DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-113, August 23, 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] Note: the subject header for some notifications of DXLD 1-111 somehow read DXLD 1-104. I hope this confused no one (gh) WORLD OF RADIO 1093: (STREAM) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1093.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1093.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1093.html ** ARMENIA. Dear Glenn, In your current World of Radio and in DXLD 1111 you mention a wrong schedule for ARMENIA. The correct one is Except Sundays on 9960 kHz: 1900 French 1920 German 1940(-20) English Sunday on 15270 kHz, including Letterbox: 0730 French 0750 German 0810(-0830) English Kind Regards, (Erik Køie in Copenhagen, Aug 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Since a couple of days I am looking for an opportunity to visit my aunt. Years ago she came into contact with the Ayopayamanta folklore group (which meanwhile broke apart, she told me), finally resulting in a journey to Independencia. Already at this time some documentation of "Centro cultural" projects mentioned the establishment of a radio station, but I got the impression on FM only. So perhaps Radio Ayopaya is already on air for some time and now just added a shortwave transmitter. Of course I am curious what my aunt will think about the recent reports; she does not understand so much English but there are striking keywords... German saying is: "The world is a village." Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURUNDI. New independent radio has Hutus, Tutsis working together | Text of report by Radio France Internationale on 21 August As promised, we continue our series of reportage on Burundi. Players in the local audiovisual sector include, of course, the state-owned RTNB, the Burundi National Radio and Television corporation. It will also be recalled that a private radio station called Radio Umwizero was launched some years ago with the aim of promoting national reconciliation. This station managed to have a sizable share of the listening population throughout the country. We also witnessed RFI entering the scene with its FM station both in the capital city on the 92.4 band and the rest of the country. A new radio station called the African Public Radio [Radio Publique Africaine] has been set up in the past few months. It also claims to be the symbol of a possible reconciliation, as it has both Hutu and Tutsi staff members. Gabriel Kahn reports from Bujumbura. [Kahn - recording] The media space in Burundi has been considerably expanded with the setting up of a new independent radio station in March this year called the African Public Radio. In less than five months, the station has secured the highest audience rating in Bujumbura, well ahead of the state radio and other private stations that had monopoly over the wave lengths. The founder of the station, Alexis Sinduhige, has this to say: [Sinduhige] It is not a humanitarian radio. While national reconciliation is our priority, as this is the number one problem that we are facing, we also try to highlight societal issues such as corruption, exploitation, non-ethnic political problems - struggle for individual interests - and so on and so forth. We try to educate the public on all these issues. In so doing, we use people, we use the vulnerable people who explain their problems and we call on experts. Instead of broadcasting a vertical type of information, we provide horizontal information that involves everybody: specialists as well as people considered to be voiceless. We try to give a voice to the voiceless who have had no medium to express themselves. [Kahn] With its editorial board composed of some 30 people, African Public Radio, succeeded in integrating former Hutu rebels and former Tutsi soldiers, who are now working side by side. [Sinduhige] When they recount their adventures, one will tell the other: "So you were fighting in this area? I was on the front-line just opposite you, so we could have killed each other." And now, they are friends. They share a beer, they work together under the same roof, and they protect each other. This means that these youngsters now have prospects and hopes. They realize that there are others things to do in life than killing one another. So I do not see any real problem between Hutus and Tutsis. The real issues are future prospects. The youth have no future prospects. They are wondering whether they will be able to purchase a house tomorrow, whether they will get employment. These are the real issues of despair. Once a young person has something to cling on to, he becomes a wonderful person. [Kahn] The new radio station is paying a high price for its independence. The initial investment, mainly funded by the US Ford Foundation, has been used up and the African Public Radio is feverishly looking for other donors. Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 1230 gmt 21 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) See also RWANDA! ** CANADA [and non]. Trolley wires and medium wave (CBC). The San Francisco Bay Area has long had a relatively high level of medium wave listening, especially by drivers. San Francisco has both streetcars (one wire, rails act as ground return) and trolleybuses or, as the Boston system has called them, trackless trolleys. (two wires). San Jose' has streetc..., er um, a light rail system. The reason is that, especially if you're driving, FM reception can be spotty due to the hills. Indeed a number of FM stations have bought a second station in San Jose or Santa Cruz to give them wider coverage. I should think the same thing is true in Vancouver especially in places like North Vancouver and Burnaby. By the way, don't confuse cable cars with trolleys as do many tourists. Cable cars came long before the electrical system. Cable cars mechanically grip a cable under the street which is being driven by motors at what is now the Cable Car Museum. The only electrical power on a cable car consists of batteries which operate the lights. This is like Edison's lab in West Orange, NJ and presumably like a lot of factories in the same period. You couldn't just plug in a power drill. There were a few motors and a lot of belts and pulleys transferring the power. A power drill obtained its power from a belt (Joël Rubin, NY, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. QSL e-message from Radio Kavkaz (July 22, 1605, 7143 kHz) received today. Signed by Surkho Idiyev (nohchy@wanex.net) President of "KIBE" = Caucasian Information Bureau He admits a lot of friends & sympathisers in Ukraine. Furthermore --- invited me to cooperate in organising broadcasting from Georgian territory (the license is already promised to them!). They need radio broadcast specialists. Apologised about long term answer: they were severely attacked by viruses during last weeks. I think the answer was induced mostly thanks to this inquiry for help (V. G. Titarevj, Ukraine, Aug 19, 2001 in DX-plorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** CHINA. Hunan People's Radio Station. Station identification: "Hunan renmin guangbo diantai" (Hunan People's Broadcasting Station). Languages : Mandarin Address : 27 Yuhua Lu, Changsha, Hunan 410007 Tel : +86 (0) 731 5547202 Fax : +86 (0) 731 5547220 SW portion of schedule: 2130-1700 on 4990 (© BBC Monitoring Aug 20, condensed for DXLD) ** CUBA. [Lista ConDig] CUBA ELIMINA DE LOS TELEVISORES LA UHF A TELEVISORES PANDA Ordenan "amputarle" el UHF a los televisores chinos marca Panda LA HABANA, 22 de agosto (Juan Carlos Linares) - El gobierno de Cuba ordenó quitarle el dispositivo de UHF (frecuencia ultra alta) a los televisores marca Panda que recientemente compró en China, reveló a este periodista una fuente muy confiable. La información fue suministrada por un empleado de la empresa encargada de ensamblar los Panda, radicada en el municipio Boyeros de Ciudad de La Habana, quien agregó que técnicos en electrónica de distintos talleres pertenecientes al Ministerio de Comercio Interior, previamente seleccionados, serán los que mutilarán los equipos del primer embarque que arribe a la isla, calculado en un millón de acuerdo al convenio entre China y Cuba. "El propósito de la medida es reducir a cero la posibilidad de que la población capte señales televisivas procedentes de Estados Unidos de América, y así obligar a que la gente sólo pueda consumir las programaciones de los dos canales de la televisión cubana (en poder del gobierno de Fidel Castro)", precisó la fuente. El empleado de la ensambladora de los Panda también apuntó que el gobierno pretende "homogeneizar" el parque de receptores de televisión con un mercado seguro de piezas de repuesto. Versiones no confirmadas indican que estos equipos de televisión, con pantallas de 14 y 20 pulgadas, podrán ser comprados por los trabajadores que se ganen ese "derecho", previa discusión y análisis de sus méritos en asambleas laborales como ocurría en la década del 70 del siglo pasado. Se dice además que a los ganadores del "derecho" a comprar los telereceptores Panda se les facilitará préstamos bancarios pagaderos en hasta cinco años. El régimen cubano, por decreto ley, obliga a los dueños de antenas de UHF a desmontarlas so pena de altas multas, decomiso del dispositivo y encarcelamiento por desacato de quienes desobedezcan la regulación. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. NOTA: Publicación de La Prensa independiente de Cuba a través de CUBANET. Cordiales 73's (Oscar, via D. Lawton Batista, Conexión Digital via DXLD) TV Martí, of course, operates on three UHF channels only, and is about to be beefed up. Tsk, I guess Arnie Coro will have to restrict his TVDX to VHF; but then, he is one of those lucky Cubans with Internet access... (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. Cubavisión Internacional expands, plans 24 hour Internet service The Cubavisión Internacional TV channel will transmit via cable for some 18 hours a day to the country's main tourist beach area of Varadero, the Cuban newspaper Granma reported on 22 August. Initially, transmissions will reach 80 per cent of hotels in the resort area, the report added. Bruno Torres, the channel's director, stated that the aim was to reach all of the country's principal tourist regions. He said the channel was accessible so far in Santiago de Cuba, Guardalavaca, Holguín and 11 hotels in Havana. He also said that revenue from the channel would go to Televisión Cubana. It is hoped that later this year Cubavisión Internacional would be on the Internet 24 hours a day as part of the "enormous effort being carried out by Cuba so the truth of the revolution and socialism can be known across the world". In this regard, Torres said the channel is being broadcast 3.5 hours a day via satellite to Europe and North and South America, the paper reported. Source: Granma, Havana, in Spanish 22 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. During this listening session [c. 1700 UT Aug 21] I stumbled over a DRM signal on 855, so Berlin-Britz already rehearses for the DRM presentation on the IFA fair. As well-known, this is the old RIAS 2 mediumwave frequency, which is now in use only for occasional special broadcasts (containing really exciting stuff like TV soundtracks of parliamentary or party convention coverage) and otherwise mostly off. "Otherwise" seems to mean, if there is somebody at the site to switch the transmitter on and off, because 855 used to stay on through weekends or holidays. In this case the regular Deutschlandradio Berlin program is carried, but without the delay which is in use on the other terrestrial circuit output to synchronize it with the satellite feeds. These delays were installed after some listener complaints about echo effects when, for example, the hi-fi set in the living room is tuned to a satellite-fed FM outlet but the radio in the kitchen to longwave (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. RTV Guinea, 7125, Aug 17 2345-2400* Af hi-life music, French talk, 2359 s/off with instrumental NA; good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4777.1, RRI Jakarta, 1940 Aug 22, noted reactivated after a long absence. Fair signal though some audio distortion noted. Program was a male host taking phone calls (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from FRANCE? to IRAN KRSI 17520. [First a correction: I had this one via Israel in CDX 360; confused it with anti-Iran clanny Radio Barabari, which a few DXers have heard with mis-feeds of Kol Israel right after the program ends --Johnson.] I listened to 17520 at their 1530 s/on today. They came on abruptly at 1529 together with the bubble jammer. Very good signal, almost blanketing the jammer, but low modulation. At 1600 they had dropped off to modest reception in level with the jamming. The frequency appears to be precise. I had been listening from 1518 with nothing happening before the crash start (Olle Alm, Sweden, Aug 19) This afternoon I tuned in to 17520 quite early, and at 1513 there was a brief test with open carrier. It was exactly on frequency, so not a jammer. The jammer came on at 1525 using 17519, the station crash started according to the usual schedule. The fact that the station stays with a to the second identical procedure from day to day seems to indicate someone with a computerized control system, certainly not a CIS station. The clean and stable signal also indicates someone in Central or Western Europe (Olle Alm, Sweden, Aug 20) Today just after 0800 I landed on 17520 and found a strong interfering carrier after R Pakistan s/on. I suppose this was Kavalla staying for some time after the nominal s/off at 0800. The interesting thing is that after a while a Persian language programme was switched on, similar to KRSI, and this was interspersed with a portion of RFI French. Unfortunately I had to leave before the UNID station went off. At 0820 recheck only R Pakistan was left. Perfectly confusing. I was back before the 1530 sign on of V of Iran. The transmitter signed on as usual, obviously under computer control. However, someone was fumbling with the programme switch, so during the first few seconds there was a programme in Romanian, apparently RFI (aired on 11670). Maybe what I heard at 0800 was instead RFI testing for the afternoon transmission before going off. Issoudun also seems to match propagation variations, so there's a good chance that we now have the solution to this mystery (Olle Alm, Sweden, Aug 21) I also heard a carrier on/off a couple of days ago after the V. of Greece transmission via Kavalla concluded at 0800, and supposed it to be some sort of transmitter test, as KAV had been going off promptly on the hour. And, as you noted, Pakistan is then clear on channel later. The content heard on 17520 is very confusing - unless it has given us our first intimation of where KRSI is coming from! Could it be a transmitter alignment test in readiness for the 1530-1730 transmission by an otherwise unused unit? (Noël Green, UK, Aug 21) If this is indeed France, does anyone recall the post WWII France airing clanny programs from France for either political and/or commercial reasons? (Hans Johnson, Aug 21) (all: Cumbre DX Special Aug 21 via WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. The Iraqi national Congress Web site has a reprint of the Washington Post story, but no other information about TV Liberty, such as which satellite and transponder it's on. I have asked my satellite monitoring friends in Europe to look for it. [David de Jong tells me it seems to be on Testar 12, 15 degrees west, 12.599 GHz vertica, per Lyngsat.] (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World Aug 18 script as annotated, via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** JAPAN [and non]. Does anyone know if there were any special events in Japan today? I heard a Japanese language transmission in progress on 17775 at 0645 to sudden off 0650 at fair strength. Content seemed speeches with an audience, martial music and a playing of the Japanese anthem. I checked the two NHK frequencies of 15195 and 21755 known to operate at that time (but sched in English at this hour), but neither were audible (Noel R. Green, UK, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Hello everyone, maybe has something to do with the typhoon storm, which hit Japan from south to north in past 48 hours, and resulted in some human deaths. And according to German 2nd TV channel, weather forecast on news magazine at 1719 UT, the Taifun will leave the Northern part of Japan today towards Kamchatka, leaving the south-eastern coast of Japan hit by 450 litres of rain water per square meter, a figure which is the total average for the whole year in western European hemisphere. 73 de (Wolfgang df5sx Büschel, DXLD) Hi Wolfgang, That's right. We've just had one of the bigger typhoons we've had in years. It took more than three days to sweep the islands from southwest to northeast because of the temporary lack of a strong stream, and the presence of a high pressure system to the east. NHK radio and TV were broadcasting special weather programs all day and all night, but I don't know what it would have to do with the national anthem. At this time the typhoon has weakened considerably, the clouds have lost their shape, and as it drifts slowly toward Sakhalin and Kamchatka, it is turning into an ordinary low pressure system. Here in Kobe, near Osaka (400 km W of Tokyo), we had heavy rain and severe winds up to 30 m/sec (108 km/h) on Tuesday night, making it very hard to stand and walk, and umbrellas completely useless. I'm fine and all my family and friends are OK (Sonny [Ashimori?], Aug 23 via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) As the Typhoon Pabuk (Pabuk is a Laotian name meaning "big boy") stayed too many hours in Japan, he lost most of the energy before reaching Tokyo area. When he passed Tokyo last afternoon, I noticed only a little wind and rain! So "Pabuk" gave no real affection to the transmitting station of Radio Japan. The time (around 0645 UT) was just when "Pabuk" was passing around the transmitting station in the northern suburb of Tokyo area! Then the interruption is thought to be precautionary action of typhoon passing! (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, Aug 23 via Büschel, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Re the jammer creaming RKI 9650 1130-1159 in English via Sackville: Jammer (CHN's K/N) just faded in (12 UT+) 9649.5 kHz. BTW, last ILG gives CBS (TWN) 0900-1800 Mandarin (Jammed!) Works! (at least concerning jammer) (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, via Bill Whitacre, IBB, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. Radio ELWA. Media Provider: SIM. Radio ELWA is a Christian broadcaster operated by Sudan Interior Ministry (SIM). It resumed broadcasting on shortwave in February 2000. Address : PO Box 192, Monrovia Tel : +231 888 330745 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0600-1200 Daily ENGLISH Domestic Ter: 4.760 94.5 (Religious programming - no news) 1730-2200 Daily ENGLISH Domestic Ter: 4.760 94.5 (Religious programming - no news) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 20, condensed for WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Radio Liberia International. Media Provider : Liberia Communication Network. Radio Liberia International is a shortwave station operated by Liberia Communication Network (LCN) which also runs Kiss FM in Monrovia. It is believed to broadcast in support of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Party. Programming is in English and vernacular languages. Address : PO Box 1103, Monrovia. Tel : +231 226855 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0600-1800 Daily ENGLISH AfDom Ter: 6.100 0700-0715 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 0900-0915 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 1000-1200 Daily Progs in Vernaculars 1200-1205 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 1400-1430 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 1500-1600 Daily Progs in vernaculars 1600-1605 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 1700-1745 Daily "Focus on Africa" (BBC World Service) 1800-2359 Daily ENGLISH AfDom Ter: 5.100 1900-1930 Daily News (also on Kiss FM) 2100-2145 Daily "Newsbeat" (also on Kiss FM) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 22, condensed for WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. R. Miskut, 5770 reduced carrier USB, Aug 18 0000-0156* Spanish ballads, a lot of Spanish talk, abrupt s/off; fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [non]. Re DXLD 1-112: This was a welcome opportunity to go out with the radio; here within the flat I have a horrible noise floor, and it is especially bad on 19 metres. Well, around 1845 Aug 20 I heard on 15750 religious programming in English, disturbed by RTTY (Royal Marine London is listed here), so I gave up prior to 1900. Anyway I am certain that this was High Adventure Ministries via Jülich. Latest schedule without obsolete entries and planned but not yet active frequencies: frq start stop ciraf ant azi type day from to 21590 0700 1200 38,39 101 115 217 1234567 250301 281001 15715 1200 1559 38,39 102 115 217 1234567 250301 281001 1330 1535 40,41 109 090 217 1234567 100501 281001 5975 0700 0900 27,28 406 290 1234567 250301 281001 9495 1700 1900 29,30 202 070 218 1234567 010701 281001 15750 1700 1959 39,40 103 115 217 1234567 010701 281001 15750 1330 1430 49,50 202 070 218 1234567 010801 281001 I would think it was indeed HAM via Jülich that Samuel Cássio heard, especially because the s/off time fits. Some schedules I have at hand suggest that English goes out via KHBN between 1800 and 1900 on 9965 only. Of course this could well be the very same stuff than via Jülich, and this would explain the announced Manila address. "Voice of the Lord": Needs more listening I think; unfortunately I was not aware of the 9495 // when listening just now. I think 13840 refers to KHBN, acc. HFCC here 1100-1600; Israël not really matches the actual target area (zones 41, 49, 50, 54) but certainly we should not weigh these words so well. 1700-2000 15750 towards Middle East actually cannot be anything else than Jülich. "9- 7-7-2" is of course a goofy reference, perhaps it once meant KVOH before it was so terribly distorted? Or any FM channel in Manila? Or Jülich-9495, in use at the same time than 15750? Anyway it appears as quite certain to me that this stuff goes out via transmitters operated or rented by High Adventure Ministries, since both 15750 and 13840 are existing HAM outlets (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked Jülich 9495 and 15750 at 1700 sign on: 15750 once again carried the mysterious "Voice of the Lord", opening with the "this is K-A-S" announcement (or K-A-F, it was hardly readable through the Royal Marine RTTY). 9495 has another feed, opening announcement was roughly "this is the worldwide network of the High Adventure Ministries, broadcasting from Germany", also difficult to understand in the slope of strong Tbilisskaya 9490 (Radio Rossii), but anyway "regular" HAM stuff, not // 15750 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Samuel Cássio and I tried the e-mail address copied in last issue, but it did not go through for either of us, so there may be a mistake in it (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Analysis: New Russian state monopoly to oversee broadcast transmissions | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 22 August President Vladimir Putin on 13 August signed a decree re-establishing federal government control over all of Russia's domestic TV and radio broadcasting and relay stations by consolidating them under the management of a single government corporation. The decree creates a new federal state-owned enterprise, the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS). The new monopoly will be under the supervision of the Press Ministry. Its head will be appointed by the president, on the recommendation of the government. In effect, this will split into two parts the existing All-Russian State TV and Radio Company (VGTRK), the conglomerate of state-owned media that is the parent company of Russian TV and Radio (RTR) and other state television and radio channels. One division will be in charge of programming and the other in charge of transmission for both state and private broadcasters. The old VGTRK monopoly not only produced its own TV programmes but also distributed the signals of all TV stations. This gave it leverage over its major rivals, Russian Public TV and independent NTV. The newly-formed RTRS will handle transmission. It will incorporate the Ostankino television broadcasting centre, the relay communications lines previously controlled by the Communications Ministry and about 100 regional transmission centres with 15,000 transmitters and satellite uplink stations around the country. The Press Ministry and VGTRK had warned for a long time that without hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, Russia's transmission system would collapse within a few years. Press Minister Mikhail Lesin said last December that between 350m and 400m dollars were needed to replace outdated equipment. Press Ministry spokesman Yuriy Akinshin said in an interview with the Moscow Times newspaper on 14 August: "The main point of the decree is to preserve the network. The question of investment will have to be solved at a later date." But the decree stipulates that the 2002 federal budget must include subsidies to RTRS for delivering national television and radio broadcasts to towns of less than 200,000 people. Akinshin said those subsidies would amount to 35-40m dollars. Russian media analysts note that although transmission facilities are barred from privatization, many regional transmission centres have set up private companies on the side by lending them equipment or licences. The decree orders the government to carry out an inventory of its transmission facilities, to cancel any deals that "run counter to the law" and return the assets to RTRS. Anna Kachkayeva, a Moscow State University academic and TV analyst with Radio Liberty, was quoted by the Moscow Times as saying: "At the moment, it looks a little like nationalization. It means that all private broadcasters that have had contracts with the private transmission companies set up by regional state-owned transmission centres will have to renegotiate their contracts." The Russian newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets on 16 August surveyed the political motives underlying the formation of RTRS. It said the main winners from the move would be the Press Ministry, which would be responsible for all the new enterprise's finances, and the federal channels, which would receive state sponsorship of up to 40m dollars for their transmission costs. But some TV industry figures believed the new transmission setup would mean little change. Pavel Korchagin, executive director of the private channel TV6, commented in an Ekho Moskvy radio interview: "In the final analysis, the state has always had control of broadcasting in our country, and will continue to control it. Private companies will be dealing with the same state government; so what difference does it make what they call the holding company?" Private business in Russia has always been in an unequal position compared with the state sector, Korchagin argued. "A state channel will never be switched off for not paying its bills, whereas a private company will always suffer in this way," he said. Source: BBC Monitoring research 22 Aug 01 (via WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) ** RWANDA. Did you hear the first story on As It Happens, last night [Aug 22 local], criticizing the U.S. for doing little or nothing in Rwanda? I think you've reported this sort of thing but one of the claims was that the U.S. should have jammed Hutu hate radio. It should be noted that these stations were giving out names, addresses and license plates of proposed victims. As a result free speech arguments in favor of such stations are weak. In the U.S., gangsters don't have the free speech right to publish open (murder) contracts --- that's called "criminal conspiracy". Pedophiles like NAMBLA have the right to political speech about how they are being "persecuted" by the law but not the right to discuss good places and methods to pick up kids. Still the proposal that the U.S. join the red dictatorships in jamming is troubling. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/09/power.htm (Joël Rubin, NY, Aug 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Above article is extremely long, and troubling. By searching on ``jam`` I found the discussion of this matter starts in Part X, 5th paragraph. See also BURUNDI (gh, DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA. Here is what I received today from Radio St. Helena: Dear Duane, We received your e-mail from Douglas Bennett concerning your QSL Card and take this opportunity in informing you that we are in the process of doing them and completing them soon. Many thanks for enquiring about them also. Radio St. Helena radio.sthelena@helanta.sh (Duane Fischer, Aug 21, swl@qth.net via DXLD) ** SOMALIA? 6985, R. Gaalkacyo? Aug 18 0320-0340+, tune-in to Somalia type music, 0330 talk in language, fair-good; tentative, irregular, heard occasionally since June 9 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. 7530U, presumed R. Hargeisa, 1835-1930* Aug 10, Horn of Africa vocals and distinctive musical ensemble with occasional co- channel utility. Improved steadily, but QRN, signal alternating to peaks of SIO 352. Male voiceovers and links until 1853, man with anmts/nx? Only got a mention of "Asmara" in the clutter. At 1900 a native flute (presumed) bridge to more anmts, then into male voiceovers and links to assorted mx and vocals. Around 1926 a change of tone of the program followed by a brief burst of a sort of Islamic chant and an abrupt off-air. At this time the signal was almost swamped by QRN at S4-5 (Ray Merrall, Great Britain in DX-Window via J. Berg-USA in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Dear Glenn, I heard AWR via South Africa on a new frequency 17780 in English with talk on keeping pets and some African music. Programme called "African Reflections." Address in Nairobi, Kenya was given. SIO 444. 22/8. [time??] I have been onto Sentech web site and sent Kathy Otto an e mail today telling her about my monitoring. No mention on freq sked of anything new. Possible new frequency; will wait and see Mrs Otto`s reply from Sentech Jhb RSA. 73,s. (Costa Constantinides. Cyprus, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe not via RSA; they use a number of different sites (gh, DXLD) Sorry again; the time was 0843 UT. ID was TWR [sic – AWR?] / Voice of Hope and in English with South African accent speakers (Costa, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Glenn, Received SLBC August 21, 2001 from 0050 UT on 9770 and 15425. 9770 was S3 to S5 dB with moderate QRM from VOA on 9775. I was able to completely eliminate the QRM using the passband shift on my rx. Also checked 15425. It wasn't as good as 9770, as I read S1 on the signal meter. I heard instrumental versions of "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love" and "The Happening". At 0100 positive ID, frequencies and time check by OM. Something happened to VOA on 9775 as the QRM was severe from this point on. Overall nice surprise. It's been many years since I last heard SLBC. 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. UAE Radio - Dubai. Media Provider : UAE Radio and Television (Dubai). The Arabic programmes shown here are relays of the domestic service of UAE Radio in Dubai, broadcast locally on mediumwave and FM. The English-language news bulletins are relayed from the domestic English service broadcast locally on FM. This schedule is based on monitoring observations. Broadcasts are not subject to Summer/Winter time changes. Languages : Arabic, English Address : UAE Radio & TV Dubai, PO Box 1695, Dubai, UAE Tel : +971-4-370255 Fax : +971-4-374111 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0230-0350 Daily ARABIC Am 12.005 13.675 0315-0325 Daily News 15.400 0430-0530 Daily ARABIC As 15.435 17.830 0400-0410 Daily News 21.700 0500-0510 Daily News 0530-0550 Daily ENGLISH As 15.435 17.830 0530-0540 Daily News 21.700 0600-1030 Daily ARABIC EuAf 13.675 15.395 0700-0710 Daily News 21.605 0900-0903 Daily News 1000-1010 Daily News 1030-1150 Daily ENGLISH EuAf 13.675 15.395 1030-1040 Daily News 21.605 1200-1330 Daily ARABIC EuAf 13.630 13.675 1200-1203 Daily News 15.395 21.605 1300-1310 Daily News 1330-1350 Daily ENGLISH EuAf 13.630 13.675 1330-1340 Daily News 15.395 21.605 1400-1600 Daily ARABIC EuAf 13.630 13.675 1500-1503 Daily News 15.395 21.605 1600-1635 Daily ENGLISH EuAf 13.630 13.675 1630-1640 Daily News 15.395 21.605 1635-2100 Daily ARABIC EuAf 11.950 13.630 1700-1710 Daily News 13.675 15.395 1900-1910 Daily News 2030-2040 Daily News --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) ** U S A. According to FCC records, the exact location of Blue Ridge Communications` new SW station (allegedly called WWCV) is about halfway between Manchester and McMinnville TN. Morrison itself is in Warren county, but not far southwest of it is the Coffee county line, previously reported location of this: SITE1 6755 Shady Grove Rd Morrison TN 37357 35 37' 27 N 86 0' 52 W The CP is for five transmitters and eight antennas (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Might not WWCR object to a shortwave station out of Tennessee with such a similar call? Are there any court cases about call letters as trade marks? It certainly sounds like it could be a cause for confusion, accidentally or otherwise (Joël Rubin, NY, Aug 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [clandestine]. United Patriot Radio: I am wondering how clean a rig old Steve is really running. In particular, I wonder if he is, by chance, putting out any harmonics on 13,800 or 20,700. Of course, even if he is, it is very unlikely that I would hear them here, as I am probably in the skip zone. I have asked a friend in Omaha, and another in California, to check. I wonder if you would be interested in checking those two frequencies to see if there are any harmonics. If you find any, perhaps you could let me know, or just report them on WOR. I think it would be interesting, though I suspect Anderson has them pretty well under control (Tim Hendel, AL, Aug 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WMLK, 9465.03, Aug 6 1725-1958*, tune-in to the usual English religious talk about the teachings of the Assemblies of Yahweh; light instrumental music; s/off with ID, address for reports. Surprisingly poor, weak signal. Usually a good, strong signal since I live only about 35 miles from transmitter site (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DEMOCRACY NOW: Pacifica Radio spokesman Michael Powell yesterday said "Democracy Now" host Amy Goodman is defying an agreement reached Friday between Pacifica and AFTRA under which "she is required" to resume producing her show at WBAI (99.5 FM). Goodman and her staff are working from another studio, saying there is intolerable harassment at WBAI and the safety guarantees of management, with whom she is at odds, are inadequate. WBAI has been carrying old "Democracy Now" shows while her new shows have run on the Internet-only http://www.wbix.com Powell said it is unfortunate she has not chosen to honor the agreement" to return and that a letter was sent to her yesterday saying her salary has been suspended until she returns to the WBAI studios (By DAVID HINCKLEY, Daily News Staff Writer, Aug 21 via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) In Image Battle, Pacifica Takes Aggressive Action By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 21, 2001; Page C01 Pacifica radio has been slowly eating itself alive for at least the past two years. A conflict between some former and current employees and radio management over the future of the five-station, left- leaning public network has spurred firings, walkouts, lawsuits and accusations of physical violence. For most of the time, the protesters have had the megaphone. On one side, you have the fired, banned and otherwise dissident Pacifica employees, claiming that management is ruining the last bastion of out-of-the-mainstream radio. On the other side, you have the Pacifica management -- The Man, for short -- and the Pacifica board. They have been mostly mute. Now, that's changing. Pacifica's management has hired a high-profile public relations firm and some big-gun lawyers, and is recruiting some well-known lefties to be on the Pacifica board... [entire article at:] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/columns/radiolistener/A38529-2001Aug20.html (via Mike Cooper, Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Rivals Fear Clear Channel Trying to Muscle Them Out http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43817-2001Aug21.html (via Bill Westenhaver, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. WUNC (Chapel Hill, NC) is switching to a mostly news/talk format, replacing its classical music with daytime NPR talk, a hour of local talk at noon, and BBC overnight. New schedule effective September 3: http://wunc.org/special/newschedule.html Raleigh News and Observer article: http://www.wcpe.org/inthenews/news_20010818.html Reaction from the remaining local classical station WCPE: http://www.wcpe.org/press/2001_08_classical.html (wcpe.org links via Rick Roderick) (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass., PublicRadioFan.com Aug 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. One job opening, one unemployed host Entertainment briefs --- Wednesday, August 22, 2001 National Public Radio is looking for a new host for its daily ``Talk of the Nation'' show, carried locally on WBUR-FM (90.9) weekdays 2-4 p.m., and longtime public radio talk host Christopher Lydon is looking for a new radio gig. Hmmm. ``Talk of the Nation'' host Juan Williams is leaving the show, which is heard on 180 stations by 2.2 million listeners a week, on Aug.30. Lydon, currently temping on the afternoon shift at WTKK-FM (96.9), was unavailable for comment, and an NPR spokesperson would only say, ``We're looking at a number of different candidates.'' (DEAN JOHNSON, Boston Herald Aug 22 via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1093, DXLD) Meanwhile, Lydon`s upcoming guests and plans, and an ever-growing archive of webcasts are at http://www.christopherlydon.org (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Host Juan Williams is leaving NPR's Talk of the Nation. Neil Conan will serve as acting host beginning in September, while Williams becomes a senior correspondent at NPR News. http://www.npr.org/about/press/010817.jwilliams.html Not surprisingly, this vacancy has caught the attention of posters at christopherlydon.org, whose namesake is still in search of a permanent talk job. (Lydon is currently doing a two-week stint as a fill-in at commercial talk station WTKK in Boston.) (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass., PublicRadioFan.com Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Route 66 On the Air celebrates Route 66 75th anniversary The Northern Arizona DX Association again will sponsor a "Route-66- On-The-Air" special event, this time to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the highway's opening in 1926. During the special event period --- 0000 UT September 8, to 2400 UT September 16 --- Amateur Radio clubs using 1x1 call signs (W6A through W6J) will operate from 10 cities along Route 66. Hams driving along Route 66 are encouraged to use the designation "mobile 66" on phone or "/m66" on CW after their call signs. All others are invited to contact these mobile Route 66 operators. A certificate is available for working at least one of the special event club stations or a station signing mobile 66 or /m66. See the Northern Arizona DX Association Web site http://www.nadxa.com/ for frequencies, QSL and certificate information (ARRL August 22 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. New county for Colorado County hunters take note. The State of Colorado is gaining a new county. Effective November 15, 2001, the City and County of Broomfield will officially come into existence. Roy Wright, WA0SJQ --- who lives in Broomfield --- reports that the new county was created to consolidate the City of Broomfield into a single jurisdiction. At present, Broomfield lies within four different counties. For more information on county hunting, visit the County Hunter Web site http://www.ecompuquest.com/ch/ or the official USA-CA Web site http://www.ecompuquest.com/ch/ [sic --- should be different URL?] (ARRL August 22 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. High-altitude balloon launch to utilize ham radio The Edge of Space Sciences Group in Colorado will launch another high-altitude balloon Saturday, August 25, from a site east of Denver in Byers, Colorado. The balloon will carry Amateur Radio payloads for tracking and recovery purposes --- including APRS, plus ATV and other nonamateur payloads. An HF net on 7235 kHz during the flight starts at 1430 UT; local nets for tracking and recovery will take place on the 449.45 MHz Rocky Mountain Radio League repeater and the back-up 146.64 MHz Denver Radio League repeater. The EOSS group launches several balloons each year carrying various experiments for different entities. One earlier this year --- Flight EOSS 47 --- included several experiments for upcoming Mars missions to test various methods of landing and telemetry experiments. Many flights also include split-band repeaters on 2 meters and 70 cm that cover a footprint of hundreds of miles, allowing hams across several states to contact each other with an H-T. Balloons have attained altitudes of more than 100,000 feet. Visit the EOSS Web site http://www.eoss.org for flight times, details and frequencies. --Jack E. Roland KE0VH (ARRL August 22 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. Subject: [SWL] Fire Fighting on HF. Is anyone aware of HF activity for all the fire fighting going on out west? Is FEMA on the air? (Homer Lucas, Aug 2, swl@qth.net via DXLD) I would suggest you join the: fedcom@qth.net That list specializes in all sorts of federal and state frequencies for a wide variety of topics. I did not read the post, but I do recall one early today or yesterday about fires out west. Good listening (Duane W8DBF Fischer, ibid.) The vast majority of activity would be on VHF/UHF, which would be more reliable than HF over short distances. I haven't tried them myself but a co-worker heard activity on the following freqs this past weekend: 168.025 US Forest / Parks Aircraft scouting reports for fires and problems active all weekend with Helos out of Harvy field and 15 min checks with base ops; 168.100 US Forest / Parks common; 171.175 Mt Ranier repeater active. These were heard from his home near Seattle, but most of the activity was in central Washington, 75- 100 miles east of here (Bruce Portzer, ibid.) ** URUGUAY. 6045, R. Sarandí Sport, Montevideo. Joaquín Telis, head of the team (named "El Equipo de las Vueltas") responsible for the coverage of the national bicycle tour, "La Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay" which takes place in February each year, has left the station and moved to CX4 R. Rural, Montevideo. This means the end of the SW b/csts. He has been the owner of a homemade SW xter used to relay the race, but now wants to sell it. Other SW operation from Sarandí Sport (also named as Sport 890) is currently unlikely (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Aug 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6045, R. Sarandí Sport, Montevideo. Joaquín Telis, responsable del grupo de productores de "El Equipo de las Vueltas", responsable de la cobertura de la máxima competencia ciclistica del Uruguay, "La Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay" que tiene lugar anualmente en febrero, ha abandonado la emisora y se ha pasado a MW 650 CX4 R. Rural, Montevideo. Esto significa el fin de las recientes emisiones en onda corta llevadas a cabo por la emisora una vez al año, en ocasión de esta competencia. El Sr. Telis es el dueño del trasmisor de onda corta, que ahora está en venta. Ninguna operación en OC se prevee por Sarandí Sport (que también se identifica como "Sport 890"). (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, ago 22, Conexión Digital via DXLD) OLD SWBC LOGGINGS UNEARTHED Brazil, Goa, Vietnam. Found a "Mini-logbook" that I had misplaced and forgotten. Some nice items in it! Brazil - ZYR63, Radioemissora de Piratininga, São Paulo, 6025 kc/s, 23/24 Nov. 1955 Japanese program with pop. jazz recordings 2335-0030 GMT close-down. Goa (India): CR8AB, Emissora de Goa, 7 Dec. 1955, 9610V 1558-1635 GMT mostly Portuguese & popular music but dual Portuguese and English IDs. SINPO 33333. Noted 5 subsequent loggings. Frequency drift was quite apparent. Radio Hirondelle, Saigon, Vietnam: 6103 kc/s 13 Dec 1955 1320-1343 GMT. Some sort of drama with Oriental music. I noted SINPO 53554! All these & more logged in Berkeley, CA but unfortunately no QSLs (Bill Flynn, Aug. 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###