DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-008, January 17, 2001 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 2001 archive contents see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html ** ANGOLA. R. Nacional de Angola noted on v3374.89, S=9 and O=3, some changes in schedule: 2000 French. 2100 English. 2200 Portuguese. Announced also 4950 and 7245, MW 944 kHz. All transmissions one hour later, compared to awful WRTH 2001 issue. All observations with Wilhelm Herbst`s Beverage-Antenna 180 degr/120 m length (Manfred Reiff, Germany, on DX-pedition in Denmark, Jan 8, BC-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar is now heard reasonably well in English at 1745-1815 with 'Voice of Islam' and at 1815-1900 with 'Radio Bangladesh' on 7185 kHz (QRM Tirana in German 1830-1900) and 9550 kHz. They also announce 15520 kHz which is not heard here in Copenhagen (Erik Křie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. HFCC/China. Contrary to what has been suggested, representatives from the Peoples` Republic of China physically attended the joint HFCC/ASBU/ABU conference in August 2000, Kuala Lumpur, where the B-00 allocations were prepared. The senior delegate from the PRC was Ms Yang Minmin, Senior Engineer, RTPRC-China. This was the first joint frequency coordination meeting of the three groups, held under the auspices of the ITU. I suggest that interested readers read the article I prepared about this meeting, which is available at the EDXP Home Page: http://members.tripod.com/~bpadula/edxp.html That story was also distributed to EDXP members some time ago. I would suggest that comments about the operations of the ITU and its many steering committees (such as the HFCC/ASBU/ABU) should be confined to actual information given by the ITU in its Press Releases, available on the Web or on subscription.. The ABU allocations are not made available to members of the public, but are in fact integrated into the confidential listing issued to participants (Bob Padula, Broadcast Engineering Consultant, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COMOROS. Comoros DXpedition on the air: EA3BT and EA3WL are on the air from Comoros as D68BT and D68WL. They began operations around 1530 UT on January 13 with 100 W and a three-element array on 10, 15 and 20 meters and had more than 5000 QSOs in the log by January 16. Capabilities for 80, 40 and 6 meters were in the works, and the duo was expected to be on 40 January 18. The DXpedition is operating primarily SSB and will always operate split and listen up; stations should avoid the DX transmit frequency. QSLs for both stations go to Josep Gilbert, EA3BT, Colegi 1, Vilanova I la GeltrŁ, Barcelona 08800 SPAIN. For more information, visit the Comoros 2001 DXpedition site. [ http://www.ea3aji.com/ ]--Pere, EA3AJI (ARRL January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Presumably due to antenna work, rather than the quake near El Salvador, RFPI 7480 has been off the air UT Jan 16 and 17, but 15049 extend until at least 0600. 21815-USB was also missing in the daytime of Jan 16, but back on Jan 17 at 1913 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA / VENEZUELA. Researching the frequencies for the Venezuelan president`s show on Sundays, http://www.radiohc.org is absolutely no help, outdated, and even so, self-contradictory. Frequency usage shows nothing after 1400, while other program titles show in the 1400-1500 period only (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Last night I could receive Radio Barahona. Maybe the first logging of this station in Europe recently. 4930.05, R Barahona, January 15, 2210-2315 Jan 15, Spanish, news bulletin presented by two quickly speaking men, commercials and many IDs, Merengue music after 2300; bad modulation, better audible in USB- mode. SINPO 22322. Antenna used: EWE. Audio clip available (125 KB). vy 73 (Michael Schnitzer - mschnitzer@cc-online.de Receiver: JRC NRD- 525 Antennas: 25m longwire DX-One Professional EWE to South America EWE to Asia/Pacific Location: Hassfurt, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB`s 21455 kHz is rather strong these days during the afternoon UT, and in AM mode, so I suspect that they now are using an 'ordinary tx' (Erik Křie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve noticed that too (gh) ** EL SALVADOR. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EL SALVADOR EARTHQUAKE (No domestic shortwave radio in a few decades; Many private and community stations shut down a few years ago) TRY THESE SITES: http://www.infoelsalvador.com/ http://live.genesis.com.sv/ Has some live local stations for limited periods of time http://www.tvradioworld.com/ Listings of TV, radio and related sites worldwide (Sheldon Harvey, International Radio Report on CKUT Jan 14 via Ricky Leong, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. Hams Respond to El Salvador Earthquake NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 15, 2001--According to reports from the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network, El Salvador`s worst earthquake in at least a decade January 13 has claimed more than 400 lives and injured nearly 800 others. Some 1200 people still are among the missing. SATERN`s Pat McPherson, WW9E, cited figures from El Salvador`s National Emergency Committee. Hundreds of aftershocks have rocked the region since the initial quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. The day after the earthquake, SATERN ran a formal net responding to health-and-welfare requests and emergency traffic from El Salvador. McPherson reports that SATERN volunteers were standing by today, monitoring 14.265 MHz for emergency requests from the affected area. "There is no formal net being run at this point other than the regular SATERN net that meets at 1500 Zulu," McPherson said in a statement released to the media. "If the need presents itself SATERN will run a full-time emergency net to handle traffic." McPherson says that SATERN Coordinator for Honduras Hermann Cueva, HR1HCP, reports that a net is operating on 7090 kHz to assist El Salvador. According to reports from Cueva, the cities of Santa Tecla and Santiago Maria are partially destroyed. The Golden Bridge in Rio Lempa has fallen, and a number of roads are impassable. SATERN is making available a health-and-welfare inquiry form via its Web site. [ http://www.qso.com/satern/ ] "The Maritime Mobile Net and Hurricane Watch Net operators have worked in conjunction with the SATERN operation to meet the need," McPherson said. "It is very edifying to view the assistance of many amateur operators such as those from these services work together to accomplish the task." McPherson said the SATERN alert on January 14 not only marshaled Amateur Radio resources but placed Territorial, Divisional and Local Salvation Army headquarters and their respective emergency response teams at the disposal of those needing assistance. "Numerous Salvation Army Headquarters were opened and ready to receive disaster traffic and Health and Welfare requests," he said. Meanwhile, a team of 22 Turkish rescue personnel has been dispatched to the disaster scene and was expected to be in El Salvador by today. Turkey was hit by a devastating earthquake in the summer of 1999, and Amateur Radio played a role in providing emergency communication in the aftermath. Rescue teams there worked for days to retrieve victims trapped or buried by the debris. Heading up communications for the Turkish rescue team is Serdar Demirel, TA2NO. TRAC President Aziz Sasa, TA1E, reports that the team is equipped with an INMARSAT telephone and VHF and UHF amateur gear. The team includes 15 Turkish Civil Defense personnel plus seven volunteers. CNN reports that a man trapped in the ruble used a cell phone to call for help and to tell rescuers where he was. Another man alerted searchers by tapping on the concrete debris that held him captive. Humanitarian aid and relief personnel as well as earth-moving equipment from other countries, including the US, also have been sent to Central America (ARRL January 15 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, and Elmer Escoto, Honduras, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Dear Glenn: A few years ago, you had an article in Monitoring Times that the Radio Free Europe Portugal facility was closing up and that five 250-kW transmitters were being donated to the Greek government – three to Athens and two to Thessaloniki. As for info about progress on their installation, it seems that the Voice of Greece engineers are being close-mouthed except for that one postcard that I received from Dionisios Angelogiannis saying that VOG hoped to begin transmitting on one of the new transmitters in November. When Demetri Vafeas and his daughter visited here some years back, I asked him for a schedule with VOG`s azimuths. He told me that it was proprietary information. Not to long ago, I made a similar request by mail to Dionisios and he gave me the same jazz. I remember hearing on the ``It`s All Greek to Me`` program that his boss would not let him play other than Greek records. When I first sent my reception reports to Demetri, I pointed out areas of adjacent and co-channel interference and suggested that VOG send him to the HFCC meetings in various European cities and register the frequencies that VOG needed to solve the interference problem. Soon thereafter, he was sent to a Scandinavian country to participate in those meetings. He wrote me that it was his object to protect the traditional VOG frequencies of 7430, 9420, 9425, 9935, 11595, 11635 and 15630 kHz. All this aside, something is going on with those 250-kW transmitters. On Monday, January 8, Radiophonikos Stathmos Makedonias in Thessaloniki had a vastly improved signal on 7430 from 1900 until sign-off at 2258 UT. Normally