DX LISTENING DIGEST 0-136, November 10, 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 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html WORLD OF RADIO NEW TIME ON WBCQ2: UT Sunday 0030 on 9335-CUSB may start this week or next WORLD OF RADIO AND CONTINENT OF MEDIA SHORTWAVE-ONLY SCHEDULE AS OF NOVEMBER 11, 2000 [NOTE: This now shows new RFPI frequencies as scheduled. Target date for switch from 15049 to 15065 is Nov 15; later to activate 7480. When 7480 comes on, 15065 may no longer be 24h resulting in the loss of some late-night repeats. Days and times here are strictly UT] Thu 0030 WOR WBCQ1 7415 Thu 0130 COM RFPI 7480 15049/15065 21815-USB Thu 0930 COM RFPI 15049/15065 Thu 2130 WOR WWCR 15685 [from Dec: 9475] Fri 1030 WOR WWCR 7435 Fri 1900 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Fri 1930 WOR RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Sat 0130 WOR WWCR 3215 Sat 0300 COM RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Sat 0330 WOR RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Sat 1100 COM RFPI 15049/15065 Sat 1130 WOR RFPI 15049/15065 Sat 1230 WOR WWCR 15685 Sat 1730 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Sat 1800 WOR RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Sun 0030 WOR WBCQ2 9335-CUSB [NEW from Nov 12 or 19] Sun 0130 COM RFPI 7480 15049/15065 21815-USB Sun 0200 WOR RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0728 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0930 COM RFPI 15049/15065 Sun 1000 WOR RFPI 15049/15065 Sun 1930 WOR WWCR 15685 Sun 2000 WOR WWCR 12160 [NEW from Nov 12] Sun 2300 WOR RFPI 15049/15065 21815-USB Mon 0100 WOR WWCR 3215 Mon 0601 WOR WWCR 3210 Mon 0700 WOR RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Mon 1500 WOR RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Mon 2200 COM RFPI 15049/15065 21815-USB Tue 0600 COM RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Tue 1200 WOR WWCR 15685 Tue 1400 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Tue 1900 WOR RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Tue 2000 COM RFPI 15049/15065 21815-USB Wed 0300 WOR RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Wed 0400 COM RFPI 7480 15049/15065 Wed 1200 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 Wed 1730 COM RFPI 21815-USB 15049/15065 ** ANTIGUA. DW relay, 17730, has continuous heavy crackling disrupting audio, and splattering at least plus/minus 15 kHz, noted Nov 10 at 1543, and previous days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3310, R Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba: This station is currently running 8 kw, although the transmitter is rated for 10 kw. The studio is in Cochabamba, but the transmitter site is located in Cotapache, about 20 km away. I couldn't go to the transmitter site, but the station director said that the antenna is only about 7 meters off the ground. They had a big stack of QSL replies ready to send out and invite reports and inquiries. 4830, R Grigotá, Santa Cruz: The station owner, Daniel Artega, says the station is active running half power (500 watts) due to several bad 4-400c tubes. He says new tubes were ordered from California, but never received. The studio is currently undergoing remodeling and is a real mess, although the MW transmission was on the air when I visited. The transmitter location is about 7 km from the center of Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, my monitoring was unable to pick up the station on SW during my stay there and I question whether it is really currently active. I'll try to get another read on the situation in about 2 weeks. 4855, R Centenario, Santa Cruz: This station is located in a nice, well equipped building on the edge of town just off the highway toward Cochabamba. The station director reports that it is running 4 kw. (WRTH says 5 kw, Passport says 1 kw) It was audible during my stay in Santa Cruz. 5500, R Luz del Oriente, Santa Cruz: This station (listed in WRTH) does not appear to exist. The address reported in WRTH is a house and the owner said there was a radio transmitter in the back when he moved in a few years ago, which he would be willing to sell fairly cheap. He had never heard of the station, nor had anyone in the vicinity. Interestingly, the current resident has worked in radio and would appear to be knowledgeable. 