DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-135, September 7, 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 1327: Days and times here are strictly UT. Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRN 13865 DRM via Bulgaria Sat 1230 WRMI 9955 Sat 1430 WRMI 7385 Sat 1600 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0930 WWCR1 9985 Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: 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 ** ALBANIA. (tentative): R. Tirana (?) at 0252, Sept. 7th, on 7450, with opera music, followed by Eastern European-sounding folk music, then possible musical interval signal (lute-based melody?) to abrupt sign-off at about 0259, no ID. R. Tirana moving around from 7455 to avoid RTTY QRM? Will try again today (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, we reported several weeks ago about arranging this (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. RA with an excellent RN program, Rear Vision, Thu Sept 7 at 1330 on 9580, this time about the roots of the conflict in Sri Lanka. It`s also ondemand at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/stories/2006/1727866.htm Perspective followed at 1355, this time a talk about Socrates, but RA have ignored my complaint of several weeks ago and are still rudely cutting off 9580 in the middle of the 5-minute program at 1358, in preparation for a frequency change. Unfortunately, 9590 was too weak on the portable I was listening to and I could not hear the rest of the talk. Not that I had sent the complaint directly to RA --- to whom, and would it have made any difference? --- but RA management ought to be reading DXLD, at least keeping up with the entries about AUSTRALIA. Dream on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. CVC via Darwin on 13635 came in quite strong after 1640 Sept 7; in fact it was the best signal I had from Australia for years. ´´Music and a message of hope´´, programming that can certainly be characterized as stealth evangelism (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 6507 USB, weather station in English at 1300 Aug 9, forecast and marine seas info for Australian coasts and mainland. OM voice with local accent and possibly computerized, fair signal (Paul Shinn, Valley Springs CA, NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** BELARUS. The information about the BR 1 shortwave outlets at Hrodna/Grodno (6040, 7110) and Brest (6010) in WRTH 2006 is still valid: Grodno apparently relays local programming until 1540 (= 1640 in winter) but Brest does not for whatever reason. At least 6040 and 7110 had until 1540 a different program than 6010 which run // Minsk- 6115. At 1540 the modulation on 6040/7110 disappeared and after about a minute of silence Radio Stalica (clear ID heard) came up, all in the manner of a hard switch between circuits, perhaps even with a patchcord. 6115 had after 1540 Radio Stalica as well, suggesting that BR 1 relays this program still all the way until 1600. Radio Stalica apparently starts a programme at 1540 to facilitate this scheduling (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11783, R. Nac. da Amazônia via Brasília now heard here, 9/7 2230+ with presumed 'Voz do Brasil' program, // 9665/9675/11815/11830. (Interesting thing: 9665 R. Marumby was maybe 5 or 10 seconds behind the others. Maybe this is why I couldn't tell if my UNID on 11750 from yesterday was // the others, if indeed it is Marumby?). Also, something really weird here 1028-1050+ 9/7 also on 11783. Kept playing same thing over and over and over again. Short snippet of music, and OM announcer said something that sounded like "Por Radio iterbad da diculacao, di programa political litoral." I know that doesn't make sense, but that's more or less what it sounded like. Anybody have any idea what they're repeating? Also still barely heard at 1600 re-check. Punch-up error, or trying to avoid DGS via Anguilla on 11775? (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry WV, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [non]. Re 6-134, Brazilian Portuguese on 650: Hi Glenn, Clip below heard, disclosed probably "Radio Capital - Rio de Janeiro on 49 meters band 6070. Can you check it? I´m sure this is not a WSRO transmission. Regards from Brasil. Eduardo. From the desk of (Mr. E. R. Heinrich, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Eduardo, Tnx for your input. I listened to the clips again, and I do hear the word nacional, near the beginning, but I think it is part of internacional, and café may also be mentioned. Just before the end of the first clip there is a time check for 5 da manhã, which would be EDT, as in Massachusetts, not Brasil. I checked the Earth View, and at that time it was a little before sunrise in Rio, so propagationally possible. However, of the 15 stations on 650 in the WRTH, none is in Rio --- they are all relatively low powered, 10 kW max daytime, less at night. There are stations in RJ state on 640 and 660. Is R. Capital, RJ, active on 6070? I don`t recall seeing it reported recently. Voz Cristiana, Chile pretty much dominates the frequency all night. Regards, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** CANADA. PEI radio news --- here is their new slogan: "The Island's Country 95.1 FM CFCY" Don't expect any references to AM or 630 although it will be simulcast for a while - hopefully for the full 3 months. Here are some key words to listen for: Charlottetown, PEI, Prince Edward Island, Summerside, Stratford, Montague, Kensington, Tignish, Alberton, West Royalty, East Royalty, Sherwood, Parkdale, Cornwall, Souris, Northumberland Ferries, Confederation Bridge, Confederation Court Mall, harness racing, Charlottetown Driving Park and Entertainment Centre, Pat Binns [PEI's Premier], Clifford Lee [Mayor of Charlottetown], Basil Stewart [Mayor of Summerside], Atlantic Superstore, Sobeys, Callbecks Home Hardware, MBS Radio, a Maritime Broadcasting System station, sister station Magic 93, The above keywords are especially helpful if you hear part of an ad, or part of a newscast. They apply to all PEI radio stations, so 720 CHTN DXers and FM DXers take note. If you do catch some words, run it by me. Although most Canadian FMers use "cute names" rather than calls, except for one or so IDs per hour] CFCY is going by CFCY. That helps a lot. [The only other FMer in the Maritimes that I recall doing this is CKBW]. Also, Saturday nights on CFCY is the "Hoedown" hosted by JP Gaudet [pronounced "Goody"] - the husband of one of my co-workers (Phil Rafuse, PEI, Sept 6, ABDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. If you like listening to Chinese music it's coming in loud and clear on 14600.00 (Bryan Curtis VK3FBC, Mansfield REC: NRD 545, Kenwood TS-570s, Victoria DEC: M-8000v7, Australia, Tue Sep 5, 2006 8:06 pm [PDT?], UDXF yg via DXLD) Another variation from 14050? (gh) ** CHINA [and non]. AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETIES WANT BROADCASTERS TO TAKE THEIR BATTLE OFF HAM BANDS NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 7, 2006 -- As the so-called "Firedragon" jammer continues to transmit in one or more Amateur Radio bands, three International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 3 member-societies so far have appealed to the jammer's target to move elsewhere. The Firedragon's all-music transmissions from the People's Republic of China (PRC) appear aimed at blocking the much-weaker broadcasts of the clandestine "Sound of Hope" (SOH), located outside the PRC. Responding via e-mail September 5 to an inquiry from IARU Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) Vice Coordinator Uli Bihlmayer, DJ9KR, the SOH said its supporters use various avenues "including Amateur Radio frequencies" to get their message into the PRC. "Through our investigation, we learned that the transmissions of SOH programs through Amateur Radio frequencies come from areas around China, and they each only target a local area of China with very low power, only for the intended audience and would interfere with nobody else," said SOH's Yue Chen. Yue addressed the reply to "All Amateur Radio Community Members" and indicated it was copied to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), although no ITU addressee was displayed. Yue encouraged the Amateur Radio community to "openly urge the Chinese government to stop this outrageous act of radio jamming" and to urge the ITU to take action as well. IARU Region 3 Complaints Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Director Glenn Dunstan, VK4DU, told the Sound of Hope via e-mail this week that if it wants the support of the international community, it should move its transmissions into legitimate broadcasting spectrum. "There is more than enough radio spectrum for you to use outside of the Amateur Radio bands," Dunstan said September 5. "You are in breach of international radio regulations." A similar reaction came September 6 from Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) Monitoring System Coordinator B.L. Manohar Arasu, VU2UR, who pointed the finger at both the Sound of Hope and the Firedragon music jammer. "We, the Indian Amateur Radio operators, condemn both of you for using Amateur Radio frequencies," he said. "Please leave the frequencies clear at the earliest." Arasu suggested the jamming not only was bothersome to everyday hamming but could cause problems for emergency communication by radio amateurs. New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) Monitoring Service Coordinator Len Martinson, ZL1BYA, e-mailed the Sound of Hope September 6 to say its "illegal broadcast transmissions" were causing unlawful and harmful interference to the legal occupants of the Amateur Radio bands in question. "Your transmissions are also attracting the attention of jamming stations, which is increasing the interference to unacceptable levels," he said. "Please cease transmissions in the exclusive amateur bands immediately." IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator Bill Zellers, WA4FKI, agreed with the tenor of the Region 3 complaints. "Why are they [SOH] making excuses for something that should not have happened?" he remarked. Firedragon Back in 20-Meter CW Band Bihlmayer said September 6 that the Firedragon was back on 14050 -- a part of the 20-meter band allocated to the Amateur Radio Service on an exclusive basis worldwide -- after spending two days on 14400. He told DX Listening Digest that the Firedragon jammer on 14050 "is not the only one," and that several are active on frequencies outside the amateur bands. Over the past several months, the jammer also has been heard on 10135, 14260, 18080 and 18160. The music jammer takes apparent monitoring breaks on the hour, and when the jammer's carrier is off, Bihlmayer, who lives in Southern Germany, says he's heard a weak carrier on 14050 broadcasting a Chinese program that included speech. He asked stations and SWLs in Hong Kong or Taiwan to listen during the breaks to pin down the jammer's target. ARRL Monitoring System/Intruder Watch Liaison Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG, says he's been able to hear the jammer from W1AW. In July, when the same jammer also was appearing on 18160, Bihlmayer alerted telecom authorities in Germany and Hong Kong, as well as IARU Region 3 and the PRC embassy in Berlin to the situation. The 17-meter band also is a worldwide exclusive Amateur Radio allocation. Skolaut says he's received reports about the music jammer from all over the US, including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico as well as from New Zealand (ARRL via Bill Smith, W0WOI, DXLD) ** CHINA. CONDOM BRAND NAME REFUSED AFTER CHINA TV CLASH A Chinese trademark application for a condom brand has been turned down because the name of the product sounded too much like China`s state-run television company, state press said today. An entrepreneur from southeast China`s Fujian province caused a stir early last month when he applied to name his condom brand ``Zhongyang yitao,`` which sounds like ``China Central Television (CCTV) channel one`` but also means ``central condom number one.