DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-029, March 5, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid6.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 WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL schedule: Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts 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 ** ABKHAZIA [and non]. Re 9495, 7-027: ``But I thought this was all from the same transmitter, which is slightly off-frequency (gh, DXLD)`` Well, that is what he means: "several radio stations from Caucasus" (via the same tx on 9495), i.e. not "several radio transmitters from Caucasus". It was in the early 1990s when Abkhaz State Radio started to fill vacant airtime with relays of Radio Rossii, presumably picked up from FM across the border and since that FM frequency (apparently Sochi's 71.93 MHz) carries also regional programming from Sochi and Krasnodar, the transmitters in Abkhazia get this regional output as well. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hadn't it been reported years ago that these relays are unauthorized? I seem to recall Radio Sochi as source of such a statement, made to explain a refusal to QSL this shortwave outlet. It would also be an interesting question if the Sochi transmitters can be picked up at the Radio Abkhazia studios, not less than 120 km away. Probably these relays are a bit more complicated and done with a remote receiver, connected to an audio circuit. In fact the shortwave transmissions of the now defunct Sunshine Radio from Belgium were done this way: A receiver at Aachen picked up their low- powered FM signal and the audio had been fed to Jülich. I even wonder if they are particularly interested in the programming from neighbouring Radio Sochi, since it probably would have been less trouble to catch a plain Radio Rossii feed off satellite (as Radio Volga at Potsdam did during the nineties, no longer relying on external sources, i.e. feeds via postal office circuits). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.06, 1905-2020 fade out Tue 27-02, LRA36 R Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Spanish announcements, romantic songs, 35343. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metre longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. 4810, 1930-2000* Sun 25-02, National R, Yerevan Armenian announcement, classical concert 45434, heard // 234 LW (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metre longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 5049.9, 23.2 2215, Radio Yolgnu (ARDS) in English with aboriginal music. QSA 2-3. JE (Jan Edh, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5049.9, 25.2 2000, Humpty Doo, with national anthem, song and talk just before, clearly heard now and then with a good QSA 2 LRH (Leif Råhäll, Sweden, ibid.) ** BAHAMAS. Having 1540 KXEL off the air for a week has been a rare opportunity indeed to DX that frequency, and I've been going over some tapes I've made over that time. "Radio Bahamas Network" ID heard at 1100 on 28 Feb. Certainly a rare one for those of us in western Canada. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, Canada, March 4, RealDX yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Radio Clube do Pará 4855 responded in 10 months. Signer is Camilo Centeno, Rede Brasil Amazônia de Comunicação, Av. Almirante Barroso, 2190, CEP 66.095-000 - Belém, Pará. I sent a prepared card with an IRC, but the card was not used. Instead I got a Radio Clube postcard that mentions 10 kW on 4855, and 12 kW on 690 kHz, but nothing was written on it. The letter in English is very friendly and describes the stations as well as the Belém area. About the closest it comes to verification is this: "We are very pleased to have you as a listener of our radio shows. Your letter confirms the power of radio broadcasting that makes possible to reach the most distant places of the world." An internet address is also provided: diretoria @ rbadecomunicacao.com.br (Jim Renfrew, NY, NASWA Flashsheet March 4 via DXLD) Axually it`s on 4885, and the most reliable Brazilian on 60m, 24 hours. Did they really say 4855? (gh, DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Re 7-027, 7-028 --- Mr. Ludwig seems to know a lot about these transmitters. Anyway, I've made a mistake in my previous posting - I mean 9400 instead of 9500. All these 13600, 11600, 9400, 7400 in Russian seem to originate from Sofia/Kostinbrod? according the HFCC. I cannot catch up the exact schedule, but Radio Bulgaria broadcasts simultaneously on 13600 and 11600 1100-1200 UT and then 9400 and 7400 after 1500. There is a morning broadcast, also 7400 and 9400; I've listened to it today for a first time for a months - 0400-0600 UT, but same observation. Well, I am regular listener of these broadcasts lunch time and evening. I can say all the times the same transmitters are being used - 9400 and 11600 good carrier but so-muffled, and 13600 and specially 7400 booming now, after mid of December 2006, so up to now, with good modulation in Moskow. Since I used to listen the Russian service of Radio Bulgaria for a years, and it`s always Sofia transmitter site, I can say there is a definite change in something; maybe Mr. Ludwig will suppose what. I always wondered about Plovdiv? But looking at transmitter.info I found the answer - it has newer transmitters than Kostinbrod. But Plovdiv is always muffled and low modulated - bad audio circuit? Anyway, thanks Radio Bulgaria (or Bulgarian Telecom) for bringing us at least 2 valuable frequencies - 13600 and 7400. And thanks Glenn for publishing that, so they would know about it! 73's! (Victor Iudin, Russia, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Referring to the recent reports about the good audio from Bulgaria on some frequencies - their transmission on 15700 at 1400 is sending out audio breakthrough/spurs at least 100 kHz on either side and causing QRM to CVC and several other adjacent stations. 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Sound of Hope and jammers now on partly revised frequencies: 9200, 10200, 13970, 14600 and 17330. Actual SOH program heard on 10200, 14600 and 17330, on the others only Firedrake. Always when I have heard SOH they have had talk only, without any music, so that seems to be the way to distinguish them: Talk = SOH, music = jamming (Olle Alm, Sweden, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 5066.36, 4/3 0430 Voix du Peuple, Bunia, talks in French, fair with fading. Rx WinRadio G33EM; my SW blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Re 7-028 / I think the Eastanollee, GA address for Radio Kahuzi is old stuff. In the recent QSL that address has been replaced (by putting new address-label over it) by P. O. Box 115, San Marcos, CA 92079. Their website also gives only this new home office address in CA. http://www.besi.org/ (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Trying to describe Cuba is a bit like trying to describe yourself, in that everything comes down to perspective. Some see the country of eleven million as a terror state, home to extremists and brutal in its repression of its own citizens. Others see Cuba as a beacon of hope, the well-intentioned mouse that dares to roar back at larger nations. To be honest, most of us probably see Cuba as a cheap(-ish) travel destination to ward off the wintertime blues, or perhaps the home of really good cigars. All media are state- controlled, and RHC is the sole international broadcaster. Radio Habana Cuba: http://rhc.cu/ or http://www.radiohc.cu/ Radio Habana is the national broadcaster of Cuba, producing programming in nine languages, and offering its website in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English (which we’ll click). The RHC website is quite simple in appearance, with three columns of content. On the left, there are text links to such items as news, Latin American Roundup, the much-loved DXers Unlimited, and the all-important About Us (which is strangely lacking in contact information). In the centre of the webpage are brief articles and headlines filed under Cuba News, International News, Editorials, and Features, many of which link to extended articles. The right side of the RHC website is home to several small pictures with captions such as Wanted Terrorist, Year End Wrap-ups, Stop Blockade, and Free the Five, the latter featured in four locations on the page. The actual content provided throughout the RHC website is distinctly different from what you’d find through the mainstream Western media; your own global perspective will determine whether it’s informative, comical, or nonsense, but rest assured that traditional viewpoints will be challenged. I found that, despite a paucity of graphics and other fancy features, the RHC website loaded quite slowly; this may be due to slow equipment in Cuba, or some other user(s) causing the service to be slow (Paul E. Guise, NL, Click, March ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Re TV Martí DX reports, please --- I`ll be on the alert (Ken Simon/Lake Worth FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, I`d think 5 Megawatt WBBH, channel 20 in Fort Myers would be a big problem for Martí on the same channel, with just a bit of tropo enhancement (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Here is the A07 schedule for WRMI's broadcasts via T- Systems beginning March 25 and continuing through October 28, 2007. Radio República: 2300-0400 UT weekdays on 5910 kHz from Wertachtal. To clarify the days, this is 2300-0000 UT Monday-Friday and 0000-0400 UT Tuesday-Saturday (Jeff White, RMI, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Rapid clicking believed to be spur from one of the Cuban jammers against R. Martí was found March 5 at 1325 on 11878, which is 52 kHz below 11930; however, nothing audible to match on 11982. Same type of pulsing also found March 5 at 1436 on 15278, which is also 52 kHz below jamming on 15330, and if there was something at +52, 15382, it was masked by huge RHC 15370 signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENNG DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. This small country of ten million people is, in many ways, at the crossroads of Europe, dividing north and south, east and west. Spared the damage that afflicted so many European cities during the World Wars, Prague (the capital) has many glorious examples of middle-European architecture, while the Brno region is home to spectacular caves. The Czech Republic is notable as the home of Kafka, Dvorak, and some really good beer! Radio Praha is the international arm of domestic public broadcaster, Czech Radio. Radio Prague (Radio Praha): http://www.radio.cz/ Offered in six languages, Radio Praha’s website is loaded with content. We’ll begin by clicking on English at the top of the page (other choices are Czech, French, German, Russian, and Spanish). The main page is divided into three main sections: down the left-hand side you’ll find headings such as News, Czech Music, Magazine, Spotlight, and an impressive Archive. Below these are Events and Projects, About Radio Prague (including sections on reception, QSLs, and RSS/podcasts, among others), About the Czech Republic, and Useful Information (aimed primarily at the domestic audience). In the middle of the main page are boxes corresponding to the News etc. categories listed in the left column, each with a brief leading story and link to the corresponding age, and most including audio (in Real Audio format) and/or a photo. On the right-hand side of the main page are large links to QSL cards 2007 and Frequencies, and smaller links including internet audio (on- demand and live, or your schedule and theirs, respectively, and in both Real Audio and MP3 formats), Contact, Search, and a wonderful Text only version of the website, which is a slimmed-down version of the website that’s perfect for those