DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-030, March 4, 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 [NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn] For your information and amusement, you are invited to visit these subsites at WORLD OF RADIO OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Oklahoma6.html GRAPHIC GAFFES & AUDIBLE ATROCITIES: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/grafgaff.html THE TINY TRAP http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/tinytrap.html ** AUSTRALIA. Via Prayer word March 2110 [sic] HCJB circular, states, On 1st Feb 2001 HCJB Australia received a provisional licence from the Australian communications authority for SW Broadcasts from their Kununurra site in W Australia. Now need a content licence from the ABA, content & National interests licence from the Dept of Foreign Affairs (Don Rhodes, Australia, March 3, Electronic DX Press via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. VL8A Alice Springs, 2310, partial data QSL in 25d for taped report and 2 USD. No veriesigner. This one arrived without postage stamp and unless my Spanish postman is a stamp collector and ripped off the envelope, it traveled 15 Mm for free. Vy 73, (Enzio Gehrig, Dénia, Spain (38.50N 00.04E), March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. R. Australia via World Radio Network: Here is the schedule for Radio Australia`s 08-09 UT and 12-13 UT blocks on World Radio Network (from monitoring and a few inferences). The programming is mostly not in parallel with RA by shortwave or Internet, though they seem to always take newscasts live. These blocks are available on demand for the next 24 hours at http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/australia.html so this provides a replay opportunity for programs that aren`t otherwise archived. Days according to UT. Some of the :30 starts are really about :32. M-F 0800 news, 0810 PM Sat 0800 news, 0805 Asia Pacific, 0830 Earthbeat Sun 0800 news, 0805 Writers on Writing, 0830 Feedback (from 11 March, "On the Record" replaces "Writers on Writing"; see DX Listening Digest 1-029) Mon 1200 news, 1205 Asia Pacific, 1230 Health Report Tue 1200 news, 1205 Asia Pacific, 1230 Law Report Wed 1200 news, 1205 Asia Pacific, 1230 Religion Report Thu 1200 news, 1205 Asia Pacific, 1230 Media Report Fri 1200 news, 1205 Asia Pacific, 1230 Sports Factor Sat 1200 news, 1205 Arts Talk, 1230 Oz Sounds Sun 1200 news, 1205 Correspondents Report, 1230 Pacific Review WRN also carries half-hour blocks of Radio Australia at 1900-1930 and 0100-0130 UT. These aren`t available on demand; I`d nonetheless appreciate hearing from anyone who knows program details for these segments (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass., PublicRadioFan.com, kakelly@alum.mit.edu March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. Today Feb 28 I heard (presumed) Baku starting on 9155 at 0900 with what appeared to be Russian. The audio was harsh as usual. The strength was very modest and the signal was badly squeezed between a SITOR stn on 9157 and a strong local buzz on 9153. The exact freq was about 20 Hz low. Yesterday there was a very strong utility stn right on 9155 (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh government has decided to give permission to set up 12 FM stations and 2 satellite TV channels in the country. Details have not been disclosed yet. Currently, BBC [100.00 MHz] and Radio Metrowave [106.5 MHz] operate on FM in Dhaka. There are 2 satellite channels operating from Bangladesh - Channel I and ATN Bangla. In another development, BBC has been given permission to broadcast on FM in Khulna and in Rajshahi using the facilities of Bangladesh Betar. BBC engineers will soon visit these places (Source - BBC Bangla Service vua Rifat J. Eusufzai, DX Forum, GPO Box 488, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh) http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/dxforum ** BELGIUM. Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal now offers its listeners a bright yellow mouse mat for the asking; either email them info@rvi.be or write to them at B-1043 Brussels, Belgium (Nick Sharpe, UK, WDXC Contact March via BC-DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Dif. Taubaté, 4925, has vanished. No more signals from it on 62m. Anyone who got a QSL from this a few weeks ago (with extensive promotional material) may feel privileged. MW 570 continues on the air, heard with some difficulty here in São Bernardo. Rádio Nova Relógio, 4905v: When we phoned them, they were very responsive. And several friends on the list say they had good contact with them, giving P- and E-mail addresses, name of director, etc., that they would QSL reports, and so on. But unfortunately RR does not feel obligated to radio listeners. It does not reply in any way. Very unfortunate. Has anyone received a QSL from RR 4905 in these past two years? I`m going to try again, by P- and E-mail. Who knows how this will go (Rudolf Grimm São Bernardo, SP, radioescutas, translated by gh for DXLD) Rudolf, I have already given up on these stations, convinced that their objective is something else: only the faithful. A phone call from a sympathizer and a deposit by the same in their account is what matters to them! Our work has no value to them. The other day, I was near the address of R. Capixaba, Vitória. What would I do there, if I am not welcome? They only want to hear from their faithful and that`s it! From now on, I`ll do as they do: despise them! Hugs, (Célio Romais, Brazil, radioescutas March 3, translated by gh for DXLD) ** CAMBODIA [non]. Subject: Is it Voice of Justice ? Dear Mr. Hauser, This is my first e-mail to you. I am a shortwave listener in Japan. I receive many interesting information from you via EDXP. I received unknown radio station on 15455 kHz at 0958-1033 UT, March 03, 2001 as follows: 0958 Talk by male 1002 Song by male 1005 Message/Commentary/Talk (?) by male 1014 Message/Commentary/Talk (?) by female 1020 Song by male and female 1022 News/Commentary/Talk (?) by male 1033 Just only the top of music, and then transmission ended SINPO = 35333 Language = I didn`t understand I would like to know if it was Voice of Justice or not. I also like to know e-mail / postal address of the station to send the reception report. I am looking forward to receiving the answer from you soon. Best regards, (Masao Hosoya, Tokyo, Japan, March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Clandestine Samleng Yutethoa on air again, 15455 0930-1033 Hi all, today Sat March 3rd, the clandestine stn "The Voice of Justice" in Cambodian language phonetically: Samleng Yutethoa was testing on air again. Instead of previous 1000-1047 time slot, the stn was already on air when I switched on at 0943. The broadcast lasted till 1032 UT. So seemingly test time slot moved a half hour earlier. Programme sounded like same or similar content as on first transmission Feb 17. Same piece of very slow Cambodian song was played at around 1000 UT. Technicalwise the outlet was somewhat poorer than on Feb 17th, S=1 to 7 in peaks. 25322. In comparison, CRI Kunming on nearby 15440 with 500 kW towards Au, NZ, Oceania was much stronger here in Europe. 73 de wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As previously reported in DXLD, E-mail is samrainsy@bigpond.com.kh CLANDESTINE TO CAMBODIA. 15455, Voice of Justice presumed the one audible already Sat Mar 3 at 0955 with talks in Khmer and local music, much weaker than previously, at times barely above my noise level, faded up at 1010 but soon faded down to barely detectable; did not catch sign off but no carrier detected at 1035 and Wolfgang Büschel has suggested schedule is now 0930-1030 (Mike Barraclough, England, DX LISTENING DIGESST) ** CANADA. Subject: Nunavut; according to CBC radio today, Nunavut will revert to 3 time zones (MST, CST, EST), eff. 1/4/2001 (Eric Floden, ODXA March 2 via DXLD) How about the boundary lines? It was absurd for such a broad east-west territory, so far north, to try to use only one time zone, tho Alaska is close to such nonsense (gh) ** CANADA [non]. Once again this week, no-show from the alleged R. Vancouver International via Taiwan. Sunday March 4, frequent checks between 1230 and 1400 UT on 9735-USB brought no trace of anything on USB, and only a very weak carrier from something on 9735 after about 1345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. R. Prague relays via WRMI are now shown as daily 0300-0330 Spanish, 0400-0430 English on 7385. Various programs intervene 0330-0400 Tue-Sat; UT Sun, Viva Miami in English; UT Mon Wavescan, which, BTW is still running 5 weeks late when checked at 1330 March 4 on 9955. EDXP info about Prague times will not be correct until April 1 (WRMI posted March 1 schedule via DXLD) ** EUROPE. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). R. Nova, 9290 went off last Saturday due to an expired modulator transistor [sic]. I expect it will be on 24 hours 7 days to provide an interesting DX target; has been in heard in New Zealand and Pennsylvania as well as throughout Europe (Mike Barraclough, England, March 4, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. 530, 2-3 mar, 0015-0215 Falkland/Malvinas relay de programas da BFBS (o serviço das forças armadas ingleses) com música variada e notícias. Notícias do mundo em inglês às 0100 e às 0200, esta do BBC World Service depois do clásico Big Ben toque. QRM da AM530, Argentina e da Visión Cristiana (Rocco Cotroneo, Vargem Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, radio-escutas via DXLD) I thought this was supposed to be FIBS, with BFBS on 550 per Dangerfield`s report in DXLD 1-021? (gh) ** FRANCE. RFI in English still an hour March 3 at 1400 on 17620, heard past 1430; poor. The question is, will a number of programs currently being produced be canceled, and staff reduced in accordance with cutting most of the English to half an hour? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As the 1700 English broadcast on 11615 was ending March 4 around 1730, RFI said something about starting new morning broadcasts at 0400, 0500, 0600 and 0700, presumably in English; did not say when (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Since Tue 27 Feb ERT has been on 9930 replacing 9935 during the Thessaloniki transmissions (Olle Alm, Sweden, Feb 27, BC- DX via DXLD) Still 9930 on Mar 3rd (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Forget about watching certain cable channels without interruption the next few days in the afternoons here. Cox Cable in Enid, and I assume this is typical, makes no effort to compensate for solar transit outages which occur each March and September when certain satellites pass directly in front of the sun for a few minutes. I noticed this on March 3 and again March 4 in the 2035-2050 UT period, affecting: TBS, ESPN-2, CNN, USA, TNN, CNN HN, Sci-Fi, A&E, Disney, CNBC, BET. These were the first to go out and the last to come back, as well as, as far as I could tell, locally scrambled HBO and Showtime. Additional ones which went out for a shorter period and not quite so deeply: TNT, ESPN-1, FAM, WGN. Also from the first group, A&E and CNBC emerged slightly before the others. This is all accounted for by slightly different angles against the sun, or the way the signals are locally processed. Other localities, varying with latitude and longitude, will have different outage times and dates, but these are totally predictable. No doubt many of the other cable channels have their own STO`s at other times I have not yet encountered. The obvious solution for this is to have backup feeds on different satellites, but it seems the cable industry cannot be bothered (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Glenn, the small AWR transmitter at Forlì is indeed a 10 kW unit but radiates reportedly only 2.5 kW. They use it also for some other languages, including German (0900-0930 on 9660 and 1200-1230 on 11920; the latter outlet was recently moved into this channel from 11905 to avoid the Chinese anti-CBS jamming), but of course Forlì provides all but no powerhouse signals (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. "Radio Kazakstan" broadcasting in the Kazakh language on 9610 kHz from 14 till 17 ut. The program refers to [itself] as "Khabar" and includes news, reports of weather, interview, reportings, national music. A hymn of Republic Kazakhstan and ID at 1400. The location of the transmitter is not known. Thus, information in WRTH-2001 (Kazakstan: SW currently not used) is not correct (Vasily Gulyaev, g[orod] Astrakhan, RUSSIA, March 2, WWDXC via Wolfgang Büschel, Germany) Hi all, that`s the usual R KAZ relay via R Ukraine International, in exchange for the Ukrainian radio relays via at least THREE mediumwave transmitters in Kazakhstan, which is in service since many decades, even in USSR era. This, to serve more than two million Ukrainian nationals, who were stranded in Kazakhstan in the Stalin and post-WW II era in that Central Asian country. WRTH mentioned three RUI relay channels in exchange: Almaty 1197, Qostanay 1440, Unknown 1494. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9610 Kazakh language program is from China, not Ukraine! I think it is not just mere coincidence that CNR-8 has Kazakh on 9610 from 1400 with Uighur and Mongolian following until 1700. Checking at 1615 I did not hear Ukraine or Kazakhstan, only CNR. I think that solves this problem! 73s (Olle Alm, Sweden, March 3, to Noël Green and Wolfgang Büschel) I think Olle is saying that "Kazakh Radio" on 9610 is actually CNR-8. However, on checking the channel this morning at 1030, Ukraine is tipping the meter at 9+, so either conditions yesterday were poor or it was CNR-8. Best 73's, (Noël Green, UK, March 4 to Olle & Wolfgang) Hi, checked that channel at 1420-1430 today. The only transmission on 9610 is the CNR-8th Program, which is in \\ at same time on super strong 7935 and 10260 kHz, but also with fair level on 11630. Time delay occurs, 9610 is ahead by 300 ms, against remaining all later on 7935, 10260, and 11630. 73 de wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 4 to Olle & Noël, all via WB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening today, I heard Ukraine 9610 before 1100, but on re-check c1120, it was not there, so I assume closed at 1100 as it should do. Another station was heard at poor and fluttery strength c1120 and which I think was Taiwan. I heard it again c1350 and with pop music until 1400 when it started Japanese, which is according to their sched. There was another on channel too by this time, which sounded \\ 11630 at 1400 in Kazakh? though I didn`t hear the ID or Chinese anthem on the hour. But, at 1400, RL via Holzkirchen came on 9615 in Russian, and their Optimod was doing a good job - on 9610 too! I checked 9610 again c1545 and this was \\ 11630, so CNR-8 - not Ukraine. More Optimod processing was noted when RL returned at 1600 on 9615, but I noted CNR-8 stop playing music c1600 and a seemingly weaker signal on 9610 after then. It was impossible for me to identify positively due to splash. Olle and Wolfgang would appear to be quite correct - it is CNR-8 and not Ukraine we hear. Best 73's, (Noël Green, England, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LESOTHO. Radio Lesotho has built a website at http://www.lesotho.gov.ls/radio/Radiolesotho/default.asp 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, March 3, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Program schedule was last updated November, 2000 (gh) ** MÉXICO. 6185, Radio Educación Shortwave has reduced its programs for shortwave from 0000 to 0600 UT; 0600 to 1200 is now relaying Radio Educación MW (1060). This reduction is because to the reorganization of the new administration. They have plans to design news programs on MW first, then continue with SW. They do not have plans to close their broadcasting on shortwave (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Mar 3, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. R. Free Chechnya may be gone from SW, but some of its frequency schedule remains, now with R. Rossii programming: March 2 at 1327, usual 11635 and 15605 were in with dramatic narrative in Russian accompanied by music. Both with heavy flutter, but 11635 slightly clearer. Just before 1400, R. Rossii ID, TS, IS and 11635 went off while 15605 continued, probably for just another semihour like RFCh usage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. A remark below from Mikhail Timofeyev regarding "Chechnya Svobodnaya"; Popovka transmitted RCS on two transmitter pairs, i.e. not less than four transmitters are idle now (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, not any RCS short wave relays starting on Monday, February 26th at 0300 UT. It is the very sad situation for us here in St. Petersburg as some our transmitters are out of use at present... (Timofeyev via Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Escuchen gaita escocesa en Internet. Para el que tenga Winamp, Real Player, Sonique... Lo increíble es que hace webcasting desde Montevideo, Uruguay! Bagpipe World Radio que transmite a través de internet las 24 horas, dedicada a difundir la música de la gaita escocesa. http://bagpipeworldradio.cjb.net/ Me mueve el cono del parlante de la PC al máximo! :) (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. For A-01, Radio Sweden continues to use the leased relay at Sackville, Canada. Two channels are listed: 9755 0200-0300 and 11895 0300-0400, with both frequencies for the Americas, in Swedish and English (Electronic DX Press March 4 via DXLD) ** TIBET. Dear Glenn, There`s an article that you might be interested in from the Tibet Information Network being carried by http://www.oneworld.net about the jamming of foreign broadcasts into Tibet by the Chinese authorities (Mick Knapton, Sheffield, England, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Where is it, exactly? The Tibet Information Network Web site reports that Chinese authorities have stepped up their jamming of Tibetan language broadcasts of the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and the exile station Voice of Tibet. According to the Web site, jamming equipment has been upgraded at two locations near Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. This would suggest that jamming in the Lhasa area involves groundwave signals, which travel only a short distance but cover Lhasa. Groundwave jamming is more difficult to overcome that skywave jamming, which would come from transmitters in China but far enough away that the signals are refracted off the ionosphere before reaching listeners in Tibet (VOA Communications World March 3 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U K. A bomb exploded outside BBC Television Centre in West London in the early hours of Sunday 4 March. The attack was carried out, it is believed, by a dissident Irish terror group [the `Real` IRA, per reports -gh]. Windows were broken, but no structural damage was caused, and no BBC staff were injured, although a worker on London's Underground Railway system was injured (White City Underground Station is located very close by). TV and radio programmes were disrupted for a short period, and the midnight news on our domestic Radio 4 network was curtailed. London's local station Heart 106.2 fm is located close to the BBC Television Centre, but it is not known whether they were affected in any way. The bomb, made from high explosives, was packed in a taxi which was parked outside the Reception area at the front of TV Centre, which also houses BBC News for both radio and television, and the 24-hour radio news and sports channel known as 5 live. This is the first time that the BBC - or any other broadcaster for that matter - has been attacked by a terror group in this way. An hour's warning was given in coded telephone messages to an unknown charity and a London hospital, thus avoiding the injuries, although Police say the bomb was a large device and could have killed. The explosion was heard several miles away. There are still road and rail closures in the area several hours after the explosion (PAUL DAVID, England, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Evidently not the premises occupied by the World Service. Perhaps they would be less eager to join the rest of BBC now (gh) ** U K. BBC World Service previews: ADVENTURES IN POETRY, 4 x 25 min from Sun March 4 on MERIDIAN-IDEAS Peggy Reynolds examines well-loved poems, including Donne, Rossetti, Lear, Plath Europe: Mon 0905, 1905, Tue 0105, 1405 Americas: Mon 1405, Tue 0105, 2005, Wed 0605 KREMLIN WOMEN, 2 x 30 min from Mon March 5 on EVERYWOMAN Soviet history thru the eyes of Lenin`s wife, and Stalin`s wife Europe: Mon 2030, Tue 0230, 1530, Wed 1030 Americas: Tue 0230, 2130, Wed 1530 CHILDREN OF THE CLOUDS, 4 x 30 min from Wed March 7 on WORLD OF MUSIC Music of the peoples of Western Sahara, presented by Lucy Durán. Europe: Thu 0930, 1930, Fri 0130, 1430 Americas: Thu 1430, Fri 0130, 2030, Sat 0630 (BBC On Air via Chris Hambly, WORLD OF RADIO 1071, DXLD) ** U S A. On Sunday, March 4, 2001, WBCQ 2 (9335 kHz) will air Veterans Information Radio from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM [0000-0100 UT Monday]. This program is aimed at veterans, and especially disabled veterans. It will provide information about general, medical and other services available to veterans, and where and how the services can be obtained (WBCQ website via Ricky Leong, March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHYY shuffles Sunday nights: Harry gets a better slot. The changes: 16 ET Le Show, 19 ET Sound and Spirit, 20 ET Savvy Traveler, 23 ET Sunday Rounds. The debut of PRI`s "Salon.com Radio" (which will replace "Beyond Computers" on about 100 stations) has been delayed a month, to early April, per http://www.beyondcomputers.org/ Story about the new show at http://www.current.org/ (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Mr. Hauser, I thank you for posting my comments regarding "The Connection" and the events that have happened during the last two weeks regarding that show. I think that I should mention that I`m a student announcer/production assistant at the University of Northern Iowa`s two public radio stations, KUNI and KHKE. In fact, I`m writing this there right now. While this has little bearing on my comments regarding "The Connection," I do think that it gives me some perspective on the comments I made in the last paragraph regarding how this fits into the state of public radio today. Again, thank you for posting my comments (-Dave Vollenweider, Student Announcer/ Production Assistant, KUNI/KHKE, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Besides the piece that WBUR ran during Morning Edition, WBUR`s noon news show "Here and Now" had two interviews about The Connection including 6 minutes with Christopher Lydon himself. It`s available on demand at http://www.here-now.org/topics/news/newsmain/2001/newsmain_010302.asp (w/ hyphen between here and now) (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass., PublicRadioFan.com DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI, 15725, checked Sat March 3 at 1405 with Brother Scare Sabbath Show, had continuous RTTY-like high-speed beeps QRM from 15723 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CZECH REPUBLIC ** U S A. Mystery Signal on 1140 kHz Monitored by Harry Helms Wrap-up so far, but no definitive answer in this report at: http://www.dxing.com/news.htm (via gh, DXLD) Glenn; Thanks very much for the latest on the 1140 mystery. It`s hard to understand why the military would need to do their experiments inside the AM band, with many other, less conspicuous channels at their disposal. Still, this does begin to seem the likely explanation. I seriously doubt that the 3.39 MHz signal is from HAARP. Managed to get a bearing on it, when it returned to the air again, early yesterday morning. I put it at approximately 115/295 degrees (true), which doesn`t seem to fit Alaska. This is probably within the margin of error of my bearing for the 1140 signal! I begin to suspect that the 1140/1136 kHz and the 3.39 MHz signals are related, and that both could be coming from the infamous Area 51. Interesting, isn`t it, that three times 1136 comes within less than 20 kHz of 3.39 MHz (Michael Watson, CA, March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1660 KAXW CA, Merced, test //1580 with Ranchera mx. No IDs, but dif. South at 2330 EST 3/2. Looks like another X Bander to pop on. I am sure KXOL isn`t going to like this! Shortly after, KAXW was gone and then they popped on briefly again and then went off. They must be in the beginning stage of testing (Patrick Martin, KAVT Reception Manager, via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Jamming Intentional interference, or "jamming," of the signals of U.S. international broadcasting is usually associated with Cold War information flows. Eastern European political and intellectual leaders, such a Walensa, Gorbachev, and Havel, praised Western broadcasters for playing a major role in bringing down totalitarianism and providing a free flow of news and information in spite of costly efforts by communist regimes to interfere with our signals. Jamming was not limited to Cold War Europe, however, nor has it completely vanished a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jamming continues to plague our radio broadcasting services, particularly in those areas of the world where governments deny their people access to accurate and objective news and information. Perhaps the most important lesson of the past is to stand firm in the face of efforts to silence our voice, and work to intensify our signals that carry U.S. international broadcasting`s message across boundaries. Jamming is at once an unfortunate symbol of our success and a challenge for us to overcome. It is both a technical and a political problem. Various technical and administrative remedies can counter jamming; many of which are employed by the BBG to maintain the effectiveness of our transmissions. However, when these measures do not fully overcome jamming, more powerful transmitters that can broadcast on an increasing number of frequencies are the next option. The technical approaches to jamming are relatively straightforward. The power of an intended signal can be increased to overwhelm the jamming signal, or the number of simultaneous transmissions can be increased to force the jammer to spread his resources so thinly that they are not effective in blocking all incoming broadcasts. The BBG`s International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) monitors jamming activities related to our services on a routine basis. The following chart summarizes the current status of jamming: Broadcaster Language Jamming Source Jamming Effectiveness VOA Korean North Korea Weak, not effective Mandarin China Strong Tibetan China Weak, sporadic RFA Korean North Korea Weak, not effective Mandarin China Strong Tibetan China Strong Uyghur China Strong Vietnamese Vietnam Very strong Radio Martí Spanish Cuba Strong Choosing the appropriate transmission medium and program distribution means is a complex undertaking. In the end, finding the right mix of broadcasting technologies to reach the maximum audience is a market- by-market determination. The Board will continue to explore the opportunities and trade-offs that this situation demands and as funding permits. --Testimony of Marc Nathanson, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights Committee on International Relations February 28, 2001 (via Kim Elliott, VOA, via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Hi Glenn, I was very interested in your note in DXLD about VOV on 9839varible kHz in English at 1230, so I tuned there about 1100 UT and started listening. I heard a couple of different language broadcasts prior to 1230 that were very weak. By 1220 I was telling myself that Glenn must be in a good location for Vietnam reception if he can catch the details of this transmission so well when they are broadcasting in English? However, when the station came back on at 1230 with English, just a couple of minutes after signing off at 1227 from the previous broadcast, the signal was booming in here at Lake Worth. The impression I got then was that they must change antenna beams for the English broadcasts because it was a very major change in signal strength. The WRTH says this broadcast is beamed towards South East Asia. The broadcast at 1130 was Russian which isn`t listed in the WRTH on this frequency. However, the other Russian broadcasts listed in the WRTH for 1130 UT, are beamed towards Russia. There`s nothing listed on 9839v kHz for the 1200 to 1227 time period in the WRTH. Japanese is listed on 12020 kHz however. I was walking my dogs during that time, so I was [un]able to really get into what was happening during that period on 9839v kHz. By the time I got back, it was too late and I thought the band had faded out judging by the signal strength here. Consequently, the broadcast between 1200 and 1227 UT was too weak to copy. Just thought you`d be interested (Chuck Bolland chuckb@us-it.net http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com KA4PRF, Lake Worth, Florida, March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###