DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-173, November 17, 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 Check the WOR websites: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/ http://www.worldofradio.com [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 #1105 (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1105.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1105.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1105.html NEXT AIRINGS ON RFPI: UT Sunday 0000, 0600, 1200, Monday 1730 on some of: 21815-USB, 15040, 7445 (when reactivated). NEXT CONTINENT OF MEDIA AIRINGS ON RPFI: Saturday 2330, UT Sunday 0530, 1130 RFPI NOW LIVE STREAMING FROM STUDIO, 24h on weekends, 2200-1400 M-F: http://195.210.0.134:554/ramgen/encoder/rfpi.rm (see COSTA RICA) NEXT AIRINGS ON WWCR: UT Sunday 0330 on 5070, 0730 on 3210, Monday 0100, 0600 on 3215. MUNDO RADIAL, Noviembre-Diciembre: (CORRIENTE) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0111.ram (BAJABLE) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0111.rm (GUION) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/mr0111.html INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS WEBSITES, handy hotlinks by Terry Palmersheim: http://wrth.itgo.com/intbcers1.html EDITOR`S NOTE: With this issue we more or less clear out the backlog which piled up during our week off. Some material in this issue dates back as far as November 4, so note dates carefully. Our apologies to contributors whose material was delayed, and appreciation for their patience (gh) ** AFGHANISTAN. There's a Reuters photo in today's 'Australian' newspaper of three older guys reinstalling the 'Radio Afghanistan' sign on a building in Kabul in the wake of the Taliban's retreat. It has clearly seen better days. Also, BBC World television has occasionally crossed to their correspondent at the BBC Monitoring Service hall at Caversham for updates on developments in the war, as being reported by the region's media (Matt Francis, Australia, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx to Fred Waterer, Pete Costello, et al., for also linking to the photo, but it keeps disappearing. Can anyone provide a direct link which is likely to last? I`m sure it appeared widely (gh, DXLD) Last night I saw an interview with the Director of Radio Afghanistan on Star News. The Director was noted telling that their station is now transmitting 3 hours in the mornings and 4 hours in the evenings (Jose Jacob, India, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK?? See below R. Afghanistan on SW? Have not heard anything yet. They ought to be transmitting on MW at least unless the Taliban or the US knocked it out. Anyway something ought to come up soon from somewhere. I remember when the Taliban took over Kabul 5 years ago within 48 hours or so Radio Afghanistan 1107 came on the air which had been off for some months. Whatever said and done, those guys were dedicated to their cause whatever that may be whether we agree with it or not (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, Nov 17, SWBC via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Radio World: November 11, 2001 If the shellings of Afghanistan haven't made radio listening more difficult than in normal times, the ratings might have gone up as the Voice of America has trebled its output in Pashto. But there is also the BBC World Service, which claims that long before the war, an estimated 60 per cent of Afghans listened to their programmes in Pashto. That too could have gone up now. As I said last week, these figures makes you wonder whether Afghans have nothing else to do but listen to foreign radio stations. Anyway, it's a fact that the BBC has some very popular programmes, including a radio radio soap opera loosely based on the popular Archers on Radio 4, arguably the longest-running and most popular radio soap ever. Moreover, in Afghanistan virtually everything else in banned. The BBC claims that the Taliban authorised radio because of the series, called 'New Home, New Life', which they began broadcasting in 1994. On Fridays - the Muslim holiday - the BBC has a special show, produced by Saïda Mahmoud: SOUND Mrs Mahmoud The Friday programme and its music is understandably a success because the poor Afghans have little opportunity to hear popular music. It's banned, as illustrated on television on many occasions when western television crews filmed cassette tapes, thousands of them floating in the wind, dangling from street posts. Over a cup of tea in the BBC World Service cafeteria, Mrs Mahmoud told our correspondent Lia Van Bekhoven that they receive mail from unexpected quarters: SOUND Mrs Mahmoud As we said earlier, the most popular programme of the BBC's Pashto service is "Naway Kor, Naway Jwand" (New Home, New Life), the thrice-weekly soap opera, based on the Archers. The 15-minute episodes are broadcast three mornings a