DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-068, May 13, 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] DX PROGRAMS revised as of May 13: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxpgms.html OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS has been restructured; please change your bookmarks: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Oklamid.html The current 2001 OBN file, including some recent entries, is: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Oklahoma7.html ** ALBANIA. UT Tue May 8 at 0145, open carrier on 6115 and 7160. No audio from R. Tirana. This sometimes happens. Usually 40m hams 7155.5-7160.5 LSB duel. Open carrier at 0230 too on both. Back to normal, UT Wed at 0145 and 0245 (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Por su parte, la Radio de las Fuerzas de Defensa Australianas, emite en inglés via los transmisores de Radio Australia, de 1330 a 1430 UT por S9475 y S11660 kHz. QTH: Australian Defence Forces Radio, Department of Defence, EMU (Electronic Media Unit) ANZAK [sic] Park West, APW 1-B-07, Reid, Camberra, ACT 2601, Australia (Esquema de Radio Australia via Conexión Digital May 13 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Well, no usable reception here in New York of RA via Darwin. It`s 2340 UT and the Lowe HF-150 with the A/D Sloper is tuned square on 11880. I can get a carrier and what sounds like a voice very deep in the schmutz by using lower sideband to get away from Turkey on 11885. But that's all. No surprise. 17775 may offer a better prospect later. Listening to 17775 at 0105, now that KVOH has signed off. It is weak -- S2 -- but I can copy most of it and the signal appears to be strengthening with time. It has a flutter which would indicate that I`m getting it over the pole. It is //17580 which is also S2 at this time. If conditions remain the same, reception of 17580 here at all this early in the local evening indicates strong reception likely later on 15515 which signs on at 0200. RNZI should be very strong as well, as I already have it at S3 on 17675 with "Cadenza" (John A. Figliozzi, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 11518,9 Radio Bangladesh, Dacca. 1154 Mayo 05. Retransmisión del servicio local en idioma bangla. Varias identificaciones. Boletín de noticias e ID a las 12 TU. Luego, música local. 34433 (DX Camp in Argentina via DXLD; see PERU) new frequency, or typo for 15518.9 ? (gh, DXLD) ** BELGIUM. PIRATE EUROPE: 15794.89 LSB, Radio Borderhunter, Belgium, 2258-2304*, May 12, English, polka music and Mexican music, announcer e-mail address and will be back at 0600 UT, This is Radio BorderHunter, SIO 343 (Nicolás Éramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Amigos, verificando há poucos instantes a banda tropical, a Rádio Canção Nova está desativada na frequencia de 4825. Se permanecer assim, poderemos aqui no sul e sudeste do Brasil tentar ouvir alguma emissora que normalmente fica no fundo-do-poço. 73s, (Rudolf Grim, São Bernardo, SP, DX Clube do Brasil Member, May 12, radioescutas via DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Russian threat to Radio Liberty's Chechen service From The Sunday Times: Mark Franchetti, Moscow The Kremlin has threatened to shut the Moscow office of Radio Liberty, a station funded by America, if it starts broadcasting a Chechen language service. The Russian authorities, which have waged a brutal campaign against separatist guerrillas in Chechnya, are angry at what they see as politically inspired attempts by America to stir up dissent in the republic. The plans for a Chechen service are backed by senior figures in Congress such as Senator Jesse Helms, the powerful Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee. The dispute coincides with growing concern about media freedom in Russia after last month's hostile takeover of NTV, an independent television station critical of President Vladimir Putin, by a consortium linked to the Kremlin. A source close to Radio Liberty said the Kremlin warning was made to senior journalists at the station. "A Russian cabinet minister told me the Kremlin is furious and will take steps against the station," said the source. "It doesn't like much of the station's coverage and this would provide it with the perfect excuse to take action." The initiative appears to come from Mikhail Lesin, the press minister, who has publicly criticised Radio Liberty's plans. The Federal Security Service (FSB), the KGB's successor, is also pushing for action. "If Radio Liberty goes ahead with a Chechen service, we are not going to take it calmly," warned Alexander Zdanovich, an FSB spokesman. "The FSB will fight everything that threatens Russia's interests, including in the world of the media." Radio Liberty irritated the Kremlin during the cold war, broadcasting across the Soviet Union from transmitters on the other side of the iron curtain. The Russians repeatedly tried to jam them. After the Soviet Union`s collapse, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree as Russian president allowing the station to open in Moscow. This was regarded at the time as a symbol of post-communist Russia's commitment to freedom of speech. Putin would merely sign a presidential decree to shut the office. He could also cancel an arrangement under which its output is carried by Russian transmitters. This would force Radio Liberty to rely on the more expensive, lower quality short wave broadcasts that sustained it during the cold war. Neither move would prevent the station launching the service, which will almost certainly be broadcast from the Czech Republic or Turkey. Officials at Radio Liberty's Washington headquarters insisted they would not bow to Russian threats. They are already recruiting Chechen speaking staff for the service and expect to launch it in August. "We have been given instructions by Congress to start a Chechen service," said Paul Goble, head of communications. "It's one thing to make threats, another to carry them out. If the Kremlin took steps against the radio, the worsening of American-Russian relations would be serious. The Kremlin must be sensitive about that." Concern about press freedom in Russia intensified last month after the takeover of NTV. Sevodnya, an independent daily newspaper, and Itogi, a journal published in conjunction with Newsweek, the American magazine, were both closed. Tom Lantos, a Democrat congressman, tabled a resolution last week demanding Russia`s expulsion from the G8 group of leading industrialised nations in protest at the crackdown. Helms's spokesman said the Russians had long been trying to undermine Radio Liberty. "This is part of a larger pattern by which the Russian authorities have tried to divert an independent media," he said. "Their recent harassment of Radio Liberty provides an example of the intensity with which they are determined to do so. We hope they will be stopped." It is not the first time the station has clashed with Russian authorities over its handling of Chechnya. In January last year Andrei Babitsky, its star reporter whose coverage of the conflict had angered the Kremlin, disappeared while working in the region. He was feared dead, but was found to have been arrested and held in one of the infamous detention camps for suspected Chechen terrorists (via Mike Cooper, Roger Tidy, DXLD) Comment: Clearly the Russians and the Chechens have not yet received the news, axiomatic in some quarters that should know better, that shortwave international broadcasting is "obsolete"! (Roger Tidy, UK, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Weekly Program Update for the week of May 13-19 2001 ===================================================================== RFPI Frequency Schedule: BAND FREQUENCY/MODE UTC/GMT TIME (Hours subject to change) 40 meters: 7.445 MHz (AM): 0200-0800 (currently off the air for maintenance; 19 meters: 15.050 MHz (AM): 24 hours; 13 meters: 21.815 MHz (USB): 1200-0400. OUR PROGRAMMING BLOC IS SIX HOURS IN LENGTH. Programs repeat 6, 12 and 18 hours later after their original broadcast time listed [15049 was on at 1130 Sun May 13 for COM, but went off at 1202 just as WOR 1079 was starting] NOTES: RFPI is pleased to bring you "Earthspan," a new weekly news and commentary program from the War & Peace Foundation. For details, see the listing below or visit their website at http://www.warpeace.org EARTHSPAN (NEW) (30 minutes). This weekly program of news and commentary is drawn from articles in the War & Peace daily online. World Updates features and articles and reviews in the War & Peace Digest. Earthspan is presented by War & Peace Director of Special Projects Kevin Sanders, Fox news commentator and former CNN Science Editor and ABC TV critic. Mon: 1700: Topics- * Author Christopher Hitchens on the war crimes of Henry Kissinger * William Hartung of the World Policy Institute blasts Star Wars * Highlights from the Washington Press Club presentation on UFOs. Friday: 2100: Topics-TBA (RFPI Weekly Update via DXLD) By mistake this WU had WOR Extra 41 in it, but really running current 1079 (gh) ** EUROPE. Eurovision Song Contest: I skipped the first hour because I wanted to get BBC R 4 instead. Then, BBC R 2 was OK except one of the stereo channels was missing (as far as I could determine, their problem, not mine.) RTE audio was reached, but it was like 16 kbps. Went to one of the Denmark networks, and good audio, but they kept talking over the English/French commentary in Danish! The last half hour of awarding points was extremely tedious, so I bailed out. Did not really care who won. All the songs had a certain sameness (Glenn Hauser, swprograms via DXLD) The following note from the official site may be of interest: http://www.songcontest.com wishes Estonia and Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL congratulations with the victory. You can see the entire show here at the site from next week and all the way till June 12th (via Andy Sennitt, swprograms via DXLD) ** GERMANY. On May 9th, The Initiative Marketing Digital Radio (IMDR) presented an extensive marketing campaign to strengthen the introduction of digital radio in Germany. The initiative intends to inform the consumers immediately about the new radio standard and to make digital radio well-known in Germany. At present the IMDR consists of the prominent manufacturers Blaupunkt, Grundig, Kenwood and Pioneer as well as most of the German non-commercial broadcasters. For three years the now started campaign will be funded by a two- figure amount of millions DM. It will create a unique symbol, motives for display, retail business communication as well as further actions to gain attention. Central information platform of the campaign is http://www.digitalradio-info.de with an extensive service offer reaching from an outline of the dealer network to FAQs and information about current programming and receiver units. "Digital Radio is no longer future but reality" states Volker Stein, speaker of the IMDR. Politics is discussing the switch-off of "UKW" (FM) between 2010 and 2015 (André Schmidt, Lautert/Germany, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker`s Guide to the Galaxy, which appeared first as a radio drama for the BBC (I remember hearing it on the World Service in 1979) before going on to become a series of books, a television series, a pair of records, a computer game, a much-rewritten but not-yet-produced movie script, and probably a few things I've forgotten, died at the age of 49 on Friday in Santa Barbara, California, of a heart attack. My copies of all the books in the Hitchhiker`s trilogy are in terrible shape, having been read and re-read over and over. Adams had an amazing imagination, and while he hadn`t done much in radio in recent years, I`ll always remember the amazing series that got him started. I saw him speak at a web development conference through work about four years ago, and he was an incredible dynamic hilarious speaker. There`s an (Apple Macintosh-centric; Adams was insistently a Mac user) obituary at http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0105/12.adams.shtml The BBC article about Douglas Adams is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1326000/1326657.stm There's a nice bit about his books at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1326000/1326695.stm There wasn't anything on Adams' personal web site when I looked, but it`s at http://www.douglasadams.com/ And the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy site at http://www.h2g2.com/ leads to a page on the BBC site (Ralph Brandi, NJ, May 12, swprograms via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. New Iranian clandestine, Radio Payam-e Doost [Radio Message From a Friend], could be heard, but at 1800 with ID and a "real" programming in Farsi. The frequency was exactly 7480 kHz this time, which points to that it is maybe another transmitter than the earlier mentioned Radio Barabari, which was not on exactly on 7480 kHz. The strength and audibility was almost equal. Neither address nor website heard on this station. 73 from (Björn Fransson, Sweden, May 11, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Vilnius had 0030 English to NAm repeat on 11690 UT Tue May 8 with splash from 11680. Asked for reports ASAP. Was not on UT Wed. Even if it was, it`d have been heavily QRM`d by 11695 VOA English (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. The OK MOZART Festival of last June, 2000 in Bartlesville proves that OK is not entirely a cultural backwater, with world-class performances and artists. Eleven 2-hour concerts produced by KWGS Tulsa start airing May 14, M-F 1407-1600 UT through June 1 {? should run through May 28}, via http://www.kccu.org in Lawton. They are also airing on a weekly basis through June: Saturdays 1800-2000 UT on http://www.kosu.org and UT Mondays 0000-0200 on http://www.kcscfm.com -- all three stations webcast. The 2001 Festival runs June 8 to 16; info at http://www.okmozart.com (Glenn Hauser, Enid, WORLD OF RADIO, OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS and DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Don`t be put off by the opera, tho Oklahoma-themed, on program 1; OKM has lots of chamber and orchestral music, from many eras, even some jazz and standards. Unfortunately, I don`t know of any source for playlists, tho one might ask KWGS -gh} ** PERU. Subject: QSL RADIO CULTURAL AMAUTA, 4955. Apartado 24, Huanta. Confirmación de mi reporte de Junio de 1999 a través de una carta firmada por Demetria Montes Sinforoso, que tiene el cargo de Administadora; envió una foto de la casa donde funciona la emisora. Comenta que se está poniendo al día con la correspondencia del exterior. Se le puede escribir a: arca@terra.com.pe (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, May 10, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. On 6520,4 Radio Paucartambo, Paucartambo. 1026. Mayo 05. Varias identificaciones en medio de hermosos huaynos. "...Radio Paucartambo" 24432 On 6536,1 Radiodifusora Huancabamba, (Tentativa), Huancabamba, 2336. Mayo 05. Programa musical (huaynos), 24442 On 6673,4 Radio Andina, Huancabamba. 2348. Mayo 05. Música peruana folklórica. Comerciales locales: "...atención, atención...por esta emisora Radio Andina..." 24342 On 6782,7 Radio Ondas del Pacífico, Ayabaca. 2356. Mayo 05. Porgrama de música variada (folklore peruano, cumbia andina), 24422 On 6797,6 Radio Ondas del Rio Mayo. 2242. Mayo 05. Transmisión de un festival musical en vivo. Anuncio: "...recibimos con un fuerte aplauso...en este programa...saludo personal para todos los que nos están escuchando". Huaynos. 34443 On 6956,6 La Voz del Campesino, Huarmaca, 2346, Mayo 05. Programa con cumbias andinas. Anuncio e identificación. 24432 DX Camp-Chascomus. Los participantes del mismo fueron Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni y Arnaldo Slaen, empleando los receptores que más abajo se detallan. El lugar de escucha se encuentra a algunos kilómetros de la ciudad de Chascomus, a la vera de la laguna del mismo nombre. Este sitio ya fue probado en distintas oportunidades y siempre se consiguieron excelentes resultados, tanto en onda corta, como en onda media, realizándose aun muy buenas captaciones en FM, fuera de temporada (Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. 6956.65, 0252-0357 Nay 13, tent. La Voz de Campesino [sic], Huarmaca. Non-stop Andean music with drums, choruses. No ID heard. SINPO 35343 at best. WRTH lists as 2 kW, sounds about right (Bill Flynn, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6956, R La Voz de Campesinos [sic], May 13 on very late 0500 (midnight local) with very good signal. ID @ 0530 by announcer (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. I guess that was a test or an error of theirs when I heard R. Slovakia on 9485 instead of 9440 (heavily splashed by VOT 9445) for the NAm English service at 0100, only heard UT Sunday. Could not check UT Mon. UT Tue it was only on 9440, \\ 5930 (splash by 5935 Dr Scott) and 6190 (Bob Thomas, CT, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AMERICA. 11417.60, Radio Piraña International, 0056-0124, May 09, Spanish and English, International Musical, announce of e- mail address and postal address, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, Chile, SIO 343 (Nicolás Éramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. The Voice of Turkey has announced its 2001 essay competition. The six winners will be invited to Turkey for an all- expenses-paid visit lasting 12 days. This year`s question is: "If you had the chance to come to Turkey, which areas of historic and touristic attraction would you prefer to see and why?" The essays, which should not be more than three pages long, should be sent to: English Section, TRT, the Voice of Turkey, PO Box 333, Yenisehir, Ankara 06443, Turkey, Closing date: July 15 (Roger Tidy, UK, [a previous winner], May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {The s in Yenisehir has a cedilla, but haven`t found how to make it} ** U K. Just to tell you that the final test stream is up and running. Visit http://www.skywaves.co.uk for more info on how to log- on, etc. Programmes will begin on Tuesday May 15th at 1800 UT. Best wishes to all (John Faulkner, WTFDA via DXLD) : S K Y W A V E S R A D I O - W O R L D W I D E Skywaves Radio was an idea originally devised to promote the British FM & TV Circle and the DX hobby in general. But why stop at just FM and TV DX? It seemed like a better idea to ask other organizations if they would like to participate and promote all areas of DXing. A test stream has been on-line for the last few months and has been well received by several DXers. The stream is kept to a low sampling rate so as many people as possible can listen in. A hi-fi stream would take up too much bandwidth for the majority of listeners and lower connections would not be able to listen. Click on this icon to listen to the stream... The stream should play via your existing audio player, such as Winamp, Real Player, etc. If you are unable to hear this stream you may need to install or configure your audio player. But you can still hear this station via http://www.live365.com, search for "skywaves", then you can access the station via the "live365" audio player. You will need to undergo a quick audio configuration for first-time connections. Skywaves Radio will begin regular broadcasts at 1800 GMT/UT (7 pm UK time) but please note that you will need to click on the above button again when the current test message stops at this time. The stream will last no more than one hour, the idea being that you shouldn't have to wait too long to hear any particular programme. (There are no short-wave fade-outs either!!) Programmes will be updated on the 15th of each month. Skywaves Radio will be on-line 24 hours every day. The current playlist has not been finalised, but will include programmes by: World DX Club presented by Shaun Geraghty British DX Club presented by Shaun Geraghty Worldwide FM & TV DX Association [sic] presented by D Luke Steele British FM & TV Circle presented by John Faulkner Worldwide Harmonics Group presented by Tim Bucknall This is just the beginning. Other groups will be joining us shortly. If you would like to contribute, whether you are a DX club, radio society or an individual, please contact John Faulkner at skywaves@ntlworld.com ( http://www.skywaves.co.uk via DXLD) ** U K. BBC WS fax number: Just to give the full number in its corrected form, it is +44 (20) 7555 1258. Sorry for the inconvenience! (Marie Lamb, swprograms via DXLD) previous correxion had a 2 at the end (gh) Will the real BBC Fax number please stand up, please stand up: +44 20 7557 1258 (011 International dialing prefix is required from the US). I was able to connect via faxmodem at 14400, even with the terrible phone lines here in Remington. Total time for a simple cover page and letterhead-based letter at 300dpi was about a minute. 73, (Mark J. Fine, VA, swprograms via DXLD) The gentleman from BBC (Jerry Timmins) on the Voice of America`s Communications World program this weekend mentioned that in lieu of shortwave, you can listen to the BBC World Service's programs using a web site at http://www.audiobasket.com So I figured I would give it a try and see what the Brave New World looks like. Come join me on my odyssey. I first visited the site in the browser I was using at that moment, a fairly obscure but exceptionally standards-compliant browser called iCab. The basic site loaded fine. However, when I tried to click on one of the "baskets" to edit it, I was greeted by the message "Sorry! We don't support your Platform or Browser Version yet, but we're working on it." Okay, so I switched to Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Macintosh, universally regarded as the most standards-compliant browser available on any platform. I went to the site and clicked on one of the baskets and was presented with a small window listing their prepopulated selections. When I clicked on the "Customize my basket" link in that small window, I was rewarded with a dialog box saying "Sorry! We do not our customization features on Mac/IE." (sic) Bleah. So then I clicked on the "Your Audio Basket" link, and a large window opened up to allow me to configure my own audio basket. It appears that the initial audio basket is prepopulated. Unfortunately, I couldn't really tell, because the frame that's supposed to display which programs are in my basket was empty. There was an indication of the time at the top, plus buttons to move the selected programs up and down within the list or delete them, but the area that was supposed to list the programs in my basket was empty. I selected the "Providers" link because all I wanted to hear here is BBC World Service programs. A list of the programs available appeared in one of the lower frames, and I was able to add them to the basket. Unfortunately, while each addition incremented the time counter, the programs were still not being displayed. So I tried to delete the basket, but the site told me that I could not delete my only basket. Bleah. So I selected one of the programs listed and clicked on the link to listen to the program. Windows Media Player 7 for the Macintosh opened up. At last, I would be able to listen to the BBC in the only way possible after July. Er, no. Windows Media Player gives me an error message about not supporting this particular playlist format. Fine. I created a new, empty basket and called it "BBC". I went back to the site and got the list of programs from the BBC. I added "Newshour" to my empty basket. Voilà! It appeared! So I added "From Our Own Correspondent". It too was now reflected in the listing. Then I added "Analysis". Uh-oh. The list disappeared. I could not get it to reappear, and as a result, I could not rearrange the programs to the order I wanted. No matter, I'll just listen to them in whatever order AudioBasket decrees. I've got 112.4 minutes worth of audio, just waiting to be consumed. Before continuing, the site forces me to register. I give a minimum of information, including my special spam-tracking e-mail address. I have to agree to the usual onerous terms of obeisance, promising to give up my first-born child should I use the audio in any way not specifically enumerated by the site. Ha! I don't have children! I'll show them! Somewhere in here, the site decides to close the huge window I've been using to configure the basket and send me back to the little window. At least this window lists the programs, even if I can't rearrange them. But now I can't even get back to that big window; when I select "customize my basket", I get that message about not offering customization on Mac/IE. But I was just able to create the basket! Grrrrr..... Moment of truth; I've got the window open, listing all the BBC World Service programs I want to listen to. The player is set to RealAudio G2, which is apparently the only supported player on the Mac. The button is there, looking so inviting. I click it. "HTTP Error 404 404 Not Found The Web server cannot find the file or script you asked for. Please check the URL to ensure that the path is correct. Please contact the server's administrator if this problem persists." Fuck it. I give up. It took me over a half hour to get to a 404 message. Congratulations, BBC Half-a-World Service. You've taken a motivated listener who just happens to be a professional webmaster who has been building web sites since 1993 and on the net since 1987, and who has a broadband Internet connection and fast computer at home (this is presumably the profile of your ideal Internet listener) and turned him into a raging lunatic. Oh, and by the way, all of the programs available through Audiobasket are news programs, so it's not like you'll get the full flavor of the World Service feature programs anyway. Bah! (Ralph Brandi, Lincroft, NJ, swprograms via DXLD) Ralph's experiences with AudioBasket http://www.audiobasket.com prompted me to take a look with our Windows 98SE system. I agree with Ralph's comments on the site's design... and I'm not sure that we'll bother returning -- but we did get the audio system to work. The audio quality was fine. What disturbed me was the age of the BBC news stories. On UT 13 May at 01, stories from Africa/ME and Asia were dated early on the 10th and the 11th. At 0110 I listened to the 5 minute World News Bulletin headlines entered on May 12 at 3:40pm (1940 UT). I thought the WNB headlines were updated hourly? So this delivery system is useless for timely news... :-( (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, swprograms via DXLD) One can note anomalies (literally dozens of them) in BBC On Air, whether it`s program times or frequencies. The current split stream "system" (if one can call it that) is just so complex that it guarantees that errors will be made, both in the magazine and on the air. Layer on top of that several rounds of reorganization efforts that eviscerated all the existing paths of communications within the BBC and brought in several "privatization" efforts which farmed out tasks done in-house for years to outside sources unfamiliar with BBC methods and objectives. That means, for example, that transmission, publications, traffic and production personnel no longer know who is doing what, don't know who to contact for information and do not have any established relationships where they would feel compelled to clear things up. There was a time when the BBC made a mistake, it was so unusual that the corporation felt compelled to publicly apologize for the error. Today, that practice would be ludicrous -- it would take up entire program slots. So they just hope you won't notice or behave like you're a fussbucket for pointing them out. They have audience research that gives them the right answers to the wrong questions and the wrong answers to the right questions. They use criteria developed in the private sector to assess commercial activity, to judge the public sector performing public service tasks. Is it any wonder that we are where we are now? My public radio station now has job openings on its web site for "program underwriting account representatives". How much different is this than an "advertising account executive" at K-ROCK? There are essential differences between broadcasting that wants to *sell* you something and broadcasting that wants to *tell* you something. But few of us appear to care about that anymore. PS: If the BBC continues on its present course, you probably won't much care a few years from now whether you can hear them or not. They'll sound just like everyone else (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) It is quite annoying that something as reasonably simple (yes, simple) as a flat file database of transmitters, bearings, powers, services, and times is so hard to manage, in these days of ubiquitous spreadsheets, digital layouts, and direct-to-webpage publishing. If anything, the errors should be decreasing, not increasing: you make a change once and you can update your entire world. I wonder if the problems with schedules and transmissions are more the fault of the spinoff of Merlin as a separate entity? Any ideas as to how many of the problems are Merlin's, versus the BBC's? I suppose it all depends on how dynamically the broadcaster treats their web-provided schedules, and what one's expectations are regarding those schedules. Being a trusting sort, I treat what's on the printed / web page as gospel, and then rely on Glenn to set me straight with his errata listings! Still smarting from my 24/7/365 calculator gaffe... (Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) Subject: BBC VIA WWFV From: "Roadranger" wwfv@ellijay.com Date: 5/12/01 7:41 PM Central Daylight Time Forum: rec.radio.shortwave Many have asked us the cost per hour to carry the BBC via our facilities the answer : $ 25.00 per hour for full AM The cost for BBC 24 hrs a day 7 days a week on our shortwave transmitters would be about $ 219,000 Per year ($600.00 per day) This would be on differing freqs through out the day on a dedicated transmitter various antenna patterns via our new transmitter facility. Remember this is for 24 hrs a day 7 days a week DAY : 15.xxx mhz (or the best freqs to use). Night : 5.975 mhz If we could work this out we would operate this transmitter under it's own call letters?? such as "WBBC" or what ever. we understand the BBC spends $720,000 for a few hours a night using there own facilities we offer 24 hrs a day non stop (excepting freq changes) for $ 219,000 a year!!! [sic] (WWFV via John Norfolk) The shortwave listening community in North America was rocked by the news on Tuesday that BBC World Service will stop transmitting on shortwave to the United States and Canada as of July first. World Service shortwave to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific will also end. A statement from the BBC said emphasis will shift to delivery to these regions through FM rebroadcasting outlets and via the Internet. Dropping shortwave to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will save BBC 700,000 dollars per year, money which will be used to increase the FM and Internet of World Service. BBC said it will also drop shortwave broadcasts in Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Slovak, in favor of FM and medium wave delivery. BBC World Service would not reveal how many listeners it has in the United States, but it did say that 88 percent of their audience in North America listens on FM, and only 12 percent listens exclusively via shortwave (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World, May 12, excerpted, via DXLD) These You Have Loathed, still showing on the BBC Radio 4 schedule, and as ``ON NOW`` is anything but. Also on Sundays the 1200 UT news programme (in this case The World This Weekend) has been expanded for political campaign jabber -- just kept going at 1230 UT, evidently until 1300, not just 1245. So the messups of World Service scheduling also extend to the domestic networks. At least they don`t have 8 streams each, tho R4 has two, with LW and VHF not always parallel. LW, BTW is going along with webcast even if Droitwich be off for greasing the guys (Glenn Hauser, May 13, swprograms via DXLD) The correct programming is shown in the Daily Listings section at http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/services.shtml Just click on the network you want. They even have separate pages for BBC Radio 4 Longwave and FM. There you will see that The World This Weekend is expanded to one hour. An alternative site for radio schedules is http://www.radiotimes.co.uk/ BTW, there may be a lot of "political campaign jabber", but at least it will be over soon after the polls close, and is unlikely to drag on for many weeks as it does in some countries :-) (Andy Sennitt, swprograms via DXLD) There must be 3 or 4 different versions of BBC R schedules