DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-054, April 18, 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] ** AFGHANISTAN. Kabul radio changes morning broadcast times |Text of report by Afghan Taleban radio on 12 April Announcement by the Radio Voice of Shari'ah: Owing to the change in daylight hours and the season of the year, our morning broadcast will start at 0510 [ 0040 gmt] as of Sunday 21st of Muharam [15 April]. The Pashto news broadcasts at 0700 [0230] and the death announcements will be broadcast as before, after the Pashto news. Our morning broadcast ends after the news in Dari at 0800 [0330 gmt] every morning, Our compatriots should be aware of this Source: Radio Voice of Shari'ah, Kabul, in Pashto 1500 gmt 12 Apr 01 (via BBCM April 18 via DXLD) WTFK? Last reported on 7090 (gh) ** ANGOLA [non]. Still nothing from scheduled R. Ecclésia via DTK April 17 at 1700 check on 15775 (BTW, WYFR starts at 1800 on same) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTIGUA. DW, 17730, April 18 around 1245 noticed this was very distorted, as if carrier greatly suppressed or missing, but it was not. However, switching to LSB or USB restored the audio quality, especially during music. Cleared up by 1255 during ``Multi-Media``, fast-paced capsule of news about internet, execution voyeurism, PLC, etc., the closest thing to a DX program now on DW; distortion returned intermittently during the 1300 news and during the following two hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. Hello, I just noted that LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, from Antarctic mainland, is back on the air. I tuned in at 1945 UT to 15475.56 kHz. The transmitter is drifting a bit. At 2003 the ID and some announcements followed. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Antwerp, BELGIUM, hard-core-dx April 17 via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. Re: RFA 1700-1800 Khmer on 11525 15695 as heard on April 13th (Silvain Domen, Belgium, April 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange item; RFA web site shows not this service. It would also be a strange timing for Cambodia, I guess is 0100 LT in SE Asia! 73 de (wolfy df5sx) Added for Cambodian New Year (Dan Ferguson, IBB, April 17, SWBC via DXLD) Temporarily? From when to when? 0000 local (gh) ** AUSTRIA. 7235, Strong signal, new stn "Everest Media Services" playing mainly SEAs music on 7235 via ORF Mossbrunn [sic] relay at 2030-2130. Since Apr 14th, Sat-Tue only (Peter Ungerböck, Austria, A- DX Apr 16, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Everest radio via Austrian Moosbrunn SW 7235, 2000-2100 Sat to Tue only! But started yesterday late, at about 2031 UTC, S= 9+40 .. 9+60 dB Nice Nepalese music. Nooo, not 2000 UT, according items in A-DX newsletter: correct time is 2030-2130 UT!!!! Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue only, on 7235 kHz. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Von der Webseite http://listen.to/everestradio stammen die folgenden Infos: After successful test transmission, Everest Radio going to go ON AIR from 14th of April, 2001 on the occasion of Nepali New Year 2058. Program is going to be 4 days a week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) at 9-10 PM London time on short-wave 49m that is 7235 kHz. This programme should be heard all over the United Kingdom, Ireland and beyond. Please tell us how do you receive the programme. Contact Detail: Everest Radio 226 Greenford Ave. Hanwell London W7 3QT UK Tel: +44 (0) 20 8840 7645 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8840 3449 Mobile: +44 (0) 7989 154730 E-mail: everestradio@hotmail.com or info@everesttimeslondon.com If you would like to know more information about it, please email us at comments@everesttimeslondon.com (A-DX via Büschel, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Austria International is a cool station. I did a lot of listening to it during the big controversy over Herr Haider`s Freedom Party joining the government coalition. As this controversy died down I tried to listen to Radio Austria at least once a week, usually via the CBC Overnight programming block, due to my schedule. Report From Austria is broadcast daily. Hosted by Bethany Bell, rapidly becoming my favourite radio journalist, and Murray Hall, they present a lively half hour of news from this small corner of central Europe. Viennese municipal elections are being held the weekend of March 24, which is leading to many parliamentary shenanigans. The opposition Social Democrats and governing coalition partner Freedom Party are putting motions forward designed to embarrass each other. The SDP expects to garner 40% and speculation centres on the Greens earning enough support to form a Red/Green coalition to keep the federal government coalition out of power in city government. The election is also seen as a barometer of support for the various factions prior to the next national election. The small, but very effective Report From Austria team asks the tough questions of all sides, sparing no party or faction. I like them! Its almost like a daily seminar in Austrian government. Not just politics, but a wide variety of issues, from economics to education to societal issues in general. They manage to squeeze a lot into a brief daily program (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, April ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. From Radio Borderhunter... Many thanks therefore. It`s always a special thing to hear yourself so far away. Because we have only self made things it`s very intresting how it works on distance. To be heard in New Zealand is special for a Euro Free Radio Station. We were putting 300 watt in our dipole antenna. The dipole is hanging in the antennatower about 15 metre above the ground. Our next broadcast will be on Saturday 21st April, start at 0600 UT and Sunday 22nd April, start again at 0600 UT on 15795 kHz. Hope to hear from you again, '73 Frans, operator Radio Borderhunter P.O. Box 44 B-2387 Baarle-Hertog Belgium (via Paul Ormandy, ARDXC, April 16 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4552.29, Radiodifusora Trópico 0202 April 14, Flute song followed by a long silence, then announcer in Vernacular language. Canned sign-off announcement with ID over orchestral music. Fair to poor signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]: A-01 schedule of Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese: 1430-1455 5945 TAC 200 kW/132 deg 15405 KVI 500 kW/080 deg 17485 MDC 050 kW/055 deg 1455-1530 5945 TAC 200 kW/132 deg 15405 JUL 100 kW/070 deg 2330-0030 9495 JUL 100 kW/080 deg 11590 MDC 200 kW/055 deg JUL=Juelich; KVI=Kvitsoy; MDC=Madagascar; TAC=Tashkent (Observer, Bulgaria, April 17 via DXLD) ** CANADA. One of the few remaining airings of BBC`s classic Goon Shows is now finished, as Jazz FM 91 Toronto announced the end of the series, at 2359 UT April 17, to be replaced by even more jazz. This may also apply to the rest of the 2330 UT BBC comedy strip M-F, which months ago was banished from their web schedule, but still existed in fact (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6241 1120- LV de la Resistencia, Colombia (MORNING ONLY) (Renato Bruni, Macas, Ecuador, via Faiallo DX via Enrico Oliva, hard- core-dx, April 17 via DXLD; date of logging unknown) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Czech This Out! Radio Prague, the external service of Czech Radio was always one of the more enjoyable stations to listen to, even in the bad old Cold War days. If you could endure the news and commentary at the beginning of the show, there was often some interesting and enjoyable cultural programming, folk music, classical, jazz and even occasionally rock could be heard. Travelogues, sport, literature, mailbag, "DX Chat", history and of course the usual political discussions could be heard. Even as an iron curtain broadcaster, the programming was friendly and a delight to hear. I don't think I ever SPECIFICALLY taped them but it seems that every day...or was it every week...advancing age seems to be coming into play...they had that feature where they would play music for your tape recorder, even offering a countdown so you could start your tape machine! Recently, I`ve rediscovered Radio Prague, listening to it almost daily at 2330 UTC on 9435 kHz. The staff at Radio Prague all seem to have a very delightful quirky sense of humour. Radio Prague is worth a listen these days due to a couple of issues. First, the Czech Republic is putting a resolution before the UN against the US blockade/embargo of Cuba. The US government, not to mention Colin Powell, have taken a dim view of this as reported by Radio Prague. Secondly, there is a long standing and increasing controversy concerning the launch of a nuclear power plant in Temelin, South Bohemia, near the Austrian border. This issue has strained relations between Austria and the Czech Republic, and led to resolutions debated in both the Austrian and European parliaments. Many environmentalists have demonstrated against the project also. Twenty years ago, Radio Prague would have shrugged off any protests (no doubt a bunch of counter-revolutionary, imperialist agents), or ignored them. The "new" Radio Prague has gone to a great deal of trouble to present both sides in a balanced manner. They inform, but don't indoctrinate. See comments on Radio Austria above. Now back to that quirky humour. Sunday night I heard a delightful mailbag segment featuring two guys with British accents (Peter Smith and Nick Carey (sp?) (...come to think of it most of the people on the program spoke English with a British accent. Frequently Northern Germans speak English with a British accent and Southern Germans speak with an American accent. Partly due to geography...there are many anglophiles in Northern Germany. Partly related to the postwar occupation zones.) To call it a mailbag program might be stretching it...I believe all but one message was an e-mail (another sign of changing times). I liked these guys from the start. They introduced the program with a bit of British 70's humour..."It's hello from me, and hello from him" made famous by the Two Ronnies. Each letter led into a preview of something that was going to be discussed in a future program. Radio Kosovo International? One letter dealt with a question about a Radio Prague personality (Libor Kubik sp?) who is currently in Kosovo with the OSCD Independent Media Support Unit as a radio development officer. "He had a dream of setting up Radio Kosovo International on shortwave and the internet but he fears this is proving a little bit unrealistic, there are no shortwave transmitters available in the area and Kosovo is still considered an integral part of the Federal Yugoslavia, so it`s difficult that way to set up their own independent foreign broadcasting service." (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, April ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.75, Radio Cristal April 17 0954, Relaying Radio Pueblo AM 1510, anthem and sign-on ID for Radio Pueblo. 0957 announcer with program of "música típica de la República Dominicana". Very distorted audio but good signal strength (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. While I`ve been listening to Radio Prague, I've also rediscovered HCJB. I`ve liked this station ever since I started in the hobby. My first QSL was from HCJB dated August 2, 1978 for a broadcast on 11915 kHz at 0340 'GMT'. I distinctly remember that first ever contact by mail with an overseas radio station like it was yesterday. Very exciting indeed! Over the years I've been a regular listener, an occasional listener, and sometimes a long-time non-listener. There was no deep seated reason for this, it was just a force of circumstances. I had a period of poor health in the 1983-85 period, when I listened to shortwave almost, it seemed, around the clock. Other times between work, school and life in general, I had no time for HCJB or just about any other station for that matter...maybe a few minutes of BBC, DW or RN here and there. HCJB has always been more than just a Christian radio station. Unlike WWCR which just seems to act as a broker to ANY person or group, only a handful of programs on HCJB are paid programs from the US. HCJB has a certain credibility as it has maintained a consistent message and to my knowledge has never had any questions raised about fundraising/donations. It is a very transparent operation. And does a great deal more than just run a radio station. The last time I saw any statistics on this the Hospital and health care department had a larger budget than the radio station. Sure, they are a faith based broadcaster; if you don`t like or can`t tolerate that type of programming then it`s probably not for you. But there are many enjoyable music and travel programs, some delightful mailbag and listener contact programs, and I`m getting into a program called, I believe, Let My People Think, which discusses Christianity from a philosophical perspective. The speaker is Ravi Zacharias (sp?). Don`t forget programs like Ham Radio Today either. While most of the ham discussion is either over my head, or irrelevant to me as a non ham, I would be curious to hear from hams who have listened to this show. Is it very basic in its approach, or is it fairly technical. What do you think of it? (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, April ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Hi Glenn - Radio Verdad heard with a powerful signal here on Easter Sunday night (0131 UT Monday on 4052.5 kHz) with a live '..servicio extraordinario..' from the central church of Chiquimula. By coincidence there was a solo version of a hymn to the tune of 'Onward Christian Soldiers.' I had been thinking earlier in the day, at the Easter family service in our village, that this tub- thumping hymn appears have gone out of favour although it is in the new BBC hymnal, proudly displayed in the church. Maybe the '... marching as to war' theme is no longer politically correct. Later at 0245 there was a full identification giving frequency (4.05 megahertz) and address (Apartado 5, Chiquimula). Can this really be only a few hundred watts? It was loud enough to play back the recording to my 8 year old son who now believes he has heard Radio For Dad from Centro America. Regards (Graham Bell, Otford, Kent, UK, April 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4832.01, Radio Litoral 0143-0159 April 14, Religious talk over music with ID and address, local religious pop songs into English ID and religious ballads at 0158. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA: Freq change of All India Radio: 1745-1945 English and 1945- 2030 French on NF 13795 (not 13695! [as in DXLD 1-042]), ex 13750 (Observer, Bulgaria, April 17 via DXLD) Long overdue, to avoid Costa Rica and Cuba (gh) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA: New schedule of Voice of Iran in Persian via Grigoriopol` 500 kW/116 deg: 1530-1730 (ex 1630-1830 on 11635 in A-00) on the following freqs (all jammed): 11535 Wed and Sun 11540 Tue and Fri 11590 Mon Thu Sat MOLDOVA: New schedule of R. International in Persian via Grigoriopol` 500 kW/116 deg: 1630-1715 (ex 1730-1815 in A-00) on 11635 (45544) no jammers. (Observer, Bulgaria, April 17 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. It seems to be Galei Zahal what is now on 6970 or close to it, audible in the afternoon/evening as long as utility QRM isn't too strong. Only these few interesting logs... (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, April 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Wed night / Thurs is Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoa). Expect special programming. Reshet Bet (Hebrew - they sometimes have some Holocaust survivors who speak in English): Wed: 8 PM Israel Time/1 PM Eastern/1700 UTC: Live broadcast of memorial service from Yad Vashem I don`t have the complete Reshet Bet schedule to mention other programming (Daniel Rosenzweig, April 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Like, 17535? (gh) ** ITALY. Rai seems to continue with normal old schedule, despite threat of new one. April 18 at 0052 tune-in, English news as usual on 11800, a bit better than 9675 which had a het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. Voice of Kurdistan Toilers (Kurdish: aira dangi zahmatkeshan-e kurdistana; Arabic: huna idha'at sawt kadihi kurdistan) was first observed on 28th November 1999. It broadcasts in support of the Sulaymaniyah-based Kurdistan Toilers Party. Transmission times and frequencies may vary, 4250v, daily: 1500-1630 Arabic, 1630-1730 Kurdish, both repeated next day 0300-0430 and 0430- 0530 (© BBC Monitoring April 18, condensed for DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Greetings. What has happened to RNZI at 1106 UT? Until fairly recently, I was able to hear them when they switched from 11675 to 15175 at this time but lately, I haven't been able to pick up a trace of 15175. Just poor propagation? (Michael Kallstrom, Bowling Green, KY, April 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard them Wednesday morning making the switch at 1105-1106. 15175 was a bit weaker than 11675, but quite readable aside Spain/CR 15170 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** QATAR: Radio Qatar QRC in Arabic observed: 0707-1306 on NF 11820 (34453) from 1200 totally blocked by BBC also in Arabic 1307-1706 on NF 17795 (55555) <<<<<<<<<< unregistered freq for A-01 1707-2126 on NF 7110 (53433) strong co-ch RTTunis also in Arabic (Observer, Bulgaria, April 17 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I was listening to Moscow Mailbag tonight when I heard Joe Adamov say he was working on a book of his memoirs. This is the first I have heard of the project. Does anyone else have any details? Old Joe is getting kind of risqué in his old age (Joe Buch, April 17, swprograms via DXLD) He has been working on it (as his schedule permits) off and on for a couple of years. I would *love* to hear what he has to say about Vladimir Posner, as I have heard rumors those two did not get along at all! 73 (Maryanne Kehoe, ibid.) ** RWANDA. Sorry to read all this news about African radio stations, but some are audible: In Europe, after time shift Radio Rwanda is audible again quite regularly at 2000-2030 on 6055, then strong QRM from BBC on 6050. See also ZANZIBAR (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, April 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. DHAKA, Apr 13, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad Friday expressed satisfaction over the actions of BBC in removing its highly controversial Bangali Service Chief Syed Mahmud Ali. BBC removed Mahmud Ali on Thursday following the Bangladeshi government's demand in view of his confession in a press interview that he, as the former Pakistani army officer, had fought against Bangladesh in 1971 and arrested Tajuddin Ahmed, the first Bangladesh prime minister, siding with the coup plotters in 1975. In a statement today, the foreign minister said, "the government and the people of Bangladesh are gratified to see that the BBC authorities have taken expeditious action and removed Syed Mahmud Ali as head of Bengali Service in view of revelations contained in an interview given by him." "The unique and special relationship between BBC and the people of Bangladesh will be further strengthened in the days ahead and that BBC will continue its constructive role in the development process of Bangladesh," the statement said. Copyright 2001 (XINHUA NEWS AGENCY via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U K. Voice of Greece is still making listening to 12095/9410 in the evenings difficult. They splatter at least +-25 kHz at 12105 and 9430. The signal at 06 UT on 12095/9410 is decreased when you switch transmitters by some 20-30 dB ! Don't you want any listeners in the morning ?? Best regards, (Kjell-Ingvar Karlsson, Upplands-Väsby, SWEDEN, April 18 to BBC Audience Relations) BBC World Service no longer targets Scandinavia with any of its short-wave frequencies so there is little we can do about interference in the region. If we receive reports of interference 12095 or 9410 kHz from their target areas in west and south-west Europe or the Middle East, we will certainly investigate, but so far we have received no such reports. Again, 12095 kHz at 0600 GMT targets east and south-east Europe and we have had no reports of reception problems from that area when the switch from Cyprus to the UK occurs. 9410 kHz at that time is beamed to south-west Europe and North Africa, but there is no transmitter switch; the signal is beamed from the UK throughout. Regards (Audience Relations, BBC World Service, reply, both via Karlsson, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Tnx to a reminder from Wolfgang Büschel, on April 17 we find that George Jacobs & Associates have finally gotten around to posting their A-01 schedules, as anticipated at: http://www.gjainc.com/a01bystn.txt and http://www.gjainc.com/a01byfre.txt This info is dated April 11, but it certainly was not there when we last checked on April 13. The Merlin relay entries must be among the 10 items they admittedly have deleted, as annotated at the bottom: TOTALS: Printed 96 of the 106 records. So now it will be not quite so obvious this info is being suppressed. I also notice that there is no listing for KVOH via Nigeria, yet, nor is there for the never-existing KVOH Liberia as in previous schedule. Most clients are listed under transmitter site names, but WBCQ is given as Kennebunk, its office site. WRNO remains listed with its imaginary 50 kW transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. Glenn, I listened to R. Tashkent on April 15, 2001 from 1200 to 1228 UT on 17775 kHz. It`s been many years since I last heard them. Anyhow, at the end of the broadcast was an advertisement for using Radio Tashkent advertising with the address, phone and fax numbers given. SINPO 25422. //15295 kHz started out fair at 1200 UTC, but quickly faded. 73, (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. R. VATICANA: RIDOTTE TRASMISSIONI; Onde medie passano da 14 a 7 ore 16 Aprile 2001 - ore 21.02 CITTA' DEL VATICANO - Come annunciato lunedi' scorso, Radio Vaticana ha ridotto di sette ore le trasmissioni sulla rete 1530 delle onde medie, che passa cosi' da 14 a 7 ore quotidiane. Lo ha confermato il direttore dei programmi, padre Federico Lombardi. 'Ora - ha detto - si verificheranno i livelli in modo preciso e affidabile, ma riteniamo che questa riduzione sia un importante contributo al rispetto dei limiti di legge' (ANSA Aprile 16 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) So they have gone ahead and reduced the hours of transmission on 1530, but evidently not the power when it is still on (gh, DXLD) Power levels: Just out of curiosity, how far from the antenna are the Italian officials when they take the Vatican Radio signal readings? A normal 100 kW station, at VHF, located at 300 m HAAT, should produce 7.02 V/m on the ground 100 meters away from the tower, according to a calculation program on the FCC website - wouldn't this signal strength be normal and expected at an even greater distance once one gets down into MW frequencies? (Reilly Liebhard, April 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A very good question, since by the inverse-square law the field strength drops off rapidly with distance from the antenna. One would assume the measurements be made within the neighbourhoods whence leukaemia complaints originate (gh) ** ZANZIBAR. Radio Tanzania Zanzibar can be only heard until 1725 on 11734, then strong QRM from bc in Russian. However, very strong and very regular on this freq (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, April 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5522 USB LA station, April 18 1037-1110; Andean type popular mx from the time of tune in till 1045. Three minutes of dead air. Announcements in SS @ 1048-1100. I thought I heard the word "Quito", but not sure. Three more minutes of dead air with chirping sound. More announcements @ 1103, till fade out around 1110. Signal was weak, and exactly on 5522.00 USB. Direct gray line between The Andes and TN, USA during time of reception. Don`t know if this is a pirate operator, someone playing around with a transceiver, or a legitimate station. Interesting none the less (David Hodgson, Nashville, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###