DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-087, June 26, 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] Final editing touch-up of the following DXLDs was finally completed at 2330 UT June 24. Several cross-references to future issues also inserted. Those republishing any items from these are urged to redownload fixed versions if it not be too late: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1082.txt http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1083.txt http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1084.txt http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1085.txt http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1086.txt ** BELARUS. The name of the FM station in Minsk on 99.5 MHz is not Radio Baranovskiy, but Radio UNISTAR. However, the name of the station's director is Pavel Baranovskiy; he also appears on the station as DJ Pasha. His programme is on the air Mon-Fri 0800-1000 UT. The Russian OM apparently misunderstood "PAVEL Baranovskiy" for "RADIO Baranovskiy". As suggested in DX_BISTRO today, 10268 kHz looks like the second harmonic of 5134 kHz. This is one of regular frequencies used by a (presumed) military broadcasting unit in the Minsk area for random relays of local FM signals (occasionally also sat-relays of Russian stns). 73, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 25, harmonics@yahoogroups.com via DXLD ** BELGIUM. See SWITZERLAND ** BOLIVIA. Breve Historial de Radio MALKU [MALLKU, isn`t it? -gh] La misma pertenece a la Organización FRUTCAS; esta sigla significa Federación Regional Única de Trabajadores Campesinos del Altiplano Sud, que afilia a organizaciones de provincias campesinas de Nor Lipez, Antonio Quijarro, Daniel Campos, Enrique Baldiviezo y Sud Lipez. Hace 10 años atrás se inicia con el estudio y la elaboración del proyecto, preparación del personal, técnicos y reporteros comunales, con el apoyo económico de una ONG, de la Ayuda Obrera Suiza, y hace cinco años se plasma en realidad la instalación de la emisora, la que es inaugurada con bombos y platillos de la música nativa original. La Radio nace con algunos objetivos fundamentales, el de concientizar a nivel sindical, formar líderes hombres y mujeres, fortalecer la organización, informar a todas las comunidades de la región, orientar, educar y capacitar a las bases de FRUTCAS, potenciar a la organización, convertir a un movimiento obrero popular, impulsar la participación de la mujer, promover la recuperación de nuestra cultura, idioma, vestimenta, música, costumbres, entretener, dar voz a las comunidades, ser democrática y participativa, luchar por una nueva sociedad con justicia e igualdad para todos, ser auto sostenible y ser comunitaria y participativa. La Radio se fundó en Junio de 1997, por el lapso de medio año funcionó de manera experimental hasta conseguir la Licencia de Funcionamiento de la Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones y bautizada como Radio A.N.D.E.S.. Pero existiendo otra emisora de nombre Los Andes, ésta se quejó por lo que cambiaron al nombre de MALKU dando valor a esta palabra de campo, que representa en sus comunidades a una autoridad llamado Malku dentro de sus costumbres; también Malku significa ``Cóndor``, de sobrevolar el cielo azul por lo que al igual que la Radio viaja por el aire con sus transmisiones. Habiéndose consolidado por la frecuencia de 4.795 kHz en la banda de 60 metros. Actualmente la programación se desarrolla en dos turnos: de 05,30 a 09,00 y de 17,00 a 20,30, en ambos casos hora de Bolivia. Tiene dos técnicos y dos locutores. Una instalación de 300 m2. compuesta por auditorio, sala de espera, de locución, transmisión, dos ambientes para trabajos de oficina, todo esto en la localidad de Uyuni. Posee la emisora un transmisor de un kilowatt de potencia; funciona a transistores; antena de 20 mts. de altura. (Juan Carlos Buscaglia, Capitán Bermúdez, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Above sounds rather familiar and may be reprise of old story? (gh) ** BOLIVIA, BRAZIL: see PERU... ** BULGARIA? 6900, Eurosonor Radio, thank you ltr from V/S Christian Schmid, officially at radio@eurosonor.de although reply actually came via omu46@seznam.cz Schmid said he was located in Frankfurt. Website is http://www.eurosonor.de/radio Admitted he was not sure of the exact xmtr location, but Bulgaria is "possible." Arrived in one day. (David Foster, Australia, NU June 24 via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. MYANMAR [not] I have to correct myself regarding DVB on 17805-Madagascar from 1430. The program is there with a one or two second delay as compared to Kvitsøy, Norway on 15405. The signal is very weak and the carrier is unstable, so does not appear to be one of the big Madagascar txers. [see BC-DX #525, mornings 200 kW, BRM night 50 kW. 17805 is like a St. Helena txion, very very poor signal here in Stuttgart, ed] 15405 still rather weak at 1430 due to poor short distance propagation from presumed Norwegian site (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jun 19) I checked 17805-MDG again today at 1430 but could not trace DVB here. I hear IRIB in Chinese close down at 1427 and then nothing, but strong splash from VOA 17810 s-on 1430 doesn`t help. Kvitsøy 15405 was a poor signal today at 1430 s-on, and being almost overwhelmed by D. Welle Kigali 15410 in Amharic. The Observer schedule lists 17485 as 50 kW so I assume that is still in use on new 17805 - but it used to close-down at 1455. So what have we been hearing after 1455 in sync with 15405? (Noël R. Green, Jun 20, BC-DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. This is what I found on the RCI website today June 24, posted on June 21. Pay close attention to the wording of this release... (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) APPOINTMENT OF NEW GENERAL MANAGER AT RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL After nearly 25 years with the CBC, Robert (Bob) O'Reilly, Executive Director of Radio Canada International and International Relations, has announced that he will be retiring from the Corporation. Mr O`Reilly has been replaced by Denis Doucet, appointed as General Manager of RCI. Prior to this appointment, Denis was General Manager, Resources and Operations, CBC French Radio. He has broad management and development experience at the Corporation, in both Radio (where he spent most of his CBC career) and Television. Mr Doucet is now in charge of all RCI activities, and one of his main tasks will be to revise the mandate and operations of the service. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that RCI can live up to the challenges of a modern international broadcasting system and fit in with the Corporation`s international strategy (via Ricky Leong, QU, DXLD) As I won`t be around most of Tuesday, here`s a quick reminder that I will be on Canada Today Tuesday evening, 9 to 10 PM Eastern (Wednesday 0100 to 0200 UT) on Radio Canada International (5960 and 9755 kHz, probably the best in North America) discussing the activities of the Save BBC coalition with Wojtek Gwiazda. I`ll be in studio, live. It should kick off the second half-hour of the show. Hope you can be tuned in (Sheldon Harvey, QE, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn: RCI is back polluting the lower part of the 19 mb at 0030 UT June 25. It`s coming from 15170. What is the name of the Canadian radio regulatory agency? I wish to file a complaint about this. This is getting annoying. Thanks for all your help (-David Hodgson, TN) David, The noise level seems a little high generally on 19m, but lots of signals are getting through, and I do not notice any modulation spikes correlating with 15170. Wonder if you do, or how it is clear that 15170 is culprit. RCI has other problems at the moment, such as http://www.rcinet.ca being hacked from Brasil. And only one person is at Montreal studios, since their weekend cutbacks. I suppose it would be the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission, or something like that, responsible, generally known as CRTC. You might also try phoning Sackville plant, which according to my old phone list is 506-536-2690. Let me know what happens. 73, Glenn Very much so; that`s how I know it`s that freq. It is a broadband type of QRM, spreading over 100 kc both ways but heavier on the lower side. At first it completely wiped out Alfa Lima, which was coming through well. Now I`m hearing ALI with the QRM in the background. Present on both rxs and all antennas. This is bad as that Colombian station on 49 meters has been. I noticed the RCI website was hacked when I tried earlier today (-David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is something strangely comforting and consistent about the folks at Sackville fouling up shortwave transmissions. This hasn`t changed one iota with July 1 less than a week away. I`ve noted significantly muffled audio and distortion on [BBC] 9515 and 6175 the last few days. I wonder if anyone else is experiencing this. I don`t suppose there`s any incentive for Sackville technicians to correct this (John Figliozzi, June 25, swprograms via DXLD) Station with pop music announced in English, turned out to be R. Sweden heard on 3210 until 0345* UT June 25; evidently a Sackville mixing product with DW 9535 which closes at 0345? (George Thurman, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tuned in too late to hear it, about 0346, just splash from WWCR 3215. AAMOF, Spain/Costa Rica 3210 unheard too; wonder if they have moved or earlied closing again. Sackville relay of Sweden at 0300-0400 is on 11895, and 9535 does not compute. However: 15105, another DW English frequency at 0300-0345, works out nicely as 15105 minus 11895 equals 3210! Trouble is, all current A-01 schedules I have checked show 15105 is via Bonaire, not Sackville, so I asked Andy Sennitt if on this date, temporarily or permanently, Sackville is substituting for Bonaire? (Glenn Hauser) Glenn, I can confirm that 15105 DW should not be listed as a transmission from Bonaire. There are no longer any DW relays via Bonaire, and I should have deleted them. So the mixing product theory appears sound. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. [Originally posted on WOR Anomaly page while still in effect:] June 23, 1545 PDT: The RCI website has been hacked. If you check it out you get a wallpaper shot come up and the men_in_hack address which originates in Brazil. Now the fun part. Just called RCI to let them know. Guess what? It's the weekend. There is ONE person in the whole station. A guy pushing the buttons to make sure the pre- recorded material go out! He's going to try to get hold of someone to let them know (Sheldon Harvey, Montreal, swprograms via WOR Anomaly Alert page, DXLD) That was posted at 2245 UT June 23. The hack site at http://www.rcinet.ca was still up at 0000 UT Sunday June 24. Eric Cooper also tipped on this. Includes Chinese characters -- Glenn São 0218 TU; estou saindo da internet agora e a página da RCI continua hackeada; será que ninguem notou isso no suporte da Radio Canadá? 73s (Djaci Franklin Silva, Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Eh pessoal, Um hacker de computador auto-denominador de MIH, man in hack, email: men_in_hack@yahoo.com.br, conseguiu ontem a noite por varias horas substituir a página da Radio Canadá Internacional, por outra página, não ofensiva moralmente, apenas colocou a foto da personagem do filme MATRIX como tema principal na tela. A tela ficou muito bonita, com caracteres em chinês, o que adventa a suspeita que êle deve ter tido ajuda de hackers da China neste trabalho. Graças a Glenn Hauser que colocou um aviso aqui na lista, consegui capturar a tela para comprovar o fato para outros DXistas. Quem quiser ver como estava a página da Radio Canada, é só me pedir que eu envio os arquivos em formato JPG. 73s (Djaci Franklin, Salvador - BA, radioescutas via DXLD) Djaci and/or someone on swprograms found RCI page restored by 0600 UT (gh, DXLD) ** CHILE. See PERU... ** CONGO DR. 5066 & 6828, R. Bunia, off the air for quite some time, but Jun 23 it was heard around 1550 in vernacular, 1602 anmt and ID in FR as R. Bunia, then again in vernacular and 1605 [sign off?] after NA. Poor reception. And also on 6828 at 2025 in FR with reports on local events and off at 2043 after NA. Poor, but much better than previously heard (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, NU via DXLD) ** CROATIA. Hi all, Received this from Croatia confirming that there is currently no English broadcasts to Europe. Apologies for delay in posting as I was away on holiday. 73 (Alan Roe, UK, DXLD) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ivana Jadresic" Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 10:37 AM Subject: Re: Croatian Radio Schedule Dear Mr. Roe, Unfortunately we do not broadcast any more English news for Europe audience. Our schedule for short-wave program Voice of Croatia has not yet been completed. Our news bulletin in English we broadcast at the beginning of our short-wave program Voice of Croatia, after the identification sound and our announcement in Croatian language. You can hear such words as: Croatian radio-Voice of Croatia-The news...approximately four minutes after our identification at the beginning of our two hour program. The same we repeat at the end of our program, news in English and Spanish. We hope, you`ll enjoy our program. Please find enclosed our time and frequency schedule. Kind regards, Ivana Jadresic, editor-in-chief VOICE OF CROATIA: UTC kHz SOUTH AMERICA 23.00-00.59 9925 NORTH AMERICA EAST 01.00-02.59 9925 NORTH AMERICA WEST 03.00-04.59 9925 NEW ZEALAND 05.00-06.59 9470 AUSTRALIA 07.00-08.59 13820 (via Alan Roe, UK, June 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYRPUS: Re DXLD 1-086, plans for IBB MW station here. I assume the IBB will replace the 1260 kHz installation at Archanguelos-Rhodes island and move that MW channel to Cyprus isl., because the SW facility on same Rhodes place nearby, just across the bay was closed on August 18th, 1998 already. Very golden sandy beach coast line was handed over back to the Greek govt. Would be a fine place for holiday accommodation resort. I saw this 1260 Rhodes two mast construction, on air towards 134 degrees, during my holiday trip to Archanguelos beach in 1987 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) Glenn, as far as I remember, the name of the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus is Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I confirm that no countries have recognised this republic, except Turkey itself (Fernando de Sousa Ribeiro, Oporto, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) gh`s country designations should not be taken as reflecting any official policy but his own ;-) (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Netsanet Le Ethiopia Radio can be heard every Wednesday and Sunday from 17.00 to 18.00 UTC on 12.110 MHz. Programs are beamed towards Ethiopia and are in Amharic. More information about the organization can be found at http://www.netsanet.com (TDP- BEL, June 24, 2001). ---------------------------------------------------- TDP Tel : +32 33 14 78 00 c/o Ludo Maes Mob : +32 477 477 800 P.O. Box 1 Fax : +32 33 14 12 12 2310 Rijkevorsel E-mail : info@transmitter.org BELGIUM Web : http://www.broadcast.be ---------------------------------------------------- ** GUATEMALA. 4052 [sic – rounded, or no more point 5? -gh], Radio Verdad, June 23 0308-0325, Woman ancr w/ Spanish religious talk & bits of instrumental mx. Man w/ complete canned ID & address in English @ 0322, then same man in Spanish. Poor (Don Moore, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEAS. Glenn, I observe that, according to intervalsignals.com`s national section, Guinea Bissau`s radio is called the "Radio Voice of the Military Council". Anyone got any frequencies for this station, please could I have them? [not on SW, anyway -gh] Also, while I think of it, does anyone know what happened to the Internet Guide to International Broadcasting site which was run by Thorsten Koch? I can`t seem to find it. Emails on either subject to dcharries@hotmail.com please. Best 73's, (DXDave [Harries], Bristol, England, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Indonesian cultural information: For people who would like to add some cultural background to their receptions of Indonesia, here are four pieces of information that may be useful. (1) If you are ever likely to be in the Netherlands around the present time of the year, the Pasar Malam Besar in Den Haag is worth a visit. It runs for about 10 days. Actual dates, and explanations of what it is and what is going on each year, can be found via the web site of the organisation that runs it (main page tongtong.denhaag.org/index.htm, or /pmb.htm for just the event [typo? I can't call it up--JB]). It's annoying that my schedule this year makes it impossible for me to be there, but I'll be back in 2002. (2) The best single book on the connections between the East Indies and the Dutch (or at least the Dutch who were thinking when they were there) is "Mirror of the Indies" by Rob Nieuwenhuys. This is a good English translation of "Oost-Indische Spiegel." It is part of what is apparently a series of books on the Netherlands Indies published by the University of Massachusetts Press; they are probably all worth a look, especially one by Edgar Du Perron (translation of "Het Land van Herkomst," not a star-quality translation, but serviceable). The other two pieces of information are smaller. (3) Pentjak silat is an important part of Indonesian culture, and the web page http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~tellner/magdasil.html does a reasonable job of explaining it. (4) Finally, back on the subject of books, for my money the best Indonesian writer and novelist, who tells you a lot about the general cultural background without apparently trying to, is Pramoedya Ananta Toer. It's worth looking for anything accessible that he has written. Now that he is back in Java after being held on Buru island for 30+ years thanks to Mr. Suharto, he is getting to be better known outside Indonesia, and I think there are some new projects (maybe some already published) for English translations. (John Campbell, England, NU via DXLD) ** IRAN [non?]. This morning I heard the noise Noel R Green from the UK described in DXLD # 1-083, as "an old piston aircraft at full rev" (good description). He reported it at 1400 on the 30th of May, on various frequencies, but specifically listed the range of 15070- 15115. I noted the same type of noise at very high volume from 15065 to 15100 @ 0255 on UT Sunday June 24. It lasted only about 5 or 10 minutes. It seemed to be centered near that strong Mid-Eastern station on 15084 (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. 0200 UT Radio Iraq International 11785 using S-AM [? - gh] news in English with ID at 0200 till 0206 then some Arabic music. 0208 UTC another ID 'Huna Baghdad" Radio Iraq Intl very good reception and the IDS are plentiful. 26th June 2001 (Tony Berry, Burlington, Ontario, ICOM R-75, Eavesdropper, ODXA via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. RKI hopes to add relays via Canada in the North American evening early next year (RKI Multiwave Feedback June 24 in response to a question from Tom Kuca, NY, notes by gh for DXLD) No doubt taking up some abandoned BBC or RCI transmitter usage; it`s about time. Listeners have been asking for this for years. Han remarked that 1130 UT is too early for the EDT zone, however -- 7:30 am is too early now? (gh) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from RUSSIA? to KURDISTAN. 12105 NF. Dengi Mesopotania heard 1545 while a female voice reading commentary in Kurdish followed by the 4 languages sign-off ID at 1558* June 22. S5~6 on clear parallel 15770 (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Noted the Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan on a new 5850 kHz today (some weeks ago they were on 5860). Nx in Arabic at 1802, ID at 1809 as: "Huna Sawt-ul Kurdistan-il Iraq". 19th issue of Signal can be found at: http://listen.to/dxsignal or, directly: http://members.v3space.com/estrella/signalen.htm Come and enjoy! 73s, (Dmitri Mezin, Kazan, Russia, June 25, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MALI. 9634 R. Mali Bamako, 1418-1434 in French with an Afropops program, 34443. QRM being adjacent only (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX-Window Jun 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) That is the 3rd log of RTM Bamako I noted in the recent DX press, so it seems the stn is back on 31 mb after two years? absence (ed. BCDX) Hi Vlad, your MALI 9635 report is the 4th log worldwide I have seen in past two weeks. Also observed in South Africa and AUS/NZL too. And also in our mornings. Was scheduled in the 80s at 0800-1800, also on 11960. Though here in Stuttgart I hear only BBC Zyyggi in Russian at 1710 UT, 359 degrs 250 kW, and Finland 500 kW powerhouse 9630 also towards Canaries. From 1740 onwards - til 1800, a second stn appeared under BBC, but no definite ID, only spoken words on very poor level, final music before 1800 UT. More CNR stn type program. Kind regards de (wolfy DF5SX to Titarev via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América has changed its frequency from 4813 to 4870 (Héctor García Bojorge, México DF, Jun 24, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) ** MEXICO. ARBITRON announced today that, beginning this SEPTEMBER, it will conduct syndicated radio audience measurement services for MEXICO CITY broadcasters, advertisers, and agencies. MEXICO CITY will be the first syndicated radio measurement conducted by ARBITRON outside the UNITED STATES. Broadcasters that have signed long-term commitments include GRUPO ACIR, IMAGEN TELECOMUNICACIONES, MVS RADIO, NUCLEO RADIO MIL, and ORGANIZACION RADIO FORMULA (June 25 allaccess.com radio "web trade" via Brock Whaley, GA, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. 9290.14, Mike Radio, 0530 June 24, Test transmission of 1 kW TX. Caught ID @ 0530, mentioned power output of TX during test (about 800 watts) @ 0643. Heard the song "Super Freak" by Rick James @ 0653. E-mail address given @ 0607. Another ID @ 0627, then caught last ID @ 0700. Could still hear audio @ 0728, but too weak to understand. Signal strength was good for quite a while, but modulation was weak. SIO: 333 (at peak) Slight upward TX drift, about .1 kc over 90 minutes. Het sounded very clean. Surprised that I could copy ID as late as 0700, on 32 meters, from Europe in the summer (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Hi Glenn, A new Dutch MW station has announced its start for 9 July 2001. They call themselves Radio 192, but will be on air on 1332 kHz (formerly used by Radio Nationaal). The transmitter is located at Lopik, in the central province of Utrecht. The station will be run by a number of people who used to work for the off-shore station Radio Veronica in the 60s and 70s. They also staged a 10-day come-back on 1224 kHz in August 1999 (Hans Hulswit, The Netherlands (24/6-2001), via Ydun M. Ritz, Denmark, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND: Re: ``However, this is a broadcaster in deep crisis and starved of resources and innovative thinking for too long. (David Ricquish, May NZ DX Times via DXLD, Jun 12)`` I have finally found the time to comment on the article (above) from the NZ DX Times. The writer certainly portrays Radio New Zealand in the poorest possible light. What a pity he didn`t come and say "hello" to us before he wrote his piece. Yes, the audio streaming of Radio New Zealand has finished after the contract with a private provider was not renewed. The reasons for that were well publicised a couple of months ago and they included copyright issues and the fact that RNZ is not funded for Internet streaming, only for "conventional" broadcasting. This issue has not yet been resolved, but many of Radio NZ`s programmes can now be accessed from the main Radio NZ site: http://www.radionz.co.nz Also the latest Radio NZ News and Current Affairs programmes can be heard there. On the copyright issue, even ABC Australia has had problems. The Sydney Olympics and test cricket commentaries are examples of events that I understand they have not been allowed to put on the Internet. All RNZI transmissions are streamed on the net, but not their National Radio relays. An FM station in American Samoa now relays RNZI news in English and Samoan, accessed that way. These transmissions can be found at http://www.rnzi.com The demolition of Broadcasting House in Wellington a few years ago was initially a blow, but the landlord (the NZ Government) wanted the site for a controversial expansion of the parliamentary complex next door. The expansion never took place due a public outcry over the cost, but that was after RNZ had moved. RNZ would have preferred to stay in the old building, but there was a silver lining to that dark cloud. By forcing RNZ out several years before the lease was due to expire, the government had to fund the move to the new premises and this allowed the purchase of new state of the art studio equipment. Radio NZ has indeed shut down local studios in the past due to budgetary problems, but has not completely lost touch with these communities. National Radio's afternoon programme "In Touch With New Zealand" has regular slots where local identities [sic] tell of events and happenings in their areas. Not many transmitters have been switched off (only two come to mind immediately, Taupo and Greymouth) and those that have been have been AM transmitters that were replaced by FM ones giving better coverage and fidelity. Also National Radio and Concert FM are now available via the "Sky TV" digital satellite service, making reception possible anywhere in the country. So coverage is better than it ever has been! As for RNZ being a broadcaster in "deep crisis and starved of resources and innovation", I am unaware of any of those problems in my daily work, an example being that we have recently replaced most of our studio equipment in Auckland where I am; in fact I would say that morale is high and we are in good heart. A fuller and more detailed explanation of the state of Radio New Zealand at present was published in the April 2001 edition of "Studio Sound" magazine. This article can be found at: http://www.studio-sound.com/archive/apr01/fac_nz.html (Barry Hartley, NZ, Jun 24 via Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935, ZLXA, for the present time staying with this as the only SW fqy, //1602 MW. "I do not see that changing for some time." (Brian Stokoe, ZLXA, May 23, via DX-Window) So 7290 apparently off (NU via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Glenn, Radio Nacional de Paraguay 9735.50 kHz, 23 Jun 2001, 2320-2359 UT in Spanish. Female announcer played great Latin music while (apparently) hosting listener call ins. Clear station ID at 2355 and 2358 by a male. Clobbered at 2359 UT when HCJB came on 9745 kHz. I was able to filter out HCJB with the passband tuning and listened till 0100 UT but the signal was just plain muddy (Rich Skoba, New Jersey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Said nothing about quake? (gh) ** PERU. 5646 kHz, Radio COREMARCA, escuchada el 01.05.01; Jr. Jaime de Martínez, Bambamarca, Perú; Director Sr. Virgilio Carranza Tello, confirmó con QSL por e mail a los 49 días, manifestando que la emisora es una pequeña Radio, de línea educativa. Promete enviar más detalles por correo tradicional (Juan Carlos Buscaglia, Capitán Bermúdez, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU/BOLIVIA/BRAZIL/CHILE. TERREMOTO en Peru, Bolivia, Chile: Most of the following was posted early UT June 24 at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Anomaly.html [Henrik Klemetz = HK -- first, re Brazil, DXLD 1-086:] Very fast reporting (as usual). My compliments. You are of course right on A Voz do Brasil. However, what the radioescutas are worried about is not A Zona do Silêncio (earlier: A Hora do Silêncio), but rather the Sat night DX show, Encôntro DX, on R Aparecida. As it turned out, this long-awaited program was once again disposed of tonight. This led someone to check R Fides, on 6155, see report by Caio Fernandes Lopes, where they mention a heavy earthquake hitting La Paz. Must be serious, as I cannot get any Bolivian internet links right now. Too bad that conditions seems worse than last night when I did hear R Fides about this time. 73 HK 2315 UT June 23 Glenn, I tuned in to Fides, and heard them talking about "centenares de casas destruídas en Arequipa", so I started looking elsewhere. Meanwhile, this arrived by e-mail. /HK 2350 UT [Peruvian news site] http://www.adonde.com and go to the Flash. Arequipa was nearest the epicenter offshore, and large parts of Bolivia and northern Chile were also hit. Voz Cristiana, 21550, is heard as normal with presumable Miami program feed at 0015 UT Sunday tho seemed to go off around 0030. Should be interesting to monitor Andean SW stations tonight, if possible (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Before checking 6155, I noticed briefly, at 2330, that R Aparecida was in fact on the air again, having closed earlier tonight at 2210 (actually, all three frequencies seemed active, so the radioescutas protest seems to have done the trick). R Santa Cruz, .2 kHz lower in frequency, was into preliminaries of San Juan celebrations, and so I thought that the quake had not hit the Eastern plains of Bolivia. On Fides, finally, I heard that Arequipa and surroundings (in Peru) seemed to have been hit harder than Bolivia. There are various Peruvian internet sources available, and RPP, to name just one, is on as usual in Real Audio. /HK 0006 UT June 24 And a note just received from Pedro F. Arrunátegui in Lima: NOTA: en estos momentos todo los radioaficionados estamos en la cadena de socorro a raíz del terremoto que se ha se presentado con un grado de 6.3 [later upgraded to 7.9 -gh], se ha localizado a 82 kilómetros frente al mar de Moquegua, ha afectado al sur de Ica, Moquegua, Arequipa y Tacna. Este movimiento se ha presentado a las 15:30 horas de Perú. [2030 UT June 23 Saturday] (WOR Anomaly Alert, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. To RRI Bucarest - This is to tell you that when listening to your English broadcast this Friday morning at 0600-0657 on 15180 I noticed extreme spurious signals about plus/minus 200 kHz. So I advise you to check that transmitter. Furthermore, I noted that 11940 kHz was not on the air at that time - which I had expected (Erik Køie, Denmark, Radio Denmark, OZ3YI, Jun 22, BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Again this Friday morning (June 22) I heard the Russian Radio Rossi transmission on 17266 USB between 0800 and 0900. It is on the air Tues and Fris. Do you happen to know the tx location? (Erik Køie, Denmark, OZ3YI, Jun 22, BC-DX via DXLD) I heard the same R Rossii news program on 17266 (USB) June 22 at *0800-0810. It was followed at 0810 by R Murmansk local nx in Russian for 7 minutes during which the word Murmansk was mentioned TEN times including two IDs. After some ads e.g. on tourist tours from Murmansk to Bulgaria, at 0820-0900 Radio Stantsiya Atlantika in Murmansk (acc. to the ID at 0820) was broadcast with a cultural program to Russians at sea. 35444. I have asked Mikhail Timofeyev about the location, but to me there is no doubt that the programme is produced in Murmansk. Mikhail answered today: "Unfortunately, I do not have any exact information about 17266 tx. I think it is located in Murmansk or near this city. By the way, this program is usually on parallel 5930 too. It seems to me 5930 and 17266 have one and the same location." (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DX Window dswci Jun 22 via BC-DX via DXLD) 26 June 2001. Russia. Murmansk Radio. 