DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-158, October 25, 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 Check the WOR websites: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/ http://www.worldofradio.com [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] WORLD OF RADIO #1102: FIRST BROADCASTS on WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15685, Fri 0930 on 9475 FIRST BROADCASTS on RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130 on 15040, 21815-USB (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1102.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1102.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1102.html WORLD OF RADIO ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK, effective October 28: As for your Winter 2001 season transmissions, they are as follows - WRN Europe via Hotbird Digital : 0900 UTC Saturday WRN North America via Telstar 5 Digital & Galaxy 5 Analogue (until 31/12/01) : 1500 UTC Saturday WRN Africa, Middle-East & Asia-Pacific via Intelsat 707 & AsiaSat2: 0900 UTC Saturday WRN WorldSpace AfriStar - Channel 627 : 0900 UTC Saturday WRN WorldSpace AsiaStar - Channel 1302 : 0900 UTC Saturday http://www.worldspace.com/programming/progamming_guide.htm With very Best Wishes, (Carl Coreixas, Manager, Technical Operations W O R L D R A D I O N E T W O R K Ltd, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS has added several new items at top: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Oklahoma7.html ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. xxxxxxxxxx CRW 084 EXTRA xxxxxxxxxx------ CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH Afghanistan in Crisis October 24, 2001 ------------xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx---------------- Afghanistan: U.S. Psyops and Turkmenistan Afghanistan: Transcript of Exchange ............................................................... Afghanistan: U.S. Psyops and Turkmenistan Analysis by Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau With additional reporting by Takuya Hirayama (Japan), Roberto Scaglioni (BCLNews.it, Italy) [Oct 24] As Afghanistan continues to be pounded by allied missiles the United States is finding an unlikely ally in the region: Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan, which publicly maintains a policy of neutrality, has kept a low profile throughout the crisis, however, the former Soviet republic is appearing to be a key player in the game of geopolitics, diplomacy and espionage unfolding in the shadows of the mountains and in the deserts of Central Asia. Unlike Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which are ethnically related to the Northern Alliance opposition that is fighting the Taliban, Turkmenistan does not seem to have an axe to grind. In fact, the government's public position has been to express concern over the looming Afghan refugee crisis. President Saparmurad Niyazov already permits the U.S. government use of Turkmen airspace for humanitarian flights connected to the ongoing military campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and is allowing the United Nations to send food and aid to Afghan refugees through his country. It also appears that Niyazov, a former Communist Party leader, is supporting American psychological operations in Afghanistan. Extensive monitoring by Clandestine Radio Watch (CRW) points to Turkmenistan as the likely location of the American psyops radio broadcasts, dubbed "Information Radio," being heard worldwide on 8700 kHz. Characteristics of the signal during the 0030-0530 GMT transmission, which coincides with sunrise in Central Asia, indicates that the transmitter is in the region. In fact, at 0223 - the exact moment of sunrise in Ashgabat - the signal of the broadcast begins to deteriorate rapidly with rapid-fire fading, which is considered a telltale clue that the transmitter is entering daylight. Furthermore, a strange two-way radio exchange that occurred during scheduled broadcasts on Monday, October 22, suggest that Ashgabat's involvement in the military campaign is deeper than previously thought. The exchange, which was monitored by CRW correspondent Takuya Hirayama in Japan, indicates that the former Soviet republic is playing a key role behind the scenes in pumping American propaganda into Afghanistan. Following the regular sign-off announcement of the "Information Radio" program at 1610 GMT a woman was heard keying the microphone of the psyops transmitter. She then proceeded to present a technical report - first in broken English and then in Turkmen. Abbas Djavadi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Tajik Service Director, and an Uzbek-language broadcaster with the Voice of America who wishes to remain anonymous have independently confirmed to CRW that the language spoken during the exchange is Turkmen. A man, who was clearly transmitting from a different transmitter, responded to the woman's report in English and provided her with suggestions related to the transmitter. The man discussed "breaks and things" occurring during the transmissions, which seems to refer to moments of awkward silence and minor technical glitches noted by CRW and reported elsewhere. After discussing the situation for two-and-a-half minutes the conversation ended and "Information Radio" resumed broadcasting with a sign-on announcement in Dari. A recording of this exchange is available on ClandestineRadio.com. A full transcript of the recording follows this article. The broadcasts on 8700 kHz are clearly serving as a studio-to- transmitter feed for "Information Radio." The transmissions are being simulcast on MW via the EC-130J Commando Solo aircraft flying above Afghanistan and are part of the humanitarian campaign the U.S. military is engaged in to "win the hearts and minds" of the Afghan people. While it is clear that Turkmenistan is involved in sending the programs to the aircraft it remains to be seen if Ashgabat is also involved in the programming and production. Considering that American policy has been to appease Pakistan by avoiding full-fledged support for the Tajik and Uzbek-dominated Northern Alliance, Turkmenistan's role in the propaganda campaign - as a reasonably "objective" player - is logical and would fit into U.S. national security objectives in Central Asia. ............................................................... Afghanistan: Transcript of Exchange Prepared by CRW Team Music Closing announcement of the transmission in Dari "That's the end of this programme. Dear listeners, until another program, Good bye." Music Silence Woman (2:27): In U.S. Uh, By offering higher degree of report for the U.S. air flight into Afghanistan. Eh, (?) (?) (?) (?) power are known and its capabilities are not doubtful. In loud the United States (?), eh, (2:46 into Turkmen), (2:58) in the hopes of it. (3:04) brothers in the North? Man (3:06): (Turkmen) Woman (3:08): (Turkmen) Man (3:14): It certainly is. (?) (?) The Government of Pakistan ask (?) (?) (?) (Arabic praise to God) I am hopeful, uh, expressed this option are very doubtful attitude towards the breaks and things. It is said with this question, uh, make that a little bit a little more at times and uh, you ask for impedance forty meters. Woman (3:34): (Turkmen - mentions "normally," "variance," "a little bit") (4:28) a little bit (?) (?) Opening announcement of "Information Radio" program by a male in Dari (4:39) "In the name of Allah. Dear listeners. This radio is broadcasting every day. We bring information for pleasure of noble people of Afghanistan. We are broadcasting our morning transmission from five to ten. Evening transmission is broadcast from 5 to 10. Now, we commence our programs." Music (Clandestine Radio Watch Oct 24 via WORLD OF RADIO 1102, DXLD) Very interesting, but one minor point: the signal would not degrade precisely at local sunrise at the transmitter, but at the control point --- hundreds of km away in the direxion of the receiver, when sunrise occurs at the ionospheric layer first refracting the signal. And even that is not instantaneous. Also, propagation at 9 MHz is not strictly a daytime matter. There have got to be plenty of monitors with beams or fancier antennas who could get a fix on 8700 by triangulating it. Why haven`t we heard from them? The BBC Monitoring facility in Uzbekistan ought to be able to tell what direxion it is coming from (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Afghanistan: Media round-up 24 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 - signed on as scheduled at 1230 gmt on 24 October for its evening transmission; however, reception was very poor. Because of technical reasons, BBC Monitoring could not confirm that Balkh radio had signed on as scheduled for its 0230-0430 gmt morning transmission earlier on 24 October. Balkh radio could not be heard by BBC Monitoring for the first hour after its scheduled sign-on at 1230 gmt on 23 October, owing to technical reasons. Later on the 23rd, the radio was monitored in progress from 1330 gmt until its scheduled sign-off at 1500 gmt. The following is a selection of items from Balkh radio's Dari/Pashto broadcasts between 1330-1500 gmt on 23 October: - Report on military operations carried out in Ghowr Province. - A thief was punished for his crime with lashes in Mazar-e Sharif. - A meeting of intelligence officials was held on 23 October to discuss measures to improve security. - The department of promotion of virtue and prevention of vice held a meeting and condemned US attacks on Afghanistan. - The head of Balkh University yesterday met religious scholars in Shahi District. - Various meetings of officials, commanders, religious figures and students to condemn the attacks by the USA and its allies on Afghanistan. - An interview with the Taleban governor of the strategically important Jowzjan Province. He told people in the province not to worry about the allied attacks and to continue their daily activities. Mowlawi Mohebollah Akhondzada said Taleban fighters feel confident of victory, whereas opposition groups have no political or military presence in the north. He also said no foreign power has so far been able to have a presence in Afghanistan. - Songs in praise of the homeland: "We are Afghans. We sacrifice ourselves for our homeland"; "We are the youths of homeland and Islam is our honour"; "This is our intention - to rebuild our homeland". - Song in praise of jihad. - A commentary saying said US public opinion on the allied attacks on Afghanistan was changing. The commentary said even the US administration has realized that it had rushed the whole campaign against Afghanistan. It said the US should have found the true culprits before hastily rushing and attacking Afghanistan. Kabul radio still unheard by BBC Monitoring... Reuters news agency says Kabul radio resumes broadcasting via mobile transmitter In a dispatch from Kabul on 24 Ooctober, Reuters news agency reported that the Taleban had resumed broadcasting, after its radio station in the capital was hit soon after the start of US air raids on 7 October. The agency quoted "an Information Ministry official" it identified only as Nasiri as saying on the 24th that the Voice of Shari'ah had resumed broadcasts "via a mobile transmitter with a one-kilowatt capacity after its main transmitter in the eastern outskirts of Kabul was destroyed by bombs". "You can only hear it in Kabul and its programmes are for one hour in the afternoon. The programmes consist of religious hymns and news," Reuters quoted Nasiri as saying. The agency added no further details. US-run psychological operations "Information Radio" continues BBC Monitoring continues to hear broadcasts on shortwave believed to be directed to the people of Afghanistan. The broadcasts were heard on 24 October during their scheduled times of 0030-0530 gmt and later from their scheduled 1230 gmt sign-on. US Department of Defense official comments on role of "PsyOps Radio" The following is an excerpt from the transcript of a briefing at the US Defence Department on 23 October by Rear-Adml John D. Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for current readiness and capabilities, US Joint Staff. The full text of the briefing with accompanying slides and videos are on the Web at http://www.defenselink.mil [previously summarised by gh here] .. [Question] Can you talk to us about the psychological operations part of this? Are you seeing any effect at all from the Commando Solo broadcasts in terms of getting Taleban to lay down their arms, or getting people who live in these areas to rise up against them? And have those broadcasts changed? Are you still broadcasting the radio messages that we heard, or are there - I understand during the Bosnia and Kosovo operations there were regular programs, news programs, that you did in addition to the more propaganda kind of things that we've read in terms of encouraging people to give up.. [Stufflebeem] The last part of your question, I'll have to ask if we can take that. I don't know what we're broadcasting. Commando Solo is continuing to fly and to pass messages. [There is other programming, to include local music, played during the broadcasts.] We are hearing anecdotal reports that there are still defections, that there are still those who are changing sides. I think that you are reporting, or at least members of the press are reporting, those who may have changed sides between the Northern Alliance and the Taleban forces across from them. And that, as the secretary has alluded before, is sort of the ilk of this area. You know, Afghanistan is not so much a country as it is a frame of mind. These are tribes, and the tribes and their leaders have allegiances that, one, allow them to survive and to be able to flourish. And so I think that when they are getting the message through these radios, when they're getting the leaflets, or when they're seeing that the tactical advantage is moving against them, they'll do what they need to do to survive. And therefore, I think that - I'll use that as anecdotal. We're not keeping any kind of a tally on that one... Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research 24 Oct 01 (via DXLD) the next issue: Afghanistan: Media round-up 25 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 - signed on as scheduled at 0230 gmt on 25 October for its afternoon transmission; however, reception was very poor and was unheard by 0400 gmt. The evening broadcast was heard signing on at 1230 gmt as scheduled. The following is a selection of items from Balkh radio's Dari/Pashto/Uzbek broadcasts between 0230-0430 gmt on 25 October: - Recitation and interpretation of verses from the Koran. - Patriotic songs. - Sermon about observation of Islamic tradition - News in Pashto (repeat of 24 October news) - A commentary in Pashto and Dari saying US missiles deliberately fail to hit military targets. (repeat of earlier commentary) - Interview with (?an official) of northern Samangan Province about the situation in the province - News in Dari - Advertisement for a quiz show at 1400 local time, 0930 gmt, Thursday 25 October, in auditorium of Balkh University. - Uzbek programme. The following is a selection of items from Balkh radio news bulletin in Dari at 1330 gmt on 24 October: - [News in progress with very poor reception throughout the bulletin] Report on meeting at the HQ of Balkh governor in which the deputy governor in charge of administration took part. - People held a meeting held in Jowzjan Province, and expressed support for the Islamic Emirate and condemned US attacks. - A meeting was held at Balkh university. - A meeting was held in [placename indistinct] and US attacks were condemned. - Announcement by the Department of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice calling on its members to attend a meeting on Thursday 25 October. Balkh radio says US "deliberately" targeting civilians Radio Voice of Shari'ah of Balkh Province broadcast a commentary in Dari at 1340 gmt on 24 October saying that the US was "deliberately" targeting Afghan civilians in air strikes. "The attacks launched by the United States, which hit a hospital in Herat Province and residential areas in the provinces of Kandahar, Oruzgan, Nangarhar and Kabul proved that the United States has begun war against the persecuted and defenceless people of Afghanistan. This war could be called as a war of genocide against a nation," the commentary said. The commentary said that although the US "boasts about possessing very precise equipment such as satellites and computers", it still claims that missiles are accidentally missing their targets. "It is more than three weeks now that the United States, contrary to all ethical norms, is bombing the persecuted people of Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan asks all the people of the world not to remain silent about this criminal actions, which the United States is carrying out against the people of Afghanistan, and raise their voice in protest," the commentary said. The commentary said the United Nations should expose the "truth" behind the US attacks on the Taleban and fulfil its humanitarian duty to the people of Afghanistan. Kabul radio still unheard by BBC Monitoring... Reported Kabul radio "one-hour" broadcasts not heard by BBC Monitoring Kabul radio broadcasts reportedly scheduled for one hour in the afternoon were not heard by BBC Monitoring. Taleban's "temporary radio stations" unheard by BBC Monitoring Five temporary radio stations that the Taleban - according to a report in the Pakistani newspaper Jang on 22 October - have reportedly set up were unheard by BBC Monitoring. US-run psychological operations "Information Radio" continues BBC Monitoring continues to hear broadcasts on shortwave believed to be directed to the people of Afghanistan. The broadcasts were heard on 25 October during their scheduled time of 0030-0530 gmt. Relay of VOA/RFE to Afghanistan unheard by BBC Monitoring No trace of any Voice of America (VOA) or Radio Free Europe (RFE) programming was heard by BBC Monitoring on the announced frequency of 980 kHz via the Information Radio platform. Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research, 25 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) I was just able to interview the public affairs officer of the 193rd SOW, the American Air National Guard unit responsible for the radio broadcasts on MW and 8700 kHz. Lt. Ed Shank is a heck of a nice guy; I have known him since he was Sgt. Shank back in 1998. Ed's civilian job is a sculptor. While he is understandably quite busy, I was able to ask him a few questions. Johnson [J] Is the shortwave frequency of 8700 kHz coming from the aircraft or is it coming from another location? Shank [S] From the e-mails I've been receiving from Florida, New Jersey, The Netherlands, Germany and Tokyo (just to name a few), the transmissions seem to be coming from the aircraft itself. Unfortunately, it will take a thorough after-actions briefing further down the road to officially confirm that. [J] Is the shortwave frequency used to feed the aircraft with the programs? [S] The programs, developed by the U.S. Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group out of Ft. Bragg, N.C., can be either couriered to the location of our aircraft or transmitted via satellite. [J] Are there any other shortwave frequencies airing the program? [S] Not that I'm aware of. [J] 8700 kHz is listed on the leaflets that are being dropped, but is actually being broadcast in USB. How can ordinary Afghans tune this in when most shortwave sets cannot receive transmissions in SSB? I have no idea... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1589000/1589318.stm [link to article on windup radios] [J] Why was 8700 kHz chosen instead of the Taliban's old shortwave frequency of 7085 kHz? [S] Frequencies are provided to us by the 4th POG. END OF INTERVIEW I'm still trying to catch up on a lot of DX news, but I saw a Daily Mirror report on Saturday [Oct 20] mentioning that four aircraft are being used. I believe that previous reports in the DX press had only two aircraft being used (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX Special Oct 24 via DXLD) CRW published one report (from WSJ) about '2 planes' and one report from the German 'TAZ' that said '6 planes'. Upon request the author told me last week, that he did not mean 5 psyop-planes but one 'Solo' aircraft and 5 according (?) [accompanying, escorting? -gh] jets (for safety). (Martin Schöch, Germany, CRW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unidentified strong jammer noted on 7080, Oct 20 0230-0300+ (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. Northern Alliance to launch "state" radio station - Tajik agency | Text of report by Tajik news agency Asia-Plus Dushanbe, 25 October: A new state radio of Afghanistan, Sado-e Afghoniston [station's name in Dari] (Voice of Afghanistan) will start to broadcast soon. The Asia-Plus news agency has learnt from the editor-in-chief of Voice of Afghanistan, Said Hamid Nuri [name as received], that all necessary equipment has been purchased. According to him, part of the equipment was bought with financial support from [assassinated senior anti- Taleban commander] Ahmad Shah Masud, and the other part was given by the humanitarian organization Afghanistan Relief as aid. A group of engineers, who will choose a place for installing an aerial and transmitter, have gone to Fayzabad [the capital of northeastern Badakhshan Province]. New staff are being preparing to work at Voice of Afghanistan. The radio station is different from other radio stations which exist in the country, as it is going to broadcast to the whole of Afghanistan. Source: Asia-Plus news agency, Dushanbe, in Russian 0706 gmt 25 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. A new radio station is due some time in December broadcasting from Pakistan to Afghanistan - at first aimed at Kabul and Kandahar. The new station will be run by International Media Support (IMS) which was founded recently in Denmark by the Baltic Media Center among others. The idea of this new radiostation is that it should be "an independent station with no political talk, no propaganda and thus different to what comes from the Taleban, the Northern Alliance, the BBC and the Voice of America". The new station will provide facts and reliable information on the conflict. The IMS feel that there is a huge need for unbiased information on the fighting and current situation; the Afghan people don`t trust any of the current media, acc. to IMS. The new station will be based in Pakistan and will be manned by Afghan journalists. It is expected that the new station, which remains unnamed so far, will cost approx. 5 or 6 million DKr (610.000-735.000 USD) to run for the first 6 months. A Danish delegation is currently in Pakistan to negotiate a license for the station, and the current plan is to open two 200 Watt medium wave transmitters in Quetta and Peshawar (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 200 watts? Those would hardly reach into Afghanistan (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. FROM TALIBAN CENTRAL [this may not be politically correct] http://www.madblast.com/oska/humor_bin.swf (via Bruce MacGibbon, OR, Oct 24, DXLD) ** ANGOLA. Rádio Nacional heard on 4950 and // 11955.6 as early as 0200 and as late as 1649 ( think sign off might be 1800*). Also heard 7245 carrying a different program at 0258 on Oct 11, but // 4950 at 0305 on Oct 21 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15475.3, LRA 36 (presumed). Stayed up late a few times for this one, 2000 on Oct 18 with announcer in Spanish. Light music, decent signal, local QRN a bit of a bother. Using an instrumental version of "Morning has Broken" as a bridge in between the songs (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. ??? on 15820-LSB, Oct 20 0315-0430+, feeder, Spanish talk, ballads, phone talk. Fai8r, but better on \\ 20276-LSB. I don`t recall these feeders running parallels (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. Mauno Ritola, Finland, has informed about the website of Azerbaijani State Radio & TV which is http://www.aztv.az There are versions in both Azerbaijani and English. Some features and pages are still under construction, but the Realaudio feeds for the 1st and 2nd national radioprogramme are already working (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 23, MWDX yahoogroup via WORLD OF RADIO 1102, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Planned frequency usage for Radio Australia continental and off-shore relays effective Oct-08 is: 9730 Kranji 0500-0530 Khmer 9865 Darwin 2130-2330 Indonesian 11550 Taipei 0800-0830 Indonesian 11550 Taipei 2130-2330 Indonesian 11745 Taipei 0500-0530 Indonesian 13620 Darwin 2200-0000 English 17775 Darwin 0000-0130 English 17805 Kranji 2300-2330 Khmer 21615 Tinian 0000-0030 Indonesian 21680 Darwin 0000-0030 Indonesian 21680 Darwin 0400-0430 Indonesian 21680 Darwin 0500-0530 Indonesian 21780 Tinian 0400-0430 Indonesian Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne - the home of Radio Australia!, Oct 24, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar, 7185v and 9550v at 1725 with music on Oct 14, both useless due to loud buzz. A waste of electricity (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BELGIUM [non non]. Calling all DXers: on Thursday RVi "Brussels Calling" made following statement (and will do so tomorrow): This Saturday, RVi programmes are transmitted on shortwave for the very last time from Waver, our historic site south of Brussels . On this occasion, we send a special QSL card - an old card infact, with a picture of our antennas at Waver - to listeners who send a report on any of our broadcasts that day. Don't forget to tune in to RVi this Saturday and get a special commemorative QSL card (Frans Vossen - RVi, Oct 25, swprograms via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 3356 and 9595 were not in use. 4820 and 7255 are used throughout the day and I could hear the latter quite well even at local tune. Sometimes IDs as RB 1. School lesson at 1313 on Oct 12, teaching kids about local medicinal plants (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BURUNDI 6140 Radio Burundi untraced (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, October, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 6100 (presumed), Radio Centrafrique just them on the channel between 1730 and 1758, but I could never catch an ID (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. 25250, Jiangsu PBS 5 x 5050 (presumed), 1300 Oct 24, Just a trace of signal with very weak audio, but this is the first time since March that I've heard anything here. As I suspected, this has made a seasonal return. Will keep checking the next few mornings, during this period of high solar activity (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Re DXLD 1-157: unID 6265 is Qinghai PBS. 73's (Tim Bucknall, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TAIWAN; could be both? ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Today the Czech longwave outlet on 270 is silent, last checked prior to sending out this message at 1600. Either a major equipment failure or extensive maintenance work at Topolná, or... (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Topolná, Czech Republic on 270 kHz is silent Oct 24 + 25 for maintenance work, initially planned for Sep 10-15, but due to events in New York they were interrupted on Sep 13. Now they continue. The transmitter should go on the air on Oct 26 at 0200 UT. GOOD DX on this empty channel, (Karel Honzík, the Czech Republic (Czechia), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Subject: [SWL] Postcard from Radio Cairo. I received an unexpected postcard in the mail yesterday from the English staff at Radio Cairo. Nice photo of King Tut's mummy mask on the front. On the back the following was handwritten: "Dear Listener, Radio Cairo and the whole Egyptian people send their condolences to all the people in the U.S.A. Our grief and shock for your painful event is more than we can tell or our hearts can bear in silence. - Samar" Very nice touch by Radio Cairo! (Skip Unger, swl@qth.net, Oct 24 via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. Source: Voice of Democratic Eritrea. Category: Clandestine. Media Provider: Eritrean Liberation Front Revolutionary Council. Date of Issue: 24-Oct-2001 10:21. Last Modified: 16-Oct-2001 17:32. Comments: Voice of Democratic Eritrea, Voice of the Eritrean Liberation Front - Revolutionary Council (Tigrigna "Demtsi Democrasiyawit Eritrea"; Arabic "Sawt Eritrea al-Dimuqratiya - Sawtu Jabhat al-Tahrir al-Eritrea") was first observed on 21st November 1997. The radio is hostile to the government of Eritrea. It is believed that Voice of Democratic Eritrea originally broadcast via a transmitter in Sudan which was shared with other Eritrean opposition radio stations including Voice of Truth. The broadcasts via Sudan were last heard some time in 1999. The current transmissions, via hired a Deutsche Telekom transmitter, were first reported in June 2000. Languages: Tigrinya. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 On Demand Global http://www.meskerem.net - archive audio 1400-1500 ......Sa TIGRINYA Eu Ter: 5.925 1700-1800 .M..Th.. TIGRINYA Af Ter: 15.670 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Oct 24, condensed for DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Domestic Service of Radio Ethiopia heard opening on 5990, 7110, and 9705 at 0300. External service in English was a joke, both 9560.9 and 7165.5. The offset created horrible hets and I just cannot imagine anyone listening to this on a cheap little set without a notch filter. 1630 with news focused on Africa on Oct 16 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. The host of "Couleurs Tropicales," a Monday-Friday program of African and Caribbean music on Radio France Internationale in French, said today (Wednesday, 24 Oct) that the program will shift to a half-hour earlier beginning next Monday. The program's two 20- minute segments will now begin at 2010 and 2040 UT. Couleurs Tropicales can currently be heard on shortwave on 9790, 11955 and 15300 (Mike Cooper, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Radio staff in protest walk-out | Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) news agency Georgetown, Guyana, 24 October: Workers at Guyana's lone radio station on Wednesday walked off the job, calling for an independent audit into alleged corruption and misuse of funds. Regular programming was replaced with the relaying of satellite feeds of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Voice of America (VoA) as well as interludes of music punctuated with advertisements. Later Wednesday, the Voice of Guyana was off air and Radio Roraima's output was very low. The state-owned Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) is the holding company for the Voice of Guyana, Radio Roraima and 98.1 Hot FM. The more than 40 announcers, audio control operators, reporters and support staff picketed outside Broadcasting House on High Street. They carried placards with such slogans as "The finance controller must go!"; "Auditor General must audit, not edit GBC's accounts!" and "GBC belongs to the people of Guyana". Acting General Manager of GBC, Ossie Goodman refused to comment but Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said the Office of the President was addressing their concerns. A union representative, Peter Fraser said the staff resorted to the protest because they were not satisfied that GBC's management, the board of directors and the Office of the President had done enough to satisfy their concerns during the past three months. "The staff have concluded after perusing a financial document and after going through a number of other documents and realizing that a number of the figures are false - have been padded so to speak," Fraser told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) from the picket line. Fraser said at minimum, workers wanted an independent audit of GBC's accounts especially at a time when they and management were locked in protracted negotiations for a 15 per cent across-the-board pay hike. The lowest salary is 10,000 Guyana dollars while the highest salary is nearly 30,000. Dr Luncheon confirmed that the concerns of the GBC staff were brought to the attention of the President's Office but he did not have details on the allegations of corruption. "It seems to have assumed some industrial proportions in that regular programme is affected and that to my mind would certainly provide the necessary stimulus for the Office of the President to mount a proper investigation into allegations of corruption," Luncheon told a news briefing Wednesday. Source: Caribbean Media Corporation news agency, Bridgetown, in English 1956 gmt 24 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) GBC on SW already relayed BBC and VOA a lot overnight, alternating (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. 6010, AIR. While the 2010 can overload, I believe there is an AIR station here. Heard at 1730 airing English news and // to 4920. Sign off seemed to be around 1740 or so. This was a tough channel to monitor, but I thought I heard a few IDs as AIR Kolkata, but I am sure our South Asian friends will quickly solve this one for us (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.offshore-radio.de/ Wednesday October 24th 2001 Hans Knot reporting: Dutch TV producer Harry de Winter is seriously looking for possibilities to bring back the Voice of Peace as an offshore radio station off the Israeli coast. The Radio Veronica weekly magazine reports that de Winter is busily searching for ways to raise money. He is trying to convince rich Jews to investigate [sic] enough money. Then he wants to restart the station that was silenced by its founder Abie Nathan in 1993. De Winter has been holding talks with possible partners at the recent television convention in Cannes/France (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) What about rich Gentiles? (gh) ** IRAN. Mashhad radio anounces new Tajik schedule | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 24 October From 28 October, the wavelength of Sado-e Khorasan [Voice of Khorasan - Mashhad radio]'s Tajik service programmes will be changed. You will be able to hear our programmes in the mornings from 0600 to 0730 [Dushanbe time, 0100-0230 gmt] on the 49-metre shortwave band on 5950 kHz and in the evenings from 2100 to 2230 Dushanbe time [1600-1730 gmt] on the mediumwave band on 720 kHz and on the 49-metre shortwave band on 5950 kHz. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Persian 1600 gmt 24 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Following was posted in a German bulletin board without clearly proving the source, so it is not clear so far how trustworthy the item is: CLT-UFA sold its entire 80% share of Atlantic 252 for just 2 million pounds to TEAMtalk plc. The new owner intends to convert the station into a talk radio with emphasis on sports (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. 7155, Voice of ?, Station of the Armed Forces of Jordan. Sowt al-Nahada, Itha' Quwat al-musalaha al-ordiniya. I'm really shakey on the second word, but the rest is solid. Heard at 1800 on Oct 20, announcing 7155 and said they were on for an hour a day. News followed. Anyone familiar with this program? (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KENYA. 4915, KBC, only channel noted. 0258 open carrier, 0258 drum and flute IS. 3+1 time pips, ID as KBC Eastern Service. I think this was also on around 1700, but I could never catch an ID. Just a fair signal (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ? to MIDDLE EAST, 4235.1, Voice of Kurdish Toilers in Arabic at 1613 on Oct 11, ID as Huna Sowt A- Karda-hi Kurdistan at 1623 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Radio Madagasikara morning and evening channels of 3287 and 5009 heard daily. Usually in //, but not always. They did have an English language lesson at 1539 on Oct 8th on both channels. Did note listed 6135 [presumed] at 1305 on Oct 12 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. R. Mauritania, 4845, Oct 20 0230-0605+, French talk, some Arabic pop music. I assume this is Mauritania on late due to Afghan war. Usually only on late for Ramadan. Strong (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1102, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I noticed them too on 4845 around 0245 a few nights ago. And it`s not even Ramadan until mid-November (gh, DXLD, ibid.) Salve, dexistas! São 0130 UT e a Rádio Difusora de Poços de Caldas está fora do ar em 4945 kHz. Fui checar e enganei-me de freqüência, digitando 4845 kHz. Nesta estou ouvindo música árabe, é a Mauritânia chegando. Confiram! Abraços, (Valter Aguiar, Brazil, Oct 24, radioescutas via WORLD OF RADIO 1102, DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. Re: DXLD 1-155, RMC Middle East: Hi Glenn - Though listed in DXLD 1-119 but maybe overlooked by some listeners, there is an Arabic language broadcast from Radio Monte Carlo Middle East relayed via Sackville on 6040 and 9755 kHz at 0300-0320 UT, according to RCI’s A01 Final Broadcast Schedule (effective 27.08.01 to 28.10.01). I heard this broadcast on the 9755 frequency with clear RMC ID in early September (Michael W. Enos, Tallmadge, OH, 23 October 2001, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And for B-01 RMC is back to 0400-0420 on 5960, 9755, both 250 kW at 240 degrees (RCI Engineering via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Here are the English language broadcast schedules and frequencies for Winter 2001-2002 for V. of Mongolia. To South Asia at 1030-1100 UT on 12085 kHz. To India at 1230-1300 UT on 7380 kHz. Kind regards, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No more to European evenings? 7380 not used last winter (gh) ** NAMIBIA. NBC 3270 and 3290 are // in the early morning [0300], but have different programs in the evenings [1600]. Daytime freqs are listed as 7165 and 7215, but I could never hear them (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. RN PROGRAMME PREVIEW FOR 27th OCTOBER until 2nd NOVEMBER: This week we reveal the programming changes as of our new winter season - so keep a close eye open for a few surprises. You can view these weekly newsletters on the Web at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radionetherlands (via gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re NZ DX Times wrapper bearing strange stamps: I know that ``DX`` is Document Exchange. (DX in our hobby means long-distance radio reception). But what is interesting is - Does Document Exchange put the DX Times into the NZ Post International mail system or does it bypass NZ Post and forward it via FedEx or similar to somewhere like Darussalam in Brunei for on-forwarding? Thanks Mark Hi Adrian and Glenn, Paul Ormandy forwarded on Adrian's comment to Glenn's DX Listening Digest re the DX stamp(s) and route of the DX Times. I have queried Mike the Printer of our magazine and he is looking into it. DX here in New Zealand are a Document Exchange Bureau. They started up in opposition to the New Zealand Postal system delivering Office Documents only within the major New Zealand cities. They then started delivering between cities to businesses (not household mail). I understand they now deliver overseas through someone like FedEx? or another mail system. Which may explain why New Zealand is not on the original stamp. Is it a machine imprint? or an actual paper stamp? [the latter, full colour looking just like a postage stamp -gh] DX (Document Exchange) started up many years ago 15-20 years? or even more. Now we have a couple of domestic companies Kiwi Mail and Pete's Post that operate in opposition to New Zealand Post. We also had a 3rd competitor National Mail that went broke trying to compete. If any of those stamps ended up on an Overseas letter it would cause massive confusion as there is no mention of 'NEW ZEALAND'. The stamps I received today on an envelope just say in small print (Pete's Post Ltd) (40c National) and in big print (0800 PENCIL WAREHOUSE STATIONERY WHY PAY FULL PRICE?) So DX stands for 'Document Exchange' company. The New Zealand DX League doesn't quite print its own stamps yet . As for the route via Brunei, I will let you know when I find out more. Regards (Mark Nicholls, Chief Editor, NZ DX Times, New Zealand Radio DX League, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. R. Pakistan, 21465, Oct 13 1056-1100 English news, ID. Stronger on \\ 17523.3v, but carrier slightly unstable (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan Nawa-e Dost. Main Studio: Peshawar. Media Provider: Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. Date of Issue: 24- Oct-2001 10:21.Last Modified: 23-Oct-2001 14:01. Comments: This service for listeners in Afghanistan was inaugurated on 12 October 2001. It is broadcast via Radio Pakistan's 300-kW mediumwave transmitter in Peshawar. A shortwave frequency has also been announced but has not been confirmed. Languages: Dari, Multilingual, Pashto; Translated Name: Sound of a Friend. Address: Nawa-e Dost, Radio Pakistan, PO Box 64, Peshawar, Pakistan. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1800-1900 Daily MULTILINGUAL As Ter: 0.540 (DARI/PASHTO) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Oct 24 condensed for DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 5027.1, Radio Pakistan very difficult stateside, but easy here even with Uganda on 5026. 1600 type writer theme, pips, and ID on Oct 8. 7265.7, Radio Pakistan 0148 with IS, very, very distorted. 0150 Quran, ID at 0200 on Oct 17. 7365.7, Radio Pakistan horrible buzz, but seemed // to 4790 at 1700 on Oct 14 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 9736.2, R. Nacional del Paraguay, Oct 19, 0748-0757, 44433, Spanish, Paraguay music; frequency announce and ID at 0748 and 0755 (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN: NRD525+RD9830, NRD515, FRG- 7, 35mLW, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** PERU. R. Unión, 6301v, Oct 20 0130-0430+, ex-6351v. Was still up on 6351v on Oct 13, but now back on 6301v. Spanish talk, ballads. The usual poor, distorted wobbly signal. Worse than ever (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Source: Radio Racja. Main Studio: Bialystok. Category: Both domestic and external. Date of Issue: 24-Oct-2001 10:21. Last Modified: 23-Oct-2001 14:01. Comments: Radio Racja (Ratsyya in Belarusian - racja/ratsyya means "reason") is a Belarusian-language radio station based at Bialystok, Poland. Its broadcasts are aimed at Belarusians in Poland as well as Belarus. It began broadcasting in November 1999. The Belarusian Union of the Polish Republic is majority shareholder in the Racja company. All broadcasts are subject to Summer/Winter time changes. [so below is summer, or winter timing?? --gh] Languages: Belarusian. E-mail: rac@user.unibel.by Web Site: http://www.racyja.pl --------------------------------------------------------------------- On Demand Global Net: http://www.racyja.pl - archive audio 0400-0600 Daily BELARUSIAN EuDom Ter: 6.035 0500-0900 Daily BELARUSIAN EuDom Ter: 0.612 1000-1200 Daily BELARUSIAN EuDom Ter: 6.180 1800-2000 Daily BELARUSIAN EuDom Ter: 6.010 1900-2100 Daily BELARUSIAN EuDom Ter: 1.080 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Oct 24 condensed for DXLD) ** RUSSIA. This affects V. of Russia, if you read to the end (gh) Russian: TV, radio off air in Amur region | Text of report by Russian NTV on 25 October [Presenter Aleksey Sukhanov] Broadcasting of federal and local radio and TV programmes in Amur Region was stopped today. The unpaid debts of the transmitting centres to the local energy company topped R10m. Elvira Averchenko gives the details. [Correspondent, by telephone] Energy supplies to the regional television and radio transmitting centre have been limited as it owes R8m to the local energy utility. Broadcasting of federal television channels has been stopped. In towns having no local channels there will be no television at all. The only exception is the administrative centre of the region [Blagoveshchensk]. The press service of [local energy utility] Amurenergo has said that federal channels will become unavailable in the towns of Tynda, Zeya, Rachikhinsk, Belogorsk, Svobodnyy and Shimanovsk. The energy company also disconnected from electricity the powerful radio station in the village of Konstantinogradovka that owes about R10m. That transmitting centre covered the whole region and re- broadcast the programmes of Radio Russia, Amur [local] state radio, [local] Radio Zeya and Voice of Russia. Now radio waves in the region are silent. The residents can listen only to local music stations and to Chinese neighbours. Nobody can say how long this will continue. The energy company insists that the debts totalling to nearly R20m be paid off in full. Source: NTV, Moscow, in Russian 0400 gmt 25 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Dear Michael Terry, The Voice of Russia offers you 3 new projects: a series of programmes: ``Russia and the World –Cultural Harmony``, ``Destined by Fate``, and ``Going to Russia?`` In these programmes we will discuss a wide range of issues, dealing with Russia's culture, literature, history, and the fates of Russians abroad. ``Russia and the World – Cultural Harmony`` is a series of quizzes, devoted to significant events, which have become part of the world culture. Talents in Russia will never run low, therefore, this programme not only throws light on the great traditions of this country's past but also provides detailed information about outstanding representatives of Russia's culture, which have won worldwide recognition today. You'll learn many new and interesting facts, take a new approach to Russia's cultural achievements, improve your Russian, and will be able to take part in a quiz! ``Destined by Fate`` is a series of quizzes dealing with the history of Russia's contacts with the former Soviet republics and foreign countries. This series includes unforgettable facts dealing with the history of relations among nations, interesting historical facts, and stories about outstanding people and events. Sometimes, it is enough only to mention or make an attempt to refresh in your memory an event of the days gone by, and you immediately become aware that your attempt is successful. That is why this series of programmes supposes active participation of the Voice of Russia listeners. Quizzes urge listeners to guess, with the help of prompting, what event, personality or historical fact is meant in each case. Prompting may take the form of a familiar game plot, a historical scene, a fragment of a phonogram, or an excerpt from a musical or literary work and memoirs. ``Going to Russia?`` is a series of programmes devoted to the problems of Russians abroad. You can put questions to either Russian officials or the public organizations' workers, which deal with migration and defend the settlers' interests. The programmes ``Russia and the World – Cultural Harmony`` and ``Destined by Fate`` are aired in Russian and in 12 other languages, including… ``Going to Russia?`` is aired only in Russian. You can listen to them on the air or in Real Audio on the Internet. For more details visit our web at http://www.vor.ru We invite you to participate in our new projects – your thoughts about the Russian culture, literature, the two countries' contacts, and also curious events and facts dealing with your visits to Russia or contacts with the Russians may serve as the backbone for our new programmes. Send your E-Mails to research@vr.ru Each listener involved in the project will get a special diploma from the Voice of Russia (via Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We had previous item about new programs; additional details here (gh) ** RUSSIA. 7345, Yakutskoye R., Oct 20 0845-0900, 33333-2, Bilingual px in Yakut & Russian. Male announcer was Yakut speaker, & female was Russian. Local song. Parallel 7200 & 7140 kHz could be heard weakly. Not heard on 4825. ID at 0859 as "Govorit Yakutsk. V 9 chasov slyshite Radio Rossii" (Oguma Hironao, Tokyo JAPAN: AR7030 with AN-1, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Largely a bust. Nada on Radio Mogadishu 6750 range, Radio Baidoa 6800 range, and Radio Gaalkacyo 6985. Flirted with Radio Banaadir a few times 7002 during the 1800 hour, but could never get an ID. Presumed Radio Hargeisa on 7530, but I never stuck around to ID it (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. R. Sonder Grense excellent on 3320 in the early mornings and evenings. The South African press reports that this is one of the largest white, coloured, and Indian stations in the country, with 1.5 million listeners. 3345 Radio Lusofino (presumed), heard English religious programs at 1900 on Oct 14, UTC +2 time checks. 2012 sign off saying they would be back next Saturday [Oct 20] when I heard nothing. Not // to MW 1377, which was carrying Radio Cidade (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7199.9, Radio Sudan noted just once, on the 21st at 0230. News in Arabic with ID at 0235. Channel was horrible, lots of stations around 7200 (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Hi Glenn, Chuck Bolland`s unID on 6265 is presumed BCC in Taipei, Taiwan which is parallel to 15060. Regards (Tony Magon, VK2IC, Sydney, Australia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA: could be both? ** TANZANIA. 6015, RT-Zanzibar 0257 with IS, strong, anthem at 0259. Heard another time at 0301 with crash sign on, popped on with talk. Stronger than 11734 was in the local evenings (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TURKEY/TEXAS. Gigi Lytle Memorial DX Corner on The Voice of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey Saturday October 27, 2001 For several years, we in the radio hobby were given the privilege of knowing Gigi Lytle of Lubbock, Texas. Gigi was passionate about the radio monitoring hobby; she was for a good many years a contributor on Glenn Hauser`s "World of Radio". Her zeal, her passion, her drive, and her wonderful personality are some of the things that we of the radio monitoring hobby can never forget. I only met her once, at the Winter SWL Fest in 1996; it was the first time I stayed the whole weekend and enjoyed the banquet. I was seated at the table with folks like Pete Costello and Ralph Brandi, as well as Gigi and her long time companion, Tom. Gigi just exuded friendship! Her sense of humour, her deep devotion to the hobby we all love so much were evident and made it a special time that nigh, one I will not forget! However in October, 2000 Gigi passed away at age 57 from the onslaught of cancer. At the Winter SWL Fest in March, 2001 we observed a moment of silence to several of the people that were instrumental in the DXing hobby, but, had passed on. Gigi was one person that was mentioned. She had many many friends. And here is where you come in.... Gigi was quite close to Reshide Morali of the "Voice of Turkey" in Ankara. On October 27, 2001, Rashide will be presenting in Gigi's honor and memory a special "DX Corner" dedicated to her and to make the show extra special, listeners who had contact with Gigi in any way over the years to send your recollections of Gigi to Reshide by Oct 25, 2001. There is an email link provided at the bottom of this page to email your memories of Gigi right to Reshide. In the subject line please enter "special Gigi Lytle DX corner". Please take part and let's not let Gigi's spirit die! 73's, (Bill Bergadano, KA2EMZ website) Gigi Lytle Memorial DX Corner email link: ankayra@yahoo.com (via DXLD) As I point out on WOR 1102, besides earlier Saturday airings, should be at 2210 on 11845; not sure whether the final repeat UT Sunday will be on the A-01 schedule of 0310 on 9655, or B- 01 of 0410 on 6020. Conceivably the 2200 broadcast would already be replaced by 2300 on 9655 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) Gigi was a faithful contributor to World of Radio, forwarding schedules from a variety of stations, providing tapes for duplicating programs, and funds for distribution. I had the chance to meet once at her home in Lubbock, where I also went to visit my hundred-year- old uncle. Here too she and Tom were generous, sending me away with a nice lunch for later in a colorful bag. For those who did not meet her, Gigi was a short, feisty woman with red hair, and great enthusiasm for shortwave listening. We miss her very much (Glenn Hauser) ** UKRAINE. Commercial radio station Radio Omega-Polis, Sevastopol`, is relayed on 17299 kHz (USB) when there are no phone calls on this maritime frequency (= most of the time). Heard OCT 24 at around 1300 UT. In Sevastopol` the station broadcasts on 73.3 and 103.7 MHz. GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Hard-Core-DX mailing list Oct 24 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. RUI, 15135, Oct 13 1100-1200 English news, commentary, local folk music, ID, good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Following also concerns a SW transmitter site, perhaps explaining absence of some RUI frequencies: (gh) Ukraine/UK: BBC rebroadcaster faces power cut | Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Kharkiv, 25 October: BBC broadcasts may disappear from the air in the east of Ukraine in the next few days, Hryhoriy Rozhko, director of the Khar`kiv Region radio an television broadcasting centre, told UNIAN. He was commenting on the possible cut of the power supply to one of Ukraine's biggest radio transmission centres at Taranivka, in Zmiyivskyy District, Khar`kiv Region. On 24 October, the Khar`kiv Regional broadcasting centre received official notice from the management of a local power distribution company. The Taranivka radio centre, the message reads, will have its power supply disconnected at 0800 [0500 gmt] on 27 October because of its failure to pay electricity bills. The BBC pays on time and in full for the rebroadcasting of its programmes in the east of Ukraine by the Taranivka radio centre, Rozhko said. Should the rebroadcasting be stopped, the centre will "be in breach of contract", he said. Apart from this, Rozhko said, the Taranivka centre transmits Ukrainian national broadcasts to Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Greece, China and CIS countries.: A power blackout would "affect Ukraine's international prestige". According to Rozhko, the notice sent to the Taranivka centre is the first in a series, and the power supply is likely to be cut off to the entire Khar`kiv Regional broadcasting centre which services 11 national and regional commercial television channels, beaming their broadcasts to the Pol`tava, Khar`kiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk and Donetsk Regions in Ukraine and the Belgorod Region in Russia. Source: UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 0924 gmt 25 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. The new VOA director, Robert Reilly, will be on VOA's Talk To America today, October 25, 1705-1800 UT. The VOA News Now live stream is available at http://www.voanews.com (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA, swprograms Oct 25 via DXLD) Normally ondemand for following 24+ hours (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Bush Wants More VOA Broadcasts to Afghanistan, Arab World By Jim Burns, CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer, October 24, 2001 (CNSNews.com) - President Bush says Voice of America should play a bigger role in getting America's message out to Afghanistan and the rest of the Arab world, even though budget cuts have forced VOA to make cutbacks in the past decade.... http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200110\NAT20011024d.html (via Petro, DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. looks for a voice in Arab world, By MARY JACOBY © St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2001 A proposed Middle East Radio Network would expose millions to American ideas and culture. WASHINGTON -- The United States spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year trying to crack open closed societies by broadcasting news reports to citizens isolated from a free press. Yet the Middle East, of all places, can't hear the Voice of America. The signals of the U.S. government-funded international broadcasting service are too weak to be heard clearly over shortwave radio in 22 Arab countries from Morocco to Jordan. It has virtually no listeners among Palestinians in Israel or the people of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Lebanon -- countries where anti-American invective regularly appears in government-owned media. The destruction of the World Trade Center, the flame-scorched crater in the Pentagon, and four hijacked airliners have convinced Washington policymakers that the United States needs to end this silence. Much of the Arab media "daily depict the United States as a force for evil, accusing this country of an endless number of malevolent plots against the world," House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said at an Oct. 10 hearing. "How is it that the country that invented Hollywood and Madison Avenue has such trouble promoting a positive image of itself overseas?" Hyde asked. The Broadcasting Board of Governors -- the independent agency that oversees the Voice of America and is supposed to protect its news operations from political influence -- has asked Congress for $30- million to build FM and AM transmitters in Jordan and Cyprus and to fund a new Middle East Radio Network. "The Middle East Radio Network will expose the future leaders of the Arab world to American ideas, values and culture," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., a major backer of the project. The proposed service would be aimed at young people whose ideas of America may not yet be set in stone. "The battle for the 11-year-old mind," as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Charlotte Beers, a former advertising executive, described it to the International Relations Committee. The service would be hip and modern, including call-in shows and music, and air around the clock in more accessible FM and AM as opposed to the current seven hours a day now broadcast to the Middle East by the Voice of America on shortwave. But there is a formidable hurdle: Sen. Jesse Helms. Angry over a snub by the Voice of America's governing board, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican signaled in an Oct. 4 letter to President Bush that he will oppose creation of the Middle East Radio Network. The dispute is not likely to find a quick resolution, because Helms' objections go beyond this particular project to the very philosophy that has underpinned Voice of America for a quarter century. A propaganda arm of the United States during World War II and most of the Cold War, the Voice of America's mission changed in 1976, when President Gerald Ford turned it into an objective news-gathering organization with the mission of getting information into closed societies -- and letting the people there make up their minds about the United States. Today, the Voice of America employs 800 journalists from countries around the world who reach an estimated 91-million people in 53 languages. It has also expanded from radio to satellite television and Internet operations. But some conservatives, as Helms put it in his letter to Bush, believe "it should not be broadcasting ideas contrary to American interests and values in the strained name of 'balance.' " Helms and other conservatives were inflamed by the service's decision to air parts of an interview with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar on Sept. 25. The interview was broadcast into Afghanistan in the native Pashto and Dari languages. The service has defended its Omar interview. But it acknowledges a mistake in airing comments the day after the terrorist attacks from Yasir al Serri, identified in a report from London as "a leader of Egypt's largest Islamist group, the Gama'a Islamiyya," without mentioning that the group claimed responsibility for the massacre of 58 foreign tourists in Luxor in 1997. "It's not wrong to be sure that something we're paying for as taxpayers is being used to further our ideals," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. "Some people might call it censorship. It's not," said the California Republican, who in the 1980s spent time in Afghanistan observing the Islamic mujahedeen fighting to expel the Soviets. But there are signs the conservatives will lose this debate. Robert Reilly, a former editorial writer for the Voice of America and known for his conservative views, is the new director of the service, appointed by Bush at Helms' behest. Reilly said he would not have censored the Omar interview, though he would have edited it differently to convey more of Bush's views on the war. "I don't think you can intelligently discuss an issue without presenting both sides," Reilly said. "We're trying to reach an intelligent audience that is going to have an influence over the future of their country. We're not going to talk to them like they're children." In response to Bush's declared war on terrorism, the Voice of America has expanded its shortwave broadcasts into Afghanistan to 2 hours and 15 minutes a day for each of the south Asian country's two main native languages. A Voice of America survey showed that 80 percent of males in Afghanistan regularly listen to its reports. The Pashto-language broadcast reaches the Pashtun ethnic group in the south, from which the Taliban draws most of its support. A Dari- language broadcast reaches the north, where rebels fighting the Taliban are based. On a recent afternoon, Spozhmai Maiwandi, head of the Pashto service, sat with headphones over her long black hair in a studio in the anonymous government building at the foot of Capitol Hill that houses the Voice of America. Speaking into a microphone, she narrated news reports from the Pentagon, White House and Congress. Snippets of audio from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott were aired in English, with Pashto translation in a voice-over. In Afghanistan, it was 11 p.m. Maiwandi and most of the 11 other Pashto speakers who work for the Voice of America fled Afghanistan during the 1980s conflict with the Soviet Union. "My family in Kabul have seen so much bombing from the Soviet era," producer Khan Alami said, swiveling his chair as he kept an eye on Maiwandi through the glass window of the control room. "Those people were blindly shooting everyone. This time it is not like that," said Alami, 50, a former Peace Corps adviser clad in loafers and a white cotton sweater. But the Voice of America's Pashto-speaking journalists suffer an image problem in some Washington quarters. Because they came to the U.S. as refugees of the Soviet conflict and never lived under the Taliban's repressive Islamic regime, they are perceived as sympathetic toward the Taliban, which draws support from their Pashtun ethnic group. A Voice of America spokesman denied any bias, but the charge is one of the arguments driving the politics behind another pet project of conservatives: the reopening of Radio Free Afghanistan. A California Republican, Rep. Ed Royce, has bipartisan support on his bill to restart the service, which broadcast into Afghanistan from 1985 to 1992. The United States operates several "radio free" services for Europe, Iraq, Kuwait and Asia that have a more overt advocacy element than the Voice of America. All are overseen by the independent federal Broadcasting Board of Governors. With a $450-million budget, the Broadcasting Board of Governors funds Voice of America's radio, Internet and satellite TV services; the Radio and TV Martí services into Cuba; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Radio Free Asia. Many conservatives feel the "radio frees" more actively promote American values abroad than the Voice of America. This belief, in turn, has spilled over into the political skirmishing that has delayed creation of the Middle East Radio Network. One of Helms' main objections to the proposed network is that the Voice of America will give it a pro-Arab tilt in the name of balancing the news, Helms aides say. Helms also doesn't like that the network is the brainchild of Norm Pattiz, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, president of the Westwood One commercial radio network and a major Democratic Party fundraiser. Suspicious of a project championed by a Democrat, Helms several months ago placed an informal legislative "hold" on the broadcasting board's request to spend $2-million to build a transmitter in Cyprus. But Republican members of the board support the proposed network as well. And so on Sept. 30 the board voted 5-1 to defy Helms' wishes and proceed with building the transmitter. For the moment, the insult has caused Helms to dig in strongly against the network. The impasse might eventually be resolved with a little legislative wheeling and dealing, observers say. Give me Radio Free Afghanistan, Helms might propose, and I'll give you the Middle East Radio Network (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) http://www.sptimes.com/News/102201/Worldandnation/US_looks_for_a_voice_.shtml I take issue with one point: that VOA on SW is ``too weak`` in the Middle East. I cannot believe that the 500 kW transmitters in Greece, Sri Lanka, etc., put such a weak signal into the ME! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Since the local news in Washington DC is now the national news, you may want to view the local news from WRC-Channel 4 on the net. The url is http://nbc4.feedroom.com/ The site uses Windows Media Player and you will be asked to choose a connection speed. There is a button to click on to test your connection speed. The local news is carried from 5 to 7 am (EDT), 0900-1100 UT, again at 10 to 11 am EDT, 1400-1500 UT, and 4 to 7 pm EDT, 2000-2300 UT. (Tom McNiff, Burke, Virginia, USA, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Soon to be EST = UT minus 5 ** U S A. C-Band WTC Cleanup Feed. Telstar 5, transponder 8 continues with daily live feeds from Ground Zero. It is all free and in the clear. It is totally mesmerizing to say the least. With smoke coming up from everywhere it looks just like hell on earth (Jeff Kadet, IL, Oct 23, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. SATERN Ends World Trade Center Support Operation NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 24, 2001--The Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) Amateur Radio volunteer support effort in New York City has ended. SATERN Amateur Radio Liaison Officer Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, says the operation wrapped up October 18. The Salvation Army now is relying on NEXTEL and cellular telephone service. During its five weeks of service, several dozen Amateur Radio operators from the Greater New York City area and elsewhere assisted the Salvation Army's relief efforts. Ham radio primarily was used to provide logistical support for the organization's canteens and feeding centers. Schneller said hams volunteered from throughout the US, including New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Missouri. Schneller said he even had offers of help from England and Canada. Among the more recent volunteers were Steve and Kim Merrill, KB1DIG and KB1GTR, from New Hampshire. They did a tour of duty October 7-18. Kim Merrill says she spent the majority of her time on duty at one of the Ground Zero canteens. In addition to assisting with communication, she also performed some non-Amateur Radio tasks. Steve Merrill spent most of his tour behind the wheel of his pickup truck, driving all over Lower Manhattan. His tasks included transporting people and supplies and keeping in constant contact with the Salvation Army Headquarters control operator. Their shifts ranged from 10 to 14 hours a day, "due mostly to our eagerness," the couple reported in a dispatch to SATERN, in which they called their time in New York City "a very humbling experience." "There was so much devastation," the Merrills recounted. "Nothing read in the newspapers or seen on TV could have prepared for the actual sight of all of this. We had the opportunity to attend a church service right at Ground Zero on Sunday, October 14." The Merrills said they came away from their SATERN volunteer experience feeling as though they had "lived a lifetime in a few short days," but with "friendships that will last a lifetime" and "stories that have no end." "Salvation Army SATERN is to be commended," they said. "They were more than nice to us. We felt like a part of a family!" While in New York City, the Merrills left behind some New Hampshire mementos, presenting SATERN volunteer coordinator Carlos Varon, K2LCV, with a New Hampshire ARRL/ARES coffee mug and leaving Schneller with a prototype HALO 2-meter antenna that the couple had designed in their basement workshop. Schneller has urged all Amateur Radio operators to prepare for the future by first getting acquainted with and joining their local ARES or SATERN teams, then by taking the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course http://www.arrl.org/cce More information about SATERN is available on the SATERN Web site http://www.satern.org (ARRL October 24 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A (?). Glenn: I have noticed a lot of military activity in the areas of 30 and 32 MHz, recently. I assume this is the result of general wartime preparations stateside. Of course most of the language is newspeak, but I believe this is aviation communications related to training activities. From Oct 23: 30100, US Army (presumed), 2130, "We have just conducted a 2 times no doc ? act the UA mac, grid 861435. 1 times knee injury and 1 times injury from a fall. They should be arriving shortly in call sign 83 delta. The injury from the fall is more serious, there may be evidence of internal bleeding. The medic suspects it's non- life threatening." and.. "23 is just beginning his final assault now. 19, 29 this is 9B, alf alfa romeo... Have them occupy a patrol base in 3 square 8653, over." (David Hodgson, TN, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CLANDESTINE from/to USA, 6900, UPR was heard daily during the 0200 hour, such as Oct 10th, when he was bitching about the end of Genesis on WWFV (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Since the subject happened to come up on the NRC- AM list, here just once is an explanation of ``WTFK??!!``, which has confounded even professional monitors when exclaimed by gh in DXLD: Something I have wondered about for years, and have tried to research, is this bit with the newsman (Dan Rather?), and the "What is the frequency, Kenneth?" confrontation. Can anyone help me with this*? As I recall, it was late 1970s, early 80s, and seemed to have the appearance of some cold war spy ingredients. * of course, if you know nothing of this topic, you'll be wanting to get me some padded-cell help . . . (Eric Floden, Canada, Oct 24, NRC-AM via DXLD) It was Dan Rather, and my recollection of this is about exactly as you have stated it. Some cheesy guy came up to Rather, and I think pushed him and probably knocked him down, said those words, and then ran off. I think it happened at or close to the Broadcast Center 524 W 57th NYC, which has been on the news a lot lately. They are going to clean Rather's office at CBS tonight, even as he continues defiantly working there. He's got a lot of spunk to do that. I am not sure, seriously, what there would be to research besides this info here, I think it was treated as a nut case and dismissed. I believe the perp was never (publicly) found or identified, or the reason for it (Bob Foxworth, FL, Oct 24, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thanks Bob -- I guess I had heard so many references to it, I assumed there was a lot to the story. I mentioned this at coffee, and one of my co-workers came up with this (no source cited): January 29, 1997 Dan Rather Identifies "What's the Frequency?" Mugger Finally, we have an explanation for the most puzzling question since "What's the meaning of life?" Dan Rather has identified the mugger who shouted, "Kenneth, what's the frequency?" while knocking the CBS anchor onto a Park Avenue sidewalk and proceeding to kick the heck out of him. That was in October of 1986, and until Tuesday, the public didn't know who the attacker was and what he was talking about. Now it turns out the assailant was William Tager, the same man who opened fire in 1994 outside the Today show studio. Tager killed NBC technician Campbell Theron Montgomery, who died trying to shield others from the gunfire. Tager is now serving a twenty-five-year prison sentence for the murder. Before his trial, in 1995, forensic psychologist Dr. Park Dietz examined Tager, who confessed that he had given Rather the beating. Dietz told Rather several months ago that he had solved the mystery of Kenneth. There is "no question that it was William Tager who assaulted Dan Rather," Dietz told New York's Daily News, which broke the story. Dietz added, "He was not stalking Mr. Rather, but he knew who he was." After examining photos of Tager, Rather concurred: "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person," he told the Daily News. The identification of Tager demystifies a pop culture legend that has produced much speculation about the reasons behind Rather's bizarre attack and what his assailant was shouting. The incident even inspired an R.E.M. tune called "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" So, what was Tager trying to say that fateful night, ten years ago? Dietz concludes that Tager believed the media had him under surveillance, and he was simply asking Rather what frequency the media was using to beam hostile messages at him. We've wondered the same thing. (via Floden, ibid.) Also see: http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20010619.html (via Kevin Cozens, ODXA via DXLD) REM Lyrics: http://www.geocities.com/mmeyer_hermann/Kenneth.html ** U S A. Radio Beat: Another big step forward for 'Rewind' Thursday, October 25, 2001 By BILL VIRGIN, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Humor and satire don't normally come to mind when public radio is mentioned. But occupying a relatively uncrowded niche in the public radio spectrum has provided an opportunity for "Rewind," produced at KUOW-FM (94.9) in Seattle. Just 5 years old, "Rewind" has already made it onto more than 80 public radio shows nationwide. And as of the Feb. 1, 2002 show, "Rewind" will be taking another big step forward, when it goes from a 30-minute show to an hour. The move is made possible largely through a $300,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to senior producer Wendy Sykes, which will allow expansion of the staff from three to five people. All this is quite an achievement for a program that host and originator Bill Radke says wasn't started with the intent of being a national show. In fact by its very structure as a half-hour show, "Rewind" was a difficult sell to program directors, he says, since it means the station has to find another program to fill the hourlong block. But it has become a national show, and Radke says it hasn't had to give up a Seattle identity to do so. "We had to skip exclusively Seattle humor; no one knew who Paul Schell was," he says. "But we use (the Seattle base) as a starting point," just as Garrison Keillor uses regular references to life in Minnesota. "It's good for a show to be grounded (someplace). Certain Seattle references will come up. People know we're in a gray, rainy coffee-saturated place." The longer show will be "more of the same but it can't be just that," Radke says. "It has to have a different pace and more variety to sustain it. We'll bring back sketches that took too much time or editing to put in the show." The contract between "Rewind" and National Public Radio calls for 45 shows a year, which leaves a little time for theme shows and repeats. "It's pretty hard to take time off because we're so topical," Radke says. It might not have been his design to make "Rewind" a national show, but now that it is Radke hopes to extend its reach. "I absolutely think it will be one of the top-tier NPR shows, as well known as 'Car Talk,'" he says. "Rewind" airs on KUOW-FM at 9:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. (©1999-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer via Mike Cooper, DXLD) I like REWIND, but am not sure I want or can handle an hour of it each week. This story fails to note that most stations pair it with SAYS YOU from Boston, a good match in my opinion. Maybe this is really intended to knock SAYS off stations` schedules. And the very idea that a half hour program is a hard-sell speaks volumes about the lack of imagination at public radio stations (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. THE MEDIA --- Mideast strife hits WBUR Citing anti-Israel bias, 2 firms pull funding By Mark Jurkowitz, Globe Staff, 10/24/2001 The conflict in the Middle East - where media images are crucial weapons for both sides - moved onto a new battleground recently, as two major corporate donors decided to end their support of WBUR-FM to protest what they saw as persistent anti-Israeli bias in public radio. Hillel Stavis, president of WordsWorth Books in Cambridge, suspended his contributions, totaling, by his estimate, ''tens of thousands of dollars'' over the years - after listening to a WBUR report on Jerusalem in April that he believes was filled with inaccuracies. And Robert Shillman, chief executive officer of the Natick-based Cognex Corporation, said he has also ended support for the station, because of what he calls ''a profoundly pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli bias'' on NPR and WBUR. Shillman said Cognex has donated more than $120,000 to Boston's National Public Radio affiliate over the past five years. He said he hopes to expand support for the boycott and authored a letter dated Oct. 17 to about 40 business executives across the nation urging them to ''discontinue your company's funding of NPR and its affiliates.'' A third significant WBUR donor, The New England Mobile Bookfair, is reportedly requesting a meeting to discuss its support of WBUR. The chief operating officer, Steve Gans, would not confirm he is suspending negotiations over his underwriting contract. ''We have great respect and admiration for WBUR,'' he said. But ''we have been concerned about NPR's coverage on the issue.'' Stavis and Shillman both said it was not easy to end their relationship with with WBUR. ''It's a move I make reluctantly,'' Stavis said. ''In terms of a business, it does me a lot of harm because NPR is so closely allied with book publication.'' ''It's been brewing,'' Shillman said of his decision. ''Lots of things in the world are biased, and I don't give a damn. But this one I care about. ... I'm not going to get mad, I'm going to get even.'' Christo could not be reached for comment yesterday, but through a spokeswoman, she defended the fairness of WBUR and NPR reporting. ''WBUR has always listened to and addressed every concern, every complaint and every criticism about our coverage of this issue,'' Christo said in the statement. ''We take matters of journalistic integrity very seriously. With all due respect to the organizations and underwriters involved, I firmly believe that both NPR and WBUR have been fair and balanced in their reporting of Middle Eastern issues.'' Corporate ''underwriting'' - the euphemism public broadcasters use to describe donations that are tied to on-air mentions - are crucial to WBUR, as to most public broadcasters. In the fiscal year that ended in June, $7.3 million of WBUR's $20 million budget came from corporate underwriting. The decision by the two businessmen to cut funding to WBUR is a new chapter in a festering controversy over Middle East coverage that dates back at least a decade. Shillman is a member of and Stavis sits on the board of CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), the Boston-based group that closely monitors media coverage and advocates for what it feels is fair play for Israel. CAMERA executive director Andrea Levin said her organization's representatives have met repeatedly with NPR officials over the years. And just two months ago, CAMERA - which has about 40,000 members - took out an ad in The New York Times asking supporters to ''help end harmful anti-Israel distortions by National Public Radio.'' Levin said donors to stations in other cities have joined the boycott, though she did not name them. ''I am aware of underwriters outside of Massachusetts who've withdrawn their support. I can't say it's sweeping the country. This is the dilemma for many people. NPR is viewed as an enlightened source.'' An NPR spokeswoman, Jess Sarmiento, said there had been correspondence to NPR affiliates from underwriters concerned about coverage of Israel, but ''I'm not aware that what's happening in Boston is happening anywhere else.'' Responding to CAMERA's complaints about bias, Sarmiento said, ''We take all criticisms regarding our coverage very seriously ... and it's our goal to report with care and accuracy. It's not to take sides. We believe it's important to review our coverage as a whole ... you have to take into account the span of news programming over the span of days to get the full view of what's being reported.'' As they target NPR and WBUR, Levin and Stavis say they've had a solid relationship with Christo. ''I have a lot of respect for Jane. I think she's a remarkable manager and extremely successful. We've met and corresponded and we've spoken and we've brought to her our concerns and she has made efforts ... Unfortunately, this has not culminated in anything different,'' Levin said. Stavis said he had spoken to Christo several times, and ''of all the people at NRP and WBUR, Jane has always conducted herself in the most respectful manner.'' Still, Stavis said, he made his decision to withdraw funding after writing Christo in April to complain about the special on Jerusalem and material on the Web site produced by WBUR, and to reflect what he described as a dozen inaccuracies. Among other flaws, he said, the report underscored the militancy of Israelis but not the role of ''Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah or any of the many ... groups dedicated to the eradication of Jews from the area.'' In a return letter, Christo acknowledged the validity of some of Stavis's concerns, but defended other aspects of the work and called WBUR's coverage ''journalistically sound and essentially fair.'' Stavis said the two have not communicated since. The debate between NPR and CAMERA has continued. In March, CAMERA completed a report analyzing NPR's coverage of the first two months of the Israeli-Palestinian violence that broke out in September 2000, and concluded that ''the tax-supported network's coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict has long been marred by a striking anti-Israel tilt, with severe bias, errors, and a lack of balance commonplace.'' The NPR ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, who has fielded complaints from CAMERA supporters, said: ''I think as a lobbying group, they've been pretty effective. They've certainly got our attention. But I think they're not as accurate as they think they are ... Our commitment is to report both sides of the story. CAMERA would only like us to report one side.'' Alex Beam of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 10/24/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 7285, Oct 13 1200 s/on with chimes, ID, English news. Poor-weak with ham QRM. Stronger on \\ 9715, but co- channel R. Nederland QRM (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LSITENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045, Radio Two was the only channel I noted. They use it throughout the day. It was off twice for about 20 hours or so, but had a great signal and modulation when on (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [non]. CLANDESTINE from MADAGASCAR to ZIMBABWE, 7215, Radio VOP excellent signal at 1748 on Oct 8. Checked this several times, but never heard any jamming as had been suggested by one DXer in the past (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9460 ? Talk in vernaculars, very strong. 1830-1900, ID sounds like Radio E-LU-WA. Nigeria mentioned, sounded religious (Hans Johnson, Kruger Nat`l Park, South Africa, Oct, Cumbre DX via DXLD)###