with a slow internet connection or small internet device (mobile phone, PDA, etc.). I found the Radio Praha website to be a bit cluttered visually, but it is very easy to use and filled with excellent content (Paul E. Guise, NL, Click, March ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 5100, 4/3 0415, Radio Bana, talks woman and Afro songs, really good. Rx WinRadio G33EM; my SW blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Here is the A07 schedule for WRMI's broadcasts via T-Systems beginning March 25 and continuing through October 28, 2007. Voice of Oromia Independence: 1700-1730 UT Saturdays on 15650 kHz from Julich (Jeff White, RMI, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 6170, 1020-1415 Sat 03-03, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat Finnish/English announcements, requested reception reports, address, Finnish pop songs 23343 - 33333 Inaudible on 25 mb (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metre longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Forgot all about it this month; no reminders of monthly broadcasts were seen (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. RFI at 1635 [Sunday] 3/4 on 15605 in English with David Page and Club 9516, good reception with lots of French pop music and news quiz winners; off at 1658, so no 1700 half-hour which was dropped for B06, which was for EAf/Mideast, contrary to what appears in RFI schedules (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Re 7-028: 40 and 20 reports and you expect a reply to all? Truly stunning. No wonder stations are not responding to QSL requests or even ignoring inquiries about other issues, thanks to people spamming them like this (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I suppose most of the 40 were each for a different customer/station, so that makes it all right (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. Apodimos: On the English-speaking show at 0010-0110, Angelika Timms presented another delightful program of Greek music from the '60s, starting off with songs from the film "Never on Sunday" (but on UT Monday). 7475 began with noise, but eventually quieted down and finished with a great signal: 9420 was mediocre at first and eventually faded out: 5865 was not too bad at first but got noisier as the program came to an end: and 12105 never makes it here (John Babbis, MD, March 5, to ERA, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5865U, V. of Greece via Olympia R. (Pyrgos), 0005. 2/25/07. Nice level with Greek talk by man at tune-in, into English segment 0010 and "Greek in Style" program hosted by woman and featuring "Cinema of the 70's" (John Herkimer, NY, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Neither mentions 5865 breaking up. Really? (gh, DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, RTV Guinéenne (Conakry), 2306-2400, 2/25/2007, French. 2306 Upbeat African pop music. 2308 long speech by a man with occasional short musical bridges. Moderate signal with noticeable fading (SINPO 34323). At 2342 a very strong carrier appeared on the frequency, soon accompanied by 4 second tones with 4 second separation. Tuning ISB with both sidebands yielded a marginally readable signal. 2352 Pop music resumed, followed by announcements by a man at 2357. An extremely strong Russian International Radio broadcast opened on the frequency at 2400. Guinea previously closed at 2400, but it was not possible to tell if that was the case today (Jim Evans, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDIA. With earlier sunrise on the US east coast it was possible for me to check All India Radio's much-publicized Tamil-language DX show which apparently started at 1137 on 15050 3/4; there were recordings of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corp.'s tuning signal and some information about the station, in Tamil, with mentions of the WRTH at times; later there were DX tips read in English including some tips for Saudi Arabia, Netherlands and DW on 17700 and 21780 (for EG at 0900). The segment ended at 1152 and there was some Indian music fill after that. Fair signal on the SW8, with the EMF antenna providing better results than with the 100-ft. wire connection Some higher AIR channels appeared in mid-morning on US east coast: 1515 had Gujurati on 15175 with fair-to-good level; and 17670 in Swahili at fair level; noted 3/4 with Drake SW8 using EMF antenna which provided best results above 10 MHz, while the 100-ft. LW I recently installed provided best signals below 10 MHz; more listening between the two antennas will be needed to further prove those findings (Joe Hanlon, NJ, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Guwahati again on 4900 kHz --- Believe it or not, I found All India Radio Guwahati again on 4900 kHz on February 21, 2007 from 1159 UT. There was Tiwa song & after that a lady presenter mentioned that it was a Tiwa song. She also gave station reminder announcement plus mentioned the frequencies & metre band of broadcast of AIR-Guwahati along with other program announcements in Assamese. And she mentioned the shortwave frequency as 4940 kHz & corresponding metre band as 60.73m. But actually it is on air on 4900 kHz. And 4940 kHz was blank that time & only noise could be audible. I checked several times in the evening; I found AIR Guwahati Station on 4900. And on February 22, 2007 around 0115 UT, I found AIR-Guwahati on 4900 kHz again. The 4940 kHz remained blank & only noise could be audible. How come the station could be on 4900 kHz instead of 4940 kHz. And it was reported not in India only but in several places around the world??????? I think for several days it`s going on. I monitored this transmission via my Grundig Yacht Boy 400 Receiver. Let me check again for a few days the two frequencies 4900/4940kHz. 73 & 55 GK (Gautam Sharma, Feb 27) Dear Alokesh, I found on February 22, 2007 at 1245 UT All India Radio- Guwahati was back again on 4940 kHz. And the signal strength was also satisfactory. The frequency 4900 kHz was blank. And on February 23, 2007, I checked again around 0100 UT & AIR Guwahati was on 4940 kHz. 73 & 55 GK (both via Alokesh Gupta, March 4, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. CONGRESS RADIO From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Congress Radio was a clandestine and underground radio station, which operated for about three months during the Quit India Movement of 1942, a movement launched by Gandhijee against the British Raj for independence of India. Congress Radio was the broadcasting mouthpiece of the Indian National Congress, and functioned from different locations from Bombay, currently known as Mumbai. It was organized by Dr. Usha Mehta (1920-2000), a veteran freedom fighter of India. Her other associates for organizing the Congress Radio included Vithalbhai Jhaveri, Chandrakant Jhaveri, and Babubhai Thakkar. The technicians and the equipments were supplied by Nanak Motawani of Chicago Radio, Mumbai. Eminent personalities like Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyutrao Patwardhan, and Purushottam Trikamdas were also associated with the Congress Radio. On 14th August 1942, within a week of launching of the Quit India Movement, the Secret Congress Radio, went on air, with Dr. Usha Mehata herself broadcasting this announcement: "This is the Congress Radio calling on (a wavelength of) 42.34 meters from somewhere in India." A report on Congress Radio that appeared in The Hindu, Thursday, Aug 26, 2004 . . . [MORE] Listen to the Congress Radio audio files (in english & hindi) including the nostalgic station id's at : Indian Underground Radio (Congress Radio), 1942, Part I, 45'31 http://streams.gandhiserve.org/db/gallery/Audio/Records,_Tapes_and_CDs/Congress_Radio/aurtcr01_96.ram Indian Underground Radio (Congress Radio), 1942, Part II, 45'49 http://streams.gandhiserve.org/db/gallery/Audio/Records,_Tapes_and_CDs/Congress_Radio/aurtcr02_96.ram Indian Underground Radio (Congress Radio), 1942, Part III, 44'52 http://streams.gandhiserve.org/db/gallery/Audio/Records,_Tapes_and_CDs/Congress_Radio/aurtcr03_96.ram Indian Underground Radio (Congress Radio), 1942, Part IV, 25'52 http://streams.gandhiserve.org/db/gallery/Audio/Records,_Tapes_and_CDs/Congress_Radio/aurtcr04_96.ram Sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_Radio http://www.gandhiserve.org http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/26/stories/2004082603150300.htm (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA [non]. With reference to the recent test by CVC on 15735 at 1300-1600 from ARMENIA in Hindi: "CVC The Voice Asia" is being heard at 1400 tune in today (March 5) on 15735 with intro's by Tanya in English on her programme "Sunset" at 6.30-9.30 IST - as announced. I assume that's 1300-1600 UT. Music is Indian style, and the station is being announced as the new English service, on air to S Asia morning and evening. Schedule details not heard as yet. Reference to their web site http://www.thevoiceasia.com details their Hindi service and English (Coming Soon) with no details. With thanks to Harold Frodge via Cumbre. 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, CVI via Yerevan 100 kW 125 deg 15515 at 0400-0700, 15615 1300- 1600 in A07. 15735 is used by Hoerby Sweden the whole day 10-16 UT then. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. My dear old dad, age 72 in May, recently acquired a new computer, his introduction to technology these days, and of course the joys of the Internet. As a result my mother has become a “Web widow”! What Dad loves the most is access to Internet radio stations. He’s been down on me for being faithful to SW; “why do you bother with that when you can listen to all those international stations on the Internet?” I’m wondering if any of you folks get the same criticism. The funny thing is, however, that Dad was my original introduction to shortwave – when I was small we had a big old Philips SW and he’d set it up and turn it on, and say “listen to that, that’s a station from Portugal, and this one here is the BBC from England, see all the stations you can get on this radio?” And I thought it was marvelous. I used to picture all the announcers at those faraway stations hunched over their microphones while the cars in London would go by on the left hand side of the road (and when my dad grew up in Newfoundland while we still belonged to Britain, they used to drive on the left side!). And now he’s hooked on Internet radio. Dad is a huge fan of all things Irish, being Irish himself, and always has the Irish stations on. One he’s discovered is always having contests where you can win T-Shirts and CDs of Irish music, so he’s often entering them! He won a CD from the station in question and was thrilled, just like a kid. Reminds me of when I won a Village People LP (remember them, ha- ha?) and when I got it from the radio station I made the mistake of leaving it in the car. in the hot sun. Guess what happened?? I went to listen to “Go West” and what I got sounded like Satan singing backwards. So off to the garbage the boys went (Sue Hickey, NL, CIDX Forum, March Messenger via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. WILL RIAA KILL WEB RADIO? *The Copyright Royalty Board* (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, rejecting all of the arguments made by Webcasters and instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by *SoundExchange* http://www.soundexchange.com a digital music fee collection body created by the *RIAA* http://www.riaa.com/ *RAIN has learned* http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030207/index.shtml the rates that the Board has decided on, effective retroactively through the beginning of 2006. They are as follows: (*A "performance" is defined* as the streaming of one song to one listener; thus a station that has an average audience of 500 listeners racks up 500 "performances" for each song it plays.) 2006 $.0008 per performance 2007 $.0011 per performance 2008 $.0014 per performance 2009 $.0018 per performance 2010 $.0019 per performance And MUCH MORE here: http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030507/index.shtml (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) RIAA PUSHES THROUGH INTERNET RADIO ROYALTY RATES DESIGNED TO KILL WEBCASTS from the /broadcasters-must-be-a-special-boys-club/ dept http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070304/223155.shtml It's been quite some time since we last heard about arguments between internet webcasters and SoundExchange (a group spun off from the RIAA to handle royalty collection). Back in the summer of 2003, there was even a lawsuit http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20030827/197214.shtml over the royalties being set, that were pretty clearly designed to put smaller, independent webcasters out of business. From the RIAA's point of view, this is perfectly typical. They still view the world (especially the internet) as a broadcast medium. Therefore, they want a small number of "professional" content producers who create the content for everyone else. Then they can just sign a few ridiculously large licenses with those large players, and "the people" get to consume it. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of the internet as a communications medium -- a medium where people express themselves back and forth to each other, rather than a place we go sit back and "consume." While the fight had gotten quiet lately, the good old RIAA was hard at work making sure that things were happening in the background. A bunch of folks submitted stories this weekend noting that late Friday (making it less likely to make news http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/03/us_copyright_ro.html the Copyright Royalty Board announced that it was adopting the royalty rates SoundExchange put forth http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030207/index.shtml and making them effective retroactively to the beginning of 2006 -- meaning that many small independent webcasters are now facing a tremendous royalty bill they're unlikely to be able to afford (thanks to everyone who sent this in). That last link goes through the impact of all of this on various players -- and it's not pretty. The new rates pretty much decimate a large portion of the industry. And, it's only going to get worse, as the royalty rates increase at incredible rates ("2007's rate is a 37.5% increase over 2006; 2008 and 2009's annual increases are about 28% per year; and 2010 adds another 5.5% increase.") Of course, this is utterly backwards and damaging to the industry itself. A webcaster (especially the smaller, independent ones) is a great means of promotion for artists. It tends to attract more loyal and well- targeted audiences, who are more likely to want to later go out and buy a CD, a t-shirt or attend a concert. It lets the industry better promote material from a wider range of artists. However, in the industry's desperate need to charge for every single use, they're effectively killing off yet another wonderful promotional vehicle. The industry continues to think that it needs to do this because it wants to own all distribution and promotional avenues in order to be able to continue to take its large cut. However, that's no reason for the Copyright Royalty Board to put in place these artificial barriers that only serve to protect the recording industry's outdated understanding of its own business model (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. WRN confirms that their NAm service will make the DST timeshift March 11 to stay at the same local time (except areas which do not observe DST, e.g. non-Navaho Arizona). That means WORLD OF RADIO will then be heard Sat & Sun 1732, Sun 0832 UT. If WRMI 7385 keeps running WRN M-F at 22-02 Tue-Sat, and I am not at all sure of that, RTE will shift out of that timeframe to 2100-2130 and no longer be on SW, but something else will get to be on at 01-02 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. ASHCROFT OFFERED HIS SERVICES TO XM BEFORE BEING HIRED BY NAB, XM SAYS WASHINGTON -- Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who sent a letter this week to his successor Alberto Gonzales blasting the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., approached XM in the days after the merger was announced offering the firm his consulting services, a spokesman for XM said Saturday. The spokesman said XM declined Mr. Ashcroft's offer to work as a lobbyist for the company. Mr. Ashcroft was subsequently hired by the National Association of Broadcasters, which is fiercely opposed to the merger. . . http://public.wsj.com/SB117297131783726186.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** IRAN. QSL CARD FROM VOICE OF I.R. OF IRAN, 6205 kHz, I.R.I.B. Italian Radio. QSL card, letter, sticker, magazine "Mahjubah" in English language, schedule. 72 dd. Report send via email to: italianradio @ irib.ir V/S Ali Azizmohammadi. Pictures of all available on http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com 73's (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 9290, 0945-1005 Sat 03-03, R Joystick, via Ulbroka, German announcement, English pop songs, disappeared in noise 55344 to 45131 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metre longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. Here is the A07 schedule for WRMI's broadcasts via T-Systems beginning March 25 and continuing through October 28, 2007. Minivan Radio: 1600-1700 UT daily (7 days per week) on 11725 from Julich (Jeff White, RMI, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU is missing again; still no trace of 9599v March 5 at 1310; however, XEXQ was audible on 6045 with classical music at 1329 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA [non]. Have not yet seen any reports of PMA 4755 from North America. Bad timing during my usual sleep cycle, but March 5 I was checking at 1248, and could hear no trace of it, just Indonesia on 4750 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 04 March follow. Solar flux 73 and mid- latitude A-index 3. The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 05 March was 4 (40 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours. (SEC via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Radio Medi 1, Nador, 9575 kHz, at 1300Z and on. Very strong signal (S=9+20dB), and enjoyable African (and other types of) pop music. Announcements in Arabic and French. 73 de (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, Finland (KP10AK18), Icom IC-718, dipole, March 5, HCDX via DXLD) Don`t see many reports of this one for some reason (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI DRM TRANSMISSION HAS RESUMED 07 Feb, 2007 06:24 UTC The analogue transmitter has been repaired and the new DRM transmitter (which we have been using in its analogue mode) is now returning to use in its DRM (digital)mode. Full normal schedules are in place (RNZI Website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And why is this dated Feb 7 but just now posted? And no DRM schedules have reappeared yet on the website either. They should have left the `normal` schedule on there with a note it was suspended. On the new edition of Mailbox, which I have just listened to ondemand, only 18:23 long, Adrian Sainsbury says the spare part has finally arrived from France, a special type of capacitor needed replacing, special as it is water-cooled, and did not have a spare on hand. Hope to have DRM up and running March 5. The AM transmitter, not the DRM had been faulty Which is worth more? Having a full supply of spares on site, or losing a month of broadcasting? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 5033.8, 8.2 1800, Quetta drifted away a bit in frequency, sign off at 1809 with NA. 2 LRH (Leif Råhäll, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA 15435 at 1500+ in Arabic with 1st program. // 15315 weak. --Qur'an 13710 at 1500+ in Arabic. // 21460. --Qur'an 13710 at 1714. // 15205 poor. // 17560 poor. --French 17660 at 1500+ All heard on 3 March. This agrees with various reports. I did not hear Program 2, and haven't for a year or two, as I've mentioned in posts several months ago. Perhaps people in Europe can hear it. 73/Liz (Liz Cameron, MI, DXpedition, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BSKSA Programme 2 is very elusive, but it can be heard SOME mornings on 9675 until c0900 (yes - Pgm 2 and NOT Pgm 1 as listed recently). Nothing so far after that hour. This frequency has co-channel from CNR-1 and Canção Nova. Frequencies 9580 and 11855 are very difficult to hear due to co-channel/adjacent QRM when these frequencies might propagate to my location in NW England. 73 (Noel R. Green, ibid.) I thought 15315 had been replaced by 15425; now it`s back at 1500? I also am not convinced that 15435 at 1500 is the First Program. WRTH shows 15-17 on 15435 as Call of Islam, and all I have heard on there seems to be Qur`an and other religious stuff. WRTH 2007 however does not show any SW frequencies at 15-17 for the General Programme, which I assume is what you are calling Program 1, so it may be that COI is really integrated into the Program 1 schedule, but is singled out as a separate ``service`` for obvious reasons. Wolfy`s worksheet monitoring the latest changes also does not make a distinxion between COI and the 15-17 UT portion of Arabic 1st program, tho some other frequencies may be involved (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, 15315 was inaudible, looking back thru' my logs, not weak. Apologies for the mistake. As far as the 1st program vs the COI... 15435 //15425 is listed as the 1st program at 1500-1800 on your synopsis of Wolfy's sked. He listed the same thing. A very old sked (from a source I can't remember) listed the COI from 1500-1655 on 15315 // 15435. I recall this transmission as having a talk or interview format, as if they were discussing aspects of Islam as opposed to simply chanting. The COI in those days was never // to the 1st program. Neither was 15435 and 15425 // to the Qur'an on 13710 // 21460 at the DXPedition. So 15435 and 15425 have to be either the 1st program, as on your sked, or something other than the Qur'an. As far as the COI in the WRTH, I'll take your word for it as I haven't bought one of those things in 10 years. 73 as always/Liz (Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PWBR ``2007`` does not mention COI, but shows DS-1 program at 15-18 on 15435 and (now ex-) 15315 (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Estimados amigos; Las condiciones climáticas nos impidieron en partes estar al aire en los últimos días. No quisimos arriesgar la parte técnica de nuestra emisora. Sin embargo ayer y hasta la mañana de hoy, si estuvimos al de acuerdo a plan de emisión. Por las razones climáticas también fueron afectada las condiciones radiofónica y en gran parte estuvo muy difícil escuchar algo en la banda de 48m. Por tanto estamos considerando hacer una esquema similar desde el miércoles. Antes de confirmar eso queremos ver como se desarrolla las condiciones de recepción. Saludos a todos y mucha gracias por estar atento a nuestras emisiones (Jorge R. García, March 5, R. Piraña Internacional, condig list via DXLD) 6308 ** TAIWAN. Attached is one of my photos of the Voice of Han studio/ office in Taipei, Taiwan from early 2006. The STL transmitter site can be seen on top of the building. I suspect these are beaming out to the west, but may have to check a map. Most of Taipei's MW TXer masts are located along the Danshuei & Keelung Rivers, which from memory are west & north/north- west of this site. Access to the studio/office of the Voice of Han is via the rear of the adjoining tall building next door (right), but is accessed from the front of the tall building. Very confusing address & I can understand why I have seen some foreign reception reports to the station returned back to sender from a confused postman. Despite wide variations in the English spelling of street names in Taipei, I have found some written building addresses just too confusing for words. Unless you know some reasonable Mandarin Chinese forget about visiting this station. Of what little English dialog I had with the station, it all involved the security guard, mainly in the company of one of the heads of the communication section (judging from the photo on their website). Many of the staff appeared in military uniform. The WRTH lists 3 languages spoken in Taiwan: Mandarin, Amoy, Hakka. Mandarin is the official language of Taiwan & spoken by most employees of companies & government departments etc. The 2nd language that the WRTH has listed is Amoy. This is known locally as 'Taiwanese' and is a dialect of the Amoy language family with origins from southern China (from memory). A large number of the population speak this language, but within Taipei it seams that it is spoken mainly by the middle aged & older generation. From my experience with Taiwanese no one knew what Amoy was, they all know it locally as 'Taiwanese'. The Hakka language is undergoing a revival in Taiwan & probably spoken by about 3-5% of the population. The local English language FM station known as ICRT (with its heavy American accented annoucers & programming style) has regular short Hakka language learning languages. Japanese is also known & spoken as a second or third language by the 55 year old plus populations within Taiwan. English is currently being actively taught in Taiwan as a 2nd language to very young kindergarten children & some government employees. Parents with good incomes & who want to give their children the best start in life send their children to English language schools at a very early age. Foreign English language speakers are more likely to be understood by the younger generation within Taiwan as a result of their education and/or their thirst for the western culture i.e movies, music & fast food. Yes there's KFC & McDonalds, but more startling is the high number & density of 7-Eleven stores throughout Taipei. Taipei has the highest density of these stores anywhere in the world. It's not unusual to stand at an intersection & see up to 3 or 4 of these stores in all directions. Announcements on Taipei's MRT rail system are in Mandarin, English, Taiwanese & Hakka. For those DXers who also collect stamps. Taiwan has very recently (this year) changed their country name on their stamps to just Taiwan. No further mention of R.O.C (Republic of China), much to the anger of the Chinese government. Hope someone appreciates the photo/insight as Taiwan isn't visited by too many foreign visitors/DXers. ZaiDjen (Goodbye) (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN [non]. Re 7-028, 4930 VOA QRM at 1645: that`s BOTSWANA, not São Tomé. Oh, my ailing memory (gh, DXLD) ** UGANDA. UGANDA MEDIA GUIDE FEBRUARY 2007 --- OVERVIEW [note: the only SW station mentioned is the inactive R. Rhino, just above the TELEVISION subheading --gh] The Ugandan media has experienced significant changes since liberalization policies were adopted in the early 1990s. For decades since independence, the media comprised of one state-owned broadcaster and a sister newspaper which were more often than not viewed as government's propaganda tools in the partisan politics of the time. However, on the advent of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government of President Yoweri Museveni in January 1986, state monopoly of the media industry ended with the licensing of a sundry of commercial and community FM radio stations, TV channels, newspapers, and fairly recently, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile telephone companies. This ushered in an era of relative laissez-faire media ownership. The shift in the broadcast and online media industry resulted in an increase in print publications, some of which dropped out along the way. As recently as 1992 Uganda had only one radio station, one television station and no internet services. The capital city, Kampala, now boasts of some 40 FM stations. The country also has about 10 free-to- view television stations, and a pay-to-view television provider. Aside from the above, hundreds of internet cafes have been licensed to operate across the country, although most operate in a 20-mile radius of the capital. International media organizations have also set up shop in the country of some 28 million people. Some have acquired their own frequencies, while others have made arrangements with local stations to relay their broadcasts. However, much as the private media has been allowed unprecedented freedom, the state still exercises considerable regulatory authority and uses its own media outlets to carry out public education and information campaigns that appear unprofitable to the private media outlets. Government has set up statutory bodies to regulate the activities of the media and even instituted media practitioners' bodies and codes of conduct as well as stringent media laws that some in the media fraternity consider draconian. The largest newspapers and broadcasting facilities that reach rural areas remain state owned. Besides limits on reporting the war in the north, authorities have also been firm in dealing with reports on homosexuality. In October 2004, the regulatory body, the Broadcasting Council, fined a Kampala- based station, Radio Simba, some 1,050 dollars for "hosting a group of homosexuals in a live talk-show". The council also demanded the station apologizes to the public for "having offended a wide section of the public". English and Luganda (a dialect of the country's largest ethnic community, Baganda) remain the main languages used in the media. The Baganda, who inhabit areas around Kampala form 17 per cent of the population. Other populous ethnic communities are the Basoga (east), Ankore (southwest), Teso (east), and Langi and Acholi (both north). Most media operations are concentrated around Kampala, which offers profitable advertising opportunities and large audience bases. MEDIA LAW The bill of rights or Chapter Four of the 2005 Constitution, Article 29 (1) (a), says that every person shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media. Other laws governing the media are contained in the Press and Journalists Statute, the Penal Code 1995, the Electronic Media Act 1996, and the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002. These laws, especially those within the Penal Code, tend to contradict the rights stipulated in the constitution. The code is mostly prescriptive. It prescribes penalties on offences ranging from publication of "false" news through to defamation. Section 37 of the code empowers the minister of information to prohibit the importation of a publication whenever he or she "considers it in the public interest". Due to the ambiguity of the phrase "public interest" and the enormous power given to the minister, this law has many journalists concerned. Section 39 (a) outlaws the publication of information regarding military operations, troop movements or location of military supplies, which may "endanger the safety of military operations or assist the enemy or disrupt order and security". This law is opposed by the media fraternity who argue that it leaves loopholes which could be used by the state to orchestrate a news blackout. Section 43 (2) empowers government to confiscate machines involved in publishing "seditious" material. Section 50 deals with publication of "false news". The state may invoke this law when it feels that a station or publication has disseminated a statement, rumour or report that may alarm the public. Chapter XVIII or Section 174-181 address criminal defamation. The Anti-Terrorism Act passed in 2002 following a spate of bombings in the capital, Kampala, and the 9/11 attacks in the USA, has caused a lot of discomfort in the local media. This law carries an overly broad definition of "terrorism" and generally refers to "opponents of the state". MEDIA REGULATION The government of Uganda regulates the media in a number of ways, mainly through statutory bodies operating under the mentioned laws. 1) Media Council The Media Council was launched in December 2003 and remains the premier regulatory organization. Its mandate is stated in the Press and Journalists Statute of 1995, and regulates the media as well as the practitioners. The council is also mandated to censor publications of "pornographic matter and obscene materials", and overseeing the registration of media organizations. Media watchers have criticized the law for requiring that all practising journalists possess at least a university degree in journalism or mass communication or a degree in another field plus a postgraduate diploma in journalism. They say it unduly turns journalism into an elitist profession. 2) Broadcasting Council The council was formed in 1996 in order to administer the Electronic Media Act. This body is charged with coordinating the expansive broadcast industry. The council issues broadcast licences and liaises with the Ministry of Information to safeguard the interests of both the media and their audiences. 3) Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Formed in 1997 under the auspices of the Uganda Communications Act of the same year, the commission is mandated with enhancing coverage of the overall telecommunications sector, including the management of broadcasting frequencies. Many broadcast media owners have complained about what they consider a duplication of roles between the Broadcasting Council and the Uganda Communications Commission. Its website is http://www.ucc.co.ug 4) National Institute of Journalists of Uganda (NIJU) A statutory professional body formed in 1997 under the 1995 Press Statute. The NIJU is mandated to regulate the professional conduct of media practitioners. However, the body lacks credibility among most journalists due to two reasons: One, it was formed by an Act of parliament and was in effect imposed on the media; Two, it is considered by the journalism old guard as a club for university graduates. 