DX LISTENING DIGEST 0-134, November 7, 2000 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 2000 archive contents see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html ** CANADA. In DXLD 0-132 one of the RCI frequencies was incorrect under The House, and Basic Black on Saturday mornings. Not 11655 but 13655 (gh, DXLD) see also IRELAND [non] ** CUBA. R. Rebelde, harmonic 15075 = 3 x 5025, Oct 29 at 0230 sports coverage, Spanish anmts, ads, jingles, very good; also heard weak 2nd harmonic: 10050. Then Nov 4 at 0215 only heard weak 10050. Did hear India on 15075 Nov 4 at 0340 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK [non]. Subject: Broadcasts of mourning in Denmark This afternoon Nov 7 at 1610 UT the Royal Danish Court announced that our Queenmother, Her Majesty Queen Ingrid quietly had passed away 43 minutes earlier at an age of 90 surrounded by the whole Royal family, including her daughter, reigning Queen Margrethe II and Crown Prince Frederik, both of whom I met last time just 5 weeks ago. Denmark has been an Kingdom uninterruptedly since year 0936 a.c. and is thereby the oldest, still existing Kingdom in Europe. Therefore such an event is of great importance to the Danish population, not at least because the Queenmother was extremely popular and at the same time has set the standards for the behaviour of royal persons the population expects. They are followed by the whole Royal family today. As a Swedish Princess, she married the Danish Crown Prince Frederik in 1935 and later became Queen of Denmark, at that time speaking fluently Danish without any accent. She became a very respected Queen until King Frederik IX passed away in 1972. This evening Denmark including Greenland and the Faeroe Islands are in deep sorrow, and all ordinary broadcasts on radio and TV have been replaced by solemn music and newscasts only covering the special national situation. Even the developments in the U.S. Presidential Election, which until 1610 this afternoon was intensively covered, were not mentioned for 5 hours! I suppose we will get the final result when it appears tomorrow, but the world outside the more than one thousand years old Kingdom of Denmark is of minor importance to the Danes right now! Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Chairman of the Danish Shortwave Club International, Knighted twice by Queen Margrethe II to the Order of Dannebrog, November 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See DXLD 0-113 for the current R. Denmark SW schedule; 9945 (gh) ** ETHIOPIA. Oromo opposition radio to broadcast in Amharic | Text of report by Ethiopian Oromo opposition radio on 5th November Dear listeners, we are pleased to announce that in a few days' time Voice of Oromo Liberation will begin broadcasting in Amharic. Transmissions in Amharic will start at 2030 [1730 gmt], immediately after the Oromo programme, and they will end at 2100 [1800 gmt] every Thursday, Friday and Sunday evening. The one-hour Oromo language programme will be halved to accommodate the Amharic one. Source: Voice of Oromo Liberation, in Oromo 1700 gmt 5 Nov 00 (BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Digital Mode tests via Pori-FIN on their 500 kW units: 9580 0030-0100 43,44 POR 500 075 9815 2130-2230 44,49,50,55,59 POR 500 090 9885 1430-1500 29,30,44,45 POR 500 075 11690 0030-0100 43,44,50,55,59 POR 500 090 11870 1430-1500 29,30,44,45 POR 500 075 12015 2130-2230 43,44,50,55,59 POR 500 090 17615 0930-1000 30-33 POR 500 075 21670 0700-1000 43,44,50,55 POR 500 075 21800 1000-1200 43,44,50,55 POR 500 075 (FCC list, Nov 2/3 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GUIANA FRENCH. Hello Ulrich, I wonder if Montsinéry is back on the air yet? Can you give me the date it resumed or is expected to? Thanks, (Glenn Hauser, Nov 3 to Ulrich Wegmüller, SRI) Hi Glenn, Last Friday I received the information from Paris that MSY will come on air in a few days, hopefully this week. I shall inform you when I get the exact date. Regards, (Ulrich Wegmüller, SRI, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We first reported in DXLD 0-120 that by Oct 7, CRI relay in English at 0400 on 9730 was back on the air. Unlike Japan and Switzerland, China has not been forthcoming about what substitute site they have obtained for this; will this mystery ever be solved??? (gh) ** IRAN. Mashhad radio changes Afghan service wavelength On 3rd November, Sado-e Khorasan's [Mashhad radio's] external Dari service news programme was heard on 6160 kHz at 0330 gmt (instead of 9580 kHz). As previously announced, Mashhad radio's external Tajik service was heard on 5950 kHz at 0100 gmt (instead of 7180 kHz). It was announced on 26th October that from 29th October, the programme would be broadcast on 720 kHz on the mediumwave service and on 5950 kHz in the 49-metre shortwave band. Mashhad radio's external Uzbek service was also heard on 5950 kHz at 0230 gmt. All these services' morning broadcast times remained unchanged. Source: BBC Monitoring research, 26 Oct - 3 Nov 00 (BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Daily sample monitoring of freqs 11785v 11787 9755 & 9717 over the past twenty-one days confirms improving audio quality of the domestic and external Arabic output, whilst foreign service via R. Iraq Int`l seems exceptionally bad, particularly on European languages. 9717 has been noted recently in // 9755 at s-on 1500-c1603 and the latter from c0540 past 2100. Either 11785v or 11787 (this one not between 1400 & 1700) is observed in use, seemingly dependent on the presence of Voice of Indonesia. Either can be in // to 9755 and each, at different dates, has been observed to c2000 (v11785 past 2200). Various ID's have been heard for Rep. of Iraq Radio, Voice of the Masses & Mother of Battles Radio or just "Idhaatu jumhiriyat 'til Iraq min Baghdad". But, beware on 11785 of co-ch RRI, EGY and Saudi Arabia, now here with Holy Koran between 1500-1800 // 13690 15205 (Ray Merrall, UK, 25/10, DSWCI World News via Noël Green, DXLD) ** IRAQ. R. Iraq International, 11784.96, Nov 4 0345-0433+, tune-in to Arabic music; talk in language, IDs. Instrumental version of Barry Manilow`s Copacabana song. Koran at 0412. Down slightly from nominal [sic] 11787. Very strong but the usual poor Iraqi modulation and slight hum (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND [non]. Glenn, already for A00 contradictory information about the site of the RTE 6155 outlet was spread. A circulated RTE schedule showed Sackville but documents from Merlin Rampisham instead. Now for B00 Merlin registered 6155 again for Rampisham, so I tend to assume that it indeed still originates from this UK site (Kai Ludwig, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And this 0130-0200 broadcast, from whichever site, clashes with VOA elexion special Nov 8, unless belayed for this date only (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. R. Liberia International, 5100, Oct 28 0015-0102*, on an hour late with continuous Afro-pops. Very little talk, abrupt sign- off, fair in noise (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. V. of Africa, 15420, English 0300 heard fairly well; some co-channel RTTY. RTTY is popping up all over!! VOG, VOIRI, Bulgaria, etc. At 0400, BBC comes on 15420 in English; RTTY remains (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MÉXICO. RMI, very good during magstorm, s/off in English at 0600* Nov 7 on 11770, unusual here; how much power? (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) < 10 kW (gh) ** PAKISTAN. Pakistan has made two slight changes - viz World Service 0800-1105 (includes English news at 1100) has moved 17525 to 17520 to avoid Voice of Russia English to Australasia 0800-1000 on 17525. Registered via Dushanbé. And 21460 has moved to 21465 to avoid Iran in Arabic from c0925 on 21460 (Noël R. Green, UK, November 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. As Kai requested, I checked VOR in English at 0400 on 7180 and 7125 Nov 6: they were virtually synchronized, with only a slight reverb between them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia World Service bandscan in English Nov 5 at 0526 with Russian musical highlights of the 20th century: 7125 good, 7180 not heard, 12020 very good, 15445 very good, 15470 superb, 15595 superb, 17595 superb. At 1453 7180 heard with test tones, IS and ID at 1500 with 5-5-5 signal in English (Volodya Salmaniw, Orcas Island, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SA`UDI ARABIA. On 6 November from 2145 to 2205 UT I listened on 11820 kHz. Think is Holy Koran service of BSKSA. Fair signal; SINPO 35343. Man spoke with more inflections than I've heard previously, so this wasn't the Koran but comments? In Arabic but not the Koran but what? At 21:53 ID ("-- Arabiya") by man, then another speaker - this possibly commentary! At 2204 the regular recitation of the Holy Koran began; familiar style. What was first part? Regards, (Bill Flynn, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA [non]. 6828.4v: I thought this was initially Radio Mogadishu. While I believe that there is an African station here, I do not think that it is a Somali. Here are the details from the best reception Dave and I got Nov 4-: 0359 open carrier, 0401 sudden talk by man but too weak to even ID. 0402 African music, very similar to that heard on the Zimbabwe and Zambia outlets. Transmitter was drifting, started up on 6828.5 and settled on 6828.38. Full AM. One too weak announcement by man at 0415 that was also too weak. Faded by 0427. My guess would be Radio Bukavu, Congo, but this is very tentative (Hans Johnson, BIHI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. Small independent radio station launched | Text of report by Somaliland newspaper `Jamhuuriya' on 5th November A small independent radio station has opened in the town of Laas Caanood [in Somaliland]. According to a `Jamhuuriya' reporter in the town, the station, which was launched last Tuesday [31st October], is run by young Somaliland nationals. The station features local and international news, among other programmes. The radio can be heard in Laas Caanood and surrounding areas and it broadcasts for several hours in the evening. Source: `Jamhuuriya', Hargeysa, in Somali 5 Nov 00 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK?? Could be shortwave in this country (gh) ** SUDAN [non]. As of 4 Nov 2000, the Radio Netherlands Madagascar relay station is carrying weekly test transmissions for the New Sudanese Council of Churches, in collaboration with the Dutch domestic public broadcaster NCRV. The station is called Voice of Hope (VOH) and transmits every Saturday at 0427-0525 UTC on 12060 and 15320kHz beamed 335 degrees to East Africa. Although the programmes will be in English and Sudanese Arabic, a quick listen to the audio of the first broadcast suggests that it's entirely in English! Tomorrow I will add an audio file of the ID. I'll also be preparing a feature about the station in the course of this week, and I will notify the URL when it's ready. Apologies for not posting this before the weekend, but I only found out about it myself a couple of hours ago! Unfortunately my psychic powers are not what they used to be... Although I work for Radio Netherlands, I am participating here on an individual basis. Opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Radio Netherlands (Andy Sennitt, RN, Nov 6 via DXLD) I've now posted an article about this station at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/sudan001107.html I have listened to a bit more of the 4 November broadcast, and they announced the following contact details: Address: Plot No. 15, Komi Crescent, Lusira, 338829 Kampala, Uganda. Tel: +256 41 220334. E- mail: hope@africaonline.co.ug (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, Nov 7, via DXLD) ** TAHITI. FRENCH POLYNESIA: 8803 USB, Mahina Radio (FJA) 0640 Nov 6 in F with ocean weather report, 4/7 [sic]. This is probably the only station from Tahiti with regular voice transmissions on shortwave which is why I include it in my loggings (Enzio Gehrig, Spain, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. RUI, 9810, Nov 4 at 0100 English news, commentary, local folk music. Poor with V. of Russia also on 9810. Ukraine heard \\ 9610, 7420, both weak-poor with adjacent channel splatter. RUI English at 1200 Nov 4 on 15520, news commentary, ID, local folk music, fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Was listening to the BBC World Service's Newshour (6195/9740) this morning Nov 4 between 5-6 am PLT, and right after they ran a report about the Brain Drain from India, they ran a Newshour jingle, then the announcer came on saying "We must stop this transmission. There is a security alert. We are obliged to evacuate the building." Then, nothing! After a few minutes, BBC ran interval signal, then classical music. After 6 am PLT, resumed normal programming. I have never heard anything like it in all the years of DXing! (Rich Toebe, Davis CA, IRCA list via DXLD) Chris Hambly also tipped me about this, but was back to normal when I tuned in a few minutes later. Bomb scare, I suppose (gh, DXLD) ** U K . BBC WS preview: THE COPLAND YEARS 4 x 25 min from Tue 7 Eu: Wed 0905, 1905, Thu 0105, 1405 Am: Wed 1405, Thu 0105, 2005, Fri 0605 [as corrected] November 14, 2000 is the centenary of the American composer, Aaron Copland`s birth. This series of four programmes - The Copland Years - looks at the history of ``classical`` music in the United States through Copland`s eyes. At the time of Copland`s birth most American music sounded like European music - composers emulated Brahms, Dvorak and other European composers. Copland, open to influences from modern composers like Stravinsky and jazz and folk musicians, wrote music that, to us, seems quintessentially American. This series looks at American music during Copland`s 90 year life and his influence as a composer and teacher. In the first programme presenter Leonard Slatkin looks at how American composers and performers in the early 1900s had strong links with Europe. It was also in this era that the great American orchestras were founded, concert halls built, and educational institutions founded that are now the backbone of American music. Aaron Copland himself studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger who taught many American composers but it was there that he began to find his own voice. A fellow composer and critic, Virgil Thomson, commented that he had heard ``the voice of America in our generation`` for the first time when Copland’s First Symphony was premièred. Copland went on to write the ballet scores that made him internationally famous - Billy the Kid, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring. By 1975 Copland`s composing career was drawing to a close but he was now very active as a conductor and firmly installed as ``the father of American music.`` His music had moved on since he wrote the cowboy ballets and he used a very personal interpretation of Schonberg`s notorious ``twelve-tone`` system. He’d written a famous book on Music Appreciation, lectured at Harvard and was a familiar face on television. And he was also a teacher and advisor to two younger generations of composers. Aaron Copland died just after his 90th birthday in 1990. The final programme examines his influence on the current American music scene and includes a look at some of Copland`s less familiar late music. Over the four programmes Leonard Slatkin will be meeting those who knew and worked with Copland, visiting the places he lived and worked, and putting together a picture in words and music of the era in which he played such a pivotal role. The series is produced by Mark Lowther (BBC Press Office via DXLD) ** U S A. Subject: US Election Results on WWCR. I heard an announcement on late Sunday night/early Monday morning that WWCR will be joining some obscure radio network`s coverage of the US election results at 05-07 UT Wednesday. This will on 3215 kHz. Other US domestic shortwave stations will probably have more important things to broadcast such as magnetic therapy cures, trilateral conspiracies, and sometimes dubious theology (Fred Waterer, ODXA via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 9715, Nov 4 1200-1228* English news, commentary, ID, local pop music, listeners` letters. No parallels heard. Fairly strong, but also strong co-channel QRM [presumably RN Bonaire in Spanish] (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. 9715, Radio Tashkent at 1317 Nov 5 Hindi program with good to very good reception. Parallel 7285 under cochannel Chinese. Beautiful IS at 1330, one of my very favourites into English, with "Radio Tashkent calling". Very good, with parallel 5060 fair (Volodya Salmaniw, Orcas Island WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###