DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-017, February 8, 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 without permission. For restrixions and searchable 2001, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1068: (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1068.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1068.rm (STREAM) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1068.ram OUR CURRENT AUDIO: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO and CONTINENT OF MEDIA and MUNDO RADIAL SHORTWAVE-ONLY SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 8, 2001 New RFPI time schedule in effect from Dec 1; 7480 was activated December 5; 15049 will later switch to 15065. In early February 7450 began testing instead of 7480 and 15049 was off for repairs but still included here. But it always pays to check all RFPI frequencies beyond their scheduled hours. For latest updates see our Anomaly alert page http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Anomaly.html Days and times here are strictly UT Thu 0030 WOR WBCQ1 7415 Thu 2130 WOR WWCR 9475 Fri 1030 WOR WWCR 7435 Fri 1900 COM RFPI 21815-USB Fri 1930 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Fri 2215 MR WWCR 9475 [Mundo Radial, Spanish] Sat 0100 COM RFPI 15065/15049 7450 Sat 0130 WOR RFPI 15065/15049 7450 Sat 0330 WOR WWCR 3215 Sat 0700 COM RFPI 7450 Sat 0730 WOR RFPI 7450 Sat 1230 WOR WWCR 15685 Sat 1300 COM RFPI 21815-USB Sat 1330 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Sat 1730 COM RFPI 21815-USB Sat 1800 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Sat 2330 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15065/15049 Sun 0000 WOR RFPI 15065/15049 7450 Sun 0030 WOR WBCQ2 9335-CUSB [may start late] Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0530 COM RFPI 7450 Sun 0600 WOR RFPI 7450 Sun 0728 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 1130 COM RFPI [suspended] Sun 1200 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Sun 2000 WOR WWCR 12160 Mon 0100 WOR WWCR 3215 Mon 0601 WOR WWCR 3210 Tue 1200 WOR WWCR 15685 Tue 1900 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Tue 2000 COM RFPI 21815-USB Wed 0100 WOR RFPI 15065/15049 7450 Wed 0200 COM RFPI 15065/15049 7450 Wed 0700 WOR RFPI 7450 Wed 0800 COM RFPI 7450 Wed 1300 WOR RFPI 21815-USB Wed 1400 COM RFPI 21815-USB ** AUSTRALIA. RA ENGLISH: 0800-1130 on 15240 TAI (ex 15125 to avoid VIRI/IRIB in Arabic) 2200-0130 on 15240 TAI (ex 2200-2330 on 15110 to avoid REE in Spanish) (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 6 via DXLD) ** CANADA. I am just off the telephone with Scott Snailham - Production Assistant/Evening Producer CHNX/CHNS/CHFX Halifax. The current contact for QSL response is CE Mark Olsen; Rp is appreciated. The shortwave outlet CHNX 6130 kHz is currently off the air due to technical difficulties, with the transmitter. At this time it is uncertain if the SW outlet will return as "the transmitter is not suited for shortwave". 73's (Joe Talbot, Alberta, Feb 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hello, This week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item takes a special look at: "The Miracle of MIR": the legacy of the Russian space station. When the old Soviet Union launched MIR in 1986, it was only supposed to stay up for 3 years. Now, fifteen years later, the Soviet Union is long gone, and MIR is still orbiting the Earth. But not for long. Next month, it will become the largest piece of space junk ever sent to destruction as Mir comes crashing down. We'll look at its legacy and achievements through the eyes of Russians, Americans, and Canadians who spent time aboard the station. Plus .... the regulation of genetically modified foods, is it enough? All this and more, on Quirks & Quarks, with host Bob McDonald, Saturday right after the noon news. – (Quirks & Quarks -- CBC Radio quirks@toronto.cbc.ca http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/quirks Feb 7 via DXLD) Sat 12:05 pm local; RCI UT Sun 0005 (gh) ** CANADA. From http://cbc.ca/onair/jhtml/newsitem.jhtml?ID=1621 TROUBLED WATERS: A SPECIAL SERIES ON CBC RADIO ONE EXAMINING THE PROBLEMS FACING ONE OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCES For seven days beginning Saturday [sic], February 11, CBC Radio One will broadcast Troubled Waters, a series of special reports on the challenges facing our water supply. "Water is one of our most precious resources," says Esther Enkin, managing editor and chief journalist, Information Programming. "Canadians have assumed that we will always have an abundant supply of safe, clean water. Recent events have caused many to question that assumption. This series will examine the problems that lie ahead of us." Troubled Waters focuses on the science, the politics and the economics of water. THE SUNDAY EDITION - Sunday, February 11 at 9 a.m. (9:30 NT) A documentary by Bob Carty. Danger on Tap: The debate over chlorinating water. [RCI 1300-1600 on 9640, 13655 and 17710, Hotbird and Internet] THIS MORNING - Monday, February 12 to Thursday, February 15 at 9 a.m. (9:30 NT) Bob Carty's series continues: Monday: From Land to Mouth: How factory farming threatens our water; Tuesday: Soiling our Nest: How human waste affects our water; Wednesday: Alternatives and Solutions: New technologies for clean water; and Thursday: How to Keep our Water Safe: Who should police and who should pay? [RCI Americas: 1300-1600 on 9640, 13655 and 17710, Hotbird and Internet] THIS MORNING TONIGHT - Thursday, February 15 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) Adults on Trial: Alana Range, a Grade 10 student at a high school in Walkerton, Ontario, tells her view of the town's water crisis. Originally broadcast on OUTFRONT [RCI Asia: Friday, Feb. 16 at 1200- 1300 on 6150 and 11730, at 0900 on Hotbird and Internet] AS IT HAPPENS - Friday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m. (7 NT) Interviews include: a CIDA worker helping to provide water in the Third World, and a panel discussion on the morality of exporting Canada's water. [RCI Americas: 2330-0100 on 5960 and 9755, Saturday 0330-0500 on Hotbird and Internet] QUIRKS & QUARKS - Saturday, February 17 at noon (12:30 NT) Part One: Searching for a Sediment Solution: Scientists searching for a safe and effective way to clean up the Great Lakes. Part Two: Watering the Breadbasket: New prairie crops need irrigation, and that's raised fears about the future of our water supply. [RCI Americas: 0000-0100 on 5960 and 9755, Sunday 0900-1000 on Hotbird and Internet] A companion web site has been created for this series. Located at http://www.cbc.ca/water, the site includes program links, audio files and interactive components. -30- (via Ricky Leong, Québec, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Russia: Culture minister comments on US broadcasts to Chechnya | Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 8 February: Russian Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoi has expressed doubt that Radio Liberty's decision to broadcast in Chechen, Avar, Kabardin and other North Caucasian languages will have a stabilizing effect on the region. "Radio Liberty is foreign radio governed by US legal norms and documents. For this reason, my assessment could only be personal. This, if you wish, is an assessment from the point of view of morality, ethics, and last, but not least, expediency. Of course, the right to information has been vested in every Russian citizen regardless of whether he is a Chechen, a Russian or anyone else. But given the situation and the buildup of tensions in the region today, I do not think that Radio Liberty's plan would benefit the people living in the region," Shvydkoi said in an interview with Interfax on Thursday [8 February]. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1559 gmt 8 Feb 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CHILE. The transmitter site for Voz Cristiana is named "Calera de Tango". The station currently has 8 frequencies on the air on the SW. It has 37 affiliated stations in South America. This according to stn`s anmt (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Feb 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WAFN ** CHINA. Re the China SW Guide: 5800 is used not only for the one- hour CNR8 relay (is it really Beijing, rather than Urumqi?), but also for Xinjiang PBS domestic px in Uighur. Heard it myself on Feb 4 from 1627 until s/off at 1757. Two minutes of open carrier followed, then it was cut (at 1759). Plenty of Uighur songs were transmitted, with short YL announcements in between (probably her and performers` names). Some DXers erroneously report Dushanbe on 5800 during this time. AFAIK, Dushanbe did use it in some recent winters, but this year doesn`t appear on this frequency. Indeed, both Uighur and Tadjik are exotic languages. But if someone is able to distinguish between Turkish and Farsi, the task simplifies. Uighur sounds a bit like Turkish, while Tadjik is similar to Farsi. Neither Urumqi nor Dushanbe ever had foreign services in other languages on 5800 (Dmitri Mezin, Russia, Electronic DX Press Feb 8 via DXLD) ** CHINA [non}. BULGARIA, 9310, Falun Dafa Radio at 2224 in Mandarin Feb 3, not jammed (they just haven`t caught up yet). Comes in well here nightly (Liz Cameron, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5019.9, Ecos del Atrato 0023-0103+ Feb 8. Campesino mx w/hint of Andean & peppy tunes. Ad/anmt strings 0025-32 & 0048-54, many in echo. 0034-41 M&W w/atención items. All in SS. ID @0057 then W & children religious spot; several mentions of Santa María reminiscent of the KJES hostages ...er children continuing past 0100. SIO=442+ (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5956.44, Caracol Villavicencio 0856 Feb 7, Talk, Caracol net ID's and time checks. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Hola Amigos, Desde hace varios dias está funcionando la página en Internet de Radio Santa Fé, una muy tradicional emisora que transmite en Bogotá. Hace varios años emitía en la banda tropical. Con la puesta en marcha de esta página se aleja definitivamente la posibilidad que retornara a la onda corta http://www.radiosantafe.com/ Buen DX, (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital Feb 7 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Following up previous observation that HCJB 21455 USB ran open carrier for an hour at 2200, not so Feb 6 when at 2225 music and Spanish announcements, filling the former Japanese slot (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ESTONIA. Media Provider: Eesti Raadio. Radio Tallinn is operated by Estonian Radio. It is aimed at Estonian and foreign nationals in the Tallinn area. As well as its own programmes in English, it carries relays of BBC World Service, Radio France Internationale, Radio Sweden and Deutsche Welle. The former Radio Estonia external service aimed at listeners abroad ended with the closure of Estonian Radio`s shortwave transmitter on 5925 kHz on March 1st 1998. Programmes are NOT subject to Summer/Winter time changes. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Address : Eesti Raadio Uudised, Gonsiori 21, 15020 Tallin Tel : +372 6 114466 Fax : +372 6 114369 Web Site : http://www.er.ee/eng/uudis/schedule.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- On Demand ESTONIAN http://www.er.ee/eng/uudis/ (contains ENGLISH) archive. The daily Estonian Domestic service at 0330-2205 on 103.5 contains English: Tue-Fri 0400-0415 News; Mon 0400-0500 and 0900-1000 consisting of: 0400 News, 0430 Estonia Today; 0900 News, 0930 Estonia Today (repeat) (© BBC Monitoring Feb 8 condensed for DXLD) ** FINLAND. Effective 7 February, on WRN 1 to North America, a new additional airing of YLE Radio Finland at 1700-1715 UT weekdays, ex Carribean News Agency. The Carribean program is apparently no longer available to WRN at all (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Feb 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non]. [Re: RFI on 144.3 MHz in Venezuela] Ian has found the explanation I think. TV Channel 4 mixing with 9.8 MHz shortwave could generate a carrier on 2 x 67.250 + 9.800 = 144.300 73s (Tony Mann, WA, vhfskip list Feb 5 via Tim Bucknall, harmonics list via WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Just spent some time listening to (and watching) that DRM test transmission from Jülich towards the HFCC: 1130-1230z on 5900. The transmission was jumping between normal analog AM and DRM every few minutes. While listening to it on an AR7030 (AM 3 kHz filter), it turned out that whenever DRM started, it totally killed 5895 and 5905 and it still was present on 5890 and 5910. I also watched the signal on the scope of the Yaesu VR-5000 (AM 9 kHz filter): the DRM signal was clearly twice as broad as the normal AM signal. vy73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Feb 7, swbc@topica.com via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. I checked that "white noise" broadcast today Feb 8th: 5900 from Deutsche Telekom Jülich at 1130-1230 had strength of S=9 +60 dB here in Stuttgart. When I switched to 9.5 kHz filter on AOR7030 the signal covered the 5890.12 to 5910.49 kHz range. From 1221 onwards Jülich transmission switched from Digital to pure AM mode. Some DRM annts heard, all spoken by RNW personnel, i.e. Jonathan Marks and Diana Janssen could easily be recognized. Anmts were in En, Fr, Sp language as well a short Brazilian Portuguese song played, and at 12.24:50 UT tx switched off. 21670 via Deutsche Welle Sines Portugal site heard on 21660.13 to 21680.22 kHz range (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. KBS Radio One is 24 hours on 0.711, 0.756, 3.930, 97.3 in Seoul (BBC Monitoring Feb 8 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. Voice of the People of Kurdistan. Main Studio : Al- Sulaymaniyah. Voice of the People of Kurdistan (Kurdish: "aira dangi gelli kurdistana", Arabic: "sawt sha'b kurdistan") is the official radio station of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani. It broadcasts from Al-Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to the radio`s web site, it was established in 1979 under the name "Voice of the Iraqi Revolution" and adopted the current name in 1983. Languages : Arabic, Multilingual, Sorani Kurdish Address : PUK, Postfach 210231, 10502 Berlin, Germany. E-mail : puk@puk.org Web Site : http://www.puk.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0300-0700 Daily MULTILINGUAL MEDom 1.206 4.060 6.995 Sat: 13 E Hot Bird 1-5 11604 H MPEG-2 0315-0330 Daily PUK Anthem 0330-0340 Daily News (ARABIC) 0340-0430 Daily Local news and commentary (ARABIC) 0430 Daily Press roundup (ARABIC) 0500-0515 Daily News (SORANI KURDISH) 0515-0530 Daily Local news (SORANI KURDISH) 1345-2100 Daily MULTILINGUAL MEDom 1.206 4.060 6.995 Sat: 13 E Hot Bird 1-5 11604-(to 1700) H MPEG-2 1410-1412 Daily News summary (SORANI KURDISH) 1425-1435 Daily Press review (SORANI KURDISH) 1500-1510 Daily News (SORANI KURDISH) 1512-1600 Daily Prog ( HAWRAMI DIALECT) 1600-1610 Daily News (SORANI KURDISH) 1615-1625 Daily Press review (SORANI KURDISH) 1700-2100 Daily Progs. (ARABIC) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Feb 8, condensed for DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Radio Bopeshawa broadcasts in support of the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq from Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Bopeshawa (meaning "Forward") is also the name of the party's newspaper. It was first observed on 20th May 1996 broadcasting as Voice of the Worker-Communist Party (Arabic: sawt al-hezbi al-shuyu'i al-ummali al-iraqi; Kurdish: aira dangi hizbe cummunist kargare iraq). Clandestine Radio Watch reported that at behest of the Iranian government this station, which was based at Al-Sulaymaniyah, was taken off the air on 27 July 2000. Following its closure, the studios were moved to Arbil. It was renamed Radio Bopeshawa and resumed broadcasting on 1 February 2001. Address : PO Box 7962, London SE1 2ZG, UK Tel : + 44 079 30317333 Fax : + 44 087 0054860 E-mail : radio@wpiraq.org Web Site : http://www.wpiraq.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1500-1600 .M.W.F. ARABIC ME Ter: 9.450 1500-1600 ....Th.. KURDISH ME Ter: 9.450 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Feb 8, condensed for DXLD) Note: nothing is said here about transmitter site, but at 9 MHz it is unlikely to come from within Iraqi Kurdistan (gh, DXLD) ** LAO PDR. Subject: LAOS ISN'T LOUSY (a summary of my 30 day vacation in Lao PDR, including DXing) Been traveling to developing countries, specifically ones with as little American influence as possible, off and on during the winters since 1982 (and intend to continue until I drop). My only limitation is an increasing intolerance to very hot weather, so anything south of a line going through Bangkok is now out. I just slap on a backpack (but now put it on a metal cart with wheels because of old age, or just laziness) bring along THE BOOK for whatever country is being visited (i.e. The Lonely Planet travel books), and take off. No tours and no reservations and just a very rough idea of what the trip will entail. Most visas can now be obtained at customs upon entering. The trips always write themselves by getting feedback from other travelers who have been to interesting places. These trips are not particularly expensive. Inexpensive r/t tickets can be found in the travel section of the Sunday Chicago Tribune (the airline to Bangkok this time was EVA, Taiwan's airline, and we had a brief stop there). Once getting to the country of destination the cost of living is so much less than in the U.S. that one can live comfortably and well on very little. When available, I try to get hotel rooms with AC, TV and a fridge. But in Mung Sing and Ban Muam where I spent a week, they only have electricity at 6-9 pm so this obviously wasn`t possible! Originally the plan was to do some Lao, some Hanoi, and possibly Chiang Rai, Thailand. But I found Lao so pleasant and laid back that every time I got close to leaving I couldn't. Also from feedback from other travelers Chiang Rai does not appear to be the fun town it used to be. For me the highlight of the trip was spending two days taking fast boats down the Mekong from Xeng Kok to Hue Xai. These boats look like very long row boats and have gigantic, very noisy engines in back. The engines are larger than any car engine, they look more like they should fit in a Semi. On the first day we had to help out another boat that had taken on water and was forced to land on the Burma side (usually restricted), so I got the side benefit of adding Burma as well. Here's more trivia about Lao: +The country's real name is "Lao PDR" or just "Lao" like the people. The French named it Laos. +The currency is all paper. It is in "Kip". The largest bill made is 5000 Kip; there are 8200 Kip to a U.S. $. So their largest bill is worth about 65 cents! Their smallest bill is 100 Kip which is slightly over 1 cent! Whenever I had to cash a $100 travelers check the banks were usually low or out of 5000 Kip notes so the next size was 2000 Kip notes. A $100 stack of 2000 Kip notes is about 4 inches high! Not easy to put in a wallet. +During the "Vietnam" War, the U.S. dropped more bombs on Lao than it used during all of WW II. Children are still routinely killed by UXO. [unexploded ordinance] +Except for Hilltribe people the country is almost completely Buddhist. The people are very gentle and the country is very safe. +The best preserved city in S. Asia is in Luang Prabang. +I have never seen a country with as little reading matter in their own language. After the third week I realized that probably 85% of the population is illiterate. +Is it really a Commie country?? Supposedly it is but the only indication I saw of that was a flag with hammer and sickle at Vientiane Communist Headquarters. Most people appear to be self- employed with their own businesses. The police presence was virtually nil, less than in any other country I`ve been to. No checkpoints or travel restrictions. Lao`s Coat of Arms used to have a hammer and sickle on it but that was replaced by the Big Stupa, Lao`s most sacred temple, in the early 90`s. +Drug enforcement? I "really" doubt they are sincere about this! In Mung Sing, 6 miles from the Chinese border in the heart of the Golden Triangle, a shopowner about 500 feet from the police station, has a sign out front offering deluxe Poppy Field tours for a bargain $15 U.S.! About 2 miles on the other side of the police station poppy fields could clearly be seen from the main highway as I was taking the bus out of town. +World's slowest restaurant service. I finally gave up on restaurants after even a BLT took over 30 mins (maybe because refrigeration is so rare they have to catch and slaughter the animals before serving?). Never have I seen so many pigs, roosters, ducks, chickens, etc. just running around at random. Even chickens and roosters walk freely in and out of offices at the smaller airports. How anyone keeps track of their ownership is beyond me. But there was so much delicious cooked food available in the Talaat Saos, The Morning Markets (that actually go all day) that we pigged out at those instead. +For DXing I brought along a Sony SW-100 and a Yupi UHF-VHF scanner. The scanner was pretty useless because there wasn't much to listen to, but it made a good battery charger... Hardly anybody watches Lao TV. It`s really boring. Even the hotels didn`t have it on their "cable" systems. I had to disconnect the cable and improvise an antenna to view it. All eyes are on Thailand TV, either with high gain VHF antennas, or C-Band dishes. Per-capita C-Band dish ownership is huge. I`ve never seen so many. Cuba, another Commie country, doesn`t even allow them. Lao TV in Vientiane is on channel 13. Lao TV`s bug is the national coat of arms in the lower right. FM stations in Vientiane were on 90.5, 91.5, 95.7, 100.3 and 102.5. All are in stereo. All are off the air by 12:45 am. Luang Prabang has an FM station on 104.00 in stereo. I got to operate from a ham DXPedition in Vientiane, XW3QBR. I tried 6 Meters quite a few times but band conditions were always dead, not even any video indicators. http://www.oldtvguides.com/DXPhotos 73, (Jeff Kadet, Macomb IL, WTFDA@topica.com Feb 6 via DXLD) ** LIBYA. In DXLD 1-013 Brian Alexander reports hearing Voice of Africa on 17725 kHz with English at 1739, 2034 and 2336 on a Saturday. I have tried several times at 1739 and a few times at 2034 - but never heard English at those times. Could this be Saturday (or Sa-Su) only? However I'm hearing Libya in English on 17725 kHz regularly 1139 UT (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Brian does almost all his monitoring on weekends only; but VOA English times are known to vary 5-10 minutes (gh, DXLD) ** MÉXICO. ¡Hola señor Glenn! Aquí le informo que desde el 31 de enero he estado sintonizado a la emisora de Mérida, Yucatán nuevamente, la XEQM 6105 kHz, emisora que pertenece al Sistema Rasa. Esta emisora está abriendo sus transmisiones con un noticiero llamado Radio Noticias, el cual es transmitido por la emisora local XEUL 930 Foro 930, a las 1200 UTC. El sábado 3 de febrero empezó su programación con repeticion de la XEMH 970 "Candela Tropicaliente" De acuerdo a una propaganda de la emisora, el nuevo nombre para esta emisora será "RASA Onda Corta", y su eslogan es "Lo Mejor de nuestras estaciones para el Mundo". Saludos (Hector Garcia Bojorge, México DF, Feb 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, MUNDO RADIAL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did not check before 1323 UT Feb 6, but weak Spanish with too much reverb was still audible then on 6105. Better Feb 7 at 1236 continuous talk, and ID in passing as ``Grupo RASA`` . Not much if anything there at 1255 check Feb 8 (gh, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Glen[n], Checked RNZI's website yesterday and they announce that 15175 is going off air at 0859 before being used for a transmission to East Timor (Dave Harries, Bristol, England, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Schedule grid says 0859-1205 15175 switches to 325 degrees to NW Pacific, Bougainville, East Timor, Asia, daily, but just below it contradicts, so what is actually happening during the 0900 hour?? Self-contradictory info about its own schedule is a continuing problem at RNZI (gh): Bougainville/Timor Transmission 1000-1205 UTC From 09-1205 UTC [sic] we beam to the North Western Pacific and Asia. Programmes at this time are for the NZ Peace keeping Troops based in Bougainville and East Timor (http://www.rnzi.com Feb 9 via gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. The OETA-produced documentary Stateline is being promoted as about DTV this week, Thursday Feb 8 at 7-8 pm CST. Other airings, presumably same episode, but cannot be certain are Friday Feb 9 at 9 pm and Sunday Feb 11 at 11 am. One cannot find anything specific about this on their website, even on the Stateline page, but they still have a long section about DTV: http://www.oeta.onenet.net/digital.html (Glenn Hauser, Enid, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Contrary to some reports of 4890 running open carrier after 1200, this was not the case Feb 8: 1256 ``American Pie,``, 1300 NBC News Roundup, in standard English, 1304 back to more music for an hour or so. At 1411 recheck open carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9737.5, R. Nacional del Paraguay appears to be off the air (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay, Feb 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERÚ. 4582.1, R. San Juan, 28/01 2340-0115 22222 ID "Un saludo a los diferentes caseríos que escuchan su Radio San Juan.." -Tienen regular QSB y se mantiene en 4582.5 finalmente. Px Sensación norteña mx ID "San juanitos, la linda música regional por su Radio San Juan.`` TAMBIÉN: 4584.9 29/01 0105-0145 ID ``Un saludo para todo el caserío de Asapan; estamos radiando nuestros saludos a través de su Radio San Juan..``. Mx ID ``Radio San juan, desde Cajamarca, distrito de Sallique, al servicio de la comunidad``, (creo entender); por momentos las condiciones son malas y encima la estación tiene regular QSB; están variando entre 4582.5 y al final se mantienen en 4584.9 y finalmente tienen problemas en la modulación. TAMBIÉN: 4588.4 31/01 0225-0305 11111 apenas audible, varió su frecuencia, ahora en 4588.4; sólo puedo escuchar que tocan mx mas la voz es muy difícil de entender. TAMBIÉN: 4577.8 3/02 0218-0310 11111 mx pasillos ID ``A través de su Radio San Juan..`` Por momentos llegan a un 22222, pero hay regular QRN. NOTA: hay que tener en cuenta que en esta última quincena en toda la zona de sierra y selva, principalmente en la zona centro y norte del Perú se ha desatado lluvia torrenciales que están causando fuertes daños, adicional que nuestro enemigo el verano ha elevado bastante la temperatura (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, Chasqui DX via DXLD) ** PERÚ. VIAJE A CHICLAYO En Diciembre aprovechando unas vacaciones cortas por las fiestas de la Inmaculada Concepción, nos dimos un pequeño salto a la ciudad de Chiclayo y aprovechar para visitar Radio Imperio y Radio Horizonte... Para ir a Chiclayo desde Lima hay muchas empresas de ómnibus que en 10 horas lo ponen en esa ciudad. Hay de todos los niveles económicos hasta los que nos pueden llevar con TV, comida, etc. El costo de este pasaje es entre 20 a 50 soles (en Perú = 3.50 soles por dólar). También hay líneas aéreas que los pueden llevar en 45 minutos y sus costo es de 110 dólares ida y vuelta. En conclusión hay para todos los gustos de acuerdo al bolsillo. Chiclayo, creada por decreto el 18 de Abril de 1835. Su nombre parece provenir del mochica con el significado de ``lugar donde hay ramas verdes``. Su territorio pertenece en la antigüedad al reino del Gran Chimu. Está ubicada a 13 kilómetros del litoral. Hay algunos lugares interesantes para conocer y están a muy corta distancia del centro de la ciudad. Los pasajes de micro bus está a un sol y los taxis dentro de la ciudad están a 2.50. Por ejemplo: en Lambayeque, el museo Bruning, pueden apreciar al señor de Sipán -–de paso visitar a Radio Naylamp que está a tres cuadras del museo-. También, por Pomalca, se puede apreciar la huaca Rajada donde alberga aún futuros hallazgos análogos al del Señor de Sipán; hay un museo de sitio. Como en esa zona hay mucho calor, nos damos un buen baño en las playas de Pimentel y almorzar un rico pescadito (ceviche). VISITA A RADIO IMPERIO El día 9 de Diciembre, acordamos visitar a Radio Imperio en la misma ciudad de Chiclayo, en la Urbanización San Juan, Avenida Pedro Ruíz 1250. Fuimos atendidos muy amablemente por el señor Ulises Vásquez Sánchez, administrador de la radio, quien nos mostró las oficinas y la cabina, encontrándose en ese momento operando el señor Máximo More Vásquez (ver foto: Máximo en la consola, a su costado el señor Ulises y quien les escribe). Me informó que la estación fue fundada el 11 de Julio de 1966 y que están probando su equipo de onda corta, el cual tiene una potencia de 1000 vatios. Es de manufactura local en al misma ciudad de Chiclayo. Ellos inician sus transmisiones a partir de las 3.45 de la madrugada y cierran a las 1200 de la noche (0845 a 0500 UT). Ulises me informó que habían recibido dos cartas del extranjero, uno de Colombia de Rafael Rodríguez y de USA Rich D’ Angelo. Le solicité una fotocopia de aceptación del reporte, las cuales las pasé por e-mail. VISITA A RADIO HORIZONTE Esta radio no tiene oficinas en la ciudad; me informaron que la estaban montando, así que enrumbamos para la planta. Ésta se encuentra en un lugar llamado Chirapito; es una zona muy peligrosa. El taxista nos explicó que la zona era de gran riesgo, siendo nosotros de Lima, así que para los extranjeros ni que decir, el taxi nos esperó a la entrada. La planta está completamente cerrada con muros muy altos y una gran puerta metálica. La información sobre la oficina me la dieron ahí mismo a través de una ventanilla y con cierto recelo. (ver foto). De todas pasé un fin de semana muy grato y completo de haber visitado al menos una estación. Muchos 128’s (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSIA. PROGRAMA LINEA ABIERTA. El 4 de Febrero a las 0214 hora utc, por la frecuencia de 9860 kHz, La Voz de Rusia en su servicio en idioma español realizó el siguiente anuncio: "La Voz de Rusia les presenta Línea Abierta. Queremos entablar un contacto más ágil y directo con ustedes y sobre todo que vuestras voces se escuchen a través de las ondas cortas de la emisora. Aló, aló, aló. En esta cita telefónica les invitamos a exponer su opinión sobre el tema que les interese o inquiete. Formular preguntas de toda índole, hacernos sugerencias sobre nuestra programación en general. Ustedes como partícipes del programa pueden invitar al autor de uno de nuestros espacios o a un comentarista, a un observador o a un locutor para conversar de todo un poco. Desde su país usted puede participar. Es muy sencillo y no le cuesta nada. Usted nos envía su número de teléfono y la hora a la que le podemos llamar o si quiere, marque el 7-09-59-53-41-15 desde las 9 a las 14 horas utc. Línea Abierta, programa nuevo para el año nuevo, hecho por ustedes y para ustedes..." (Gabriel Gómez, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA. Glen[n], Radio Yugoslavia has redesigned its website but failed to put a SW schedule there. Does anyone have the current English schedule please? (Dave Harries, Bristol, England, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What English? What SW? (gh) ** SICILY. Received a full data, typewritten and signed, verification letter direct from "Naval Radio Transmitter Facility, Niscemi, Sicily" indicating the AFN broadcast on 6847.5 kHz on August 13, 2000 was from that station. I originally sent them a two prepared letters and self addressed stamped envelope (SASE). The SASE was used, but the letter was retyped. The second report and prepared QSL letter in the same envelope was for AFN on 16847.5 kHz on August 14, 2000 but this has not yet been verified. The reply took approximately two months or less (Lee Silvi, USA, QSL received February 5, 2001, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. I normally won`t waste bandwidth with this crap, but I know people are already wondering where this transmission be coming from (gh) GERMANY: New schedule of Brother Stair The Overcomer Ministry to NAm via Jülich effective Jan. 29: 1400-1800 Sat only on 17490 (55555) 100 kW/295 deg. <<<<< ADDITIONAL 1400-1700 Sun only on 17490 (55555) 100 kW/295 deg. <<<<< ADDITIONAL (Observer, Bulgaria, Feb 6 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non, non]. Unusual thing happened at 0300 UT Sat Feb 3. NAm service of DW ran ID and announced English and German apology for breakdown on 11750 (parallels were OK). Next at 0308 I heard V. of Hope, English ID by YL. She announced station ID, gave sked for Sat but different time and frequencies 15320 and 12060 – this was all on 11750!! V. of Hope went into a local language at 0310. Then at 0316 on 11750 V. of Hope in English but gave announcement of Sat on 15320 and 12060. At 0328 DW back in English with announcement apologizing for breakdown and they were working on solving the problem (Bob Thomas, CT, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HFCC shows 11750 DW is Bonaire relay, but still wonder how V. of Hope got in there, and at the wrong time. Breakdown announcement probably played from Bonaire (gh) 11750 0300 0345 2,3,6,7,10NW BON 250 320 D English HOL DWL RNW 3946 ** SWEDEN [non]. Checked R. Sweden`s new relay via Canada again UT Feb 6 at 0230 on 9560, and this time it was a full 16 seconds ahead of \\ 9495 direct from Sweden (if you can call it parallel with that big a gap). I conclude that one or the other is playing back a tape of a feed recorded previously, so the gap between them will be unpredictable and not attributable to satellite/feed routing. BTW, I heard somewhere that a second frequency, 11940 was in use for this via Sackville, but no sign of it, and no mention of it by R. Sweden (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KIM: A massive signal. It was a crash start, meaning the transmitter came on the frequency just as the program began. From the audio continuity at the end of the broadcast, I could tell that RCI is using a World Radio Network satellite feed (Elliott, VOA Communications World Feb 3 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Magnus Nilsson of Terakom was interviewed about this on MediaScan Feb 6. He admitted that Swedish language broadcasts were the first priority for Sackville relays, but a convenient way to feed them had not yet been established (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. Harmonic: 13905 1554 6/2 TJK Tadjik R, Dushanbe 3x4635 Fair at peaks (Tim Bucknall, UK, harmonics@yahoogroups.com via DXLD) ** UGANDA. 5026, Radio Uganda, Feb 6, 0402 stately music, into news report, mention of international tribunal on Rwanda, "that was the news, good morning" @ 0417, commercials; Cuba seems to be helpfully having problems with Rebelde`s transmitter on 5025; they didn`t appear here until 0423. This is the second evening in about a week that they've been missing, making reception of 5026 possible here in North America (Ralph Brandi, NJ, SWBC@topica.com via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, I'm getting very good reception of R. Ukraine Int. on February 7, 2001 at 0100 UTC on 9385 kHz. Best reception in quite awhile. Maybe new 1000 kW transmitter? How is reception of R. Ukraine Int at your QTH? 73, -.. (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked at 0222, weak and fadey, unusable (gh, OK, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, Following is an excerpt of the R. Ukraine Int. "DX Program" running for a few more weeks on Sunday. The person providing the answer is Alexander Yegorov (Alexander is the English version of his name as it`s actually Olexandr.) Kraig Krist wrote: "When I listened to R. Kiev in the 1980`s the signal to North America was always very strong. Is this because the transmitters of R. Moscow were used to broadcast R. Kiev? Or, where the R. Kiev broadcasts done using other transmitters? If yes, who?" (Unquote) In fact, as many of our listeners know, at that time the Soviet shortwave transmitters such as the one located in Petropavlovsk- Kamchatskiy in the Far East used to relay the then called Radio Kiev to the Far East, Western part of North America and Oceania regions. Once the Ukraine became independent, it was to use only its own shortwave transmitters. Some of them in Mykolayiv and Lviv are of 1000 kW. But since a couple of years ago, due to the financial problems, the powerful transmitters have been used very irregularly. Now one of them in Mykolayiv is ready to replace the Kiev-Brovary 100 kW transmitter on frequency of 9385 kHz. 73, (-.. Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Feb 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC`s Story of Africa series does not start until Feb 9, so the Tuesday airings I can`t hear at 1630 are not until Feb 13. Now I am looking at 0430 UT Sundays as the best chance, via Ascension 11765 and 7160 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Click here to read this story online: http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/02/08/fp18s1-csm.shtml Headline: Cutbacks at VOA prompt critical chorus Byline: Kim Campbell Date: 02/08/2001 Most layoff announcements in the US don't prompt responses from Turkish politicians and newspaper readers in Thailand. But news that the Voice of America plans to eliminate 36 positions has created controversy in Washington and sparked comment from around the world... (via Jim Moats, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. Terry - Thanks for the reception report of KPM556 on 25.950 MHz on Feb. 3, 2001. You obviously know a lot about reggae music. We have a general policy of not responding via snail mail, but your report