DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-085, June 21, 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] WORLD OF RADIO 1084: (stream) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1084.ram (download) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1084.rm (summary) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1084.html CONTINENT OF MEDIA 01-06 starts June 22 on RFPI; soon via DXing.com and already now availablized at: (stream) http://www.freespeech.org/hauser/sounds/com0106.ram (summary) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/com0106.html ** ALASKA. KNOM TO TEST 25,000 WATTS AT NIGHT IF FCC SAYS OK KNOM 780 AM, the Diocese of Fairbanks station for the Eskimo and Athapascan Indian peoples of western Alaska, is set to test its daytime power of 25,000 watts for nighttime operation this summer, if the FCC approves. According to the station's May newsletter, Nome Static, "The station in Valdez, Alaska, that's next to us on the radio dial has agreed to a test of higher night-time power for KNOM. They are 645 miles away, which is about the distance between Philadelphia and Chicago [sic], and we are confident that we will not cause them any additional interference. We hope to submit an application in June or July. Consulting engineer Jack Mullaney, who met with KNOM's Tom Busch and Ric Schmidt in late April, thinks that the FCC might grant permission for this experiment within a few months. Please join us in a hearty thank you to Jack, and to attorney Chris Omelas of the international law firm Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer LLP, who are donating all of their time and services." The project had been the special interest of station manager Tom Busch and an old friend and Alaska broadcast pioneer Augie Hiebert, whose work on the project came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a stroke. Hiebert has recovered very nicely, and is undergoing successful physical therapy. In the April issue, Busch asked that we keep Hiebert in our prayers (Catholic Radio Update # 127 via Conexión Digital June 17 via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Tirana English to NAm at 0145 is late or no-show sometimes on 6115 (Bob Thomas, CT, June 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 11424-LSB, R. Bosques, 0050 June 11. Pirate station from Argentina audible the last three evenings here in TN. Fairly good signal strength, and very nice audio for single sideband. Station IDs on UT June 11th @ 0100 and 0110. Nice popular mx from Argentina and Beethoven`s "Fuer Elise" (sorry no umlaut) played at the end of the px around 0115-0120. Thanks to the folks at the SW pirates group for helping me identify this one (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Nicolás y amigos: En la semana que pasó, nada se habló acerca del cambio de horario. En principio se concretaría a partir del próximo fin de semana, pero realmente, con suerte nos enteraremos el viernes próximo. Realmente, es vergonzoso que nada se diga sobre el tema. Ni siquiera las empresas de energía, que usufructuarán aun más con el cambio, nada informan al respecto (Arnaldo Slaen, Argeninta, June 18, conexión digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Government to fund Asia-Pacific TV service for five years | Excerpt from report by Radio Australia on 20 June Radio Australia's parent organization, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is to get 75m dollars to run a new TV service to Asia and the Pacific. Graeme Dobell reports that the federal government will fund the international TV service for five years. [Dobell] The prime minister, John Howard, told parliament the government has chosen the ABC to relaunch the Asia-Pacific service, which was closed down by Channel Seven in March as unprofitable. [Howard] After a proper process to select the most appropriate [provider], Mr Speaker, the government will provide 15m dollars a year over five years. [Dobell] The foreign minister, Alexander Downer, says as well as government funding the ABC international service will seek commercial support... Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 0800 gmt 20 Jun 01 (via BBCM, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ABC awarded new Asia-Pacific TV service | Text of report by press release by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on 20 June 20 June: ABC is delighted to have been selected by the federal government to provide an Australian television service to the Asia Pacific region. "There is no other media organization in Australia capable of providing the level of quality programming, particularly in news and current affairs, necessary to make this service viable and successful," ABC Managing Director, Jonathan Shier said. "The ABC is perfectly placed to provide an Australian voice in our region through an integrated radio, online and television service. It will complement the ABC's already extensive and trusted service into Asia through Radio Australia. "Crucially, the government has acknowledged the need for such a service to be adequately funded and the ABC will finalize these arrangements soon. Additional resources from sponsorship will generate only supplemental income, within a five year establishment phase. "This is a significant win for the ABC and we are excited about the prospect of greatly expanding our international broadcasting services," Mr Shier said. For further information: Shane Wells, Corporate Media Adviser Australian Broadcasting Corporation (02) 9333 5306 or 0408 445 098 Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation press release, Sydney, in English 20 Jun 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Hill sues over awarding of Asia contract to ABC Sydney Morning Herald Date: 21/06/2001 By Cynthia Banham The father of Australia's Asian television service, former ABC managing director Mr David Hill, is suing the Federal Government over its awarding of the contract to operate the service to the ABC instead of his consortium, Australian Vision International (AVI). Full story at: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/21/text/pageone5.html (Sydney Morning Herald, June 21, via Daniel Say, BC, swprograms via DXLD) Minister shrugs off legal action threat | Excerpt from report by Radio Australia on 20 June ..The face of Australia is to be beamed back into the region with the news that there will once more be an Australian television service transmitted to the hotels and homes of the Asia-Pacific. . [Foreign Minister Alexander Downer] I think that Australia's national interests will be well served by having a high quality international television station beaming into the Asia- Pacific region and indeed beyond. [End of recording] The foreign minister announcing that the federal government had awarded the service to the ABC, three months after operators Channel 7 axed Australia TV, citing commercial lack of viability. But former ABC managing director David Hill is outraged at the ABC winning the contract. Mr Hill is now a director of Australia Vision International which also bid for the new service. He says it will be taking legal action against the government over its decision because the ABC was not originally a bidder and its final proposal was more expensive... [Presenter Mark Colvin] Mr Downer, let us begin where we have just been with David Hill who is trying to put a spoke in your wheel, I suppose, saying that this whole thing is grossly unfair. [Downer] Well, not everyone could win the bid, of course, there was always going to be a loser and so we understandably have to accept that and if the people who don't win choose to go public and make a great noise about it, that's just part of the static of the issue... [Colvin interrupts] But what about what he says, though, specifically about the tendering process, that the ABC was invited late on to apply and also that the ABC's bid was higher? [Downer] What happened was we originally sought bids and the ABC didn't put in a bid but there were a number of other organizations that put in bids. David Hill's consortium didn't win that bid. Channel Seven was the preferred bidder but I have to say to you, in that round of bidding, the inter-departmental committee that looked at the bids was really not satisfied that any of them met the government's criteria and so the decision was made that on the basis of the bids, Channel Seven's, not Mr Hill's was the best, and as a consequence, the department would sit down and start negotiating with Channel Seven which had an alliance with SBS [TV service for minority communities]. That negotiation fell through for one reason or another so then we went back to ATV and we also had representations made to us from both SBS and the ABC and we said that we'd consider them as well - I think it's entirely appropriate that they should be considered, there's nothing wrong with that... [Colvin] So if he does launch, he's threatening legal action as you heard, your legal advice would be that he has no chance? [Downer] Yes. He's threatened legal action before, I understand, so [laughs] I mean, this is a competitive bidding process and the department tells me that they're satisfied that due process has been followed here and well, of course, people are entitled in a liberal, democratic society to threaten legal action and to take legal action and if he does that, no doubt that would be resolved in the appropriate way. But our point is is that we're confident we followed due process here ... Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 0810 gmt 20 Jun 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. I am hearing Christian Voice regularly in English on 21680 from around 0030 to 0800 UT. Sign off timings are noted varying. In between there are segments in Indonesian of Radio Australia for half an hour each. They are saying it is International Service for Africa (unedited tapes of their Zambia station?). They give an address in UK also. I will monitor it properly tomorrow and send you the latest monitored sked (Jose Jacob, Hyderabad, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is latest announced schedule of Christian Voice, Australia. 9725 2130-2200 9865 2030-2130, 2330-0000 11840 2030-2200 17820 0700-0800 17850 2200-0100 21550 0100-0700 21680 0030-0400, 0430-0500, 0530-0800 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jose`s bcdxnet: Sundays 0300 UT 7085 kHz ** BOLIVIA. Radio Pio Doce, Siglo Veinte, 5952.4 kHz with potent signal, interviews, discussions, announcements moving seamlessly between Spanish and Quechua? One ID heard (Graham Bell, Otford, Kent, England, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9725 kHz. Radio Clube Paranaense, Rua Rockefeller 1311, Prado Velho 0230-130, Curitiba, Paraná. Carta QSL (verificador: Sr. Vicente Mickosz, Superintendente). Carta personal en la que se informa que Radio Clube Paranaense opera en onda media con un transmisor Harris de 50 kW y en tres bandas de la onda corta, por las bandas de 25, 31 y 49 mts. con 7,5 kW de potencia. También, posee una emisora de FM con 180 kW; todas integran el Sistema Clube de Radio. La misiva agrega que la emisora se ubica en la ciudad de Curitiba, en la que habitan dos millones de habitantes. Se trata de la capital del Estado de Paraná do Sul. Es la más antigua del Estado y la tercera en ese aspecto en el Brasil. El próximo 27 de junio, la emisora cumplirá 77 años de vida. Cuenta con aproximadamente 60 funcionarios (operadores, locutores, narradores deportivos, etc.) y afirma transmitir de manera clara y objetiva informaciones diversas, músicas y entretenimientos, siempre en el marco de la filosofía católica, pues se trata de una emisora católica (Juan Carlos Buscaglia, Argentina, Conexión Digital June 10 via WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Eurosonor R., 9980, only on Sundays, heard at 1600-1700 Jun 3, mx and anmts in GM. Reports highly welcomed at radio@eurosonor.de and will be verified by a new QSL card. In a few weeks they will also start a new service to the Americas in EG, SP, GM (Harald Kuhl, Germany, NU via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. Back on 7230, 4815. Thanks Graham for the tip. This had been off shortwave since last year. My contacts in the region confirm that the daytime frequency of 7230 kHz is also active again, switching to 4815 in the evening (Chris Greenway, UK, June 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1083, DXLD) ** CAMBODIA [non]. 15455: According to the reply from Voice of Justice (clandestine), Ms. Tioulong Saumura gave me this background of the V of Justice: We are a political party fighting for democracy, human rights and justice in Cambodia. Our present leaders are former Khmer Rouge who rule the country in a dictatorial way. We do not have access to radio or TV; that is why we have to broadcast our party's political programme from abroad on SW. v/s: Tioulong Saumura, Member of Parliament of the Kingdom of Cambodia. E-mail: samrainsy@bigpond.com.kh (SRP Cabinet) (Masato Ishii, Japan, DX- Window Jun 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) Has anyone heard this lately??? (gh) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, RCI employees have signed a petition and presented it to RCI management. You can read it here: http://www.geocities.com/rciaction/Petition.html Regards, (Ricky Leong, QB, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Good Morning All. This just in (Jon Standingbear, CA) Dear Listener, Please find below a list of frequency changes starting June 11th. Best Regards, RCI Internet Team ********************************************************************* Starting June 11th, 2001 2230-2259 UTC: Spanish to Americas kHz Xmitter Power Azimuth Action --- ------- ----- ------- ------ 11920 kHz Sackville 100 kW 240' 7 days a week 15305 kHz Sackville 250 kW 176' instead of 5 17880 kHz Sackville 250 kW 176' +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 0030-0059 UTC: Spanish to Americas 9755 kHz Sackville 250 kW 240' 7 days a week 11895 kHz Sackville 250 kW 176' instead of 5. 13670 kHz Sackville 100 kW 176' 0000-0030 UTC 15170 kHz Sackville 250 kW 240' on week-ends 15305 kHz Sackville 250 kW 189' is deleted +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 0500-0559 UTC: English or French to Europe and Africa 6145 kHz Skelton 300 kW 150' deleted 7290 kHz Skelton 300 kW 150' deleted 9595 kHz Skelton 300 kW 110' deleted 11710 kHz Sackville 250 kW 73' deleted 13755 kHz Sackville 250 kW 105' deleted 15330 kHz Wertachtal 500 kW 150' deleted 17740 kHz Madagascar 50 kW 330' deleted +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 0600-0659 UTC: French to Africa 15260 kHz Skelton 300 kW 150' deleted 13755 kHz Sackville 250 kW 105' deleted 15460 kHz Wertachtal 500 kW 180' deleted +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1500-1559 UTC: Russian / Ukrainian 11935 kHz Wertachtal 500 kW 75' moved from Skelton to Wertachtal +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1500-1529 UTC: Russian 9920 kHz Moscow 250 kW 84 29 minutes instead of 59 minutes +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1600-1659 UTC: Russian / Ukrainian 11935 kHz Wertachtal 500 kW 75' moved from Skelton to Wertachtal +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Note: Starting June 11th, RCI will have a 29 minute transmission in Russian at 1500 and 1600 UTC and a Ukrainian transmission of 29 minutes at 1530 and 1630. http://www.rcinet.ca/horaires/tech_a01.htm (RCI June 11 via Col. John Standingbear, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. C'EST LA VIE: For C'est La Vie's season finale, the focus will be on language. The Word Lady, lexicographer Johanne Blais, will join host Bernard St-Laurent for the full program. They'll talk about some embarrassing linguistic traps, and choose a Word of the Week from among listeners' suggestions. That's C'est la Vie, this morning at 11:30 (noon NT) on CBC Radio One. (CBC Hotsheet Friday June 22 previews via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6030 - Yes, Sudwestrundfunk Mühlacker is off from 2205 till 0400 UT during our Summer (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Jun 13, BC- DX via DXLD) So with Martí also off from 0300, an European window for CFVP exists UT Mondays 0300-0400, laggard Cuban jamming permitting (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** CHECHNYA. Re DXLD 1-079: R. Kavkaz ("R. Caucasus"), I checked carefully at least at 1300-1600 Jun 2 and hrd nothing -- no trace of any signal on 7350. URL is http://www.nohchy.org.ge Address for requests of Nohchy info bulletins is nohchy@wanex.net (Vladimir Titarev, Ukraine, NU via DXLD) ** CHILE. 11690.00, Radio Voz Cristiana, Santiago; 1100 fairly good signal on 16/JUN/2001. At 1100 full canned ID was announced. Then a greeting to Radio La Luz, which broadcasts on 1080 kHz medium wave from Lima, Peru, was announced as follows: "Ésta es Radio La Luz 1080 AM. El servicio satelital de Voz Cristiana envia un saludo fraternal a los amigos oyentes de Radio La Luz en Lima, Perú. Nos complace profundamente unir esfuerzos con usted. Dios está desarrollando su plan de Dios con Radio La Luz 1080 AM y Voz Cristiana. Cumpliendo la gran comisión, estamos llevando via satélite buenas noticias a las naciones: Perú y el resto de Iberoamérica. Escuchan Radio La Luz 1080 AM y Voz Cristiana, sembrando via satélite para la cosecha mundial." (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, Relámpago DX Logging via DXLD) [On WOR 1084, having skimmed rather than absorbed this report, I said that Voz Cristiana was relaying Radio La Luz, while VC was actually just sending a greeting *to* that station -gh] ** CHILE [non]. 6295, June 3 0530, Radio Marabunta from somewhere in Chile but via some European DRS-relay, sounded exactly like any South American station. Great rhythms and lots of IDs. S 3 at best (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CRI via Cuba relay sometimes late or no show at 0100 on 9570 (Bob Thomas, CT, June 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 2579.96 harmonic, Radio Viva 12-90, Cali. June 2001 - 0115 UT. Sometimes also heard on its fundamental frequency 1289.98 kHz (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** CONGO. R. Congo, 4765: According to an on-air announcement, they have a daily 15 min. EG news program, Mon-Thu at 1900, Fri at 1930 UT, Sat & Sun at 1835. Their announced address remains P. O. Box 2241, Brazzaville, and they want letters from listeners. Besides national news, they obviously also use items coming from UN Radio, which are then read in the studios of R. Congo (Harald Kuhl, Germany, NU via DXLD) Captada R. Congo *en español* el 19 de junio de 2111 a 2115 TU por 4765 con señal aceptable. Identificación completa a las 2113 (...Congo...programa para el mundo hispánico... saludos a quienes trabajan en Cuba). A las 2116, ID en francés y pasó a lengua vernácula. Debe de tratarse de la programación que figura en listas (con otra frecuencia) de 2100 a 2115 (Enrique Fernández, Ginebra, Suiza, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI welcomes "Like It Is," a weekly half-hour public affairs program that takes an in-depth look at issues confronting African-Americans and contemporary American society. The program covers a broad array to topics ranging from politics, education, crime, healthcare, entertainment and many others. Join your host and Executive Director, Bob Franklin each week on Thursday at 1630 UT for "Like It Is." Thanks to popular support, Freespeech Radio News daily newscast has been extended another month. [M-F 1730 UT + 6/12/18h] (RFPI Weekly Update via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Re: 11870 Gene Scott report: That could be TIDGS, or 2 x 5935 WWCR, but harmonic may be produced by internal receiver overload (as on some of mine) rather than transmitted (gh) Glen[n], I don't think so. I've heard them as well and reported to NU. Here is my comment: 11870.17, Presumed ex AWR Costa Rica with Dr Gene Scott programming. While searching for Radio Yugoslavia at 0413 on 6 June, heard a het which turns out to be this fellow, at fair level, // to much stronger 6090. Must have prostate cancer, as he's talking about his PSA level being pretty low (accompanied by wild cheering in the background). Don't recall this frequency in use for some time. (Salmaniw, 6 June). I recalled AWR Costa Rica being here in the past, and sure enough I found reference to this frequency in an old WRTH (Walt Salmaniw, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So if it is on .00 it`s 2 x WWCR; on .17 TIDGS (gh) ** CUBA. BBC set to help Cuba digitalise How the world is changing! From: http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/business.cfm?id=82520 Andrew Murray-Watson In Havana BBC Technology, one of the corporation's three commercial divisions, is close to signing a groundbreaking deal to digitalise Cuba's ageing broadcast infrastructure. The