`` The play on words has not been taken well by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce which oversees trademark registrations, the Southeast Express newspaper reported. ``The `Zhongyang yitao` name already has a certain recognition by the population as `CCTV channel number one`, which is a widely influential television station,`` the paper quoted a statement by administration as saying. ``If this is used as a commercial trademark it will have a negative influence on society.`` CCTV officials expressed ``shock`` when the application for the trademark came to light in August and threatened legal action to stop the registration. (Source: AFP) More on this story: Name of China`s top TV station risks doubling as condom brand http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/?p=5749 (September 6th, 2006, 09:28 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CROATIA. Re the reports concerning Glas Hrvatskej (Voice of Croatia) via Sergey Nikishin and Erik Køie --- I hear the station today on 11610 (sched 0600-1000) so it seems they've abandoned 13820 and moved off 11690 to avoid Turkey. Weak to fair signal with moderate fading (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. "Rebelde de Habana" blasting in on 770 over WABC this morning 0450-0515 EDT [0850-0915 UT] while getting ready for work. Heard on Grundig S350 barefoot. I suspect a power increase on this frequency. Do the South Florida DXers concur? Curt Deegan? PVZ? (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Sept 7, IRCA via DXLD) 770 Rebelde busting in here pretty good. Usually it's OK, in/out under/over others. Not tonight. Conditions? Peppier signal courtesy of the 'new management'? Will take a look at him tomorrow thru local iBLOC maggot. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, ibid.) Can't add to what Paul wrote. 770, R. Rebelde, Pilón, Granma, in here on the opposite coast daytimes at about same level as WWCN N. Fort Myers, both fair when summer noise and static aren't overwhelming. Haven't noticed an increase in R. Reb. signal, certainly not days (Curt Deegan, Boca Ratón, ibid.) OK, thanks Curt! I guess it was just one of those days when Cuban signals were blasting in up here. It happens quite often - pretty much a 100% water path from Cuba to Cape Cod (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, ibid.) ** CUBA. MCW spy letters station, 5930 was active again during the 0500 semihour Thursday Sept 7, logged at 0510 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319, AFRTS, 0115 Aug 14, M in English talking about their transmitter. Audio difficult at times, listed as only 1 kW (Bob Montgomery, Levittown PA, NASWA Journal via DXLD) You mean some local programming from DG? That would be a first (gh) ** INDIA. Dear Friends, Just now 1430 UT 7 Sept 2006 I am hearing AIR Lucknow on 4900 kHz (parallel to MW 747 kHz) rather than their original frequency of 4880 kHz. Their normal schedule on 4880 kHz is: 0025-0400 1215(Sun 1030)-1741. So look out on 4900 kHz. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) So is Bangladesh using 4880 at all, or have they settled on 4750? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Excellent reception, of course, of VIRI, which comes up on the TV screen as INT-1, INT-3 & INT-4; Radio Damascus comes up on the TV screen as `The voice of (the) People`, in English at 2010 & 2110 UT via the IA-5 satellite Ku digital. So I`ve sprung for another MPEG2 FTA [free to air] receiver – damn things keep getting cheaper & better – this one .1 of a kilobuck --- & smaller --- excellent vid & aud --- best I`ve had in one of these boxes (Chinese mfg, of course, but with warranty). These devices can sometimes be difficult for me to program --- forget which button to push to do what / guess I c`d learn computer usage but too lazy to try / & this sat stuff I fool with antiquated tech --- or becoming so --- EVERYTHING on the Internet: but what I get is free. And I do wish that English Al Jazeera w`d get started; but will it be FTA? Probably not. Current AJ encrypted on Panamsat 9. Just heard a story about a satellite/TV dealer in NY who has been selling devices (dishes?) whereby AL MANAR – the Hezbollah channel --- can be rec`d, & as a result has been arrested for `promoting terrorism`. Of course, these kinds of stories don`t give me the info I want --- how`s he getting A M --- it isn`t on any sat with a NAm footprint. Was removed (by govt order) from IA-5 some time ago, replaced by Al-Iraqiya; was listed on a Mike Kohl list, dated by now, as being on the Spanish Hispasat in the Arabic bouquet there, but replaced there also by Al Iraqiya. The French had it removed from Hotbird (Europe). The networks have been showing A M footage --- sent back via their own facilities(?) apparently from the ME. Al Manar have a website? Who doesn`t? Had been problems with VIRI via that medium. Besides the `terrorist`` radio on IA-5 (VIRI, VOP), other radio I like there are RNW (the all-English channel) &, of course, WRN. The all-English Russia Today all news channel (both Russian and world) is very well done / informative, on IA-5. Ever tried Senegal TV? In French. W`d never know anything about Darfur from Sudanese TV – culture stuff. Checking VOA radio channels on G3, 8/28 at 1900: of the 14, found 3 in English plus the ``RFE/RL Praha`` loop; seem never to hear any programming there. On the TV side, besides the two channels for Iraq, there were two channels with two audio channels each, one being English, but no audio for the TV which duplicated eight English TV channels (Loren Cox, Jr., Lexington KY, by P-mail, retyped and slightly edited by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. Confirming my previous impression that R. Farda broadcasts in Spanish, at 0525 Sept 7, usual good signal on 9865, far off-target here, 91 degree beam from Briech, Morocco, some rap or hip- hop ditty both in English and Spanish. This could really throw off the casual listener in guessing the ID. But it did not take long, 0527 for a R. Farda ID and talk in Persian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN/IRAQ [nons]. Clandestines: the following were observed on 30 July to 5 August: 4655, *1625-1855* in Kurdish. ID ``Era Dengi Kurdestana Iran`` (V. of Free Kurdistan), jammed. Presumed associated with V. of Iranian Kurdistan on 3960, 4860 4680, 0230-0330 in Arabic, presume ``V. of Free Iraq`` from Syria 4690, 1415-1600, unID, waiting for better propagation later this year 6335, *0240-?, ?-1555*, V. of Kurdistan (according to its ID) in Arabic, Kurdish and unID language like Turkish (Turkmen?) 15720, *1247-1259 UT Saturdays only. Clear ID in Persian ``In Sedaye Kurdestana Iran``. Same procedure as station of same name 1425-1625 on 3960, 4860. (15720 carried ``Voice of Joy`` in English from 1300 UT 5th August). The stations using 3880, 3930, 3960, 4380, 4610, 4860, 6425 are on the air as previously reported in May and August DX News (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel signed on 9345 at 1558 with a short carrier overlap with the now-to-keep Tashkent site which cut modulation (RNW English) in time at 1557. After interval signal at 1600 into Yiddish, presented with a remarkably slow delivery (about as slow as VOA Special English), not only by the announcer but also by somebody they interviewed via phone. Reception here in Central Europe, the very target area of this frequency, suffered seriously from stronger Firedrake on 9350. HFCC shows 9345 as using 50 kW only, certainly not helping in this situation. I understand that the separate Tel Aviv site has been closed down and Bezeq maintains only Yavne for shortwave transmission anymore? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Shiokaze again inaudible on 9485 via Taiwan, Thursday Sept 7 at 1327, and again I am not certain if it`s gone or moved, or just due to propagation. 9335 VOK was not audible either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. RTL plans DRM service for the Netherlands - including 279 kHz [BDXC Moderator: Note the planned use of 567 and 279 kHz by RTL. DRM on these channels could cause severe interference to RTE on 567 and the planned IOM station on 279 kHz in the UK and Benelux.] RTL plans DRM service for the Netherlands - report Dutch media site RadioVisie reports that RTL is developing its plans for DRM broadcasts from various countries, including the Netherlands. A number of frequencies have been requested: longwave 279 KHz for southern Germany (100 kW from Junglinster), 738 kHz for France (250 kW from Beid Weller), 1098 kHz for a Flemish service, and 567 kHz for the Netherlands (250 kW). The latter two transmitters, for Flanders and the Netherlands, would be at Cievaux in France. No launch date has been fixed for any of these services, as it will depend on when DRM receivers start appearing in the shops. (Source: RadioVisie.nl via Media Network weblog via BDXC via DXLD) This is old news; I found details of these requests in DX Listening Digest 5-048 last March and am sure have seen them, and others, before and that Paul Rusling is aware of them: 279 Junglinster 300 kW directional centered on 50 567 Clervaux 250 kW directional centered on 310 783 Clervaux 250 kW directional centered on 230 1098 Clervaux 250 kW directional centered on 300 They are requests and have to be co-ordinated with countries who have allocations for those frequencies, i.e. they could just say no on the grounds of interference caused to their existing or planned services. There was speculation that the 567 request went in because Ireland did not use that frequency for some months. If DRM takes off I would have thought that countries are going to want to protect their AM frequencies not give them all up to Luxembourg. And if course this does raise the point that there are only a limited number of AM frequencies which propagate differently at night, it is no good putting a DRM service on that only works during the day because at night there is skywave interference from and to other stations on the same channel (Mike Barraclough, BDXC via DXLD) Boy, RTL seem to be setting up on a few "controversial" frequencies here. 279 kHz has already been criticised for possible interference with IOMBC, assuming that the service makes it to air, but what may be even more stinky is the 567 kHz placing. With the transmitter in France, and a fairly powerful signal, do you think that this may cause interference with RTE, especially for nighttime listening in the South of England? I find nighttime on 567 better than nighttime on 252 (Dermott Young, mwdx yg via DXLD) Re: ``and 567 kHz for the Netherlands (250 kW). The latter 2 transmitters, for Flanders and the Netherlands, would be at Cievaux in France.`` (Paul David) There is much more in DXLD 5-049, scroll down to Luxembourg here or put it in find, the site is Clervaux, Luxembourg: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld5049.txt The ITU requests are here: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2005/GE75_112.pdf (Mike Barraclough, mwdx yg via DXLD) What content will be broadcast? May I guess? Probably music. And those markets are already saturated by FM music stations. So why on earth should I buy a DRM box to hear more of the same? (Jurgen Bartels, ibid.) The only Dx WEB against DRM noise: http://www.playdx. com (Dario Monferini, ibid.) At least in German there is http://www.ekubra. de/drm -- 73, (Martin Elbe, http://home. wolfsburg. de/elbe/ ibid.) ** MEXICO. Questions about the 1160 in Baja California --- Hi all, I'm new to the list, and DX with both a GE Super Radio 2, and Super Radio 3, so I don't have access to foreign stations and such across the continent, but was wondering --- I first discovered the 1160 yesterday, from here in Oakland, and though I know they come on at 5 in the morning Pacific time [1200 UT], does anybody know if they sign off at sunset, or drop their power, because I can't get them at sunset. Plus, I've noticed that the level for their initial ID is low, and the music, the lady who is on at that time of the morning, and the other commercials they run are all over-modulated. Also, regarding two Mexicali stations, at 820, which raised its power from 3000 to 3500 watts, last year, and the 850, both of which, in 2003, were playing English music, and I wonder if anybody knows if the call signs for those two stations are still the same, mainly, XEMVS, affiliated with the AVC radio network in Mexico city, and at 850, XEZF, which, incidentally comes on about 6 minutes before 5 in the morning, Pacific time [1155 UT], Monday through Friday, running a Spanish network called Enfoque, or focus in English, and at that time, if KOA isn't too strong here, I can tell that they're over-modulated, but I've not been able to catch an official ID from either station in a long time, and the only hint of an ID on 820 is Canal 820. Thanks, and I look forward to the posts on the list. Incidentally, the 850 still should be 1000 watts (Marty Rimpau, that was then, this is the Chinese smtp server, Sept 6, IRCA via DXLD) 820 Mexicali is XEABCA. I believe 850 is still XEZF. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, ibid.) ** NIGER. BROADCASTING IN NIGER --- "LA VOIX DU SAHEL" The return of Niger's "La Voix du Sahel" to shortwave on 9705 kHz has been one of the highlights for shortwave DXers in the past couple of months. Nowadays any long period of inactivity would seem to indicate that a country has left SW permanently, so when a station such as this suddenly reactivates its shortwave transmitter, it is something to be grateful for! Niger's broadcasting history hasn't actually been that exciting. It hasn't, from what I can tell, had any opposition or clandestine activity on shortwave, and hasn't been involved in any "radio wars" with any of its neighbours. As with most African countries it has had its moments of political instability but that doesn't seem to have had much effect on its radio service. Anyway, here are some notes about the national broadcasting service, the Office de Radiodiffusion du Niger (ORTN), which is more commonly known as "La Voix du Sahel". Broadcasting in Niger commenced in 1958 when the first transmitters were installed by the Société de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre- Mer (SORAFOM), the specialised agency created by France in 1956 to implement aid projects. SORAFOM at once assumed a pivotal role in broadcasting developments in Francophone Tropical Africa and its activities were all-encompassing - it built and managed radio stations, trained personnel, acted as a purchasing agent for technical equipment and supplies, produced programmes, and set up guidelines for future developments, in this case all under the exclusive control of the Republic of Niger. Niger's broadcasting service started with the standard SORAFOM installation of 1 kW medium-wave and 4 kW shortwave transmitters, both located in Niamey. Early programming mainly consisted of variety programmes, local music, radio plays, education and of course news and information, which was also summarised and translated from French into several languages, including Hausa, Djerma, and Peulh. After being a self-governing republic within the French Community since December 1958, Niger gained full independence on 3 August 1960. Its broadcasting service then began to develop in a way that was seemingly quite unique amongst other Francophone countries in the area by having a more varied regional distribution system and range of domestic services. This was demonstrated by Radio Niger expanding its production facilities to Zinder and Agades at an early stage, where programmes in some vernacular languages were recorded and, in the case of Zinder for example, sent to Niamey twice a week by aeroplane. Niger was also to develop more than one broadcasting network, eventually having four in operation. Network 1 was beamed to the west of the country, Network 2 to the east, both in French and languages of their respective target areas, whilst Networks 3 and 4 were exclusively for Niamey and other regional centres. Before we mention ORTN's shortwave operations over the years, it is worth having a look at the medium wave scene. As previously stated, Radio Niger was launched with one 1 kW transmitter back in 1958 and this was listed on 1511 kHz. In the mid-1960's a 0.1 kW transmitter was added on 1595 kHz. At the same time plans were in hand for medium wave transmitters in several other towns in Niger, which by the early 1970's came to fruition. Gaya, Goure, Meninsouara, N'Guigmi, Tahoua, Tera, Tillabery, and Zinder were all to have 100 Watt MW transmitters installed for relays from Niamey and for their own regional programming. Today it appears that some of these have become inactive and WRTH 2006 lists the following only: 1125 kHz Niamey (20 kW), 1215 kHz Tahoua (0.1 kW), 1332 kHz Meninsouara (20 kW), 1485 kHz Difa (0.1 kW), and 1575 kHz Niamey (1 kW, is this the original MW transmitter from 1958?). As for shortwave, the original 4 kW SORAFOM transmitter in Niamey was soon joined by a 30 kW unit in the early 1960's, and then a 20 kW one in 1974. In 1985 a 100 kW transmitter was installed, and this is presumably the same one that has just been reactivated on 9705 kHz. Shortwave DXers who have listened over the last 25 years or so will no doubt remember some of ORTN/La Voix du Sahel's more familiar frequencies which include: 3260 kHz, which was the early morning and evening outlet of 4 kW, mostly in parallel with the more widely heard 5020 kHz (20/30 kW, and later 100 kW). 7155 kHz had been a daytime only frequency at first (30/100 kW), but by the end of the 1990's was on throughout the entire broadcast day, just like 9705 kHz appears to be now. As for 9705 kHz, that again was originally on for a few hours during daytime only, but was eventually to become the sole shortwave outlet as the transmitter on 5020 kHz became more erratic and finally left the air. Late in 2003, the 100 kW transmitter on 9705 kHz had its last report from what I can find, until its welcome return in the last few months. It would seem that the 1, 20, and 30 kW transmitters are unlikely to ever be reactivated, if they are still around at all. By the early 1980's, FM was also starting to establish itself and transmitters in Niamey and Zinder were the first of many that were to eventually appear in the country, probably to the detriment of the low powered medium wave transmitters. In Niger, in addition to ORTN, many private radio stations are now heard on FM and a Google search will bring up many mentions of those that are currently listed in the WRTH. As in other African countries, RFI, BBC, and Africa No 1 also have FM transmitters in Niamey and other main towns. Whilst Niger has been heard fairly regularly over the years on shortwave here in the UK, it doesn't seem that any of the medium wave outlets have quite made it, at least according to the MWC "African and Asian DX Heard in the UK", but that's hardly surprising with no real high powered MW transmitters having ever been on air in the country. However, one other thing worth mentioning is the reception of La Voix du Sahel on 45.650 MHz VHF which was heard by European FM DXers back in 2002 and reported in DSWCI's DX Window and in DX Listening Digest. It was regularly heard around March time and was said to be a so- called STL (Studio-Transmitter Link), i.e. carrying the signal from the studios in Niamey to the transmitting centre outside the city. Worldwide low-band VHF reception was possible at that time as a result of the sunspot maximum. However, others frequently receiving the station were equally convinced it was a semi-harmonic unintentionally radiated of 91.3 MHz. So, there we have it, a look at La Voix du Sahel over the years. If you haven't yet heard them since they have been reactivated, why not give them a try. Here's the extract from the BDXC's "Africa on Shortwave" that can be found on the club's website at http://www.bdxc.org.uk ORTN - LA VOIX DU SAHEL Address: ORTN - La Voix du Sahel, BP 361, Niamey, Niger. Web: http://www.ortn-niger.com/radio.php Email: ortny @ intnet.ne Transmitter Site: Niamey - 100 kW transmitter. Times/UTC Days Language Target Frequencies/kHz 0500-2300 Daily French/Vernaculars Domestic 9705 Note: reactivated in 2006; schedule subject to confirmation. (Tony Rogers, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) which had illos too ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria in English between 1700-2100 on 15120 kHz is announced as being for North Africa and Europe, and has been observed with the following programmes (with some variations to those listed on the VON website, which is not up-to-date); tbc - to be confirmed: Monday: 1700 Sixty Minutes, 1800 News, 1805 Broad Street, 1815 Impressions, 1830 Insight, 1845 Newsfile, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 Musical Heritage, 1930 Diplomatic Suite, 1945 Beyond Poverty Line, 2000 Sixty Minutes Tuesday: 1700 Sixty Minutes, 1800 News, 1805 Broad Street, 1815 Issues, 1830 Insight, 1845 Newsfile, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 News Maker, 1930 The Villa, 1945 African Integration, 2000 Sixty Minutes Wednesday: 1700 Sixty Minutes, 1800 News, 1805 Broad Street, 1815 Kiddies Voices, 1830 Insight, 1845 Newsfile, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 Grassroots, 1930 Round-Table, 1945 West Africa Today, 2000 Sixty Minutes Thursday: 1700 Sixty Minutes, 1800 News, 1805 Broad Street, 1815 Talking Agriculture, 1830 Insight, 1845 Newsfile, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 Investment Profile, 1930 Development Initiatives, 1945 Women and Developments, 2000 Sixty Minutes Friday: 1700 Sixty Minutes, 1800 News, 1805 Broad Street, 1815 Echoes (tbc), 1830 Insight, 1845 Newsfile, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 People and Places (tbc), 1930 Nigerian Popular Music, 2000 Sixty Minutes Saturday: 1700 Africa Hour, 1800 News, 1805 African Safari, 1830 Weekend Magazine, 1845 National Assembly, 1900 News, 1905 Landmarks, 1915 Showbiz News, 1930 Nigerian Popular Music, 2000 Africa Hour Sunday: 1700 News, 1705 Weekly Analysis, 1715 Business Weekly, 1730 Periscope, 1745 Showbiz News, 1800 News, 1805 VON Link Up, 1830 Talking Sports, 1900 News, 1905 This Week on VON, 1930 The Week in Review, 1945 Our Enviroment, 2000 News, 2015 Sports Roundup, 2030 The Villa (tbc), 2045 Nigeria and Politics (tbc) (monitored by Tony Rogers - August 2006, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** QATAR. BOOK REVIEW: "LOSING ARAB HEARTS AND MINDS" There's been much speculation about the reasons for the long delay to the launch of Al-Jazeera International (AJI), the English-language global service of the Qatar-based pan-Arab broadcaster. Reasons offered range from problems finding cable and satellite distributors in the US, to rumours of political rifts between AJI bosses and its parent channel. As Al-Jazeera approaches its 10th anniversary in November 2006, Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring Media Services reviews "Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion", by Steve Tatham: Before and during the 2003 coalition action against Iraq, Lieutenant- Commander Steve Tatham of the Royal Navy worked on the media information campaign that accompanied the eventual invasion. In his book "Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion" (Hurst and Co, London, 2006), Tatham draws on his experiences as the Royal Navy's public spokesman during the war to examine the relationship between Arab media and the US-led coalition, and to assess how the Coalition's efforts to win hearts and minds have fared. Tatham sets out why a positive relationship never developed between the Coalition and the Arab media. A major factor, he says - echoing the views of several British academics and journalists - is that at the end of the 1990s, Arab TV channels and other media were reflecting the opinions of their audiences that Europeans and the US were fundamentally anti-Arab. His book is highly critical of how the United States handled the information war, leading to Arab media becoming "demonised by the United States, cited as being anti-US and anti-Coalition". Meanwhile, in the US itself, although there were voices of dissent against the invasion, the major US media made sure the public did not hear those opinions. Breaking taboos Tatham looks not just at how Al-Jazeera covered the invasion and the Coalition's subsequent role in Iraq, but at its pioneering role in breaking taboos of deference to authority in the Arab world. Al- Jazeera, he argues, "actively encouraged its journalists to shed the shackles of censorship and to say what they thought and report what they saw". Media analysts have described Al-Jazeera as the most popular political party in the Arab world. At a conference held by Al-Jazeera in Qatar in July 2004, the station's staff debated what role, if any, the broadcaster should play in spreading political reform throughout the Arab world. Staff admitted they had been at loggerheads over the channel's objectives. Some argued that all media had an obligation to be involved in politics. Others believed that Al-Jazeera should not play the role of a political party, although it could contribute to the reform process. And several noted the need to distinguish between news and opinion in the channel's output. Tatham notes that a continuing advertising boycott of Al-Jazeera in many Gulf states has prevented the channel from becoming self- financing. It still relies heavily on the Emir of Qatar for funding. Commenting on disagreement between the channel and the Emir's government, he says "the intricacies of the relationship with the government of Qatar can only be guessed at". It would have made intriguing reading if Tatham had explored further what control is exerted behind the scenes, or looked at another issue that has intrigued analysts - the extent to which the Muslim Brotherhood allegedly enjoys support and influence among the station's staff. On the latter point, the answer this reviewer has been given by Al- Jazeera director-general Wadah Khanfar is that his channel's employees come from diverse cultural, political and religious backgrounds. Whatever their personal beliefs, however, they are professional journalists and any attempt to introduce political bias into the channel's output would be detected and eliminated by its rigorous editorial standards and the code of ethics it introduced in 2004, Khanfar insists. Tatham's book also sets out in fascinating detail how Coalition forces went about their propaganda war. The tactics used included leaflet drops, broadcasting radio messages to Iraqi military personnel and civilians, and other "psychological operations". These included the targeting of e-mails and text messages, "still a hugely sensitive area for the Coalition and one which official sources are absolutely unwilling to discuss". Very similar tactics were employed by Israel in the war in Lebanon this summer. Special units of the Israel Defence Forces sent mass SMS and mobile phone messages warning residents of southern Lebanon to flee their homes before Israeli attacks. The IDF also hacked into terrestrial broadcasts of the Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar to transmit its own brief propaganda messages. "The massive efforts of the Coalition's covert information operation... were only partly effective in the absence of honest and transparent engagement with the region's organic media," Tatham writes. There was little engagement of any kind during the 2003 conflict, and even less in the post-war reconstruction phase. And the continuing inability of the current US administration to address the problem of public diplomacy in the Middle East is "deeply worrying", he concludes. According to reports last week, US commanders in Baghdad are offering a two-year public relations contract valued at 20m dollars that calls for monitoring the tone of stories filed by US and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq. This latest US military venture to win over hearts and minds in the Middle East would seem to confirm Tatham's analysis. Source: BBC Monitoring research 4 Sep 06 (via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIA TV, RADIO BROADCASTING SERVICE FACES BANKRUPTCY --- MINISTER --- 6 September 2006, Moscow, RIA Novosti http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060906/53574323.html The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Service (RTRS) is on the verge of bankruptcy, the culture minister said Wednesday. "A critical situation has evolved at RTRS, which sends the signal throughout the country," Alexander Sokolov said. "RTRS is in effect on the brink of bankruptcy, which could be followed by a crisis of the entire television and broadcasting system." He said he had alerted the lower house of the Russian parliament last summer to the danger of the loss of broadcasting satellites. Commenting on the minister's statement, a RTRS spokesman said that the company was indeed on the verge of bankruptcy and that under-funding was the main reason. Andrei Pautov said the Finance Ministry's outstanding debt to RTRS was about 2 billion rubles ($74 mln). (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Came at 1615 across Deutsche Welle in English on 9485 via Trincomalee and listened to it for a special experience: Newslink with many excerpts from interviews, all in German, being voiced-over in English (without a deliberate German accent, of course). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA ** TURKEY. The transmission of Voice of Turkey in Serbocroatian via Çakirlar at 1600 on 9605 is even worse than 9460/5980: Only faint traces of modulation, almost buried under slight but still louder hum and crackle. Looks like this is the only frequency and only transmission of this program, so all editorial work put into it gets lost this way. Around 1627 this sorry signal went off the air and made way for BBC via Singapore, signing on with IS for presumed Urdu starting at 1630 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT, 15450, with another ``Live from Turkey``, at 1250 Thursday Sept 7, fair signal, M&W host discussing something with each other, but soon David Crystal was on the line from Israel and his somewhat strident voice is much more intelligible. Complaining about censorship due to wartime conditions, etc. He occupied the rest of the program, and was expected back for the other LfT on Tuesday at 1850 on 9785. Then we were treated to multiple iterations of the VOT piano IS, each one a variation, with slightly different flourishes, tempo, rather than identical replays, all the way until 1329* when the engineers no doubt had to hustle to get the frequency changed for the next language at 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. The 2007 schedule changes for VOT have been noted in Latin America, and there was great excitement about the prospect of an hour of Spanish in the evening, instead of trying to pull in the Spanish broadcast to Europe in the daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Turquía: En el boletín digital del DX Listening Digest 6-132, (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) aparece el nuevo esquema de la TRT anunciando un Servicio en Español a las 0200-0300 UTC a partir de enero de 2007. Esto indicaría la posibilidad de recepción en Latinoamerica ¿Se anula la transmisión para España? (Ruben Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) RE: Nuevo horario de TRT en Español! Buenas tardes, Con respecto a esta noticia, de la que no tenía ni idea, he preguntado a la redacción de español de La Voz de Turquía, que me contestan lo siguiente: No anulamos nuestra transmisión para la península ibérica. Sino que ampliamos la cobertura (incluyendo Caribe, America Central y México) a traves de una nueva frecuencia en 2007. Seguiremos en antena a las 1730 utc. La repetición será como siempre a las 0200 utc (internet y satélite). Buenas noticias pues. Saludos, (Ramón Vicente Fernández, Spain, ibid.) Well, there has been no repetition at 0200 on SW, which is to be added on 9865, it seems (gh, DXLD) Hola de nuevo, Si, siempre hubo una repetición pero solo por Internet y satélite. La novedad es solo la onda corta. La frecuencia del servicio para Europa es 13720 a las 1630 UTC [horario de verano norteño]. A mi también me sorprende algo el destino de sus emisiones. En mi conversación con ellos, en la que estuvo presente el vicepresidente del servicio exterior, les comenté esa laguna y les cité tu caso y la grabación que te envié. Me dijeron que reciben algunas cartas desde América, sobre todo desde Brasil, México y Colombia. Quizá haya sido ese el motivo. De todos modos es consolador y gratificante que se produzca una ampliación de emisiones en nuestro idioma, que compartimos tantas personas en el mundo. Un abrazo, (Ramón Vicente Fernández, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) Oh, oh, here is contradictory info denying all this: Las Emisiones en español de la TRT permanecen sin cambios. Estimados Colegas Diexistas, Estuvé preguntando sobre el nuevo horario en Castellano de La Voz de Turquía para el próximo año, y las informaciones que tengo es que hasta ahora no habrán cambios significativos, salvo el cambio normal de frecuencia para el período de invierno. Le envié un mi interrogante a una de sus locutoras en idioma español, concretamente a la Sta. Devrim Songul, y su respuesta fue la siguiente: ``Otra cosa sobre el mensaje que enviaste ayer sobre el cambio en las emisiones de nuestra radio. La verdad es que se dicen muchas cosas sobre el cambio y no sé a cual creer. La emisión española no cambiará, nos han dicho los directores pero algunos idiomas se bajarán en media hora, esto es la verdad. Pero lo que sé, se forma de esto, los cambios en algunos idiomas pero no hay ningún cambio en español. De nuvo quiero agradecerte y deseo lo bueno para ti. Tu amiga turca, Devrim Songul.`` Sin más por el momento, reciban un cordial saludo desde Barinas, Venezuela. Atentamente, (Jorge García, ibid.) So whom are we to believe, the frequency planners or the Spanish broadcasters? Time will tell (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. The change of frequency must be at 0000 UA time (2100 UT) on Sunday 10 Sept. That will be Saturday night in USA. In attachment I enclose the new schedule of RUI from 10 Sent. -- Best regards, (Alexander Yegorov, RUI, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Shortwave broadcasting A06 schedule with changes (10 September - 29 October 2006) Time (UTC) Frequency (MHz) Band, m Transmitter site Target Area 0000-0500 5830 49 Kharkiv Russia 0500-0800 7420 41 Kharkiv Western Europe 0800-1300 9950 31 Kharkiv Western Europe 1300-1700 5830 49 Kharkiv Russia 1700-2000 5830 49 Kharkiv Western Europe 2000-2400 5840 49 Kharkiv Western Europe 2300-0400 5820 49 Mykolayiv North America (via Yegorov, RUI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. I have just learned that John Drummond, former Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the Promenade Concerts, has died at the age of 71. I believe he also had some involvement with the Edinburgh Festival (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, Sept 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) OBIT ** U S A. Not just WBOH 5920, but now its sibling station WTJC 9370 (why bother to have two separate calls, anyway?), is ailing. Sept 7 at 1329 noted considerable distortion on 9370 and splatter down to 9290. Rather novel to have this one splattering rather than WWRB 9385 Brother Scare. Clearly Jesus is not smiling upon the Fundamentalists (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 6-134, WBCQ: Glenn, NSS10 was a subject abbreviation for "New show Sunday Sept. 10" in the beginning of my e- mail to Larry Will. All right to subtract it from DXLD. Tnx (Fred Jodry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CNN AND WINS TO STREAM ORIGINAL COVERAGE OF 9/11 Lou Josephs writes: On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Pipeline will stream CNN’s coverage of the terrorist attacks as they unfolded five years ago, matched to the exact time of day. The stream will begin at 8:30 am EDST (1230 UT), just minutes before the first report of a plane hitting the World Trade Center — and CNN.com is making Pipeline free for the day. http://www.cnn.com/pipeline/index.a.html Additionally, CNN Pipeline will feature live reports from memorial services in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. CNN.com also will offer online users unrivaled, comprehensive reports, video and audio clips and other elements to show how life in the United States changed over the past five years. Also WINS is going to do the same with radio coverage of the event. It will be on a separate subsite off the WINS home page http://www.1010wins.com/ For a Dutch perspective on 9/11, Radio Netherlands has published the memories of Charles Groenhuijsen, who was working as a US reporter for Dutch TV on 9/11 2001. http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/ter060901 (September 6th, 2006, 16:38 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. It`s been nearly 20 years since the FCC added the 1610-1700 kHz part of the dial, the so-called ``expanded band.`` It was designed to reduce crowding of the AM band 530-1600 kHz and to encourage the adoption of AM stereo. The FCC ruled back in 1997 that 88 of 710 interested stations were eligible to apply for construxion permits. Of those 88, 66 elected to file for the CPs, and only 56 axually built a new station. As an incentive to move, stations were allowed to be on the original as well as the new frequencies for five years. That time period is nearing an end for most of the stations, which must decide which channel to keep, if they might fight to keep both frequencies, or sell one frequency, possibly to a minority group. Duopoly rules have since been liberalized to the point where most, if not all, can get to enjoy the cake and to eat it too (Bruce Elving, Sept FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. What room number is your station? --- This story is too much. 1550 kHz 5 KW day. 28 watts at night (when it feels like it) Read the whole thing. It just gets better. Lol (Brock Whaley, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC FINES MISSOURI ECONO LODGE STATION FOR NO STUDIO Sep. 06, 2006 By Jeffrey Yorke from radioandrecords.com The lights are on, but nobody`s home. The FCC`s enforcement bureau has slapped Springfield, Mo. station operator 127 Inc., which is headed by C.J. Perme, with a $16,800 fine. The charges include running talk KLFJ without maintaining a main studio, overpowering during nighttime hours and failing to make available the station`s public files. FCC inspectors from its Kansas City office, acting on a tip that the station was overpowered at night, tested the signal in mid-December 2005 and found it in violation. Although inspectors repeatedly phoned the station regarding the violation, the calls went unanswered. Federal agents eventually tracked down the owner`s executive assistant in Branson, Mo., who informed the agents that there was no studio for the station and that programming is done via computer from West Hollywood, Calif. She knew of no public file, but told the agents that the station`s phone number was listed in the Springfield phone book. The phone was supposed to be answered at the nearby Econo Lodge where the station`s computer operation was contained. The agents, along with KLFJ`s contract engineer, inspected the equipment at the motel and determined that the transmitter had been operating above the granted power for two to three months. The also found that the station telephone at the Econo Lodge front desk was unplugged, but operated correctly when plugged in. In March, the FCC sent the station owner a notice of apparent liability --- alerting the company of the charges and the pending fine. The company did not deny the violations, but said it had made efforts to correct the violations and requested a cancellation or reduction of the proposed fine, citing its ``spotless track record`` and ``many years of untarnished service.`` The FCC has denied the owner's request for leniency and has told the company that it has 30 days to pay the full freight (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-134 sunset DXing: A correction, if I may, to the day timer power down list from the MWC in DXLD 6-134 of Sept. 6, 2006. WGKA in Atlanta is not running 25,000 watts at local Atlanta sunset. They still have a "critical hours" license, and run only 2,300 watts two hours after local sunrise, and two hours before local sunset year round. And although everyone lists them as a daytimer, they do run close to 150 watts an hour after sunset, and around 100 watts for another hour after that. Other daytimers in my groundwave area that drop to critical hours power before sunset, and after sunrise include: 660-WLFJ-SC-50 KW to 10 KW 870-WQRX-AL 10 KW to 4.7 KW 890-WBAJ-SC 50 KW to 8.5 KW 1020-WRIX-SC-10 KW to 3 KW 1040 WPBS-GA 12 KW to 5 KW 1060 WKNG-GA 11 KW to 5 KW 1100 WWWE-GA 5 KW to 3.8 KW 1140 WBXR-AL 15 KW to 7.5 KW 1500 WDPC-GA 5 KW to .5 KW 1520 WDCY-GA 2.5 to .8 KW To list a few that are day time ground wave regulars here. Of course many daytimer stations also change their pattern or have to go directional during critical hours like 1530- WTTI-GA. Also many full time stations still run on reduced power during critical hours. Here in Atlanta, WAEC on 860 runs 5 KW day, 2.5. KW critical hours, and 500 watts nights. Directional at night only (Brock Whaley, Lilburn, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. George Sherman mentioned KYMN's former sign-off at Portland OR sunset [KYMN = 1080 Northfield MN] ----- I think the connection between KYMN's sign-off time and Portland sunset is coincidental. Yes, there is a powerful and very old station (KOTK?) on 1080 in Portland, but, notwithstanding its age, the Portland station is not a Class A; it is a Class B. Class Bs' sunrise and sunset times are not a factor in determining the timing of mode changes of co-channel Class Bs or of co-channel Class Ds with post- sunset authority. The timing of KYMN's various operational-mode changes after Northfield sunset has got to be related to sunset at one or both of the co-channel Class As, WTIC and KRLD. KYMN is a Class D with a PSSA and nighttime authority as well. I am not sure, but I believe that KYMN is (very slightly) east (as well as WAY north) of KRLD. I am also pretty sure that KYMN is located outside of KRLD's protected 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave contour. Therefore between Northfield sunset and Dallas sunset (at least when Dallas sunset is later than Northfield sunset), KYMN is probably allowed to operate with 500W ND. From the later of Dallas or Northfield sunset until two hours after Northfield sunset, KYMN must be permitted to operate at powers higher than 11 Watts. The exact value depends on the month, with higher values generally allowed in summer months than in the winter. Then, at two hours after Northfield sunset, the power drops to 11 W year-round. There may be another step in there -- higher power (but lower than 500W) may be allowed from the later of Dallas or Northfield sunset until one hour after Northfield sunset. I'm not sure of that, however. Anyhow, the rules for power reductions by Class D AMs with PSSAs are so complex, they seem to me to be impossible to implement properly without the use of computer control. And when the FCC first promulgated those rules, computers were not all that pervasive. So maybe the idea was to mollify the daytimers on Class A channels by granting them post-sunset authority but to make the rules so onerous that nearly all of the affected stations would say, "we can't do this, and the small power provides so little coverage that trying isn't worth the effort." Then computers became widely available at low cost and the rules seemed less onerous (Dan Strassberg, AC 707, IRCA via DXLD) WRIB-1220 [Providence RI] has five power levels for different times of the day. In the 80's they bought a transmitter from Nautel which had what I believe to be the first five-level power controller. I bought an Intermatic timer from Grainger that's normally used for school bells and such during the day. Every month I would change the timer for that month's power level requirements. It was in use when I left there in July. That controller also made it dead easy to set up that daily five minute power raise at 3 am for a defacto DX test. No human effort required. These days the common Burk remote control handles that. Scripts can be run through their interface program called AutoPilot. WDDZ-550 has its day/night pattern change handled that way, as does WBET-1460. Years ago we all did it manually, but engineers were required in that era. WPMZ-1110 is a daytimer, and the transmitter on/off is run manually by the announcers. On rare occasions they forget to pull the switch at signoff and a dead carrier is left on. I simply call in and shut it down. Newer transmitters such as the Nautel Jazz 1000 have a computer power change ability right in them. If WDDZ was non-directional, I'd simply use the Nautel controller to handle power change. Most places are using something like the Burk, or one from another vendor. The Grainger timer was a cheap way out in the 80's, and could still work today. However, that timer is now about a thousand bucks (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Can someone offer an explanation of the FCC's policy on High School Football night games, Also College Ball. Do they get a STA for higher night Power than normal Or just run full power, pattern hoping W0FCC doesn't notice. One of the best stories I heard was the Kansas Station in Wellington, KS [1130] (about 40~ 50 miles south of Wichita -- near the Oklahoma border Running Nebraska Cornhusker Football in the evening (yes, I guess there are a few N U fans in Kansas) billing itself as the "Husker POWER Station" 250 watts daytime and 1 (one) watt authorized at night --- Guess they were running full power after sunset and the FCC busted them - No STA to do that --- I can't believe that the FCC even lets a licensed station run at such a ridiculous power of ONE watt!!! What 2 miles coverage??? Not even worth the effort (Bill Snyder, NE, ABDX via DXLD) There is no such thing as a "high school football STA" - it's a joke that's been floating around the DX community for some years, to explain the strange propensity that so many small AM stations have to operate at day power/pattern on Friday nights this time of year. Somewhere along the line, it seems as though at least some DXers began believing that there really was such an exemption in FCC rules. There's not - and stations caught operating on day facilities on Friday nights in the fall face the same penalties that any other station would. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) I was curious about this so I checked KRZI 1660, the broadcast affiliate of our local college football team for a game day signal strength comparison before sunset and after sunset. The KRZI transmitter is about 20 miles away and operates with 10kw days and 1kw at night. On my Drake R8B they were S9+40 at 4pm local and by 9pm they were down to S9+40. That's right, no change. I would expect a 90% reduction in power to make a change on the meter to about S9+30-32, but I could see (or hear) no change. Any ideas? (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, ibid.) A true case of the local sports STA. A long followed tradition continues. The FCC seems to turn a blind eye to this phenomenon. I am glad they do (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) Can we PLEASE not call these situations "STA"s? The term has a very specific meaning - it refers to authority GRANTED by the FCC to operate outside normal license parameters, for a certain limited amount of time (usually 6 months), because of a specific unusual situation, which can be anything from the loss of a tower to a civil emergency. In every case, though, STA operation is explicitly permitted by the FCC, whether verbally (as in the case of the NYC TV stations that put up emergency transmitters in the hours after 9/11) or through a more formal application process. Local stations that operate with daytime facilities to broadcast sporting events at night may be providing a valuable public service, and we may salute them for doing so. Hell, the FCC may even turn a blind eye to the phenomenon - but it's still not legal operation, and "STA," which implies FCC knowledge and permission, is simply not the right term to describe it. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) You have much inertia to overcome (Kevin, ABDX moderator, ibid.) Change starts at the top, Mister Bossman... s (Fybush, ibid.) Actually I agree with him, Kevin - I guess I got some inertia to overcome too. I'd prefer "an intentional oops" or something along those lines. When I see "STA" anywhere I think of something that was applied for and actually granted by the FCC. Sorry, but it was bugging me too :) Now, to order my copy of "Overcoming Inertia for Dummies" (Michael n Wyo Richard, ibid.) This is certainly an interesting allegation. I'm beginning to think there may be something to it. Certainly, many small-market AM broadcasters seem to believe it's legal to stay on after hours for football. After mentioning the illegality of the practice in my MT column I heard from one broadcaster who expressed considerable surprise that the exception didn't appear in the FCC regulations. (it definitely doesn't!) Might this, along with the recent proposal to allow FM translators to relay AM stations, be a bone thrown to small AM operators to soften their opposition to IBOC? Personally, I have little sympathy for these stations though. For two reasons: - They knew what they were getting into. If the original owner, they knew they were applying for a daytimer/station with very limited nighttime coverage. If not the original owner, any due diligence would have shown what they were buying. If they'd bought a 1,000/1,000 U1 station & then the FCC spontaneously modified it to 500/21 U3, I'd feel differently. The situation is kinda like the developer who buys a farm field cheap because it's across the street from a five-tower AM DA that's been there for 50 years - and then tries to get the town to order the towers removed to improve the resale value of his land. (come to think of it, that's pretty much what happened to that 1590 station in Pa. last year, isn't it?!) - The extra night facilities might improve public service in their community of license, but likely at the expense of limiting choice elsewhere. If every daytimer were to stay on night power until midnight on Fridays, the interference here would likely limit my reception to two stations: WSM, and my county's local station WQSV- 790. Other choices I have - WBBM, WHAS, KMOX, etc. - would likely be severely limited by interference. If I'm not into football -- or my local is carrying some other high school's game (there are three high schools in this county and the one four miles down the road is NOT the closest one to WQSV) -- then the gain of local service from WQSV hardly balances the loss of the other stations (Doug Smith, TN, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. KRLD and music ('til dawn) Music Til Dawn was sponsored by American Airlines, which was (and still is) hubbed in Dallas, but the format was used on other stations in AA markets. Not sure who was first, but because of the Dallas HQ for AA, it probably was KRLD. I think it was mostly CBS affiliates, clear channel stations, who carried MTD ... I heard it on KNX, where Mel Baldwin took the Hugh Lampman role. Back in the late '40s, when I was 12 or 13 or so, I wrote to the Oregon stations and asked for program schedules. Mel Baldwin was then manager of KTIL-1590, but shortly thereafter he turned up in Los Angeles. During the 1948-49 season, Steve Allen had a studio audience show from midnight to 1 on KNX ... sometime after he moved up, my other early radio hero, Jim Hawthorne, took over that program, but on Friday nights, KNX ran a music/talk program that satirized Peter Potter's Platter Party .. Mel Baldwin, Bill Norman and another LA radio personality whose name momentarily escapes me formed a panel that discussed fictitious musicians and played, occasionally, records. "Will it be a hit or a miss?" Peter Potter would ask about new records. "Will it be a mitt (applause) or a hiss (snaky sounds)?" the satirical show would answer. I do not remember how early Music Til Dawn started, but I do recall it became a topic on one of the lists a few years ago. I do not remember which came first, Music Til Dawn or Dolly Holliday's AN show, but I do recall there were a few NRC members who disliked Holiday Inn because the chain sponsored the all-night show that QRM'd all those frequency checks stations used to run (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, Sept 4, ABDX via DXLD) Adding to my memories of the Music Til Dawn, Mel Baldwin, Jim Hawthorne connection, I found, on the http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/05/the_first_freef.html website, the following: In brief, when Steve Allen left KNX at the end of 1951, they held auditions for his replacement, different one each night for a week, Winner, Bob Hopkins, lasted month or so, and folded. I had auditioned fron Tillamook Oregon (station Mgr), 'cause I met Steve and then wife Dorothy on vacation in 1950 in LA. Used to send him jokes, etc., became his "Tillamook Reporter". I wrote Steve, told him our gang would miss him, wished I was there to audition too. Steve called, said if I was serious he'd put in a good word for me. I called Geo Allen, (P.D), ended up getting hired as staff anouncer, started Feb 4/51. When Hopkins folded the old Allen spot became the "Mel Baldwin Show". All set to go back to the big studio after a month or so. Then NY called and asked who was in the old Allen spot? Learned later, a secretary told NY, "Mel Baldwin, he's a DJ from Oregon". NY decided they need at "Name" and bought Hawth's contract from KNBC as I recall. I became the "Hawthorne Show" Director, until he left KNX. Did some skits with Hawth and Bill Norman and Don Messick in a bit called the "Columbia Square Table" which we originated as a take off of the old Peter Potter "Juke Box Jury", or whatever it was called. A FUN tenure for all of us. I went on to host the American airlines-KNX all night "Music 'Til Dawn" for 13 years, then the same show at WBBM in Chicago 'til it went off the air, then switched to an all night news anchor (worst gig in the biz). Ended up with an 11 year final KNX gig as co host of the KNX Food News, retiring in 1991. Outside of that nothing much happened. Miss Hawth, but we email back and forth now; wonderful, talented man. Mel Baldwin, WFMU blog, July 5, 2005. Anybody want to hear about Hawthorne's syndicated "Funnyworld" five minute feature which a buddy and I wrote for Jim? How it was put together? Second worst job! Mel Baldwin, July 6, ibid. In my July 5th posting I mentioned Hawth's "Funny World" TV series, asking if anyone wanted the background to let me know. Andrea Walsh replied --- she also has a Hawth site at: http://www.jimhawthorne.com --- so here's that story: Sherm Grinsberg had the world's largest collection of old, old film clips on "stuff" --- chimps having a party/riding bikes/planes crashing thru barns/idiot flying machines/head-on train crashes, etc. This was back in the early 50's, about. I was then directing the KNX "Hawthorne Show" and staff announcing at KNX, (prior to my 13 year stint hosting the all nite American Airlines "Music 'Til Dawn" which started on KNX in '53.) My writing partner, the late Ken Finley was then Operations Director for ABC TV at the Prospect/Talmidge studios. (We had co-written "stuff" at KEX Portland before the move to Hllyd) and also later wrote Hawthorne's daily five minute Weather shot on KNBC-TV. We were tasked to write "Hawthorne's Funny World". Somebody else cut out clips and ran them together BEFORE Ken and I had seen them! We had to write Hawth's script, giving it some kind of continuity with clips running from five seconds to eight or ten! I think we did about 130 or 156 of the damn things, which Hawth managed to pull off okay. Years ago I saw them on re-runs, still! So here's another bit about Hawthorne's interesting past. Mel Baldwin 7/18/05 (all Via John Callarman, ABDX via DXLD) Hawthorne and Steve Allen were the only celebrities to whom I wrote fan male [sic], and that was 55 or so years ago. Unfortunately, I did not save the replies. Got a form letter from Allen, but it included a message that read "Thanks for the material." (The Krumudgeon, Krum TX, ABDX via DXLD) The Wikipedia profile of KNX has some interesting info, claiming that Bill Haley invented "Music Til Dawn." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNX_(radio_station Here's some more Music Til Dawn history from http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/classical/2005/12/music-til-dawn.asp Bill Cherry said... In the late '50s while a student at Tulane, I was the host of American Airlines "Music 'til Dawn" on New Orleans WWL-AM. The program was broadcast on every 50,000 watt AM station in cities serviced by American Airlines. Oddly, when AA first came up with the idea, they sent a brief description of the program's format to each of the stations, and left it up to them to pick the host, the music, and script the narratives. It was a disaster. Just as AA was threatening to pull it entirely, the marketing people realized that that the problem was it needed to be carefully and specifically formatted, and each host needed to sound like the others. So we were auditioned and picked by AA, then we were given a sequential play list for each shift, the poems to read, the comments to make. It worked and it became probably the most remarkable evening program that ever was. The king of "Music 'til Dawn" was a KREL [sic] Dallas, DJ, Hugh Lampman. We were told that he was the one who wrote the programs. I believe that to be true. The version of "That's All" that everyone remembers was arranged and recorded especially for that program. It was never licensed or available for public use. However, someone bootlegged that arrangement, and it is the one that is available on the web. Along the way American Airlines decided that it would be good if we were all to use the pseudonym, Hugh Lampman. That idea lasted a nanosecond. Lampman said no, and the rest of us wanted to use our own names "or else." But as I think back, there is no question in my mind that Hugh Lampman was the true king of "Musit [sic] 'til Dawn," and the rest of us should be grateful that we were able to ride that wave on his coat tails. One more comment. The New Orleans version that I did was performed in a furniture store window across from the Monteleon