DX LISTENING DIGEST 0-142, November 22, 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 THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 1059: See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1059.html HEAR WORLD OF RADIO 1059: (download) http://www.angelfire.com/nm/wor/wor1059.rm (stream) http://www.angelfire.com/nm/wor/wor1059.ram (later mp3 via WRN) ftp://ftp.wrn.org/archive/gh/gh_nov2500.mp3 ** ARGENTINA. RAE, 11709.16, Nov 18 0200-0300 English with local music, sports news, IDs, 0259 IS, 0302 into French. Poor-fair but with het and splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. Ascension is certainly an interesting Island; I have moved here from Masirah Island, Oman. The whole island is almost one enormous antenna farm with RAF, GCHQ, USAF as well as ourselves. I have 70 employees here who are all from St Helena; they go home once every t w o years on the RMS boat. I'm lucky, I can escape every 8 months to the UK ! You can see a few pictures of the Island here: http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/virtualtour/index.html (BBC/Merlin staff, Oct 6th via BCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. I`ve been doing some monitoring of RA and my impression is that the stn is still operating on its summer [rather southern winter] time freqs. I don't hear new listed 19010 or 15400 or 9655, but do still hear En on 9475 1330-1900 \\ 11660 from 1330-1700. Ins 0900-1000 11880 & 17750 is Mon-Fri only, with En Sat/Sun. I don't know if 15515 & 17580 are still in use due poor propagation mornings. I can't hear 9580 at 0800+, but do hear 13605 open at 0800 and still on at 1100+ (Noel R. Green, UK, Nov 16, BC-DX via DXLD) I heard RA almost every day on 15240 [best freq], 15415 at our EUR mornings till 0900, and 21725 till 0700 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Two [amateur] stations were active this past week. S21YH was heard on 15 meters CW/SSB. Check 21005 kHz around 0200z and 21241 kHz around 1230z. QSL via 7M4PTE. Also look for Stig, S21YJ, on 20 meters SSB around 14178 kHz after 0215z. QSL via SM4AIO (KB8NW/ OPDX November 20/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS: it appears that they have introduced a new morning bc on this freq as of Nov 15, starting at 0100. Alok reports that on Nov 16 they came on the air with open carrier at 0053, beautiful signature tune at 0059; hrd Nov 15 beyond 0900; previous s/on time was 0400 on the weekend, 0630 Mon-Fri. Another monitor reports BBC here at 2300, DW 0000, Bhutan and VOA at 0100; and VOA may be leaving the channel (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, Nov 16; per Alok Dasgupta, India, Nov 16, BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DXLD) VoA has left 6035 (Kavala-GRC) at 0100-0130 (Titarev, NU Nov 20 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI relay-Voice of Vietnam 9755//9525 0104-0127 11/20 VoV in EE. 9755 supposed to be RCI Spanish. Checked 9535, 11865, they were Spanish. 9755 was also in Spanish at 0131 re-check. Switching error? (Larry Russell, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Natch ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, RCI finally posted a full schedule as a pdf file. However, it's just a copy of their printed schedule which is already somewhat out-of-date (e.g., Mailbag flip-flop on Sunday). Anyway, it's at http://www.rcinet.ca/horaires/horaire.pdf The new badly designed database actually seems to be the most accurate schedule at the moment. A few discrepancies between the three available schedules: 1700-1800 UTC French to Carib/USA on 16m/13m. Tech schedule says RCI French but printed schedule and database both show SRC programs, e.g. Le Midi-15 on weekdays. I would guess SRC is right but haven't been able to monitor. 2200-2300 UTC, satellite and online only: This is 30 minutes English and 30 minutes French but the printed schedule and database are inconsistent about which comes first. I've monitored this one to confirm that the database is correct: English is 2230-2300 weekdays and 2200-2230 weekends. (Why?!) By the way, the Hotbird satellite and online Real Audio schedules are now identical as far as I can tell. This was not true before the current season. The printed schedule has a nice grid of the Hotbird schedule (nice except for the inaccuracies at 2200-2300 and on Sundays) so you can refer to that as the Internet schedule too. Best regards, (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. RCI Election 2000 special coverage UT Tue Nov 28 ENGLISH: 0200-0229 Sackville - RCI Circuit 3R1 9560 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9800 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Xian - CRI Circuit CPSS 15260 Khz Inde Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Xian - CRI Circuit CPSS 17860 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-2 17870 Khz Chine 0230-0259 Sackville - RCI Circuit 3R1 9560 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9800 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17870 Khz Chine Xian - CRI Circuit CPSS 15260 Khz Inde Xian - CRI Circuit CPSS 17860 Khz Inde 0300-0329 Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Sackville - RCI Circuit 3R1 9805 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9505 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17870 Khz Chine 0330-0359 Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Sackville - RCI Circuit 3R1 9805 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9505 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17870 Khz Chine 0400-0429 Sackville - RCI Circuit 3R1 9560 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9505 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17870 Khz Chine 0430-0459 Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9755 Khz Amériques Delano - IBB RNIS 3XA 9785 Khz Amériques Skelton - BBC Hotbird RCI-1 3955 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 7250 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Vienne - ROI Hotbird RCI-1 9505 Khz Eur, East Afr, ME Irkutsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17720 Khz Inde Novosibirsk - MDC Hotbird RCI-1 17870 Khz Chine Instead of alternating half hours with French, as was done last time, there is a separate simultaneous network of different frequencies and sites in French; and the regular Arabic 0330-0359 broadcast also covers the election. However, the Internet live stream will alternate English on the hour, French on the half hour (RCI via Bill Westenhaver, Nov 21, adapted by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO (DR Kinshasa). 5066, R Bunia 1500-1600 Continuous Af mx and went off immediately after ID and freq given in Fr by man then by woman in Vn and was still there the next day but nothing as from Nov 16, also no trace of 6828 (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, Nov 13, BC-DX via DXLD) 6713 usb, R Bukavu very poor at 1755 with mx and talk in local lang man and woman. Nov 13 and still there when checked again on Nov 16 and 18 (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, Nov 13/16&18, BC-DX via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. [Re: Prague on 5055] Seemingly a tx/antenna site MIXTURE at Litomysl, which very seldom occurs there. I remember a single inquiry to engineer Oldrich Cip in 1996 only. Formula: 6200 x 2, minus 7345 = 5055. Equal outlet may occur on 8490 also, formula: 7345 x 2, minus 6200 = 8490 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) R Prague night schedule towards the Americas: Cz 0230-0257 6200 100 NAm 7345 200 SAm En 0100-0127 6200 100 NAm 7345 200 0200-0227 6200 100 NAm 7345 200 Sp 0130-0157 6200 100 CAm 7345 200 0300-0327 6200 100 CAm 7345 200 SAm (BC-DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. R. Fana, 6940, Nov 18 *0328-0400+ IS, 0330 opening ID announcements, in Amharic, 0339 local music, fair; weaker on \\ 6209.9 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. V. of the Tigray Revolution, 5500, Nov 18 *0355-0415+, s/on with string instrument IS, 0401 s/on anmts, Amharic talk, 0407 local music, good; fair on \\ 6315, but with RTTY QRM (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Commentary questions future of Deutsche Welle Text of article by H. Merschmann: "Where are you headed, Deutsche Welle?" published by the German periodical `VDI Nachrichten` on 3rd November No one can receive it, but everyone pays for it. Deutsche Welle is known only through hearsay in its own country. For this reason, the German foreign broadcasting station, which is fully financed by taxpayers` money (1999: DM606m), has always met with little interest. That changed when Minister of State Michael Naumann hit the broadcasting station with a budget reduction of DM54m last year and announced massive layoffs. That led to a debate on the meaning and purpose of a foreign broadcasting station in times of global digital media. Does one want to make programmes for Germans abroad or for foreigners interested in German culture? And with what media does one appeal to them: television, shortwave or Internet? A result of this discussion is an expert opinion that Jo Groebel, director of the European Media Institute, presented in Berlin last weekend on behalf of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation close to the SPD [Social Democratic Party of Germany]. "The role of foreign radio broadcasting - a comparative analysis of the experiences and trends in five countries" is the title of the study that consults the foreign broadcasting stations of Great Britain, the United States, France and the Netherlands for a comparison with Deutsche Welle. "We attempted to describe the profiles, missions, turnover, functions and target-group definitions of various international foreign radio broadcast facilities," Jo Groebel explains. That resulted in a report which, according to Groebel, does not pretend to have "any characteristics of an audit" and for this reason alone does not shake the foundations of Deutsche Welle. They are standing by the principal function of the broadcast station, to pursue an appropriate representation of the economic and cultural country of Germany abroad. But: "There is a need for a more precise mission of presenting Germany in the world with complete journalistic independence." If one looks at the image of Germany in many nations, which currently is strongly shaped by right-wing extremism and reveals a selective perception of the situation here with an orientation towards spectacular events, then it appears that there is a need for the foreign broadcast station here. It could intervene in a corrective way and give a more differentiated picture of the political, cultural and economic reality in Germany. That is also what is foreseen in Deutsche Welle`s programme mission. The conclusion of the study, however, is that this mission is too vague. For all other foreign broadcast stations, the researchers of the media institute identified a substantially more precise definition of their mission and encountered this in their programme. In contrast, Deutsche Welle`s profile is not sharp and too broad, according to the expert’s opinion. The radio body founded in 1953 maintains radio programmes in 35 languages and a 24-hour television programme in three languages was added in 1992. And in 1994 Deutsche Welle became one of the first broadcasting studios to have an Internet presence, where, in addition to multilingual news, there is also audio and video material available from radio and television. One cannot measure how many people use this service or who they are. For this reason, the expert`s opinion calls for a clearer definition of the target group for Deutsche Welle because "it is not a global player like the BBC World Service". Even before the expert’s opinion, there were loud demands for more cooperation between ARD [Working Association of Public-Law Broadcasting Facilities of the Federal Republic of Germany] and ZDF [German TV Two], especially in the case of television programmes for Germans abroad. Deutsche Welle Director- General Dieter Weirich can imagine cooperation only on the basis of a "digital platform like pay-TV", as he recently revealed to the `Berliner Zeitung`: "This would produce lower legal costs and could be refinanced through the receipts." ARD and ZDF have already given notice in the United States of interest in a satellite transmission of parts of their programmes. Only Deutsche Welle has the legal mandate for this, however. Another result of the expert`s opinion refers to the traditional function of the foreign broadcast station of making programmes in countries which are at war or which do not guarantee radio freedom. It is here where the expert`s opinion identifies "the greatest discrepancy between the situation and the mission" and calls for parliamentary legitimation for individual cases. It should not be left to editors to determine the extent to which the Deutsche Welle provides long-term support to a crisis region. Responsibility for crisis radio must be politically safeguarded and be in cooperation with other foreign broadcast stations. Deutsche Welle`s activities on the Internet are assessed as a long- term prospect. Entire continents like Africa and parts of Asia and South America are still almost completely missing on the map of the online world. In the long term as well, they can probably be supported only through traditional means such as shortwave. To stand up to the legislators and financial backers here, however, the web activities are even being turned into a "third pillar". The appraisal also cannot clarify what the advantage is of an online presence by Deutsche Welle over other German services. Source: ‘VDI Nachrichten’, Duesseldorf, in German 3 Nov 00 (via BBC Monitoring) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Telekom, 25740 kHz, 11 meter test of 18 October. Non-specific letter, photo of antennas & schedule in 30 days for an E-mail report via DW, who forwarded it (Bill Flynn, OR, Nov. 