DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-105, August 6, 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] SELECTED ENGLISH LANGUAGE DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS ON SHORTWAVE, August 5 revision: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxpgms.html ** AUSTRALIA. Christian Voice very strong at 0400 on 21550 and 21680. Funny thing is, those two freqs are 130 kHz apart and CVA is creating couple nice mixing products, quite a good one on -130 kHz, 21420 (inside 15m ham band) and weak one on +130 21810 (Jem Cullen, Australia, August 4, ARDXC via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. ROI: Wolf Harranth announced in this weekend's "Intermedia" show that the results of the budget marginalization will come into effect already with the start of the B01 season. He promised to have more details next weekend. And he repeatedly threw in remarks like "wouldn't it be nice if we could continue reporting", making me wonder if any production of German-language programming at ROI will survive. ORF radio director Jochum states that they will maintain the name "Radio Austria International": Well, it's no problem to insert such drops between Ö1 stuff - automatically, of course (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. 15795 LSB, R Borderhunter, 0425-0650 UT 5 Aug. Another armchair copy from Frans. Excellent signal, SINPO: 45544. Just slightly less good then last week when the signal was a perfect 55555 (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. The private R. Sunshine from Belgium was no longer on the air today. R. Sunshine used a 100 kW outlet from Jülich for a popular music programme in German each Sunday at 1000-1400 on 6015. At 1300 some "noise" was noted the channel, probably a DRM test transmission from Jülich. This could indicate that R. Sunshine has been discontinued, at least on shortwave (André Schmidt, Lautert, Germany, August 5, EDXP via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Radio Sunshine (the one from Belgium; there are lots of stations with this name elsewhere) discontinued its shortwave transmissions by the end of July, but I do not know if permanent or temporarily (Kai Ludwig, Germany, EDXP via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Per Fontenelle Aragão, in Cumbre DX and DXLD, the unID heard in July on 3343 appears to be R Ayopaya, in Bolivia. For pictures from the station, see http://www.erdmobil.de/Bolivien/_Ayopaya/Radio_Ayopaya/hauptteil_radio_ayopaya.html R Ayopaya is described as an educational project for teenagers. Financial support comes from Catholic groups in Germany. Independencia, the provincial capital of Ayopaya, has 2,500 inhabitants and a radio station calling itself R y TV Domingo Savio. See http://www.erdmobil.de/Bolivien/_Ayopaya/Bildung/hauptteil_bildung.html Per a report dated May 5 and posted by Barrera, in Argentina, this station was greeted on the air by R Pio XII (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could you please confirm if Radio Ayopaya and Radio Domingo Savio is the same broadcasting station? Radio Ayopaya has been heard by several shorrtwave enthusiasts in Sweden on 3343 kHz, 90 meters, last month (Henrik Klemetz, to...) From: "Thomas+Steffi Henrich, Kirchgasse 3, 67822 Finkenbach" freundeskreis@t-online.de Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 2:56 PM Subject: Re: Radio Ayopaya Radio Ayopaya and Radio Domingo Savio are different broadcasting stations. Radio Domingo Savio is the station of the Catholic church, Radio Ayopaya is the station of the "Centro Cultural Ayopayamanta". Both broadcasting stations are located in Independencia (Ayopaya/ Bolivia). "Centro Cultural Ayopayamanta" also works in development, environmental protection and education projects. You can contact the Centro Cultural Ayopayamanta by Casilla 2433 Cochabamba, Bolivia; Tel-Fax 00591 42 44909 or Parque Fidel Anze No 5, Cochabamba, Bolivia Greetings from the German "sponsors" of Radio Ayopaya. Steffi und Thomas Henrich (via Henrik Klemetz, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Costa Rica`s most popular station forced to close down --------- Journalist slain At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 7, journalist Parmenio Medina, 62, was shot to death, allegedly by hired killers. Born in Colombia, Medina arrived in Costa Rica in 1968 and for 28 years broadcast a Sunday radio program that combined humor and denunciation based on solid evidence. His reports led to no few lawsuits, but he came out of all of them unscathed, thanks to the evidence upon which he based his defense. More recently, he laid bare wrongdoings in a Catholic radio station and the charismatic priest who led it, one of the biggest scandals in this country. However, some analysts believe that it was the uncovering of tax evasions and other major faults by powerful companies and well-known people that brought about the journalist's murder. In the weeks preceding the murder, Medina had received several threats by telephone and, once, unknown individuals fired at his home, but nobody was injured at the time. A nation-wide reaction to the slaying has prompted a major investigation, proposals to amend laws concerning freedom of speech and freedom of the press, peaceful demonstrations, and a vast array of articles and comments on the press. It is the first time a journalist suffers such a fate in a country that is well-known for its protection of human rights and which, according to spokespeople from throughout the country and from every sector, will do everything possible to prevent any new similar event (La Nación, http://www.nacion.com San José, Costa Rica, July 12, 2001, via Klemetz, DXLD) Medina´s program "La Patada" (The kick) was aired on R Monumental, one of San José´s major broadcasting stations. Initially, the program used to deal with sports, especially soccer, then it gradually developed into investigative news reporting. The Catholic radio station referred to is R María de Guadalupe, 100.3 FM, which used to be relayed at night /between midnight and dawn, local time/ by La Fuente Musical, 1300 AM. (On this channel R María programming was picked up in Sweden last January). Their audio was also available on internet. In only 2 years, R María de Guadalupe climbed to a top position among Costa Rican broadcasters. The Catholic Church forced R María de Guadalupe to close down by the end of May, when the mismanagement of the station had come out in the open. Audits have shown that large sums, received as tithings and donations from listeners, have been left unaccounted for in the station´s books. On April 22, Parmenio Medina`s program on R Monumental was stopped. He was ordered not to mention the R Maria case on the air. Parmenio appealed to the Constitutional Court and won. "La Patada" is no longer on the air, but it still appears on the Monumental program schedule per their web site. And there is not one single word on their site in honor of their No. 1 program host. As of June 27, the R María frequency has been taken over by "100.3 La Paz del Dial". The manager is Johnny La Touche, who, incidentally, is also the owner and manager of La Fuente Musical. In an article entitled "Frecuencia divina", Divine frequency, La Nación newspaper last year described the afflux of religious broadcasting in the country. At least 10 stations were listed as belonging to various religious denominations. (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Uwe Volk just posted this information in the German A-DX list: The Eurosonor transmission on August 5 was a no-show, audio either severely distorted or completely disrupted. For this reason another airplay of this show is scheduled for Saturday (Aug. 11) 1900-2000 on 6955, followed by the regular Sunday transmission on Aug. 12 (as always 1600-1700 on 9980). On August 19 they will test SSB on 9980 with additional 12115 in AM (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Euro Sonor 9980 was terrible on Sunday last (Aug 5th). Audio quality is usually poor, but this day was breaking up badly - probably due to their method of feeding the transmitter. Let's hope next weekend's repeat is better on 6955. It should be an interesting time and frequency to try! As for the USB test - it may come through more clearly, but I personally don't like the music quality via this method. Are we to assume that Bulgaria - where we think it comes from now - also has SSB capabilities too? Or will 9980 be via another source and 12115 via BUL? Best 73's (Noël Green UK, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Eurosonor SSB: We know hardly anything about the equipment on the Bulgarian shortwave sites. Perhaps Kostinbrod is a joint broadcast/utility site (like Königs Wusterhausen was) and somebody got the idea to experiment with SSB by putting this hobby broadcast on a utility transmitter, too? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DRM Putbus-729. Find below an excerpt from the RNW webpages. It's raining here but nevertheless I went out at about 1920 for a short check: Yes, there is indeed the well-known "white noise" of a DRM signal on 729, not noticeable indoor amongst the local noise but unmistakable outside, especially when compared with the silence on 738 (prior to fade-in of Barcelona and with Poznan off and gone since years). The DRM signal seems to occupy the range up to about 733/734, matching a European 9 kHz MW channel, but this needs further observations with Putbus coming in louder. As a reminder, 729 was alongside with Rostock-558, Neubrandenburg-657 and Wöbbelin-999 until recently allocated to "Power-Radio Mecklenburg-Vorpommern", a planned sister station of the Kiel-based Power-Radio (612 daytimer). This project failed to bring up more than a tape-loop on 999 only, which was finally switched off a couple of months ago, forcing the media authority at Schwerin to withdraw the licence. Regards (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---------- DRM Long Term Test on Mediumwave 6 August 2001: Since 25 July, Deutsche Telekom AG is broadcasting digitally 24 hours a day on Mediumwave 729 kHz from station Putbus/Ruegen. This long term DRM transmission is performed with a 10kW Telefunken TRAM- transmitter. The DRM signal is compatible to CM300V4 and the main service channel contains audio and data streams encoded by FhG's Content Server. During the last days the service was successfully decoded by various stationary and mobile FhG Software Receivers. Within the next weeks Deutsche Telekom intends to do some measurements in terms of reliability and system performance. After these tests it is planned to distribute the results in connection with the RADIATE IST project (Info from Stefan Krueger, Project Manager Audiosystems, T-Nova Deutsche Telekom Innovationsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin) via: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm.html (via Ludwig, DXLD) ** HONG KONG/CHINA. Paper on Chinese cuts to Colin Powell TV interview | Text of editorial in English entitled: "Goodwill erased"; published by Hong Kong iMail web site on 1 August Agreements are made to be kept. It is therefore disappointing that China Central Television (CCTV) reneged on an agreement reached with the United States to broadcast an interview with Secretary of State Colin Powell in full, and instead cut out his remarks about human rights and Taiwan. It has created unnecessary bad feeling around what was otherwise a positive visit by General Powell to Beijing. The decision to cut Mr Powell`s remarks is puzzling. First, the ground rules had been agreed in advance and, claim the Americans, CCTV had promised that the interview would be uncensored. Second, in arranging an interview and putting certain questions to him, CCTV must have known Gen Powell would raise these issues and can hardly have been surprised by his comments. Third, it is in marked contrast to Bill Clinton`s visit to Beijing in 1998, when he participated in a live televised news conference with Jiang Zemin. By censoring Gen Powell`s remarks, the Chinese have probably drawn more attention to them than would otherwise have been the case. The comments themselves were mild, phrased in diplomatic terms, and expressed in the context of "friendship". Gen Powell was obviously keen not to appear to be lecturing. He acknowledged that the US did not have a perfect history of human rights. And he praised China for progress made in recent years. It is unlikely that the editing was accidental. The remarks that were dropped from the broadcast were those in regard to the two issues about which Beijing is most sensitive - Taiwan and human rights. Therefore one can only conclude that the Chinese failed to fulfill their part of the bargain. How, one might ask, would Beijing feel if a Chinese leader`s remarks on American television were so blatantly erased? Source: Hong Kong iMail web site, Hong Kong, in English 1 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Glenn, The Hurricane City web page http://www.hurricanecity.com/ is an interesting tracking page. Along with strike maps the site provides a set of "nearest live radio feed" links to FM and AM radio web pages near the strike path. For Barry I see 1310 WHEP, Foley, Alabama and 96.1 WRKH Mobile, Alabama. Both include links to streaming audio. http://www.hurricanecity.com/ Links to French and Spanish translations via freetranslation.com are also listed (Pete Costello, NY, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST – this item was posted without delay on the WOR Anomaly Alert page) Hurricane Watch QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 30 ARLB030 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT August 5, 2001 To all radio amateurs Hurricane Watch Net Activates As Barry Approaches Gulf Coast The Hurricane Watch Net activated at 1800z (2 PM Eastern Daylight Time) Sunday, August 5, 2001, as Tropical Storm Barry strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico. Barry is expected to make landfall as a hurricane along the Florida Panhandle Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. On 14.325 MHz, the Hurricane Watch Net gathers real-time weather information that is relayed via National Hurricane Center station W4EHW to hurricane forecasters. The National Weather Service requested the activation as Barry, which had been drifting erratically in the Gulf, dramatically strengthened and turned northward this morning. Hurricane Warnings have been posted along the Florida Gulf Coast from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to the mouth of the Ochlockonee River in Florida. The net will accept reports from in or near the affected region, according to Hurricane Watch Net Manager Jerry Herman, N3BDW. (ARRL via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) Reminder: the August 5 revision of Bill Snyder's Hurricane Frequency list is now available at http://www.hurricanefrequencies.com Amateur emergency frequencies for the various states can be found there and in NETS TO YOU! at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/nets2you.html (John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) Well known DXer Chuck Rippel is currently the net controller on the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 kHz. USB. The net is coordinating traffic from amateur radio stations in the affected areas on the Gulf Coast bracing for Hurricane/Tropical Storm Barry. This is at 2025 UT Sunday as I am listening to it here in Montreal. A very good signal here (Sheldon Harvey, August 5, swprograms via DXLD) Hurricane Watch Net Stands