was so informative I must respond, so look for it in the mail. It's interesting that you heard the station on Feb. 3, because, shortly after you heard it, we worked on its transmitter in an attempt to correct some distortion and slightly low power output. In the process we burned up some important transistors, so now the station is operating at 15 watts instead of its usual 100 watts. When you heard it, it was running at about 75 watts. The repair parts have been ordered, and it should be back to full power by Feb. 9th. We probably already know that we have a web page concerning this aux transmitter. It is http://209.20.223.122/index.htm At that page you can also listen to the active music stream whenever we are not conducting a remote broadcast. Thanks, -- Larry Holtz, Dir. of Engineering, Entercom Portland, KGON/KKSN-FM,AM/KNRK/KRSK/KFXX" (via Terry Krueger, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** U S A. Paul Harvey`s noon news can be heard on SW at its first feed-time, 1640 UT as noted on WFLA 25870 NBFM Feb 6. This is to allow Eastern Zone stations time to pre-tape it and insert local commercials in noon+ airings, but a number of stations, even in western timezones broadcast it at this first opportunity and get it over with (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dear Glenn, Hello from the Finger Lakes region of New York state. You may recall some time back a listener had made mention of the fact that he was hearing World Of Radio via the World Radio Network thanks to WDWN 89.1 FM at Cayuga Community College in Auburn, NY. I then wrote to you to confirm that W.O.R. was indeed being carried on the station, and even recently has still been airing at its Saturday morning slot on WRN. You might also remember, however that I warned of the possibility that all WRN programming on WDWN would soon be replaced by an automated CD Jukebox which would play WDWN`s normal college Alternative music format where WRN programs had been airing. Well, on 2/7/01, this change did unfortunately take place. I`ve been checking the station at various times when WRN programming had been heard, and have been hearing continuous music instead. I am a former student of the college, and while there, I was heavily involved with the radio station. In fact it was my idea that we add WRN to our programming. It not only allowed us to be on the air 24 hours a day, but it also made it possible for the station to appeal to a greater audience than before. I spoke to someone in the student management at WDWN who told me that the new automation system was fully operational, and that WRN will no longer be used as a source of regular programming. It may be used as an alternative source should the new automation need to be taken off line for whatever reason. So now what I am trying to do is to rally listeners together in support of the return of WRN programming to WDWN. I am writing a letter to the local newspaper in Auburn in the hopes of gaining support from residents in the community for the restoration of WRN relays. But I would also like to encourage World Of Radio listeners, wherever in the world they might be, to help me in this write-in campaign to the station. My hope is to show the station just how important it is that they make an effort to appeal to as great an audience as possible, particularly considering that WDWN is now the only truly local radio voice in Auburn and surrounding communities. So if any World Of Radio listener thinks that WRN relays should be brought back to WDWN, then I strongly encourage them to use one of the following methods of contacting the station and voicing their opinion. They may contact the station`s General Manager by using this address: Steven R. Keeler WDWN, Cayuga Community College 197 Franklin Street Auburn, NY 13021 He may be reached by phone at: (315) 255-1743 extension 282 Direct E-mail: keeler@auburn.cayuga-cc.edu You can also reach the student management of the station by sending E-mail to wdwn@hotmail.com, or by calling (315) 255-1743 extension 284. The station does offer RealAudio streaming of its programming from their website: http://www.wdwn.fm Once again I urge any listener who feels this is important to please use any of the above means to contact the station, and make their views known. For while I can continue to hear WRN online, there are many people in the area without internet access who are now being denied the opportunity to listen to this unique radio service. Thank you for any publicity you can provide for this cause. Regards, (Jake Longwell, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I posted a list of the Radio Disney outlets sorted by frequency on my web site today for everyone`s convenience. It can be found at http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ Tab all the way to the bottom and select RADIO DISNEY (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 2900 [2x harmonic], WLTP Parkersburg WV; 2316-2435+, 5-8- Feb; Various things hrd include: "Talk Radio AM 14-50 WLTP"; Local HS pre-game px w/Reds bkb spots & mentioning Charleston & Marietta (right across OH River); Marietta Chevy dealer ad. Ad mentioning Rosemont Center. Ad for Burlingame? Financial Svcs in Parkersburg; Sports px before 2400 with mostly local stuff; Michael Reagan Show hrd 1st time from 2406 on 8th; Philadelphia tfc rpt. The Philly rpt has to be a separate stn. Poor/best in USB; WV #14 (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** U S A. The new 1700 in Miami Springs is running parallel to Radio Voz Cristiana - Santiago (still IDs as WAFN) and mentions an FM outlet in Panama City as well (Keith T. Willis, Melbourne FL, Feb 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Laura Flanders interviews Amy Goodman; (also: AlterNet -- National Progressive Media: Who`s Left) Laura Flanders interviews Amy Goodman of Democracy Now on the role of independent media, the situation at WBAI, and the future of Pacifica. Goodman was interviewed live on KWAB/RadioForChange.com Friday, February 2, 2001. Transcript http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10431 Amy Goodman: "So that's the philosophy of Democracy Now. Our slogan is 'the exception to the rulers,' to go to where the silence is and say something, that we are not on bended knee to power... (via Chet Copeland, NY, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. An announcement was made during the "eastern militia ham radio net". (Mon and Tue at 8:00 PM EST on 3.854 ham USB) [Never heard of that one! And are they really on USB and not LSB?--Norfolk] One of the NCS Stations said he was turning in his ham license to the FCC so that a new short-wave broadcast station could start up on 15.745, 6.890 and 3.260 MHz Upper Sideband! Apparently this is some type of a future "militia type" clandestine station that will be operating in the Midwest USA shortly. They gave out the frequencies above and said to listen there in the coming weeks. Apparently it was felt having a ham call license would expose a future broadcaster to the FCC (I don't follow this at all???) This should be interesting as it may be the first time since the early-80's when the controversial "Voice of Tomorrow" clandestine station took to the airwaves. A difference should be noted in that a "pirate" radio station is often put on the air unlicensed for fun or parody purposes, while a "clandestine" station is a horse of a totally different color! They being on the air for a dedicated political or sectarian purpose. SWL's should listen for this possible rare catch in the coming weeks. There were also curious announcements during the P.B.N. Broadcast on WGTG about something similar to this last year. A connection? Then again, the whole thing may be a hoax! It should be interesting however if the station really does come up, the old V.O.T. used to QSL. This might be a chance for SWL's to add a *very rare* domestic clandestine QSL card to their collections. Happy SWL'ing, Roger (rec.radio.shortwave February 7 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. WYFR Family Radio will test via Jülich from Feb 12 until Feb 25; 1600-1800 and 1900-2200 13855, 1800-2100 15775 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1068, DXLD) Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, anliegend erhalten Sie Informationen zu Testsendung von WYFR Family Radio über Rundfunksendestelle Jülich. PNR PAZ (UTC) PEZ (UTC) Frequenz (kHz) ANT Azi-muth Zielgebiet Sprache Ciraf Zonen Tag *1.) 3951 1600 1800 13855 105 145 OAF Engl. A+B 47, 48, 53 12.-25.02.01 3952 1800 2100 15775 306 160 CAF, SAF Franz., Engl. A+B 38, 47, 52, 57 12.-25.02.01 3953 1900 2200 13855 307 200 WAF Franz., Engl. A+B 37, 46, 12.- 25.02.01 Die Testsendungen beginnen am 12.02.01. Wir würden uns über zahlreiche Reports sehr freuen. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Ralf Weyl Deutsche Telekom AG !"§=== Geschäftsbereich Rundfunk und Breitbandkabel TBR Kurzwelle Jülich Merscher Höhe 52428 Jülich Telefon: (0 24 61)697-340 Fax: (0 24 61)697-372 E-Mail: ralf.weyl@telekom.de (via Kai Ludwig and Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 9650, Em. Ciudad de Montevideo. As every year the station has begun carrying live remote coverage of the Carnival Contest from the "Teatro de Verano", in Montevideo, (this is the "Concurso de Agrupaciones Carnavalescas"). This implies that they may have extended sked, well beyond 0200, maybe up to 0330 or so. These local evening events are weather dependent and will extend for a month (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 3059.78, YVNP Radio San Felipe (2 x 1530 harmonic) 1022 Feb 7, Canned ID, announcer, good peaks (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Lao Cai noted at 1200 on 4 Feb on around 5604 and 6695. The second of these transmitters is now back on air; it had apparently been off for a couple of months. Cao Bang also noted drifting around just below 6496. The move from 6500 puts it clear of Qinghai PBS China, but in the middle of a lot of utility interference (Alan Davies, Thailand, Feb 7, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3205.1 unID 2155 someone here, male and female voices in drama or animated discussion. Pips on the hour (last one high), then talk by man. Inaudible soon afterwards, though at least a carrier still there past 2215. Threshold level, only occasionally readable at best. First noted Jan 28, and traces heard most days since then. Seems a bit early for Brazil, and those time pips don't suggest ZY, either. Possibly Mozambique down from 3210.1? Nothing currently coming through on that freq. (Bob Hill, MA, Electronic DX Press via DXLD) SOLAR MAXIMUM. Here's the latest report from our Australian specialist, Robert Jones, Sydney: In December 2000, the sunspot index data centre in Brussels published the definitive international sunspot numbers for the period Apr to Sep 2000. The observed monthly sunspot numbers, in consecutive order, are 125.5, 121.6, 124.9, 170.1 [sic], 130.5 and 109.7. The provisional values for Oct, Nov, and Dec 2000 are 100.1, 106.5 and 104.5 respectively. The smoothed (12 months running average) sunspot numbers for Jan to Jun 2000 are 112.8, 116.8, 119.9, 120.8, 1190.0 [sic] and 118.7. It is mathematically possible that the smoothed value for Aug 2000 could be higher than 120.8, provided that the observed monthly indices for Jan and Feb 2001 are both higher than 108 or if one of them is substantially higher than 108. The average solar maximum for cycles 9 to 22 (since 1843) is 120.4 The maximum plateau lasted from Mar to Sep 2000.There could be a secondary peak around Jul 2001 but at this time it seems unlikely to upstage the 2000 plateau. The Waldmeier classical method predictions for Jan-Dec 2001, as published by the SIDFC, are (in consecutive order) 114, 113, 111, 109, 107, 106, 104, 102, 101, 99, 97, and 96. The smoothed values for Dec 2002 and Dec 2003 are expected to be about 75 and 45 respectively. In early March 2001 we will know the smoothed sunspot number for Aug 2000 - will it be higher than Apr 2000, 120.8? I might mention that the solar flux and the Australian T-index are doing a lot better than the sunspot numbers. The T-Index is almost as high as ten and twenty years ago, which explains the similar propagation conditions and which should last until about Apr 2003. After that, it's back to the average conditions. My guess is that the amplitude of the next cycle will be lower than this one- how about 95.0? It will be a long wait! (Electronic DX Press Feb 8 via DXLD) NOTE later by gh: besides the [sics] above, some other numbers have been corrected; hope we got them all fixed, so beware of the data herein. They item was not proofread by the original source ###