5) Media Centre The centre is the latest regulator. It was formed in September 2005 with its role not clearly defined. Since 2005, the organization is sometimes referred to as the Government Media Centre. Media commentators have said that the centre was a political tool out to usurp the regulatory powers of the Media Council. In no time at all, and most prominently in the lead up to the March 2006 presidential elections, the centre was grabbing headlines for limiting the activities of foreign journalists. In a controversial edict, the centre ordered all foreign journalists working in Uganda to re- register and get new clearance before they travelled more than 100 km from the capital. Questions were raised as to the legality of the centre as it was seen by some to be contravening the press statute, which mandates the Media Council with the responsibility of accrediting foreign journalists. However, the centre has recently been the official mouthpiece of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). PRESS FREEDOM Press freedom remains precarious in Uganda. Authorities frequently arrest and charge journalists, seize newspapers, and shut down radio and TV stations. There are also reporting restrictions, especially about military operations in the war-torn north. Authorities have not shied from expelling foreign journalists or imposing restrictions on them. In January 2006, the Media Centre expelled the correspondent of The Economist (who also worked for Christian Science Monitor) and limited the work permit of the BBC World Service correspondent at the time. This was a result of the government shift in accreditation of foreign journalists from the Media Council to the Media Centre. According to the 2006 annual report of Paris-based watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) the restrictions were the government's response to the press as the "sounding board of the country's political crises". The government has also been accused of seeking to influence the media by appointing ex-military officials to head key state media stations. The former head of military intelligence, Brig Noble Mayombo, chairs the board of the country's best-selling daily, the state-owned The New Vision. Authorities have also sought to limit cross-media ownership. A draft law proposed in August 2004 sought to prevent broadcast houses from holding controlling interests in the print media. President Yoweri Museveni has not hesitated to attack private stations, accusing them of "abusing" him and his government. In November 2004, the president accused local radio stations of "spending most of their time on politics of greed". Authorities in the capital later threatened to arrest people "abusing" the president during phone-ins or popular outdoor radio discussion programmes known as "ebimeeza". The government has sought to downplay levels of media abuse by promising to introduce the Access to Information Act, as set out in the constitution. Journalists and media stakeholders have formed a number of organizations to safeguard their rights and promote professional development. They include the Uganda Journalists' Union (UJU), the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA), and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). BROADCAST MEDIA Uganda remains a pioneer in the liberalization of the media in Africa. Authorities licensed the first privately-owned radio stations in the early 1990s and exercised a liberal attitude that saw an explosion in the broadcasting arena. In August 2003, the government suspended the registration of new stations in the country until "order is restored to the airwaves". The information minister at the time, James Nsaba Buturo, said the broadcasting spectrum was "clogged" and this had "affected the quality of broadcasting". According to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), there were some 145 radio and 34 TV stations in the country by September 2006. Most of these are based in Kampala and the surrounding central region. The media proliferation has led to competition for the local advertising market. Some stations with weak financial foundations have been forced to shut down or retrench staff. For example, the Kampala-based Beat FM, which briefly shut down in December 2003 over salary arrears. Authorities have also attempted to regulate the sector through alterations in the licensing regime, enforcing the payment of licence fees and regulations against piracy of signals. The last point refers to incidents where some local stations were reportedly pirating signals from international stations. In February 2004, the South African satellite broadcaster, Mnet complained to the Ugandan authorities that some local stations were illegally rebroadcasting its signals. Changes in the licence regime came into being in January 2004 when the Broadcasting Council announced new fees for different licence categories - public, commercial and community broadcasters. Stakeholders began calling for a reclassification of the licences arguing that the country's media had changed since liberalization in the early 1990s. Commercial radio stations within a radius of 100 km of Kampala are now required to pay some 2,900 dollars annually, while community stations in the same area are to pay 1,200 dollars. Radio stations operating within a 400km radius are required to pay 600 dollars. Television stations are charged 5,800 dollars annually, while cinema halls in the capital pay 300 dollars per year. Rural-based cinema halls are required to pay 175 dollars annually. There is also the issue of registration with the Media Council. Regulations require stations that have been licensed by the Broadcasting Council to register with the Media Council. In January 2007, the Broadcasting Council warned that some 140 radio stations and 12 TV stations had not renewed their licence fees or registered with the Media Council. Radio Radio remains the most popular media form in Uganda. This has been attributed to high illiteracy and poverty rates, large-scale use of vernacular languages in broadcasting, adoption of the interactive phone-in programmes, and the availability of cheap radio sets. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated that 48 per cent of Ugandans had access to radio in 2005. This compared to 6 per cent for television. The politically and economically important central region around Kampala remains the epicentre of radio operations in the country. By December 2006, this region was home to some 44 FM stations and 10 TV stations. Broadcasting is via shortwave, mediumwave and FM. Most of the current transmissions are on FM since the stations are entertainment-oriented. A large majority of the stations are either commercially or community- owned. Transmission is mainly in English, Luganda, and a host of other vernacular languages. Nearly all the stations run short news bulletins at the top of every hour. Foreign broadcasters also remain available in Kampala. 1) Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) Radio UBC Radio is the national radio. It was formed in November 2005 as a successor to Radio Uganda (RU), which had been the state radio since it was formed in 1953. UBC Radio and Uganda Television (UTV) merged to form the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation. Its operations are regulated by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act 2004. UBC Radio operates the largest radio network in the country. It transmits in English, Swahili and 22 vernacular languages. The station broadcasts in five channels, namely Blue Channel (for Kampala and western Uganda), Red Channel (for northern Uganda), Buteebo Channel (for eastern Uganda), and Star FM (a Kampala-based commercial station) and Mega FM (for northern Uganda). Its website is: http://www.ubc.ug 2) KFM This privately-owned Kampala-based station was until 2004 known as Monitor FM. It was mainly a news and talkshow radio. It slanted its format to entertainment after the name change. The station is owned by Monitor Publications Limited (MPL), which is affiliated to the Kenya-based Nation Media Group that belongs to His Highness The Aga Khan. The station is available in Kampala on 93.3 FM. The authorities suspended the station for some time in August 2005 after it broadcast a debate about the death of Sudanese Vice-President John Garang. Its presenters - just like editors at its sister Daily Monitor newspaper - have had serious brushes with the law in regard to offences such as incitement and sedition. All notwithstanding, the station remains the most vocal in the country as it delivers local news in the most timely manner. It broadcasts mainly in English with a few Luganda bulletins in between. 3) Capital FM Capital FM broadcasts in English from Kampala and is said to enjoy the widest reach of all the music stations. The radio, which airs on 91.3 FM, is majority-owned by Ghanaian Patrick Quarcoo and a British national, William Pike, who is a former managing director of the state-owned daily, The New Vision. A February 2006 "national" survey found out that Capital FM was the most popular station in the country. The station is available in Mbarara (southwestern Uganda) on 91.3 FM and Mbale (eastern Uganda) on 91.3 FM. Owing to its largely English language format, the station is most attractive to young, educated middle class both in the capital and major towns. Capital FM plays mostly Western music with short news bulletins at every top of the hour. 4) Sanyu FM Sanyu FM was the first private station in the country. It was launched late 1993 as a small enterprise owned by one of the country's richest families. The station, which is available on 88.2 FM in Kampala, targeted urban youths and broadcast only around Kampala. The station - together with its sister Sanyu TV - was plagued by financial troubles in the late 90s. It was eventually sold to a local Asian business magnate. The station has stuck to its hip hop format and has succeeded in retaining its initial target audience. Its website is http://www.sowl.com/ureal/sanyu.htm 5) Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) CBS, which broadcasts from Kampala on 88.8 FM, is owned by the Buganda Kingdom, which is the largest traditional monarchy in the country. The station occupies the ground floor of the Kabaka's (king's) palace at Bulange in Kampala and broadcasts mainly in Luganda. It however, carries some short English bulletins. The station boasts of wide listenership among the Baganda people most of whom consider it the official media of the Kabaka's government. 6) City FM This is yet another Kampala-based station and is owned by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). The station was started in March 2004 and broadcasts on 98.1 FM. Its founding manager was Maj Kakooza Mutaale, a former senior presidential adviser on political affairs. City FM said it was founded to "educate our people about the government and the president's vision for modernization of this country". A 3 April 2004 report in The New Vision daily, said the station was originally owned by a pro-government legislator from Kyadondo, central Uganda. Other stations There are other vernacular stations that serve the various ethnic groups in the countryside. Notable are Radio West (available on 94.3 FM in Kabale, 106.6 FM in Masaka and 100.2 FM in Mbarara) which broadcasts in the Runyankore- speaking southwestern Uganda; Voice of Toro on 101 FM in Fort Portal and 95.0 FM in Mbarara and http://www.sowl.com/ureal/toro.htm which broadcasts in Rutoro to the Batoro people of Toro Kingdom in southwestern Uganda; Voice of Teso (available on 88.4 FM in Soroti) for the people of Teso in eastern Uganda; and Radio Kitara (on 101.8 FM in Mbarara) which broadcasts in Runyoro for the people in the western region. The country also boasts of a cluster of faith-based radio stations notable among which is Voice of Africa Radio, a Muslim radio that broadcasts on 92.3 FM from Kampala's upmarket Kololo suburb. Other religion-based radios are Radio Sapientia (available on 94.4 FM in Kampala), and Radio Maria (available on 101.8 FM in Kampala and 101.8 FM in Mbarara in the southwest). Both stations are associated with the Catholic Church, which is the country's largest Christian denomination. The religious-ethnic dichotomy and the variety of broadcast languages serve a particularly important purpose to politicians during election time as they are able to address all voters in their various vernaculars. Foreign broadcasters The Broadcasting Council lists the BBC World Service on 101.1 FM in Kampala, and Radio France Internationale (RFI) on 93.7 FM in the capital. Radio in war-hit north Northern Uganda refers to some 14 districts beyond Lake Kyoga towards Sudan. Since the advent of the Museveni administration in 1986, the region has been the epicentre of a deadly civil war between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. The LRA are the latest of northern-based insurgents opposed to the central government. They claim their campaign is meant to end the marginalization of the north by the government. Museveni's 1986 military victory ended two decades of northern control of government. Peace talks between the government and the LRA rebels have been taking place in the southern Sudan city of Juba but fears remain that hostilities will resume. Radio remains the most popular media in the north. A large number of displaced people, estimated at 1.1 million, have come to view radio as the best medium for information about the war and missing