Down; Ham Radio Praised NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 6, 2001--The Hurricane Watch Net has secured operation in response to Tropical Storm Barry after the storm reached shore on the Florida Panhandle. Manager Jerry Herman, N3BDW, says the net stood down at 0300 UT today and said there were no plans to resume operation. The activation for Tropical Storm Barry at the request of the National Hurricane Center in Miami marked the Net's first for the 2001 hurricane season. "Not our last, I expect," Herman added. ... (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) See also U S A {Note: following item`s times are probably MESZ = summer CET of UT plus 2, since other reports have this starting at 1530 UT -gh} ** IRAN [non]. Today I checked the new Persian station on 17520: Once again carrier on at about 1728:40, modulation on at 1729 into ongoing music bed, typical automatic run-up of a modern transmitter. Audio/ soundprocessing: Not CIS-like, not Merlin-like, that's all I have to add to Wolfgang's comment. Of course I could not find out the actual name of this station, but I think I heard a clear mention of "Hotbird". If so these broadcasts presumably also go out within the extensive bunch of digital radio channels which is operated by World Radio Network on the Hotbird satellite system. The broadcast sounded quite professional, no obvious mike audio faults and the console operator knows his job (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For Glenn's benefit - I don't know what GHI stands for in connection with the Persian clandestine on 17520. That's how it's reported - the ID sounds like "Seday-e Iran" to my ears, but I'm no expert on the Persian language! I agree with Kai's comment, and believe I also heard mention of a satellite feed. The signal was very strongly received here on Aug. 5th at sign on, and the jamming could not compete. However, the signal did gradually deteriorate during the broadcast, and the jamming was more loudly heard as a result (Noël Green UK, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAËL. Porat Quits as IBA Chief: This is from Friday's Jerusalem Post (English). http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/08/03/News/News.31815.html (Doni Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONTSERRAT. Sole radio station "too weak" for emergency warnings | Excerpt from report by Caribbean news agency Cana Brades, Montserrat, 4 August: The Governor of Montserrat Anthony Longrigg is concerned that the lone radio station here cannot be heard in some parts of the island in case of a volcanic emergency. "Some of your radio broadcasts couldn't be heard in some of the areas most affected by the ash, and that is actually quite a serious thing if we are relying on the radio as the main means of warning people about what's going to happen, or what is happening or what we should do," he said [on] Friday [3 August] on the government-owned Radio Montserrat. A senior government official has said that efforts were under way to install a new mediumwave transmitter at Silver Hills so that the station can be better heard island-wide and in neighbouring islands where many Montserratians have fled to since the peak of the volcano crisis in 1997. "We must make sure that everybody can hear the radio... [ellipsis as received] so that will be something urgent that we will be looking into," the British governor said. Longrigg's concern comes in the wake of a volcanic eruption earlier this week that showered ash and pebbles on several parts of the island closer to the Soufrière Hills volcano. Some residents in southern villages like Frith's and Salem that are closer to the volcano complain that they cannot hear the government-owned ZJB Radio Montserrat which now only beams on the FM band. While Radio Montserrat began broadcasting live on the Internet, the station is yet to re-commence doing so on mediumwave. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) consistently reminds the remaining 5,274 residents of this 39.6 square mile island to "tune into ZJB Radio for up-to-date information on the volcano"... Source: Cana news agency, Bridgetown, in English 1949 gmt 4 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. 15069.9, R Alfa Lima Int., 0409-0630 UT 5 Aug, Great signal, SINPO: 43444, excellent modulation. PX was not live, but recording played, while operator was asleep. Numerous IDs and addresses given. There was some splatter type QRM from Iran on 15084 prior to 0500. After that, in the clear (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. 15806.6, R Black Arrow, 0002 UT 5 Aug, Fair copy at peak. ID around 0004, as follows: "Very good morning. This is Black Arrow, from the Netherlands" The song "Hit the Road Jack" was played @ 0005. SINPO: 32233. Signal was weak by 0100. Very good audio quality and strong modulation (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. 11484.85, R Enterprise (presumed), 0540 UT 5 Aug. Fairly weak carrier, but really excellent modulation. Super chunky audio, some of the best I`ve heard on SW! Trouble was, there were very infrequent station IDs!!! Just song after song of pop/dance mx, that I don`t recognize for the most part, so unable to hear actual station ID. I did hear that current hit "Land of the Living" played at 0555. Slow fade out after 0600. SINPO: 24232 (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Here`s a station which understands DXing, as well as DX as a source of QRM. The Summer 2001 issue of Lawton OK, KCCU`s quarterly mailer, excerpts of which I herewith retype, since they are a year behind in posting these pdf on website http://www.kccu.org – FROM THE MANAGER, Mark Norman Have you ever turned on your radio to hear some station from another part of the country? Recently, KCCU has had an unusual amount of ``E- skip``. ``Skip``, as it is often referred to, is when stations ride the atmosphere and land in far away places. ``DX-ing``, which is listening to distant stations during ``Skip`` conditions, is a hobby of many radio enthusiasts. For example, on June 19, 2001, James Wallace of Charleston, West Virginia, wrote to say he received our KCCU 90.3 MHz signal from Ardmore from 6:03 pm to 6:15 pm, indicated what was being aired and asked us to confirm the program content, which we did. He said during the same evening he also received KNTU 88.1 in Denton, KSYE 91.5 in Frederick and KFXI 92.1 in Marlow. ``Skip`` can be fun for those like James Wallace who want to hear and log distant stations, but to those of us who just want to hear OUR local station, it can be a problem. What can you do if your station fades? Try tuning or moving your radio. I live in the country near Cache. When ``Skip`` is bad, I can turn my portable bedroom radio 90 degrees and KCCU is loud and clear. If I turn it back, I get a Dallas based station at 89.3. This station does not play classical music but urban contemporary. The addition of a ``T`` antenna can improve the reception on almost any radio that requires an antenna. The last resort, if you have an old dial (analog) radio that does not have a digital tuner, might be to replace the radio with a new model with a digital tuner. In the non-commercial band on your FM dial from 88.1 to 91.9 MHz the stations are close together and they are lower in power than the commercial frequencies from 92 to 108 MHz, which makes it a problem to hear non-commercial stations. The fact that the FCC is in the process of authorizing even more non-commercial stations will only increase the problem. The good news is ``Skip`` lasts only a very short time and it usually occurs in the early morning or early evening. If you wait about 10 minutes, usually the signal will return. If you are having problems receiving KCCU, do not hesitate to call our toll free number 1-888- 454-7800 and I will be glad to discuss a possible solution. THE MANTOVANI HOUR Sofia Díaz is host and presenter of this new program, produced at KCCU. She`s an intern who recently transferred from Central Florida to Cameron University. ``I asked my father if I had been exposed to Mantovani`s music in my childhood. My father said he was a great fan and would regularly lull me to sleep as we listened together --- making this an even sweeter personal experience.`` The new show will air Fridays at 2 p.m. [CDT] beginning in September. [and webcast: http://www.kccu.org ] KCCU TO SERVE WICHITA FALLS KCCU is excited to announce that the FCC has accepted the joint resolution between KCCU and KERA [Dallas] to award KCCU the 88.7 MHz full power frequency to serve Wichita Falls [Texas]. KCCU is working to purchase the equipment and get it installed as soon as possible. We hope to begin service by the end of the year; however, projects of this type always take more time than expected. Why after 8 years did the FCC decide on KCCU? The FCC has never had a criteria [sic] to utilize to determine who would serve a community like Wichita Falls when two stations applied for the same frequency. In this case, the only available full power frequency was 88.7 MHz. KERA, based in Dallas, and KCCU both wanted to serve Wichita Falls. After an evaluation of the two stations using the FCC`s new criteria, KCCU was selected to be the full service station. The Wichita Falls community will provide the funding to build the station as the communities have in all the markets where KCCU has expanded. The cost to install a transmitter and associated equipment will be around $50,000. Mark Norman, KCCU General Manger, said ``We are very excited about this opportunity. The Wichita Falls community has been without classical music for over 7 years after having the format only a short period on another station. We believe having KCCU on the air serving the Wichita Falls community will be a major step for the station. We have the potential to serve a new audience as large or larger than our current audience. We will have a separate computer system, as we do in Ardmore and Altus, which will provide local announcements intended just for Wichita Falls. We will also have the option to air announcements in Wichita Falls which will promote activities relative to all the areas where KCCU provides service.`` Wichita Falls was one of the last large [sic] markets in the entire United States without a full power, full service public radio station. KCCU will provide the service a soon as possible with an expected on-air date sometime before the first of the year. When driving south toward Wichita Falls, KCCU listeners will be able to switch to 88.7 on their dial and continue to listen to KCCU while driving toward Wichita Falls and on toward Dallas. [end of KCCU notice] gh comments: the rest of the story: KERA has been operating a translator on 88.7 in W.F., as listed in the latest, but now outdating, FM Atlas XVIII, and I recall hearing it myself the last time I was in the area, which must be at least a couple years ago. Is KERA 88.7 translator the ``other station`` referred to above, and by implication now off the air? If KERA was competing with KCCU for a full-power license on same frequency, what exactly was this ``joint resolution`` and how did it come about? What are the ``new FCC criteria``? (Glenn Hauser, Enid, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think your earlier post referred to two mutually exclusive applications in Wichita Falls. A new full power station would topple a translator, but not if the translator had applied for increased status. I have from time to time had in FMedia! items about the FCC's comparative criteria for noncommercial FM, such as a local campus or long-time community presence, hours proposed to be produced live within 16 km, etc. I think this or these obtain, and they perhaps counted in KCCU's favor. More probably, however, is that KCCU and KERA came to a private agreement whereby KERA would withdraw. It would have been legal for KCCU to pay KERA to quit; there was a period up to about July 19 when that could happen (Bruce Elving, MN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [non]. Here the Deutsche Telekom announcement of the already reported FEBC tests via Wertachtal; reception reports are very welcomed and can be sent to Jülich. Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, wir möchten Sie hiermit über sieben Testsendungen von Far East Broadcasting Company, Philippines über die Rundfunksendestelle Wertachtal informieren: Datum: 05.08.01 bis 11.08.01 Sendezeit: 18:00 bis 18:30 täglich Frequenz: 11.895 kHz Azimuth: 120 Zielgebiet: Ciraf 39 Wir freuen uns über jeden Empfangsreport und werden selben unverzüglich an Far East Broadcast weiterleiten. Vielen Dank im voraus!!!!! Entschuldigen Sie bitte die kurzfristige Information, leider war es uns nicht früher möglich. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Ralf Weyl Deutsche Telekom AG !"§=== Geschäftsbereich Rundfunk und Breitbandkabel TBR Kurzwelle Jülich Merscher Höhe 52428 Jülich Telefon: (0 24 61)697-340 Fax: (0 24 61)697-372 E-Mail: ralf.weyl@telekom.de (via Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Gentlemen, we would like to inform you about test transmission of Far East Broadcasting Company, Philippines. Date: 05 August 2001 to 11 August 2001 Time: 1800 to 1830 UT daily Frequency: 11895 kHz Azimuth: 120 Target: Ciraf 39 Please excuse the late information but the decision was made on friday. Your reportS are highly appreciated!!!! Thank you in advance. Yours sincerely, Ralf Weyl (via Ian Cattermole via Costa Costantinides, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. The schedule from Meyerton Radio Station (Bloemendal) can be seen at. http://home.mweb.co.za/an/andre46 73, André du Toit, Aug 6, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** SPAIN [non]. Heard on a Kenwood R-1000 with an 85 foot antenna. 3205, SPAIN, Radio Exterior de España 8/5 0530 VERY loud into Arizona. Spanish on this station was spoken very fast. I am used to Mexican Spanish and Spanglish which is much slower (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, IRCA via DXLD) Really Costa Rica relay; so they have moved from 3210 to escape WWCR? (gh) ** U A E. ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO -- New Relay Service Adventist World Radio has just commenced the usage of a new relay service. The station is located in the Middle East and the new relays commenced a few days ago at the beginning of August. As has been announced in news releases from several other organizations, Merlin in England has taken out a management contract with United Emirates Radio in Abu Dhabi, effective August 1. This station is located at Al Dhabayya and it contains four shortwave transmitters at 500 kW, each of which is capable of operating at half power. This large shortwave station in the Gulf region was established in 1985 using BBC transmitters made in Switzerland. The huge antenna farm at Al Dhabayya contains 41 fixed antennas and two rotatable units, thus ensuring excellent shortwave coverage in all directions. The introductory AWR schedule from Al Dhabayya shows the usage of all four transmitters in services beamed to Africa and Southern Asia, with each unit operating at 250 kW. It is anticipated that this schedule of five hours daily will be markedly increased with the commencement of the new Transmission Period in October. ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO Introductory Daily Schedule - Al Dhabayya, United Arab Emirates Effective August 1, 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Service UTC kHz kW Languages --------------------------------------------------------------------- Africa 0300 - 0330 11975 250 Amharic 1700 - 1800 17875 250 Afar, Oro 0300 - 0400 11945 250 Oro, Tigrinia 1630 - 1800 15520 250 Somali, Amharic, Tigrinia Southern 1330 - 1400 15495 250 English Asia 1400 - 1430 15385 250 Urdu =================================================================== (Adrian Peterson, AWR, IN, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Regarding the Al-Dhabayya (or Al-Dhabbaya?) site: Is actually still any Abu Dhabi programming up on shortwave? The Merlin press release is rather ambiguous: "The current operation and maintenance of the facility is second to none ..." At least one of the new AWR transmissions use a frequency which was originally registered by Emirates Broadcasting: 11945 0400-0600, aiming at 300 degrees. Looks like we should check for Radio Abu Dhabi, although their English broadcasts disappeared already years ago. As far as I remember they anyway consisted just of the "Capital FM" pop music program with just a few news items inserted from the shortwave studio (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re Al-Dhabbaya (according to WRTH & TDP) - Dhabayya according to Adrian Petersen! I have not traced any domestic Arabic between about 0600 and 2200 on any of their former frequencies such as 21735 (0200- 1600), 17760 (2000-2200), 15215 (1630-1800 & 1900-2200), 13755 (1630- 2000), 11940 (heard at 1000-2000), or 9695 (2000-2200). I haven`t checked 6180 (0200-0400) or 11945 (0400-0600). BUT, 11 MHz in daytime is very 'iffy' propagationally - it might be on, it might not. I suppose these were simply relays of local MW & FM (Noël Green UK, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Abu Dhabi: There is also a "Dabiya" listed as site for a MW transmitter (1314). Perhaps this is the same place than the shortwave site? I still remember hearing an English broadcast from Abu Dhabi: They said that they are "back in the shortwave studio" for some news. So English on shortwave was not completely but mostly a mere rebroadcast of "Capital FM", the English-language FM program from Abu Dhabi which consists mainly of western pop music. I have no idea how much (if any) Arabic-language programming they produced especially for shortwave. Actually no big loss but nevertheless I do not like it that Radio Abu Dhabi seems to be disappeared from shortwave, especially because this case is of an awkward similarity with Moosbrunn/Austria (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. New series of Brain of Britain begins 6 August on BBC R4, Mon 1230-1300 UT, repeated Sat 2200-2230 UT (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass. PublicRadioFan.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Have been searching the Independent site, you will see why in a minute, and found this old story on Mark Byford which is good background: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=11952 There was an article on Mark Byford in yesterday`s Independent on Sunday, does not seem to be on their own website but you can find it at: http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=010805002724&query=BBC+World+Service The author, Nik Lezard, does not mince his words; here's an extract: "So I had better make it clear and point out that my earlier remarks about Mark Byford were in fact ironic; and that what I really think about him is that he is either a contemptible stooge, part of the same army of bean-counters and pusillanimous vacillators who have helped to accelerate the process of the BBC's decline by bending over whenever the Treasury undoes its fly, or that he is in fact a villainous, unprincipled and short-sighted cretin who no more belongs at the helm of a cultural enterprise than I do in the boardroom of Unilever." (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. Dear Gary: For a BBC fan like myself, even though they did stop broadcasting to North America, I did find that I can pick up the European Targets quite well, with the help of an antenna consisting of a long wire. From 0300 UT on 6195, 9410 and 12095 khz, they come in very good. 9410 is the best, 6195 gets quite a bit of interference. I hope this will help all of our BBC fans. 73's (Daniel Mol, Jr., N3RUM, Eynon, PA, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From Tony Christian: Hi Mike, Sorry if you got the wrong information, WBCQ will broadcast from August 16th, 2000 to 2100 hrs on 7415, Thurs- Sun.; hope you can get some of that in the UK, although it is mainly aimed at the States as we have Astra in this country (UK). Tony Sadly for us in the UK the VOA use 7415 to broadcast to Africa daily at 1900-2130 with 100 or 250 kW from Greenville North Carolina. So reception chances are slim. Regards (Andy Cadier, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Not Greenville, but Botswana. IBB sked dated August 6 for total usage of 7415: 7415 0430 0500 VOA F PORT BOT 04 010 7415 1800 1900 VOA B ENGL BOT 01 350 7415 1900 2200 VOA B ENGL BOT 04 010 7415 2200 2230 VOA B ENGL BOT 04 010 12345 = M-F only This `sharing` of 7415 with WBCQ is totally unnecessary. Frequencies are not *that* scarce. Even IBB would find a `share` from a USA site unacceptable (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. In DXLD 1-103, Mike Barraclough reported that "New Dimensions" Radio has been missing from 6175. For the past several weeks, the program has also been missing from WSHB, which broadcast the program at 02 UT Sunday on 9430. 73, (Jim Moats, OH, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Plans to lease BBC overnight rebroadcaster in NYC: According to Aktina.org, a Greek ethnic program leasing time from the New York City Board of Education station WNYE-FM, the station will be leased to WNYC.ORG which will turn it into an all classical station. The Board of Ed will vote on the motion on August 22. http://www.aktina.org/ (Joël Rubin, NY, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From uk.media.radio.bbc-world-service Joel Rubin jmrubin@ix.netcom.com When the BBC World Service stopped shortwave specifically directed to North America, Australia and New Zealand, it claimed that those regions could depend on FM rebroadcasters and internet streaming. In seeming contradiction, it appears that FM rebroadcasting will be vastly less in the largest two radio markets of North America, NYC and Los Angeles, three months after the discontinuation of shortwave (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A/ U K. Metricom's Ricochet wireless Internet service, which was mentioned by Jerry Timmins (I believe) as an alternative for those of us who want to take the new BBC 1/2WS with us when we go out, has announced that the network is being turned off as of Wednesday. Opinion formers and decision makers in the 15 cities they served will have to find another way to get their fix of BBC 1/2WS. Full article at http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010802/23/metricom-ricochet I guess their Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't going as well as planned. Their site at http://www.metricom.com mentions that when they filed last month, they intended to keep the network going (Ralph Brandi, Aug 6 swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Once in a while it's great to look at an extra-local compilation of radio links. A correspondent (South Parky) wrote: "Here's a compilation of links from David Tanny's San Diego Radio/TV Site, both local and national. Enjoy!" David Tanny's San Diego Radio/TV Site http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4656/01radionews.htm ========== I found a few gems there & read some local columns that redounded to my listening here in NYC (Chet Copeland, August 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1249.5, WKBR NH Manchester - 08/05 0005 - "Manchester's one and only Real Country 1250 WKBR" noted off frequency over the past few days causing a horrendous het against 1250 and 1251 (Bruce Conti, NH, IRCA via DXLD) Bruce has a good tip here. I heard this yesterday evening VERY low off frequency. If you can latch onto the lower sideband of WKBR, it is clear of QRM from 1250. They were in and out with country mx last night, but I botched my recording and didn't get an ID. Hopefully they won't discover their mistake for one more good evening. Those of you who have very sharp receivers and don't have NH, this is worth a try (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) ** U S A. From August 1 sked of WRMI Radio Miami International, where one may safely ignore all other times and frequencies: UT Sunday: To North America on 7385 kHz: 0300-0330 Radio Prague (English) 0330-0400 This Lousy Half-Hour Show (English) 0400-0430 Seldom Heard Radio (English) 0430-0500 Thoughts, Feelings & Reality (English) [new show?, no description, so could be just evangelical -gh] Sunday to North America on 15725 kHz: 1215-1230 Viva Miami (English) 1230-1300 Wavescan (English) 1300-1330 Viva Miami (English) 1400-1500 Viva Miami (English) 1500-1530 Wavescan (English) 1530-1545 Viva Miami (English) 2200-2300 Viva Miami (English/español) UT Monday: To North America on 7385 kHz: 0230-0300 Wavescan (English) 0300-0330 Radio Prague (English) (http://www.wrmi.net via John Norfolk, excerpted by gh for DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. "Aló Presidente" now on Sat, ex Sun. Unsure if time and Cuban relays remain unchanged (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Hi Wolfgang, In the latest Top News you have this item in the middle of Vietnam: Either via 50 kW RNW MDG unit or via DTK Juelich, vailed operation not mentioned in latest DTK schedule, ed. 9490 2330-0030 41,49 80 degr 2606-281001 DVB DTK 15405 1430-1530 41,49 70 0107-281001 DVB DTK 17805 1455-1530 41,49 70 0606-281001 DVB DTK DVB is Democratic Voice of Burma, which is indeed broadcast via Madagascar and is in our schedule. This has nothing whatsoever to do with Radio Free Vietnam. I can confirm after checking with my colleagues in Programme Distribution that Radio Netherlands has absolutely no connection with the new Vietnamese station, if that was what was meant in your item. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, August 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Somebody forget to pull the plug on 15235 at 1430, and the DVB program [of 15405?] was heard on RFV frequency 15235 too. Or just a satellite feed circuit error? 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###