on the web. I had been going to the ones reached from R4 homepage, then clicking on schedules, and then navigating from it to other days of the week and other networks; evidently the least reliable (gh, DXLD) Try listening to the 'on demand' Write-on. After several letters to Philippa Joy, they still have an edition that`s ten weeks old! What`s even worse, Write-on doesn`t even care: a letter to NB, owner of Test Bed Productions went not only unanswered, but he did not do anything about it! Try listening to Just a Taste and you get Everywoman, going on for four weeks that I know of. And it`s not my computer.... This IS a valuable service, I love it, BUT: This is not first week or first month World Service has had on demand audio, IT`S NOT THAT HARD!! (Larry Nebron, CA, swprograms via DXLD) I just heard on BBC WS that the people at "Write On" will try to get a BBC manager in studio next week to explain why they`ve decided to pull out of SW in North America. They`re encouraging listeners to write in with their questions. e-mail: writeon@bbc.co.uk p-mail: BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand, London, WC2B 4PH. On this week`s program, they read one letter -- the one William Martin wrote, reproduced in DXLD, where he basically called BBC managers idiots. The hosts provided the BBC`s response by reading from the official statement that we all seem to know by heart right now. P.S. Incidentally, I hear this on a frequency that was not directed at North America -- perhaps something I should get used to. (Ricky Leong, QE, swprograms via DXLD) I ought to remind you that the next edition of Write On is in 2 weeks` time. If you listened to the end of the programme, Penny Vine reminded us that there would be no edition next week, and I am sure your copies of On Air all show next week as having the alternative programme to Write On (Paul David, UK, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news010511.htm#GoonsNight Radio 2 is devoting an entire evening of programming on Tuesday, May 29 to the 50th anniversary of The Goons, said to be the most celebrated and influential clowns in the history of radio. Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine - The Goons - joined forces in 1949 at a Westminster pub, Graftons, run by scriptwriter Jimmy Grafton. The first Goon Show aired on May 28, 1951 under the title Crazy People. Radio 2's evening begins with an introduction and tribute to Sir Harry Secombe, this is followed by Spike's Pick Of The Goons - in which Spike Milligan is let loose on the archives to choose his all- time favourite edition - The Fear Of Wages. Later in the evening Denis Norden explores how The Goon Show came into existence in Just Before Goonrise, followed by Goon Again, a new, one-off recording of a Goon's script based on original scripts from the early fifties. Harry Secombe`s son, Andrew, takes on his father's role for the performance, with Julian Glover taking on Spike Milligan`s characters and Jeffrey Holland performing those of the late Peter Sellers. Christopher Timothy also follows in his father, Andrew`s, footsteps as the show`s announcer (via Mike Terry, May 12, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A. The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors has decided to keep the VOA Thai Service on the air for 30 minutes a day. Officials of the Thai government and even Secretary of State Colin Powell urged that the Board reverse an earlier decision, announced in January, to close VOA Thai. The VOA Thai Service will keep all of its four employees. The Board also had planned to close the VOA Uzbek and Portuguese-to-Brazil service and reduce VOA Turkish. VOA Uzbek has been retained for fifteen minutes a day, with a reduction in its staff. VOA Turkish will have thirty minutes per day rather than the originally planned fifteen. There was no reprieve for the Brazilian Service (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World May 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. WHRA has not been propagating (or off?) when checked for the first airing of DXing with Cumbre at its new time of 2100 UT Friday on 17650, which was confirmed the week before. I didn`t get around to checking for repeats until the penultimate and the ultimate per the latest schedule Marie has circulated: Sunday 2230 on 17510, maybe on, but KWHR too weak; Sunday 2330 on WHRI 5745, NOT on, but some preacher. Bygones (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn: This is the first time I`ve heard this one. 9860 UNID 1107 May 12, Spy Numbers station in the 31 meter BC band, with very strong 15-20db over S9 signal. SS female voice. Cuba? (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###