DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-111, July 27, 2006 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1323: Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0500 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 WRN 13865 DRM via Bulgaria Sat 1230 WRMI 9955 Sat 1430 WRMI 7385 Sat 1600 WWCR3 12160 Sat 1732 WRMI 9955 [from WRN] Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0530 WRMI 9955 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0832 WRMI 9955 [from WRN] Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0930 WWCR1 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 ** AFGHANISTAN. Google Earth Imagery. Kabul (Udkhel) at 34d 32' 21N, 69d 20' 45" E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 19 via DXLD) For background on methods, see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM below I suppose this is Yakatut ? Kabul. 34 32 26 30 N 69 12 41 75E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 15 via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Google Earth Imagery. Radio Tirana Headquarters is located in the center of Capital Tirana on: 41 N 19'24,3" 19 E 50' (41.3234166667) (19.8333333333) - Radio Tirana's MW & SW transmitter sites in ALBANIA are located at: Cerrik A zone: 40 N 59'47" 19 E 59'57,9" (40.9963888888) (19.9994166667) 8 SW txs 50 kW each txion: 2x50kW Cerrik B zone: 2 SW txs 50 kW each txion: 1x50 kW 6 txs 15 kW Shijak: 41 N 19'53,5" 19 E 33'8,6" (41.3315277777) (19.5523888888) 2 SW txs 50kW each txion: 2x50 kW 1 MW tx 150kW Fllaka: 41 N 22'11" 19 E 30'17" (41.3697222222) (19.5047222222) 2 MW txs each txion: 1x500 kW (or 2x500 kW) (Drita Cico-ALB, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) Lately, the reception condition of Radio Tirana's English for Europe remains the same. At 1845 UT, 7465 is SINPO 45444, but reception on 9920 is worse - SINPO 43443. There is adjacent interference from BBC Cyprus on 9915 and Iran (much weaker) on 9925 kHz. Reception would be greatly improved if the frequency was changed to 9940 kHz (also for the French at 1900). There will be adjacent interference from Iran on 9935 kHz, but Iran is beamed towards South Europe (Spain/Portugal) and is only moderate strength here. 9945 kHz is clear. (A Ukrainian transmitter is listed with HFCC for 9945, but in fact operates only on 7490.) Listeners should get good reception by adjusting their receivers slightly to 9942 which will remove the Iran signal. What do you think about this? Maybe the other monitors could check and comment. Another problem - the sound level from the studio. The opening announcements are fine, but when the news programme begins, the sound reduces to about 20% and it is not so easy to hear. This is the case for the last 4 days of listening. Please could you speak to the studio technicians and ask them to try and correct this problem? (Alan Holder-UK, BDXC-UK July 20 via BCDX July 27 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Dear Glenn, On July 26th I tuned in to the Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior in German from 2105 UT onwards with excellent reception here in Sweden (mainly due to the fact that Morocco was absent this evening). The frequency was measured as 15345.35 kHz. Lots of tango music, a few news items about Argentina (including one dealing with increased trade and cooperation between the Province of Santa Fe and Cuba) and a lengthy talk on Argentina's wine industry. Quite an enjoyable hour! Kind regards ( Christer Brunström, Halmstad, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Morocco is supposedly scheduled on 15345 at 15-22, per EiBi: 15345 1500-2200 MRC RTV Marocaine A NAf n Which means Nador site, same as Medi Un on 9575; WRTH 2006 does not list the 15345 broadcast of RTM but says it uses IBB facilities (on the other frequencies). In the A-06 update, 15345 Nador is shown at 15-22. On 15345, HFCC does not list either Morocco or Argentina, which may explain this collision as it officially does not exist! BTW, the only other station on 15345 is Saudi Arabia, per EiBi and other listings: 15345 1200-1400 ARS BSKSA Urdu SAs 15345 1600-1700 ARS BSKSA Bengali SAs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia on 11750 and BBC on RA G'day Glen[n], There has been some complaint about my refusal to QSL 11750 after Radio Australia shifted to 9625 in early 2005. Well, it seems that the owners of the Darwin transmitters kept 11750 going in // with 9625 at times without the knowledge of RA (or me). I apologise to all reporters for not knowing the unknowable and invite them to resubmit the 11750 reports in their next communications. As to RA transmitters carrying BBC: The Brandon transmitters on 9660 and 12080 have been carrying BBC 2200-2300 for a long time. I have no explanation why other Pacific Service frequencies have been carrying BBC in same time slot; perhaps related to instances of continuous Waltzing Matilda recently reported. A failure of the programme feed might cause default to best available content. Regards (Ian Johnson, Australian Radio Dx Club http://www.ardxc.info July 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. There is a weak signal on 5049.93 at 2110, Jul 20. Unfortunately there is a lot of static crashes and some East European utility stations both on USB and LSB. But if R Brisvaani can be heard here on 1701 kHz, why not then ARDS? I suppose this is still 400 W only? (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Dxplorer, July 20, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) Cf. China and Tanzania regarding possible QRM (DSWCI Ed) ** AUSTRALIA. Google Earth Imagery. NTSS network: Tennant Creek (19d 40' 10"S, 134d 15' 44"E - high resolution); Katherine (14d 23' 44"S, 132d 10' 45"E - high resolution); Alice Springs (23d 48' 51"S, 133d 50' 50"E - high resolution) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) The ABC NT page about the NT transmitter situation http://www.abc.net.au/reception/news/051006_shortwave_radio_services.htm still shows only 4910 and 2325 for all three towns, plus 6080 and 11880, which are really Shepparton, for Alice & Katherine, as of July 28 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN. Google Earth Imagery. Abu Hayan at 26d 01' 47" N, 50d 36' 58" E (Douglas Johnson-US, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Hearing 4750 with good signals, nice audio in Bengali and English News and commentary 1530-1544 UT. English ID "This News Broadcast comes to you from Bangladesh Betar, Dhaka". (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, wwdxc BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. Still there 0100 UT sign-on with the usual procedures on 6035 (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, wwdxc BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. DX Tuner SE is at Rommele in Southern Sweden and has an outstanding selectable EWE array with elements at each cardinal and inter-cardinal heading. Bolivian reception is best off the 270 degree array. Virtually all Bolivians on in the local evening hours can be heard from this site despite its almost 7,000 miles distance from Bolivia (Bruce Churchill, CA, Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Fides --- Tengo la costumbre de monitorear casi en forma diaria la banda de 49 metros que en estas épocas de malas condiciones de propagación es la que mayores satisfacciones me brinda cuando se trata de escuchar emisoras regionales. En muy contadas ocasiones durante los últimos años he podido reportar a Radio Fides en 6155 kHz. Hoy, hace minutos, inusualmente, la pude escuchar con fortísima señal pero algo distorsionada, en la QRG de 6155.03 kHz. Pude seguir dos programas informativos. La QSA decae sobre las 1045 UT pero aparece con más fuerza luego de las 11. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, July 27, condig list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 25 meters has been exceptional here lately. I was listening to R. Brasil Central with pleasant contemporary music on 11815 at armchair levels Sunday evening (11/23/06 local) while doing some editing. Sure beats the local radio offerings after folk programs ended on the local NPR (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Google Earth Imagery. R. Bras at Brasília (location is 15d 36' 12"S, 48d, 07' 50"W). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) This must be Rodeador Park but wasn't there also another SW site in the 70's in Brasilia? (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14, ibid.) ** CANADA. 1610, CHHA Toronto ON: 0328, 24-July; Weak Spanish under English rock music. Voces Latinas spot. Rock music dominant & additional QRM is Information Radio; Mt Pleasant MI TIS? Doesn't sound like MtP though. (Frodge-MI) 1610, CJWI, Montreal QC (presumed); 0410, 25-July; M in French in/out of mess. (Frodge-MI) 1610, UNID: 0317-0359:38*, 24-July; Continuous English rock music. Lots of Phil Collins. Good peaks. Seemed to drift between 1610.02 & 1610.05. 0358 "Radio ? AM Telemundo" in Spanish, then Canadian Anthem. 1610.03 het still there after they went off. Sunday night filler? (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) So CHHA? (gh) I actually made a point of listening to my 1610 for a while last night (26-July). It was a show with an immigration lawyer answering in English questions in Spanish about how to come to Canada and sponge off the system. First time I ever recall hearing any English on CHHA (or whatever the calls are). (Niel Wolfish, Ont., ibid.) ** CANADA. Google Earth Imagery. CHNS Halifax, Nova Scotia at 44d 40' 30" N, 63d 39' 29" W CFRB Clarkson, Ontario at 43d 30' 23" N, 79d 38' 01" W (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) ** CHILE. Google Earth Imagery. I think I also found Calera de Tango (only partly visible, attached). 33 38 35 45 S, 70 48 31 30 W (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. VOA and CNR (1?) as jammer 7/25/06, 11825, SINPO 34332 (both), 1135 - 1214+. VOA with W announcer and selections of Chinese contemporary music, VOA ID at ToH. Mandarin by M and W with musical bridges (probably CNR maybe 1?) almost certainly run as a jammer against VOA on same frequency. Both stations were at almost identical levels with first one, then the other dominating. VOA was on top at 1200 (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Google Earth Imagery. I spent time looking for other Chinese SW sites without much success. Here is what I did discover. Urumqi (43d 42' 57"N, 87d 35' 43"E): 3-mast MW site Xingyang (34d 48' 39"N, 113d 23' 11"E): 2-mast MW and single LW mast Liangxiang (SW of Beijing at 39d 45' 15"N, 116d 10' 16"E): single LW mast Doudian (SW of Beijing at 39d 38' 09"N, 116d 05' 37"E): This appears to be a former large SW site now devoid of all masts, the footprints of which are evident as are traces of the feeder lines. I would like someone, perhaps BT, to take a look and render a second opinion (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) Xingyang (34d 48' 39"N, 113d 23' 11"E): 2-mast MW and single LW mast. Funny that also HFCC lists this site although not on SW. What's the LW mast for, utility transmissions? Liangxiang (SW of Beijing at 39d 45' 15"N, 116d 10' 16"E): single LW mast. Another LW transmitter (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14) The locator centers "Kashi-China town" at 39 28 48 N 75 58 12 E BUT no new ALLISS SW towers seen, only the older site discovered and explained in #766. So maybe the images are old of the late 90ties??? Thomson erected the first series of ALLISS removable towers there in 2003 onwards (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 20 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Google Earth research: This looks like Cahuita, although low resolution: 9 44 18n, 82 50 26w (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 21) This item was originally under Spain, so maybe meant to say Cariari de Pococi, which is REE`s relay site. Cahuita is Defunct Gene Scott. I have not checked coords to see which these really go with (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Google Earth Imagery. The large Radio Cairo SW site at Abis is located at 31d 07' 38"N, 30d 04' 27"E (high resolution). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) R. Cairo at Abis apparently at 31 07N, 30 04E. Ex-Mokattam could not find but something very strange near it on the attached picture?! (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. R. Ethiopia, on July 26 at 1312-1320 UT with native singing, M talk since 1318 UT in vernacular (Tigr/Oromo/?...). Weak but discernible on both \\ channels 9560.34 and 7165.12 kHz (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer July 27 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. These stations are active on SW with current schedules: Radio Ethiopia with FS on 7165 and 9560: 1200-1300 Somali, 1300-1400 Afar, 1400-1500 Arabic, 1600-1700 English and 1700-1800 French. Radio Ethiopia with HS on 5990, 7110 and 9704.2: 0300-1000 (SS -1400) 1500-2000 Amharic/Oromo/Tigre/Somali/Afar-Hararie/Agnuak/Nuer. 5990 is covered most times by R Luxembourg in DRM! Radio Fana, Addis Ababa, on 6210 and 6940: MF 0300-0430 0900-1000 1500-1700 Amharic, 0430-0530 1000-1100 1700-2000 Oromiffa; SS 0530- 0730 1500-1900 Amharic, 0300-0530 1200-1500 Oromiffa. Voice of the Revolution of Tigray, Mek'elé on 5500 and 6350: MF 0400- 0500, SS 0400-0900, MF 0930-1030, SS 1100-1730, MF 1500-1900 Tigrinya (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) 9704.15, R Ethiopia, Geja Dera, 1628-1805, Jul 23 and 25, Vernacular ID and news at 1700, conversation interrupted by the oldie "Deelajla", heard best in LSB because of strong heterodyne from Niger on 9705, 32332. Weaker than Niger on 9705v. Covered by R Bulgaria in Bulgarian on 9700 from *1800 (Harald Kuhl, Germany in Dxplorer and Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) [non] Current schedules of Clandestine stations broadcasting on SW towards Ethiopia: 11840, R Voice of Oromo Liberation Front, via Samara: Mo/Th 1700-1730 Oromo. 11840, Dejen R, via Samara: We 1700-1800 Tigrinya. 11840, R Voice of the Ethiopian National United Front (ENUF), via Samara: Fr/Su 1700-1800 Amharic. 11840, Voice of Ethiopian People, via Samara: Tu/Sa 1700-1800 Amharic. 13820, Voice of Oromo Liberation, via Juelich: Apr-Oct: Tu/We/Fr/Su 1700-1730 Oromo, 1730-1800 Amharic. 15565, Voice of Ethiopian Unity, via Juelich: Apr-Oct: We/Fr/Su 1900- 2000 Amharic. 15660, Tensae Ethiopia (Voice of Unity), via Samara: Apr-Oct: 1500- 1600 Amharic (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 11840, believe the rather new Voice of ENUPF, July 16 (Sun) weak and fading when I tuned in 1740 but against all odds became stronger and stronger and was fair around closing time 1800. Amharic talk and many African Horn songs. Station sign on, on same frequency just before I awaited final ID from them after the ongoing music. Will have to try again. [? via Samara-Russia ? wb.] 15565, V. of Ethiopian Unity (presumed), 1902 July 16 (Sun), with instrumental tune into Amharic(?), but not good enough for ID. [via Wertachtal 15565 1900-2000 38E,39S,48 WER 250kW 135 degrees Mon/Thur DTK, wb] (Finn Krone-DEN, DXplorer July 17 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. German Marine Forces Submarine radio station DHO 38, Ramsloh-Saterland, 50 km east of Papenburg. 23.4 kHz [very]longwave, 390 kW, two shifted tetragons, 8 x 353.7 meters tall masts, 690 meters apart. 53 04 48 N, 07 36 54 E. NDR MW Hamburg Billwerder Moorfleet 972 kHz, reflector mast against UKR Mykolaiev azimuth. 53 31 5 88 N, 10 06 47 E Former IBB Holzkirchen site at 47 52 3 N, 11 43 40 E three MW masts 719/720 kHz, later moved to 1593 kHz. DLF Ravensburg Wilhelmskirch 756 kHz 100 kW at 47 47 8 N, 9 31 8 E AFN Frankfurt Weiskirchen 872/873 kHz formerly 150 kW, still nominal 150 kW, b u t after suffering thunderstorm in 2000y poor signal of approx. 30-50 kW only at 50 11 1 N, 8 36 42 E since. SWR Mainz Wolfsheim 1016/1017 kHz 100 kW, DRM 1485 kHz at 49 52 36 N, 8 03 13 E 1017, two mast array on upper left corner, BUT the second mast was taken down by the broadcaster in 2002y? Reserve and DRM mast seen just left of the transmitter building on the right lower corner (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 24/25) DFL / VoRUS T-systems site: Koenigslutter (Braunschweig) Scheppau 52 17 29 N, 10 43 35 E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 25 via DXLD) see also PORTUGAL ** GUAM. USA Google Earth Imagery. The following miscellaneous SW religious sites are also available in high resolution (if anyone cares!): KTWR - Merizo, Guam (13d 16' 41"N, 144d 40' 27"E) KSDA - Facpi Point, Guam (13d 20' 28"N, 144d 39' 09"E) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Google Earth Imagery. 47 22 17 N, 19 00 22 E Lakihegy diamond tower of the 30ties. And a small MW pipe mast on the below side of the estate. (wb) (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 22) Oh, so the old diamond tower is still alive. A number of these were built in the 1930's (Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) Referring I guess to what we call Blaw-Knox towers (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. RE: DXLD 6-108: A few observations about the "flapdoodle" concerning Nagpur on 1566. I have no personal experience with trans polar paths, my QTH in central Texas affords few opportunities for even TA or TP reception. On my globe it looks to be about 8500 miles to central Illinois, with about the first 4000 miles in darkness. That's probably two hops in darkness and two hops in daylight. The first two hops are no problem, it's the third and fourth hops that would be absorbed. Personally I've observed an 800 mile daylight skywave path. Once, while driving across southern Utah in early August I heard a blockbuster signal from KOMA (1520) in Oklahoma City. I thought it was a local. The time was about 5 pm in OKC (4 pm in Utah). This would be about 3 hours before dark in OKC and even more than that at the point of refraction. The high end of the MW band opens up much earlier than the low end. So the first question is "if 50 kw can overcome the absorption of one hop can 1000 kw overcome the absorption of two hops?" The second question, "might the D layer be less energized at the very high latitudes of this path?" (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, Texas, July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Google Earth Imagery. AIR India: The Chennai (Avadi) site is located at 13d 08' 15"N, 80d 07' 29"E (high resolution). The site at Panaji is located at 15d 27' 28"N, 73d 50' 53"E (high resolution). The Mumbai site is located at 19d 10' 58"N, 72d 48' 28" E (high resolution). The Delhi site, which I may have reported earlier, is located at 28d 42' 44"N, 77d 12' 05"E (high resolution). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13via DXLD) "I couldn't [find] Kampur at 28 50N, 77 09E" --- These are the rounded off coordinates of Khampur village, so the site (a big one) has to be found not too far away. The Delhi A mediumwave site is located west of Nangli Puna, approximate coordinates 28.46 N, 77.08.15 E (Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via BC DX via DXLD) Exact at 28 46 09 N, 77 08 13 E. taller mast 93 meters high, the lower director mast of 54 meters height, is 93 meters away in 170 degrees angle. Exact at 28 46 04 N, 77 08 31 E, a smaller single pipe / tower of 58 meters high (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Google Earth Imagery. Bonto Songu, Sulawesi at 5d 16' 11" S, 119d 25' 319" [sic] E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 19 via DXLD) RRI Jakarta (Cimanggis), INS: 6d 23' 32" S, 106d 51' 44" E (this is a rather large site with several substantial curtain arrays and what appears to be a LW mast at its NW edge.) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) ?? There is no LW broadcasting in Indonesia (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. Massive CubeSat Launch Fails (July 26, 2006) --- An attempt to launch [from KAZAKHSTAN] 15 CubeSats from 11 universities and one private company failed today. California Polytechnic State University, which coordinated the launch, confirmed the failure on its CubeSat Web page. Fourteen of the CubeSats carried Amateur Radio transmit-only payloads. Full Story at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/07/26/100/?nc=1 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg) ** IRAN [and non]. 6205, VOIRI, Sirjan, *1930-2000, Jul 16, English ID, frequency announcement also mentioning // 7205, Sirjan (heard with 54544), 9800, Sirjan (15121), 9925, Kalamabad (35232) and satellite frequencies, Qur'an reading, 1937-1950 news about Israeli attacks, 1950 commentary praising Hizbollah, 55555. 17660, VOIRI, Kalamabad, 1050-1130, Jul 16, English (scheduled from 1030), listeners mailbag e.g. from DSWCI-3626 Ian Cattermole, New Zealand, promising QSL-cards, phone interview of a British SW listener, talk about a holy city, music and talk about Islam, 1122 news summary, instrumental music, 44444 // Kalamabad 15600 (24332). 7540, VOIRI, via Lithuania, heard 1945-2000, Jul 16, English // 6205 and circa half second ahead of the SW transmitters in Iran!!! 55544 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) ** IRAN. Google Earth Imagery. The large SW site NW of Tehran at Kamalabad is located at 35d 49' 45"N, 50d 52' 05"E. It includes four rotatable antennas and many curtain arrays (high resolution). The small site at Zahedan is located at 29d 28' 25"N, 60d 51' 52"E (high resolution). The large site at Sirjan is located at 29d 35' 47"N, 55d 47' 09"E (it is mostly visible at low resolution and hence details must await a Google update. I suspect the Mashhad site is located at 59d 48' 00"E, 36d 11' 20"N, but imagery resolution is poor, so this is tentative (Douglas Johnson- USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 13720, Kol Israel, Yavne, 0337-0345, Jul 16, news reports in Hebrew, not in English as mentioned in WRTH Summer 2006 schedules, 45444. Was off on recheck 0440 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Google Earth Imagery. And apparently here is Tel-Aviv (Yavne) site, at 31 54 05N / 34 45 18E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 5 via DXLD) Kol Israel, Yavne at 31d 54' 12' N, 34d 45' 13"E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Google Earth Imagery. exChiba ?? now Nemuro 43 17 N, 145 34E all low resolution. But: Tokyo Nagara 35 28 N, 140 13E seems to be a tall tower midst on wooden area at: 35 28 01 N, 140 13 2 E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 vi DXLD) Nagara site. Here's a site showing pictures of JOLF and R Nikkei sites, now if we only could combine this with the view from the sky! The upper should be JOLF and lower pictures for R Nikkei. http://satocyi.at.infoseek.co.jp/sousintou/kanto-koiki/tokyo/tokyo-radio2.html (later) What about 35 27 48N, 140 13 31 E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) ** KOREA. Google Earth Imagery. Hwasong 37 13 N, 126 47 E Kimje 35 50 N, 126 50E Kyonggi-do 39 05 N, 125 33E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) Is that last one in Korea North? WTFK? N of the 38th parallel, but the boundary axually weaves about (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. RKI`s English hour relayed via Canada, 9650, July 27 at 1247 check had heavy co-channel interference, seemingly at least two stations. One of them is surely V. of Korea`s Japanese service which runs until 1300. ILG also shows RFI`s Mandarin service relayed form Taiwan at 12-13, which is enough to get it jammed. So it appears in EAs we have a three-way collision on 9650 during this hour; it must be horrible there, quite aside from how it ruins RKI even in faraway CNAm. The question is, why doesn`t RKI get away from this mess? Clear frequencies on 31m within NAm at that hour should not be hard to come by (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. I listened to Hmong Lao Radio via WHRI on 11785 from 1322 until 1400 on Sat, 22 July, in English and Hmong. At 1322 in English a man was interviewing a woman who is working on migration and refugee issues, has lobbied for the Hmong people, and participated in the United Nations Interactive Hearing on Migration. A man seemed to translate questions and responses into Hmong. After 1338 men spoke in Hmong with Asian pop selections. The only traditional Hmong music heard was at 1358. Usual WHR/LeSea/WHRI ID at 1359. Since this is via WHRI rather than KWHR, this Saturday and Sunday-only broadcast is probably aimed at large Hmong communities in North America [here in Kansas, Minnesota, the West Coast, etc.] rather than Southeast Asia (Wendel Craighead-KS-USA, DXplorer July 24 via BCDX via DXLD) Of course (gh, DXLD) 11785 1300-1400 2,3 HRI 250 kW 315 degrees Mon-Fri USA HRI FCC (BCDX via DXLD) Except this is Sat & Sun; 11785 also operates M-F (gh, DXLD) ** LATVIA. I have not seen these details at http://www.rni.fm/index.htm being reported anywhere: "Welcome to RNI.fm. Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. Radio Neptun International is the new commercial shortwave radio station based in Latvia. RNI will launch regular daily shortwave radio broadcasts to Europe in late 2006. In late 2005 the Latvian Broadcasting Council invited Tenders for the establishment of a commercial shortwave broadcast radio station in Latvia. On Friday 27th January 2005, the Latvian Broadcasting Council announced that RNI had been successful in its licence application. Previously various radio services have been relayed from Latvia by a local Company called KREBS TV - That Company no longer holds a shortwave relay licence in Latvia. RNI is now the ONLY officially sanctioned shortwave broadcast radio station licensed to operate in Latvia. Radio Neptun International - RNI - will commence daily shortwave broadcasts from Latvia on 9290 kHz when we have completed the installation of all necessary broadcast equipment. Aside from broadcasting our own music based entertainment and information programming, RNI will provide relay facilities to other broadcasters. Thank you for visiting RNI. We hope you will enjoy listening to Radio Neptun International and will make our website a regular stop-over. Radio Neptun International - RNI - Radio Neptune International - RNI - Radio Neptun International." (Marcel Rommerts, Holland, Jul 12, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) Let us wait and see, if Andrew Yates is able to realize this project (DSWCI Ed, ibid.) Bernd Trutenau has already explained that RNI could only be a customer for airtime there, not the licensee (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** LIBYA. Google Earth Imagery. Attached two towers from Tripoli. 32 49 48 48N, 12 59 44 70E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 20 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Google Earth Imagery. The Kajang SW site is located at 03d 00' 40"N, 101d 47' 04"E (high resolution). Kuching, Sarawak at 1d 30' 43N, 110d 18' 54" E Kota Kinabalu (Tuaran), Sabah at 6d 10' 48"N, 116d 11' 20"E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13/19 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Asunto: MÉXICO: sobre Dolores Béistegui en el IMER MEDIOS DE POR MEDIO Cultura Por: Elvira García Publicado en el periódico: El Universal Miércoles 26 de julio de 2006 El Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) que dirige la señora María de los Dolores Sofía Elena Ana Béistegui Rohan Chabot, ha estado en la mira de analistas de medios desde 2002, año en que sustituyó al contador Carlos Lara Sumano, quien fue titular de ese Instituto del 1995 y hasta que Dolores Béistegui llegó como la primera administradora panista de la radio pública. La señora Béistegui no es una autoridad en comunicación radiofónica; su encargo anterior estuvo en San Ildefonso, donde, al parecer, realizó una tarea relevante. Pero de radio nada sabía. Como tampoco de relaciones públicas, pues desde que tomó posesión, hasta la fecha, ha despedido a un sinnúmero de empleados administrativos, productores, comentaristas y conductores, pero también ha contratado a muchos asesores para lo que ella llama "junta de gobierno" del Imer. Apenas llegó al Instituto, Dolores Béistegui hizo tres cosas: una, declarar que heredó un desorden administrativo "brutal" y una institución en números rojos; dos, decir que el presupuesto asignado no alcanzaba para sacar adelante la dependencia y que buscaría fuentes alternas de financiamiento. Tres: despedir a la plana mayor de comentaristas, como Juan María Alponte y Gastón García Cantú, cuyos análisis dieron al Imer carácter y voz distinta del resto del cuadrante. A partir de la fecha en que reunió al personal del Imer para comunicarle la "brutal" situación que según ella heredó, también anunció que una de las opciones para obtener fondos era vender un terreno de 25 mil 735 metros cuadrados que poseía el IMER en Río Churubusco y Apatlaco. Puso manos a la obra, primero para obtener un acuerdo administrativo que le permitiera la desincorporación del terreno del Régimen del Dominio Público de la Administración Federal. Tal acuerdo fue expedido finalmente por la Secretaría de la Función Pública en 1994. Al publicarse en el Diario Oficial el 21 de diciembre de ese mismo año, se autorizaba también la venta del predio. Quien representó al Imer en el proceso --- empezando por la solicitidud de desincorporación, pasando por la subdivisión del predio en dos partes y concluyendo con la venta de ambas --- fue la señora Béistegui. Las dos fracciones, una de 6 mil y otra de 19 mil 735.16 metros cuadrados y construcciones existentes, se vendieron en enero y abril de 2005, respectivamente. La primera a una empresa cuya razón social es, simplemente, RF SA de CV --- de Jaime Azcárraga Romandía -- - y la segunda a Cinemas de la República SA de CV. Dolores Béistegui celebra esa venta como un logro. Pero lo cierto es que, en menos de dos años y medio al frente del Imer, la señora Béistegui se deshizo de buena parte de los activos de ese instituto, patrimonio que cuidaron todos los anteriores directores de esas radios públicas durante más de 20 años. Lo que no se sabe con claridad es en qué aplicó el producto de la venta, que ascendió a 80 millones 300 mil pesos. Al parecer, esa suma no fue suficiente para sacar adelante al Imer del caos financiero, pues Dolores tomó la decisión de deshacerse de dos de las 12 emisoras que conformaban el Imer, e igualmente desapareció Radio México Internacional, diciendo que ya nadie en el mundo escucha onda corta. Otro de los argumentos de Béistegui para la venta de los terrenos del Imer era que faltaba dinero para la conversión tecnológica de la radio. Habrá que comprobar si ésta se ha llevado a cabo y cuál es su grado de avance. También será bueno conocer para qué autorizó y pagó la cantidad de 7 millones 435 mil 920 pesos a una empresa estadounidense que en 2003 realizó un trabajo que duró solamente 26 días, y cuyos resultados o beneficios para el Imer no podrán conocerse pronto, pues esta información está clasificada como reservada. Continuaremos, pues aún hay más... Por si no se enteró... El recién habilitado vocero del IFE, Hugo Alejandro Concha Cantú, es multifacético. Además de ése y otros encargos en el instituto, conduce el programa Voces de la democracia, que patrocina el IFE. Pero, ¿qué creen? Estaba al micrófono sin tener licencia de locutor. Luego les cuento cómo Luis Carlos Ugalde decidió, en fast track, subsanar el error... viragarcia1952 @ aol.com (via Roberto Edgar Gómez Morales, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA Google Earth Imagery. Ulan-Batar at 47d 55' 33" N, 106d 57' 27" E; Olgiy (western location - Altai?) at 48d 57' 27N, 89d 58' 12E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 19 via DXLD) Nice to hear Ulan Bator Mongolia 12085 kHz at 1000-1030 UT in English into Mongolian. Reception some days fair but usually very weak (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, wwdxc BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Amsterdam Forum & Dutch Extra are taking a break in August and will be replaced by World Wide Jazz with Hans Mantel in their usual slot on Sundays. This will be for 5 weeks, from Sunday 6 August until Sunday 3 September inclusive. This weekend Amsterdam Forum/Dutch Extra will be on the air as usual (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter July 27 via DXLD) ** NIGER. 9704.98, ORTN, La Voix du Sahel, Niamey, 1650(fade in)-2200* (Jul 20 still heard at 2245), Jul 18, 19 and 20 on 9704.0v, Jul 22, 23 and 25 on 9705.0v; back on the air after 12 months absence, scheduled *0500-2300*! Unstable transmitter with breakdowns, e.g. 1655-1700 and 1835-1852. Best reception 1700-1750 and after 2100. African music, talks and news in Vernacular languages, from 1857 drums, 1859 time pips, ID "La Voix du Sahel", flute and guitar, news in French, 2220 phone-in programme, best in LSB, 34343 - 21431, heterodyne from R Ethiopia on 9704.18 until 2000*, splash from Bulgaria 9700 in Bulgarian *1800-2000*, QRM on 9705: VOA, Biblis *1930-2000* in Serbian, WYFR, Juelich *2000-2100* in Arabic. (Bueschel, Green, Ivanov, Kuhl, Koie, Petersen, Ratzer and Savolainen, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) Also heard at 0515, Jul 24 (Harald Kuhl, Germany in Dxplorer, ibid.) 9705.0 was audible too before 1300 UT (YLE sign-on co-channel). (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer July 27 via BCDX via DXLD) 9705.0, ORTN Niamey, 1645-1655 UTC July 23. Program with music and talks in local language. Strong signal. Sudden sign-off at 1655 UT. Back on shortly after 1700 with news, local music, long talk about Niger. No definite ID heard but most likely them. 9705.0, ORTN Niamey, 1850-1930 UT July 23. Local music, from 1857 UT drums, 1859 UT time pips, ID "La Voix du Sahel", flute & guitar, news in French. Still strong signal but going off the air from time to time and coming back later. From 1930 UT co-channel QRM by VOA in French. Niamey still dominating the channel (Harald Kuhl-D, DXplorer July 23 via BCDX via DXLD) Same here tonight, noted at 1900-1912 UT: Niamey 9704.98 kHz, but ETH at same time on 9704.18 kHz. and from 1959 UT: NGR still underneath IBB Biblis to 2000 UT in Serbian, but approx. 20 Hertz lower side. But weak at my location; Biblis is only 130 km north of Stuttgart in dead zone. WYFR Arabic starts at 2000 UT and is much stronger than Biblis, but fluttery. Towards Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Iran. Afghanistan: 9705 2000-2100 39,40 JUL 100 115 Arabic YFR DTK (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX July 27 via DXLD) ** NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. Google Earth Imagery. The following miscellaneous SW sites are also available in high resolution (if anyone cares!): IBB - Tinian, Mariana Islands (15d 02' 53"N, 145d 36' 40"E) KFBS - Saipan, Mariana Islands (15d 16' 12"N, 145d 47' 54"E) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Oklahoma Public Radio, KOSU, which is constantly congratulating itself on all the news awards it has won, has failed to broadcast its Oklahoma News segment as scheduled lately. Frequent checks at 7:51 am CDT, when it is supposed to air M-F, according to their program grid at http://www.kosu.org/programs.html have found national programming from NPR Morning Edition continuing instead of the local cutaway. KOSU *may* still do some local news headlines during one-minute breaks in programming at variable times. But even 7 minutes a day does not amount to much. Furthermore, the link to Oklahoma News on the grid goes nowhere. The website has been pared down from what it used to be, including audio on demand of the OK News, if nothing else, and is now very sparse compared to many other public radio stations. We are disappointed (Glenn Hauser, Enid, July 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Google Earth Imagery. R. Pakistan site at Rawat (33d 28' 09"N, 73d 12' 28"E): Large site consisting of at least two transmitter buildings serving many simple curtain arrays and perhaps simple dipoles (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Port Moresby: Site is located at 09d 25' 50"S, 147d 10' 58"E (high resolution) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) ** PERU. 6090, R. Universal, Cusco (presumed location. DSWCI Ed) has received back its licence to broadcast at 1100-1400 from the Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones in Lima. Director and owner is señor Luis Villasante. Reception reports should be sent to señor Carlos Gamarra Moscoso, director de frecuencias de Radio la Hora, Av. Gracilazo 4II distrito de Wanchag, Cusco (Carlos Gamarra in Conexión Digital via Romero, translated, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) I have asked various DX-ers to check reception at this daylight broadcast, but so far only my good friend Hugo López in Santiago de Chile has reported: On Jul 20 it was impossible to hear this transmitter. At 1200 R Esperanza, Temuco, Chile, is heard. At 1320, I caught the following: R Esperanza with music on 6089.90 and on 6090.00 Chinese from BBC, via Gimje, Korea rep, or CNR-2, Beijing. From USA our regular correspondent Bob Wilkner writes that 6090 is blocked in South Florida (DSWCI Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) By what? Anguilla goes off 6090 around 1000. RNZI DRM 6090-6100 is scheduled all the way from 0659 to 1650 (and then analog). WYFR 6085 Spanish also scheduled 10-16. There was a definite log from Peru of Universal reported here recently on 6089.1 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Google Earth Imagery. IBB relay station 800 kW now on either 1143 or 1170 kHz via Poro Point, Luzón, covers the whole peninsula in front of San Fernando in NW PHL. 4 mast array MW 1143/1170 at 16 37 25 32 N, 120 16 55 E ? Former two mast mw installation at 16 37 26 04 N, 120 16 47 E ? Former Poro-A SW site at 16 37 10 N, 120 16 58 E [out of service?] ? Still 4-Mast MW reserve antenna at 16 36 54 52 N, 120 17 4 E Modern transmitter building and [formerly?] old SW antennas around 16 36 52 N 120 17 14 E !! disinformative ITU table shows: PHP Poro PHL 16N26 120E17 and PHT Tinang 1 PHL 15N21 120E37 PHX Tinang 2 PHL 15N21 120E38 Unfortunately low resolution area. One image shadow complex seen at 15 21 36 N, 120 32 6 E; another at 15 21 54 N, 120 38 E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 24 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. DW, 9495 via Portugal opening at 0300 with a previously unnoted orchestral version of their IS which went on until tune-out at 0305. Listed for Swahili to Southern Africa (Gerry Dexter-WI-USA, DXplorer July 23 via BCDX via DXLD) ** QATAR. Google Earth Imagery. Qatar's SW site is located at 26d 03' 51"N, 51d 05' 10"E, at the NW tip of the peninsula (high resolution). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) So the SW site has never been at Al-Khaisah as given by HFCC but rather at Al-Arish? Closer to Abu Dhabi at 24d 13' 45"N, 54d 24' 57"E is another SW or MW (?) site (high resolution). Maybe this is ex Al- Maqta? (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Google Earth Imagery. Unfortunately still in the low resolution area and not very well visible: Re: Tavrichanka - Razdolnoye - GOOGLE IMAGERY. Look for Razdolnoye at 43.32.10 N / 131.56 E (SW) and 43.32.25 N / 131.56.45 E (MW-LW). (Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) Tavrichanka: but on this site 43 20 00 N, 131 53 47 is also on NoEa side is a single MW pipe mast. Shortwave: on the bottom are 7 pipe masts, and 9 lattice masts on the left and upper side (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) Re: "Tavrichanka - but on this site 43 20 00 N, 131 53 47 " Can this be for 1476 kHz? As I mentioned previously, I found the Tavrichanka SW site just south of the LW site. The SW site consists of one two-story transmitter building measuring 13 by 58 m (Mauno Ritola- FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) Coordinates for the presumed site at Razdolnoye. While the imagery is currently at low resolution and therefore one must regard this as tentative, I think the SW site is locate approximately at 43d 32' 44"N, 131d 55' 11" E. There is a swath of high resolution coverage along the NE border of this general area in which I think I can see some single pairs of poles that may support SW dipoles and across the road to the north may be a LW mast. A second opinion is requested! (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) Google Earth Imagery. Volgograd at 48d 40' 42" N, 44d 24' 41" E (two tall masts and two shorter ones) Volgograd at 48d 44' 29" N, 44d 31' 50" E (single tall mast short distance west of memorial to the battle of Stalingrad) Monchegorsk at 67d 53' 10"N, 32d 58' 05"E (unusual site consisting of 8 masts - comments please!) Krasnoyarsk at 56d 02' 04" N, 92d 45' 23" E (two tall masts and large field of many poles presumably supporting cage dipoles, single transmmitter building) Yakutsk at 62d 00' 39" N, 129d 41' 59" E (a large field of many poles presumably supporting cage dipoles, single transmitter building; this large river port city is a depressing looking place, largely consisting of vast areas of world-class untidiness [junk] that is unusual even in third world countries) Blagoveshchensk at 50d 21' 37" N, 127d 36' 46" E (7 poles presumably supporting cage dipoles, single transmitter building) Razdolnoye - separate northerly site (NNE of Razdolnoye) at 43d 33' 38" N, 131d 57' 47" E (a small site having a single tall mast and at least two shorter ones, single transmitter building - comments please!) Palana (Kamchatka Peninsula) at 59d 04' 60" N, 159d 59' 26" E (an old Molniya earth link station - just like the one at Khabarovsk and the pair at Onokhoy I photographed in 1984; there is also a single tall pole, perhaps a 1/4 wave SW vertical) (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) Tavrichanka. The SW transmitter building is located at 43d 20' 08"N, 131d 53' 55"E. This is a rather small site, as described earlier, and the curtains are located SW of the transmitter building. The ground is snow covered and there are some confusing vegetation shadows that make seeing the other simple dipole antenna supports a bit difficult at this site. LW transmitter building is located at 43d 20' 34"N, 131d, 53' 55"E. LW ? WRTH shows MW 549 and 1377 kHz for Tavrichanka. [a single mast seen at 43 20 02N, 131 53 59E], so I guess the LW 243, and MW site 648, and 810 kHz Razdolnoye is 830 meters further north on different location, next to the two identical height LW masts near 43d 20' 34"N, 131d, 53' 55"E. Two small pipe [MW?] masts are seen on the right side of the LW area. Ussuryisk 1251 kHz 600 kW, and IBB mentioned always 648 kHz 100 kW as USS. some towers seen on the right side of the power plant at 43 50 13 N, 131 57 51 E and 43 50 15 N, 131 58 24 E - but seemingly all electricity towers, also two tall towers at 43 50 24 09 N, 131 58 45 E but radio towers? where? (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) Google Earth Imagery. Thanks for steering me back to Yekaterinburg. I located the large site at 56d 55' 40" N, 60d 36' 02" E. It is indeed at rather low contrast, making precise determination of the many curtain array alignments a bit difficult. There are two virtually identical transmitter buildings. The northerly one has two satellite dishes. The site extends northward into low resolution imagery, hence I am sure not all of the curtains are visible. There appears to be a very few scattered poles presumably supporting dipoles that are located in the southerly portion of the site. [centered at 56 55 39 N, 60 36 9 E wb.] I also spent time today scanning high resolution imagery in the vicinity of Krasnodar and found two interesting MW(?) sites for which I would appreciate review comments from your colleagues. 75 km NW of Krasnodar near the town of Krasnoarmeyskaya is a seven mast array configured in the form of a hexagon having a mast at each corner and one in its center. All mast appear to be the same height. The masts are spaced on the corners 600m apart and the transmitter building is adjacent to the center mast. The precise location (center mast) is 45d 24' 12" N, 38d 09' 29" E. [centered at 45 24 12 N, 38 09 27 E wb.] 55 km SE of Krasnodar near the town of Chernigovskaya is a similar hexagon array with masts spaced about 930 m apart. In addition, there is an outer concentric hexagon array having masts spaced about 1,600 m apart. The outer hexagon is rotated 30 degrees from the orientation of the inner one. Three seemingly identical transmiutter buildings are located close to and centered on the center mast. All inner hexagon masts appear to be the same height; outer hexagon masts are about 85 percent shorter (based on shadow measurements). The center mast seems to be the same height as the inner hexagon masts. The precise location is 44d 46' 25" N, 39d 32' 50" E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm- SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 25 via DXLD) Centered at 44 46 25 N, 39 32 50 E, inner hexagon masts 920 meters apart, outer hexagon masts 1600 m apart. Seemingly both submarine radio stations like [DHO 38 under GERMANY] (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 24 via DXLD) ** RWANDA. Google Earth Imagery. DW relay at Kigali, Rwanda. Nothing at the listed coordinates, but I find "something" at 1 55S, 30 07E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Google Earth Imagery. Jeddah: There is a tentative SW site at 21d 25' 23"N, 39d 12' 04"E. Someone should take a look to render a second opinion. The site south of Jeddah at 21d 14' 40"N, 39d 09' 41"E may be a high power MW site. There are two closely spaced pairs of masts served by a rather large transmitter building (high resolution). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) Other SW sites also now available at high resolution on Google Earth are: Saudi Radio at Riyadh (the large site is located just NE of the city; Oh yes: 24 49N / 46 52E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Another conflict is arising in Somalia where armed forces from Christian Ethiopia have pushed forward to the city of Iscia Baidoa to protect the Somalian President Jossouf and interim Government! It is fighting against the fundamentalist Islamic Court of Justice in Mogadishu. Please try some of these broadcasts. 6960, R Shabele, Mogadishu is the only recently heard SW station in Somalia. It is scheduled: 0400-0600 1000-2100 Somali. [non]. Current schedules of Clandestine stations broadcasting on SW towards Somalia: 11830, R Horyaal, via Armavir (?): Apr-Aug: Sa-Th 1730-1800 Somali. On 7590 from 03 Sep 2006. 11865, R Xoriyo, (Voice of the Ogadeni People) via Juelich: Apr-Oct: Tu/Fr 1630-1700 Somali. 17550, R Waaberi, via Juelich: Fr 1330-1400 Somali (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) Ogaden is in Ethiopia (gh) ** SPAIN. Google Earth Imagery. NOB Noblejas ESP 39N57 003W26 39 57 27 N 03 25 51 W 13 SW towers on NoWe/Western side, 110, 161, 290 degrees 17 SW towers on SoWe/NoEa side, 38, 50, 60, 80, 230, 236, 260 degrees 3 separate directional towers. Maybe later erected. In 170/350 degree direction. 161, 170 degrees (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) see also COSTA RICA ** SRI LANKA. Google Earth Imagery. SLBC/VOA/RJ site N of Colombo (at Ja-ela) [Ekala] at 7d 05' 55N, 79d 54' 18"E. DW site is N of Trincomalee (Perkara?) at 8d, 44' 36"N, 81d 07' 51"E. (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) 15, 25, 45, 60, 90, 105, 120, 255, 270, 300, 335, 345 degrees. Two MW towers 1548 kHz 08 44 53N, 81 07 15E Two MW antenna stars of the erecting time? 08 44 43-45N, 81 07 37E 6 SW antenna towers, 90/270 degrees, at 08 44 25-12N, 81 07 41E 5 SW antenna towers, 345 - 15 degr / 260 - 280 degrees at 08 44 45N, 81 07 50E IBB Iranawila site, ITU locator is totally wrong; 32 kilometers off the coast right in the Indian Ocean: IRA Iranawila CLN 07N32, 079E30 Actual IRA locator is 07 30 30N, 79 48 18E, at 001, 17, 49, 225, 255, 291, 310, 340, 356 degrees 4 SW towers 45/225 degrees, at 07 30 24 03N / 79 48 29 07E 3 SW towers 310/135 degrees, at 07 30 39 24N / 79 48 32 50E 4 SW towers 340/356/017 degrees, at 07 30 32N / 79 48 22E 7 SW towers 255/291 degrees, at 07 30 31N / 79 48 11E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. Google Earth Imagery. TWR Mpangela Ranch (not Range) differing from HFCC: 26 20s, 31 36e (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 20 via DXLD) I don`t find Mpangela in HFCC, just Manzini, and WRTH 2006 shows same coords for both, 26S34, 31E59 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. 9330, Damascus R., 2000-2030, Jul 16, end of French programme, Arab songs, 2005 English programme preview, 2010 fanfare and news about Syrian support to Lebanese national uprising, 2023 Arab songs // 12085 (35332), poor modulation on both frequencies, heard best in USB, 55443 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 26 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non non]. Here in the shadow of WYFR, it is a novelty to hear English from RTI direct, but that was the case July 27 at 1241 on 7130. This hour is supposedly for Far East but after ID they were giving addresses in Bangladesh and India, online; Thu 1242, Instant Noodles show of bizarre, weird and crazy news stories, one of the gems of SW. There was a low het but reception fairly good. Fortunately at this hour the Chicom are not trying to jam it, but looking at EiBi schedules, start up at 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Google Earth Imagery. There is an odd site at 24d 52' 48"N, 121d 01' 15"E (high resolution) that consists of 16 closely spaced poles in a row, presumed to be antenna masts. I would appreciate a second opinion on this. Note the poles are not evenly spaced (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) Google Earth Imagery. Minhsiung 23 34N, 120 25E ? Tanhsui 25 11N, 121 25E (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 20 via DXLD) Google Earth Imagery. The large CBS SW site on Taiwan at Fu Wei - Huwei is only slightly visible at high resolution. The location of what I believe is possibly the transmitter building is at 23d 43' 30" N, 120d 25' 01" E. Also on Taiwan, NW of Taipei near Lin-Kou is a nice view at high resolution of a large HFDF Wullenweber array at 25d 05' 42"N, 121d 23' 39" E (Douglas Johnson, WA via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. Google Earth Imagery. TJK Dusbanbe Orzu 37 31 39N 68 42 E. Or rather 37 31 41N 68 48 04E ? Yangi-Yul (low resolution such) 38 30N, 68 48 54 E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Google Earth Imagery. 1575 R. Thailand via VOA, Ayutthaya (14 24N, 100 47E). Google Earth Imagery. BBC substantial site is NW of Nakhon Sawan at 15d 48' 37"N, 100d 03' 52"E (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) Udorn Thani Ban Dung UDO Udorn THA 17N25 102E48 ??but rather 17 40 27 N, 103 12 09 E Unfortunately IBB MW 1575 kHz is on low resolution area. BBC NAK Nakhon Sawan THA 15N49, 100E04 - rather 15 48 39N, 100 03 55E 6 towers towards We/NoWe, 150, 280, 290, 300 degrees 8 tower towards NoEa, 000, 20, 25, 40 degrees (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 vi DXLD) ** TUNISIA. Google Earth Imagery. SFA Sfax TUN 34N48, 010E53 Low resolution. I guess near 34 49 12N, 10 51 09E 963 kHz MW Djdeida TUN 36 50 11N, 09 55 47E SFA Sfax TUN 34N48, 010E53 Low resolution. I guess near 34 49 12 N, 10 51 09 E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 21 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Thu July 27 at 1250, checked 15450 to see how Live from Turkey is doing; already in progress with studio discussion of ME situation; rather hard to follow with conversational level and only fair, noisy signal. 1309 recheck a caller was on from near London talking about the weather (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Çakirlar site includes also Etimesgut LW Ankara II on 198 kHz. I wonder if Cakirlar site includes also Etimesgut 198 kHz (attached)? (Mauno Ritola-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX July 8 via DXLD) Mauno asked me these days whether I did found the LW lattice/pipe mast tower too? Etimesgut 198 kHz is at 39N59, 32E40, [39N58.43, 32E40.45] 22 kilometers north of Ankara centre. I guess on top of the site (northern) a removable SW antenna like ALLISS is seen. Or is this a similar SW tower, and rebuilt/converted a BBC Thomcast Mannheim type tower into a longwave T-antenna? The tower is some 55 meters high. Seems and 88 meters wide on the top of the antenna. And what type of antenna is seen on the left side? Five single lattice/pipe masts? Single MW low powers, or even single SW dipole masts? (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 13 via DXLD) ** U A E. Google Earth Imagery. The large SW site is located a short distance west of Abu Dhabi at 24d 10' 11"N, 54d 15' 00"E (high resolution only at the very northern tip of the site, but three curtain masts are clearly visible there). Closer to Abu Dhabi at 24d 13' 45"N, 54d 24' 57"E is another SW or MW (?) site (high resolution). Probably 1170/1575 kHz, a new station called "Dhabbaya II" or something like that in the newsletters of ex-Thales Broadcast (pictures of the site are included there). (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA Park update --- hi, This is from today's Cincinnati Enquirer. You're probably aware there is an effort to have the main building made into a museum and the local amateur radio club has some of the VOA equipment on display inside. VOA PARK MAY HAVE A RESCUER --- BUTLER CO. AGENCY OFFERS TO TAKE OVER AND DEVELOP IT --- BY JENNIFER EDWARDS | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER WEST CHESTER TWP. - MetroParks of Butler County has offered to take over West Chester's Voice of America Park and spend about $4 million to develop it. West Chester Township has struggled to improve its parks since voters rejected a 2003 park levy. The township had planned to install soccer fields and baseball fields but lacks the money for the jobs. Meanwhile, MetroParks has just completed a $2.3 million boathouse and lodge at its 186-acre Ronald Reagan Voice of Freedom Park, next to the 300-acre VOA Park. If the deal works out, West Chester would deed the park over to MetroParks but keep the VOA building, which it plans to turn into a museum. "The soccer organizations are 100 percent behind this, which we knew they would be," said Greg Amend, president of MetroParks of Butler County. "The community doesn't care whose name is behind the park. They just want the park done. And of course this really takes a load off of (West Chester's budget). We are set up to manage parks; they are not." The park agency, which is funded by the county's transfer tax and state government funds, has about $2 million in reserves, Amend said. "We have to spend it. We just can't keep sitting on it." At the VOA park, MetroParks could install soccer fields, baseball fields, lacrosse fields and a walking path. They would be better- quality fields than the ones cut from the pasture lands on the eastern end of Reagan Park, Amend said. Some township trustees are open to the concept, including Catherine Stoker. "If they want to develop the park in a way that we believe is appropriate, I think we certainly have to consider it," Stoker said. But longtime resident Gene Hendel opposes it. "To keep West Chester's identity, the VOA (park) belongs to West Chester," he said. "Green space and soccer fields are just as valuable or even more valuable to the residents than a museum. Once we give this property away, it's gone forever." (via Dale Rothert, KA8KOD, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. It seems the new owner of WRNO has finally updated the website: http://www.wrnoworldwide.org/programs.htm --- Due to the Hurricane Katrina damage to the radio antenna and tower (which is located in Louisiana) the programing schedule has been suspended until the antenna can be repaired and erected! The antenna and tower must be repaired and erected for broadcasting to be restored. Needless to say this is a crucial need at this time, since no broadcasting can take place until this need is meet! Please remember this need in your prayers (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) You bet it`s suspended – in fact it was dormant long before Katrina. Dan Brown visited the site and found the antenna in good shape; what they need is a new transmitter! Why won`t they be straight about this? Also check out the other pages, which are full of hype about their SW service being able to reach billions of people. Those who remember the original WRNO know that its reach was pretty limited, certainly not a factor in the 10-40 zone with its antenna azimuth of 20 degrees. Some excerpts: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In May, 2006, we began raising funds to finance staffing and electricity requirements. By September 10, 2006, this lifesaving broadcast to Arabic-speaking populations worldwide, including the Middle East, will begin Dr Robert E. Mawire Chairman of the Board and Founder on WRNO, Worldwide Short Wave Radio, Good News Israel, Jewish Airlifts, Hope for Africa, Good News World Outreach, Gerizim Technologies and Ariel Smart City. Dr. Robert Mawire has devoted his life to global evangelism and encouraging, motivating, equipping and igniting a fire and passion for more of God to countless people wherever he goes. He is a man of vision, purpose, strength and character; internationally recognized speaker, author and businessman; sought after speaker for radio, television and national and international conferences; has facilitated and implemented various humanitarian activities. He graduated from Worldview College, Tasmania, Australia and completed advanced studies both in the United States and Australia. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Coalition for the Support of Biblical Israel, "Project Now" (airlift of Russian Jews); is on the Board of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools; Co-founder of Good News Ariel FM106 radio station an established Good News TV station in Ariel Israel; Co-founder of one of the leading "Smart Cities" in the world today; maintains strategic alliances with many foreign countries, including Israel, Mexico, and Africa; actively engaged in ongoing political negotiations on Capitol Hill; respected advisor to political and corporate leaders; hosted "Hour of Good News" on American Independent Network TV. Dr. Mawire has had a strong impact on global evangelism and missions through strategic planning, global broadcasting and through training, equipping and supporting pastors, missionaries and leaders both in the United States and internationally; established and maintains ongoing church leadership in many countries; published and distributed Portuguese bibles in Mozambique; organized and facilitated humanitarian aid to Mozambique that resulted in the first collapse of Communism in forty years in 1987; published and distributed bibles for public schools in communist Zimbabwe; received commendation for his international endeavors from President Ronald Reagan; Dr. Mawire's book, "Top Secrets Revealed", has empowered, motivated and inspired many people into a deeper more intimate relationship with God. Inexpensive radios overseas are a combination of AM, FM and Short wave. WRNO Worldwide's license has two frequencies: 7355.0 and 7395.0 Initially, WRNO WORLDWIDE will broadcast for 8 hours/day (4 hours per frequency), 365 days/year. At the beginning of each hour, news updates will be announced in English. As financial resources grow, the broadcast will expand to 24 hours/day. Eventually WRNO Worldwide will broadcast the gospel in multiple languages across 75% of the globe 24/7. The programs will simulcast worldwide through Internet radio. Is WRNO Worldwide a Critical Evangelism Resource? WRNO Worldwide's transmitter power enables its signal to broadcast throughout 3/4th of the world's population. This means that WRNO Worldwide can reach countries in the resistance belt (i.e. the 10/40 window, which extends from West Africa to East Asia). The Middle East is the heart of this area. --- Also on this page http://www.wrnoworldwide.org/feedback.htm they claim to have listeners in a number of countries, who have sent plaudits in the vaguest terms, much like DX Radio Network ``listeners``, which is remarkable considering that WRNO have been off the air for years, and under current ownership have never even run the 100 kW transmitter which was kaput long before. If you go to http://www.wrnoworldwide.org/program_schedules.html which I had bookmarked, you will still reach the old-design and not-updated webpages, while if you go to http://www.wrnoworldwide.org you will get the new ones with some auto sound (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 12160, WWCR. Oddball talk "you deserve Pastor Petey, he's a Sweetie," mention of "Catholic priests raping your little boys," music, Tiny Tim "Tiptoe through the tulips," racist message. Excellent [reception!] (from a bandscan at 16-17 UT Monday July 24, at Fowler Beach, DE, Radio Free Mount Airy via DXLD) Per WWCR`s current schedule that would be Pastor Pete Peters, Scriptures for America. Makes us proud (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Google Earth Imagery. The following miscellaneous SW religious sites are also available in high resolution (if anyone cares!): [see also GUAM; NORTHERN MARIANAS] WWCR - Nashville, TN (36d 12' 36"N, 86d 53' 36"W) Ludo Maes should update his website now that he has the more detailed satellite imagery information. The WRTH should also be updated accordingly where necessary (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm-SWE, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Voice of Joy, which has been running two weeks on, two weeks off, this summer on 15720 Saturday at 13-14 UT, will be ending broadcasts in a couple weeks, unless they can get some donations to continue. Operational errors at the transmitter site putting on the wrong satellite feed haven`t helped (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SPANISH RADIO: IS STATIC DESERVED? WORDS CONSTRUED AS INTOLERANT AND OFFENSIVE BY SOME ARE DOWNPLAYED BY OTHERS. By ERIC DEGGANS, Times Media Critic Published July 25, 2006 It was the last straw for Birgit Van Hout: a caller to the morning show on Tampa’s only FM Spanish-language radio station, La Nueva, had phoned in to express his disgust with homosexuals. She remembers the host saying ``let`s exterminate them all`` before playing the sound of a machine gun. Officials at the station, CBS Radio-owned WYUU-92.5 FM, say Van Hout misunderstood the June 9 incident; the caller was insulting a friend and the sound effect was a regular part of the feature. But Van Hout wrote a letter of protest to WYUU, forwarding the missive to area media outlets when La Nueva failed to respond. . . http://www.sptimes.com/2006/07/25/Tampabay/Spanish_radio__Is_sta.shtml (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO FORMAT CHANGES FROM RELIGION TO SEX KINGSBURG, Calif. (AP) - KFYE-FM hasn't budged from the Fresno-area dial, but it's about as far as you can get from the Christian music, sermons and Bible stories it was broadcasting until about a week ago. Now it calls itself "Porn Radio" _ "all sex radio, all the time," with a suggestion that people under 21 not listen. . . http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=456&sid=862831 (via Mike Cooper; and via Ken Kopp, KS, dxldyg via DXLD) Sounds like a JackFM gimmick (Ken Kopp, ibid.) WTFK?? 106.3 (FCC FMQ) Same: http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/27/christian.sexradio.ap/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) AN UPDATE: LISTENERS UPSET OVER RADIO FORMAT CHANGE July 27, 2006 - Some call it revolutionary. Some call it offensive. But for now, it's gone. A formal complaint is on its way to the Federal Government, in response to controversial change to a valley radio station. A popular Christian radio station suddenly switched to playing sexually suggestive songs. The switch surprised and angered listeners. The federal government may get involved in the local radio business after a provocative stunt introduced the valley to new ownership on the FM dial. A Kingsburg-based station turned the valley into a test market for so-called porn radio, featuring sexually suggestive songs and tracked moans and groans. But Thursday afternoon, an announcement replaced the music. The dramatic shift came on one of the former homes of K-LOVE 106.3 FM. Listeners used to tune in to the Kingsburg based station for Christian music and sermons, but it switched to porn radio. It went off the air Thursday after five days, but the valley may not have heard the last of the radio format. Legendary radio consultant Jerry Clifton bought the station earlier this month. Porn radio is his brainchild, and he is well-known in the business for stunt radio. It's a tried-and-true way to get new listeners when you change formats. . . http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=4406434 (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. PBS HOPES BLEEPS AND BLURRED LIPS KEEP FCC FINES AT BAY Originally published in Current, June 26, 2006 By Jeremy Egner FCC penalties for broadcasting pixilated images of porn stars and strippers demonstrated that simply turning naughty bits into blurry bits doesn’t prevent indecency fines. PBS, uncertain as anyone over the FCC’s decrees and still stinging from the recent fine of a public TV station, is taking cover under a new layer of digital obfuscation. Producers who want their work aired in the family-friendly 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. zone now must go beyond audio bleeps to pixilate any on-screen mouths that visibly form curse words. . . http://www.current.org/fcc/fcc0612indency.shtml (Current via DXLD) PBS'S LIP-READING EFFORT By Lisa de Moraes Thursday, July 27, 2006 PASADENA, Calif., July 26 --- The Federal Communications Commission's unclear edicts about language on television have paralyzed documentary filmmakers working for PBS, and its tenfold fine increase could put some PBS stations out of business, new Public Broadcasting Service chief Paula Kerger told TV critics Wednesday. "We need to do a better job . . . letting the American people know that this is not just about Janet Jackson, that this is about filmmakers [who] have powerful stories that now are not being allowed to tell those stories on public television or on broadcast television," Kerger told critics at Summer TV Press Tour 2006. PBS will file papers next week in support of KCSM, a small public- television station in Northern California that was hit with a $15,000 fine for rerunning before 10 p.m. an episode of the Martin Scorsese documentary "The Blues." In the episode, musicians and the relative of a record industry executive use two words that the FCC has deemed unspeakable on the air between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/26/AR2006072602003_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. MoveOn.org is soliciting donations for a campaign to "Beat the NPR-PBS 24" -- the 24 members of Congress up for reëlection who voted to cut pubcasting's federal aid. "With your help, together we can retire enough of these representatives to tip the balance on this issue --- and send a signal that cutting public broadcasting comes with a political price," writes MoveOn.org's "Political Action Team" in an e-mail solicitation [Via Indybay.org]. . . http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/24/18291219.php (Current posted at 10:03 AM EST July 26 via DXLD) That page does not go into detail naming them beyond this: ``Who are these 24? They include six open seats where the anti-NPR incumbent is retiring. There are 2 seats where the incumbent skipped this critical vote. The other 16 include some of the most-watched Houses races like Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) and Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY).`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL --- SO WE'RE SUPPOSED TO MAIM WRR IN ORDER TO PROTECT IT? By Jim Schutze Article Published Jul 27, 2006 http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2006-07-27/news/schutze_full.html Clayton Henry, president of "Friends of WRR," says the way to protect WRR from future takeover attempts is to make it worth less. Strange stuff struts across the stage of life every once in a while. There just isn't time to stop and figure it all out. Like the oddly recurring story in Dallas every two to three years: "Proposed WRR Frequency Swap." Proposed what? It's like clockwork. Every few years somebody wants the city to sell WRR-FM, the city-owned classical music radio station. Nobody ever wants the city to sell sewage treatment plants or solid waste transfer stations. Is it because WRR is a big mess, costing the city all kinds of money, and we need to find a way to stop the hemorrhaging? No, that would be just about everything at City Hall other than WRR. Get this. WRR makes money. It is owned by Dallas City Hall, and it makes money. I know. It's amazing. You'd think the entire rest of the city staff, led by the city council, would gather on the lawn outside the station's modest little headquarters at Fair Park at dawn every year on the vernal equinox and chant praises. But, no. People just want to get rid of it. Gregory Davis, general manager of the station, really did not want to talk to me about this latest proposal to mess up his station. But I sent the station an open records demand anyway for its financial numbers. When I got them, it was hard to see what Davis was being so shy about. In the last five years, WRR has posted profits averaging more than half a million bucks a year. In the best year in that period, WRR earned a profit of more than $1 million on revenues of $4.7 million. So this is where we begin to see why this story keeps coming back. The WRR radio station is a very lucrative piece of property that we citizens of Dallas just sort of inherited when nobody was looking. There's an attitude out there--even among the so-called "Friends of WRR," and we'll get to that particular oxymoron in a moment--that WRR is just too good for City Hall to own. It's the second-oldest commercial radio station in the country, according to some histories. WRR is not a public non-commercial radio station in the sense that KERA is. That has to do with the way radio signals are licensed by the federal government. KERA is licensed as a non-commercial station. It can't sell regular ads and must raise its money instead from fund drives and those strange half-ad/half-public service announcements it runs. Even though WRR is owned by the city, it is licensed as a commercial station. That means it can and must go out into the commercial radio market, just like any other commercial for-profit station, and sell regular ads. For a station that plays only classical music, WRR does pretty well. It was 22nd of 49 radio stations in the Dallas market measured by Arbitron last May--not too shabby. So here's the deal on the table now. Salem Communications Corp., a giant Christian broadcasting conglomerate headquartered in California, wants to swap a radio tower it owns in Dallas for WRR's tower. From Salem's point of view, the motivation is obvious. WRR broadcasts from a 100,000-watt tower in the center of the North Texas market, reaching as far south as Waco and as far north as Sherman. Salem wants that tower and the commercial signal that goes with it. Whether Salem keeps the tower or flips it to somebody else for a hip- hop station, once the tower and signal are out of city hands and in play in the private market, people out there stand to make a ton of money on WRR. The deal would work like this: Salem swaps the city a tower owned by a non-commercial station. In trade, the city gives Salem the WRR tower and its commercial signal, which carries a license to sell regular ads. Salem gets a very valuable commercial tower and commercial signal. The city gets a non-commercial tower and signal, worth much less because now the new WRR can't sell ads. But -- and this is supposed to be the gleam in everybody's eye -- Salem gives the city an additional $50 million or so, which the city can sock away as an endowment to support the arts. Less valuable radio station. But $50 million cash. Marty Greenburg, the broker representing Salem, says the coverage area reached by the tower the city would get in the swap is pretty close to being the same area reached by the WRR tower now. "My view is that this is a no-brainer for the city." With the new tower, he said, "The city can provide the same service for Dallas-Fort Worth listeners of great classical music." And, he said, the city would have the option of operating WRR like KERA, with fund drives and so on, or without any fund-raising at all, relying on the endowment fund created from the extra $50 million. But I told him I wasn't so sure about that. I'm still looking at these numbers I got from WRR. Their operating expenses every year are between $3 million and $4 million. Let's say the city puts the $50 million fund into something that returns 5 percent earnings every year. That's $2.5 million. By itself, that's not enough to keep the station afloat. Greenburg said he thinks the station could be run more efficiently. Maybe. But it seems to me they must be pretty efficient already to be a city department and show a profit every year. The other thing I see in the numbers I got from WRR is that the station is sitting on a cash surplus of about $6.7 million right now. A city agency with a surplus? Why would we mess with that? Why not leave WRR alone, exactly the way it is? It's working. It's profitable. Why screw with it at all? One answer the proponents give when I ask them that question is fairly amazing. Clayton Henry, president of the Friends of WRR, told me that the only way to protect WRR from these recurring takeover attempts is to make it worth less. "Every three years, we seem to be a target," Henry said, "and we spend a lot of time talking about this subject. There's a lot of time being wasted on this thing." Soooo --- let me follow this. If WRR had a little bit beanier-weenier tower and a different kind of license so it would have more trouble making money, people would stop trying to take it over. "It would make us less of a target," Henry said, "because we would be a non-commercial station. Does it still have value? Yeah, sure, it's got value. But it's a lot less of a target." OK, now, and tell me again: These are Friends of WRR? Well, that gets us into a whole 'nother topic that I don't have enough room for here. But according to their own publicly available IRS statements, the Friends raise all kinds of money from members. And yet I can't see that they give a nickel of it to WRR. Henry confirmed to me that the Friends buy airtime on WRR so they can broadcast their own programs about the arts. But so what? That just makes them one more commercial customer for the station. Given the profits the station makes, I have to assume if the Friends of WRR stopped buying time from the station, somebody else would buy it. And in fact they sort of have stopped. I did a little spreadsheet for myself which showed that five years ago the Friends were spending 130 percent of their annual fund-raising--going in the hole, in other words--to buy time on WRR. In the most recent report, that was down to 5 percent. Plus this: A couple years ago somebody dumped 200 grand on the Friends. Henry couldn't remember who when we spoke. "Some estate, I think," he said. The $200,000 is just sitting there as a big cash surplus now. So the Friends don't really do much that's friendly to WRR anyway. Then somebody gives them 200 large. They can't remember who. Now they're out plugging this deal where the city should protect WRR from the unwanted advances of strangers by making her more ugly. The ultimate reason why the city should peddle part or all of WRR, according to the proponents, is that the tower and signal are just too good to be wasted on a city-owned station for classical music listeners. Larry Davis, chairman of the city of Dallas Commission on Productivity and Innovation, an appointed body, is the main champion of this swap proposal. He told me it's not even necessary to go to the uglier daughter strategy to see why the city should do the swap. "I think the equation is even simpler than that," he said. "If you have a dump truck and you're hauling dirt in Dallas, and you have no job that's bigger than an eight-yard dump truck, you don't need to buy and own a 24-yard dump truck, and that's what we're doing." The last wrinkle is this: Some other arts groups were frank with me in saying that they would like to get a slice of that $50 million endowment if it ever comes into being. So let's say there's a fund. Let's say some of the swankier, more politically muscular arts groups are able to bite off mouthfuls. Now there's even less endowment money for WRR. Plus it can no longer sell ads. Great! We've taken the one successful, profitable city agency we could find and screwed it up and hobbled it so that ultimately it will die. And somebody outside City Hall will make a whole lot of moolah on the deal. Does that sound like public stewardship to you? Come to think of it, could this be why we don't see more city agencies that come out ahead? (Dallas Observer via Blair Lovern, texasgigs.com via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. See UNIDENTIFIED ** YEMEN. Google Earth Imagery. Yemen's Sanaa site is located at 15d 22'50N, 44d 11' 45E (high resolution). Two single MW towers 711/1008 kHz. Other two small MW antennas, reserve and for 837 kHz. 3 towers for 25 /31 mb curtain dipoles. And also a six tower like ring antenna, fountain type for local Yemen target, like former 60 mb 4853 kHz frequency (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 12 via DXLD) Former Aden YEM site?: 12 52 23 N, 45 03 28E (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 11- 21 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Uruguay, 6127.75, SODRE (presumed), 1010-1030 July 27. Noted a man AND woman in Spanish comments during the period. Signal kept fading in and out and overall it was poor. Didn't hear any IDs (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nominal 6125, 350 watts. I can`t find logs of anything in DXLD in the 6127+ or 6126+ range. Mark Mohrmann`s LA DX ``current`` log (unfortunately not updated for a few years now) shows: 6125.17 URUGUAY SODRE, Montevideo [1000-0254](.17) Dec 04 P 350 watts (r)AM1050 //9620 and there are no logs of it around this frequency in the archive going back to 1998 at http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/swarchive.htm Nor is there anything on 6126 or 6127 in the NASWA Log database http://www.naswa.net/logs/logs.php And the only 6125 logs are of other stations. In the DSWCI log archive we only find: 6125.0, 1415-1430 URG 10.10.05 SODRE, Montevideo Spanish Arnaldo Slaen-ARG --- But they put .0 after every frequency whether it was measured to that accuracy or not! Maybe they are back, but this is the last we had about SODRE here: ``From recent monitoring I can assume that SODRE is currently not on the air on SW. Are my Argentinian neighbours listening to any signal from SODRE on 9621? I believe they aren't? I'm completely sure of this for 6125 (Horacio A. Nigro, Uruguay, Apr 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-057)`` If it`s not SODRE, it could be something just as intriguing (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ XII MEXICAN DX ENCUENTRO, JULY 28-30, 2006, ASCENSION, CHIHUA2 Looking for something to do this weekend? As we`ve publicized before, the annual Mexican DX Meeting is almost upon us, in a little town not far across the border from El Paso. I hear they are not expecting many North Americans to show up, so why not surprise them? Directions and full details: http://mx.geocities.com/diexismo73/encuentrodx.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Watch out for popups GRAPHIC GAFFES ++++++++++++++ 2002 UT, July 27, The Weather Channel graphic labeled Salt Lake City as being in NV. Yeah, those big geometric states out west are hard to keep straight. Unlike the graphics people, the on-air presenters at TWC are generally quite good on their geography, often throwing in little tidbits that would normally only be known locally, and pronouncing confusing place names correctly. And in this case the speaker correctly placed SLC in UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GOOGLING EARTH Background to the many entries above and in previous issues, originally in BCDX: When searching for a site having known coordinates, all one needs to do is enter the coordinates in digital form (e.g., Tavrichanka SW site is 43.33555 N, 131.89861 E) in the search box and it will take one to that exact spot. In general the coordinates I have been sending you locate the transmitter building if there is only one at the site and it is not overly remote from the antenna field; otherwise the coordinates are at the middle of the site. When I have stated a site's imagery is high resolution I mean masts and transmitter building(s) can be clearly discerned. The highest resolution I have seen available has not been present at any of the sites investigated so far, and seems to be available on coverage of some major cities. For example, at that highest resolution the roof of my downtown Seattle high-rise office building (47.6143639 N, 122.3389083 W) clearly shows details as small as one half meter or less. When I have provided curtain beam headings, they were obtained from hard copies of the imagery whereby I established the N-S baseline from the display's north arrow, then established the alignment of each curtain array from which, using a protractor, a perpendicular line from each curtain alignment was drawn to establish the antenna beam direction relative to the N-S baseline. A folding \\ ruler is a helpful tool, but not essential (Douglas Johnson-USA, via Olle Alm, wwdxc BC-DX July 18 via DXLD) BUT, my comment: When I start the SEARCH - I use the following easy typing format: 43 20 34 N 53 55 22 E [or 43 20 34 S 53 55 22 W ] and Google will fly to the indicated location, and also show the location coordinates always in the wanted format {according to option setting} in the left corner below. In some cases, curtain beam headings can easily be detected by using the present HFCC beaming list; sort the file first according to transmitter location and second according to bearing column - see example under Sri Lanka or Thailand (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 27 via DXLD) EXTREME LIGHT DIMMER NOISE I am in the DC area this week training with my Homeland Security team. My lodging is on the 9th floor of a brand name upper middle class hotel. I was hoping to do an evening scan of the AM band while I am here. It turns out that every room in the hotel has 4 light fixtures equipped with dimmers. There are literally hundreds of them. The entire AM band is completely obliterated by the noise that they generate. I can't even hear the most powerful of locals. I've heard about light dimmer noise but have been fortunate to have never experienced it myself until now. It is unbelievable. I don't see a brand name on the fixtures but they were UL approved in December 2002 and are marked 'made in China'. (Patrick Griffith, Westminster CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) I stayed in Grapevine, TX, this past weekend in a hotel belonging to a relatively well-known chain. I did not take any radios with me because I was flying a puddle-jumper from Houston Hobby to DFW --- you know the size and type of aircraft I'm talking about --- plus I was there only one night, checking out the next morning to head to my meeting. The AM/FM radio on the nightstand was one of those unfortunately too- well-known "Dream Machines." Yes, it had what they called AM and FM "bands" on it, but the only FM station I could receive with signals strong enough to listen to without driving me crazy was KERA-FM, the PBS/NPR outlet in Dallas. That was FINE with me! I listened to KERA back in the late '70s when I lived in Ft. Worth. Sorry, KUHF - you can't hold a candle to KERA!! The FM band on this radio was lousy. The AM band was atrocious. Absolutely no listenable signals, not even KLIF-570 or KRLD-1080!! No dimmer noise, no buzzes or chirps, just a crummy AM band! Next time (as long as I can stuff it into my carry-on wallet-sized bag) I'll take a GOOD radio with me. The twin-engine "rocket from Hell" plane I flew on? Well, that's another story (Stephen Ponder, N5WBI, Southeast TX DXer, http://setxdxer.blogspot.com/ Houston TX, USA, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ Re: 06-121 at the FCC [Media Concentration docket, previously at USA] Why do The BigBoy's goonwork for them? Let them do their own goonwork. What I mean? BigBoys marginalize disagreement by claiming any who dare disagree are: 'a small handful of cranky old cheapskate insomniacs whose lives are so pitifully empty they sit up all night straining to hear Fibber McGee & Molly'. Upon hearing DX'ers so portrayed, the Feckless Chamberpot of Cronies - fast becoming known as the NAB's Executive Thunderjug - bows down and complies while dreaming of lucrative sinecures subsequent to government 'service'. Forget DX'ers. Lose the term. Write the FCC and those who control its budget. Speak on behalf of millions unaware of iBLOC's sneak theft of their airwaves. Millions depend upon radio. AM in particular does what no other service can do: quickly and efficiently disseminate vital information over a wide area to a vast audience. An old principle eludes our oh so very smart society: keep it simple. In time of trouble simplicity works, complexity fails. When the motor fails, the oar works. If Katrina didn't slam home that point, what will? Millions at stake? For a few cronyistic greaseballs? So what? Millions are nothing to these avaricious bloats and their $500 lunches. They cry rich-man's-poor-mouth so as to feign victimhood. Their hero, Mr. 'Ah Feel Yur Payn' instructed them thusly at the outset of the real decade of greed. Once seen, always so. Forget DX'ers interests. iBLOC is an equal opportunity thug. It steals airwaves from the entire public, not just DX'ers. iBLOC and its mutant twin, BPL, are to radio as sewage is to tap water. We send sewage to the cesspool, not the well. We don't mix sewage with tapwater. Otherwise, we get tetanus. And lockjaw will be radio's fate if these swine prevail. Our influence counts. Let's use it. The public will thank us. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL BT, IRCA via DXLD) THE IBOC TRAIN WRECK HAS HAPPENED WBAL [1090 Baltimore] is being bothered by IBOC interference from a station on 1080 at 0145-0200 EDT 7/27/2006. I am not sure who on 1080 is running the IBOC, but I suspect WTIC because they are the strongest on the channel and it sounds like they are doing some testing. I am within WBAL's local coverage area at night. 1070 is virtually wiped out. Here is a clip. At the beginning I tuned to 1080 and 1070 to see what was going on on those channels. The station running IBOC was turning it off and on, and I was trying to adjust my antenna setup to get rid of it, so the intensity of the sound changed a couple of times. For the record, my receiver for the audio clip was a Drake R8B. The interference was also heard on my bedside clock radio and on old Philco Tube radio. I contacted the station and they said they would contact WTIC. I am not sure what will happen beyond that. http://philcobill.com/iboc/01090-20060727-0150-WBAL-IBOC.mp3 (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM [see also ETHIOPIA; GERMANY; PERU] Ich habe mich in den vergangenen Tage wieder mal am DRM-Empfang versucht. Das Ergebnis war nicht gerade berauschend. Rx: AOR AR7030, Ant: MK-1, Dekodierung mit Dream-Software Bewertung der Empfangsqualitaet fuer die folgenden Logs: O=5: nur wenige Aussetzer, Programm laesst sich gut verfolgen O=4: mehrere Aussetzer, Programm laesst sich noch einigermassen verfolgen O=3: zahlreiche Aussetzer, verfolgen des Programms schon schwierig O=2: nur mehr sporadische Dekodierung des Audiosignals O=1: kein Audiosignal, nur Label-ID 594 kHz Glas Hrvatske 22.7. 1315 UTC O=4 693 kHz RAI WAY DRM Test 20.7. 1949 UTC O=2 1593 kHz WDR Langenberg 20.7. 2015 UTC O=1 1611 kHz Radio Vatikan 18.7. 2030 UTC O=3 5990 kHz RTL 22.7. 1355 UTC O=2 6085 kHz B5 Aktuell 22.7. 1332 UTC O=1 6095 kHz RTL Radio 22.7. 1257 UTC O=3 6130 kHz DW Wertachtal 1337 UTC O=4 6175 kHz RMC Test 22.7. 0822 UTC O=3 7240 kHz Bouquet Flevo NL (Radio Canada Int) 1345 UTC O=3 7320 kHz BBC Rampisham 22.7. 1320 UTC O=2 7515 kHz DW Taldom 18.7. 2002 UTC O=3 9470 kHz BBC Kvitsoy 22.7. 1325 UTC O=3 11815 kHz CVC 22.7. 0915 UTC O=1 13620 kHz MOI Kuwait 22.7. 1030 UTC O=2 13730 kHz RNZI 18.7. 2130 UTC O=1 15795 kHz TDF Montsinery 18.7. 2100 UTC O=2 21645 kHz TDF Montsinery 20.7. 1913 UTC O=3 21820 kHz DW Trincomallee 22.7. 0931 UTC O=3 26000 kHz WRN Europe 22.7. 0848 UTC O=4 26000 kHz WRN Europe 22.7. 0910 UTC O=3 (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX July 22 via BCDX via DXLD) This is notable in that he had not a single perfectly received DRM signal (O = 5), mostly from transmitters right there in Europe; in fact only a few made the 4 rating! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar-terrestrial indices for 27 July follow. Solar flux 74 and mid- latitude A-index 7. The mid-latitude K-index at 0000 UTC on 28 July was 4 (57 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) SPACE WEATHER CANADA 27-DAY MAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST JULY 27-AUG 22 http://www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecast27days_e.php (via gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF RADIO PROPAGATION OUTLOOK #2006-012 has been published at 0000 UTC on Friday July 28, 2006 at http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm --... ...--, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Retired Meteorologist & Space Plasma Physicist, Lakeland, FL, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NASA EXPERIMENT MAY HAVE FOUND TRIGGER FOR RADIO-BUSTING BUBBLES http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/bubbles_in_ionosphere.html 07.25.06 [illustrated!] NASA-funded researchers have identified a possible cause of giant bubbles that often form above the equator in the electrically charged upper atmosphere. These bubbles, manifestations of a phenomenon called "Equatorial Spread-F", disrupt radio signals that must pass through the atmosphere, including those for satellite communications, navigation systems, and the global positioning system (GPS). "We believe we have found a new process that triggers the formation of these bubbles. Our discovery could lead to improved forecasts of this phenomenon because we now know what to look for," said David Hysell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., the experiment Principal Investigator. The results are described in a series of papers; one published in the December 2005 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, and another in the May 2006 issue of Annales Geophysicae. A third paper has been submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The researchers traveled to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands near the equator in the Pacific Ocean to conduct their experiment during August 3 to 15, 2004. A radar facility operated by the U.S. Department of Defense provided the big picture with large-scale observations of the electrified upper atmosphere (ionosphere). The team, supported by NASA engineering staff, launched two salvos of instrumented sounding rockets (three each on two different nights) into this region, and obtained detailed measurements of the wind speed and direction, the density, and the electric fields in a cross-section of the ionosphere. When the team fed the radar and rocket observations into a computer simulation, the results supported a theory the team had developed to explain how the bubbles form. Image right: The first in a series of three sounding rockets designed to study the formation of equatorial Spread-F is launched from the island of Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll. Credit: Kerry Young Wind shears are common and well-known in the lower atmosphere, where they pose hazards to airplanes. A similar but more complicated phenomenon appears to operate in the upper atmosphere leading to the production of these giant bubbles that mushroom to great heights above the equator, analogous to the large cumulo-nimbus clouds of everyday experience in the lower atmosphere. The rocket scientists discovered a shear flow just below the region in the ionosphere where the bubbles form. The ionosphere above the equator can flow in a westward direction at one altitude while just above, the ionosphere flows in an eastward direction due to forcing by prevailing neutral winds. The shear set up by these oppositely directed flows is unstable and the flows begin to ripple, producing waves in the ionosphere that are the seeds that grow into the enormous Equatorial Spread-F bubbles. This scenario is fully supported by the Kwajalein experiments. "Our theory predicts that the shear flow will most often form waves with wavelengths (distance between wave crests or troughs) of either 30 km (18.6 miles) or 200 km (124.3 miles) in the ionosphere above the shear region. This is in fact what we saw; one night, 30 km waves were present, and another night, 200 km waves formed," said Hysell. Image below: From left to right, Altair radar scans depicting ionospheric conditions before, during, and after the flight of the instrumented sounding rocket. Images are in false color, with orange/red representing high-density electrically charged gas (plasma), and blue representing low-density plasma. The white arc in the center image traces the rocket trajectory. Note the waves in the center image transforming into Spread-F plumes in the right image. Credit: David Hysell The idea that bubbles in the ionosphere could be responsible for radio communication disruptions was developed in the mid-1970s, but until now, none of the theories proposed to explain the bubble formation have been conclusively demonstrated to work. On any given day, there is about a 50 percent chance the bubbles will form. They appear about 400 km (almost 250 miles) above Earth where the electrically charged gas (plasma) in the ionosphere is densest. Within tens of minutes, they form towering plumes reaching altitudes of up to 2,000 km (nearly 1,250 miles), with widths from tens to hundreds of km (miles). They usually appear at night, when the ionosphere becomes unstable because a layer of dense plasma forms on top of low-density plasma. The layers can't mix easily because they are pinned in place by the Earth's magnetic field, which is horizontal and directed northward over the equator. However, when conditions are right, bubbles of low- density plasma penetrate the dense plasma layer and rise high above Earth. The bubbles allow the two layers to mix, making the ionosphere stable again, but some trigger is necessary for the bubbles to form. The team's experiment supports the idea that the shear flow is the trigger. The researchers will test their theory further with the Communications and Navigation Outage Forecast System, a U.S. Air Force satellite projected to be launched in 2008. "Sounding rocket experiments are a good way to do this kind of science, because they are modest experiments that give an initial test of your theory, allowing you to refine your ideas and focus your efforts before the much more expensive satellite is launched," said Hysell. The team includes Hysell, Miguel Larsen at Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., Charles Swenson at Utah State University, Logan, Utah, and Timothy Wheeler at Penn State University, University Park. Additionally, Erhan Kudeki of the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, has collaborated with Hysell on the basic idea and will continue to help develop the theory. Bill Steigerwald, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (via DXLD) Very interesting, but exactly what effect does this have on propagation at different frequencies?? Refers only to satellite comms and GPS, which would be UHF and above; one would think anything going on in the ionosphere would have even greater impact on VHF and below (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BUSH RESUMÉ If you're planning to vote for Republican candidates this fall, consider that by doing so you will be endorsing the incumbent president. After reading his credentials, and considering his management of the nation's affairs, I hope you'll wisely select a different slate of candidates. -- Tom Bryant / Nashville ------------------------------------------------------------ GEORGE W. BUSH, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20520 EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE LAW ENFORCEMENT: I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available. MILITARY: I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam. . . [MUCH MORE] http://lists.topica.com/lists/SOUNDOFF/read/message.html?mid=1720379446&sort=d&start=6078 (via Tom Bryant, TN, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ###