DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-108, August 12, 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] ** ARMENIA. I received V of Armenia (Hayastani Dzayn) program schedule along with verification. It says the following: MW 864 & 4810 kHz: Daily 0230-0300 Farsi 1300-1330 Azeri 1330-1345 Turkish 1445-1515 Turkish 4810 kHz: Daily 1645-1715 Arabic LW 234 kHz: D exc. Sundays 1220-1230 Georgian 4810 & 9960 kHz: D exc. Sundays 1830-1900 Armenian 1900-1920 French 1920-1940 German 1940-2000 English LW 234 kHz, 70 & 107,6 MHz: D exc. Wed 1730-1740 French 1740-1750 German 1750-1800 English 4810 & 15270 kHz: Sundays only 0700-0730 Armenian 0730-0750 French 0750-0810 German 0810-0830 English 9960 kHz: Daily 0200-0230 Armenian 0230-0245 Spanish The schedule is for summer-fall 2001 and the difference between UTC and Yerevan time is 5 hrs, so summer time seems to be in use? (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Aug 8, BC-DX via DXLD) YES, ARM/AZE/GEO are using summer time (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. We begin media news with this week's cutbacks in international broadcasting. We already reported that Radio Austria International will lose its special grant from the Austrian government. This means that the station will have to be funded from the budget of ORF, the domestic public broadcaster and parent entity of Radio Austria International. Michael Kerbler, chief editor of Radio Austria International, told me that as a result of its 50 percent reduction in budget, the station's German language broadcasts will make greater use of ORF domestic radio programs. Transmissions in English, French, and Spanish will remain. And there is a possibility that the Arabic and Esperanto broadcasts will also be saved. The organizational status of Radio Austria International is to be downgraded, so that it no longer will have an intendant as its highest-ranking officer. Roland Machatschke, who is presently head of Radio Austria International, will leave the organization at the end of this year. The Radio Austria International Web site has a page describing the planned cuts. Go to http://roi.orf.at Click on English. Then click on Radio Austria International: The Future (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Communications World August 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. According to the August 2001 issue of Prayerworld, the HCJB World Radio Engineering Centre in Elkhart, Indiana, is currently preparing a low-power shortwave transmitter for HCJB's Bolivian partner - LATCOM. No information as to frequency or start date. Similar low-power shortwave transmitters have already been built for ELWA in Liberia on 4760 kHz and Believer's Express in Bukavu (6210 kHz). (Christer Brunström, SW Bulletin August 12 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6062.00v, ``Universo``(se SWB 1464). Christer Brunström/CB in SWB: ``Your station on 6062 kHz is probably Rádio Tupi de Curitiba with the programme A Voz da Libertaçăo 24 hours a day. Is listed on 6060, 9565 and 11765 and often heard on all of the frequencies. I guess that Rádio Tupi is active on FM in Curitiba and rent out the rest of the transmission capacity to Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor. I have heard the programme Informativo Tupi at some occasions and this is completely different from the religious programmes. Interesting that the station earlier was called Rádio Universo (if they haven`t changed the name recently). They seldom give any IDs and the programmes are `heavy` to listen to for any longer time``. Thank you, Christer. I have checked the frequencies and they are // on 6062v, 11764.74 and 9565.06 kHz with the programme ``A Voz da Libertaçăo`` and they also mentioned the church ``Deus é Amor``. I couldn`t hear any ``Radio Tupi``-ID. Exciting also with that ``Universo``! Maybe the name of the company owning Radio Tupi? (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** BURUNDI. Re 6140 blocked in Europe: There is a gap from 1955z for about 4 minutes though not a trace of Burundi is heard... Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, August 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did not heard Burundi when checked on 3/4 from 1630-1800 and at that time DW was very strong there. Again to-day there was a LA stn with LA Mx and talk by woman in Sp at 1200, then CHN at 1230, but no s-of Burundi until now (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, DXplorer Aug 3-4 via BC-DX) 6140: Also tried for Burundi on reported reactivated 6140. But despite a clear channel not even a carrier before 2100. Early s-off? No schedule available, BBCM? (Harald Kuhl, Germany, DXplorer, Aug 5 via BC-DX) ** CHINA. 5030, CNR 1, 2050-2100 Aug 11, kind of classical music, best on LSB and parallel to 4460. Missed ID at/before topeth. First time I heard these two signals since late winter/early spring 2001. Weak to fair (Piet Pijpers, The Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Here`s someone else willing to take a stand against jamming. Not surprisingly, RNW is one station which is not involved with Chinese relays. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/china010718.html (via gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. Press Release China Radio International As of Friday August 17, 2001 China Radio International will present a weekly communications review called WAVE-LENGTH, as part of CRI`s daily morning show Real-Time Beijing on the domestic service. The 10 minute magazine will feature the latest developments in the world of international broadcasting as well as historic clips that made radio enjoyable. Some of the features to be coming up in the first weeks will be a series looking at German and American propaganda radio from the late 1930s and 40s. With William Joyce (a.k.a. Lord Haw Haw), Axel [sic] Sally and Glenn Miller will be featured. Also coming up will be a look at radio, TV, and Internet radio in Asia as well as the latest developments in the Chinese media. The program will be produced and presented by Keith Perron. Wave-Length can be heard on 91.5 fm in Beijing between 8-9am Beijing time each Friday. Or at http://www.cri.com.cn For more information contact: Keith Perron, English Language Service, China Radio International e-mail: kperron@hotmail.com Tele: 86-10- 13661322248 (Perron, August 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA [clandestine]. Colombian rebel radio aiming to set up clandestine station in capital | Text of report by special correspondent Salud Hernandez-Mora: ```News bombshell' from the FARC --- the Colombian guerrilla group reports on the peace talks on the Voice of the Resistance`` published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo web site on 5 August; subheading as published San Vicente del Caguán: Although no-one has ever placed an advertisement with them, and no company measures their audience figures, the Voice of the Resistance lifts the lid on things (exclusives) as eagerly as any commercial station. When they play at home, they win by a mile. So, if someone wants to know what has happened at the negotiating table between the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] and the government as soon as a meeting has ended at Los Pozos - the venue for the peace talks, a village under rebel control - they should tune in to 99.9 FM in Caquetá Department. They will almost certainly get a News Bombshell, as they call the news updates which interrupt programmes with the latest development in the peace process. As well as the reports filed from Los Pozos by the two Voice of the Resistance FARC reporters, the rebel radio station reports on the battles and other military actions by its troops. They know what has happened first hand thanks to the other 15 stations dotted around the country to which they are linked. Simón Bolívar If there isn't an exclusive, you don't have to wait until ``Notiveraz`` [``Truenews``], the 0500-0600 morning news programme which they repeat at midday. The music and educational programmes, peppered with revolutionary slogans and denunciations of crimes by their enemies, take up the remainder of the 12 hours' broadcasting time. ``Colombian music``, ``Romantic Music``, ``Revolutionary Music`` and ``Bolivarian Lecture`` are some of the slots which make up the programming. ``The radio is a means of combat,`` says Commander Adriana, the head of the 40 guerrillas who make up the staff at the radio station. None of them studied journalism or any other degree. Neither did they go to high school. They are all self-taught and each one is given the work which most suits their abilities. ``Colombian woman, you who sowed the hope of seeing grow your valiant children, fighters for progress. Mother of the guerrilla, the valleys, the flowers and the mountains of Colombia, it is for you and all the exploited that we shall follow the path of struggle,`` is one of the messages which Adriana has written for insertion between songs. Other messages are directed at the soldiers of the armed forces to get them to desert and join their ranks, or at one`s neighbours or guerrilla comrades. Each guerrilla can write his own, there's room for all of them. ``We don't turn anyone away here, each person is carrying out a mission,`` she adds. On this day some of them have taken up their picks and shovels to repair the access road to the camp, which is full of potholes because of the torrential rain which has fallen in this area of jungle. While other comrades are putting together a programme on denunciations of massacres by the army, with background music by Expediente X. Yet others are preparing the meal. The station is housed in a tiny room in the small mobile camp, half an hour from the town of San Vicente del Caguán, in the south of the country, where all the young people working at the Voice of the Resistance live. The radio sets