17266 kHz USB. Tune in at 0818, very strong signal and nice audio for whole broadcast here in Newcastle, North East UK, received on portable Sangean ATS803A. Commercial advertising from Murmansk area, then 0820 interval signal from Radiostantsiya Atlantika, no ID, though. Long talks separated by 5 or 6 music breaks, lots of mentions of Murmansk and Atlantika and at 0858 ID, Radiostantsiya Atlantika, Murmansk. Audio faded down at 0859, 1 minute silence, then time pips for 0900 and about one second of audio from next program before transmitter abruptly off (Harry Brooks, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non non]. Re: I just received a QSL card from V of Russia for their English txion on 11500 at 1500, saying the txion originated from Xi'an, China. HFCC show this txion coming from Dushanbe-Orzu-TJK (Christos Rigas-IL-USA, DXLD Jun 22) sic - see Irkutsk entry of 1999, 2000, and 2001 season: 11500 1500-1600 43,44,49,54 IRK 100 kW 180 degrees RUS VOR MCB (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So, where in the world is it, Kitty? (gh) ** SCOTLAND. Hi Glenn * UNITED KINGDOM. For those who heard the Scottish transmitters of BBC Radio 4 when Droitwich was off the air, QSL letters are being issued by: BBC Reception Advice, Television Centre, Wood Lane, London, W12 7RJ, England. Bush House will not QSL. Rgds (Graham Bell, Otford, Kent, England, UK, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. Dans un récent courrier électronique, Radio Hargeysa, la Voix de la République de Somaliland m'informe que "par manque d'auditeurs, la diffusion des programmes en français est temporairement suspendue mais devra reprendre sous peu durant le mois de juin 2001. A cette date, les fichiers quotidiens de Radio Hargeysa seront déposés sur le site de la radio http://www.radiohargeysa.com Pour toute correspondance, veuillez adresser vos courriers à l'attention de M. Ali Jama au courrier électronique ci-dessous Jama@radiohargeysa.com (Ali Jama, Radio Hargeysa - 26 mai 2001; les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** SPAIN. RTVE may lay off 2,500 staff | Excerpt from report from Spanish newspaper ABC web site on 26 June Madrid: SEPI [State Industrial Shareholdings Company], which comes under the Ministry of Finance, has now drawn up a draft of the viability plan for RTVE [Spanish Radio and TV]... The proposal, drafted jointly by SEPI and the directorate-general of RTVE, is now the object of intense negotiations with the representatives of the workers, because it involves a major cut in the workforce, which, if implemented, will affect nearly a third of the public corporation's 9,000 workers. To be specific, the layoffs through voluntary redundancy and early retirement will involve 2,500 workers... Source: ABC web site, Madrid, in Spanish 26 Jun 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) As I recall the English section at REE is already short-staffed, so they might lose another one or two (gh, DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND/BELGIUM. The arguments of SRI to abandon shortwave and to focus on the internet and satellite sound familiar and have been rejected massively by shortwave listeners: the transmissions of SRI are available via the satellite to a majority of the target audience, especially in Europe. A second argument is the ever-widening accessibility to the internet. And the third argument, for the station, not for the listeners, is the high cost of shortwave transmissions. This caused the great anger of a French DXer, president of the Auvergne Radio DX Club. He wrote to SRI to say that it was a scandal that the second richest country in the world according to Gross Domestic Product per capita was complaining about high transmission costs, while poor countries like Albania, Armenia, Vietnam and India were broadcasting in French on shortwave. Because that`s something else: with SRI a French speaking voice from Europe will disappear from the shortwave bands. As our French friend says in his letter, published in the French DX magazine ‘À l`Écoute du Monde`: ``the Swiss can learn a lesson from the Belgians who, on February 1 1999 restarted transmissions on shortwave in French. And yet, Belgium is less rich than Switzerland...and at all levels.`` I don`t know what Mr Jean Pierron, that`s the DX Club President`s name, means by `at all levels`, probably something not very nice since he is French, but still, he`s right: RTBF did reverse a decision to stop its transmissions on shortwave and is now back in full force. It should be said that they don`t actually produce programmes themselves in their international service. All transmissions are programmes from domestic stations. The transmitters are in Jülich, Germany. Broadcasts are for Europe and Africa: on 9970 kHz for Europe, that`s at 0400-1715 UT. For Africa the frequencies are 9490 kHz in the early morning, at 0300-0500; 17580 kHz for the morning at 0500-0905, and an hour longer on Saturdays; 21565 kHz at 1000-1205, stopping at 1115 on Saturdays and at 1200 on Sundays; and finally in the evening on 17570 kHz at 1500-1715, beginning an hour earlier, at 1600 on Saturdays (Frans Vossen, RVI Radio World script June 24 via DXLD) ** U K. If you need some more encouragement to continue the fight to convince the BBC to change its mind, read the following comment posted today to the savebbc.org web site: http://www.savebbc.org/news/archives/00000034.html#comments This decision of the BBC is very regrettable. It means that for the first time in almost 70 years of international broadcasting the BBC is excluding whole areas of the world on direct broadcasts. I can understand the thinking that goes behind it. The Internet is costing a lot of money for the reason that we all know very well. The more that the service is used, the more bandwidth that has to be provided and the more it costs. FM and other rebroadcasts are also used as a reason, but as we all know, these are very partial and not really the same as listening to the whole output via the BBC`s own shortwave and other services. A listener who listens to direct services on shortwave, medium wave, satellite or (yes) the Internet is a much more committed listener than one who happens to catch bits of the BBC via a local FM or AM station. The audience figures produced for the US, Canada, Australia etc need to be seen in this context. A listener who listens by direct means is "worth" far more in terms of commitment and attachment to the BBC and what it provides. If I had still been at the BBC I would have opposed this move vehemently. I believe it is misguided and wrong. However there are some factors that do need to be taken into account. As I understand it, services are still likely to be readily available to listeners in all affected regions. When we did the famous "Can You Hear me" exercise about ten years ago, we found that a very large number of listeners in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific were very often using frequencies actually intended for other regions of the world. Many were using European, Asian, African and other frequencies. This will probably still be the case. However, I do urge everyone to keep up the argument. The BBC is very responsive to feedback and takes it very seriously. Write to the BBC, to the local ambassador or high commissioner. And explain the qualities of shortwave - universal availability and all the rest. I actually do not think that it is too late and I very much hope, even at this late stage that the decision can be modified if not entirely reversed. Graham Mytton Head of BBC World Service Audience Research 1982 to 1996 and Controller of Marketing 1996 to 1998 -- (via Ralph Brandi, swprograms June 24, via DXLD) Graham officially retired, but it happened at a time when there was a thoroughgoing purge of the BBCWS research office. Almost all of the research analysts I knew for years were replaced (Kim Elliott, ex VOA Audience Research, ibid.) I have been a long time listener to the BBC World Service. I was also a subscriber to their "London Calling" program guide and its various successors until recently. I do most of my BBC listening while working as a letter carrier. BBC`s Sackville Relay on 9515 was excellent. I had no trouble picking it up on a much abused late 80s Sangean SG-792 with analog tuning. Before the announcement of the frequency cutbacks to North America, I was always hopeful that one day 9515 would be extended past 1630 to 2100 UT. It was quite a pipe dream in retrospect. Some of my favorite programs were "Outlook", "Europe Today", "UK Top 20", "Vintage Chart Show", "Science in Action", "Best of the World", "From our Correspondent", and of course the news bulletins. My least favorite programs were "Westway", and the sport shows. I guess I will start listening to RCI on 9640 after July 1st. Good- bye 9515. :( (Kent Plourde, Bristol, CT, swprograms via DXLD) Dear Glenn, there will be a 1st of July in Europe too, according to the following BBC info regarding "Learning English" broadcasts: ``From 1st July 2001, short-wave transmissions to EUROPE will be discontinued at 1130, 1630 and 2030 GMT. The use of short wave has been falling as listeners have turned to better quality alternatives like the internet, satellite and our growing number of FM partners. In Albania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic some listeners will be able to hear English teaching programmes on FM. If you have access to the internet you`ll be able to continue practising your English with us online. We`ve relaunched our Learning English website which is now packed with resources and practical ways to help you improve your language skills - whatever your level or interest, and of course there`s help for teachers too. You`ll find the site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish `` Best greetings, (Stefano Valianti, Bologna, Italy, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). This from today`s Telegraph posted by John Townes on the topica swprograms list. (Mike Terry) ISSUE 2222 Monday 25 June 2001 Ministers may fight World Service cuts By Tom Leonard, Media Editor THE BBC may face Whitehall pressure to re-think plans to cut World Service broadcasts after protests from listeners. The Foreign Office, which funds the World Service as Britain's international mouthpiece, confirmed that ministers would be discussing the corporation's decision to end short-wave transmissions to North America and Australasia at their next quarterly meeting with BBC executives in August. Although the Foreign Office is reluctant to interfere in the BBC's operational decisions, it said it would be concerned if - as protesters claim - the corporation was jeopardising its role in boosting respect for Britain abroad. Mark Byford, the World Service's director, also faces demands for talks with listeners who have formed a coalition to fight his decision, which will force them to listen to the service either on the internet or via FM re-broadcasts on local radio stations. The protesters accused the BBC of arrogance, saying neither option is satisfactory and they predict the World Service will lose listeners when the shortwave service ends on Sunday. Their views are also understood to be shared privately by many of Mr Byford's staff. The listeners argue that the internet is an expensive way of listening to the radio, is marred by persistent technical problems and forces listeners to sit by their computer. FM re-broadcasts, they claim, are patchy and often provide as little as five minutes a day of World Service output. In a letter sent to Mr Byford last week, the Coalition to Save the BBC World Service said it had been contacted by many listeners "expressing dismay over what had been perceived as the BBC's lack of respect for its loyal listeners in these parts of the world". While listeners on FM have come across the BBC largely by accident and only hear its news programmes, shortwave listeners are "aware of Britain's accomplishments in drama, literature, science, music and many other endeavours". It added: "This coalition was formed out of the strong respect and admiration that its members have for the World Service. It is apprehension over the prospective loss of this valuable resource that has caused us to raise these concerns with you." The BBC refused to comment on the letter before it had passed on its response to the coalition. Mr Byford has argued that the World Service risks decline if it does not adapt to changing listening habits. He said the £500,000 saved by the move - a fraction of this year's £183 million budget - would be reinvested in its internet service and used to improve short-wave transmissions to less developed countries. A Foreign Office spokesman said it had been warned of the BBC's plan in advance but stressed that the corporation could use its budget however it liked "as long as it meets our shared objectives". He added: "The World Service remains a vital tool in contributing to the respect of Britain abroad and we'd want to see it continuing in that objective. If there was anything to suggest they were not fulfilling that objective it would be a matter to discuss." (via Mike Terry, June 25, BDXC-UK via DXLD) If you go to http://edm.ais.co.uk and click on EDMS list you will see that Austin Mitchell has put down a Parliamentary early day motion on the forthcoming BBCWS cuts. He will now be inviting other MP's to sign it. As you can read on the website, these motions don`t get debated but draw attention to an issue particularly if a large number of MP's sign them. When that happens the press tends to pick it up and report it. Austin Mitchell is Labour MP for Great Grimsby, was a TV news reporter before he became an MP (Mike Barraclough, UK, June 25, swprograms via DXLD) [BDXC-UK] Parliamentary Motion on BBCWS cuts Austin Mitchell M.P. has now tabled an Early Day Motion on the cuts. I am in touch with Ralph Brandi of savebbc.org and he is delighted with the wording of the motion. The Associated Press story Mike Terry posted has gone global as well. You can support the campaign by writing to your MP and asking him/her to sign this motion; address is House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Check the savebbc.org website; there is a supportive comment now up there from Graham Mytton, former head of BBC audience research. Copy of the motion plus message Ralph posted to the swprograms group below. (Mike Barraclough) Early Day Motion 26 of Session 01/02, tabled 22.06.2001 BBC World Service Transmissions to North America And Australasia Mr Austin Mitchell That this House is strongly concerned that well over a million devoted listeners to BBC World Service will be abandoned on 1st July by the BBC's ill considered proposal to drop its short wave service to North America and the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand; urges the BBC urgently to reconsider its decision and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to persuade it to do so, so as to maintain services to these crucial areas and keep Britain's voice speaking loud and clear to the devoted elite audience reached by short wave transmissions who want and need a news and current affairs service which is of great value not only to them but to Britain's reputation and standing overseas; notes that the service cannot be adequately replaced by the BBC website's very limited capacity; and urges that full consideration be given by the BBC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the compelling arguments against the decision developed on the website http://www.savebbc.org, which effectively demolishes the BBC's entire case for the penny pinching folly of abandoning a devoted audience with a real interest in Britain. Status OPEN If you live in the UK, *please please please* contact your local MP and ask them to sign on to Early Day Motion 26. The measure was introduced by a Labour MP, but the first additional MP to sign on is a member of the Conservative party; we'd like to demonstrate wide multi-partisan support across the political spectrum for this motion. (I was going to say "bi-partisan", but as a BBC listener, I'm aware that there are more than two parties in the UK parliament. :-) Ralph Brandi "Shortwave will not be the same without BBC World Service. BBC World Service will not be the same without shortwave." --Kim Elliott, VOA (via BDXC-UK via DXLD) Background on Early Day Motions: http://www.stats.bris.ac.uk/~guy/Research/Politics/background.htm and http://www.christian-democrat.co.uk/ISSUES/Issue48/p7s7.htm (Geoff White, Atlanta, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Lee Silvi asked about the new format on Cleveland' s 95.5 frequency after the radio shuffle next week. Salem Communications will start a Contemporary Christian music on 95.5 on July 3. 73, (Jim Moats, Ravenna, Ohio, June 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. With the word in the market about Talk WEVD-A/NEW YORK indicating that a sale of the 50 kW facility is near, fans of the current format are rallying with an informational picket line on THURSDAY (6/28). The listeners' group SAVEWEVD plans to picket the offices of WEVD's current owner THE FORWARD ASSOCIATION to voice their displeasure with the possible sale to DISNEY-ABC which would convert the outlet into a Sports station using its ESPN RADIO network (June 25 allaccess.com radio "web trade" via Brock Whaley, DXLD) Yet another story about the Forvertz Association maybe selling WEVD to Disney/ESPN: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/26/nyregion/26RADI.html I`m not sure there`s anything new in here. The Forward was, for many years a Yiddish daily and now it is three weeklies in Yiddish, English and Russian. (Most of the young who know Yiddish are ultraorthodox and the Yiddish Forvertz is too left wing and secular for them.) At one time it carried the motto "Workers of all countries arise!" on its right ear but then it supported FDR and it is now moderate labor Democrat. For many years it carried Yiddish literature and most of the works of Isaac Bashevis Singer first ran as serials in the Forvertz. WEVD was named after Eugene V. Debs, the railroad union leader who was thrown in prison by Woodrow Wilson for his opposition to the World War. It was once a shared time station on 1330, then FM and now it is on the 50 kW secondary channel of 1050 kHz. (CHUM, Toronto is the primary station on the channel.) Once multiethnic, it now has some locally produced talk shows such as Bill Mazur and ex-Mayor Koch but it's largely brokered talk including IMHO a lotta quack medicine. There is still one locally produced Yiddish culture hour, Der Forvertz Sho, Sunday at 10 A.M. (not on the live stream but available on demand) Disney has been seeking to buy it for some time as an ESPN flagship to compete with WFAN (660), the CBS sports station and WVNJ (620). (Joel Rubin, NY, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 26470 NBFM, WJFP feeder, Fort Pierce, FL. 2255-0020 June 24. Interesting French Caribbean px with call in and mx segments. ID in EE @ 2310 giving call letters and different towns in Florida, the station serves. During the ID there was terrible QRM from a CBer. I did catch the slogan "Your community station that jams". Good signal strength with slight fading. According to Guido Schotmans, who has a website about 11 meter studio links http://gallery.uunet.be/gs/ the TX is a GE Master II putting 60 Watts into a horizontally polarized 5-element beam bearing 315 degrees, 45 meters above the ground (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Interesting post on Worldwide Utility News this evening (Sheldon Harvey) From: "Dick Dillman" Organization: MRHS To: KPH.Lives!@mindspring.com Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 19:39:44 -0700 Subject: [WUN] KPH RETURNS TO THE AIR! HISTORIC COAST STATION KPH RETURNS TO THE AIR! KPH, the famous ex-RCA coast station located north of San Francisco, will return to the air for a commemorative broadcast on 13 July at 0001 GMT (12 July at 1701 PDT), 2 years and one minute after the last commercial Morse transmission in North America. Commercial operators, including former members of the KPH staff, will be at the keys. KPH is operated by the Maritime Radio Historical Society in cooperation with the Point Reyes National Seashore, part of the National Park Service. This on-the-air event is intended to honor the men and women who followed the radiotelegraph trade on ships and at coast stations around the world. The original KPH transmitters, receivers and antennas will be used to activate frequencies in all the commercial maritime HF bands and on MF as well. This will be the second annual "Night of Nights", as the event has become known. Last year the transmitters and receivers were both located at the transmitting station in Bolinas, CA. Since then the receiving station at Pt. Reyes, CA has been largely restored. This year several operating positions will be activated at Pt. Reyes and the transmitters in Bolinas will be keyed remotely, just as was done when the station was in daily operation. This should greatly improve our receiving capability, especially on MF. KPH will transmit on 4247.0, 6477.5, 8642.0, 12808.5, 17016.5 and 22477.5 kc/s on HF and on 500 and 426 kc/s on MF. These frequencies have been made available through the generous cooperation of Globe Wireless, the current owner of the KPH license. Many of the transmitters will be 50s vintage RCA sets. Power output will be 3 - 4 kW. KPH operators will listen for calls on 4184.0, 6276.0, 8368.0, 12552.0, 16736.0 and 22280.5 kc/s on HF and 500 kc/s on MF. KPH will send traffic lists, weather and press broadcasts as well as commemorative messages, many of which will be sent by hand. At other times the KPH "wheel" will be sent to mark the transmitting frequencies. Further information may be found on the Maritime Radio Historical Society Web site at http://www.radiomarine.org or by contacting Dick Dillman (415-512-7137) or Tom Horsfall (510-237-9535). Reception reports may be sent to Tom Horsfall at 1862 Tulare Ave., Richmond, CA 94805, USA. Dick Dillman, W6AWO Member of the Maritime Radio Historical Society http://www.radiomarine.org Collector of Heavy Metal: Harleys, Willys and Radios over 100 lbs. -- The Worldwide UTE News (WUN) mailing list. WUN is a non-profit, dues-free club established in 1995 to share information on shortwave utilities. For more information: http://www.wunclub.com Write to listmaster@wunclub.com if you need assistance with the mailing list. (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. SPECIAL EVENT. Gary Capek, K8BN, Event Chairman for Central Arizona DX Association (CADXA) informs OPDX that the members of the Central Arizona DX Association will conduct a special event operation honoring the late Senator Barry M. Goldwater on October 20 and 21st (0000z Friday through Sunday night local, 0200z, i.e. 50 hours). The callsign used will be the famous K7UGA. Operation will be on both SSB and CW, 160-6 meters. A special commemorative QSL card will be available for stations that send direct requests. QSL via the club station trustee, KC7V, at 6545 E Montgomery Rd., Cave Creek, AZ 85331, for commemorative QSLs, or via the W7-Bureau. Bureau reply QSL cards may not be the same. Any and all proceeds from this event will go to the CADXA Scholarship fund administered by the ARRL. As such, donations are appreciated. Please direct your questions or comments regarding this press release to: Gary Capek, K8BN, Event Chairman, CADXA, via his E-mail address: k8bn@arrl.net (OPDX June 25 via John Norfolk, OKCOK) ** U S A [clandestine}. Subject: UPR back on the air...... From: Chuck Cheese chuck@cheese.net [sic] Date: 6/25/01 9:59 PM Central Daylight Time Forum: rec.radio.shortwave Steve says they will do 3 hours a nite. The nut bag says that if the militia groups are too scared to give out a phone number for people to reach them then they ain`t real militia men.... (via John Norfolk, DXLD) Nothing audible at 0349 UT check June 26 on 6900 or 3260; but at 0405 recheck, some talking in SSB on 3260 amid static (gh) ** U S A. From: kuca@mail.uca.edu Hi there, Just a quick note. I have been off on vacation but I'm back for one week to facilitate the shut down. Yes, we carried hours and hours of BBC. Some from the PRI