week, with repeats in the evening, and attract in the region of 35 million listeners. There are two versions, one in Pashto, the other in Dari, reaching listeners across Afghanistan and into Pakistan. Gordon Adam, head of the Pashto service had the idea of launching a soap with an educational message, and was delighted when after a while the programme attracted a massive female listenership. In an interview with Emma Brockes of the London Guardian newspaper, Mr Adam said: Best of all, we suddenly found we had a big female audience. All sorts of stories came out about women fixing it so their husbands were out of the house during the soap. We tried to schedule the programmes so that women could hear them." (The omnibus is broadcast on a Friday afternoon, when Afghan men traditionally go to the mosque for a lengthy prayer session.) All went happily along until the Taliban came to power in 1996. The soap's future looked uncertain. Not only was it broadcast by what hardliners might perceive to be an agent of western imperialism, but it contained women's voices, banned from the airways for encouraging unholy thoughts in male listeners. Shirazuddin Siddiqi, programme controller and a former drama teacher at Kabul University, told the Taliban it was simple. "I said, we are covering the lives of three communities and villages. For it to be realistic, you must have men women and children. If you don't have women in the village, it is not a village. That's all there is to it." His argument was accepted, although for once it seemed that the Taliban had little choice in the matter. "Of course they all listened to it too," says Adam. "It's easy to think of the Taliban as a monolithic, crazy bunch of people, but in fact most of them are fairly ordinary, just trying to get through life. They, as much as anyone else, want some diversion. Even though it had a pro-woman agenda, they were happy to listen to it. It relieved the boredom of the day." "I believe that one of the reasons the Taliban didn't ban radio was because of New Home, New Life," says Siddiqi. "All the soldiers were addicted to it. Earlier this year, the Taliban were very unhappy with the BBC over their coverage of the destruction of the Bamiyan valley buddhas, and expelled its correspondent from Kabul. They considered the possibility of banning listenership to the station altogether, but they couldn't because it would have enraged their foot soldiers." So much for that report by Emma Brockes in "The Guardian" of 23.10.01. That's it for the week, see you next Sunday. Frans Vossen (RVi Radio World Nov 11 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Afghanistan: Media round-up Thursday 15 November 2001 KABUL Radio Afghanistan BBC Monitoring has yet not observed the reported Kabul radio broadcasts - the station may be broadcasting on an FM or MW frequency using low power. The BBC Pashto correspondent in Kabul reported that the Northern Alliance have moved a radio transmitter from Charikar, in Parwan Province, to the capital. The former Taleban-controlled Radio Voice of Shari'ah was last heard by BBC Monitoring on its shortwave frequency of 7085 kHz, on 8 October. MAZAR-E SHARIF Balkh Radio heard on 15 November On Thursday 15 November, the radio station broadcasting from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif - identifying itself as Balkh Radio - was monitored by the BBC from 0231-0430 gmt. The evening broadcast began as scheduled at 1230 gmt. Balkh Radio broadcasts on 1584 kHz. 15 November morning broadcast The Balkh Radio broadcast in Pashto and Dari from 0231-0430 gmt on 15 November began with music, recitation and interpretation of the Koran and religious songs. The radio said people had been sending messages to the president of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, Borhanoddin Rabbani, to anti- Taleban commander Gen Abdorrashid Dostum and other officials to congratulate them on their victory over the Taleban and pledge cooperation. The radio carried several reports about the activities of Gen Dostum including a report about the meeting he chaired of the High Military Council of the northern zone, held in Mazar-e Sharif on 14 November, which discussed security and other issues. A meeting of officials and staff of the health department was held in Mazar-e Sharif today to discuss current issues. Female and male students congratulated President Rabbani on the Alliance's victory and thanked them for providing the opportunity for women study and work. Songs, and also women conveying their message of condolence on Ahmad Shah Masud's death and congratulating on the Alliance's victory. 14 November broadcast Balkh Radio's broadcast from 1230-1508 gmt on 14 November included messages to the president of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, Borhannodin Rabbani, and the commander-in-chief of the northern zone, Gen Dostum, and other officials to congratulate them on their victory over the Taleban and pledge cooperation. The radio announced that a security body has been set up to ensure security and protect people's lives and property. Listeners were also reminded that it is prohibited to sell or buy the medicines and medical equipment marked as belonging to the UN. HERAT Radio Herat The BBC monitored a station identifying itself as Radio Herat broadcasting in Dari from the western city of Herat at 0230 gmt on 14 November. Iranian TV reported on 13 November that a radio station was on the air after anti-Taleban forces took control of the city: "...After six years of interruption, Herat's local radio resumed its programmes in Persian [Dari] yesterday." Reception of the 14 November broadcast of Radio Herat ranged from poor to inaudible. A male announcer began the broadcast: "Dear listeners, peace be upon you. We are at your service from Radio Herat." Radio Herat included the following items in its 0230 gmt broadcast: - Esteemed Alhaj Mohammad Esmail, the governor of Herat Province, yesterday arrived in the city of Herat and was warmly welcomed by tens of thousands of people. After his victorious arrival in the ancient city of Herat he met a number of religious scholars, elders and officials and stressed the need for the establishment of a powerful and independent army in the country which would be capable of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country. - Esteemed Alhaj Mohammad Esmail yesterday afternoon, after performing afternoon prayers in the grand communal mosque of Herat city, delivered a speech at a gathering of tens of thousands of our compatriots. In his speech, he congratulated the people on the conquest of Herat, the fall of Taleban and assured people of the restoration of their legitimate rights. US INFORMATION RADIO US PsyOps broadcasts continue US PsyOps Information Radio continues to be observed by BBC Monitoring broadcasting in Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan from 0030- 0530 gmt and 1230-1730 gmt daily. It is heard on 8700 kHz upper sideband mode and at times on the former Kandahar mediumwave frequency of 864 kHz. A third announced channel of 1107 kHz (former Kabul frequency) has not yet been observed by BBC Monitoring. The 864, 980 and 1107 kHz channels are believed to be broadcast from US PsyOps "Commando Solo" EC-130 aircraft. FOREIGN MEDIA Al-Jazeera TV's former Kabul correspondent reportedly assaulted Al-Jazeera TV at 0552 gmt on 15 November broadcast a live telephone interview with its former Kabul correspondent Taysir Alluni from an unspecified location in Afghanistan. Alluni had left Kabul after the Taleban evacuated the capital on 12 November. Reuters news agency said Alluni had narrowly escaped a US missile strike on his office in Kabul, only to be shot at and beaten by angry anti-Taleban Afghans. Alluni reappeared on Al-Jazeera TV two days later after leaving the capital. Alluni said that minutes after he and his crew evacuated the city on 12 November, Al-Jazeera's offices there were hit by a US missile. Alluni said: "My experience has been bitter... I can't speak about it...we have seen things I never dreamt of seeing. What I saw is indescribable. I confess I am psychologically shocked." Later, fleeing to the eastern province of Paktia, they were harassed, shot at and beaten up by anti-Taleban Afghans, Reuters reported. Alluni said the Taleban had abandoned Paktia, adding: "We had a big problem that endangered our lives... There was a barrier manned by irresponsible young people who opened fire on us, took our car, stripped us of everything we had and searched our pockets." "Then these men (rescuers) came and returned our car and all our belongings and apologized for what we had gone through, in terms of humiliation and beating," Alluni said. He did not say why he thought his team had been attacked. Al-Jazeera Washington correspondent arrested, later released Al-Jazeera satellite television reported on 14 November that US police had arrested Muhammad al-Alami, the Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington. Al-Jazeera said Muhammad Al-Alami was arrested as he was on his way to cover the Russian-American summit in Texas. Speaking from Waco airport where he was detained, Al-Alami said he was told he was held because the credit card he used was, as he put it, linked to Afghanistan. Muhammad Al-Alami was later released. Al-Jazeera TV's coverage of Afghan war loses pro-Taleban edge With the advance of anti-Taleban forces and the departure of Al- Jazeera's correspondents from Kabul and Kandahar, the Qatar-based TV station's reporting from Afghanistan no longer predominantly reflects the Taleban perspective. Al-Jazeera is now showing the Afghan people's positive reaction to the Taleban retreat and is using CNN coverage to compensate for the loss of its access. Following reports on 13 November that US planes had attacked its office in Kabul and contact had been lost with correspondent Taysir Alluni, Al-Jazeera became reliant on feeds from CNN for live coverage from Kabul, changing the coverage perspective. During its 1230 gmt news bulletin on 13 November, for example, the station interviewed CNN correspondent Matthew Chance via telephone from Kabul. He reported that there was "anger" directed at the Taleban among people on the street. On 14 November, Al-Jazeera broadcast a live interview from Kabul with CNN correspondent Christian Amanpour reporting that there is "no sense of anarchy" or "chaos". Al-Jazeera's video reporting on the situation in Kabul showed popular rejoicing at the Taleban forces' departure. The station has been repeatedly showing people celebrating in the streets, men getting shaved and music being played, all activities which were previously banned by the Taleban. This more balanced approach was also apparent when Al-Jazeera's Kandahar correspondent Yusuf al-Shuli began reporting from Quetta, Pakistan, on 14 November. Al-Shuli said that those Afghan refugees who opposed the Taleban were happy that the "Taleban is about to be wiped out, as they put it", and that they were making preparations to "return to what they called liberated Afghanistan". This different perspective on the part of Al-Jazeera was, however, less apparent in Taysir Alluni's reporting from the capital of Paktia Province, where he fled after the bombing of his Kabul office. While noting on 14 November the Afghan people's "anger against the Arab fighters", he continued to report on civilian casualties from US bombing. Al-Jazeera compensated for its lack of first-hand reporting on 14 November by giving greater airtime to other sources, broadcasting 23 minutes of a press conference by the Northern Alliance foreign minister, 20 minutes of the Bush-Putin press conference live from the White House, and 16 minutes of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's press conference live from the Pentagon. US says reported bombing of Kabul office under investigation Pentagon spokesman Rear-Adm Craig R. Quigley, has told an Al-Jazeera TV reporter that "human errors" were made during the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera reported on 13 November that its Kabul office was destroyed by US bombing. Quigley said an investigation was under way into the reported bombing of Al- Jazeera premises. Following is an excerpt of a press briefing given by Quigley at the Foreign Press Centre, Washington DC, on 13 November: [Nadia Rahman from Al-Jazeera TV] This morning, an Al-Jazeera office was destroyed by a US missile in Kabul. This is according to a CNN crew that went to the site to inspect the site afterwards, and they reported back to the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera in Qatar. Also, the BBC and APTN offices nearby were affected. What information do you have about that, and how would you explain this incident? [Quigley] I have seen the news reports that report, as you say, that some sort of weapon went awry and destroyed those facilities. What we have done since the earliest days of the military portion of the campaign against terrorism is to try our very best every day, every hour of every day, to only target military targets. But despite our best efforts, some weapons have failed and some human errors have been made, resulting in targets being struck that we did not intend to strike. We do not have people on the ground everywhere to give us reliable real-time information as to the status of those. So what we do is we go back and we review the strike planning. We review the reports that we have from our aircrews, as well as from people on the ground. We take a look at overhead imagery. And we put all the parts of this puzzle together. And if it is shown by our analysis that our weapons were at fault, we stand up and say so. We're not to that point yet. But if that would be the case, that is what you will hear from us... [Rahman] Surely in whatever wars or whatever conflicts, there's always a gathering of various news agencies, and that gathering is quite clear and the military tends to know about the whereabouts of these media organizations. You must have had information about where Al-Jazeera, BBC, APTN [Associated Press Television News] and others in the area are. [Quigley] I don't know that we do. Typically when we have that knowledge, it is always - you always have much better knowledge of what is on the ground if you have troops on the ground and can see it. Aerial photography and intelligence reporting and things of that sort are all useful, but they're never a substitute for the clarity that you get from seeing things with your own eyes with troops on the ground. And we don't have that, certainly not in all areas. So we - as I said, what we have done is try very hard to find out what did happen here. And if we misidentified a target, if a human error was made, if a