are old-fashioned and there are only two microphones, but they achieve their aim of reaching clearly a mainly guerrilla and peasant audience. They've been on air for five years and their immediate objective is to double the power of their 250-watt transmitter, situated on a hill, and later to set up a clandestine radio station in the capital of the country. Yosman Alejandro plays drums and writes songs for Rebeldes del Sur [Southern Rebels]. He combines tours of the camps with his work at the station. His mission is to spread the social message of the FARC, which he joined four years ago. ``I like the fact that foreigners come and visit the station, so that they can see for themselves that our ideals are not as they paint them, that our struggle is a just one.`` Source: El Mundo web site, Madrid, in Spanish 5 Aug 01 (via BBCM Aug 11 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 2500.06H, HJFV Radio Viva, Pasto. August 2001 - 0000 UT. ID: ``...emisora `Radio Viva`: Radio Viva, Pasto 1250, Radio Viva Cultural Bolívar, Ipiales (couldn`t get the frequency), Radio Viva, Cali 1290......`` plus an FM-station in Ipiales on 89.1 MHz --- didn`t get the name but `...Color` was one part. Radio Viva, Pasto has been heard until recently on 1240 kHz – also with good signal strength here in Quito; varies some 10-part in frequency but mostly on 1240.12 kHz. Harmonic from 1250 kHz (2 x 1250.03). 3600.06H, HJNF Radio Súper, Cali. August 2001 - 1100 UT. Weak, heard only the station ID, a short ``Súper Cali``. On 3600.02 probably an unID Cuban (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 3840.76, unID LA, probably Costa Rica. August 2001 - 1110 UT. Has been heard recently quite well but no direct ID. TC UT-6 and often talk about Costa Rica --- consider Radio Sol Estéreo, San José listed on 960 kHz. Another possible harmonic is from 1280, but a check reveal that it is not Radio Alajuela. Until 1055 UT mixed LA- music where a YL says a few words between each tune. After that a long newscast called ``Panorama noticioso`` with a male DJ. Also heard during evenings but weaker signal. A quite thin bandscan this time. The station on 3840.76 is exciting --- I hope to solve the mystery until next SWB (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) One would certainly suspect harmonic-rich Alajuela, recently heard on its 4th (gh) ** CYPRUS. Yesterday we decided at the last minute to visit Agia Napa which is 100 kms from Limassol. Another 20 km north you get to Parlimni and Cape Greco / Protaras. The location of Zygi is about 30 km away towards Larnaca on the coast and Cape Greco is just north of Agia Napa on the coast. I drove on the road towards the Radio Monte Carlo site 1233 kHz and saw their antenna and the same site is too the site of TWR. I visited the Cape Greco site for the first time. It was good to view the proposed site of the VOA and truly I saw much land empty. Beyond the fork of the road on the opposite side of the sites of RMC and TWR. So a possible site for the VOA on Cape Greco is better than at Zygi nearer to Limassol. But better for the ME transmissions. We travelled along the coast to Protaras, then inland to Paralamni. Then to the buffer zone north and saw from the observation post Famagusta in the northern part of Cyprus. From here you can see the two borders that separate Greek / Cyprus from Turkish / Cyprus. In between the two armies and in between the UN Forces. Later this month in New York the two sides are due to resume talks after a break of 7 months, for a possible solution to the island`s division after 27 years. Let`s hope in the spirit of goodwill that we can all live together again (Costas Constantinides, Cyprus, Aug 7, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Later today my wife and I go to coastal Esmeraldas together with 5 close relatives with the bus company TransEsmeraldas". Wonderful! I was there last time in 1996. We will spend near a week in "Atacames" just outside of Esmeraldas. We will live in small cottages near the beach, called "cabańas". No listening to SW but will on behalf of WRTH check the province of "Esmeraldas" and the 9 MW-stations that according to SWB member Tore Larsson/TL at the WRTH editorial staff are listed in the province, most of them in Esmeraldas (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) See BM`s items in this issue under: BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA, HAWAII, PERU (gh) ** EGYPT. Question from WRTH publisher re Egypt, ERTU. Dear Thomas Nilsson, I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question. I have a listing of domestic SW broadcasts from Egypt. ERTU seem unwilling to confirm that they have domestic SW broadcasts. I take the liberty of giving you the frequencies below in the hope that you will be able to help: kHz kW P Times 9620 100 1 0340-0700 9700 100 6a 1800-0030 9755 100 4 0200-2200 9770 100 1 0340-0700 kHz kW P Times 9800 100 1 0340-2400 9850 250 1 1100-2400 11665 100 6a 1900-0030 11785 100 1 0600-1500 11980 250 6a 0600-1400 kHz kW P Times 12050 250 1 0200-2400 15285 100 6a 24h 15475 250 1 0700-1400 17670 100 1 1300-1900 The programmes fit as they are the General Service, Voice of the Arabs and the Koran. If you do not have the time to do this then please do not bother. Many thanks Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher, World Radio TV Handbook. (I forward the question to all our members, hoping someone can help with this one. /ed.) (Thomas Nilsson, SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD) I would say those are relays of domestic services for abroad. Possibly some of the lower frequencies would also serve Egypt itself (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Radio Eurosonor heard on August 11, between 1900 and 20.01:33 UT, tx switch off at 20.02:11, all on out-of-band frequency of 6955 kHz. The transmission condition resulted in a very FLUTTERY signal, but this was conjointly with other signals from south-east Europe this night, like Moscow, Samara, Armavir, Kiev, Vatican R, Bulgaria outlets. Noted here in S Germany with S=4 on 6955 kHz. Bulgaria - Sofia tx site has 50 kW units at its disposal. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. 6350.02, National Public Radio, unknown QTH. August 2001 - 1035 UT. "NPR News" and programme elements about the radio station "Cool FM" in Nigeria. Gave e-mail as http://www.npr.org (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) See http://www.npr.org/worldwide/shortwave.html for official info about NPR via AFRTS, but it is not believed to be complete, up to date and accurate. Confirmation that ICELAND is being used is still awaited (gh, DXLD) ** HUNGARY. R. Budapest is rumored to be facing sharp cuts in its international broadcasting – just as the EDXC Conference is about to happen there August 24 (Luigi Cobisi, EDXC Report on HCJB DX Partyline, August 11 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. And as for reception of BBC World Service via emerging U.S. satellite radio services XM and Sirius, light bulbs might get in the way. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that energy-saving light bulbs to be manufactured by Fusion Lighting of Rockville, Maryland, emit radio frequency energy that may block reception of signals from the XM and Sirius satellites. The bulbs will used for street lights, and XM and Sirius are marketed primarily to listeners in cars, who will be driving under those street lights. XM and Sirius have asked the Federal Communications Commission for rules to block virtually all the interference from the bulbs. Fusion said such modification would put its company out of business. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC is months away from deciding whether to restrict emissions from the Fusion bulbs (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Communications World August 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** JAPAN. I send you the information about the experimental SW stn JG2XA. As I live in the neighboring city, the transmission is well received: University of Electronics & Communications, Chofu City, Tokyo started experimental SW transmission for research of HF-band Doppler-Shift (HFD). They had been using 5 & 8 MHz signals of former JJY, which ended transmission in March. They decided to set up their own SW station for this purpose. The new SW stn, call sign JG2XA, started regular transmission on July 3. Freqs: 5006 and 8006 (width 1.5 kHz) Power: 200 watt Tx: Yaesu FT-860 + linear amp + lubidium generator (2 sets) Antenna: halfwave horizontal dipole. Schedule: 24 hrs with continous unmodulated carrier; ID in Morse Code is given at least every 30 mins as "JG2XA JG2XA JG2XA UEC HFD STATION" in H3A mode. Addr: Tomizawa Laboratory, University of Electronics & Communications, Chofugaoka 1-5-1, Chofu City, Tokyo, 182-8585 Japan Tel: +81 42 443 5598 E-mail: tomizawa@ee.uec.ac.jp URL: http://ssro.ee.uec.ac.jp/lab_tomi/index.html (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Aug 5, BC DX via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. R. Kuwait on 08 Aug 2001, 2005-2036, on 11990 kHz. Interesting mix of US pop music disrupted by intermittent audio --- one moment your hear it clearly followed by a 'pop' and the next moment there was silence. Apparently a bad (physical) connection somewhere along the audio lines. Checked in again on 10 Aug 2001, 1849-1931 on 11990 kHz and problem appears to have been remedied. Played some really nice jazz on the latter date (Rich Skoba, New Jersey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has anyone received a printed English program schedule lately? We have not seen one this year, and none is to be found on their website (gh, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. Glenn, Canada - CKZN on 11 Aug 2001, 0029-0105, on 6160 kHz. Pretty good oldies show (1960s rock and roll) along with commentaries on golf and hockey followed by CBC news (Rich Skoba, New Jersey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Two alternative sites with information about Peruvian ``distritos``. You are already familiar with the excellent ``Ventanaperú`` described earlier in this column. There are of course other similar sites but they are difficult to find. One alternative is A.N.C. / Asociación Nacional de Centros. Do this: A/ Visit this address: http://www.siperu.org/datos/indice.htm B/ Choose e.g. departamento "La Libertad". C/ Choose e.g. provincia "Pataz". D/ Click on distrito "Parcoy". In latest SWB #1464 I reported about Radio Nuevo Horizonte, a station situated just in this ``distrito``. You can now see on the screen a lot of statistics about ``el distrito de Parcoy``. Everything from that 96.1 % of the 9453 inhabitants are living on the country side and how many policemen there are in the area. The other alternative is a site with about the same information as the above ``A.N.C.`` but with the difference that all ``distritos`` are viewed with different colours on a nice map --- you see exactly where in ``la provincia de Pataz`` a ``distrito`` is situated. A very nice map site from ``Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática``. Do this: Visit this address: http://www.inei.gob.pe/inei4/bancogeo/bancogeo.htm. Follow the same steps as in the "A.N.C."-site above i.e. - step B --- D. (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin August 12, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I would like to thank all of you for your RRs and comments about our tests relays to NAm. These tests were first ones to NAm from St. Petersburg [Popovka] for many years! There were some 200 kW txs (only one for each relay) and some curtain/rhombic aerial systems with 327, 312 and 308 degrees in use. No exact date of R Gardarika regular broadcasts yet. Their very tentative future schedule is: 0200-0300/0400 on 9940 (it looks quite OK at this time). (Mikhail Timofeyev, Russia, Aug 4, BC DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. See also VIETNAM [non] ** SAMOA [non]. Samoans Find Voice on Radio: http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/goodworks11.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** SOMALIA. On 6750 kHz: Radio Mogadishu, Voice of the People of the Somali Republic, heard 12th August from 1845 tune-in, with talk in Somali (many references to Somalia), followed by Qur`an and sign-off with Anthem at 1858. Fair (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR 7030+/LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** SUDAN. Further to my previous posting about Sudan on 7200 kHz, had another go at this one on 12th August from sign-on at 0200 with Interval Signal and opening announcements in Arabic. Clear ID heard at re-check 0328 as "Huna Omdurman". Haven't seen any reports of this in the evenings. Anyone heard it? (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR 7030+/LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** SYRIA. R. Damascus on 08 Aug 2001, 2052-2129, on 13610 kHz. A really amazing signal with (at times) almost non-existent audio. At times it was the equivalent of a dead carrier (i.e., no audio) - what a waste of power (Rich Skoba, New Jersey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. Re Olle's comment concerning Dubai - yes, the noise audible on Dubai's transmitters has been present since they came on air. The TDP shows 3 x 300 kW Marconi B6124 of 1979 and 1 x 500 kW Marconi B6127 of 1985, so this latter is different to the others. I think this was discussed previously, and some conclusion arrived at about which was the 500 unit - but I cannot remember what! Anyway, 21605, 15395 and now 13675 are on air as I type. 21 & 15 are rumbling but I cannot hear the noise on 13 - maybe due to the current weaker signal and some noise. I think 15370 comes on in addition to carry English - 1030? - and then there is a change later to 13630. Ray Merrall - again now tells me, that Abu Dhabi is not heard with their own program at all "all day" - daytime, I think he means - on 21735. It is not audible today to me at 0630 and now at 0800 (Dubai 21605 & ARS 21705 are, so it is not due to propagation) and yesterday there was no signal around 1600 on 21 or 11940 either. I did NOT check in the evening. RFA 21690 was on this morning, and I've heard Family R. on 17730, so the Dhabayya stn is on air! Maybe it will only be used for relay purposes? I'm not an expert on Arabic affairs, and don't know why there are two separate stns in the UAE each doing their own programming. My map of the area is not very clear, but seems to show Abu Dhabi on an island off the mainland (Noel R. Green, UK, Aug 4) [Dubai and Abu Dhabi are different emirates, ed.] (BC DX via DXLD) Eine halbe Stunde wurde vom englischen Inlandsdienst Capital R übernommen, sonst gab es Beiträge über den Islam, vor allem aber zu Programmbeginn eine Lesung des Korans mit englischer Übersetzung und Interpretation. Ob mit dem Vertrag auch inhaltliche Rücksichtnahmen verbunden sind, muss sich zeigen. Jedenfalls hatte der religiöse Sendezeitmakler World Beacon schon im April Testsendungen angekündigt, doch blieben die christlichen Missionsprogramm von der arabischen Halbinsel, die bekanntlich das Herzland des Islam ist, ein Papierprojekt (Dr. Hansjörg Biener, Germany, ntt Aug 2 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 1250, WKBR, NH Manchester - 08/10 1830 - Noted back on frequency this evening after being at 1249.5 all week (Bruce Conti, Nashua - R8B, MWDX-5, 100-ft wire, 100-ft east sloping wire via NRC- AM via DXLD) That would be 1830 EDT = 2230 UT ** U S A. Some radio amateurs have reverted to the conventional AM mode. Many of them use equipment from the 1950s and early 1960s, when AM was the dominant voice mode in ham radio. The AM mode hams are particularly active in the 160 and 75 meter bands. Al Brown, amateur radio call KZ3AB, who works for VOA's Computer Service Division, arranged a special QSO, or conversation, among four radio amateurs in the Washington area active in the AM mode. On a Saturday morning, they transmitted on 3885 kilohertz, a popular frequency for the AM aficionados. Here Al describes the equipment he uses. AUDIO KIM: Steve, WB3HUZ, and Paul, WA3VJB, recalled how an AM mode ham station attracted a crowd at a local outdoor radio amateur event. AUDIO KIM: So why do these radio amateurs use AM, which some consider an antiquated an inefficient mode? Joe, WA3GMS, offered his explanation. AUDIO KIM In the special QSO, the group described how they got started in amateur radio. Joe found an old receiver and restored it. The first signal he heard was a local radio amateur. AUDIO KIM And Harry, W3FDY, went on to teach Joe and other young enthusiasts about amateur radio and radio design. Al also heard a local radio amateur on his own scavenged shortwave receiver. AUDIO KIM And Fran, W3SCC, did teach Al about amateur radio. Thanks to Al, Paul, Joe, and Steve for participating in this special QSO for Communications World. I have links to Web sites devoted to AM mode amateur radio on the script for today's program. http://www.thebizlink.com/am/ http://www.amfone.net Al Brown will soon retire from the Voice of America. Over the years, Al has been good friend of this program, reading some of your letters on the air, screening phone calls during our call-in specials, and other favors. Among Al's activities in retirement is his small business, EZ-Hang. If you have ever wanted to extend a wire antenna from a tall tree, but did not want to climb that tree, the EZ-hang device provides a solution. It's a combination slingshot and fishing reel. Information available at http://www.ezhang.com (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Communications World August 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD; excerpted) ** U S A. AUDIO -- KIM: That is the opening music to the Jornal da Manhă program of VOA's Portuguese-to-Brazil Service. On Wednesday, I attended a small celebration at the VOA Brazilian Service marking its fortieth anniversary. But the world "bittersweet" was used much that day, because VOA's Brazilian Service has been taken off the air, except for a daily news feed to Radio Bandeirantes in Sao Paulo, and that will stop on August 31st. VOA Brazilian was closed down result of a language priority review of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. Those on the staff not eligible for retirement or unable to find work elsewhere in the U.S. Government will be laid off. VOA Brazilian was a pioneer in the transformation from long-form shortwave transmissions to the satellite feed of short, tailored programming to domestic stations in the target country. The service was also an innovator in the use of lively, high-energy presentation, on shortwave as well as in its satellite feeds. The VOA Brazilian Service becomes part of VOA's history, which is being examined as VOA approaches its sixtieth anniversary in February 2002 (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Communications World August 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. In HCDX #545 Michael Schnitzer asked if I was sure about Radio Sarandí y Yí on 6155. Here is a "pattern" that seems to repeat itself at night on that frecuency; it`s a very tricky frequency, but I have found out this: UT of course: from 2330 (or so) till 0100 Radio Fides [Bolivia]. Lots of talks. from 0100 to 0130 unID Asian station, local. Hindi singing or could be Tamil or anything from Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. From 0130 to 0200 Radio Telefis Eirann running some funny tests. RTE1, ``5-7 Live``, not // 567, but re-broadcasts of earlier programmes of the day on 567. from 0200 to 0245 Radio Sarandí y Yí, usually music from La Plata region, tangos, milongas, female DJ, have clearly heard name ``Sarandí``, also ``Banda Oriental``. But usually very poor signal. QRK 2 only. 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Johan Berglund`s observations regarding Banda Oriental - Sarandí del (not y) Yí coincides with my own observations. R Fides has been heard here in Borgĺ, Finland (50 km east of Helsinki) with nice signals starting around 22 UT and lasting to ca. 0015-0020 when the channel is blocked by a carrier up to 0100. After 0200 the channel is again free and the station coming in weakly to moderately is indeed Banda Oriental, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay (I made my first logging of the station already on March 11 2001, then on 6154.06 and now on 6155.04, e.g. exactly the same split as that of Fides!) and not Fides as also Henrik Klemetz pointed out earlier. Banda Oriental has a distinct format that cannot be mixed with that of Fides. My 40 years experience in Latin American DX-ing tells me that the majority of all Bolivians logged at least in Finland (and thus northern Europe) in the 49 m.b. have been during and shortly after Bolivia local sunset, that is between ca. 22-00 UT. Best regards, (Jan-Erik Österholm, Östravägen 18 FIN-06100 Borgĺ Finland Phone: +358-(0)10-45 23412 Mobile: + 358-(0)50-45 23412 Fax: +358-(0)10-45 25770/23776, Hard- Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Together with Kai Ludwig and Wolfgang Büschel we analyzed the situation on 15235 a bit more. Today I tuned in again to 15235 and found an open carrier already around 1350. For a while I heard several test tones, which is a good indicator for a site in Russia or another CIS country (Tashkent Uzbekistan?). So, it is not coming from Jülich. From 1400-1430 today R Free Vietnam was aired. And shortly before s- off at 1430, I again heard the beginning of a Democratic Voice of Burma program, confirming earlier observations. It is now more likely that RFV 15235 is coming from the same site as DVB 5945 kHz (Tashkent-UZB) from 1430, which I cannot hear at my location but has been recently confirmed to be active by Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI (Harald Kuhl, Germany, Aug 8) 15235 R Free Vietnam. *1400-1430* Heard on the morning of Aug 8th with a fair to fair plus signal. Prior to sign-on (1354-1358) where the 900 Hertz tones of the tx testing. At 1400 s-on but just a few bars of a National Anthem, then a pause. Back in at 1402 with opening annt by female speaker, gave a freq/website, then into a political commentary hosted by a male speaker. At 1413 the transmission (audio) ceased, the carrier left on. Back on at 1429 with a brief selection of Vietnamese mx, then s-off. Carrier gone at 1431. Seemed the audio link had problems on this date? Aug 9 *1400-1429* 900 Hz tones again heard prior to s-on from 1350 to 1358. S-on at 1400 with the NA of Rep of Vietnam (Qu'oc thi'eu Vi'et- Nam), broke for sign-on annts/program notes/website information by female speaker, into a long political talks by male speaker. Noted with many references to Vietnam, yet there was English text such as 'political machine' & 'youth of Asia' Noted to 1428 with a nice Vietnamese selection, closing comments by female speaker (freq given) and s-off. Fair to good signal peaks on the Inverted Dipoles. My conclusion based on the signal / propagation path / test tones is that these broadcasts are relayed from Russia, either from Samara or Irkutsk or possibly one of the Republics (Dushanbe?). If it was farther east say from Vladivostok the signal path would be much stronger here into my location (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, DXplorer, Aug 9) [non] Regarding the Russian stn on 15235, here are my latest observations: 15235 Khanty-Mansiysk, Aug 4, 1430-1900*, Russian with R Rossii program heard \\ 5940. I had my doubt that I really could hear this low-powered stn scheduled with just 3 kW and asked Mikhail Timofeyev in St. Petersburg who confirmed, that he regularly listens to it as well with little or no interference. 24222. Khanty-Mansiysk has been reported active by Russian DX-ers in "RUS- DX" with 3 kW at least since 1999 as a local, domestic bcing stn, so there are no relations at all to the new R Free Vietnam. At the end of July this year I heard Khanty-Mansiysk at 1410, so obviously they recently have extended their schedule (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI Aug 10) So assumed - 15235 RFV from Tashkent or Samara - I guess, (wb) (all: via BC-DX via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. Radio Yugoslavia is appealing to its listeners for money to help buy medicine for its broadcaster, Zorica Bulja. Mrs. Bulja is gravely ill with miloid leukemia. A new drug Gleevek, developed in the United States, is effective in treating this disease, but it costs two and half thousand dollars. More information at the station's Web site: http://www.radioyu.org (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Communications World August 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ###