DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-46, March 30, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission} WORLD OF RADIO ON WWCR. The April schedule has just been confirmed: there are no changes by local time except the shift half an hour earlier Sunday evening, effective April 2. So during DST the UT schedule is: Thu 2030 15685 Fri 0930 7435 Sat 0300 3215 Sat 1130 15685 Sun 0230 5070 Sun 0630 5070 Mon 0000 3215 Mon 0500 3210 Tue 1100 15685 (The UT Thu, Fri, Sat and Sun airings are still one hour later March 30-April 2) THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 1030. See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1030.html ** AFGHANISTAN. Radio Voice of Shari'ah is the official Taleban-run broadcaster (formerly Radio Afghanistan). All transmission times are subject to change. This schedule is based entirely on monitoring observations. Address: Afghan Radio, PO Box 544, Kabul, Afghanistan. Tel: +93 25241. SW portion of schedule: Sat-Thu 0100-0330 7078v [sic] in Pashto/Dari; Fri 0330-0800 7075v [sic] in Pashto/Dari including news 0730. Daily 1230-1600 in Pashto/Dari 7075v including news at 1330, and unconfirmed program in Nuristani daily at 1430-1500. Foreign language service daily at 1500- 1700 on 7075v and 1107: 1500 English, 1515 Urdu, 1545 Arabic, 1600 Turkmen, 1615 Uzbek, 1630-1700 Russian (© BBC Monitoring March 29 condensed by gh for DXLD) ** ALBANIA. R. Tirana, English 0145-0158 on 6115, 7160; 0230-0258 on 6120, 7160. Also the first broadcast to Europe seemed to be announced as 1630 instead of 1830; cf DXLD 00-44 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 28) Nominal 6115 for both (gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. R. Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel Excellent!!! signal from Antarctica today March 29, booming in here @ 0035 UT w/ Banco Argentina ads, classical mx. W announcer w/ ID @ 0041. Actual freq. is 15475.61 kHz. Carrier on and off, problems? Yes, they have been noted to until as late as 0100 UTC for some reason or other (Terry, KC7LDP, WA state, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA A-00 English schedule, portion of interest in NAm: SOUTH-WEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN, NORTH AMERICA Time (UT) Freq (kHz) Tx site/pwr/brg 2000-2200 12080 B 10 080 2100-0000 17715 S 100 030 0000-0800 17580 S 100 030 2100-0100 21740 S 100 070 2100-2200 7240 S 100 030 2200-0200 17795 S 100 050 2300-0900 12080 B 10 080 0200-0700 15515 S 100 070 0700-0900 15240 S 100 090 0800-1200 13605 S 100 030 1100-2130 9580 S 100 070 1100-1400 6020 S 100 030 1200-1700 11650 S 100 030 1400-1800 5995 S 100 030 1700-2100 9815 S 100 030 1700-2200 11880 S 100 065 1800-2000 7240 S 100 030 (Nigel Holmes, RA Transmission Manager via Rachel Baughn, Monitoring Times, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) ** AUSTRIA [non]. Not heard Sunday Mar 26, but on Monday Mar 27, relay via RCI 17865 had already shifted an hour earlier, Spanish concluding at 1555 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) ** CANADA. Sackville must have had a total power failure Wednesday night. Checking for new NHK relay at 2200 on 6110, nothing there; nor were the Vietnam relays to be heard on 9695, 9795 UT March 30; nor the usual BBC frequency 6175, nor 5960, 9755, etc. Back on when checked 9640, 13650, 17820 at 1202 in RCI news, but nothing said about it through 1210 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I noticed tonight that none of the usual RCI frequencies beamed to the USA were operational for the 2200-0000 feed. Did Sackville sink into the sea or is it just another labor action? (Joe Buch, DE, March 29, swprograms via DXLD) Glenn, Thanks for the info on RCI's absence last night. There was a high wind warning for the maritime provinces last night (It was supposed to reach 110 km/h in Nova Scotia). This may explain RCI being off the air last night. Just a guess. (Ivan Grishin, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also JAPAN, VIETNAM ** CANADA. CBC RCI Previews: THE WORLD THIS WEEKEND: Saturday on The World This Weekend, Growing Pains: Canada's newest territory is a year old. Jaimie Little reports on why some communities complain they're given second-class status by the Nunavut government. Also, Lorna Jackson marks April Fools Day with a look at media hoaxes. That's Saturday on The World This Weekend at 6:00 pm (7 AT; 7:30 NT) on both CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two. (CBC Hotsheet) If strictly interpreted, the new RCI schedule implies that this will be missing from SW Sat April 1 due to the Week of Confusion, but will be back from April 8 at 2200 UT. Check 5960, 9755, etc., anyway (gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hello, Here's what we are working on for this week`s show. Our lead item sheds light on Dark Matter: We can't see it. We're not sure exactly what it is. But we know it's out there and it makes up 90 percent of the mass of the universe. Now scientists believe they have discovered where the Dark Matter actually is, and what it is made of. And that could help to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the cosmos. Plus .... new DNA evidence shows that modern humans did not evolve from Neanderthals. All that and more on Quirks & Quarks, this Saturday, right after the noon news, on Radio One. Quirks and Quarks 12:09 - 1:00pm on CBC Radio with host Bob McDonald (CBC Science mailing list via gh) Only time for it on RCI now shifts to Sunday 1205 UT on 9640, 13650, 17765, 17820 (RCI sked via Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. SW activity here as of March: 4955 Rdif. Nacional, 10 kW, 1300-0500, V. by QSL card. Has problems with modulation. 4975 R. Ondas del Orteguaza, Florencia, Depto. Caqueta, 1 kW, heard at 2235 with religious program ``El Mensaje de la Palabra de Dios``; QRM from Ecos del Torbes, Venezuela, 4980 5020v Ecos del Atrato, Quibdo, Choco, 1 kW, heard at 2240 with vallenata and Caribbean music 6035 La Voz del Guaviare, San José del Guaviare, Departamento of the same name, 5 kW, heard March 24 at 2100 relaying Rumba Stereo FM from Bogota, affiliated with RCN. 6117v La Voz del Llano, Villavicencio, Meta, 10 kW, March 24 at 2100 with ``Arpa y Bandola`` program, Colombian-Venezuelan llanera music 6265v R. El Pueblo Responde, belonging to unknown organization, but anti-guerrilla groups. Succeeds in interfering with LV de la Resistencia until 2213 leaving its carrier on. Location also unknown, but heard with 15-20 dB of gain in Barinas, Venezuela. 6270v La Voz de la Resistencia del Bloque Oriental, clandestine station of FARC, exact location and power unknown. Heard March 24 at 2125 opening with musical variety; 2130 FARC anthem, ID, news from the guerrilla fronts, 2133 strong jamming interrupts the signal. Note: Also heard irregularly: La Voz de los Centauros, Caracol from Villavicencio, 5955 with 5 kW. We also have knowledge from a phone call that R. Autentica de Villavicencio on 5975 will increase power from 5 to 10 kW and go on the air soon. Caracol on 5075 has not been picked up any more due to its lack of interest in SW (Santiago San Gil, Venezuela, Banda Tropical, March 29, Club Diexistas de la Amistad, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Note: Beginning with this week, the Progressive News Network will be produced on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. This in order to make best use of our limited financial and human resources. When additional funding becomes available, RFPI plans to resume daily newscasts of PNN. We regret any inconvenience to our listeners. (RFPI Website March 27 via gh) So M/W/F 2200, repeated Tu/Thu/Sat 0130, 0600, 1400. Volunteer Thomas Voelkner has finished his term and is returning to Germany (DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague, A00 Summer Period 2000. Valid: 26 Mar-28 Oct 2000. English: 0700-0727 9880 200 NoWeEUR 11600 100 NoWeEUR 0900-0929 21745 100/100 SoAS/WeAF 1030-1057 9880 100 NoEUR 11615 100 NoWeEUR 1130-1157 6055 200 CeEUR 21745 100 SoAS 1300-1329 13580 100 NoEUR 17485 100 SoAS 1600-1627 5930 200 NoWeEUR 21745 100 EaAF 1700-1727 5930 200 NoWeEUR 21745 100 CeAF 2000-2027 5930 200 NoWeEUR 11600 100 SoEaAS/AUS 2130-2157 11600 100 SoEaAS/AUS 15545 100 WeAF 2230-2257 11600 100 NoAM 15545 100 NoAM 0000-0027 11615 100 NoAM 13580 100 CeAM 0100-0127 7345 200 NoAM 11615 100 NoAM 0300-0327 7345 200 NoAM 7385 50 NoWe of SoAM (WRMI) 11615 100 CeAM 0330-0357 11600 100 ME/SoWeAS 15470 100 ME Txs at Litomysl-CZE 16E10 49N48, WRMI Miami-FL U.S.A. 80W22 25N54 http://www.radio.cz/ram/live.ram Real Audio http://mp3cast.radio.cz:8000/ MP3 Streaming (R Prague via Michiel Schaay, Holland, Mar 24 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) ** ECUADOR. Have you heard the unholy MESS HCJB is kicking up on 15115 in the evenings? It's a big distorted blob. Haven't listened to their morning transmission to see if it sounds bad as well, but I imagine it does. (Randy Stewart, MO, 0353 UT March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 15115 before and after 0600 UT March 30 was quite distorted and hummy. This happens frequently with HCJB. One of the basic responsibilities of any radio station is to MONITOR ITS OWN BROADCASTS continuously on all frequencies. They should be the first to know when something goes wrong. I have not checked morning either, but may well be different transmitter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Since RFI has no NAm service, I`ve found 17605 at 1600 pretty good, to Africa, //17850 weak with much, much stronger co- channel Spanish (Bob Thomas, CT, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 4777 Rdif. TV Gabonaise (presumed). Maybe reactivated. Heard at 1940-2100*. Fair signal. Talk program till 1945, then local pops. S-off at 2100 (Juichi Yamada, Japan, Mar 25, BC-DX via DXLD, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) ** GEORGIA/RUSSIA. Observations on Abkhaz radio schedule: Text of "DX Club" report via Voice of Russia web site on 28th March New shortwave broadcasting has been observed on 9489 kHz [Abkhaz Radio frequency] in southern Russia. Radio Sochi can be heard here from Monday to Friday from 1530-1545 gmt. Radio Kuban can be heard on the same days from 1545-1600 gmt (all in Russian) Abkhaz radio in Abkhaz and Russian is broadcast on the same frequency from Monday to Friday from 0400-0500 gmt plus daily from 1400-1430 gmt. Source: Voice of Russia web site, Moscow, in Russian 28 Mar 00 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has abandoned 25740 again, leaving RFI 25820 lonely. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Until 1300* (gh) ** GREECE [non]. VOG relay via VOA missing from 17565 and 17705 at 1840 check March 27; then checked IBB schedule as of March 28 which shows: 17565 2000-2200 ERA5 GA-7 164 degrees 17705 1800-2200 ERA5 DL-8 075 degrees So 17705 should have been on, but the other has been cut two hours. At 1936 check 17705 was on, but not yet 17565 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [and non]. VOG winter sked ended Sat Mar 25, and spring- summer started Sun Mar 26. Because this transpired on a weekend, there has been a bit of confusion on what frequencies they announce and what the engineers are punching into the transmitters. So far, this is how the 0000-0350 broadcast to NAm shapes up. After months of badgering Dionisios Angelogiannis about adjacent-channel 9370 WTJC in Newport, NC, causing massive interference for the first two hours of that service, he has finally dropped Kavala on 9375, and gone to 15630. Now we have 7450, 9420, 12105, 15630. There also seems to be a lack of communication between Athens and the VOA in Delano and Greenville. VOG was still on 9690 at 1200-1400 March 26 and 27. On Sunday they announced this: Eu 1200-1300 9420, 15630, 792, 1260; Am 1200-1800 on 15455; Tashkent 1200-1250 11645; Cyprus 1200-1250 12105. On Monday they said: Europe 1200-1400 9420, 15630, 1400-1500 9420, 15630, 1500-1700 9420, 15630; 0900-1300 792, 1260; NAm 1200-1800 15455, 1800-2200 17705, 2000-2200 17565. I believe the last one is for S America. If the above hours of VOA-USA transmitter use hold true, this will fulfill Kim Elliott’s prediction of V. of Greece having 12 hours available to them. [Note the extension of the 1200 broadcast by 4 hours to 1800! But as of March 30 the IBB sked does not show 15455, just the old 9690 at 1200-1400 -gh]. So now 16h per day to N America including the 0000-0350 service (John Babbis, Maryland, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.5, March 30 checked at 1155 when announcer was talking continuously, giving their street address, and something about reporting everything heard during a 1-minute period; after 1201 into hymns and fading out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. VOIRI at 0030-0130 in English, best on 9022 to C, N and S America, //6065 to CAm, unheard on 6135 to NAm (Bob Thomas, CT, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Rai, UT Monday March 27, dropped out before their usual English to NAm at 0050 on 6010, 9675, 11800; only carrier on all three, no audio. 0129 interval signal and back on at 0130 (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. R. Japan, via RCI to N. America at 0000 in English replaces 11705 with 6145. Ascension 9665 to CAf at 0000 discontinued; as well as 6050 and 6155 Skelton to Eu move to 2100 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 25, 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) Indeed on 6145 now at 0000, confirmed March 29, as well as 6110 in Japanese at 2200 March 30. Strange to be going so far down in frequency for the stormy summer; Complete A-00 sked from RCI of its relays shows NHK, languages not specified, with powers and azimuths: (gh) 0000-0059 6145 250 240 0159-0359 5960 250 240 0459-0559 6110 250 253 1058-1159 6120 250 240 1300-1459 11705 250 240 2200-2259 6110 250 240 (via Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. Turkey: Journalists investigated for using Kurdish letter "w" in Newroz; Text of report by Paris-based Kurdish Medya TV on 26th March An investigation has been launched in connection with the editors in chief of eight local newspapers in Batman. The investigation was started because of the letter w appearing in the word Newroz. The Batman chief public prosecutor's office described this situation as a violation of Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code and as the use of foreign letters employed by the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party]. The journalists were first summoned to the police station on the grounds that a meeting is being held by the Batman Security Directorate, and they were later brought before the prosecutor escorted by the police. The prosecutor's office decided to request an expert opinion from the Istanbul Press Court and released the journalists. The Istanbul governor's office had also refused to grant Hadep [People's Democracy Party] a permit for Newroz celebrations on the grounds of the letter w. Source: Medya TV, Paris, in Turkish 1830 gmt 26 Mar 00 (BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** MALTA [non]. V. of the Mediterranean, undated schedule, but showing local time as UT + 2 as in summer, includes English: Mon-Sat 0600-0630 7150; Sat-Thu 1900-2000 12060; Sun 0800-0900 11770. Sites not shown either, but known to be Italy, Russia (via Hans- Joachim Koch, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) Spurious 11410 from Russia, tremendous 45444 at 2000-2100, playing Ar mx and talks about MALTA. Looked in 25 mb, and found VoMedit Malta on 12060 via Moscow Sherpukov 250 kW 250 degr, playing same Ar mx in progress. Signal 650 kHz away, BUT no signal on upper side on 12710 kHz, so divided 650 kHz by two = 325 + 11410 = 11735 kHz, the freq for R Rossii or VoR Ru sce also from Sherpukov 240 kW 250 degr at that time, see HFCC list too. Both 11735 and 12060 had the superpower signal like 11410 had (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND [non]. RNZI`s new interference problems: 17675 0600-0630 RCI Canada En via Germany is so strong over the long path it is covering RNZI still on that frequency. Rotating my 17 metre 2 element cubical quad fails to separate them as the beam heading is 130 degrees for both sites. (Morrison Hoyle, Foster, Victoria via DXLD) Glenn; I've noted R. New Zealand and Voice of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, are clashing on 17675 kHz, as noted when the latter signed on at 0200 with IS and UAE nat'l anthem... Abu Dhabi overrides NZ on this channel (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. R Pakistan's A-00 schedule observations on 1st season day. English 1600-1615 11570.11, 15100.21, [not heard 17510-Karachi] WS Gulf & ME. S=3 S=3-4 [not heard on 15 MHz to AF], 17720.00 to Ea&SoEaAF. S=2 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX, WORLD OF RADIO 1030, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. According to the bulletin of the 'Monitor Service' of IARU: "The Peruvian shortwave broadcast is weakly but regularly heard in North America using 7003.5 kHz (...) The USA Federal Commission has reported informally to ARRL that the signal is from La Voz de las Huarinias [sic] in Huancabamba, in the mountains of northwestern Peru and that a complaint of harmful interference had been sent to the Peruvian government..." (via PY2ZK, radio-escutas Mar 30 via DXLD) Meanwhile, as already reported here in DXLD 00-45, it has moved to 6819.5v (gh) ** ROMANIA. The Galbeni outlet of Romania Actualitati, the first Romanian home service, was noted at 2140 on 11910. I didn't manage to find it now around at 1230, also the Saftica outlet needs still to find again. As a reminder, Romania Actualitati is carried through one shortwave transmitter each at Galbeni near Bacau and Saftica. The Galbeni transmissions are a horribly distorted waste, while a low modulation depth is significant for Saftica. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RRI A-00 includes English: 0200-0300 AsAuAm 9.570 11.885 11.940 15.105 15.380 17.790 0400-0500 AsAm 11.940 15.105 15.335 17.745 0600-0700 Am 11.940 15.335 0641-0656 Eu 9.570 9.665 11.885 15.250 0700-0800 Af 15.580 17.735 1300-1400 EuAm 15.250 15.390 17.770 17.790 1700-1800 Eu 15.250 15.390 17.735 17.805 2100-2200 Eu 11.740 11.940 15.105 15.180 2300-2359 EuAm 9.690 11.775 11.830 15.105 (© BBC Monitoring March 29, excerpted by gh for DXLD; note: does not include spurs) ** ROMANIA. RRI 0200-0300 English checked March 26: 9570 best tho het, splatter from 9565; weak something on 11830, fair on 11940. 0400 announced 11940, 15105 to NAm, both reasonable. Also found at 2300 on 15105, pretty good (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Radio Romania International on internet Text of report by Romanian radio on 24th March As of today, Radio Romania International is disseminating all its daily programmes, all 53 of them, in 18 various languages, in Real Audio format on the Internet. The programmes of Radio Romania International can be heard on all continents, simply by clicking the Live button and then the language button, in Romanian, the Aromanian dialect and a further 16 languages. The delay is merely a few seconds compared with broadcasts on the shortwave or mediumwave frequencies. The address at which Radio Romania International can be found on the Internet is: http://www.rri.ro Source: Romanian Radio, Bucharest, in Romanian 2000 gmt 24 Mar 00 (BBC Monitoring March 30) ** RUSSIA. VOR monitoring checks in English UT March 26: 0300 7125 good but splash from BBC and another on 7120; 9665 fairly good with splash from 9660; 15595 ?; 17565 and 17660 just heard scratchin`; 17690 good. At 0400 7125; 9665 poor with co-channel and 9660; 15595 barely audible with co-channel; 17565 and 17690 good enough to copy; 17660 just heard scratchin` (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Channel Africa Shortwave Transmissions - 26 March 2000 TO 29 October 2000 Time UTC Freq kHz Tx kW Target Area Language MORNING PROGRAMMES 0300-0325 6095 250 East & Central Africa Swahili 0300-0330 6035 500 East & Central Africa English 0330-0355 6035 500 Madagascar French 0400-0430 5955 500 Southern Africa English 0430-0455 5955 500 Northern Mozambique Portuguese 0430-0455 3345 100 Southern Mozambique Portuguese 0430-0455 9525 250 Central Africa French 0500-0530 11720 500 West Africa English 0530-0555 11720 500 Angola Portuguese 0600-0630 15215 500 West Africa English 0630-0655 15215 500 Angola & West Africa Portuguese WEEKEND PROGRAMMES 1300-1455 21725 250 West Africa English Sat only 1300-1455 17780 250 East & Central Africa English Sun only 1300-1455 11720 100 Southern Africa English Sat-Sun EVENING PROGRAMMES 1500-1530 17780 250 East & Central Africa Swahili 1500-1530 17770 500 East & Central Africa English 1530-1555 17770 500 Madagascar French 1600-1630 9525 500 Southern Africa English 1600-1630 17860 250 East & Central Africa Swahili 1630-1655 17860 250 East & Central Africa French 1630-1655 9525 500 Northern Mozambique Portuguese 1630-1655 3345 100 Southern Mozambique Portuguese 1700-1730 17860 500 West Africa English 1730-1755 17860 500 Angola & West Africa Portuguese 1800-1830 17870 500 West Africa English 1830-1855 17870 500 West Africa French Contact us: africancan@channelafrica.org (c) 2000 Channel Africa. All rights reserved. (Channel Africa web site via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. New REE schedule has the bad news that their DX program ``Amigos de la Onda Corta`` has been reduced to only one broadcast a week [had been only two –gh]. Listeners should protest this reduction. Now scheduled UT Sundays 0105, no longer Sundays 1310, which was convenient in South America. Frequencies now in use at 0105: 9540, 9620, 11680, 15160 (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, condensed and translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Found REE Madrid English seemingly Mon-Fri only on 15285 powerful, 2000-2100 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. KAZAKHSTAN/TAJIKISTAN V of Tibet has already moved again to escape Chinese jamming. Today on 9950/15640 from 1215. [x9910/x15680] The jammers are still on 9950/15650. The jammer on 15650 is not a CNR program. It appears to be a local commercial channel from Tibet, albeit in Chinese. 9910 as usual has problems with RTTY (Olle Alm, Sweden, Mar 21/25, BC-DX) But observed on 15645 on Mar 26 (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX ed.; via DXLD) Just stay away from 15685 (gh) Just heard the tape of Tue Mar 28 1200-1230 WoR on WWCR, approx. 1215-1220 heard a CIS like 600 Hertz test tone procedure in the background, maybe VoTibet Almaty KAZ moved again to 15685 ?, was on last Sun 26th still on 15645 kHz. Also: 15680 RFA Dushanbe TJK at 2000-2100 in Ch (Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** TURKEY. V. of Turkey, English to NAm, 2200-2250 on 13640, 0300- 0350 on 11655 both very good (Bob Thomas, CT, March 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K O G B A N I. Heard BBC announce that contrary to listing in April BBC On Air, Waveguide will be heard the weekend of April 22, not April 15 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K O G B A N I. New shows on BBC Radio 4, available on internet: INSPIRATION! Radio 4, 1.30pm [Wed 1230 UT]. Return of that rare Radio 4 commodity, a lunchtime specialist panel game that actually works. And works spectacularly well, to the point where I suspect children trying to learn science would do well to listen to tapes of this programme as a learning aide. As with all the best panel games, scoring points is no more than a convenient way to provide a break between rounds. The real attraction is to hear science bods who can express their knowledge in ways that are accessible even to a science-phobe such as me. Professor Lewis Wolpert and Adam Hart-Davis return as the team captains, joined in this first show by broadcaster Johnny Ball and cybernetics specialist Professor Kevin Warwick. Hart- Davis and Wolpert have in common an ability to make science exciting without patronising the listener or reducing complexities to absurd simplications [sic]. STRUCK OFF AND DIE Radio 4, 11pm [Wed 2200 UT]. A new run for the comedy series that people unfamiliar with the format may think has an illiterate title. In fact Struck Off and Die are two characters played by Doctors Phil Redmond and Tony Garner, the former noted for his television series Trust Me I'm A Doctor, the latter a talented actor who still does occasional locum work. The idea here is to demystify, and debunk, the medical profession via a format that is itself a send-up of daytime television shows, including interviews and sketches. I do not have a tape of tonight's programme, but the last series was extremely funny (or even excruciatingly funny) and thoroughly deserved the Sony Award it won. One of the most enjoyable parts of the programme is the interview with a fictional expert in the studio. The particular appeal here is that the experts script often sounds as if it has been taken from actual interviews between consultants and their bemused patients. Stress, the doctor-patient relationship and embarrassing illnesses are among the topics (PETER BARNARD, Radio Choice, The Times via Mike Cooper, March 29, DXLD) ** U K O G B A N I. Doctor Who to return on Radio 4 Doctor Who is setting the controls of the Tardis for a return to earth in the 21st century, courtesy of Radio 4. The time-travel lord, whose eight incarnations sustained the longest science fiction series in TV history, is getting a pilot radio drama; if a hit, it could be a series next year. Doctor Who began in 1963, to fill the gap between Grandstand and Juke Box Jury. Audiences hit 18m, before dropping to 4m by the end in 1989. Today his fans go round the world (making the BBC a fortune from merchandising), and write in to plead he come back. The script is by Dan Freedman and Colin Meak of Radio 4's Loose Ends comedy show. Mr Freedman told Dr Who magazine: ``This will not be comedy. I'm keen to develop a new take, to bring forward darker aspects of the character.`` Sylvester McCoy, the seventh doctor, is considering a comeback. Yesterday, a BBC spokesman would not promise a series: ``We don't want to build up fans` hopes.`` (Audrey Gillan, Monday March 27, 2000 Guardian via Mike Cooper, DXLD) NO time or date given ** U S A. About a hundred VOA European language broadcasters and supporters attended a rally across the street from VOA headquarters on March 23. They were protesting cuts to VOA European and some Asian language services. Fifty-one broadcasting jobs will be eliminated in August as a result of these reductions. VOA's Andrew Baroch recorded interviews and sound at the rally. The 32-minute feature is available in RealAudio format at... http://www.voa.gov/savevoa.ram This is the first Communications World Internet-only report, providing expanded coverage of a subject that I covered more briefly in the broadcast radio version of the program. Best, (Kim Andrew Elliott, swprograms via DXLD) ** VENEZEULA. Radio Continental, from Barinas: according to owner Sr. Angel Maria Perez, they plan to reactivate SW with 1 kW. One of the masts for the dipole antenna which had been knocked down accidentally has been replaced. They are interested in broadcasting educational programs such as Fun With Mathematics (Matemática Divertida) and religious programs for the entire state of Barinas (Jorge Garcia Rangel, Banda Tropical March 29, Club Diexistas de la Amistad, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST; let`s see, was that 4940v?) ** VIETNAM [non]. Glenn, Voice of Vietnam was heard March 28 on 9695, carrier on at 0100, but audio was a little late starting. Rock music between the end of the English program and the start of the Vietnamese program at 0130. Then between Vietnamese program end and 0200 sign off, Radio Japan IS was heard. I recall that the Cuban relays of China Radio Int. often started with an open carrier, with the audio kicking in a few minutes later. The rock music just before 0130 and Radio Japan IS just before 0200 isn't consistent with any relays via Cuba I've heard. Maybe Merlin? Glenn, Just checked rec.radio.shortwave and Mark J. Fine says that VoV on 9695 0100-0200 is in fact a Merlin relay. He also mentions 9795 0400-0500 as another time for VoV via Merlin. He doesn't mention his source for this information. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1030) I can tell you that the xmtr site is Sackville, of all places. So, RCI is involved as well. 73, (Mark J. Fine, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wonder if VoV will end the Armavir relay? And what it is with this rock music between the Eng & Viet segments? I guess the people at the Sackville transmitter can't stand dead air. Now wait till RCI starts to relay Radio P'yongyang, if the price is right! (Ivan Grishin) Checking UT March 30, all Sackville frequencies were missing, but previous nights 9695 was not on in the 0200 hour, and 9795 not yet checked here. 9695 has been coming on late, such as March 29 at *0100:30 and UT March 27 not until *0102. VOV in English during first half hour was a full 2 seconds behind Russian relay on 7250. Still need to determine languages in the 0200-0500 period (gh, DXLD) RCI’s schedule of what it now relays via Sackville for A-00 includes VOV!: 0100-0259 9695 250 268 0300-0359 9795 250 227 0400-0459 9795 250 277 (via Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Mr Hauser, Thank you for contacting us through our website. The Voice of Vietnam broadcast that you heard was part of a 10 day testing period that we are currently undertaking from a short wave site in Canada. Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. Regards (Merlin Marketing, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) N.B. In text above, this is a test for TEN DAYS ONLY, so if it started March 27 UT it would run thru April 5 only (gh, DXLD) ###