DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-124, September 10, 2001
        edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com 

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** ANGOLA [non]. Neste sábado captei a Rádio Ecclésia em 13810 kHz 
por volta das 2010 TU com sinal 34333. Iniciou-se um editorial com 
fortes críticas aos países ocidentais pela situação politica e 
econômica atual de Angola, e posteriormente, foi entrevistado um 
deputado da provincia de Muambo, que teceu críticas aos países 
européus e aos Estados Unidos pela sua polarização na guerra civil em 
seu país. Muito interessante o conteudo da programação. Pelos vistos 
o programa matutino (0500 UT) é dedicado ao estudo da bíblia e 
valores cristãos pela óptica católica, e à noite, devem acontecer
os manifestos políticos (Sarmento Fernandes da R Campos, Rio de 
Janeiro, radioescutas via DXLD)

Amigos, ouvida em 08/09: 13810 Radio Ecclésia, Luanda-Angola. 
Português. Comentários de ordem política. Diversas identificações: 
"Esta é a Rádio Ecclésia, emissora católica de Angola, transmitindo 
de Luanda para todo o pais. Transmitimos pelas freqüências de 15545 
kHz de 0600 às 0700 [sic; should be 0500-0600 -gh] UTC e em 13810 kHz 
de 1900 às 2000 UTC. Em emissão experimental. Rádio Ecclésia, 
emissora católica de Angola". Uma boa pedida para se tentar um QSL. 
(Nota: O Hailton, de Rio das Ostras-RJ informou há dias ter recebido 
a confirmação desta emissora, cujo endereço usado para enviar o IR 
foi: Rua Comandante Bula 118, C.P. 3579, Luanda, Angola). 73s, Rudolf 
Grimm São Bernardo, SP, radioescutas via DXLD) 

** ARGENTINA. Novedades de estaciones de onda media de carácter "no 
oficial" [además de algunas en 610, 1130 y 1510]:

1660, Radio Almirante Brown (Rafael Calzada) se mudó a esta nueva 
frecuencia. Antes operaba en 1480 kHz.

1690, Apocalipsis II, es el nombre de la estación que operaba en 
prueba desde el pasado mes de Febrero 2001. Transmite en simultáneo 
con su FM en 90.7 MHz y es operada por la Fundación "Cristo la 
Solución". QTH: Monseñor Bufano 3386 (1754 San Justo), Tel: 54 (11) 
4484=4517 (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 

** ARGENTINA. 2380, LRA15 RADIO NACIONAL SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMAN (1190 
x 2), a las 0230 UT del 03 de septiembre. Emitía un programa en 
conexión con la cadena nacional del SOR (Servicio Oficial de 
Radiodifusión) originado en LRA Buenos Aires. Algunos slogans: 
``Nacional nuestra Radio``, ``Cultura en movimiento``, ``Auditorio 
Nacional, el sonido de la radio...``. Nuestro amigo y colaborador 
rosarino nos cuenta que ``Inmediatamente me comuniqué con el Técnico 
de planta de la emisora, Víctor Hugo Suárez. Yo tenía un número 
telefónico registrado en mi agenda, desde mi último viaje al norte 
del país en abril de 2000, creyendo que se trataría del teléfono de 
LRA15 realicé el llamado cerca de media noche pero... en realidad 
estaba llamando a la casa del Sr. Suárez! quien me atendió 
amablemente pese a que ya se encontraba descansando pues su horario 
de trabajo comienza a las 5 AM. Al enterarse de mi captación en 
2380 kHz, me dijo que la emisora estaba saliendo al aire con 
problemas en el oscilador, con un cristal defectuoso y con menor 
potencia que la habitual (10 kw) y que la transmisión en dicha 
frecuencia ``No debe ser así`` refiriéndose no sólo al defecto 
técnico sino también al aspecto reglamentario que prohibe el uso de 
esa longitud de onda para radiodifusión en nuestra legislación. No 
obstante, le manifesté que los armónicos son muy apreciados por los 
diexistas quienes estamos siempre a la caza de una señal de ese tipo. 
Después de una sonrisa me aclaró ``Mañana lo vamos a arreglar y usted 
podrá escucharnos mejor en la frecuencia fundamental de 1190 Khz``. 
¡Qué lastima!, le contesté, allí se escucha la feroz interferencia 
de la potente señal de Radio América de Buenos Aires. Si todavía es 
posible la recepción de LRA15 en 2380 kHz quizás podría obtenerse una 
QSL dirigiéndonos al Sr. Suárez, LRA 15 Radio Nacional Tucumán, San 
Martín 251 4  piso 4000-Tucumán, Argentina" (Ruben Guillermo 
Margenet, Argentina, Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD) 

Geez, the perfect way to get rid of a harmonic DX possibility --- 
phone the engineer about it in the middle of the night. See also 
BRAZIL for another 2380 harmonic (gh, DXLD)

3810.0 19-Ago 0346 252 Radio Provincia, La Plata, "La radio para 
todos", luego tema Los piratas (1270 x 3) (José Hernández, Uruguay, 
Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD)

** BIAFRA [non]. Biafra with one significant error:

1940 with ta song song yame [? -gh]. 1943 with man speaking in Ibo 

Presumed title due to frequent mentions is 'song yame' 

``1951 giving thanks to listeners and giving address in USA and email 
address as biafraland@hotmail.com and web http://www.biafraland.com`` 

The email address is erroneously noticed as speakers talks were 
faster that I could write. Please ignore it. The correct must be 
biafraland@biafraland.com (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

** BOLIVIA. R Ayopaya, Bolivia, 3343v, has now verified a Swedish 
listener by e-mail. The verie signer is, as previously reported, 
Jorge Aquino, and his e-mail is culayo@supernet.com.bo 
73, (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Freeze DX Forums via DXLD)

** BOLIVIA. 6085.13, Radio San Gabriel Sept 8 0851, Sign-on with 
Andean vocal and an anthem followed by canned sign-on announcement in 
Spanish with ID. Then into live annoucer in Vernacular language. 
Distorted audio, splatter from University Network on 6090 (Mark 
Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** BRAZIL.  RADIO MINEIRA DO SUL 2380 kHz
 
Srs, Neste sábado, por volta de 21:00 UTC, captei com um rádio 
Transglobe em 2380 kHz, a rádio Mineira do Sul de Passa Quatro, de 
Minas Gerais, anunciando o prefixo em ondas médias de 1190; não foi 
feita nenhuma referência a transmissão em ondas tropicais. Após o 
programa Encontro DX em 49 metros muito bem (aliás, interessante 
saber que a própria Radio Aparecida já chegou a ser fechada pelo 
regime militar ... ), tentei captar em 1190 kHz tal rádio, mas para 
minha surpresa, entrava a rádio Guarani (Belo Horizonte) e não a 
Mineira do Sul. Lá pelas tantas, (operando com SSB para melhor
recepção), captei uma transmissão de uma emissora em espanhol, que se
desvaneceu rápido. Às 0100 UT iniciei a caça a este emissora, e ouvi 
uma reportagem sobre a situação económica da Argentina, e uma resenha 
das paradas de sucesso de Buenos Aires, porém, a propagação hora 
abria e o sinal melhorava, ora fechava, entrando forte a Guarani.
A programação da Mineira do Sul consistia em música seraneja e da 
Guarani em música pop brasileira.

Logo, gostaria de ajuda para entender porque captei a Mineria do Sul 
em 2380? (alguma relação com o dobro de 1190?) Também, gostaria de 
uma ajuda para saber se alguem tem notícia de alguma emissora na 
Argentina em 1190 kHz.

Eu em particular nunca havia me interessado por DX em MW, mas me 
parece interessante explorar esta faixa, pois já vi que podemos ter 
surpresas agradáveis. 

A escuta foi realizada em Marica (região dos lagos no estado do
Rio - +- 80 Km do centro do Rio), com uma antena de fio de 16 metros. 
A freqüência exata, obtive através do Sony 7600G, com outro fio de 16 
metros esticado com garra jacaré conetada na antena telescópica. 
Aliás, nesta configuração, ambos rádios próximos (+- 1metro ) e com 
suas antenas devidamente esticadas (ambas lançadas fazendo ângulo de 
45), o Sony NÃO captou. Para tal, tive que me deslocar até a margem 
da lagoa, um ponto afastado da rede elétrica, para sintonizar com sua 
antena telescópica em 2380. Valeu o esforço! (Sarmento Fernandes da R 
Campos, Rio de Janeiro, Sept 10, radioescutas via DXLD) See also 
ARGENTINA for the other 2380 harmonic

** CHAD. 6165, Sept 9 1826: Radio Tchad, N'Djamena. In Arabic (or a 
language very close to that) IDing simply "Radio Tchad". Rather 
strong signal, but somehow distorted audio. At 1833 they started 
French programming. The frequency was clear at that time, Hrvatski R 
was silent. A very weak station was audible under R Tchad, too weak 
to tell if it was Zambia. When rechecking at 1855 there was a 
Japanese speaking station (NHK?) on this freq but R Tchad also 
audible. I don't know if R Tchad has been inactive on 6165 for a 
while, or maybe I have just passed the freq without noticing it (Jari 
Savolainen Kuusankoski, FINLAND, hard-core-dx via DXLD)

** CHINA. As of Sept 10, I see that CRI official website has added 
the new Canada, Cuba relay frequencies we have already reported, 
without, of course, revealing the sites, to save face for the 
countries serving as forwarders of chicom propaganda (Glenn Hauser, 
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [non]. Subject: [SWL] Chinese on 19.380. I'm hearing Chinese 
on 19.380. Very long-period fade from zero to S-7. Tampa FL, 10:00 PM 
EDT. Anyone else? - - (Fred Mooney, KA1DGL, swl@qth.net via DXLD) 

Fred, Did you check 9690, one half of that frequency? You would 
likely have found a parallel transmission, i.e. CRI Beijing via Spain 
(which is followed by English at 0300 UT, 11 pm EDT). Therefore, a 
second harmonic probably propagated from Spain, with the high solar 
flux we have been having lately, although not knowing anything about 
your receiver, it could be a receiver defect caused by overload if 
the 9690 signal was extraordinarily strong. Regards, (Glenn Hauser, 
ibid.) 

** COLOMBIA. I send a link to Colombian Army web page, where appears 
a note about report from Finland. 
http://www.ejercito.mil.co/Medios/fMediosMagazine04.asp?poption=38 I 
hope it will be interest (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, hard-core-dx 
via DXLD) 

** CONGO DR. National broadcaster to receive shortwave transmitter | 
Text of report by Congolese TV from Kinshasa on 9 September 

In the next few days, Congolese National Radio and Television [RTNC], 
the national television service, will be provided with a 100-kW 
shortwave transmitter that will enable it to expand its coverage to 
the entire national territory. This transmitter will be installed at 
the Mitingi site [placename as received] where a 600-kW [as heard] 
mediumwave transmitter was installed some few years back, a 
development that caused the RTNC to be nicknamed the "Great tom-tom 
of Africa". This morning, the minister of communication and press, 
Kikaya bin Karubi, accompanied by the chairman of the RTNC 
provisional management council, François Atofo Kambuse, paid an 
assessment visit to the site. Source: RTNC TV, Kinshasa, in French 
1230 gmt 9 Sep 01 (via BBCM via DXLD)

** COSTA RICA. Glenn, Our 14th Fiesta is scheduled for UT September 
17 from 0000-0400 (Sunday evening in the US 8pm - 12 mid Eastern 
Daylight). A special, limited dition QSL card will given to all those 
who call in. Door prizes will be given away as always (Joe Bernard, 
RFPI, Sept 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hope to have 7445 back on by 
then, and do not want to change 15050 until after Fiesta (James 
Latham, RFPI via DXLD)

** EUROPE. Subject : Pirates galore!  
   
5805 0618 R Free London, poor-fair, best in LSB to avoid ute, jingle 
ID and 70's English pops. Ormandy Sept 9

6210 0541 Radio Marabu, poor-fair with plenty of ids and string of 
ads, best ever heard. Ormandy Sept 9

6220.1 0611 Laser Hot Hits, poor signal with instrumental tune. Never 
peaked like the others. Ormandy Sept 9

6236 0602 Black Arrow, English pops and instructions to retune to 
15807 at 0630 UTC, poor-fair signal. Ormandy Sept 9

6276.9 0544 Swinging Radio England, poor-fair with ":Hancock's Half 
Hour" British comedy, till 0545 then 60's style jingle and announcer 
with e-mail address and more "Hancock's Half Hour". Ormandy Sept 9

6295 0525 UNID maybe German pirate with beer-hall style music, poor 
signal & heavy co-channel ute QRM was a problem. Ormandy Sept 9

6304.2 0528 Alfa Lima Int, fair signal with English pops and messages 
to listeners. Ormandy Sept 9

15070 0620 Ala Lima Int, fair signal with American comedian George 
Collins. Stayed solid past 0800. Ormandy Sept 9

15795 0041 Borderhunter, back on full power after micro-power tests 
to the USA, poor-fair signal.Ormandy Sept 9

15807.9 0635 Black Arrow, fair signal with English pops. Better than 
earlier appearance on 6236. Ormandy Sept 9

15815 0455 R East Side, English pops till 0458 then long sign-off
announcement advising listeners to re-tune to 6270 (which was 
unheard) (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GOA [non]. Hi Marie, I was excited to note your logging of AIR via 
Panaji at the SWL Picnic. The ILG database suggests that AIR on 11715 
at 2105 originates in Delhi. As I would dearly love to log Panaji 
(which counts as Goa on NASWA's country list), do you have a source 
that indicates the broadcast did originate in Panaji? Hopefully, 
(David Martin, Atlanta, GA swl@qth.net via DXLD)

** GUATEMALA. There has been some news coverage the past few days on 
the effects of the drought in eastern Guatemala. The worst affected 
area is that around the sister-towns of Camotan and Jocotan, where 
there have been several dozen deaths. Jocatan is the location of 
Radio Chortis (are they still active?). This area is in the 
department of Chiquimula, and Radio Verdad is in the city of 
Chiquimula. Here is a link to one recent article: 
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010908/wl/guatemala_famine_dc_2.html
(Don Moore, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

R Chortis was heard in August this year on 3380 by DSWCI member 
Maarten van Delft visiting Guatemala. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, 
Denmark, ibid.) 

** HONDURAS. 4930.0, Radio Costeña, Sept 10 0415 slow music and ID at 
0425 "ésta es Radio Costeña", fair signal with slow fading (Thomas 
Roth, Germany, swl@qth.net via DXLD)

** HUNGARY.  9570, Radio Budapest, English broadcast from tunein at 
0230 to 0300. Multiple IDs, report about recruiting for the Hungarian 
Army, UNESCO, and more. Their web page does not list English 
at this time. Radio Budapest web page lists 9570 English to North 
America from 0430-0500, and 9560 kHz is listed 0300-0330 UTC. 
I was tuning for Radio Romania on 9570 at this time and instead 
found Radio Budapest on this frequency (Lee Silvi, Ohio, September 
11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

Romania is no longer on 9570 per latest schedule in DXLD. Budapest 
has been on 9570 at 0230 all summer. Obviously their posted schedule 
is in local time of UT plus two --– everyone knows the world revolves 
around Hungary, so who needs UT? (gh, DXLD)

** INDIA. All India Radio / Imphal confirmed my report from Dec 28th 
2000 with a long, personal e-mail with lots of station info from v/s: 
R Narasimha Swamy, Superintending Engineer. E-mail: 
narasimhaswamy@yahoo.com It is still worth sending reception reports, 
isn't it? 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland in the 
Baltic Sea of Sweden, Sept 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** IRAQ [non]. Voice of the Iraqi People heard tonight at 1930 UT on 
its sub harmonic frequency of 4784.29 kHz. This has been noted for 
several days on this frequency but I was unable to identify it until 
tonight when an ID of: "Idha'at al-Jumhuriyah al-Iraqiyah min 
Baghdad, Sawt al-Sha'b al-Iraqi" was heard.  

For Clarification, there are two Clandestines with similar names. 
'Voice of Iraqi People' I can confirm that the station I heard on 
4784.29 kHz is the sub Harmonic of:- 'Radio of the Republic of Iraq 
from Baghdad, Voice of the Iraqi People'. Heard tonight at 1930 UT 
with OM with ID of:- "Idha'at al-Jumhuriyah al-Iraqiyah min Baghdad, 
Sawt al-Sha'b al-Iraqi" This should not be confused with the Iraqi 
Communist Party station 'Voice of Iraqi People' Full details of both 
stations can be found at:- 
http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/iraq.htm 
73's (Graham Powell, Wales, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** ISRAEL. Subject: New interval signal for Voice of Israel Arabic 
service 
From: dave@noluncheonmeat.com  [sic] (Dave) 
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave 
Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2001 21:13:56 GMT 

Voice of Israel Network D (their Arabic service) now uses a new 13-
note piano interval signal - the external service of Voice of Israel, 
and other VoI services, continue to use the IS that's been in use for 
several years. A recording of this station signing-on with the new IS 
can be heard on the Interval Signals Archive at 
http://www.intervalsignals.net 

Also new on the archive are recordings of the new Nigerian 
clandestine, Voice of Biafra International, and from the former 
Portuguese colony in China, Radio Macau (which identifies as "Aomen 
Diantai"). 

The Interval Signals Archive is a collection of over a thousand audio 
clips of foreign radio stations from 220 countries and territories, 
with identification announcements in various languages, signature 
tunes and jingles, and of course interval signals.   
Regards, Dave Kernick 

Click your way to the Interval Signals Archive at 
http://www.intervalsignals.net - identify that mystery station! 
(via John Norfolk, DXLD)

** LUXEMBOURG. Interesting to learn that the shortwave transmitters 
of RTL are still there. Evidently anybody is also still busy at the 
Junglinster transmitter site although no transmitters are on air 
there anymore (longwave 234 originates from another site at 
Beidweiler, about 4 km from Junglinster), judging from cars on the 
parking lot. Of course the guy who told me this did not dare to 
walk in and ask...

The 6090 outlet belongs to my childhood memories. Radio Luxemburg was 
quite popular here at this time and widely listened, most radios from 
GDR manufacturing had shortwave capability for 49 metres. Of course 
these sets had no sharp ceramic filters and as well-known Bayerischer 
Rundfunk transmits on 6085. Usually this was no big problem thanks to 
the 500 kW Junglinster powerhouse, but the 6085 carrier was still 
hetting against Radio Luxemburg - I literally still hear the ever-
present 5 kHz whistle! After 1985 the interest in Radio Luxemburg 
disappeared here, for us teenagers was their "Schlager" program 
anyway of no interest at all.

Perhaps it is also worth to remember that RTL switched the shortwave 
programming around 1992: 6090 now carried French (// 234) while now 
15350 had German, of course with nobody listening. In fact I never 
heard this 15350 outlet although I bought a dedicated shortwave radio 
already in 1993. I found it quite impressive how 6090 sounded on this 
rig, with no trace of the familiar 5 kHz tone.

And a few words about Radio Luxemburg: This program is now called 
"RTL-Radio", contains a oldies format instead of Schlager and is 
carried on satellite as well as many cable nets in Germany, but it is 
not by far so popular as in the past. It is still transmitted on FM 
(as far as I know still monaural only, quite a anachronism today) but 
as well-known only a few hours a day on 1440 anymore in favour of 
selling airtime to MEGA-Radio. From 1993 RTL-Radio used also 
mediumwave at Berlin, first 603 from Königs Wusterhausen, then 891 
from Berlin-Uhlenhorst until they gave up the MW presence at Berlin 
after a few years. To avoid possible misunderstandings, this refers 
to the Luxembourg-based RTL-Radio, not the FM station "104,6 RTL", 
which broadcasts an AC format from Berlin itself. Regards, (Kai 
Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Dear Radiofriends. During the past six months I finally had the time 
to do my thesis on the memories I had on the early sixties and the 
Dutch and Flemish Service of Radio Luxembourg. As I already listened 
intensely to the station in those days I did also collect a lot of 
material from the station. Although the story is in Dutch it's worth 
seeing due to the many rare pictures we brought into the story. 
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundcapes Volume 4 and the above story 
greetings and enjoy it (Hans Knot, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

Dankzij mijn broer Jelle, de pdf5jfk, ben ik in de eind jaren vijftig 
al zeer vroeg met de radio in aanraking gekomen. Ik luisterde in 1957 
al naar AFN en Luxembourg en werd ook gekluisterd, overdag, aan de 
Nederlandse en Vlaamse uitzendingen van Radio Luxembourg. Na 
Luxembourg zijn er natuurlijk de zeezenders geweest waarnaar ik 
altijd luisterde en al veel over heb gepubliceerd. Echter waar dan 
ook op internet is niets terug te vinden over de begin jaren zestig 
aangaande Radio Luxembourg, de Nederlandse service.

Het afgelopen half jaar heb ik me intens ingezet al mijn 
aantekeningen eens bijelkaar te schuiven en het archief in te duiken 
aangaande knipsels en vooral fotos uit die tijd. Dit heeft geleid tot 
een lang verhaal, inclusief een kleine 50 unieke fotos die sinds 
vanavond zijn terug te vinden op ons on line journal for media and 
music culture op de universiteit Groningen
www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes Open Volume 4 en bovenaan staat het 
verhaal. veel leesplezier (Hans Knot, bdxc Sept 9 via DXLD)

DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). The great Radio 
Luxembourg farce...anybody know what happened?? The project seems to 
dead (almost). Go to http://www.mediauk.com and look at the Radio / 
Radio stations area, and the thread The great Radio Luxembourg 
farce...anybody know what happened?? Its a fascinating set of 
opinions and views of what may have happened (Mike Terry, Sept 10, 
BDXC-UK via DXLD)

** NEPAL [non]. AUSTRIA / NEPAL:
Everest Radio ha verificado un reporte de sintonía con una tarjeta 
QSL donde refiere que es la primera estación de la comunidad nepalesa 
fuera de Nepal hacia el mundo. La emisora tiene su sede en Londres y 
utiliza los transmisores de la ORF en Moosbrunn (Austria) para 
irradiar sus programas de 2030 a 2130 TU por los 7235 kHz, durante 
los dias sábados, domingos, lunes y martes de cada semana, en idioma 
nepalí e incluyendo anuncios en inglés. Su variada programación 
contiene noticias de Nepal, entrevistas a personalidades del país, 
guía de viajes, música autóctona, revista de las actividades de la 
comunidad nepalesa en Londres, saludos y dedicaciones musicales a los 
oyentes, lectura de cartas, etc. Para contactarse con la emisora y 
remitirle informes de recepción, se puede escribir a: QTH: Everest 
Radio, 226 Greenford Avenue, Hanwell, London, W7 3QT,UK. E=mail: 
everestradio@hotmail.com (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión 
Digital Sept 9 via DXLD)

** NIGERIA [and non]. This is a common scam; I get these e-mails 
about once a week. Just ignore it. See the following sites for info 
on the phenomenon: http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/ 
http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/08/07/419scams/print.html 
(Saul Broudy, W3WHK swl@qth.net via DXLD)
 
** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Broadcasting staff warn of strike action | Text 
of report from Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site on 10 September

National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] employees have warned of 
strike action if the management does not respond a petition within 
seven days. The employees met for the second time last Friday [7 
September] to finalize the petition. They also set up a working 
committee comprising six members from each of the departments in the 
corporation to lead the workers to settle the issue. Executive 
members of the Communication Workers' Union also met with the 
employees to show support for their cause. 

Early this month the NBC managing director, Dr Kristoffa Ninkama, 
suspended news director Joseph Ealedona for allowing on air reports 
on the student unrest, broadcasting anti-privatization and land 
mobilization stories and broadcasting the launching of the union-
backed Labour Party and stories on the PNG Defence Force stand-off 
with the government earlier this year. 

"We know the board approved last month that the MD (managing 
director) will sanction all news items and that is totally against 
our long-standing ethics," the workers said. "We will deliver our 
demands as soon as the working committee officially finalizes the 
papers and when that is done we will await the management's response. 
If we are not happy with the reply then with support from the union 
we will conduct a secret ballot." 

The resolutions passed were: For the independence of NBC to be 
respected, immediate reinstatement of the suspended news director, 
for the managing director to be present in his at office at all 
times, for the managing director to stop going to National Executive 
Council [NEC, cabinet] meetings and the Prime Minister's Office and 
for the NEC not to interfere with news.

Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site, Port Moresby, in 
English 10 Sep 01 (via BBCM via DXLD)

** PERU. 6349.8V, Radio Unión, Lima; escuchada entre las 0934-1101 
del 01 de Septiembre. Señal regular y mala modulación del audio. La 
escucha se pudo oscilar mientras la emisora oscilaba entre los 6349.3 
kHz y los 6350.2 kHz lo que demuestra que indudablemente tiene 
problemas en el transmisor. ID grabada a las 0956 y a las 1100 como: 
"Radio Unión en su frecuencia 880 amplitud modulada, 6115 banda de 49 
metros onda corta y 103.3 frecuencia modulada, transmite desde la 
Avenida Central 717, piso 12, San Isidro, Lima, Perú.". De acuerdo 
con los chequeos realizados por nuestro colaborador, la emisora 
irradia los siguientes programas: A las 0957 "Dulce Amanecer" (con 
musica folklórica y saludos para oyentes de zonas rurales). De 
acuerdo a los anuncios, este programa está en el aire de lunes a 
viernes de 0900-1000 TU); entre las 0958-1100 se transmite "Tierra 
Fecunda" (programa educativo y cultural en quechua y español 
producido por el CEPES, durante el cual se difunde música folklórica 
y mensajes para habitantes de las regiones campesinas del Perú); a 
partir de las 1100- puede escucharse un programa informativo "Unión 
en la Noticia" A 1100, las informaciones fueron presentadas con el 
siguiente anuncio grabado: "En Unión, la radio más potente del
país, presentamos UNIÓN EN LA NOTICIA, en amplitud modulada 880, 
103.3 frecuencia modulada y onda corta 6115 banda de 49 metros, con 
excelente plantel de locutores, redactores, reporteros y 
corresponsales para informarles desde el mismo lugar de los
acontecimientos." (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japon, en "Relampago DX" 
via Conexión Digital via DXLD)

** PHILIPPINES. 1062, Quezon City, DZEC, peaking above KK and JJ with 
man talking on phone, mentioned "DZEC" at 1358 9/10. Soon lost to KK. 
Last year this was the most regular Filipino (Pat Martin, Seaside OR, 
hard-core-dx via DXLD) 

** ROMANIA. 11775, Radio Romania, English Sept 7 2300-2359. This 
frequency to Europe continues to be one of the better frequencies for 
Romania into my area of the US (Ohio). Often better than the listed 
frequencies at this and other times of the day to North America (Lee 
Silvi, Mentor, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** RUSSIA. OSTANKINO TV TOWER TO BE WORLD'S TALLEST AFTER 
RECONSTRUCTION. Vladimir Kurochkin, the deputy general director of 
Russian state television, told Interfax on 24 August that 
reconstruction of the Ostankino television tower will increase its 
height to the point where it will be the tallest structure of its 
kind in the world, Interfax reported (RFE/RL Security Watch, 3 
September via RFE/RL Media Matters Sept 10 via DXLD)

OK, so how much taller would it have to be, to exceed what other 
structure --- the CN Tower in Toronto, maybe? (gh, DXLD)

** SEALAND. From http://www.eadt.co.uk/ East Anglian Daily Times:

A PEEP BEHIND SEALAND'S IRON CURTAIN

August 29, 2001 09:34

For years it has stood in an isolated position, a brooding silhouette 
off the East Anglian coast.

As you are hoisted 60 feet above the sea to be deposited on the 
platform which is Sealand you are expecting something rather unusual.

For decades weird and wonderful tales have abounded about conditions 
there and stories have hit the headlines of vendettas, armed warfare 
and captured pirates.

Previously the inside of Sealand has very much remained behind the 
concrete curtain - a place of mystery where numerous stories - each 
more far-fetched then the one before - spring up.

But inside, it is surprisingly normal.

Sealand's history is a chequered one. Prince Roy Bates first made 
claim to it in the mid-1960s after it had been abandoned. He and 
beauty queen wife Joan wanted to use it for a pirate radio station 
but they had competition and after a series of skirmishes, Roy Bates 
declared the independent Kingdom of Sealand.

Since then it has been attacked on a number of occasions and even 
invaded but Major Bates has quickly recaptured his kingdom.

His recent poor health has forced the family to move from the island 
and making it available for other projects, which is why the HavenCo 
computer company has established its headquarters in one of the 
concrete legs, providing a secure data haven.

The island is now permanent home to their staff although the Bates 
family are frequent visitors, particularly Roy's son Michael who is 
the company's chief executive.

Success on the business front, while welcomed, could be undermining 
some of the things which made Sealand special to the Bates family.

Michael said: "I like it - there are no neighbours and you can play 
your music loud. I used to be here a lot on my own and it's great 
when you want your own company and I do sometimes prefer it that way 
- it's so peaceful.

"But that will not really happen any more because we are so busy 
here. Years ago it was so nice to be here when the generator was 
switched off at night and you could listen to the water but now it's 
running 24 hours a day."

Michael admits it is not luxurious and he hopes to fit it out in more 
style when time and money allows.

"But to us it is such an improvement as to what it was like before," 
he said. "It was filthy, just so dirty when we arrived with dead 
seagulls everywhere. We started off using candles at night, then we 
moved to hurricane lamps and then we got the generators.

"There was a huge cooking range from the war days full of soot which 
we've replaced. We've done such a lot here."

There is a definite sixties feel as decoration has not been high on 
the list of priorities, but despite outdated wallpaper everything 
else is like a normal home.

In the living room there is a TV and computer as well as a music 
system. Classics from Oliver Twist to DIY manuals line the 
bookshelves along the walls.

For the athletic there is even a small gym to keep the muscles in 
tone and it boasts all the essentials - an exercise bike, two 
multigyms and some free weights.

To say it has all the mod cons would be stretching a point but the 
kitchen boasts the usual features of any suburban home - cookers, a 
fridge, freezer, microwave, washing machine and tumble dryer. Washing 
up is done by whichever security guard is bullied into it.

A big table fit for entertaining dominates the centre of the room 
with enviable views out the window on a clear day to the Essex and 
Suffolk coastlines, with Felixstowe and Walton on the Naze seven and 
10 miles away respectively.

On the platform, all the facilities are there - a toilet, shower room 
and other bedrooms - much the same as to be found in conventional 
homes.

Entry to each floor of the towers is via steep staircases. It's a 
place where you have to be fit. And fortunately it is somewhere where 
it is unlikely the gourmet cooking would encourage you to put on too 
many extra pounds.

Security staff - there to defend the island and now its new business 
- sleep in the steel building under the platform while the technical 
staff are housed below in the legs.

In the pipeline are plans to pipe fresh air further down the legs as 
more and more sections are converted to living quarters. In the fifth 
floor of one tower the smell of fresh paint hangs in the air.

While it is unlikely to be advertising its services as a hotel in the 
near future, in one of the towers is a double room especially for 
couples - it could be the honeymoon suite of the future.

Chief of security Alan Beale likens it very much to being on board a 
ship: "We do the work when we have to but we do get time to relax and 
sit around. When I worked in the shipyards we were always going out 
to check if everything was all right - it's like that here."

The Principality of Sealand nearly did not exist when the 4,500-ton
structure, designed as an anti-aircraft location, nearly toppled into 
the sea when it was floated into position by a large barge during 
World War Two.

Had the unthinkable happened to the structure, which had a colossal 
£1 million price tag in 1942, a fascinating homestead would never 
have been created.

Michael has been approached by the BBC programme Changing Rooms for a
makeover. He has not yet had time to make any firm arrangements but 
he admits it would be a good opportunity.

But he remains unconvinced that Ground Force could do much with the 
iron platform and its brightly painted helipad.

'SEALAND - THE MOVIE' ON THE CARDS

August 22, 2001 09:34

The stirring history of a wartime sea defence station elevated to 
royal status could become the subject of an epic Hollywood film.

And it is suggested box office stars Mel Gibson and Liz Hurley could 
snap up the task of portraying the determined husband and wife 
responsible for turning the man-made island into the independent 
Principality of Sealand.

Sealand, originally known as Roughs Tower and lying seven miles off 
the coast of Felixstowe and 10 miles from Walton on the Naze, was 
founded as a sovereign principality in 1967.

The self-styled Prince Roy Bates first made claim to it when he and 
his beauty queen wife Joan wanted to use the fort as a pirate radio 
station.

But they had competition. After a series of skirmishes, there was a
full-scale battle on June 27, 1967 when seven "commandos" from 
another group wanting the fort attacked.

On it was Michael Bates - son of Roy - and David Barron, who 
reportedly threw petrol bombs and other missiles at the raiders, who 
gave up after a fierce fight.

The defeated party claimed shots had been fired at them but police 
could do nothing as the fort was then outside British waters.

Roy Bates, a former 8th Army Royal Fusiliers major and wealthy 
businessman, then declared the fort the Independent Kingdom of 
Sealand.

The twin-towered structure, which has remained shrouded in mystery 
for decades, is currently being turned into a hi-tech communications
headquarters. But any film is expected to centre on the exciting 
events of the 1960s and 70s.

Last night Prince Michael Bates declined to give full details of the 
filming project, saying it was too premature, but he confirmed 
negotiations were ongoing with a "well-known" Hollywood studio.

He said: "A Hollywood studio wants to do a film about the life we 
lead and we are in talks but it is in the very early stages.

"They would like to get Mel Gibson to play my father with Liz Hurley 
to play my mother. I was about 20 at the time but I don't think 
they've got anyone in mind yet for me."

He has been asked to advise on the content and joked that, as a 
divorcee, he would enjoy helping the beautiful Liz Hurley with her 
role.

If film crews are allowed on the man-made island, it will enable a 
much wider public to take a glimpse behind its mysterious concrete 
curtain.

Prince Michael is unsure how much filming could actually take place 
in Sealand, but expects much of it would be carried out in studios.

"We have had offers in the past, of course, but we thought this one 
seemed a nice project," he said. "It was very flattering to be 
approached and it's definitely going to happen."

Since it was declared independent, the principality has been the 
target for attacks and in 1978 while the major was away on business 
it was invaded by a raiding party of Germans and Dutchmen who stormed 
the tower and captured Michael Bates, the only occupant.

But Major Bates recaptured his kingdom, sliding down 100ft ropes from 
a helicopter before engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the invaders 
(via Mike Terry, Sept 10, DXLD)

** SRI LANKA [non]. 21590, Tamil Oli Radio, 1227-1237, 2 Septiembre 
2001, px en tamil, mx, ID's por locutor y locutora, hermosas piezas 
musicales. SINPO: 24432. (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión Digital 
via DXLD) Haven`t seen a report of this one for quite a while; via 
Jülich? (gh, DXLD)

** TAIWAN? Very strong commercial-sounding Chinese program on 15050 
Sept 10 before and after 1300 UT, no sign of jamming, of RFPI, or of 
anything on 15060. If this keeps up, RFPI will have to move, why not 
to 15060? (gh)

** TAJIKISTAN. For landhunters: Radio Tajikistan World Service, 
Dushanbé very good on 7245 Sun Sept 9 1645-1700 in English. This day 
they celebrated their 10th Anniversary of Independence. (From 1700 
Arabic and a bit of QRM from Vatican Radio in Croatian on 7250. Those 
could be filtered out.) Broadcast repeated at 0345, they said. WRTH 
2001 seems to be correct regarding schedule. Phone number 27 76 67, 
though. 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhätten, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U A E. Correcting some typing errors in my previous item:

Merlin brokers the Abu Dhabi txing site, not "UAE R Dubai" site. My 
map shows some 160[!] km distance between Abu Dhabi emirate, situated 
on a westerly ISLAND off the coast line. Dubai is located direct on 
the coast line, but some 160 km norteastwards. 
Abu Dhabi UAE 24N23 054E17 -- LL74DJ [!] worldwide locator 
DBA Dubai UAE 25N14 055E16 -- LL75PF some 137 [!] kilometers away, 47 
/ 227 degrees ABU/DBA. Towards Europe 316 / 315 degrees, 4750 
kilometers to Stuttgart 73 de wb df5sx wwdxc-germany (Wolfgang 
Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U A E. 13675, UAE Radio Dubai, Presumed Arabic announcers and 
music 0300-0330 Sept 8. English started promptly at 0330. From 0333 
to 0346 program titled "Zionism Unmasked" discussing South Africa. 
Sudden signoff at 0347. // 15400 also good here in Northeast Ohio, 
12005 had moderate co-channel interference presumed to be from 
Tunisia (Lee Silvi, Mentor, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K. DXLD 1-122 included reference to an article by Matthew 
Bannister in a recent edition of the London Times about Digital Radio 
being a dud. I would like to have extracted this piece from DXLD and 
posted it onto the UK-radio listeners' list, but for technical 
reasons I am unable to extract pieces of e-mails. Therefore, I simply 
mentioned it on that list, which resulted in the following response:-

From: "Peter" <peter@fedtalk.demon.co.uk> 
To: <uk-radio-listeners@yahoogroups.com> 
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2001 6:30 PM 
Subject: Re: [uk-radio-listeners] DIGITAL RADIO - A DUD? 

At a meeting a couple of years ago, I was sitting next to Matthew 
Bannister, and he agreed with me that if FM radio stopped using 
limiters, there would be no need for digital radio in terms of sound 
quality. Having been using digital radio for eighteen months now, I 
can say that when it is treated properly at the transmitting end, it 
can be brilliant. The problem is that, both commercial and BBC are 
now trying to squeeze too much onto their multiplexes, causing the 
need to reduce bit-rates and spoil the quality. We have seen this 
week that the new multiplexes for the North-West and the Midlands can 
produce excellent sound, so the arguments made by Digital One when I 
tried to get them to put Prime Time Radio in stereo are unreasonable. 
They claim that they could not cope with another stereo station on 
their multiplex, which currently has five mono and five stereo 
stations, with one of them being Prime Time Radio in mono. It also 
includes two awful sounding stations, Bloomberg Money and ITN News, 
wich only transmit at 48 KBS. I am going to re-open my correspondence 
with Digital One, now that the MXR multiplexes are transmitting very 
high quality sound on most of their nine stations, eight of which are 
in stereo. The DNN news channel is mono, sounding a little better 
than the ITN version. When I last spoke about the new multiplex, I 
said that Urban Choice was out of phase. This has been corrected, but 
now the Cube is out of phase in the North-West. All stations on the 
new multiplex are carrying sound, but we are waiting for Cube and DNN 
to open officially. Best wishes. PETER WILKINS (via Paul David, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K. Well, I wouldn't call some of the tourists I've seen in 
London either elite or uppercrust :-) I'm not sure what idealism you 
think BBCWS used to have, John, but having worked for that 
organisation for four years in the 1970's, I was never conscious of 
any idealistic motives. If you mean its public service role, that's 
not idealism but simply carrying out a prescribed task. The fact is, 
since the end of the Cold War all international broadcasters, with 
the possible exception of Radio Pyongyang and the Voice of Vietnam,
have had to reassess what that public service role should be. BBCWS 
has apparently come up with the notion that it does not need to 
prioritise shortwave broadcasts to 'friendly' parts of the world. The 
challenge now for you and all shortwave listeners who want them to 
reverse that decision is to produce a compelling case to convince 
them that the move is short-sighted. That's what the Save the BBC 
Coalition has been doing. But it took the BBC three years of planning 
to actually implement the decision, so you can't expect them to 
reverse it immediately. There is a precedent - RTBF in Belgium 
restored its shortwave service after a break of several years.

Time for some plain talking here. In the past, international 
broadcasters have not always been honest about their true feelings 
about DXing. In fact many have been downright hypocritical. Time was 
when most international broadcasters had some sort of "DX programme". 
It wasn't because they had this idealistic urge to provide content 
for the world's DX bulletins - indeed, quite the opposite, many of 
them simply read stuff out of hobby magazines. No, the reason they 
had DX programmes was that in those days they needed DXers. Frequency 
planning was chaotic, and they needed reception reports to tell them 
whether their programmes could actually be heard. And since, in many 
cases, the rest of their programming was so dire, the DX shows 
generated a lot more correspondence.

Times have changed. 20 years ago, Radio Netherlands ditched the 'DX 
show' formula, and created Media Network, a programe I was proud to 
be associated with throughout its 19 year existence as a radio show. 
The same style of investigative reporting continues in VOA's 
Communications World. It still has a lot of content of interest to 
DXers, but goes beyond the reading of frequency schedules and looks 
at issues. At the same time, improvements in technology mean that the 
importance of individual unsolicited reception reports has 
diminished. Frequency coordination got better with the advent of
HFCC. It's now possible to monitor our transmissions remotely from 
receivers thousands of miles away. And Radio Netherlands has long had 
a panel of several hundred regular technical monitors who supply a 
continuous stream of reports in a format, and to a standard, that is 
of direct use to our engineers. So, while we're happy that people who 
call themselves DXers tune in to Radio Netherlands, we don't regard 
that as especially significant when planning our programme content. 
Numerically they are a very, very tiny proportion of our audience.

Show me a station that says letters from DXers are still important, 
and I'll show you a station which is clearly struggling to generate 
sufficient listener feedback.

Don't get me wrong. DXing is a fine hobby. It has given me my career 
and many personal friends. But it has very little to do with 
international broadcasting in 2001. Failure to appreciate the 
distinction between the technical hobby of DXing and listening to the 
*programme content* of easy-to-hear shortwave stations is a common 
problem. But when dealing with major international broadcasters it's 
important to let them know you're interested in what they have to 
say, not simply what transmitter site they're using!
(Andy Sennitt, std disclaimer, Sept 9, swprograms via DXLD)

I've heard this SPIN for years and years. The massive Sony store in 
San Francisco Metetron Shopping Center does not even stock shortwave 
radios. The only place in the Bay Area where I've seen shortwave 
radios for sale is Fry's (a very large electronics and computer
retailer) and the manufactures usually pays for space there. The one 
display Grundig 800 at Fry's Palo Alto has been in stock for six 
months and it's the only one they have, I've ask. Both Gilfer and EEB 
closed down... Drake is around because of a leveraged buyout.

As you said about 99%+ of listeners are not DX'er. Most SW listeners 
are unidimensional listeners, they just want to listen to BBC, Radio 
Netherlands, AIR.... and they have and will drop shortwave when they 
can get better more reliable audio quality on the FM, the Net or 
whatever. 

Sorry, I know this is politically incorrect for this group and I 
understand many people live in rural areas or have poor phone 
connections. But, be honest, shortwave radio and not flying off the 
shelves! (Larry Nebron, ibid.)

Actually, Larry, what you say here is not *politically* incorrect; 
it's just *factually* incorrect. As one who has been doing a ton of 
research on this topic, I can tell you that while--yes--shortwave is 
a specialized market, the radios are selling well....and the figures 
are up at a double digit rate annually over the past five years.

The reason? Simple. People want what they want, when and where they 
want it. Folks discovering international radio (or audio, if you 
prefer) soon find that no one of the various delivery technologies 
they happened to first experience it through is perfect. We've been 
through the various plusses and minusses each of them have, so no 
need to rehash it all here.

The bottom line is that a broadcaster that wants to reach *all* its 
potential audience needs to use *all* the delivery methods available. 
The sad truth for budget makers is that *all* of them are viable. The 
BBC (or SRI or anyone else) can argue that their research, their 
intelligence or their tarot card readers say otherwise. But at this 
point it's just wishful thinking on their part. The facts don't bear 
them out. Period.

Parenthetically, the 'net's biggest weakness--for broadcast purposes-
-is that it's wired radio (as Larry Magne eloquently argues). (It has 
other important weaknesses and inefficiencies as a carrier of audio 
content, but we'll leave those for another time.) Yes, we can name 
any number of expensive and involved ways one can try and make it 
more portable now. But wireless internet at present is mostly a pipe 
dream and until it becomes reality—and in an affordable way--the 
internet will serve only as an adjunct medium, at least as far as 
delivery of audio services is concerned.

Anyone who chooses to ignore a technology selling over a million 
instruments a year in a highly technologically developed and wealthy 
market like NA, does so at not insignificant risk to its mission as 
far as that market is concerned. 

(PS: BTW, Larry, no one should pretend that anything happening on the 
left coast can be extrapolated to serve as useful experience or 
evidence for anywhere else. <grin>) (John Figliozzi, ibid.)

Andy,
I trust your knowledge about the inner workings of international 
broadcasters as an international broadcaster (and former BBC'er). I 
realize a lot of what you're saying about motives is true. However, I 
also think, just with any group, broadcasters are individual too, and 
also have mixes of motivations as does any enterprise. Some stations 
are still obvious propaganda mouthpieces, or promotional tools, and 
nothing  more. Bit others both provide service while serving national 
interests.

Regarding the BBCWS, I realize they never did it out of the pure 
goodness of their hearts. There has always been a political motive. 
It was a glue to hold the crumbling Empire together, a weapon against 
Hitler, a cold war tool, etc.

However, I think idealism and pragmatism can go hand-in hand, and 
seemed to co-exist at the BBCWS, especially after the Cold War. It 
had a mission to provide comprehensive, unbiased news and worthy 
programming to the world... By becoming one of the most trusted 
sources of news and quality broadcasting on the air, they 
simultaneously performed a valuable public service -- and gave the UK 
a voice and provided damn good international public relations for 
their nation at the same time.

(I'd say RNW has accomplished the same for the Netherlands, although 
not on as dominant a scale.) 

IMO, in terms of the national interest, that simple (although 
difficult) public-service mission both enhances the image of the UK, 
and provides an entree to decision-makers at the same time. If the 
BBCWS would stop trying to emulate commercial radio moguls and 
instead focused on their traditional strengths as an esteemed 
worldwide broadcaster, they'd accomplish both objectives.

To me, that is a straightforward, and pragmatic, argument for 
continuing to build on the best of what they were instead of becoming 
Rupert Murdoch wannabe's or CNN with an English accent.

----As for the relevance of shortwave today, I guess I have a mix of 
perspectives. I was a DX'er when I was a kid, but fell out of the 
hobby when I got older...I rediscovered shortwave around 1985, when I 
turned on a friend's radio, and was amazed at what I heard. I enjoyed 
twirling around the dial, and still think it's "cool" to find obscure 
stations occasionally.

But I basically am more content-oriented, and use shortwave mainly as 
a medium to hear stations I enjoy(ed) such as the BBCWS, RNW, VOA, 
Radio Canada....If there were suitable and practical alternatives to 
shortwave where I could hear those broadcasters in clear sound 
anytime, I'd support that, and choose it if practical....HOWEVER, 
shortwave still has an important role as a very practical 
transmission system to reach large areas, and in situations where 
Internet listening or other new media aren't useful. It's also more 
democratic...Other media are great too, but they're not the sole 
answer as a replacement.

IMO, if the shortwave audience is limited, it is not the fault of the 
medium. Rather it's a lack of understanding by the general public of 
what shortwave is, and what it offers (despite its technical 
limitations)....I'll bet if BBCWS really promoted their shortwave 
service aggressively to the general public, they could have built a 
substantial SW audience here. SW is one valid alternative for people 
may have discover them on the Internet or sampled them on local FM 
but find that shortwave offers both more convenience and the full 
schedule.

On both the levels of service and method, those are what I see as the 
primary reasons the BBC's decision to abandon shortwave here was a 
mistake (John Townes, ibid.)

** U K [non]. Although we had it straight here in July when the BBC 
relay changes were made, I see reports confused about the site for 
the newish evening frequencies 11810 and 11835 for ``Mexico``, one 
claiming that 11835 after 0300 is WYFR, so I asked John Vodenik at 
IBB Delano: (gh, DXLD)

Delano carries BBC English from 0300 to 0500 UT. I think that the 
11835 before 0300 is from WYFR. Our antenna heading for that 
broadcast is 121 degrees towards South America. 73, John Vodenik, CA, 
Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Posted by JohnL2 on September 08, 2001 at 10:17:12:

As host of a weekly show originating from the Brooklyn studio of
International Shortwave's WBCQ, this is a topic of particular concern 
to me.

Despite occasional world events that may sell a few shortwave radios,
listenership has fallen significantly in the last decade. While our 
station has tried to revive interest in this moribund parcel of the 
broadcast spectrum (and has achieved relative success in carving out 
a dedicated, loyal listenership), it is the proverbial uphill battle.

Our roster of programming (mostly programmers buying their airtime) 
is strange, unique, or different enough to insure that most of it 
would not be welcome in a medium now controlled by a few 
conglomerates that would find what we do a tough fit, or too out of 
the mainstream. So we toil in the relative obscurity of the shortwave 
Sahara. Knowing this, most all of our programming also streams on the 
Internet.

For stations such as WBCQ, the Internet and satellite radio is indeed 
the future. We have been attempting to negotiate securing space with 
one of the satellite radio providers for our programming as we 
certainly recognize this is the future and we cannot ignore it.

The obvious limitations of shortwave (unreliable reception, mediocre 
sound quality) pretty much assure us that most radio listeners will 
miss out on what we do. Most people I know, do not own shortwave 
receivers, indeed many, screw up their faces and ask "What's 
shortwave" when you mention it, particularly younger folks. People 
around my age (50 something), mainly think that's where the police 
calls still are!

In my opinion, those of us who have latched on to WBCQ's 50,000 world 
wide watts have done so because it is one of the few places we can do 
what we do. As shortwave is of no interest to commercial 
broadcasters, it is the venue of last resort for many of us who LOVE 
radio. But it seems most people who stumble upon what we do, are 
radio freaks, amateur radio operators, or lucky listeners who heard 
about us from some source and fired up that receiver they bought 
during the gulf war that has spent the last decade stuffed in a
corner of the attic.

Shortwave will always have it's place due to it's reach and ease of 
access. Not everyone will or can pay for satellite delivered radio, 
and reliable, portable Internet radio is still some time away. 
Shortwave will still be viable for some time to come. But, as made 
obvious by the BBC's decision to discontinue shortwave broadcast 
beamed to the USA because of a diminished listenership and the 
availability of it's audio on the net and elsewhere, it is not 
exactly a growth medium.

However, it does remain perhaps the last bastion for broadcasters who 
still want to be true RADIO broadcasters. Broadcasters putting a 
signal in the air that can be received by anyone with a relatively 
inexpensive receiver and a length of wire. A place where mom and pop 
operations such as the one I am proud to be affiliated with, can 
broadcast music and talk radio unfettered by the restraints of 
managers who often stifle creativity and freedom of speech. Join us 
if you wish (WBCQ.NET), especially those of you in search of talk 
radio that is different, and in my case, very New York oriented.

I don't think the final nails are in place yet Terry. And they will 
not be so long as independent voices and disenfranchised broadcasters 
are effectively ignored by the owners of AM and FM bland stations.
(John Lightning, WBCQ and Radio NewYork International, New York Radio 
Message Board Sept 9 via Steve Coletti, swprograms via DXLD)

** U S A. 7490, WJCR, Weak reception - presumed still low power 
for WJCR religious programming. Music Sept 8 2318-2357, talk show 
UT Sept 9 0000-0100, Bluegrass music program 0100+; 13595 untraced 
here in Northeast Ohio (Lee Silvi, Mentor, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. XEJAZZ-540 Tijuana has changed format (again), back 
to classical. I don't know if they changed the call letters back to 
XEBACH, but that would seem logical. I don't know whether //1260 in 
Beverly Hills has done the same; I can't tell due to a local being on 
1250. [Later:] I caught the TOH ID for 540 Tijuana; they are still 
XEJAZZ. 73, (Dennis Gibson, Santa Bárbara CA, IRCA Sept 10 via DXLD)

** U S A. Glenn: Have only noted open carrier on 25950 over the last 
couple of days. I did send a report to the station engineer a couple 
of weeks ago and have heard nothing, which would confirm the comments 
made by WDX6AA. (-David Hodgson, TN, Sept 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 2599.98 WZZZ Fulton, N.Y. (harmonic 2x1300) 1005, Local 
news and weather. "1300 WZZZ" ID. Good peak (Mark Mohrmann, VT, Sep 
8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** URUGUAY. 9620,8 SODRE, Montevideo. 1340. 01 de septiembre. 
Transmisión en paralelo con los 650 khz. Una locutora presenta el 
concierto No. 1 en Mi menor de Federico Chopin, interpretado por la 
Orquesta de Filadelfia. 34343 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión 
Digital via DXLD)

** VIETNAM [non]. 15235 kHz, Radio Vietnam Libre, (Da Viet Nam Tu Do) 
emite de lunes a viernes a 1400-1430. Escuchada con buena señal en
Buenos Aires. Su responsable, el Sr. Vuong Ky-Son me ha confirmado en 
un e-mail que tiene mi reporte, así como el de varios otros oyentes 
en sus manos, y que pronto despachará todas las cartas en su próximo 
viaje a Boston (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, 2/9, Conexión 
Digital via DXLD)

Hi friends, I have got two more nice QSL's to add to my collection: 
1. A n/d personal "Thank you"-card from Radio Free Vietnam. V/s: 
Vuong Ky-Son, Director. Address used was the one in New Orleans. e-
mail: vkyson@bigfoot.com website: http://www.radiofreevietnam.com 73 
from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea of 
Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)             ###