DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-082, June 4, 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] ** AUSTRALIA. 3230 often, 1900, Alice Springs is probably the one here at evenings with ABC programmes. 3-4 BE (Börge Eriksson, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 3, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) I doubt it: Alice has always been on 120 or 60 m, not 90 (gh) I will ask BE to check this out again because he says .. probably -- (-Thomas Nilsson, SWB) ** AUSTRALIA. 9475 and 11660 listed as ADFR from 1330 to 1400 26-27 May, but no special programming noted both mornings. Both very strong (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) By that, do you mean \\ other RA frequencies? (gh) ** BOLIVIA. unID on 6055, reported early May by Horacio A Nigro, is probably R Mauro Núñez, which is likely to carry transmissions in Quechua. R. Fides, La Paz, now combines RealAudio with RealVideo at http://www.radiofides.com There are frequent references to this experimental webcast on their programs (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.49, Radio Pio XII, Siglo XX; 1102-1109 fair on 02/JUN/2001. Full ID "Transmite Radio Pio XII, su compañera permanente, onda corta 5955 kHz, banda de 49 metros, amplitud modulada 710 kHz y frecuencia modulada 99.9 MHz desde Siglo XX, Potosí, Bolivia." and then folklore of Norte Potosí was heard (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have always wondered, by ``folklore``, do you mean folk *music* or maybe story-telling? (gh, DXLD) ** BULGARIA. [tentative from BUL] Break down orgy: 13850, R. Ezra Sunday only broadcast heard today Jun 3rd at about 1050 to 1115. Switched on my rx at around 1050; the 800 Hertz steady and continuous test tone was already present, which lasted till 1053:20. Then came back at 1054:40 and tone lasted to 1058:02, short tx break of three seconds then. End of test tone at 1058:52. Followed immediately at 1058:54 by TDP IS and promotion ID including an e-mail address in Belgium for Ludo Maes' firm, twice at good audio level. At 1100 started with R Ezra ID in English and religious Seventh Day program; audio was much disturbed now, but improved between 1110 and 1113. At 1102:37 signal strength decreased to half tx power, and 1103:35 to one/quarter power, then at 1104:35 tx signal totally disappeared. Tx came back on air at 1105:35, but no program feed. Religious Ezra program came on air again at 1106:00. Tx went down again between 1108:40 and 1110:30. Ezra address, e-mail address and fax no. were given at 1112:00, followed by end of program at 1113:25. Transmitter switched off at 1115:34. SINPO 35333 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hello all, RCI`s French and English mailbag show this week presented letters from irate listeners who were not at all amused by the "redeployment" announced by Robert O`Reilly on the previous weekend. The Maple Leaf Mailbag's Marc Montgomery left the best for last: sharp-witted letter writers took generous jabs at CBC/RCI management and the federal government. An interesting note: both mailbag shows were about 28 minutes long -- a time extension that some listeners have requested for a long time. Too bad it came at the expense of live newscasts. Regards, (Ricky Leong, Brossard, Quebec CANADA, swprograms via DXLD) The audio problems with the International Radio Report website seem to have been fixed. This means you'll be able to listen to the June 3 program, featuring an interview with Wojtek Gwiazda, Radio Canada International producer/host and spokesperson for the RCI Action Committee, an ad hoc coalition formed to stop the cuts to RCI. The interview begins approximately 10 minutes into the program. If you would like to listen, please point your browser to http://members.fortunecity.com/crazyaboutradio/ All things being equal, the next weekly update of the program`s RealAudio should occur next Sunday (Ricky Leong, Brossard, Quebec CANADA Website caretaker for the International Radio Report, June 4, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6130.04 USB, CHNX back with a different loop announcement than in the past. Fair reception at 0604 26 May with the Lion King. They now ID, mentioning the station as being Nova Scotia`s first, and give an e-mail and website (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, everyone. To the Victoria DX Group, to give you a taste of what can be heard at a DXpedition, in this case to Grayland, WA, a wonderful site to go after Trans-Pacific MW stations, but when Don Nelson, John Bryant and myself DX'd last weekend, MW was pretty dead, so we concentrated on SW, which wasn't too bad. We were able to choose between 4 Beverage antennae (NW, W doublet, and longer single, and a SW wire), all over 1000' in length, as well as John's newest KAZ antenna. The site is generally pretty quiet electrically and some 1000+ feet from the open Pacific. My receivers were the Rockwell/Collins HF-2050, and the AOR 7030+. Much of what is listed was recorded on a Sony minidisc recorder (Walt Salmaniw, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Applies to a number of other entries, e.g. PNG ** CHILE. 