5974.2, R Nacional, Cochabamba: This station (listed in WRTH) has apparently gone bankrupt and will not return to the air. 6015, R El Mundo, Santa Cruz: This station is owned by the El Mundo newspaper and was not on the air during my stay. A visit to the station yielded the information that the station was temporarily off the air due to equipment problems, and that all of the station personnel were on vacation. The representative said he expected the station to be back on the air in a few weeks. We`ll see! 6030/9660, R ABC, Santa Cruz: This station was recently sold and merged into the Radio Antena 1 group. At the moment it is only transmitting on FM, but there are efforts currently underway to re- initiate SW transmissions, hopefully in December 2000 (next month). The local director was not sure of the frequency(s) to be used, but said that it would be "the same as before". No information on power, etc. was available, but I will check back with them in a few weeks to see if more information can be gleaned. (I also mentioned that if they let us know ahead of time by email, it might be possible to get some reception reports from various areas of the world to check their transmission.) 6095, R Cosmos, Cochabamba: This station has been off SW for 4-5 years, according to the MW station manager. The primary business was promotion of music recordings and the SW market does not support the business. There are no plans to return to SW, although the station is active on MW. 6135, R Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: This station is on the air and often reported, so nothing new here. (ALL: Walt Fair, visiting Bolivia, Cumbre DX Nov 8 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn, As I got off the commuter bus this morning, bleary- eyed at 5:45AM, a microphone with a CFRB sign was thrust in front of my face. My opinion of last night's televised leader`s debate was requested. I had other things on my mind at the time, but came up with "No one won, no one lost". With those "jewels of wisdom", I may have made my SW début today, that is if CFRX is back. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Toronto, Nov 10 [not 20, typo previously] DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I have to admit that I was confused by the switch in the timings of the "Maple Leaf Mailbag," as I`d had no advance notice. The same retiming, to the first half-hour, is also valid for "Le Courrier mondial," the French mailbag. Confusing, too, is that new schedule on the RCI website. I couldn`t navigate it, and heard the same from people who are far more conversant with webpage design than I am. At the top of the page, in the explanatory text, there is a link to the engineering sked...but unfortunately that version doesn't give programming, just languages. Something else I had no advance notice on is the testing from Flevo. I first read about it in DXLD, though it turns out that we`d gotten, yesterday morning, an e-mail about it from Alok Dasgupta...who reported pretty good reception in Calcutta, especially on the 19 mb frequency. (I was told that monitoring in Madras agreed with that.) There have been plans to put out a new English transmission to South Asia at 1500-1600 UTC. It was originally to be transmitted via Xian, but for some reason that fell through. If these good reception results for a Flevo relay hold up, and if things can be worked out with RN, then the transmission could be on the air, on a regular basis, by next month. Finally, a follow-up to DXLD 0-128: The new RCI announcer-producers in Toronto and Ottawa are the second ones in each city. We've had one in each for ages...currently Philippe Murat in Toronto and Robert Jaros in Ottawa. I think Stéphane Parent talked about this on last week's "Courrier mondial," but I`d have to go back and listen again to check. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, Montréal, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. Checked the RCI test via Flevo on its last day, Nov 10 at 1457, 15360 mixed with DW but it was off by 1500. A couple of minutes of RCI IS and IDs, then into something else. Not very good, but barely audible //17820. I am sure this observation from SNAm will be irrelevant to reception in the SAs target (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. As I am sure you are aware, 99% of religious broadcasts on SW are Christian. Nonetheless, here are a couple of Hindu programs on Toronto-area AM stations: "Bhajanawali" http://www.bhajanawali.com/ on CJMR-1320, Mississauga, ON. Sundays, 1800 EST/2300 UTC. Program consists of bhajans (devotional songs, usually in Sanskrit or Hindi), sermons, and talks on the Bhagavad Gita. Program is usually 50-50 Hindi/English. Real audio is available on website. "Hindu's Hour of Inspiration", on WTOR-770 Youngstown, NY. Sundays, 0800 EST/1300 UTC. Usually entire program is in EE, except for the Sanskrit and Hindi bhajans. No website, that I know of. Almost all of WTOR's brokered-time ethnic programs are targeted to Toronto. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. The CRI outlet from Russia is not marked on the schedule: It`s 7175 for the 2200-2300 broadcast, originating from Taldom. CRI also still has French 2130-2230 on 7215 via Samara; I noted a slightly improved audio quality when I checked today (Nov. 10), it`s still the usual poor phone feed but at least readable instead of hopelessly distorted (Kai Ludwig, Germany, November 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Wednesday Nov 15 is the projected date for 15049 to be replaced by 15065 at RFPI. Until 7480 is brought up subsequently, 15065 will run 24 hours like 15049 has been. James Latham is back from a trip to Idaho, gathering material for Far Right Radio Review on Global Community Forum. Chip --– will be featured already Sat Nov 11 at 1600 plus repeats (RFPI Mailbag Nov 10, notes by gh for DXLD) ** CUBA. 1200, LV de Yaguajay, Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus, unlisted station with full ID 1220 10/31 and into mx program "Hora Juvenil". Stronger of the two stations on this frequency. R Sancti Spíritus IDs 1200 as Yaguajay relay, so this is a new frequency for this xmtr ex- 1190. Location given in ID as "Ciudad Camilo", but can't locate it in any reference (Jay Novello, Exuma, Bahamas, from an extensive bandscan, via DXLD) So this finally answers our question from months ago about the frequency for this new station reported by BBCM (gh) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Glenn, While surfing the net I stumbled upon a site that features several pictures of Radio Prague's Litomysl- Pohodli tranmsmitter site. Included are pictures of SW antennas as well as the AM antennas used by RFE on 1287 kHz. The link is: http://slezak2.misto.cz/pohodli (Christos Rigas, Wood Dale, Illinois, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4960.2, Radio Villa; Santo Domingo, Nov. 10, 0034-0045, Back on the air. LA music, male announcer in Spanish, jingles. Canned ID at 0042 UTC. 34343 (Mark Veldhuis, Netherlands, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Ref. the item about Radio Huriyo (Freedom) in DXLD 135 and listed under SOMALIA. In fact this station is mainly aimed at the Somali-speaking population in eastern Ethiopia. (Chris Greenway, UK, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Special News: From FRS, Nederlands via Peter Verbruggen; Dear FRS Friends, Perhaps not expected, next Sunday will see a full repeat of last Sunday's combined Joop ter Zee Memorial Broadcast/ FRS 20th Birthday. I will keep my promise from last Sunday: there will be a 50 min. FRS Goes DX Show (at 10.00 UTC). As the full programming will last more than 6 hours, we are starting as early as just after 07.00 UTC, 08.00 CET wintertime! Frequency could be 6280 kHz. Have a nice (FRS) weekend. Another European Pirate Station Bulletin; You might be interested to know that BBMS via Radio Ozone will now during the winter months be leaving the 48 mb (6.200 khz) and continuing on the 42 mb namely 7.445 khz, starting at 07.30 UTC. You can e-mail us at bbms4ozone@compuserve.com with your reception reports, comments, criticisms and what other input you would like to pass our way. Then again if you would like a silly piece of paper to stick on your radio shack wall and a fact sheet why not write to us our snail mail address. Which is 85 Hillside Road West, Suffolk NR35 1RH England, not forgetting of course some form of return postage (Free Radio Weekly Nov 10 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. YLE B-00 English to NAm: 0100 UT weekends on 9655, 12035; 0200 UT Mon-Fri on 12035 (Bob Thomas, CT, DXLD) As actually monitored or announced somewhere? This contradicts our previous info so I checked again: Contrary to what I copied from the toll-free tape in Connecticut, and the English page http://www.yle.fi/fbc/rfinland/index.html on the website http://www.yle.fi/fbc/rfinland that the UT Sunday-only English to NAm on 9655 and 12035 is at 0130-0200, the overall SW schedule, which is so small as to be almost illegible on my screen, http://www.yle.fi/fbc/rfinland/english/worldwideschedule.htm# shows a full hour of red English at 0100-0200 UT. The rest of the English schedule appears to match our previous info, not Bob`s (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. And I just received this: The Jülich site of Deutsche Telekom announces following test transmission for tomorrow (Nov. 10): 1500-1600 on 25740, aiming at 115 degrees, a tape loop will be used as modulation. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, ibid., DXLD) Hoi, there is a single test tomorrow, on Fri, Nov 10th, 1500-1600, on 25740 via Juelich-Germany, at 115 degrs. Modulation is an announcement only. Reception reports to: ralf.weyl@telekom.de Scheduled is Wertachtal at other times of the day: 25740 0800-1000 30,31S,41N,42,43,44EWER 500 075 D GERMAN D DWL DWL 25740 1000-1200 29,30,41N,42,43,50 WER 500 075 D GERMAN D DWL DWL 25740 1200-1400 60 WER 500 075 D GERMAN D DWL DWL. regards and vy73s de (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked 25740 several times during the 1500 hour Nov 10, but inaudible here in disturbed conditions (gh, OK, DXLD) 25740, caught last 2 mins of DW Jülich test at 1458. I thought the email on HCDX said it was 1500-1600, but evidently 1400-1500 (Mark Hattam, UK, harmonics@egroups.com) ** GREECE. Since they pushed back the clocks and put the new winter schedules into effect on October 29, I have been busy chasing kilocycles and opening and closing frequency announcements on The Voice of Greece, translating it all into the enclosed schedule. So far, I have heard nothing from Dionisios Angelogiannis or the program department, but I expect that it will be a few weeks until they get it all organized. The asterisk (*) that appears is not necessarily referring to the excellence of the signal, only the better of the 2 or 4 frequencies involved on each service. In the case of the services at the bottom of the schedule at lest I have heard a signal that means the TVOG is there. If the program department sends me information, I may be able to pick out the portions that are transmitted in the English language. At least I did manage to get some of the news in English and the Hellenes Around the World and It`s All Greek to me programs off of the air. I have heard on the air nothing that gives indication that TVOG is testing or has put into regular operation its VOA-donated 250-kW transmitter; it was being installd and was supposed to be in use in November. Greek workmen are noted for making the job last beyond the scheduled time. [anecdotes about a tile-setter, shoemaker. Following uses tabs which look right at the moment, but maybe not to you...]. THE VOICE OF GREECE (ERA 5) Oct 29, 2000 to March 24, 2001 UT Avlis1 Avlis2 Kavala1 Kavala2 DL/GR Target 0000-0350 7450 5895 7475 *9420 NAm, Eu 0400-0550 *7450 15630 9375 17520 Eu, NAm, ME, Af 0600-0700 *9420 15630 7475 17520 Eu, Au 0700-0800 *9420 15630 9375 12105 Eu, Au 0800-0900 9420 *15630 silent silent Eu 0900-0950 9420 *15630 silent silent Eu, Azores 0950-1100 silent silent silent silent 1100-1200 9420 *15630 silent silent Eu 1200-1500 9420 15630 *9690D Eu, NAm 1500-1700 9420 *15630 Eu 1700-1800 9420 *15630 Eu 1800-2050 9420 7450 *17705D Eu, NAm 17565G NAm, SAm 2050-2100 7450 *17705D Eu, NAm 17565G NAm, SAm 2100-2150 9375 7450 *17705D Eu, NAm 17565G NAm, SAm 2150-2200 9375 *17705D Eu, NAm 17565G NAm, SAm 2200-2250 9375 *12105 Eu, SAm, CAm 2300-2350 15630 7450 *12105 15650 SAm, CAm NWAf 1200-1250 12105 *15650 Balkans 1300-1350 12105 *15650 Tashkent 1400-1650 12105 *15650 Eu langs 1700-1900 9375 *11645 Eu langs 1900-2000 7475 *9375 Eu langs 2000-2050 7475 *9375 Balkans 2100-2250 15650 *9420 Au News in English: (Mon-Fri) 0300-0306 on 7450 5895 7375 9420 News in English: (Mon-Fri) 0610-0617 on 9420 15630 7475 17520 News in English: (every day) 1945-1955 on 7475 9375 Hellenes Around the World (English): Sat 1700-1800 on 9420 15630 It`s All Greek to Me (English): Sun 1903-2000 9420 7450 17705 17565 (repeat) Sun 2203-2250 on 15650 9420 (John Babbis, Silver Spring MD, Nov 5, all retyped and slightly reformated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Compare to DXLD 0-129, notably 15170 at 0600-0800, maybe Delano, not yet checked here ** GUATEMALA. Glenn: A bit of a late response here..... You asked a few questions in the 2-1-00 Digest about LV de Atitlán. Yes, they were active on 1490. I heard them myself on a few trips to that part of Guatemala. The transmitter is actually still in place in the studio. It could be up and running as fast as someone could put the tower back together. It's in sections inside their building. Ditto the SW xmtr for 2390, although you didn't ask about it. The FM is on 103.5 and is now broadcasting from Sololá on the other side of Lake Atitlán which they told me they did so they can be up higher and get good coverage of the whole lake (Chuck Hutton, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Believe I had wondered whether 1490 was actually an IF image of 2390. Tnx, Chuck (gh) ** IRAN. VOIRI, English hour to NAm & CAm [0030 presumably] on 9022, 6065, 6135 (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 6135.68, VOIRI 0040 Nov 1 English language service, with talks about the diffusion of Islam and chantings. Fair to good signal. Obviously off-frequency from nominal 6135 kHz (Renato Bruni, Italy, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ITALY. Here is the new schedule as of Oct. 29, 2000 from IRRS- Shortwave in Milan, Italy - broadcasting to Europe, N Africa and the Middle East. 0530-0700 UTC on 3985 kHz (daily) 0700-0800 UTC on 7120 kHz (daily) 0800-1600 UTC on 7120 kHz (Sat & Sun) 1800-2300 UTC on 3985 kHz (daily) 2300-0000 UTC on 7120 kHz (Fri, Sat & Sun) The latter was just added as of Nov 4, 2000 and is a test intended to reach northern Europe with an alternative to 3985 kHz. Reception outside of Europe on this slot may be possible as we proceed into the winter. All transmissions are with an omni-directional antenna out of Milan, Italy in A3A (-6dB reduced carrier, Upper Side Band). This mode is completely compatible with a ordinary AM receivers. For best reception outside our target area you may set your receiver to AM synchronous detector USB, or to the USB mode. Address for reception reports by e-mail: reports@nexus.org Further information at : info@nexus.org Frequency and program schedules on line at: http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules Main site at: http://www.nexus.org (Ron Norton, Italy, Cumbre DX Nov 9 via DXLD) ** KIRIBATI. 9810: According to Radio NZ International's Technical Manager Adrian Sainsbury, just home from Kiribati, there are no plans at present to repair the shortwave transmitter, because the Chief Engineer is currently on long term sick leave. While in Kiribati, Adrian helped repair shortwave and satellite receiving antennas at the station (via Barry Hartley, RNZ via B. Clark Nov 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD)) ** MONACO [non]. Hi Glenn, TWR 0745/0755-0920 on 12070 originates not from Germany but from Albania instead; they used this channel from the Albanian Cerrik site already in B99. Regarding 9870 "France": The shortwave transmitters of RMC are located at Mt. Agel, on French ground but immediately outside Monaco. May others discuss whether or not it is justifiable to consider the Mt. Agel outlets as transmissions from Monaco, but one should also know that MW 1467 and LW 216 originates from another site (Roumoules), some distance away from Monaco (Kai Ludwig, Germany, November 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. It is not widely known that many of the RTM shortwave outlets originate from the Briech facilities of IBB. The IBB schedule shows in accordance with the "Observer" report RTM now for 0000-0500 on 7185 (transmitter 01, 75 degrees), 1100-1500 on 15335 (tx 02, 27 degrees) and 2200-2400 on 7160 (tx 02, 27 degrees). The remaining 15345/15340 channel originates from Nador, side by side with Medi 1 on 9575. RTM used to have further 16 metre outlets from the old Tanger site but they were no longer heard in the last two years, if I remember correctly. However, there was more recently a jamming outlet of RTM against the Frente Polisario station above 7.4 MHz, and it is well possible that they revived one of the ancient Tanger transmitters for this purpose. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, November 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is Briech pronounced as in French? ** NEW ZEALAND. Subject: NZ video in! 3:35 PM EDT [sic] Wed Toronto.. After only tentative NZ video, I have finally gotten my first confirmed NZ video - though no confirmed ID. The video buzz has (and still is) the most consistent I've seen yet...though mostly very weak. The signal was better for a while with slow deep fades. Peak signals approached S-5, and at that point I saw definite sync bars & brief video with each successive fade-up, confirming that I was actually seeing NZ channel 1. Hard to tell offset, but it seems to be zero, indicating station WNTV1 Wellington (NZTV1 network) as most likely. AKTV1 Hamilton also a possibility. These cordless phones are a nuisance, but if the sigs could muster S-9, I should see some sketchy "P1" strength video. Nothing on channel AU-0. (William Hepburn, WTFDA / CIDX, Brampton, Peel, ON, CANADA, WTFDA list Nov 8 via DXLD) TV Eqmt: Rx1 VCR - Samsung SV-5000W World TV Signal Rx Rx2 TV - Panasonic PC-29XF40R (29") Rx3 Audio - Icom IC-R100 com rx Ant - CM VHF & UHF h. yagis @ 47' w/10 db RS VHF & 28 db Anteco UHF amps + 10 db RS UHF amp @ rcvr ** NEW ZEALAND. TV NZ announces plans to go digital in 2001 | Text of report by Radio New Zealand on 10th November TV NZ has announced it`s going digital but is not releasing details of exactly what will be on offer. Its plans for an extensive digital service were set back by the new government earlier this year but now TV NZ is in talks with Telstra Saturn and other companies, aiming to provide digital television by the middle of next year. (?Jane Patterson) has the details. [Patterson] Two months ago TV NZ was told by the broadcasting minister, Marian Hobbs, HOBBS, Marian that its (?217)m-dollar plan to go digital was too expensive and too risky. But now they`ll go-ahead with the major investment, leasing a satellite spot from Australian company Optus. Although the concept is for free-to-air television, viewers would have to buy a set-up box but TV NZ chief executive Rick Ellis says it would cost about the same as a video recorder. TV NZ spokesman Liam Jeory today refused to comment on any specifics of future programming options, saying more details are likely to be released early next week. This is Jane Patterson. Source: Radio New Zealand National Radio, Wellington, in English 0900 gmt 10 Nov 00 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Just found another Bucharest in English. Excellent reception!! 2300 for an hour on 7195 to WEu, USA (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Inaudible here Nov 10, just hams (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 9706v, 2101 8/11/00, VOR, Spur of 9890 khz. The spurs had better audio than the main freq! I believe these spurs are being radiated as a result of problems with the electricity supply in RUS (Tim Bucknall, UK, harmonics@egroups.com via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Bob, I was under the impression that SRI would continue offering Spanish audio on the website, but unlike e.g. French, I don't see any audio links. Can you clarify/explain? (gh, to Bob Zanotti, SRI) Hi Glenn. Well, first of all let me clarify that I am not Internet Manager. In fact, I have had nothing directly to do with http://www.swissinfo.org for a couple of years now! I just checked with our multimedia people, and they confirm that you should find the Spanish link on the http://www.swissinfo.org homepage, as you will find the other languages including English. I can tell you that Arabic will also go online in February. If you mean there are no *program audio* links in Spanish [yes -gh], I can offer no information on that. In addition to the http://www.swissinfo.org site, I`d like to call your attention to SRI`s rebroadcasting site at http://rebroadcast.sri.ch There you will find transcription service material packages in Spanish, German and English. The English product is called Swiss Mix, and I have been responsible for it for a number of years now. This was originally intended for overseas producers and stations for rebroadcasting purposes, and was available until now only on cassette. However, is now also open to the general public through the rebroadcasting site. Swiss Mix is a cross-section of mainstream SRI English Service output in a "mix" covering a wide range of fields. I also write the "Letter From Switzerland", a personal look at life in Switzerland. This is a long-standing feature of Swiss Mix, and only available there (Bob Zanotti, Switzerland, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Re: Anyone know if Global Sound Kitchen are still on shortwave? Live, as it happens report! Just tuned into 3955kHz - it's relaying Virgin Radio, parallel to 1215kHz, and not Global Sound Kitchen. What is also strange is that Global Sound Kitchen's RealAudio and Windows Media streams are also carrying live audio from Virgin as well - and not GSK, as billed. Fine if you want to hear tunes by The Corrs and Texas YET AGAIN. A switching error somewhere? [Later:] 0114 UTC Nov 11, and 3955 kHz is now relaying internet dance music station CN Soho Live! I wonder if I'm the first person in the world to log this on shortwave?! Web address is http://www.cnsoholive.co.uk/ where there is also an audio stream (Ian Kelly, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. Ref. the item in DXLD 134 about the "security alert" last weekend at BBCWS, this was in fact a fire alarm at Bush House, caused apparently by a cigarette end thrown down a pipe well. Discarded newspapers which had been thrown down the same duct - also wrongly - caught fire. Part of the building had to be evacuated, including areas involved in live broadcasting. Smoking is banned in all BBC buildings and staff have been warned that they face disciplinary action if they breach this rule (Chris Greenway, UK, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. We asked an employee of BBC Worldservice about the occurrence last Saturday: It was a fire within a cable drain at the "South East Wing" of Bush House. This part of the building was evacuated; "Newshour" originates from a studio in this "South East Wing". The fire, which occupied the fire brigade for a while, damaged a main phone cable, all phones on the first three floors of Bush House were unserviceable until Sunday. The cause of the fire is uncertain so far; the gossip at Bush House spreads the claim it was a cigarette. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBCWS broadcasts the annual Service of Remembrance Sunday Nov 12 at 1030-1120 on all streams. Live from the Cenotaph in Whitehall, HMTQ leads the annual wreath-laying ceremony to remember those who have given their lives in war (BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, DXLD) ** U S A. The Public Radio Un-Pledge Drive To protest public radio's (NPR's) opposition to LPFM, Americans For Radio Diversity (ARD) have today (Nov. 10) kicked off an 'un-pledge' drive at MPR (Minn. Public Radio), and is encouraging everyone to do the same at their public radio station. See: http://www.radiodiversity.com/unpledge.html (Chet Copeland, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio station WGTG is under new management! effective Monday November 13, 2000 WGTG will be no more! new call letters WWFV ..... W orld W ide F reedoms V oice. paid airtime is open to all conservatives, liberals all religious groups; left wing, right wing and the center! effective Monday November 13, 2000 airtime rates will be $ 25.00 per hour; 5 100,000 watt transmitters under construction 8 new antennas total global coverage at deep discount rates! new web page : http://www.wwfv.org / http://www.wwfv.net (still under construction) see the former wgtg web page for details http://www.wgtg.com or http://www.wgtg.org David Frantz will be staying on with WWFV for the time being during the transition to the new management / owners call WWFV for airtime 1-706-492-5944 (rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) When checked Nov 10 at 2155, both wwfv sites were under construxion, and both wgtg sites had all references to WGTG already changed to WWFV; otherwise, the same old hype. Programmers are very confused about what frequency they are on when. I heard someone on 5085 telling listeners it was about time to retune from 12172 to 6890 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Brief testing has started on 17495 for WBCQ-2, mostly in the 1500-1700 UT period, squeals and various noises. May start regular service in a couple of weeks. Hope to get fulltime client for 1300-2200 UT, such as BBC, WRN or RN. It may be one of them; nothing firm yet. Using bi-direxional rhombic antenna serving both Europe and North America. WBCQ also plans to get a satellite dish permitting uplinking of high-quality internet stream (it may be a long time before fibre-optic lines reach this remote location). The Listen link on http://wbcq.net is wrong; it had to be changed abruptly last week for music licensing reasons. Until that is updated, go directly to http://wbcq.com for audio connexions. New show starting Nov 18 is ``Bible on Tape``, a weekly hour of anonymous pure bible reading, Saturdays 2330-2430 UT on 9335-CUSB, followed by a NEW TIME for WORLD OF RADIO repeat, UT Sundays 0030. WOR listeners should also make a point of hearing ``Tom & Darryl``, UT Sundays 0500 on 7415, which may run 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 hours, depending. It is usually followed, if it is not too late for Al, by a playback of ``Radio Tim-Tron Worldwide`` (Al Weiner Worldwide, 0100 UT Nov 11, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Listening to AFRTS (AFN) on 6458 kHz tonight and had to check and make sure what I was listening to was, in fact, AFRTS. The program sounded like one of those right wing diatribes one hears on some of our domestic commercial shortwave stations. I didn't get the name of the gentleman, but he was hawking a book he wrote opposing affirmative action. I have no problem with someone making a reasoned argument pro or con on the subject, but his comments about Clinton, Gore, JC Watts, the NAACP etc. were way off the homestead IMHO and just one step removed from the level of vitriolic rhetoric one hears on WGTG. It's interesting to hear what our men and women in uniform are being fed by AFRTS. – (John A. Figliozzi, swprograms Nov 9 via DXLD) ** U S A. Just when a new propagation minute was needed from WWV, with conditions obviously disturbed, at 1218 UT Nov 18 there was only dead air with seconds-clicks, despite adequate reception on 5 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** U S A. If either Watt or I gave the impression that WSM-AM is currently testing IBOC (digital), it is erroneous. WSM-AM is NOT, I repeat, NOT testing IBOC digital audio. The statement should read that the station is making PREPARATIONS for IBOC testing and eventual operations (Tom Bryant, via Kevin Redding, NRC-AM via DXLD) i.e. by turning off C-QUAM stereo, to the distress of many listeners (gh) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, The news of the demise of WWDB in Philly is indeed sad. When I used to come over to Philly each November to produce WRTH, I used to enjoy tuning in to listen to the 'locals' discussing the issues that were on their minds. It was a great way to find out about the things that really concerned Philadelphians. I was impressed by the way the hosts would lead, rather than attempt to dominate, the discussion. Talk radio in the UK is generally of a very low standard. Presenters often appear to make no effort to prepare in advance when discussing complex subjects, and as a result it's like the blind leading the blind. A recent report said that 75% of teenagers in the UK have their own mobile phone. It seems that many young people would rather communicate on a 1 to 1 basis than engage in intelligent debate with the wider community. This does not bode well for talk radio, and can only mean that the extremists will dominate the airwaves more and more. 