DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-071, May 17, 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] WORLD OF RADIO 1080: (STREAM) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1080.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1080.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1080.html CONTINENT OF MEDIA 01-05 is now available at DXing.com as of May 17: (STREAM) http://www.dxing.com/com0105.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.dxing.com/com0105.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/com0105.html ** ANGOLA. R. Ecclésia contact info: Address : Rua Comandante Bula No 118, São Paulo C.P. 3579, Luanda, Angola. Tel : +244 2 443041 Fax : +244 2 443093 E-mail : ecclesia@snet.co.ao Web Site : http://ecclesia.snet.co.ao (BBC Monitoring May 16 via DXLD, which also shows the -2130 extension on Sunday, not Saturday, 13810, even tho we have corrected that and someone heard them to 1857* on Sunday) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36, 17525, April 17 at 1900, very good with vocal music, long announcements, best ever heard (Ray Crawford, Brisbane, Australia, May NZ DX Times via DXLD) New frequency? (NZDXT editor) Mixup logging? Never reported here by anyone else (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Disney lança emissora de rádio na América Latina | MARCELO VALLETTA free-lance para a Folha de São Paulo A Walt Disney Company, o segundo maior conglomerado de entretenimento do mundo (atrás da AOL Time Warner), começa a invadir as ondas de rádio na América Latina com a inauguração de emissora própria na Argentina e diz que os próximos países a ganharem uma rádio com a marca Disney serão Brasil e México. A nova emissora, que pode ser sintonizada em Buenos Aires na frequência 94,3 MHz, é primeira rádio da companhia norte-americana em uma língua não-inglesa. A programação da rádio foi desenvolvida por uma produtora local, com supervisão do braço latino-americano da companhia, que tem sua base na capital argentina. Voltada ao público infanto-juvenil, a emissora toca música pop (haja boys-bands, "britneys" e similares), trilhas dos filmes e programas televisivos da Disney, além de entrevistas e promoções. Ainda não é possível ouvir a Rádio Disney argentina pela internet, mas o site já existe: http://www.radiodisney.com.ar (via Célio Romais, @tividade DX May 15 via WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DXLD) ** ARMENIA. Re DXLD 1-062: Voice of Armenia was in French at tune in 0740 May 13th on 15270, went into German 0750 and English was 0810- 0830. Good strength with some transmitter hum. This transmission is Sundays only (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. I just went to Radio Australia's website to get their complete shortwave frequency schedule. http://www.abc.net.au/ra/hear/zone3.htm They've decided to list their frequencies by morning, daytime and evenings. There are no more references to UT, transmitter sites, azimuths or power. Consequently, the grid is (almost) completely useless. The only thing I can count on is that for me, mornings means evenings, evenings mean mornings, and daytime means nighttime. Right? Also, a previous incarnation of the site recognized that the beam for the Pacific can be heard in North America. Not anymore. If you click for North America and Europe, you're told that the only place you can hear RA is over satellite and FM relays. Not quite true. Oh well (Ricky Leong, QC, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. I found a list of Aussie community broadcast stations buried deep inside the web site for the Australian BC Authority. The URL is http://www.aba.gov.au/what/broplan/community_services.htm You'll need to scroll partway down the page until you find mention of community broadcasting licences, then click on it to download the file. It lists a whole bunch of AM/FM/TV stations operated by aboriginal, ethnic, etc groups. Enjoy! 73 (Bruce Portzer, WA, ARDXC via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI announces they will be issuing a commemorative QSL in homage to radio pioneers Fessenden and Marconi (RCI sked and on the air anmt via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Checking RCI for news of the BC elexion in the wake of Fred Waterer`s scenario that the Greens might make a showing, Canada Today, Thu May 17 1213 on 15190, announced as a repeat of the 0500 broadcast, 2+ hours after the polls closed, with Wojtek Gwiazda: he interviewed their west coast correspondent, and *not one word* was said about the Green party. The right-wing so-called Liberals got 76 of 79 seats, and the NDP held onto three (maybe 4; one race was close). If they manage to get 4, NDP can at least remain an official party with the perqs that entails, such as public money for research. Wojtek sounded as if he needed a good rest. No doubt burning the midday oil with the Action Committee (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. http://www.geocities.com/rciaction/RCIFlash010516.html Surprise announcements, cuts to programs, management proposals and the decision to fight on. Wednesday, 16 May 2001: It`s been a busy day. We held our Action Committee meeting at 1 PM (more details below). Shortly after different managers informed us of the latest news: all our morning shows in English and in French to Africa, Europe and the Middle East will be cancelled as of the beginning of June. We don`t have any details so far, but there`s general concern about our audiences in these regions that have become fans of our programs. We`re told we`ll get more information next week, when our Executive Director returns. In the meantime, during our meeting we tried to put together what facts we have about the coming cuts, and this is what we have as of 16 May 2001. Changes coming up: All RCI newscasts in all seven languages will be cancelled on the weekends. There will be no staff in on weekends, no matter what news events may be going on in Canada. All RCI programming on the weekend in all seven languages will be pre-recorded during the week. Other changes: - Russian one hour program will be broken into two half-hours. - Ukrainian one hour program will be broken into two half-hours. - Arabic service program continues. - Chinese half hour continues. - Spanish program few details. In the technical department: On weekends no technicians will be in the building, except for one technician in master control. However there will be no DALET technician to re-boot our computer system of sound files: DALET, if anything should go wrong. These sound files include all of the pre- recorded programs and the re-feeds of our domestic service programs. In case of a failure, the master control technician would only be able to fill with music. We find out as well that three of our journalists were approached with a management idea to partially save weekend newscasts by getting the journalists to not only to handle the news, but also read it and do the job of a technician. This ``inter-unité`` has been successfully resisted by RCI employees in the past. The future? We will continue to get the word out about the coming cuts. We count on your support in e-mails and word of mouth. We`re also interested in any comments and suggestions you may have. We will fight on (RCI Action Committee May 17 via Ricky Leong, DXLD) Weekend news folks don't want to combo (that is run the board and do the news)? This is standard operations on the weekend in the US and has been for decades. There are no sacred cows anymore (Lou Josephs, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. Quirks & Quarks May 19: This week our feature item is called, "Fission Vision" - The debate over nuclear power. Sales of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles are soaring, gas prices are rising, home heating costs are going through the roof, coal fired power plants are spewing out greenhouse gases while global climate change is becoming more evident... What's going on? Is there no solution to our conspicuous consumption of fossil fuels? US President Bush seems to have an answer...build more nuclear power plants. Are nukes a solution to our energy and environmental needs? We'll have the debate Saturday just after the noon news on Radio One (Bob McDonald, Q&Q mailing list via DXLD) Saturday after the 1500 and 2300 news on RCI (gh) ** CANADA. A01 FINAL SCHEDULE FOR FOREIGN RELAYS Valid from 01.04.01 (0900 UTC) to 27.10.01 (0900 UTC) RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZ UTC kHz Program Target BBC 0959:30-1159:30 5965 W.S. USA BBC 1159:30-1629:30 9515 W.S. USA BBC 1629:30-1659:30 9515 W.S. USA (SAT & SUN) BBC 1359:30-1559:30 15220 W.S. USA BBC 1559:30-1859:30 17840 W.S. USA BBC 1859:30-1959:30 17840 W.S. USA (SAT ONLY) BBC 2159:30-2359:30 9590 W.S. USA BBC 2159:30-0359:30 6175 W.S. USA RTE 1829:30-1859:30 13640 - - - - USA CRI 0300-0359 9560 - - - - LAM CRI 0359-0459 9560 - - - - USA CRI 1200-1259 11855 - - - - USA CRI 1300-1459 13650 - - - - USA DW 0100-0145 6040 - - - - USA DW 0300-0345 9535 - - - - USA DW 0359-0559 9640 - - - - USA DW 1400-1659 17875 - - - - USA KBS 0959-1059 11715 - - - - LAM KBS 1059-1159 9650 - - - - USA NHK 0000-0059 6145 - - - - USA NHK 0159:30-0359 5960 - - - - USA NHK 0459-0559 6110 - - - - USA NHK 1058-1159 6120 - - - - USA NHK 1300-1459 11705 - - - - USA NHK 2200-2259 6110 - - - - USA ROI 1500-1559 17865 - - - - USA RMC 0300-0320 6040 - - - - USA 9755 - - - - USA RNW 0130-0225 6010 - - - - USA RSI 0200-0259 9755 - - - - USA 0259-0359 11895 - - - - USA VOV 0100-0259 9525 - - - - USA VOV 0300-0359 9795 - - - - USA VOV 0400-0459 9795 - - - - USA ORGANIZATIONS BBC = BRITISH BROAD. CORP. CRI = CHINA RADIO INT. DW = DEUTSCHE WELLE, GERMANY KBS = KOREAN BROAD. SYSTEM NHK = RADIO JAPAN RMC = RADIO MONTE CARLO ROI = RADIO AUSTRIA RNW = RADIO NETHERLANDS, HOLLAND RSI = RADIO SWEDEN RTE = IRELAND VOV = VOICE OF VIETNAM RCI ENGINEERING 21.03.01 (via Col John Standingbear via John Figliozzi via DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Monday, May. 14, 2001. Page 10 Firing Hurts Liberty's Credibility -- Editorial Last week, U.S.-funded Radio Liberty fired its Moscow bureau chief, Savik Shuster, apparently for refusing to stop appearing on an NTV soccer chat show in the wake of the station's takeover by Gazprom. Although Radio Liberty has refused to comment, Shuster read from his dismissal letter, which stated that the NTV job "constitutes a violation of RFE/RL professional code, the ethical foundation of our work, as well as the company's conflict of interest policy." The letter also argued that Shuster's appearances were "harmful to the public trust upon which RFE/RL credibility and effectiveness are based." If Shuster's NTV appearances were the real reason for firing him, then it is Radio Liberty's management that is harming the station's credibility. After all, Shuster has been doing the show since 1998 and in all those years Radio Liberty never invoked its "conflict of interest policy." Doing so now strongly implies Radio Liberty's endorsement of NTV's former owner Vladimir Gusinsky and casts serious doubts over the station's objectivity. Like Radio Liberty's recent decision to begin Chechen-language broadcasts (a decision that Shuster strenuously —- and, we feel, correctly -— opposed), this firing plays perfectly into the hands of those who claim that Radio Liberty is hostile to the Russian government and even a U.S. government propaganda tool. Shuster's dismissal over this issue is extremely ironic. On the morning of Gazprom's April 14 takeover of NTV's studio, Shuster was one of the first on the scene -— not as an NTV supporter, but as a journalist covering a crucial story. Television cameras captured him asking an NTV editor whether the channel's news program would cover the takeover, to which the editor -— no doubt revealing more than she intended about who was calling the shots -— replied, "I don't know." That the new NTV management still wants Shuster to appear speaks encouragingly of its integrity and stands in stark contrast to Radio Liberty's ill-considered action. For nearly 20 years, Shuster has been acclaimed as a thoroughly professional and ethical journalist. His principled stand in this case reinforces this impression. If the soccer show is the real reason for dismissing Shuster and if Radio Liberty is serious about its "professional code" and the "ethical foundation" of its work, it will reverse this unjust decision and apologize to Shuster for its poor judgment. If management is just using the show as an excuse to get rid of Shuster, then it ought to rethink just who is harming the station's credibility and undermining its public trust. Moscow Times 05.14.01 http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2001/05/14/005.html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) Shuster Says Lobbyists in Washington Ousted Him By Jon Boyle, Reuters Radio Liberty's Moscow bureau chief said lobbyists in Washington engineered his sacking from the U.S.-funded radio station because he refused to boycott NTV television after a controversial takeover last month. Savik Shuster said Friday he had been sacked for resuming appearances on NTV's soccer chat show "The Third Half" after state-dominated natural gas monopoly Gazprom took over the station last month. He has appeared on the show since 1998. "I'm so shocked, I can't even describe my shock. I'm bewildered, I never expected anything like that," Shuster said in a telephone interview. "I think this is close to censorship." He said he had been officially informed of his sacking by the station's director of broadcasting Jeff Trimble. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty declined to comment on Shuster's dismissal. Shuster's firing could embarrass U.S. officials who have described the NTV saga as a test case for Russian press freedom. (See editorial, page 10.) NTV's founder Vladimir Gusinsky said Gazprom staged the takeover on the orders of the Kremlin to muzzle a vocal critic. Gazprom and the Kremlin say the takeover was a purely commercial dispute. Scores of dissident journalists quit the channel in protest and moved to a second-tier channel owned by Boris Berezovsky, another media magnate who has fallen out with President Vladimir Putin. "I refused to obey not clear and direct orders, but what I would say were political and ideological orders," Shuster said. "The reprimand in which I was ordered to stop doing the football show on NTV was absolutely, absolutely ideological and political. And for me that is not acceptable." Shuster has a long record of independent journalism, dating from the 1980s when he was blacklisted for reporting from the mujahedin side during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He was also prominent in fighting the 1999 arrest of Radio Liberty's Andrei Babitsky, whose reports from Grozny saw the radio station come under fierce attack. Shuster, reading from his dismissal notice, said Radio Liberty had told him his conduct "constitutes a violation of RFE/RL professional code, the ethical foundation of our work, as well as the company's conflict of interest policy." The station said his involvement with the Gazprom-led NTV, under the current circumstances, was "harmful to the public trust upon which RFE/RL credibility and effectiveness are based," he said, quoting from the letter. But Shuster said boycotting the station would have meant picking sides in the dispute. "The refusal to continue the program on NTV would have implicitly meant my support of Berezovsky and Gusinsky, which I think would have been wrong and damaging, for me personally and for the reputation of the radio," he said. The journalist blamed his sacking on an intense campaign in the United States. "I think it's a political decision as a result of intense lobbying in Washington. Who lobbied and whose interests were being lobbied, that I don't know, but can only guess. ``I suspect those people who want to convince the entire world that freedom of speech belongs to one or another oligarch." Shuster, 48, said he would continue to appear on NTV but had no idea where his future lies. Moscow Times 05.14.01 http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2001/05/14/013.html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) Shuster on proposed broadcasts in Chechen From Shuster's interview to Echo of Moscow Radio on May 14, 2001. (Translation is mine. Some sentences and connections aren't very clear or logical because that's how it is in the Russian original.) BUNTMAN: [A question from] Alik, city of Achinks: "The Russian authorities threatened you because the Chechen fighters can broadcast via your radio [station] the messages to their compatriots in their language. Only think about it, it's laughable. Where's the freedom of speech here?" What do you think about it, about this situation? About what Mark Franketti wrote and what Yastrzhembsky refuted today? What's your opinion about that today, although you don't work at R. Liberty anymore? SHUSTER. The fact that I don't work at R. Liberty anymore gives me a little more liberty to speak out. I'm categorically opposed to a decision to start broadcasting in Chechen, Avar and Cherkess languages. I can somewhat understand it concerning Avar and Cherkess. [But even they], why were Avar and Cherkess chosen? There are other, not less important or less respected languages in the [Russian autonomous North Caucasus] republics. But regarding the Chechen Service I actually believe that it's a very wrong direction. [R. Liberty] could have started Chechen Service when Dudaev just came to power in order to limit a growing zeal for independence there, to explain [to Chechens] that they shouldn't take up arms. [One] must understand that a history of a people depends a lot on the politicians in a sense that the politicians can lead their people into an armed dead end. [R. Liberty] could have started broadcasting in Chechen after Aslan Maskhadov came to power and a peace pact with Russia was signed by Boris Yeltsin. At that point the issue at stake was re-building of culture, of a republic. If [R.Liberty] is to start Chechen broadcasting, it should be during a peaceful moment. Because R. Liberty already has a history of North Caucasus Service. Now, in this conflict situation to start broadcasting in Chechen language - from my point of view, that would be a pure provocation. I don't agree with that. I spoke about that before in my interview with Moscow Times. That was forbidden for me to do before, in other words not allowed. And I, as an employee of the station, couldn't express this point of view. I think it's a wrong premise. I believe that if this Service ever starts working, no one will be communicating with anyone there, no [Chechen] fighters will be allowed [to broadcast] there. But the very fact that the American tax payers will suddenly become the sponsors of a Chechen broadcasting at this very moment - without any preparation, without any desire to explain to people that, say, Chechen culture needs support because there were many years of war. And their language is dying, their culture is dying... There has been no such preparation whatsoever. It's like a thunder in a clear sky. Suddenly a news came: you'll have a Chechen Service here. It appears to me that it's a big mistake made in Washington [D.C.]. The full Russian text of the interview can be found at: http://www.echo.msk.ru/interview/interview/4538.html (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Falun Dafa Radio: The Falun Gong stations that I logged earlier have seemingly disappeared from short-wave here in Tasmania and the channels mentioned around 9 MHz also seem devoid of the Falun Dafa stations. Perhaps they are on a different time now since we are now in our winter months (R. L. Harwood, Australia, May 9, 2001 for Clandestine Radio Watch May 16 via DXLD) ** ERITREA. Eritrean radio to launch new broadcast on 24 May | Excerpt from report by Eritrean radio on 17 May The Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea as from 24 May will start a new broadcast in Hidareb [one of the Eritrean languages widely used in western Eritrea]. With the launching of the Hidareb broadcast, the Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea would be broadcasting in all [nine] Eritrean languages. The Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea as from 24 May will increase the broadcast dates for the Bilen, Saho and Nara [peoples]. The broadcasts in Bilen, Saho and Nara which used to be twice a week will be daily as from 24 May. The radio department in the Ministry of Information is currently broadcasting in 11 [nine Eritrean, two Ethiopian languages - Amharic and Oromifa] languages, on two wavebands - mediumwave and shortwave... Source: Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, in Tigrinya 0930 gmt 17 May 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK?! ** FRANCE. From complete RFI schedule we have excerpted: all English, all Spanish, all Creole; French only if some of the frequencies (unspecified by BBCM) are to Am (and in most cases meaning CAm or SAm, not NAm) Daily, u.o.s.: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-0030 FRENCH AsAm 11.660 12.025 15.535 17.710 0030-0100 FRENCH AsAm 11.660 12.025 15.535 0100-0130 SPANISH Am 9.800 11.665 0130-0200 FRENCH AsAm 9.800 11.665 17.710 0400-0430 ENGLISH Af 15.155 0500-0530 ENGLISH Af 17.800 0600-0630 ENGLISH Af 17.800 21.620 0700-0800 ENGLISH Af 15.605 0900-1000 FRENCH EuAfAm 11.670-(from 0930) 11.845 15.300 21.580 21.620 21.685 25.820 1000-1030 SPANISH Am 9.830 1030-1100 FRENCH EuAfAsAm 9.830 11.670 11.845 11.890 15.155 15.215 15.300 17.850 21.580 21.620 21.685 25.820 1100-1130 FRENCH EuAfAsAm 6.175 9.830 11.600 11.670 11.845 11.890 15.215 15.300 17.570 17.620 21.580 21.620 21.685 21.755 25.820 1100-1130 FRENCH Am 13.640 15.515 (Meteorological broadcast) 1130-1200 FRENCH AfAsAm 9.830 11.600 11.845 13.640 15.215 15.515 21.580 21.620 21.685 21.755 25.820 1130-1200 FRENCH EuAfAm 6.175 13.640 15.300 15.515 17.570 21.645 (Meteorological broadcast) 1200-1230 ENGLISH EuAf 15.540 25.820 1200-1230 SPANISH Am 15.515 17.860 1230-1300 FRENCH AfAsAm 9.790 11.845 15.300 15.515 15.540 17.620 17.860 21.580 21.685 25.820 1300-1330 FRENCH AfAm 9.790 11.845 15.300 17.620 17.860 21.580 21.645 21.685 1330-1400 CREOLE Am 17.860 21.645 (Sunday only) 1400-1500 ENGLISH MEAs 11.610 17.620 1600-1700 ENGLISH Af 11.615 11.995 12.015 15.605 17.605 17.850 1700-1730 ENGLISH Af 15.605 17.605 1800-1830 SPANISH Am 17.630 21.645 2100-2130 SPANISH Am 17.630 21.645 2330-2359 FRENCH AsAm 11.660 12.025 15.535 15.595 17.710 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring May 16, excerpted by gh for DXLD) NOTE: The above schedule does *not* include the Gabon frequencies (old or new) in DXLD 1-070 –- have they forgotten to include relays? (gh) ** FRANCE. The broadcaster of a round-the-clock reality show that has hooked millions of French viewers and offended as many agreed on Tuesday to switch off the cameras for two hours a day to give participants some privacy. M6 was responding to a ruling by French media watchdog CSA on May 14 that contestants on "Loft Story" should be liberated from 24-hour surveillance "out of respect for their human dignity". "Loft Story", a French version of the hit show "Big Brother", follows the exploits of a group of twentysomethings in a sealed compound jammed with television cameras. While the scenes broadcast on public access TV are edited, an uncensored live version -- which has included shots of a couple appearing to have sex in the compound's swimming pool -- is available on the Internet and a satellite pay-TV channel. (Reuters) See: http://www.loftstory.fr/ (SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Subject: DAB in Germany A few words in response to the press release from the digital radio marketing campaign: Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk has ceased its participation in the DAB (Eureka-147 system) introduction already two years ago, and earlier this year also Hessischer Rundfunk withdrew from the project; hence only commercial stations are still involved in Saxonia, Thuringia, Sachsen-Anhalt and Hesse. In northern Germany neither Norddeutscher Rundfunk nor the commercial broadcasters are active in DAB at all. The "Project 89.0 Digital" which I mentioned recently is one of the various networks which was originally introduced as mere DAB operation but meanwhile placed on FM, too, simply because the marketing penetration of DAB is almost zero. I received word that measurements by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk as well as individual listener experiences revealed poor system performance. The coverage of Sachsen-Anhalt was described as "you can receive DAB as long as you can see the Brocken mountain". From Saxony we heard that a guy who owns a DAB car radio gets usually urged by his family to switch to FM when listening to Deutschlandfunk while driving from Dresden to Leipzig: The DAB reception is spoiled by drop-outs, while the 100 kW FM transmitters at Dresden-Wachwitz and Wiederau serve the autobahn with a stable signal, only minor noise bursts occur, much less annoying than the clickering DAB drop-outs. As far as I know will Hessischer Rundfunk and northern Germany wait with any further decisions until 2003. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk engineering considers DAB already as "dead and buried" and now concentrates on the DVB system, which is already common for the distribution of TV and radio systems via satellite and now to be inaugurated on terrestrial transmitters, too (DVB-T). By the way, what's up with the Eureka-147 system transmissions at Toronto? Is anybody listening? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. 15775-USB, Rikisutvarpid. 1235 May 16, back on 19 meters during this time, as of a couple of weeks ago. Weak copy. Their 21 meter evening broadcast makes for much better listening, here (David Hodgson, Nashville TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9552.46, RRI Makassar, May 16 1040-1116, Typical Islamic music until 1100, then Interval Signal followed by news in Indonesian. Didn't recognize the interval signal. It was chimes and close to known interval, but not exactly. Heard time ticks which followed, then ID by man. Signal was fair (Chuck Bolland, Lake Worth, Florida, WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. ATHEIST AUTHOR DOUGLAS ADAMS DIES AT 49 Douglas Adams, the author of the popular science fiction comedy "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy," died last Friday night of a sudden heart attack in Santa Barbara, California. He was 49. Adams, a graduate of Cambridge University, had begun his professional literary career as a script editor at the BBC, which in 1978 aired his "Hitch Hiker's Guide" as a satirical adventure yarn about a group of interplanetary travellers. The series opened with the planet Earth being marked for destruction in order to make way for an interstellar highway. The book inspired a number of sequels including "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" and "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish." Adams was a frequent lecturer on issues related to science and technology. He described himself as a "radical Atheist," and spoke at the national convention of American Atheists held in April, 2000 in San Francisco on the provocative topic, "Is There An Artificial God?" An interview conducted by Dave Silverman can be found at http://www.americanatheist.org/win98-99/T2/silverman.html (AA Newsletter May 15 via WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DXLD) We listened to the ondemand of SCDX/MediaScan May 15 (after a 3-week gap due to MayDay specials), and were saddened that George made no mention on the air of Douglas Adams, especially since SCDX has been using HHGTTG music as its theme for ages -– but the E-dition did: (gh, DXLD) We're very sorry to note that Douglas Adams, creator of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" has died of a heart attack at the age of 49. The radio version of "MediaScan" uses as its signature "Journey of the Sorcerer", the theme music from the BBC radio series of "Hitch Hiker's Guide", an unabashed tribute to the importance Douglas Adams has had on some of us (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) Douglas Adams, the British humor writer whose cult classic "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" sold more than 14 million copies, died suddenly at his home near this central California city, a spokeswoman said. He was 49 years old. Adams, who was married with a 6-year-old daughter, died of a heart attack on Friday (May 11), said Sophie Astin, his personal assistant. Adams' science fiction saga, about a group of galactic travelers who survive the demolition of Earth to build a space bypass, began life as a 1978 BBC Radio series. It was turned into a best-selling novel, a TV series, record album, computer game and adapted for stage. It made Adams a household name on both sides of the Atlantic. Adams was working on a new novel and on an online guide, h2g2, inspired by "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy," at the time of his death. Work is also under way to turn the story into a film. The "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" chronicles the journey of Ford Prefect and his human companion, Arthur Dent, after the destruction of Earth. The tale centers on the search for the answer to life and the universe -- which turns out to be 42. The novel has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and was followed by sequels, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," "Life, the Universe and Everything" and "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish." (And "Mostly Harmless") While Adams will be remembered for his science fiction, he also worked for the protection of endangered species, which he wrote about in his book "Last Chance to See." (Reuters) See: http://www.douglasadams.com/ http://www.h2g2.com (SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. ABC Radio will resume streaming by July 1. AM stations will return first, using ad insertion technology from Media Touch. FM stations will be later because of the digital rights issues. $12.95 Is what Sirius will charge when it launches. XM says they'll keep the price at 9.95 (Lou Josephs, May 16, swprograms via DXLD) For those interested in int. b/c, Sirius will have WRN as well as the BBCWS....At this point, XM will only have the BBCWS. The $3 increase for Sirius may be a harbinger of coming financial problems. I wouldn't be surprised to see Murdoch looking to acquire one of these once he has DirecTV (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Fee Increases Made or Expected at Both Satellite Radio Rivals By BLOOMBERG NEWS, WASHINGTON, May 16 XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. may increase its monthly fee for satellite-radio programming after a rival, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., disclosed plans to raise rates 30 percent, analysts said today. Shares of Sirius rose as much as 21 percent after the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday that it would raise rates $3, to $12.95. XM Satellite, whose rates are now $9.95, is likely to follow, analysts said, although an XM spokesman, Charles Robbins, said the company, which is based in Washington, did not have immediate plans to do so... (NY Times May 17 via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Radio Barbari [sic] (English: Radio Equality) commenced test transmissions on 4 May 2001. The web site states the aims of Radio Barbari [sic] as "a platform for breaking the walls of censorship and oppression, to reflect the struggle of the workers and all the wage-earners, to voice the concerns of unemployed, deprived, women, foreign residents, young people, intellectuals and religious and ethnic minorities and all those Iranians who fight for freedom and equality". E-mail: info@barabari.org Web Site: http://www.barabari.org/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 Daily PERSIAN Global Net: http://www.barabari.org/ - archive audio 1700-1730 Irregular PERSIAN ME 7.480-v --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring May 16 condensed for DXLD) BTW, the stress is on the final I as heard via VOA CW last week (gh) ** IRAQ. Hi Glenn: Reviewing the tape tonight here is the info. DATE: April 29/2001 FREQ: 11784.97 on my Icom R71A (4-30 MHz Log Periodic) 18:58 Tune in to test tone 18:59- National Anthem and the announcement "This is Radio Iraq International from Baghdad". There was mention that they broadcast at the following times in EE/FF/GG/TT and AA 7 to 8 PM Baghdad Local Time 11-12 PM Baghdad Local Time 5-6 AM Baghdad Local Time They began with a newscast just past 1902. EE continued to 1955 and then a musical interlude (no s/off announcement) to 1957 UT when they went into German. Reception was strong but there was a "crackle" from the transmitter and modulation was low at times. Reception was better as the transmission went on. So it seems that the announced schedule means nothing (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Two Highlands provincial radios go off air | Text of report by Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site on 17 May Two provincial radio stations in the region have ceased broadcast due to shortage of operational funds. The two shortwave stations were Radio Eastern Highlands and Radio Simbu [Chimbu]. NBC Goroka's senior staff [member] Albert Avame told the Highlands Post that unless the Eastern Highlands provincial government came to their rescue with funds the station would remain closed. Mr Avame said "Karai Bilong Kumul" has owed both the Electricity Commission and Telikom a substantial amount in terms of bills. Radio Simbu's manager Jack Wera disclosed that his station also encountered problems which were similar to that of Radio Eastern Highlands. Mr Wera said provincial radio stations had played a vital role in educating, informing and entertaining the bulk of the rural population over the last three decades so the Government should come up with the funds. Simbu Governor Fr Louie Ambane said he would support Radio Simbu once his government's second quarter budget review gets the nod from the national government. According to government sources in both Eastern Highlands and Chimbu, listeners in the rural areas had ceased listening to radio due to the high cost of transistor radios and dry cells (battery). Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site, Port Moresby, in English 17 May 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? Chimbu 3355, REH 3395 per WRTH 1998 (gh) ** RUSSIA. Ministry claims victory in St Petersburg radio case | Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 16 May: The St Petersburg Arbitration Court has rejected the case brought by the Peterburg TV and radio company [TRK] against the municipal radio cable transmitting centre, [Russian] First Deputy Press Minister Mikhail Seslavinskiy told RIA on Wednesday [16 May]. The TRK claimed as illegal the transfer of its programmes from the first to the third channel of the municipal radio transmitting network on 1 April. Seslavinskiy said that a structure of national radio broadcasting entailing the broadcasting of Radio Russia on the first channel of all cable radio networks on Russian territory had been introduced by the presidential decree dated 4 August 1997. Until recently, the rule was not being observed in St Petersburg. On 28 March this year the Press Ministry sent notification to the TRK of the fact that in accordance with the decree, Radio Russia would take over the first channel of St Petersburg's wired-in radio network as of 1 April 2001. The notification went on to state that in accordance with the decree, TRK's Peterburg radio, as a regional broadcasting company, could have use of the third channel of the network. This decision of the Press Ministry provoked a complicated reaction from the management of the TRK, which subsequently proceeded to lodge a suit with the St Petersburg Arbitration Court. Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1633 gmt 16 May 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Contact info: Address : Channel Africa, PO Box 91313, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa Tel : +27-11-7142551 or 7143942 Fax : +27-11-7142546 or 7144956 E-mail : africancan@channelafrica.org Web Site : http://www.channelafrica.org Address : Sentech (Pty) Ltd, Private Bag X06, Honeydew 2040, South Africa Tel : +27-11-4714658 Fax : +27-11-4714605 Web Site : http://www.sentech.co.za --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0300-0325 Daily ENGLISH Af 6.035 0400-0430 Daily ENGLISH Af 5.955 0500-0530 Daily ENGLISH Af 11.720 0600-0630 Daily ENGLISH Af 15.215 1300-1455 Su.....Sa ENGLISH Af 11.720 17.780 21.725 1500-1530 Daily ENGLISH Af 17.770 1600-1630 Daily ENGLISH Af 9.525 1700-1730 Daily ENGLISH Af 17.860 1800-1830 Daily ENGLISH Af 17.870 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring May 16, English only excerpted by gh for DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Dear Friends: Radio Blandengue from some place in South America will be on the air next weekend performing his pirate activities on 14566 KHz LSB and 6950 KHz USB according to the following sked: ALL TIMES AND DATES ARE UT May 19, 2001 on 14566 KHz LSB 0600 – 0630 Emisora Z del Dragón 0630 – 0700 Radio Sin Fronteras 0700 – 0730 Radio Rayo del Sur 0730 – 0800 Radio Exótica 6950 KHz USB 1900 – 1930 Radio Rayo del Sur 1930 – 2000 Radio Exótica 14566 KHz LSB 2100 – 2130 Emisora Z del Dragón 2130 – 2200 Radio Sin Fronteras 2200 – 2230 Radio Rayo del Sur 2230 – 2300 Radio Exótica May 20, 2001 14566 KHz LSB 0000 – 0030 Emisora Z del Dragón 0030 – 0100 Radio Sin Fronteras 0100 – 0130 Radio Rayo del Sur 0130 – 0200 Radio Exótica Only verify the correct reports received by snail mail QSL guaranteed, and don`t forget to include 2 IRC. Please send the reports in different envelopes, not three in one. Thanks. Addresses for reports: ------------------------------------------------------- Emisora Z del Dragón, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE e-mail: emisoraz@yahoo.es ------------------------------------------------------- Radio Sin Fronteras, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE ------------------------------------------------------- Radio Rayo del Sur, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE e-mail: rrayodelsur@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------- Radio Exótica, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE e-mail: exoticaradio@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------- Radio Blandengue, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE or Radio Blandengue, Box 293, Merlin Ontario NOP 1WO, CANADA e-mails: radio.blandengue@altavista.net rblandengue@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------- http://members.xoom.com/blandengue/ http://go.to/blandengue (R Blandengue May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Reception is so good via Sackville 11895 for the 0330 English broadcast, that we are pulling the plug on the direct frequency 9495 as of May 21 (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via gh, Ricky Leong, Mike Barraclough, WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DXLD) So that explains why they did not bother to make the switch to 15245 (gh, DXLD) During this week's Mediascan programme I heard George Wood announce that from 21 May Radio Sweden would be dropping 9495 for the 0330 transmission to North America. So during the 0300-0400 hour I checked both 9495 and 11895 at my location in Wembley Park, England. Sure enough, 9495 was rather weak, whereas 11895 was putting in an absolutely colossal signal. I realise I am thousands of miles (sorry, kilometres!) outside the target area; if my experience is repeated across North America, then Radio Sweden are on to a good thing here (Paul David, 020 8933 9126 swprograms via DXLD) Dear Glenn, It seems like there will be NO 15 MHz from Hörby, Sweden. The Swedish fq. manager now reports that the NA sched. SOON will be: 02.30 UT - unchanged 9495/Hörby, 9755/Sackville 03.30 UT - ONLY 11895/Sackville. Nothing from Hörby due to cost restrictions - and therefore no 15245 kHz. 73, (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. New slogans for BBCWS? How about "The BBC Walled Service"... (Chuck, swprograms via DXLD) OK, I'll play...Here's mine: The BBC World* Service (*except North America, Australia, New Zealand) [first part would be in big bold letters; disclaimer would be in the tiniest of prints at the bottom the page.] The BBC World* Service (*unless your world includes North America, Australia and New Zealand) The BBC World Service - "Don't listen to us; we're not listening to you!" The BBC World Service - A comprehensive English language radio service that (1) isn't on the radio; (2) doesn't broadcast to the world; and (3) doesn't service areas where English is the most widely spoken language. The BBC World Service - "Give us five minutes a week and we're happy." The BBC World Service - "Come see Lord Reith spin" (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) One of the more curious aspects about this decision to drop the use of shortwave to North America, Australia and New Zealand, is the fact that they retain shortwave to Europe. Given the relatively compact nature of the continent and both the wider coverage and more complete scheduling (relative to NA and Australia) of BBCWS on FM and AM in European countries, it would seem that the BBC's stated rationale for dropping SW would have applicability there as well. Furthermore, the dropoff in shortwave usage by listeners in Europe is reportedly more precipitous than reported by the BBC in NA or Australia. (I am not suggesting they should do so; just suggesting an apparent inconsistency in approach.) The only difference it would seem is the fact that Internet usage is "metered" in Europe, while it is not in the US and Canada. Nonetheless, this would seem to be compensated for in the case of Europe by the wider availability of WS on AM and FM. Of course, given the fact that to date the BBC doesn't seem inclined to respond to complaints, questions and requests for clarification on its policies and their rationale, it remains very difficult to assess things properly. I suppose the ultimate curiosity is that a public service corporation whose primary purpose is presumably to enhance communication (global in the case of the WS) has chosen not to communicate at all with its most committed and loyal customers. (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Dear All, I should make it clear I speak only for myself and not for the BBC WS for whom I work. I am not party to all the information that BBC WS management had in order to come to this decision, however I think we can assume the BBC WS did not take this decision lightly. Furthermore, I am certain it would not have been based on jingoistic sentiments such as Bill's "screw you America Canada Australia and New Zealand". The forthcoming changes in broadcast platform are not meant to be a nationalistic assault. Clearly, people here have very strong opinions on this issue. It remains the case that the British taxpayer, of whom I am one, foots the bill for the BBC WS. To continue to receive our money the BBC WS must meet certain objectives (whilst I realise not all here have access to the internet, for those that can it may be worth visiting the WS website to review these). SW listening is both an interesting and rewarding hobby, but there is no objective for the BBC WS to meet the interests of SW enthusiasts. The British taxpayer cannot be expected to pay for programming to meet what is, as has been admitted here, a minority activity. This of course does not lessen the impact on those who have enjoyed listening to WS on SW and I am sure that the BBC is keen to receive a reaction from all who have been affected. The BBC always wants to improve its performance. If you feel you have been adversely affected and wish to express your opinion to the BBC then I would suggest that your complaints should not be based on the impact such changes may have had on your hobby. This will not be a sustainable argument in the long-term as the BBC has no objective to meet such needs. If, however, you feel the changes mean the BBC WS is no longer meeting its stated objectives then this is a more sustainable argument and the authorities that monitor the BBC's objectives should be alerted. Whilst the Foreign Office does not have the authority to dictate to the WS what activities, languages, hours, or editorial policy that it should have it is the Foreign Office to which the WS must justify its performance against its stated objectives. If you sincerely believe that the WS objectives have been compromised (and not just one's specialised interests) then it may be worthwhile writing a letter of complaint to the British Ambassador. You may also want to send another letter to the Foreign Office in London. There are of course other avenues to follow such as contacting politicians who have an interest in foreign affairs, such as the Foreign Secretary and other MPs. Customer/listener reaction could also be sent to Christopher Bland who is still the Chairman of the BBC and who has a mandate to ensure the BBC meets its objectives. Greg Dyke, the BBC Director General will of course be interested in how WS activities may adversely affect the BBC brand. Mark Byford is in charge of the WS and has always been open to customer feedback. Of the latter 3 the first two can be contacted at BBC, Broadcasting House, London and the third at World Service, Bush House, London. I pass this on to you as I am proud to work for the WS and believe it is important that the WS should listen to its consumers. (Joe Wheller, swprograms via DXLD) This e-mail, and any attachment, is confidential. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use or disclose the information in any way, and notify me immediately. The contents of this message may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC, unless specifically stated. Joe: You make some excellent points and suggestions. Thank you for them. I agree that the BBC should in no way be concerned because their decision hurts the practice of someone's hobby. It is also most defensible to argue that limited resources need to be marshalled where they will do the most good. In the present age, this is an awesome task as it seems there are always more opportunities than there are resources. So, too, here is always the coordinate risk that an ill-considered decision in this regard can have devastating effects. Clearly, the successful existence of an enterprise for decades is no insurance against a swift demise in the current environment. I, for one -- along with many others on this list, do not consider myself a hobbyist when it comes to listening to WS. I find the WS most valuable for news, information and entertainment -- and at a consistently high quality -- that I cannot get via my domestic media, let alone our inadequate, overly commercialized and often beleagured domestic radio services. That is why we as a group, in general, welcome with open arms new means of receiving BBCWS programming, whether via local placement on AM/FM, satellite, the Internet or any other means. Putting aside the apparent (to us) sudden nature of this decision (there was, after all, no effort on the part of the BBC to prepare its listeners for this eventuality), what I think you are reading here in this group -- expressed perhaps at times inelegantly or with some frustration -- is a universal belief that the decision is at least premature. The "alternate means of delivery" combined cited do not, at this time, adequately compensate for the loss in availability, comprehensiveness and convenience currently provided to more committed BBCWS listeners by the inclusion of shortwave in the delivery mix. The BBC appears to be saying otherwise, but apparently will not engage in a conversation about how it has arrived at such a debatable conclusion. We are, in essence, suggesting that the BBC's research may be faulty in this instance. I'm sure that the BBC believes otherwise; but if the corporation is interested in keeping faith with arguably its most loyal listeners in North America and is confident that its research is sound, it should have no problem engaging in a give and take on the subject. For example, if the BBC is satisfied with the very limited access that local placement (i.e.: only news and usually at odd hours) provides to an American audience, it should say so. As the saying goes, silence speaks volumes. Perhaps some dialogue will be forthcoming. I hope so. At this point, all I am left with is a lot of questions and a very bad taste in my mouth. I plan on following up on your excellent suggestions. Thank you again for taking the time. Best regards, (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Joe, while it's all wonderful and good that you work for the World Service, maybe at the behest, of the American, Canadian, Australian, and new Zealand taxpayer, without a nationalistic approach on anyone`s behalf, does the BBC think in its concocted and far myopic management choice, that anyone who is not drawing a large salary as the governing heads that be at Bush House must be doing, to put up with the narrowmindedness of "well, here's a new way to hear us...buy an MP3 player and download the audio", etc...... As far as I am concerned, and I'm about to ruffle quite a few feathers here with my remark, I feel in a great regard, the BBC does not give a damn about those who DON'T have a satellite receiver, or who can't be tied to a PC 24/7; I say this because that`s MY feeling. If you feel that this is this 'mystery' of the World Service is unique to the "average" British citizen, trust me it's not endemic to your society -- we here in America foot the bill for a little operation called the Voice of America and the other broadcast organizations that emanate from Washington. And as to my approach as to making light of this subject, condemn me or damn me, I personally do not care; because at this point in time, why not have some fun with what the BBC suits has decided cannot be undone. When I contacted the New York office of the BBC last week regarding this, just to get a name of someone we can contact, no one, and I mean NO ONE knew of the World Service. I found this to be quite interesting; yet they from London are quick to remark of the 200 stations that the BBC-WS is rebroadcast on; wouldn't they have an idea of something their own employer has on a radio station in that same locale? Also, on the subject of local placement, what happens if the General Manager or a Program Director of such an FM station one day decides to pull the plug on the relay of the news? What will your employer think then? That the local music station might not be adverse to putting the news on from London versus an concert by the Back Street Boys? I highly doubt it, Joe. Lastly, not to sound maudlin, self serving or pompous, I've had enough health problems in the past 10 months, as I still fight a battle with an infection, to find that if you can't laugh, don't complain. And I`ve had enough complaining, as no one listens. On that note, I will end the subject. While I do value anyone else`s ideas, which undoubtedly will subterfuge and probably lambaste me on my feelings, if my feelings being vented to Bush House were the reason that the BBC changed its mind, well, we wouldn't need the discussion, would we?! (Bill KA2EMZ Bergadano, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Those who tried to hear WGN Extension 720 Tuesday night about Oddball Wisconsin found instead a loop telling us that baseball was still running, and WGN can no longer webcast during stupid ballgames. We were warned in the blurb that it would start late after the 7:05 pm game, but this one must have run extra innings, at least until 11 pm. Oddball Wisconsin has been rescheduled for next Tuesday evening 22nd (UT 23rd). Modest suggestion: since stupid ballgames often pre-empt or delay Extension 720, and WGN can`t webcast the games, why not go ahead and produce E720 for webcast only at least? Which reminds me, of this: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLUELESS -- We have more contenders for our "Clueless in Cyberspace" award, presented at the end of the year. Leading the pack, though, must be Major League Baseball, which this year introduced a subscription package for those who want to listen to webcasts of American baseball games. The system worked during the month of April, but as soon as May arrived, when subscribers tried to log in, the system cheerfully invited them to take out a subscription. That lasted for a week, which was followed by several days of messages that audio of archives games was not available. The system still only seems to work sometimes, often apparently due to a Javascript error. Worse yet is the RealAudio plug-in that subscribers are forced to use: when it works, it lacks any fast forward or reverse controls, so you have to sit through 45 minutes of pregame shows before the games start. And the much-hyped inclusion of scores and other game information in the plug-in window has yet to make an appearance. The one improvement is that the system now does seem to work (sometimes) with Netscape. Unfortunately the archive, which during Spring Training was several days long, has shrunk to just one day (SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. Thread from rec.radio.shortwave [sic] Subject: WWFV new freq!! From: "Roadranger" wwfv@ellijay.com Date: 5/15/01 3:28 PM Central Daylight Time The FCC has assigned WWFV 5.975 mhz to broadcast on after July 1, 2001 depending upon what the BBC does. We plan to use our new 100 kw Booooooomer global-3 on the freq! www.wwfv.org Subject: Re: WWFV new freq!! From: "Richard McCollum" rmccollOMA@att.net Date: 5/15/01 5:52 PM Central Daylight Time With all due respect I don't think it is within the power of the FCC to assign that freq to you. Being within an international shortwave band, I believe that it is a voluntary (Vatican Radio is notorious for ignoring it) arrangement thru the ITU to try to make sense of the scramble. If you mean you are permitted to fight it out, have fun. Someone in this group has to know more than I do and certainly more than Roadranger. Dick Subject: Re: WWFV new freq!! From: Adam M. Dubin amdubin@corecomm.net Date: 5/15/01 7:57 PM Central Daylight Time I don't think it's clear that BBC will stop broadcasting on its Antigua frequencies (of which 5975 is one). I hope not, at least. Adam Subject: Re: WWFV new freq!! From: Ross Archer dogbert@mindless.com Date: 5/15/01 8:24 PM Central Daylight Time In Roadranger's case, all due respect would be none whatsoever, and all due contempt would be more accurate. :) -- Ross Subject: Re: WWFV new freq!! From: "Roadranger" wwfv@ellijay.com Date: 5/15/01 9:50 PM Central Daylight Time {Reply to Richard McCollum] Yes your correct! poor choice of words to state "assigned" we stand corrected! The correct word should be "authorized" With 100 kw's pumping out from a 200 foot high 14 DbD gain wide spaced yagi antenna pointed at Canada we should do fine in the fray! of course this is predicated if the BBC bails out. regards! [all sic] (via John Norfolk, WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DXLD) ** U S A. Hello Glenn, Just a quick note to update DXers that Seldom Heard Radio will now be heard every Sunday at 0500 UT on WRMI 7385. Seldom Heard Radio is produced in the spirit of free radio & includes folk, folk-rock, psychedelic and independent music from the 1960s to the present in a unique homespun format. I cordially invite your readers to tune in. Thanks (Fred Moe, Producer, May 16, WORLD OF RADIO 1080, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. From the ARRL Letter Vol 20 No 20 dated 16 May. Unfortunately, the test will be from 1030 to 1500 local time, so propagation won't be very favorable: * "Wireless Giant of the Pacific" on the air again: Former RCA coast station KPH, Point Reyes, California, will attempt to contact the Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien, KXCH, on Sunday, May 20, between 1730 and 2200 UTC. Initial contact on 500 kHz will shift to 426 kHz for KPH, and 425 kHz for KXCH. KPH may also transmit on 6477.5 kHz. KPH will broadcast commemorative messages and possibly a traffic list. The former KPH facilities are part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, which has a strong interest in the important role the station played in the history of radio communications. The Marine Radio Historical Society Web site http://www.radiomarine.org has more information.--Dick Dillman, W6AWO (via Bruce Portzer, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. R Sarandí del Yí, 6155. Their sked is now *0000-0130*, according to my monitoring. Hrd at s/on with newscast from CORI network, ID by man mentioning postal and e-mail addr, announcing folk mx till 0040. On May 12 they closed with a short piece of piano from national composer Eduardo Fabini interrupted since they plugged off the mains abruptly. Emailed Mrs Nora San Martin to confirm sked but got no reply yet (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC) is the new telecommunications authority that replaces the former Dirección Nacional de Comunicaciones. HQ's at Avenida Uruguay 988, 11100 Montevideo, phones +9028082/+9027689. President is Dr. Fernando Pérez Tabo, ex-Director Nacional de Comunicaciones (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13750, Chinese Spy Numbers, May 16 1206, Fair signal strength. Inside the 21 meter BC band. Female Chinese voice, repeating what sounded like spy number codes. The signal did not have the characteristic flutter associated with polar propagation, so I don't think this has its origin in East Asia. Voice ended around 1217, but there was an open carrier past 1239. On again @ 1300 with traditional Chinese mx. Then, same female computer generated voice gave a worded message for 2 to 3 minutes, before going into 4 digit code. The code was repeated once, before going onto the next sequence. Voice off @ 1312, but again carrier remained. Fair signal UNID. 13750, Chinese Numbers station, 1205 May 17, much the same as yesterday, but better reception. Computer generated female voice, till about 1220 (David Hodgson, Nashville TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I believe this is the New Star broadcasting station, which has been around a long time, presumably from Taiwan. They have 2 or 3 other frequencies, on 15, 11? and 8 MHz, as I recall. I just listened to the reopening at 1300 on 13750 USB. And again at 1330. There are no doubt references to it in various places. Maybe the Nagoya DXers Circle or the Asian Broadcasting Institute has something (gh, DXLD) Glenn: Thanks for the info. Turns out you are right, this is New Star. For frequencies and more info, one can look at: http://ns4.swl.net/radiochina/newstar/newstar.html 73s, (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRW's Clandestine Radio QSL - Card Gallery In order to see the updated version of the page please visit http://www.swl.net/swl-de/bild-cla.html The gallery has been recently updated with some old Clandestine radio QSLs from R. Løvstrøm and J. Broden. Old and new Clandestine Radio QSL's logs can be found in the CR section of the QSL Information Pages QIP at http://www.swl.net/swl-de/qip-indx.html The QSLs provided by R.Løvstrøm are : Radio NTS (Narodno Trudovoy Soyuz). Lowpowered station operating from Germany. Claimed to be operating from a VW bus (shown on the QSL) with random longwire stretched outside, in order to avoid the KGB tracking them down. Most likely this was a stationary transmitter in a safe building. Several NTS officers were killed by the KGB; you shouldn`t find much about it in German files. There is also an American book - "The House of Mystery" - about it. I think I have read later that this was a bonafide Russian emigré organisation that was actually secretly controlled by the CIA. The station was on the air twice daily. It was always jammed, and the station was moving about to avoid jamming. It requested reception reports from Scandinavia to find out which segments were able to escape the jammers. The station`s people contacted DXers and asked if they would lend their mailing address to the station, so Soviet citizens could write to the Western person and thus hopefully escape Soviet censorship. I had a seventy year old Rüssian emigré who escaped after the White Russian forces were defeated, around 1921 or so, as a neighbour. He was a member of the NTS and was very worried when I showed him my QSL. It was dangerous to get involved, he claimed. Well, I was a kid and I survived. 1962. Gibraltar Steamship Corporation. This was apparently a CIA front business which operated Radio Swan from a small island off the coast of Honduras. Later changed to Radio Americas, even later moved to the Honduran mainland and became legitimate. The station was instrumental during the Bay of Pigs invasion and apparently sent coded messages to the ill-fated invading force. 1960. Radio Katanga: Not really a clandestine in the truest sense, but the official voice of the secessionist forces and government of Katanga, the southern province of Congo-Kinshasa. The province, which was rich in diamonds, tried to avoid the secession from Belgium. 1961 (Rolf Løvstrøm, Norway, Mar 29, 2001 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ###