DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-150, October 16, 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] ** AFGHANISTAN. 8700-USB, 1454 tune-in this morning, 16 October to hear a good signal from the presumed USAF Psyoperation over Afghanistan with talk and local music in presumed Dari or Pashto. I was amazed by the strength of the signal, which gradually faded over the next 90 minutes. I can still hear it weakly, however, after 1630. Far stronger than anything I've heard from Kabul on 41 meters in the past. Thanks for the heads up from everyone! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8700 USB U.S. Psyops, 0210. 16 de octubre. Propagandística de USA hacia Afghanistán. Mucha música regional, comentarios en Dari? Pashto?. SIO 444 /buena señal aquí. Abruptos cortes de audio con intermitencias hacia las 0220 con señal de portadora presente (Enrique A. Wembagher, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 8700U khz, emisora escuchada con fuerte señal en Buenos Aires el 16 Octubre 2001 entre 0120-0251+, con programas en Dari o Pashto, buena música afgana en la programación con muchas menciones a "Afganistan" "Taleban" "Islamie", escuchados los nombres de Kabul, Jalalabad, etc. SINPO: 34443 en momentos con fuerte ruido de fondo. Escuchada con cortes de audio entre 0220-0234 pero manteniendo siempre la portadora presente. 73's (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Conexión Digital via DXLD) I saw just briefly on an NBC story that they were dropping leaflets. One had a drawing of an antenna and below the drawing 8700 kHz. I saw in your bulletin that listeners heard an unidentified Arabic station on that frequency. It IS Commando Solo! It was a full screen shot of the leaflet, I am not mistaken! Take care, dear (Marion Webster, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) An article in today's USA Today confirms that 8700 kHz is the frequency being used for US Psyops broadcasts over Afghanistan. They printed a picture of a leaflet being dropped that says to tune to 864, 1107 & 8700 KHz (no times shown). (Chuck Boehnke, Keaau, Hawaii, IRCA Oct 16 via DXLD) The BBC News page http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1601000/1601 273.stm has a picture of a leaflet dropped down in Afghanistan: "This leaflet gives the schedule for American broadcasts" says the text. The leaflet shows a transmitter, two playing radios (They look like cassette recorders, not like wind-up-radios! And the sound comes out of the antenna as it seems). Text seems to be in Arabic (or in Arabic letters at least) and it includes numbers. my 'translation' : 8700 (864) on one side, 10 - 5 (?) on the other If you read from the right side (remember, it`s Arabic) it turns out to be 5-10, which corresponds with the broadcasting hours on 8700 kHz in local AFG time 0500-1000 (0030-0530 UT) (as published by BBCM). They were clever enough to cut the picture in the middle of the schedule (Martin Schöch / Clandestine Radio Watch, Oct 16, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s surprising the leaflet gives the USB feeder frequency 8700! -- surely not accessible on your average Afghan-consumer SW radio, let alone boombox. So is 864 mediumwave the main frequency? WRTH 1998 does not show any Afghan around there; should be 648 instead? Both Pashto and Dari are written in Arabic script, aren`t they? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to Kim Elliott - yesterday - the flying aircraft is operating on MW 657. He didn`t mention a SW transmission. I suppose a quick solution to the operation of a "R. Free Afghanistan" would be to rent a MW tx in one of the former Soviet states located to the north of Afghanistan (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 14 via DXLD) 193rd Special Operations Wing in Afghanistan Since we now have the times and languages we only need the QSL address: Pennsylvania Air National Guard, Headquarters, 193rd Special Operations Wing, 81 Constellation Court, Middletown, PA 17057-5086. E-Mail is 193sow@pamdt.ang.af.mil QSL logs for the V of the Allied Forces (YUG 1999) from the same plane can be found at http://www.clandestineradio.com/martin/cl-yug.html A picture of such QSL (from J. Mäntylä, Finland) is at http://www.clandestineradio.com/martin/bild-cla.html#Yugoslavia (Martin Schöch / QSL Information Pages via Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Afghanistan Frequency List Kabul International Airport HF; 10018, 5658, 3467, 6547, in use HF; 4132, 2966, 6828.5, 7318, available but not in use VHF; 128.500, 118.100, 121.900, 125.000 MHz [non]. With the U.S. commencement of attacks on the Taliban etc. the USAF Global HF frequencies are active. 11.175.0, 11.125.0, 11.225.0 mhz has been non stop with two way transmissions (original source unknown, via Lynn Hollerman, LA, Oct 16, IRCA via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. Afghan media round-up, 16 October 2001 Balkh radio Radio Voice of Shari'ah of Balkh Province - the Taleban-controlled provincial radio station based in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif - continues to be heard by BBC Monitoring. It was monitored on Monday 15 October from 1230-1510 gmt and on Tuesday 16 October from 0230- 0420 gmt on 1584 kHz mediumwave. Afghan Taleban commander in north predicts US failure in land war Balkh radio from 1450-1500 gmt on 15 October carried an interview with Alhaj Mola Dadollah, the Taleban chief of staff in the northern zone. He said that the Taleban forces will come into their own when the USA switch from air raids to land operations, and then "Afghanistan will become the grave of Americans". He said that individual commanders leaving the Taleban side would not affect the outcome of the jihad against the USA, just as the loss of one district or city would not cause Taleban morale to sink. Balkh radio in Dari and Pashto from 0230-0420 gmt on 16 October repeated the aforementioned interview with the Taleban northern zone commander, as well as scheduled sermons, recitations from the Koran and religious songs. From 0406-0412 gmt on 16 October, Balkh radio repeated a report saying the US Defence Department had admitted bombing residential areas in Kabul two days ago. From 0415-0420 gmt on 16 October, Balkh radio carried a sermon blaming the situation in Afghanistan on the continuing US attacks. Kabul radio still unheard The Taleban radio station, Radio Voice of Shari'ah from Kabul, has remained unheard by BBC Monitoring since Monday 8 October. Radio Voice of Shari'ah from Kabul, which is usually on the air from 0130- 0400 and 1230-1800 gmt, has not been heard on any of its three frequencies - 657 kHz and 1107 kHz mediumwave and 7085 kHz (variable) shortwave - since 1610 gmt on 8 October. US psyops broadcast observed BBC Monitoring has continued to observe US psyops Information Radio broadcasts aimed at Afghanistan. It was heard on Tuesday 16 October from 0030-0530 gmt in Dari on 8700 kHz shortwave; and from 1230 gmt in Pashto and Dari on 8700 kHz shortwave. Both broadcasts were in upper sideband mode. The outlets believed to be on mediumwave 1107 and 864 kHz were not heard. The radio broadcasts are from an EC-130 "Commando Solo" special forces aircraft, which is equipped to either make or jam radio and television transmissions. The broadcasts aim to reassure Afghans that they are not the enemy of US forces. They include instructions on how to handle the food aid packages which are being dropped from US aircraft. Music is played between announcements. US aircraft drop leaflets on radio broadcasts The US Department of Defence web site, http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2001/g011015-D-6570C.html carries pictures of US psyops leaflets dropped over Afghanistan. The leaflets are printed separately in English and in Dari/Pashto. \ \ The first set of leaflets shows a picture of a US soldier shaking hands with a turbaned Afghan. The message says: "The Partnership of Nations is here to help." \ The other side of the leaflet repeated the message: "The partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan." \ \ The second set of leaflets explains the hours and frequencies for "Information Radio". It says the broadcasts are at 0500-1000 gmt and 1700-2200 gmt [sic – that`s local time, not gmt -gh] daily on the frequencies 864 kHz [mediumwave, Kandahar frequency], 1107 kHz [mediumwave, Kabul frequency] and 8700 kHz. The 8700 kHz frequency may be a terrestrial transmission or airborne broadcast. US defence secretary says no radios airdropped The following is an excerpt from a US Department of Defence news briefing given by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington on 15 October. The full text of the briefing is posted on the http://www.defenselink.mil web site: [Rumsfeld] ...Through leaflet drops, which began this weekend [13-14 October], and radio broadcasts into Afghanistan, we're working to make clear to the Afghan people that we support them, and we want to help free their nation from the grip of the Taleban and their foreign terrorist allies. The war is being fought on many fronts, as you know - military, humanitarian, information, diplomatic, financial, as well as economic. All of these are critical elements in a long, sustained campaign that will continue until we have finished the job of rooting out terrorist networks and putting them out of the business, not just the Taleban and the Al-Qa'idah, but other networks in other nations as well.... [Question] ...You are doing radio broadcasts daily now in several different chunks of time. Will you release to us what the message is that you are sending to the Afghan people so we have some idea of how the US is communicating with them? [Rumsfeld] I would guess we could do that. I have not read it myself, but it's - I can't imagine why we wouldn't. It's out there in the air floating around. [Question] But it hasn't - is it stuck somewhere in the - [Rumsfeld, interrupting] Probably in my office along with 85 other things. [Question] Have you also dropped - sir, have you also dropped radios, Mr Secretary, so they can pick up the - [Rumsfeld] I don't think we have yet. There was talk about that, but I don't think it's happened. Radio Pakistan's new broadcast to Afghanistan BBC Monitoring has continued to observe Radio Pakistan's new programme in Dari, targeted at listeners in Afghanistan. "Nawa-e Dost" (Sound of a Friend) programme, broadcast from Radio Pakistan's Peshawar station, was monitored by BBC Monitoring on 540 kHz mediumwave; a shortwave frequency has also been announced. Radio Pakistan says that the Dari-language programme "will prove an important source of current affairs for listeners from far-flung areas of Afghanistan". The broadcast at 1805 gmt on 15 October contained the following items: [Announcer] This is Radio Pakistan, Peshawar. Nawa-e Dost for Dari and Pashto-speaking listeners... [Female announcer] Dear friends, please accept our sincere greetings. I will be at your service on the daily programme Nawa-e Dost. How are you? How do you feel? I hope you are well... We should all try to be one; our sorrow and joy are one. We should be like brothers." - Religious sermon in Dari. - Commentary quoting a Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman saying that Pakistan has enjoyed good relations with Afghanistan for a long time, and that Pakistan will not allow anyone to bring harm to others or any government. - Songs in Dari and Pashto. - Drama. - Safety advice on electrical appliances. - Qawali music - traditional music common to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. - Advice on health issues. - Song in Pashto. - Interview with Afghan refugees in Peshawar. - News in Pashto: US Secretary of State Colin Powell's talks in Pakistan focus on Kashmir. Exiled Afghan King Zaher Shah's representative, Hedayat Amin, is in Islamabad. - Poetry in Dari and Pashto. - End of transmission. Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research, 16 Oct 01 (via DXLD) MORE: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/afghreax.txt ** AFGHANISTAN. [historical item] V. of Sharia is not heard since Mon 8th Oct around 1600. The last signals I heard were at 1550 on 7084v. I had to leave to do the monitoring and when I got back VOS was gone. Then I knew that the air raids were on for a second night. They were confirmed over VOA and BBC a little later. It was so eerie as if I could feel the planes. Anyway tonight no signals have been traced at all; not even a BFO detectable carrier 1230-1630 UT on 7084a. The stn and tx maybe still be intact and the antenna might be down. The stn might appear again. All one needs is a resonant dipole to get the signal out. Since it is a domestic broadcast, just a half wave above ground would give it a vertical take off. On the other hand it might have been completely destroyed. I have not been able to pick up any of the MW channels recently. From a DXer`s point of view it should be interesting to watch out. There is every possibility that a phony V of Shariya could appear. (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK UADX, DXplorer Oct 9 via BC-DX Oct 16 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. Hi Glenn, Yes, we will carry English via Sackville at 1630 on 17865 during B-01. And we will continue our Arabic service (c/down revised due to the current political situation). Yes, we managed to carry on better than expected - thanks to huge listener response, taken up by the press at home and by foreign media. Austrians and ex-pats abroad protested via diplomatic channels, etc. However, the fact remains that we will lose our "independence" and become part of the home service, to be financed from the ORF budget, and this will be reduced by 10%, thanks to a new broadcast law that restricts product placement, advertising etc. ORF runs 2 full and 9 regional TV channels, contributes to 3 sat-TV high- program-value (=low-audience) channels, and 13 radio programs - now plus RAI. Quiet a choice for a country as small as Austria, and with a 85% access of listeners/viewers to public and commercial TV from neighbouring Germany. 73 de (Wolf Harranth OE1WHC - Radio Austria International - http://roi.orf.at QSL Collection - http://www.qsl.at Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Winter B-01 schedule of R. Bulgaria from October 28, 2001 to March 31, 2002 RADIO BULGARIA, External Service of The Bulgarian National Radio ADDR: 4, Dragan Tsankov Blvd., 1040 Sofia or P.O. Box 900, 1000 Sofia. Tel.: +359 2 9336 733, fax.: +359 2 650 560. Website: http://www.nationalradio.bg Listeners E-mail: rbul@nationalradio.bg Programme Director: Angel Nedyalkov nedyalkov@nationalradio.bg Frequency Manager: Ivo Ivanov rbul1@nationalradio.bg MW: Petrich (G.C: 23.18E/41.42N): 747 kHz 500 kW/non-dir Vidin (G.C: 22.40E/43.49N): 1224 kHz 500 kW/205 deg SW: P=Plovdiv/Padarsko (G.C: 24.42E/42.10N): 2 x 500 kW, 3 x 250 kW S=Sofia/Kostinbrod (G.C: 23.13E/42.49N): 2 x 100 kW, 2 x 050 kW [Excerpted by gh: All Bulgarian, English, Spanish; French to NAm] BULGARIAN 0100-0200 South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0100-0200 North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0400-0500 Balkans 1224 0400-0500 East Europe 5900 S100/030, 7500 S100/030 1100-1130 East Europe 11700 S100/030, 15200 S100/030 1100-1130 West Europe 12000 P500/295, 13600 P250/306 1300-1500 Balkans 1224 1300-1500 West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700*P500/306 1600-1700 Middle East 9400 P500/126 1600-1700 South Africa 17500 P500/185 1600-1800 East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9900 S100/030 1900-2000 Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 1900-2100 West Europe 6000 P250/306 1900-2100 Middle East 7400 P250/140 ENGLISH 0000-0100 North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0300-0400 North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1200-1300 West Europe 15700 P500/306, 17500 P250/292 2000-2100 West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 2200-2300 West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 FRENCH 0200-0300 North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 SPANISH 0000-0100 South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0200-0300 South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0200-0300 Central America 7500 P250/295 1700-1800 South Europe 9700 P250/260, 11700 P250/270 2200-2300 South Europe 6000 P250/258, 7300 P250/245 DX-MIX px in Russian will be on the air: 1545-1600 Saturday on 9900, 9400, 7500, 1224 1845-1900 Saturday on 9900, 7500 0045-0100 Sunday on 7500 0345-0400 Sunday on 7500, 5900 73 from (Ivo and Angel!, Observer Oct 16 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn, the RCI schedule for B01 shows quite clearly that they consider Europe only as secondary target for shortwave transmissions anymore. Currently the late-night English broadcast is aired on 5995 from Hörby [Sweden], providing excellent reception here. But now this airtime is to be redirected to services for the Middle East while 5995 is to be operated from Sackville instead. This will of course result in a considerable loss of signal strength. 41 metres from the UK will mostly skip over Central Europe in winter nights, so this Skelton outlet will be primarily of use for Africa but much less for Europe. Tbilisskaya 7425 and Dhabbaya 9805 would be OK frequency-wise but we here will get spurious signals only since they both aim at Africa. That's what RCI will still have for us, away from some Sackville spare capacity. Well, at least they do it much more elegantly than other broadcasters. No word about Europe being no longer a target for shortwave services. No, they sneak away, hoping that nobody will notice (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Star Ray TV, 186 Main Street, Toronto, ON M4E 1W2. Tel: (416) 693-7400 Email: srtv@srtv.on.ca Website: http://www.srtv.on.ca October 12, 2001 Press Release --- For immediate release, Toronto: Star Ray TV forced to CRTC Hearing Jan Pachul, operator of Star Ray TV, the Community TV station in the east end of Toronto for the past two years, has had his CRTC hearing, and it could very well be the first many appearances of this long- running TV horror show. If this were a television series and were to be given a name, that name could be Jan Meets the Godzilla from Hull. On September 19, 2001 the CRTC called Pachul to appear before them to explain "whether he was operating a television undertaking without a licence." Pachul freely admits that he has indeed been on the air, serving a widening viewership in Greater Toronto roughly spanning the area from Scarborough on the east to Lawrence and Weston Road on the west, and from the lake to East York in the north. "The real question, to me" says Pachul, "is why won't they grant me a licence to operate a low power TV station devoted to public service?" He has filed for a Judicial Review of CRTC actions from the Federal Appeals Court of Canada. In the meantime, probably fired up with the huge amount of press Pachul has generated, a number of other, richer players are entering the area of public service. Applications have been made for licences by at least three other companies to provide locally oriented TV service. "There is nothing new about this approach," says Pachul, "Companies like City-TV have promised local service in the past, then grew so big they had to chuck the idea." The same will happen with these new applicants. Meanwhile I've wanted to provide it for the past five years and the CRTC is stonewalling me." Pachul is also upset by the way he was portrayed in the transcript of the hearing. "I was made to sound like a mixed-up hippy because they inserted a lot of 'you knows' plus a bunch of 'likes' in every sentence to make me sound foolish. That kind of cheap tactic won't stop me. I'm going to fight on as hard as I can." As part of Media Democracy Day on Friday October 19 Star Ray TV supporters plan on demonstrating against the CRTC at 3 to 5 PM. Targeted for protest is the CRTC's Toronto office at 55 St.Clair Ave. East. Call 416 693-7400 to participate. The horror show continues. Stay tuned. Media Democracy Day URL: http://www.mediademocracyday.org Transcript URL: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/transcripts/2001/tb0919.htm For more information, please contact Jan Pachul directly at 416.693.7400, srtv@srtv.on.ca, or visit the Star Ray WWW site at http://www.srtv.on.ca (Star Ray TV press release via DXLD) ch 15 ** CANADA. JUMPTV Remember ICraveTV, the Canadian operator which relayed US networks received off the air over the Internet, until they got stopped in a royalties conflict? There's a chance the Net may actually be used for such purposes again. A Canadian Webcaster often described as the successor to ICraveTV has bowed out of hearings that might have set statutory tariffs for cable-company-like transmissions of off-the-air television via the Internet. A letter sent to the Canadian Copyright Board October 10 by Montreal, Quebec-based JumpTV.com said it was withdrawing its application for an Internet retransmission tariff because it was "moving away from the banner advertising model upon which (the) application was based." But JumpTV's lawyer told Newsbytes that walking away from hearings that were to begin Dec. 4 doesn't mean the company is backing down in its bid to become the first legal broadcast "retransmitter" on the Internet. Instead, said Sunny Handa, with the Montreal office of the Fasken Martineau and DuMoulin law firm, JumpTV could forge ahead under existing copyright law rather than continue a drawn-out struggle to write new rules just for Webcasters. One problem - as would-be retransmitter ICraveTV found out nearly two years ago - is that broadcasters, television producers and motion picture studios in both Canada and the U.S. don't believe that existing law supports what amounts to an automatic license to pipe television and radio signals across the Internet. JumpTV - and ICraveTV - argued that Canadian regulations providing statutory licensing and fees for content retransmitted by cable television companies and direct-to-home satellite broadcasters can be applied to Webcasters. JumpTV - unlike ICraveTV - also says it has technology that can curb the leak of programming into the U.S., where Canada's copyright and broadcasting laws don't apply. Handa cautioned that JumpTV has yet to decide exactly what its new business model will be. However, he said the company was confident that there are alternatives to the banner-advertising approach that wouldn't require new tariffs from the Copyright Board. JumpTV has already argued that provisions of the Canadian Copyright Act known as Section 31 already permit retransmission of off-the-air broadcast signals by companies whose operations are "comparable" to those of cable television providers. Section 31 has already been applied to retransmissions via microwave, satellite, multipoint distribution (MDS) and telephone lines. The section also says that retransmitters must relay a live signal "in its entirety" and that their operations must be "lawful under the Broadcasting Act." JumpTV - and ICraveTV.com before it - have argued that the question of whether Internet broadcasting is "lawful" was settled in 1999 when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided that it would not regulate Internet broadcasters under the Broadcasting Act. But broadcasters and content producers in the U.S. and Canada who brought lawsuits against Toronto-based ICraveTV also argued that, in addition to the cross-border problems, ICraveTV's banner advertising amounted to an illegal modification of the original signals. JumpTV is at: http://www.jumptv.com (SCDX MediaScan Oct 16 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Beijing said to restrict media coverage of US terror attacks | Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao Jih Pao web site on 14 October Shortly after the "11 September" incident that occurred in the United States, the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] Central Committee issued an order demanding that all central and local media refrain from doing "five things", namely, "refrain from playing up the incident", "refrain from relaying foreign media photos and reports", "refrain from creating special columns on the incident", "refrain from front-paging the incident" and "refrain from covering the incident as the top story". The Propaganda Department has also demanded low-key coverage of the incident, ordering news media to toe the line set by Xinhua News Agency and CCTV [China Central Television], in order to prevent the US incident from having an impact on China. It has been learned that as soon as the "11 September" incident occurred, the Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee issued a circular with five prohibitions, stating: 1. All news media, including television stations, newspapers and journals, must refrain from playing up the incident, giving only low-key coverage to the incident; 2. All mainland media must refrain from relaying foreign media photos and reports on the incident, relaying only photos, pictures and reports issued by Xinhua News Agency and CCTV; 3. All news media must refrain from creating special columns, filing special reports, holding forums, publishing books without official approval or publishing commentaries without authorization in this regard; 4. All newspapers and journals must refrain from front-paging the incident or covering the incident as the top story. All television stations must refrain from featuring the incident as the top story; 5. All newspapers and journals must refrain from reporting the incident as the top story on the inside pages. Quite a few college students and youth on the mainland couldn't help hailing the incident and some have even written articles, made phone calls, held rallies, sent listings to the Internet web sites or called on news media to vent such feelings. In order to prevent global disgust at Chinese youth, the Chinese government has imposed a ban on the mainland media, prohibiting them from issuing without official approval commentaries on the "11 September" incident in an attempt to prevent some radical views in favour of Usamah Bin-Ladin from irritating the Americans, impairing Sino-US relations, and especially, jeopardizing George W. Bush's forthcoming visit to China in October. Moreover, since the United States has enforced a press blockade against Usamah Bin-Ladin and Afghanistan's Taleban regime, and the US and world media at large have been filing anti-terrorist reports only, singing the praises of the US's hegemonist and indiscriminate military strikes on Afghanistan, under way in the name of fighting terrorism, the Chinese government is reluctant to see the United States' arrogant practices, especially George W. Bush's hegemonist remarks, spreading into China and influencing the people there. Even less does the Chinese government want to see its people fully informed of the development of the events, who might become so disgusted with US hegemonist practices as to set off a new wave of anti-US sentiment in China. This explains why the Chinese government has banned the mainland media from covering the incident in a big way. Source: Sing Tao Jih Pao web site, Hong Kong, in Chinese 14 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Seven journalists killed in last six months | Excerpt from report by Colombian Caracol radio web site on 15 October Washington: Colombia continues to be the most dangerous Latin American country for journalists to work in, according to a report presented today at the 57th General Assembly of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), which will meet from now to 16 October. Of the 12 journalists murdered in the region over the last six months, seven were murdered in Colombia, a country shaken by civil war. The majority of those murdered worked in community radio stations in areas immersed in armed conflict. The report maintains that since the last semi-annual meeting of the IAPA in Fortaleza, Brazil, last March, the Colombian press is going through "one of the most violent periods" in its history. According to Rafael Molina Morillo, president of the Commission for Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, Colombia is another example of a country that has "a government that respects human rights but is incapable of meting out just and timely punishment to the enemies of freedom". The main people responsible for the campaign of murder, aggression and threats are the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC, paramilitaries) and the leftist guerrilla forces... Source: Caracol Colombia web site, Bogotá, in Spanish 15 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. The report about TV set distribution in Cuba partly reminds me of old GDR times: "Our people" (since we used to be "unsere Menschen") or "foreign exchange collection stores". However, one thing is different: If a GDR citizen wanted a TV set he had just to walk into the next radio/TV shop to buy one (by the way one which delivered quite good picture quality, demonstrated by running satellite networks like Tele 5 or RTL-plus on the sets - no, I do not joke), provided he could afford it; colour TV sets were so expensive that black-and-white sets were still manufactured until 1989. Once again the TV Martí / UHF matter: Just as a question, why does TV Martí use UHF at all? For the same reason they broadcast at night? Is TV Martí actually aiming at a true audience? Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As I recall, the rationale was that TVM could not be accused of interfering with Cuban TV, since there is no dentroCuban TV on UHF. The Commies also tried to make an issue of any TV broadcasting across boundaries being contrary to international law (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** DENMARK. Danmarks R -- I have a historical review of the Kalundborg station with photos - but in Danish only - at: http://www1.dr.dk/pubs/nyheder/html/programmer/kortboelge/Kalund.jhtml (Erik Køie, Denmark, OZ3YI, BC-DX Oct 10 via DXLD) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [non]. Survey of opposition radios In a recent survey, BBC Monitoring has confirmed that the following opposition radio stations are currently broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea on shortwave: 1. Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity. Broadcasts in Amharic in support of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Party (EPRP). Current schedule: Sundays at 0700-0800 gmt on 21550 kHz; Wednesdays at 1830-1930 on 15715 kHz. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 2. Voice of Ethiopian Salvation. Also known as Medhin radio. Broadcasts in Amharic. Current schedule: Sundays and Thursdays at 1600-1700 on 15670 kHz. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 3. Radio Freedom, Voice of the Ogadeni People. Also known as Radio Xuriyo. Broadcasts in Somali. Current schedule: Tuesdays and Fridays at 1630-1700 gmt on 15715 kHz. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 4. Voice of Oromo Liberation. Also known as SBO (Sagalee Bilisumma Oromoo) radio. Broadcasts in support of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Current schedule: Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1700-1800 gmt on 15715 kHz. The first 30 minutes of each broadcast is in Oromo and the second 30 minutes is in Amharic. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 5. Freedom Radio. Also known as Netsanet Radio. Broadcasts in Amharic. Current schedule: Sundays and Wednesdays at 1700-1800 gmt on 12110 kHz. Believed to transmit via hired facilities in the former Soviet Union. 6. Rainbow Radio. Also known as Kestedamena Radio. Broadcasts in Amharic. Current schedule: Fridays at 1900-2000 gmt on 15565 kHz. Currently announcing that the frequency will be switched to 11840 kHz from November. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 7. Voice of Democratic Eritrea. Broadcasts in Tigrinya in support of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) - Revolutionary Council. Current schedule: Mondays and Thursday at 1700-1800 gmt on 15670 kHz. Transmits via facilities in Germany hired from Deutsche Telekom. 8. Dejen (Base) Radio. A new station broadcasting in Tigrinya. Current schedule: Saturdays at 1700-1800 gmt on 12110 kHz. Believed to transmit via hired facilities in the former Soviet Union. Note: We have not been able to confirm the existence of broadcasts from Radio Solidarity, another new Ethiopian opposition station reported to have started operations recently. Source: Monitoring research Sep-Oct 01 (BBCM Oct 16 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. 945 kHz: Following a posting of Martin Elbe in the German "A-DX" mailing list, I tried last night Toulouse MW 945, as reported now in use for the special M'Toulouse service: 945 now carries Le Mouv' when no M'Toulouse programing is up. Le Mouv' is the youth program of R France, produced - surprise, surprise - not at Paris but instead at Toulouse; I think it is an educated guess that M'Toulouse originates from the very same radiohouse. Otherwise Le Mouv' goes out only on a few modest power FM outlets and satellite; someone with an Astra dish already told me a while ago that Le Mouv' belongs to the stations he used to listen to. I have no access to Astra, so I would really like to have it on 1377 which comes in local-like here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, A-DX Oct 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) There are few addresses appeared in DXpress: URL: http://www.radio-france.fr/chaines/toulouse/accueil/ Snail mail: 61 boulevard Lazare Carnot, 31000 Toulouse. LE MOUV', B.P. 431, F-31009 Toulouse Cedex 6, France Tel. +33-(0)5.62.30.70.00 (Andreas Augner, Germany, A-DX Oct 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) How do the French pronounce these strange words (and why are they strange, with apostrophes?) Le Mouv` and M`Toulouse ? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. On Sat I tried Eurosonor-Radio (2000-2100) on 7590 [Tbilisskaya]: Indeed not only the usual preceding pips (1 kHz in this case I think) but also the modulation characteristics matched CIS operations, so it seems that they indeed no longer use Kostinbrod [Bulgaria], seemingly since they are on this frequency rather than first announced 7600. Now with the well modulated tx one can study the Eurosonor audio: This seems to be an audio file with low bitrate, resulting in quite a lot of artifacts, especially striking on speech. This reminded me of the DRM presentations on the IFA fair where I was told that the codec can handle music better than speech. Probably Eurosonor still had some promo prior to the actual broadcast; it resulted in an audio crash-start into some ongoing music when the transmitter was switched from the test tones to the feed sharp at 2000. Eurosonor calls the transmitter site Krasnodar, while others mention Armavir ("ARM" in HFCC registrations). Both mean the large Tbilisskaya centre, which is located in between these towns, if I am correct actually a bit closer to Armavir than Krasnodar. The SW equipment there consists of four 1000 kW units, eight 100 kW transmitters, and seemingly another of 250 kW was added later. The usage of this capacity is quite low today; especially the majority of the 100 kW units idle now. Perhaps the most interesting operation of these transmitters was RNW on a 60 metre freq (perhaps 4920 but I can well remember wrong) about six years ago. Otherwise Tbilisskaya also houses transmitters of 1200 kW each for 171, 1089 and 1170. The LW channel is now in use by Chechnya Svobodnaya and I must admit that I completely failed to remember it when I recently claimed that no European tx is operational at present on 171. The two MW channels are in use by a variety of both Russian and foreign broadcasters (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** GUYANA. I've been able to hear Radio Guyana 2 the past few nights on 3291.37 kHz from about 0130 UTC. Currently, at 0330 UTC on Oct 15, they're running a program of old-time jazz vocals. Audible despite intermittent utility QRM, static crashes and some fading. 73 (David Martin, Atlanta, TenTec RX320/Eavesdropper trap dipole, ClearSpeech Base noise filter, swl@qth.net via DXLD) ** IRAN. Esquema completo dos horários, em espanhol, da Voz da República Islâmica do Irã: das 2030 às 2130, em 9022 e 11765 kHz. Entre 0030 e 0130, em 9515, 9655 e 13755 kHz. Das 0130 às 0230, em 9560, 9655, 9810 e 13755 kHz. Das 0230 às 0330, em 13730 kHz. E, entre 0530 e 0630, em 17590 e 17785 kHz. A programação da emissora é constituída de notícias, comentários políticos do dia e programas diversos. Aqui vai a grade de programas para você escolher o de sua preferência: na segunda-feira, vão ao ar temas especiales, entrevista, Nahj-ol-Balagha, Cimas de Elocuencia e cartas y discursos del Hazrat Ali; na terça-feira, temas especiales, entrevista e los grandes pensadores de la civilización islámica; na quarta-feira, temas especiales, Conociendo el Islan e Estados Unidos y su papel de dominación en Irán; na quinta-feira, temas especiales, Conociendo el Islan e entrevista sobre la actualidad política; na sexta-feira, Conversando com nuestros oyentes; no sábado, situación económica del mundo islâmico, conociendo el Islam e La poesía y el pensamiento; no domingo, temas especiales, conociendo el Islam e Camino hacia la luz. A sexta edição do concurso Fadjir tem como tema "diálogo entre as civilizações". Os ouvintes devem escrever redações tendo como base o conteúdo do programa "Conversando com los oyentes". As participações devem ser enviadas até o dia 31 de dezembro. Endereço: Serviço Exterior da Voz da República Islâmica do Irã, Rádio em Espanhol, Apartado Postal 19395-67 67, Teerã, República Islâmica do Irã. Fax: (+98 21) 205 16 35. Na Internet: http://www.irib.com. Endereço Eletrônico: spanish@irib.com (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** IRAN/IRAQ/KURDISTAN [and non]. After DST ended, some observations from Sept 28th onwards on new winter time: R. "V of Mojahed-1" 1st program in Persian: *0225-0635*, *1425-1835* on 5350 5650 6450 6850 7050 8350, new 8550 (ex9350), 8850 10250, and 13450. On Sep 28th: *1158-1235* 10250 13450. ID, freqs, times etc. featured around 1200 UT, giving MHz, kHz-mediumwave, and ten more kHz announcements. R. "V of Mojahed-2" 2nd program in Persian & Arabic *1600-1950* (some days 1615-1850) 7070. R. Kurdistan on 4130 observed at *0200-0400*, 1435-1700*, and new *1945-2105* (ex1843-2008) in Arabic & Kurdish. V. of the Toilers of Kurdistan on new 4235 (ex4250) observed *0300- 0400, 1430-1805* in Kurdish & Arabic. V of Kudilara (also IDed as "V of Komala" & Radio Azadi Kurdistana Irana) on 4600 & 6815 at *1625-1800* in Kurdish & Persian. (pro- Soviet) BTW, now there are two radio stations of KOMALA (Kurdish section of Communist Party of Iran), see above pro-Soviet, and another on 3880 4370, *1425-1525* in Kurdish only, pro-Mao. Unidentified in Kurdish observed on Sept 7 & 23: 1620-1645 on 4340. On Sept 22: 1622-1630 on 4315. On Oct 2nd between 0255-0305 observed signing-on: 4062 & 7090, V. of People of Kurdistan, on 6995 V. of Iraqi Kurdistan, 4165 V. of Kharkuditi Kurdistan, 3900 & 5890 V. of PIRQ [sic]. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R Jordan 1 hr later on all transmissions, English now 1400-1730, some days from 1500 UT, on 11690 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 6100.6, KCBS, Kanggye, 2133 Typical N Korean musical fare of Oriental-flavored arias, duets, and choruses, all seguéd; fair, increasingly choppy. Wiped out at 2159 by splatter from s/on of Sackville's gigantic R Japan relay signal on 6110. Of listed \\s, only 9665.4 audible in heavy QRM from Brazil and someone else. This on Oct 10; the previous day, music broke at 2145 for talk in Korean by woman, then audio disappeared a min later and did not return (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer Oct 10/11 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MALTA [non]. VOM FREQUENCY TABLE OCTOBER 2001 TO MARCH 2002 Mon to Sat: 6110 kHz SW 0630 – 0700 Arabic 9840 kHz SW 1630 – 1700 Italian 1700 – 1730 English 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2100 English [must be Mon-Thu, Sat; see below] 2100 – 2200 Arabic [must be Mon-Thu, Sat; see below] Friday: 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2200 Arabic Sunday: 15560 kHz SW 0500 – 0600 Japanese 9840 kHz SW 0800 – 0900 Italian 0900 – 1000 English 1000 – 1100 Maltese 1100 – 1200 French 1200 – 1300 German 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2100 English 2100 – 2130 French 2130 – 2200 German Transmitting site: Rome Transmission power: 100 KW Frequency: 9840 kHz Transmitting site: Moscow Transmission power: 250 KW Frequency: 7440 kHz Transmitting site: Komsomolski Transmission power: 250 KW Frequency: 15560 kHz (via Volker Willschrey, Saar, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re RNZI test UT Oct 17 on 6 and 7 MHz: I can't imagine anyone outside of NZ will hear it, as it will have been daylight here for over 5 hours by then. I don't know what it is about. I presume it is some sort of civil defence test to see how coverage is within NZ, but given that RNZI's antennas are beamed due north, it will be interesting. Imagine how 100 kW would go into a NVIS [near vertical incidence ---] antenna! I have just finished talking about these and it is as I suspected, a test to see how RNZI propagates around NZ in case the transmitter is ever needed to be used in an emergency situation, for example after an earthquake, cyclone or similar circumstance. It is unlikely, but you never know. You may recall R Australia transmitters at Shepparton being used this way after Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin in 1974, when the link from studio to tx for the ABC station there was destroyed and signals were fed by microwave south to Shepparton and then sent back to the Darwin site on SW (Barry Hartley, NZ, BC-DX Oct 11/12 via DXLD) I too will be amazed if we can receive RNZI on those two test freqs here in Europe - but, who knows! Maybe the signal will find a path somehow. My reception [of RNZI] is always characterized by rapid - sometimes flutter - fading. This is very evident via 15340 mornings. And 9825 was suffering similarly. There are several possible paths for signals to reach us from NZ, but my reception always appears to be trans- Polar like! (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 10 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. 7215, UKE-Senderen, Trondheim is already on the air. I am hearing what I think is the Norwegian UKE transmission already on 7215 - I think I read it should start on the 11th? It was on air at 0630 tune in and still going at 0755+. The signal is quite good - pushing the S meter over 9 at first but now dropping back to about 7. But, audio/modulation level is very low. I can hear pop mx and there are occasional announcements which I THINK are in Norwegian- by intonation - but I cannot copy any of it. It's a nice clear channel at this time, with little or no splash from Belalrus` 7210 (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 10 via DXLD) UKE-senderen heard quite well here at 1200 with a mixed bag of mx. Slight splash from both sides, especially from 7210. The frequency is a few Hz low. No daytime signal on MW 1485. "Uke" is Norwegian for "week", here short for "studenteruke", "students week", which is a students festival period, and "senderen" means "the stn" (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 13 via DXLD) UKE 7215 has certainly found its "voice", and was putting in a fine signal around 0630 this morning and with very good audio quality. It fades down during daytime, and suffers QRM at various times when it fades back in again during the afternoon/evening (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 14, via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Today the 60 mb opened up in time for the last part of the Kashmir clandestine on 5101, so that I could have a closer look at this one and 4790. At 1415 the tx on 5101.2 showed the same characteristic buzz that is always heard on 4790 early mornings/late evenings. The programme ended at 1430 and the carrier went off at 1430.40. At 1415 I had a rather weak carrier (much weaker than 5101) on 4790.0. It went off at 1430.0. The buzzy carrier came on at 1431.45 on 4790.35. This seems to finally confirm previous suggestions that the API-8 100 kW tx at Rawat (south of Islamabad, southeast of Rawalpindi) is shared between 5101 and 4790, while a 10 kW txer is used as filler on 4790 when API-8 is on 5101. By the way, the full address is: Azad Kashmir Radio Broadcasting House Muzaffarabad (AJK) 13100 Pakistan. The station Director is Mr. Masood Kashfi. (But don't expect this to improve your chances for a QSL!) (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) The weak signal on 4790 before 1430 would surely be from the old Rawalpindi unit. If you are able to get a readable signal from Rawalpindi it would be interesting to know what programmme they are broadcasting at 68 degrees. Nothing has been done to repair API-5 which is still whining when operating on 15 MHz. The multi-carrier effect is audible on 17520, but no whine. 17 is only just shifting the S meter this morning (0830), and 21465 is only about S3 so far. 9395 is usually on air at 1400-1545 but only producing noise with some occasional audio. 7375 is now producing signals but with poor audio quality (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 10 via DXLD) This morning the low frequencies were open towards N Pakistan longer than usual. API-8 on 4790.4 left at 0215 as scheduled. After some searching I found this transmitter on 5988.4 around 0245 with the same characteristic buzz, so it is again confirmed that R Sada-e- Hurriyat-e-Kashmir is aired by API-8. A strong het appeared on the upper side of 7265 from 0200 and I guess this is the R Pakistan current affairs programme. Last Friday evening I noted the same het for a min or so around 1805, most likely 7365 testing on its morning freq before going to sleep. Consequently, this one is not used for the new Afghan service at 1805. The audio of the domestic service on 7100 (v) from 0045 and from 1615v is variable, but on an average can be described as awful. Hopefully none of the regional stations needs to use this outlet to downlink the Islamabad programmes. API-5 after a period with a loud howl on most of its frequencies has entered a different state of its illness and now instead floats around freely near its nominal channels. The evening frequency of 15335 has been varying 15330-15345. This morning from 0045 nominal 15485 was lingering around 15501-15503. The howl that was heard previously is typical of a phase-locked oscillator that is unsuccessful in locking fully to its reference signal (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) Re new program from Peshawar to Afghanistan: I guess they will be using the regular Peshawar channels 540 and 7320 (1705-1800). (Olle Alm-SWE, BC-DX Oct 12 via DXLD) It may be worth trying the Peshawar SW freq at 1805-1900 tonight. That is 7320. I can't remember what, if anything, else is using the frequency at that hour. [VoRussia St. P. in French {17-20?} is here with a powerful signal, so no chance to hear something from Asia, BCDX ed. Oct 13] Checked for it from 1850 to 1900 and as Wolfy hears only Russia in French heard. If there is propagation, there is I should hear it on my 2 el yagi beaming Pakistan. Will continue to watch this (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, via DXplorer Oct 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) API-4 also should close down at 1800 (after its Current Affairs program) and this is heard on v7365. However, that channel is not clear at 1800 - Vatican is active on the freq. Last night (Thurs) 15335 was off air, and I could not hear new 11545 or 15725 to the ME. I didn`t check what API-2 was doing - that should have been on 9390. So, I suggest a check of these channels, and of 7100 - a new one at 0045-0215 and 1615-1700 ex 7275 and 9575 respectively. But 7100 is not currently audible at 1615. The Pakistan schedule for B-01 you included in your file is correct, according to information I have received (starting at 7375 and reading down - Ext Sces) except that I don't know what the listed 9580 at 0600-1115 in Tamil is. This language is still on air via 15625 & 17655 at 1000-1030. Also, Dari is added after Russian at 1515-1545 and API-1 is registered to use 17865 (ex current 17825) at 0500-0700 \\ 15100 & 21460. Even 17750 is chosen after they didn`t use 17725, which was originally listed, at 1600-1615 to E Africa. I have no information about the intended frequencies for the domestic services. I note that 4790 and 5025 are not listed (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 12 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. RDP orders new SW transmitters from Thales | Text of press release in English from transmitter manufacturer Thales Broadcast & Multimedia on 11 October Radiodifusão Portuguesa (RDP) has chosen Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to deliver new equipment for their overseas shortwave radio broadcasting station at São Gabriel, Portugal. It is a special honour for Thales to welcome back a long-standing customer, who has been broadcasting daily with our equipment for close to 50 years. The contract includes a 300 kW shortwave transmitter Type TSW 2300 as well as two curtain antennas, one antenna matrix and one test load. The equipment will go on air in 2002. The TSW 2300 will be installed in the same building as an older 100 kW shortwave transmitter, delivered by Thales in 1958, which is still in operation. The new state-of-the-art transmitter will bring considerable savings in operating costs and enable RDP to participate in the new era of digital AM broadcasting. The digital capability of TSW 2300 has been proven within the framework of the DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) field tests in 2000 and 2001. Thales is the world leading supplier of radio broadcasting systems and offers a wide range of solid-state and tube transmitters, which performance, reliability and easy maintenance are universally recognized. The range includes AM transmitters from 5 kW to 2000 kW in MW and LW as well as from 100 kW to 500 kW in SW. Contact: Thales Broadcast & Multimedia Caroline Godard Marketing & Communications. Manager phone: 33 1 34 90 36 87 Fax: 33 1 34 90 32 27 E-Mail: caroline.godard@thales-bm.com Source: Thales Broadcast & Multimedia press release, Paris, in English 11 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Never heard of Thales (gh) ** PORTUGAL. - Um dos programas para radioescutas pouco conhecido é o "DX Clube", transmitido pela RDP Internacional - Rádio Portugal. A emissão é feita todas as segundas-feiras, dentro do "Correio do Ouvinte". Confiram em 15295 e 13660 kHz, após às 0000 (Célio Romais, Brazil, @tividade DX Oct 15 via DXLD) As I recall this is actually UT Tuesday, terça-feira! And it`s sometime within the following hour or two. We are busy people, and require a more exact time which RDPI seems unwilling to provide (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Radiostantsiya Tikhiy Okean is now on 7175, 0615-0700. 1 hour earlier than it used be. Russian. \\ LW 243 kHz from Vladivostok could be heard on Hasunuma DXpedition on the beach of east coast of the Pacific, Japan on Oct 7 (Hironao Oguma, Japan, BC-DX Oct 7 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Coming up this week on Radio Sweden: In "Money Matters" on Wednesday we'll be talking with new Nobel Economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz. In "HeartBeat" on Thursday, our guest is new Nobel Medicine laureate Paul Nurse. "Spectrum" on Saturday will be visiting a new photo exhibition at Stockholm's Municipal Culture Center called "Gun Nation", about firearms in America. In "Sounds Nordic" on Sunday we'll be talking to Nina Persson of the Cardigans about her new project: A Camp (SCDX MediaScan Oct 16 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. CBS is playing musical chairs. Just as I reported that former 7365 seemed to have settled on 7355 the switched back to 7365. Very strong this afternoon. And 15050 already back on 15060 today, very strong and nice signal. A CNR-1 jammer with perfectly clean audio remained on 15050. We saw the same mess last winter when 11870 started shifting almost daily between 11870 and 11865 (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 10 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 16th Oct'2001 Radio Thailand, World Service Broadcast Schedule. For listeners in all parts of the world, on short-wave, relayed over transmitters in Ban Dung, Udon Thani, Northeastern Thailand, on frequencies shared with the Voice of America, as stated below: (effective October 28, 2001 as per B-01 seasonal change) GMT BKK Time Language Direction Frequency ----------------------------------------------------- 0000-0030 0700-0730 English Europe-Africa 9680 0030-0100 0730-0800 English US-East 13695 0100-0200 0800-0900 Thai US-East 13695 0300-0330 1000-1030 English US-West 15460 0330-0430 1030-1130 Thai US-West 15460 0530-0600 1230-1300 English Europe 13780 1000-1100 1700-1800 Thai Asia-Pacific 7285 1100-1115 1800-1815 Vietnamese Asia-Pacific 7285 1115-1130 1815-1830 Khmer Asia-Pacific 7285 1130-1145 1830-1845 Lao Asia-Pacific 6040 1145-1200 1845-1900 Burmese Asia-Pacific 6040 1200-1215 1900-1915 Malaysian Asia-Pacific 11805 1215-1230 1915-1930 Indonesian Asia-Pacific 11805 1230-1300 1930-2000 English Asia-Pacific 9810 1300-1315 2000-2015 Japanese Asia-Pacific 7145 1315-1330 2015-2030 Mandarin Asia-Pacific 7145 1330-1400 2030-2100 Thai Asia-Pacific 7145 1400-1430 2100-2130 English Asia-Pacific 9530 1800-1900 0100-0200 Thai Asia-Pacific 11855 1900-2000 0200-0300 English Europe 9535 2000-2015 0300-0315 German Europe 9535 2015-2030 0315-0330 French Europe 9535 2030-2045 0330-0345 English Europe 9535 2045-2115 0345-0415 Thai Europe 9535 Addr: Radio Thailand, World Service, Public Relations Department, Royal Thai Government, 236 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Din Daeng, Bangkok 10400. Tell (662)277-1814, 277-6139, 274-9098-9 website http:www.prd.go.th email address: amporns@mozart.inet.co.th ---------------------------- Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. Is Xizang still active on 4035, 4750 and 4820? The NDXC site does not list them anymore; in fact there is no transmission listed from the transmitter in Lhasa at all. "Tibet People's Broadcasting Station" is used as a program name instead of a transmitter location now, broadcast from the transmitter locations in Baoji and Xian (Willi Passmann, Germany, EDXP Oct 11 via DXLD) ** U A E. 15435, UAE R & TV Dubai, at 0525-0535, new frequency, Arabic talk, 0530 English ID and news heard \\ 17830 21700; SINPO 25333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer Oct 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U K. Three former BBCWS managing directors have a letter published in the Times today on suggestions the service should exercise self- censorship http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,59-2001360653,00.html (Mike Barraclough, UK, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBCWS "Lifeline" programme for displaced Afghans | Text of report by press release by BBC World Service on 15 October London, 15 October: Lifeline programmes for Afghan refugees and families displaced by war in Afghanistan will be broadcast on BBC World be produced by BBC World Service Trust and will be broadcast in Pashto and Persian, the key languages of Afghanistan. This is the first time that Afghans taking Lifeline programmes will be tailored to the needs of refugees and Afghans who have become displaced inside Afghanistan since 11 September. Programmes will include personal testimony from Afghans as well as providing vital information to help people to survive. Stephen King, Director of BBC World Service Trust, said, "The Trust will work closely with other NGOs and UN agencies in the region to ensure the Lifeline programmes accurately reflect the issues relevant to the lives of Afghan people. In particular the programmes will target women and children who according to reports, will make up the majority of the refugee arrivals. Through these Lifeline programmes, we want to provide a forum for Afghan refugees to tell their own stories." According to UNHCR figures there are currently many thousands of Afghan refugees on the Pakistan borders and more than two million Afghans in refugee camps in Pakistan. A further 1.4 million Afghan refugees are estimated to be in Iran and tens of thousands more in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and up to 1.1 million people displaced in Afghanistan. BBC World Service will broadcast the Lifeline programmes five times a week to Central and Western Asia. The Lifeline programmes will be funded by the Department for International Development which has given 200,000 pounds for the project. Lifeline programmes for adults will be broadcast at lunchtimes three times a week and Lifeline programmes especially for children with health and safety messages, local reports and stories will be broadcast twice weekly on the BBC's Pashto and Persian Services. Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 15 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Why not give the exact times and frequencies, if you expect anyone to tune in?? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [clandesetine]. Glenn, Re- what I sent you yesterday, I monitored 6900 last night, though, as I expected, nothing was there. I monitored several local newscasts from WHAS, Louisville, once it started coming in. They didn't mention the Anderson story at all. I might have thought that the story would have been of state-wide interest, but I guess it wasn't. Glenn, you know, I rarely listen to US commercial radio any more, just NPR and SW. Listening to WHAS reinforces in my mind just how shoddy and poorly done most news is nowadays, even on a 50 KW station like WHAS. I guess I'm becoming old and grumpy, even for a liberal, but they just don't do a good job. Lots of audio clips, lots of different voices, very little actual information (Tim Hendel, AL, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/101601/statedocs/16fugitive.htm Published Tuesday, October 16, 2001, in the Herald-Leader Ex-militia member flees into highland Police say man fired on officers By Lance Williams and Bill Estep, HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITERS MIDDLESBORO -- Police continued searching last night for a former militia member who allegedly shot up a Bell County patrol car Sunday and then escaped into the mountains with several weapons, including an assault rifle and perhaps grenades. Officials say Steve H. Anderson, 54, shot at police after a traffic stop for having non-working taillights on his pickup. No one was hurt and Anderson escaped by driving the truck off-road into the mountains off U.S. 25E just north of Middlesboro after a gunbattle with police, according to officers. Police discovered two pipe bombs in the truck early yesterday, prompting federal and state law enforcement officials, including the FBI and ATF, to surround Anderson's home near the Elrod community in rural Pulaski County. A search of the home is expected today. As of late last night, Anderson -- who police say apparently has military experience and survival training -- remained at large with a considerable amount of firepower. ``He appeared to be loaded full tilt,'' said Deputy John Hoskins of the Bell County Sheriff's Department. According to the Bell County Sheriff's Office, the incident began at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, when Deputy Scott Elder stopped Anderson's vehicle about the taillights. Elder approached Anderson and asked for his driver's license and explained about the lights. Anderson refused to cooperate, and Elder noticed an ammunition magazine lying in the truck seat, police said. The Kentucky State Police said Anderson told Elder he was a member of the Kentucky State Militia -- an organization that disavowed him earlier this year -- and was on patrol. When Elder asked Anderson whether he had weapons, Elder said Anderson responded, ``I have several,'' and began to get out of the vehicle. Elder then ran behind his vehicle as Anderson began firing an assault rifle at the patrol car, according to police. ``He tried to cut it in half,'' Hoskins said. Anderson then drove off northbound on U.S. 25E, and Elder followed. Anderson made a U-turn and began following Elder and shooting at him again, police said. Those shots disabled Elder's car, and a Pineville city police officer picked up the chase. Police returned fire, with Elder nearly emptying his clip. Anderson continued to fire at the officer, police said, and then drove into the mountains, eventually finding an unpaved path that the police cruiser couldn't follow. Over the next several hours, members of the state police Special Response Team searched for Anderson on the ground, while officers in a helicopter equipped with heat-seeking devices and spotlights searched from the air. Police evacuated several homes around the search site Sunday night, but most people were allowed to return by yesterday morning. At 5:30 a.m. Monday, police found Anderson's truck about 100 feet over an embankment. Police found little of the ammunition Elder had seen in the truck, but did find two pipe bombs. The state police bomb squad was called to the site. Police said they thought Anderson's arsenal included grenades. They found no blood or other evidence in Anderson's truck that he had been hit. Anderson has a criminal record. In September 1993, he was charged with two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, court records show. In 1994, one of the felony charges was dropped and he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of wanton endangerment second degree. He received a one-year suspended sentence. Details of that case weren't available yesterday. Anderson is better known for a controversial short-wave radio program, The Militia Hour, which broadcasts militia-related news and features Anderson's views, which range from denouncing gun control to criticizing the U.S. government to blasting religious minorities. Anderson identifies himself as a follower of the Christian Identity movement, which claims that Jews are the offspring of the devil. Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission began an investigation of Anderson for broadcasting without a license. FCC officials would not comment on the status of that investigation yesterday. Anderson, who had previously served as a major with the Kentucky State Militia, was kicked out of the group in April for several on- air comments regarding religious and ethnic minorities. ``We pretty much disassociated with him completely,'' Patrick Perry of Murray, an assistant commander of the group, said yesterday. ``He's a little too extreme for us.'' That view was shared among Anderson's neighbors. Lanta Turner said Anderson sometimes talked to neighbors about his anti-government and racist views. ``He's got a lot of opinions,'' Turner said. ``Most of them nobody agrees with.'' Those opinions also got Anderson into trouble with the militia, whose former commander sent a letter to the FBI in April warning officials about him. ``His views are pretty extreme,'' said Richard Stephens, a militia commander in Paducah. ``He's a racist and a very paranoid fellow. Actually, I'm surprised he hasn't been killed yet.'' (via Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Federal regulators on October 11 cleared the way for public television broadcasters to make money from some of the additional airwave capacity provided by digital television. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-1 to let public broadcasters use a slice of the airwaves for revenue-earning ventures but said the "substantial majority" should still go to noncommercial purposes. Currently public television stations are funded in part by the federal government, various philanthropic and corporate underwriters as well as through donations from viewers. The stations do not run advertisements like commercial stations. The advent of digital television over the next few years promises higher quality signals that can also support several streams of programming and separate information services for audiences. The law allows public television licensees to offer additional services as long as it does not take away from their primary, free, over-the-air broadcast service. But the statute is mute on the differences between commercial and noncommercial entities. The Association of Public Television Stations had urged the FCC to permit noncommercial broadcasters to use the extra spectrum they do not use for their primary broadcast to generate revenue on a subscription basis. Voting against the plan was the FCC's sole Democrat, Michael Copps, who argued that commercial enterprise by public television was against the law. Ahead of the FCC decision, a public interest group, the Media Access Project, said it feared any commercialization would distract public television from its mission. (Reuters via SCDX MediaScan Oct 16 via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 22979.9 USB, 13/10 1537, R. Monte Carlo, Montevideo, via link de ondas curtas, retransmissão da programação em ondas médias (950 kHz) com um noticiário às 1537, chamado de "Rotativo del Medio Dia"; o sinal em Salvador foi S-3, limpo, e continuo ainda escutando agora às 1600 (Djaci Franklin da Silva, Salvador-BA JRC NRD-545 DSP, Drake R8-B, Sony ICF-2010 Antennas: UHF whip + RGP3 Tape Recorder: National RQ-2102, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent 1200-1500 in A-01(M-01 + J-01 +S-01A) till Sep 29: 7285 9715 15295 17775. In A-01(S-01B) from Sep 30: 5060 5975 7285 9715. Yes, the MCB Moscow Mr. Titov's dept. changes the Tashkent outlets also often in March, May, Sept 2nd, and Sept 30th, i.e. the old M-/J- /S-Seasons which used in past decades. So, maybe they decided to move the 15 and 17 MHz channels downwards, replaced by 5060 and 5975 kHz channels. \\ 7285 and 9715, which were also in use during summer season A-01. HFCC table for A-01 shows the only change to 5975 kHz. HFCC A-01 4850 0000 2300 30 TAC 100 0 UZB UZB MCB 5025 1930 2030 28 TAC 100 300 UZB UZB MCB 5035 1930 2030 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB MCB 5040 1330 1500 42,43 TAC 50 055 UZB UZB MCB 5060 1200 1500 41 TAC 100 150 UZB UZB MCB 5060 1330 1500 42-44 TAC 50 055 UZB UZB MCB 5060 1930 2030 28 TAC 50 300 UZB UZB MCB 5945 1430 1530 49 TAC 200 132 UZB WRN MCB 5975 1200 1500 40,41 TAC 100 135 260901-281001 UZB UZB MCB ****** 5995 0000 2100 30 TAC 100 0 UZB UZB MCB 6190 1520 1930 40 TAC 100 185 UZB UZB MCB 7190 0100 0330 38,39 TAC 100 235 UZB UZB MCB 7190 0100 0330 40,41 TAC 100 185 UZB UZB MCB 7285 1200 1500 40,41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB MCB 7285 1500 1930 39,40 TAC 100 230 UZB UZB MCB 9375 0100 0330 19,29,30 TAC 20 315 UZB UZB MCB 9430 2300 0030 41,49,54 TAC 200 130 UZB TWR MCB 9530 0100 0330 39 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB MCB 9540 1530 2300 39,40 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB MCB 9545 1430 2300 30 TAC 100 315 UZB UZB MCB 9715 0100 0330 38-40 TAC 100 255 UZB UZB MCB 9715 0100 0330 41 TAC 100 220 UZB UZB MCB 9715 1200 1500 41 TAC 100 150 UZB UZB MCB 9715 1530 1930 38,39,47,48,52 TAC 100 255 UZB UZB MCB 9860 1330 1530 41,42 TAC 200 130 UZB BBC MCB 11905 1930 2030 28 TAC 240 310 UZB UZB MCB 12065 1315 1430 44,50,54 TAC 100 130 UZB RNW MCB 12065 1430 1630 41 TAC 100 130 UZB VAT MCB 12075 1315 1415 41,43,49,54,58 TAC 200 130 UZB VOR MCB 12075 1420 1630 41,49 TAC 100 130 UZB RNW MCB 15165 0400 1400 29,30 TAC 50 315 UZB UZB MCB 15200 0400 1500 39,40 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB MCB 15295 1200 1230 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB MCB 15295 1230 1300 40 TAC 100 220 UZB UZB MCB 15295 1300 1400 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB MCB 15295 1400 1500 40 TAC 100 220 UZB UZB MCB 17775 1200 1500 41,49N,54 TAC 240 130 UZB UZB MCB 21780 0800 0830 41,42,44 TAC 200 131 UZB BBC MCB But A-00 schedule had many changes on Sept 26/27, 2000, so the 5060 channel appears at 1200-1500. HFCC A-00: 5060 1200 1500 41 TAC 100 150 270900 291000 UZB UZB MCB 5060 1330 1530 42-44 TAC 50 055 260300 260900 UZB UZB MCB 5060 1930 2030 28 TAC 50 300 260300 291000 UZB UZB MCB (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Oct 16 via DXLD) ###