja o ganar un puesto, sino por un mundo donde puedan caminar sin miedo y donde sean valoradas por su calidad y su inteligencia, no por su cuerpo". En este punto aprovechó para dedicar también el programa "a todas las feas", pues los medios de comunicación "son los que nos dicen cuáles nos deben gustar". Citando a Joan Manuel Serrat, a quien programó enseguida, Marcos dijo: "sería fantástico que todas las cosas cambiaran y fueran mejor". Empleando el espacio "usurpado" a Política de banqueta "para decir lo que están callando los de arriba", pues para ellos "no importamos para nada", agregó que "allá arriba no quieren que pensemos, sólo que 'compremos' sus 'artículos' electorales. Este programa quiere que la gente piense, analice. La otra campaña propone que cada quien se organice según su modo y su lugar para exigir lo que es justo, que nuestro trabajo sea justo". Leyó múltiples mensajes de los radioescuchas. Uno decía que "Vicente Fox no sirve", y Marcos se manifestó de acuerdo: "Cualquier gringo nos truena los dedos y los políticos ponen el lomo para que se les suban encima". Al anunciar la canción Mariana, de Oscar Chávez, envió "un saludo especial a la compañera presa Mariana Selvas, un símbolo que tenemos nosotros", junto con las demás mujeres en prisión y las que fueron agredidas por las policías Federal Preventiva, del estado de México y municipal, cuando "por miles, la tira se dejó venir sobre los miembros del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra, conocidos en el México de abajo porque se organizaron y resistieron lo que el gobierno les quería imponer, el aeropuerto". Insistió en que la otra campaña ha decidido mantener la movilización, "tratando de hacer conciencia" y exigir la liberación de todos los que fueron "tomados presos ilegal e ilegítimamente por el gobierno mexicano". Denunció las muertes "de un muchachito que se asomó por ahí, pues el poder también mata a los que están por ahí", y esa "desgracia", el fallecimiento del estudiante Alexis, saludó a la familia Benhumea Hernández, y mencionó a Magdalena García Durán, "compañera mazahua" detenida en Santiaguito. En esta nueva incursión radiofónica, Marcos aseguró que la otra campaña lucha "por un mundo donde no haya niños de la calle, y no porque los vayamos a esconder, sino porque se van a poder dedicar a estudiar y jugar". Despidió la emisión con Cartas marcadas, canción de Pedro Infante, "ese feminista". Fuente: Hermann Bellinghausen, La Jornada, 14 de junio 2006, Mexico (via José Alba Z., June 14, condig list via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. In Friday's 'In Touch' it was revealed that for the B06 season Radio Polonia will rent air time abroad. But no country/ transmitter site was mentioned. 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) If I'm not mistaken R. Polonia promised the same thing about three years ago. Back then they didn't mention the country/transmitter site, either. IMHO the foreign-based relays are the only way for R. Polonia to go since their own SW transmitters and perhaps antennas are good for nothing (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, ibid.) ** PUERTO RICO. GRANTS: 1260, WI2XSO, PR, Mayagüez - CP granted to increase the daytime power of this repeater for WISO to become U4 5000/1000 (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIA TO LAUNCH ARABIC-LANGUAGE SATELLITE CHANNEL Mosnews.com 15 June.2006 Russia is planning to launch an Arabic-language satellite news channel as it seeks to reassert itself on the world stage and expand its political and commercial influence in the Middle East, The Financial Times reported Thursday. In the latest display of Moscow's newly discovered confidence fueled by high oil prices, RIA Novosti, a state-sponsored news agency and umbrella organization for Russia Today, the English-language news channel, confirmed the plan to invest $35 million (27.7 million euros, 19 million pounds) in a new Arabic language service. A Spanish- speaking television channel is also in the works. . . http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/15/arabchannel.shtml (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. APPLICATIONS: 648 WVUV AS Leone - Applies for Special Temporary Authority to be silent as they construct a replacement for their long wire antenna. The station has a pending application to move to 720 kHz with U1 5000/5000 (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) See also GUAM ** SERBIA. SERBIAN EXTERNAL SERVICE CHANGES ITS NAME TO INTERNATIONAL RADIO SERBIA Following the formal recognition by the Serb government of the independence of Montenegro, the Belgrade-based international broadcaster has changed its name to `International Radio Serbia`. Both the radio broadcasts and website are now using this name, though some pages of the website haven’t yet been updated (June 16th, 2006, 09:44 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Glenn, Navigating the Voice of Turkey's website is one of life's more unpleasant tasks. That the entire site is in Turkish, with no foreign language option to click on makes it an experience in illiteracy or just flying blind. For those who would like the A06 schedule, here it is from http://www.trt.net.tr/voiceofturkey/high.htm FREQUENCY BAND TRANSMISSION SITE POWER MODE OF (kHz) (m) HOURS (UTC) (kW) OPERATION EUROPE Albanian 11875 25 1130 - 1230 CAK 250 DSB Bosnian 5980 49 1800 - 1900 CAK 250 DSB Bulgarian 7210 41 1330 - 1430 CAK 250 DSB Croatian-Serbian 9605 31 1600 - 1630 CAK 250 DSB English 5975 49 0300 - 0400 EMR 500 DSB English 15450 19 1230 - 1330 EMR 500 DSB English 9785 31 1830 - 1930 EMR 500 DSB English 9830 31 2200 - 2300 EMR 500 DSB French 11850 25 1930 - 2030 EMR 500 DSB German 13760 22 1130 - 1230 EMR 500 DSB German 13640 22 1730 - 1830 EMR 500 DSB Greek 9840 31 1030 - 1130 EMR 500 DSB Greek 7180 41 1430 - 1530 EMR 500 DSB Hungarian 13770 22 1000 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB Italian 9610 31 1630 - 1700 EMR 500 DSB Macedonian 11690 25 0800 - 0900 EMR 250 DSB Rumanian 9560 31 0930 - 1030 CAK 250 DSB Spanish 13720 22 1630 - 1730 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 9460 31 1400 - 2200 CAK 500 DSB Turkish (**) 9460 31 0700 - 1400 CAK 500 DSB Turkish (**) 15350 19 0700 - 1400 CAK 500 DSB Turkish (**) 15350 19 0700 - 1400 CAK 500 DSB Turkish 9460 31 0400 - 0700 CAK 500 DSB Turkish 7300 41 2200 - 0100 EMR 500 DSB NORTH AMERICA English 5975 49 0300 - 0400 EMR 500 DSB English 9830 31 2200 - 2300 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 9460 31 0400 - 0700 CAK 500 DSB Turkish 7300 41 2200 - 0100 EMR 500 DSB AUSTRALIA English 15535 19 1230 - 1330 EMR 500 DSB English 7170 41 2030 - 2130 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 21715 13 0800 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB ASIA Arabic 11690 25 0900 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB Arabic 15520 19 0900 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB Arabic 11735 25 1400 - 1600 EMR 500 DSB Azerbaijani 11730 25 0700 - 0830 CAK 250 DSB Azerbaijani 15140 19 0700 - 0830 EMR 500 DSB Azerbaijani 9645 31 1400 - 1500 EMR 500 DSB Chinese 17715 16 1100 - 1200 EMR 500 DSB English 7270 41 0300 - 0400 EMR 500 DSB English 15535 19 1230 - 1330 EMR 500 DSB English 7170 41 2030 - 2130 EMR 500 DSB Georgian 9760 31 0700 - 0800 EMR 500 DSB Greek 7295 41 1030 - 1130 CAK 250 DSB Kazakh 11860 25 1500 - 1600 EMR 500 DSB Kyrgyz 9575 31 1600 - 1700 EMR 500 DSB Persian 11795 25 0830 - 0930 EMR 500 DSB Persian 15220 19 0830 - 0930 EMR 500 DSB Persian 11940 25 1230 - 1400 EMR 500 DSB Russian 13720 22 1300 - 1400 EMR 500 DSB Russian 9675 31 1700 - 1800 EMR 500 DSB Tatar 9855 31 1430 - 1530 CAK 250 DSB Turkish 11750 25 0400 - 0900 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 11955 25 0700 - 1600 CAK 250 DSB Turkish 15225 19 0400 - 0700 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 21715 13 0800 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 5960 49 1600 - 2200 EMR 500 DSB Turkmen 11905 25 1530 - 1630 EMR 500 DSB Urdu 13710 22 1200 - 1300 EMR 500 DSB Uzbek 11795 25 1230 - 1330 EMR 500 DSB AFRICA Arabic 11690 25 0900 - 1100 EMR 500 DSB Arabic 17790 16 1400 - 1600 EMR 500 DSB Arabic 11735 25 1400 - 1600 EMR 500 DSB English 7270 41 0300 - 0400 EMR 500 DSB French 9535 31 1930 - 2030 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 11955 25 0700 - 1600 CAK 250 DSB Turkish (*) 17705 16 1000 - 1500 CAK 250 DSB Turkish 5960 49 1600 - 2200 EMR 500 DSB Turkish 7215 41 1700 - 2200 EMR 500 DSB (*) : Fridays only. (**) : The Turkish Broadcast targeted to Europe between 0700-1400 UT will be transmitted from 15350 kHz between 26 March - 02 July 2006, will be transmitted from 9460 kHz between 02 July - 03 September 2006, will be transmitted from 15350 kHz between 03 September - 29 October 2006. TURKISH TIME: UT + 3 (via Dan Malloy, Everett MA, June 12, DXLD) ** U K. Disquiet among BBC Monitoring staff. And, so, a blog: http://bbcmonitoringwatch.blogspot.com "We have set up this blog because we are deeply concerned that, if BBCM's current top managers remain in place, the organisation's prospects after 2010 ... will be at serious risk." UPDATED: Blog inactive on 14 June (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U K [non]. WRN DRM: see BULGARIA ** U S A. Did he coin the name "Voice of America"? From obituary for Robert Ross, former director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association" "He was on the staff of the U.S. Coordinator of Information for the Voice of America and the U.S. Department of State from 1942 to 1951. In that capacity, for several years he wrote the English-language version of 'America Calling Europe,' a broadcast on world affairs that was beamed out worldwide each morning via the BBC in London. He’s credited with suggesting that the agency be renamed 'Voice of America.'" MDA 6 June 2006 http://www.mda.org/news/060606bob_ross.html (kimandrewelliott.com June 15 via DXLD) see also BELARUS ** U S A. More memories of VOA jazz to Cuba. Father of Cuban-born single-reed player Paquito D'Rivera "introduced him to jazz and he learned more from the radio show 'Willis Conover Jazz Hour' which was broadcast to Cuba by the Voice of America. Curiously, the Voice of America was barred by law from broadcasting in the United States, so Conover’s show, arguably the best jazz programming ever broadcast on radio, had a tremendous impact outside of the United States while we suffered here with very little decent jazz radio at that time." Berkeley Daily Planet, 9 June 2006. http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=06-09-06&storyID=24367 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Did the former RFE/RL sites, incorporated into what is today the IBB in the nineties, ever get carts or whatever other playback devices for "YDD"? At least here is an example for VOA Russian starting via Biblis: http://www.radioeins.de/meta/sendungen/apparat/060204_A5.ram Only open carrier before, they even uncut the modulation so late that only the last two syllables of "Welcome to the Voice of America in Russian!" made it on air in this particular case. (Haha, 3980: Would be a nice partisan action to fire up a "The following program is in German!" there.) And to generalize this questions: Which transmitter sites actually play out interval signals locally? T-Systems and DW sites abroad do so. Others I am quite sure about are Litomysl (no IS before Radio Prague transmissions via Tbilisskaya and in the nineties via Rimavská Sobota, perhaps in the latter one case because they have loaded the RSI IS now) and Bijeljina-Jabanusa (IS in studio quality also before phone-fed programs). On the other hand I am quite sure that the Radio Moscow IS always originated from the studio, probably even from one of those Mechlabor tape recorders (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. POPULAR RADIO SHOW COMES TO THE BIG SCREEN IN A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION --- By Alan Silverman VOA News Hollywood 18 June 2006 A popular musical variety show on public radio in the United States is the inspiration for a gently funny new film directed by Robert Altman and written by the creator of the radio show, Garrison Keillor. . . http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-06-18-voa6.cfm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. PROVIDENCE, RI LOSES ONE OF ITS TWO FM PIRATES! 18 June 2006 Beloved local FM pirate "WICE" was knocked off the air June 10th by a new FCC frequency assignment given to WSMU (now WUMD) at the University of Mass. at Dartmouth, on 89.3 (WSMU is still broadcasting a simulcast on 91.1 until July 1st). It appears this was a surprise to WICE listeners and staff as no one mentioned the day of doom on the final weekend of broadcasting, June 2nd thru the 4th. The station was not on the air Friday, June 9th as it usually was starting Fridays at 6 PM. The station, possibly the most professionally run FM pirate in the northeast USA, stuck to a consistent format of big band jazz and swing every weekend, 24 hours a day, Fridays thru Sundays, using a default computerized program when not using live DJ's, with regular PSA's and even updated weather reports! WICE, with a long local history on both AM and FM and different owners, formats and transmitter/studio locations, started out as the voice of the old Rhode Island Reds hockey team (at the now torn down RI Auditorium where I saw Hendrix and Cream play in 1968). The OTHER pirate station on FM in this area is at 103.1 and also has been broadcasting only Fridays thru Sundays and, like WICE, can be heard in stereo all over the greater Providence area. But, unlike WICE, this station uses no call letters (I know, they're not supposed to), but they could identify under a some kind of name; but no announcer, taped or live, ever says a thing. This station plays way too much "lite" jazz on Fridays and Sundays, but on Saturdays does play interesting syndicated programs from mostly the late 90's with commercials from those shows NOT edited out! These shows include the old "House Of Blues Radio Hour" hosted by Elwood Blues (Dan Ackroyd - is that how you spell it?), and my favorite: "Flashback" hosted by the deep voiced Bill St.James, and "Rock On" hosted by Ray Manzarak (again, my spelling right?) of The Doors. (PS Crawford - WebTV Subscriber, alt.radio.pirate via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. CPs ON THE AIR: 940, WYLD, LA, New Orleans - After being off, then returning on an STA following the devastation inflicted on their tower array by Hurricane Katrina, WYLD has now returned to their original U4 10000/500 after rebuilding the towers and doing extra work with some augmentations of their patterns. LICENSE CANCELLATIONS/CALL LETTERS DELETED: 920 WBAA IN West Lafayette [not exactly; see recent DXLDs] (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** U S A. 860, KTRB, CA, Modesto. Further to my report printed in DDXD-W #73-26, a letter from station management confirms that KTRB does run Vietnamese programming nightly from 7 to 11 PM Pacific [0200- 0600 UT]. The program had previously been on KLIB 1110 Roseville CA, but when that station went off the air it moved to KTRB (REW - HI) 1540, KZMP, TX, University Park. Further to Bill Hale’s and Bill Dvorak’s reports in DDXD-W #73-26, the four sub-continental languages on Radio Salaam Namaste are very probably Urdu (used by Pakistanis and by Indian Muslims, who say ``Salaam``), Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali (who say ``Namaste`` but also ``Salaam``). Punjabi (used by Sikhs among others) is heard on more North American AM stations than any of the other three, while Hindi, Urdu and Bengali (Bangla) are far ahead on shortwave (and on VOA Thailand 1575, often heard on the North American West Coast broadcasting in Bangla). That`s because the ``Big Three`` are the leading languages of nation-states, while Punjabi is not (REW-HI) 1500, KSJX, CA, San José. 4/30 1002 [EDT]. Call ID with mention of Multicultural Broadcasting. May have gone into either Chinese or Vietnamese. Fair, with QRM (René Auvray, DXing in Henderson NV, General Electric P2900A radio, DDXD-West, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) 1500, KSJX, CA, San José. 5/22 0150 [EDT]. Vietnamese man and woman talking seriously. Very good over XEDF with La Hora Nacional; KUMU [HI] totally off. At 0159 KUMU abruptly returned, but at 0200 KSJX still heard with an ID by a man, ``This is KSJX San José, the International Station`` (Richard E. Wood, BIHI, DDXD-West, NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ** U S A. Multi-city IDs in use: KTNI, 101.5, Strasburg CO with Fort Collins-Denver, m format, $tereo, Class C, having moved from a Class A in Fort Morgan (101.7). It was off the air while the upgrade was implemented. Slogan: ``Martini on the Rockies, the most diverse music on the Denver dial.