feed, some we purchased, some from the European service. At our peak we had over 80 hours of various BBC product, mixed with other international public services, and of course, our own programming. This morning at 8, we shut down. My best, (Shawn Smith, KUCA, Conway AR, June 25, DXLD) included: KUCA going off air after 35 years -- By DAVID BENNETT The University of Central Arkansas is shutting down its decades-old radio station, KUCA. According to Robert Everding, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the move was made so the university could use its space and funding for new Internet-related programs. In addition, UCA acquired local commercial radio station KCON-AM in 1999, which Everding said provides all the facilities the communication department will need for its curriculum. He said he regrets that some jobs will be lost by closing the station. "Shawn Smith is currently the director of KUCA. His position will no longer be needed and will end on June 30," Everding said. "A decision of this kind is difficult. Shawn has given good service to UCA over the past decade and I hate the fact that my decision will end his employment." Smith said this is KUCA's 35th year on the air. The station officially began broadcasting in 1966. During the past six years, he said, the station has won 28 national awards, including production awards from the National Broadcasting Society, the International Radio and Television Society and other organizations. He said he is proud the station beat out several schools known for their radio programs. Smith, who was also named 1999 Professional Member of the Year by the International Radio and Television Society, said his position is the only one that will be lost. Right now about five students work at the station, Smith said. However, he said about a year ago there were about 40 students working on two Internet-streamed stations that were run out of KUCA. The Web-based stations shut down in 2000 when KUCA lost the Internet connection it was using. Smith said the original plan was to start them up again when KUCA moved into UCA's new telecommunications complex and received Internet service from Conway Corp. "There is an area in the building that was designed to be a radio station," Smith said. One problem Smith said KUCA faced in recent years was a loss of audience. About four years ago, Smith said, the station had thousands of listeners. At the time, the public radio station was broadcasting international news, including Public Radio International and World Radio Network programming. KUCA was the only station in the area offering that programming. Then, Smith said, the station's transmitter was shut down for maintenance and KUCA was off the air for several months. That was followed by a directive to play more classical music during the day. The news programming was moved to the overnight hours. "The administration felt that we should be shifting to a different balance," Everding said. "We've just never been able to attract public financial support for that format," he said. Smith said that other stations in the area already broadcast classical music, and classical music listeners tend to be loyal to those stations. But Smith said he thinks things were improving. "We were just starting to win back an audience," he said. Everding said KUCA's $143,000 budget will be redirected into the Web- based programs. He said the exact date KUCA goes off the air has not yet been decided, but could be earlier than June 30. Smith said he regrets that students will not be able to have the experience of working in public radio, which involves learning to edit documentaries and other unique skills. "There is some loss to students not being able to gain this kind of experience," Smith said. He also regrets not being able to serve the station's loyal local listeners. "I hope something can be done to serve that audience when KUCA goes off the air." Smith to leave the university after 11 years service by Sarah Kent, Staff Writer Shawn Smith, the station manager of KUCA, is leaving UCA after he was told earlier this year that, because of lack of funding for the radio station and the creation of a new position with a Web-based emphasis, his position would not be needed anymore. He has been at UCA since the fall semester of 1990. In his almost decade stint at UCA, Smith has seemingly influenced many people. KCON Station Manager Monty Rowell said that Smith could always find the right students any job openings he had. "He would always send three or four people down [to KCON] for that one job," he said. "He was always excellent about sending me good students. "I never did have to train them, because he already did a good job of training them." Assistant mass communication professor Karen Craig, who has worked closely with Smith over the years, said she would also miss Smith. "I think the community will be affected even more than the [campus]," Craig said. "There was a large and very committed following for KUCA," Craig said. "There was a loyal audience. People will miss it." Craig said Smith's campus involvement, not his community awareness, was his greatest contribution. "I think the biggest thing about [Smith] that will be missed is his ability to direct students in their production skills so that they are award-winning students," Craig said. "There's a long list of awards that [Smith] has won, that [Smith's] students have won, that the radio station has won," she explained." I think, unfortunately, our department has, to a certain degree, ignored a lot of that." This is one of the main reasons she said she is sorry to see him go. "It would seem to me, " Craig said, "that on a college campus that just the sheer number of awards that [Smith] consistently won, with his students and the station itself, should speak to the quality of the programming and the quality of the staff. "I don't know that it's really been appreciated." Smith himself was humble about the awards. "I didn't win those awards," he said. "My students did. ``My award is when students are able to use the education here to get the career they want." He lists working with the students as his favorite times. Especially the times when he could see "the light click on" or when a student would return after graduation to say, "You know what? You were right." "I always wanted to pull over other students and say, 'You see that? I was right.'," Smith said. He is very dedicated, Craig said. "Whenever he got a call that something was wrong, he was always ... trying to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. "He was always available to make sure that the station stayed on the air." Esther Mead, a senior who has worked at KUCA since the spring of 1998, said she would be sad to see Smith and the station leave UCA. "[Smith]'s almost a second dad to me," Mead said. "He's always made sure that I had a job there and a performance scholarship." Mead runs the board, records programs and produces a weekly live broadcast of local bands called Radio Coffee House. "[Smith] calls me the technical engineer," she said. But she added a more personal note. "He taught me a lot," she said, "When I went to work with them on the first day, I didn't know anything. "He taught me everything I know. "I'll miss him. I've seen him every day since '98." Smith said that he will miss UCA, too. "I'm not going to find another job like this," he said. He said sometimes he didn't feel like he was given the best teaching assignments. He used the analogy of being a doctor who has patients and has to do research. "I have to switch gears all the time," he said. He said that he liked being a teacher; he just would have liked it more had he been able to devote his full time to it, because it was the time that he spent with students that he liked the best. "I like people," he said. "That sounds trite, but I do. I like people." (source not given, via Shawn Smith, ex-KUCA, DXLD) Shawn tells me that he is staying in Conway, looking for work outside public radio, tho would like to do a radio show in future (gh) ###