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, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KVOD Listener Forum Sorry, but the KVOD Listener Forum is currently unavailable. I am working on making other arrangements for our forum so this doesn't happen again, and that will take a little time. Look for the forum to reappear around the 15th of November. Sorry for the inconvenience. PS - this has nothing to do with a big corporate plot to silence the roudy Denver classical listeners, nor does it have anything to do with Max or even Mega Bob (message at Listeners Forum page of http://www.kvod.com Nov 10 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Phase 3D Launch Information Net Set. NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 8, 2000--With the launch of the next-generation Phase 3D amateur satellite just days away, a Launch Information Net is being established to provide information and commentary via several outlets, including amateur frequencies. Phase 3D is scheduled to be launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket November 15 at 0107 UTC from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Details are being worked out for the AMSAT Launch Information Net Service to run "live" during the launch. Houston AMSAT Coordinator Bruce Paige, KK5DO, says the net will provide launch information and commentary via several HF stations on various bands as well as on local repeaters. The current schedule calls for the net to start about 15 minutes before launch and carry through separation of P3D. Paige says the plan is to monitor the Arianespace TV C-band satellite feed for real- time launch information, then communicate that information via a telephone bridge. "We are not re-transmitting the Arianespace audio to avoid possible problems with the FCC," he explained. The telephone linkup will include key AMSAT personnel who will add their own comments and details to the real-time announcements. Participating commentators include AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, as well as AMSAT-NA Vice President for Operations Keith Pugh, W5IU; Andy MacAllister, W5ACM; Pat Kilroy, N8PK at Goddard Space Flight Center; launch team second-in-command Chuck Green, N0ADI; and IARU Satellite Coordinator Hans van den Groenendaal, ZS5AKV. Paige says the Houston AMSAT Net, will carry the Launch Information Net telephone feed on its normal net connections--satellite, local repeater (145.45 MHz in Houston and 146.94 MHz in Fort Worth), and Internet RealAudio. The Launch Information Net also will be carried by key HF stations, led by the Goddard Amateur Radio Club`s WA3NAN at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. WA3NAN will re-transmit on its shuttle frequencies, 3.860, 7.185, 14.295, 21.395, and 147.45 MHz. W5RRR at the Johnson Space Center in Texas--or its alternates-- will use 3.840, 7.279, and 14.282 MHz. The Radio Club of Kourou`s FY5KE also has announced plans to broadcast the Phase 3D launch on 14.315 MHz in French "and probably in English." The transmission also will start at approximately 15 minutes prior to launch and will end about 45 minutes later when the satellite is placed into geostationary transfer orbit. According to Paige, Bob Arnold, N2JEU, is planning to make the Arianespace audio. Pugh says that additional HF stations and frequencies will be added to fill in North American coverage. CQ Amateur Radio magazine has announced plans to offer continuously updated coverage of the Phase 3D launch. CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, says Satellite Editor Phil Chien, KC4YER, will author a running "launch log" in which he`ll post regular updates every few minutes. Chien says, his updates will include items of particular interest to an Amateur Radio audience. CQ also will provide links to sites featuring live launch video. AMSAT-DL Executive Vice President Peter Gulzow, DB2OS--who`s heading up the Phase 3D launch campaign--has pronounced Phase 3D "ready to fly." Gulzow has been filling in for Phase 3D Project Leader Karl Meizer, DJ4ZC. Phase 3D has been moved into the final assembly building at the European Spaceport, where it will remain "on hold" until the launch date. For more information, visit the AMSAT-NA Web site (ARRL via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###