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Freq change of Voice of Greece in Greek and English to NAm: 0000-0345 now on registered 5890, ex 5895 \\ 7475, 7450, 9420 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 20, via WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.48, Nov 11 0245-0302* Spanish talk, religious music, ID, s/off with long vocal NA; good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. Hi Glenn, The situation with Montsinéry is still unclear. I have been told that the [SRI only?] transmitter is working since November 2, 2000. In fact the first transmissions took place at that date but the transmitter is not working properly. Since this date they transfer the transmission from Montsinéry to Issoudun and vice versa. From 15 to 17 November all transmissions were made in Issoudun again. I shall inform you when MSY comes into operation definitely. Regards, (Ulrich Wegmüller, SRI, Nov 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. V. of the Iraqi People, clandestine, 9563, Nov 12 0230-0316* Arabic talk, music, 0308 Koran. S/off with Iraqi NA, \\9568.5, both fair. And \\11710 very weak, Argentina not on 11710, this being a UT Sunday (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAËL. Galei Zahal, new 6973.0, Nov 18 0115-0700* Hebrew talk with a lot of laughter, local pops, phone talk, ID; 0200 news very good, but very weak by 0700* switching to 15785; first heard Nov 11 on 6973.1. Also on 15785 Nov 18 *0702-0730+ weak with DJ chatter, local folk music (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAËL. Tonight I monitored an old friend which I first heard and verified over 20 years ago, unfortunately though it usually means a mobilization of the Israeli armed forces for action, when they begin expanding their frequencies... 6973 kHz, Galei Zahal, Hebrew, 0226-0314 Pop mx, followed by brief musical introduction by YL at 0231; I took a break at 0236 between pop songs in Hebrew to watch the Supreme Court of FL decision (FYI); 0257, retune, more pop mx; 0258 reveille on a bugle, followed by clear ID by OM, into Freqs by OM & YL listing all AM/FM/SW freq. Tones at 0300, into NX by OM, of course starting with the election nx from Fla., then into nx about Palestinian uprising and attacks by Israel. More Pop Mx followed. R75 Rec. Alpha Delta Sloper 5-5-4-4-5 22.11.00. From my perspective close to the coast of Florida, I appear to have found a home with a great prospect for an antenna farm (Phil Marshall, Bradenton, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN. You referred to Kazakh Radio possibly using 11950 or 11955 based on the meter band equivalent in DXLD 138. I recall, very well, listening to Kazakh Radio in the 70s and 80s during our local early evening on 11950. Presumably this is the transmitter you are referring to. Would be nice to hear them again (Walt Salmaniw, BC, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doubt really active, but check (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. Talking about electricity shortage. Our dear comrades north of the 38th are again suffering from last winter's energy crisis. The morning (UT) Nov 20 transmissions have been irregular with total or partial blackouts (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX via DXLD) ** MÉXICO. R. Huayacocotla, 2390, 0014 19 Nov, SIO 444; Incredible signal, with full ID by a woman, including address and "LV de los campesinos" slogan, and then into a program of what could well be described as fiddle music, as it wouldn`t have sounded out of place in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Signal faded slightly, but still good by 0105 s/off (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. R. Miskut, 5770, 2327 18 Nov, SIO 343; I'd never heard more than traces of this one before, but today it was loud and clear with VOA program, mainly musical. The VOA program ended with the announcer giving SW frequencies at 2355, and then the local announcer gave a full ID during the closing announcements. After the anthem, and then about a minute of a chirping sound, they left the air @0001. Kenwood R-5000, Collins HF-2050, K9AY and beverage antennas (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Additional change of Radio Pakistan: 1600-1615 