Hotel on Royal Street. I wore tux shirt, bow tie and a red dinner jacket. However, it was so hot in that window because of the lights that most evenings I had on shorts --- that was hidden by the console. The window had a curtain that ran by a small motor. After I was seated behind the console, and the news ended and I brought up the theme, the curtain would rise. Of course that would be done in reverse when my part of the program went off at midnight. From midnight on, the program was nothing more than seguéd tunes with pre-recorded commercials sandwiched in every now and then. That came entirely from the main studios at the Roosevelt Hotel. There was a huge Ampex tape recorder that ran "That's All" continuously. I'd fade it up and down as one song ended, I spoke, and the next song began. The program was "broadcast" on to Royal Street by speakers outside the window. It was in stereo. This was just as stereo had been invented, but of course, what the radio audience heard was in mono, since there was no stereo AM. The Krumudgeon again -- Hugh Lampman was followed on KRLD by Tony Garrett (I remember his work as well) ... Jay Andres did the show on WBBM ... Jay Roberts on WJR ... I've found so far. Some people, apparently, refer to elevator music as "Classical music." As most of us old timey DX'ers know, MTD and Dolly Holliday were the predecessors of the Beautiful Music format that Pete Taylor was associated with at KFOG The City and WJIB Boston. Jay Callan ... (No I never used "Jay.") (Qal R. Mann, Krum TX, ibid.) ** U S A. Re 6-134, radio stations carrying Couric: Glenn, That item could be interpreted to read that the Washington area stations mentioned are CBS Radio O&Os. Actually, WTOP (820 AM and 103.5 FM), WTWP (Washington Post Radio 1500 AM and 107.7 FM) are owned by BONNEVILLE HOLDING COMPANY. WTOP is a longtime CBS affiliate. WBZ, like WCBS, is owned by CBS RADIO EAST INC. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html (FCC AM database) http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html (FCC FM database) http://www.bonnint.com/section-e.php?p=2-0 (Bonneville International) Regards, (Art Chimes, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NPR TO STOP PRODUCING 'PERFORMANCE TODAY' Thursday, September 7, 2006; Page C08 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/06/AR2006090601754.html National Public Radio said it will end production and distribution of "Performance Today," the most popular classical music program on the air, and eliminate 11 jobs in its Washington headquarters as a result. Starting early next year, "Performance Today" and another weekly classical show, "SymphonyCast," will be produced by American Public Media, the St. Paul, Minn.-based distributor of public-radio programs such as "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Marketplace." APM will continue to distribute the program to some 230 stations. The move is another sign of classical music's diminished role at NPR and its affiliated stations. Many public stations, including WETA-FM (90.9) locally, have dropped daily classical programming, including "Performance Today," in favor of news and talk programs. WETA dropped "Performance Today," a daily program featuring classical concerts and interviews, last year when the Arlington-based station switched from a classical to a news-talk format. (WETA still airs a one-hour version of the program on Saturday afternoons.) "SymphonyCast" isn't heard locally. Nevertheless, "Performance Today" still reaches about 1.2 million listeners on 230 stations nationwide. American Public Media will produce the programs in its St. Paul studios next year. Sarah Lutman, the company's senior vice president of content and media, said yesterday that no "instantaneous changes" were afoot for either show. She said discussions were being held with "PT" host Fred Child and "SymphonyCast" host Corva Coleman to continue, but no agreements have been reached. -- Paul Farhi (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. MET ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SIMULCAST OPERA By RONALD BLUM Associated Press Writer September 6, 2006, 8:46 PM EDT NEW YORK -- The Metropolitan Opera is vastly expanding its broadcast presence, transmitting six live performances to movie theaters in North America and Europe this season and broadcasting more than 100 live over the Internet or on digital radio. As part of the company's groundbreaking attempt to expand its audience, it announced Wednesday that the six video broadcasts will be followed by telecasts on PBS following 30-day windows. DVD and CD releases could follow. The Met also will make many of its historical broadcasts available on the Internet, some for free but most for a fee. . . http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-opera-simulcasts,0,482393,print.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. NEW FUNDING SOURCE FOR SCHOOL STATIONS THWARTS RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS --- When a school district or a college decides to sell its non-commercial station, the new Public Radio Fund can help the buyer. The fund is to be capitalized at $15 million and will assist even small operators to quickly swing deals when a frequency comes on the market. Speed, says Public Radio Capital`s Marc Hand, is essential. The Calvert Foundation is contributing $3 million and the Ford Foundation $1.5 million in startup capital. Calvert`s Tim Freundlich expects to with [sic] ``five to ten stations in direct financing [with] ``as many as 20 to 30 stations`` helped over the life of the fund, as money is repaid and then recycled into new deals. See http://www.pubcap.org/ (Bruce F. Elving, Sept FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Warning: the following discussion involves indigenous nudity, which may be offensive to some readers: A while ago on the Discovery Channel, I think but am not sure, one of the ``Going Tribal`` episodes, from the Indonesian side of New Guinea, there was a tribe portrayed where all the mostly naked men (and boys) go around with their penises in a long curved tube (perhaps a root or some other indigenous plant). The extension, perhaps a couple feet long, does not stick out, but goes upward and the other end is tied around the chest. This appears to be part of their standard attire, worn as a matter of course, and if it was ever explained or even mentioned, I missed it. Or was it ``Tribal Life`` on Travel Channel? This makes one wonder what the rationale for it is. Do the tube- extensions emphasize their masculinity? Are they to encourage a constant state of erexion, making the males more effective citizens? Or to allow erexions to come and go inside the tubes without it being obvious? How the appliance may be padded and how comfortable it may be is also an open question. Of course, the women go around almost naked too, altho I don`t recall the exact details of their dress, so perhaps the men feel it necessary to obscure their involuntary reaxions. But that might be projecting western values upon them. It must have been inconvenient to take off if one needed to do something else with one`s penis, altho, who knows, perhaps the tube is hollow all the way with a hole in the other end allowing urination, if not comfortable penetration, without removing it. Or maybe it slips right off and remains hanging loosely from the chest. However, I don`t find a likely hit in the episode list for ``Going Tribal`` at the Discovery website, so it may well have been another similar program featuring naked natives. There is even less about ``Tribal Life`` at Travel Channel. Does anyone have any further info about this? DSC also has forums which may be read without joining, and the one at the top of the list was about the issue of ``indigenous nudity`` and whether the same standards should apply to everyone, and if not, is that being racist? http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7861949408/m/2391995828 Ironically, unlike DSC video, it seems the fora are censored to the extent where one may not even mention ``penis``! Getting back to coping with erexions, that reminds me of a play I once saw set in Elizabethan times, where all the guys were wearing a spherical thing around their middles, which must have been uncomfortable if one wanted to sit down, but which stuck out enough that erexions could come and go without being noticeable. Again this was just part of the costuming without comment or explanation. Perhaps someone knows what these were called and whether my scenario really applies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CHINA; and Here`s a real sexy piece I happened to hear on NPR`s ATC yesterday: Commentary --- Ladies in the Water Take One's Breath Away All Things Considered, September 6, 2006 Aaron Freeman considers himself to be physically fit. But recently, he tried a water aerobics class and found out that he could not keep up with women in their 70s. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5776989 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. CAMBIOS DE HORA EN URUGUAY --- Las horas de luz se alargan [sic] por decreto. A las 2 de la mañana del primer domingo de octubre de cada año, la hora legal se adelantará sesenta minutos, volviendo a la normalidad el segundo domingo del mes de marzo. El cambio de hora veraniego es una medida cada vez más frecuente y abarca más estaciones. Esta modificación horaria, pensada para aprovechar más la luz del día y a su vez impulsar el ahorro de energía, ya no será una iniciativa esporádica. El gobierno dispuso por decreto que la hora cambie todos los años, estableciendo exactamente los días para hacerlo. A partir de la hora 2 del primer domingo del mes de octubre deberemos adelantar sesenta minutos los relojes. Volveremos a la normalidad recién el segundo domingo de marzo, también a las 2 de la mañana. El objetivo del decreto fue adoptar un criterio definido y que permita atenerse a lo mismo año tras año. El adelantamiento de hora se producirá entonces un poco antes que el año pasado, cuando se hizo efectivo el 9 de octubre y volvió a cambiarse el 12 de marzo. En el 2006, el día será el domingo 1º de octubre (Montevideo Portal via Horacio A. Nigro, Barcelona, Spain, Sept 5, condig list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7590 and 7595 are more frequencies broadcasters to and within North America should avoid, since there is RTTY on 7593, noted at 0517 Sept 7; much earlier in the evening it was bothering some SWBC to elsewhere on 7590 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here`s the only hit on 7593 I got in the UDXF yg: 7593 kHz: what`s this? Heard at 0241z. Sounds like fast RTTY; the pk232 says it's "161 baud, 6-bit RTTY, RXRev OFF" (Steve Smith, WA6SOC, Redwood City, CA, June 30, 2006, UDXF yg via DXLD) No replies. And nothing in the third quarter ITU monitoring report (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ ``OVER" IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES For my two-bits worth; as I recall, the Koreans use a phrase "Arata" for over (only used in formally trained operators), while the Japanese tend to use "Dozo" (Dave Wright, UDXF yg via DXLD) Well, in greek we use either "OVER" or "ETOIMOS" (pron. e'timos) which means "READY". Regards, (Costas Krallis, SV1XV, Athens, Greece, ibid.) In Portuguese (and perhaps also Brazilian) you will hear "transmite" and "escuto" ("I listen" which may sound like "shkoot" in Portuguese) (Bev, Portugal, ibid.) Bev, Like Spanish, in Brazilian Portuguese you will hear "câmbio" too. 73 (Ivan Dias - Sorocaba/SP, DX Clube do Brasil Utility Editor http://www.ondascurtas.com ibid.) While cambio is the usual term in Spanish, one sometimes also hears ``adelante`` = onward (Guillermo Glenn Hauser, ibid.) In Swedish that would be "kom", pronounced approximately as the beginning (comm) of the English word "communication". (Lars E. Pettersson http://www.sm6rpz.se/ ibid.) In Polish it should be "odbiór" (ó = u) which translates to "receiving". In fact my Polish is fluent, but on the other hand I have only made 2 or 3 formal QSO's in Polish ever, so I'm not 100% sure on that. Cheers (Thomas TB. Ruecker, dm8tbr, ibid.) Well, in polish we either use "Koniec" - short way of ending a tx... or "Koniec transmisji"/"Koniec nadawania" = end of transmission/end of tx. Well at least that`s who mil/gov on hf end their tx. While "over" in meaning "mic back to you" is "Odbior (prenaunce more less like ODD-BUR... BUR like in QSL "BUR"O.. bureau.) (Maciej S. Muszalski, SQ5EBM/KO02MF/Warszawa, http://WWW.TEBY.NET Team HTTP://TINYURL.COM/BURLG Dumny czlonek lzeMediow wspierajacych lzeElity ibid.) In Hungarian the "back to you" is: "vétel", the "end of transmission" is "vége". The letter "é" sounds similar like the Spanish "e". (Not the English.) (George Toth, UDXF via DXLD) German: back to you / go ahead: "kommen" or "bitte kommen". End of tx: "ende", sometimes combined to "verstanden ende", which means "all received OK, end of tx" Remember the pronunciation: the 2 "e" in "ende" sound more or less the same. Like the "e" in the english word "end". The "v" in "verstanden" is pronounced as an "f". The "st" in "verstanden" is pronounced as "sh-t". Now Czech: Sometimes I come across communication in Czech on VHF. For "go ahead/back to you" they say a word which is pronounced as "pshee- em". The reason for the "sh" is a character which looks like an "r" with a small "v" at the top, which is pronounced as a soft "sh". For "end of tx" they use "konec". The Slovaks use "konec" as well, but "go ahead" is more like "pree-em". In Russian I heard "pree-om" or "na pree-yeme". This is all a bit difficult. We might try to produce a collection of audio files rather than try writing what we think it could sound like. That would definitely help. 73 (Alex from Austria, OE3DMA, UDXF yg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ PHILO FARNSWORTH, TV'S INVISIBLE INVENTOR, WAS BORN 100 YEARS AGO By Frazier Moore AP Television Writer NEW YORK - Fish don't know they're living in water, nor do they stop to wonder where the water came from. Humans? Not much better, as we share a world engulfed by television. And the deeper our immersion becomes, the less likely it seems we'll poke our heads above the surface and see there must have been life before someone invented TV. That invisible someone was Philo T. Farnsworth, who was fated to live and work, then die, in sad obscurity. Now, on the centennial of his birth on Aug. 19, 1906, his invention plays an increasingly powerful role in our lives -- with less chance than ever of him being recognized. How ironic! In this media-savvy age, not only should his name be as widely known as Bell's or Edison's, but his long, lean face with the bulbous brow should be as familiar as any pop icon's. He should be the patron saint of every couch potato. Instead, we regard TV not as a man-made contraption, but a natural resource. Nonetheless, it was Philo Farnsworth who conducted the first successful demonstration of electronic television. The setting: Farnsworth's modest San Francisco lab where, on Sept. 7, 1927, the 21-year-old self-taught genius transmitted the image of a horizontal line to a receiver in the next room. It worked, just like Farnsworth had imagined as a 14-year-old Idaho farm boy and math whiz already stewing over how to send pictures, not just sound, through the air. He had been plowing a field when, with a jolt, he realized an image could be scanned by electrons the same way: row by horizontal row. The prodigy at his plow had already made a fundamental breakthrough, charting a different course from others' ultimately doomed mechanical systems that required a spinning disk to do the scanning. Yet Farnsworth would be denied credit, fame and reward for developing the way TV works to this day. Even TV had no time for him. His sole appearance on national television was as a mystery guest on the CBS game show ``I've Got a Secret'' in 1957. He fielded questions from the celebrity panelists as they tried in vain to guess his secret (``I invented electronic television''). For stumping them, Farnsworth took home $80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes. In 1971, Philo Farnsworth died at age 64. But his wife, Elma ``Pem'' Farnsworth, who had worked by her husband's side throughout his tortured career, continued fighting to gain him his rightful place in history, until her death earlier this year at 98. Fleeting tribute was paid on the 2002 Emmy broadcast to mark TV's 75th anniversary. Introduced by host Conan O'Brien as ``the first woman ever seen on television,'' Pem Farnsworth stood in the audience for applause on her husband's behalf. It was a skimpy challenge to the stubborn misconception that the Radio Corporation of America was behind TV's creation. This is a version of history RCA was already promulgating as its president, David Sarnoff, was plotting to crush the lonely rival who stood in his way. Ultimately, Farnsworth would go head to head with RCA's chief television engineer, Vladimir Zworykin, and a vast company whose boss had no intention of losing either a financial windfall or eternal bragging rights. With that in mind, Sarnoff waged a war not just of engineering one-upmanship, but also dirty tricks, propaganda and endless litigation. In 1935 the courts ruled that Farnsworth, not Zworykin, was the inventor of electronic television. But that didn't stop Sarnoff, who courted the public by erecting a wildly popular RCA Television Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair and, after announcing that the RCA-owned National Broadcasting Co. would expand from radio into TV, transmitted scenes from the fair to the 2,000 TV receivers throughout the city. Thanks to Sarnoff, money woes and the lost years of World War II (which put TV broadcasting on hold), the clock ran out on Farnsworth's patents before he could profit from them. Now, few even working in the industry that Farnsworth sparked know who he is. But one who does is Aaron Sorkin, the playwright, screenwriter and creator of ``The West Wing'' (as well as ``Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' a TV drama that probes the inner workings of a fictitious TV series, which premieres next month on NBC). A decade ago, Sorkin briefly considered scripting a Farnsworth biopic. Later on, he opted to write a screenplay that instead would focus on the battle between Farnsworth and Sarnoff. Then he decided a play would be the better form for this tale. The result, ``The Farnsworth Invention,'' will have a workshop production at California's La Jolla Playhouse next winter, with a possible New York staging in fall 2007. It's unlikely such a theater piece will make Philo Farnsworth a household name. But as Sorkin wrote in a recent e-mail, ``The story of the struggle between Farnsworth and Sarnoff seemed like a nice way to invoke the spirit of exploration against the broad canvas of the American Century.'' The struggle between them was fierce and unfair. But in his sad fashion, Farnsworth won: The force unleashed as television was his doing, however blind the world may be to what he did (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) How will I celebrate? I plan to turn down the color and remove the "interlace" circuit so I only get 262 lines of resolution when I watch television today. In addition, I will not use any RCA product (Brock Whaley, GA, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s about what you get anyway with a VHS playback (gh, DXLD) VARIABLE DIFFRACTION GRATINGS MAY ENHANCE TV'S COLOR RANGE Researchers in Switzerland are developing a new nano technology they claim will double the range of colors that future TVs can produce - displaying every hue the human eye can see. The technology - relying on millions of mini variable diffraction gratings - is still in its infancy and will probably require years to perfect. http://tinyurl.com/keum5 (CGC Communicator, Sept 6 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) VERY COOL VIDEO FEATURING TOWER CLIMBERS Here is a very cool Coca-Cola spot that hits close to home for everybody who's ever climbed or worked with tower guys -- even if the ones in the spot do go straight up the tower, skipping the ladder.... http://www.pockethercules.com/broadcast_detail16.html (Doug Herman, Promotional Broadcast Network, San Diego, CGC Communicator Sept 6 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ 100% RECEPTION OF DW 7515 VIA RUSSIA IN BRAZIL Vejam aqui a minha última experiência de recepção DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) usando um SDR (Software Defined Radio): http://paginas.terra.com.br/lazer/py4zbz/sdr/sdrz.htm#dz (Roland M. Zurmely, PY4ZBZ, Sept 5, radioescutas via DXLD) DRM RECEPTION LOGS 9750, Vatican R., in English 2301 July 29, program re St. Ignatius Loyola, classical music, S/N 20 dB with nearly zero dropouts, good mono sound with 17 kbps bitrate, audio up to 11000 Hz 11675, R. Kuwait in Arabic at 2235 July 29, `live` concert of Arabic pop music, stable signal, 16 dB with 11 kbps, sound quality not great, maybe up to 4000 Hz, wiped out by Spain *2259 11900, TDP Radio via Canada, music only at 1600 Aug 12, dance music, IDs, monster signal, 25 dB S/N ratio, 21 kbps, parametric stereo, only a couple of dropouts, Saturdays only 13750, Vatican Radio in Italian, English at 1115 July 29, relay of local service ``105 Live``, brief news and sports at 1130, IDs in Italian as ``Radio Vaticana`` and ``105 Live,``, program ``Melodies and Memories`` with announcements in English and Italian; almost no audio until 1130 on this transmission aimed at NAm; after 1130 about 80% intelligible, but with frequent dropouts; S/N starting around 9 dB, jumping to about 16 dB by 1135, 19 dB at 1140 (Ralph Brandi, Middletown NJ, Sept NASWA Journal via DXLD) Re: IFA 2006 DRM report Reportedly the Morphy Richards set has from the start no battery compartment and is meant to be run on mains power only. It looks quite large for a portable anyway. This ´´Roberts MP-40´´ is nothing else than the Sangean DRM-40. And now I look forward to hear from technology freaks who actually bought such a set and if possible to get an opportunity to try it under real-world conditions. I see simply no point in still discussing prototypes after we heard on IFA 2005 about one million sets expected to be sold by yearend 2006 (´´and then came RTL and said, forget it, we need much quicker much more´´). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM: See also LUXEMBOURG PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Keep an eye on Glenn Hauser`s World of Radio and DXLD in September and especially October as I expect some further goodbye`s on shortwave at the end of the A-06 frequency season. This may be especially true if, as now seems possible that a number of broadcasters may decide that DRM is not the way forward. (Dave Kenny reckons that the fading nature of SW could make it unsuitable and the Radio Telefis Eireann website discussion seems by implication to back him up.) The cost of power is going to be prohibitive to continue on AM, and SSB/CSB does not now look to be a starter. Also, as far as I know there are still no DRM receivers in the market place. Trans World Radio is planning probably to replace SW transmissions with DAB; this could be as early as the B- 06 season, for reaching the British Isles, at least. We are now near the sunspot minimum. With solar flux hovering between 70 and 75 (according to Glenn Hauser`s bulletins), we surely must be near the bottom of the cycle (usually 66 to 68 being the minimum; don`t ask me why!). I am still personally predicting June 2007 (Ken Fletcher, Propagation Report, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ###