DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-010, January 21, 2001 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. For restrixions and searchable 2001 contents archives see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html ** ALGERIA. New Plans for Broadcasts By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau (Jan 14) Clandestine radio broadcasts aimed at the Algerian armed forces are in the works, CRW has learned, and are being sponsored by a shadowy exile group based in London and Madrid. Called the Free Officers Movement (Le Mouvement Algérien des Officiers Libres - MAOL), the group announced on its French-language website that television and radio broadcasts are to begin. No timetable has been set, however, and a schedule is yet to be7 published. The BBC Monitoring first broke the story late in December (see CRW 60) and cited the website announcement. CRW has since contacted the MAOL but a representative states that the group is not ready to comment "on the record." MAOL appeared suddenly last year when articles published on its website began to disseminate throughout Algeria. The articles implicate the Algerian armed forces in the murder of former President Boudiaf, who was assassinated on live television in 1992, and also blast the military for corruption under current President Bouteflika. The Algiers-based Algeria Interface reports in an article filed in April 2000 that the articles are successful in undermining "the morale of junior officers who now see their commanding officers in a different light." The report further states that MAOL has also "rattled (the) intelligence services." Little is known about the group; however it clearly has ties to the military and are most likely former high-ranking officers in exile. Algeria Interface claims that its sources point to former Prime Minister Abdelhamid Brahimi and Brahim Younessi, a former political adviser to an assassinated government critic, as the central force behind MAOL. Both are known sympathizers of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which also opposes the current government in Algiers, but the FIS denies involvement in MAOL. Should MAOL succeed in its plans to broadcast radio and television propaganda it will mark the first time since the 1960s that Algeria has faced attacks over the airwaves. Read More: http://www.algeria-interface.com/english/politics/maole060400.htm (Clandestine Radio Watch Jan 14 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. R. Nacional Mendoza, 6180: Presently with very much reduced personnel, the station still operates from its central facility at Emilio Civit 460, 5500 Mendoza, and is hoping, some day to be able to reactivate its shortwave transmitter. Although it may seem quite a coincidence, another SW station funxioned in the same province on the same 49m band simultaneously for several years. The other one is located in Malargüe... ...while the SW transmitter remains dark, many who are nostalgic with earphones await its reactivation, since LV19 said goodbye, perhaps forever, with its usual closedown announcement, "Muy buenas noches, desde la frontera del país al pie de Los Andes, Malargüe, de clima bravo y aire purísimo, cielo incomparable, LV19 Radio Malargüe en sus frecuencias 790 Khz onda media, 6160 Mhz (sic) y 88.1 FM Payunia, estudios centrales en Esquivel Aldao 350 y planta transmisora en Cañada Colorada, felices sueños y un alegre despertar". (gh translated excerpts of a much longer article by Ruben Guillermo Margenet, Rosario (SF) ARGENTINA, RADIODIFUSION EN LA REGION DE CUYO (4 Parte) via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. A fire at Radio Australia`s shortwave transmitting station at Shepparton, Victoria, forced all transmissions off the air for five hours, interrupting broadcasts to the Pacific and South East Asia. Transmissions returned to normal once firemen brought the blaze under control (c) Radio Netherlands Media Network January 17 (via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When was this?? ** CAMBODIA [non]. KIM: You might be wondering, what is kuh-MY? Glenn Hauser sent an e-mail: he knows that kuh-MY is what is more often pronounced as kuh-MER, the language of Cambodia. But Glenn, a skilled pronouncer of foreign languages, asked me why I pronounce it kuh-MY, given that the word is spelled kuh-MER. Well, soon after I came to VOA in 1985, I believe I heard the name of that language pronounced kuh-MY, and it has stuck with me ever since. Just to be sure, I went to Voha Chuon, chief of VOA's kh-MY B kh-MER B [sic] Cambodian Service, who, much to my relief, declared my pronunciation of "kuh- MY" to be correct. So kuh-MY it will remain. However, so that listeners know what I am talking about, I will add, "the language of Cambodia." (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World Jan 20 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Kim, you can`t be right. I just heard Jeff Ingram on DX Partyline pronounce it ``kuh-MAIR-ry`` (gh) ** COLOMBIA. CLANDESTINE. NF! 6233.0v Jan 15 Voz de la Resistencia, Bloque Oriental, noted at 1232 UT with good quality on this new frequency. S/off at 1235 UT with usual Compañeros de la FARC. Also January 16 at 2140 with Notienfoque Voz de la Resistencia (news pgm) (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA/VENEZUELA. Glenn, In dxld1008.txt you said: Researching the frequencies for the Venezuelan president`s show on Sundays, http://www.radiohc.org is absolutely no help, outdated, and even so, self-contradictory. Frequency usage shows nothing after 1400, while other program titles show in the 1400-1500 period only (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The website http://www.radiohc.org has not been an "official" Radio Havana Cuba website for quite some time now. Pretty much the only person using it is Arnie Coro to publish scripts of "DX'ers Unlimited" and "Breakthrough" along with various SWL and ham radio technical files. So...of course it`s "no help" in you finding info on 'Alo Presidente'. If you go to the Candy store looking to buy a case of beer you`re going to find the candy store to be "no help" either. Radio Havana Cuba`s official site has for a long time been at http://www.radiohc.cu and yes you will find info there on the "Alo Presidente" programme. Look in the "diexismo" section in Spanish. Please Glenn... before being so quick to publicly condemn the shortcomings of others... do your homework... you`re not so perfect yourself! 73 (Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, DXLD) I am absolutely unrepentant on this one. First of all, I have never claimed to be perfect. Mistakes, including my own, are corrected as soon as possible. I do *strive* for perfection, or better put, accuracy, in what I broadcast and publish, do not apologize for doing so, and for expecting others to do so. If not, they will be corrected when necessary. And I will continue to critique websites which shed darkness instead of light. I have had another look at the site http://www.radiohc.org -– it contains ``Spring 2000`` frequency and program schedules besides Arnie`s scripts. If he can upload his recent scripts, he (or someone) can also put current RHC schedule info in there, or delete misleading outdated info, but no one has bothered. Furthermore, I can find no link to the official RHC website, the least they could do to expedite listeners finding current info (it is mentioned only as a source for the coverage maps, not a link). Then I look in http://www.radiohc.cu but I do not find anything about Alo Presidente under Diexismo or anywhere else. Perhaps you could copy and send what you found or give us a precise link. This too has Spanish program schedules showing nothing after 1500 on Sundays, and frequency schedules (or rather, maps) also apparently outdated, but, unlike the other site, the info is undated, which is even worse. I am not impressed. Then on Sun Jan 21 I started looking for this; at 1400, 9550 was still on the air with co-channel but was gone by 1425, when 11760 was to be heard, but no Hugo show. 1500 closed Spanish to return at 0000 on 15230 11970 11875 11760 9820 9505 6000 5965, and into Esperanto at 1501, as scheduled on this single frequency in the Esperanto sked at end of DXLD 1-009, and 11760 off at 1526*. So much for the Hugo Chávez show. But some frequencies I did not check... (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 6140, 9820U, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' "Aló Presidente" pgm (via RHC) is indeed being relayed by Cuba, as per Henrik Klemetz` tip last week. Tuned in at 1400 (reported beginning time). Hugo taking calls, chattering informally between callers, lots of "República Bolivariana de Venezuela" references. However (this Sunday, at least) it is only traced to 6140 and 9820 (USB); the former channel is used normally for the morning "Antena Rebelde" pgm (produced but not parallel Rebelde MW). No trace of 9600, which used to be parallel 6140. (Not sure, maybe 9820 has replaced 9600 and I just haven`t noticed.) As for other frequencies, 9550 and 11760 are carrying regular RHC Spanish pgming. And the Rebelde network is not relaying "Aló Presidente" today either; 5025 and all MW Rebelde channels are running normal Rebelde pgming. Weak carrier (no audio) on 9539.7, which may or may not be R. Nacional de Venezuela. "Alo Presidente" is reportedly 1400-1730 Sundays (Terry Krueger, FL, hard- core-dx via DXLD) Radio Habana Cuba transmite en vivo el programa venezolano "Aló Presidente" (con la participación del Presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez), todos los Domingos de 1300 a 1700 UT (aproximadamente), por los 6140, 9505, 9820, 11705, 11875 kHz. QTH: Radio Habana Cuba, Apartado 6240, La Habana, Cuba. E-Mail: radiohc@ip.etecsa.cu Web: http://www.radiohc.cu (José Carlos Carbajal, Montevideo, Uruguay, Conexión Digital Jan 21 via DXLD) I believe I did check 11705 and 11875 today and did NOT hear Cuba, after 1430, that is (Glenn Hauser, OK, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Jan 21 at 0845 I turn on WWV to check the time, and on 5000 kHz I get this terrible variable het, going from 0 to 1 kHz or so every few seconds, making WWV unreadable. The music and talk proves to be \\ 5025, R. Rebelde, and weaker spurs of the same type also around 5049v and 4975v. Probably another one on 5075v masked by WWCR. Wonder what this sounds like at Arnie`s QTH, where WWV is one American station he admits listening to, since its political content is minimal. It hardly deserves this mistreatment by the dentrocubanos (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Thessaloniki Perea site again. There are rumours about erecting the used Continental transmitters from ex IBB-RFE site in Portugal, which moved to Greece, and should settle down in Avlis, Kavalla, and Thessaloniki Perea site too. 9935 and 11595 are off since past week, yesterday 7430 was on odd 7430.29, that means 35 kW Collins unit at Perea in use. Today I measure 7430.00 on even frequency. What`s going on at Perea? Is there main power failure, due of the heavy SNOW FALLS in Northern Greece? Are the Collins txs cut off to allow more space for coming installation progress, due of moving-in the new 250 kW units ex- Portugal txs into the Perea building, or what happened there? 1044 was featured in DSWCI Shortwave News March-1991, meaning two half wave vertical masts for mediumwave mentioned, 2 x 75 kW units, off for maintenance on Wednesdays 1100-1300. Two easy SW dipole arrays 115 degrees to Cyprus, and 315 degrees to Central Europe. MW 1179 kHz is from different N. Malgara site, off Tuesdays 1000-1200 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) I find Thessaloniki (different to 9420 \\ 15630 anyway) is on air on 9935 as I type at 1550. And, so far as I can measure, appears to be exactly on that freq. It is very slightly stronger than 9420 - and several S points stronger than 15630. There's nothing on air on 7 MHz, and 11595 is inaudible. 9935 was off air at re-check 1655 and a carrier only on 7430 - opened 1700. As far as I can tell, the freq appears to be exactly that. ID sounds like "- - - FM" and I didn`t hear Macedonia mentioned or Thessaloniki. But then, it was all Greek to me!! So, it looks like only one tx is being used currently! If they have the equipment to do so, it should be possible to use two txs - one sending east, one west on these freqs. I note there are occasional very brief breaks in audio as I listen leaving just an open carrier. I wonder how accurate the IBB sched of Jan 18th is with regard to GRC [see BELOW]. Something just opened in Romanian at 1605 on 15650 (is playing BBC music break and not GRC) [KOL Israel Romanian 1725-1745 15650, 11605, 9435 ROU], and I know that GRC 17520 doesn`t go off until c0759. Greece on MW is a rarity here - I used to hear 1386 occasionally before Russia extended schedule, but others are inaudible (Noël R. Green, UK, Jan 19, BC-DX via DXLD) I guess, they are in a process of refurbish Perea site, moving around, disconnect and replace the ancient 35 kW Collins txs, and replace the equipment step by step (Wolfgang Büschel, op. cit.) ERA-5 - THE VOICE OF GREECE TRANSMITTER SITES: AVLIDA (Avlis) 23.36E/38.23N SW: 2 x 100 KW 3 SERIES OF CURTAINS; 2 LOG PERIODICS 0-360 DEG. DELANO, USA 119.17W/35.45N SW: 1 x 250 KW GREENVILLE, USA 77.25W/35.35N SW: 1 x 250/500 KW KAVALA 24.50E/40.53N SW: 2x250 kW MW: 1 x 500 kW DIPOLE CURTAIN ANTENNAS MAILING ADDRESS: ERA-5, VOICE OF GREECE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL SERVICES c/o S. Kalaitzis, D. Angelogiannis 402 MESSOGION AVENUE 15342 ATHENS, GREECE PHONE: 30 (01) 6014700 FAX: 30 (01) 6009608 WWW: http://ert.ntua.gr/era5 E-MAIL: skalai@leon.nrcps.ariadne-t.gr RADIOPHONIKOS STATHMOS MAKEDONIAS, MACEDONIA RADIO STATION: SITES: PIERIA-NEA MALGARA (THESSALONIKI) 22.59E/40.31N SW: 3 x 35 KW DIPOLE - 315 DEG. (7430 kHz) DIPOLE - 315 DEG. (9935 kHz) RHOMBIC - 115 DEGREES (11595 kHz) ADDRESS: RADIOPHONIKOS STATHMOS MAKEDONIAS ANGELAKI STREET 14 54621 THESSALONIKI, GREECE PHONE: 30 (31) 244-979 FAX: 30 (31) 236-370 WWW: http://www.ert3.gr/ E-MAIL: mouzounis@usa.net, geconomou@hotmail.com (web site via Dr. Juergen Kubiak-D, Berlin, WWDXC Germany "DX Magazine" Jan via BC-DX via DXLD) IBB Frequency Schedule Report concerning ERT relays 792 900-1800 ERT KAV A 999 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 792 2100-2230 ERT KAV A 999 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 792 2300- 0 ERT KAV A 999 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 1260 1000-1500 ERT RHO A 134 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 1260 2200-2230 ERT RHO A 134 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 5895 2300-2345 ERT KAV 11 355 01/08/2001 03/24/2001 7455 1700-1900 ERT KAV 12 355 01/08/2001 03/24/2001 7475 0- 345 ERT KAV 12 355 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 7475 600- 700 ERT KAV 12 355 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 7475 1900-2045 ERT KAV 12 355 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 9375 400- 600 ERT KAV 12 105 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 9375 700- 800 ERT KAV 11 172 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 9375 1700-1900 ERT KAV 12 355 10/29/2000 01/07/2001 9375 1900-2045 ERT KAV 11 355 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 9420 0- 345 ERT KAV 11 355 10/29/2000 11/20/2000 9420 1200-1645 ERT KAV 11 355 01/08/2001 03/24/2001 9420 2100-2245 ERT KAV 11 105 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 9690 1200-1500 ERA5 DL 03 075 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 11645 1700-1900 ERT KAV 11 240 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 11900 600- 800 ERA5 DL 02 296 12/14/2000 03/24/2001 12105 0- 345 ERT KAV 11 240 11/21/2000 03/24/2001 12105 700- 800 ERT KAV 12 095 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 12105 1200-1245 ERT KAV 11 355 10/29/2000 01/07/2001 12105 1300-1500 ERT KAV 11 105 10/29/2000 01/07/2001 12105 1500-1645 ERT KAV 11 240 10/29/2000 01/07/2001 12105 2300-2345 ERT KAV 11 240 10/29/2000 01/07/2001 15170 600- 800 ERA5 DL 02 296 10/29/2000 12/13/2000 15530 1200-1245 ERT KAV 12 355 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 15650 1300-1645 ERT KAV 12 095 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 15650 2100-2245 ERT KAV 12 095 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 15650 2300-2345 ERT KAV 12 095 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 17520 400- 700 ERT KAV 11 095 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 17565 1800-2200 ERA5 GA 08 164 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 17705 1800-2200 ERA5 DL 01 075 10/29/2000 03/24/2001 (IBB site, Jan 18 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GREECE. Today Thessaloniki was on during daytime (first checked after 1100) on 9935, off at 1702. On 7430 carrier on at 1704, into ongoing program audio at 1705. Both 9935 and 7430 strong on even frequency and with clean audio, indicating ex-Gloria Continental transmitter, considering the gap the same one (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAËL. Good news: Jan 21 at 0500 in English, 17545 was back, and very good, along with 11605 and 9435 (not 6280) (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Change from 6280 back to 11605: Dear friends, since the SSN is not dropping down as expected the change to the high frequency is earlier. Instead of FEB 28 it will be JAN 24. Hope this will make better reception in N. America. Best regards (-Moshe Oren, Bezeq, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No times mentioned, presumably referring to English at 0500 and 2000 at least, and as we have reported, already changed, or were those tests, and back to 6280 a couple more days? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY. Private stations in Italy | This section was compilated by our collaborator Dario Monferini. Only st's with MW/SW broadcasts and FM networks are listed. A number of other st's are heard irr. There are approx. 1300 FM st's. SW kW Name, location and h of tr. 3905 0,5 SWRS, Italy : inactive 4) 6231 0,5 R. Speranza, Modena: 24h 5) 6925 0,5 SWRS, Italy (USB): inactive 4) 7306 0,5 R. Europe, Pioltello (USB): 0800-1300v 6) 7465 1 SWRS, Italy : inactive 4) 11470 1 SWRS, Italy (USB): inactive 4) Address and other information 3) Via Mammianese 687, IT-51030 Momigno (PT). Tel.: (+39)0572694019, Fax: (+39)0572694077. E-mail: studio.x@lycos.com ; Web site: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/studiox SM: Luca Betti. FM: 87,3 Mhz/105,5 MHz 5 kW. V. by letter. Rp. Re. to: PLAY-DX, Via Davanzati 8, 20158 Milano (MI) 4) Short Wave Relay Service, C/o PLAY-DX, Via Davanzati 8, 20158 Milano (MI), E-mail:swrs@usa.net Web site: http://listen.to/swsr V. by QSL-card. Rp. 5) Largo San Giorgio 91, IT-41100 Modena (BO). Tel.: (+39)059230373, Fax: (+39)059230373. SM: Padre Luigi Cordioli. FM: 96,2 MHz 5 kW. V. by letter. Rp. 6) P.O.Box 12, IT-20090 Limito (MI). Tel.: (+39)0292100246, E-mail: radioeurope@iol.it SM: Alex Bertini. V. by QSL-card. Rp. This list has been compilated by Dario Monferini for the WRTH 2001 Edition. UPTODATED January 2001 (via DXLD, SW only portion) ** JORDAN. Radio Jordan noted on 11690 kHz Saturday January 20th signing on just prior to 1400 UT with news in English followed by one hour of golden pop songs obviously a relay af their HS in English. At 1500-1530 a special programme for the short wave audience, a mailbag programme for DXers. They announced the old frequency of 17680 kHz -- but only heard on 11690 kHz. Sign off 1503. When checking at 1615 the frequency of 17680 kHz remained empty - except for a weak signal from Radio Voz Cristiana, Chile. Per information direct from the station - received on January 11th - they are having technical problems which makes it impossible for them to operate on 17680 kHz, but they were hoping to return to this frequency sometime during this week (15th - 21st of January) (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. I received QSL letter from Voice of Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement via registered mail. The envelope was very big and included several pamphlets and beautiful photos in Kashmir. Although I enclosed $1 to my reception report, it was returned. According to the letter, the station broadcasts 3 times a day: 0230-0400 5985 kHz 0745-0845 7230 kHz 1300-1430 5100 kHz Mailing address is Post Box No. 102, Muzaffarabad (Azad Kashmir), Pakistan (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. According to Star TV News FM Stations in Nepal will now have to get their News items approved before broadcasting! Could anyone in Nepal shed some more light on the subject? (Harjot Singh Brar, Globe Radio DX Club Online Forum, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://pages.about.com/coollinkers/GRDXC/index.htm [corrected] On Tuesday, the government of Nepal banned broadcast of independently produced news and current affairs programs on private FM stations in that country. A letter from the government to Nepali FM stations said that a three-member board, which will include one government official, will vet all news broadcasts. The scripts have to be turned in to the board one week in advance, which is a difficult requirement for news content. The development committee of the Nepali parliament summoned the country's communications minister to appear before it later this week and explain the ban. The BBC World Service press office told me Friday that rebroadcasts of their Nepali and English programs by Radio Sagarmatha in the Kathmandu Valley have so far not been affected by this directive (VOA Communications World Jan 20 via John Norfolk, DXLD) According to a BBC World Service news report, the Nepalese government has imposed a ban on independent news broadcasts by privately owned FM radio stations. The authorities say they are only enforcing existing laws, under which the FM stations are only allowed to broadcast news from government authorised sources. However, critics describe the move as censorship. Correspondents say there have been allegations of sensationalism against some FM stations which developed after the the government liberalised its media policy and ended the fifty year monopoly of the state-owned Radio Nepal (c) Radio Netherlands Media Network January 18 (via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Glenn, Re the quoted remarks by Fred Waterer of ODXA (which I have not yet seen in print), if Fred had contacted someone at Radio Netherlands for a comment before rushing to print, we would have "taken the time to explain these things" as he puts it. The simple fact is that On Target was already at the printers waiting to go to press when the decision to cancel the Media Network radio show was made. The only thing it was possible to do at that stage, without delaying publication, was change the programme grid. We went to a great deal of trouble to ensure that all our regular listeners found out about the decision, and the reasons for it, as soon as possible. But we did not consider the cancellation of one specialist programme to be sufficient reason to hold up printing and distribution of On Target to the thousands of people who were waiting for details of our other programmes. As far as contact with our listeners is concerned, we have a weekly Media Network newsletter, and very shortly there will be a similar newsletter for the English service in general. When Radio Netherlands gives reasons for decisions, and people choose to disregard what we say and come up with their own personal theories, that's their problem, not ours. I'm not sure what Fred means by "so many people leave a station at one time". One person - Diana Janssen - left because she was head-hunted for a dream job. Does Fred think nobody in international broadcasting has the right to develop their career? Nobody else has left -- Jonathan Marks is still Director of Programmes, and I'm producing the Media Network Webzine. I`d be interested to know the identity of these other people Fred refers to :-) As for Mike Shaw, he has always been a strong supporter of Media Network, and was as surprised as the rest of us when Jonathan announced his decision. But Mike's a broadcaster, not a clairvoyant, so his editorial did not make mention of something he didn't know when he wrote it! 73, (Andy Sennitt, Media Network, Radio Netherlands, [no standard disclaimer], Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Re: English at 1400-1500 on 15140: Jan 20 at 1440 clashing as usual with HCJB Spanish, Oman mostly music anyway; meanwhile, 15150 went begging for an occupant (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-009 postscript via DXLD 1-010) ** U S A. Glen[n]: Check out http://www.wisclean.org -- I was alerted to this story by a letter to the editor in Radio World, 1/17/2001, pg 62. I know Mike Dorrough. He is a nice fellow, and an advocate for getting information to the blind. As I understand it, he wanted to start a SW radio station to provide info to the blind. As you will read, his efforts have been halted (Fred Vobbe, Jan 21, NRC DX Audio Service, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is a lot more to this than the SW angle. Apparently he has been done a great injustice by a number of public officials, including Gov. Tommy Thompson, just named to alleged Pres. Bush`s cabinet. Here`s an excerpt we found referring to the SW project: ``Judge Steven D. Ebert has illegally taken Mike Dorrough`s land, rendering a near-fatal blow to ``Project Beacon``, Dorrough`s shortwave station and archiving project, by and for people without sight, but blessed with an inner vision for a new and better kind of radio. Tragically, this inner vision may never be realized.`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. With the absence of wbcq.com, the streaming audio has moved over to wbcq.net. The complete broadcast of WBCQ-1 is carried via a link at the top of the page http://theplanet.wbcq.net (Tina, webmistress, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why is wbcq.com absent? Permanently? http://wbcq.net also works. BTW, I notice that USA cable network is running Blown Away, Sunday Jan 21 at 2230-2500 UT, and again Monday 22 at 1830-2100, wherein Allan Weiner`s (or John England`s) former ship Sarah is exploded. Anyone know exactly where in the 2.5 hour movie? I assume near the end (gh) ** U S A. I keep trying to watch CNN World Report, but I am not sure why. Approaching it as a SW listener, it ought to be terrific, made up of uncensored contributions by TV stations around the world. But when I manage to see an episode, I more and more am left with a feeling of emptiness. Most of the stories are inconsequential or superficial (tho getting them on American TV at all is an achievement) and with rare exceptions are narrated by locals who don`t have an adequate command of English. Many of the ``stations`` we have never heard of, and may be little-known cable outlets in their own countries. We are, too, distracted by the anchors, Ralph Wenge with his colorful mop, and that Middle Eastern (?) lady with no scarf and the great legs conveniently displayed via the see-through desk, and whose name I can never remember. I have not checked at 0800 UT Mondays lately, but the previous airing Sundays at 1900 was pre-empted for weeks at a time in the post- elexion nonsense. And it was pre-empted again today for a CNN Perspectives special about –- what else -– the botched election, 36 Days that Gripped the Nation –- or at least, gripped CNN. World Report is obviously a low-priority pre-emptable show at CNN, and lamentably I can hardly blame them. I just wish their published and online schedules were correct. BTW, according to last week`s show, they have also cancelled CNN and Time on Sunday nights, tho it still appears in TV Guide. And Wolf Blitzer said goodbye today to assymetrical anchor Gene Randall, who is departing CNN forthwith. Altho I still saw Bernard Shaw yesterday, who is leaving shortly, by Feb, as I recall. Shakeups are underway at CNN. And can Jesse Jackson be far behind, so tarnished now, to continue with Both Sides, Sundays at 2230-2300 UT? (Glenn Hauser, Jan 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Ha! His show is ``on hiatus`` (gh) ** U S A. VOA Director Sandy Ungar held a town meeting for VOA employees Friday at 18 Universal Time. Mr. Ungar reported that, as a result of the most recent language service review of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA`s Uzbek, Portuguese-to-Brazil, and Thai services will be closed. VOA Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovak, and Turkish will be reduced. The VOA Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian services will be folded into a joint Caucasus unit, with reductions to Armenian. Altogether, 36 jobs will be lost at VOA. The savings from these reductions will be redeployed to allow enhancements to VOA Arabic, Indonesian, Macedonian, Russian, including new Russian-language programs targeted to Central Asia, and Spanish for the Andean region. VOA Hindi will also receive 350 thousand dollars to put its broadcasts on medium wave. Mr. Ungar did not say where the medium wave transmitter would be located, or what frequency it would use. [but have been testing Abu Dhabi lease 1314] Mr. Ungar also said that, as of Friday, he had not yet been asked by the Bush transition team to resign as VOA director. He added that he plans to remain as VOA director until otherwise notified, so as to minimize the time that VOA would be under an acting director. I`ll have more details about these reductions and changes next week on Communications World (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World Jan 20 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Diversity Rules Set Aside. Wednesday, January 17, 2001; Page E02. A U.S. appeals court threw out Federal Communications Commission rules that required TV and radio stations to make special efforts to seek out minority job applicants. Even though the FCC did not require broadcasters to actually hire the minority recruits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the rules were unconstitutional. The same court ruled in 1998 that former FCC rules requiring stations to hire minorities created an unconstitutional "race-based classification." (Washington Post Jan 17 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** YEMEN. Source: Republic of Yemen Radio English Service When not carrying the English service, the SW and MW frequencies shown below carry Republic of Yemen Radio's main Arabic service from Sanaa. Address: PO Box 2371, Sanaa, Yemen. Tel: +967-1-231181. Fax: +967-1-230761 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0600-0700 Daily ENGLISH Domestic 0.711 9.780-v 93.5-Sanaa (Repeat of previous day`s 1800 gmt broadcast) 1800-1900 Daily ENGLISH Domestic 0.711 9.780-v 93.5-Sanaa --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Jan 11 condensed for DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non?]. Radio Voice of the People replied with a big envelope containing a beautiful T-shirt with station emblem, a personal letter and a QSL certificate from Star Pswarayi. Email: voxpop@zol.co.zw . Address: P O Box CY 3093, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe. Transmission time is 0700-0755 Zimbambwean time every night on 7120 kHz [1700-1755 UT] (Björn Fransson, Gotland, Sweden, Jan 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FOUND IN A LUNG WAH FORTUNE COOKIE: ``You have a reputation for being thoroughly reliable and trustworthy.`` ###