relatives. Poverty and illiteracy, occasioned by closure of educational institutions, have also pushed many northerners to radio. The military has employed a plethora of ways to regulate media operations in the north. It has shut down radio stations, imposed reporting restrictions, and also prevented the press from accessing some areas in the north. The International Press Institute (IPI) noted in its 2005 World Press Freedom Review that media coverage of the war "is a risky business" since journalists "face the risk of being labelled 'rebel collaborators' by the army". The military regularly argues that reporting on rebel attacks equals to "media promotion" of the insurgents and undermines national security. In December 2004 the Ministry of Information convened an "emergency meeting" claiming that the rebels intended to use local FM stations affiliated to Radio Uganda to "transmit" messages to their fighters. To demonstrate its determination, the military has shut down radio stations and newspapers and arrested journalists over their war reports. In June 2003 security agents closed down the Catholic radio, Kyoga-Veritas, over a war report. A 23 June 2003 report in the privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper said the station was closed after it rejected efforts by the military to "edit" its station's war reports. In March 2006, the Broadcasting Council closed down Choice FM after a talk-show panellist reportedly criticized the army and ruling party over their "mistreatment" of people during municipal elections in the north. The government, and the US State Department, classify the LRA as a "terrorist organization", which means that journalists are also at risk of prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The crackdown is not exclusively in the north. In October 2002, authorities shut down the Kampala offices of the Daily Monitor newspaper for seven days over the paper's coverage of the war. To bolster its media control, the army tried unsuccessfully in September 2003 to launch its own radio station. Opposition parliamentarians blocked the allocation of some 117,000 dollars from the Defence Ministry's budget for the project. The then military spokesman, Maj Shaban Bantariza, claimed the proposed station would complement the army's website http://www.defenceuganda.mil.ug/ and also boost the military since there "wasn't adequate information concerning the army". The official also claimed that the military was being "misrepresented". Local and international media watchdogs have rejected the "media promotion" charge viewing it as an excuse by the military to ensure favourable coverage of the army in its handling of the war and also deny the rebels any media exposure. In January 2004, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) denounced as "wild allegations" the government claims that the media was colluding with the rebels. According to the IFJ general-secretary, Aidan White, the claims were "blatant efforts to systematically stifle voices of dissent and undermine journalists' rights to report in Uganda". The media is not popular with rebels either. In September 2002, the insurgents destroyed the Catholic-owned Radio Wa, which was based in Lira town. President Museveni later donated some 38,000 dollars towards rebuilding the station. Both the government and the Catholic Church remain well-represented in the north. By November 2004, the government owned the most popular station in the north, while the church operated three stations in the region. The Catholic stations are Radio Pacis (in Arua District), Radio Kyoga-Veritas (Soroti District) and Radio Wa (Lira District). 1) Mega FM Mega FM is the most popular radio station in the north. The station is operated by the national broadcaster as part of a joint initiative by the UK Department for International Development (DfID). The station broadcasts from the principal northern town of Gulu (on 102 FM) and has a 2kW transmitter that reaches the region's 14 districts. Estimates put Mega FM's listenership at 51 per cent of the local radio audience. The station airs in Acholi language, the widely- spoken vernacular. Its most well-known programme "Dwogpaco", which means "Come Back Home" seeks to persuade rebels to renounce rebellion and return to their villages. Government as well as rebel officials frequently use the station to disseminate their messages to the region. Late 2006 the station organized a live debate between President Museveni and a top rebel official, Vincent Otti. Otti, however, failed to show up. In November 2006, the station was embroiled in an incident after it paid Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba Buturo, some 11,000 dollars when he was information minister, to ease the ministry's "serious financial need". Buturo, who later refunded the money, claimed the funds were used to produce a documentary on Uganda. 2) Radio Kyoga Veritas FM This Catholic-owned station is influential in the north. It is operated by the Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organization (Socadido). Authorities shut down the station for two months in June 2003 for allegedly "promoting" the rebels. The closure came days after the military warned local stations against broadcasting "messages" from the rebels, saying "this would only sow fear and panic" in the area. The station's signal is said to be available in the region's 14 districts. The station, which was launched in April 2001, broadcasts from Soroti town on 91.5 FM. 3) Radio Rhino International Africa (RRIA) This station was set up in Germany in September 2003 and targeted the north. It received warm reception from late former President Milton Obote (a northerner), who was in exile in Zambia, and opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was then exiled in South Africa. The shortwave station operated from Berlin and regularly criticized the Museveni government over its human rights record and governance issues. The station labeled itself the "Voice of Freedom and Democracy." The station seemed to have dropped transmissions in recent years. However, the New Vision newspaper reported on 21 February 2007 that Ugandan authorities were investigating the station since some of its top officials are "part" of the LRA delegation to the peace talks with the government. The report accused the station of "airing pro-LRA programmes" from Cologne, Germany. BBCM monitored the station on 21 February 2007 but failed to register any transmissions, while inspection of the "programmes" section of the station's website http://www.radiorhino.org indicated that there haven't been any broadcasts since February 2006. TELEVISION Since the liberalization of the media, television is becoming an increasingly popular media form in Uganda. Estimates by the Broadcasting Council indicated that there were a total of 1.7 million TV sets in the country by June 2006. By January 2007, there were about a dozen free-to-view TV channels. Most of them were locally-owned while others broadcast from neighbouring capitals. Also on air were broadcasters offering pay-to-view satellite channels. With the exception of the state-owned channel, all these stations are post-1990 establishments. Nearly all the main stations are based in Kampala. Authorities have tried to cash in on the popularity of television by imposing an annual tax of some 11 dollars per TV set. This payment, which has elicited much controversy, is presented as a TV licence fee and is mainly aimed at funding the operations of the national broadcaster, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC). In February 2004, a Broadcasting Council official was cited saying that the fee was "the only way to sustain the public broadcasting service". President Museveni later halted the collection of the fee arguing that only "TV sets that were used for commercial purposes should pay the fees and not those belonging to the peasants". 1) Uganda Broadcasting Corporation TV (UBC TV) This channel was formed as a relaunch of Uganda Television, the state broadcaster. This was after parliament passed the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act in 2005 with the view of forming a "sustainable public service broadcaster". The defunct Uganda Television was formed in 1963 and for three decades held a virtual monopoly over the airwaves, eventually suffering a lot of criticism from sections of the public who saw it as a mouthpiece for government ideology. It had, in the opinion of many, become a state broadcaster as opposed to a public service broadcaster. Since the relaunch, UBC TV has sought to revamp its production facilities, transmission equipment and programmes. It has also relocated its Kampala headquarters to a spacious facility and embarked on an ambitious 2.7m-dollar project that will see it transform "into a more relevant and competitive broadcaster". The project involves the construction of modern studios, purchase of satellite equipment and outside broadcasting facilities. In January 2007, the station promised to launch "a new channel before the end of the year to air both local and Chinese programmes". The Chinese government also donated two 5 kW transmitters to the station. The UBC TV channel is available on satellite and the web http://www.jumptv.com Its official website is: http://www.ubc.ug 2) Nation TV (NTV) This station was launched in November 2006 and is owned by Africa Broadcasting (Uganda) Ltd, a subsidiary of Kenya's Nation Media Group. The channel says its mission is to "fill a gap in terms of programming and news" in the country. The launch of NTV has increased The Aga Khan's stake in the Ugandan media market and is likely to raise questions on cross-ownership in the media industry. The station promises to offer competition to the national TV, and authorities have not shied from taking a hard line against NTV. The station was shut down twice in January 2007 over what the Broadcasting Council claimed was "non-compliance to the industry's technical standards". NTV was switched off by state-owned UBC TV which argued that NTV's equipment hoisted on the national broadcaster's mast in Kampala were a "safety risk". The station broadcasts in Kampala on Channel 54. 3) Wavah Broadcasting Service(WBS) TV WBS TV was incorporated in October 1997 and is owned by the Spear Motors Group of Companies. This group is the holder of the Daimler Benz franchise in Uganda. The station, which operates on UHF 25 in Kampala, is the country's leading private free-to-view channel. According to its website (accessed 20 February 2007), the station's signal is also available in Masaka (southern Uganda) on Channel 45 and Channel 55 in Jinja (east of Kampala). In 2005, WBS expanded its signal to the south- western regions of Mbarara and Fort Portal, and Mbale and Tororo (both in eastern Uganda). Its website terms the station a "winner" due to its "unique blend of local and foreign programmes [that] has ensured the biggest, most varied audience". Its website is: http://www.wbs-tv.com 4) Pulse TV Pulse TV entered the market as a joint venture between one of the country's richest families, the Asian Madhvani family, and Tanzania's media conglomerate IPP Media Group. The station is a successor to Channel TV, which the Madhvanis co-owned with the IPP Media Group. Channel TV was set up in the late 1990s but suffered inconsistent programming and poor picture quality leading to its closure. Pulse TV broadcasts in Kampala on VHF on Channel 12. 5) East Africa TV (EATV or Channel 5) The East Africa TV (EATV) is a music channel owned by Tanzania's IPP Media Group. It started operations in Uganda in March 2003 beaming programmes from Dar es Salaam via satellite. The station broadcasts in English and Swahili. In 2005, however, the station moved to "considerably transform" its programming after the then Ugandan information minister, Dr James Nsaba Buturo, accused it of broadcasting sexually explicit music videos and threatened to withdraw its licence. The station broadcasts on UHF 31. Its website is: http://www.eatv.tv 6) Lighthouse TV (LTV) Lighthouse TV is an evangelical Christian-linked channel. The station broadcasts a lot of programmes from the US-based Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). 7) TOP TV TOP TV is another evangelical station owned by Christian Life Ministries of local pastor Jackson Sennyonga. It was in February 2005 briefly closed down by the Broadcasting Council over alleged non-payment of licence fees. The station also rebroadcasts Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The station broadcasts from Kampala on Channel 28. Its owners also operate an FM station in Kampala. 8) Note TV This station is based in the northern town of Lira. It is operated by Note TV Ltd, which is owned by Gordon Bell, a Uganda-based Briton. President Museveni launched the station in October 2005. The station broadcasts in Lira on Channel 61. PRESS The history of the Ugandan press can be traced back to the 1930s when vernacular-language newspapers appeared in Kampala questioning the discrimination of locals by the colonial authorities. Most of the papers were privately-owned by investors from the populous Baganda ethnic community. By the 1950s the government was getting increasingly dominant in press investment. Military dictatorships that set in from the early 1970s entrenched state dominance by banning privately-owned newspapers. The proscribed publications only resumed operations after President Museveni came to power in 1986. Since then the press has continued to prosper. Two media houses however dominate the country's press sector. These houses, one state- owned, publish Uganda's two main daily newspapers, which have a combined circulation of some 65,000 copies. Newspaper readership is largely limited to the wealthy, literate urban middle class who can afford them. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated in 2005 that 30 per cent of the citizens are illiterate and unable to afford newspapers mainly published in English. The main newspapers have their headquarters in Kampala, which remains an important commercial centre and offers attractive advertising and high readership opportunities. 1) The New Vision The state-owned The New Vision daily was set up in 1986 after President Museveni came to power. The English-language paper has since then become the country's top-selling newspaper, selling some 35,000 copies daily, according to its website (accessed 20 February 2007). Its weekend edition, the Sunday Vision, sells slightly over 36,000 copies. Its parent company, The New Vision Printing and Publishing Corporation, is listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange; 80 per cent of its shares are owned by the government and the other 20 per cent by private shareholders, including President Museveni. The paper is known for publishing reports and opinion pieces critical to the government despite being majorly state-owned. According to its website, the paper is "enjoined by act of parliament to remain independent" and "has a legal obligation to publish criticism of the government without becoming an institutional opponent of government". This media house also publishes four other papers in leading vernacular languages. They are Bukedde (a Luganda-language daily), Orumuri (in Runyankore that is predominant in the southwestern regions); Rupiny (in Langi, which is spoken in northern Uganda), and Etop (spoken in parts of eastern Uganda). Bukedde claims a daily circulation of some 15,000 copies. The other three papers are weeklies and claim diverse circulation. Orumuri sells some 10,500 copies, while Rupiny sells about 3,500 copies. Etop circulates some 5,400 copies weekly. In October 2004, the New Vision group launched a new tabloid, The Sun, which the company said would "cater for the audience that is not comfortable with Luganda". In late 2006, The New Vision experienced serious management changes that were linked to a October 2006 speech by President Museveni. The president had vowed to "sort out" The New Vision saying the paper had "been very useless for a very long time". The changes saw the resignation of the group managing director, William Pike, and editor- in-chief, David Sseppuuya. Pike, a Briton, was replaced by Robert Kabushenga who pledged to "respect the paper's editorial independence". A Belgian journalist, Els de Temmerman, took over as the new editor-in-chief. The media house's website http://www.newvision.co.ug is said to be popular. According to former Managing Director William Pike, the site received over 900,000 hits in November 2006. 2) The Daily Monitor The Daily Monitor was established in 1992. At the time, the paper was known simply as The Monitor. It became The Daily Monitor in June 2005 after the Kenya-based Nation Media Group acquired the majority stake in Monitor Publications Ltd. The paper promotes itself as independent. According to its website (accessed 20 February 2007), the "paper's private ownership guarantees the independence of its editors and journalists, free from the influence of government, shareholders or any political allegiance". The Monitor, adds the site, "is the only paper [in Uganda] that reports on news stories unhindered and conducts serious investigative reporting in the public interest". Such an editorial stance seems to irritate a political establishment that came to power through the gun. In October 2003, the government closed down the paper's Kampala premises over a report that alleged a military helicopter had crashed in the northern region. On several occasions, the paper's top editors have been charged with offences such as sedition, promoting sectarianism and contravention of the Anti-Terrorism Act. It is without doubt that The Daily Monitor is the leading private newspaper in Uganda and by far represents the only significant competition to the state-owned New Vision. Its efforts to venture into vernacular publication have, however, registered very little success. It currently publishes only in English. Its holding company, Monitor Publications Ltd, also runs a radio station, KFM, publishes the Monitor Business Directory on top of running an online edition on http://www.monitor.co.ug The online edition started in 1994 and was one of the first newspaper websites in Africa. 3) The Weekly Observer The Weekly Observer was formed in March 2004 by a group of journalists who had quit The Daily Monitor. According to its website (accessed 18 February 2007), the paper "is independently owned by a cooperative of 11 young men and women". Its publisher is Observer Media Ltd. The paper publishes weekly from Kampala, mostly running analysis pieces on the key topics of the week. Its site boasts that the paper "has in a short time grown into the most respected newspaper in Uganda, breaking great stories for the dailies to follow up and championing analytical, factual and balanced reporting". The weekly claims "to be the only truly independent newspaper in Uganda with no political baggage associated with some of the newspapers on the market". Its website is: http://www.ugandaobserver.com 4) The Red Pepper The Red Pepper was launched in 2001 as a political magazine but it soon became best known for salacious and sensational reports. Some have described it as a sex-and-scandal tabloid. The tabloid gained notoriety when it published photographs of naked teenagers apparently having sex at the beach during a school outing. The paper reported late last year that President Museveni had 90 presidential advisers and assistants, which prompted a cabinet minister to release a list showing them as 61. On 8 August 2006, the paper attracted the ire of international human rights organizations when it published an article entitled "Gay Shock!" The article had a list of names, places of work and areas of residence of 45 men alleged to be homosexuals. Some weeks later it followed up with a similar article entitled "Kampala's notorious lesbians unearthed" with a list of 13 women. Human rights groups said the publication promotes homophobia in a country that remains intolerant of homosexuality. Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and attracts the life sentence. Unofficial reports say The Red Pepper is owned by Museveni's brother, Salim Saleh. A June 2006 report by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) accused the government of funding the paper. NEWS AGENCIES Uganda has not had a government news agency since the collapse of Uganda News Agency. Most leading newspapers and broadcast media have correspondents all over the country eliminating the need of such an agency. Uganda Radio Network This private establishment is the only agency in the country. It describes itself as "an independent news agency producing news and information about Uganda". The network is based in Kampala and its products in both text and audio are available on subscription. The network was set up with assistance from the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Its web address is: http://www.urn.co.ug INTERNET The internet came to the country in the mid-1990s and has since then become a popular medium of communication. Local media establishments have capitalized on the technology and set up websites and adopted it to improve their operations. Though the internet remains largely confined to the country's main urban centres, the authorities have in recent years set up programmes to bridge the digital divide between towns and rural areas where 80 per cent of the country's population live. The Rural Communication Development Fund (RCDF) launched in 2003 offers subsidies and waivers to telecommunication firms investing in the country's rural areas. These firms are especially encouraged to popularize the internet in rural areas through establishments known as internet Points of Presence (PoPs). Most of these projects are being implemented with donor support. In November 2006, the Chinese government pledged to give Uganda a 120m- dollar loan for the development of a national broadband infrastructure. Additionally, following his 2006 reelection, President Museveni formed a new ministry to oversee the Information and Communication Technology sector. Source: BBC Monitoring research 27 Feb 07 (via DXLD) ** U S A. Rapid steady pulsing, maybe 15 or 20 per second, unlike the Cuban jammers, heard on 5890 and matching on 5950, March 5 at 0611. 5890 QRMing VOA French via Greenville, and 5950 QRMing RTI Spanish via WYFR. I seriously suspect the ailing WBOH transmitter is the source of these, since it is halfway between 5890 and 5950, and this is typical of spurs to match equidistant from center frequency. 5920 itself did not have any of this noise on it, tho modulation is degraded. I was again hearing the pulses at 1253, when 5920 was barely modulating with music, now interfering with VOA Korean via Philippines on 5890, and after 1300 seriously wrecking RNZI on 5950, including during Mailbox after 1330. I could also hear a trace of the same noise 30 kHz further down on 5860 at 1332, but not on 5980 which had a station in Russian. At 1330, 5920 starting broadcasting another long- dead preacher, Bob Jones, Sr. One of my TV sets produces similar pulses when turned off but plugged in, so I was wary, and expeditioned to the next lot away from the house where I could still hear the pulses on a portable. Note that none of these are multiples of 30, as one can easily tell by adding up the digits. And besides the trace on 5860, there were no more spurs like these around the bands. I would like others to monitor for the 5890 and 5950 pulses; if close enough to hear 5920 in the daytime, the pulse spurs should also be audible, not the case here at 1800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. During an idle moment, I checked three SW frequencies carrying the Power Hower, from GCN, and found them unsynchronized, March 5 at 1428: 5850 WWRB was first, followed a split second later by WWCR 5765 one or two words behind, but it took 75 seconds before the same audio came across KAIJ 9480! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. World Cup Cricket reports on WRMI MIAMI (March 5, 2007) - Cricket fans throughout North and South America will be able to keep abreast of the upcoming Cricket World Cup in the West Indies by listening to shortwave radio. Radio Miami International, also known as WRMI, will offer one-minute "World Cricket Today" reports twice daily for seven weeks, beginning Sunday, March 11 and continuing through the end of the 16-nation, 51-match tournament on April 28. The World Cup is held every four years to determine the top one-day cricket team on the globe. The West Indies won the inaugural World Cup in 1975 in England. Australia has won the past two competitions, including the most recent event four years ago in South Africa. Canada will join the West Indies and Bermuda as the three Western Hemisphere sides among the 16 countries represented. This year's competition will be staged in nine different Caribbean nations. Cricket is played and watched by more people worldwide than baseball. "World Cricket Today" will be beamed to Latin America and the Caribbean on WRMI's 9955 kHz frequency at 1230 UT, and again to North America on 7385 kHz at 1530 in addition to live audio streaming on the station's website at http://www.wrmi.net It will be hosted by Seattle native Bruce Baskin, a cricket enthusiast who has radio experience dating back 30 years. "This is a great opportunity to reach a lot of people throughout the continent," Baskin says. "WRMI will give cricket tremendous exposure in the United States and Canada, where the game has almost no media presence at all. Listening to cricket results on shortwave is a longtime tradition in many countries, but this will be a first-time effort in the United States." WRMI, which first signed on in 1994, alternates its 50,000-watt signal between North and South America. The station is on the air 24 hours a day with an eclectic format including Spanish, religious and international news programming in addition to its "Viva Miami" show. WRMI general manager Jeff White doubles as president of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters. There are more than 60 million shortwave radios in circulation worldwide, and one factory in China reportedly produces 300,000 of them per month to meet the demand for more. It is not uncommon for a WRMI broadcast to be heard simultaneously on five continents. For more information on World Cup Cricket Today, contact Bruce Baskin at wrmi.radio @ hotmail.com (WRMI press release March 5 via DXLD) ** U S A. KXEL deserves a reprimand or license revocation --- I don't have all the facts at hand, so I'll do what I usually do and make a fool of myself: I'm asking: WHY DOES NOT KXEL HAVE BACKUP POWER GENERATION? (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP Greenville, North Carolina, IRCA via DXLD) And it better not be an EAS key station (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: NEVADA PIRATE OPERATOR GETS STA, STORY FROM CGC #780: One Nevada pirate broadcaster has reportedly received a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) from the FCC to get back on the air. The Pahrump Valley Times of Nevada reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., intervened with the FCC to allow the unlicensed broadcaster back on the air. The pirate's operation was raided and shut down by the FCC last June. According to the published account, the pirate can operate with the STA until he can apply for an LPFM license in a future filing window. What a deal. What a miserable precedent. http://tinyurl.com/2oebxl http://www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0102/t.1183.html LETTER TO THE EDITOR #1: The sound you hear is me using the airsickness bag. I'm glad that I got out of the FCC when I did. FCC Field Inspector, Retired LETTER TO THE EDITOR #2: Are you aware of the FCC EVER allowing the violation of their rules at any time in the past? I thought that your story was an early April Fools joke. Unfortunately, it appears that Senator Reid wields lots of persuasion with the FCC. I wonder how far this can be carried. For example, might this precedent be applied to a broadcaster out of compliance with the FCC rules on human exposure to RF making it okay to violate the rules until the party responsible gets around to fixing the problem? RF Engineer LETTER TO THE EDITOR #3: Another slap in the face of living by the rules. It's a real sham(e) that the FCC is no longer driven by science and the Laws of Physics. RF Engineer LETTER TO THE EDITOR #4: Regarding the Nevada Pirate being granted an STA by the Commission, I'm disgusted, maybe even angry. Decades of standards and interference controls are being thrown out to reward those who believe that the "marketplace" is more important than the law and those who choose to do whatever they please. The flood gates have opened. Welcome to the new age of Federal Government, where it's perfectly okay to reward those who choose to disregard the laws of the land. I tell you, it's getting worse and worse. Broadcast Engineer LETTER TO THE EDITOR #5: Dear Commissioners, I can't believe you succumbed to the complaints of a politician and are allowing an unlicensed radio station, one you already "busted," to remain on the air. What kind of precedent does this establish? We've already got judges in the CA Bay Area who, as I understand it, are allowing illegal stations to remain running. Now this. Your reasoning, as per the Pahrump Valley Times, was based on: ...Section 309(f) of the Communications Act of 1934, which authorizes the Commission to grant the temporary allowance in cases of "extraordinary circumstances requiring temporary authorizations in the public interest." If there were such circumstances, enough to justify a radio station in Pahrump, it seems to me that someone would have done it by now. Laws were NOT made to be broken. They were made to keep order. This gentleman seems to have the public interest at heart; please let him wait until you are accepting applications, then file, with the ability for others to do the same (or to oppose the application) via the standard process. I think there IS justification for a low-power FM service in remote areas like this, perhaps using the population and/or distance to the next nearest radio transmitter or contour as a guideline (so that the law can't be abused in areas already with too many signals). But once this gets around, you're going to be flooded with complaints of similar transmitters, many, I'll wager, in LESS remote areas, all squatting on the air so they can get a FREE license, using specious arguments like "extraordinary circumstances" until such time as you decide to make them go through the process like most other potential broadcast licensees.... Former Broadcast Engineer LETTER TO THE EDITOR #6A: The Nevada pirate broadcaster in question has been assigned a call sign, KGFN-LP. If you look up the STA in CDBS (BSTA-20061206AFZ), there is interesting reading in the correspondence folder. Broadcast Engineer Editor's Comment: Use this shortcut URL http://tinyurl.com/3dqjhq to see the CDBS summary of the KGFN-LP record. Then, near page bottom, click on "View Correspondence Folder." Now you are into the really interesting part where you will find (among other things) a copy of the FCC authorization (the STA) allowing the former pirate to operate. You will learn that the company president's real name is Rodney D. Moyes, whereas "Rod Moses" is just an "aka." You will also learn that the lack of FAA approval for the previously constructed tower is no problem whatsoever. The FCC just wants the station operator to make an effort to coordinate the tower in the future. The only thing missing from the letter is the sentence, "Is there anything else I can do for you today?" LETTER TO THE EDITOR #6B: The FCC rules and a law passed by Congress prohibit former Pirates from ever getting a license so the FCC action was illegal. Broadcast Engineer REPLY TO LETTER #6B: That [assumption is] what happens when non-lawyers report on legal things and get them wrong. The statute and the implementing regulations bars those who were found operating without a license, were warned to cease operation, and then refused to do so or resumed unlicensed operation after a period of cessation. The warning and refusal or resumption are the key elements. The loophole that Senator Harry Reid of Nevada drove a bulldozer through was that the applicant for whom he strong-armed an STA did cease operations after warning, and was therefore not barred from being licensed. Broadcast Attorney/Engineer (CGC Communicator March 3 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TURNING GARAGE DOOR OPENERS INTO PERSONAL SECURITY DEVICES COMMENTS WANTED IN L.A. SHERIFF'S PROPOSAL --- STORY FROM CGC #780: On February 2, 2007, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. (LASD) filed a request for waiver of the Rule that limits the transmission time of a manually activated garage door opener control transmitter to no greater than 5 seconds upon release of the activation switch.... The modified transmitters would be available only to law enforcement organizations. If anyone would care to research this proposal to find out what the Sheriff hopes to accomplish, let us know. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-729A1.doc LETTER TO THE EDITOR #8: I am going to hazard a guess on the request for the L.A. Sheriff to modify Part 15 to allow for more than 5 seconds of transmission. Quite a long time ago, some 20+ years or so, a local security company here in Grand Rapids, MI (Midstate Security) was asked by several state correctional facilities for something, anything, that a correctional office could wear, that when he pressed a button, it would summon help. I had worked for Midstate for 2 years (long, long ago), and we had installed some simple garage door openers with receivers in critical areas. However, you would not know exactly where the officer was. After I had left, one of the security technicians, Sam Nabkey, K8SN, started to install Doug Hall voters, designed for selecting the better receiver in a ham repeater operation, and used these voters to decide which of the garage door receivers had the better (stronger) signal. The signal is AM, and there were modifications made to the voters and the receivers. Midstate has installed many of these units, buying some 500+ voter boards. A typical prison will have 4 to 12 receivers per building to be protected, with the receivers spread out along the floors and different floor levels. With this system, there is a high probability of knowing where the officer is within a short distance. You had better believe the officers want this system to work, and work well. My guess is that the Sheriff wants to have mercury/gravity switches that would trigger the garage door openers in a "person-down mode." This would account for the greater than 5 second transmission [that has been requested]. This is my thought, reading between the lines. There are now several manufactures of the modified garage door openers for personal security devices. I have to give credit to those techs who came up with off- the-shelf equipment, and modified same to come up with a very effective and reasonably low cost solution. --- Broadcast Engineer (CGC Communicator March 3 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IN CAR DRM "BLACK BOX" ADD-ON TRIALED First public presentation of what will probably become the first standard production DRM in-car solution: http://radio.hirschler.net/2007/03/05/digital-radio-mondiale-car-radio/ (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) see also NEW ZEALAND ###