DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-117, August 30, 2001 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. For restrixions and searchable 2001, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html [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 1094: (stream) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1094.ram (download) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1094.rm (summary) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1094.html WOR on KRVM 1280 Eugène OR: WRN is currently available on KRVM AM from 11:00 PM until 6:00 AM PDT every day so I'm afraid that WOR at 7 AM is not relayed anymore (Tim Ayris, Marketing and Rebroadcasting Manager, World Radio Network) ** AFGHANISTAN. Actually, the site http://Taleban.com was already hacked on Thursday, August 23, before the Islamic militia outlawed the Internet use in Afghanistan. This news was widely reported in the Russian media and I checked it myself back then. The hacker whose English was far from perfect left his Russia-based e-mail address and promised to soon break into http://www.Kavkaz.org run by the Chechen separatists. Taleban.com is registered under Afghan Taleban Mission to the U.N. at 5516 Main Street, Suite #1D, Flushing, NY 11355 (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now I get ``this site is no longer available`` from http://www.taleban.com and http://taleban.com (gh, Aug 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Kabul radio changes morning broadcast times | Text of report by Afghan Taleban radio on 27 August Announcement from radio Voice of Shari'ah: The 0500 [0030 gmt] morning broadcast of Radio Voice of Shari'ah will start at 0530 [0100 gmt] as of the day after tomorrow, Wednesday [29 August 2001], and will continue until 0800 [0330 gmt]. Our compatriots should be aware of this. Source: Radio Voice of Shari'ah, Kabul, in Pashto 1500 gmt 27 Aug 01 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) WTFK? ** ANTARCTICA. 15475.6, R. Nac. Arcángel San Gabriel, Aug 24 2005- 2050 35433-35322 Spanish, Music and Talk by woman. ID at 2023 and 2036. good signal (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, Japan Premium via DXLD) On 15475.6 R. Nacional Arcángel, Spanish 8/24 -2005- 25332 Today is the best condition I have ever heard (Hiroo Nakagawa, Japan Premium via DXLD) Have tried for this several times lately, but so far nothing, e.g. Aug 30 after 2000 (gh, OK, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. HAY 5000 radios FM ilegales en el país Caos y competencia desleal Artículo del diario LA NACION Del dia 25-08-2001 Enviado por Emilio Méndez, Argentina Adaptado por Nicolás Éramo - Representan el 80% de las emisoras que NO TIENEN LICENCIA - Para el COMFER hay 1200 con permiso provisional - Proliferan por su bajo costo y por el clientelismo político Existen unas 6000 emisoras de FM sin licencia, de las cuales casi 5000 son TOTALMENTE ILEGALES, viciando el éter de la radiofonía. En este caótico universo las estaciones con licencia legal para funcionar son cerca de 580, de las cuales solo 240 emiten actualmente. Según el COMFER, el total de las FM en el aire es de 6000 y la cifra incluye a las 1200 con permiso provisional precario (PPP), un recurso administrativo INVENTADO en 1989 para poner en orden el CAOS. Pero fracasó. Esto está dañando a la radiofonía y se proyecta sobre los diarios, dado que el mercado publicitario es uno solo. Esas radios ilegales están generando una competencia desleal. En el desorden existente de emisores ilegales que tanto pueden ser ahijados políticos, o regentear negocios accesorios, entre las que se encuentran sermones pastorales, bailantas y curanderos, el 40 % de estas emisoras ILEGALES aunque también son denominadas CLANDESTINAS (porque carecen de licencia otorgada por el COMFER), están irradiando a las bailantas y a cultos religiosos. Un emisor de Necochea (Prov de Buenos Aires) no dudó al lanzar su slogan publicitario FM Trucha* "la que más se escucha" y esta emisora cuenta con un PPP otorgado por el COMFER. Sólo se han cerrado por el momento emisoras que han causado interferencia a los aeropuertos, porque interferían el sistema de aproximación a pista para el aterrizaje de los aviones; esto se hizo en muchas localidades de todo el país, más algunas que se cerraron con inteciones politícas y provocar miedo, pero causó un efecto contrario, saturado el dial de la FM, el fenómeno se transladó a la AM de 50 radios que existían ahora treparon a más de 100. * Terminó utilizado en Argentina para definir a lo CLANDESTINO o PIRATA. LAS RAZONES DEL CAOS Las causas de este pandemonio radial las podemos sintetizar así Explosión mundial de las comunicaciones en los años 80. Abaratamiento de la tecnología, lo que permite instalar una emisora de FM con una inversión de entre u$s 5000 y 10.000; hace 20 años la inversión era de un millón de dólares. Muchas de las emisoras fueron instaladas por los politícos para su propio beneficio. El cuentapropismo que se disparó por la desocupación y la imposibilidad de canalizar pequeñas inversiones (via Conexión Digital Aug 29, DXLD) ** BELARUS. Worldwide DX Club Bad Homburg has recently published the following e-mail address of Radio Minsk: radio-minsk@tvr.by I have sent a short request if it is possible to send reception reports to that address and received the following answer: Thema: From Radio Minsk Datum: 29.08.2001 10:55:09 (MEZ) - Mitteleurop. Sommerze From: radio-minsk@tvr.by (radio-minsk) Dear Mr. Volker, you could send your reception report to this address radio-minsk@tvr.by All the best, Grigori Mityushnikov English programs editor (via Volker Willschrey, Dillingen, Germany, Aug 29, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BELARUS. I've something to add to the fascinating discussion on Belarussian matters in latest BC-DX. Hard-core-dx readers may be interested, too. On Thursday, 30 August, at 1500 I tuned to 7105 kHz, and found the broadcast of New Radio Mahilou (Novoye Radio Mogilev -- that's the Russian for it) there. The most interesting words sounded after lots of advertisements, at about 1518: Every Thursday, at 1800- 1900 [Belarussian time, 1500-1600 UT - DM], the whole Russia is listening to us. If anyone wishes to advertise his production, or if you wish to congratulate your acquaints or relatives at the occasion of their birthdays or other dates, write to us: 212030, Mogilev, per. Kommunisticheskiy, 1. Novoye Radio Mogilev. The whole Russia is listening to us -- that undoubtedly means that Belarussian authorities rebroadcast regional programs via the powerful tx somewhere near Miensk, and regional broadcasters are aware of the relay schedule. I presume the relayed station depends on the day of the week. Homiel came on latest Monday, Brest on Wednesday, Mogilev (Mahilou) on Thursday. Let's see whether they will continue with this schedule. And be careful: the announced address in Mogilev (Mahilou) differs from indicated in WRTH'01. Best dx & 73, (Dmitri Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Aug 30, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Guarujá, de Florianópolis(SC), está emitindo espúrios entre 5980 e 5975 kHz, em 49 metros. Foi sintonizada no domingo, dia 26 de agosto, por volta de 2005 UTC, com futebol entre Avaí e Villa Nova. A locução era muito característica. O narrador Miguel Livramento a todo momento falava com um personagem, identificado como 'Zé Tapera', que dava palpites sobre o jogo. Quando o jogador errava, o locutor gritava: 'Oh! Desgraçado! O homem ruim! Eu jogo melhor que esse desgraçado!' Um dos patrocinadores da programação era a Peixaria do Chico. Resultado da partida: Avaí 3, Villa Nova 2. O Governador de Santa Catarina, Esperidião Amim, estava assistindo o jogo bem embaixo da cabine da Guarujá! (Célio Romáis, Pôrto Alegre - Brasil, Aug 28, radioescutas via DXLD) Célio, o problema de espúrios é geral por ali. Meus pais moram a uns 5 km da antena de OC da Guarujá, e não queira saber a dificuldade identica ao que você relata. Quanto ao Avai, você teve bom gosto. Quanto ao Miguel Livramento, é o característico manezinho da ilha. O Guga não é nada. Se voce quiser se divertir ouvindo o jogo, ouça a Guarujá nos jogos do Avai, pois o cara é avaiano roxo e não mede esforços de puxar a narração pros lados do time em questão. A peixaria do Chico fica no mercado público municipal e conheço-a desde criança quando lá morava. Um abraço, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP DX Clube do Brasil Member, ibid.) Rudolf, Outra emissora que distribui espúrio em 49 metros é a do Sistema Universo de Comunicação, conforme relatado pelo Glenn Hauser e outros colegas. Ainda sobre a Guarujá, ela tem atrapalhado a recepção da Rádio Senado [5990] por aqui, em alguns horários! 73s! (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre - RS, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 2420, 16.8 0115, unID Brazilian made me think of a reactivated Radio São Carlos. Decent signal strength (QSA 2-3), but due to heavy noise from thunderstorms it was not possible to hear anything. Best in AM mode on circa 2420.3, but impossible to note the exact frequency because of all the lightning noise. Can also be 2 x 1210, but São Carlos is more likely (Jan Edh, Sweden, SW Bulletin Aug 26, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, We've been exchanging messages about the RCI transmitter site in Sackville. I think I've found something that has satiated my curiosity about the number of actual functioning transmitters there: -------------------- from http://www.tantramar.com/trib/1999/04/28/ April 21, *1999* By Terry Dobson, Staff Reporter Radio Canada International is undergoing a multi-million dollar expansion with the installation of two new 250 kilowatt transmitters. The new transmitters at RCI's Tantramar marsh site will serve a dual role, said manager Ray Bristol. "They're going to replace one of the old, less powerful transmitters," he said. "It also paves the way for digital technology transmission," he added. The station now operates nine transmitters, three at 100 kilowatts and six at 250 kilowatts. The addition of the two new transmitters will bring to 10 the number of operational transmitters as one of the older less powerful transmitters will be shut down. The acquisition of the two new transmitters represents an investment of more than $4 million. "It's an expansion and an upgrade," said Bristol, adding no new staff has been hired. It will take a few months until the installation of the walk-in freezer-sized machines is complete. He noted the transmitters won't be the end of RCI's improvements this year. "We still have some other things planned," he said. "Some building upgrade and improvements." Bristol said computers control all the transmitters as well as the sprawling array of towers. Information related to the broadcast schedule is entered into the computers well ahead of actual transmission time. The transmitters are tuned automatically to any frequency between five and 30 MHz and tuning takes place in less than 12 seconds. RCI broadcasts in seven languages to Eastern, Central and Western Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and the United States. It broadcasts on short-wave, satellite, Internet and on local or national partner cable networks or medium wave radio stations. The towers on the Tantramar marsh are fed signal via satellite from production facilities in Quebec. Two factors make Sackville an ideal location for the towers. One is that the surrounding flat marshland acts as an excellent reflector of radio frequency energy, and the signal travels a minimum number of "hops" to its target areas. "Hops" refers to the number of times a radio signal bounces off the ionosphere before reaching its target. -------------------- So if RCI didn't in fact trash that old 100 kW clunker, then it is possible for them to have 11 transmitters working at the same time. I wonder whether the decision was monetary: keeping the 11th transmitter would mean they could sell more time... (Ricky Leong, QE, Aug 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The following press release was issued by Canada's Digital Radio Roll-out Inc. (DRRI). Regards, David Bray, Sr. Vice President, Hennessy & Bray Communications =========================================================== [Canadian] Broadcasters Announce Plans For New Digital Radio Stations August 27, 2001 Digital Radio Roll-Out Inc. (DRRI), today announced plans for a comprehensive engineering study which will lay the groundwork for new digital audio broadcasting (DAB) stations to serve the major population corridors in Canada. Covered by the new services will be all markets between Toronto - Windsor, Toronto - Ottawa, Toronto - Montreal, Montreal - Quebec City, Calgary - Edmonton, and Vancouver - Greater Fraser Valley. Currently, over 50 DAB stations have made service available to 10 million people in Vancouver, Toronto, Windsor, and Montreal. Ottawa is next in line to be added to the market list, with preparation underway for an airdate of early 2002. The planned expansion will add a series of markets including Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Cambridge, Guelph, Cornwall, Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Quebec City, Trois Rivieres and Chilliwack. An enthusiastic Duff Roman, President of DRRI, declared that "the launch of the corridor studies sets the stage for unleashing the true power of DAB - the addition of value-added datacasting services to accompany superb digital audio delivered seamlessly over vast areas to millions of Canadians." Digital Radio Roll-Out Inc. (DRRI), is a non-profit joint initiative of major private broadcasters (Astral Media Inc., CHUM Ltd., Corus Entertainment Inc., Rogers Media, Standard Radio Inc., Telemedia Radio Inc.), a number of smaller private broadcasters, and public broadcasters (CBC, Radio Canada) with the support of the Canadian government. DRRI's mandate is the introduction of digital audio broadcasting services across Canada. DAB is the replacement technology for current AM and FM analogue transmission. For more information, contact: Hennessy & Bray Communications, David Bray, Phone: (416) 431-5792, Fax: (416) 431-0168, Email: davidbray@sympatico.ca Web site: http://www.digitalradio.ca [MODERATOR'S NOTE: For those members who would like a formatted copy of this press release (Microsoft Word), it is available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RADIO-L/files/ ------------------------------- RADIO-L - a discussion forum for digital radio Visit RADIO-L and DAB resources on the World Wide Web: http://www.magi.com/~moted/dr = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = To contribute to the RADIO-L discussions, send an e-mail to: RADIO-L@egroups.ca To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: RADIO-L-unsubscribe@egroups.ca For other administrative assistance, send an email to: RADIO-L-owner@egroups.ca (via David Bray, Aug 27, Radio-L, via Ken Halpert, DXLD) (also via Mike Terry, UK from http://www.digitalradio.ca ) [non]. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). There is an interesting DAB website at http://www.worlddab.org I hadn't realised DAB was so far advanced elsewhere. Singapore has 100% population coverage, Belgium 95%, and Germany 65%. The UK is 78%. There are two rebels who are not adopting Eureka 147. The US is developing an in band system to run alongside existing FM services in band 2. This seems to be a commercial decision rather than technical. Neither Canada nor Mexico who normally copy US mistakes for compatibility reasons are doing so this time. The other rebel is Japan which is using it's own system ISDB-T. Singapore evaluated this system but rejected it in favour of Eureka 147 (Gareth Foster, BDXC-UK Aug 30 via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Voice of America considers anti-censorship tech August 29, 2001 Posted: 5:53 PM EDT (2153 GMT) By Ann Kellan, CNN Science and Technology WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Voice of America is considering new technology to allow Chinese citizens access to Web sites now banned by their government. Currently, Chinese government firewalls block many Western Web sites, including some Voice of America sites. Software, called Triangle Boy, will act as a deflector for Chinese citizens who want to access banned Internet sites. The technology attempts to fool the government by sending the signal outside the government's firewall to a "friends" site, then bounces that signal to the "banned" site and back to your computer. Triangle Boy was developed by Safe Web, Inc., and debuted in March. "It looks to the local authorities as something innocuous. But that's how we reopened access after we were blocked in Beijing, blocked in Saudi Arabia and blocked in Shanghai, all these places," said Safe Web, Inc.'s CEO Stephen Hsu (PRON: shoe). Known for using powerful radio signals to reach the masses living under oppressive regimes, Voice of America has had its broadcasts jammed by governments as well as some of its Web sites, including the mandarin site, http://www.voa.gov/chinese. Next week, on September 5, Voice of America plans to unveil a new Web site, http://www.voachinese.com, with an advanced search engine. That's another reason it's in negotiations with Safe Web, Inc., to purchase Triangle Boy, to foil the Chinese government's efforts to ban the site. "We stand for the free flow of information. We want people in China to get to our Web site. We want people to be able to access it freely," said Voice of America spokesman Joe O'Connell. According to its Web site, "Voice of America is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government broadcasting over 900 hours of news and cultural programming every week to an audience 91 million worldwide. The programs are also available at http://www.voa.gov, live and on-demand." (via Tom McNiff, VA, DXLD) August 30, 2001 U.S. May Help Chinese Evade Net Censorship By JENNIFER 8. LEE The United States government agencies that once tried to breach the Iron Curtain with radio broadcasts are taking the information war to the Internet, hoping to finance an American-based computer network designed to thwart attempts by the Chinese government to censor the World Wide Web for users in China. Government officials and private architects of the plan say the program would be financed by the International Broadcasting Bureau, parent agency of the Voice of America, which has been presenting the American view abroad -- mostly by radio -- for decades. It would mark a significant expansion of the long-running information war between China and the United States. More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/30/technology/30VOIC.html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Hola, ayer por la noche yo no pude dormir. Como radioaficionado no tuve ningún problema en ese caso y sintonicé la frecuencia 6034.9 kHz. Pude oír una programación maravillosa de canciones románticas de los años 60: La Voz del Guaviare, San José del Guaviare, Agosto 28, 0155-0230, Español, canciones románticas de los años 60, publicidad para electrodomésticos; eslogan: "La Voz del Guaviare, radio con participación"; SINPO 43323 saludos cordiales a todos (Michael Schnitzer - mschnitzer@cc-online.de Receiver: JRC NRD- 525 Antennas: 25m longwire DX-One Professional EWE to South America EWE to Asia/Pacific Location: Hassfurt, Germany / Alemania, Conexión Digital Aug 28 via DXLD) Good reception of La Voz del Guaviare last night: 6034.9, San José del Guaviare, August 28th, 0155-0230, Spanish, very fine romantic LA songs of the 60ies, advertisement for electric household goods, slogan: "La Voz del Guaviare, radio con participación"; SINPO 43323. vy 73 (Michael Schnitzer, Germany, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CUBA. 15120, RADIO HABANA CUBA 2054 SS [333 20 Aug] YL w/news items, then comments followed by Cuban music. IS 2059, YL w/ID and cont'd in Spanish (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, Japan Premium via DXLD) Seems a new frequency, strong signal but awful low and distorted audio Aug 30 at 2118 ID; wonder what it replaces, 13 MHz? Has RHC no shame -- or competent engineers? (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. ETECSA: reina de las deficiencias Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo Decoro LA HABANA, agosto - A pesar de algunos avances cuantitativos de los últimos años, la telefonía en Cuba no ha superado su mala calidad. La Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), asociación mixta entre el régimen de Fidel Castro e inversionistas italianos, que vende de manera exclusiva los servicios telefónicos a los residentes de la isla, es criticada por la mayoría de sus clientes. Las ineficiencias de la ETECSA son múltiples. En las principales ciudades del país, principalmente en la capital, aumentó el número de teléfonos públicos y privados. En los públicos, por ejemplo, es casi imposible encontrar cuya pequeña pantalla no presente el siguiente mensaje: "Sólo puede efectuar llamadas de emergencia", lo que significa que la caja recaudadora está llena de monedas o que simplemente el aparato está defectuoso. Reiteradamente los funcionarios de ETECSA han planteado que se superará esta situación pero en la práctica todo sigue igual. He escuchado comentarios de ciudadanos que, haciendo gala del choteo, se burlan del servicio de llamadas internacionales al expresar: "Más bien se trata de un servicio de música clásica". Se refieren al fondo musical que el cliente escucha por el auricular durante las largas esperas que caracterizan ese tipo de servicio. Sucede que como a los cubanos se les prohibe comunicarse directamente con el exterior del país por teléfono, deben hacerlo a través de las operadoras de ETECSA (personal "confiable" puesto por el gobierno), es así como éstas, luego de informarle a los usuarios que esperan en línea le conectan una grabación musical. Recientemente, una vecina mía tuvo que esperar media hora para que le pusieran la llamada que solicitó. ¡Puede considerarse afortunada! Otro de los males es la interferencia en las líneas. Frecuentemente, cuando se descuelga el teléfono se escucha en el auricular a cualquiera de las emisoras de radio de Ciudad de La Habana, principalmente Radio Reloj, estación informativa que da a conocer la hora a todas horas. También se oyen conversaciones mientras se habla por teléfono. Hace algunos días, me sorprendió un fenómeno increíble: al prender el pequeño radio portátil de casa de mis tías, escuché íntegramente lo que hablaba por teléfono el vecino de al lado. No miento, la conversación se oía con más calidad que las emisoras de radio nacionales. Al contar sobre este fenómeno a cierto amigo, me explicó que tiene una vecina que siempre le avisa cuando oye en su viejo televisor marca Caribe las comunicaciones telefónicas que él realiza. Por otro lado, hace meses comenzó la venta de tarjetas prepagadas para el servicio en moneda nacional. No obstante, casi son inexistentes los aparatos que funcionan con ese tipo de tarjetas. En las cabinas climatizadas que ETECSA ha ubicado en lugares céntricos de la capital, solamente uno de los cinco teléfonos que tienen instalados opera en moneda nacional y casi siempre del mismo cuelga un letrero que informa: "Roto". Un dato curioso: en las dos cabinas ubicadas en el llamado casco histórico de la ciudad la ETECSA desconectó y retiró del sitio los teléfonos que operan en pesos. Hay que llamar con dólares, o no llamar. Pudieran tratarse otros aspectos relacionados con el tema de la italo-gubernamental ETECSA, pero de seguro bastará lo escrito para esbozar la situación de crisis, de incomunicación, que padecen los cubanos. La vida real desmiente el eslogan del Ministerio de Comunicación: "En la guerra como en la paz, mantendremos las comunicaciones". Es más realista que adopten este otro: "Con nosotros los cubanos nunca tendrán comunicaciones eficientes y de calidad". En esta crisis, ETECSA es la reina de las deficiencias. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. Cordiales 73's (Oscar via D. Lawton Batista, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CUBA. Venden televisores Panda a trabajadores que reúnen méritos laborales y políticos LA HABANA, 28 de agosto (Juan Carlos Linares) - El gobierno de Cuba comenzó la venta de telereceptores chinos marca Panda, ensamblados en la isla, sólo a trabajadores estatales que reúnan los méritos laborales y políticos requeridos al efecto. Las exigencias que se miden en las asambleas laborales donde se asigna el "derecho" a comprar los Panda son las siguientes: haber trabajado más de diez años como empleado del Estado, no tener ausencias ni llegadas tardes al centro, pertenecer al sindicato oficialista y a las Milicias de Tropas Territoriales, pagar puntualmente las cotizaciones de ambas entidades, así como realizar trabajos voluntarios. Otros aspectos que pueden influir a la hora de competir por los televisores Panda es si el solicitante milita en el Partido Comunista de Cuba o en la Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas. El Ministerio de Salud Pública es de los primeros en otorgar derechos a comprar Pandas. "Un anuncio expuesto en la entrada del Hospital Neurológico, situado en el municipio Plaza de la Revolución, informa que se asignaron 15 televisores para repartir entre sus más de 400 trabajadores", precisó una fuente muy confiable. Pero lo más preocupante del asunto es el precio de los Panda: 4 mil pesos, que al cambio oficial vigente equivalen a casi 182 dólares. No obstante, a los que ganen el derecho a comprar el Panda se les da la facilidad de pagar 65 pesos mensuales, por descuento salarial, siempre y cuando den una entrada de mil pesos. El salario promedio mensual del cubano es de 249 pesos, y a los Panda se les "amputó", por decreto gubernamental, el circuito de UHF para que sus propietarios no puedan recibir señales televisivas procedentes de Estados Unidos de América. Noticias relacionadas Ordenan "amputarle" el UHF a los televisores chinos marca Panda / Juan Carlos Linares Retiran televisores de las tiendas dolarizadas en La Habana / Cuba Voz Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, Miami, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Czech Republic: Radio celebrates 65 years of foreign broadcasts | Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 30 August: The foreign service of Czech Radio - Radio Prague - has been broadcasting news and features for exactly 65 years. Radio Prague broadcasts in six languages and can be heard in around 60 countries. Radio Prague director Miroslav Krupicka said that the station has around 130,000 listeners. The first Radio Prague broadcast was made on August 31, 1936. Since 1994 the station has also been broadcasting on the internet. While the first broadcasts were almost all in Czech, there were some features in English and the news was read in five languages. Radio Prague now broadcasts in Czech, English, Russian, French, Spanish and German. Russian broadcasts were reintroduced last year. Before World War II it broadcast in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and occasionally in Serbo-Croat and Romanian. It went off the air when Germany occupied the Czech lands. In 1946 the number of languages Radio Prague broadcast in rose to 18. From 1948 the station began preparing different programmes for countries which were communist-run and countries which were not. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1105 gmt 30 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) I received this from David Vaughan, chief editor of the Radio Prague English Service: "We will broadcast a special anniversary programme on Sunday, including interviews with people who have worked at Radio Prague during various periods in our sometimes dramatic history - going right back to the period before the war. There will also be a look at Radio Prague today and the prospects for the future. The programme will be presented by Olga Szantova, who herself was forced to leave Radio Prague after the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, and was only able to come back in the early 1990s. It should be a very interesting programme. I'll also make sure that it also gets saved in audio on our website http://www.radio.cz" I'm not sure if this will be on during all the half-hours to North America. The schedule is at http://www.radio.cz/english/ (Kim Elliott, DC, Aug 30, swprograms via DXLD) This should be very interesting indeed. The location of Radio Prague (and all of Czech Radio) was the site of some of the fiercest fighting and most important battles during the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968. There is a plaque on the front of the building noting this, and whenever the invasion is commemorated, the Czech Radio building is one of the main locations for such commemorations to take place. Some of the stories I've heard about the broadcasters continuing to broadcast even as the invading soldiers were in the building are amazing (Ralph Brandi, ibid.) Those of you who missed the penultimate edition of the Media Network radio show last fall can listen again to an 15 minute extract from the documentary on Radio Prague in 1968 by clicking on the audio link at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/prague010830.html (Andy Sennitt, ibid., std disclaimer) ** ETHIOPIA. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Voice of Tigray Revolution, Mekele, Ethiopia, heard on 5500 kHz with sign- on at 0315 UTC on 28th August, with Ethiopian-style music and ID's in presumed Tigrigna, which I think must be usual opening procedure. Fair reception, better than parallel 6315 kHz which was audible at same time but with utility interference (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR 7030+/LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. 4875, Radio Khara in Vernaculars with distorted sound *1600-1627* Aug 13, no trace on 4540 so far 9490: Observations Aug 1-19 on that frequency: Mon-Fri Radio Sochi 0330-0345, 1430-1445. Radio Krasnodar 0300-0330, 0345-0400 & 1445-1500. Sat Radio Krasnodar 0610-0700. Radio Republic Abkhazia: Mon-Sat 0400-0500; Sat 0700-0800; Sun 1100- 1200. Daily 1400-1430. Sats 1400-1600 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Radio stations SFB and ORB to merge by 2004 | Excerpt from report by German newspaper Handelsblatt on 29 August The Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB) radio stations are planning to merge by 1 January 2004. At a special session of the SFB Radio Council in Berlin yesterday, Director Horst Schättle briefed the participants on the state of the talks with the land governments. Observers have said that the new Social Democratic Party of Germany [SPD]-led Berlin Senate has paved the way for speeding up the process. It is expected that the länder parliaments in Potsdam and Berlin will sign the necessary state treaty by the end of 2002. SFB Director Schättle and his ORB counterpart, Hansjürgen Rosenbauer, expect the merger to help reduce costs significantly. Yet, no detailed figures were given yesterday... Source: Handelsblatt, Düsseldorf, in German 29 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. From alt.radio.digital: 26th August 2001 German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, has confirmed that radio in the Federal Republic of Germany has an entirely digital future. Opening the 43rd Internationale Funkausstellung - or consumer electronics fair - in Berlin on Friday 24 August he said "...and 2015 is the latest date for the current analogue radio to be replaced by Digital Radio". WorldDAB has welcomed the Chancellor's statement. Michael McEwen, WorldDAB President, said "I'm delighted that Chancellor Schröder has placed digital radio firmly on the political agenda in Germany. It's clear that Germany is taking a leadership role in migrating radio from the analogue to the digital domain." The Eureka 147 Digital Audio Broadcasting system has been developed as a pan-European system to take radio into the digital future of broadcasting. A range of German broadcasting companies, manufacturers and research institutes have been involved with the technology's development. Currently, DAB services in Germany cover some 65% of the population. It is expected by 2004 to rise to more than 85% of the country's population. As broadcasters roll out DAB coverage with existing and new DAB services, manufacturers are releasing the next generation of DAB receivers for the consumer market as seen at the consumer electronics show, IFA which is running in Berlin until 2nd September. Products on display include integrated DAB and MP3 in-car products, through sophisticated hi-fi systems to prototype "kitchen" radio sets. "DAB is now well positioned for a successful transition in Germany," continued McEwen. "WorldDAB is working closely with the new Initiative Marketing Digital Radio (IMDR) to ensure that the launch of DAB throughout the Federal Republic is a complete success." Nicolas, VDL Diffusion, http://www.vdldiffusion.com/dab/ La liste de diffusion DAB francophone Pour s'inscrire : dab-subscribe@vdldiffusion.com (via Mike Terry, Aug 28, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GREECE. Where are the Greek authorities? A big pirate radio station expansion - several Greek pirates were observed around 1900- 2200 Aug 19 in fundamentals and harmonic freq ranges MW 1620-1850, 3240-3700, and also on 2970, 3095, 4855, 6825 kHz. Also two Yugoslavian pirates heard again after long absence on 1780 and 1810 kHz, and also their 1st [sic] harmonics were observed (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, 15.8 0327, Radio Verdad with English ann. Asked for reception reports and promised QSL. Mostly soft and tranquil mx. QSA 2 (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin Aug 26, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** GUINEA. Radio Television Guinéenne. Date of Issue: 30-Aug-2001 09:38. Last Modified: 21-Aug-2001 13:45. Comments: Frequencies used in the past but not currently heard include: 1404 4900 6155 9650 15310 kHz (all variable). Some news bulletins are relayed on RTG local/regional stations. Languages: French Address : PO Box 391, Conakry Tel : +224 411401/411410/451408 Fax : +224 411410 E-mail : l.conde@caramail.com (director) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0555-0800 .MTuWThFSa FRENCH 7.125 87.0-108 88.55-Conakry (and VERNACULARS) 0645-0700 .MTuWThF. News (French) 0915 Su...... News (French) - unconfirmed 0800-1200 Su...... FRENCH 7.125 87.0-108 88.55-Conakry (and VERNACULARS) 1200-2359 Daily FRENCH 7.125 87.0-108 88.55-Conakry (and VERNACULARS) 1245-1300 .MTuWThF. News (French) 1615-1630 Daily News (French) 1630-1800 Daily Progs in vernaculars 1945-2000 Daily News (French) 2020-2030 Daily News (vernacular) 2100-2110 Daily News (vernacular) 2200-2215 Daily News (French) 2230-2245 Daily News (vernacular) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 30, condensed for DXLD) Source: Radio Rurale. Main Studio: Labe. Media Provider: Radio Television Guinéenne. Date of Issue: 30-Aug-2001 09:38. Last Modified: 30-Aug-2001 09:31. Comments: RTG regional station for the Labe area. Most programming is in local vernaculars. Languages: French, Vernaculars. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0555-0800 Daily VERNACULARS 1.386 1200-2300 Daily VERNACULARS 1.386 1945-2000 Daily News (FRENCH) - relayed from Conakry --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 30, condensed for DXLD) ** INDIA. Dear Mr. Glenn Hauser, With reference to your query about the meaning of "MoU" you mentioned in one of your latest bulletins on India, it means "Memorandum of Understanding" and it is a popular term in Indian business houses / burocracy etc. So, let`s us have a MoU to exchange Dx news?! Sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad India 500082, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. USA/UK/Iraq: New Iraqi opposition TV on Telstar satellite | Text of report by Voice of America "Communications World" on 26 August Last week I reported about a new satellite television station directed to Iraq called TV Liberty. It's operated by the Iraqi National Congress from studios in London, with funding from the US government. David de Jong in the Netherlands found tuning information about this station from the Lyngsat satellite guide. It's on Telstar 12, 15 degrees west, MPEG2, in the clear, 12.599 GHz vertical, SR 3617, FEC 3/4, and the PIDs are 308 and 256 on the European beam. According to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Iraqi National Congress officials acknowledged that they do not know how many people in Iraq have the digital receivers necessary to watch TV Liberty. [Liberty TV - in Arabic Tilifizyun al-Hurriyah - was confirmed by BBC Monitoring on 24 August on the Telstar 12 satellite at 15 degrees West with a test transmission. Captions displayed the following information: "Soon on this channel, Liberty TV on T12 satellite." The following slogans are displayed from time to time: "Channel of Truth and Freedom About Iraq" "Inspired by Your Success for Your Success" "A Picture on What Goes on Inside Iraq Today"] Sources: Voice of America, Washington, in English 1400 gmt 26 Aug 01; Monitoring research 24 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Opposition TV to launch by "end of this week" | Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA London, 29 August: The opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) is hoping to start broadcasting satellite television programmes to Iraq by the end of this week with the help of funds approved by the US Congress. "We have been carrying a test signal for the past two weeks and are moving towards the first programme," INC's communications adviser Zaab Sethna told IRNA [on] Wednesday [29 August]. He said that "initially there will be one hour programme, including a 20-minute news bulletin, interviews and other things that might be of interest to the Iraqi people or that might be censored." The transmissions will be repeated several times a day with the hope of building up to eight hours of programmes, broadcast three times a day. The station, known as Hurria [Tilifizyun al-Hurriyah] or Liberty TV, is being organized by the INC, an umbrella group of Iraqi exiles based in London, which has campaigned for US and British support to oust President Saddam Husayn for nearly a decade. The start-up costs for the digital broadcasts, sent via America from a rented transponder on the Telstar 12 satellite, have come from 4m dollar funds provided by the US Congress. Source: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in English 1015 gmt 29 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Opposition plans satellite transmission | Excerpt from report by London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi on 29 August; subheading added editorially According to Iraqi opposition press reports, a media battle will begin in London as of next Thursday [6 September] via an opposition television station called "Freedom Television." This is a station established with US funds appropriated by the US congress to finance attempts to overthrow the Baghdad regime. The television station's broadcasts will not be limited to political programmes and opposition statements, but will also include political commentaries, news, phone-in programmes, songs, and motion pictures. The station will broadcast for one hour a day but the transmission time will be extended in the next few months, according to Iraqi opposition sources. INC [Iraqi National Congress] sources said that the opposition chose to transmit television broadcasts, instead of radio broadcasts, to Iraq because television is clearer and more sophisticated than radio broadcasts. Opposition officials, quoted by US newspapers, said that they believe that the "Freedom Television" station will be an instrument to undermine President Saddam Husayn's rule. 1m dollars has been obtained to purchase cameras and studio recording equipment. The station will need a further 1m dollars annually to pay salaries and other expenses. With the help of a booster station in Ireland, viewers in the Middle East, most of Africa, and the US east coast who have a satellite dish will be able to receive "Freedom Television" broadcasts. This booster station, costing 13m dollars, will make it difficult for the Iraqi authorities to jam the broadcasts. [how is that??? -gh] Although it is not easy to obtain a satellite dish in Iraq, there are many means to circumvent the law. According to Iraqi opposition reports, confirmed by the US State Department, a quarter of Baghdad's inhabitants have satellite dish antennas. A large percentage of the inhabitants of northern Iraq have satellite dish antennas. In the north 60 per cent of the Kurdish inhabitants have dish antennas, compared with 20 per cent among the inhabitants in southern Iraq. "Elite" is target audience The Iraqi opposition pins its hopes on Baghdad and its surroundings where the educated and well-to-do Iraqi elite lives, including people directly connected with political and military circles who might be influenced by the Iraqi opposition's television broadcasts and be encouraged to change the situation. The opposition believes that its main goal is to influence this group of people to introduce a change in the course of Iraqi politics. However, academic sources cast doubt on the opposition's ability to influence Iraq's political structure through a satellite channel broadcasting for only one hour a day. According to an academic researcher who has carried out studies on opposition radio and television broadcasts supported by foreign countries, the Iraqi opposition's chances of success are slim. He made this statement in an interview with The New York Times... Nevertheless, the US Government, which stands behind this new venture, sees "Freedom Television" as proof of its determination to change the government system in Iraq and establish what it calls a "democratic" system. Hence, the United States describes "Freedom Television as a great step forward." Source: Al-Quds al-Arabi, London, in Arabic 29 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 1539, After tx damage end of June "Arutz Sheva" (channel 7) is back on the air Aug 16 at 1600-1700 in French, 1700-2000 in English (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. Quem é japonês e gosta de rádio, vai se divertir durante a Copa do Mundo. Parece que a NHK não vai medir esforços para cobrir o evento. No último dia 22 de agosto, a emissora colocou 7 freqüências para transmitir uma partida de futebol. Parece que era da seleção daquele país! Por volta de 0455 UTC, estavam em cadeia as seguintes freqüências: 6175, 11900, 17835, 17875, 17860, 11790 e 9660 kHz. (Celio Romais Porto Alegre - Brasil Sony ICF SW7600G radioescutas via DXLD) 6175 = Sackville? Ex-BBC, ex-RCI? (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. DPR. 2349.75 KCBS, Sariwon, Aug 13 -1225- 35333 Korean, Song by female singer (Hironao Oguma, Tokyo, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. IRAQ. 4600, Clandestine Radio Liberty - The Voice of Free Socialist Iranian Kurdistan (the name is approx), pro-Communist on new 4600, and \\ 6815 (latter with distorted sound) heard at 1700- 1800* Aug 16. At 1730 ID in Kurdish and Persian, playing "The International" Communist hymn, singing in Russian language (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How do you know it is in Iraq? (gh, DXLD) 3985, V of Iranian Kurdistan heard just before s-off at 1659 Aug 18 with ID in Kurdish and Persian, plus accompanied Iranian jammer 4130, Radio Kurdistan - The VoKSDP is back on the air. Reported *1843-2007* Aug 16 in Kurdish and Arabic (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Let`s see; would that be Kurdish Socialist Democratic Party? (gh) ** LIBERIA. 28 August 2001: The Catholic Church in Liberia has filed a lawsuit against the government for banning its radio station, Radio Veritas, from broadcasting on shortwave. The case could be an important test of the judicial system in Liberia, as many believe the judiciary is controlled by the government of President Charles Taylor. In late July, the government banned Radio Veritas from broadcasting on shortwave, but gave no reason. On 28 August, Taylor said he would only allow his private Liberia Communications Network, the state-owned Liberia Broadcasting Service and Radio ELWA, which airs religious programmes, to operate on the shortwave bands. Taylor argued that operating on shortwave "is a privilege, not a right" and added that the multitude of shortwave services had given rise to some "hate messages on certain hate stations." Radio Veritas Station Manager Ledger Hood Rennie claims that the station has been paying fees to broadcast on both FM and shortwave "even for the period our shortwave has remained inoperational," referring to a recent breakdown and transmission problems. Taylor closed down the independent Star Radio and Radio Veritas in March 2000, but allowed the latter to re-open following intense domestic and international pressure. © Radio Netherlands Media Network. (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** LIBYA. VOICE OF AFRICA has been heard today Aug 30, with fair signal on 15435 with news bulletins in English at 1410 and French at 1420. After three minutes, the French news bulletin ended at 1423 and a programme in Hausa (!!!) has been announced in Arabic. The programme may have consisted of typical Libyan propaganda with some short pieces of Arabic music in between. It lasted until 1448 followed by an ID and programming in Arabic ("Sawt-ul Afrikiyah min al Jamahiriyah ..."). Nothing has been heard on 15415 and 17725 kHz. Ciao from Wuppertal, 55 + 73 (Manfred Reiff, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Estimados amigos de la Lista: Espero esta información sea de vuestro interés: Domingo 2 Septiembre 2001, Classic Rock Radio, 7470 kHz, de *0400 TU hasta las 0700* en modo BLS para América. De 0700+ en modo AM para Europa. QTH: P.O. Box 663, 7900AR Hoogeveen, Holanda. web site: http://www.geocities.com/classicrockradio (Fuente: Rock DJ, Classic Rock Radio, Holanda via Gabriel Barrera, Aug 30, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. I'm glad you agreed with me and all the other RN listeners who contacted you and suggested/implored that you add a North American morning service after the BBC debacle. But I'm wondering just what information you used in order to choose 5965 and 15220 kHz as the frequencies to use? Personally, here in the middle US (St. Louis, Missouri, right on the Mississippi river), the best frequency for the BBC, and then your test transmissions, was 9515 kHz. But you let that one revert back to Radio Canada Int'l, who are now using it and getting good signals in here. Also, using that frequency for a longer time period avoids the need you had to change from 5965 to 15220 for the two different transmissions. Did you have detailed reports from monitors across the country on the relative quality and signal strengths of the former-BBC frequencies you used to "test the waters"? If so, I'd sure like to hear a summary of their findings on a future "Sincerely Yours". Maybe there could be a detailed text report posted on the web? I'm happy you're on the air, but I do feel that you could have gotten better quality signals into the mid-US with a different frequency choice. 5965 here is relatively weak and fades out in the middle of the two-hour block; I get better reception on 9790 kHz from Bonaire during the first hour. 15220 is subject to some annoying interference and varying signal level. These problems are not new; the BBC's signals suffered the same defects when they used those same frequencies at those times. How does the situation I hear here compare with the Northeast and Western US, based on what reports you've gotten? I'll listen anyway, but I hope for improvements. What I have been wondering is why you didn't put a Bonaire transmission on one or more of the former-BBC frequencies, instead of paying to get transmission time from the VOA and Sackville. Is it actually cheaper to hire the time from others instead of transmitting from your own facility or were there other factors, like the availability of Bonaire transmitter times? Please let your North American audience know. We've been happy with the Bonaire relays at all the other times we hear them, even some like 9790 at 0930 UT that are not directed here. Regards, (William Martin, Saint Louis, Missouri, Aug 28, to RN, cc to DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. [The KOSU Weekly] Week of August 26, 2001 This week on Oklahoma's Public Radio: KOSU's Kelly Burley visits with a professional whistler from Jenks, Oklahoma, as he prepares for "Puckerama 2001." Pro whistlers and bird callers from as far away as Japan will come together in Tulsa for the October event. Friday at 8 a.m. & 5 p.m. [CDT] On-Line Changes http://www.kosu.org Based on your feedback and careful analysis of our streaming services we are making the following changes effective August 31, 2001. KOSU will no longer stream audio side channels or offer the custom designed Personal Public Media Player. These changes will decrease streaming costs and remove the requirement for the branded player. We tested side channels to see if they might provide a wider selection of programming and sub-genres to offer our listeners. After reviewing the statistics, costs and feedback, we have concluded that the current market conditions will not sufficiently support the service. Instead, we will focus our efforts to assist you in maximizing your primary streaming activities. As always, KOSU will stream in both Windows Media and RealAudio formats. Because we will no longer be streaming side channels, we will not continue to offer a custom media player (which essentially masked the generic Windows Media player so we could offer side channels through a common user interface). What will this mean for you? Fewer problems listening to your live stream and the ability to bookmark your live stream in the player. KOSU is committed to bringing cost-effective, state-of the art Internet tools for you (KOSU weekly Aug 26 via WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) We`ve never liked the Personal Public Radio setup, with all its commercials and irrelevance, not really designed properly for public radio, and an obstacle to audio streaming. Glad they`ve seen the light. BTW, KGOU/KROU at OU have started testing streaming wm and rm, apparently without PPR either; see Special Announcements at http://www.kgou.org (gh, OK, DXLD) ** PALESTINE. West Bank and Gaza: Financial problems force PFLP-GC radio to cut broadcasts Al-Quds Radio, a Syrian-based Palestinian radio station opposed to Yasir Arafat's authority and to peace with Israel, has greatly reduced the length of its broadcasts. The station announced on 30 August that its financial plight was the main reason for the cutbacks. Al-Quds Radio has been broadcasting since January 1988, in the name of Ahmad Jibril and his Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). When it began broadcasting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Al-Quds radio used to broadcast in Hebrew, French and English. However, it has not been observed to do so for many years. Prior to April 1996 the radio also transmitted on shortwave. During the first few years of its existence, the station was occasionally jammed. However, no sign of jamming has been observed for several years. In 1998 the radio gave a postal address in the Syrian town of Dar'a. Financial problems force cutbacks On 28 August, the radio announced that broadcasts on two mediumwave frequencies, 630 and 702 kHz, would stop and the radio would continue on 105.4 and 96.7 MHz FM. On 30 August the radio was heard on 702 kHz, but with a greatly reduced transmission time - from 0500 gmt to 0700 gmt - despite having said it would broadcast until 0930 gmt. At one point on 30 August the radio made the following announcement: "This is Al-Quds, the Palestinian Arab radio on the road to liberating the land and man. "In order to avoid any misunderstanding or unrealistic and baseless speculations, Al-Quds, the Palestinian Arab radio on the road to liberating the land and man, [few seconds break in reception] "1. The reasons for stopping the two primary mediumwave frequencies, 702 and 630 kHz, are all financial reasons. "2. Over a year ago, and because of the same financial causes, we were forced to stop transmission on 9011 kHz shortwave. "3. For over two years, and in the statement of expenditure which the Al-Quds radio director-general presents at the beginning of each year, we made it clear that Al-Quds radio was being threatened with closure for financial reasons. We called for popular support because we refuse to sell or pawn our voice, the voice of our self- sacrificing people. "4. From the beginning of our transmission, the enemy tried to stifle our voice by interference and threats. The enemy tried to steal Al- Quds frequencies but without success. The enemy then resorted to financial blockade. "5. We appealed to all listeners and the friends of Al-Quds radio to rush to our assistance, so that the radio would continue to be a voice of the truth and the intifadah, a voice for those who cannot make their voice heard. "Regrettably, all we received were emotional letters and telephone calls. We thank them for their sympathy, but this could not provide us with spare parts. "Now after this stoppage in transmission, we received letters, telephone calls and faxes from most of the Arab countries, most of them expressing readiness to support Al-Quds radio and asking us immediately to accept contributions for the station. "In order to meet the desire of the supporters of Al-Quds radio, we announce the following: "1. Each penny that is paid in support of Al-Quds radio will keep this station immune from pressure. The contribution of each listener, however small, will be a contribution to free writing, free speech, and the independent stand. "2. The offices of the Al-Quds radio, which will be announced, are prepared to accept financial contributions as of now and in exchange for official receipts. "3. Some have asked that we specify a bank account number so they can deposit their financial contributions. In order to meet their desire, we announce that the number of our bank account is, from left to right: 0013-340696-125, Bank of Beirut and Arab Countries [bank bayrut wa al-bilad al-arabiyah], Shtawrah [Lebanon] branch. "We would like to make an important, beneficial, and financially sound observation; namely, that we hope that all contributors through the bank account will send a copy of bank receipts to Fax No. 4448374. "Finally, Al-Quds staff will make announcements on the contributions we receive during the two-hour morning transmission period every week. "O listeners, supporters of Al-Quds radio, we rely on you. Contribute towards the return of your radio, Al-Quds radio, and make it a reverberating and fearless voice. "God is with us, victory is close, together on the road to liberating the land and man. "[Signed] Al-Quds radio staff." Until recently, Al-Quds radio used to broadcast on 702 kHz from 0500 to 1400 gmt. It also announced that transmission would continue on FM frequencies until 2100 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research 30 Aug 01 © (via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NBC director suspended over "anti-government programmes" | Text of report by Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site on 29 August The National Broadcasting Corporation news director, Joe Ealadona, has been suspended. Mr Ealadona confirmed yesterday he was suspended because of several anti-government programmes aired on NBC. His suspension became effective at noon yesterday and was signed by new NBC managing director Dr Kristoffa Ninkama. Mr Ealadona, a Pacific Journalist of the Year awardee, accepted the decision calmly and said he would allow justice to take its course to find out who was right and who was wrong. He added the suspension was "political" which had nothing to do with his professional career as a journalist. "I am treating this as political and have advised my staff to continue working without fear or favour," he said. In his advice to Mr Ealadona, Dr Ninkama said that his news director had allowed to air a soldiers protest on 21 March at Murray Barracks without authority which threatened national security; aired a current affairs programme on the university strike seven days later; and aired a live broadcast of the launching of the Labour Party on 11 August, which was carried again on August 13. Mr Ealadona said he had seven days to answer to the charges and would do so. However, Mr Ealadona said there was political influence in the decision to suspend him. He said: "I have been suspended for broadcasting some stories, some events that basically went against the government. As far as I am concerned, we have done our job as the national broadcaster and I have to answer to those charges." Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site, Port Moresby, in English 29 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES [non]. Re: > satellite feed for programmes to middle east (100 kW, 115 ) > 0700-1200 21590 > 1200-1559 15715 > 1700-1959 15750 0107-281001 VOH > minidisk delivery for all other target areas I think this means that "KAF- Voice of the Lord" in fact goes out not only on 15750 but also the mentioned 15715 and 21590 slots. It's certainly worth to check. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Glenn, Received the Radio Romania International Summer Schedule via postal mail on August 28, 2001. I don't see a coverage period except "Summer 2001". It was mailed on August 10, 2001. I've typed the English frequencies hoping they are useful. I've also included program descriptions as these are the best I've seen from Radio Romania International. English e-mail: engl@rri.ro 0200-0300 11940; 15340 North America 0200-0300 15105; 17735 Japan 0200-0300 15180; 17790 New Zealand 0400-0500 11940; 15365 North America 0400-0500 17735; 21480 India 0600-0700 11940; 15180 North America 0641-0656 11775; 15365 Western Europe 0700-0800 17735 N-E Africa 1400-1500 15250; 17735 Western Europe 1700-1800 15380; 17805 Western Europe 1700-1800 11740; 15365 Northern Europe 2100-2200 11940; 15365 Eastern Europe 2100-2200 9725; 11740 Northern Europe 2300-2400 9750; 11775 Eastern Europe 2300-2400 11940; 15105 North America Radio Romania International Programmes 2001 Monday Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Pro Memoria (The Romanians' history - history within living memory) - Political Flash (politics and politicians under scrutiny) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investments) - Pulse of Transition (where do we stand after 11 post-communist years?) - Performing Arts (the artist behind the limelight) - Romanian Hits (light, but not facile music) - Sports Round up (how did your athletes fare?) - Calendar (post and present, past events, last minute events) Tuesday Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Business Club (business opportunities; economics easy to understand by everybody) - European Horizons (destination: the European Union) - Tourist News - Radio in Sneakers (about and for the youth) - Mother Nature (ecology) - The Skylark (the folk song and its performers) - The Athlete of the Week - Calendar (post and present, past events, last minute events) Wednesday Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary)(news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Society Today (The Romanians' mentalities, expectations, behavioural patterns, problems and difficulties) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investments) - Visit Romania! (come over and see for yourself!) - The Stage and Screen (first nights, performances, stars at the microphone) - Romanian Musicians (famous musicians and their music) - RRI Sports Club (moments from the history of sports) - Calendar (post and present, past events, last minute events) Thursday Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Cards on the Table (a talk on problems bothering us, without taboos and preconceived ideas) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investments) - Life in a Small Town (Romania is not confined to Bucharest alone) - The Latest in Music (symphonic concerts and music events) - Football Flash (the king-sport in the focus of attention) - Calendar (post and present, past events, last minute events) Friday Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) A Challenge for the Future (three weeks per month) (the future starts right now!) Terra 21 (once a month) (there's no other place for us to go if we destroy nature!) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investments) - Practical Guide (all sorts of tips for those visiting Romania) - Spectator (mini opinion poll) (vox pop concerning the Romanians' everyday life) - Romanian Folk Music at Its Best - Sports Weekend - Calendar (post and present, past events, last minute events) Saturday Radio Newsreel - News - The Week (in only 6 minutes) World of Culture (cultural personalities, ideas, trends, events) - RRI Encyclopaedia - Roots (traditions must not be forgotten) - Saturday Cafe (it happened in Romania; a different Romania - entertainment, curiosities, collections, leisure time) Sunday Radio Newsreel - News - Focus (let's look at the present together!) - Radio Tour (don't miss a trip to Romania!) [I also thought the following, from the schedule, was interesting. It reads like their justification for being. Perhaps it's presented to the Romanian Government for funding? I will admit they are very honest about their existence. Kraig] An International Radio For You In the vision of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, which Radio Romania International is part of, the programmes broadcast for listeners abroad are motivated by the following arguments: -- Romania deserves to be better-known world-wide; -- Romania's image abroad is not always perceived according to reality and its complexity; -- With a few exceptions, there are not other Romanian media in foreign languages; -- The foreign media cover Romanian events sporadically, sometimes superficially, being more than once improperly informed; -- A correct, implicitly favourable image abroad implies a thorough knowledge of Romanian realities from verifiable unbiased sources. Radio Romania International's mission is to make Romanian realities, the country's foreign policy and its European context, better known to foreign listeners. Radio Romania International broadcasts programmes which reflect Romanian social, economic, political and cultural realities, as well as the diversity of Romanian opinions on national and international issues, on short and medium waves, on the Internet, via satellite and by other media. Although the content of Radio Romania International's programmes differs depending on the language used in broadcasts, and also on the presumed degree of understanding of Romanian specificity, the programmes include a series of standard elements thanks to which listeners world-wide can identify Radio Romania International programmes. Radio Romania International addresses a wide range of listeners, of both sexes, young and old alike, from all walks of life. The programmes, broadcast in 17 languages, are targeted to densely populated areas on the five continents. Radio Romania International's format is continuously changing from All News to News and Talk Shows, being accompanied in proportion of 10-20% by a specific sound track, which alternates traditional Romanian music with genres closer to national Ever Green Adult Contemporary. Great importance is attached to the programmes addressed to the Romanians abroad, as they are a bridge of on-going communication with their native country. More than three quarters of the information provided in the news bulletins and in all the programmes in general have this aim, and that implies honest and prompt information about Romanian society. The RRI programmes, also broadcast via satellite Hot Bird 5, azimuth 13 degrees East, can be received in Romanian on Live Romania channel and in languages of international circulation on RRI Open Radio Channel. [my note: According to the schedule "Open Radio Channel" is considered shortwave. Kraig] Radio Romania International listeners show an obvious interest in Romania, although this does not necessarily mean that they are well informed about this country. Therefore it is Radio Romania International's duty to reflect in an accessible and persuasive language a balanced image of Romanian issues and to present Romania to listeners all over the world. Information from Radio Romania International, in Real Audio, courtesy of ITUNER, and about Radio Romania International, including the timetables, broadcasting languages and frequencies, can be found on the Internet, on the following address: http://www.rri.ro 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia confident of its future | Text of interview with the deputy head of Russia's external radio broadcaster, Voice of Russia, headlined "We won't be Jammed" by Russian weekly Argumenty i Fakty on 20 August. Voice of Russia is the name of a Russian state radio company which broadcasts to foreign countries. Taisiya Popova is talking to Vladimir Andreyev, the company's deputy chairman. [Popova] Your radio company, which was founded in 1929, is known as the famous foreign broadcaster: [Russian: inoveshchaniye]. You used to broadcast to 160 countries. How are things now? [Andreyev] In 1993 the broadcasting was cut by almost a third. Africa was "shut down" completely. Instead of 12 languages, broadcasts to India are in four languages only. At the same time we have retained our niche in international broadcasting. "Clubs of the friends of Moscow radio" are still active in India. Today the Voice of Russia is among the three major world radios, which are the Voice of America, BBC and the Voice of Russia followed by Deutsche Welle and so on. [Popova] Last January you organized an additional editorial department, did you not? [Andreyev] Correct. After all, Russia and the former union republics have encountered quite serious problems: family ties have been disrupted, refugees appeared, the rights of Russian-speaking population are being infringed etc. Therefore the need to set up a new editorial department became obvious. The department is called "Commonwealth". It has been in existence for only six months, which is not long. Nevertheless the department is justifying our expectations. Whereas in January it broadcast only one hour a day this figure has now increased to seven hours. As of next year we want to broadcast to the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasus in their languages. There is a large Russian-speaking population in Belarus`, Ukraine and the Baltics, therefore we believe that for the time being we can continue broadcasting to these countries in Russian only. [Popova] In this case aren't you simply imitating Mayak or Radio Russia [Russian national domestic broadcasters]? [Andreyev] Not at all. It's no secret that in some republics Mayak has simply been switched off, whereas our shortwave broadcasts are virtually impossible to switch off. They can be jammed the way Voice of America was jammed at one time but this is very expensive. [Popova] Are you using live broadcasts which are so popular on the radio nowadays? [Andreyev] We have a special programme called "Vis-à-vis the world". Also, Voice of Russia is the only Russian state company active on the Internet in six languages: Russian, English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. We get up to 40,000 Internet hits a day , and during some important political events this number rises to 100,000 a day. We are encouraged by the huge mail we receive from all corners of the world and by our international recognition. In 2000 three programmes by the Voice of Russia were included in the 10 best programmes produced by the world's shortwave broadcasters. Not long ago the Swedish Shortwave Association [as published] sent us a diploma and a medal in recognition of our broadcasts in Swedish as the best in the world. And they are only 30 minutes a day! Source: Argumenty i Fakty, Moscow, in Russian 20 Aug 01 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Repairs to Ostankino Tower until 2004 | Excerpt from report by Russian newspaper Kommersant on 27 August It is exactly a year since the Ostankino tower burnt down. As a result of the fire, Moscow and Moscow Region were without television for a week. Subsequently broadcasting was gradually resumed. Restoration work has been in progress for a year now. Slowly and lethargically. The point is that the construction workers have no money... Since January this year Gosstroy [State Committee for Construction and the Housing and Municipal Complex] experts have removed damaged hawsers from the tower, installed a temporary hoist, purchased 120 new hawsers and suspended them inside the tower. However they have not yet managed to fix them in place. Not one of the elevators has been restored either. A competition for elevator purchase and installation was to have taken place in May, but was postponed indefinitely. The point is that Gosstroy has no money. There was no money written into the 2001 budget for restoring the tower, and in 2000 Gosstroy received only 50m roubles. Gosstroy intended to finance the remaining work out of a 40m dollar EBRD [European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] loan. Negotiations for it began at the end of last year but were not successful. In June the EBRD stated that it would release a loan for the restoration of the tower if the Main Centre for Television and Radio Broadcasting was removed from the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, become completely financially transparent, and ensure equal access to its services for all Russian TV channels. The negotiations were broken off and resumed only recently. However they are now only talking about only 17m dollars. 117m roubles has been written into the 2002 budget for restoring the Ostankino tower. In the words of Gosstroy officials, this should be enough to install the lifts and fit the prestressed hawsers. Gosstroy plans to complete the repair work on the Ostankino tower in 2004. Source: Kommersant, Moscow, in Russian 27 Aug 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Moscow TV transmitters to be back at full power by New Year | Text of report by Russian Public TV on 27 August [Presenter] The guest we now have in the same studio is the general director of the Main Radio and TV Broadcasting Centre, Vyacheslav Misyulin. Hello, Vyacheslav Nikolayevich. [Misyulin, live] Hello. [Presenter] The [Ostankino] TV tower has always derived its strength from the steel cables stretched inside it. How many cables have been repaired already and when do you expect to complete this work? [Misyulin] I would like to clarify that the tower is a free-standing structure. It weighs 55,000 t. Its foundations are sunk only 3.5 metres into the ground and it stands by its own weight. When the tower was built and commissioned in 1967, the prestressed cables were installed at the very last stage. They were not needed to keep the tower standing but to stress the concrete, to make it durable and to stop it crumbling. [Presenter] As you know, reception of the first channel is very poor or almost nonexistent in large areas of Moscow Region. When can restoration of normal reception of ORT [Russian Public TV] programmes in this zone be expected? [Misyulin] Of the 14 TV transmitters which operate from the tower, 10 are now working properly. This leaves four. Of these, the ones serving the first channel and Ren TV are to resume operations on roughly 10th-15th of this month [presumably 10-15 September]. The transmitters for the two remaining channels - that's to say NTV and Centre TV - are to be commissioned by the New Year. We will try to achieve this as soon as possible. [Presenter] It was reported today [27 August] that 70 per cent of the internal damage to the tower's concrete shaft has been repaired. Can it be said that the strength of the concrete components, which were subjected to high temperatures for a long time during the fire, has been completely restored? Could the tower now withstand a powerful hurricane, for example? [Misyulin] Well, several institutes have carried out inspections and reported that neither the metal components nor the reinforced concrete parts of the tower have suffered any material damage. What took a lot of time was to remove the products of combustion, the soot and the other by-products of the fire which were deposited on the reinforced concrete. If they had been left there, this would have produced an acid which might result in further damage to the steel framework itself. This was a big job on which the bulk of the work was done. Mr (?Braves), who is now the tower's chief designer, says the tower will stay in service for at least a century. Source: Russian Public TV (ORT), Moscow, in Russian 1700 gmt 27 Aug 01 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. On 17266 SSB mode with clear signal Aug 17 *0800-0810 R Rossii, 0810-0820 Murmanskoye Radio, 0820-0859* Radio Atlantika, all in Russian (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 11840 usb, R. Sakhalin, Aug 26 0200-0300, 34333, Russian, Talk by female ann. Local pops. According to its website http://www.gtrk.ru/ the SW freq is used for sailors & fishermen in the Pacific (Hironao Oguma, Tokyo, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** RWANDA. More on the 1994 genocide, including whether US should have jammed hate radio broadcasts, FOIA documents: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/press.html (via Kim Elliott, DC, Aug 29, swprograms via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Further details of broadcasts from Radio Baydhabo Broadcasts continued to be heard from Radio Baydhabo, a station operated by the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA) and hostile to the transitional government in Mogadishu. It is assumed that Radio Baydhabo broadcasts from the town of the same name (alternative spelling: Baidoa) in southern Somalia, 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. It is heard daily at 1500-1800 gmt on the shortwave frequency of 6810 kHz. Most of its output is in the Rahanwein language, with a small proportion being in Somali. On 28 August Radio Baydhabo was observed signing on at 1500 gmt with a Koranic recitation and a religious talk. This was followed by nearly two hours of music, interspersed with a short play and a public announcement. At 1700 gmt there was a 12-minute news bulletin in Rahanwein. This was followed by a lengthy statement by the chairman of Bay Region, of which Baydhabo is the capital (see our item headlined "Somalia: Bay Region leader condemns government, says it is in the pay of Arabs"). Shortly after 1730 gmt there was a news summary in Somali. The remainder of the transmission consisted of music interspersed with public announcements. The station signed off at 1800 gmt. Source: Radio Baydhabo in Rahanwein and Somali 1500-1800 gmt 28 Aug 01 (Chris Greenway, Kenya et al., BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DXLD) Main Studio: Baydhabo. Date of Issue: 30-Aug-2001 09:38. Last Modified: 30-Aug-2001 09:37. Comments: Radio Baydhabo was first heard by BBC Monitoring in January 2001. It broadcasts in support of the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA), hostile to the transitional government in Mogadishu. It is believed to broadcast from the town of Baydhabo (alternative spelling Baidoa) in southern Somalia, 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. It identifies in the Rahanwein dialect as "Radio Baydhabo, odka ururka RRA" (Radio Baydhabo, Voice of the RRA). Languages : Rahanwein, Somali Web Site : http://www.arlaadi.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1500-1800 Daily RAHANWEIN Domestic Ter: 6.810-v (Somali & Rahanwein Dialect) 1700-1712 Daily News 1730-1735 Daily News summary (SOMALI) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Aug 30, condensed for DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Dear WorldSpace Global Club Member: Tune into BCID 593 WorldSpace with its Broadcast partner, Channel Africa, is pleased to bring you a special live broadcast of the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) taking place in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 7 September 2001. On the 28th, 29th and 30th, 2-hour segments will be broadcast starting at 12h00 South Africa time. Broadcasts will repeat every two hours for the entire 24 hour period. Live coverage of the actual conference will begin on August 31 until September 7th. WCAR will focus on action-oriented and practical steps to eradicate racism, including measures of prevention, education and protection and the provision of effective remedies. It will be a unique and important opportunity to create a new world vision for the fight against racism in the 21st century. Eight internationally-renowned figures from the worlds of literature, music and human rights advocacy serve as Goodwill Ambassadors for the conference: Nobel Prize laureates for literature Wole Soyinka of Nigeria and Seamus Heaney of Ireland Panamanian actor and musician Ruben Blades Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar Former Icelandic President Vigdis Finnbogadottir Children's rights defender Marian Wright Edelman of the United States Natacha Atlas, artist Tune into BCID broadcast channel 593 Schedule: 05H00 ENGLISH 05H30 FRENCH 06H00 ENGLISH 06H30 PORTUGUESE 07H00 ENGLISH 07H30 KISWAHILI 08H00 ENGLISH 08H30 FRENCH 09H00 ENGLISH 09H30 PORTUGUESE 10H00 ENGLISH 10H30 KISWAHILI 11H00 ENGLISH 11H30 CHINYANJA 12H00 ENGLISH 12H30 LOZI 13H00 ENGLISH 13H30 ENGLISH 14H00 ENGLISH 14H30 ENGLISH 15H00 ENGLISH 15H30 ENGLISH 16H00 ENGLISH 16H30 ENGLISH 17H00 ENGLISH 17H30 FRENCH 18H00 ENGLISH 18H30 PORTUGUESE 19H00 ENGLISH 19H30 KISWAHILI 20H00 ENGLISH 21H00 ENGLISH DAILY WRAP 21H30 ENGLISH 22H00 ENGLISH 22H30 ENGLISH 23H00 ENGLISH 23H30 ENGLISH 24H00 ENGLISH 24H30 ENGLISH 01H00 ENGLISH 01H30 FRENCH 02H00 ENGLISH 02H30 PORTUGUESE 03H00 ENGLISH 03H30 KISWAHILI 04H00 ENGLISH 04H30 ENGLISH DAILY WRAP [ globalclub@worldspace.com ] (via Ray Woodward, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This is the conference where James Latham of RFPI will be speaking, but not US Secretary of State Colin Powell. We agree that it is absurd and off-topic to equate Zionism with racism. The Jews and Arabs are all Semites, after all, same ``race`` (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. Glenn, I have just returned from a lengthy itinerary in Malaysia & Australia. The frequency 17780 is 300 kW from ROI-ORF in Moosbrunn, Austria, though the programming was prepared in the studios of AWR Africa in Narirobi, Kenya. Greetings! (Adrian M. Peterson, AWR, IN, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Alps Walk: An alpine expedition like in former times The [not] appended message from http://www.swissinfo.org would appear to demonstrate how SRI intends to "broadcast" its content in the future. It uses e-mail to inform about a particular event that it will be covering, invites the "listener" to log on and experience the audio, video and text being presented, and then attempts to enhance the multimedia experience into an interactive exercise between both "listener" and station and "listener" and participants in the event being covered. Interesting approach; would be more interesting if we could get an indication from SRI/swissinfo.org as to how many ultimately decide to take them up on their offer and how this would compare to those who would do so via the traditional radio approach. At first glance, the plusses here would appear to be the multimedia delivery platform, on-demand availability and immediate opportunity for the "audience" to interact. The only immediately apparent negative is that this is not "radio" to be sure and it may not constitute "radio-plus" as presumably intended. (I'm not yet sure of all the ramifications of that last statement except to say that the SRI/swissinfo.org approach here is "different" and will appeal or not appeal to potential audiences depending on their respective reactions to the various "stimuli" offered.) (John Figliozzi, NY, Aug 30, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBC Bulgarian service was amongst the "Black List" on July 1st, when all txs in Bulgarian were ceased on SW (the first BBC Bulgarian broadcast is dated at Feb 7, 1940). Now BBC in Bulgarian is broadcasting only at Sofia on local FM, and some of the BBC programmes are relayed by few private FM stations. So the BBC London Bulgarian service lost thousands of listeners, who are financially too poor to buy satellite dish equipment or go to real audio, as recommended by the 'haughty' BBC management (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via wb df5sx via Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC new media boss prepares team Owen Gibson, Mediagaurdian.co.uk [sic] Wednesday August 29, 2001 The BBC's new media chief, Ashley Highfield, has recruited the final member of his senior management team, prior to a major restructure of the department. Mr Highfield has poached Steve Rogers from US web consultancy Razorfish to become head of design and navigation at BBC New Media. Mr Rogers will be handed responsibility for the look and feel of all BBC content across the web and interactive television. He spent most of his career at electronics giant Philips, heading up the company's design division in the US and working on products such as TiVo and WebTV.... Full Story: http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,543983,00.html (via Daniel Say, Aug 30, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. They just announced on WBCQ that Al Weiner has cancer, and is going to be operated on tomorrow. That was a surprise (Pete Bentley, WV, Aug 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Elayne, I just got a letter in the mail dated 23rd that it was announced on WBCQ that Allan has cancer and would be operated on the next day. Is this correct? Sure hope he`s doing OK now. Glenn Hello Glenn: Allan's surgery was yesterday, Monday, August 27, 2001 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. All went well. Why not give him a call? Thanks for your inquiry and interest. It is appreciated. Thanks. Elayne (Elayne Star, WBCQ, Aug 28, DXLD) We did phone him at the hospital Aug 29, and he was doing well after prostate surgery. Expected to be home in a day or two, meanwhile conducting business on the phone (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Following extremely good reception of the 0400 UT transmission of World of Radio on 9330 kHz - terminated a few weeks ago - I found reception of the replacement 0415 transmission on 7415 kHz also quite good for the first 14 minutes or so, that is until around 0429 when VOA (presumably Botswana) comes on to spoil the party in a language I have no hope of ever recognising. This means that I will, after all, have to record the 2030 UT transmission on 15685 - something I was hoping to avoid as I will be out at my local public house for their quiz night (Paul David, England, Aug 30, swprograms via DXLD) Hello Glenn, your transmission via 15685 of tonight suffered by an ionospheric disturbance from 2040 to 2047, when the signal fluttered / dropped down to S=1, mostly the spoken words were almost nearly unreadable. Signal increased at around 2047 to S=3, but was always very fluttery. Set my Sony 2010 to synchro USB mode sideband, because of an unID English lang interfering stn - stronger - on the lower side. 15685 signal increased at around 2054 to a S=4 level. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Aug 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception was very poor here too; after 2100 sounds like the Tigray clandestine program again (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Re 4995: I haven`t heard AFN Sigonella since early July or so. That makes me sad, because I`m an avid follower of current news flavored with entertaining aspects. AFN Diego García made a sporadic comeback few weeks ago, then nothing. Frequencies still active: 6.458.50; 12.689.50, 10.320, 6.350, 13362 and 5765. Non of them is audible 24 hours a day here in Southern Finland or even 12 hours a day at this time of the year. I became a fan of AFN broadcasts in early 60s. I used to listen their transmissions especially on 19 mb, as well as AFN`s European tx`s on MW (Frankfurt, Bremerhaven, Munchen). Those were the days. Come back, Sigonella! All the Best, from Helo (Kari Helopaltio, Finland, Aug 30, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. Weather Radio to get new voice: NOAA Weather Radio, the nation's automated radio weather warning system, soon will have a new voice. The National Weather Service--an agency of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-- recently evaluated five voices and reviewed 19,000 Internet survey comments from the public in the effort to find the new voice. NOAA has awarded Siemens Information and Communication Network of Boca Raton, Florida, a contract totaling $633,615 for the voice improvement. The weather service will begin implementation of the new voice's text-to-speech software program early in 2002, following successful testing and integration within the NOAA Weather Radio system. The NWS first used a computer synthesized voice technology as part of a console replacement system in 1997. Siemens will team with SpeechWorks International of Boston to provide software that combines phonetic sounds with natural language modeling. To learn more, visit the National Weather Service Web site http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ The old and new voices can be heard on the NOAA Weather Radio Web site http://205.156.54.206/nwr/newvoice.htm .--NWS news release (ARRL August 29 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. Saturday Is WEVD-Day: Protest to Greet ESPN By DAVID HINCKLEY, Daily News Staff Writer Even as supporters of WEVD (1050 AM) plan a candlelight vigil at the station starting at 9:30 tomorrow night, ABC Radio is set to make it an ESPN Radio outlet at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. ESPN spokesman Dan Quinn says the weekend will include promotions, music and features -- like clips from vintage Giants games -- with regular ESPN programming kicking in at 2 a.m. Tuesday. Alan Colmes will do the last hour on WEVD tomorrow night, and says he hopes other hosts will join him. Colmes has been openly disappointed about the Forward Association, WEVD's owner, leasing it to ABC. "I don't fault ABC," he says. "But I think that had WEVD been allowed to progress toward being a full-time news/talk station, it would have become a force." With little promotion and many infomercials, WEVD averaged less than 1% of the city audience, though morning and night hosts Bill Mazer and Colmes had respectable ratings. "We offered a different perspective," says Colmes. "It's a shame to lose that." Chuck Zlatkin of SaveWEVD, which is organizing the vigil, says his group will challenge the lease deal in court, though he admits, "It's a long shot." On Colmes' show Monday, Zlatkin debated Allen Sniffen of the New York Radio Message Board, who argued that this deal is the free market at work and WEVD is going away because it just didn't serve enough listeners (NY Daily News Aug 30 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Activist broadcaster Amy Goodman finds a home in Geneva By: Jessica Keltz August 29, 2001 Although Pacifica radio has decided not to air new editions of Democracy Now!, its most popular program, Ithaca residents can still hear the show on WEOS, 89.7 FM. Michael Black, the station's general manager, said that Amy Goodman, the show's host, told him that she began producing the show off-site because she did not feel safe at WBAI, the Pacifica affiliate from which the show is normally broadcast. Two weeks ago, Goodman and her staff were told to leave the studio in which they normally produce the show and sent to a smaller one with no clock. During that struggle, she reported threats, intimidation and even physical contact. The next day, she began producing the show at another studio. "They don't give reasons," Goodman said, when asked why management moved her show. "The new management has routinely thrown us into a substandard studio. It became a very serious problem, and then we had the physical assault and the verbal harassment, and we decided it wasn't a safe place to stay." In turn, WBAI refused to air the episodes, saying Goodman and her staff were in violation of their contracts and suspended without pay. New episodes of the show are available to the public on http://www.wbix.org an Internet-only radio station, as well as on stations that have decided to use them instead of the archived shows Pacifica provides. "We're deeply disturbed right now that Pacifica is running old tapes of Democracy Now!," Goodman said. She added that a newscast produced off-site is run with the archived editions, even though management has said she cannot broadcast from another location. Black said WEOS can't feed the show live from the site because the process is unreliable and results in poor sound quality. Instead, WEOS airs the show a day late at its normal time, 9 am on weekdays. WEOS also runs Free Speech Radio News, a program produced by striking and locked-out Pacifica reporters, in place of Pacifica News Now, the network's news program. About 12 of the 38 stations that air Democracy Now! are using the Internet version, Goodman said. "We have such a strong listenership in the Ithaca area," she said. "It's unbelievable, when I come up there - It's so heartwarming." Lyn Gerry, a former employee of Berkeley, California, Pacifica affiliate KPFA who now does a show on WEOS, said "If not for the conduct of the management, it would not have been necessary for Amy and her crew to flee that building." She added, "These people are trying to destroy the radical and adversarial nature of Pacifica news coverage." Gerry said that Pacifica has changed over the past five or ten years, working to be less radical in its coverage. That was reflected when she worked at KPFA, she said. "It was terrible. In January of 1995, the Pacifica management came in and fired our entire local management," she said, adding, "They intended to move in and colonize the station, essentially." Previously, the five Pacifica affiliates had been run fairly independently, she said. Black said Pacifica began changing its tone when the Newt Gingrich- led Congress tried to cut public broadcasting funds in the mid-90s. "That's where all this controversy started," he said. "Staffs were being purged and let go. Volunteers were being banned." He added, "It's a real philosophical struggle that's going on right now." The next Pacifica station in turmoil was WBAI. Station manager Utrice Leid has been criticized for censoring programming. In particular, she objected to Goodman's signoff: "From the embattled studios of WBAI, from the studios of the banned and the fired, from the studios of our listeners. I'm Amy Goodman, thanks for listening to another edition of Democracy Now!" Goodman said she and her staff are in negotiations with Pacifica management, and that she expects to return to WBAI. "I think listeners will be the ones to decide," she said. "And it's up to them to let the board know... what they want the future of Pacifica to be." ©Ithaca Times 2001 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VATICAN/ITALY [and non]. Some reports suggested that the 1530 antenna system at Santa Maria di Galeria was the main problem. So perhaps RV will shut down 1530 but keep 1611 (indeed listed as 100 kW) on air? (Kai Ludwig, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some shortwave antennas near the edge of the site were deactivated. This took care of any excessive (according to Italian standards) levels from the shortwave transmitters. The MW transmitter was a more difficult problem. 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, here is the scenario I assume for the mediumwave operation from Santa Maria di Galeria: Some reports suggested that the 1530 four tower antenna system is a source of especially high fieldstrengths around the station. So probably Radio Vatican will do without this aerial and instead operate 1530 with another antenna which is currently in use on 1611. This would of course mean a shut- down of 1611 (or only low-power operation anymore), which is actually an out-of-band frequency and currently listed with a output of 100 kW; the signal strength well fits this statement, hence my speculation that it could be the current 1611 facility which will continue on 1530. Time will tell; tonight both 1530 and 1611 was still on air. The matter of shortwave transmissions from Santa Maria di Galeria was according to previous reports already solved by a arrangement that certain curtains, located especially close to neighbouring settlements, are now excluded from further use. [later:] The homepage of Radio Vatican German service http://www.vaticanradio.org/tedesco/ted_index.htm includes an explicit reference to a new mediumwave outlet on 1467, in use for German 1820-1840. The actual schedules are not updated yet, but at least we have now a confirmation that RV will indeed use Roumoules 1467 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1094, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###