DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-033, March 11, 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 [NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn] ** ARGENTINA. 15820.0 LSB, Radio Mitre, Buenos Aires; was heard at 0900-0920 fair signal on 10/MAR/2001. News flash at 0900-0913, then the station jingle was played as "Mitre AM ochenta, Radio Mitre. Mitre AM ochenta, AM ochenta." Followed by romantic baladas (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, Relámpago DX Logging via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 10 MAR'01. A01 frequency schedule for Christian Voice sites internationally (This includes transmissions from Darwin) A01 - CHRISTIAN VOICE --------------------- FREQ STRT STOP LOC POWR DAYS LANGUAGE ADM --------------------------------------------------- 9720 1700 2100 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 9865 2100 2400 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 11890 1700 1900 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 13730 1400 1700 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 13775 0900 1400 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 13795 1200 1700 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 17775 0000 0300 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 17820 0700 0900 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 17825 1000 1200 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS 21680 0000 0900 DRW 250 1234567 English AUS Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Electronic DX Press March 10 via DXLD; Chile and Zambia listings deleted) ** AUSTRALIA. Re: HCJB plans The 'content' licence and 'national interest' licence are the same thing, under the recent amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act. The Australian Broadcasting Authority refers applications it receives for international broadcasting licences to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs for a judgement on whether they are in the 'national interest'. This process is currently underway for both HCJB and Christian Vision. The international broadcasting licences are separate to the transmitter approvals issued by the Australian Communications Authority. The process is as follows (where IBL stands for International Broadcasting Licence) IBL application received by the ABA. Appropriate checks made. Advise unsuccessful applicant within 30 days of date of receipt of application. For applications that pass the checks, the ABA is to prepare a report to the Minister for Foreign Affairs within 30 days of the date of receipt of an application. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is to respond to the ABA within 60 days of the date of receipt of a report from the ABA. The ABA will then: allocate an IBL if the Minister has no objections; or not allocate an IBL if the Minister so directs. Upon being allocated an IBL, the successful applicant must apply to the Australian Communications Authority for a transmitter licence. Regards, (Matt Francis, Australia, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. TWR transmission schedule A-01 season Mar 25-Oct 27 TX Vienna Moosbrunn [see end of this DXLD] 1400-1415 7 Russian 9745 100 55 degr zones 28/29/30 1400-1500 6 Russian 9745 100 55 degr zones 28/29/30 1400-1515 2345 Russian 9745 100 55 degr zones 28/29/30 1445-1515 1 Russian 9745 100 55 degr zones 28/29/30 Day 1 = Mon .. 7 = Sun (TWR Europe, Mar 5, via BC-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Radio Bangladesh External Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Bangladesh was observed to have changed its on-air identification to "Bangladesh Betar" (Bengali for Radio Bangladesh) in October 1996. This schedule is based on monitoring observations. All frequencies are subject to variation. Address: External Services, National Broadcasting Authority, 121 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh Tel: + 880-2-865294 Fax: + 880-2-862021 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1230-1300 Daily ENGLISH As 7.185 9.550 1315-1345 Daily NEPALI As 7.185 9.550 1400-1430 Daily URDU As 7.185 9.550 1515-1545 Daily HINDI As 7.185 9.550 1600-1630 Daily ARABIC ME 7.185 9.550 1630-1730 Daily BENGALI ME 7.185 9.550 1745-1815 Daily ENGLISH Eu 7.185 9.550 (Voice of Islam) 1815-1900 Daily ENGLISH Eu 7.185 9.550 15.520 1815-1825 Daily News 1915-2000 Daily BENGALI Eu 7.185 9.550 15.520 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring March 6, condensed but complete for DXLD) ** BELGIUM [non]. Contrary to the announcement I copied from RVI Radio World March 4, the published RVI A-01 schedule continues to show English first at 2230, Dutch second at 2300 to NAm. 2230-2300 E BON 250 350 15565 N America 2300-2330 N BON 250 350 15565 N America (Paul Brems in A-00, modified for A-01 via Andreas Volk-D and info from freq management, via ADDX, Mar 5, BC-DX via DXLD) So I wonder if Frans just misspoke in reversing them, or what? A. Volk previously said I was `right` (gh, DXLD) There are two more changes in RVI Brussels A-01 final file. 73 de (wolfgang DF5SX): Paul wrote: Moscow is 100 kW, and not 250 or 270 but 260 degrees. But more important: there is a last minute frequency change for German & French at 1900-1930 UT: these will NOT be on 9925 kHz as mentioned, but on 5960 kHz, also via Wavre, Belgium. 5960 is the frequency used last summer via Jülich. It will now be via Wavre, on an antenna at 84 degrees targeting East (Germany) but also West (England, Ireland) but experience from the past learns it is good in France too, so it is almost omnidirectional. There has been a test this morning to check whether this antenna accepts 6 MHz signals, since it was originally built half a century ago to reach SE Asia on high frequencies (Paul Brems, Belgium, March 9 via Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELIZE. Allan Weiner announced that his new radio ship is in Boston harbor, and is going to Belize where it has been licensed to operate. More details coming soon (Joe Hanlon, Kulpsville PA, March 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Guess he figures as a licensed FCC broadcaster at WBCQ, FCC will be less likely to bust him before he gets it to Belize. Last year he announced plans to leave it in Boston Harbor as a studio only, feeding to licensed WBCQ transmitters, but this never happened. Does this now mean that there will be transmitters aboard, including SW? (gh) New offshore radio station!! Weiner ready to launch offshore radio As far as I know there is only Arutz Sheva off Israel at present but soon there may be two offshore stations in the world as Allan Weiner, owner of American radio station WBCQ, has announced that they will start an offshore radio station on shortwave. "The station will go on the air soon," Weiner said at the Kulpsville annual radio meeting. The station is "licensed to Belize" and will, according to Weiner, broadcast from any "friendly nation". The programming will consist of relays from WBCQ as well as other stations. The broadcast ship has long been moored in Boston harbour, where it still is. They have financing ready for this already, and the actual deals were struck March 10 (Kari Kivekäs, hcdx live from Kulpsville, March 10, Kulpsville, USA, via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Something about this doesn't ring true. A station can't broadcast from "any friendly nation" (friendly to whom?) and yet be "licensed to Belize". A country can't license something to operate outside its own jurisdiction. If it`s "licensed to Belize" then it will have to operate from Belize territory (which could include their territorial waters). (Chris Greenway, BDXC-UK March 11 via DXLD) Hi Chris, You are right about this and not only that, the ship has to have a port of registration and a flag of some country or other. If Belize is that friendly they could set up on land more cheaply than running a ship offshore. As Alan has a legal station in the USA international pressure could be applied to the FCC to withdraw his legal licence for non compliance with ITU regulations on another TX site run by the same company. Here in Britain United Christian Broadcasters almost lost their satellite uplink licence held in the UK due to them having unlicenced MW stations in Ireland. 73's (Andy Cadier, BDXC-UK March 11 via DXLD) Allan has made it clear in past musings on the air that he just has the sea in his blood, and loves the idea of broadcasting from a ship. I really doubt if it matters whether it would be in international or national waters (gh) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Mosoj Chaski is a Society for International Ministries project ( http://www.sim.org ) in partnership with New Tribes Mission, Pioneers and Quechuas for Christ missions. Address: Radio Mosoj Chaski, Casilla 4493, Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel: + 042 20651 Fax: + 042 51041 E-mail: chaski@bo.net Web Site: http://tunari.socs.uts.edu.au/rmc/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0900-1200 Daily QUECHUA Domestic Ter: 3.310 2200-0100 Daily QUECHUA Domestic Ter: 3.310 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring March 7, condensed for DXLD) ** CAMBODIA [non]. Voice of Justice By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau [Mar 8] The Voice of Justice will continue to broadcast weekly, Sam Rainsy and Saumura Tioulong of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) have told CRW. In Washington, DC, to testify before U.S. Congress, the members of Cambodian Parliament met with CRW Correspondent Nick Grace to discuss the station and its impact. "The government has gone crazy," Mr. Rainsy stated. "We have begun to stir the people." The Voice of Justice, which broadcasts on 15455 kHz between 1000 and 1100 UT every Saturday, was launched on February 17 during a SRP meeting in rural Cambodia. A program scheduled for February 24 was missed, according to Ms. Tioulong, because "we were too busy to record the broadcast." Last week's program, on March 3, appeared to begin its transmission earlier than scheduled; however, they indicated that it was a technical error made by the relay station. When asked to confirm the location of the relay facility, which reports have indicated as being in either Germany or Taiwan, Mr. Rainsy laughed. "We cannot answer that," he said. Ms. Tioulong also commented that reports from short wave listeners are appreciated and are helpful to the station`s staff. Should they begin daily broadcasts, which are planned in advance of the scheduled parliamentary elections in January 2002, listener reports -- especially if there are any signs of jamming -- will be an asset in their struggle to be heard (Nick Grace C., Clandestine Radio Watch March 8 via DXLD) So did anybody monitor it March 10? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. 9625, CBC Northern Quebec at 2108 March 8 in Inuit. Finally decided to listen closely to the language. Words end in [t k q] plus vowels. q is the computer notation for a glottal stop. Vowel lengths differ, which according to my Big Red Phonetics Book indicate different phonemes. Intonation somewhere between English and Arabic. Numbers read in English. Most beautiful (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hello everyone. First let me say thank you to all who have sent in reception reports for AM 740 / Prime Time Radio. We are closing in on 50 reports and in only 2 months. Fantastic. The management and staff of AM 740 are amazed at the responses from both reports and phone calls they have received so far as well as the distances the station is being heard. So far the farthest reports have come in from Sweden and Finland. Please keep them coming. I also apologize for the delay in getting the QSL cards out. The station is printing up about 10,000 cards which are being used for several purposes, QSL's, promotions, program schedules, etc. The first run were printed at the end of February but a mistake was made by the printer on all the cards (no, they are not printing all 10,000 at once) so they are being redone. The next run of completed cards are program schedules and they will be ready this Monday. Then the QSL cards will be sent through and be the next off the line. So again, I appreciate your patience. I could have sent off an incomplete package but wished to wait until I had all the materials. Once I have the cards, I will let you know on this server. Also, those who have tried the AM 740 web site, http://www.am740.ca, it is a victim of too many other things on the go right now. They will get to it as quickly as possible but it still is a few weeks away from being on. But keep checking. I will be adding pictures and station information to the ODXA web site, http://www.odxa.on.ca within 2 weeks so check that as well. Again, thank you for the response and continued good listening to AM 740 / Prime Time Radio... It`s About Time (Brian Smith, QSL Manager for AM 740 & Ontario DX Association Director, odxa@compuserve.com March 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [and non]. Regarding Radio Rossii on former RCS frequencies: Actually this is a restoration; the Popovka site used to beam Radio Rossii into the Caucasus region until 1999, when Radio Rossii was replaced by RCS on the very same frequencies, if I remember correctly. The current Radio Rossii transmissions via Bolshakovo were established as a substitute for Popovka. See below a report which was found by Hansjörg Biener and illustrates the withdrawal of RCS from shortwave (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DXLD) GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES MEDIA OFFENSIVE IN CHECHNYA. Television and TV transmitters in Grozny -- with a radius of 20-40 kilometers -- began relaying RTR and Radio Rossii broadcasts on 27 February, Russian media reported. Relay stations have also been repaired in ten other Chechen towns, according to ITAR-TASS, which means that the broadcasts can be received on 70 percent of Chechnya`s territory. Russia's First Deputy Media Minister Mikhail Seslavinskii told that agency that last year Moscow spent 60.8 million rubles ($2.1 million) to restore those transmitters. The second Russian TV channel, ORT, will be broadcast in Chechnya as of May. The Russian broadcasts are, however, only one aspect of Moscow`s campaign to provide the Chechen population with information. Glasnost- North Caucasus on 20 February quoted Chechnya`s new minister of information and the press, Vassilii Vasilenko, as saying that the Russian government has allocated a total of 125 million rubles for the Chechen media. Vasilenko, who previously headed state radio and television in the Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, said a new "informational doctrine" has been drafted for Chechnya. "We will organize a TV company with the most modern equipment, and train journalists and technical staff," the new minister is quoted as saying. Work on the installation of 17 broadcasting mechanisms will soon begin. A new printing house is also to be opened in the republic, and will start publishing a state newspaper, Vasilenko said ("RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 2 March via Hansjörg Biener via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 11949.3, R. Auténtica, 2204 Feb 21, 2nd harmonic of this one noted with what seemed a sports discussion show (many mentions of "equipos"); weak and fady with telephone-quality audio. Anmt at 2232: "Escúchanos en 5975 kilociclos, banda internacional de 49 metros . . . 32-14 . . . Edificio Prollano . . . Villavicencio . . ." and into pop vocal. No hope of hearing the fundamental of 5975v, with that channel thoroughly covered by BBC (Bob Hill, MA, NU via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Here is a review and update on the clandestine radios in the Congo: Kisangani. In 1998, Kisangani was heard on 11455, perhaps using an old PTT transmitter. The old RTNC complex here eventually fell under Rwandan and rebel control. It was reported on FM, but was destroyed by Ugandan forces in May 2000 when much of Kisangani was destroyed. For its part, Uganda provided a safe haven for a radio station of the rebel group it was backing. Known was Radio Liberté [aka Radio Liberty, Radio Freedom] this one was on FM from Ugandan Army HQ at La Foreste, about 15 km south of Kisangani. This is the station of Bemba's MLC, now the CLF. No shortwave from here for the moment. Gbadolité. Radio Liberté (see above) operated on shortwave from here, last heard July 2000. Vowed to return by December 2000, but still untraced. Usually reported on 15725. No real proof that this in really in Gbadolité, just the station`s claims. Goma. According to Cumbre`s sources, rebels operate on FM here, but are working on MW as well. They didn`t know of any shortwave. Bukavu. RTNC was last heard on 3278 and second harmonic 6556 in 1998. This facility was captured by rebels as well as a humanitarian station [perhaps Radio Kahuzi?]. More recently, a rebel station was heard on 6713 operating from Bukavu, but hasn`t been reported since March 1999. Rebels do seem to still operate on FM from Bukavu, though. Bunia. Rebel-controlled Bunia radio was heard in Jan on 6828 and there was a report in last week`s Cumbre of it on 6698. The old CANDIP station was reported on 3390 and 5066 by BBCM last November. This was when Ugandan forces in Bunia seized the station during inter-rebel fighting. I asked Jörg Klingenfuss if perhaps the operations from Bunia and Bukavu were old PTT transmitters. He doubted it, given the extensive fighting in the Congo (Hans Johnson, Mar 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Two HCJB engineers are currently installing a low-power shortwave transmitter for partner ministry Believer`s Express in Bukavu. No other information given in the March edition of HCJB's PRAYERWORLD [Christer Brunström, SW Bulletin March 11 via DXLD] ** COSTA RICA. RFPI begins a new broadcast quarter this week. Watch for new airtimes for some of your favorite shows including CounterSpin, Freespeech Radio News and Alternative Radio. COUNTERSPIN [Media Analysis] (30 minutes) Mon 1800/Sat 1600(new time)- "The Case Against Henry Kissinger." It's a provocative title for a piece of journalism. Christopher Hitchens` story that ran in the February and March issues of Harper`s magazine documents possible war crimes committed, encouraged or facilitated under Kissinger`s authority. It`s compelling enough to warrant further scrutiny and discussion in the media. So what has the reaction been so far in elite media circles? Columnist and author Christopher Hitchens will join CounterSpin to talk about the article, and what he makes of reactions to it-- including Kissinger`s E-mail contact: fair@fair.org ALTERNATIVE RADIO (60 minutes) Wed 1600/Sat 1930(new time)- David Brower - Visions of the Environmental Movement. A classic AR program from 1993. The myriad of environmental crises from global warming to ozone depletion are fairly well known, particularly in the United States. Unless a comprehensive healing process is undertaken immediately to restore much of the damage done to the earth, future generations may not have much of a livable planet left. There is still time to arrest the dangerous trends but it will require radical new thinking, innovative approaches and a concerted global effort. David Brower, the legendary environmentalist, died on November 5. His numerous achievements, over many decades, in defense of the environment are virtually unmatched. He was founder and chair of Earth Island Institute. He served as the Sierra Club`s first executive director and later went on to establish Friends of the Earth and the League for Conservation Voters. He received the UN's Lifetime Achievement Award and was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. E-mail contact: ar@orci.com FREESPEECH RADIO NEWS (30 minutes). Freespeech Radio News is a production of Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship. Over 40 freelance reporters in 14 US states and four continents are boycotting the Pacifica Network News for censoring legitimate news stories. These reporters are putting their livelihoods on the line. For more information and to support the strike fund visit http://www.savepacifica.net/strike/news Fri 1730(new time)/ Sat 1630(encore)- Weekly newscast. E-mail contact: pnnstrikers@igc.org (RFPI Weekly Update March 10 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. R. Prague A-01 in English: 0700 - 0727 9880 31 100 N.W. Europe 11600 25 100 0900 - 0929 21745 13 100/100 S. Asia/ W. Africa 1030 - 1057 9880 31 100 N. Europe 11615 25 100 N.W. Europe 1300 - 1329 13580 22 100 N. Europe 21745 13 100 S. Asia 1600 - 1627 5930 49 200 N.W. Europe 21745 13 100 E. Africa 1700 - 1727 5930 49 200 N.W. Europe 21745 13 100 C. Africa 2000 - 2027 5930 49 100 N.W. Europe 11600 25 100 S.& E. Asia/Australia 2130 - 2157 11600 25 100 S.& E. Asia/Australia 15545 19 100 W. Africa 2230 - 2257 11600 25 100 N. America 15545 19 100 0000 - 0027 7345 41 100 N. America 11615 25 100 0100 - 0127 5915 49 100 N. America 7345 41 200 0300 - 0327 7345 41 200 N. America ** 7385 41 50 (via WRMI) 9870 31 100 0330 - 0357 11600 25 100 Mi. East/ S.W. Asia 15470 19 100 (via Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Björn Malm`s unID harmonic on 2700.09 is Ondas del Yuna. More info about this bachata-station can be found at: http://www.algonet.se/~ahk/Dline98.htm. The place of the station was found in USA, the name in Bogotá (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 11, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4840.00, Radio Interoceánica, Santa Rosa de Quijós. Feb 2001 - 0800 UT. During Feb quite a long period when transmitting purchased religious programmes. For instance at 0800: "La biblia dice" and 0815: "Cruzada" with Luis Palau. Also purchased programmes from HCJB and Radio Nederland. At other times the station`s FM-px are often relayed. Superb technical quality (Björn Malm, Ecuador, SW Bulletin March 11, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB A-01 changes concerning English: 0000-0700 NAm secondary frequency 15115, ex-11840 0600-0800 Eu 11680, ex 0700-0900 on 9780 HCJB`s English website has been redesigned, easier to navigate: http://www.hcjb.org/english (Allen Graham, HCJB DX Partyline March 10 via DXLD) No 1º de Abril iniciaremos nossas transmissões por Internet, nossa página http://www.hcjb-brasil.org - Português estará no ar das 13:00 às 15:00 horário de Brasília [1600-1800 UT] via Livestreaming Int'l. Muito Obrigada, (Eunice Carvajal, HCJB, via Rudolf W. Grimm, Brasil, March 9, radioescutas via DXLD) ** FINLAND. YLE A-01 schedule for NAm includes only one English broadcast, staying in our mornings: 1200-1230 Finnish, 1230-1300 English 15400 17670 1600-1630 Finnish, Swedish 17670 0130-0230 Finnish 11990 13730 0430-0500 Finnish 13770 WNAm (via Joe Hanlon, Kulpsville PA, March 10, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Radio France International`s new English schedules are now in effect as of Monday, March 5, as I've noted today (3/8) that the English program to Asia at 14 UT on 17620 ended at 1430 -- no longer an hour-long transmission. So check all the frequencies to Africa with their new 30-minute morning shows (late-night listening in North America). (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. According to announcement on today`s program the new morning transmissions to Africa at 04, 05, 06 and 07 UT will only be available on local FM transmitters and satellite (Sven Ohlsson, Sweden, March 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [visit Sven`s site:] In touch with the world on shortwave - http://listen.to/the.world ** GEORGIA. v9489.8 R Abkhazia, two full-data ppc's signed and stamped, with a typed personal ltr in RS, from the Director, Zurab Argun, and three postcards of Abkhazia, for a June 1998 rcpn. The ltr states that they have rcvd ltrs from many countries, and requests that rpts be sent to the following address: National Library of Abkhazia, Krasnodar District, P.O. Box 964, 354000 Sochi, Russia. I had previously mailed the stn taped rpts from the USA and Hungary. My last follow-up (along with John Sgrulletta's) was hand delivered to Mr. Argun in August 2000 by the Plenipotentiary of Abkhazia for W Europe. What's interesting is that I only enclosed one ppc in the last follow-up, yet I received two of my personally designed ppc's (with slightly different designs) in return. What this means is that one of my previous rpts had been rcvd by the stn, despite the embargo (George Maroti, NY, NU Mar 4 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. CLANDESTINE to/from GEORGIA (Cumbre DX follow up) Radio Khara is financed by the Open Society Georgia, OSI Budapest Media Network program. I previously gave you a somehow incorrect desciption of the Radio Khara's programs: it does NOT touch Georgian-Abkhazian conflict-related topics, but gives information in the Abkhaz language on the political and social situation in Georgia, the arts, sports and other general topics. Contributors to the program are refugees from Abkhazia presently living in Tbilisi (Pataridze Mar 4, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. There`s a picture on the Georgian Radio Iveria`s home page http://www.lazarus.org.ge/radio/radio.htm of their shortwave and mediumwave transmitters, so maybe they plan to use them? (Pentti Lintujarvi - Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I checked a link for Lazarus Charitable Foundation from Radio Iveria's page. Among the humanitarian "projects for which funding is sought" there is following: SW and MW communications in highland regions [of Georgia]. We would like to provide the highland population with SW and MW (short and medium wave) communications and power from small hydroelectric generators. These small generators can be produced in Georgia in former Soviet industrial factories. They list R. Iveria among their projects. That's what they write about it: RADIO FM 105.4 (16 hours) radio station broadcasting spiritual and personal development programs. Donor Organization: Patriarchate of Georgia - LTD "Antenna and transmitter" (Sergei Sosedkin, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GOA. AIR Panaji is again in the clear on 9700 for English news 1530-1545, many ``Our correspondent reports...``, SIO 433. Still trying to QSL this one! I logged Emissora da Goa on 9610 back on Dec 7, 1958, but never did get a verification. P.S.: 54 years as a DXer this month! (Bill Flynn, Cave Junxion OR, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Congrats, and thanks for your ongoing support! (gh) ** GUYANA. GBC, V. of Guyana, 5948.82, Feb 25 0810-0930+ Koran recitations, English religious talk, Hindi vocals, local island music. Promos for Guyana rally. Mention of upcoming VOG programs. Strong but slightly distorted, muffled audio (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 5010usb, R Misiones Internacionales, 0212-0410 Mar 7, reactivated and ex-5890, tune-in to huge signal with SP man in Christian tlk, then modern, soft SP Christian vocals; at 0310 man ment. "1480 kHz A- M, 5010 kHz onda corta . . . Honduras, Centroamérica . . ," then back to songs; 0314 finally a clear "Radio M-I Internacional," also at 0320 "Radio M-I" and at 0323 into ranchera vocal, man with "R. Misiones Internacional" (never any "La Voz" de Misiones Internacionales). More vocals, long sermon till 0358 with addr of Apartado Postal 20583, Comayaguela, then man with 1480 and 5010 freqs, more talk through tune-out. Het on low side from (presumably) MDG when in AM, but local level in USB. Didn`t seem to be carrier + USB. Someone please reactivate the Sandinista thugs for a cross-river raid to liberate this offending signal, where the Dominican R. Cristal Intl / R Pueblo would be earlier in the local eves and mornings (Terry Krueger, FL, NU Mar 7, via BC-DX via DXLD) 5010, HRMI: I spoke with Jim Planck at IMF World Missions, the parent group for this station, about the reactivation of HRMI. The transmitter that was on 5890 had broken down and they had been off about a year. HRMI was asked to leave 5890 by the Hondurans because it was an international frequency. They also kept getting stepped on by stations such as VOA. They reactivated on 5010 this week with a new transmitter running 150 watts. They plan to increase power as they are authorized to operate with 2.5 kW. Jim gave the schedule as *1200-0430*. In two or three months, they plan to operate another transmitter on 3340 with 1 kW (DIRECT via Hans Johnson Mar 9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) No sign of it here a few minutes before 0430 UT March 11. See also USA - New Mexico! (gh) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WRN -- The World Radio Network will once again provide transmission services for Radio Voix Sans Frontières, the global 24-hour anti-racism campaign co-produced by community radio broadcasters on March 21st. Under the auspices of AMARC - the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters - more than 500 radio stations throughout the world join forces annually to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, declared by the United Nations in commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre, South Africa, when 70 peaceful demonstrators against apartheid were killed in 1960. An international production team will co-ordinate Radio Voix Sans Frontières which goes on air for 24 hours from midnight CET on March 20th. The multi-lingual programme will look critically at prevailing violations of human rights in the form of racial discrimination in different parts of the world, as well as celebrating the richness and diversity of multicultural communities. From its London headquarters, WRN will transmit the broadcast to a potential world-wide audience in excess of one billion listeners via the Galaxy 5 satellite to North America; WRN's digital multiplex on Eutelsat Hot Bird 5 covering Europe, North Africa and the Middle East; Intelsat 707 over Africa; and AsiaSat2 to audiences in the Far East. WRN will also provide 100 live streams of the broadcast on its North American server (http://www.wrn.org) as well as technical advice and support in linking from the broadcast hubs around Europe to WRN`s London studios (WRN via SCDX/MediaScan March 6 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from IRAQ to IRAN. The frequency hopping transmitters of Seday-e Mojahed/V. of the Mojahedin are difficult to hear not only because of jamming but also because of shallow modulation. The best reception seems to be in the 8810-8890 interval during periods when the Iranian jammers are slow in following the Mojahed. The schedule is 0225-0635, 1425-1907 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Cumbre DX March 8 via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. RKI Skelton relays for A-01 from March 25: 0700-0800 Korean 9535 1800-1900 Russian 15360 1900-2000 French 6145 2000-2100 German 3955 2100-2130 English 3975 There will be no changes in relays via Sackville for spring and summer. However, much greater changes are expected from B-01, when replacement of two antennas at Kimjae should be completed (RKI Multiwave Feedback March 11 via DXLD) Surely they are mistaken, as Sackville always makes DST time and frequency change, at least for English: 1130 on 9650 becomes 1030 on 11715. Perhaps this will not be until one week later, April 1 when stupid DST commences in NAm, but surely no later than that. English for RKI must be low in the pecking order, since it gets only half an hour of the available daily hour on relays (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Topics for RKI`s special series for Visit Korea Year 2001; exact dates not specified except for the March show, Thursday 22nd, while the February show was on Thu 1st -- so it seems they will be on some Thursday or other during the month: #2 March 22, Taegu City, provincial capital and its textile and fashion industry renaissance, like Milan #3 April, Cheju Island #4 May, Korean martial arts, Tae Kwan Do #5 June, World something Expo [my notes illegible, and they were going very fast] #6 July, Confucianism #7 August, Pusan International Fim Festival #8 September, International Food Festival #9 October, International something Festival at Chunju, re Pangsori #10 November, Future of the Korean Tourism Industry (RKI Multiwave Feedback March 11, notes by gh for DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. The following logs of clandestine stations broadcasting to Iraq or Iran, mainly in the 75 meter band, were made in late Februrary and early March. 3881/3891 1658-1802 Seday-e Hezb-e Komonist-e Iran/V. of the Communist Party of Iran, rather good signal with non-ME light music and soft-spoken announcers. Jumps from 3881 to 3891. A signal also heard without ID to 1530. 3905 (3904.94) 0355-? and 1728-1853 Sawt ash-Sha'ab al-Iraqi/V. of Iraqi People. Moderate signal. The late morning reception firmly excludes a suggested transmitter site in China. This one has to be located in the Middle East just like all its 75 mb companions. 3905 (3904.94) 1555-1653 Ezgay Azadia/R. St. Freedom in Kurdish. Same decimal frequency as above, so most certainly same transmitter. 3985.0 0243/0301-? Dengi Kurdistan Irana/V. of Iranian Kurdistan, good and clear signal. The sign on varies considerably. They usually play music until the opening ID after 0300. 4060v 0258/0311-?, ?-1525-2104 Dengi Geli Kurdistan/Sawt ash- Sha'ab al-Kurdistan/V. of the People of Kurdistan, varies 4057-4066, usually around 4061. Regular reception, somewhat distorted audio, better on parallel 6995. 4085v 0330v-?, ?-1510-2003 Dengi Kurdistan Iraqa/Sawt al- Kurdistan al-Iraq/V. of Iraqi Kurdistan, usually rather good signal, depending somewhat on the utility interference situation. Does not drift too much. Also heard in parallel on 5860. 4130v 0300/0322-?, ?-1525-1630, 1947-2104 Idha'at Kurdistan/R. Kurdistan usually in Arabic. Usually varying 4130-4132. Was on 4030 for a week. 4197v 0303-?, ?-1540-1658 Dengi Sarbakhoye/Sawt Isstiqlal/V. of Independence, usually opens on 4199 in the morning and ends the day around 4192. Reception often unclean giving problems with the ID. 4200.0 1725-1815 Seday-e Kargar/V. of Worker, usually on precise channel, so a different transmitter than the above station. Programme here in Persian. 4250 0250-0324-?, ?-1525-1658/1705 Dengi Zakhmatkishani Kurdistan/ Sawt al-Kadihi Kurdistan/V. of Kurdistan Toilers, often troubled by noise, not clear if it is being intentionally jammed. 4376/4391 parallel to 3881/3891. Jumping from 4376 to 4391 during the evening transmission 5860 parallel to 4085, usually weaker signal with soft audio. 6995 parallel to 4062, heard from 1410. Off the air in March. The exact sign on and sign off times usually vary somewhat from day to day. The stations often start with music for up to 15 minutes. (Olle Alm, Sweden, SW Bulletin, BC-DX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Hello Glenn; Enjoy reading DXLD. Thank you. To let everyone know, that Radio Vilnius really pounds into central Oregon at their 0000 to 0100 time slot. It`s amazing to watch the sig strength go from S-7 at 0000, to S-9 at 0030 to 10 over S-9 by 0100. It`s neat to see the propagation change in that short of a time period, consistently over these last few days, March 5th thru March 8th. Seems as though they`re running more than the 100 kW, but then again, must be perfect propagation. Thank you again for your hard work compiling DXLD (Joe Barry, Bend OR, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. Just heard ORTM Bamako on 4835 kHz and tried to get identification after a long long speech in some local language at 1900 UT. No luck, but stayed on the frequency anyway (all stations on 60 mb are not so exact time keepers ...). And had a terrific surprise around 1906, when the announcers gave station identification both in French and in English! And then the news in English until 1918! You never know what you get next on the band. Some further notes after I have listened through the tape and reported the station: that English Weekly News Magazine will be broadcast every Saturday at the same time on the same frequencies, so check out 4835 at 1900 UT on Saturdays (Tapio Kalmi, Finland, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** PERÚ. 2860v (Harmonic?), unID "Radio Líder". March 2001 - 1120 UT. During a period heard almost every morning with Peruvian folk music in a programme called "Arte popular". WRTH lists a "Radio Líder" in Cajamarca on MW 958v. In that case a harmonic from 953.33v kHz. Also ID with a three letter combination, maybe "L.Y.R."(?). Not too common with Peruvian MW-harmonics here in Quito. 4840.06, Radio Andahuaylas, Andahuaylas. Feb 2001 - 1000 UT. Weak signal and a "milagro"-programme. 5544.72, Estación Equis, Bagua, Departamento de Amazonas. March 5 2001 - 0300*. New Peruvian which I reported last year (see SWB 1449) without getting the name of the station. Started around Dec 22 and was active only a few days - then off air until March 5. Good, frequency stable signal and a juvenile format. Young, female DJ, greetings, music, poetry, "love declarations" and even some "contracted", political ads ("Perú Posible"). Decent audio even if the mic was weakly modulated. Some jingle variants: "Radio Estación Equis - sintonía total" and "Radio Estación Equis - para qué más". Greetings to many places: Bagua, Bagua Grande, Rioja, Cutervo Cajamarca, Santa Cruz, San Ignacio among others. The days after March 5 again off air but on again March 9 when the male DJ greeted his mother: Leonor Varbosa Valdorama. Announces 5545 kHz. The address given which I presume is for Estación Equis: "....estamos ubicados en Calle Argentina 198...., Bagua". 5995.25 (TENT), Radio Melodía, Arequipa. Feb 2001 - 1015 UT. Weak, splashed signal and noted only a "Radio Melodía" ID. 6754.76, Radio La Merced, Tongod. Feb 27 2001 - 2330 UT. Started to hear this one Feb 19 (see SWB 1453, logged as an unID). Heard quite regularly after that. March 1 close down at 0204 with a long and pompous finishing -ID. Often Peruvian folk music, for instance "Los Nativos de Cajamarca". Announces 1400 and 6750 kHz. At present off air –- in WRTH listed as "irr". Latest stock notice from "Radio Cielo": 6365v kHz! 73 from a forever summer hot Quito and (Björn Malm, Ecuador, SW Bulletin March 11, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** PERU. 5544.7 unID of Björn Malm: the name is Estación Equis la Radio and is in Bagua (Amazonas) informs PFA after I have asked him to check the frequency. Plays actual soft songs and closes 0300, he says (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 11, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** PERÚ. 5544.7, R. ESTACIÓN X, 8 March 0140-0305, 22222, mx LA romántica; indican la hora igual al del Perú –un poco difícil de entender, pues aparentemente tienen problemas de micrófono y la voz femenina se pierde pues hablan con un fondo musical y como el tema es romanticismo, la voz de mujer se pierde un poco...- ID creo entender ``Radio Estación X, sintonía total..`` s/off 0300* dicen: ``bueno, estamos llegando a la parte final de nuestra programación; los esperamos el día de mañana como siempre. Les dejamos escuchando esta linda pieza musical...`` 0305 s/out TAMBIÉN: 9 March 2311-0048, 22222 -ellos están probando su trasmisión, pues para iniciar el px el locutor dice, ``hola, hola, estamos ajustando los equipos.`` Luego tocan mx peruana.. ``saludos a nuestros amigos de Cajamarca y Alto Piura``, ID ``Como siempre en su radio, Estación X, 6 de la tarde con 15 minutos..`` Por momentos hay QRN de una estación en LSB- ID ``Su estación X, la Radio (recién le puedo entender perfectamente. Dicen efectivamente Estación X, la Radio.); un saludo para los amigos de Bagua que nos están escuchando, les estamos presentando su programa Gorrioncito Cantor por su Estación X, la Radio..`` advs, aviso político contratado: Vote por Toledo para un Perú mejor. ID (entiendo..`` en vf dice: Estación X, la Radio, desde Bagua .. Amazonas, Perú.`` 5982.5, R. CHASQUI, 10 March 1130-1220, 33333, mxf y programa en quechua. ID ``Este es su mensajero de su Radio Chasqui.`` hablan en dialecto. NOTA: el 3/12 la reporté en 5987.1. Aparentemente se han movido, pues en 5980.0 estaba una estación cubana [Martí -gh]. (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, Chasqui DX via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. RDP, March 3 0215-0300* on 12076, fair level, apparently in FM? Clean audio with no distortion in the FM mode. Portuguese talk, instrumental music, s/off with NA (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Here`s A'01 frequency schedule for "RADIO ROMANIA INTL" English language broadcasts : TO WESTERN EUROPE : 0640-0700 11940, 9510, 7105, 6135 1300-1400 15290, 11940 1700-1800 15365, 11940 2100-2200 9690, 7195 2300-2400 9690, 7195 TO NORTHERN EUROPE 1700-1800 11740, 9625 2100-2200 7215, 5955 TO USA : 2300-2400 11940, 9570 0200-0300 11830, 9570 0400-0500 11830, 9570 0600-0700 11830, 9530 TO CANADA : 0600-0700 11830, 9530 1300-1400 17805, 15335 PACIFIC AREA & JAPAN : 0200-0300 15370, 11940, 11740, 9690 TO INDIA 0400-0500 17735, 15335 0700-0800 21480, 17720 E-MAIL :engl@rri.ro Warm Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, March 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. KREMLIN READY TO REVIVE FOREIGN PROPAGANDA MACHINE. The Kremlin has decided to restore a Soviet-style administration for conducting foreign propaganda, "Novye Izvestiya" reported on 1 March. Under the Soviets, such efforts were under the supervision of the CPSU Central Committee and the KGB. Now they presumably will be directed by the presidential administration. The newspaper quotes Press Minister Lesin as saying that an advertising campaign must "correct" what he called "the shameful image of Russia created by the Western media." ("RFE/RL Security Watch," 6 March via RFE/RL Media Matters March 9 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re DXLD-1-032: Voice of Russia on 12010 actually signed off at 2000 UT, not 2200, per monitoring check on March 11. Frequency announcements at 1958 said that listeners in Latin America could hear VOR in the 19 meter band, but a scan of this band after 2000 found no trace of it (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 6235, R. Studio Nevska Volna, to give it what sounds like the right or best name, local strength nightly *1900-2115 close (very variable), even on a near-toy Sony SW22. Probably was 6235 and not the 6230 I quoted in NU 1619, Feb 24; I just tuned the R7 to 6230 and there it was. So a good broadband signal as well as a strong one. Russian home-brew disco style for most of the mx, an amusing imitation of the real thing, but they haven't worked out the theory yet. Not many advertisers so far, e.g. Club Metro, which is the metroclub ISP for fortunate Russians with PCs and (more unusually) digital-quality telephone connections that actually work. And some strange choices of nx items to excite the listeners, e.g. IMF loans for ecological repairs to Ecuador and Madagascar. I wonder who cares about that in old Leningrad? Feels to me like an impractical Russian artistic gesture (no match between advertising and the SW audience, and the power bill for 200 kw can't be small), so I predict that it won't last long, e.g. like R. Metropolis in Prague a few years ago. Get your QSLs while you can! (John Campbell, England, NU via DXLD) ** SA`UDI ARABIA. Ever since the Hajj season started at the Muslim holy places in Sa`udi Arabia, I`ve tried tuning in to the only BSKSA frequency currently audible here with European language programming, i.e. 21600 carrying French between 0800 and 1000 UT. At the end of the program, the French announcers constantly "ushered in" an English broadcast (supposed to come immediately afterwards). However they signed off precisely at 1000 and there was no trace of any BSKSA in English anywhere. Today March 6 for a change, the English program started promptly at 1000 UT on the same frequency of 21600 with pilgrim chanting then ID, Koran with translation & comments, and "From the Press". Interestingly, they announced only FM, MW and satellite frequencies. All in excellent SINPO 5 by 5 quality (Christian Mocanu, Germany, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Subject: SRI to close. Per a message from Swiss Radio International, which I received today via NRC member Art Blair, they plan to cease all transmissions on short-wave by the end of 2004. They will also severely cut back other radio services including satellite, in the belief that the Internet is the only way to go to get their message across (Morris Sorensen, Winnipeg, March 9, ODXA via DXLD) Here`s a specific timetable for phasing out SW: Radio Svizzera Internazionale ha avviato la progressiva soppressione delle trasmissioni radiofoniche in onde corte. Riprendendo una comunicazione del direttore di RSI, Nicolas Lombard, il nostro co- editor Valerio Di Stefano informa che e' gia stato approntato un apposito calendario relativo a tutti i programmi linguistici diffusi in onda corta (compreso quello italiano), diviso per aree di destinazione. Il direttore Lombard, tra l'altro ha informato che, "conformemente alla sua nuova strategia, SRI ridurra' inoltre la diffusione satellitare per mantenere una sola rete in lingua inglese. Approvato dal Dipartimento federale dell'Ambiente, dei Trasporti, dell'Energia e delle Comunicazioni (DATEC), questo piano di distribuzione e' parte integrante di un nuovo orientamento strategico. All'origine di questa trasformazione vi sono principalmente tre motivi: a) e' sempre piu' facile accedere ai media elettronici e a informazioni di vario tipo sulla Svizzera, soprattutto in Europa dove risiede la stragrande maggioranza degli svizzeri all'estero; b) le offerte online, in forte crescità in tutte le regioni del mondo, hanno fatto diventare Internet il supporto ormai indispensabile per un fornitore di servizi a vocazione internazionale; c) con le nuove tecnologie d'informazione e' venuta a crearsi una concorrenza che lascia ben poco spazio alla costosa diffusione su onde corte". Fin qui la dichiarazione del direttore Nicolas Lombard. Di seguito, per concludere, il calendario approntato da Radio Svizzera Internazionale per la chiusura delle sue trasmissioni: - il 24 Marzo 2001 soppressione delle trasmissioni in italiano, tedesco, francese e inglese per la zona occidentale dell'America centrale e settentrionale e per l'Australia; - il 27 Ottobre 2001 soppressione delle trasmissioni in italiano, tedesco, francese e inglese per il resto dell'America centrale e settentrionale, per l'Europa e l'Asia; - entro il 2004 soppressione delle trasmissioni in italiano, tedesco, francese, inglese ed arabo per l'Africa, il Medio Oriente e l'America meridionale. Entro il 31 Dicembre 2001 verranno soppresse tutte le trasmissioni via satellite ad eccezione di un'unica offerta specifica in inglese, che sara' disponibile per l'Europa su ASTRA 1B fino al 31.12.02 e dal 1.01.02 su EUTELSAT HB3, ovvero in parallelo su due satelliti diversi nel 2002 (fonte: Valerio Di Stefano, Radioincontro March 10 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN/CANADA [non]. 9735, R Vancouver International, another no- show this last Sunday. I asked Keith about it; he says they had more technical problems and were not on. Seems that they have given up on shortwave and are looking at other options such as satellite and more Internet broadcasts (Hans Johnson, Mar 8, Cumbre DX) Sorry for the delay in getting to you I was in Hong Kong for the past few days. We are still experiencing problems. I am not [sic] looking at other options (Keith Perron via Johnson, Cumbre via DXLD) I checked a couple times just in case, and nothing March 11 either. RVI may now be the rarest of all SW stations, never reported by any known DXer -- if it ever really transmitted (gh, OK, DXLD) ** TURKEY. TRT Voice of Turkey, Operational Schedule A01 Source: TRT Frequency Management. (All these are Emirler Site, all 500 kW, all 7 days a week, and from 25 March 01 until 28 October 01; EXCEPT for another odd date change projected: At 0300, 11655 until 1 September, 7115 from 2 September. All are DSB, except USB on 9730 at 1830 -gh) Freq. Band From To CIRAF ZONES 7115 41 0300 0400 2-7,10,18, 27N,28 7170 41 2030 2130 39-41,49,54,55,58-60 7190 41 2200 2300 9,17,18S,27,28W, 37N 7270 41 0300 0400 38E,39,40W 9730 31 1830 1930 18S,27,28 9785 31 1830 1930 18S,27,28 11655 25 0300 0400 2-7,10,18, 27N,28 11845 25 2200 2300 4,7E,8,9,11,27,28W 17810 16 1230 1330 30S,40, 41,49,54,55,58N 17830 16 1230 1330 18S,27, 28W 21715 13 0300 0400 40,41,49,54,58N (*) : Days of Operation: 1: Sunday, 2: Monday, ... 7: Saturday (via Andreas Volk via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR is full of surprises. Sat March 10 on 15685, last few words of WOR Extra 40 were chopped off just before 1259, so I figured they had a live network feed to meet at 1300 sharp. But I hardly expected to hear the Public Radio International logo! And a program called Dialogue, discussing Yugoslavia; back to paid religion by 1330. Now`s the time for fans of other PRI shows (and even NPR?) much in need of shortwave exposure to lobby them and WWCR to pick them up. The Feb posted program schedule (March due to be put up week of 12th), does not show Dialogue at this time, but instead Ken`s Country Classics, with Dialogue Sat at 1530 on 15685, hosted by one George Listenseay. At the frustrating, poorly-designed http://www.pri.org website, I could find nothing about it, tho it does appear in the drop-down list of programs. One can then proceed to enter each state one by one to find affiliates. I stopped after Minnesota and Tennessee produced no results (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Service to Russia to Debut in June The World Beacon will open service to Russia and Eastern Europe June 1. Ray Davis, Founder and Chairman of World Beacon parent company Affiliated Media Group announced the launch at the National Religious Broadcasters annual conference in Dallas Texas. "In the ten months since we launched the African Beacon, response to this important mission initiative has been overwhelming," Davis said. "The addition of a service directed to the former Soviet Union is a natural next step." Details on frequencies and broadcast times will be announced in the coming weeks, Davis said (From worldbeacon.net via Konstantin Gusev in DX_Bistro via Sergei Sosedkin, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. GBGM of UMC is quite satisfied with coverage of Africa using Jülich transmitter site, except for South Africa. Considering adding Madagascar to cover that area better (GBGM spokesminister interviewed on VOA CW March 10 via DXLD) [following versions contain some duplication, but for sake of completeness, here they are... -gh] ** U S A CLANDESTINE. Subject: New 3.260 USB Broadcaster? [thread from rec.radio.shortwave March 7; unedited - sic throughout] There`s a report of the Kentucky State Militia (???) broadcasting on this channel. Wonder how long he`ll last? That's 3.26 Mhz. ("Radiomatt") Station comes up every evening, like clockwork at 9:00 PM Central time on 3.260 on Upper Sideband. It's being run by a former ham radio operator that used to frequent 3.950 and 3.860. Station gives vocal support to Mike Korenkie's Michigan Militia [Patriot Broadcasting Network] program that used to be carried on WGTG. WGTG (now WFVF?) shortwave dropped Mike's "Intellegence Report" show for non-payment of funds. A short time later the operator of 3.260 said, on various ham radio freq's, that a "free" radio station would start soon to fill the void. The station's op's claim that they can operate without an FCC License per some arcane laws which are allegedly contained someplace in the CFR and that radio stations, such as 3.260, are legally permitted to transmit from within the "several states" under part of the 1933 Declaration of Emergency made by FDR (!) go figure.... In a nutshell, the station is a clandestine USA "patriot" station, on shortwave, the impetus for it's being there a result of a convoluted intepretation of State and Federal laws, as well as a protest to WFVF's dropping of Korenkie's "INtellegence Report" radio program, among other reasons. There is a related web site at http://www.pbn.4mg.com which contains cryptic messages and other varied levels of right-wing politics. The radio related data on this website is of interest to SWL's. There has also been reports of a Patriot "freeband" network operating on weekends between the 11 meter Citizens Band and the 10 Meter ham spectrum. Advertisments for out-of-band equipment are also on the above site. Don`t have the address of the Kentucky Militia 3.260 station, however you might want to get a QSL Card from it if an address is given, as American clandestine shortwave stations and QSL cards from the same are rare. Note also that the station says that they are not afilliated [sic] with the Kentucky Militia, but lend support to the same and other like minded groups. It's possible this is the first of many such stations - Again, go figure. Note: for information on the Militia Movement in America, go to http://www.militiawatchdog.org an excellent resource with much background information. ("CQdee C Qdee radio rudiee") The address he gave on the radio: Steve Anderson 245 Elrod Martin Rd, Somerset, KY 42503-5279 Matches his call-sign info on the UALR callsign database and switchboard.com. But this was for donations to the amp fund, not qsl cards. I`d guess that a qsl could be had in return for a donation. Just a guess tho (KK4TL; all via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) USA: KENTUCKY STATE MILITIA RADIO ............................................................... By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau Reports by Hard-Core DX, DX Listening Digest, and Cumbre DX contributed to this story. [Mar 8] Broadcasting from the hills of the U.S. South, an unlicensed and covert radio station allegedly operated by a member of the Kentucky State Militia (KSM) took to the airwaves this week in what appears to be a serious effort to propagandize against the United States government. Although CRW could not confirm if the KSM officially sanctions the transmissions, a source within the group reached by e-mail stated that it "seems to be correct." Kentucky State Militia Radio, also called KSMR, claims in its broadcasts to be operated by Major Steve Anderson of the 6th Battalion of the KSM with 500 watts on 3260, 6890 and 15745 kHz in Upper Sideband Mode (USB). It has been monitored between the hours of 0300 and 0400 UT on 3260 and 6890 kHz USB; first on Saturday, March 3, then on Wednesday, March 7, and again last night, Thursday, March 8. The KSM web site, http://www.freekentucky.com/ksm/contents.htm mirrors items broadcast in the content of the programs - including announcements for a "massive multi-state militia meeting" in Norm Creek, Kentucky, between April 5 and 8. In fact, the agenda of the meeting includes an item that reads "A Communications seminar will be handled by Steve Anderson of KSM." During last night`s broadcast, according to Canadian monitor Mike Brooker and posted on Hard-Core DX (HCDX), a "disclaimer" was aired to state that "the views (of the station) are not necessarily those of the KSM." First noted by Ernie Behr in DX Listening Digest (DXLD) on December 5, 2000, the KSMR made transmissions interfering with a broadcast of Dave Frantz on his commercial short wave station WWFV on 6890 kHz. Calling him a "gutless liar," the voice announced that "We are the Kentucky State Militia, we don`t need you anymore... We have our own short wave transmitter." Two months later, on February 8, John Norfolk reported in DXLD that an amateur radio operator announced that "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 USB." (See CRW 063.) The first monitored broadcast transmission of the station was made on March 3 by veteran listener Harold Frodge and cited in Cumbre DX. The announced address, according to Paul McDonough on HCDX is 245 Elrod-Martin Rd, Somerset, Kentucky 42503. The KSM, like most modern-day militias in the U.S. labeled by the mainstream press as "right-wing extremists," believes in the dissolution of the federal government. Its members perceive that their liberties, guaranteed by the American Constitution, are being revoked by a bloated government, which itself, is under pressure from an international "New World Order." KSM, according to its web site, wants to "Take Back Kentucky" and, if need be, secede from the United States. "We must surrender the siege mentality that has been purposefully disseminated among the patriot community and learn to go on the attack, as our enemies have done for generations now," KSM webmaster Barry Bright writes in his online column "The Tares We Know." "Our ancestors understood, as our enemies know now," he continues "to occupy, one must conquer." Clandestine radio, a weapon of propaganda rarely seen on American soil, seems to have appeared from within the heartland. Though without official confirmation from the KSM that the station indeed broadcasts on its behalf, the editors of CRW cannot classify the station as such. And with news of a "disclaimer" during its programs, the case that KSMR is "clandestine" will be tougher to make. CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH EXTRA March 9, 2001 USA: CLANDESTINE RADIO ON THE SHORES OF THE U.S. ............................................................... By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau [Mar 9] Kentucky State Militia Radio (KSMR), CRW has confirmed, is sponsored by the Kentucky State Militia (KSM) - a group of armed American patriots who oppose the powers of the federal government. And with radios all over the world tuned to its frequencies, CRW has been told that the clandestine radio station is on the verge of "full operation." Commander Charlie Puckett, KSM State Representative, reached on Thursday by e-mail, said that KSMR "is a news station and emergency communication alternative to the main stream media that has run amuck!" "The station," he said "is almost finished and ready for full operation..." Broadcasts, he continued, "will be monitored by various people in our organization for content and professionalism... It is in our rules that... (it) not interfere with any other broadcast station in any way! (KSMR) will be approximately 10KC's from WWFV to accomplish this goal." WWFV is a licensed short wave radio station owned and operated by Dave Frantz. It is known to relay programming recorded by Christian religious groups and various militias. KSMR "is a first amendment station protected by the second amendment," Puckett said, citing the free speech amendments to the U.S. Constitution. According to monitoring reports across the American East Coast, the station occasionally broadcasts on 3260 and 6890 kHz between 0300 and 0400 UT with an announced 500 watts. Regular programming is scheduled for early January to coincide with a "massive" multi-state militia meeting in Norm Creek, Kentucky, on April 5. Denying a report that KSMR broadcast responses on top of a transmission by WWFV last December, Puckett said "the broadcast... was in no way related to us. We would never tolerate such irresponsible behavior." KSMR, having been confirmed by CRW as operating on behalf of the Kentucky State Militia, marks the first time in a decade that a "gray" clandestine radio station has been launched on the shores of the United States. While the last gray broadcast, originating from a Puerto Rican farm in 1990, was aimed at the Cuban government, this latest station has directed its propaganda against the U.S. federal government. It is likely that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which enforces the radio spectrum in accordance with the Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, will take aim at KSMR. Without a solid national monitoring infrastructure, however, playing a game of cat and mouse with the station will be a challenge for the government. The FCC has not "busted" an unlicensed short wave radio station in nearly five years. Nevertheless, should the FCC pay a visit to KSMR, the question is not whether the KSM will resume transmissions from another location. No, the question is whether or not the armed militia group will defend a station they believe is firmly protected by the U.S. Constitution. (CRW) What`s this about `on the shores`? Are you implying they transmit from a coastline? Shores are rather irrelevant in Kentucky and many other landlocked states (gh) Just in case you didn`t see this, Alexander Ash posted this info to the Free Radio Network Grapevine in January: "I heard this on Friday night. It was part of the show "The Power Hour" by the Genesis Radio Communication Network at 0030 on 5085, finished the show on 6890 after 0100. The Kentucky Militia is setting up 3 radio stations. Mediumwave on 560 kHz, Shortwave on 3260 kHz and FM. Reportedly, the antenna for 3260 is up and has been tested on air (No details to times/dates). Their studio is under construction I believe. Major Steve Anderson reported that transmitter power would be 3 to 10 kW in AM. What I found really interesting was the fact that this installation will be "Garrison Protected". I`m assuming that means armed militia personnel. I wonder what the scenario will be when the FCC and a Federal Marshal show up to bust them. This will be interesting... An address was also given: 245 Elrod-Martin Road Somerset, KY 42503 (Neil Wolfish via Harold Frodge, MARE via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from/to USA. Kentucky State Militia Radio (Cumbre DX Special follow up) Tentatively heard this one myself on 3260U on Mar 8 reading out states and phone numbers at 0342. 0359*. Noisy and weak reception made it too difficult to understand their programming and get a handle on their views. Thanks to a tip by Don Moore that their website is http://www.freekentucky.com/ksm/contents.htm I was able to learn a bit more about this station by speaking with an official in the Kentucky State Militia by telephone. I [Johnson] spoke with Charlie Puckett, the Kentucky State Commander, about KSMR: I was wrong in attributing the December broadcasts on 6890 to KSMR. Puckett says they had nothing to do with them. Rather, some folks who knew about their pending operation got on the air and made these broadcasts. KSMR started on March 3rd. Broadcasts are on 3260U from 0300 to 0400, perhaps a little longer depending on how much news is out there. They are on the air from Steve Anderson's, the KSM communications coordinator per Grace, house in Somerset, Kentucky, with 500 watts, but hope to increase it to 1500 watts with an amplifier. While the station is run by a member of the KSM, Puckett sees it as a station for militias and patriots across the country. He added that they have "no gripe with the US government" and that "we have the best constitutional government out there." They do have concerns about the lack of information provided by the media. As an example, Puckett referred to an explosion in the sky a few nights ago in Oklahoma City. He added that the media didn't cover this, but that they were on the air right away talking about. The KSM is also concerned about some of the individuals within the Federal government and Puckett cited some of both Clinton and Bush`s personal behaviors as examples. Puckett says that they hope to carry programs from the Genesis Communications Network (GCN) starting in April. A few programs that GCN carries are now on American shortwave stations, but KSMR plans to broadcast more of them as follows [planned freqs, if you don't hear them here, search about 20 kHz up and down from them]: 12181U daytime, 6880U early evening, 3260U late evening. Puckett says they also plan to carry some programs from Heritage Broadcasting Network. He said that it is too difficult and expensive to start a legal station and that they simply could not afford to purchase shortwave airtime to put these programs on. KSMR was a much cheaper alternative. Reception reports can be sent to: Steve Anderson, 245 Elrod-Martin Rd, Somerset, Kentucky 42503 or via email to bbright@freekentucky.com (Hans Johnson, Mar 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 3260, Kentucky State Militia Radio 0335 in USB, man reading list of contacts for various state militias, railing against "New World Order", talking about "rigged" US elections, slogan "Kill a Commie for Mommie!" (Karlis Racenis, MI, Mar 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 0328 with lots of militia lists & some IDs as "KSMR" for Kentucky State Militia Radio. Also mentioned use of 6890 and 15745 kHz during daylight hours. Very amateurish one-man operation. He often just seemed to be rambling. He said he would not be on the air starting on "the 4th" - assumedly referring to the Norm Creek militia meeting on April 5-7 that he was promoting. Said would be giving classes in running your own shortwave station at the gathering. Program off abruptly at 0400, but carrier stayed until at least 0420 when I turned off the radio. I wonder if that is because the transmitter is at a remote location from the studio? I don't think I'd want to be with the FCC agents who bust these guys. Who knows how heavily armed they are. Very strong & clear. Announced 500 watts. Gave website as http://www.freekentucky.com/ksm/contents.htm (Don Moore, IA, March 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. From Seattle Times, March 11: Local News: March 10, 2001 Man jailed for keeping illegal radio stations on the air By The Associated Press SPOKANE - An Oroville man has received a six-month jail term for ignoring a federal-court order to shut down unlicensed radio stations in rural Okanogan County. At his hearing this week, right-wing activist Mark Alan Rabenold continued his long-standing arguments with federal officials over jurisdictional issues. In his constitutionalist view, federal courts have no authority outside the District of Columbia. Rabenold has been in jail the past month on separate charges of trying to run over a deputy federal marshal as the officer tried to serve papers Feb. 8 in the civil case. Rabenold, 44, has ignored a court order to shut down his illegal radio stations in Oroville and Tonasket, Okanogan County. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Edward Shea sent Rabenold to jail for six months because he would not explain why he couldn't turn off his transmitters. The sentence is intended to force Rabenold to take his stations off the air and will be lifted if Rabenold cooperates. Testimony indicated the stations were still on the air this week, apparently operated by Rabenold's family or friends. Acting as his own attorney, Rabenold argued that the "supposed" Federal Communications Commission has no authority to tell him he should have a license. He said the FCC's order to shut down his stations was invalid because it referred to him as "Mark Rabenold." "Whoever that is, is civilly dead," Rabenold said. "Do you serve process on dead people and require them to show up?" As a constitutionalist, Rabenold insists that his last name should be set apart in some way - he prefers parentheses - or simply be ignored. But he was unable to produce a death certificate, and Shea called the argument "silly." When Rabenold argued that Shea lacked jurisdiction, the judge reminded him that he was in custody. "I'm telling you I have jurisdiction, and that is the end of that question," Shea said. Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Hello Mr. Hauser, Read your account of RTTY-like QRM on WRMI`s 15725 frequency in the latest DXLD via DXing.com. I`ve also noticed the same thing on their 7385 frequency the last couple Saturday nights (0400-0530Z Sunday) during the "Scream of the Butterfly" and "Seldom Heard Radio" programs. What makes me suspicious is that this RTTY-like QRM is exactly on the center of the frequency, and that Castro has a history of jamming their Spanish broadcasts. Fidel could be both clever and dumb at the same time; jamming their signal with a fake RTTY transmission, but during their English broadcast to N. America. I guess the only way to know for sure is for someone with RTTY equipment to listen to it and see if it`s an actual RTTY signal. 73s (Ben Loveless WB9FJO, Bloomfield, Michigan, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. K??? Jim Planck and IMF [of HRMI HONDURAS, q.v.] are building a new shortwave station. The station will be located near Pinon [really Piñón -gh], New Mexico, which is about 175 kilometers northeast of El Paso, Texas. The property for the station has already been purchased and they already have one 50 kW transmitter. George Jacobs is handling the FCC regulatory process for them. The new station will have two 50 kW transmitters and target both Mexico and Canada in support of IMF's missionary and church building efforts. No word yet on the callsign or exact frequencies, although Planck did say that they would try and get a tropical band frequency for the broadcasts to Mexico. When they actually come on the air will depend largely on how fast their permits and license are granted by the FCC (DIRECT via Hans Johnson, Mar 9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) My God! Aren`t there enough preachers on shortwave already??!! It would be nice if at least 50% of New Mexico`s SW stations actually brought us something about NM news and culture (gh, OK) ** U S A. This is from the March 8 online edition of the trade magazine "Radio and Records": FCC Relaxes Directional AM Regulations The FCC says there are about 1,900 directional AM stations licensed in the U.S., and in order to control interference and assure adequate coverage they must undergo costly "proofs of performance" to show their antennas operate as authorized. In order to reduce the financial burden these stations face, the FCC is loosening the technical rules by reducing the number of measurement radials required and the minimum number of measurement points required per radial. The FCC says none of the changes "jeopardize the technical integrity of the AM broadcast service." (via Brock WH6SZ Whaley, Decatur GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 6155, Radio Sarandí del Yí, Sarandí del Yí, 0309+ Carrying "Festival Folklórico de Pan de Azúcar" along with "CORI" network, (the transmission was headed by Radio RBC, from Piriápolis, department of Maldonado). Local IDs by woman: "Transmite CW 155 Radio Sarandí del Yí, conjuntamente con "Banda Oriental" en 6155 kHz Onda Corta desde Sarandí del Yí, Durazno". Gives addresses, electronic and postal mail respectively and promises a "souvenir" from the station to be sent: "Recepcionamos su mensaje por nuestro correo electrónico norasan@adinet.com.uy A vuelta de correo recibirás una atención de nuestra emisora, CWA055 Banda Oriental, Durazno, Uruguay, Calle Sarandí del Yí 328, Sarandí del Yí". Strong but het. Best received in AM Sync LSB on my Sony 7600G. Note the "fantasy" name that has received the SW outlet: "Banda Oriental", the ancient name of the territory which is Uruguay today. Later: 6154, R. Sarandí del Yí -- This is the fq they are operating on, according to a more careful appreciation. Callsign is CWA155. Logged since 0045. Former checks and local daytime nil. Telephone number (also fax): +0379155. Welcoming salutations and messages also via this way (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, March 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 650 CX6 SODRE is broadcasting 24h since March 1. Its SW 9620 is not used all over this full period, though (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Mar 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. ``Europe without Walls – From the Danube to the Aegean – Proposal for Peace`` is the new name of the Italian/English program from VR, Mondays at 2020-2050. It`s on 1611 kHz and on the new frequency of 1260 for the Rome area. Quite oddly, this latter frequency (not in the printed schedule) is announced on the air as ``1250`` (Stefano Valianti, Italy, March BDXC Communication via DXLD) Close enough for liturgical work (gh) ** VATICAN/ITALY. Italy cannot sue Vatican Radio for electromagnetic radiation. The Italian state cannot sue Radio Vaticana. In a letter to the Italian ambassador to the Holy See, the Vatican points to the Lateran treaties, which indicate the radio station is immune to the Italian justice system. Radio Vaticana and its antenna towers are on Italian soil, but fall under Vatican administration. Therefore the state secretariat refuses to hand the summons to the radio station, and the trial cannot continue. The radio station has to answer for emitting too much electromagnetic radiation (ANP, via Gerben Vos- HOL, Medium Wave Circle email list, via MB Mar 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** VATICAN/ITALY. Vatican radio rebuts "electrosmog" charges | Text of report in English by Italian news agency ANSA web site Rome, 7 March: Environment Minister Willer Bordon today slammed the Vatican`s decision to ignore Italian legal action against its radio network for electromagnetic pollution as "incredible". Italian judges have summoned Vatican Radio`s director general, Father Pasquale Borgomeo, and two other top administrators to attend a trial on 12 March. The radio is accused of generating dangerous levels of "electrosmog" with its powerful transmitters located just outside Rome. The Holy See yesterday informed the Italian ambassador that it was refusing the summons, saying that it was not subject to Italian law because the radio transmitters are located on Vatican territory. "The decision is incredible because it comes from the Vatican, a place where there ought to be more sensitivity to environmental issues," Bordon said. "The Pope himself has often come out in defence of environmental values." The minister, who recently closed down five radio transmitters in the Adriatic port of Pescara, vowed to push the government to fight the Vatican's stance with every means at its disposal. "I will make sure the government finds ways of fighting this attitude," he said. "The fact that the land in question isn`t in Italian territory doesn't change anything because it`s still Italians who will end up being harmed." On 14 February Italy became one of the first countries in the world to adopt legislation aimed at protecting its population from electromagnetic pollution. The law targets the so-called "electrosmog" produced by sources such as electrical power lines, mobile phone relay stations and TV and radio transmitters. At least 200,000 Italians are thought to be regularly exposed to emissions from electromagnetic fields at a level which could adversely affect their health. Prosecutors say the field created by the Vatican Radio transmitters, which beam programmes all around the globe, are well above safety limits although the precise level has not be revealed. Source: ANSA news agency web site, Rome, in English 1745 gmt 7 Mar 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. Vatican R., 6205, Feb 23 *2157- IS, 2200 into Chinese religious programming, fair; listed site Khabarovsk, Russia (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Did not check March 4, but Aló, Presidente was definitely back on March 11. Started checking the five frequencies via Cuba at 1400: 9505 and 11705 barely detectable under R. Japan, but caught mention of program and Hugo Chávez. 6140 too noisy to tell if on. 11875 buried under WEWN. But from *1403 9820 was VG, now high- power AM instead of crackly USB. The monologist began talkup about the upcoming 40th anniversary of RHC, and listed frequencies and targets both at 1409 and 1416. All were attributed to RHC, including 6140, not R. Rebelde. 6140 for Caribbean; 9505 CAm; 9820 NAm; 11705 NSAm (``Caribbean coast of South America``); 11875 W&CSAm (``Pacific coast and central South America``). 14 de marzo is Día de la Prensa, anniversary of 1892 founding by José Martí of ``La Patria``. This week`s show would originate from Dominican Republic; 1419 some Venezuelan harp music. I didn`t have time to actually listen to the 4-hour-plus program, but noted Hugo was still going past 1700 when 9820 reception had deteriorated somewhat (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Re RFA`s Richter remarks about US company supplying jammers: US Dallas Texas firm Continental delivered and erected some new 100? kW shortwave tx at two sites in Vietnam, one near Hanoi, the other near Saigon. As explained by Alan Davies and Bob Padula research, the txs are used mainly for VOV`s External service, and only few hours a day for jamming purpose against RFA and VoA too (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) Oh, so Continental`s treason is only fraxional... (gh, DXLD) THIS DAY`S GERMAN LESSON. With Austria`s transmitter site in the news for being turned over to AWR, TWR, etc., opportunities increase for those ignorant of basic German pronunciation to butcher Moosbrunn. The same thing happened almost always with English-speakers referring to that German movie, Das Boot. News for you: only in English does double-O become [u]. In German it is a long O. The doubling merely makes certain that the O is pronounced long. So Boot is pronounced just like English boat, except for the diphthongization. And the same goes for Moosbrunn. Nothing to do with antlered ungulates, and not Mossbrunn either (Wilhelm Hauser, DXLD) ###