DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-140, October 4, 2001 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. For restrixions and searchable 2001, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html [NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn] WORLD OF RADIO 1099: (stream) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1099.ram (download) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1099.rm (summary) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1099.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Dear Mr. Hauser, I just wanted to write you a short note to tell you how much I appreciate your Global Forum/Shortwave Broadcasting column in MT each month. I have been listening to shortwave since I was 12, starting with a portable Ross Worldwide Receiver. I now (at 36) use a Kenwood R-2000 tabletop with a 12 meter longwire and a RadioShack DX- 375 portable, from my home in South Eastern Michigan. I listen to broadcast bands almost exclusively and your column always provides the most timely information on the various national shortwave station happenings. Thank you for your efforts. Joseph R. Davis, Oct 3, 2001 Hello, I just wanted to take a Moment to Thank you for your Dedication and Hard work doing the DX Freq. updates. Keep up the Great Job. I get it via Internet and Love it. Thank you Glenn, Mike Thanks again for the time and effort you put into WOR and the digest. Your comments at the beginning of WOR 1096 on the 12th were most poignant. Best regards (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. From here no chance to have AFG on MW due to African stations but Bengt Ericson informed me having heard AFG from Sweden on the following freqs: I can tell you that Afghanistan now is active on 657, 864, 1107 and 1584 kHz. Kabul, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif. All stns exc. 864 are logged in Sweden and Finland. BTW: Today AFG was on 7082 at 1530, Oct 1 (Bengt Ericson, Sweden, via Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. * Narrator: Radio Backgrounds in Afghanistan - Part 1 Recent events in the United States, and for that matter, in several other countries as well, have gripped the attention of the news media throughout the world. In view of these dramatic events, we interrupt our regular scheduling here in Wavescan and we begin a new series of topics in which we feature the radio scene in several of these countries. Just as soon as we can assemble the information, we also plan to present a topic on the radio scene in New York on that eventful day, Tuesday September 11. However, in this edition of Wavescan, we think of western Asia and we present ``Radio Backgrounds in Afghanistan``. The country of Afghanistan with its quarter million square miles is sandwiched in between Pakistan and Iran. The 25 million inhabitants are made up of 20 diverse ethnic groups, each with its own culture & language, though Dari & Pushto are the twin official languages. Back more than 30 years ago, we as a family were transferred from Perth in Western Australia on a five year assignment to Lahore in Pakistan. During this era, I made many visits into Afghanistan, sometimes by car or bus, and sometimes by plane. The drive through the famed Khyber Pass is most dramatic, with high barren cliffs, wide colorful vistas, and dramatic deep gorges. In this area, the Kabul (KAH-b’l) River is very steep and the water runs at an amazing 35 miles per hour. At the top of the Kabul Gorge, the landscape levels out at a mile high and it is here that a high powered mediumwave transmitter was established in 1964 under the supervision of Deutsche Welle in Germany. This unit was located in a country area at Pole-i-Tcharche (POLE-EE-CHARKAY) just a mile off the main highway. In addition to the 100 kW Siemens transmitter on 1280 kHz at this location, there was a large M.A.N. diesel engine which supplied electric power for the entire facility. Programming was fed from the main studios in the city by two different telephone circuits as well as by a back-up FM link. Some reports indicate that this showplace radio station was damaged, or perhaps even destroyed, during the uprisings that began in the year 1981. In more recent time, it is reported, a new 100 kW mediumwave transmitter was installed at a new location considerably closer to Kabul, though I have never heard it, even when visiting in nearby areas. The main two-storeyed studio building at Answari Wat (AHN- SWAREE WOT), located on the edge of the main highway running out to the airport, was also constructed in 1964 under German supervision. For a short period of time, an experimental 10 watt FM transmitter, made by Rhode & Schwartz, was on the air at the studio location on 96.1 MHz. The AWR Historic Collection contains the only QSL card ever issued for this low powered relay unit. In the entry way of the studio building was a large wall map of the world and on this map were hundreds of marker pins showing the location of listeners who had sent reception reports to the station. Back in this era, one of the studio technicians also served as the official monitor, and at specified times during the day, he would tune an old Telefunken receiver for the broadcasts coming from Deutsche Welle, ORF Austria, and several other international shortwave stations. It is understood that this studio facility was largely destroyed some twenty years ago during the era of fighting, though apparently it has been restored subsequently and it is again serving as the main studio location. On one occasion, the Seventh-day Adventist church staged an international temperance convention in the five storey Hotel InterContinental in Kabul. This convention attracted 140 delegates from 40 countries and late one night there was a fire that burned out the entire top floor of the hotel. Fortunately there were no injuries nor fatalities. It was around this era that small FM transmitters and receivers were introduced into the world market so that people attending large conventions could hear the proceedings in their own language. At this convention in Kabul, translation was available through four of these little transmitters in four languages. Just one QSL card was issued for these limited broadcasts, for the transmitter on 102.8 MHz, and this card is also in the AWR collection in Indianapolis. Next week, as our opening feature in Wavescan, we plan to present the next episode in this sequence of topics on ``Radio Backgrounds in Afghanistan`` (Adrian Peterson, AWR Wavescan Oct 7 via DXLD) [and non] Sounds of Crisis, by Mika Palo, Portugal: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/crisis010928.html A Selection of Broadcast Times, Frequencies and Radio Station Web sites from Crisis-related Countries* compiled by Mika Palo (Stations monitored in Europe between 17 and 26 September 2001) http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/schedules010928.html (via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, DXLD) Accurate, but very Euro-centric, omitting broadcasts convenient for North Americans. See our newly constructed page for North Americans: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/mideast.html (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Kabul radio changes morning broadcast | Text of report by Afghan Taleban radio on 28 September Announcement by Radio Voice of Shari'ah: Owing to the shortening of the days at this season, as from Saturday 12 Rajab [29 September] Radio Shari'ah morning programmes, which previously started broadcasting at 0530 [local time, 0100gmt], will be broadcast at 0600 [0130 gmt]. Officials of Radio Voice of Shari'ah are extending the programmes for half an hour starting from Saturday in order to serve their listeners better. The esteemed listeners should take note. [Since 29 September, BBC Monitoring has observed that the morning broadcast of Radio Voice of Shari'ah has been retimed to 0130-0400 gmt. It was previously heard from 0100-0340 gmt. The radio is currently heard on mediumwave 657 and 1107 kHz as well as on a variable shortwave frequency around 7085 kHz.] Source: Radio Voice of Shari'ah, Kabul, in Pashto 1500 gmt 28 Sep 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) Afghan media round-up - 4 October update [Note: the following seems to be a ``running file``, much of it duplicating previous round-ups; I am not eager to hunt through line by line to pick out which parts may be new, but the intro is a guide –gh] [Information updated: Russian radio expands Dari/Pashto and Persian services; China reportedly donates SW transmitters to Northern Alliance; US congressman calls for "Radio Free Afghanistan"; reports on Taleban monitoring foreign TV; Al-Jazeera TV and Taleban radio coverage and further details on Fayzabad TV operating from Northern Alliance-controlled territory] Afghanistan's media have been seriously restricted in freedom of expression and range since the Taleban came to power in 1996. Radio Afghanistan was renamed Radio Voice of Shari'ah (Islamic law) and now reflects the Islamic fundamentalist values of the Taleban. The Taleban have banned TV as a "source of moral corruption" and regard music as suspect. Photography and filming are also banned. Afghans are barred from accessing the Internet. However, the Taleban have set up a web site, http://www.afghan-ie.com, to push for recognition of their regime by the international community. This web site is currently inaccessible. Radio: A lifeline for Afghans For Afghans and their neighbours, the radio is the most vital source of breaking news as the crisis escalates. International broadcasters are a lifeline in a country with virtually no press freedom, Internet or TV. The BBC World Service has reinforced its mediumwave transmissions, with an additional frequency, serving a large part of the region surrounding and including Afghanistan. Shortwave transmissions to the region in Arabic, Pashto, Persian and Urdu - the key languages of the region - have also been expanded. News and current affairs content in the usually mixed schedules of each language service has been boosted and on-line coverage in these languages has been increased. Radio France Internationale (RFI) has added an extra half-hour of programmes in Persian targeted at Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan and the whole of the Central Asia region. The Voice of Russia has added an extra hour to its combined Dari/Pashto service and half an hour to its Persian service. The Voice of America (VOA) has expanded news broadcasts in Dari, Persian and Pashto. However, VOA came under pressure from the US Department of State not to air a story that included parts of a rare interview with the leader of the Taleban, Mola Mohammed Omar. The Washington Post said the US government objected to a public broadcaster being a platform for "terrorists". VOA later broadcast the interview. A US congressman has called for the creation of a "Radio Free Afghanistan" to broadcast information to Afghanistan. Republican Congressman Ed Royce, who serves on the House of Representatives International Relations Committee. The station, if approved, would be run by Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Eight other congressmen, both Republicans and Democrats, have agreed to act as co-sponsors of the bill. The service would broadcast for 12 hours a day, and would cost up to 8m dollars a year. New York Times columnist William Safire had earlier questioned the effectiveness of VOA's "impartiality" in times of war and called for a "Radio Free Afghanistan" to be set up. Nevertheless, international broadcasters are a lifeline in a country with virtually no press freedom, Internet or TV. A BBC survey carried out before the crisis indicates that some 72 per cent of Pashto language speakers and some 62 per cent of Persian speakers in Afghanistan listen daily to the BBC World Service. The total population of Afghanistan is estimated at 26 million. Other broadcasts in Pashto/Dari to Afghanistan include Radio Pakistan, China Radio International, All India Radio, Deutsche Welle, Radio Cairo, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Voice of Russia, Tajik Radio and Radio Tashkent (Uzbekistan). There are also a number of radio stations run by Afghan expatriates, mainly in North America, which broadcast in Pashto/Dari. Taleban's voice to the world Radio news in Taleban-controlled areas is limited. The Taleban's Voice of Shari'ah is the sole broadcaster operating in Kabul and provincial centres and it is largely a platform for official propaganda and religious sermons. It claims to be the only broadcaster in the world where music of any kind is banned. The Voice of Shari'ah has frequently broadcast statements by Taleban officials assuring citizens that Taleban forces are in control of the situation at present, despite foreign media "propaganda". The Taleban has used the Voice of Shari'ah to criticize the exiled Afghan monarch Mohammad Zaher Shah, who has expressed willingness to return to his homeland to head a new government. In a radio commentary, Taleban leader Mola Mohammad Omar warned the king: "What sort of government would you have if you are coming here accompanied by the United States?... Don't you think there are other people in Afghanistan to confront your seditious administration and rotten aims?..." On 3 October, Taleban radio broadcast an attack against BBC "propaganda" on the role of tribes in Afghanistan. The BBC had reported on the former king's agreement with the Northern Alliance to set up a council of tribal and military leaders as a possible first step towards forming a provisional government. The Taleban radio said tribes and ethnic minorities were united with the Kabul government. The Voice of Shari'ah has radio stations in Taleban-controlled provinces, including Badghis (northwest), Balkh (north, where the strategic city of Mazar-e Sharif is located), Farah (west), Fariab (northwest), Ghazni (central), Helmand (south), Herat (west), Kandahar (south), Konar (east), Logar (central), Nimroz (southwest), Samangan (north) and Sar-e Pol (north). However, some of these provinces, particularly in the north and northwest, are under threat from the Northern Alliance. Northern Alliance forces have entered Fariab Province. The external service broadcasts foreign-language programmes on a single shortwave frequency, which is officially 7200 kHz; however the actual frequency varies around 7085. The station broadcasts in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Turkmen, Uzbek, Arabic, Russian and English. However, transmissions are irregular and reception difficult outside Afghanistan. International interest in Afghanistan has prompted Clandestine Radio Watch (CRW), an organization monitoring clandestine broadcasting http://www.clandestineradio.com/martin/crw-main.html to appeal for help in recording English-language broadcasts of Taleban radio. The CRW's Nick Grace has asked listeners to record the Voice of Shari'ah's 15-minute daily English-language bulletin from 1530 to 1545 gmt so that they can be stored in an on-line archive available for people around the world. Press freedom non-existent Fears about hostile Cold War propaganda in the western media have been the Taleban's pretext for imposing strict media controls and silencing dissent. The leading newspaper is Shari'at, a government-run daily. The Taleban government also runs the English-language daily Kabul Times. Most news in the press comes from the government and official news agencies. The main national news agency is the Bakhtar Information Agency, long established but now controlled by the Taleban. Afghan Islamic Press is a Pashto-language news agency, based in the Pakistan border town of Peshawar that provides good coverage of breaking news. In 1997 the Taleban announced a ban on the sale of books and magazines published abroad. Since then, Afghans have been deprived of Pakistani and western newspapers. According to a Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) annual report in 2000, the only newspaper authorized by the Kabul authorities is Zarbe Momin, an Urdu-language weekly published in Karachi, Pakistan, which supports the Taleban cause. Despite a television ban, the Taleban have reportedly installed modern satellite dishes in their Kandahar and Kabul offices to monitor foreign television. The Pakistani newspaper Jang said the Taleban embassy in Islamabad has also set up television monitoring. Arab broadcaster still in Kabul Al-Jazeera, a pan-Arab satellite TV channel based in Qatar, known for its hard-hitting and fast coverage, is the only foreign broadcaster permitted in Kabul. One correspondent is stationed in Kabul, the other in Kandahar, the Taleban's southern stronghold. Since the 11 September attacks, the Taleban have relied on Al-Jazeera to communicate their views to the world. Taleban officials have spoken via satellite to Al-Jazeera headquarters in Doha from an uplink in the capital Kabul. The station has secured numerous exclusives. Al-Jazeera received a fax on 3 October purportedly carrying the signature of reclusive Taleban leader Mola Muhammad Omar. The statement urged Muslim entrepreneurs to finance a holy struggle against a possible Western campaign against Afghanistan. "Merchants and owners of capital, your prime duty is to spend in the way of God," the statement said. Only a week earlier, the station had received a fax bearing the signature of Usamah Bin-Ladin. It was an appeal to "Muslim brethren in Pakistan" to "repel the US crusader troops" expected to use their country to invade Afghanistan. As the only foreign TV bureau in Kabul, Al-Jazeera could air exclusive footage showing Afghan demonstrators attacking and setting fire to the US embassy on 26 September. Al-Jazeera grabbed international headlines again on 29 September with a report that three members of the US "special forces" and two Afghan US citizens were captured by Bin-Ladin's Al-Qa'idah group near the border with Iran". Despite a Taleban denial, the station stood by its report saying that a member of Al-Qa'idah called Al-Jazeera's bureau in Peshawar, Pakistan, to announce the capture. The US government has urged the Emir of Qatar to use his influence to persuade Al-Jazeera to tone down its coverage of the crisis. The station has given airtime to analysts critical of the USA and has rebroadcast interviews with Usamah Bin-Ladin. Resistance media Northern Alliance-controlled media are also a key source of news from within Afghanistan. There are no Northern Alliance-run radio stations but news is broadcast by loudspeaker in the towns of Charikar, Jabalosaraj and Golbahor, which are located in Parvan Province neighbouring Kabul. The Northern Alliance also runs the on-line only Radio Voice of Mojahed http:///www.payamemujahid.com/radio/index.htm which broadcasts via the Internet three days per week in Pashto and Dari. In the past, the Northern Alliance operated Takhar Radio, in Taloqan, northeastern Takhar Province. Its current status is unknown. According the USA's Philadelphia Inquirer, China has recently donated two shortwave transmitters to the Northern Alliance, which are scheduled to arrive in November. The Northern Alliance publishes an on-line weekly magazine Payam-e- Mojahed from Parwan, Afghanistan, in Pashto and Dari. TV Badakhshan The only television station broadcasting in Afghanistan is TV Badakhshan, operating in Fayzabad, capital of northeastern Badakhshan Province, which is under Northern Alliance control. The station broadcasts TV programmes in Dari and Pashto and has been on the air since June 1985. However, reception is weak and irregular. The station usually broadcasts for two hours every night, from 1900 to 2100 local time and sometimes until 2300. The schedule depends on whether the city's power plant is working. Situated on a hill overlooking Fayzabad, the station can be heard within a 40-km radius of the town. A daily news bulletin includes news from the BBC World Service TV and Iranian TV. It lasts approximately 15 minutes. Sometimes unveiled women newscasters appear on the station, the USA's Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported. Since the schedule is erratic, the start of the evening's programmes is announced in town on a public loudspeaker, the paper said. After the news, the station airs films from the United States, Iran, Russia or India, with Persian dubbing. "Nobody is quite sure how many viewers watch; the most recent survey done in 1991 indicated there were 5,000 televisions in town," the paper reported. Tajikistan and Iran may also become key bases for anti-Taleban media as both governments are sympathetic to the Northern Alliance. Tajik and Iranian radio broadcast in Dari to Afghanistan. Media mobilizing for war International media organizations are scrambling for positions around Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan in anticipation of US military action and its repercussions across the region. Agence France-Presse reported on 30 September that Pakistan has registered 450 newly arrived journalists in the country, although the real number is estimated at more than 700, with many having slipped in unofficially. However, obtaining accurate information on the situation in Taleban- controlled areas is dangerous. The Taleban's diplomatic offices in Pakistan have refused visas to foreign journalists. Yvonne Ridley of the Sunday Express in on trial on charges of being part of a "special forces" unit. She was arrested on 28 September in Taleban-held Nangarhar Province, which borders Pakistan. Only three Afghan agency reporters are allowed to work in Kabul: Amir Shah of the Associated Press, Syed Mohammad Azam of Agence France- Presse and Sayed Salahuddin of Reuters. Crucially for foreign journalists, the Northern Alliance has provided a passage into Afghanistan from neighbouring Tajikistan. On 29 September, Alliance spokesman Sayed Najibullah Hashimi told Reuters by satellite telephone that some 250 foreign journalists, mostly westerners, are in Northern Alliance-held areas. Source: BBC Monitoring research, 4 Oct 01 (via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Two NICE pictures of LRA 36. Uwe Volk in Germany received a nice e-mail letter and two nice pictures of the location and staff, of LRA36 for the third TRY. But again no mention of the special RecReport data given so far either. Previous reports sent and confirmed by an e-mail in May and Sept 2000, but no REAL cartoon QSL card received yet. Also see nice pictures of Base Esperanza under URL: http://www.fcapital.com.ar/esperanza --- click on START page to the transport helicopter (Uwe Volk, Germany, BC-DX Oct 1 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2201 USB, Nautical WX condx/forecast for Australian coastal areas. Fair reception. Can anyone give me info on Australian nautical WX stations, i.e. times, freqs and so on, for the HF spectrum? (David Hodgson, TN, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Arabische Sendung auf ROI bleibt erhalten. Einstellung wäre zur der zeitigen Situation ein "Schönheitsfehler", meint Jochum. Radio Österreich International (ROI) wird weiter Nachrichten in arabischer Sprache senden. Wie ORF-Hörfunkintendant Manfred Jochum am Freitag im Gespräch mit der APA erklärte, wäre die Einstellung des arabischen Programms "nach den Ereignissen am 11. September natürlich ein Schönheitsfehler". "Ich mache das rückgängig", so Jochum. Die beabsichtigten Einsparungen in der Höhe einer halben Million Schilling (36.336 Euro) müssten nun durch andere Massnahmen und "Umschichtungen" erreicht werden. Budget für ROI statt 160 nur 50 Millionen Schilling. Das Budget von R Österreich International werde sich im kommenden Jahr "unter 50 Millionen Schilling - also bei 46,7 Millionen" bewegen, so Jochum. R Österreich International wird mit In-Kraft-Treten des ORF-Gesetzes mit Anfang 2002 aus der Verantwortung des Bundes, der bisher für die Finanzierung des Auslandsdienstes aufkam, entlassen und in die ORF-Hörfunkintendanz eingegliedert. Nach dem Gesetz kann der ORF das Auslandsradio weiter betreiben, muss es aber nicht. "Mit 50 Millionen kann man nicht das gleiche Programm machen wie mit 160 Millionen", so Jochum zur "Sparvariante", mit der man sich nun konfrontiert sehe. Er sei aber "nicht so pessimistisch" und "auch nicht der Meinung, dass man mit diesem Geld kein ordentliches Programm machen kann". Die Informations-Kompetenz und journalistische Kompetenz des Senders bleibe erhalten, betonte er. Mit OE1 und FM4 werde man noch mehr Synergien suchen. Darüber hinaus sei es auch möglich, etwa durch die Vermietung von Kurzwellensendern Erlöse zu erzielen (APA in Der Standard via Harald Aaichmayr, Germany, A-DX Sep 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** BELARUS. New Belarus`-Russia radio station "Soyuz" ("Union") is planned to begin broadcasting in the near future. According to the report of the "Izvestiya" newspaper correspondent, this stn will be financed from the budget of the Russian-Belarus` Union State. "Soyuz" is expected to organize the 24-hour broadcsting on the territory of Russia and Belarus`. Will include news, information-entertaining, cultural and sporting programs, concerning the problems of the Union State (Elena Daneiko, "Izvestiya", via Sergei Sosedkin-USA, RUS DX Sep 28 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3344.0, Radio Ayopaya 0855-0920 Oct 4, Sudden sign-on in mid-song. Andean vocals, female announcer with slightly muffled mic audio in presumed Quechua. 0905 live ID "...Radio Ayopaya la voz de los ?Andes?..." Good peaks on the music but announcer mic was definitely distorted. Frequency drifted downward from 3344.04 at sign-on to 3343.92 by 0920, when signal began to fade (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. R Bulgaria 9400 replaced by 11900 kHz today, Oct 1st. 1615-1700 German, 1700-1800 French, 1800-1845 German, 1900-2000, English, 2000-2100 French, 2100-2200 English. Checked other channels at same time; Albanian at 1900-1945 really strong on MW 1224 and 6000 kHz. English at 1900-2000 on 11900, fine superpower 500 ? kW signal. Bulgarian on 7400 towards ME, and 7500 with 250 ? kW towards Europe, also powerful received in Stuttgart (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX and A-DX-NL items Oct 1, via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Re Democratic Voice of Burma change at 2330-2430, 11720 ex-11570 is Madagascar, 200 kW, 55 degrees; 9490 remains Jülich, Germany, 100 kW at 80 degrees (BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DXLD) ** CANADA. I noted CFRX Toromto 6070 back on the air this morning after a long absence. Good signal and audio. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch -- ; -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ DE, Oct 4, swprograms via DXLD) Weak here in New Jersey @ 1508 UT, but audible nonetheless. Tnx for the tip, Joe (Bill KA2EMZ Bergadano, ibid.) ** CANADA. Thestar.com Sep. 27, 04:15 EDT 'Canada's Own' CBC goes to U.S. for slogan National network's `exploding pizza' logo re-tooled Sid Adilman ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST LOGO TWEAKED: The CBC's familiar ''exploding pizza'' logo, top, has been given a pricey retooling, above, by a U.S. firm. The CBC has paid an American design company what is believed to be a low-seven- figures amount in U.S. dollars to tell the English-language network its tagline should be ''Canada's Own'' on all on-air promotions and other advertising... entire story for limited time: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1001541794198&call_page=TS_Entertainment&call_pageid=968867495754&call_pagepath=Entertainment/News (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Regarding the recent flip-flopping RFPI's been doing with its nominal 15049 frequency, I noticed them on 15045 at 0430- 0445 on 9/30, but at 2345 they were back on 15050. From all points I've been able to track them it appears that their problems reaching the eastern United States are only partially related to interference from frequency hopping clandestines. I am only able to get a good copy of your WOR and COM broadcasts (and other programs they broadcast, of course) about half of the time, as RFPI's weak signal frequently encounters all kinds of problems getting to my radio. This behavior is observed at any time in the day or night. Fortunately WBCQ and WWCR's WOR broadcasts are always very strong where I live. I believe the problems encountered by those who obtain WOR from your internet site last week were likely caused by the so-called NIMDA worm's effects. From my perspective, internet response was very sluggish during the three or four days NIMDA was spreading, corresponding directly to when you reported that people were having problems. Angelfire was very non-responsive for long periods at this time. I usually have no problem at all with the 6MB WOR file, which I always download for later listening. I was recently on business travel in London for a couple of weeks and was able to download the 9/12 WOR from my hotel's internet dial-up on September 12 with no difficulty (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. ESTIMADO AMIGO GLENN: Esto se encuentra publicado en la Sección Técnica del segmento DX de RHC; espero sea de su utilidad NOTAS DEL DIRECTOR TECNICO Enrique Romeu Riaño eromeu@rhc.cu [fecha?] Los mensajes que nos envíen por correo electrónico, grabados en su propia voz, serán empleados para conformar un programa especial dedicado al 40 Aniversario de RHC. ------------------ooo----------------- RHC transmite, en vivo, el programa venezolano ``Aló presidente`` que sale al aire los domingos en horas de la mañana. Lo transmitimos por las frecuencias 9820 kHz para el sureste del continente americano, 9505 kHz para Centroamérica, 11705 kHz y 11875 kHz para Sudamérica y 6140 kHz para el área del Caribe. ------------------ooo----------------- Afectaciones en la antena que pone la señal de la 11760 kHz en España nos han obligado a desviar este servicio para América. Afectaciones en la antena que pone la señal de la 11875 kHz en el cono sur sudamericano nos han obligado a interrumpir este servicio temporalmente (via Oscar, FL, Oct 4, DXLD) ** CUBA. PARA HACER QUE LA VOZ DE CUBA LLEGUE TODO LO LEJOS PERMISIBLE ESTIMADO GLENN: En su publicación del Lunes encontré un interesante tema sobre las frecuencias de AM en Cuba desde los 570 kHz hasta los 690 kHz. Muchas preguntas hablan de que si los emisores son viejos o nuevos. Revisando Radio Rebelde en su programa Diexista, encontré este artículo, que quizás pueda dar un poco de luz (Oscar, DXLD) "PARA LOS DIEXISTAS" (No 11) [fecha?? -gh] Por: Manolo de la Rosa Saludos estimados amigos donde quieran que lean esta página web de Radio Rebelde. Otro contacto DX con ustedes. Hoy comienzo nuestro espacio dándoles a conocer CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE TRANSMISION de onda corta de La Habana. Para facilitar la modernización de los transmisores, los torreros construyeron y montaron en solo 28 días, una antena direccional, diseñada por un técnico cubano. Se trata del ingeniero Jorge E. Quijano, de la Dirección de Radio Comunicaciones del MICOM (Ministerio de Comunicaciones). Esa inversión era imprescindible para continuar el proceso de modernización del Centro Internacional de Transmisión de Onda Corta "Titán", de La Habana, como también la restauración de los campos ya existentes y la remodelación eléctrica y recuperación mecánica de los winches. Antonio F. Barranco Souza es u elemento aglutinado, y la experiencia como especialista le facilita su labor de asesor de las brigadas, según expreso a la prensa cubana la ingeniera Caridad Fresneda, jefa de la Unidad Técnica de Construcción y Montaje de la empresa Radiocuba. Ellos, junto al ingeniero Victor Moreno (quien le sigue los pasos a Barranco y a los demás trabajadores del Centro de Bejucal y los del lugar), siempre creyeron en el éxito de la tarea. Por los ojos expertos de Barranco- 35 años en esa actividad- se suceden las imágenes del recuerdo, por ejemplo, cuando se izaron las antenas en La Caba y Losa Guineos en Guantánamo; y la de Camagüey, donde la habilitan y el valor de los torreros vencieron alturas superiores a los 200m. Sus seguidores son Ángel F. Cruz, Omar Izquierdo y Gerardo Alfonso, todos jefes de brigadas. Fieles a la misión de garantizar el sistema de radiación (transmisión de ondas de radio) en el territorio nacional y para hacer que la voz de Cuba llegue todo lo lejos permisible, se alistan Ernesto, Luis Ignacio, Antonio, Jorge Luis, Eliécer, Luis Barrio... Larga nomina cuyo denominador común es el coraje. UNA MUJER DESDE LA TIERRA Un nombre que no puede faltar en esta historia es el de ingeniera Bárbara M. De León Govea, Jefa de mantenimiento del Centro "Titán". Ella explica la odisea del "tiempo muerto", cuando los suministros escasearon y el silencio delos equipos parecía adueñarse para siempre de aquel paraje; de los ingentes esfuerzos de los especialistas, innovadores de todos los días, para que latiera la vida de tanto instrumental, de tanto espacio inutilizado. Con la creación de Radiocuba, en octubre de 1995, empezó a vislumbrarse un buen futuro. Conversaciones y visitas de especialistas de la República Popular China, favoreciendo el acuerdo de modernización de los transmisores, materializándose en dos de ellos, entre mayo y noviembre del 98. La eficiencia aumento un 10%, con una tecnología de punta. Cuando regresen los técnicos extranjeros encontraran el camino expedito para seguir avanzando en los restantes transmisores y otros tareas que dotaran a "Titán" de una vida nueva, con mas ventajas para cumplir bien la misión de transmitir la voz de la Isla. Y bien amigos, esto es todo por hoy. Les recuerdo que estoy a la espera de sus colaboraciones, comentarios y sugerencias. Nuestra dirección electrónica es: rebelde@ceniai.inf.cu y recuerden poner Para los Diexistas. Hasta un próximo encuentro se despide de ustedes su amigo de siempre Manolo de la Rosa quien les desea muy buenos DX y muchísimos 73 desde La Habana, Cuba. Cordiales 73's (via Oscar, DXLD) ** CUBA. The larger [MW] transmitters, the ones in the 150, 120 and 250 kw range, were all Czech manufacture and installed between 1962 and 1970. I remember a visit by a salesperson from the Czech factory in about 1967; I was shown pictures of the Cuban installations that they had done. The guy wanted me to buy a 50 kw unit for one of my stations in Ecuador! (David Gleason, Hispanic Broadcasting, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. From Thomas' posting it sounds like there's more than one balloon. To my knowledge none of them have anything to do with Radio Marti, but there is one for *TV* Marti (Doug Smith, NRC-AM via DXLD) The Radio Martí web site still states that they are 50 kW. However I noticed that their fiscal year 2001 budget included the purchase of a new 100 kw transmitter. TV Martí's web page says "The antenna and transmitter for TV Martí are mounted aboard a balloon tethered 10,000 feet above Cudjoe Key, FL." Cudjoe Key is 26 miles west of Marathon. It also says the antenna is highly directional and puts a grade A signal into Havana. However it is heavily jammed there so the signal is randomly shifted to areas east and west of Havana to lessen the effects of the jamming. It says they only transmit from 3:30 AM to 8:00 AM daily. That seems pretty strange to me. I wonder if that is supposed to be 8:00 AM to 3:30 AM? [no, deliberately wee hours so as not to anger Fidel –gh] The only thing I couldn't find is what channel they are on and how much power they radiate. It is surprising to note that Cuban television still uses NTSC system M, the same as the US. I can understand why they don't use PAL since Cuba has a 60 Hz electrical system. But I would have expected them to convert to the SECAM system like much of the Eastern Block when they were friendly with Russia (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 2700.09, Ondas del Yuna (2 x 1350) (harmonic) 0957 Oct 4, Bachata vocals, 1003 ads and canned ID. Fair signal with ute QRM. 4930.04, Radio Barahona 1028-1038 Oct 1, LA pop vocals. 1031 rapid fire announcers back and forth with news items. 1038 female announcer with ID in passing. Weak signal but in the clear (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Two more opposition radios reportedly on the air The existence of two further radio stations broadcasting to Ethiopia on shortwave has been reported by the Deki-Alula Ethiopian Online Newsletter, which highlights news of opposition activities. Both of the radios are said to broadcast in the Tigrinya language. They are: 1. Dejen Radio (meaning "Base Radio"). This is said to broadcast on Saturdays at 1700-1800 gmt on 12110 kHz. The web site says Dejen Radio replaces the transmissions at the same time on Saturday, and on the same frequency, by the station calling itself "Voice of Tigrayans from North America". BBC Monitoring believes that these later broadcasts emanated from a transmitter in the former Soviet Union. 2. Radio Solidarity. The web site said this station broadcasts at 1530-1600 gmt on Thursdays and Saturdays on 15620 kHz. A separate report on the same web site said that 10,250 dollars was raised at a party held in Washington on 29 September in support of Radio Solidarity. The fund-raising party was organized by the Tigrayan International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy (TISJD). In addition to the above stations, BBC Monitoring is aware of at least five other opposition radio stations currently broadcasting to Ethiopia on shortwave. Source: Deki-Alula Ethiopian Online Newsletter web site in English 3 Oct 01 (via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DXLD) I suggest that Dejen R and VOTFNA are very closely related, as they were previously testing together on WWCR. Finally, V. of Tigrayans is gone from WWCR 15685, Thu Oct 4 at 2058 after WOR, back to Spanish (gh, WOR 1099, DXLD) ** FINLAND. From Scandinavian Weekend Radio: Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls everywhere. Welcome to have a nice relaxing weekend with sounds coming from the very unique SW- station from the real north in Scandinavia. SCANDINAVIAN WEEKEND RADIO, Virrat in Finland will start its 24 hours broadcast beginning at 21 hours UT on Friday October 5th. Here is our Frequency Schedule for our October broadcast: Time 48 mb 25mb 21:00-23:00 UTC 6170 kHz 11720 kHz 23:00-24:00 UTC 6170 kHz 11690 kHz 00:00-02:00 UTC 5980 kHz 11720 kHz 02:00-08:00 UTC 5990 kHz 11720 kHz 08:00-14:00 UTC 6170 kHz 11720 kHz 14:00-16:45 UTC 5990 kHz 11720 kHz 16:45-17:30 UTC 6170 kHz 11720 kHz 17:30-21:00 UTC 6170 kHz 11690 kHz Reaching North-America: At Friday 21 hours UTC till Saturday 6 hours UTC our new 2-element beam antenna for 25mb is towards North America (320 degrees). We had quite good results last time on September having listeners all over Canada and USA. Only southern part of USA is still missing! So we wish quite many new listeners can find us this time! PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR US. It would be nice if you could call directly to our phone line +358 400 995 559. You can also send SMS-messages. Waiting for the hot summer-competition results. The winners of our "Waiting for the hot summer" -competition have been cleared. 1st prize went to Mr. Herbert Meixner, Austria, 2nd prize to Mr. Jari Perkiömäki, Finland and 3rd prize to Mr. Ian Bigger, UK. Prizes will be (has been) mailed soon. Contact info: Please let us know how you are receiving us. We have a live telephone-line during our broadcasts, so call or send SMS-message into +358 400 995 559. At other times you can leave a message into our voice mail machine. You can also leave messages to our web page's ( http://www.swradio.net/ ) guestbook, message board or you can send your reception report form there. And of course we are waiting for your reports by snail. Our mailing address is: SWR, P.O.Box 35, FIN- 40321 Jyväskylä, Finland. PLEASE NOTE: We do not send our printed QSL -card without return postage (2 IRC or 2 USD and make sure that you get those IRCs stamped correctly, otherwise they are useless). With Best Regards, (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Voice of Greece, Greek Music Show in English language commentary. Every Sunday 1800-1900 UT 17705 khz (best signal for me); 15630 (also can be heard on but weak for me). Monitored using my Radio Shack DX 397 receiver. (I had not seen 15630 listed for the V. of Greece anywhere; 17705 is relayed via Delano-ds) (Petro Giannakopoulos via Daniel Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave http://www.triwest.net/~dsampson/shortwave/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Don`t you believe AIR`s own website schedule, which shows previously unknown English broadcasts at 0215-0400, 1530-1630 and 2315-0115 UTC. I am surprised that no one seems to have noticed that all these are exactly 5.5 hours later than existing GOS transmissions, and the Roman Numeral keys to each match the real times 5.5 hours earlier. So AIR has slipped into local time, IST for several listings on its site otherwise in UT. Unfortunately, some compilers of English SW broadcast schedules have actually believed this! I have not checked any of the other languages for further errors of this ilk (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {NOTE: following is not correct either, as acknowledged in next issue: 1900 and 2200 start times are wrong -gh} AIR should look something like this: 1000-1100 1053.0do 11585.0as 13700.0au* 15020.0as 15770.0as 17510.0au 17840.0as 17895.0au 1330-1500 9690.0as 11620.0as* 13710.0as* 1900-1945 7410.0eu* 9950.0eu 11935.0af 13605.0af* 15155.0af* 17670.0af* 2200-2230 7150.0va* 7410.0eu* 9650.0eu* 9910.0au* 9950.0eu* 11620.0au* 11715.0au* 2245-0045 9705.0as* 9950.0as 11620.0as* 13605.0as* I have personally verified the frequencies marked with an asterisk. 73, (Mark J. Fine / Remington, Virginia, USA, Serving the Shortwave Community since 1988: - Owner/Proprietor, FineWare: http://www.fineware-swl.com swprograms via DXLD) ** IRAN. 15260, V of IRIB Kamalabad's tx on 15260 produced two very strong spurious signals, symmetrical on 15196.32 (15194.6 ... 15198.5) and 15323.64 (15321.2 ... 15325.4) at 0430-0600, carrying Turkish sce, 500 kW 289 degrees, \\ Zahedan 15365 500 kW 289 degrees (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Oct 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DXLD) ** IRAQ. Hi Glenn, Re: DXLD-1138 on 9917: Just noted Baghdad in Arabic back on 9887.0 at 1400 UT. Loud het with 9885, and poor modulation, but instantly recognizable from the news theme on the hour. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. The Reshet Alef (Israel Radio's first network) website (Hebrew only) is now online. Reshet Alef broadcasts shows regarding subjects as (almost always 'talk' radio): culture, theatre, academia, nature/environment, children, family life, health, public information, literature. They hope to start a live Internet feed. They are asking people to send them the following information: Would you be interested in live feed? What program do you use for on demand audio? The website is currently a work in progress. It will have a program schedule listed, and currently has the AM/FM frequencies listed. They list call-in numbers for their radio shows. They also have the history of Reshet Alef. All in Hebrew. The website, available as a link from http://www.iba.org.il is: http://aleph.iba.org.il/ Their email address is: aleph@iba.org.il Also, note that a few of the foreign language broadcasts are broadcasted domestically on Reshet Alef. The 0400 (Summer Times)/0500 (Standard Time) UTC and the 1600 (Sum)/1700(Win) UTC English Kol Israel broadcasts are broadcast on Reshet Alef (Daniel Rosenzweig, NY, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Hi, Trollhättan, Sweden calling. I've had the DX-surprise of the year. 1539 kHz, 04 Oct at 1633, Arutz Sheva heard very well until Evangeliums Rundfunk took total control of the frequency, but that was only at 1750. Until 1700 with a program in Russian and a lot of talk about "Country Club", the sponsor obviously, and listeners phoned from Jerusalem and other places. At 1700 they went on in French, and the news about the Black Sea air crash broke, "..émission spéciale..." they said. Phone numbers to call for those near to passengers were given. Reactions and commentaries circled around terrorism, of course. Very good signal, peaking around 1720. Weak transmitter in Arabic under at times. This station was only heard on my south-eastern loop, and the K9AY null control had to be handled with extreme care. But so the station was crystal clear during long periods. However, around 1750 "the fun" was over... 73 (Johan Berglund, AOR AR7030, K9AY near the west coast of Sweden, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Please correct my previous report about the QSL policy of LF JJY to the following. Unofficial verification will be issued only to 60 kHz reception. LF time signal station JJY started 24 hour transmission on 60 kHz to cover western Japan, from stn in Kyushu. JJY will verify reception report on 60 kHz time signal. Send SASE (80 yen stamp in Japan, 130 for overseas) with the reception report to: Standard Time Signal Station JJY, Communications Research Laboratory, Koganei City, Tokyo, 184-8795 Japan. Identification in Morse code is given at 15min40sec and 45min 40sec every hour (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, BC-DX Oct 3 via DXLD) ** LAOS. 7145, Vientiane, Lao National R in English 1330-1400. Stn s- off with the National Anthem at 1400 and carrier also off. Good modulation 7145, some splatter from China 7150. I think Davis mentioned this some days back. I was looking for Malaysia, when I got this one (Victor Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX via BC-DX Oct 1 via DXLD) 7145, Lao National Radio, Vientiane. Appears to be a reactivation of their external service. Not bad in FF 1315 t/in, lots of mentions of Laos. Into EE 1330, mainly nx-type pxing, with some mx prior to 1400*. Has been off air for many years & vacated shortly after receiving a new 10 kW transmitter, from Australian aid as I recall. The domestic service has been available on 6130 throughout. The transmitter on 7145 sounds more than 10 kW, but further investigation is needed. Difficult to follow pxing due to thunderstorm noise, and I can't claim to have heard at 100% positive ID, though I don't think there's much doubt. 28/9 (Craig Seager, Australia, ADXN via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 6099.92, R. Liberia Int`l. Decent signal at 0610 22/9 with African vocal mx, co-channel QRM, but Liberia dominant and QRM decreasing and virtually gone by 0625. ID by woman 0615, TC, into preaching and a little mx, 0628 ID again as "R.Liberia Intl", TC, then "a selection of Liberian songs." All EE (Jerry Berg, MA, ADXN via DXLD) ** MACAO. CHINA. Source: TDM Radio Macao --------------------------------------------------------------------- Media Provider: Teledifusao de Macao (TDM). Date of Issue: 03-Oct- 2001 11:09. Last Modified: 24-Sep-2001 15:27. Languages: Cantonese Address: 157-A Rua Francisco Xavier Pereira, P.O. Box 446, Central Macao. Tel: +853 5994812. Fax: +853 531173 E-mail: tdmmkt@macau.ctm.net Web Site: http://www.tdm.com.mo/radio Delivery Methods : Terrestrial, Internet --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 Daily CANTONESE Domestic Ter: 100.7 0000-0200 .MTuWThF. News and information program 2300-0100 ......Sa News prog 0000-2359 Daily CANTONESE Global Net: http://www.tdm.com.mo - live audio (end time varies)[?? -gh] --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Oct 3 via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DXLD) Checking later, we got nowhere with the URL ending in /radio but OK with just http://www.tdm.com.mo (gh, DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. 10/4 at 0045, presumed Radio Mauritanie on 4845, male announcer with very deep voice in what sounds like French into a music snippet; then he takes a call, followed by an Arabic chant sounding like the Holy Koran broadcasts on middle eastern stations. After Koran-like song, a very old sounding recording I am assuming is a national anthem, followed by an open carrier for some time past 0100. SIO 544 (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NAMIBIA. Radio stations to broadcast over Internet | Excerpt from report by Namibian newspaper The Namibian web site on 3 October Four of Namibia's private radio stations have selected UUNET Namibia as their Internet NSP (Internet Network Service Provider) which allows them to broadcast their programmes on the Internet. The stations are Radio Kudu, Radio Wave [96.7 MHz in Windhoek and live audio stream], Channel 7 and Cosmos Digital. Barney Harmse, Managing Director of UUNET Namibia, said: "The relationship with some of the radio stations mentioned is already years old... What these successful radio stations also needed urgently - and some have been doing so for some time now, was to stream their respective broadcasts over the Internet, not only to Namibian Internet users, but also to the rest of the world... UUNET is now delivering 24 hour Internet connectivity to their respective networks through Uudirect at a fixed monthly fee, and secondly a facility to broadcast to millions of Internet users all over the world 24 hours, through the UUhost product. Source: The Namibian web site, Windhoek, in English 3 Oct 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NEPAL. R. Nepal is again inactive on 5005. Looks like transmitter failure again, or it could be that the tx is used on 7164.4 now. Correspondingly observe increased signal on 7164.4, English news at 1415. S-off at 1715. Even in Sri Lanka the signal is not good enough for anybody but DXers. Singapore`s Tamil Sce on 7170 is a pain, and so is Beijing on 7160 (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, DXplorer Oct 2 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** OMAN. Dear Glenn, Radio Sultanate of Oman, 15140 1423-1445 UT in English with programme called "Your Health", then followed programme w/rap music then time pips at 1430, followed by the news in English then weather bulletin, local and few international cities. SIO 433. 2/10 (C. Constantinides, Cyprus, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. API-5 on 17 MHz at 0800 has been faulty, and the same tx radiating noise on 15100 today at 1600 too. I noted that Mahendra had been hearing PAK on 7100 around 1630 so tried it myself, and it came up c1606 today. I think this is the Islamabad ProgrAM (Aaina) which is listed for 9540. 'Current Affairs' is still heard on a7365 (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Sep 28 via DXLD) ** PERU. 3172.69, Radio Municipal (tentative) 0927-0945 Oct 4, Andean vocals, announcer in Spanish but signal too weak and fading (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. I was checking RDPI/R Portugal's QRGs supposed to be on the air this morning, i.e. prior to 1200, and wanted to see if their tx used for the weekend QRG of 12020 was radiating a harmonic and how strong it was. At the observed time, 4 QRGs should be on the air, viz. 12020 & 13640 to EUR, 21830 for the São Tomé-Angola-Mozambique axis, 21655 for the Cabo Verde - Guiné-Bissau axis, but all I found was 21830 on, so I phoned "CEOC" --- Centro Emissor de Ondas Curtas, at São Gabriel, talked and complained about what was happening, and asked why couldn't they immediately activate any of the remaining 5 txs instead of trying to repair whatever went wrong during the broadcast. The only reply from him was: "A total of 8 txs? Well, they're here, all right, only a few are currently scheduled for repair, so I need to solve what's needed for repair right now, I'm alone at the centre, so must hang up, bye." Now, on Sats+Suns there's in fact a period (1200-2000) when 6 out of the existing 8 txs are used, and it's CEOC's common practice to have at least one stand by. Also, it seems the Pro-Funk GmbH (formerly R Trans Europa, Ltd) facility at Sines isn't used because it's needed, but merely because it's part of an agreement, and also because the RDP can "rest" a while. In fact, 7 of the CEOC's 100 kW txs should be resting for good for some time now, and despite the break downs and poor audio at times, I believe the full merit goes to the CEOC personnel, who seem to perform miracles and gave up waiting for the scheduled 2nd 300 kW AEG tx. The common stn slogan hrd on the RDP channels saying they're on the air on MW, FM, satellite, cable and DAB (but says nothing about HF !!!) clearly illustrates how little interest HF represents for the RDP's top responsibles. In sum, and as someone inside the RDP itself already put it, it easily shows "they're saving money for peanuts while wasting sums elsewhere." Despite my positive comments re. CEOC's personel, there have been several occasions, however, when I happen to be monitoring them, detect something wrong, take the phone and ... they seem to question my observations as if they feel absolutely confident about the audio quality, etc., and, on the other hand, it's also their common practice to say the problem emanates from the studios themselves &/or the link/feeder room here in Lisbon. Surely a typical bureaucratic reply from a civil servant. What the RDP really seems to need is to be flooded by listeners' complaints about their audio &/or modulation at times, not to mention carrier noises, and that's what, as a DXer myself, I'd suggest many amongst you to do, but then I understand that monitoring programs in a language very few among you can understand isn't worth while, I suppose. As to programming itself, well, the bad taste in some may discourage many to either monitor or listen to! (Carlos L.R. de Assunção Gonçalves. {Portugal, BC-DX Sep 30 via DXLD) ** QATAR. You might want to check out this piece re US encouragement of censorship of the al-Jazeera TV network from Qatar. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1578000/1578619.stm 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QU, Oct 4, DXLD) UPDATE Analysis: Al-Jazeera TV - inside the Afghan crisis [Updating Al-Jazeerah coverage on Afghanistan and the station's response to the USA, after US officials asked the Emir of Qatar to persuade it to tone down its coverage] Al-Jazeera (The Peninsula), a popular pan-Arab satellite TV news channel, has been the only foreign broadcaster with reporters in Taleban-controlled Afghanistan since 19 September. The station has a reputation for outspoken, independent reporting, which is in stark contrast to the Taleban's views of the media as a propaganda and religious tool yet also a threat to their regime. Operating from the Gulf state of Qatar, the station has attracted criticism for some of its current affairs programmes which, in the station's own words, "offer a platform for divergent viewpoints and analyses". Origins linked to BBC Although Al-Jazeera has been called the "Arab CNN", the station said that it models itself on the BBC. Al-Jazeera was set up in 1996 by the new Emir of Qatar, Shaykh Hamad Bin-Khalifah Al Thani, who overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1995. The Emir had abolished the Ministry of Information in 1995, which ended state control over the media. Since then, quasi- governmental corporations have funded the media. While several members of the royal family, including the Emir, are on Al-Jazeera's board of directors and it is subsidized by the Qatari government, it is still regarded as a private company. The new station recruited BBC-trained staff from a failed Arabic TV venture with the Saudi-owned company Orbit which had foundered in 1996 over issues of editorial control. It was heavily influenced by the ex-BBC staff and the news and current affairs programme formats of the BBC. The majority of staff are Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese, and to a lesser extent, Egyptians and a few Iraqis. Many of them have worked for the BBC Arabic Service or US media organizations. Although the channel insists that the Qatari government has no editorial control, some analysts have noted that the station has avoided interviews with Qatari political dissidents or the deposed emir. Muhammad Jasim al-Ali, managing director of Al-Jazeera, has insisted that Qatar does not have dissidents. In an interview with the Transnational Broadcasting Studies (TBS) journal, which is published by the Adham Center for Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo, Al-Ali said: "In the beginning, we tried to interview some of them but we didn't succeed. The main problem now is that we don't have any opposition after the attempted coup [by supporters of the deposed Emir in February 1996]." Funding For the last five years, the Qatari Emir has spent 140m US dollars (100m pounds) subsidizing Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera's London bureau said the station has sought funding through advertising and viewer revenue and deals with other broadcasters. Although the funding is expected to end in November 2001, the London bureau press officer said the Qatari government had yet to make an official decision and the agreement will be reviewed by both sides. Despite this fast approaching deadline, some analysts predict that the Qatari emirate will continue bankrolling Al-Jazeera. The entry of commercial broadcasters into the Arab media scene has led to stiffer competition for limited advertising revenue. Viewers in most of the Gulf States can watch more than a dozen satellite TV channels. In addition to BBC World, CNN and Canal France International, they have access to pan-Arab channels like the London- based, Saudi-owned Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC), the Syrian- owned Arab News Network (ANN), the Lebanese channels LBC and Future TV are also available. Pay-TV services from the Saudi-backed Orbit and Arab Radio & Television (ART) are also available. The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin reported in June 2000 that the market for satellite television advertising in the Arab world is estimated to exceed 500m dollars annually, but most of it is spent by multinational corporations which are reluctant to risk alienating governments in the region. Al-Jazeera's groundbreaking style could scare off advertisers. The station frequently carries advertisements from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, whose governments have criticized its coverage. Najib Ghadbian, writing in the Middle East Review of International Affairs, questioned whether Al-Jazeera could keep its independent approach without upsetting their sponsors, "many of whom are likely to come from neighbouring Gulf states which are not totally thrilled about the station". Coverage Al-Jazeera's reach extends to the entire Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the USA. It employs about 350 editors, anchors and technicians and has approximately 30 correspondents and around 35 bureaus including all Arab countries, London, Washington DC, Russia, Paris and Brussels. Overseas bureaus are linked directly by satellite. According to unofficial estimates, Al-Jazeera is the top Arabic- language TV channel in the Middle East. The station claims to have 35 million viewers, but this cannot be verified as some Arab countries do not carry out official viewer surveys. It broadcasts financial, cultural, religious and sports programmes, in addition to its continuous news coverage to viewers from its headquarters in Doha. Starting with six hours daily, Al-Jazeera built up to 24 hours by February 1999, becoming a pioneer of around-the-clock Arab news coverage. Its bulletins focus more on news filed by overseas correspondents rather than commentaries on Arab leaders' meetings. The channel is received on: Arabsat 2A, 26 east and Arabsat 3A, 26 east (pan-Arab) Nilesat 101, 7 west (Egypt) Amos 1, 4 west (Israel) PanAmSat PAS 2, 169 east and PAS 9, 58 west (Americas) EchoStar 1, 148 west and EchoStar 3, 61.5 west (Americas) Telstar 5, 97 west (Americas) Eurobird, 28.5 east (Sky Digital - UK) Eutelsat W4, 36 east (Europe) Hot Bird 3, 13 east (Europe) The station has entered into partnerships with other TV firms. Israeli cable TV company Matav put Al-Jazeera on the air, as part of a special package of channels for the Arab sector in the Haifa and Netanya regions in May 2000. In September 2001, the station signed up to broadcast via the UK's Sky Digital albeit at the cost of losing viewers of Al-Jazeera's analogue signal on Eutelsat W2, which ceased on 3 October. The UK's Independent Television Commission (ITC) said that Al-Jazeera is not a registered UK licence holder, but it has a licence registered with France's Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA). Al-Jazeera's London bureau says the station plans to launch two new channels, one documentary and the other economic, in early 2002. The station's web site, http://www.aljazeera.net said it has received more than 9m visits and 46m pages were viewed in the first seven months since it was launched in January 2001. In July, the site received more than 1.5m visits and more than 10m pages were viewed. Twenty-five per cent of the web site's viewers are from the USA. News from an Arab viewpoint The station prides itself on reporting on Middle East affairs from an Arab perspective while drawing on professional experience of staff who have worked in the Western media. Since the second Palestinian Intifadah uprising broke out in October 2000, Al-Jazeera's intensive coverage of rioting in the occupied territories from its bureaus in Ramallah, Gaza city and a rented studio in Jerusalem, may have helped foster support for the Palestinian cause. Al-Jazeera Director Muhammad Jasim al-Ali, interviewed by the Jordanian newspaper Al-Dustur in 1999, said: "...We, as Arabs, must address our own issues and problems. I believe that Al-Jazeera has been the first and only channel in this regard. "I believe that the basic reason behind the channel's existence stems from the fact that the Arab citizen has a pressing need to watch a daring channel he can trust, a channel that can save him watching Western channels. These channels controlled the Arab mind for a long time," Al-Ali told the paper. But as the UK's Daily Telegraph notes, Al-Jazeera is a double-edged sword. "As well as mobilizing public protests against Israel, it has also become a platform for sharp criticism of Arab regimes over their failure to defend the Palestinians. On its talk shows, the word khawana - "traitors" - is heard with increasing frequency," the paper said. Israel's Jerusalem Post observed that Al-Jazeera has also given ample air time to Israeli officials since hostilities broke out. "To be fair, often Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Palestinian violence works in Israel's favour. It was the first station to screen images of Gazans firing mortars at Israeli communities, providing important evidence of what, until then, had been something of a spectral terrorist threat," the paper said. Controversial programmes Al-Jazeera has topped ratings and angered governments over its controversial flagship programmes "More Than One Opinion", "Open Dialogue", "Without Borders" and "The Opposite Direction", which occasionally provide a platform for political dissidents to criticize their governments, usually with a spokesperson from the country involved to provide an official response. Viewers are encouraged to phone the shows and express their opinions. The programmes have featured live debates among Islamists and secular liberals or communists, and supporters of the peace process with Israel and its opponents. "Top Secret" is an investigative programme similar to the BBC's "Panorama" or the USA's "60 minutes". The station's web site carries audio clips and transcripts from the discussion programmes, as well as opinion polls on contentious issues to coincide with the talk shows. The latest poll, which runs until 3 October, is on whether viewers think Usamah Bin-Ladin will be handed over to the USA to avoid attacks on Afghanistan. Al-Ali told the Transnational Broadcasting Studies journal that some guests had been prevented from attending the discussion programmes. In the past, one guest had been arrested, others were denied travel permits or had their telephone lines disconnected. "We've had the lines in our studios disconnected in some countries while on air," Al-Ali said. Accused of breaking Arab "code of honour" In December 1998, when the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) decided to admit private broadcasting stations to membership, it specifically excluded Al-Jazeera. ASBU insisted that it must first "conform to the code of honour of the Arab media", in other words, not broadcasting material critical of Arab leaders. Al-Jazeera refused to comply. Yet, as the Qatari newspaper Gulf Times noted, other Arabic TV channels "which offer only nudity" were allowed to join. Qatar has received more than 400 official complaints from other Arab states about Al-Jazeera's relatively uncensored news broadcasts and controversial political commentaries, the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin reported in June 2000. Some countries have accused Al-Jazeera of inciting violence and attempting to destabilize their countries by giving a platform to dissidents. After Al-Jazeera in April 2000 opened a bureau in Egypt's free media zone, Egyptian officials condemned the station for giving airtime to Adil Abd al-Majid, a terrorist convicted for plotting bombings in Egypt, and Yasir Sirri, an Egyptian sentenced to death for the failed assassination attempt against former Prime Minister Atif Sidqi. Retaliation by governments In the past, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco have recalled their envoys from Qatar in protest at broadcasts on human rights issues or interviews with opposition figures. Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have complained about Al-Jazeera coverage. Even the US embassy in Doha protested after calls to strike US interests were made during an Al-Jazeera programme in early 1998, a time when Washington was preparing to bomb Iraq, the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin reported. The station criticized the US-UK bombing campaign against Iraq in December 1998. In November 1998, Jordan ordered closure of the channel's bureau in Amman and withdrew accreditation for its staff in that country. The channel was accused of "violating the press law by intentionally attacking the Jordanian people and regime". Lebanon, which tolerates a relatively free press, complained when the station interviewed Roger Hatem, a former bodyguard of the Lebanese Christian Phalange militia leader. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on 21 March 2001 closed down Al-Jazeera's Ramallah bureau after a preview of a documentary on the Lebanese civil war was broadcast from Qatar. The preview showed a demonstrator showing contempt towards a picture of Yasir Arafat. Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization were based in Lebanon for part of the war. The PNA reopened the bureau two days later. Kuwait has frequently complained that Al-Jazeera's news coverage is pro-Iraqi. After a bureau was opened in May 2001, Kuwait fined the channel a month later for reportedly accusing Kuwaitis of killing Palestinians and Iraqis with acid following the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. The Iraqi connection Despite its outspoken reputation, Al-Jazeera has been careful not to take a pro-Western line on some of the more sensitive Arab issues and tends to adopt a pro-Arab stance on Middle Eastern affairs. With a shared culture and language, the station has gained access to and even earned the trust of Arab leaders such as Iraqi President Saddam Husayn. The UK newspaper The Times reports that militant groups Hamas and Al-Qa'idah always send their press releases to Al-Jazeera. The Iraqi Satellite Channel in 1998 linked up with Al-Jazeera so that Qataris could watch Iraqi television. The Iraqi newspaper Alif Ba reported that Al-Jazeera was trying to secure priority in obtaining Iraqi official statements. Baghdad TV often rebroadcasts Al-Jazeera video footage and partially or entirely airs talk shows featuring Iraqi officials or expressions of support for Iraq. However, analysts of the Arab world remain divided on whether Iraqi President Saddam Husayn deliberately uses Al-Jazeera as a conduit to ensure that his speeches reach a wide Arab audience - or whether it is the station's reputation for independent reporting that has secured it the scoops on Iraq in the first place. Saddam Husayn chose Al-Jazeera to call on Iraqis to resist the December 1998 US-UK bombing of Iraq. On 5 January 1999 it broadcast, in advance of Iraqi Satellite TV and other Iraqi media, Saddam Husayn's Army Day speech in which he called on Arabs to overthrow their leaders if they were allied to the United States. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia accused the channel of trying to rehabilitate the Iraqi regime. However, the Iraqi government has also criticized Al-Jazeera. It lodged a complaint with Qatari officials when Al-Jazeera reported the enormous expenses of Saddam Husayn's birthday celebrations on 28 April 2000. Access to Usamah Bin-Ladin Al-Jazeera's liberal values may appear at odds with the political views of Usamah Bin-Ladin and the Taleban, but the station's coverage of them goes back several years. Bin Laden used Al-Jazeera as a platform in 1998 to urge Muslims to "target all Americans". On 20 September, Al-Jazeera rebroadcast the 1998 interview with Bin-Ladin for the first time in its entirety, during which he reminisced about his childhood and aired his views. In January 2001, Al-Jazeera showed exclusive footage of Usamah Bin- Ladin at his son's wedding in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The station aired the first real-time video clips of the Taleban's destruction of the Bamian Buddhas in 2000. Exclusive coverage in Taleban territory Since the 11 September attacks, the Taleban have used Al-Jazeera as one of the ways they communicate their views to the world. Taleban officials have spoken via satellite to Al-Jazeera correspondents from an uplink in the capital Kabul. Correspondent Taysir Aluni is based in Kabul and has lived there for several years. Muhammad al-Burini is the correspondent in the southern Taleban stronghold of Kandahar. The station has secured numerous exclusives. On 3 October, Al-Jazeera received a fax purportedly signed by Taleban leader Mola Muhammad Omar. The statement urged Muslim entrepreneurs to finance what he said was a holy struggle against a US-led campaign against Afghanistan. On 24 September, Al-Jazeera carried another alleged appeal by Usamah Bin-Ladin to his "Muslim brethren in Pakistan" to "repel the US crusader troops" expected to use their country as a landing ground for an invasion of Afghanistan. As the only foreign TV bureau in Kabul, Al-Jazeera could air exclusive footage showing Afghan demonstrators attacking and setting fire to the US embassy on 26 September. Al-Jazeera grabbed international headlines again on 29 September with a report that three members of the US "special forces" and two Afghans holding US citizenship were captured by Bin-Ladin's Al- Qa'idah group near the border with Iran. Despite a Taleban denial, the station stood by its report saying that a member of Al-Qa'idah called Al-Jazeera's bureau in Peshawar, Pakistan, to announce the capture. Al-Jazeera has also gained access to the anti-Taleban Northern Alliance coalition based in the north of Afghanistan. The station on 26 September broadcast a live telephone interview with Northern Alliance ally Gen Abdorrashid Dostum near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, during which he denied reports of his death. Dostum is a leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek minority and heads the Jonbesh-e Milli Eslamiye group. Despite its independent stance, the Al-Jazeera has been labelled by some UK newspapers as a "mouthpiece" of Usamah Bin-Ladin and Al- Qa'idah, the Daily Telegraph reported. Similar concerns appear to have prompted the USA to ask the Qatari Emir to persuade Al-Jazeera to tone down its coverage. The station has given airtime to analysts hostile to the USA, Reuters reported. But Muhammad Jasim al-Ali, managing director of Al-Jazeera, defended his channel's coverage and told Reuters that Qatar was not putting any pressure on it. "These accusations are not strange," Al-Ali explained. "We have been accused of being the voice of Iraq because of our coverage, and now as we are the only people with access in Afghanistan, we're accused of being pro-Afghani. "We have correspondents in the United States and we have correspondents in Kabul and Kandahar. We give equal coverage to both sides and that is our role. We present both sides," he told Reuters. Al-Jazeera's journalistic scoops, most recently in Afghanistan, have turned the spotlight on the channel. If privatization proceeds, the station could face pressure from commercial sponsors in the Gulf, from where there has often been criticism of its output. Now there is pressure from a more powerful player - the US government, which has expressed concerns to the Qatari Emir over Al-Jazeera's robust reporting and exclusive access to the Taleban and Al-Qa'idah. Through its reporting of the crisis, Al-Jazeera has itself become embroiled in those events. Contact details Address: Al-Jazeera Channel, PO Box 23123, Doha, Qatar Tel: +974 4 890 890; 885 666 E-mail: info@aljazeera.net Web site: http://www.aljazeera.net London Bureau address: 34 Foubert Place, London W1 7PS Tel: 0207 478 7603 Senior figures at Al-Jazeera Shaykh Hamad Bin Thamir Al Thani, chairman of Al-Jazeera Member of the Qatari royal family Mr Muhammad Jasim al-Ali, managing director of Al-Jazeera Mr Ibrahim Hilal, chief editor Mr Sami Haddad, "More Than One Opinion" programme presenter -- Former BBC senior broadcaster and programme presenter Mr Jamil Azar, news broadcaster and presenter of a weekly news round- up programme -- Former assistant to BBC Arabic Service director Dr Faysal al-Qasim, "The Opposite Direction" programme presenter Former BBC broadcaster Mr Muftah al-Suwaydan, executive director and chief of London bureau Mr Umar al-Isawi, correspondent in Peshawar, Pakistan Mr Ahmad Muwaffaq Zaydan, correspondent in Islamabad, Pakistan Source: Monitoring research, 04 Oct 01 (BBC Monitoring via DXLD) ** QATAR. US to Qatar: rein in Al-Jazeera Tuesday, 2 October 2001 20:14 (ET) By ELI J. LAKE WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Embassy in Doha has filed a formal complaint to the Qatari government about the partly state- owned Al-Jazeera satellite network's coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes on New York and the Pentagon, State Department officials told United Press International Tuesday.... http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=226316 (via Craig Silverman, CAJ list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Radio Murmansk px, 17266. Sign-on with TS at 0800 followed by news in(assumed) RR until set of bells at 0810. Px apparently then becomes a relay of local station (ID given as R. Karelia?) until closing at 0900. Signal at surprisingly strong level for a domestic station so remote from Australia. Perhaps using tx previously used for R Stantsiya Atlantika? Said to be in //5930, not heard at my location, 0800 21/9 (Charles Jones, NSW, ADXN via DXLD) I assume some sort of feeder (Craig Seager, ADXN ed., DXLD) ** SLOVENIA. Hello, Glenn. Here is something about Slovenia: "Apart of what was recently written about Slovenia to be heard on radio waves in the world, there is also Radio Slovenia International, which is special state-funded radio with mixed news-entertainment style and in English/German/Slovene language schema. Unfortunately it is broadcasting only on FM frequencies so the range is only Slovenia or perhaps some neighbouring countries like Croatia or Austria. Most of moderators are native-speakers." Your digests are outstanding. You are really doing a great job. Regards, (Miha Rus, moderator of "Short-, medium- and longwaves in Slovenia", http://www.topica.com/lists/swmwlw/ Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. R Hargeisha in Somali 7530: coming through with a strong signal at 1520, Somali discussion and it doesn't take more than a moment to know it is a domestic broadcaster. This part of Somalia is the most stable part, and the situation in Somalia allows this part to act more or less as an independent state. However, they feel that one day their independence will be threatened. This part of Somalia with Hargeisha as the capital is the once British ruled Somaliland (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, via DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Radio Banaadir. This stn was off for many months and is back on 7002 at *1530-2100* with lots of political talks and as well as some nice mx (Mahendra Vaghee, Mauritius, Dxplorer via BC-DX viaz DXLD) Hi Mahendra. You motivated me to look for the stn. I tuned in at 1502 and heard it in progress, so s-on maybe variable with today *1500. A bit weak due to constant battering by fast speed CW operators. The first few kHz of any CW section are reserved more or less for very high speed CW operators. They would do better on 7010 or just going down a bit below, but avoiding 6995 VOP Of Kurdistan overall fair and 6985 is that really Galkayo. It is very strong that I didn't wait for an ID. It is just this moment that I check the DBS and was surprised to see Galkayo listed (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, via DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1099, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. TWR Puttalam on MW 882 kHz has irregular transmission hours for its 1330-1900 sked due to power cuts in Sri Lanka. Power cuts are enforced in 3 hour blocks between 1200-1800. The stn has no generator that can keep the 400 kW tx on the air. SLBC is also experiencing txion cuts during power cuts on SW 4870, 4902 and 4940. However 5020 carrying the Tamil Sce continues uninterrupted. The stn has limited power generating capability. The All Asia Sce mainly targeting India usually losed [sic] the Marconi 100 kW tx (SEAC txer) on 9770. The English Service is heard on 6005 (10 kW) and 15425 (35 kW, ex VOA txer) between 1230-1600. Programming consists of Country and Western and oldies mostly, as there is a very great demand for it from the Anglo Indian population in India, especially in the Bombay and Goa area which treats this service more or less as a family radio channel over the last 50 years (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, via DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. R. Thailand Bangkok is again active on 4830 with their English service as observed from about 1330 to 1530 presumed s-off because the stn wasn't there at 1545 when I rechecked. 6070 and 7115 go on strong and clear (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Sri Lanka, UADX, via DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** TURKEY. On September 30, we visited one of the few remaining undeveloped beaches in the state of Delaware, on the Delaware Bay. Besides the natural beauty of being in a relatively pristine state, this area is several miles from any interference of any kind and provides for very strong and clear shortwave reception day and night. At 0405 I logged what appears to be a domestic service from Turkey on 6900 AM. Broadcast in Arabic, music sort of a mix between middle eastern and Indian styles. Very clear, SIO 444 (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be Metorological Radio. See USA clandestine for another 6900 station.. (gh) ** U A E. 0330 UT 3 Oct: The news on United Arab Emirates Radio in Dubai as relayed from the domestic commercial service 'Dubai FM': Israeli-Palestinian cease fire under threat after Palestinian attack killing two civilians and the killing of the attackers by Israeli military snipers. Hamas claimed responsibility. Sharon emerged from emergency cabinet meeting calling the attacks "serious" and holding the Palestinian Authority "directly responsible". Arafat praises US press reports about Bush's comment that Palestinian state was always a part of US Mideast policy as an act that will greatly assist in the efforts for peace. Israeli government spokesman, in turn, called the press reports "nothing new". Taliban says it does not want war with US and called for direct talks and evidence of bin-Laden link to terrorist attacks. It called the attacks "un-Islamic" and said it would turn over bin-Laden if the US provides any conclusive proof of his involvement. US showed allies "clear and compelling proof" and NATO invoked Article 5 of its charter for first time. Rumsfeld to visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Tajikistan to brief officials on US plans. Monitored on 13675 kHz. (--John A. Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. Caversham story in Private Eye. Latest issue of widely read satirical fortnightly Private Eye has this story as its first item: In the light of current troubles all ears will be on the BBC's Caversham-based monitoring service which transcribes and translates broadcasts from across the world- not least Afghanistan. While the service has been praised for its coverage of the Taliban regime, little has been made of the recent decision of managers to disband the Arabic team which has been responsible for the centre's North African output since 1939. (see Eye 1034) In-house coverage is being replaced with 'independent contractors' working within such bastions of media freedom as, er, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania. In July the broadcast union BECTU warned: "In the countries where it is proposed to hire independent contractors, very low levels of press freedom exist. Independent contractors are likely to practise self-censorship and refrain from reporting on opposition activities." Shame, perhaps, that BBC bosses show no sign of reversing their decision (Mike Barraclough, England, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. NEW NAME FOR LOCAL RADIO IN LONDON BBC London Live appears to have changed its name yet again. It is now known as "BBC London". This is the fourth different name the station has had. It was born as BBC Radio London in October 1970, changing to Greater London Radio in October 1988, then to BBC London Live in March 2000. One subscriber on the UK-radio-listeners list was prompted to ask what it will be called next week! (PAUL DAVID, UK, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? ** U S A. R.I.P.: I am sad to report the passing of one of the grand old men of shortwave, Roger Legge. Roger died on March 21, 2000 at the age of 84. Roger was originally from Binghamton, NY. He worked for the VOA frequency office for many years, and the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service (later the Foreign Broadcast Information Service) before that. He started DXing in 1933, and was active in various hobby circles, including the old International DXers Alliance. Many of us will remember Roger's last major hobby endeavor, the USSR High Frequency Broadcast Newsletter, where he focused on stns and tx sites in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Thanks to Harold Sellers we have a photo of Roger taken at the 1978 ANARC convention in Montreal, and we have posted it on DXplorer Sight & Sound. R.I.P. to one of SW's greats (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Sep 30, 2001 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. As "Citizen Elliott," I've advocated merging Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. and Radio Free Asia Inc. into a single corporation, then absorbing VOA into that corporation, then renaming it VOA Inc. Always the initials, never "Voice of America." This would befit the multimedia nature of the new VOA. Many corporations have changed their names to their initials because of added products or services, e.g. CBS, ITT, USX (Kim Elliott, DC, swprograms, speaking for ke and not for voa.gov via DXLD) And make it ``USG``, never US Government... (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Your friend Bill Westenhaver thought you might be interested in this article from OpinionJournal and forwarded it to you. REVIEW & OUTLOOK --- A New Voice for America It's past time to fix Clinton's damage at VOA.... http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001259 (Wall Street Journal via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) This is my letter to the Wall Street Journal in response to its editorial on the VOA yesterday (Wednesday): To the Editor: You say that the VOA needs a leader "who can reconcile its charter obligation to observe the highest journalistic standards with its mandate to represent America to the world", as if the two are somehow in conflict. You seem to suggest that since the service is supported by tax money, the new director needs to balance one against the other. How absurd. The problems with U.S. international broadcasting did not start with the previous administration. For decades, Congress has displayed a penchant for continually subdividing the paltry and shrinking amounts it budgets for international broadcasting into various "vanity" services like Radio-TV Martí, Radio Free Asia and now, apparently, a Radio Free Afghanistan. This misguided policy has left us with a confusing and inefficient bureaucracy of overlapping and underfunded services. It is this long-term cannibalization, more than any other factor, that has left us with a VOA in its current state. The U.S. needs to speak with one voice and that voice should be the Voice of America. Furthermore, the VOA should, without qualification, continue to do what it first promised to do in 1942--"The news may be good or bad; we shall tell you the truth". Compromising its charter and this core principle would only be a gross disservice to those who paid--and to those who again soon may be called upon to pay--the ultimate price for our freedom (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Off the Dial The economic ripples of the Sept. 11 terror attacks are moving outward to almost all businesses, including radio. All-news WTOP (1500 AM/107.7 FM) laid off three full-time employees and one part-timer Friday, as owner Bonneville ordered cost cuts. Reporter Kyle Johnson, an 18-year veteran, headed the list, followed by Bob Jones, who wrote for the station's Web site, and Lisa Nurnberger, a reporter for WTOP's Internet-only broadcast, Federalnewsradio.com. Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, who did paid commentaries for the station, was also let go. After boom years in 1999 and most of 2000, fueled by dot-com revenue and a rising economy, radio advertising has been slumping hard through 2001. Throughout the year, big radio chains have been cutting salaries by attrition and combining jobs, such has having one program director oversee music at several stations. This is how Clear Channel's eight stations will try to handle the ad crunch, says regional Vice President Bennett Zier, though he acknowledged layoffs may be a possibility. The terror attacks, however, seriously crippled an already staggering advertising industry. In the week after Sept. 11, WTOP alone had 30 advertisers cancel contracts for the rest of the year. Typically, the station bills about $2 million in September; the cancellations will cost WTOP about $400,000 of its September revenue, says General Manager Joel Oxley. WTOP is particularly vulnerable to the loss of "issues advertising." "No one in Congress is talking about Tauzin-Dingell or the patients' bill of rights anymore," Oxley says. Other area radio stations were also feeling the pinch. (Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Oct 1 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [clandestine]. United Patriot Radio on 6900 usb: 9/27 at 0300, the song "Onward Christian Soldiers" noted, sounding pretty good (UPR's attempts to transmit music usually produce an extremely annoying and unlistenable product), but they had to follow that song with a truly stupid commercial; this followed by a show called "The Shepherd's Call" with the song "Dixie" on banjo as theme music and lots of "praise yahweh" material accompanied by a strong persistent hum; strong signal despite occasional utility qrm, SIO 433. 9/28 from 0100, noted UPR slightly off frequency with some kind of "religious militia" program, SIO 333. 10/2 at 0235, heard Steve himself ranting against the "fags in the white house", "statue worshipers", secret ballots, public schools, etc.; making comments such as "you better get your food supply t'gether, hungry troops don't fight too well"; generally advocating violence against his fellow human beings; heard the key phrase "jack booted thugs" at 0243 (I suppose it wouldn't be a true "colonel" Steve rant without this phrase); towards the free press and "bullsh*t radio" he says "they are part of the enemy camp, and they are targets"; SIO 433. On 10/3 another rant logged at 0200, but weaker signal tonight, SIO 222. On 10/4 at 0000 observed what appeared to be a phone-in show talking about a post-apocalyptic society, SIO 433 (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Time again to track the burrowing owl: Amateur Radio operators and VHF monitoring enthusiasts again are being asked to help researchers study the migratory patterns of the burrowing owl. The fall 2001 migration period for burrowing owls is getting under way. In addition to owls from the plains of Saskatchewan --- which hams have listened for since 1998 --- volunteers now are being asked to monitor for 30 owls that were tagged near Moses Lake in eastern Washington. "Vicki García of the University of Arizona wants our help, because it is uncertain if these birds spend the winter in California, or Baja California, or they go eastward to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or even to Texas," says ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV. The Canadian owl tags transmit in the 172 MHz range, while the Washington owl tags transmit in the vicinity of 150 MHz. Transmissions consist of very short pulses that can be picked up with a scanner or multi-mode receiver. "If you live in a central state from North Dakota to Texas, or in any state to the west of that line, and you have sensitive monitoring equipment for these frequencies, your help is needed," Moell says. He has posted monitoring and frequency information on his Homing In Web site http://www.homingin.com The site includes the history of the project, equipment suggestions, all frequencies, and what to do if you think you hear a radio tag (ARRL October 3 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Dear Glenn, Here are some interesting catches from my home in central Maryland, and from a trip to the beach: I've logged a very strong Ecos Del Torbes from Venezuela over the past few nights on 4980: on 9/27 at 0100, news program with male announcer, SIO 533; 10/1 at 0057 with a station ID/commercial introducing female singer, with music following for the next half hour or so, SIO 333; 10/1 at 0259 a very mellow male announcer introduces female singing to a wonderful classical backdrop, second song at 0309, another at 0311, signal strong but audio a bit weak, very good overall sound, announcer back at 0314, more pleasant music follows a minute later, 30s style classical with f vocalist (Marion, are you listening?); 10/3 at 0131, "Ecos Del Torbes" ID clearly identified followed by music, SIO 544; however when checked periodically on 10/4 between 0000 and 0300 4980 appeared to be open carrier (Larry Will, Mount Airy, MD, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Glenn, I recently sent a letter to New Horizon's address as listed in DXLD 1-135 and it turned out to be wrong! A lady called me today and stated that New Horizon at PO Box 957, Cypress, CA 90630 is a Social Group of Elderly Catholic Women!! She requested that their address be dropped from the mailing lists, thus I suspect other SWLers have written to them too. Somehow Hans Johnson may have gotten the wrong PO Box number. Nothing in our local phone books that list the above name for the city of Cypress. The Vietnamese community in my area is in the city of Westminster just south of Cypress. That is it for now. Keep going strong for the hobby and have a good weekend (Stewart H. MacKenzie - WDX6AA, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2480.27, R Sonorama (2 x 1240), Riobamba, Ecuador (presumed), 1039 3 Oct, LA pops, M announcer, fair signal on the peaks. Short opening, no ID (David Hodgson, TN, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn: Perhaps you could help me. I had a very good copy of the new harmonic on 2260 this morning, and got a tentative ID. This is what it sounded like: "La Fah-voh-ree-ta", with the accent on the 3rd sylable. Does that mean anything, perhaps "The Favorite"? Of course, this doesn't really identify its location. My guess is this originates either from Mexico or maybe SW USA. Today, I was able also to hear the fundamental amidst the pile up of stations on 1130. Thanks, (David Hodgson, Nashville, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, La Favorita, i.e. the favorite is a fairly common slogan, and could be Mexican or US. Perhaps someone in the MW groups can narrow down the possibilities on 1130 (gh, DXLD) ###