deal will see BBC technicians and engineers working in Cuba to help the country's broadcasters face up to the challenges of rapidly evolving technology. Representatives from BBC Technology, which is run on a profit-making basis and not with licence payers' money, are in Havana to meet with Cuban officials as part of a UK trade mission. The company has been in talks with Cuban authorities since the middle of last year, and it is understood that a deal will be concluded shortly. Cuba, like other countries, is preparing for the widespread switch- off of analogue signals. In the UK, the government is aiming to make the transition to digital in 2006. Edward Zawisza, regional sales manager for BBC Technology, said: "We have the knowledge of implementing digital technology. The Cubans have a shopping list of what we can offer, and we hope that we can assist them in developing digital programming." Initially, BBC Technology is aiming to sign a deal to upgrade the archives of the Cuban state broadcaster, ICRT. But, Zawisza added that BBC Technology was meeting with the Cuban minister for information and technology, with a view to building a digital network linking the country's post offices. It is understood the deal could have a combined value of several million dollars. BBC Technology, alongside BBC Worldwide and BBC Resources, represents a concerted attempt by director general Greg Dyke to further exploit the corporation's wealth of expertise. BBC Technology's turnover this year is expected to be £185 million. All profits will be ploughed back into programming. Some of the company's other customers include BSkyB and Telewest (via Mike Terry, June 20, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. 12 June 2001: Herminio San Román, Director of Radio and Television Martí, has announced that he will step down on 27 July. San Román, a 43-year-old Cuban-American lawyer, was appointed to the post four years ago by President Clinton. "President Bush must have the opportunity to appoint somebody from his own party. I am a political appointment, and believe that it is time for someone else with new ideas", he said. Radio and Television Martí currently employs around 160 people, and has a budget of $22m. The resignation of San Román takes place at a time when several Democratic congressmen are questioning the effectiveness of the operation. The reach in Cuba is just 8% for the radio service, and there are hardly any TV viewers due to deliberate interference. (© Radio Netherlands Media Network via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.cubapolidata.com/carm/carm_01_newsflash.html (there's more detail there) CRISIS AT RADIO MARTÍ (US station beamed to Cuba) Breaking News -- Thursday, June 14, 2001 CARM has learned from sources that the first $100,000 check that OCB has to pay Angélica Mora-Beals due to the settlement she won against OCB administrators has yet to be delivered because there are insufficient funds to meet the amount. Tuesday, June 12, 2001 OCB Director Herminio San Román was forced to resign his position because Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-FL) faced insurmountable political pressure from exile leaders, according to sources. The catalyst to San Román's ouster was his recent meetings with Elizardo Sánchez-Santa Cruz (president of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation) that included Roberto Rodríguez-Tejera and other collaborators as reported by CARM on June 1st. Many exile leaders distrust Sánchez Santa-Cruz because of the perceived belief that he has links to the Cuban government. Díaz-Balart received numerous calls from prominent exile leaders screaming that San Román must go and to stop supporting him. According to sources, San Román has told members of his inner circle that he was betrayed by Congressman Díaz-Balart because did not deliver on his promises of political influence that would protect him. Florida Democrats consider San Román a traitor because of his alliance with Congressman Díaz-Balart (a Republican) and he did not campaign for the Gore-Lieberman ticket. Roberto Rodríguez-Tejera is now distancing himself from San Román to save himself and blames San Román for the Marti's downfall and it was former President Clinton's man (San Román) who carried out the agenda. Friday, June 8, 2001 Numerous Miami radio stations have been reporting since yesterday that Herminio San Román's tenure as Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) is coming to an end in a matter of hours or days. Sources have informed CARM that it may take a while longer as has been announced. Tony Navarro and Salvador Lew are the leading candidates that have been mentioned to head OCB. Update - 4:20 PM EDT Sources say that San Román's cronies were talking aloud in the corridors of Radio Martí claiming that it is his last day today, the end of Radio Martí as we know it, and placing blame on Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Léhtinen (R-FL) for the collapse of San Román's support since she is no longer siding with Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-FL) on the matter. The chances of Roberto Rodríguez-Tejera staying on as Radio Marti's Director look bleak as sources believe that his support from local political leaders has buckled because of the Díaz- Balart and Ros-Léhtinen split. Tuesday, June 5, 2001 Pending Congressional legislation seeks to abolish the Martís... LEGISLATION Cuba Broadcasting: repeals the Television Broadcasting to Cuba and the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Acts; and the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 under the Comprehensive Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability Act of 2001 (H.R. 1270). HOUSE Introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) 3/28/01 and referred to Armed Services, Financial Services, International Relations, Energy and Commerce, Resources, Science, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. LEGISLATION Cuba Broadcasting: Amends the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act to eliminate the position of staff director for the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 (H.R. 1646) HOUSE Sponsor: Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) 4/27/01 and referred to House International Relations and Senate Foreign Relations. Source: U.S. Cuba Policy Report - Legislative Alert (May 28, 2001) Friday, June 1, 2001 For several days this week, Elizardo Sanchez Santa-Cruz (president of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation) has been in closed-door meetings with OCB Director Herminio San Román and Radio Martí Director Roberto Rodríguez-Tejera along with their collaborators. Sources believe that a deal is being brokered but it is unclear for what exactly. Wednesday, May 30, 2001 Sources have informed CARM that OCB administrators last week were frantically searching for monies to cover the first payment of $100,000 to Angélica Mora-Beals, who earlier this year won a discrimination suit against OCB Director Herminio San Román and Radio Martí Director Roberto Rodríguez-Tejera. The monetary settlement of the suit is to come from the OCB's budget that is allegedly tied to hundreds of contracts given to OCB administrators' cronies (CARM website via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, via DXLD) ** CYPRUS GREEKISH SOUTHERN. VOA/IBB has issued an advertisement in the Commerce Business Daily regarding the construction of a new MF facility in Cyprus, a 600 kW multi-tower medium wave broadcast antenna system. Operational date January 15, 2002 (Ben Dawson, USA via Ydun M. Ritz, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH NORTHERN. QSL from Bayrak RTV for report on 1098 kHz heard in Istanbul in Feb 2000. This after 2 follow-ups. No detail 'QSL' card and programme schedule. Unsigned. Nice to get something... Regards (Graham Bell, Otford, Kent, England, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4529.50 harmonic, Ecos del Oriente, Lago Agrio. June 2001 1289.98 - 1145 UT. ID and Ecuadorian music. Rather weak signal (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5003.4 kHz, presumed Radio Nacional, Bata booming in with Afro-reggae (to the tune of the 1960s Seekers song - 'World of Our Own') and abrupt (very long) anthem sign-off at 2155. This signal rivalled Congo on 4765 kHz for most powerful African on the bands. On 6249.4 kHz, Radio Nacional, Malabo with good signal in Spanish - many mentions of Malabo. Carried on well past 2200. On lower side band to avoid noisy ute sound (Graham Bell, Otford, Kent, England, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. GERMANY: New schedule of Radio Rainbow in Amharic via DTK/JUL: effective May 25, 2001 new 1900-2000 Fri NF 15565 145 deg to Ea Af del 1600-1700 Fri on 15670 140 deg to Ea Af effective May 26, 2001 new 0800-0900 Sat NF 6180 non-dir to We Eu del 0900-1000 Sat on 5995 non-dir to We Eu (Observer, Bulgaria, June 20 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA [non?]. 9490, June 7 1400, Radiostantsiya Republik Abkhazia, ``Govorit Sukhumi`` sounded the Russian ID here. Was heard too strong to come directly from Sukhumi. Do the Russians use the Samara transmitter for this broadcast? - the question goes to Olle Alm! S 4 (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** GUINEA. Glen[n], A small note regarding Radio Conakry, Guinea. A good friend of mine recently gave me a copy of World Radio Television Handbook from 1983/84! The announcement for Guinea in that edition is given thus: "Ici Conakry, la Voix de la Révolution, le Radio et Télévision du république populaire et révolutionaire de Guinea" [sic with our acutes added -gh] An interesting note. They are under military government to the best of my knowledge so why have they dropped the bit after "Ici Conakry"? Best 73's, DXDave [Harries], Bristol, UK, June 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. The uptodate sked of AIR Jeypore is as follows (after noting the latest changes for Sundays): 5040 0025-0430 (Sundays upto 0445),1130-1741 6040 0700-0935 (Sundays also at 1030-1130) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institiute of Amateur Radio, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, India 500082, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** ITALY. ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO. Fritz Layer in Terre Haute, Indiana, informs us that he hears AWR Forlì, 2.5 kW on 9610 kHz from 0830 to fade out at 0850 UT. Programming at this time is in English and the signal is low on a clear channel. This is now the 2nd channel for AWR Forlì that Fritz has "discovered" (Dr Adrian M. Peterson, DX Editor, June 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Some changes of RAI International: Italian 0455-0530 on 15250, 17780 retimed ex 0435-0510 0630-1300 on 9670, 11800, 17710, 21520 retimed ex 0600-1300 1700-1800 NF 9670*, ex 9800 // 11910, 15240, 15320, 15330, 17720 English 0435-0500 NF 7235*, ex 7150 // 5975 retimed ex 0415-0440 2200-2225 NF 15265*, ex 15240 // 9675, 11900 French 1630-1655 NF 11725*, ex 12010 // 9670 Arabic 0600-0620 on 15250, 17710 retimed ex 0535-0555 Russian 0345-0405 on 7235, 9670, 11800 retimed ex 0330-0350 0600-0620 on 11800, 15290 retimed ex 0535-0555 Ukrainian 0405-0425 on 7235, 9670, 11800 retimed ex 0350-0410 Lithuanian 0505-0525 on 9670, 11800 retimed ex 0445-0505 Romanian 0530-0550 on 9670, 11800 retimed ex 0510-0530 Serbian 1910-1930 NF 6130*, ex 6135 // 7240 Hungarian 1935-1955 NF 6130*, ex 6135 // 7240 Amharic 0435-0455 on 15250, 17780 retimed ex 0415-0435 Somali 0530-0550 on 15250, 17780 retimed ex 0510-0530 *from June 24, 2001 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 20 via DXLD) But they missed the English to NAm retiming already reported here to 0055-0115 (gh) {Full new sked, tho tab-ridden, in DXLD 1-086} ** MALI. 5995, RTV Malienne, 0600, rarely heard on this channel, though fair signal in the clear past 0700 with mix of talk and folk music. Much stronger than 4784 and 4835, the latter particularly poor (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, June 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Hi Glenn, What happened to the Voice of Mongolia website? It had just refurbished it a few months ago, and was very functional. This is the lastest link I had: http://www.mol.mn/mrtv/ It forwarded me to their new site... which does not exist. Regards, (Ricky Leong, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Answer: DXLD 1-086} ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Re: DXLD 1-084. Hi Glenn, Re Kai Ludwig's comment: Radio Nationaal says it has new financial backers. Not mentioned in his report, but published on the Media Network Web site within minutes of the news breaking, is the reason they have decided to use a tx site outside The Netherlands, namely the Dutch government's dithering with the question of new frequencies. The story's quite complicated, but basically the government wants to auction AM and FM frequencies for commercial radio to the highest bidder. This plan was opposed by many groups, especially the several existing commercial stations that have national or quasi-national coverage. An inquiry was then set up, which recommended that existing stations be allowed to keep their current frequencies, but the rest could be auctioned. Now the Cabinet says this could result in legal challenges by unsuccessful applicants, and says it intends to revert to the original plan. This, of course, has upset opponents of the plan who thought they'd won. The target date of August 1st for all this to be sorted out looms, and the situation is still a complete mess. Radio Nationaal says it's no longer prepared to wait while these matters are sorted out, ostensibly because its format of Dutch-only music (which in fact hardly anyone here listens to) is important to the Dutch music industry. Meanwhile, On Friday it was announced that on one of Radio Nationaal's old frequencies, 1332 kHz, a new station will start on 4 July - called, believe it or not, Radio 192! That was the original wavelength of Radio Veronica in the offshore days, and is apparently the brainchild of some former Veronica employees. The format will be oldies from the 50s, 60s and 70s (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Although I work for Radio Netherlands, I am participating here on an individual basis. Opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Radio Netherlands. [in the case of this contributor, the above is what we often abbr. to ``standard disclaimer`` -gh] ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Vandals keep Morobe Province radio off air | Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 20 June Radio Morobe is off the air after its transmission station was vandalised. The local radio station, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) provincial network in Morobe, ceased broadcasting on 2 May after burglars entered the transmitter station and cut off 200 metres of lines [cables] from its four supporting aerial towers. Acting programme manager Mek Meruk said the destruction to the lines crippled its transmission. "The people are very much disappointed by the thieves' actions and have called on the Morobe provincial government to do something quickly to get Radio Morobe back on air," Mr Meruk said. He condemned the actions of the criminals and appealed the people living around Bubia and close to the transmitter station to give information to police if they knew who was responsible. Mr Meruk said it would cost 10,000 kina to get the transmission lines replaced. He said the NBC headquarters had been informed of the incident. The provincial government had so far spent more than 1m kina renovating the Radio Morobe studios, Mr Meruk said. The work on the three studios is scheduled to be commissioned on 27 June. Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 20 Jun 01 (via BBCM, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** PERÚ. 13565 - 00.23 UTC del 02 de junio. - RADIO ONDAS DEL PACÍFICO - español - ID: "para todos los pueblos de Ayabaca, Ondas del Pacífico" , música tropical (2 x armónico de 6780 khz). (Mauricio Remillier, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERÚ. 2257v harmonic, Radio La Mejor, Tumbes, la provincia de Tumbes, el departamento de Tumbes. June 5 2001 - 1000 UT. This station popped up for the first time this date and has been heard every following morning with splendid strength and audio quality. Hard to believe that it is a harmonic. Announces MW 1130 kHz but not listed in WRTH. New station? On its fundamental frequency 1128v a very weak without audible sound. Every morning those two programmes: 1000 "Aires andinos del Perú" and 1030 UTC "Mañanitas pasilleras". The address is said to be: "Radio La Mejor, La Martín 27, El Milagro, Tumbes". Telephone: 52 59 74. With reservation for hearing wrong in the part "La Martín 27". I don`t know whether the station is located in the town Tumbes or in the village El Milagro, la provincia de Tumbes. How they jingle? Yes, of course "la mejor radio"!. [see also below] Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Tumbes, cuya capital es Tumbes. Sus distritos son: Corrales, La Cruz, Pampas de Hospital, San Jacinto, San Juan de la Virgen, Tumbes; con una población total de 116,643 hab. 2840.24 harmonic, Radio Ilucán, Cutervo, la provincia de Cutervo, el departamento de Cajamarca. June 2001 - 1040 UT. TC + "....en la grandiosa programación de Radio Ilucán en la ciudad de Cutervo". Was also heard on its fundamental frequency 1420.12 kHz. Big trouble with the MW-transmitter; I have earlier logged Ilucán on 2950.32 (see SWB 1431). Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Cutervo, cuya capital es Cutervo. Sus distritos son: Callayuc, Cujillo, Cutervo, Choros, La Ramada, Pimpingos, Querecotillo, San Andrés de Cutervo, San Juan de Cutervo, San Luis de Lucma, Santa Cruz, Santo Domingo de la Capilla, Santo Tomás, Sócota, Toribio Casanova; con una población total de 144,077 hab. 3120v, unID Peru. June 12 2001 - 1111 UT. Probably start up at this time. Continues to be heard but with weak signal. I watch the frequency and is back at once if I manage to get an ID! Two reactivated jungle stations! Casually? Both start up almost simultaneously and could be heard only 2-3 days. 5264.87, Radio La Voz de Chiriaco, Chiriaco, la provincia de Bagua, el departamento de Amazonas. June 6 2001 - 0300* UT. The first time I have noted this one so probably off air for a long time. Announces the frequency 5264 kHz; could see in "Dateline Bogotá" that they previously were called "Radio 5264". Mostly nonstop Peruvian music interrupted by greetings to friends and acquaintances. Decent signal and is on air 0000-0300 UT. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Bagua, cuya capital es Bagua y cuenta con los distritos Aramango, el Parco, Bagua; con una población total de 69,334 hab. 5775.29, La Voz de San Juan, la provincia de Utcubamba, el departamento de Amazonas. June 5 2001 - 0055 UT. Good and very frequency stable signal; exactly on its 100-part. Probably off air for a very long time; this is the first time I have noted the station. Listed on 5775 in WRTH. The programme consisted of TCs, IDs and unannounced Peruvian, Ecuadorian and Mexican music. June 6 cd at 0200 UT but the previous evening on air much later. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Utcubamba, cuya capital es Bagua Grande y cuenta con los distritos de Bagua Grande, Cajaruro, Cumba, El Milagro, Jamalca, Lonya Grande, Yamón; con una población total de 100,891 hab. 5949.59, Radio Bethel, Arequipa, la provincia de Arequipa, el departamento de Arequipa. June 2001 - 2325 UT. Listed in WRTH as "Radio Arequipa Bethel". What I hear is, fx, "Radio Bethel" or "Somos Bethel la radio". Religious format and heard most evenings but very disturbed by other stations which makes it rather difficult to get an ID. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Arequipa, cuya capital es Arequipa. Sus distritos son: Arequipa, Cayma, Cerro Colorado, Characato, Chiguata, La Joya, Mariano Melgar, Miraflores, Mollebaya, Pocsi, Paucarpata, olobaya, Quequena, Sabandía, Sachaca, San Juan de Siguas, San Juan de Tarucani, Santa Isabel de Siguas, Santa Rita de Siguas, Socabaya, Tiabaya, Uchumayo, Vitor, Yanahuara, Yarabamba, Yura; con una población total de 677,019 hab. 6816.76, LV de las Huarinjas back after a short journey to 5851.92 kHz. Comments have arrived from 3 of our Swedish members regarding "Radio La Mejor" above and re some of my loggings in SWB #1460. Thanks to Hermod Pedersen/HeP, Thord Knutsson/TK and Henrik Klemetz/HK. 2257vH Radio La Mejor (see above). Mailed a question to TK re this station. Thord Knutsson/TK writes: "I have looked through my lists but could not find any matching stn in Tumbes. But it can be a new one or even a pirate. The future will show what is correct. For your info I am WRTH responsible for all countries in South America except Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, while Tore Larsson/TL is responsible for these three and also Central Amerika and the Caribbean". 2828vH Radio Huarmaca (see SWB 1460). Thord Knutsson/TK: "R Huarmaca belongs to the Huarmaca stns which are heard now and then with different(?) names. Listed on 5385.5 in my manuscript for WRTH 2001. (stn 149). Reported heard in the beginning of 2001 on 5385.9 in DXCB". Henrik Klemetz/HK: "I hope you will soon download Dateline so I don`t have to publish information contradicting yours: neither R Huarmaca nor R LTC are new as you write. (See DXLD 1082)". Completely right, Radio L.T.C. has been heard 4-5 years ago (see below). That Radio Huarmaca is a new station I have neither said nor written (see DXLD 1082 and SWB 1460). I have now downloaded "Dateline Bogotá" through the Internet and recommend everyone to do the same; you can find lots of valuable info from 1993-1998. 6011.32 Radio L.T.C.(see SWB 1460). Thord Knutsson/TK: "Radio L.T.C., Juliaca is listed in WRTH since some years back on 5980 (stn 755), at that time also heard on 5980. Also listed on MW 1100 kHz. What eventually happened to Radio América I don`t know". Hermod Pedersen/HeP, (Web Editor http://www.hard-core-dx.com/) has sent an excerpt from his database. You find there that Radio L.T.C. has been logged on 5980 kHz in 1996 and 1997 by Klemetz, Arrunátegui and Makelainen. HeP writes: "LTC is no bad logging, which is possible after the move from 5980 kHz, where it was heard now and then in 1996-97. Mostly in Latin America, but only a few times in Europe. The reason it was not heard more often must have been caused by the frequency, where the station was heavily disturbed most of the time". Let me take the liberty to doubt a little that the station has been active during recent years. I have been watching the bands quite carefully and I`m also absolutely ``crazy`` about interference and split frequencies; so some minor note ought to be found in my log book re 5980 kHz. "Dateline Bogotá" mentions that in the beginning they called themselves "R Comercial Callao". As some of you might know there is a nice freeware-programme called "Geoclock", a computer programme of benefit to us DX-ers. The freeware version found for download at no charge is "Geoclock 8.3". 5 different maps in colour are attached where you can enter an optional town/village to get information about i.a.. sunrise/sunset. Just now when I write down this you can see that sunrise/sunset in Arequipa, Peru is 0612 resp. 1721 local time. The information on the map for day/night follows the clock all the time. There are an additional great number of advanced functions which I don`t mention. A problem is the limited number of places in the programme. F. ex. there are only 7 towns from Ecuador and 21 from Peru. If you know the longitude/latitude any place can be entered in the programme. I have found a nice site for download: http://www.astro.ch/cgi-bin/atlw3/aq.cgi?lang=e or http://home.att.net/~geoclock/ There is a database with no less than 255.000 places. For fun I searched for "San Juan" and got a list with 121 towns/places with this name, longitude and latitude included. 73 from BM in Quito! (Björn Malm, Ecuador, SW Bulletin June 17, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD; summarised on WOR 1084) {Possible Geoclock virus alert: DXLD 1-086 under PERU} ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3733, South African amateur radio, 1945 May 29, poor and lost signal many times, mx prgm and talk in Afrikaans by man; on the air every night on 3733/3735 with long talk in Afrikaans and mx program. No ID has been heard, as the reception is not always good (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, NU via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC has been operational on 4870, 4902, 4940 and 5020 without a break 1100-1700, 1720 etc s-off. 4870 s/off at 1600. This never went off the air. It is the morning and afternoon txions on 60 and 49 mb that have been discontinued. Even then 5020 the Tamil Sce has been on from 2330-0200 and 1100-1720 on 5020 (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, DX-Window Jun 7, via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Clandestine radio station Voice of Freedom and Renewal, which is the mouthpiece of the Sudan Alliance Forces against the regime in Khartoum, continues to operate on SW. Latest schedule and a photo of the station is available online at http://www.clandestineradio.com (Nick Grace C., Washington Managing Editor, ClandestineRadio.com Washington, DC, June 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. ``MediaScan", through its predecessor program, "Sweden Calling DXers" is the oldest program of its kind in international broadcasting. Under the legendary Arne Skoog, Sweden Calling DXers started as a clearinghouse for news about shortwave radio in 1948. But all good things come to an end, and so it is with this radio program. The last edition will be on July 17th. The good news is that the online and e-mail MediaScan newsletter will continue, covering the entire world of electronic media, with an emphasis on satellites and cyberspace. And it's my plan (subject to approval from management) that as of August 1 the newsletter will revert to a weekly schedule (George Wood, MediaScan, SWEDEN CALLING DXERS from Radio Sweden Edition 2359 -- June 19, 2001 via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Armed forces not ready to surrender radio frequencies In Thailand the military control a large part of the broadcasting sector. But Article 40 of the 1997 constitution stipulates that the frequencies for radio, television, and telecommunications transmissions are public assets to be reallocated by a new National Voice and Television Broadcast Board, an independent organization, for the educational, social, security, and other public benefits of citizens. The article also calls for free and fair competition for those assets. The armed forces now hold more radio and television frequencies than other government agencies. They hold about 200 frequencies of the about 484 frequencies held by all agencies nationwide. The army has 128 radio stations, the air force 36, the navy 21, and the Supreme Command Headquarters 15 stations. A Bangkok newspaper has reported that the armed forces are reluctant to surrender control of their media assets and the navy is even asking for 15 new frequencies. Following is the text of report by Thai newspaper Krungthep Thurakit on 11 June; subheadings as published: Article 40 of the Constitution dealing with allocation of radio and television frequencies is being challenged once again by the armed forces. Each armed force is prepared to inform the National Voice and Television Broadcast Board [NVTBB] after the board's formation that security concerns will require them to retain its current frequencies. The navy will even ask for 15 new frequencies. The army will give up less than half of its radio frequencies but will not surrender its Channel 5 frequency. Article 40 of the 1997 constitution stipulates that the frequencies for radio, television, and telecommunications transmissions are public assets that are to be reallocated by the NVTBB, which is an independent organization of the state, for the ultimate educational, social, state security, and other public benefits of the citizens in the national and local levels. The article also calls for free and fair competition for those assets. According to the principle of Article 40, radio and television frequencies currently owned by all government units have to be immediately surrendered to the NVTBB after its formation so that it can reallocate them fairly and properly in accordance with the article. The process to select NVTBB members has reached the stage that 14 candidates are being selected by a committee which will then forward their names to the senate to pick the final seven members of the NVTBB. The armed forces now hold more radio and television frequencies than other government agencies. They hold about 200 frequencies of the about 484 frequencies held by all agencies nationwide. The army has 128 radio stations, the air force 36, the navy 21, and the Supreme Command Headquarters 15 stations. At the public hearings held during 1995-96 the armed forces opposed new allocation of radio frequencies. The Public Relations Department currently holds the frequencies for 127 radio stations - 11 in Bangkok and 116 in regional areas. The Mass Communications Organization of Thailand operates 62 stations - 10 in Bangkok and 52 in regional areas. Of the Police Department's 44 stations, three are in Bangkok. The remainder of the radio frequencies are operated by various education institutions. The currents in favour of political reform which followed the incident in May 1992 caused the opposition of the armed forces to reallocation of radio frequencies to fail. However, compromises were reached to allow for security concerns of the armed forces. But perhaps because of huge financial interests of senior military officers, certain military officers in charge of military radio stations have occasionally voiced opinions about retention of radio frequencies. While he was assistant army chief of staff for civilian affairs and in charge of the army media, Lt-Gen Loetrat Ratanawanit gave interviews about the need of the army to retain control of radio frequencies to serve its security and public relations requirements. Speaking frankly, he said the army would want to keep its Channel 5 television station and about 50 radio frequencies. Deputy Army Commander Gen Phatthana Phuthanon asserted that the army wanted to keep 100 stations. His remark generated confusion and it was subsequently clarified that his remark had been misinterpreted. In any event, it is true that the armed forces need to have their own radio frequencies to serve their security, public relations, and public assistance missions. Without radio stations or insufficient number of them will make it more difficult or impossible for them to accomplish their missions. But it is up to the NVTBB to decide whether the armed forces need to operate so many radio stations. Col Somkhuan Saengphaknet, army spokesman, was assigned to justify the army's necessity to operate radio and television stations. He said as the army is an important state mechanism which prepares army personnel to defend the country, in addition to having appropriate and sufficient weapons, radio and television stations also constitute equipment that it must have to effectively carry out its missions. He said use of the voice media to support army missions can be divided into three categories. First is to educate people about and gain their understanding of national defence, such as public relations about conscription and cultivating their patriotism to convince them about importance of serving the country as soldiers. Second, the voice media is used to support the army national defence missions by informing people about dangers, organizing the masses to provide moral support for troops in the front line, and advising people near the battlefield on how to conduct themselves. Third, the radio and television media is used to aid national development and disaster relief missions. The army has no ulterior motive to exploit the radio and television media and intends their use to benefit the public and national security. Citing examples of the army's use of the radio and television media for social benefits, the army spokesman said Radio Cho So 100 gives traffic information, army radio stations provide news reports, and Channel 5 runs programmes which serves social, religious, and cultural causes. The army radio and television stations also succeed to persuade youths to volunteer to join the army. More than 70 per cent of the army personnel are volunteers, demonstrating that the army has continually used its media for the true benefits of the public. Maj-Gen Adisak Kaenkaeo, adviser to the Channel 5 director, said the army wants to retain Channel 5 for the reasons already mentioned previously, which are: to attract volunteers and enhance national defence and national development tasks. He said the armed forces will consider among themselves how many radio stations they need and will explain it to the NVTBB once it is formed. It is then up to the NVTBB to decide. Channel 5 only have two radio frequencies, which are FM 94.5 and 103.5 Mhz, so it should have no trouble retaining them. The army is willing to surrender only about 50 radio frequencies The army, which operates 128 radio frequencies, is reportedly ready to explain why it will seek the return of about 70-80 frequencies after surrendering them first to comply with the law. It anticipates that the NVTBB will understand that the army have more missions than other armed force branches. The NVTBB is expected to understand the reasons for the army to maintain the frequencies for the radio stations broadcasting to the border areas. If these frequencies are taken away, the army will have to rely on the stations in nearby provinces, which will be less effective. The frequencies which are likely to be taken away by the NVTBB are those for the stations in Bangkok and nearby central region provinces, as it can say that they can use the same frequency. The Supreme Command Headquarters is not ready to surrender any of the 14 frequencies Lt-Gen Phitsanu Urailoet, SCH Civilian Affairs Department director, said the SCH has only 14 frequencies and wants to retain all of them. These frequencies are used in the border areas - three frequencies in Chiang Rai and Uthai Thani each, one in Narathiwat, two in Sakon Nakhon. There are three frequencies in Bangkok. Altogether there are seven AM and seven FM frequencies. He said the radio stations are used in important missions, such as public relations campaigns against narcotics which are broadcast in nine dialects for the benefit of people near the border. Lt-Gen. Phitsanu said the NVTBB will receive explanations about the fact that the SCH has only 14 frequencies which are already quite limited and that the frequencies are used near the border for the benefits of people there. He said if the NVTBB really wants to take away frequencies, it should consider the army which have more than 100 frequencies. The Territorial Defence Department and the regional armies operate two frequencies in certain provinces. The air force will not surrender any frequency Air Vice-Marshal Praphat Chiamchawi, air force secretary, said the air force has 36 frequencies, all of which were necessary. Therefore, it will ask to retain all of them to serve its search and rescue, psychological operation, and air traffic control missions. "Most important is that the 36 frequencies covers the whole country. The NVTBB will be given this explanation." The navy wants 15 new frequencies According to a senior navy officer, the navy now has 21 frequencies - seven AM and 14 FM. The numbers are not excessive and in fact not enough. The navy broadcast board has decided at this initial stage to request to retain all frequencies and to subsequently ask for 15 new ones in order to set up new stations in the six provinces of Prachuap Khirikhan, Surat Thani, Ranong, Trang, Satun, and Chiang Rai and on Samui Island. The navy will explain that it has no frequencies for radio broadcast in several southern provinces to serve its public relations, search and rescue, and weather report missions. The officer said: "At times our communications between Sattahip and Prachuap Khirikhan are affected by poor weather. A radio station in Ranong is essential because of the many problems in that province." He said the request for a frequency in Chiang Rai will enable the operations in the Mekong river between Ubon Ratchathani and Nong Khai provinces to communicate with Chiang Rai. The NVTBB will be explained about the navy's public relations mission requirements, about its report on sea and weather conditions, and about search and rescue in the sea. The frequencies which the navy now have still do not cover many provinces. Source: Krungthep Thurakit, Bangkok, in Thai 11 Jun 01 pp 20, 3 (via BBC Monitoring, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. The recently observed changes on the Turkmen Radio radio channels must be seen on the background of a reorganisation of the state radio & TV system in Turkmenistan, as decreed by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on 3 April 2001. By his decrees, the Turkmen National Television and Radio Company was abolished, the studio facilities were put under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications. Three new radio channel were created under the names of Watan ("Fatherland"), Çar tarapdan ("From all sides"), and Miras ("Heritage") (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, 18 Jun, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U A E. Dubai English half hour at 0330 to NAm was using 15395, down 5 from usual 15400. Parallel 13675, and QRM`d by Arabic 12005 (Bob Thomas, CT, June 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. The article in the Financial Times that I just mentioned said that about 1.5 million people listen to BBC online, as opposed to 300,000 via shortwave. This is an example of how statistics, if misreported, can mislead. The 300,000 is actually the number of persons in the United States who listen to BBC via shortwave exclusively, that is, not by any other media. This is 300,000 listening per week, apparently, although more about this in a minute. The 1.5 million online listeners are actually those who use any BBC Web site, accessing either text or audio, per month and includes those who also listen to BBC via shortwave. In explaining its decision to drop shortwave to the four countries, the BBC has been selective in the numbers it has released. Only the figures which show FM rebroadcast and Internet listening in the best possible light, and shortwave listening in the worst, have been revealed. But, by using the publicized numbers as clues, and applying algebra, maybe we can put this puzzle together. On the BBC Write On program, BBC World Service director Mark Byford said only 300,000 people in the United States listen to World Service exclusively via shortwave. On my program, May 12th, Jerry Timmins, head of the World Service Americas Section, said that this is 12 percent of the U.S. audience. Three hundred thousand is 12 percent of 2.5 million. So, 2.5 million BBC listeners in the United States. Mr. Timmins also said that 88 percent of the U.S. audiences listens via FM rebroadcasting. Eighty-eight percent of 2.5 million is 2.2 million, and that corresponds with the 2.3 million that the BBC has on a few occasions reported as the size of its FM audience in the United States. But BBC officials have also said that the FM audience is three times larger than the shortwave audience in the United States. Two point two million divided by three is 730,000. That would be the size of the BBC shortwave audience in the United States. Take that number and subtract 300,000, the number of Americans who listen exclusively via shortwave, and you have 430,000, the number of Americans who listen via both shortwave and FM. I`ve written to the BBC press office asking them, how`s my math? So far, no response. I also asked them, is this 2.2 million people listening via FM and 730,000 listening via shortwave daily, weekly, yearly, or what? Also no response. Generally, World Service uses weekly listening rates when revealing its audience numbers. But until I get confirmation of this, I`ll just say 2.2 million listening by FM every whatever. And seven hundred thirty thousand listening via shortwave every whatever. On BBC`s Write On, on May 26th, the presenter said that World Service has a shortwave audience of 1.2 million in the United States. This complicates things, because the 1.2 million figure does not fit with the rest of the calculations. That would mean that the World Service FM audience would be 3.6 million, and BBC has never claimed that, much as I`m sure they would like to. I also asked BBC about this. Again, no response. BBC also reveals that 1.5 million Americans access the BBC online service every month. That 1.5 million versus 730,000 via shortwave should be enough to seal the fate of shortwave. But the 1.5 million every month needs to be converted to match whatever time period is used in the radio figures. Also, is the online audience measured by way of a sample survey, as is the shortwave audience, or by some method using hits or page impressions? Are the 1.5 million Americans accessing the World Service Web site, or any BBC Web site? How many of the 1.5 million online users are listening to or downloading audio, as opposed to reading BBC news in text? I`ve sent these questions to the BBC. I`ll let you know when I hear from them. (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World June 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U K. From: http://www.rsgb.org/news/index.htm Last week we broadcast the news that station GBR in Rugby would transmit a special message in Morse code on 16 kHz on Tuesday the 29th of May at 1200 and 1330 UT. One of the organisers of the event, Paul Hawkins, G4KHU, reports that the first reception report was received from SV8QG on the island of Lesbos shortly after the transmission concluded. Later, a complete transcript of the transmission was received from David Riley, AA1A, [where?] who received the 1200 broadcast with a report of 539. In part, GBR transmitted: "Attention all ships and submarines. This is a special transmission to mark the centenary of submarine operation by Her Majesty's Royal Navy . . . This transmission also celebrates the 75 years of radio broadcasts to ships and submarines from the GBR transmitter. GBR has maintained an almost unbroken service since January 1926, providing a vital link to the Royal Navy across the globe. . . Her Majesty's Royal Navy is pleased to welcome the submarines and their crews from the naval services of overseas stations to share in this unique submarine centenary celebration taking place in the River Clyde." (RSGB via Mike Terry, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. MADAGASCAR: Temporary extra transmissions of BBC in English beamed to Central and South Africa via Madagascar 200 kW from June 11 until June 27, 2001 as follows: 0230-0245 on 9835 / 335 deg 1635-1655 on 11715 / 335 deg 0300-0325 on 11660 / 335 deg 2040-2055 on 9605 / 335 deg 0430-0615 on 17570 / 330 deg 2100-2115 on 7195 / 335 deg 1330-1425 on 17680 / 330 deg (Leo van der Woude, R.Netherlands, via Observer, Bulgaria, June 20, via DXLD) What in the world is this all about? Very odd timings for BBC, mostly 15-20-25 minutes (gh) ** U S A. Dear DX Friends, I heard a new X-band station today, Wednesday, June 20, at 0800 EDT: KBJA-1640 in Sandy, Utah, with a very strong signal. It was relaying Radio Única national programming in Spanish. On the hour, a man identified in English as KBJA and said it was simulcasting with KHQN-1480 in Spanish Fork. I phoned the station at 801-253-4883 and a woman said she thought today is its first day on the air. 73, (Larry Godwin, Missoula MT, via Pat Martin, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Sir, Here is some new information on the WWV/WWVH time survey. The message has been changed giving out a website address for the survey: http://www.timesurvey.nist.gov, which I haven't had a chance to actually check myself yet. I finally received my hardcopy version on June 14. 73 your listener, (David Moore, Morro Bay, California, June 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Tuesday June 19 3:38 PM ET Clear Channel Makes Radio Net Deal SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Clear Channel Communications Inc. has struck a deal that will allow 250 of its radio stations to resume broadcasting over the Internet. San Antonio-based Clear Channel had stopped Web broadcasting in April because of a dispute with recording artists and commercial actors, who wanted larger fees for radio ads that also run on Internet radio stations. Clear Channel reached an agreement with Los Angeles-based Hiwire Inc. that will make it possible for Clear Channel stations to replace some national commercials with ads targeting Internet markets. To make the targeting work, Hiwire prompts Internet radio listeners to provide age, gender and ZIP code the first time they come to the station online. Each time the listener goes to that station on the Internet, Hiwire servers will automatically deliver online-only audio ads. That means an Internet listener might hear a different ad than someone listening to the radio in his car. Clear Channel said the deal will extend to 250 stations in the 50 largest radio markets. The company operates about 1,200 stations. Hiwire spokesman Wayne Hickey said it will take several months to resume Internet audio for all 250 stations. More details at: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010619/tc/clear_channel_internet_1. html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** U S A. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONTINUE CHECKING 6900: With United Patriot Radio seemingly silent, Joe Filipkowski passes on word that at least two stations (Radio Bingo and something called "Bill's Militia Movement") have turned up there in the past few days (Niel Wolfish, Free Radio Weekly June 17 via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Perestroika in Ohio -- Monday June 18 07:37 AM EDT Seven area radio stations will play musical chairs By Jim Quinn, Beacon Journal Staff Writer Fans of some of the most popular radio stations in Northeast Ohio are about to have trouble finding their favorite programs. Like players in a massive game of musical chairs, the owners of two broadcasting conglomerates and those of the last locally owned station in Cleveland are swapping frequencies, changing call letters and juggling formats. The switches will start July 1 and be completed by midnight July 3. In addition to swapping frequencies, the changes will create a brand- new Christian format station called The Fish. According to Robert Conrad, president of WCLV in Cleveland, the seven-station shake-up was triggered by financial pressure to sell WCLV, the only major Cleveland-area station that is not owned by an outside corporation. Full story at Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.ohio.com/dist/nf/027986.htm (via Sergei Sosedkin, Artie Bigley, DXLD) Hi Patrick and Glen: I know you can't hear the Cleveland FM stations, but if you thought the Cleveland AM station switches coming July 3 were crazy look at the four or more FM stations changing frequencies that follow. (I started by listening to 95.5 then 104.9 to hear their announced frequency moves, then listened to the others for an hour each to see what they were announcing for changes.) What a mess for the Cleveland radio audience! [Later:] I finally heard 104.9FM today - it's in Lorain. 95.5 WCLV is moving to 104.9 "KISS 104.9" in Lorain, OH is moving to 96.5 96.5 is moving to the WHK-FM frequency which I believe is 98.1 I`m not sure if WHK-FM is moving to 95.5 or who is going there ? WOW !!!!!!! (Lee Silvi, Mentor, OH, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi: I was just given some info from a CE in Central CA about KMJ. KMJ has been having troubles with the new 50 kW site. They want to get into the high rises in Fresno with the 50 kW, but they must have problems as they are operating with reduced power now. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, IRCA & NRC via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Some infos about antenna/transmitting location for KMJ 580 kHz Fresno (DXLD 1-081): Rich Toebe, CA is correct in that the primary purpose of this new facility is to improve the signal levels in the core portion of the station`s service area, in Fresno and nearby counties. The increasing noise level in urban areas at MF frequencies is a serious problem for older stations, esepcially since the US had a 5 kW power limit on many MF frequencies for many years. Patrick Martin`s comments make no sense at all, in that the new facility is still in the construction and commissioning phase, is not operating except for purposes of testing during daytime hours only, and all nighttime and most daytime operation will remain at the 5 kW non-DA site until the new site is licensed (Ben Dawson, USA via Ydun M. Ritz, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did not state that the KMJ site was not operating. What I was told by an engineer in the area that KMJ was not operating at full power from the 50 KW site. 73s, (Patrick Martin, NRC-AM via DXLD) Subject: Fw: KMJ 50 kW Upgrade Hello Glenn, received below msg from Joe Mauk, concerning KMJ in Fresno, DXLD 1-081. Best 73s Ydun Ritz ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mauk, Joe S" Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 7:20 PM Subject: KMJ 50 kW Upgrade The comments of Mr. Patrick Martin of Seaside, Oregon were brought to my attention. His comments are in error, are mistaken and seriously uninformed on this issue. I would like to correct the record. 1/ KMJ has not operated the new 50 kW antenna system during nighttime hours. So his DX report about "not hearing a peep" and attributing it to the performance of the new 50 kW antenna system is not {sic} grossly in error. 2/ Further, Mr.. Martin's statement : "(25 km) to East of Fresno (45 km) and the pattern is a balloon or tear shaped pattern aimed at the coast, with basically nothing going North, East, or South. No wonder the listeners are complaining. I doubt if they reach Stockton or Bakersfield!" Is pure ignorance. The three minima in the pattern are more like two to five kilowatts with three minor lobes that average eight to fifteen kilowatts. The means the minima with the least amount of signal, is only down about 2 decibels below the present 5 kW operation. The average radio receiver cannot discern a 6 dB difference. Thus, I would not characterize the back side of the pattern as nothing as Mr. Martin does. The main lobe is potent and approaches 250 kilowatts. The comments of Rich Toebe of Davis are right on target. 70% of KMJ listeners listen inside of buildings. The present 5 kW site 16 miles west of Fresno does not penetrate buildings. In the metro Fresno area, we see a average of 15-20 millivolts per meter from the present 5 kW site. The new 50 kW site produces signal strengths the average 80-100 millivolts per meter. 3/ As for coverage, we have measured signal strengths in both Bakersfield and Stockton. The signal strength in Bakersfield is about the same as it has ever been, about one millivolt per meter. In Stockton, signal strength has increased from about 1 millivolt per meter to 3 millivolts per meter. 4/ His assertion that: "They don`t care about the listeners as it looks like 80-90% of the area they used to cover is gone now." The facts are otherwise: The population within the 50 kW one half millivolt per meter contour increases by 14 percent. The population with the 50 kw five millivolt per meter increases 57 per cent. Best regards. Joe S. Mauk | CBS/Infinity Broadcasting Market Engineer | Fresno, California 559.490.5800 | jsmauk@cbs.com (via Ydun Ritz, DXLD) In regard to the e mail from Mr. Mauk, CE at KMJ. They have totally dropped off the dial at night. Maybe their signal is better in Central California, but I sure don't hear it up here. They used to be pretty solid at night, every night. Now, not a peep. I have tried for several weeks. Kevin Redding stated that he isn't hearing KMJ in Mesa anymore either. If they are not operating from the new 50 kW site, they have sure done something. Not being in California, I have no idea what their signal is. But it ain`t here! 73s, (Patrick Martin, OR, NRC and IRCA via DXLD) I have not heard KMJ 580 for several weeks. They used to be fairly dominant on the frequency most nights. Since this thread started I have been checking every evening and........nothing! (Chuck Boehnke, Keaau, Hawaii, ibid.) Thanks, Kevin & Chuck for your comments on this. No matter what the CE says, something has changed. According to another engineer in the area, KMJ is indeed operating from the new site but with reduced power. 73s, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) {More: DXLD 1-086} ** U S A. Don't miss the "Capitol Steps". The Fourth of July edition of "Politics Takes A Holiday" airs Saturday, June 30th at 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, July 4th, at 6:30 p.m. [CDT] (KOSU newsletter, webcast http://www.kosu.org and many other public radio stations at other times around these dates, via DXLD) ** U S A. Follow-up to items on K1MAN, DXLD 1-052 and 1-083 We had a target start date for the return of the IARN Amateur Radio Talk Show to HF on June 1, 2001. Bill Pasternak gleefully reports this week on his often biased, impertinent, and misleading "Amateur Radio Newsline" report, heard on a few repeaters around the country, that these K1MAN "Information Bulletins" were not heard, and that hams opposed to the bulletins were intentionally occupying 14.275 and 3.975 MHz in order to prevent the scheduled event. Bill further states (incorrectly) that K1MAN "Information Bulletins" could not legally come on an already occupied frequency. If this were true (it is not) then anyone could also prevent ARRL's W1AW from coming on at any time and even shut the entire ARRL W1AW operations down if desired. The fact is that any station control operator on a frequency with the intent to prevent W1AW or K1MAN from transmitting would be committing a felony under United States statutes punishable by five years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine. Bill also reports that those who are opposed the IARN Amateur Radio Talk Show on amateur radio HF have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, they have PLENTY TO WORRY ABOUT......THE TRUTH! When the time is right, K1MAN "Information Bulletins" will return to HF. The station is now ready to go, at the flick of a switch, but the time was just not quite right on our target date of June 1, 2001 (From an "editorial" by Glenn Baxter, K1MAN, www.k1man.com via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is a lot more to this, mainly badmouthing Pasternak (who has, for years, complained about K1MAN carrying his "Newsline" service without his permission and over his objections) and FCC enforcer Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, whom K1MAN calls "a wolf in sheep's clothing." K1MAN also seems to think that the recent increase in FCC enforcement of the ham bands is a conspiracy on the part of the FCC and Congress to take away the amateur radio spectrum and sell it to commercial users, and that his AARA (American Amateur Radio Association) is the solution to Amateur Radio's problems. The latter, of course, is what he was saying on his "information bulletin services" for years. After Baxter suspended his broadcasts in August 1999 he filed a multi million dollar lawsuit against the FCC, which was quickly dismissed "with prejudice" (meaning he couldn't refile it) by the federal courts in Maine. If K1MAN does resume his broadcasts (he now says July 1 or August 1), things will get very interesting very quickly (John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. One person who fell afoul of [written contracts] was the late Lou Costello [close, Andy, make that Joe Costello -- gh] of WRNO. In the 80s he took exception to Radio Earth making fun of WRNO and pulled the show without notice. It so happened that one of the people running Radio Earth, Mike Poulos, is a lawyer. Mike took him to court for breach of contract. Costello hired the "best lawyer in Louisiana" whose principal defence rested on the fact that "WRNO is an international broadcaster, so the laws of the United States do not apply". The defence was laughed out of court, and Costello was forced to resume airing Radio Earth up to the end of the contract period. So, if you set up the deal right in the first place, you have a lot of protection :-) (Andy Sennitt, Holland, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. United Kingdom: World Radio Network expands religious broadcasting | Text of press release by the London-based World Radio Network on 7 June World Radio Network has signed a contract to provide transmission services for EWTN Radio Europe - part of the Catholic Eternal Word Television Network - to broadcast religious programming to European households via the Astra 1 satellite. World Radio Network (WRN) receives the EWTN broadcasts from the network's studios in Birmingham, Alabama, USA via WRN's digital satellite service for onward transmission. EWTN was launched in the United States in 1981 in a garage-turned-TV studio established by Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare Nun of Perpetual Adoration. What began as a modest television venture has evolved into the world's largest religious broadcast network, transmitting Catholic programming 24 hours a day around the world via television, radio and the Internet. EWTN Radio Europe can be heard with an analogue satellite receiver via the Astra 1C satellite, live on the Internet at www.ewtn.com, on shortwave radio and carried by many AM/FM stations worldwide. Source: World Radio Network press release, London, in English 7 Jun 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6155, R. Sarandí del Yí. Hrd them at 1135 June 17 with horse race, play by play, ads, mentioning "Cadena de la Amistad" with other stations. Will be again on the air at this hour on Aug 12 with "Éxodo del Pueblo Oriental", also a horse race. Weak and het (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. Re DXLD 1-083: Glenn, ¨qué hay de "complementario" en esto?. Toda esta información la proporcioné yo antes a muchas fuentes! 2) ¡Más grave aún!: la dirección electrónica correcta es norasan@adinet.com.uy -- el sufijo o dominio "ur" no existe para Uruguay. 3) Sin embargo, sí estoy tratando de confirmar su sked pues a las 0000 ya no están en el aire. Me falta chequear aún a las 0130. 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. I am hearing a SS station playing mx on 5000 under WWV and Ven time station. Missed ID at 0257. First hrd any thing other than time stations here (Bob Montgomery, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos, queridos amigos diexistas, hoy domingo a la 01:15 UT en la frecuencia de los 5000 kHz, estoy sintonizando a Radio Popular de Venezuela. Lo curioso es que estaba en el aire la señal del Observatorio Naval Cajigal que últimamente se ha comportado de forma irregular y las dos señales se mezclaban al aire; tengo grabaciones hechas. Ahora no sé si esta emisora estará haciendo pruebas en la onda corta, estaremos pendientes. Identificación escuchada: Radio Popular con la música unida a su corazón Radio Popular con la música de Venezuela Para el año 2000 esta emisora se identificaba como YVKG 9-50 AM. Según mi criterio el cambio a Radio Popular se debió a que YVKG se confundía con la identificación de YVKE Mundial. Suerte con este DX. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Jun 17, WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {But a few hours later, Montgomery IDed R. Rebelde 5025 spur on 5000} ** VIETNAM. President confers "Labour Hero" status on Voice of Vietnam | Text of report in English by Vietnamese radio text web site on 20 June State President Tran Duc Luong has recently signed a decision to confer the title "Labour Hero" on radio the Voice of Vietnam [as received]. The award acknowledges the radio's outstanding achievements in the renewal process and its contributions to the cause of socialist construction and national defence. This is a great honour for radio staff, especially when they are also celebrating Vietnam Press Day. To mark the occasion, the Voice of Vietnam has launched an emulation campaign to improve the quality of radio programs. Each broadcast service plans their own programme of action to turn resolutions of the 9th Party Congress into life, to welcome the "Labour Hero" title and the 56th anniversary of Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 7 September. Source: Voice of Vietnam text web site, Hanoi, in English 20 Jun 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** YEMEN. I received QSL-letter and card on June 15 from R Sana'a 9780 on their English broadcast 1800-1858. The correct address is: P. O. Box 2371, Sana'a (Different from WRTH 2001). My QSL came after 108 days. It was signed by the Technical Director, Engineer Mohammed H. Bather, who replied in English (Anker Petersen, Denmark, EDXP via WORLD OF RADIO 1084, DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. Heard latest WOR 6/13. Guess what? R. ``Yugoslavia`` showed up UT Fri June 15 0000 on 11870 for English to NAm. Had a few dropouts early on, though. I heard them on UT 6/2, 6/3, but 6/4 had other [other what?? -gh]. Back on 6/5, 6/6. 6/7 had other on. Not active on 6/8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Ditto not active those dates at 0430. I did not hear any reason or excuse given. I guess problem fixed. 0430 is hit by BBC 11865 (Bob Thomas, CT, June 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045.00, ZBC, 2355-0035 May 27-29 in unknown African language, very weak with lots of QRM, sounded like ZBC-2 at hourtop but not certain. Next day same weak signal covered in QRM at times, tent. ID at 0006 and checked http://www.radio-stations.net/country.php3?country=Zimbabwe website and was ZBC-2 with about 2 sec. delay on SW, this an FM rebroadcast. ILG May 17 says inactive, HCDX item says ZBC-1 which it clearly is not. ZBC-2 gives the ID and time in EG but rest is in African lang. Great distinctive mx which provided the hint that it was in fact Zimbabwe (Bob Montgomery, PA, NU via DXLD) ###