DX LISTENING DIGEST 0-157, December 16, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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. For restrixions and searchable 2000 archive contents see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html ** AUSTRALIA. Melbourne's new commercial FM license (91.5 MHz) has been sold at auction for $70 million to DMG Radio Australia. DMG outbid the RG Capital Radio group ($35 million), and the Florida- based Second Generation ($55 million). Industry analysts say the acquisition of the Melbourne license by DMG was vital, following their $150 million purchase of the new Sydney FM license earlier this year. DMG is now reported to be in the hunt for additional licenses to be auctioned next year in Perth and Brisbane (Matt Francis, ACT, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Glenn, I'll throw this one in: It is not commonly known, but there are several "extra-territorial" British outposts in Australia. These are the tracts of land on which the State Government Houses reside, and I am told that the State Police forces have no direct jurisdiction over these areas, with Commonwealth Police having responsibility for any matters. I am also told that these areas are NOT part of the political country of Australia, but are part of "England", and that amateur radio operators are not authorized to use Australian callsign allocations. Furthermore, any DXCC entry for such operations would not count for the DXCC entity known as "Australia". However, I am unaware of any current ARO operation from any of these "radio entities"! It is very hard to get inside these Government Houses. Here in Melbourne, Victorian Government House is occasionally opened up for public guided tours, guarded by Federal Police, and for special events, such as formal vice-Regal investitures. Passes are needed to get in, and the place has high barbed wire fences and electronic surveillance. I have been inside only once, when I received my Australian Government Award (Medal of the Order of Australia), which had been endorsed by Her Majesty, the Queen. Inside, it is very ornate, and furnished like 18th century homes in England, with many fine tapestries and original paintings. So there you are: long live England. I'm not sure what language they speak inside the House, but I`m sure it would not be Australian! Status may be similar to the Embassies around the country. Neither do I know how one would go about setting up an AR station there and which rules would apply for operating conditions, powers, etc. Regards (Bob Padula, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. Hi Glenn - Recent reports of new bc times for Bhutan BS reminded me of how close I think I once came to getting a genuine QSL from the station. This was in the early 90s when BBS was quite audible on the coast in South Africa on 60mb (5030?) at local sunset. They often played easy-Western pops in the run up to sign off, with requests in English. Perfect for reporting px details. After one report, I received a letter and paper from the editor of the same Kuensel newspaper mentioned in your 2 December DXLD. He proposed to obtain a QSL for me should I put an ad for a Bhutan travel agency in a local newspaper in Johannesburg. No one had heard of Bhutan (or hardly anyone) but I went ahead. Sent him a copy of the ad but to no avail. I think there have been one or two direct QSLs and some via the UN for relays of UN Radio programmes. The things you do to get that veri... At least I got some nice stamps. Rgds (Graham Bell, London, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6130.05, CHNX, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2315-2330 Dec. 12, t/in to Beatles ``I Saw Her Standing There`` followed by W DJ w/ ``You`re listening to Oldies 96`` and into the ``CHNS Weather Center.`` Commercials, more oldies. Xlnt signal (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Tocobaga DX via hard-core-dx via DXLD) so are back ** CANADA. Now, the audio subcarrier on Anik transponder 1 (6.12 MHz) that had carried the audio of CBC-AM in Montreal has gone silent, ending the last vestige of CBC radio on satellite audio subcarrier. Only SCPC services remain (receivable, but requiring an additional dedicated receiver). (Mike Cooper, Atlanta GA, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hi, again, Glenn! Just scanned the recent DXLDs and saw no comment from anyone else on this; It was ironic that, just the weekend after I sent that e-mail to RCI asking for a commitment to Quirks & Quarks, the now-sole airing of that program on RCI was screwed up! On UT Sunday 0005, Dec. 10, they gave the announcement that Q&Q would be aired, followed by dead air and then filler music until around 0030. Then some radio drama program was joined in progress, which then was cut off abruptly at the end of the hour! A total waste of transmitter power cost! This sort of thing is just why such programs need to be repeated at least once; if the first airing is messed up as this one was, at least we`d have a backup chance to hear it! I can only hope that this weekend there will be a regular airing... 73, (Will Martin, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. To RCI: I`m writing to complain about the loss of "Quirks & Quarks" last weekend, on UT Sunday 10 December. You gave the announcement after the news at about 0005 UT that "Quirks & Quarks" was coming up, and then there was dead air, followed by filler music. About half-way into the hour, a radio-drama program was joined in progress, and then that was cut off abruptly at the end of the hour. This was a total waste of the cost of running your transmitters for that period. Surely you could have at least had the courtesy to have a technician make a verbal announcement as to the problem and, if Quirks & Quarks was totally unavailable, then shut down the transmitters to save the money, or play a tape of something worthwhile instead of the music and incomplete programming you aired! This sort of incident is why every program should be aired more than once. If there had been another airing of Quirks & Quarks later in the week, at least we would have had a chance to hear it. As it is, the program was totally lost to us. Please start a backup airing of Q&Q sometime later in the week, say 0500 or 0600 UT Thursday to the Americas (William Martin, St. Louis, Missouri USA, via DXLD) Perhaps one simply cannot afford to be such a dedicated fan of a program so precarious and subject to SNAFUs (gh) ** CANADA [non]. Last Sunday (Dec 10th) I tuned around in the European "pirate band" and suddenly found "The Maple Leave's Mailbag" from Radio Canada Int at 0600 on 6265 kHz, lasting to 0630, when a French transmission started. After a while and a lot of thinking I found them also on 6045 kHz with splendid strength. Also 6265 kHz was quite good. Now I wonder: was this a kind of spurious or maybe a pirate relay of RCI programming? (Björn Fransson, Sweden) 0600-0629 SK 6150 300 110 EUROPE RCI(ENGLISH) VI 6045 100 280 " " SK 9780 300 180 " " 0630-0659 SK 6150 300 110 EUROPE RCI(FRANCAIS) VI 6045 100 280 " " SK 9780 300 180 " " That means Vienna Moosbrunn location for both; ORF is usually on 6155 kHz, RCI on 6045. Now mathematicians on the front line. 6155 x 2 minus 6045 = 6260 / 5940 are the both spurious channels (Wolfy Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The McFee Special Saturday morning after the 9 AM news, the time his Eclectic Circus would start on domestic radio. [indeed it was, on CBC Radio 2 webcast, 1400+ UT -gh] Me and Allan McFee: http://www.thestar.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=976838572647&call_page=TS_Entertainment,Life&call_pageid=968867495754&call_pagepath=Entertainment,Life/News;http://www.thestar.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=976838572647&call_page=TS_Entertainment,Life&call_pageid=968867495754&call_pagepath=Entertainment,Life/News (Ivan Grishin, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC/RCI previews: SUNDAY DECEMBER 17, 2000 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: This week on The Sunday Edition, host Michael Enright talks with former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, a stalwart Democrat who encouraged Vice-President Al Gore to fight for the Presidency to the bitter end. In Hour Two, the case of Leonard Peltier: the imprisoned First Nations man has garnered a couple of unlikely Canadian allies: former Solicitor-General Warren Allmand, and staunch conservative Peter Worthington. In Hour Three, "Paris To The Moon": a conversation with New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik about his latest book. That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 o'clock news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) On RCI Sun 1309-1600 on 9640 13655 17710 ** CANADA. CBC RADIO TWO special: JOY TO THE WORLD - THE EBU CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: A great tradition continues this Sunday as CBC Radio Two presents Joy to the World, the 12-hour annual holiday special from the European Broadcasting Union. Join host Howard Dyck for an international feast of magnificent holiday music, starting at 6:00 a.m. (6:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. Here are the host cities and times: [converted to UT by gh as in EST feed, the only one available by webcast; see also EUROPE below for many of the same, but at different times, and with more content details as on BBC Radio 3! Does anyone know of other webcasters of this, perhaps at even different timings?] 1105 AMSTERDAM, Holland 1200 BUCHAREST, Romania 1300 TALLIN, Estonia 1400 HOURLY NEWS 1405 HELSINKI, Finland 1500 BRUSSELS, Belgium 1600 COPENHAGEN, Denmark 1700 DRESDEN, Germany 1835 LJUBLJANA, Slovenia 1930 BUDAPEST, Hungary 2030 CAMBRIDGE, England 2200 ZAGREB, Croatia (from CBC Hotsheet via gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Subject: New 740 station testing now. Greetings! It is currently 3 pm [EST Friday Dec 15] and the new Prime Time station is currently running test transmissions on 740 kHz. It seems they are ahead of schedule. I thought we weren`t going to be getting test transmissions until January. I wonder if this means it`s all over for DXing on 740? I suppose we will find out tonight. The station stopped transmitting by 3:05 pm today. I only heard them a few minutes before 3. I don't know how long they had been transmitting before I discovered their signal. I would think that a station doesn`t really care about receiving reception reports from people in their coverage area but what about during test transmissions? What information would be useful to the station engineers? What address should I write to report hearing transmissions from this station? Cheers! (Kevin Cozens, ODXA, Dec 15 via DXLD) The main testing period starts around the 18th (although some testing has been noted already) however the first broadcast from "AM 740 - PrimeTime Radio", Oakville, Ontario will be January 15, 2001. They will simulcast on both 740 and 1250 for a short period (probably a sesquimonth, just to make sure there are no problems). The callsign CFPT was denied by Industry Canada so a new one is being sought. The Ontario DX Association will be the official QSL manager for AM 740 - PrimeTime Radio (Brian Smith - Ontario DX Association, Dec 15, to DXLD) I know that during the tour of CHWO during RadioFest, their staff were very interested in how our club members go to the lengths they do in AM DXing. I am sure that the station engineer would be most interested in hearing how the signal is being received in different parts of Ontario, Canada and the US (plus overseas). So if you would like to keep a journal of the test transmissions, here is the address to send reception reports. Mr. Kevin Dent, Station Engineer, CHWO 1250, The Broadcast Centre, 284 Church Street, Oakville, Ontario L6J 7N2. At present the web site and email addresses are not active and will not be until the new year (Brian Smith, ODXA Dec 15 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI has revised slightly the time for 7480, to start one hour earlier than before at 0200: 40 meters: 7.480 MHz (AM): 0200-0600 19 meters: 15.050 MHz (AM): 2200-0300 13 meters: 21.815 MHz (USB): 1200-0000 This affects COM only on UT Wed at 0200; does not affect WOR which still happens to be scheduled entirely outside this time period. On Mailbag Dec 16 at 1836, James Latham confirmed the new schedule, and said reports are wanted, especially from different parts of NAm, on around what time 15050 fades and reception becomes better on 7480. The latter is aimed about 10-15 degrees (I think, during a fade when this was said), east of north, so not expected to be so good to western NAm. The duplicate WIDA antenna is ready to be hoisted atop the 200 foot tower, but waiting for winds to die down; then the one currently used at a lower level will become the standby and later used for USB in the evenings. Some reports have come in mentioning audio distortion; audio tubes sometimes need tweaking or replacement, and hope this is better now. An old studio-transmitter link unit is to be moved out of the studio/control room, to reduce background noise picked up by the mike (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag Dec 16, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) During this 1830 broadcast, aired only on 21815-USB, and at many other times lately, we have been bothered by constant noise spikes on and around this frequency, sounding like overmodulation peaks from some other 13mb station, but so far have not been able to match it with any of the stronger signals there. Who can? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. Hrvatski Radio 1 on 5040 kHz. Croatian Radio 1 is now strong on 5040.0 AM mode in the (European) morning, \\ 1125 (Karel Honzik, Czech Republic, hard-core-dx Dec 14) Formula 6165 minus MW 1125 = 5040 spurious signal. Symmetrical on 7290 should also be another spur on the 41 mb, 6165 plus 1125 = 7290. 73 (wolfy DF5SX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Croatia 5040 is a mixing product of 6165 and 1125. This is nothing new for the Deanovec site, I remember that a couple of years ago a respected publication included a similar mix as fundamental in a schedule for Hrvatska Radio (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6000 ICRT`s "Cuban Round Table: The Battle of Ideas" program (in Spanish, via RHC xmtr), 2301-2315 Dec. 14, xlnt w/ discussion on Putin`s visit and dire US-Cuba relations with a new Bush in power. This is the program that is airing Monday-Friday via RHC transmitters and the Rebelde network (parallel MW and 5025 here). Still haven`t caught the start time, but did note regular Rebelde programming still in progress on Dec. 15, around 5 p.m. local (2200 GMT). Usually concludes early-mid eves, local (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Tocobaga DX via hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4898.8V, R Barahona, 0322-0344 Dec. 11, nonstop bachata, except for occasional M canned IDs. Bad modulation, and warbling +/- .05 kHz (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Tocobaga DX via hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Sunday 17 December 2000 BBC RADIO 3 also has the EBU Xmas music multi-national special as on CBC Radio Two above [q.v.], but at different times and not all the same countries. Webcast accessible via http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 For comparison, here`s the UT lineup, perhaps after some hourly newscasts: 1300 FINLAND 1400 BELGIUM 1500 DENMARK 1600 GERMANY 1735 SLOVENIA 1830 HUNGARY 1930 UK (-2100) 2330 NETHERLANDS 2425 USA (-2500) Content details (along with intervening 2100-2330 programmes): 1:00pm Christmas across Europe: Finland Live from Helsinki's Kallio Church. A celebration of Christmas from across Europe, coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union. Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ) and the Talla Men`s Ensemble perform festive music for choir and organ by Sibelius, Widor and Naji Hakim. 2:00pm Christmas across Europe: Belgium From St Michael`s Cathedral in Brussels, the première of Benoit Mernier's Missa Christe Regem Gentiem, along with music by Lassus, Frescobaldi and their contemporaries. Xavier Deprez (organ), Namur Chamber Choir, Capella Sancti Michaelis/Erik van Nevel. 3:00pm Christmas across Europe: Denmark From Copenhagen`s Holy Trinity Church, a sequence of sacred choral music by Bach, Gade, Nielsen and others. Inge Bonnerup (organ), Trinitatis Kantori, Trinitatis CO/Per Enevold. 4:00pm Christmas across Europe: Germany A performance of the first two cantatas from Bach`s Christmas Oratorio, live from the Kreuzkirche in Dresden. Ingrid Schmithusen (soprano), Elisabeth Wilke (contralto), Marcus Ullmann (tenor), Gotthold Schwarz (bass), Dresden Kreuzchor, Dresden Philharmonie/ Roderich Kreile. 5:35pm Christmas across Europe: Slovenia Live from the Gallus Hall in Ljubljana. Tippett: Fanfare No 1; Suite in D. Lebic: Fantasy on Old Slovene Carols (first performance). Andreja Zakonjsek (soprano), Marcos Fink (bass), Slovenian Radio Chamber Chorus, Slovenian Radio Children's Choir, Radio Slovenia SO/ David de Villiers. 6:30pm Christmas across Europe: Hungary Live from the Marble Hall in Budapest. Sandor Falvai and Ilona Prunyi give a recital of Liszt`s Christmas music for one and two pianos, including excerpts from his `Christmas Tree` suite and his oratorios `Christus` and `Elisabeth`. 7:30pm Christmas across Europe: United Kingdom Stavinsky: Mass. Grier: The Five Mysteries of the Rosary (BBC commission, world première). Catherine Bott (soprano), BBC Singers, Choristers of King's College, Cambridge, Endymion Ensemble/ Stephen Cleobury. 9:00pm Sunday Play: The Judas Kiss By David Hare. The story of Oscar Wilde`s relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, focusing on the day when Wilde decides to stay in England and face imprisonment and on the night after his release from prison two years later. Simon Callow (Oscar Wilde), Martin Freeman (Arthur Wellesley), Patsy Palmer (Phoebe Cane), Rupert Penry-Jones (Lord Alfred Douglas), John Quentin (Sandy Moffat), Simon Russell Beale (Robert Ross), Marcello Walton (Galileo Masconi). Directed by David Hare. Music composed by Nick Bicat. 10:45pm World Routes In the second of two programmes from Haiti, Andy Kershaw talks to some of the country`s leading rappers and samples the sounds of the Port-au-Prince main cemetery. 11:30pm Christmas across Europe: Netherlands Excerpts from Monteverdi`s Vespers, recorded earlier today in Amsterdam`s Concertgebouw. Johanette Zomer (soprano), Ann Hallenberg (soprano), Julian Podger (tenor), Robert Gretchell (tenor), Harry van der Kamp (bass), Netherlands Bach Society Chorus, Concerto Palatino, Netherlands Bach Society Orchestra/Jos van Veldhoven. 12:25am United States The European Broadcasting Union`s Christmas celebrations conclude with a performance of Bach`s Magnificat across the Atlantic in St Paul`s Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Suzie LeBlanc (soprano), Sandra Simon (soprano), Elizabeth Shammash (contralto), Marc Molomot (tenor), Michael McMurray (bass), Apollo`s Fire/Jeanette Sorrell. 1:00am Through the Night (BBC Radio 3 website via gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. On Dec 2 the non-commercial local station "Hamburger Lokalradio" started a weekly shortwave broadcast, which will go on air "during the following months" every Saturday 1000-1100 on 6045 via the Deutsche Telekom transmitters at Jülich. "Hamburger Lokalradio" otherwise broadcasts in Hamburg every week between Sunday 6 AM and Monday 6 AM on a tiny 40 watt FM outlet (93.0 MHz). URL http://www.hamburger-lokalradio.de/index.htm, mail redaktion@hamburger-lokalradio.de (Kai Ludwig, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re: Continent of Media item *Colombian broadcast station heard in Canada on 254.1 MHz, accidental military satellite relay? Glenn, When I worked at the Goldstone tracking station many years ago we had two sync satellites (ATS-1 and ATS-3) with VHF transponders. It had an uplink frequency in the 149 MHz range and a downlink near 137 MHz. On occasion we would receive interference from land mobile and remote pickup unit stations operating in the 149 MHz range. I distinctly remember two incidents. One was a cement company in Edmonton Alberta. The other was a remote pickup of a dedication speech for a new dam. Our resident Spanish linguist said the accent sounded like Mexico. Such transmissions were heard intermittently probably due to anomalous ionospheric or atmospheric focusing effects which served to enhance the signal in the direction of the satellite at times. FLEETSAT, LEASAT, and UHF Follow-On satellites have output and input frequencies between 220 and 300 MHz. These satellites are operated by the US Navy so detailed information is not readily available. So it may be that a remote broadcast pick-up transmitter or an STL was coming through one of these satellites. Frequency allocations at VHF/UHF are not uniform between countries. It is quite possible that frequencies used by the US military forces would be allocated to some other use in other countries. (~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., Joe Buch, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 17885, R. Kuwait relaying its FM service for Filipino guest workers. Heard Dec 9 at 1124 with Filipino pop hits, then ID as "Radyo Bansang ng Kuwait" (Radio State of Kuwait), rather than the usual "Radyo Pinoy" and Ramadhan px. My knowledge of Tagalog is scarce, but sounded like Islamic propaganda, rather than intended at Muslims of Filipino origin. Is this still a relay of the Kuwaiti FM Sce., or a program targeting the Philippines? I ask this gin [sic] the change of ID (Christian Mocanu, Romania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. Hi all, David Ricquish's wife, Jocelynne is from Monaco and more info about Monaco and SW/MW transmissions follows... Bryan C: Is there a case, as David suggests, that Mt Agel be considered an extra-territorial part of Monaco as is the case with Sta Maria di Galeria being part of the Holy See??? Regards, Paul Ormandy Hi Paul. I checked with our inhouse consultant on all things Monégasque (!) and unfortunately have to confirm that unless someone has a QSL of the lowpower French service FM xmitter of Radio Monte Carlo, then technically, they sure ain`t heard a xmitter from the principality. It really is a place you can walk from north to south in about 30 minutes and east to west in 5 minutes! But, read on.... Yes, Radio Monte Carlo broadcasts from Blvd Princess Charlotte in Monte Carlo. The building is about a stone`s throw from the border (which is unmarked of course) with France. The Mt Agel aerial arrays are clearly seen from several of the Corniche as one enters Monaco from the north. They`re up the hillside, outside the principality and beyond Beausoleil (a French town which borders Monaco inland. Some streets have French post boxes on one side, Monégasque post boxes on the other). Prince Rainier and Princess Grace had a 'ranch' in the area (it`s where Princess Grace died) but it is certainly in France on every map. However, the Prince exercises some degree of jurisdiction over people and `things` in parts of the French Alpes-Maritimes department which extend some considerable distance from the principality. This jurisdiction includes the ability to prevent banned individuals (from Monaco) from taking up residence in these parts of France and other hereditary powers over buildings and lands and resources which are used to the benefit of Monaco. I`m not sure of the exact nature of these powers, but one could certainly argue that the Mt Agel site comes within the `area of influence` of the principality. You have to remember that, in history, Monaco once extended over a much wider area (including the current Mt Agel site) and even included Menton on the Italian border. The current art gallery there (which has some interesting Maori drawings) is a former Grimaldi palace. When these areas revolted against Monaco in the 19th century, not all powers and influence were lost from the principality, which was actually surrounded by Italy at the time, not France! It`s a long story; Nice is really Nizza but became French in the 1860`s, the same time as the unification of Italy was taking place. Lots of land swapping along the border areas. Certainly, the agreements between France and Monaco (after the tax v water war of the late 1950s, early 1960s) provide for continued effective Monégasque control of certain assets located in France (and a degree of residual royal influence such as mentioned above over where people may live), whilst France in turn, provides key bureaucrats to run the Monegasque administration and keeps the water supply turned on!. I`d treat Mt Agel as something similar to the Vatican`s arrangement with its SW transmitting site which is in Italy, but regarded by all DXers as `extra-territorially` Vatican City State. [NOT all -– see my previous comments re DXing Tonga via Washington DC! -gh] So, Mt Agel would, to my mind, count as extra-territorial Monaco, at least for SW in recent years, and MW before Romoules. Romoules is further away, and really is a simple use of a transmitting site in another location, so 1466/1467 MW would have to count as France. The signal is poor in Monaco (as mentioned) and no-one listens on MW -- everyone listens to FM anyway and has little or no interest in evangelical broadcasts in foreign languages for target zones hundreds or thousands of miles away. Yes, the Cape Greco transmitter on 1232 in Cyprus (as it was then) began as a 20 kW (I have a QSL of this one from 1973) and later moved to 600 kW on 1233. The studios for RMC Moyen-Est are in Paris. Actually, RMC is really a brand. The Arabic service (as above) comes from Paris; the Italian service from Milan, and the French service from studios in Monte Carlo, but with news, advertising and promotions from Paris. And yes, it`s effectively one of a chain of stations (Andorra, Luxembourg, Sud -- close to Basque country and Monte Carlo) set up by the French government to provide controlled commercial broadcasts into France. Before WWII, there were a number of popular MW French commercial stations, but these were taken over by the Vichy and Germans. After WWII, the French government kept control of all radio as non-commercial, but saw a chain of stations on the borders of France as lucrative commercial outlets and encouraged them, allowing some degree of local autonomy to their foreign state owners. Hope this confuses, I mean, clarifies the RMC and Monaco situation! 73s' (David Ricquish, New Zealand, via Paul Ormandy, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 2879.64, Radio Maranatha (2 x 1440 harmonic) Dec 15 1026-1110, Occasional pieces of music and talk. Weak signal with very few peaks. I lucked out on one of them at 1042 with a decent "Radio Maranatha" ID. A few pieces of anthems or hymns after 1100. By 1115 the carrier was suddenly gone, not a fade out. This would most likely be the unID "Radio Fanta" that was logged on the exact same frequency here last March (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. Hi all, Today (Dec. 16th) I heard again La Voix du Sahel from Niger in wideband FM on 45.65 MHz at 0930 UTC. There is a tx in the town of Zinder listed on 91.3 MHz. Could it be, that this tx is causing the radiation on 45.65 MHz? 45.65 x 2= 91.3. vy 73 de (Jürgen Lohuis, Luenen, Germany, Dec 16, harmonics@egroups.com via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VoR 7125: This channel used to carry Russian 0200-0400, but evidently they have currently replaced the second hour from 0300 by English to compensate the loss of 7180. It is intended to increase the height of the Ostankino tower during the upcoming reconstruction work from 537 to 562 metres, making it the world`s tallest building. Since 1976 this position belongs to the 553 metre tall CN Tower at Toronto. (dpa news agency, Dec 13 via Ludwig) -- The antenna of the Polish 225 kHz transmitter at Gabin, which collapsed years ago, was about 660 metres tall and for my knowledge the highest structure of the world (Regards, Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 562 m = 1843 feet; 660 m = 2165 feet. As I recall, some US TV towers are slightly more than 2000 feet, but they are, of course, guyed (gh) ** SINGAPORE. 6150, Radio Corporation of Singapore, 2300+: RCS carries local AM/FM station broadcasts on this frequency from 2300 to 1600 UT. On December 15, I tuned to program from News radio 938 at 2300. News by man/woman then some commercials, weather & traffic report then follows. After sports news there was an interview on new CPS scheme. Station ID was heard every now and then. RCS ID was heard at 2259 and 1559 UT. Reception was quite good here in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Radio Singapore Int`l broadcasts on this frequency // 9600 at 1100-1400. Receiver Philips D-2935 with telescopic antenna. (Rifat J. Eusufzai, DX Forum, GPO Box 488, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Woke up briefly at 1100 UT Dec 15 so punched up 7285: R. Thailand was in English, but only to introduce the scheduled broadcast in Vietnamese; 1115 is Cambodian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Interesting. I didn`t hear the start of the transmission at 1100 on Dec 10. I listened closer to 1110, but did hear English programming. Perhaps a switching miscue that day? Different on Sunday? I`ll try to check again on Sunday morning (I want to save you from getting up at 5 AM on a Sunday!) Many thanks for getting up this morning to check it out! 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. As you mention, there are no registrations for Dubai in HFCC for B00, and neither were there any for A00! Dubai Radio has representation within the Arab States Broadcasting Union, but there appears to be negligible active frequency coördination. Similarly, requests for transmission and/or program schedules are continually ignored and there is no Web Site as far as I know. Beats me how these stations can effectively market their product, and there was/is a service specifically to Australia. Do they really want listeners, here or anywhere else? (Bob Padula, Victoria, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. [Marketing Week Nov. 9 '00 via findarticles.com] http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0YBL/38_23/67317216/p1/article.jhtml BBC strikes radio branding deal. Author: Julia Day The BBC has struck a deal with manufacturer Roberts Radio to feature the BBC World Service brand name on products for the first time. The agreement means the BBC World Service logo will be emblazoned on the new Roberts R9914 radio. The logo will also appear on new editions of selected radios. No money changed hands between Roberts and BBC World Service. A BBC World Service spokeswoman says the deal is the first time the World Service has been used to brand a product: "We are always looking for opportunities to increase awareness of our shortwave stations and developing the World Service`s profile." She says Roberts Radio was chosen as a partner because international travellers buy the manufacturer`s sets to listen to the World Service: "Roberts is swell-established brand with high quality products which appeal to the people who listen to the station, so it`s a great fit." The R9914 radio, which retails at [pound]100, comes with stereo earphones and a free World Service frequency guide to shortwave radio, which gives details of the frequencies on which the station can be received in different countries. The BBC World Service has a global radio audience of 151 million. It broadcasts in 43 languages and on FM in 117 capital cities. Its programming is based on international news (via Chet Copeland, New York, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC-On Air no longer publishes any details of programming specifically for Australia, NZ, or the Pacific Islands. They state this is due to inaccessibility to SW broadcasts, and the specially tailored schedule for some areas. Instead, readers here are now being sent a glossy six-monthly folder "Guide to Listening in Australia", showing program lineup hour by hour, but no SW freqs. We are invited to look into the On-Air magazine for freq. details. The supplement gives freqs for MW and VHF relays of the World Service across Australia, carried by ABC News Radio (MW) and Radio for the Print Handicapped (MW and VHF). Promotion is also given for the BBC WS on the Internet. We are urged to consult a Web site for full details of all stations rebroadcasting WS across Australia, and there is a reference to 24-hr WS programming on "Subscription Radio" (a pay service, presumed to be cable or satellite). (Bob Padula, Victoria, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Some responses to my BBC WS category remarks: Yeah, Glenn, I can`t get the hang of the programming categories either, and find BBC On Air to be less user-friendly than before, to the point of "neglecting" to renew my subscription (at least until they tempt me with a good prize for resubscribing!). Hate squinting at the smaller-font weekend listings, too. Thanks for your BBC previews in DXLD/WOR summaries (Saul Broudy, swprograms) BULLETIN: Jan BBC On Air just in, and the WEEKEND font sizes have just been increased to match weekdays! But still not set apart hour by hour as on weekdays (gh) I, too, felt the split was somewhat superficial and not terribly useful. You`ll note that the World Service website doesn`t use this distinction. When the redesign was launched last May I E-mailed its creators and asked why they didn`t follow the same logic; their response was that they felt their split was "better". In the end, all I care about is when my favorites air, and is that schedule predictable (Richard Cuff, swprograms) Glenn: These are all very good points. I have long thought that it was a mistake when they went to the various "streams." With the possible exception of special programs on their African Service, which may not be of general interest, give us ONE STREAM, programs repeated at 3 or 4 different times to accommodate "prime time" listeners, as was the case until a few years ago. This, for a 24 hour world service, certainly is OK, and makes it much easier to find whatever program one might want. Maybe I am in a minority in this view, but generally, their programs are still of high quality, but rather than hunt and search, I just tune it in and listen to whatever is on. The only advantage I can see to the mess that has evolved over the past 2-3 years is that it might be easier to determine from which transmitter site a program is coming from, but this really only benefits the "hard-core" DXer doing country counts for a DX contest. One might tune to a frequency for another area now and not have any idea what "stream" it is and what is coming next. All these changes have basically created an engineer`s nightmare, and make it even more difficult to find what one wants to hear as a listener, especially when the wrong stream goes out on certain frequencies (Roger Chambers, swprograms, all via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WS previews: PLAY OF THE WEEK Eu: Sun 0001, 1701 Am: Sun 0001, Mon 0630 Joyful and Triumphant by Robert Lord 1 x 90 min Dec 17-18 Robert Lord -- a man who died tragically young -- was one of New Zealand`s most popular playwrights and Joyful and Triumphant was his most frequently performed play. It spans thirty years -- each scene set on a different Christmas day in a close-knit New Zealand family. We share their triumphs and their tragedies; we watch teenagers grow into adults, and a new generation come along, destined to cause their own fair share of mayhem and heartbreak. Presiding over the family table is Dad -- a man of fierce socialist spirit and a joyful love of life. Alongside him is his long-suffering daughter, Rose; the human cement that binds the family together. Joyful and Triumphant is a glorious -- and at times very funny -- celebration of family life, specific in its setting but universal in theme. James Laurenson and Susan Curnow star in the play which is directed by Gordon House. THE MUSIC MIX Eu: Mon 0930, 1930, Tue 0130, 1430 Am: Mon 1430, Tue 0130, 2030, Wed 0630 The year 2000 marks major anniversaries of the deaths of two of the greatest icons in pop and rock music: John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix. Featuring the music of these legendary musicians, The Music Mix presents profiles of two men whose presence has long outlived them in two documentaries. Hendrix - The Legacy 1 x 30 min from Sun Dec 17 Despite having had a mainstream career of just four years, Jimi Hendrix remains the ultimate rock icon. To mark the year of the thirtieth anniversary of his death, rock journalist Phil Alexander asks three crucial questions: How did Jimi learn to do what he did? What did he do that was so special anyway? And why do we still care? This programme includes new versions of Hendrix` best known songs only recently made public and features Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Lemmy from Motorhead and many others, who look back at Hendrix` career and explore how his playing, writing and image are still echoing down the corridors of rock. As Phil Alexander discovers, Jimi`s legacy can be hard to pin down behind the hype surrounding his all too brief career. But one thing most people are agreed on is that he embraced musical and racial differences in a way we can still benefit from thirty years after his death. The programmes are produced by Gabriel Gilson. OMNIBUS Eu: Tue 0405, Thu 1430, Sat 2230 Am: Tue 0405, Thu 2030, Fri 0630 Two Halves of the Whole 1 x 25/30 min from Mon Dec 18 Two Halves of the Whole is a poetic portrait of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. South African writer, Lueen Conning Ndlovu spent last winter there and producer Penny Boreham joined her to record her personal impressions of the city. Through Lueen`s poetry and responses to Amsterdam, Lueen reveals how this, her first encounter with Europe, has brought contradictory feelings, and how the close historical connections of the Netherlands to her home country, South Africa, have made her reflect on the divided society she grew up in, and her relationship with the outside world. The producer is Penny Boreham (BBC Press Office; times from BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, DXLD) CONCERT HALL Eu & Am: Sun Dec 17 1601-1700 Public concerts in India only began in recent times. Prior to this, music was heard in homes or in the palaces of Maharajahs. Distinguished Indian sitar player Irshad Khan recreates these former days (BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, DXLD) ** U S A. Just curious, if my memory serves me, all those TIS, HAR etc. are considered secondary services. So when this new station [KALT TX] comes on the air, do they have the right to have these secondary services move or cease operation? If so, how far out is the legitimate broadcaster on 1610 protected from those other services? Why not have them move to 1710 with all those types stations? (Paul Smith, W4KNX, NRC-AM list via DXLD) In addition to the listed TIS stations on 1610 - somewhere around 300 of them, there are also an unknown number of Federal TIS-type stations not administered by the FCC which are only authorized (and specifically so) for 1610. I believe that the authorization of 1610 for KALT contemplated anything else on frequency which would be within the primary day and night contours for KALT. Exactly *what* may have been done, I don`t know. Typically, as has occurred on several other frequencies, when an FCC-authorized standard broadcast station comes on either as a new station or a frequency change, and TIS/HAR stations adversely affected promptly apply for new frequency allocations, often in a locally-quiet section of the XBand. I`ve observed this twice locally in response to the move of WEEU, Reading PA from 850 to 830 a year ago or so (Russ Edmunds, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VANUATU. I suspect that Radio Vanuatu is using a new interval signal in addition to the well-known yellow bird. I have it on tape if anybody is interested to hear it. Same instrument but different melody. Interesting! 73, (Enzio Gehrig, Spain, egg51953@teleline.es Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###