`` Says Jim via e-mail: ``At the present, they appear to say their calls every time they mention their slogan. That`s possibly to get people familiar with the calls. This is definitely a format targeted to the older ``baby boomer`` market, as they play a blend of the old and new `standards` type music --- Perry Como, Doris Day, and Benny Goodman, mixed together with Barbra Streisand, modern crooner Michael Buble, and others. It`s definitely something the Denver radio market didn`t have on the FM airwaves and not sure why it took so long for someone to figure out that it was a missing segment`` (June FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. While visiting Naperville Il, a suburb of Chicago, last year I heard a very informative TIS. I subscribe to the Chicago Area Radio Monitors Association (CARMA) email list and asked if some one could record this TIS and send me a copy to pass on. Fred Harms recorded 7:50 of audio from WPFP 929. The audio was record with a Bose radio into a mic. http://www.petestl.com/audio/Naperville1610.mp3 This is the official Naperville web site http://www.naperville.il.us/dynamic_content.aspx?id=152 Some more information about the station http://www.theradiosource.com/articles-case-study-naperville.htm (Pete Dernbach, St. Louis MO, June 17, NRC via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Two minor quibbles/corrections: 1. The new 620 antenna on Gandy Causeway is a 2 tower DA just like the old one. Shorter towers are due to capacity of footings with current structural codes. (This is the station that employed the original AM directional antenna, designed by Dr. Ray Wilmotte, but at a different site than the present one. The new system was designed and just tuned up by Ron Rackley.) [FMedia! said replacement was one shorter tower] 2. WALB demolition was because the tower was unsafe to climb (due to aircraft incident) and therefore it was impossible to set a gin pole and perform rigging for normal dismantling. It was also not possible to set charges in the best locations, but evidently the insurance carrier was made aware of the risks and accepted them (Ben Dawson, WA, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WALB/WFXN towers: When taking down the damaged tower, the tower accidentally fell into a good tower next to it. What you will see is probably close to $7.5-million worth of rubble. http://www.wirelessestimator.com/t_content.cfm?pagename=Demolition (Frederick R. Vobbe, W8HDU, Lima OH, June 9, NRC via DXLD) Exactly how and why it happened, with lots of photos ** U S A. What the WCIA 3 weather warning W looks like. Folks, you've heard me go on time after time about WCIA 3 in Champaign, Illinois having the W up. This being Illinois, screwy weather is common, so it's up a lot. Anyway, it finally made it online in photographic form in Wallace Dickson's album, which he forwarded me a link to in response to my inquiry about his mystery channel 3 reception last week: http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c49/Hawkwind02054/ Looks like a W in a circle, doesn't it? Well, it nearly is, but notice a couple of distinguishing features --- the W actually touches that circle, or oval (or as I call it, an ellipse) at the upper left and lower right. The encircling figure is tilted slightly, and is thicker at the bottom right than it is at the top left. Kind of the same as if you were looking at a hoop at a slight angle. This will often be the only distinguishing feature WCIA runs during CBS network programming, or during their interminable procession of infomercials, so it may be useful in identifying what you've got in (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. SOUTH FLORIDA TV PIONEER WEAVER THE WEATHERMAN DIES Bob Weaver, the South Florida TV pioneer known as Weaver the Weatherman, died Saturday of cancer. He was 77. "This is very unexpected. He only became ill about four or five weeks ago," said Myra Weaver, his wife of 32 years. "He'll be missed forever." A graduate of the University of Miami, Mr. Weaver was a close friend of fellow Hurricane Ralph Renick, the legend who was Miami's first news anchor, and Bernie Rosen, WTVJ-Ch. 6's longtime sports director and still a contributor to the station. Mr. Weaver joined WTVJ, the market's first TV station, as an intern shortly after graduating in 1949. Those were the days when everyone chipped in by doing a little extra. Mr. Weaver read commercials and station identifications from the announcer's booth, pasted photos on cardboard so that they could be displayed on screen, filled in on sports updates and did other odd jobs around the studio. Within a year he became the station's weatherman, a position he held until 2003. Myra Weaver said her husband remained busy since retiring, doing charity work, voiceovers and commercials. As often happens with weather forecasters, Mr. Weaver became one of the station's highest profile and most popular figures, perhaps second only to Renick. Rosen recalled an event in 1966. The University of Miami was playing a Friday night football game against Iowa and the weather conditions were horrific all day. Mr. Weaver went on the air, according to Rosen, and assured the audience that the worst would be over by game time, so football fans should not change plans to attend the game. How generously Mr. Weaver was shading reality is a matter of conjecture, Rosen said. As Mr. Weaver and Rosen made their way into the Orange Bowl, it was still pouring. "When people saw us, they started booing," Rosen said. "Bob stopped and talked to anyone who wanted to talk to him. He told them he was trying to make them feel better about going to the game with his forecast. By the time he finished, they were all applauding us, even though it was still raining." Mr. Weaver also was a big fan of greyhound racing during the sport's heyday in the '70s and '80s. He was only a $2 player but he enjoyed the camaraderie at the track, particularly at the now defunct Biscayne, which had a small lounge for the media and dogmen. He struck up a friendship with the late dog owner Dick Andrews, who promised to name a promising greyhound for him. Andrews kept his word, dubbing a well-bred dog Weaver the Weatherman. It didn't turn out to be a champion and Mr. Weaver's involvement was solely emotional, but he was as proud as the owner of a Kentucky Derby winner whenever the dog won. He also had an avocation as an auctioneer at local charity events. Even after his health took a turn for the worse, he kept promises previously made to host events. "He did one about a month ago," WTVJ colleague and longtime friend Bob Mayer said. "He had to be brought in in a wheelchair but when the time came for the auction, he got out of the chair and stood at the podium like nothing was wrong. That's the kind of guy Bob was. He was the finest, sweetest gentleman I've ever known." Mr. Weaver is survived by Myra, their sons Jason and Shane, his son Robert by a previous marriage, and a 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter. Funeral services were still being planned Saturday night, but it will be held at Levitt-Weinstein Memorial Chapels, 3201 NW 72nd Ave., Hollywood. By Tom Jicha, South Florida Sun-Sentinel TV/Radio Writer OBIT http://www.sun-sentinel.com (via Dino Bloise / FL, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Note several applications for new full-license stations this month. Digital permits have been applied for in Colorado, Florida, and Kansas, with the Florida station to be on channel 3. Analog applications are for Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oregon. One might expect some of these analog applicants to modify their permits to digital if granted. Also, the permittee for a new full-license station in Memphis has filed to replace their analog permit with a digital one. Yes, there are permits for two different low-power stations on the same channel (20) in Flagstaff, Arizona. The stations are some distance apart; I would presume they use directional antennas to protect each other... KDMI-DT is not adding MyNet to a subchannel. This Des Moines station is a standalone digital – with no existing analog signal – and will be running MyNet on their main program. The filing window for LPTV digital ``companion channels`` has been rescheduled for the 19th through the 30th of this month. The freeze on LPTV changes and applications for new LPTVs was to run through May 12th; it has been extended to June 30th. Companion channels will be allotted in Auction #85. Non-commercial LPTVs may bypass auction if they certify the station is owned & operated by a municipality and will be used to transmit only noncommercial, educational programs. However, the proposal must not be mutually-exclusive with any proposal from a commercial LPTV. Certified noncommercial applications that conflict with commercial applications will be returned as unacceptable for filing. The protected contour of the DTV proposal must overlap the protected contour of the station`s existing analog signal. It appears that companion channels above 51 will be acceptable if no 700 MHz land- mobile licensees are affected. (however, these channels are still going away at some point, probably early 2009). Again, this is only for those LPTVs that choose to operate analog and digital facilities simultaneously during the transition. Many LPTVs have already chosen instead to ``flash-cut`` - to, at some future point, shut off their analog signals and start a digital station on the same channel. You saw many of these applications in last month`s VUD. The FCC has released the 2nd round permanent DTV channel designations. Many of these involve stations whose analog and interim DTV allotments were both ``outside core``, or where one was outside core and the other low-band VHF, or both were low-band. Also involved were stations that were too new to receive an interim DTV assignment. And, two new DTV-only stations whose sole assignment is outside core. Bill Draeb is seeing an announcement on WVCY-30 in which they`re attempting to raise funds for their permanent digital transmitter. They`re saying that they must have this transmitter on the air by the 30th of this month. Presumably that`s when their DTV construction permit expires. WVCY is apparently operating under a special temporary authority for 2.5 kw. What happens if the DTV permit does expire?? Extensions are possible if extenuating circumstances exist, but lack of funds is generally not considered grounds for an extension. (zoning problems, bad weather preventing tower work, failure of suppliers to deliver equipment on time have been accepted. A FM station in Texas recently received an extension because their transmitter site was infested with killer bees!) An extension must be requested before the permit expires; it`s very rare for the Commission to ``resurrect`` an expired permit. If the permit expires unextended... well, I`m not 100% sure what happens. Definitely the FCC won`t protect them from interference beyond the coverage area of the 2.54kw temporary facility. WVCY could presumably get their permit modified to specify the temporary facilities as permanent. WVCY could take their chances this way. If no other station on or near channel 22 files for a power increase, it could be that WVCY could file for an increase later, once they had the resources to build it. I don`t know if the special temporary authority has any life after the underlying full-power permit expires. It is possible that, if that`s allowed to happen, WVCY`s authority to operate a DTV station could lapse altogether. They could continue to operate the analog station on channel 30 until the February 2009 drop-dead date but would then be forced off the air. They could also file for a new DTV permit but if the original permit had expired, the new application would be on the same basis as any other new station applicant – VCY would almost certainly face several competing applications – and FCC action before the 2009 deadline is not likely. (I also would not rule out the possibility they`re simply trying to scare their audience into thinking the station will go away if they don`t donate – the possibility that there is in fact no financial crisis and no risk of not completing their 196kw facility.) (Doug Smith, TV News, June VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) [this commentary accompanied Doug`s multi-page listing of the month`s FCC axions] UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 12000 kHz, UT timesignals in Spanish: Glenn, La emisora en 12000 es Playa Ancha Radio (Chile). Están usando tal frecuencia hace poco tiempo incluso con transmisiones de fax. Realmente no sé porque están usando tal frecuencia. 73 (Ivan Dias, Sorocaba/SP, Membro do DX Clube do Brasil Junte-se à nossa família http://www.ondascurtas.com June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Feeder frequenties ?? Op dit moment, den ik door de opkomende condities, diverse vermoedelijke feeder-frequenties van kerkdiensten ??? op de 27 MHZ Frequenties: 27740 27705 27835 27855 (zijn in engels en 1 italiaans ???) Allen in FM. Heeft iemand enig idee waar deze vandaan komen ???? (Ron Snijders, Netherlands, 1032 UT June 18, bdx mailing list via DXLD) That`s Benelux DX Club, formerly known as BDXC, no longer confundible with British DX Club. Sunday morning church services on CB frequencies, English surely from Ireland or UK; Italian, where could that be from? (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Your DX Listening Digest is a great inspiration and is often thought- provoking in addition to the DX news value it offers. Good luck (Ullmar Qvick, Sweden) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC DIRECTS MANASSAS BPL SYSTEM TO RESOLVE AMATEURS' INTERFERENCE COMPLAINTS Newington, CT, Jun 16, 2006 --- In two strongly worded letters, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau has directed the Manassas, Virginia, BPL system to take appropriate steps to eliminate harmful interference to Amateur Radio operators. Several hams in the Manassas area have complained, some repeatedly, about severe interference from the BPL system, operated by COMTek on the city-owned power grid. The FCC minced no words in detailing what it wants the city and BPL operator COMTek to do to ensure its system complies with Part 15 rules governing BPL systems and even hinted that it may shut down all or part of the system. One of the FCC letters followed up on a complaint from Dwight Agnew, AI4II, of BPL interference to his mobile operations. . . http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/fcc_manassas_bpl.htm (ARRL via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ HD RADIO: FUN WITH MATH Let's pretend we fast-forward about ten or fifteen years to a time when, let's say, there are 20 million HD radios in the hands of consumers. Although no radio group-head has, to my knowledge, provided any measure of what a successful HD radio distribution would be, I would have to believe they would consider 20 million radios to be successful. And let's further assume that these radios are only sold in the top 50 markets (for the sake of simplicity - it makes my argument stronger if we do NOT assume this). If we then assume that radio unit sales are proportional to population, we would find, for example, more than 2 million radios in New York. If we assume that each radio is listened by by 1.5 listeners (it's probably not that high in reality), that's over 3 million listeners, meaning the entire distribution channel would have the cume of about two conventional New York radio stations or one really, really good week for Z100. Now, let's say HD yields roughly twice as many HD stations on the dial as conventional ones, and let's just say that number is 60. If we divide the number of listeners by the number of stations, we find that the average HD station in New York would have an average audience of 56,000. And that's New York. In Washington, the number is 15,000 In Denver it's 7,000. In Columbus it's 5,000. In Memphis it's 3,800. And that's with 20 million HD radios in circulation, a number we're not likely to hit until many of today's group heads have retired. A number roughly double the current distribution of satellite radio. Now, these numbers are very, very rough. But they're close enough to make a point crystal clear. So my question, in all candor, is this: What's the revenue model here? I'm not being critical. I really want to know. For satellite radio, a national service under one big roof with subscription support, I get it. But explain to me the model for HD Radio, please. http://www.hear2.com/2006/06/hd_radio_fun_wi.html (via Kevin Redding, June 18, ABDX via DXLD) DAB/DRM With reference to Dave Kenny's Item regarding this, I don`t agree about huge power consumption for DAB. Receivers, when run from the Mains, as recommended. The Ferguson FRG-R 116D runs at 240 Volts 100 ma Input, something to do with D to A Conversion I believe. It looks as though he is right about DRM, in all respects, an opportunity has been lost for it for the FM Band. The UK Implementation of DAB is widely criticised; in my experience it`s not that bad, and over 3 Million DAB Radios have been sold. Eventually, of course, everything will be delivered in packages [packets?], from satellites, (except possibly some pure DXing from the Tropics) and BROADcasting as we know it will cease to exist. (25 Years Time?) (Ken Fletcher, UK, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave Kenny wrote: "Evidence from DXers who have tested some of the early DRM prototype receivers is that in reality DRM needs a VERY strong and stable signal to work properly. Any fading and the audio just cuts out. With an analogue fade at least you can still hear the audio - but this is not the case with DRM." This is hardly news to the engineers who have been working on DRM for many years now, but the whole point is that when DRM services are fully implemented, the signals WILL be strong in the target areas for which they are intended. DRM is not meant as a platform for DXing. The system is designed so that the receiver will automatically select the strongest signal carrying a particular programme, and switch automatically if another one becomes stronger. The situation at the moment is that only limited DRM transmissions are being broadcast, so in most cases there isn't an alternative frequency to switch to. But Dave's comments also explain why many mediumwave broadcasters here in Europe are interested in switching to DRM as soon as it makes commercial sense (i.e. when affordable receiver start shipping in significant numbers). In most cases, operating in DRM mode would, at a stroke, provide a 24/7 high quality signal on mediumwave, with no night-time interference, in the official service area. Background, low-level co-channel interference won't be a problem any more. I personally believe that domestic broadcasting in DRM is the key to whether it takes off commercially or becomes a white elephant. The key is content - at the moment, I can't think of many people who would buy a new radio because they can listen to Radio Netherlands on it. If international broadcasters think like that, they're kidding themselves. But if domestic stations start using DRM, and significant numbers of people buy receivers, we could be returning to the situation that existed decades ago, where a radio had shortwave as a matter of course. Then, it will be up to the international broadcasters to plan frequency schedules that provide strong, reliable signals, and programming that people will actually want to tune into. (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``but the whole point is that when DRM services are fully implemented, the signals WILL be strong in the target areas for which they are intended`` Which simply means: Multiple frequencies, run at high power (just note the Wertachtal DRM: 200 kW, more than many AM transmissions!). So much for the claims that DRM will save lots of operational costs. ``In most cases, operating in DRM mode would, at a stroke, provide a 24/7 high quality signal on mediumwave`` But for the foreseeable future one that is not suitable for portable reception, other than in the car. Or does anybody expect people to carry arround power-hungry, heavy sets like the 1.7 kg Sangean currently announced to be available soon (I already look forward for the next "interested customers will be able to order it online" press release)? ``I personally believe that domestic broadcasting in DRM is the key to whether it takes off commercially or becomes a white elephant. The key is content - at the moment, I can't think of many people who would buy a new radio because they can listen to Radio Netherlands on it.`` Absolutely agreed, contrary to the belief of some in the shortwave scene that DRM is the last resort for all the foreign services, saving them from dying like flies. Still remember all the talks about satellite transmissions being the bright future of international broadcasting? Haven't heard much about this anymore in recent years. Will DRM receivers have shortwave as a matter of course? I think a prototype of a DRM car radio, shown at last year's IFA, was only good for 49 metres (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) I don't know why Wertachtal is running so much DRM power. Flevo runs 40 kW, and has been doing so for many months now. According to reports on the DRM Software Forum, this seems to be doing a good job. There seems no reason to use more than a couple of DRM frequencies per target area, and - this is the plus point - the frequency and/or technical characteristics can be altered in real time to accommodate unexpected or rapidly changing conditions. Just as you can own an expensive car but still be a lousy driver, so there's a right way and a wrong way to implement DRM transmissions. At Radio Netherlands, the person who is now our frequency manager spent three years of his working life developing the technical specification for DRM, along with a handful of other people. The ballpark figure for operational cost savings is approximately 50%, which is a huge amount for an organisation like Radio Netherlands. It would potentially allow us to reinstate some hours that had to be cut a few years ago. If others want to use more power than necessary and save less, that's up to them :-) I take your point about power-hungry, heavy radio sets. But looking at some of the old 1970's sitcoms, I am reminded of what early "mobile" phones looked like :-) I think in a few years' time, things will have changed, assuming development continues (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) There is an implied assumption here that the European AM Frequency Plan is perfect. In my view it isn't, it was always a compromise; some channels suffer more co-channel interference at night than others within their service areas. There are a number of unused allocations that, if reactivated, will make the situation worse. The number of countries in Europe is also increasing but there are a limited number of AM channels. Unless you get Europe-wide agreement on a move to DRM, and an agreement on service areas, the situation potentially will be a mess. Already Croatia has had to cut back its DRM transmissions on medium wave due to interference complaints. Powers used on medium wave in Europe are often greater than needed to serve national territories, often deliberately since it is used for external broadcasting and by commercial stations seeking to serve foreign countries such as Radio Luxembourg. There do not seem to be that many situations where transmitter powers are reduced at night. A report I read in one of the uk radio forums from someone who attended the recent London Digital Radio Show said that the UK regulator Ofcom see DRM on medium wave more in terms of city wide or local community stations who cannot get a slot on DAB multiplexes. As to high quality it depends what you mean by the phrase. Bandwidth is restricted to 9 kHz bandwidth in Europe, unlike in Asia-Pacific, so, in my view, is more suited for speech broadcasting. As to co-channel interference I have also seen reports that DRM on AM can be affected by the increasing amount of general interference from household and other devices on AM. A recent EBU Technical Report also raised doubts as to its viability due to the possible implementation of broadband over power lines and devices such as Homeplug, networking using your homes electrical wiring, who now have a UK website http://www.homeplugs.co.uk/ (Mike Barraclough, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also BULGARIA 26 MHZ SPORADIC E RECEPTION There have been some reports over the last few days of Sporadic E reception of the 26000 DRM tests, one from Luxembourg just using a Roberts MP40 outdoors with a whip antenna, presumably the standard one with the set. This does pose a number of questions as to the viability of using this band particularly as I believe as the tests are using antennas designed to reduce the skywave component. http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1288&page=2 (Mike Barraclough, June 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2006 AMERICAN SHORTWAVE CONFERENCE DRM AND NASB MEETINGS By Richard A. D`Angelo --- Reprinted by permission from the NASWA Journal [June, illustrated] [emphasis on, but not just about, DRM] Day One Adventist World Radio (``AWR``) played host to this year`s annual meeting of the US DRM Group and the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters at their headquarters location in Silver Springs, Maryland on May 11th and May 12th. This was the third annual meeting of the DRM group with about 50 people attending. The meeting was recorded for distribution through the Internet as a Podcast. Did anyone mange to hear it? Adrian Peterson of AWR welcomed the group and introduced Greg Scott who provided a comprehensive history of the organizations shortwave broadcasting history including a discussion about Adrian`s Radio Monitors International that was broadcast from Sri Lanka many years ago. Mike Adams of the Far East Broadcasting Association and Jeff White of Radio Miami International jointly hosted the proceedings. Mike handled speaker introductions while Jeff handled the behind the scenes activities. Mike informally polled the room noting that this meeting was being attended by broadcasters, transmission providers, transmitter and antenna manufacturers, regulatory industry, receiver manufacturers, radio amateurs, and shortwave listeners. The Status of HF and DRM Adil Mina, a Vice President at Continental Electronics with 40 years of industry experience, began the program. He mentioned that in the last four to five years over 90% of new shortwave transmitting equipment has been purchased by the Chinese (later he mentioned that China will be installing seven 500 KW transmitters in Cuba this year). However, recently other organizations have been doing the purchasing. A lot of recent interest has been generated by DRM and the opening of new markets. Everyone wants to know where are the cheap receivers? Adil showed a Sangean receiver that came off the production line just four weeks ago, which is marketed under the Roberts name. The first production run was 150 but Sangean is now beginning another run. The price was 299 Euros. The next batch of $200.00 or less is expected to be available by August. He expects them to be available before the IBC conference in the summer. Adil expects that in three years or less DRM receivers will be $50.00 or less mainly because of the strong interest the Chinese have in manufacturing them. He noted a 100 KW Continental transmitter and a 500 KW Harris transmitter being copied in a Chinese factory using the Company pictures from the catalog. Plus he saw a Thompson exciter for DRM being copied for future production runs. He expects China`s continuing interest in high frequency for communication around the country to help drive cheaper DRM receiver manufacturing. Adil noted that there seems to be interest in three main areas. The first is an international interest in DRM as shortwave broadcasting moves into the digital world. The second seems to be the special tests in the 26 MHz range with line of sight coverage. Finally, there is a growing interest in commercial competition in high frequency broadcasting. Adil and Dr. Don Messer both believe that the Federal Communications Commission will enable broadcasting to the USA from within the USA. They indicated that five transmitters could cover the entire country. This was later clarified as not through 26 MHz transmitters but through long haul shortwave DRM transmissions. Adil was very firm that ``Shortwave is the only media that you can broadcast from one place to another under your control. Satellite systems can be shut off.`` There is a strong belief that digital shortwave has a bright future because of listening quality and the potential of the big savings from the reduction of energy usage. At a recent National Association of Broadcasters (``NAB``) meeting in Las Vegas experiments were able to cover the entire city with a 30 watt transmitter on 26 MHz with excellent sound quality reported by listeners. Introduction of DRM in Region II (the Americas) Don Messer, Chairman of the DRM Consortium Technical Committee, spoke about the introduction of DRM in the Americas. He firmly believes that within 2 years DRM broadcasts will be available either commercially or as public broadcasting or both with people using affordable receivers. Don focused on some of the technical aspects of DRM broadcasting from a presentation he made in Las Vegas earlier this year. The ability to multicast 4 programs within a 10 kHz channel has been successfully tested in Mexico. DRM is very versatile with what broadcasters can do for frequency selection and target audiences. Utilizing the underutilized shortwave broadcasting band at around 26 MHz was selected because a study of frequency usage showed this band to be under utilized. Various tests in this range have been successful leading the DRM folks to focus more of their time and energy on making 26 MHz a prime target for DRM shortwave broadcasting. The potential for 43 non-overlapping 10 kHz channels exist providing plenty of spectrum for high quality radio. The Mexico City 26 MHz test utilized a 200 watt transmitter (the size of a vending machine) on the edge of town. Engineering analysis determined that 2-6 KW transmitters can cover all of Mexico City. Tests in Europe have provided similar results. Shortwave listener Ulis Fleming asked about the potential to jam DRM signals. Don responded that the key was the signal to noise ratio. Signals can be jammed but the potential to overcome is there with using higher power. Nevertheless, Don wouldn`t go to DRM to overcome jamming but for its programming potential. Four speech programs can be broadcast into one area on a 10 kHz channel simultaneous providing tremendous opportunities for broadcasters to reach target audiences. Demonstrations Ongoing demonstrations using the two Roberts DRM portable radios, without an external antenna, were conducted with mixed results. DRM is either ``in`` or ``out`` but not in between. These receivers are also capable of analog shortwave reception. The programs were transmitted by Radio Canada International in Sackville. There was a range of programming available for sampling throughout the day with our own Kim Elliott running the display. When DRM signals are ``in`` the quality is quite impressive. The Latest Prototype Receivers John Sykes, Project Director Digital Radio for BBC World Service, spoke about receivers. He began with where things were 2 ½ years ago before getting up to the present. He addressed many technical aspects of receiver technology to determine how to maximize the signal to decode the broadcast information. Sykes is a strong believer in radio although he acknowledged that BBC management is enamored with the Internet for program delivery. Although the ability to ``time shift`` listening exists with digital delivery, Sykes is convinced that radio has a long future in the marketplace. Ultimately, consumers will want radios that deliver program content without the need to understand the technology behind the scenes. He is convinced that there will be plenty of DRM radios on the market in 2006. Currently, the BBC is carried by both Sirius and XM satellite radio companies so the urgent need for the BBC to go digital in the USA appears to be minimal at the moment. The two private companies spent billions to get their networks up and running. The BBC is able to use that platform and their combined marketing activities. Things could change but for the moment the BBC seems satisfied to use these two companies as a platform in the USA. The Starwaves Radio Johannes von Weyssenhoff, Technical Director of Starwaves GmbH in Germany, spoke briefly about and demonstrated the Starwaves DRM-DAB receiver. They had a receiver on display that retails for about 1,500 Euros in Germany. Johannes offered me a very good price if I purchased three or four thousand at one time. I told him I would get back to him after I talked to Mike Wolfson at the Company Store. DRM Receivers Charlie Jacobson of HCJB Engineering presented a report by Andy Giefer of Radio Deutsche Welle providing comparisons of DRM receivers with different front ends in conjunction with the DReaM software on a PC. Also, he discussed some activities at Radio Deutsche Welle. DW currently transmits 66 hours a day to Europe using DRM so they are gathering substantial experience in broadcasting and monitoring DRM. DRM Demonstrations at Winter SWL Festival Kim Elliott of the Voice of America and NASWA talked about the DRM demonstrations conducted at the Winter SWL Festival each year in Kulpsville. He mentioned about our first, although brief, trans- Atlantic DRM reception last March and the uneven results from Bonaire and Sackville. Mike Adams asked me to address the group about a listeners perspective where I focused on the need for adequate, reasonably priced equipment to be available if DRM listeners are to be developed. Mike mentioned holding special events QSLs and contests to help develop listener interest. The Future of U.S. International Broadcasting Alan Heil, former VOA broadcaster, spoke about the Voice of America and the current state of affairs. Among Alan`s topics was the reduction in English language broadcasts and the recent closing of the Kavala, Greece relay site. He talked about the proposals to reduce English even further and the complete elimination of many other languages. VOA will rank 6th out of the G8 nations in English language broadcasting under these proposals. Jamming is still taking place for most broadcasts to China but the VOA`s English service reaches an estimated two million listeners without jamming. Alan referred to discontinuing the English service to China is the equivalent to jamming ourselves. He made a strong case for continuing America`s voice strong in the post 9-11 era. Today saving the VOA is one of Alan`s major retirement activities. He distributed a fact sheet providing a ``what to do`` list for those opposing these changes at the VOA. DRM Antennas Gordon Sinclair of TCI International talked about long range, short range and local DRM shortwave broadcasting. His presentation featured pictures of antenna arrays to cover desired regions and target audiences. He discussed some of TCI`s antenna experimentation in various locations around the world including the 26 MHz demonstration at the NAB gathering in Las Vegas with good results using just 30 watts. Another case was made for the FCC to allow domestic transmitters to transmit to a domestic audience in the 26 MHz shortwave band. Transmitters Don Sprague of Continental Electronics spoke about implementing DRM on existing transmitters. Compatibility with existing equipment and flexibility concerning future uses of transmitters were important issues. The technical discussion about the DRM transmitter options was of interest to many of the broadcasters present although I glazed over a little. He talked about an experiment his company did at transmitters at Biblis. Brainstorming Mike Adams closed the day`s program with a group discussion about implementing DRM in the US. Don Messer focused his comments on instituting DRM broadcasting in the US to a US based audience. Don concentrated his remarks on the use of 26 MHz, which was a regular theme of this meeting, to the NASB broadcasters. He indicated that National Public Radio (``NPR``) expressed strong interest at the NAB meeting in Las Vegas in DRM. NPR has informally committed to doing 26 MHz tests in major metropolitan areas. Adil Mina talked extensively about the positive coverage DRM received at the NAB convention in Las Vegas. Like Messer, he sees a great future for 26 MHz and the possibility of testing for NPR provides and excellent opportunity to test DRM. He also talked about being approached by a commercial medium wave company about DRM testing. Apparently, the opportunities to test DRM in North America are growing rapidly. Brazil, Canada, Mexico and US medium wave tests are scheduled for the rest of 2006. Adil`s a great salesman for his company and he was certainly doing his best to get the NASB thinking about doing some planning. Johannes von Weyssenhoff, who is part of the German DRM Forum, discussed how that group functions and compared it to the US DRM Group. Conclusions I found myself ``drafted`` to be Chairman of a DX`ers/Listeners Liaison Committee. I`m not sure what`s involved but as a regular attendee of these gatherings I sense I have now become involved. Don Messer was similarly drafted as the Chairman of the Regulatory Committee. There are other established committees and Chairs that are listed on the consortium`s website. Adil Mina and Don Sprague volunteered to jointly become Chairman of DRM USA assuming Jeff White needs to step down based on NASB responsibilities. The next day Jeff was selected as the new president of the NASB. A very special thank you goes out to Adrian Peterson and the fine folks at AWR that hosted the event and provided a satisfying luncheon buffet. I had the pleasure of lunching with George Jacobs (formerly of the Voice of America, a WRTH contributor, a legend in the broadcast field, and now a semi-retired radio consultant), a former Brooklyn boy like myself and Alan Heil (also, formerly of the Voice of America). The conference facilities were first class making the day quite enjoyable. The day`s activities were well worth attending as experts in the evolving DRM field shared their knowledge and experiences as this new technology emerges. However, not everything was all technical. Although receiver progress is slow in developing, it appears that the pace is picking up with many of the engineers predicting cheap portables coming in the next two years. In the meanwhile, early adopters will need to have a little bit of an experimentation mindset as the technology develops. However, not every moment was a techie adventure. At one point I heard George Jacobs ask Adrian Peterson, ``How is the QSL card collection?`` They continued talking about QSL collecting and which stations have been difficult and which one`s have been responsive over the years. There is a little bit of radio hobbyist in all shortwave radio aficionados. Day Two Day two started off with opening remarks by Doug Garlinger, NASB President, who was the moderator for the NASB meeting. Many of the same people that attended Day One activities were present again with many new faces so some of the material was duplicative. The first speaker was Don Messer, NASB Consultant and Chairman of the DRM Technical Committee with a brief overall status of the US position on the 2007 World Administrative Radio Conference (``WRC07``) and a brief update on DRM for those that were not present for the previous day`s session. The themes of 26 MHz and ``like an FM station`` were prominent. He elaborated further on 30 days of 26 MHz testing in Mexico City last summer with successful results. DRM for local use has overtaken long haul shortwave transmissions that use sky wave propagation. More discussion was focused on getting FCC approval of domestic shortwave to enable the roll out of digital shortwave in North America. Walt Ireland of the American Radio Relay League and Chairman of the US Working Party -GE (``WP-6E``), Vice Chair of Informal Working Group-4 (``IWG-4``) and a retired Voice of America employee, reported on the results of recent IWG-4, ITU-R, WP-6E and SG-6 meetings. He talked about the WRC efforts of broadcasters to obtain greater use of the 4 to 10 MHz spectrum. He talked about the International Broadcasting Board`s (``IBB``) seeming lack of interest in high frequency broadcasting as priorities change. Therefore, IBB did not request additional spectrum in the HF bands. The overall US position isn`t firm as all the spectrum users (NASB, ARRL, Department of Justice, emergency services, etc.) can not agree on allocation needs. Post 9/11 demands for high frequency spectrum have created some of the problems. Further remarks talked about broadband over power line efforts that have manufactures attempting to notch out interference in the amateur bands. Work is continuing internationally on this matter. If WRC decides to give broadcasters additional spectrum, Walt has no idea what the US position would be. During the question and answer session he mentioned he was very impressed with the development of DRM in the last twelve months. He also spoke of the users of DRM in the amateur world today. Gary McAvin from WMLK gave a report about one of my favorite subjects, the Winter SWL Festival. WMLK represented the NASB at last year`s FEST. He called it a very productive event and with individuals seeking knowledge and information. The Scanner Scrum, Uncle Skip Arey and Tom Swisher and their activities were discussed. He talked about the importance of keeping listeners involved in the process because politics does come into play (WMLK and WRMI have lost frequencies). He requested other NASB members to attend because of the value of the meeting. Keep the shortwave listeners involved because they provide valuable technical feedback. Solomon Meyer talked about listener equipment set ups at the Winter SWL Festival and mentioned that receiver manufacturers should coordinate something, especially in DRM, to reach this group. Stephen Hegarty, Deputy Research Director of Intermedia, spoke about comparative trends in shortwave ownership and listening in eastern Europe, east and southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Shortwave radio ownership is on the decline worldwide because of more local choices except in Africa. Shortwave does provide a niche with heaviest users tending to be well educated men. Specifics were offered about Bosnia, China, Kuwait, and Nigeria. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa radio remains the most widely accessible and heavily used medium. It is very much a mass medium and is used most often for news, music and religious programs. Bosnia reflects people turning to the Internet to sample radio programming. Adil Mina questioned the China statistics because his travels in China relate different facts reflecting the wide use of shortwave in the provinces. Hegarty defended his research as representative of urban and rural populations. Don Messer questioned the rural representation based on his prior VOA experience with similar research studies where shortwave tends to be more heavily used. Kim Elliott felt the research was based on a good sampling based on his prior research experiences. Other transmitter manufacturers suggested there has to be a bigger rural market based on their transmitter sales to China for domestic usage. It was a lively exchange of opinions and facts. Hegarty was asked a question by Mike Adams about North American shortwave listenership. He indicated Radio France was interested in data recently but none existed. He talked about the time might be right to conduct such a survey. Mike asked for the NASB to be considered in the process. Steve Claterbaugh of Comet North America, talked about what his company can do for broadcasters with repairs or equipment maintenance. John White of the US division of Thompson Broadcast and Multimedia (formerly Thalès) talked about Thompson`s latest DRM activities and recent organizational changes at his company. He noted that many of his company`s transmitters installed around the world were capable of being modified for DRM use. John Sykes, Project Director Digital Radio for the BBC World Service, returned to discuss what the BBC is doing with DRM. He gave a brief overview of Thursday`s presentation for those that were not present for that session. He talked about DRM use in low population areas where dense networks don`t make much sense or city-wide with FM like service on 26 MHz. John included mobile audio samples recorded by Peter Senger of Deutsche Welle while driving from Germany to Belgium. Tom Lucey of the FCC International Bureau offered some comments about the June frequency coordination meeting in Hilversum, Holland. The next HFCC will be in Greece in August so he requested proposed schedules from NASB members by June 29th. The brief public session in the afternoon featured an informal question and answer session with some IBB representatives. This was followed by Adrian Peterson, AWR International Relations and NASWA Editor, who presented ``Wandering the World with a Radio.`` Over the years, Adrian has been a monitor for many broadcasters while stationed overseas (VOA, BBC, DW, FEBA Seychelles, and Radio Australia). Adrian has in his possession a 1902 radio card of Marconi believed to be the oldest known radio card. That was the last ``open`` presentation of the meeting. The NASB Business Meeting began at 1:30 PM. During that session, Jeff White was selected to be the new NASB president. The two-day combined meeting of the US DRM Consortium and the NASB was a wonderful opportunity to hear what was going on in the shortwave world from North American broadcasters and, equipment manufacturers (via June NASB Newsletter via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ AKRON NATIONAL RADIO CLUB CONVENTION September 1 – 3, 2006 We`ve had some great National Conventions in the past, and this year we aim to top them all! If you have never attended one, THIS is the year to join in the fun. Here`s why: Friday, September 1: You arrive at the Best Western Executive Inn. After checking in, find the meeting room to be greeted by our Receptionist and to pick up your ID badge. Our receptionist has been handling these duties for the club for a decade so she can introduce you around and get you started. Friday evening: The ``History of the Radio Networks`` with pictures and sound. There`s no telling how the evening will end – because if the weather is good, you`ll find places outside the lovely hotel to sit (by the pool?) for DXing your heart out. There is a huge, open parking lot, well away from wires and noise. Saturday, September 2: How does this sound: For those who wish to tour around the city, there is the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Football Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Some may prefer to visit the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, or the Kent State University Museum, known for fashions, decorative arts, etc. We`ll help, but members will organize those trips on their own. At the hotel, we have scheduled a number of 15-30 minute events for the meeting room during the day. • You will learn what it`s like to work in a radio station and receive requests for DX verifications! • You`ll learn from a weather man how all those smaller stations can afford to have him when he only works a minute an hour (or so) • We`ll hear all about how a TV station is converting to digital transmission, and • The famous WNRC will be on premises. • A repeat performance of last year`s ``AM Radio in Tampa Bay`` is planned for those who couldn`t be with us in Kulpsville, and there will be all day to compare stories with other dxers outside by the pool. • In fact, we are still scheduling more short stories about radio broadcasting you`ll hear nowhere else. • Annual banquet on Saturday evening right in the hotel for ease of arrangements. • After dinner, we will hold our annual meeting --- and then the auction! Sunday, September 3: • Wake-Up Candy Quiz. If you know ANYthing about radio stations, you`ll come away a winner. • Later in the morning will come the annual ``NRC Examination`` – an impossible series of questions, mostly about recent matters affecting the nighttime AM radio dial. The winner receives a free one-year membership in the National Radio Club. Here`s what you should do now (Deadline for registering is August 7, 2006) 1. Call the hotel to make sure you will get into the block of rooms we have reserved for the low room rate of $59 plus tax rate. Call: 1-330- 794-1050 and tell them you are with the National Radio Club. 2. Send your Convention Reservation money as soon as you can. If you send a check, it will not be cashed it until August 11th so if something comes up you`ll be able to cancel. Here are the costs: i. Convention Registration: $45.00 - Includes meeting room, beverages and snacks, banquet. ii. Spouses` Registration: $25.00 - Includes everything above (They always eat less J [sic]) iii. Send your Convention Reservation to: John Bowker - PO Box 5192 - Sun City Center, FL 33571 You can send any questions to John there too. 3. Send auction items to: Mr. George Greene, 1527 Sunset Ave, Akron, OH 44301. 4. If you will be flying into the Akron-Canton airport, let John know. He plans to reserve a van to make that 25-minute run to the airport from the hotel to pick up attendees on Friday noon, and on Sunday early afternoon to take folks back. He will need to know how many people to expect so he can rent the right vehicle. It will probably be a lot cheaper than taking a cab or limousine (NRC E-DX News June 19 via DXLD) ###