DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-75, June 17, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages and we are provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission} THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 1040: See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1040.html ESTE MES EN MUNDO RADIAL. Escuchar nuestro informe de junio en Real Audio: http://www.freespeech.org/hauser/sounds/mr0006.ram JOHN NORFOLK`S (c) REVIEW OF THE NEW GRUNDIG SATELLIT 800 MILLENNIUM: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/rxtips.txt ** AFGHANISTAN. V. of Shariah, official Taleban station on 7087v: 1300-1530 domestic service in Pashto, Dari, Nuristani(?); 1530 English, 1545 Arabic, 1600 Turkmen, 1615 Uzbek, 1630 Urdu, 1650-1710* Russian. All are to Asia except Russian, to Europe (© BBC Monitoring June 13, condensed for DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1040) Is there really a beam change before Russian?? (gh) ** ARMENIA. Courtesy of a QSL which has recently arrived at my doorstep, here is the summer schedule of English language broadcasts of the National Radio of Armenia: 1955 to 2015 9965 and 4810 kHz 0840 to 0900 Sunday only 15270 and 4810 kHz cheers, (b. cooley, BC, June 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1040, DXLD) ** CANADA. CRTC ISSUES THREE NEW TORONTO RADIO LICENCES OTTAWA-HULL - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued three new radio licences for the Toronto market. The new licences were issued to B. Denham Jolly (Milestone Radio Inc.), Gary Farmer (Aboriginal Voices Radio), and CHWO Ontario Inc. Mr. Jolly proposed a new urban music FM radio station, Mr. Farmer proposed a native radio station, and CHWO proposed a radio station aimed at listeners over 50 years of age. ``We found these three applications to be the strongest in terms of what would best serve the needs of Toronto and meet the objectives of the Broadcasting Act,`` said Andrée Wylie, CRTC Vice-Chair, Broadcasting. ``These three new stations will enrich and add diversity to the Toronto radio market. They will also bring additional points of view and variety to Toronto area listeners.`` In making its decision, the Commission also took into account the best possible use of the frequencies applied for, the quality of the applications, and alternative technical options available to the other applicants. Here is a summary of the three new radio station formats: New Urban Music FM will offer an ``Urban Music`` format, on FM frequency 93.5 targeted to an audience aged 25 to 44. According to Milestone, the format will be a modern day reflection of the rich musical traditions of Black musicians and Black-influenced music over the past century. This will include rhythm and blues (R&B), hip-hop, plus reggae and calypso. The station will also offer locally relevant spoken-word programming and local talent. Aboriginal Voices Radio will air on the FM frequency 106.5. It will offer a very diversified programming schedule. Programming will include a variety of music, open line programs, round table discussions, spirituality and teachings, language and cultural lessons, as well as news from an aboriginal perspective. Indigenous languages will be woven into the programming according to the community's need and available resources. The station will promote the retention and revitalization of native languages. New Adult Standards Radio will offer a radio format geared towards listeners 50 and above. The music will be a mix of easy listening, '50s pop, big band, swing and nostalgia. In addition to the regular news, weather, sports, traffic and business reports, the program hosts will provide anecdotes, humorous stories, personal insights and thoughts for the day. The Commission notes that this application will use a frequency, AM 740, that reaches a very wide area to serve a large group of listeners who are currently not directly served by commercial broadcasters using popular music-based formats. These three new Toronto radio licences were awarded after a hearing process that began in January 1999. In coming to its decision, the Commission noted the concerns of the May 7th, 1998 Order-in-Council and the rapidly changing demographic characteristics of the metropolitan Toronto population. The Commission also notes that based on discussions with various applicants at the Toronto hearing, there appear to be other radio frequencies available for use in the Toronto market. Reference documents: Public Notice CRTC 2000-84, Decisions CRTC 2000-203, 2000-204, 2000-205, 2000-206 General Inquiries: Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2 Tel: (819) 997-0313, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 994-0218 Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782), eMail: info@crtc.gc.ca Media Relations: Denis Carmel, Tel: (819) 997-9403, eMail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca Copies of today's documents are available through our Internet site (http://www.crtc.gc.ca) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request. (via Bill Westenhaver, June 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. This slightly earlier story gives us an idea of what might have been... (gh) June 16, 2000 D-Day for radio applicants | CRTC announcing who gets what vacant frequencies By Betsy Powell Toronto Star Entertainment Reporter Toronto-area radio listeners will soon have more options. The federal broadcast regulator announces today the fate of three vacant frequencies, 740 AM, 93.5 FM and 106.3 FM, a new, low-powered signal. Fourteen contenders made their pitches during public hearings here last winter before five panelists of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Triggering the process was the CRTC's 1998 decision to award the prime 99.1 FM spot to CBC, which freed up its former flagship, 740 AM, and Peterborough-based 93.5 FM. Two black applicants are proposing black/urban/dance-format stations. Considered frontrunners, they are Share FM, whose major owner is Arnold Auguste, and Denham Jolly's Milestone Communications Inc. Others vying include YTV Radio, which hopes to be the country's first station to exclusively target the 6-11 age demographic; an outfit called PrimeTime Radio, which would cater to the over-50 set; and Rainbow Radio, which would serve the gay community. Five applicants call themselves ethnic radio stations; Aboriginal Voices wants to broadcast to the native community. The new stations should be on the air within six months. "That's up to them, basically," CRTC spokesperson Denis Carmel said. "If they already have facilities, then it's a piece of cake." When considering applications, the commission looks for "variety, new choices for audiences, the quality of the application and sustainability," Carmel said. "We want to ensure whoever gets the licence survives." In 1990, the decision to license a country music station over a black music/dance station came under attack, with critics accusing the CRTC of ignoring the multi- cultural needs of the city. Those same criticisms surfaced again in 1998, after CBC Radio One landed the licence at 99.1 FM. Milestone appealed to cabinet, which refused to overturn the decision. However, in response to concerns, the government issued a directive ordering the commission to ensure 93.5 FM and 740 AM serve Canada's ethnocultural audiences. (©1996-2000 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited via Ivan Grishin, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC/RCI Preview: ROOTS & WINGS: Accordion Month continues this week on Roots & Wings, as Philly celebrates the annual ``free- reed`` festival with a 2-part show featuring accordions and their kin from around the world. You'll hear the ``stomach Steinway`` as played in Cape Verde, Belize, Madagascar, Reunion Island, Pakistan, and more. And you'll have a chance to win a brand-new accordion of your own from RootsWorld, the free-reed festival's online host and sponsor. That's on Roots and Wings, Sunday evening at 5:05 (5:35 NT) on CBC Radio Two. (CBC Hotsheet via gh) Sunday 2305-2359 on 5960, 9755, 11895, 13670, 15305, 17695 kHz. (Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. Current data on Canada's 49 Meter SWBC stations: [CFVP already covered] CFRX (Independent) 1 kw, Toronto Ontario Canada, 6070 khz, Relays: CFRB 1010 AM, 24 hours per day, Xmtr: Elcom Bauer, Antenna: Omni. Currently CFRX is experiencing audio problems, resulting in low audio output, the xmtr is being "driven hard" at 1.25 kw. Address: c/o Ontario DX Association, PO Box 161, Station A, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, M2N-5S8. CHNX (Independent) 50 watts (500 watts nominally), Halifax Nova Scotia Canada, 6130 kHz, Relays: CHNS 960 AM, 24 hours per day, Antenna: 1/4 wave Dipole, v/s Scott Snailham (Evening Producer) is a SWL. Address: PO Box 400, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3J-1K1. CKZN (CBC) 1 kw, St. John's Newfoundland Canada, 6160 khz, Relays: CBN 640 AM, 0000-0406 GMT 0825-0000 GMT (24 hrs except 0406- 0825 GMT), Xmtr: Elcom Bauer, Antenna: Dipole with reflector aimed North to the Labrador Sea/North from St. John's, for off-shore fishermen and Labrador residents. Local programming from Goose Bay studio's 0830-1130 GMT, Engineer Keith Dunford is a SWL. Address: PO Box 12010, Station A, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, A1B-3T8. CKZU (CBC) 1 kw, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada, 6160 khz, Relays: CBU 690 AM CBC Radio 1, 24 hours per day, Xmtr: Elcom Bauer, Antenna: Dipole. Address: PO Box 4600, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6B-4A2. Return postage is always gratefully appreciated. (Joe Talbot, Alberta, Cumbre DX June 16 via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. AWR Wavescan will have two special broadcasts from an Adventist conference in Toronto: The schedule for the two broadcasts of "Wavescan" is as follows:- Sunday July 2 1200 UTC, WHRI2 Noblesville Indiana 6040 kHz 100 kW; Sunday July 9 1200 UTC, WHRI2 Noblesville Indiana 6040 kHz 100 kW (Dr Adrian Peterson, Wavescan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5020, Ecos del Atrato in Quibdó observed on an irregular basis in June. 5955, Jun 10, Caracol Villavicencio, 2115-, SIO 555, playing boleros, promo for ``Evocación`` program 1400-1700 UT Sundays only (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA | CLANDESTINE. 6240, June 11, 1245-, SIO 211, (presumed) Voz de la Resistencia -- Comando de Occidente, heard here only on Sundays. On 6261v, Voz de la Resistencia - Bloque Oriental: no signals from them lately from the beginning of June at either time 1130 or 2130 (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR/KATANGA. 7205 9 June 1830- Unid in French talking about Congo and playing afropops, best on LSB, maybe Lubumbashi active once again? (Jarmo Patala, Hyvinkaa, Finland, hard-core-dx) I heard Lubumbashi too! Tuned in at 2000 and I was surprised by the signal. SINPO 24343. I think this is much stronger than the listed 10 kW. Heard lots of Afropop and messages in French for families and others. Lubumbashi often mentioned. At 2027, the Portuguese programme from the BBC via Meyerton was spoiling the game, but Lubumbashi could still be heard faintly underneath. BTW the BBC is targeting this programme at Angola. That must be a mess in the target area. After 2100, the frequency is clear again but the VOA newsreader on 7210 kHz is causing too much side splash. From 2115 again better signal. Rechecked at 2130 after VOA sign off but Lubumbashi was gone. On 7210 I heard however another French speaking African station. This could be Benin or Senegal. At 2154 Yunnan, China, came on the air but the African station was soon keeping the stronger signal. Put the minidisk on and went asleep. [Later:] It's Lubumbashi for sure. Although I didn't hear an ID, they were talking about 'La Comité Central de Lubumbashi'; 'L'université de Lubumbashi'; 'Les étudiants Kantangais' etc. This was followed by readings from letters received from citizens with messages for other family members. When listening again to my recording I must say that an overall merit of 3 was a little bit to high. It's rather 2. It is however doubtful if they are still using that ancient 10 kW transmitter. They may have installed a new one to 'serve' the occupied Congolese territories. Today 13/6 the reception is much weaker. (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. [cf DXLD 00-74] Olle Alm mentions the cruddy audio on HCJB 15115 in the (Western Hemisphere) evenings... oddly enough, I don't think it sounds like this during the morning transmission-- different transmitter? I've checked it around 1300 UTC and it sounds clean. But the evening broadcast really stinks up the joint. (Randy Stewart, MO, June 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Greetings to all members on the list. Thanks for the various comments about the hum we had been experiencing on our 15115 frequency from 0000-0700. As of 14 June at 0000, the frequency should once again be clean. The hum is from a recurring problem on one of our back-up txs. Due to a problem on one of the main txs, we were unfortunately forced to use T2 for a short while. We are aware of the problem on T2, and try to avoid using it as much as possible while our engineering team continues to study the problem. Thank you to all those who listen. Obviously we like the good news reports better, but we need to know when there are problems, and you are the best ones to let us know. Thanks for taking the time to listen and report. (Allen Graham, HCJB World Radio, Quito, Ecuador, hard-core-dx) Wonderful- HCJB has also been putting out a mixing product on 15090 kHz for quite some time. It seems to be audio from both 15140 and 15115 kHz. Any chance of cleaning that up as well? (Hans Johnson, WY) Hello Hans and hello list. Thanks for the follow-up, Hans. I have passed this along to our Engineering Director and to the Director of the International Transmitter Site. As soon as I hear back from them, I will inform the list. Thanks for letting us know. This is the kind of help and information we need. Blessings on you this evening from Quito. (Allen Graham, HCJB, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB's single-sideband transmitter, checked at 1330 UTC on June 12, measured at 21455.2 kHz. I measured it for signal level of the English program; at 21455.0 the carrier is a bit awkward in sound level, but by tuning up by two-tenths of a kHz the audio level was right-on, so the transmitter must be off-frequency. (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, USA June 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity (Amharic: Finote Demokrasi Ye-Ethiopia Andinet Dimts) was first observed by BBC Monitoring in December 1999. It reportedly uses a hired Deutsche Telekom transmitter in Germany. The radio states that it was established to safeguard the national integrity of Ethiopia, bring about unity based on equality of the Ethiopian peoples, preserve the sovereignty of the Ethiopian peoples, bring about a democratic system in Ethiopia, ensure the preservation of the human rights of Ethiopians, ensure the supremacy of the law, bring about justice and ensure equality of gender, religion and nationalities, and contribute to the struggle aimed at bringing about social justice. Several similar Ethiopian opposition radio stations, which have also broadcast only on Sundays and Wednesdays, have been heard over the past few years: Voice of Ethiopian Patriotism (heard in 1992); Free Radio Voice of Ethiopian Unity (heard in 1993-94); Radio Voice of United and Free Ethiopia/ Voice of One Free Ethiopia (heard in 1997-99). Language: Amharic. Address: Finote Democracy, P O Box 88675, Los Angeles, California 90009, USA. E-mail: efdpu@finote.org Web Site: http://www.finote.org Address: Finote Democracy, Postbus 10573, 1001 EN, Amsterdam, Holland --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 On Demand AMHARIC http://www.finote.org - archive audio 0700-0800 Su...... AMHARIC Af Ter: 21.550 0800-0900 Su...... AMHARIC Af Ter: 21.550 (Repeat of 0700 broadcast.) 1600-1700 ...W... AMHARIC Af Ter: 15.105 1830-1930 ...W... AMHARIC Af Ter: 15.715 (Repeat of 1600 broadcast.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring June 13, condensed for DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1040) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Voice of Oromo Liberation is sometimes referred to as "SBO" after its title in the Oromo-language, "Sagalee Bilisumma Oromoo". It supports the Oromo Liberation Front and other groups opposed to the Ethiopian government. SBO was first heard in 1988-92 from a shortwave transmitter in Sudan. From 1993 SBO has broadcast via transmitters in the USA and Ukraine. It currently hires airtime via Deutsche Telekom facilities in Juelich, Germany. Languages: English, Oromo. Address: SBO, PO Box 510610, 13366 Berlin or SBO, Prinzenallee 81, 13357 Berlin, Germany. Tel: +49-30-4941036 Fax: +49-30-4943372 E-mail: SBO13366@aol.com Web Site: http://www.oromoliberationfront.org Address: SBO, PO Box 73247, Washington, DC 20056, USA Oromo AND ENGLISH audio archive available 24h at http://www.oromoliberationfront.org/audio_sbo.htm Schedule: 1700-1800 SuThF OROMO Af 15.715 (© BBC Monitoring June 13 condensed for DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1040) ** FINLAND. Greetings from Scandinavian Weekend Radio! We have been very busy with our project, but finally all things start to look really good. Studio is waiting for equipments, our license is granted, transmitters and aerial are almost finished. Our transmitting tower will be lifted up in next weekend and transmitter is going to be measured by Telecommunications Administration Centre in 19th June (next Monday, so please hope for the best and keep your fingers crossed ;-) Tomorrow [June 15] there is an interview of us in Radio Netherlands Media Network show. Please tune in! More information can be found on: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/radioshow.html Unfortunately we cannot make any test transmissions before 1st of July, according to our broadcasting licence. There was an misleading information in our website. My fault. Please accept my apologies. There have been some minor addons in our website, so if you haven't visited it lately, it might be worth to visit again. Please vote your favourite radio song in our voting page: http://www.swradio.net/cgi-bin/vote.cgi Regards, Ville-Veikko Haikarainen Scandinavian Weekend Radio http://www.swradio.net (via Mike Barraclough and Sergei Sossedkin, June 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can`t help but notice that SWR continues to neglect to mention their power of 250 watts, which will surely make this a DX catch, if anything, rather than armchair listening. And isn`t there already far too much rock music on the radio? And what`s that British flag icon doing on the homepage standing for English language version? Surely the primary English-speaking nation is India (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. Have you noticed that All India Radio is no longer using the long-standing frequency of 11620 kHz for English at 2045-2230 UTC? This frequency often provided the best opportunity to hear a really good signal from AIR in our late afternoons here on the East Coast of the USA (the 1745-1945 transmission continues to use 11620 but reception isn't good for this time of year, tho it does improve during the fall and winter months). I have sent an e-mail to Alok das Gupta, seeking a reason as to why 11620 was dropped for the A00 schedule. The frequencies in use for the 2045 broadcast are: 7410, 9650, and 9950 kHz, for Europe (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, June 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 10330, All India Radio at 13:00. This domestic, off band broadcast from India has been consistently audible here, in North America, recently. The transmission consists of Subcontinental music in a language I can't ID. The signal is distant with flutter. There is a continuous tone being modulated on LSB. (David Hodgson, TN, Jun 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KOREAS. Loudspeaker slander over demilitarized zone stopped | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 16th June: The militaries of South and North Korea have stopped 20 years of slandering each other's political system and top leaders via loudspeakers at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Under the instruction of their leader Kim Jong-il [Chong-il], North Korean troops along the 155-mile military demarcation line from east to west turned off 108 loudspeakers from 1800 [0900 gmt] Thursday [15th June] that had blared anti-South Korea propaganda, to respect the spirit of the 15th June South-North Joint Declaration signed on Thursday. The South Korean military in areas near the DMZ also suspended all slander against Pyongyang and Kim Jong-il under orders from Defence Minister Cho Sung-tae on Friday. The two Koreas had earlier stopped propaganda attacks against each other after the announcement of a South-North Joint Communiqué in 1972, but the North resumed it a year after and the South from 1980. Earlier in the day, Cho instructed frontline military units to refrain from slandering North Korea to establish a mood of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation after the historic summit. The Defence Ministry will also drastically scale down events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, slated to continue from this year to 2003, in order not to provoke the North. Cho reported his plans to a cabinet meeting at Chongwadae [presidential office], which was presided over by President Kim Dae- jung [Tae-chung]. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0749 gmt 16 Jun 00 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** KOREAS. Clandestine radios still on the air, but less rhetoric Observations by BBC Monitoring since the recent inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang confirm that the three Korean clandestine radio stations are still on the air, although they appear to have toned down their rhetoric in recent days. Voice of National Salvation favours the reunification of Korea from the North Korean point of view. It began broadcasting in March 1970. Echo of Hope claims to be operated by Koreans living overseas. It has broadcast to North Korea from transmitters in South Korea since 1973. Voice of the People is also believed to broadcast from transmitters in South Korea although it claims in its announcements to broadcast from Pyongyang. It began broadcasting in June 1986. Source: BBC Monitoring research 16 Jun 00 (via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Media drop anti-South propaganda on leader's order | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 16th June: All broadcasting stations in North Korea are no longer airing anti-South Korea statements under orders from their leader Kim Jong-il [Kim Chong-il], who told them on Thursday [15th June] not to broadcast anything slandering the South. The broadcasters skipped their regular segment on news on South Korea following local news and replaced it with international news, according to monitors here. Radio stations made a repeat broadcast of the luncheon given for President Kim Dae-jung [Kim Tae-chung] and his departure from North Korea at their regular 0600, 0700 and 0800 newscasts on Friday. They carried, however, the North Korean government's memorandum noting the "illegality" of the establishment of the UN Command and demand for the withdrawal of US forces from South Korea. An official who accompanied President Kim on his Pyongyang visit said Kim Jong-il revealed at the luncheon that he told a meeting of the National Defence Committee to stop any broadcasts slandering South Korea everywhere, including along the Demilitarized Zone. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0149 gmt 16 Jun 00 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** KOREAS. BBC is reporting that the Koreas are ending their propaganda war- "South Korea is suspending all anti-North Korean propaganda, . . . . And South Korean monitors said North Korean radio stations had dropped reports on South Korean affairs which contained fierce denunciations of the Seoul government." You can read the entire item at- http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_793000/793554.stm The Koreas have a number of clandestine shortwave stations aimed at one another. The BBC report seems to indicate that as least South Korea is shutting down its stations. We'd welcome monitoring reports of any of these stations, so we can determine if they are indeed off. If they are on, we'd particularly be interested in any reports of what the stations are saying from our Korean-speaking members. The Asian Broadcating Institute has their latest schedules which you can find at: http://www.246.ne.jp/~abi/clandest.htm (Hans Johnson, June 16, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KOREAS. I was checking on Korean stations last night (from 1100 1245 on Jun 16). I still hear all the 3 clandestine stations plus the jammers. I also hear KBS domestic service on 3930 being jammed. The lead item on Radio Pyongyang's 1100 UTC Mandarin broadcast was on Kim DJ wrapping up his visit and given a hearty farewell in Pyongyang. Kim DJ is now referred to as President Kim Dae Jung instead of some "Flunkeyist clique", but I don't suppose the North Koreans will get around to calling DJ "President of the south" or something like that. (Richard Lam, Singapore, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 11536: Thanks to Glenn Hauser, I was able to tune into the North Korean central people's news agency (or whatever they're officially called) with 100% recovery using my MFJ-462B code reader set at RTTY 170 Hz shift, 50 Baud. Parallel 13580 is equally strong, at 1230 to North America. Although the African stream sounded very strong as well, I was unable to decode it on 8020 and 11476. Usual propaganda in English like "The U.S. warmongers are describing the Korean war as,...". In view of the present interesting developments between North and South Korea, this service may be very interesting to monitor. I've hooked up an old Epson printer, so that I'm now able to wake up to the latest developments from North Korea, "hot off the press". If anyone is interested in a sample sheet of news, I'll gladly scan and email a copy to you. Just another fascinating aspect of our hobby! Thanks again, Glenn! (Walter R. Salmaniw, MD, Victoria, British Columbia, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good; I was wondering whether anyone at all was interested in these press RTTY schedules BBCM issues from time to time (gh) ** LESOTHO. 7P8AA LESOTHO DXPEDITION 2000. Hans-Juergen Bartels, DL1YFF, team leader of the 7P8AA DXpedition to Lesotho, wants to remind everyone that the 7P8AA DXpedition will take place in July. They will leave from Frankfurt July 2nd and return July 23rd. They plan to be on the air from 160-6 meters in SSB, CW and RTTY. You can see more information on their Website: http://www.qsl.net/7p8aa (KB8NW/OPDX June 12/BARF 80 via John Norfolk, Oklahoma City OK [I've noticed at least one DX bulletin on the internet reprinting my DXLD items placing me in Norman OK, which is incorrect], DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA SARAWAK. Below an updated best-guess at the Sarawak schedule. It's very difficult to come up with a consistent picture because of variations (school term/holidays, weekdays/Sun, public holidays), occasional transmitter outages and the complex pattern of local opt-outs and obscure languages, so certain details below may well be wrong and/or incomplete. The period around 31 May - 2 June 2000 saw many temporary changes to the schedule with extended hours because of the Hari Gawai Dayak harvest festival celebrations, which are a major annual knees-up in Sarawak, and maybe elsewhere in Borneo. This may account for some of the apparent discrepancies between my report and what Bob Padula observed listening from Sabah around that time. Radio Malaysia Sarawak Bidayuh Sce from Kuching is currently heard as follows: 2200-2400 on 729 & 5030 0000-0100 (Sun only) on 729, 5030 & 7130 0100-0200 (Sun only) on 729 & 7130 0400-0600 on 729 & 7130 1000-1500 on 729 & 5030 7130 also carries schools programmes 0100-0300 Mon-Sat during school term Radio Malaysia Sarawak from Kuching is heard on 4895 kHz: 2200-0100 in Iban 0800-0900 in Kenyah/Kayan 0900-1000 in ?Kenyah/Kayan 1000-1500 in Iban ....and on 7270 kHz (and except Limbang relays on 846 kHz): 2200-0100 in Iban 0100-0300 relaying Limbang in Bisaya (probaby Mon-Sat only) 0100-0200 in Iban (Sun only) 0400-0500 in Iban 0500-0600 in Kenyah/Kayan 0600-0800 relaying Limbang in ?Murut 0800-0900 in Kenyah/Kayan 0900-1000 in ?Kenyah/Kayan 1000-1500 in Iban Radio Malaysia Sarawak Sibu is heard on 1062 & 6050: 2200-2300 relaying Kuching in Iban 2300-2400 relaying ?Miri in ?Iban (6050 only) 0000-0100 relaying Kuching in Iban 0100-0300 relaying schools programmes from Kuching Mon-Sat in school terms //7130 0400-0500 relaying Kuching in Iban 0500-0600 relaying Kuching in Kenyah/Kayan 0600-0800 relaying Miri in Iban (6050 only) 0900-1000 relaying Sri Aman in Iban, //1161 kHz 1000-1200 with local programming in Iban 1200-1500 relaying Kuching in Iban (Alan Davies, Johor Baru, Malaysia, Electronic DX Press via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. From: http://213.207.11.40/caroline/index.htm ``Check your agenda for August 19th because at that date the first Dutch Caroline supporters day takes place! Although the program itself is not definitive yet, we can promise you it will be worth visiting. The only thing we want to reveal right now is that we have found a very special location for this event: the former radioship 'Norderney' of Radio Veronica.`` (Mike Terry, UK, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. InfoRadio starts weekly summer-broadcasts via shortwave InfoRadio from the Netherlands will next Saturday start broadcasting a weekly Dutch language programme of 30 minutes via shortwave. The station has officially obtained a commercial shortwave license from the Dutch government. For the moment, InfoRadio will use the facilities of Deutsche Telekom in Julich, Germany. The weekly programs will be broadcast on a trial basis from 17 June to 2 September 2000 between 8.00 and 8.30 UTC (10h00 - 10h30 CET) on 7.285 KHz with 100 KW, using an omni-directional antenna. An additional relay via WRMI to the Americas and the Netherlands Antilles will probably start on 24 June 2000. Here is the tentative schedule: Saturdays 2230-2300 UTC on 9955 kHz to the Caribbean and South America, and 0530-0600 UTC Sunday on 7385 kHz to North America. Up to date information will be put on the station's website at http://www.inforadio.nl Address for reports with return postage (1 USD or 2 IRC's): InfoRadio, P.O. Box 140, NL - 5590 AC Heeze, The Netherlands. (Marcel Rommerts, rrsw via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** PALESTINE. Jess, KR4OJ, has recently talked with David, E41/OK1DTP, on June 2nd (on 21335 kHz at 1440z) and David reported that he is working at a school in Palestine and will be there until July 2001. Jess states that he looked up David (under OK1DTP) on QRZ.COM ( http://www.qrz.com ), and noticed that he had an E-mail address ( ok1dtp@hotmail.com ). It also shows a neat picture of his QSL card. Jess dropped him an E-Mail, and told him that he still needs E41. So, David wrote him back and set up a sked. David said that he will continue to be available, on the air (from the school), each Friday, and if anyone needs E41, drop him an E-Mail and he will set up a sked, SSB or CW. QSLs are handled by his father, Jiri Lunak, OK1TD, U Sporky 185, 470 01 Ceska Lipa, Chech Republic. David was spotted this past weekend on 21020 kHz between 1700 and 1800z. (KB8NW/OPDX June 12/BARF 80 via John Norfolk, Oklahoma City OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6857v, Jun 10, Radiodifusora Huancabamba, 0124-, SIO 343, ad for Transporte Palacios, Electrónica El Huanrinqueño, on new frequency, ex 6535. On 6956, Jun 3, R. La Voz del Campesino, 2313-, SIO 444, time check as 6:15; heard an hour later at SIO 454! On 7040 Jun 3, Emisora J doble C, Huancabamba, 2315-, SIO 343, slogan ``Jota doble C, La preferida del dial`` (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. This answers the WTFK question in DXLD 00-74: IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community PRESS RELEASE/UPDATE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA (SERBIA) 12 June 2000 SOURCE: Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) **Updates IFEX alerts of 22, 18 and 17 May 2000** (ANEM/IFEX) - The following is an ANEM press release: Radio B2-92 news rebroadcast in Ukraine BELGRADE, June 12, 2000 -- Radio Inicijativa in Lavrov is to begin rebroadcasting new programs from Radio B2-92, ANEM's flagship station. The Belgrade station was taken off the air by the Serbian government a month ago. This is the fourth time the station has been banned. Radio B2-92 news in English will be heard on Radio Inicijativa, 102.5 MHz FM, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 18:50 and 19:00 (satellite broadcast) and in Ukrainian (translation of the day's top stories) between 21:00 and 21:10. Translations of Radio B2-92 news will be presented by Boris Varga on his current affairs program Balkan Express. This is the first collaboration between Ukrainian and Yugoslav independent media and follows the successful launch of Radio B2-92 news on Radio Tilos in Budapest in May. In this way, Radio B2-92 is continuing to build a network of radio stations which will improve the flow of information throughout the region. The ultimate aim is to establish a network which will erase borders and make repression of information in any part of Central and South-East Europe meaningless. Thanks to such regional collaboration, B2-92 will soon be heard in Belgrade again, as well as in parts of Yugoslavia where it has not previously been on the air. For further information, contact Veran Matic, Chairperson, or Marija Milosavljevic at ANEM, Masarikova 5/XVII, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, tel: +381 361 9228, fax: +381 361 9428, e-mail: veran.matic@opennet.org, marija@opennet.org, alternate e-mail: juliab92@xs4all.nl, Internet: http://www.freeb92.net, http://www.anem.opennet.org The information contained in this press release/update is the sole responsibility of ANEM. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit ANEM. _________________________________________________________________ DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE 489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879 alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/ (via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020 SIBC 0920 ``Message to Australian and Canadian nationals who wish to be evacuated from Honiara, call the high commission, even if you've already done so. Make your way to Honiara (airport? more likely wharf) as soon as possible. You are restricted to one bag per adult and one carry-on bag per child. Extra bags will be left behind``; this message repeated numerous times one after another, then music, ID ``On Radio Hapi Islands, I'm Rob [something]``, time check for half past eight, program about business in Solomon Islands (Ralph Brandi, NJ, Jun 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Re : Spanish Inquisition lives. Hello Larry, Hello Glen, Interesting 'outcry' about Spanish QSL policy! No wonder, that they rejected your report if you write your reports like your 'outcry' in DXLD. Did you note, that you were so angry, that you did not even give the name of the station that did this bad thing to you? 'Spain' has a lot of stations! But if you were talking about REE, they did that already when I first wrote to them in 1987 .. So please be more careful next time when writing angry articles and always remember to use the SINPO-code in your reports! yours (Martin Schoech, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Possibly REE was mentioned in the original and I lost it in copying; but from our point of view, especially obviously dealing with SW, there could be no doubt REE was the station! (gh) LATER: Hi Martin, (and Glenn) There's 3 things you should know about the SPAIN item. 1. It contained the ;-) item to denote HUMOR. 2. IT WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR THE HCDX AUDIENCE, but for a club audience that would know I meant REE when I said Spain. They share my sense of humor. It was Glenn's choice to extract it from my club and use it. 3. People who REQUIRE sinpo are boring bureaucrats. People who support such restrictive policies in this hobby are referred to as "DX-Nazis" by my friends. It is BAD public relations for Spain. I did provide REE Spain with some helpful comments regarding too much crowd noise in 2 segments of the program. That's worth far more than a coded signal report that is based more on individual interpretation than scientific method. Add another "n" to Glenn's name next time. He'll appreciate it. :-) :-) :-) Heil Sinpo! (Larry Russell, MI, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Subject: [SWL] Spanish lessons via REE. Hello all.... Sometime back I sent REE (Radio Exterior de España) an e-mail requesting information on their language study program. They sent a reply and sent me a e-mail Program Sched and also said I could send for their language study books that go with the program. So, via e- mail I requested these materials, kinda expecting some cheesy little pamphlets. Well, today the postman brought a registered package I had to sign for. Inside it were three very nice softcover language study books, each divided into two sections containing the dialogs of the programs and supplementary sections containing the language rules, glossaries, workbook sections etc. Looks like quite a complete package for language study. I can read and write very basic Spanish letters (which do seem to get QSL results) and basic conversations, but I wanted to do more. Now all I need to do is take the time out from overhauling BA's etc to really knuckle down and learn something useful! Also in the package were several REE stickers, lapel pin and program sched. 73 de Phil KO6BB [Atchley] Old DXers never die.... They just fade into the noise ! (swl@qth.net, June 13, via WORLD OF RADIO 1040, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245, Radio Tajikistan 1645 After language talk and brief Central Asian musical piece, male announcer, ``from the capital of Tajikistan. . .this is Radio Tajikistan.`` Gave freqs. including mediumwave 1143 and 97(2)? (I thought I heard 976). Time check for 2145 local & 1645 UTC. Woman reading news. Generally fair reception with some splatter from 7250 (Ralph Famularo, Japan, Jun 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 1645 UTC with English news, commentary and Tajik music. Good signal but readability is otherwise (Richard Lam, Singapore, Jun 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. New strong and stable transmitter signals on new frequencies for Hanoi home service noted by Roland Schulze in the Philippines first on May 18th. The introduction of new units seems still in progress. Strong 6020 and 7210 signals reported first on Dec 5th, 1999, by Alan Davies. Similar strong and stable transmitters heard on the VOV Hanoi external services 7145 and 9730 from Sept 2nd, 1999, by yours truly [meaning Wolfgang Büschel?]. So, the Vietnam radio put at least six new SW transmitters on air. On 5925 noted both units` characteristics, an old unstable transmitter on odd freqquency, and at other times also the stronger newer unit on even .00 freq. 5970 and 7115, in parallel to 5925, 6020, 7210, at 1059-1145 and 2300-2330 in Vietnamese. 1059-1145 on 5925 S=9 +18dB. 5970 S=9 +20dB. 6020 S=9 +20dB. 7115 S=9 +10dB co-channel QRM [maybe Thailand, wb]. 7210 S=9 +20dB signals noted in the Philippines, 1400 km away from Vietnamese coast. Before 1059 and after 1145, also before 2300, and after 2330: 5925 and 6020 mostly carry the same [2nd home service] program, but sometime also heard with own separate program, the latter but not on the morning service. 5970, 7115, 7210 mostly carry the same [1st home service] program. 7210 carries also its own program at 1203-1230, supposedly Cambodian[?], definite NOT Vietnamese, no parallel QRG found ! [ex 7285 external service ??] At 2300-2330 all five transmitters in parallel, like at 1059-1145. From 1300 onwards v7156 heard with 33433, sure it was RTV Bac Thai with clear ID active here. But much stronger at my QTH at 2320. NOT in parallel to 5925. External service of VOV still on 7285, observed at 1400 Laotian, 1430 in Cantonese as listed. Also other language blocks of the external service still on 9840 & 12020 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, Jun 7, snail mail via Wolfgang Büschel June 17 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. New shortwave radio aims to promote peace, democracy | Text of "Media Network" report by Radio Netherlands on 15th June Adverts in a couple of Zimbabwe newspapers plus a report in the Zimbabwean 'Standard' newspaper back on Sunday [11th June] all allude to a new shortwave station which has been testing in the evenings over the last few days in Africa. Most of the announcements for the Voice of the People have been in regional languages of Shona and Ndebele, but monitors in northern Zimbabwe earlier this week noted short announcements in English: [Recording of announcement] This is Radio VOP - the Voice of the People. Each night there will be two broadcasts, one at 7 p.m. [local time, 1700 gmt] and one at 9.15 p.m. [1915 gmt]. At 7 O' Clock we will be broadcasting in Shona and a 9:15 in Ndebele. This station is for every Zimbabwean, it belongs to no political party, it does not have to answer to any advertisers. It is your station, your views, your life and we hope that you will be entertained and informed by our programming. Our aim is to promote peace in these troubled political times and we hope that hearing many different views and many different opinions, Zimbabweans together can hope build a democratic society. In the future we will be talking about health, the economy, human rights, HIV, women's rights and all the topics that are so important to us today. With elections just around the corner we will be focusing on the various parties contesting the elections for the first couple of weeks. We will be explaining how to vote and what your vote could mean to the future. [Presenter] The announcement goes on to explain that the reason for using shortwave is to reach rural communities where those behind the venture believe the government-controlled Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation isn't giving airtime to opposing views. Transmissions are being monitored in Harare on 7215 kHz, between 1700 and 1730 UTC [gmt] and again 1915 to 1945 [gmt]. The times that you heard in that final announcement were in local time. The station doesn't announce any address. Source: Radio Netherlands external service, Hilversum, in English 1150 gmt 15 Jun 00 (via BBC Monitoring) Nothing in this about transmitter site! Could even be RN`s own Madagascar, available for hire (gh, DXLD) ###