English NF 15725, ex 17725 to avoid LJB [Libya], \\ 11570, 15100 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 20 via DXLD) ** POLAND. SPECIAL EVENT. Look for SN2000C (Sugar-November-Two-Zero- Zero-Zero-Charlie) to be active from now until December 31st. This Millennium station hopes to attract activity and will be interesting, especially for prefix hunters. Look for them on all bands (160-2 meters) on CW, SSB, FM, RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV. QSL via SP9PKZ. Look for SP2000S (Sugar-Papa-Two-Zero-Zero-Zero-Sugar) to be active from November 10th to December 31st. This operation will be held to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of regaining independence by Poland. This is also called the Millennium station. They hope their activity will be interesting especially for prefix hunters. Look for them on all bands (160-6 meters) on CW, SSB, FM, RTTY, PSK31, MFSK and SSTV. QSL via SP5ZCC (OK via the bureau). (KB8NW/OPDX November 6/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Unlike Sunday, on Monday Nov 20 when checked after 1600, nothing was audible on VOR 7180, so back to one hour? Did not check before 1600 this date to confirm any reception then. Then on Tue Nov 21, audible after 1500, but not after 1600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Yakutsk is still active on 7140, 7200, 7345, although the signals are not what I have been used to. Heard today with programming in Yakutian around 0920 and past 0930. At 1011 IS and more Yakutian program. Especially 7345 is only a bleak remnant of what it used to be, so presumably the original directional antenna is down. Still nothing on the Magadan freqs or 7210 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 20, BC-DX via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SA`UDI ARABIA. BSKSA`s French at 1400 on 21600 has Qur`an during the first portion of the hour - we timed pauses between the verses averaging 22 seconds! All this dead air explains why muezzins are virtually unknown on fast-paced American radio (Glenn Hauser, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEALAND (More on this interesting upcoming operation. DX IS...). Jon "JT" Utley, K7CO (1SL1J), has informed OPDX that the 1SL1A operation will take place between December 9-12th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters. The WARC bands and 160 meters are being considered. The 1SL1A operation will be active during the ARRL 10 Meter Contest. Jon mentions that the license from the government has been issued. He also states the following: "For those that are wondering about using the prefix 1SL... As some of you know in the past 1S has been used for Spratly. This prefix bloc is not reserved for Spratly but used because the area is in dispute over who owns the area. Sealand is also in dispute. I will list links below that touch on the international debate over Sealand`s claim. Any comments regarding your research of Sealand are welcome. We have created the Radio Amateur Association of the Principality of Sealand and our goals are to become a member of the IARU and eventually the ITU." Again, for more information and details, check the following Web sites: http://www.sealandgov.com/ http://www.fruitsofthesea.demon.co.uk/sealand/index.html http://www.nielsen.net/1sl Here is an ABC News article on Sealand. Click on the picture for a video news story using realplayer video. http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/dailynews/sealand000606.html ADDED NOTE: OPDX has learned that an operation took place from Sealand in 1982 by four German ham operators (DF8AO, DK8KW, DL6PE and DL2NO). They used the callsigns S1AH, S1AB, S1AS and S1AD. (KB8NW/ OPDX November 6/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEALAND. Jon Utley, K7CO, now also known as 1SL1J, informs OPDX that this operation is still planned to take place in December, even after last week's statements by the UK Radiocommunications Agency calling this operation "ILLEGAL". He states that his team will be made up of Americans, British, and, of course, Sealanders. However, he states, each amateur has to choose whether or not to participate in this operation. Jon has been issued a license from the government of Sealand, and he intends to operate using this license. He reports that he has "personally seen that the British courts have ruled that Sealand is out of its jurisdiction, therefore Sealand's claims to independence have validity." OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive Jon's press release as an additional bulletin [which follows]. (KB8NW/OPDX November 20/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEALAND. Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 21:41:02 -0800 (PST). From: Jon {jon@vcr.com}. To: {kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org}. Subject: Sealand I read your bulletin regarding Sealand. Here is my response to Nigel from his article on eham.net Hello Nigel (The DX editor for eham.net) and fellow hams: This is JT Utley, K7CO, -- now also known as 1SL1J. Not sure where you got the information that some Dutch amateurs were going to operate from Sealand. Our team will be made up of Americans, British, and, of course, Sealanders. I have not seen any evidence from the Sealand government that a Dutch amateur used 2m FM but I have strong evidence that 4 Germans used S1 callsigns on HF around 1982. I have been issued a license from the government of Sealand and I intend to operate using this license. We have been getting a lot of correspondence regarding our operation and we welcome all of it, whether it be negative or positive. Personally, I see that British courts have ruled that Sealand is out of its jurisdiction, therefore Sealand`s claims to independence have validity. Each amateur has to choose whether or not to participate in this operation. The Radiocommunications Agency of the UK states "If an UK radio amateur were to reply to an operator using a '1SL' callsign, they would be in breach of clause 1(4) of BR68." Then I say to every UK ham do not contact us, but for each country where you are free to contact licensed amateurs from other countries/territories/etc please do work us. http://www.nielsen.net/1sl 73 es cu in the pileups. Jon "JT" Utley, 1SL1J K7CO (KB8NW/OPDX November 20/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [I wonder why so many hams use the Hungarian word for `and`?? -- ``es`` ?? Do Hungarian hams use the English word ``and``? gh] ** SUDAN [non]. Dear Mr Hauser. Thank you for the contribution you are making towards this wonderful hobby. Since I have joined the Edxp-group, your Listening digest columns have provided some Dx catches for me, here in Tasmania, Australia, Listening Digest 141. Responding to Mr Björn Fransson, Sweden, about Voice of Hope, 12060 kHz at 0427-0527 utc -Woodpecker noise. The frequency of 15320 is the better of the two here, sinpo 44444, while 12060 is only 33223; the only interference noticed is atmospheric noises (pops and crackles), no jamming noise heard. QSLs can be sent via E-mail, hope@africanonline.co.ug E-mail response for a reception report in one day: QSL card will be sent via Normal mail, was the message. Keep up the excellent work you are doing. Best wishes (Paul Bailey, Hobart/Tasmania/Australia, 21st November 2000, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Radio Sweden currently suffers heavy interference from Iran on its regular European channel 6065. Now they announce that at least German 1930-2000 (on Saturdays until 2030) will therefore be carried on new 5840. In addition they will stay on 6065 "to disturb the intruder as much as possible". Below a copy of the original Radio Sweden message, forwarded by Olaf C.Haenssler via the A-DX mailing list (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lieber Hörer, Radio Schweden hat Schwierigkeiten mit dem Iran, der entgegen aller geltenden internationalen Abkommen beschlossen hat, auf 6065 kHz nach Europa zu senden. Das bedeutet: zwei Sender auf der gleicher Frequenz mit dem vorliegenden Ergebnis. Wir können nur empfehlen, als Alternative zu 6065 kHz zu versuchen, uns auf Mittelwelle 1179 kHz und auch 5840 kHz zu hören. Wir weiterhin auf 6065 kHz senden, um so unsererseits den "Eindringling" so stark wie möglich zu stören und unser Recht auf diese Frequenz geltend zu machen. Mit dem besten Grüssen, (Charlotte Adler, PR & Information, Radio Schweden, via Ludwig, DXLD) Same interference occured in past B-99 season. Registered Iran: 6065 1630-2130 zones 38,39,47N,48N 500 kW 270 degrees, Mashad towards Western NAf, EAf, NE&ME. 38 Libya, Egypt; 39 Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Pen.; 47 Central Africa 48 E Africa (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Nov 22 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Glenn, R. Thailand, November 20, 2000 *0030-0101* UT on 13695, SIO 353. Began in mid-sentence about companies producing quality goods and company image. At 0031 male with "This is HSK9 R. Thailand world service bc'ing from Bangkok for listeners around the world with English, French, German, Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Burmese, Bahasa Malaysia, Hong Kong Indonesia [sic], Japanese, Mandarin and Thai. At this time, in the news hour, we report to listeners in the United States of America on the East Coast. R. Thailand's news hour continues." "Thai Culture" (music). "R. Thailand now brings you the world news." Also business news, social news and sports news. "A quick look at the weather forecast for the whole Kingdom of Thailand until tomorrow morning." "That's it for this news hour from R. Thailand on Monday November 20, 2000. Thank you for joining us. For those of you in Thailand we have a live broadcast of our labor conference coming up at 9 AM. The time is 8 AM in the Kingdom of Thailand". 73, -.. . (Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. I note that HFCC-B00 data excludes Dubai assignments; there appears to be no official Web site for UAE-Dubai, it refuses to answer any of my QSL requests, and simple enquiries by fax and postal mail for schedules are consistently ignored. It is supposed to have services intended for Australia and Japan, but its reluctance to communicate is annoying. Perhaps I should go there and see what the problem is? !! There are many British expatriates working in the region, and also at UAE Radio Dubai, so it shouldn't be a problem at all (Bob Padula, Electronic DX Press Nov 18 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Magazine "On Air" November print out only Key frequencies of WS, but no BBC English and remaining external language frequency services. Both MERLIN and BBC hold their freq lists "VAILED and CONFIDENTIAL" these days. I've got the freq schemes of BBC London nearly 35 years from 1963-1998 till that date, when BBC German ceased service, and BBC London handed over their technical organization to private MERLIN company (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Nov 22 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WS previews: WHAT RUBBISH? 3 x 25 min from Thu Nov 23 [replacing or part of ONE PLANET] Eu: Thu 2005, Fri 0205, 1505, Mon 1005 Am: Fri 0205, 2105, Mon 1505 The world has a rubbish problem with millions of tons of domestic and industrial waste produced world wide, some of it non-degradable and some dangerous. In interviews from Germany, Ghana, Gambia, Egypt, Bangladesh, the United States and Britain, What Rubbish? looks at what different societies throw away and what happens to it. From waste-pickers to multi-national recyclers, from packaging designers to waste managers, there`s a world of difference in how we deal now with rubbish and what people think we should be doing in future. Can rotting waste be transformed into something useful, or does it contain too many hazards for humans to make use of? Scrap metal seems easy to deal with but the reality is far from simple. By far the fastest growing component of waste is plastic so, after we`ve binned it, should it be re-used, buried, or just burned. Presenter Susie Emmett uncovers a few solutions as she gets to the bottom of the waste problem. LAMBETH PALACE 1 x 15 min Fri Nov 24 Eu: Fri 1345, Mon 1845, Tue 0045, Wed 0430 Am: Fri 1945, Tue 0045, Wed 0430 More than 55,000 people have visited Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, since it opened its doors to the public for the first time earlier this year. Now Mike Ford tours the ancient palace which stands in the heart of London, opposite the Houses on Parliament on the Thames. Lambeth Palace has been the home of Archbishops of Canterbury since 1197 and has been a site for Christian worship since 1220. Mike Ford discovers how radically the work of the Archbishop has changed over the last 800 years. (BBC Press Office via DXLD) ** U K. NEWS RELEASE - 21 November 2000 SHORT WAVE MONOPOLY COMPLAINT TO THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING The Office of Fair Trading has been asked to investigate a complaint against Merlin Communications International Limited that holds the sole UK licence for short wave. It broadcasts BBC World Service and transmits programmes for overseas state radios, as well as for a variety of private organisations and for itself The complaint, issued by Trevor Brook who devised the concept of Radiofax, an independent science, technology and media short wave station, cites Merlin's monopoly of short wave broadcasting as a possible contravention of the 1973 Fair Trading Act since the government will not grant a short wave licence to anybody else. BBC World Service transmission was privatised as Merlin Communications on 1st April 1997. The various transmitting facilities were not split, nor were potential new operators invited. In contrast, BBC domestic transmission, privatised at the same time, became Castle Communications and was not granted a monopoly since it shares the market with NTL. Merlin broadcasts independent stations on short wave from British soil. Since Trevor Brook first requested a licence in 1984 the government has claimed there is no capacity on the 993 short wave channels and refused to issue a licence. This led him, in August 1997, to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where the government not only used the frequency argument but further claimed that to allow any other station on short wave would destroy Britain's reputation and credibility abroad. The court recently ruled that under human rights law the United Kingdom government could not be compelled to permit independent stations on short wave because [i.e. even though -gh] it did allow independent operators on the medium wave and FM bands. Trevor Brook says: "I have written to the Director General of Fair Trading, John Vickers, to request that he use his powers to look into this apparent monopoly. Stories about lack of frequencies on short wave are no truer than identical claims about medium wave and FM in the days before several hundred independent transmitters took to the air. The dishonest government policy, concocted by civil servants, may now end up damaging innocent operators in this field." Contact: Trevor Brook Tel: 01483 275 997, Mobile: 07950 549 075, Fax: 01483 276 477. s.e@ndirect.co.uk Surrey Electronics Ltd., The Forge, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 7BG, England. (Trevor Brook direct and via Mike Barraclough, Henrik Klemetz, Nov 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR will change 15685 to winter freq 9475 from 2100, lasting from Dec 1st till end of Feb. On Thurs 2130 Glenn Hauser's World of Radio. But WWCR suffers always from strong Russians on both 9470/9480 on next channel. On Nov 16: At 2130 I heard Glenn well on 15685, but fade-out was at about 2140 at my location, only white- noise on the band, nothing really understandable (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 16, BC-DX via DXLD) This situation has been going on for many years; all I can say is that 9475 does work for closer targets including NAm, and that is one reason we have so many repeats and other options for hearing WOR (gh) ** U S A. WGTG - World of Radio reports that WGTG is changing its callsign to WWFV. I suggest that WWFV stands for "We Will Forego Verifying" :-) :-) :-) WGTG never answered my report; I should have been skeptical when their owner gave out a wrong zip-code on Media Network years ago (Larry Russell, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Not sure if I've missed this earlier, is WMLK off air at present? Certainly no sign of them lately other than mention they've purchased a 250 kW unit from Switzerland. I asked Bill Smith in TX to check and he couldn't find them either... same goes for WRNO which last I heard was running 90 watts or similar QRP. Would appreciate any update you have on these two. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Paul, Upon receiving this at 2018 UT Nov 20 I have checked 9465, and find a carrier there of poor to fair strength, tending to be masked by super-power WWCR on 9475, but no modulation detectable, which would be in keeping with WMLK as was its offgoing around 2100. At times I can almost imagine hearing the intonations of Elder Meyer. If a station runs a transmitter for hours despite lack of modulation, are they competent to manage a 250 kW unit? I assume you are aware of their registered new frequencies of 15265, 9475 and 7555 as I reported previously, and which one may also want to check periodically for WMLK. Again Nov 21, 9465 had weak carrier from 1830, which could be KFBS, but still on past 1900 and growing slightly stronger until off at precisely 2100* as scheduled for WMLK, leaving a weaker fluttery carrier, which would be KTWR: FCC W-00 listings: On 9465.0 0400 0900 WMLK 50 53 27,28,39 On 9465.0 1200 1300 KTWR 100 345 45 On 9465.0 1400 1900 KFBS 100 323 30-33,42-44 On 9465.0 1600 2100 WMLK 50 53 27,28,39 On 9465.0 2100 2200 KTWR 100 335 44 [see http://www.assembliesofyahweh.com/aoy/wmlkpage.htm ] Have not noticed any activity on WRNO 7355, 7395 or 15420 tho have not checked repeatedly for it. Even if loud and clear, neither station was known to broadcast anything worth listening to (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1059, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###