when WWCR comes on at adjacent-channel 7435, at 2100, is 100-kW signal effectively blocks Thessaloniki`s 35 kW on 7430. There was nothing on the other Thessaloniki frequencies of 9935 and 11595 during my 1900-2300 UT monitoring period. At the end of their broadcast, they announced only the 7430 frequency; they normally announce 7430, 9935, 11595. When my sister, Anastasia, visited there in the 70s, electricity was in short supply and they had TV blackouts during certain hours. It seems possible that Thessaloniki has cut the power off from their three 35 kW transmitters and is using the total 105 kW to power up their new 250 at reduced power, in the test mode. Something also is definitely in the works at the VOG`s Avlis facility. Starting also on Dec. 8 [Jan. 8? -gh], VOA Kavala 1 is now silent from 0800 to 2400; it is being used from 0000 to 0800. Notice that the 2100-2250 UT service has been dropped; I heard a listener complaining about it on a call-in program; 9420 is now being used by Avlis for Europe [but see update below!]. My guess is that they are saving the 250 kW on VOA Kavala 1 for use on the upcoming Avlis *3! When they do get it going, I suspect that they will direct it to North America using their 323 degree antenna and drop the rental of the Delano and Greenville VOA transmitters. Voice of Greece is now announcing and using their new frequency of 7455 – for me, 7457 was better because I could use my 2.7 kHz filter to get rid of the RTTY station on 7453. I wonder if it is located at nearby Fort Meade, MD – it seems to be operating from about 5 to 11 pm? Incidentally, after more than a month`s time of making the wrong announcement of 9420, VOG finally came up with the correct 12105. They also cut new recordings for all their other services; that is how I was able to make my changes to the schedule. I notice in the HFCC frequency allocations chart that AV and THE have 250 kW listed; maybe the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Shortly afterwards, I monitored VOG and found the service to Australia at 2100-2250 on 9420 announcing that frequency plus 15650 (not audible). Also, at 2258, I picked up Radiophonikos Stathmos Makedonias in Thessaloniki (ERT 3) with the following closing frequency announcement translating like this: 1100-1650 and 1800-2300 on 7430 (probably to Europe) 1100-2300 on 9935 (probably to Cyprus, Middle East) My guess for the gap 1650-1800 is that they are switching from the 25 kW to the new 250 kW transmitter during that time period. There was no mention of the previous 11595 additional frequency -– maybe they are using those 420 kw-hours from shutting down the 35 kW for those 12 hours. This is what I SINPO`d 7430 on January 11, 2001: 1900 14332; 2000 25344; 2100 22433; 2200 33444; 2258 34555 [sic] There was nothing on 9935 during that time period (John Babbis, MD, Jan 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Enclosed: a form letter in Greek dated 6 Nov 2000 talks about a new program ``Where Are the Greeks and Where is the Greek Language`` at 1900-2000 UT started October 23 [which was a Monday], signed by Zenobia Boyiatzoylou, Directoress of ERA5. I think her first name translates to Genevieve. Some amendments to the previously published transmission schedule include: 12105 is no longer heard in the 1200-1700 period in various languages; only a single frequency is in use: 1200—1250 15630; 1300- 1700 15650. Also single frequency at 1700-1900 11645, 1900-2050 9375 (including English 1930-2000). ``Hellenes Around the World`` in English Sat 1700-1800 9420 and 7455 ex-15630; ``It`s All Greek to Me``, Sun 1900-2000 on 7475 and 7455 ex-9420 and 7457, still on USA 17705, 17565 (via John Babbis, Jan 10, gh excerpted, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA, 4960.78, AIR Ranchi noted by Larry Baysinger, KY as an unID at 1130 with very good levels, but some equipment problems. Decent out here in Arizona as early as 1346 but on the downside by the time I got an ID after 1400. Local ID as "Akashvani Ranchi". Nominal frequency is 4960. This one is often quite hard, but seems to be making into much of the USA for the moment (Hans Johnson Jan 15, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan gone from 17680 at 1530 for a few weeks; I`m still looking for it (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. When listening to R. Jordan today (Jan. 17) shortly before 14 UT they announced that as of January 20 they`d change broadcasting time to 1400-1730 GMT on 11690 kHz. Today they abruptly went off at 1407 (Erik Křie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11690 has RTTY co-channel and does not propagate well to NAm; 17 MHz would be fine if away from co-channel Chile!! (gh) ** MYANMAR. 6570, two mentions of Myanmar with sign off tune the same as the one heard several years ago. 6570 kHz 1629 UT 14th Jan (Stuart, Blackpool, England, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. In the past few weeks, various people who wanted to react to opinions expressed in our current affairs section of our Web site, Worldwide Hot Spots, found it necessary to use the Guestbook because there wasn't an appropriate forum. Well, now there is! From today, reactions to our online current affairs coverage can be posted directly to our new forum page set up for the purpose. For the most part, the online coverage is based on items broadcast in Newsline or in our Dutch current affairs output. The forum is hosted on our own site, and you do not need to register or even give us your E-mail address in order to take part. All we ask is that comments are on topic, and that you refrain from profanity and personal attacks. In other words, be like this mailing list, not rec.radio.shortwave :-) There is a moderator who will monitor (but not censor) the comments and invite the journalist(s) to respond if appropriate. If it proves successful, we'll be adding forums to other parts of the Web site. During 2001 we also intend to introduce additional ways for you to interact with us. We want to live up to our slogan "all shades of opinion". http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/index.html for the current affairs index page http://www.rnw.nl/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi for the forum (click on Hotspots Forum unless you want Dutch or Spanish) (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, Jan 16, swprograms via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI: Live RealAudio is available between these times: Sunday 1000-1205 and 1900-2230; Monday to Thursday 0300-0400, 0800-0900, 1000-1205 and 1700-2230; Friday 0800-0810 and 1700-2010; Saturday 1000-1205. Valid until 18th March, 2001 (BBCM via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Subject: clear frequency required in 81m band. From: "Robert Jeffares" robert@pnn.org.nz . Date: 1/17/01 6:40 AM Central Standard Time I`m looking for a clear frequency to broadcast from Auckland New Zealand in the 81M band / 3.2mHz [sic]. Now there must be enough DXers in the region to be able to identify a clear channel for a 24 hour service. Be keen to get your recomendations [sic]. thanks in advance Robert Jeffares, South Auckland Local Radio, Otahuhu, Auckland. (rec.radio.shortwave via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PANAMA. On-air event to commemorate 500th anniversary of Isthmus of Panama discovery: Radio Club de Panama has organized an on-air event during March to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Isthmus of Panama by Rodrigo Galvan de Bastidas. Contacts with Panamanian amateurs using the special 3E500 prefix will qualify for a special QSL. Contact the Radio Club de Panama, PO Box 10745, Panama 4 Republic of Panama; hp1bys@hp1bsl.pancty.pa.ca or hp1bsl@hotmail.com (ARRL January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Today there were no periodic pips before the 1700 sign on of R Radonezh 6245. This indicates a site outside CRR-1. At about 1650, soon after the carrier s-on, there was a single pip, which is characteristic of the Samara site (and some distant sites, at least Novosibirsk RC-5 and Angarsk RC-7). The signal was very strong, but the audio is a little shallow. On other new transmissions, VOR Russian on 7170 is beamed from Oyash. It opens with the peculiar Oyash pips with an audio freq of 1350 Hz (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jan 13, BC-DX via DXLD) Radonezh 6245 tx location Samara confirmed. As assumed by OA, the tx used by R Radonezh on 6245 is located in Samara, the power is "more than 20 kW", the antenna beamed "towards Ukraine and SW Europe" (Mikhail Timofeyev, Russia, in DX_BISTRO, via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Jan 15, BC-DX via DXLD) Unfortunately, I could not get any exact information about their tx power and azimuth. But here are some details: 6245 tx is really located at Samara ("power more than 20 kW"), aerial beam to Ukraine and South-East [sic] Europe. Regarding their low audio level: I sent this information to my colleague in Moscow and he promised to do something in the coming days (Mikhail Timofeyev, Russia, Jan 15, BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VOR English at 0200 on 9765; 7180 low but sometimes in parallel. English was late [starting] UT Thu Jan 11 by some 18 minutes. Till then it was \\ 7125 in Russian. So, only 9765 was on at 0200. At 0300, 9765 goes off. English on 7180. At 0400, 7125 and 7180 in English. 7125 splash: 7120 RAI English to Mediterranean; 7180 splashed by 7190. English at 0500 on 7125 and 71809; fair on 12010 (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. As the next HFCC/ASBU meeting is held in coöperation with the ITU in Geneva during the week Feb. 5-9 you can expect some activity from 4U1ITU by the licensed ham operators in the HFCC group. 4U1ITU web site: http://www.itu.int/radioclub (and the station is not closed any longer...) 73, (Erik Křie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Radio Taipei International in Spanish to Europe noted on Jan 15: 2100-2200 on NF 6279.7 (54454) + jammer, ex 6180 to avoid NHK Best regards, (Ivo Ivanov, Radio Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The new freq from TWN, 6280, has been carrying CBS / R Taipei International programs in Mandarin for Mainland CHN ( \\ 6085 etc) in the local evening since 14 Jan, from before 0930 to past 1400. Previously, for several days it had been relaying programs of Family R in Chinese, probably taken from their MW sce (MW 1557 and in part on other MW freq, also all via TWN) which is distinct from their SW sce on 6300 and 9280. It seems that the mainland Chinese monitors have not yet twigged, as 6280 is so far apparently free of jamming and puts in an excellent signal here. I suspect that 6280 may replace 15125 which is no longer audible here, leaving RRI Programa Nasional from Jakarta relatively in the clear on that channel. However the situation is a little confusing was the Family Radio programming on 6280 a switching error, now fixed? I have recently also noted that the audio from Family R on 6300 and 9280 is intruding very loudly on the RTI ext sce stream on 7445 (still current at 1100 on 15 Jan), so presumably there are some technical problems in TWN (Alan Davies, Thailand, Jan 15, BC-DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand, World Service Broadcast Schedule For listeners in all parts of the world, on short-wave 9655 and 11905 megahertz, 25 and 31 metres band, transmitted from Bang Phun, Pathum Thani, Central Thailand, and relayed over transmitters in Ban Dung, Udon Thani, Northeastern Thailand, on frequencies shared with the Voice of America, as stated below: (effective October 29, 2000, as per B-00 seasonal change) GMT Language Direction Frequency 0000-0030 English Europe-Africa 09680 0030-0100 English US-East 13695 0100-0200 Thai US-East 13695 0300-0330 English US-West 15460 0330-0430 Thai US-West 15460 0530-0600 English Europe 12015* 1000-1100 Thai Asia-Pacific 07285 1100-1115 Vietnamese Asia-Pacific 07285 1115-1130 Khmer Asia-Pacific 07285 1130-1145 Lao Asia-Pacific 06040 1145-1200 Burmese Asia-Pacific 06040 1200-1215 Malaysian Asia-Pacific 11805 1215-1230 Indonesian Asia-Pacific 11805 1230-1300 English Asia-Pacific 09810 1300-1315 Japanese Asia-Pacific 07145 1315-1330 Mandarin Asia-Pacific 07145 1330-1400 Thai Asia-Pacific 07145 1400-1430 English Asia-Pacific 09530 1800-1900 Thai Asia-Pacific 11855 1900-2000 English Europe 09535 2000-2015 German Europe 09535 2015-2030 French Europe 09535 2030-2045 English Europe 09535 2045-2115 Thai Europe 09535 Radio Thailand, World Service, Public Relations Department, Royal Thai Government, 236 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Din Daeng, Bangkok 10400 tel (662) 277-1814, 277-6139, 274-9098-9 website http://www.prd.go.th email address: amporns@mozart.inet.co.th *additional change to improve the reception, effective January 15, 2001 (via Kraig Krist, VA, Jan 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. KAZAKHSTAN/TADJIKISTAN. V of Tibet had two new channels selected; heard the stronger one on new 15680 at 1215-1300, and a fair signal on 15595 again, the latter was some 300 ms ahead of 15680, but suffered from Chinese jamming, 15680 suffered from adjacent channel QRM by WWCR 15685 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Jan 14, BC-DX via DXLD) Freq changes of V of Tibet in Tibetan and Mandarin Ch: 1212-1300 NF 15595 (55544) via Dushanbe, (x15695), NF 15680 (55544) via Almaaty, (x15705). 2312-2400 NF 7195 (54444) via Dushanbe, co-ch RRI in En (x7180). ("Observer" R Bulgaria monitoring by Ivo Ivanov and Angel Datzinov, Jan 15, BC-DX via DXLD) They are hopping between 7180 and 7195 2315-2400; Right now on 7180 being jammed. In the past, it took almost a week to find the change and bring in the jammers by the Chinese authorities, now they do it the same day. Today VOT was using 15655 and 15705. Jamming on 15655 and 15680, none on 15705. I wonder why there's always a loud jammer on the Dushanbe channel but not on the Almaty channel? Late addition: After the beginning of the transmission the 15680 jammer was moved to 15705 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jan 16, BC-DX via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. [Re: reduced carrier SSB modulation, DXLD 1-007] Clearly, this kind of modulation creates more problems than it solves under shortwave reception conditions, as the tests that were made by shortwave broadcasters a decade ago produced next to nothing. An important problem with an unbalanced AM signal is that you won't find a natural tuning point. Starting your tuning from the reduced sideband side you will first have the effect of an undermodulated signal. Then the effective modulation level gradually increases until the trailing filter flank starts reducing the carrier and an overmodulation effect appears. That is, you can select your own modulation level. As we know, undermodulation creates an unpleasant, dull audio and is avoided by the listener, while overmodulation creates distortion. It is natural to tune to a high modulation level point as that produces a louder audio, but then the signal is also very sensitive to carrier amplitude fading. With normal, double sideband audio the natural tuning point is near the center of the signal, and the modulation level and resulting audio will be what the broadcaster has chosen. The selective fading distortion is an added "bonus". Listening to 4930, finding a pleasant tuning point is very difficult. It seems that the distortion results both from amplitude fading and phase variations. Most likely there is also distortion in the original audio, resulting from poor feeds, as witnessed by 5015. Unless the remaining sideband is corrected there will also be distortion resulting from the incomplete signal when using an AM receiver. As they probably wish to squeeze the most out of the transmitter they are likely to use near 100% modulation, which makes the signal even more sensitive to fading. By the way, Turkmen Radio SW txers are located in the southern outskirts of Ashgabat, seen on location by one of my contacts. Regards (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jan 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Security Service denies threatening Radio Liberty employees | Text of report by Ukrainian television on 15th January The president of Radio Liberty, Thomas A Dine, made a statement in Washington about attempts to pressurize and threaten Radio Liberty. According to him, individuals presenting themselves as officers of the Ukrainian intelligence service had talks with employees of Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service and threatened them with reprisals if the service does not change the tone of presenting Ukrainian politics. But the threats will not induce Radio Liberty to hush up the facts around the political crisis in Ukraine, the president of the radio station said. The press service of the Security Service of Ukraine [SSU] has already dismissed the information about threats from its employees and said that the SSU has been looking into the reasons, sources and objective of why this information appeared. Source: Ukrainian Television Second Programme, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1400 gmt 15 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Short wave via Merlin was too expensive to continue indefinitely, so that avenue`s out I`m afraid. At the moment we`re going out for four hours each Thursday evening from 8 pm as part of Caroline`s output. It`s available on the web (http://www.radiocaroline.de, http://www.radio- caroline.nl or http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk), or the Astra 1C analogue satellite behind Challenge TV/TV Travel Shop (10.994GHz, horizontal, subcarriers at 7.38 and 7.56MHz). Best regards Rob Leighton, Imagination Radio ".....we are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams....." http://www.imagination.clara.net imagination@clara.net (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK Jan 16 via DXLD) ** U K. The BBC World Service never ceases to amaze me with its news coverage. The Congolese president Laurent Kabila is shot and killed [?], apparently by his personal bodyguard during an argument with senior generals. "The World Today" at 0500 GMT responds with live reports from a reporter in Kinshasa, phone interviews with experts analyzing the political fallout, as well as observations from other Africa watchers and experts, including sources in Brussels (the Congo is a former Belgian colony), plus profiles on Kabila`s term in office and on the Congo itself. Mind you, this is not the Africa stream of the World Service -- it's the Americas line-up. The BBC is all over the story -- they have correspondents in Africa (and everywhere) ready to roll. Not so for the average American radio news outlet. ABC has no "Kinshasa" bureau. I'm not sure they have an office anywhere in Africa. The story was mentioned on stateside radio newscasts when Reuters and AP first carried it, but I heard just a brief few lines, with newscasters only reading short "word" accounts straight off the wires. By the way, this particular broadcast of "The World Today" also had stories on unrest in the Philippines, demonstrations in Indonesia, expected OPEC oil production cuts, El Salvador earthquake aid, the Ashcroft confirmation hearings, the ten-year anniversary of the Gulf War, the former cabinet minister in Malawi's acquittal on corruption charges, the murder of a Russian ice hockey star and other stories. Then there was the British news (with sound) about the commander of British forces during the Gulf War calling for an inquiry into depleted uranium health scares, the couple at the center of a Transatlantic battle over custody of six-month old twins wanting British citizenship for the babies, the pros and cons of a proposed total ban on fox hunting in the UK, book vending machines in the London underground, and so on. That`s not to mention the sports roundup within the broadcast, again with tape sent in by correspondents from around the world (Brussels and Seoul in this edition) and the worldwide financial news and the roundup of stories from newspapers from around the globe, etc. On this list in the past I`ve always talked about how much I love the lighter line-up of the World Service like "The Greenfield Collection," "Quote, Unquote," "Off the Shelf," "Jazzmatazz," "Play of the Week," "John Peel," "Just a Minute" and all the other great radio shows. But I'm in awe. "The World Today" is a well-done news program that I guess we sometimes take for granted. This type of program is why I listen to shortwave radio for my news, and particularly, to the BBC World Service (Ed Mayberry, http://www.internationallistener.com swprograms Jan 17 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WS Previews; note: many series started earlier in January previously mentioned here, but continuing, are not given, just new topics or episodes. *Wed Jan 17 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| MERIDIAN -- MUSIC Eu Wed 0905, 1905, Thu 0105, 1405 Am Wed 1405, Thu 0105, 2005, Fri 0605 Music Review, 6 x 25 min until Fri Jan 19 Birthday of Plácido Domingo, Jan 17 *Fri Jan 19 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DISCOVERY Eu Fri 2005, Sat 0205, Mon 1505, Tue 1005 Am Sat 0205, Mon 2105, Tue 1505 Gene Pioneers, 3 x 25 min from Jan 19 1) Maxine Singer, biochemist, genetic research 2) John Sulston and Francis Collins, human genome project 3) Future of genetics, gene therapy *Sat Jan 20 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Eu Sat 0405, Sun 2030, Mon 1430 Am Sat 0405, Mon 2030, Tue 0630 Quote, Unquote, 6 x 30 min from Sat Jan 20 *Sun Jan 21 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| WORLDPLAY Specially commissioned radio plays from stations around the world, featuring younger writers relatively new to radio Eu Sun 0001, 1701 Am Sun 0001, Mon 0630 Wild Amerika, by Erika Schikel, 1 x 60 min Jan 21-22 Los Angeles Theatre Workshop. Funny, bright and intimate theatrical essay on mating, motherhood and monogamy (from BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, compiled by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Walter Cronkite Hosts Documentary on Iran | Public Radio Event Marks 20th Anniversary of Release of American Hostages Jan. 9, 2001 | 4:26 p.m. Contact: Ken Mills for the Stanley Foundation, 763-513-9988 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Veteran CBS journalist Walter Cronkite will host the radio documentary ``The Struggle for Iran'' heard on NPR stations and noncommercial stations worldwide beginning Jan. 20, 2001. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the release of U.S. hostages, ``The Struggle for Iran'' is being distributed as part of the Iran Project, a public radio and Internet venture made possible by the Stanley Foundation. The purpose of the Iran Project is to take a fresh look at modern Iran and the changing relationship between the United States and Iran -- two important countries that can't seem to live with, or without, each other. The Iran Project consists of two major parts: 1. A one-hour public radio documentary, ``The Struggle for Iran.'' 2. A Web site (http://www.iranproject.org) designed to provide additional depth and dialogue about Iran today, Iranian communities in the United States, and evolving policy between Iran and the United States. The radio documentary, ``The Struggle for Iran,'' is produced by noted public radio and television journalist Reese Erlich in association with KQED Radio, NPR's flagship station in San Francisco. These are the stories covered in ``The Struggle for Iran'': 1. ``Hostages and Captors: 20 Years Later'' Barry Rosen was a U.S. diplomat held for 444 days. He tells an incredible story of physical and mental abuse at the hands of Iranian students. He can never forget the horror of his captivity, but he has come to criticize U.S. policy in Iran and call for an end to the U.S. embargo. Abas Abdi and Massoumeh Ebtekar were leaders of the embassy takeover. They continue to justify their actions of 1979, but today are leaders in the pro-reform camp. Ironically, hostage and captor now share a common hope for a more democratic Iran. It`s a story of personal tragedy, revolutionary fervor, and reconciliation after 20 years. 2. ``Revolution at Ground Zero'' Hassan Khavari owns an oil change garage and feels that reforms have gone too far in Iran. Student leader Ali Ashfari says they haven`t gone far enough. These two ordinary Iranians represent the grassroots struggle between hard-liners and reformers that currently engulfs Iran. The 1979 Islamic Revolution was seen as an alternative to both Western imperialism and Western communism. But what has it actually meant for their day-to-day lives? In addition to ordinary Iranians, we interview the chief of staff to President Mohammad Khatami. 3. ``Pulling Back the Welcome Mat for Afghani Refugees'' Iran is home to the largest number of refugees of any country in the world. At first, Iranians welcomed Afghanis and Iraqis as religious refugees fleeing oppressive regimes. But faced with a failing economy, some Iranians are blaming the foreigners for taking too many jobs and government resources. We meet Iranian and Afghani workers and political leaders to find out what happens when Islamic ideology meets economic reality. 4. ``U.S. Media Coverage of Iran'' The United States prides itself on having free and objective media, but what's their record on covering Iran? Using archival broadcasts and interviews with reporters and analysts, this segment shows how the U.S. media all too often uncritically promoted U.S. foreign policy in Iran. While U.S. policy toward Iran has been in disarray, the U.S. media coverage has actually improved. 5. ``Future of U.S.-Iran Relations'' Iran has been called the ``Bermuda Triangle'' of U.S. foreign policy because four administrations have gotten lost on the issue. Republican administrations have historically been more willing to deal with Iran in recent years, but President George W. Bush faces a maze of competing interests. Some conservatives and pro-Israeli groups oppose normalizing relations with Iran. Oil interests, big corporations, and some liberals favor improving relations. This story was reported from Tehran, Houston, Atlanta, and Washington and features an exclusive interview with former President Jimmy Carter. 6. ``Culture Clash'' Beginning in the early 1980s, mullahs leading the Islamic Revolution banned pop music and almost all forms of entertainment. Many musicians fled to Los Angeles where they established a major pop music industry. Their CDs and videotapes are smuggled back to Iran and remain highly popular. But now indigenous pop music is once again permitted in Iran, and is preferred by some young people who see the ``Los Angelesi'' music as a pernicious Western import. Hear how electronic keyboards and sexy dancers have become the focus of a new culture war between Los Angeles and Tehran. For more information, please contact: Ken Mills at the KEN MILLS AGENCY, 1635 Kelly Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55427, 763-513-9988 (voice), 763-513-1689 (fax), publicradio@hotmail.com (e-mail). --- BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Visit the foundation's Web site at http://www.stanleyfoundation.org AP-NY-01-09-01 1715EST (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Classical FM -- latest news stories and headlines on classical music and classical artists: Never seen this before. http://www.classicalfm.com/ (Chet Copeland, NY, Jan 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also has links to several classical webcast stations (gh) ** U S A. Here is the information about the WWV, WWVH user`s survey. The message is being run at 03 and 47 minutes on WWVH and only at 04 minutes on WWV, for some reason the one at 16 minutes past each hour was dropped on Friday, January 12. The message asks for users of WWV and WWVH to send their name and postal address to the following pmail address: NIST Radio users survey, 2000 E. Country Road 58, Fort Collins CO 80524, or via email to: nist.radio@boulder.nist.gov. The survey will sent out sometime in May. I noticed the message being run on Wednesday, January 10, at 16 minutes past each hour. 73, your listener (David Moore, Morro Bay, California, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Saturday, January 20, 2001 - WAGL-1560, Lancaster, SC will conduct a DX test from 1:00-2:00 am EST [0600-0700 UT]. The test will be conducted as follows: At 1:00 am EST, WAGL will turn their carrier on - static will be heard. At 1:05am EST, WAGL will begin carrier modulation with voice IDs, greetings, and music. The test will continue until 2:00am EST with music, voice statements, and possible Morse code IDs. WAGL will conduct the test using their full 50 kW into their 4 tower array directional antenna system. Reception reports may be sent to: B.L. (Len) Phillips General Manager WAGL-AM P.O. Box 28 Lancaster, SC 29721 E-mail: waglradio@infoave.net WWW: http://www.waglradio.com (Arranged by Lynn Hollerman for the IRCA CPC.) (IRCA DX Monitor Jan 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA is carrying out some tests from Jan 15 to 21; we are not sure why, or from where: 0100-0200 6140 0100-0130 6015 0200-0300 11850 0600-0700 21540 1100-1400 15155 1500-1600 11695 1600-1630 6070 2300-2400 6095 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###