11690.00, Radio Voz Cristiana, Santiago; 0558-0601 fairly good signal on 03/JUN/2001. Music entertainment program "En Compañía" was heard. At 0559 full canned ID was announced. Then a greeting to Radio Luz, which broadcasts on 1700 kHz AM from Miami, Florida, was announced as follows: "Ésta es Radio Luz 1700 AM, iluminando ... corazón. El servicio satelital de Voz Cristiana envía un saludo fraternal a los amigos oyentes de Radio Luz en Miami, Florida. Nos complace profundamente unir esfuerzos con usted. Dios está iluminando ... corazón con Radio Luz 1700 AM y Voz Cristiana. Cumpliendo la gran comisión, estamos llevando via satélite buenas noticias a las naciones: Estados Unidos e Iberoamérica. Escuchan Radio Luz 1700 AM y Voz Cristiana, sembrando via satélite para la cosecha mundial." (Takayuki Inoue N., Tokio, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. June 2nd 12075 2200-2300. According to the soft Chinese-style background music, and seemingly the same female announcer, this indeed is World Falun Dafa Radio. Although ID is not as prominent as it used to be. Also Falun Gong is less mentioned. Trying to avoid stirring up things? However another Chinese station audible underneath. Obviously a CNR outlet, put there for jamming purposes (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. R. Oriente Libre has already changed time on WRMI, from Sun 1500 on 9955, to UT Mon 0030-0100 on 9955, per new schedule dated May 25 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. Is AFN still being heard from here? I used to receive 12579 regularly, but haven't heard them for some months. Scheduled to close this base. Has it already happened? (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {No: DXLD 1-084} ** FINLAND. SWR: Sorry, Glen[n] that this came too late... And I had made an error when reporting 25 mb FREQUENCY changes.... I made my announcement so quickly... I meant times schedule changes- NOT frequencies. We were still on 11720 (now from Friday 21 hours UT to 19 hours UT on Saturday) and on 11690 (19-21 hours UT on Saturday). Our 48 mb test transmission was very successful. For example I myself could hear all tests here in Rovaniemi (500 km north from Virrat) mostly with very good audibility. I also listened to 11720 kHz from 0130 to 0400 UT with strong signal in a clear frequency (Alpo Heinonen, Rovaniemi, Finland, http://personal.inet.fi/koti/alpo.heinonen/ NRD 525 "A weak voice from the Finnish Arctic Circle", DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Mediumwave antennas indeed often suppress high angle radiation to avoid a congestion of skywave and groundwave, which would result in lots of fading; in German even a term for this problem exists: "Nahschwund". Another, more sophisticated solution to avoid "Nahschwund" is to radiate the skywave only and suppress the groundwave instead. In the past special dipole systems with such a vertical incidence characteristic were here in Central Europe in use for nighttime transmissions on 990 (RIAS Berlin), 1566 (DRS) and 1575 (RBI / Stimme der DDR). The skywave system for 990 has circular polarization, supposedly as only mediumwave antenna at least in Europe. Unfortunately the Berlin-Britz site is forbidden to use this antenna anymore due to - "Elektrosmog". Instead 990 now comes from the groundwave mast at night, too, resulting in drastically deteriorated reception. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UK/GERMANY ** GUINEA. 7125, Great reception from Radio Guinea, with a lively male announcer at 0610 26 May saying, "Bonjour le monde, ici Conakry". (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 4660.63, Laotian regional station with lovely local music at 11:39 26 May. Not // to 6130 until 1200, with usual gongs and talk (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LESOTHO. Is the former BBC station really owned and operated by Merlin? It was my understanding so far that the BBC handed over the facilities to the authorities of Lesotho in 1996. As a reminder, the 4800 channel of LNBS originates from this station (three 100 kW shortwave transmitters, two ones was used for BBC programming and are now of course idle). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Radio Malaysia Sarawak, Kuching. 7270.46, Presumed green network in Iban. Very good with slight drift. at .43 at 1231 26 May (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 6570, 1329 27 May, IS and ID, with clear mention of Myanmar by YL by Myanmar Defence Forces Radio. Good reception (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. Should anyone be interested in the current turmoil in Nepal, here's some reception info via the Radio Nepal Homepage: http://www.catmando.com/news/radio-nepal/radionp.htm MW - 576, 648, 684, 792, 810 & 1143 SW - 3230, 7165, 5005, FM - 100 MHz. Also on the site are RealAudio files with today`s and yesterday`s news in English, but you`ll have to bear with an audio quality similar to something recorded onto a wax cylinder, crackles and all! There is no program schedule. A more up-to-date website from Radio Nepal can be found here: http://www.catmando.com/radionepal/ (Ricky Leong, Brossard QB, swprograms via DXLD) ** PALAU. Re: DXLD 1-079: 9985, *1101-1155, T8BZ Koror hrd June 3rd w/open carrier, then on in mid-song, briefly, at 1101. More OC, then flute & trumpet mx 1102 w/ID "Bringing the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world, this is High Adventure's World Radio Network... write us today at Box 66, Koror, Palau 96940", then address repeated. Into "Soldier of the Light" Christian song. Continuous Christian pops to 1131 ID & addr again. More mx in the same style until dead-air in mid-song about 1145 for 5 minutes, but strong co-ch. FAX QRM beginning 1151. Very good signal (Guy Atkins, Bonney Lake, WA, USA, AOR AR7030 / Wellbrook K9AY hard-core-dx via DXLD) Did you ever hear them using the T8BZ callsign on the air? (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. The following stations were on the air this weekend: 2410 Radio Enya [sic -- is it not Enga?] poor to fair at 0921, but as is usually the case on the coast fades up very well towards dawn. Strong at 1148, but only fair at 1220. Regularly heard past 1200. 3204.97 Radio Sandaun. Good reception. A real powerhouse signal. Playing "Joy to the World" at 1120, in Pidgin. "New millenium here 2001", and talk of world communications day 2001 (was it really???). Gone by 1200, with OC at 1202. 3235 Radio West New Britain not on the air 26 May, but heard 27 May at 0910 with National news relay. Fair to good. Nice signal at 11:31 with Pidgin talk and "sing-sing". Best using LSB to escape ute on USB. Full ID at 1132 as National Radio Commission, Radio West New Britain, then into a radio play. 3305 Radio Western fair to good at 0921. Fair to good at 1003 with relay of national news, but just behind 4890. 3315 Radio Manus, good in Pidgin at 0925. Relays National program at 1202, with TC for "3 minutes past 10" 3325 Radio Bougainville, with appeal in English at 0930 to be calm. Good reception. At 1104, announced the "Centenary Quiz 2001", with the grand prize a National Panasonic cassette radio. Send your answers to POB 35, Buka, Bougainville Province. The first question: "Number 1 missionary, write them down name", etc.... Great programming to monitor! 3355 Radio Chimbu back again, with poor to fair reception at 0930. 26 May only. Nothing following morning. 3364.98 Radio Milne Bay with English announcements at 0935. Fair reception. 3375 Radio Western Highlands, good to very good. At 0935. 3905 Radio New Ireland with YL talking in Pidgin easily over a cochannel station at 0945. 4890 Port Moresby with usual superb signal with EZL music at 0950, and Radio National ID at that time (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, May 26-27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 2828v, Radio Huarmaca, Huarmaca, la provincia de Huancabamba, el departamento de Piura. June 2001 - 1105 UT. This station was unID in SWB 1459. Then I thought it might be Radio Apurímac, listed at 1417v. Now a clear "Radio Huarmaca" ID and was heard at the same time on its original frequency (not listed) 1414v kHz. Is Radio Huarmaca a new station? Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Huancabamba, cuya capital es {...sus distritos son...} Chanchaque, El Carmen de la Frontera, Huancabamba, Huarmaca, Lalaquiz, San Miguel de El Faique, Sóndor, Sondorillo; con una población total de 125,458 habitantes. 2842v (Harmonic?) unID "Radio L.Y.R.", la provincia de Sullana (?), el departamento de Piura (?). May 2001 - 1200 UT. Had this station as an unID "Radio Líder" on 2860v in SWB 1454. ID like this: "Radio L.Y.R. - la radio líder de....." + a name of a place (?) which sounds like ".....Yel". So "Radio Líder" instead seems to be a jingle. Have heard the station at several occasions and every time with the programme "Arte popular", Peruvian folk music. Some days before the Peruvian election the DJ talked politics. He mentioned "....nuestra provincia de Sullana..." and "...nuestro departamento de Piura..." and I think the station`s QTH is there. Harmonic? Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Sullana, cuya capital es Sullana. Sus distritos son: Bellavista, Ignacio Escudero, Lancones, Marcavelica, Miguel Checa, Querecotillo, Salitral, Sullana; con una población total de 241,465 hab. 3179.02, Radio Unión, Tocache, la provincia de Tocache, el departamento de San Martín. May 2001 - 0100* UT. Had this station as unID in SWB 1459 and I presume it is a new (?) station. What I know now is that they ID as "Radio Unión, Tocache" and that two frequencies are announced: shortwave 3180 kHz and FM 96.1 MHz. Often music from Tarapoto. Keeps its frequency exactly and has a very regular scheme: 1030-0100 UT. Starts every morning with the programme "El madrugador". Mostly pretty weak signal. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Tocache, cuya capital es Tocache Nuevo. Sus distritos son: Nuevo Progreso, Pólvora, Shunte, Tocache, Uchiza; con una población total de 70,426 hab. 4290-4316v, ex-4346v, Radio Naylamp, Lambayeque, la provincia de Lambayeque, el departamento de Lambayeque. May 2001 - 0130 UT. In SWB 1459 I had Radio Naylamp on 4346v. Sometimes gleam with nice audio but most of the time buried in humming audio -- following the station all the time. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Lambayeque, cuya capital es Lambayeque. Sus distritos son: Chochope, Illimo, Jayanca, Lambayeque, Mochumí, Mórrope, Motupe, Olmos, Pacora, Salas, San José, Túcume; con una población total de 220,105 hab. 5370.27 // 6265.31 unID "Radio Panamericána", unknown QTH (Peru). May 2001 - 1120 UT. See comment at 6265.31 kHz. 5851.92 ex-6816.81, LV de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba, la provincia de Huancabamba, el departamento de Piura. June 1 2001 - 0000 UT. New frequency with good signal but rather lousy audio quality. The DJ mentioned something like "La nueva programación de nuestra emisora...". Remains to see if it is a temporary move. Very irregular station. 6011.32, Radio L.T.C., Juliaca, la provincia de San Román, el departamento de Puno. May 24 2001 - 2305 UT. Ought to be a new Peruvian, at least on shortwave. I can`t find any MW-station with this name, but perhaps only found on FM. Announces only a frequency in the 49-m band. WRTH actually mentions a Juliaca-station as "F.PL." in the 49-m band, but with another name. Heard this station for the first time this date. The programme consisted of ads, comunicados and sports from Juliaca. Even ads for companies in Arequipa. IDs "Radio L.T.C. desde Juliaca, Perú" or, during the sport programme, "L.T.C. La Transmisión Correcta, el equípo ganador". The DJ said that the station was audible all over Peru on the frequency of 6010. What happened to the listed Radio América in Lima? [more below] Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de San Román, cuya capital es Juliaca. Sus distritos son: Cabana, Cabanillas, Caracoto, Juliaca; con una población total de 164,450 hab. 6265.31 (Harmonic?), unID "Radio Panamericana", unknown QTH (Peru). May 2001. Had this station in SWB 1459. Also heard on the frequency of 5370.27 and I wonder if this is a harmonic from MW? At one occasion heard them say clearly "La nueva señal de...". Chain px? 6915v // 4610v, Radio Cielo, unknown QTH. May 29 2001 - 1130 UT. For the first time I noted this "Flying Dutchman" on two frequencies at the same time! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin June 3, all translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** PERU. 6011.37 30.5 2315 Peru-station which is ex R. América?? Despite reasonable reception I couldn`t get an ID. Started with nx at 2355 but before that a lot of talk. (reception was worse the following night) 2 JOE (John Ekwall, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 3, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) Glenn, More info on R. LTC, Peru, logged by Malm on 6011.32 and John Ekwall, JOE, 6011.37, can be found on 5980 kHz, in "Dateline Bogotá", at http://www.algonet.se/~ahk/Dline96.htm There is also a record of the station in the "Dateline Bogotá" 1997 edition. In 1998, the frequency, actually 5981.5 to be precise, was taken over by Cusco-based R Chaski. In 1994 R América in Lima reactivated their oldtime 49 meter outlet relaying their FM outlet /and occasionally América TV/. The 49 meter relay apparently ceased operation in 1996. For a few records please refer to "Dateline Bogotá" 1994 edition (see 6010.6), and 1996 edition (see 6010.8). Last time I logged them was on Aug 13, 1996. More info on R Apurímac /N.B. accent/ and R Huarmaca, the latter presumably logged by Malm on 2828v, can be found on 5235.5 and 5485.4, respectively, in "Dateline Bogotá", at http://www.algonet.se/~ahk/Dline96.htm R Huarmaca later moved to 5385.2 and 6405.5. See listings in the `97 and `98 editions of "Dateline Bogotá", respectively (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Chris Hambly of Melbourne has just reported hearing Radio Poland on 9540, good sigs // 7165 // 7265 and 6030; the latter was poor level, rest fair to good at 1930 UT in English. It has been many years since I heard Poland in English. Suggest you log it whilst you can. Thanks Chris! (Johno Wright, ARDXC June 2 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 12070, Radio Stantsiya Tikhyi Okean just booms in at 0706 26 May with test tones, than at 0714:58 "Govorit Vladivostok". No parallels found (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. 6150 Superb reception with ID, "This is Radio Singapore International", followed by an RSI jingle. // 9600 very good, except for some mild splash. Heard at 1115 27 May (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVENIA. Actually Radio Slovenija was on shortwave in the past. A old edition of the "Sender & Frequenzen" book shows, that in 1990 a single hour of programming from Radio Novi Sad, Radio Titograd (now Podgorica), Radio Slovenija, Radio Beograd, Radio Sarajevo, Radio Pristina, Radio Skopje and Hrvatska Radio was aired on weekends (Sat and Sun 0700-1100 on 9620 and 21555); furthermore, short news from this station was supposed to go out daily in the evening (from 2100 on 7215, 7240 and 9720). Hard to imagine today: Radio Pristina via Bijeljina... By the way, the English news at 2130 is followed by German. Radio Slovenija broadcasts this English and German news at least since 1993 on the whole FM and MW network of its first program; the primary/original target are holidaymakers in Slovenia, hence this news was in the beginning aired during the holiday season only (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.98, SIBC with a good signal with western music. At 1058 26 May, Radio Hapi Isles ID, and "Good evening to you all", followed by a devotion, and off in mid-sentence at 1102. Following night signed off with full ID and frequencies, NA, and signed off until 0600 tomorrow morning. Good to very good (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Re: DXLD 1-081: SLBC has been using this name [R. Sri Lanka] for its foreign service for at least the last couple of years. I noticed it in September 1999 and subsequently updated the audio clip on my website http://www.intervalsignals.com at that time (Dave Kernick, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Fritz Groothues is well-known to me since BBC WS closed its German service. Hardly surprising to see his name popping up again. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In 1-080 we missed the original posting about the `updated` BBCWS listing of NAm relayers: The BBC has added a new feature to their web site (or at least one I was previously unaware of) that actually shows what times BBC programs are broadcast on what stations, and what programs are broadcast. The page for North America is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/americas/radio/alaska_1.shtml Unfortunately, they haven't done the same for Australia and New Zealand; all they get is a list of stations with no indication of how much programming they can expect to hear (Ralph Brandi, swprograms via DXLD) BBC Online is a separate department from World Service. The people making the pages work for Online, not World Service. So for an update to have happened this fast, someone at a very senior level must have been involved to get it prioritised. That`s very encouraging because it shows that they're taking seriously all the complaints they've had. I now suggest that all those of you living in areas not covered adequately by programming on partner stations write in and point this out, citing their own listings as evidence. All this fantasising about being in touch with royalty is very amusing to us Brits, but you really are clutching at straws if you think that any senior member of the British Royal Family will ever know you have written to them :-) At the very best, you will receive a polite acknowledgment from one of the hundreds of staff who handle day to day matters, thanking you for your letter and promising it will be dealt with through the appropriate channels. The old- fashioned version of an automated reply :-) And even if you did manage to get through to one of them, under the British constitution the Royal Family have absolutely no means of influencing what happens at the BBC, except when it involves coverage of themselves. Far be it from me to discourage anyone, but this discussion is moving into the surreal (Andy Sennitt, Holland, swprograms via DXLD) std disclaimer: Although I work for Radio Netherlands, I am participating here on an individual basis. Opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Radio Netherlands. It seems from some of the postings to this list that BBC World Service will continue to be available on SW to at least parts of North America and Australasia after 1 July. If 5975 from Antigua remains basically unaffected, then those of you in Eastern North America ought still to be able to enjoy many good programmes from the BBC. In my very limited experience of BBC SW reception in North America (limited to St Petersburg, Orlando and Washington DC), I found that 5975 was so good in Florida during the evening that I didn't even need to concern myself with any other frequency. As for Washington DC, where I was precisely one year ago, well, my reception was inhibited by the steel-framed nature of the Renaissance Mayflower hotel, so much so that I might just as well have left my SW radio back home in Wembley Park, England, from where I write this. In Europe we faced a similar situation some years ago when VOA decided, for better or worse, that we were not relevant to them. However, for large parts of the day we can still hear VOA on SW frequencies targeted at other places - sometimes with excellent signals. On top of that, VOA can be heard in parts of Europe - though not here - on medium-wave transmitters placed at strategic locations, and there is the good old Astra satellite (admittedly not useable portably, requiring a 60-centimetre dish pointing south). Nonetheless we Europeans have overcome the problems caused by the VOA's decision, and I am sure you lot in North America will do the same. Sorry, but can`t comment about the situation in Australasia (Paul David, England, swprograms via DXLD) New website to fight BBCWS`s decision to end shortwave: http://www.savebbc.org (thanks to Ralph Brandi) (International Radio Report June 3 via Ricky Leong, via DXLD) Evidently set up by Brandi. Typically, from reading this you would never know of the extensive coverage we have given this matter in DXLD (gh) ** U K / GERMANY [and non]. Re: INDIA. There are two cases of multiple site operation on shortwave in Europe, too, which are not widely known; I assume that in both cases the involved transmitters do not simply operate co-channel but are indeed synchronized, because no hets or echoes occur. Various BBC channels originate from more than one site, not so frequently like in previous years when 9410/12095/15070 were mostly on air from at least two of the UK sites, but there are still various cases: 5875 0000-0130 Skelton and Rampisham; 6195 2000-2200 Rampisham and Cyprus; 7325 0300-0400 Skelton and Rampisham; 9410 0300-0500 Skelton and Woofferton; 9635 1130-1200 Skelton and Rampisham; 9825 0445-0600 Skelton and Rampisham; 15325 1130-1200 Rampisham (two transmitters) and Woofferton; 17640 0700-1500 Skelton and Woofferton. It is also hardly known that the 6075 channel of Deutsche Welle originates at times not only from Wertachtal but also from Sines; the HFCC file suggests that Sines transmits on 6075 currently 1800-0630 (Wertachtal is on 24 hours of course). During winter 6 MHz from Wertachtal of course skips over Central Europe at night but currently we get at night a mixture of both signals, indeed resulting in this somewhat hollow sound which is typical for synchronized networks on mediumwave, too (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I had Tom and Darryl on WBCQ 7415 kHz last night. Later around 0730 I tuned in and found 7415 was still transmitting. The content consisted of old 1930's and/or early 1940's songs. I sampled again at about 0830 and heard the same songs. At the top-of-the-hour 1000 I heard the program end and Allen Weiner announce that WBCQ was now closing down for the evening. I have never heard 7415 transmitting that long before now. Somehow I managed to forget the name of the old music program that was mentioned at the end of the show at 1000. It was something like "Music in the Madison Way" with Dave Madison. The name might be wrong but whatever it is I do not see it listed in the http://wbcq.net program schedule. That schedule looks out of date (Pete Costello, NJ, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SPECIAL EVENT (Promoting Amateur Radio). Peter/W1DAD and Jeanne/K1MOM Schipelliti will activate the special 1-by-1 callsign "K1D" now through June 17th to promote getting children into amateur radio and remind all operators to participate in "Kid's Day" on June 16th. Look for K1D on 28350, 21380, 14270, 7230 and 3895 kHz. QSL via W1DAD or direct to: 7 Dearborn Ridge Rd, Atkinson, NH 03811, USA. For more info on Kid's Day check out the Web page: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html (OPDX June 4 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. AFRTS Key West FL, 12689,5 brev direkt från Key West, v/s David W Flight, Technical Director. Adress: Box 9045, NAS Boca Chica, Key West, Florida 33040-9045 (Lars Skoglund, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 3 via DXLD) Got a verie letter direct from above address (gh) ** VANUATU. 7260.00 Radio Vanuatu 0630 June 3 in English. Drum beats at 0630, then local messages and weather read at 0632 by a man. IDs given by man at 0650 and at the top of the hour at 0700, at which time a religious program began. Signal greatly improved over the time period, being virtually overcome with static crashes at the beginning, to extremely audible at 0706. 73, (Mark J. Fine / mark.fine@fineware-swl.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last I heard, Mark was in Virginia, but he does not like to make this clear (gh) ** VANUATU. 7260, Radio Vanuatu in Bislama at 1043 26 May. Good to very good. Reggae music. Wiped out at 1100 by Radio Thailand IS and ID in English, into a Vietnamese program (Walt Salmaniw, Grayland WA DXpedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 4830.03, Radio Táchira now back with full effect (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin June 3, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ###