DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-48, April 3, 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} NETS TO YOU John Norfolk`s excellent original and exhaustive list of amateur radio nets, previously published in REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING and DX LISTENING DIGEST is now available in a brand-new edition for DST on the WORLD OF RADIO website: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/nets2you.html We hope you find it useful. Comments and updates may be sent to us and direct to John at his address heading the list. BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH TO NORTH AMERICA Jan Nieuwenhuis has a convenient listing by time, color-coded to show which entries have been updated so far: http://www.425dxn.org/swls/bdxc/listings/eng-usa.htm ** ALBANIA. Hams are knocking out Tirana English to NAm on 7160 at 0145. *They* complain about the QRM! 40m ham is 7.0 to 7.3 MHz LSB (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal Program Guide March 26- October 10, 2000: (Frequencies in DXLD 00-36) Monday 0700, 1130: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, The Arts, Tourism, Soundbox. Monday 1730, 1930, 2230; Tuesday 0400, 0700, 1130: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, Focus on Europe, Sports, Soundbox. Tuesday 1730, 1930, 2230; Wednesday 0400, 0700, 1130: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, Green Society, Soundbox. Wednesday 1730, 1930, 2230; Thursday 0400, 0700, 1130: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, The Arts, Around Town, Soundbox. Thursday 1730, 1930, 2230; Friday 0400, 0700, 1130: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, The Arts, Around Town, Soundbox. Friday 1730, 1930, 2230; Saturday 0400: News, Belgium Today, Press Review, The Arts, Tourism, Soundbox. Saturday 0700, 1130, 1730, 1930, 2230; Sunday 0400: Music From Flanders. Sunday 0700, 1130, 1730, 1930, 2230, Monday 0400: Radio World, Tourism, Brussels 1043, Soundbox. (RVI web site via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. BHUTAN DXPEDITION - ANNOUNCEMENT. From: Carl Smith (Carl@dxpub.com) #2 Most Wanted is QRV May 1-12, 2000 The Kingdom of Bhutan has completed the long awaited Telecommunications Act of 2000 which authorizes amateur radio. An international team has been invited by the Ministry of Communications for the initial introduction of amateur radio in Bhutan, May 1-12, 2000. The goal will be to give as many DXers as possible, the opportunity for this #2 most wanted country. Initial emphasis will be on the primary bands. The team will be operating from two hotels, with stable power lines, in a politically stable and safe country, without the danger of a Tsunami or a hurricane to put them off of the air. So-called insurance contacts will not be necessary because of the daily upload to the log server, where one can check the logs. With many DXpeditions, the "little pistol" has been somewhat ignored, but everyone will have a chance at this most rare country. It is the peak of Cycle 23, and the team will take advantage of it to give everyone a chance. All bands and modes will be active, but after the initial demand has been met, more emphasis will be placed on the low bands. RTTY and WARC bands will be emphasized from the beginning. Later in the operation, there will be simplex operation on the higher bands for those without dual VFO capabilities. Three CW, three SSB and one RTTY station will be active around the clock. Operators include: 9V1YC - James Brooks; JA3IG - Yuu Yoshitani; JA3USA - Mac Shimamoto; JF1IST - Jin Fujiwara; K3VN - Al Hernandez; K4UEE - Bob Allphin; N0MJ - Mark Johnson; N1DG - Don Greenbaum; OH2BU - Jari Jussila; ON4WW - Mark Demeuleneere; RA3AUU - Harry Booklan; UA3AB - Andy Chesnokov; W0GJ - Glenn Johnson; W3WL - Wes Lamboley. Six of the operators are veterans of the Heard Island VK0IR operation, three operators just returned from Clipperton Island (FO0AAA), and all have extensive DXpeditioning and/or contesting experience. Generous financial and logistical support has come from Northern California DX Foundation, INDEXA, Cushcraft, Timewave Technology, Texas Towers and W4MPY QSL's. QSL CARDS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT DAYTON!!! (via KB8NW/Ohio Penn DX Bulletin April 3/BARF80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The following entry in the RCI schedule was only true for the week between time changes in Europe and North America: 2200-2229 5960 9755 13670 Mon-Fri: The World At Six 15305 17695 Sat: CBC News/Venture Canada Sun: CBC News/Arts In Canada One can now hear the World This Weekend at those times (Ricky Leong, Quebec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. R. Chechnya Svobodnaya`s new schedule is: 0200- 0500 and 1330-2000 on 7335; 0200-1700 on 12045; 0530-1400 on 15620; 1730-2000 on 9940; via St. Petersburg (Jan Nieuwenhuis, DX Hotline, via DXLD) ** CHESTERFIELD ISLAND. The TX0DX operation went QRT on Wednesday, 29 March shortly after 0000 UTC. In six days of operating, they completed 72,654 QSOs. The majority of QSOs were on 21 MHz SSB and CW, as per the original strategy to provide the maximum number of DXers their first-ever Chesterfield contact. However, other complimentary bands and modes were activated sporadically, including 50 MHz with more than 2500 QSOs and RTTY with some 800 stations in the log. The sudden QRT on Wednesday was caused by the rapidly changing weather, which threatened to make landing operations on the reef very risky and could potentially cause the group to be stuck on the reef. Any additional day spent at the reef would have added another 5000 USD to the already high cost of this operation. All the Yaesu radio equipment and Suzuki generators performed well under very severe weather conditions. The daily temperature regularly exceeded 38 degrees C (100 degrees F) and heavy rain was experienced often. The five FinnFet beam antennas were all at heights of 25 feet. The CW site was placed at the South end of the island, while and SSB sites was located at the North end, providing 300 meters of physical separation. The Comtek 20-meter four-square performed exceptionally well. On the way to the Chesterfields, the TX0DX group made a slight detour to the area where intervening reefs are indicated on some older maps. The team was able to confirm the French Navy's documentation that the claimed islands simply do not exist. Thus, the 350-kilometer open water separation between New Caledonia and the Chesterfields is assured, and the concerns expressed by some in the DX community can be put to rest. With the recent decision to admit ARANC--New Caledonia's amateur radio society--to the IARU, the way is now cleared for the Chesterfield Islands to be added to the official DXCC List, and no further complications are expected in this process. The TX0DX log search will be operational in approximately one week, since some of the QSO were logged on paper as the result of two computers succumbing to the elements. No QSO data was lost; every made QSO is safely in the hands of the group. The TX0DX operating team of FK8GM, FK8HC, JA1BK, N5KO, N7NG, OH1RY, OH2BC, OH2BH and OH2RF are pleased to be safely back in Noumea, New Caledonia, and they wish to thank the following organizations and individuals for supporting this undertaking: Yaesu Musen Co., Suzuki Co., FinnFet, Comtek, INDEXA, GDXF, F6AJA, FK8CR, JH1KRC, N4GN, OH2BN, K6GNX, W6OTC, VK3EW and all their family members back home. (Tim Totten, N4GN, March 31 via KB8NW/Ohio Penn DX Bulletin April 3/BARF80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. DISABILITY RADIO WORLDWIDE (30 minutes) Week of April 3: Mon: 1900/Thur: 2000/Fri: 1700- [repeated 8, 16 hours later] Guest: Tim Hendel Where and how a child with a disability gets an education has a lasting, lifelong effect on social development, independence and academic achievement. Is it always an advantage for a disabled child to attend a fully integrated school? Are there advantages for such a child if she or he attends a separate school with other children who have the same disability? Tim Hendel attended the New York State School for the Blind and he contends that a purely integrationist philosophy is missing something very important about people with disabilities. (RFPI Weekly Update via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4802.5, Radio Oriental 1027, Ad block, Announcer with time check and ID. Good strength but drifting wobbly carrier. This is my unID 4801 from last week (Mark Mohrmann, VT, Apr 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle Program Guide; hopefully this is for A-00 (frequencies in DXLD 00-43; at least they match) All transmissions begins with News, followed by: North America: North America: North America: 0100-0145 0300-0345 0500-0545 Mon: Mailbag* Religion & Society Mailbag* Arts on the Air Arts on the Air Cool Tue: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Man & Environment Man & Environment Man & Environment Wed: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Insight Insight Insight Thu: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Living In Germany Living In Germany Living In Germany Fri: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Spotlight On Sport Spotlight On Sport Spotlight On Sport Sat: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink German By Radio German By Radio German By Radio Sun: Saturday Review Saturday Review Saturday Review Inside Europe Spectrum Marks & Markets *canceled; replaced on April 3 at 0100 by Religion & Society Africa/Middle East: Africa/Middle East: Africa/Middle East: 0400-0445 0900-0945 1600-1645 Mon: Sunday Review NewsLink NewsLink Marks & Markets Development Forum Africa Report -or- Women On the Move Tue: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Man & Environment Africa Report Wed: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Insight Africa Report Thu: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Living In Germany Africa Report Fri: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Spotlight On Sport Africa Report Sat: NewsLink Talking Point Talking Point German By Radio African Kaleidoscope Spectrum Sun: Saturday Review Religion & Society Religion & Society Inside Europe Cool Arts on the Air -or on 1st Sun- Feature of the Month South Asia: South Asia: East Asia: 0200-0245 1600-1645 2300-2345 Mon: Sunday Review NewsLink NewsLink Marks & Markets Asia Pacific Report Development Forum Development Forum -or- -or- Women On the Move Women On the Move Tue: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Man & Environment Asia Pacific Report Man & Environment Man & Environment Wed: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Insight Asia Pacific Report Insight Insight Thu: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Living In Germany Asia Pacific Report Living In Germany Living In Germany Fri: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Spotlight On Sport Asia Pacific Report Spotlight On Sport Spotlight On Sport Sat: NewsLink NewsLink Saturday Review Germany By Radio** Talking Point Mailbag Spectrum Man & Environment Sun: Saturday Review Religion & Society Saturday Review*** Mailbag Cool Arts on the Air Living In Germany -or on 1st Sun- Feature of the Month **That's what it says; misprint for German By Radio? ***Another misprint for Sunday Review? Asia & Pacific: Asia & Pacific: Europe: 0900-0945 2100-2145 2000-2045 Mon: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Asia Pacific Report Development Forum German By Radio -or- Women On the Move Tue: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Asia Pacific Report Man & Environment Man & Environment Wed: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Asia Pacific Report Insight Insight Thu: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Asia Pacific Report Living In Germany Living In Germany Fri: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Asia Pacific Report Spotlight On Sport Spotlight on Sport Sat: Talking Point Saturday Review Saturday Review Marks & Markets Mailbag Weekend Sun: Religion & Society Sunday Review Sunday Review Cool Arts on the Air Arts On the Air West Africa: West Africa: West Africa: 0600-0645 1100-1145 1900-1945 Mon: Sunday Review NewsLink NewsLink Marks & Markets Africa Report Africa Report Tue: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Africa Report Africa Report Wed: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Africa Report Africa Report Thu: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Africa Report Africa Report Fri: NewsLink NewsLink NewsLink Good Morning Africa Africa Report Africa Report Sat: NewsLink Talking Point Talking Point German By Radio African Kaleidoscope Spectrum includes Mailbag Africa last Sat Sun: Saturday Review Religion & Society Religion & Society Inside Europe Cool Arts On the Air -or on 1st Sun- Feature of the Month West Africa: 2100-2145 2100-2145 cont. 2100-2145 cont. Mon: NewsLink Thu: NewsLink Sat: Saturday Review Development Forum Living In African -or- Germany Kaleidoscope Women On the Move Fri: NewsLink Tue: NewsLink Spotlight On Sun: Sunday Review Man & Environment Sport Arts On the Air Wed: NewsLink Insight (DW web site via John Norfolk, OKCOK, who is totally responsible for the format above, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY (?). > 9420 -0600-0700 plus techno music without announcements until 0700 Male announcement ``Energy Radio now available all over the world``. It may be written NRG rather than Energy.< Properly it should read as NRJ. This is a French company with various affiliate FM stations, also here in Germany. However, a expert hardly believes that this group will start a shortwave service, as it wants to establish FM outlets only and has also no any interest in all the new-fangled digital stuff. His assumption is, that a English station broadcasts as "Energy Radio" and is not aware the risk to receive a nasty letter from Paris. By the way, for my feeling the 9420 frequency is "Jülich-like". Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. VOG English to NAm is now at 0200-0208, on 7450 which has jammer and RTTY, 9420, 12110 instead of 12105, and 15630 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But the Sunday 1906 music show announced in English, ``It`s All Greek To Me``, was gone April 2 on 17705, just Greek talk. Possibly it shifted to 1806, unchecked (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.5, April 3 1137 acknowledging a report from Washington State, but could not catch the name. Perhaps someone with a secret surname, anyway (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. RKI made their regular summer shift to 11715 1030-1100 April 2. Reception weak as usual. Considering the numbers of years this relay [via CANADA] has been in operation, you would think they would do something about the consistently poor reception (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA? I have been looking for RUB`s English broadcast previously at 1200 on 12085 or 12015. April 2 there was nothing audible on 12015, but on 12085 a fluttery signal in Japanese, featuring wonderful Tuvan throat-singing at 1217, later ``Estrellita``. Could not detect any ID before 1230* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Angry broadcasting commission staff close local radio; Text of report by the Papua New Guinea newspaper `The National' web site on 31st March The National Broadcasting Commission's [3375 kHz, Mt Hagen per WRTH 1998; not 3305 Daru, R. Western as reported elsewhere -gh] Radio Western Highlands' 'Nek Bilong Tarangau' station will be off air for an indefinite period. Frustrated NBC staff have petitioned the provincial government to look into two of their demands after criminals held up the driver and provincial manager Mr Winterford Suharupa yesterday night at Newtown. The driver Kaman Nogori was driving home the station manager when four men apparently blocked the road and stopped them at the gun point. The men then dragged the two out of the vehicle before driving off. The vehicle was on hire by the NBC. After a meeting yesterday the NBC staff unanimously agreed to close the radio station at 1606 [local time] saying that it would remain closed until the two demands in the petition are met by the provincial government. The NBC staff are demanding that the Western Highlands provincial government buy a new vehicle and that it provide a full 24-hour security for the station . Spokesman for the NBC staff William Kiak said that it was not the first time they have suffered such an incident. He said they lost two vehicles previously to thieves in the same manner last year. He added that they depended very much on vehicles to effectively carry out their duties and without that they could not do much but to shut down the station. Mr Kiak said that broadcasting officers relied heavily on vehicle on their shift especially in the night and early morning. "We can't pretend that everything is going well and continue our duties. It's about time to speak out the problems we encounter to the authorities," added Mr Kiak. He said the station had suffered enough from vandalism at the transmitter station at Holy Trinity Teachers College, break and enter into the manager's office twice and stealing of their vehicles last year and this year. [Sentence as published] Mr Kiak added that they had recovered the body of one of their vehicles stolen last year with its engine and others parts all stripped off while the other one was never recovered at all. Source: `The National' web site, Port Moresby, in English 31 Mar 00 (via BBC Monitoring, via DXLD) ** PERU. 6955, April 2, Radio La Voz del Campesino, Huarmaca, New Station!, 2255-232 [sic], TC ``La hora, 6 de la tarde 11 minutos Radio La Voz del Campesino... Un saludo en CHONTA para...``, other ID ``Desde Huarmaca para el Peru y el mundo, Radio La Voz del Campesino`` (Yimber Gaviria, Cali, Colombia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. [6819.55 - frequency omitted from original distribution due to quirks of MS Word 7.0] Radio La Voz de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba; Thanks to a tip from PFA, I could hear the station on this new frequency, at 1100-1120 on 27/MAR/2000, with poor signal. Playing a good seleccion of huaynos and huylash. The identification was given as ``Desde la centenaria provincia de Huancabamba, transmite Radio La Voz de las Huarinjas con el mensaje de peruanidad para toda la sierra norte del Peru.`` Note: According to the official frequency list of the Ministry of Transports and Communications, issued in September of 1999, ``La Voz de las Huarinjas Empresa Individual de Responsabilidad Limitada`` is currently licensed under the callsign OAW1B, to transmit on the frequency of 4930 kHz in the 60 meter band with an output power of 1 kW. Studio and transmiiting site is located at Barrio El Altillo s/n, Huancabamba, Provincia de Huancabamba, Departamento de Piura, Peru. (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Relampago DX via DXLD) ** PERU. 4693.2 R. Cielo, 31/03 1028-1145 22222 mx ID ``Esta usted escuchando, Radio Cielo, claro Radio Cielo...`` mx ID ``Esta en sintonía de Radio Cielo.`` NOTA: la frecuencia varia ligeramente entre 4692.0 y 4693.2. Intente escucharlos entre 0040-0108 y no capte señal alguna, esta estación parece peruana por la forma que habla el locutor, pero no dan ningún advs, solo se identifica entre canción y canción (Pedro F. Arrunategui, Peru, Chasqui DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI NAm service 0200 on 9570 has been dropped. They are back on 9510. They have announced 9510 but a couple of times I have found them on 9570, coming on late 5, 10 15 minutes late. An Arabic is on 9570. March 30 and 31 UT at 0200 on 9510; //11940 a no-show. Maybe now they will stay on 9510 and 11940? WYFR seems to have dropped 9505 which last season QRMed 9510. RRI also at 0400 on 11940 and 15105 which was QRMed by 15115 HCJB (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Radio Romania International is coming in very well at 2300-2355 on their summer freq of 11830, heard April 2. This may be the best time to hear Romania, due to the low noise levels at this time & freq. (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hi Glen, received from Voice of Tatarstan together with a f/d QSL card their latest schedule that was changed on March 26th: 04-05 UTC 15105 kHz (beamed to the Far East) 06-07 UTC 15105 kHz (beamed to Urals and West Siberia) 08-09 UTC 11915 kHz (beamed to European part of Russia) 08-09 UTC relayed on 252 kHz (for Tatarstan and neighbouring regions) Transmitter sites shortwave: Samara, longwave: Kazan All programmes in Russian and/or Tatar language. 73s, (Andy (Pennant Museum) Schmid, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES. FEBA Broadcast Schedule FEBA Radio - Mahe, Seychelles, Indian Ocean Broadcast Schedule A00, Summer 2000 26th March to 29th October 2000 Transmitter Site (SEY): 04 deg 36" So, 55 deg 28" Ea. B: Broad beam of 68deg at -6dB, CHR 2/3/0.5 N: Narrow beam of 35deg at -6db, CHR(S)4/3/0.5, slew +/-12 or 18deg Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg kW North INDIA, NEPAL, TIBET ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1500-1600 smtwtfs ENGLISH S.Asia 11600 040 B 100 South INDIA, MALDIVES, SRI LANKA ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0815-0900 .....f. ENGLISH S.Asia 15460 052 N 100 1500-1600 smtwtfs ENGLISH S.Asia 11600 040 B 100 1630-1700 s...... ENGLISH S.Asia 11605 052 N 100 MIDDLE EAST ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1245-1300 .....f. ENGLISH 15535 340 B 100 East AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN, INDIAN OCEAN ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0345-0400 .....f. ENGLISH 11885 280 B 75 Schedule Engineer, FEBA Radio, Ivy Arch Road, WORTHING BN14 8BX, UK. WEBSITE: http://www.feba.org.uk A00bs1 dated 23.03.00 rww (entire FEBA schedule via Wolfgang Bueschel; gh excerpted English for DX LISTENING DIGEST; note new times) ** SLOVAKIA. I found R. Slovakia to NAm in English at 0100 replaced 7300 with 7230, //5930, 9440 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. ``New`` Mogadishu radio station reported; Text of report by Somali newspaper `Xog-Ogaal' A new radio station, whose owners and location still are unknown, has been heard in Mogadishu in the past few days. The station has been test-broadcasting on a shortwave frequency, and it has so far been carrying only music. It becomes the sixth radio station broadcasting from Mogadishu. The number of radio stations has been increasing in the city. Meanwhile, pro-Husayn Muhammad Aydid radio, Voice of the Somali People radio, has been off air quite for some time now. Radio Mogadishu Voice of the Somali Republic and Voice of the Somali Pacification which support [Mogadishu faction leaders] Ali Mahdi Muhammad and Uthman Hasan Ali Ato respectively have also been off air. The pro-Ato radio is said to have ceased broadcasting due to technical problems which are being sorted out. The radio is expected to resume broadcasting soon. [The pro-Aydid radio station Voice of the Somali People in fact resumed broadcasting on 2nd April. It was observed by BBC Monitoring from 1630-1900 gmt on 6760 kHz shortwave.] Sources: 'Xog-Ogaal', Mogadishu, in Somali 2 Apr 00; Monitoring research 2 Apr 00 (BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. R. Sweden, half hour English to NAm at 0230 and 0330 is still on 9495, not 9435 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Just heard on SRI that they will be closing broadcasts on SW in Spanish in October; will continue to exist only online (Creomar, April 3, radio-escutas translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) As announced March 27; another station leaving us orphans; we ask for letters of protest, not that they will do much good (Francisco Rubio, Spain, ADXB, Noticias DX, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. RTI English hours: NAm 0200 & 0300 5950 & 9680 via WYFR 0700 5950 WYFR CAm 0200 11740 WYFR Eu 1800 3955 Skelton 2200 11565 15600 WYFR Au/NZ 1200 9610 Japan/Korea 0300 11745 1200 7130 SE Asia 0200 & 0300 15345 11825 1400 15125 (Bob Thomas, CT, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non] .Radio Taipei International has moved to 15600 2200- 2300, heard April 2. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand is on 9885 (ex 9810) 1230-1300, heard April 2. (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. I just barely hear RUI, Kiev, English at 0000 on 5905 and 9630. 5905 has heavy het, but no other audio heard, heavy static crashes. 9630 has a co-channel, R. Liberty in Russian, and at some point 9635 in French knocks it out. Are they burning the midnight oil for naught? Why even bother? (Bob Thomas, CT, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED KINGDOM. BBC World Service in its confusing new setup provides the Europe/North Africa news/entertainment stream if accessed via http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml As noted Monday April 3 at 1905 UT Health Matters, 1930 Everywoman. This also avoids the delays and commercials when accessed via yahoo`s broadcast.com when however at 1930 UT I wanted to hear Quote, Unquote on the Americas stream (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED KINGDOM. Electronic Telegraph ISSUE 1773 Sunday 2 April 2000: BBC to quit Bush House, By Neil Bennett THE BBC will tomorrow announce that it is looking for a property partner as part of a review expected to see it moving out of some of its most famous sites, including Bush House, home of the World Service, at Aldwych. The corporation has filed an "Ojec" notice, a European Commission form signalling that it is looking for a private- sector partner to manage and redevelop its vast property portfolio. Greg Dyke, the BBC's director-general, is expected to announce he wants to bring in a property partner to enable a move into larger, more modern premises without needing to invest in them. He hopes this will help release the huge unrealised value of the estate. A partner would be expected to help redevelop under-used land around Television Centre in West London, into space that could be let to other tenants. The BBC's lease on Bush House expires in 2005, and while it is likely to be renewed, the BBC believes the building needs to be completely redeveloped. The World Service may be moved into a purpose-built headquarters elsewhere, enabling the BBC and its partner to capitalise on the full value of the site. (Electronic Telegraph via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RFE/RL to reduce Bulgarian, Romanian programming; Text of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) press release Washington, DC, 30th March 2000: [RFE/RL] President Thomas A. Dine announced today that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is restructuring its broadcasts to Bulgaria and Romania to make programming in those languages more accessible to a wider range of listeners. Extensive audience research in these two countries has demonstrated, Dine said, that ``programs that are more compact, that are aired at times of greatest radio listenership and that are available on FM will increase listenership and thus contribute to the mission of RFE/RL.`` To achieve these ends, Dine announced a reduction in programming in both services, from 44 hours and 15 minutes a week to 24 hours and 25 minutes a week in the Bulgarian Service and from 27 hours and 25 minutes a week to 20 hours and 25 minutes a week in the Romanian Service. RFE/RL will be introducing new program schedules in these services this summer. In addition, the station will be reducing the number of Prague-based staff and in freelance expenditures as well, in order to bring the size and cost of these services into line with other RFE/RL broadcast services that produce similar amounts of programming. Because these reductions are taking place in the context of RFE/RL's efforts to better reach its listeners, Dine pointed out, they will not reduce the number of listeners the two services reach but may even increase it. Dine said that these reductions are entirely in line with RFE/RL's constant effort to become ever more efficient, to do more with less. Source: RFE/RL press release, Washington DC, in English 30 Mar 00 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. You can hear a clip of the African Beacon IS on the Interval Signals Archive at: http://www.intervalsignals.com Regards, (Dave Kernick, hard-core-dx) Listening to that, they actually ID as ``World Beacon, African service`` and give their website as http://www.worldbeacon.net (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Mike Malloy, liberal late-night talk host on WLS 890 Chicago the past three years, and previously on WSB 750 Atlanta, has been fired by WLS; his last show was March 31. See the Chicago Tribune story via: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/zorn/ (Wally Leisering, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KTBN noted back on the air April 1 at 1950 on 15590; had been off several weeks for repairs (George Thurman, TX) I was going to mention that the only program worth hearing on this 24/7 station is The Joy of Music, organ music with Diane Bish (even that is interrupted for the mandatory pious platitudes), but it is missing (pre-empted?) from current TBN simulcast TV sked by their Praise-a- thon (gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New X-bander WTAW, College Station TX, heard on 1620 April 2 //1150, very strong (Mark Sills, TX, via George Thurman, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. The new RCI relay was absent UT April 2, but finally operated per full schedule UT April 3, and did follow the previous Russian relay language rotation: 0100 English, 0130-0159* Vietnamese on 9695 0200 Vietnamese, 0230-0259* English on 9695 0300 Spanish, 0330-0359* English on 9795 0400-[0500] Vietnamese on 9795 The three English broadcasts had the same content, news followed by Sunday Show, about traditional music. No frequencies were mentioned at sign-on. Noticed at 0225 during the Vietnamese broadcast that Viet lessons were being presented in English, something one would expect to find on the English service, then open carrier 0227-0230. Meanwhile the old Russian relay 7250 is no longer being heard. Both 9695 and 9795 have some adjacent channel problems much of the time, and the Sackville signal does not seem as strong as it should be, but it sure beats Russia or Vietnam direct. English underway once again UT April 4 at 0107 check on 9695 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non}. Glenn, I noticed VoV missing on 7250 0100-0130 April 3. I have a feeling that the RCI relay is more than just a test. (Ivan Grishin, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###