DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-012, January 30, 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, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html LAST WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 39: See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/worx39.html HEAR WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 39: (DOWNLOAD) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/worx39.rm (STREAM) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/worx39.ram WORLD OF RADIO. WOR et al boomed in here on 5070 this morning 0730- 0800. Conditions across the pond must have been good as 3210 was also strong and 2390 fair (Noël Green, England, Jan 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWCR`s 12160 may seem a nice clear frequency, but not on single- conversion receivers subject to CW images from the marine band 900 or 910 kHz higher. Checking WOR Sunday Jan 28 at 2000 on the Philips DC- 777 car SW radio, there was an unavoidable continuous CW marker from CLA Havana. This factor, unfortunately, should be taken into account by SW stations when selecting new frequencies (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. New extended band stations noted within the last Month here on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia: Tamworth N.S.W. 1611 kHz MTC [sic] noted with continuous country Music and some national ads (incl McDonalds) came on just before commencement of country music month Jan 2001 in Tamworth, around 400 watts used, sinpo 43433. Dalby, Queensland, 1629 kHz, 4DB also noted with a mix of Country and rockabilly, signal poor to fair and mixing with HRN hospital network, Newcastle, hetrodyne, sinpo 22222. Equipment used: Sangean ATS 803A AND REALISTIC/TANDY DX160 with a 30 metre dipole. 73 have a great 2001 (Tim Gaynor, Nerang QLD, Australia Jan 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Radio Australia has gained access to additional off-shore transmitter time. Some of the details remain incomplete, but this is what is known thus far. All frequency changes go into effect late Sunday, January 28 UT. ENGLISH SERVICE: The following new broadcasts via Taiwan are in English: 2200-2330 UT on 15110 kHz 0800-1130 UT on 15125 kHz (Although not specified, these broadcasts likely target Asia) The English Service also has a number of programming changes going into effect as of January 29: 1.) Asia Pacific - Sunday to Thursday 2310 UT and Monday to Friday 0010 UT 2.) The weekday features at 0110 UT are: (Mon)AWAYE, (Tue)Science Show, (Wed)The National Interest, (Thu)Background Briefing, (Fri)Hindsight. 3.) The report programmes at 0130 UT are: (Mon)Health, (Tue)Law, (Wed)Religion, (Thu)Media, (Fri) The Sports Factor. 4.) Margaret Throsby will disappear from the schedule at this time and as things stand at the moment will only be heard once a week on Tuesday at 1605 UT replacing Music Deli which RA can no longer broadcast in its extended Radio National version because of copyright problems. 5.) RA`s weekday schedule has the following additional modifications: 0210 - The World Today 0310 - Sport 0320 - Pacific Focus 0340 - Music Programme: (Mon)Australian Music Show, (Tue)Music Deli, (Wed)Blacktracker, (Thu) Oz Country Style, (Fri) Music Deli (shortened version) 0410 - The World Today 0510 - Pacific Beat 0530 - Sport 0540 - Pacific Beat 0610 - Sport 0620 - Pacific Focus 0640 - Music Programme - schedule as for 0340. From then on the schedule is as it was! 6.) The weekend schedule will also be changing but details are not yet available. (all via Roger Broadbent, RA) (John A. Figliozzi, Volunteer Publicist, Radio Australia, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. EDXP NEWSFLASH MESSAGE Radio Australia relays from Jan-29 are as follows: 9730 Singapore 2300-2330 Khmere 11550 Taipei 2130-2330 Indonesian 11550 Taipei 0800-0830 Indonesian 11745 Taipei 0500-0530 Indonesian 15110 Taipei 2200-2330 English 15110 Taipei 2330-0030 Vietnamese 15125 Taipei 0800-1130 English 15435 Singapore 1400-1530 Mandarin 17805 Saipan 0800-0830 Indonesian 17865 Singapore 0500-0530 Khmere 21745 Tinian 0000-0030 Indonesian 21785 Tinian 0400-0430 Indonesian 21785 Tinian 0500-0530 Indonesian (Saipan: This refers to the former KHBI facility at Agingan Point, Northern Marianas Islands, now used by the IBB) [BUT SEE BELOW!] Visit the Radio Australia Home Page for other programming and schedule details: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/ (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 27, Electronic DX Press via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. RA via NMI: Beginning January 29, Radio Australia`s Indonesian program will be transmitted from Tinian at 0000-0030 GMT (21745 kHz), 0400-0430 GMT (21785 kHz) and 0500-0530 GMT (21785 kHz); and from Saipan at 0800-0830 GMT (17805 kHz). (Dan Ferguson, IBB, Jan 27, DXLD) Some changes already!!! The 0000-0030 GMT broadcast from Tinian is moved to 21615 kHz, effective January 30. [RA Shep on 21740! -gh] The 0500-0530 GMT and 0800-0830 GMT broadcasts, from Tinian & Saipan, respectively, are cancelled. So if you missed the 0800-0830 GMT broadcast on January 29, you missed the only chance to get Radio Australia from Saipan (Dan Ferguson, Jan 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Taiwan at 2200 on 15110 is awful, clashing with Spain. Nigel Holmes tells me RA plan to move it shortly, perhaps to the 15400s (Chris Hambly, Victoria, Jan 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. The recent incident at Radio Australia`s Shepparton site was just a small grass fire. It burnt out approx. 50 acres out of a total 600, and the transmitter buildings were not damaged. A 5.5 hour hole in programming whilst the local fire authority dealt with the matter was the only adverse result of any consequence, according to Nigel Holmes, RA`s National Transmission Manager. The site plays host to 1300 sheep who are charged with keeping the grass down for this very reason. The sheep were also undamaged by the fire. Most of inland Australia is going through a very hot and dry period, with maximum temperatures in many locations exceeding 40 deg. C. Grass fires are a common, and potentially dangerous consequence of the current weather patterns, and are often started by lightning strikes. Prior to our summer, we had a very good spring with plentiful rain, so there is plenty of dry grass around to burn (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. From: http://roi.orf.at/frameall.asp?url=/english/en_intern_thema.html Roland Machatschke: Radio Austria International - A Sinking Ship? In its 20 January, 2001 issue, the daily newspaper Die Presse makes this claim, without adding a question mark, and uses it as the title of an article based on an audit of the Federal Chancellery by the Public Auditors Office. It is important to point out here that it was not an audit of Radio Austria International (ROI), but instead concerned the Federal Chancellery in connection with its funding of ROI. The Federal Chancellery pays the operating costs of Radio Austria International through the ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, which, in accordance with the Broadcasting Law have to be borne by the federal government. Budget funds allocated to ROI are negotiated with the Federal Chancellery on an annual basis. In the year 2000, the funding was reduced by almost 30 percent compared to 1999, without detailed negotiations. In the current year, 2001, the Republic of Austria is only providing roughly half of the funding it paid for its international broadcaster in 1999. For the year 2002 no further funding is planned. Effects When the budget cuts for the current year 2000 were announced last March, modifications to the programming had to be hastily considered. The summer broadcast schedule (end of March to end of October) had already been printed and distributed. It was hoped that our listeners would notice as little as possible the problems we faced. We did not want the necessary radical spending cuts to lead to radical cuts in our programming. Our broadcasts in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Esperanto remained unaffected. Instead, we cut back on our German-language programming by actually increasing the share of programmes taken from the domestic service of the ORF. This had already made up over 66 percent of the total broadcast time. In light of the fact that there were to be further cuts in funding for 2001, it became necessary to take even more drastic steps for the winter broadcasting period 2000/2001. Budget Cut in Half Radio Austria International was forced to let go half of its roughly 100 regular staff and freelancers within the space of six months. Programming itself had to be changed to concentrate on the core responsibilities of an international broadcaster, namely news and current affairs. Thus all music programmes were discontinued, a decision not easily made by Austria's voice to the world, considering the fact Austria is regarded as the "land of music". All told, 26 of the 36 magazine programmes were cancelled along with all ROI produced news broadcasts and current affairs programmes with the exception of the "Österreich Journal", which is broadcast Monday thru Friday. The other language services have remained by and large unchanged, because with their 13 percent share of the entire programming it would have been difficult to make further cuts without endangering their very existence. However, in order to be able to offer ROI listeners an "Austrian programme" and so as not to relinquish the traditional broadcasting frequencies, it was decided to fill the gaps which became available with cultural and news programmes from ORF`s domestic station "Ö1". From listeners' letters, we know that this solution has met with an almost unanimously positive response. Unfortunately, we have had to curtail some services to more distant target areas because of the high electricity costs involved. For that reason, instead of being on the air to overseas target areas for several hours a day, ROI can usually only be heard there for one hour daily. This was a very painful spending cut for us. Who Listens to ROI? Radio Austria International has more listeners than some of the critics here at home would want to lead us to believe. Letters and Internet visits are reliable indicators for an international broadcaster which cannot afford expensive market research. In 1999, we received approx. 35,000 letters, in other words almost one third more than in 1998. As far as page impressions on the Internet are concerned, we currently have an average of more than 400,000 hits per month. In 1998, the figure was around 70,000. Despite budget constraints, expansion of ROI`s presence on the Internet will be continued and services improved. We are pleased to receive responses from listeners and welcome any and all suggestions! Sinking or sunk? In the age of satellite radio and the Internet, ROI faces growing competition. The ORF`s domestic radio and television programmes can be received via satellite throughout Europe. People can read Austrian newspapers anywhere in the world on their personal computer, provided, of course, there is electricity and they have technical access to the Internet. That's not always the case. The small battery-operated short-wave world receiver is not only for travellers, but-in countries of the Third World-often the only contact people have with their home country. Short-wave is in the midst of a technical revolution: digitalization will bring a qualitative advance in audibility. For forty years now the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, through its international service, has provided information about Austria and its people, about culture and lifestyle, about Austrian political life and society. For forty years now Radio Austria International has provided a link between Austrian expatriates or former Austrians and Austria itself. It has been the voice of Austria abroad and the only Austrian broadcasting medium which has reported about our country in other languages as well. Radio Austria International is prepared for the challenges of the future. It is not a "sinking ship in the short-wave ocean" ("Die Presse"). Even though it has considerably less money to spend than the governments of neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Hungary allocate to their international radio programming, Radio Austria International is able to fulfill its core responsibilities. But there a great danger that the "ROI ship" will be sunk by outside forces. When half the crew is forced to leave the ship and when the engines are only permitted to run at half speed then there are limits even to our manoeuverability (c) 2001 Radio Österreich International (via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. See NETHERLANDS ANTILLES ** BHUTAN. Hi Victor Goonetilleke, Curious to know if you can hear Bhutan and what freq you are hearing it on. Suspect it is on 6034.9 but no luck in the evenings or morning hours. Are they on the air? A tough catch here in the USA but really tough if not on the right freq. Some listings show it to be on 6030 and others 6034.9. Any help would be appreciated. You will be missed this year at the winter fest! (Bob Montgomery, swbc@topica.com) One more on Bhutan. At 1130 past 1230 I checked and find BHU on 6034.85. So let me monitor this a few more days and see if this is a morning evening difference or a case of drift. I remember a year or two back BHU would suddenly drop down to 5028 from the 5030 freq and then we found it was their old TXer. Evening signals are rather weak. I wish they go back to a less crowded 60 m.b. that getting on 6 MHz. Or go out of band like Zambia 6265. Anyway good luck (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, SWBC@topica.com) Hello Bob, Sorry about a few days delay in responding. I wanted to get you the latest. BHUTAN is on an unstable frequency situation. Today 25/01 heard on carrier at 0055 beating with VOA on 6035. VOA s.off at 0059.45. BHU very clear sign on melody on 6035.4 kHz. I will check the 1200 time slot too. However I suspect the 0100 would be your best bet with also Northern Winter conditions. Desperately trying to hear the Canadian Low Power stations, just like you try for BHU. Yes, shall miss all of you this year at the Winterfest. Hope all of you have a super time. Regards (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, "Shangri-La," Kolamunne, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka, SWBC@topica.com via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. Here are some changes to the RCI schedule which I've found out about: As of 5 February, there will be a new RCI English transmission (RCI- produced programming) to the Indian Subcontinent, at 1500-1600 UT, on 15360 & 17820 kHz via Flevo. You`ll recall that there were tests from Flevo to India for three days in the second week of November. (They probably won`t use Flevo for this in the A01 period, since there are doubts that propagation on that path would be very good.) There`s a new relay swap, between RCI and Radio Sweden. As of 29 January, the RCI 2100-2130 UT Arabic broadcast (currently on 11945 & 15325 via Sackville) will also be relayed via Hörby on 5865 kHz [but see update below!]. This is a swap: Radio Sweden is going out via Sackville on 9560 kHz at 0230-0259 UT in English. The 15325 kHz frequency via Meyerton at 1900-1959 UT in English has moved to Ascension, due to poor propagation from South Africa to West Africa in that time slot. The change took place around last weekend or the beginning of this week, but I need confirmation on the exact date. Hope this is of interest. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, RCI, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. Hi guys! Got a note from Gérald Théorêt this morning: The frequency for the RCI relay via Hörby, Sweden will be 5860 kHz, and not 5865 as I mentioned (above) on Friday. Sorry for the problem. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, RCI, Jan 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Yesterday, Sunday, I heard R Chechnya Svobodnaya on 9810 from 0300, while Tbilisskaya on the same freq with VOR Russian went off. Today, Monday, the situation was back to normal - VOR Russian until 0400 and no RCS. Since Tbilisskaya apparently went off at 0302 on Sunday and the RCS programme was not synchronized with LW 171 it was not a switching error at Tbilisskaya (Olle Alm, Sweden, 22 Jan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Tuning around 16m on Jan 25 at 1525 I came upon CRI in English on 17720. Program about the so-called Spring Festival, which relates to Chinese New Year, how it is celebrated in different regions. Signal was quite strong and steady, and broad, but somewhat undermodulated, lo-fi, with occasional breaks, and continuous background noise. All symptoms typical of Cuban relays on lower frequencies, but never heard here before. So I strongly suspect this is another test via Cuba. Naturally, nothing was said about this or any other specific frequency at closing 1558* Reception here was much better than on the direct 7405, which was fading out by then. Did not check the following day. RHC certainly has spare transmitter capacity at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried for the assumed CRI relay via Cuba yesterday on 17720, but find Romanian HS on that frequency until about 1600. Most interesting to know they can radiate on frequencies that high - still! It has been a long time since I heard them on that band (Noël Green, England, Jan 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not checked every day, but CRI English 17720 again Jan 29 around 1530, and this time it was very undermodulated. A bit better on Jan 30 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CUBA (?) 17720, China Radio Int`l; noted this on Jan. 28, 1520-1558*, as per G. Hauser`s log a few days prior in HCDX. Signal here was rather weak, with muffled audio EG prgming till 1558*. No parallels located. Signal had the kind of flutter not unlike WYFR-Okeechobee`s 15 and 17 MHz freqs (skip-over at my short distance from the transmitter site). But inconclusive as to whether actually from Cuba based solely on my observation. If from Cuba, would strongly suggest it is from the new Chinese-built (two years old) transmitting and monitoring facility, DFed by the FCC at 22.56.00 N, 82.23.00 W (near Bejucal), as opposed to the Bauta site for most RHC SW transmitters (Terry Krueger, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CHINA. **************************************** NOW AVAILABLE (FREE!) -- THE CHINA SHORTWAVE GUIDE ************************************************** In recent months, I, and many other people, have been frustrated at the lack of reliable and accurate information in a single reference concerning SW broadcasting in the Chinese Peoples` Republic (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Some of the information which is useful is available via many independent sources; other data has to be researched from actual monitoring and interpretation of material made available by broadcasters either directly or through their Web sites, as well as items from correspondents. What is needed is a single up-to-date publication, showing the data either in frequency order, or in order of broadcasting organisation. Regrettably, the accuracy and topicality of information in costly annual references leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of frequency planning data is submitted to the ITU from the ABU, but many entries are lists of assigned frequencies, not all of which are actually used for any given period. Indeed, the recent decision of the Chinese Peoples' Republic to make available via the HFCC its proposed frequency usage for the international transmission periods is commendable, in stark contrast to the Taiwanese Authorities. Credit should also be extended to the members of the Nagoya DXers Circle, and the Asian Broadcasting Institute, for their intensive research in this field, and their willingness to share their findings with other hobbyists. Some commendable work has also been done, and continues, by hobbyists in Europe, particularly Olle Alme and Noel Green, including their interesting analyses of transmitter sites believed to be in use in the PRC, as well as by Alan Davies (Thailand). In 1987, the Asian Broadcasting Institute published its informative first edition of the "China Radio Handbook", of some 60 pages, covering the operations of broadcasting in the PRC. I am not aware of any further issues. I therefore decided to assemble a special listing, which I have named "THE CHINA SHORTWAVE GUIDE". What I constructed is a comprehensive tabulation of data for broadcasters known to be operating in China (international and regional) and in Taiwan (excluding Clandestine stations), which includes the leased relays in those areas by International broadcasters. I have also shown the relays outside of China and Taiwan known to be in use, for China Radio International and Radio Taipei International. The GUIDE runs to over 1000 entries, in frequency order, and I am offering it free of charge to anyone, via electronic delivery. It is an Excel 7.0 ".xls" file, of about 400 KB, not compressed. The file may be sorted, rearranged, or filtered as required, and any or all of it may be printed! It prints out to some 20 pages of A4, using a font of size-8. It may also be exported into other applications for rearrangement or reformatting. Each entry shows the network, organisation, frequency, start time, end time, target, language, transmitter site, transmitter country, and broadcast days. The Guide is more than a simple listing: it has various "clickable buttons", in colours, for each of the SW networks, which can be used (optional) for calling up instantaneous listings for each Network. This has been done with some Visual Basic programming, as some users are not too comfortable with fiddling around with sorting and filtering routines. I have attempted to make the information as accurate as possible, but I advise that HF usage is subject to continual change by broadcasters, often without formal advance or on-air notification. Major frequency changes will also occur on Mar-24 2001, which will affect schedules for the international and leased networks. The data has been researched by the worldwide resources available through the Electronic DX Press, from personal monitoring by myself, and from information made available to me from my professional colleagues in the engineering community. The GUIDE is FREE, and I would like to share it with you; all you need to do is to send me a simple, personal request, via E-mail: bobpadula@bigpond.com A printed copy is also available in A4 format, 20 pages, showing the data in frequency order. This is available for a small charge to cover printing and mailing expenses, from: Bob Padula, 404 Mont Albert Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127, Australia * To Australian addresses: $5 (cash, cheques, postal orders, mint stamps) * Airmail elsewhere: US$5 (A$10) (cash, 7 IRCs, international money orders in Australian currency, mint Australian stamps - cheques not accepted) There is no restriction on the reuse of data for non-commercial purposes. I would be delighted if you are able to mention the new GUIDE within your own publication, Club, or sphere of influence. Thanks for your interest! (Bob Padula, Author: "CHINA SHORTWAVE GUIDE" Melbourne, Australia, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA/VENEZUELA. FARC rebels said operating their radio across the border in Venezuela | Excerpt from report by Venezuelan Globovision television web site on 26 January The authorities in Zulia State [northwest Venezuela, bordering Colombia] have inspected the border area of Machiques and Rosario de Perija municipalities, in Zulia, in order to detect the Colombian rebels` radio station that calls for an uprising. Radio messages broadcast by the rebel radio station in Perija have called on citizens dissatisfied with the government to join the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] and rebel against the system. The authorities in Zulia State have not ruled out the possibility that the call may have been made by ham radio operators or clandestine stations established in the border villages of Villa del Rosario or Machiques, or at the foot of the Perija mountain range... [It is not clear whether this report refers to the FARC radio station which calls itself Voz de la Resistencia.] Source: Globovision television web site, Caracas, in Spanish 26 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Venezuela/Colombia: Officials try to locate rebel FARC radio station | Text of report by Venezuelan Globovision television web site on 28 January The Zulia State Government, the national executive and the armed forces are undertaking conducting efforts and investigations to find the site of the radio station of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia [FARC] that is being heard in Zulia. Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales has confirmed the existence of this signal that is being received on 95.7 in FM and has promised to investigate what appears to be an escalation by the guerrillas in Venezuela. It is not known whether the signal, which allegedly airs inciting messages, transmits from Colombian or Venezuelan territory. It has been reported that the FARC has been in touch with Venezuela to deny that they are trying to indoctrinate or recruit Venezuelans into the struggle and that it is an internal signal that unfortunately transcends Colombia's borders. Source: Globovision television web site, Caracas, in Spanish 28 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI ran 15049 (still not 15065 yet) well past 0700 UT Jan 30. 7480 is back! First noted at 0137 UT Jan 31, but at the moment 15049 was stronger and with less interference. Expect an adjustment in the actual hours of operating of each (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RADIO HAVANA CUBA, THE GRAN CARIBE HOTEL GROUP AND THE CUBANA AIRLINES invite you to participate in an International Competition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Radio Havana Cuba, on May 1st, 2001. THREE ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIPS to Cuba will be awarded, and also 10 consolation prizes. Participants are requested to respond to the following question: IN THE LAST 40 YEARS, WHAT HAS RADIO HAVANA CUBA SIGNIFIED FOR YOU? The competition deadline is March 1st, 2001. All answers should be addressed to: Radio Havana Cuba, P O Box 6240, Habana, Cuba; Fax: (537)70 5810; E-mail: radiohc@ip.etecsa.cu The above flyer was enclosed with a carbon-copied (literally) letter from Lourdes López, Head of Correspondence Dept., asking for reconfirmation of address for mailing list. The envelope, instead of a stamp or meter indicia, was rubber-stamped: PORTE PAGADO PORT PAYE #17-04-97 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.78, unidentified (via R Cristal), *1101- 1141 Jan. 28, open carrier noted here before 1100, finally into vocal DR anthem from 1101, M uncopiable ID ("Radio...") at 1104, refs to "AM... estéreo," followed by lots of ads for stores mostly in Santo Domingo, then into SP ballads and SP pop vocals from 1107+, with occasional ads, a couple of recorded "Desde Santo Domingo" drops, and M live anncr. Music was always clear, but the voice was always distorted. Don`t recall ever hearing Cristal local mornings, and this was a very different format from Cristal`s all-bachata canned style. Wonder if they are relaying another Santo Domingo station in the mornings now? Good, except for the distortion. However, gone (blocked) by the Chinese station on 5010 at 1200+ recheck (Terry Krueger, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.05, R Amanecer Internacional, Santo Domingo, Jan 26, 2345-0005, SS, canciones cristianas, sermon, ID: "Ésta es Radio Amanecer Internacional ..... con un mensaje de amor, unidad y esperanza .... palabra de Dios" SINPO 32422 (Michael Schnitzer, Germany, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Haven`t seen this one reported for a while; was inactive? Mark Mohrmann`s list has it last reported in May 2000 (gh) ** ECUADOR. 4840.00, Radio Interoceánica, Jan 25 0208-0342+, apparently reactivated with new program format. No traditional Andean music heard. Pop ballads and "música romántica". Highly produced canned ID's for "Interoceánica FM...103.5...", 0300 ad/promo block into religious program at 0305. Talk and bible references to 0333. Promo for Asociación Ecuatoriana de Radiodifusión, more ads and IDs "Interoceánica tu mejor...", still going at 0342, very good signal, much stronger than in the past (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Hi Allen, Congratulations are in order for Glenn. Maybe we should send him a special QSL card..... We have had a different transmitter on the air for 21455 lately. We are currently using the Siemens transmitter which is putting out about 25 kW instead of the usual 1 kW. We typically run that transmitter at about 32% carrier which is probably why Glenn hears an increase on the carrier. The reason for the change was due to the DRM tests that we were conducting in December. They needed the Siemens transmitter for its linearity. Well, at the end of January DRM asked us to again try some tests on 21455 kHz during our normal operating hours. So we switched the Siemens transmitter on to that antenna for the tests are leaving it there for more tests coming in the future. Also, this is the transmitter that we used for years to broadcast on SSB so it is really not one of our normal transmitters (i.e. an HC100). Chao, (Doug Weber, Frequency Manager HCJB, La Voz de los Andes, Jan 29 via Allen Graham, CA, DXLD) Thanks again for the question Glenn. Thanks also for asking about the DXPL audio. The whole question of audio-on-demand is being reviewed by our Information Systems team right now which is why we are not moving either way on the issue. I hope it will be dealt with soon, as I would like to see us make a definitive decision and move on. Please take care, Glenn. Blessings on you today from a sunny Sacramento (Allen Graham, CA, Jan 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GEORGIA. I`ve heard that some US DXers think that a station heard on 5040 might be Georgia. To clarify this, I should mention that Georgia on 5040 after a long period of somewhat irregular operation has been off completely for several months now. This was the last one of the Georgian 60 mb transmitters to die. 4610 and 4875 have been off for years. All three were quite strong here when they were active (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jan 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. A number of studies about the effects of radio frequency energy on health have been conducted in recent years, most lately focusing on the frequencies used by mobile phones. Mixed conclusions have come out of this body of research. The Holzkirchen site has four shortwave and one medium wave transmitter. It was originally owned by Radio Free Europe and is still used mostly for RFE/RL broadcasts. The demonstration this weekend is the latest in a long campaign by some nearby residents to close the site. Holzkirchen may be the only IBB transmitter site with a dedicated Web site -- but it's operated by the people who want to close it. I have a link on the script for today's program. http://www.sender?freies?oberland.de/e_index.htm [Thanks to Kai Ludwig in Germany for help with this story.] (VOA Communications World Jan 27 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) Regarding the recent demonstration against a "US transmitting station in the southern part of the Bavarian capital" - this refers actually to the Holzkirchen site in the Oberland countryside, some 25 km south of Munich. The citizen's action group, which demands a closure of the station, maintains a website with English pages at http://www.sender-freies-oberland.de/e_index.htm, scans of recent press reports are available at http://www.sender-freies-oberland.de/presse.htm. An Altavista search also pointed to a report about the site at http://www.kwrs.de/ibb.html, but seemingly this document was in the meantime removed (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: Holzkirchen. The 1197 transmitter is co-located with the 801 and 6085 outlets of Bayerischer Rundfunk at Munich-Ismaning. This site is away from settlements and I`m not aware of any problems regarding electromagnetic radiation there, contrary to Holzkirchen. Once VoA programming was carried from Ismaning on shortwave, too, but the really ancient transmitters were shut down years ago; as far as I know the last VoA shortwave channel from Ismaning was 3980 and finally removed to Biblis. To avoid misunderstandings, the 6085 transmitter of Bayerischer Rundfunk is a new one, a Telefunken S4005 from 1982, running half power "only", i.e. 250 kW; some guys consider it as "Klein- Wertachtal", carrying the foreign service of Bavaria... From the newspaper clippings on the webpages of "Sender-Freies-Oberland": The municipality of Valley takes legal proceedings against the US Government; the Federal Supreme Court will probably open the trial in February. The demands of the demonstrators on Jan 20 were in detail an immediate shut down of the mediumwave transmitter and suspension of overnight transmissions, a withdrawal of the application for another mediumwave antenna and a closure of the whole station at the latest in 2005, when the lease of the grounds expires. As explanation, the village Oberlaindern, where the transmitters are located, is just 3 km east of Holzkirchen but belongs administration- wise not to the town; instead it is part of the municipality of Valley, another village which is located further away. As far as I know is it especially the mediumwave antenna which is located close to the houses. In the past Holzkirchen used 720, the daytime channel of WDR. Some years ago WDR had to shut down its 800 kW transmitter on 1593 and decided to give up this frequency in favour of 720, so Holzkirchen moved from 720 to 1593 while WDR can use 720 now 24 hours a day. The current shortwave equipment at Holzkirchen was installed in 1981 and consists of four Continental 419F model transmitters of 250 kW each (the same model asthe transmitters from the Portuguese Gloria site which were donated to Greece) and various curtain antennas, seemingly aiming at the former USSR exclusively, i.e. it looks like transmissions into other directions are not possible. Kind regards, (Kai Ludwig, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non?]. Another DW problem: Site? 15465 *0127 1/13 Distorted mess turns on, also found distorted mess on 15355. 15465 turned out to be DW. (Larry Russell, MI, DXP, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [LATER: equidistant from 15410 +/- 55; spurs from it? -gh] ** GREECE [non]. Checked VOG once again Sunday Jan 28 on 17705 via Delano for the weekly hour announced in English, ``It`s All Greek to Me``. This time it started at 1901, which the mixed-up announcer continues to refer to as ``six o`clock in the afternoon on the Voice of Greece`` (so it`s not a matter of a domestic program`s original timing –- maybe that is his studio recording time which he thinks is a live broadcast??). Started off with a rock song in English, back- announced as ``It`s a Game`` from the movie soundtrack ``Do You Love Me``, composed by a Greek. Then a song in Italian, which was also written by a Greek. The DJ had previously explained that he is forbidden to play any music on the show which was not produced in Greece. So he was trying to push the limits. Greek music produced abroad, e.g. USA, is verboten. The rest of the show was more conventional Greek popular instrumental music (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Indian Hams Assist in Quake`s Wake NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 26, 2001--Amateurs in India have begun responding in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake January 25 in the State of Gujarat in Western India. Horey Majumdar, VU2HFR, reports the quake measured at least 6.9 on the Richter Scale. Tremors were felt in neighboring Pakistan as well as in all of northern and western India and as far away as Nepal. "The worst affected area is Bhuj, about which very little is known as all communication links are down and roads and bridges damaged, sealing off the entire area," Majumdar said. "Official reports speak about 1000 casualties in the State of Gujarat." Casualty figures were expected to increase. Some 300 to 400 casualties have been reported in Ahmedabad, which was severely affected along with other cities such as Gandhinagar and Surat. Majumdar says all telephone links are down in Gujarat. Majumdar says VU2YW has been on the air from Ahmedabad and VU2SL is operating from Valsad, some 300 km from Ahmedabad. "There are still no links from Bhuj," he said. Since the disaster took place in western India, many hams from Mumbai (Bombay) in the neigboring state of Maharashtra are moving into the affected area, Majumdar said. "We have heard that a team from Bombay will reach Ahmedabad today at 2 AM Indian time, and teams from the National Institute of Amateur Radio are expected to move in tomorrow afternoon," he said. Stations were monitored today on 14.155 MHz. Majumdar said that because today is Republic Day -- a national holiday -- and government offices and business are closed, many are just becoming aware of the situation as the news has begun trickling in. "Here in Calcutta [sic] the Calcutta VHF Amateur Radio Society has already started its Calcutta Amateur Radio Control to cater to anxious relatives and friends who are desperate to hear about the well-being of their near and dear ones," he said. Right now, much is still unknown, and ham radio remains among the primary information links with the affected region. "We are closely monitoring the situation and will act accordingly as the situation demands," Majumdar said. (ARRL via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Indian Hams Seek Clear Frequencies for Indian Quake Traffic NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 29, 2001--Indian Amateur Horey Majumdar, VU2HFR, in Calcutta reports that the death toll in the wake of the January 26 earthquake in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat stands at 20,000 and continues to rise. Aftershocks are causing panic among residents in the affected region, and another one measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit Sunday morning. Majumdar says DX QRM on 20 meters has hampered the handling of Amateur Radio traffic on 14.155 and 14.160 MHz. "VU hams would be grateful if DX stations could keep the frequency clear," he said. "Cooperation and consideration from DX stations would be much appreciated," Majumdar said. The US and India do not have a third-party traffic agreement, and no plans have been announced at this point to seek a suspension of that arrangement to permit message traffic via Amateur Radio between the two countries. Other routes, possibly involving the use of e-mail and the Internet, may be developed, but nothing is in place at this time. A request to provide some elbow room for emergency traffic at 14.160 MHz also came from Director and Executive Vice Chairman S. Suri, VU2MY, of the National Institute of Amateur Radio in India (VU2NRO), which is involved in the disaster response. NIAR also mentioned 7.023 MHz, which is less likely to be an issue for US amateurs. Glenn Johnson, W0GJ/A52GJ in Bhutan, says Indian authorities also are asking for clearance of several frequencies between 14.250 and 14.270 MHz. Other frequencies mentioned include 14.135. Majumdar says Rajesh, VU2FCY, as well as Ram, VU2LIC, Praveen, VU2XMX, Ravi, VU3RBN, Mohan, VU2MYH, and Dipak, VU2DCD, are among the stations monitored on 20 and 40 meters. Several of the stations are attached to the NIAR response team. Also heard was Amateur Radio Society of India General Secretary Adolf Shepherd, VU2AF. Among those operating from the NIAR club station in Hyderabad were Jos, VU2JOS, Suri, VU2MY, and Ram, VU3DJQ. Majumdar said there`s a lot of emergency activity on VHF as well. "Stations all across India are participating in the emergency traffic," he said, "checking into the net frequencies and relaying information." He reports another 18 hams have headed to the disaster zone in separate groups from Mumbai (Bombay) and Bangalore. In addition, he said, Sandeep, VU3SCE, accompanied by 10 orthopedic physicians, was on his way by air to the stricken city of Ahmedabad. A group of 20 hams also was air dropped into Bhuj, the worst-hit city. "Hams all across the country are contributing in what is one of the worst national calamities ever," Majumdar said. B. L. Manohar, VU2UR, in Bangalore said over the weekend that telephone service, electrical power and other basic amenities still were not available in many of the severely affected cities, so health-and-welfare telephone inquiries might not be possible at this point. Manohar reported that amateur stations were expected to be on the air from Bhuj, Ahmedabad, New Delhi (Gujarat Bhavan) and other areas. "The TV and other media are giving extensive coverage worldwide, whereas the amateur coverage can only be heard by those with good antenna systems from DX lands," he said. "The memories of the Super Cyclone of Orissa are still fresh with us, and the amateurs have to prove their capabilities again, and they are doing their best." Manohar said the real disaster struck in Gujarat when Indians were preparing for the start of the 52nd Republic Day parade in New Delhi. "It was a severe shock," he said. "The epicenter was reported at 20 km northeast of Bhuj city, and the magnitude was reported to be 7.9 on the Richter scale." He said a frenzy of amateur activity began around 0530 UT on January 26, when 14.155 became very active. 7035, 7050, 14135, 14155, 14160 and 14260 kHz respectively. Stations from Baroda VU2WWX, VU2KIZ, Bhavanagar VU2FCY, Rajkot VU2JF, Valsad VU2SL were QRV. OM Zoravar VU2HBZ was also there. VU2YW was active on HF from Ahmedabad in the evening hours. Pat McPherson, WW9E, of the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network -- or SATERN -- reports that Salvation Army disaster relief teams are on the scene of the earthquake. "The Salvation Army is providing vital assistance to survivors and rescue workers in western India," he said. The organization is providing food, clothing, shelter and counseling to survivors and their families (ARRL via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. All India Radio buys new Thomcast SW and MW transmitters | Text of press release from French transmitter manufacturer Thomcast on 15 January Paris, 15 January: Thomcast is pleased to announce that All India Radio has once again awarded Thomcast with two multimillion euros contracts in AM radio. A first contract regards the supply of five shortwave 250 kW transmitters from Thomcast SK 53 family of AM radio transmitters. These transmitters will be installed on the sites of Khambur, Delhi and Aligarh and will be dedicated to overseas broadcast. The second contract is based on the supply of five mediumwave 300 kW transmitters from the Thomcast S7HP radio transmitters family, which will be replacing existing lower power transmitters on five different sites and dedicated to the broadcast of national and local channels within India. The presence of the local integrator Bharat Electronics, and a successful past experience with Thomcast transmitters were key to Thomcast`s selection by All India Radio. All transmitters are scheduled to be on-air in the second-half of 2001. With these new contracts, All India Radio becomes one of Thomcast major radio customers - together with China`s State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) - with over 30 Thomcast radio transmitters already on-air for All India Radio... [For further information contact Caroline Godard Marketing & Communications Manager phone: 33 1 34 90 36 87 Fax: 33 1 34 90 32 27, E-Mail: caroline.godard@thomcast.thomson-csf.com] Source: Thomcast press release, Paris, in English 15 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INDIA (KASHMIR). This morning I found AIR on 4760 signing on at 0215 with the ceremony that has been characteristic of AIR Leh. When I heard them with some regularity a few years ago they had several minutes of heavy drumming after Vandemataram instead of the shehnai (Indian clarinet) opening music used by other AIR stations. This morning I heard the same drumming for 5 minutes from 0216. The audio was too weak and shallow to permit any kind of formal ID. 60 mb stations in the far west of India are fading out at this time. If it was them that were on 4770 for some time they have now found their way back home to their assigned frequency, as could be expected (cf. Kolkata by error on 4825 some time ago). The AIR Leh Station Engineer told me in a letter that the reduced winter schedule is due to the fact that the local hydroelectric plant freezes, so that electricity has to be produced from expensive fuel (Leh is located at an elevation of 3500 m). Leh being located in the Ladakh region, you may also hear occasional Tibetan style music on AIR Leh (Olle Alm, Sweden, 27 Jan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sunday and Monday morning AIR Leh on 4760 was heard much better. Maybe they have made some changes to their systems. They open with the usual AIR interval signal at 0215 and run Vandemataram at 0217, which consequently is their real s/on time. They have local material until about 0228, when they run advertisements and then various newscasts from Delhi, including English news 0245 to 0300. At 0300 they again go local with a music program. This morning (Monday) they opened with a Tibetan style tune. At 0305 they finally faded into the noise floor. Sunday morning they were about 300 Hz high at 0215, and slowly drifted downwards. At 0225 they all of a sudden snapped into the exact frequency. This is quite a fascinating station due to its peculiar location and its relative rarity (Olle Alm, Sweden, Jan 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Kang Guru Radio English Show has following official schedule since November 2000 (It may have some change now or not be broadcasted weekly as my monitoring) RRI Ambon at 0630 on Friday. RRI Banda Aceh at 1030 on Tuesday and Thursday. [original said ``Ache``, a common mistake -- this has nothing to do with the English word for pain, and the c in Indo represents `tj` which sounds similar to `ch` but not if next to the h -gh] RRI Bandung at 1130 on Sunday. RRI Banjarmasin at 0930 on Saturday. RRI Bengkulu at 0900 on Monday. RRI Biak at 2330 on Tuesday. RRI Bogor at 1310 on Sunday. RRI Bukittinggi at 0300 on Wednesday. RRI Cirebon at 1120 on Tuesday and Friday. RRI Denpasar at 1230 on Friday and at 2130 on Sunday. RRI Fak Fak at 1000 on Tuesday. RRI Gorontalo at 1115 on Monday. RRI Jakarta at 1100 on Sunday and Wednesday. RRI Jambi at 0130 on Tuesday and Thursday. RRI Jayapura at 2030 on Wednesday and Friday. RRI Jember at 1400 on Wednesday. RRI Kendari at 2115 on Wednesday. RRI Kupang at 0800 on Saturday and at 1130 on Monday. RRI Lhokseumawe at 0930 on Monday. RRI Madiun at 0330 on Sunday. RRI Makassar at 0900 on Friday. RRI Malang at 1100 on Sunday. RRI Manado at 2330 on Thursday. RRI Manokwari at 0930 on Monday. RRI Mataram at 0200 on Wednesday. RRI Medan at 0530 on Monday and Wednesday. RRI Merauke at 2230 on Saturday. RRI Nabire at 0030 on Monday. RRI Natuna at 0300 on Wednesday. RRI Padang at 0130 on Tuesday. RRI Palangkaraya at 1330 on Tuesday and Thursday. RRI Palembang at 0930 on Tuesday and Saturday. RRI Palu at 0300 on Thursday. RRI Pekanbaru at 0900 on Tuesday. RRI Pontianak at 1005 on Sunday. RRI Purwokerto at 0730 on Thursday. RRI Samarinda at 0330 on Saturday. RRI Semarang at 1240 on Sunday. RRI Serui at 1100 on Monday and Thursday. RRI Sibolga at 0730 on Wednesday. RRI Singaraja at 1400 on Monday. RRI Sorong at 0730 on Tuesday and at 1230 on Thursday. RRI Sumenep at 1330 on Monday. RRI Sungai Liat at 0100 on Monday. RRI Surabaya at 0030 on Sunday. RRI Surakarta at 0730 on Monday and Wednesday. RRI Tanjungkarang at 0830 on Tuesday. RRI Ternate at 0730 on Friday. RRI Tual at 2330 and 0630 on Saturday RRI Wamena at 0300 on Saturday. RRI Yogyakarta at 0830 on Monday and Saturday. (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN) QSL INFORMATION: Kang Guru Radio English via RRI Jakarta on 11760 kHz: no data letter with magazine and sticker in 127 days. V/s Ogi Yutarini, Admin Officer (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX Jan 28 via DXLD) Address?? You may recall that this is an English (or rather Strine) teaching program, part of Australian aid to Indonesia, and may give you the only opportunity to hear English on many RRI stations (gh) ** ISLE OF MAN. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.longwaveradio.com/developments STOP PRESS Super station halted to protect views for villagers The international radio station project on the Island has received a further serious delay after planning permission was rejected on grounds of visual impact. An independent planning inspector from Northern Ireland told Isle of Man Government Ministers in a lengthy report that the Company`s proposals were contrary to the 1982 Structure Planes policies on land use and would be harmful to the visual amenities in the area chosen. HEALTH In a lengthy report, the Inspector dismissed the other claims put forward by the objectors: "The rejection of the application on the grounds of noise would not be warranted," said Mr Hawthorne. He also agreed with the Director of Health, the Assessor and the applicant who refuted suggestions about the dangers to health or any adverse effects on ecology from the Long Wave signals. The Inspector also rejected objections about the possibility interference: "The matter of possible interference is a matter for the Radiocommunications Agency," says Mr Hawthorne in the report. "Planning authorities should not seek to usurp the powers of other regulatory bodies." The report is the latest obstacle for the company which was established in 1994 to operate the radio station which would be heard across the British Isles and into Europe. "While we are disappointed by the outcome of the Special Inquiry, we are comforted by the fact that from a long list of allegations made against the application, the only valid concerns have been found to be visual impact and land use," said Paul Rusling, the project`s founder, who vowed that the project will continue. "The site was the best of 48 locations we considered on engineering grounds, and is in a pretty remote location. While there are several other less intrusive places we could site the CFA, moving to these will impact upon the coverage we shall be able to achieve." At the Inquiry it was revealed that moving the transmission site away from the northern tip of the Island would necessitate a fresh application for frequency clearance to the ITU in Geneva. "We are sure other countries will be very keen to get hold of this frequency," explained Rusling. "New long wave stations are already being set up in other nearby countries to broadcast into the UK. The frequency is a valuable resource which won`t lie fallow for long." "Although this is a setback to the company`s progress, the Inspector has clearly been most diligent in his analysis of the many complex issues involved and the wide range of concerns which were raised," said IMIB`s Chairman, Ron Spencer. "I accept that the proposal would assist to a degree in diversifying the economy," says the Inspector in his recommendation which took cognisance of the potential benefits to the Island, although he said that the creation of between 30 and 50 new jobs in the North and the diversification of the Island`s economy was not a need which would outweigh visual impact objections. Mr. Hawthorne recalled in his report that the existence of Radio Luxembourg made a considerable impact on the public awareness of that country and he notes that the current Classic FM sponsorship by the Barbados Tourist Authority is clearly in pursuit of such increased publicity. "We remain convinced that the Long Wave radio station will prove to be of considerable benefit to the Isle of Man in the long term," said Ron Spencer. "Not only through direct revenues and diversification of employment, but in terms of the favourable media coverage that will accrue." "We shall now reconsider our plans in the light the Inspector`s findings and consult again with the appropriate agencies to ensure that Tynwald`s aspirations for a Manx international radio station can be realised," said Mr Spencer. The above information may only be reproduced if full credit is given to the original source, contributor AND to the British DX Club (BDXC- UK) (via Mike Terry, Jan 27, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ITALY. Regarding Bob Thomas` note on Italy not being heard on 6010, I had seen an item in Wolfgang Buschel`s WWDXC Top News which says that as of January 10, RAI International had dropped 6010 for all evening transmissions to the Americas; all other frequencies for both the 2230-0125 and 0130-0325 blocks remain intact, along with the 0130 hour via two Ascension relay frequencies (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Pessoal, Sites com informações sobre emissoras de sinal horario: Uma tabela completa com emissões de sinal horario: http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/dx/time.htm JJY Japan to be decommissioned as of 2001-03-31. Ou seja, a emissora JJY q tx em 8000 kHz será desativado no ultimo dia de março. Eles pagam QSL. Ela tx em outras freqùências, mas nunca sinotnizei-as por aqui. Nesse site temos alem das freqùências tbem os enderecos: http://www.npl.co.uk/npl/ctm/time_trans.html 73 (Carlos Felipe, Jan 24, radioescutas via DXLD) BTW, ``sinal`` is masculine in Portuguese, while ``sen~al`` is feminine in Spanish (gh) ** JORDAN. At 1400 I checked 11690 and all I`m getting is *heavy* QRM from RTTY. No other signals. I`m sure I heard an ID mentioned few days ago. I`ve been checking to no avail. And I only heard 10 seconds or so, then lost it (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked 11690 around 1430 Jan 30 and could hear music in there, but far too much RTTY (gh, OK, DXLD) On 11690.02, Radio Jordan at 1613 tune-in 28 Jan, excellent reception with a request music program. Modern western music. "This is for all you guys from Radio Jordan". Program is called LC, for Listeners Choice (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No RTTY for you?? ** KOREA NORTH. Coded shortwave broadcasts to South "suspended" | Text of report by South Korean radio on 25 January North Korea reportedly has suspended shortwave broadcast of code matrix to South Korea since the end of December 2000. According to shortwave listening groups in the ROK [Republic of Korea] and Japan, North Korea has suspended shortwave code matrix broadcast, in which a woman announcer read random numbers, since the end of 2000 up to today. North Korea`s shortwave broadcast of code matrix is known to be instructions for spies in South Korea sent by the North. An ROK government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that North Korea`s shortwave broadcast of code matrix has been suspended since the end of 2000, but it is uncertain whether this is related to North Korea`s espionage activities in the South. Source: KBS Radio, Seoul, in Korean 0300 gmt 25 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Found by chance in a search is this website about R. P`yongyang by someone who seems to have visited the country: http://www.simonbone.com/pyongyang.html (Ken Halpert, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. I don`t hear P`yongyang English to NAm at 0200 on 11845 -– heavy splash from 11840 HCJB, and nothing on 13650. But at 0000 13760 good, 15180 fair; 0100 I hear nothing (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 21-22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Radio Pyongyang on 6216.75, very strong on 25/1 0900- 0955 with External Service in Korean. Running parallel 9345 and 4405, both also heard (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Starting in Feb on RKI is a 10-part monthly series on ``Visit Korea Year 2001``. Nine ``special destinations`` will be profiled, starting with the Snow Festival. Continues through October, then a summary of the series in November. A website survey has found that sightseeing is the prime reason for visiting Korea, among 80 percent of the participants. Did not hear anything about the actual dates or days of week for these shows! (gh, notes from a Multiwave Feedback earlier in January, tape-delayed, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH EXTRA January 25, 2001 Notice: This bulletin is copyrighted; therefore, information contained herein may not be copied, republished or redistributed in part or in full without full credit given to CRW and appropriate sources. ......................................................... IRAQ : WCPI Radio to Launch Radio Bopeshawa ......................................................... By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau with special thanks to Dan Henderson (Jan 24) The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI), CRW has learned, will resume short wave broadcasts on Friday, February 2, from an undisclosed transmitter location. A source within the WCPI has revealed that Radio Bopeshawa will broadcast one-hour programs three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on 9460 kHz in Arabic and Kurdish between 1500 and 1600 UTC (6 to 7 PM local time in Baghdad). [BUT SEE UPDATE BELOW -gh] "Bopeshawa," meaning "Forward" in Kurdish, is also the name of the party`s newspaper. WCPI previously broadcast The Voice of the WCPI from Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan on 75 meters short wave from but it was pulled off the air on July 27, 2000, at the behest of the Iranian government. WCPI cadre and webmaster Fatah Mamand, reached by e-mail, told CRW in an e-mail that the station had broadcast programs in solidarity with its sister organization in Iran, the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, angering Tehran. "There were meetings between Iran and Iraq`s authorities," Mamand said, "to close down opposition each others activities. Iraq promised to close down the radio of Mojahideen (Voice of Mojahed) and Iran promised to close down the TV (station) of Hizb Al-Dawa (Islamic Movment in Iraq) which was broadcasting from Iran." Tehran was also concerned about WCPI, said a source who wished to remain anonymous. "(F)rom the beginning of the station," he alleges "they tried to close it down and give us problems." The final straw, he says, "was a... conspiracy between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Iran." "In 1996, the PUK armed forces surrounded the station to close it down but they were not successful due to a strong resistance from our security personnel and (the) protest of the neighborhood, and nobody opened fire." Last July, however, the PUK took a stronger approach. "They surrounded our party headquarters... and they ambushed one of our party vehicles with five of our members inside and they killed all of them... Then they asked our party to have a meeting with their high-ranking officials. In the meeting they informed our delegation that they were hostages until all of our bases in PUK-controlled territory and the radio station was closed. Thus they forced our delegates to approve such thing as a condition of their release." Members of the PUK contacted by e-mail declined requests for an interview. The studio facilities and transmitter, he says, were moved to Irbil, which is controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), "so that the PUK could not confiscate them." Even within KDP-controlled territory, however, the station remains off the air since "we would have to talk to KDP authorities... and compromise our policies." The Voice of the WCPI was run by approximately 30 volunteers who were "supported only by the memberships collected from our members outside Iraq." Its signal, he says, was well heard in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey since its first transmission in 1996. Radio Bopeshawa's programs are expected to reach a wider audience and will be effectively heard throughout Iraq and the Middle East. Until a mailing address has been established, listeners are invited to contact the station via e-mail at radio@wpiraq.org (Martin Schöch, Germany, CRW, via DXLD) 9460 is a long time Voice of Turkey frequency, which is in use when this one is scheduled to be on. Given the Turks` own Kurdish problem, it`s hard to believe that they would broadcast this, but I guess we`ll know in a week (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX, Jan 26 via DXLD) CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH EXTRA #2 January 26, 2001 .......................................... IRAQ : Radio Bopishawa schedule corrected .......................................... By Nick Grace C., CRW Washington Bureau (Jan 26) A source close to Radio Bopishawa, the planned clandestine radio station for the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI), contacted CRW by e-mail to correct and the schedule quoted in CRW 61 Extra (Jan 25). "Radio Bopishava," he writes, "will broadcast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Arabic, and on Thursday in Kurdish. The broadcasts start on February 1, 2001 and will be on 9450 kHz." The time of the broadcasts is still believed to be between 1500 and 1600 UT. After the news first broke yesterday morning there has been much speculation of the whereabouts of the transmitter's location. "Impossible," one source within WCPI said. "These reports are nonsense." Developing... ___________ SRS Deutschland schoechi@gmx.de & schoech@clandestineradio.com Martin Schoech Clandestine R. Watch : http://www.listen.to/crw Post-Box 1136 Pirate R. Add. List : http://www.listen.to/pwdb 06201 Merseburg QSL Info Pages QIP : http://www.listen.to/qip Deutschland Tel. & Fax: ++49-180-505255-928397 (UMS) (CRW via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Is on 5004 on their low power TXer for about 3 weeks now (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, "Shangri-La," Kolamunne, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka, SWBC@topica.com via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Court challenge to news broadcast ban | Text of report by Nepalese newspaper Kathmandu Post via Nepal News web site on 27 January Kathmandu, 26 January: A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court today, demanding that the court annul the government`s decision to control private run FM stations from broadcasting news items. Advocates Madhav Kumar Basnet and Sudip Poudel filed the writ petition, stating that the government trying to control the FM stations violates the constitutional provisions and the National Broadcasting Regulations - 2052 (BS). [as published] The writ stated that the ministerial level decision of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunication on 22 January to bar the private sector FM stations to broadcast news collected on their own is unconstitutional. The writ stated that the ministerial decision included that only those news item collected from authentic government sources and those by state-controlled news agencies could only be broadcasted [sic]. "According to a circular issued by the Information Ministry on 15 January, there will be a board which includes a representative from the ministry. And no programme can be broadcasted not agreed upon by the ministry representative. The FM stations should also inform the ministry in week advance about their detailed programme," stated the writ, quoting the circular. The writ, stating the government attempt to control the privately run FM radio stations as unconstitutional and also in violation of the National Broadcasting Regulations - 2052(BS), has demanded that the court annul government's decision through injunction and that the court issue interim stay order as well, until the final disposal of the case. The parliamentary Communication and Development Committee (CDC) too, on Wednesday [24 January], had directed the government to refrain from making any attempt to control any private sector FM stations. The writ has named the Information Ministry, Information Minister Jay Prakash Prasad Gupta and the cabinet secretariat as respondents. Source: Kathmandu Post via Nepal News web site in English 27 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Must be a problem at Bonaire site. No RVI English since Jan 19 either at 2230 on 13660 or at 0400 on 11990 [sic]. RN English at 2330 on 6165 and 9845 OK Jan 19, but 9845 out at 0030, and on Jan 20, only 6165 working; Jan 21 at 0030, 9845 came on. 0400 UT Monday 11985 Vlaanderen was active. Later: I guess it broke again?! R. Vlaanderen English to NAm no show Monday Jan 22 at 2230 on 13660; at 2330, RN was active only on 6165, not 9845, ditto at 0030; nor any RVI at 0400 on 11985. Then RVI back at 2230 Jan 23, RN back on 9845 at 2330, but it dropped during 0030 slot. I checked at 0120 and just barely audible, covered by 9840 Rome in Portuguese. RVI normal at 0400 on 11985. All fixed? (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Bonaire Problems Our Bonaire relay station has been experiencing some problems with one of the temporary generators that have been in use since the fire last Easter. As a result, we've had to move some of the Bonaire transmissions to other sites on a temporary basis. This situation is expected to last through the coming weekend as our engineers are awaiting a vital spare part from the US. The good news is that work on the new permanent generator room is on schedule, and everything should be ready for the start of the new broadcasting season on 25 March (Media Network Newsletter Jan 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Radio Netherlands are having problems with one of their generators at Bonaire. Only 1 and sometimes 2 transmitters are in use, and with reduced power. Due to this, RVI's px for N. America will be relayed via the following transmitters till at least Jan. 24: 2227-2326 13660 250 kW East coast N. America via Sackville (RCI); 0357-0456 11985 250 kW West coast via Antigua (Merlin) (Paul Brems, member of DX-Antwerp via Silvain Domen, Belgium, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry for the delay on this, not found until Jan 30 catching up on E-mail pileup. Was this actually done? Bob Thomas found the frequencies vacant as above (gh) ** OMAN. R. Sultanate of Oman, 15140, tune-in Jan 30 at 1432 to world newscast, and atop HCJB for a change, more or less intelligible, but losing out to HCJB by 1445 during a feature talk. Meanwhile, not only 15150, but 15155, 15160 and 15165 are vacant. I left 15140 on after 1600 and heard a big tone, and All India Radio opening in Russian at 1615 after IS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Radio Western Highlands, Mt Hagen, 3375. This one has been active again for a at least a couple of months, updating earlier reports of its demise. Heard on 25/1 at 0925 with current affairs program, relayed from Port Moresby & also carried on the Karai Service from PM on 4890 (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [non]. Speaking of the Three Angels Broadcasting Network, I have noticed for several weeks in TV listings, that there are three angel shows at the same time on Tuesday evenings, 8 pm Central: Fox has Dark Angel, WB has Angel, and Pax has Touched by an Angel reruns every weeknight. Surveys have shown that a very high percentage of Americans actually believe angels exist, which is a very sad commentary on the forces of ignorance versus rationalism (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERÚ. 4580 - 4610v ex 5421v/x5609v. Radio San Juan de "Saíque". Jan 2001 - 0315 UT. In the latest issue of SWB I forgot to put a little questionmark for the transmitter location, which I did the last time I heard the station in June 2000. Last night I listened to a px with music and comunicados. Some were aimed at Dpto San Martín, but a quite a lot of them were aimed at: Dpto Cajamarca, Prov. "Jaén" (The DJ pronounces the word more like "Jaín" but probably it is Jaén he says), Distrito "Saíque". If the male DJ does not say "Saíque" then it is a word that fonetically sounds exactly the same. I have never heard mentioning ``Chiclayo" in Radio San Juan de "Saíque"`s program. Quite good px with music, greetings, etc. During the last time they have started at 2345 UT –- with a similar ID as in June 2000 on 5609v. For instance they said now and then that the station transmits from the foot of la cordillera "Paramo". Closes some time between 03-0330 UT. I have had contact with Henrik Klemetz, who examines if there is a "distrito" suitable for "Saíque" (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) Learning that Jaén, rather than Chiclayo, is the "provincia" where R San Juan is situated, the proposed "Saíque" becomes an easy match. It is "distrito de Sallique", and the station then probably "R San Juan, de Sallique". BTW, if there were no comma in the name, it could be taken for a Catholic saint, which it is not (Henrik Klemetz, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Dear Glenn, For your records and other DXers I have the following info to share with other hobbyists. Best wishes from me, 73,s (Costa Constantinides, Limassol, Cyprus) Dear Dario, I tried to hear Radio Lusofonia at 1700 UT or 7 pm RSA local time but heard nothing then. But this morning my mutual radio listening friend in Mauritius heard your signal at 1805 UT or 8.05 pm local time with a Portuguese station identification at 1816 UT, then in English an ID. Did you start your broadcast a little later? All I heard at 1700 was the BBC in English. I will try again this Saturday. Also do you have two postal addresses as noted by Mahendra in Mauritius and Mrs Kathy Otto at Sentech sent me another as one is also given over the air./?. Regards, (Costa Constantinides, Cyprus, Limassol, Jan 29, to R. Lusofonia) Subject: RE: Radio Lusofonia report. Hi Costas! As requested by our American principals the christian programs were all compacted and now take about an hour on Saturday and another hour on Sunday (2000 to 2100 South African time). This started last week. All transmissions are now only in English. We have two postal addresses: P O Box 1267, Rosettenville 2130 and/or P O Box 1586, Alberton 1450. Regards (Dário Bettencourt, dario.bettencourt@tollink.co.za Tel. +27 12 3618833 Fax. +27 12 348 3713, Jan 29 via Costas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also SWAZILAND ** SOUTH AMERICA. RADIO COCHIGUAZ on February 1st, 2001, have its 4 birthday of pirate activities on the free bands broadcasting its Andean sounds from somewhere in South American Andes. We manifest our thankfulness to our listeners, and also, to the free radio stations that are in contact with us during this 4 years of activities on shortwave. RADIO COCHIGUAZ, across its stay on the air, will continue hoisting the pirate flag here in South America. FFFR, (Cachito Mamani, Radio Cochiguaz op., 6950L & 11440U kHz via hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND [non]. Per Dario Bettencourt, station director, Radio Lusofonia is a Portuguese language station that started on Jan 3rd through the WorldSpace satellite. "We also have two hours per week of English broadcasting with Christian programmes from America on 7155 from 2000-2100." [1800-1900 UT. Note that this is different than the schedule they were testing on.] Regarding my comments that Lusofonia seems an outgrowth of the old Swazi Commercial Radio (SCR), Dario says that he was with SCR until 1993. He adds "Radio Cidade and SCR have been sold to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God." This is a Brazil-based 'church' that owns radio and TV stations in several countries and is described as a money-hungry cult by some. While Universal Church now own SCR, Dario did not think that the shortwave transmitter [last heard on 6155 circa 1996] was working any longer (Hans Johnson, Jan 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) see also SOUTH AFRICA ** SWEDEN [non]. There`s a new relay swap, between RCI and Radio Sweden. Radio Sweden is going out via Sackville on 9560 kHz at 0230- 0259 UT in English. As of 29 January, the RCI 2100-2130 UT Arabic broadcast (currently on 11945 & 15325 via Sackville) will also be relayed via Hörby on 5865 kHz [but see update above!]. This is a swap (Bill Westenhaver, RCI, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surprise new R. Sweden relay via Sackville very good with George Wood (not on winter vacation?!) introducing 60 Degrees North on 9560 at *0230 crash-start UT Jan 30. Direct 9495 was still on, barely audible here, but enough to tell that it was about 5 seconds BEHIND Sackville? Another anomaly like Greenville/Delano with Greece? Who can explain? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. CBS has made extensive changes to its HF usage, affecting Radio Taipei International, leased relays in Taiwan, and the relays of the Domestic networks. The main features of the new schedule are as follows: TAIWAN TRANSMITTERS: 6280 RTI. This is a NF, Spanish 2100-2200, relay Domestic Network 0900-1400 (operations may extend outside these hours, to be confirmed) 9610: RTI. Korean and Spanish. This is a weird situation! At 2100-2200, there are two RTI services operating on this channel from separate transmitters - Korean (new service) and Spanish!! The Korean is intended for Asia, and the Spanish for Europe, the latter in parallel with 6280. From 2100 to 2127 the channel is also used by CRI in Italian, for Europe. Here in Melbourne, the Korean service dominates. 9690: CBS. Extended operations include Cantonese 0200-0300, relay Domestic Network 11550: RTI. Extended operations include English 1600-1700 (new service), Indonesian 1000-1100, Amoy 0000-0100 11725: RTI. Additional service in Vietnamese 0100-0200 11970: RTI. NF, and is an additional service in Russian to Asia 0900-1000 15060: RTI, NF, and is an additional service in Arabic 1600-1700. This freq is also used for Family Radio programming to India 0000- 0200 in Hindi and English 15110: Radio Australia, 2330-0030 Vietnamese 15345: Usage of this freq has been reduced, with some services having been transferred to 15270. The channel is now used only for Chinese dialects, Vietnamese and English, in the period 0100-0200, 0300-0500, 0900-1200, 1300-1400, 1500-1600. FROM OKEECHOBEE: 15440: RTI. Via Okeechobee 0000-0100 Amoy, additional service. This freq is now in use at 2200-0200. The Okeechobee relay is scheduled: 5810 2100-2300 German, English 5950 2200-0800 English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese 7520 0100-0200 Cantonese 9355 0600-0800, 1900-2300 German, French 9680 0200-0600 English, Mandarin, Cantonese 9690 2300-0100 Spanish, Cantonese 11665 2000-2100 Mandarin 11720 2300-0000 Spanish 11740 0200-0500 English, Cantonese, Spanish 11825 0100-0300 Hakka, English 15215 0200-0300 Spanish 15440 2200-0200 Mandarin, Amoy, Cantonese 15695 1300-1400 Russian 17760 1800-2000 French, Mandarin The CBS Home Page has also been rearranged, but it is a hotch-potch of outdated, inconsistent, and ambiguous information. It appears that each language department of RTI is responsible for presenting its own Web page, in their own languages, and there is no composite schedule available. The Domestic Service Network data is incomprehensible, being in Chinese dialects. The SW broadcasting structure in Taiwan is: CBS Variety Network - 24-hrs (Mandarin) CBS News Network - 24-hrs (Mandarin) CBS Popular Network (Mandarin) - relayed on SW at various times Radio Taipei International (including relays at various times of domestic services) Voice of Asia - 0500-1700 and 2300-2359 in Mandarin, English, Indonesian, and Thai Many SW channels are shared across various services. Some channels may carry more than one service at the same time, using different frequencies, for different target areas. Frequency coordination between the CBS and the PRC leaves a lot to be desired, with many channels being used simultaneously by both organisations for the same target areas. The Okeechobee relay is in use at 1300-1400, and 1800-0800. The "silent" periods are 0800-1300 and 1400-1800. Maximum simultaneous transmitter deployment for this relay is between 0100-0200 when six transmitters are in use: 5810 5950 7520 9680 9355 and 15440. The other relay is in the United Kingdom, at Skelton: 3955 1800-2000, 3975 2300-2359, 5995 1900-2000 "LIVE RADIO ON THE INTERNET" offers a choice of a large number of CBS programs in real time (buffering is around 5 seconds delay). This also includes many RTI services. This is available at http://www.live-radio.net/ww_nz.shtml##Taiwan. Reception here in Melbourne is generally very good! (Bob Padula, Electronic DX Press Jan 24 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Hi Glenn, This is the latest reply from Sedef Somaltin (VOT) regarding Hans Johnson`s (Arizona) request for subject Turkish DX stations. Best regards (George J. Poppin, San Francisco, 30 January 2001, DXLD) I am sorry for my late reply. The Turkish Police Radio is transmitting only from 7370 kHz in HF and the transmitting site is in Ankara. They do not transmit from Istanbul and I am informed that probably the 6325 kHz would be an old frequency and the only frequency they are planning to use and using since many years for the Turkish Police Radio in HF is 7370 kHz. As I informed you before, it is not on air since approximately 3 months because of a transmitter problem. We thoroughly analysed the student station on 7101 (7102 kHz?) in Izmir. There is no such transmission that is licensed in Turkey. I got the impression from the investigations that an Amateur Radio of a high school in Izmir was operated many years ago but at least now it is not operating and licensed. I hope the above information are satisfactory. Please also say my best regards to Mr. Johnson and we want to say that his interest towards Turkey is very much appreciated. Best Wishes, (Sedef Somaltin, VOT, via George Poppin, Jan 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. From the 24th of January the 1200-kW transmitter in Mykolayiv is off the air on 972 kHz again. It was stopped in a traditional manner -- because of the non-payment for electrical power. So, the supposed switching on the 1000-kW shortwave transmitter in Mykolayiv for North America on 9385 kHz is unreal in the nearest time (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, Jan 26, WWDXC via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** U K. Re: WOR Extra 39, now that the band limit of 15 MHz is 15,030, there is no reason for the BBC not to go back to 15,070. I never understood why they left that freq in the first place. Wonder if any of the new breed at BBCWS even remembers 15070, but they ought to grab it again, before someone else does it. All the best, (Tim Hendel, AL, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC WS Previews *M-F Jan 29 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| OFF THE SHELF, abridged book readings Eu M-F 0845, 2245, Tu-Sa 0445 Am M-F 0845, 1345, 1845, Tu-Sa 0445 Father, Father, Burning Bright, by Alan Bennett, 5 x 15 min from Mon 29 *Mon Jan 29 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| PLAIN ENGLISH Eu Mon 1345, Tue 1845, Wed 0045, Thu 0430 Am Mon 1945, Wed 0045, Thu 0430 The E Files, 9 x 15 min from Jan 29 What happens when English is used as an international language in health, development, business and entertainment *Mon Jan 29 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| HEALTH MATTERS Eu Mon 2005, Tue 0205, 1505, Wed 1005 Am Tue 0205, 2105, Wed 1505 20/20 Vision, 6 x 25 min from Mon Jan 29 What should modern healthcare priorities be? (Jan BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, excerpted by gh for DXLD) ** U K. NEW YORK, NY, Jan 22, 2001 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- BBC Worldwide has entered into a major new agreement with musicmusicmusic inc., the first interactive Internet radio station to be licensed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), to stream music on the Internet. Providing access to one of the world`s greatest music archives, this groundbreaking deal will allow programmes from the "BBC In Concert" series to be streamed through selected terrestrial radio station websites in North America. Internet users will, for the first time, be able to choose when they listen to the programmes, which can be heard in their entirety. In addition, musicmusicmusic inc. has negotiated the right for terrestrial radio broadcast of the concerts in the Canadian market. The series features exclusive live recordings of some of the greatest bands in music history, including Led Zeppelin, REM and Radiohead. "This is without doubt one of the greatest events to hit the Internet. For the first time, music lovers can hear classic concerts, not available on CD, from the biggest bands in the world, whenever they wish. This is surely a dream come true for the real music fan," said Phil Lubman, Manager of Licensing and Industry Relations at musicmusicmusic inc. Simon Sudbury, Director of BBC Music and Entertainment, BBC Worldwide added: "musicmusicmusic is an innovative and well- established company which has been vigilant from the start to protect the rights of artists, record labels and publishers. Their secure technology will protect our valuable archive recordings whilst creating new opportunities for audiences to hear this outstanding output. We look forward to working with them on this and future projects." musicmusicmusic inc. is a music content provider. The Company`s main asset is a digital, high-quality music database that delivers near-CD quality sound through MP3-streaming technology. The Company`s showcase product is the interactive Internet radio station http://www.RadioMOI.com providing "Music On Internet". In addition to RadioMOI, this multi-media company has four other B2B product lines: the Web Bar Listening Post a technologically- advanced music preview system; Broadcast Services, providing turn-key solutions including broadcast quality music files for the music database needs of radio stations and broadcast groups; Industrial Sound Services, providing custom music programs to businesses over the Internet; and The Solutions Group (TSG), providing hardware, software, programming and consulting services to music industry businesses including franchise operators and other third party customers. musicmusicmusic inc. is a publicly traded company on the Neuer Markt of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The trading symbol is MU5. Certain statements in this release regarding the company`s expectations, estimates, present view of circumstances or events, and statements containing words such as estimates, anticipates, intends, and expects, or words of similar import, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements indicate uncertainty and the company can give no assurance with regard to actual outcomes. Specific risk factors may include, without limitation, the company`s inability to sell its products and services, possible downturns in business conditions, increased competition and timely deployment of company resources. Company securities are traded on the Neuer Markt of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the exemption from U.S. securities laws as provided by Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. CONTACT: For further information: musicmusicmusic inc.: Phil Lubman, 1-877-874-0911, phil@musicmusicmusic.com; BBC Worldwide Press Office: Mary Collins, +44 208 433 2412, mary.Collins@bbc.co.uk News release via Canada NewsWire, Toronto 416-863-9350 -ME- Copyright (C) 2001 CNW, All rights reserved (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA director gives details of cuts in language services Voice of America Director Sandy Ungar has announced the cuts and changes to the USA`s international broadcaster ordered by its board of governors. Following a wide ranging series of decisions on output and staffing, a total of 36 jobs will go. Among the closures, the Uzbek Service, the Portuguese to Brazil service and the Thai Service are notable casualties. The Turkish Service won a last minute reprieve on the basis of concerns raised by the State Department, but it will still be downsized. Following is an excerpt from a report by Voice of America's "Communications World" on 27 January [Presenter Kim Andrew Elliott] Last week, because of deadline pressure, I was able to report only briefly about the latest series of cuts to VOA language services ordered by the US Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG]. This week, let's take a closer look, because the planned changes have major implications for US international broadcasting. At a town meeting of VOA staff on 19 January, VOA director Sandy [Sanford] Ungar specified the VOA languages services which will be closed or reduced. [Ungar - recording] In the European Division, we have been directed to reduce radio programmes in Bulgarian from 30 to 15 minutes and to reduce the staff from six to three. In Romanian we will also reduce radio programmes from 30 minutes to 15 minutes and reduce the staff from six to three. And in Slovak we will reduce radio programmes from 60 to 15 minutes and reduce the staff from six to three. Bulgarian, Romanian and Slovak will all become part of the new European Multimedia Unit. In the South and Central Asia Division, the Uzbek Service will be closed and seven staff positions will be eliminated. In the Latin America Division, the Portuguese to Brazil service will be closed, and eight staff positions will be eliminated, including one position that is now vacant. In the East Asia and Pacific Division, the Thai Service will be closed, and four staff positions will be eliminated. In the Near East and North Africa Division, the board had initially decided that radio broadcasts by the Turkish Service would be eliminated. This morning, on the basis of concerns raised by the State Department, the board agreed to maintain a daily 15 minute radio presence in Turkish. However, it reaffirmed its instructions to reduce the staff from nine to three. An Internet and multimedia feed service will also be established in Turkish. And lastly, in the Eurasia Division, and in the Near East and North Africa Division, the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian services will be folded into a joint Caucasus Unit. The Armenian broadcast will be reduced from one hour to 30 minutes. Two positions in the Armenian Service will be eliminated, including one position that is vacant at this time. To summarize, the total number of positions to be included in this year's reduction in force, or RIF, is 36. [Elliott] Because of a procedure known as bumping, broadcasters in the affected language services can, if they have seniority and qualifications, displace an VOA employee in a non-broadcasting position, such as studio production or computer support. The bumped employees can, in turn, displace other employees with even less seniority. The process will take months. Some of the savings from the cuts will be deployed to allow enhancements to other VOA services. [Ungar] The board has instructed that VOA Arabic will be enhanced by 4.1m dollars over two years. The funds will be used to expand FM coverage, especially targetting the West Bank and Gaza, to lease time on Arabsat for expanded VOA Arabic TV programmes, to build an Arabic language Internet service, and to create a marketing and advertising effort to build VOA`s audience in the Middle East. VOA Indonesian will receive 1m dollars to enhance its programmes and promotions in Indonesia. In the Hindi Service, 350,000 dollars will be used over two years to enhance Hindi programmes, to put Hindi on mediumwave, and to launch a promotional campaign. VOA will expand the Macedonian Service by adding 15 minutes, making its total weekday programme 30 minutes. In the Russian Service, the board has approved a reorganization plan negotiated between VOA management and the AFGE [American Federation of Government Employees]. However, an outside organization will now be retained by the board to conduct a further evaluation of the Russian Service. It will also create a 30 minute Russian language programme for Central Asia. And lastly, the board has authorized VOA to spend 350,000 dollars over two years in the Spanish Service, to continue enhanced programming for the Andean region. [Presenter] Mr Ungar also said that there will be changes in the mix of VOA`s media technologies. The US Congress has finally approved the merger of VOA and Worldnet television. Mr Ungar stressed that future television output will be under the VOA name; and there will be less shortwave. [Ungar] Our radio broadcasts are still our essence and our foundation, and they will continue to be so for many years to come, particularly in certain critical regions of the world. We will continue broadcasting on a certain number of shortwave frequencies. But increasingly the emphasis will be on mediumwave, and especially on FM. [Elliott] At Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Prague, no services will be closed, and only Slovak will be reduced. RFE/RL is not commenting on whether any jobs will be lost. The station's shortwave transmissions in Armenian, Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian will be curtailed in favour of more FM rebroadcasting. Radio Free Asia will undergo no cuts or reductions as a result of the latest language review. Senior officials of US international broadcasting did not wish to specify the criteria they used for the closures and reductions at VOA. The BBG said that its evaluation of broadcast services is based on audience size and awareness of the broadcasts in the target areas, media environment, political and economic freedom, programming quality, transmission effectiveness, cost, broadcast hours, and language overlap between the broadcasters. VOA`s Portuguese to Brazil and Thai are both feed services, available only via rebroadcasting outlets or the Internet, with no direct broadcasts on VOA-owned shortwave or mediumwave transmitters. Audiences are difficult to document for these services because VOA content blends in with that of the local affiliate stations. Listeners may not be aware that they are listening to VOA and may not recall having done so when responding to a research survey. VOA`s Thai Service does have the advantage of being on FM in Bangkok one and a half hours each morning, while cars are stuck in traffic. VOA Turkish broadcasts to a country where restrictions on broadcasting are a frequent occurrence. Coverage of Kurdish affairs or even broadcasting Kurdish songs can result in a radio or television station being suspended for various numbers of days. BBC`s Turkish Service no longer attempts to rebroadcast via radio stations in Turkey because of these restrictions. It transmits to Turkey via shortwave and the Internet. Nevertheless, the number of topics that cannot be covered by Turkish media is relatively small. It may be only the most fastidious news consumers who go to the effort of accessing foreign broadcasts or web pages to get a complete news service. This might explain why VOA`s Turkish Service audience is reported to be small. I was not able to get recent specific data. The web site of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations has expressed its displeasure about the reduction of VOA Turkish, noting that the VOA Greek and Kurdish services were unscathed. The planned closure of the VOA Uzbek Service is interesting because Uzbekistan is among the countries with the least amount of press freedom. International broadcast audience researchers, of which I was one for 10 years, agree that the number one predictor of a large audience for international broadcasting is lack of media freedom in the target country. A 1998 audience survey showed that 3 per cent of adults in Uzbekistan listened once a week to the Radio Liberty and BBC Uzbek services, and 1.8 per cent to VOA. The VOA numbers look better, when considering that, in 1998, VOA transmitted only one half-hour per day in Uzbek, compared to four hours per day for RL. Audiences for all the stations are higher among listeners with college educations. VOA Uzbek presently transmits from relay sites in Morocco and Greece, rather distant from the target. The Sri Lanka relay would probably deliver a much clearer signal into Uzbekistan, but, at 1500 to 1545, the Uzbek broadcast time, the four Sri Lankan transmitters are busy with other VOA languages. Uzbekistan is one of only three former Soviet republics in which there is no rebroadcasting of US international radio, and which therefore must be reached via shortwave... Source: Voice of America, Washington, in English 1730 gmt 27 Jan 01 (via BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA director explains mission of surrogate RFE, RL, RFA services Voice of America Director Sandy Ungar has set out his views on the distinct roles VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia should play on the international broadcasting scene. VOA's charter defines its mission and responsibilities. It should be a neutral, balanced, objective source of news and information for the world, about the world, as well as reporting on the cultures and the diversity of America and American institutions. RFE/RL and RFA were originally established as surrogate broadcasters in the absence of free local media. Excerpt from report by Voice of America "Communications World" on 27 January [Presenter Kim Andrew Elliott] ...One theme in the BBG [Broadcasting Board of Governors] statement announcing the latest cuts and changes is the desire to eliminate duplication between VOA and the surrogate stations, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [RFE/RL] and Radio Free Asia [RFA]. During his address to VOA staff on 19 January, Sandy Ungar spoke of the dual missions of the US international broadcasters. On Thursday [25 January], I asked Mr Ungar how he interprets the different missions of VOA and the surrogate stations. [Ungar] VOA has the great privilege really of having a charter, a congressional charter, that tells us what our responsibilities are. In sort of lay language and summary form the charter basically says that VOA is supposed to be a neutral, balanced, objective source of news and information for the world, about the world. It is supposed to report on the cultures and the great diversity of America, and American institutions, and the many aspects of this country that interest people around the world quite strongly. And then it is supposed to provide information and discussion on US policies. And that is carried out in various different ways, including the editorials that are written by a separate office that is outside VOA, and broadcast on VOA every day. The surrogates, on the other hand, as they are usually known, RFE, RL, RFA, are really intended to be surrogate broadcasters in the absence of free local media. And that was the origin of RFE/RL. It was the concept behind the creation of RFA some years ago. And admittedly, over the years there are places where VOA has also done broadcasting of local news and information, given the deficiencies of local media, or the constraints and the repression of local media. And there are still some parts of the world where I think that VOA's reporting on local affairs is probably quite important to the people of various countries. One area that is frequently cited is Africa, where VOA services are sometimes one of the few broadcast mechanisms of people finding out what is happening in their own countries. VOA has played an extremely significant role in places like Nigeria during the transition from military rule to civilian rule, the Horn of Africa as well, probably Afghanistan to a considerable extent. VOA`s services in Afghanistan are more listened to than the Taleban`s own radio in Afghanistan. So there are places where this role has been carried out. But I think increasingly there is a concern that there not be duplication between the surrogates and VOA. [Elliott] Over the years though VOA has put a lot of effort into broadcasting news about its target countries, and this includes in VOA`s languages which are shared with RFE/RL. To what extent is VOA now going to retreat from that role of broadcasting news about target countries and how many languages will that affect? [Ungar] Well Kim, I think the distinction here is probably broadcasting about a particular country or broadcasting about a region. I think that VOA is perfectly within its mandate and its mission and its charter if it is reporting regional news, if it is putting what's happening in a particular country into a context of a region and the international scene. And I think that`s actually where the cusp is between VOA and the surrogate radios. I would say that the surrogate radios, as I read and understand their duties, should be reporting on local affairs, and then going up to the region. I think we should start at the region and put local affairs in context and then go international. Now I think that with careful planning and coordination and sympathetic understanding of each other's roles, it should be possible to do this, and to work it out. But it is true that there probably are some VOA services which are more accustomed to doing local reporting on their target countries - target country is always a sort of tricky word, tricky term. But there are probably some services which are more accustomed to doing local reporting than they will be doing in the long run. And as we do programme reviews here at VOA, as we examine the role and the performance of our various services that is one of the things that we are looking out for, and one of the issues I am raising in programme reviews. Is this service, are you more of a surrogate broadcaster than it is appropriate to be in this day and age? [Elliott] In the various languages, the 25 languages or so that VOA and its surrogates both broadcast, doesn`t US international broadcasting sort of find itself in a lose-lose situation, because if VOA were to continue with its present thorough coverage of domestic affairs in countries such as China and Iran and Albania, it will be duplicating the efforts of the surrogate stations at a time when budgets are shrinking. And if the duplication is removed then listeners are forced to tune to two different radio stations to get a complete news cast. [Ungar] Well you raise an interesting point. I think China, Iran and Albania are very interesting examples. I think these are places where the populations of those countries are so, or have been - maybe Albania should be put on the side for a moment. But looking at China and Iran, the populations of China and Iran have been so starved of genuine information or objective balance, believable, credible information, that no number of sources could be enough. And there has certainly been no suggestion that we are going to cut back. Because you remember one of the conditions I said before that described a change where there has been duplicate services or whether there has been overlap has to do with the development of the domestic media. I don't think that very many people would say that in either China or Iran, the domestic media are free or the media climate has changed adequately so that anyone has to cut back. I think that where the question comes up about duplication is where there have been improvements in the local media climate. I mean you take a country, to look at some of the ones where there were cutbacks in VOA last year, take a country like Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, there has been a very important change in the domestic media and that is where you begin, and some of the countries we are looking at this year. That's where you begin to say well if there is overlap they should be doing something different, they should not be duplicating themselves. I think we are far from having to worry about free media changing the roles of US international broadcasting in China or Iran. In Albania it is a different matter. I think Albania is not as far along, certainly as some other countries in the region, in the Balkans, and in general the Balkans are not as far along as the rest of Europe. But in Albania I think there is still a very significant role for VOA to be reporting on local conditions as well. Now the numbers would indicate that VOA's Albanian Service is extremely successful, very highly relied upon, as elsewhere in the Balkans, for all of its coverage. [Elliott] Sandy Ungar is Director of Voice of America. Source: Voice of America, Washington, in English 1730 gmt 27 Jan 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Note: Elliott`s portion also appears at the CW website, via John Norfolk; Ungar`s portion was transcribed by BBCM (gh) ** U S A [non]. Don`t know if this helps anything but; this morning (1/26) I was listening to AFN on 6350 USB. At 0845 they were relaying CNN Headline News's TV feed. They would intersperse the usual PSAs and military-style announcements where the ads would normally be. At one point they announced the "AFN Expanded Pacific Weather" which was followed by music without any audible forecast: obviously a graphics- only weather. At the top of the hour, after promos for various TV programs "on AFN", came the ID "You are WATCHING AFN...." etc. followed by the Pacific Report. So at this time, anyway, they were rebroadcasting the AFN video feed. Loses someting on the radio, though (Eric Loy, WDWS Radio, Champaign IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dear DX friends: The message I sent to NIST (WWV/WWVH) is immediately below. Their reply, came today, Jan 29, and has interesting comments I ask them to tell: Senor Nigro, At 10:09 PM 1/27/01 -0300, you wrote: Dear Sirs at WWV/H, Do you have plans to increase power of WWV/H. I heard a report in R. Netherlands media program some time ago regarding increasing transmitter power as future plans. Can you confirm this? I have interference problems in the 10 MHz channel. This is a well known problem since a decade or more years, here in South America. The frequency is occupied by "pseudo radio operators" making stupid chats and even QRMing the frequency with music, etc. Are you aware of this? Your service has provided me a superb help to check time and adjust my receiver's clocks, and also check propagation conditions, and in the past a fq calibration for my old Hammarlund HQ180 communications receiver. I am a shortwave listener and DXer since 1973!. Thank you!!!! and congratulations for your service!!!! Best regards from Horacio. Thank you for your comments, questions, reception report and response to the survey announcement. The survey will be sent out this summer. NIST has no plans to increase the radiated power of WWV or WWVH transmissions. The program you heard may have been referring to the recent upgrade of NIST Radio Station WWVB (60 kHz) broadcast equipment. That station`s radiated power went from about 13 kW to 50 kW. Computer-generated propagation estimate maps for the WWVB signal can be found at the NIST Time and Frequency web site: http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwvbcoverage.htm We have received numerous complaints of Spanish language interference on several of our frequencies. Thanks for your report; it will be forwarded to the appropriate person. Sincerely, Glenn Nelson (technician), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Radio Stations WWV/WWVB (via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Jan 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Gag Rule imposed at WBAI: http://www.2600.com/news/2001/0126.html (via Joël Rubin, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am sure there are (were?) other shows doing it, but last week`s Off the Hook, on the air live, dealt with the WBAI situation, including remote reports from the lobby where a demonstration was going on, and policemen were ominously appearing. In fact, this is the show connected with 2600.com and it is also SW broadcast on WBCQ 7415, UT Wednesdays 0100-0200. This week, indeed Emannuel talked in generalities, but said he would respect the gag order. The WBAI webcast did not work, and his alternate feed via website above dropped off after a few minutes, forcing us to listen on WBCQ :) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Thought you guys would like to see this article which Don Thornton forwarded to me. For Hire Phony Talk Radio Calls, by John Mainelli: http://nypostonline.com/entertainment/22556.htm (Bill Westenhaver; also via Chet Copeland, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Folks, Our next live netcast will be Sunday February 4th, at 1600 UT when I will be speaking with Winter SWL Fest Co- Chair, John Figliozzi. John will speak in depth about the roots of the fest and how it has grown to be the largest gathering of radio monitoring enthusiasts in North America. And also some of the events that we can expect at this years Fest. Here are a few suggestions on how to listen: A shortcut would be set your Winamp or Real Player (not your web browser) "Open Location" (CTRL-L) to http://216.32.166.89:9020 Below is a link for your browser that, if you have configured your browser previously, should activate your mp3 player when you click on it. http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/play.pls?addr=216.32.166.89:9020/&file=filename.pls Also you can connect to http://www.live365.com and do a search for either cybershortwave or n1dk. Details on how to listen are also on my website http://www.n1dk.com As always during a live netcast, we are interactive in Internet Relay Chat channel #cybershortwave via a Starchat server for your comments and suggestions. There is currently "The Best of CyberShortwave" programming running 24/7. 73, and CU Sunday at 1600 UT (Dave Kirby, N1DK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Subject: LAST MINUTE TEST... AGAIN [WGSR 1570 Fernandina Beach, Florida] From: Ron Gitschier - RGITSCHIER@doyle.navy.mil I will conduct a Test Friday night February 2nd, Midnight [EST, i.e. starting Sat Feb 3 0500 UT] (that`s going into Saturday morning). Format will go out the window and temporarily replaced with my usual 70s Pop fare. I will endeavor to avoid playing such hits as "Run Joey Run" or "The Night Chicago Died" it caused some of the list to tune out while they ran for their "air sickness" bags. lol... My daughter, Linda, 15 yrs will be my assistant, probably doing either phones or the board, switching to day power, keeping the coffee pot going, etc...etc... By having someone else there I hope to answer all calls and keep my head into the show. I tend to get scatterbrained a bit at such a late hour. We had so much fun the last time who knows how far past 2 AM [0700 UT] we`ll go. Naturally, I`ll be more than happy to answer any correct QSL requests with a veri-letter and copy of our coverage map. On this round I`ll request return postage. It`s not necessary, but I`d love to hear some of the show via skywave on tape/CD if anyone`s up for doing so... I can trade airchecks or send sufficient dead president currency to cover cost of same. I will also try to get the station`s PC up and running ON LINE so I can check the reflector via my wyhi_1570am@hotmail.com account. Let`s have some fun out there. I am open to alternate ideas for programming. Perhaps a list discussion about DXing, or a chat w/ Fred, if he`s available, or whatnot. We can mention other radio stations, freqs, catches, etc... let`s open this up for discussion. I'm here for you DXers. 73's (Ron Gitschier via Phil Bytheway, Jan 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Sunday, February 4, 2001 - WILM-1450, Wilmington, DE will conduct a DX test from 12:00 to 2:00 am EDT [sic, presumably means EST, i.e. 0500-0700 UT]. WILM will play "unusual programming", sirens, and Morse code IDs. Allan Loudell, Program Manager of WILM, is preparing a special 25th anniversary yellow QSL card. Calls to the station may be placed at (302) 656-9800 - NO COLLECT CALLS, PLEASE!!! Reception reports may be sent to: Allan Loudell, Program Director, WILM News Radio, 1215 French St., Wilmington, DE 19801 (Arranged by Blaine Thompson for the NRC CPC via IRCA AM Newsflash) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY. 15485 At 1700 Jan 28, wonderful reception, with only a very minor echo of programming of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Very regionally sensitive programming. Started by emphasizing the sad occurrence in Congo with the death of Kabila. This day was dedicated to mostly music, both inspirational and secular. All sounding appropriate for Africa. This program is in stark contrast to the "Americentric" programming of other religious groups. Worth listening to. Parallel 13810 was good, with some splash from 13815 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. Just in from Vatican Radio: a slick plasticized folder with a view of Palazzo Pio, VR HQ, and of The Infallible One in an Alpine Meadow, hiking boots peeking out beneath his gown. On the other pages, a calendar of some sort which is not titled or explained, but presumably familiar to Catholix. Every day of 2001 has some significance in the liturgical calendar, if not a regular holyday, then attributed to some saint, many of them totally obscure, I am sure, even to the faithful. But Wednesday, January 31, is different, perhaps unique though I have not read through all 365 entries. This date is labeled ``IV ordinary time``. So, RCC and [non], let`s not let the day pass without a moment of reflexion on this churchly anomaly (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. See COLOMBIA ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. MARRUECOS/REP. ARABE SAHARAUI: 7460 KHz. La Voz de la República Árabe Saharaui. 2230-2257. 23 de Enero. Transmisión en árabe. Entrevista conducida por anunciadora. Música local. Identificación y cierre de emisión a las 2257. 32122. (Claudio Morales, Buenos Aires, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE (Western Sahara). 7470, R. Nacional de la República Arabe Saharaui Democrática, non-veri E-mail rcvd from tlpgahij@vc.ehu.es This address turns out to be that of an organization called Asociación de Amigos y Amigas de la RASD de Euskadi, an interesting sort of connection. The message said my report was being passed on to the directorate of R. Nacional in the Tindouf refugee camps. The Asociación is working on establishing direct E-mail communication with Tindouf within a short time frame (David Foster, Australia, NU via DXLD) ** YEMEN. During a recent stay in the country, I found, during local day-time, 5950, 6135 & 9780 are often on the air simultaneously with the Sana`a National Programme. Certain publications still list 6135 as being located at Al-Hiswa (Aden), but SW facilities there were bombed and destroyed during the 1994 War of Unity. R. Sana`a has a beautiful QSL card and more DXers would receive it if they would care to report the programmes in English (sched as in WRTH) and write to : English Service, Radio Sana`a, P O Box 2371, Sana`a, Rep. of Yemen. FM broadcasting is still confined to Sana'a: 91.1 & 92.6 (Sana`a Nat. Pgm), 93.5 (English pgm), 95.5 (Aden pgm 2) (Maarten van Delft, Holland, Jan 7, DSWCI World News via Noël Green, DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 11734 Very strong recently. Clear signal from fade-in 1600 to 2000, strong interference afterwards (Thorsten Hallmann, Germany, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TANZANIA (ZANZIBAR) 11734.08, Very good reception of Radio Tanzania Zanzibar 27 Jan at 1649 in presumed Swahili. Very distinctive music, into network news from Dar Es Salaam at 1700. Nice ID at 1710 as "Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam", then into local programming with lots of mentions of Zanzibar. Reception the following day not nearly as good (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tanzania (Zanzibar), 11734 kHz, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar, full data "Sauti Ya Tanzania Zanzibar" form letter with station stamp, in 3 weeks, for taped report, self addressed envelope and IRC, v/s illegible (appears to be A M Said). This after several reports in proper Kiswahili to PO Box 1178. This English report was hand delivered to the station by a friend`s brother who lives in Zanzibar Town. Reply postmarked "Zanzibar" with 800 Tanzanian cents postage. (Joe Talbot, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Jan 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Congratulations, Joe! I think QSLs from Zanzibar will become much scarcer in the future. It was on local news here that the political situation is becoming more and more unstable. RTZ stays coming in, however with extremely good strength at 1900 UT (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, RTZ QSL designer, printer and donor, hard-core-dx via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4866.2, 0930-1030, The last couple of mornings, I`ve noticed this LA religious station playing Black American Gospel mx. Cycles of mx followed by a couple of minutes of dead air, then ID and other speech. Sounds like it might be a test transmission. Very good audio, super low bass. Fair, but slightly under modulated signal, peaks at 0950 and fades at 1020. Never noticed a station here. The usual Brazilians on 4865 and 4865.1 are there, so maybe this is a new station (David Hodgson, TN, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###