weapon malfunctioned in some way resulting in our weapon being the cause of that destruction, we will say so and we will try our very best to explain how that happened... CPJ concerned over US missile "attack" on Al-Jazeera TV New York, 13 November: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the destruction of the Kabul offices of Al- Jazeera, the Qatar-based, Arabic-language satellite television station. The building that housed the station was destroyed by a missile fired by a US warplane early Tuesday [13 November] morning, according to international news reports. No injuries have been reported. The target of the missile attack remains unclear. The Kabul neighbourhood that houses the Al-Jazeera office was also home to several Taleban officials and the Taleban Ministry for the Suppression of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue. A Pentagon spokesperson told CPJ that they were investigating reports of the bombing. "Al-Jazeera is a vital source of news and information about the conflict in Afghanistan," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We are relieved that no lives were lost in the incident and we hope that Al-Jazeera will resume its Afghanistan coverage without delay." At 1:30 a.m. [2100 gmt] today Kabul time, a US warplane flew over Kabul, and reporters heard two loud explosions, Agence France-Presse [AFP] reported. A guard at the Al-Jazeera office told the Associated Press [AP] that a missile landed on the office but did not explode. The attacks came as Taleban soldiers retreated from Kabul while Northern Alliance opposition forces took over control of the city. CPJ is also investigating reports that offices of the BBC and The Associated Press were damaged during recent bombings in Kabul. Windows were shattered and equipment was destroyed at the BBC office in Kabul during a bombing late yesterday afternoon Kabul time, but nobody was injured, according to BBC sources in London... Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 13 Nov 01 IFJ expresses concern over media in firing line Excerpt from press release in English from the International Federation of Journalists on 14 November The world's largest journalists' group, the International Federation of Journalists [IFJ], today expressed concern over the bombing of the independent Arab satellite television network Al-Jazeera shortly before Northern Alliance forces entered Kabul today [13 November]. The offices, including much sophisticated broadcasting equipment, were destroyed but apparently, no one was hurt. Managing Director Muhammad Jasim al-Ali said its 10 staffers were believed to be safe but their whereabouts were unknown. The missile also damaged the offices of The Associated Press and the BBC in Kabul. "This strike raises concerns over whether or not media are being targeted," said Aidan White, general secretary of the IFJ, "Al- Jazeera is a controversial broadcaster for many western observers, but it has professional credibility and standing in the Arab world." Two years ago, the IFJ criticized NATO for bombing Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade during air strikes in the Kosovo conflict. The Al-Jazeera managing director would not say if the station was deliberately targeted "but they know where we are located, they know what we have in our office and we did not get any warning", he told news media. The offices of Al-Jazeera are close to the Taleban Ministry for the Suppression of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue. Taleban anti- aircraft positions were located on a hill nearby and the neighbourhood, Wazir Akbar Khan, was home to many Taleban officials who have now fled the city. The IFJ has called for an assurance from the United States and their allies that media are not being targeted in the current conflict. "It is not clear what happened here, but this is not a war against journalism," said Aidan White, "all sides should make it clear that media are protected under the Geneva Conventions and will not be targeted." ... For further information, contact the IFJ, International Press Center, Residence Palace 155, Rue de la Loi - Bloc C, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +322 235 2200 or +322 235 22 01; Fax: +322 235 22 19; E-mail: safety@ifj.org; Internet: http://www.ifj.org/ Source: International Federation of journalists press release, Brussels, in English 14 Nov 01 Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research, 15 Nov 01 Afghanistan: Media round-up Friday 16 November KABUL Radio Afghanistan BBC Monitoring has yet not observed the reported Kabul radio broadcasts - the station may be broadcasting on an FM or MW frequency using low power. The BBC Pashto correspondent in Kabul reported on 15 November that the Northern Alliance have moved a radio transmitter from Charikar, in Parwan Province, to Kabul. Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, reported on 16 November that Radio Kabul (Radio Afghanistan according to other reports) had started broadcasting for three hours per day. However, a report on BBC News 24 TV said Radio Afghanistan was broadcasting for seven hours a day as before - three hours in the morning and four in the evening. BBC Monitoring is investigating reports that Radio Afghanistan is broadcasting on or around 1548 kHz mediumwave. According to a correspondent of Iran's Voice and Vision in Afghanistan, "Radio Kabul" (presumably Radio Afghanistan) programmes will be broadcast on 1530 kHz frequency mediumwave. Iran's Voice and Vision reporter in Afghanistan added that Abdol Aziz Mansur has been appointed minister of information and culture and director of the Bakhtar news agency. Izatiyar (name phonetic) has been appointed director of Kabul radio and television. They have assumed their duties in Kabul. The former Taleban-controlled Radio Voice of Shari'ah was last heard by BBC Monitoring on its shortwave frequency of 7085 kHz, on 8 October. Television to resume "soon" The Egyptian news agency MENA on 16 November cited a report by Qatar- based Al-Jazeera TV saying that Afghanistan TV "is expected to start its transmission soon". Source: MENA news agency, Cairo, in English 1258 gmt 16 Nov 01 Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, reported on 16 November that Kabul television would soon begin operations. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0300 gmt 16 Nov 01 MAZAR-E SHARIF Balkh Radio heard on 16 November On Friday 16 November, the radio station broadcasting from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif - identifying itself as Balkh Radio - was monitored by the BBC from 0430-0550 gmt. The evening broadcast began as scheduled at 1235 gmt and signed off at 1510 gmt. Balkh Radio broadcasts on 1584 kHz. 16 November morning broadcast Balkh Radio's morning broadcast in Pashto and Dari was monitored by the BBC from 0430-0550 gmt 16 November. The broadcast began with recitation and interpretation of some verses from the Koran. The 0500 gmt news in Pashto was a repeat of the 1330 gmt Balkh Radio news from the 15 November. 15 November broadcast Balkh Radio's broadcast from 1230-1530 gmt on 15 November began with music, recitation and interpretation of the Holy Koran, this was followed by a cleric explaining the superiority and virtue of the month of Ramadan. The 1330 gmt news in Pashto reported various meetings held by Gen Abdorrashid Dostum, including those with a number of people's representatives from various districts and villages of the northern zone. The radio also reported that the head of the department for foreign affairs had met the head of the department for telecommunications on 15 November, to discuss issues relevant to the start of communications with other provinces. Balkh Radio also reported the arrival of the first shipment of UN humanitarian aid. HERAT Radio Herat The BBC monitored a station identifying itself as Radio Herat broadcasting in Dari from the western city of Herat at 0230 gmt on 14 November. US INFORMATION RADIO US PsyOps broadcasts continue US PsyOps Information Radio continues to be observed by BBC Monitoring broadcasting in Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan from 0030- 0530 gmt and 1230-1730 gmt daily. It is heard on 8700 kHz upper sideband mode and at times on the former Kandahar mediumwave frequency of 864 kHz. A third announced channel of 1107 kHz (former Kabul frequency) has not yet been observed by BBC Monitoring. The 864, 980 (reportedly a relay of Voice Of America) and 1107 kHz channels are believed to be broadcast from US PsyOps "Commando Solo" EC-130 aircraft. FOREIGN MEDIA HCJB World Radio starts broadcasts in Dari The Ecuador-based Christian evangelical station, HCJB World Radio, has announced the start of Dari-language broadcasts, the station reported in a press release. World Radio President David Johnson announced on 16 November that in cooperation with the Christian station FEBA Radio, Dari programmes have been broadcast from a transmitter site outside Afghanistan since 28 October. They consist of four weekly 15-minute programmes at 2015 local time (1545 gmt) every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Roger Stubbe of HCJB World Radio's International Radio Group in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said: "We arranged to use the same transmitting facilities that air programmes in Turkmen and Southern Uzbek - also major languages spoken in Afghanistan. It seemed logical to strengthen the radio ministry to this part of the world by adding Dari. This is an official language of Afghanistan, so nearly everyone in the country speaks it at least a little." HJCB's existing broadcasts for Central Asia are broadcast via transmitting facilities in the UK. The addition of the Dari transmissions doubles the total number of hours that HCJB World Radio broadcasts to Afghanistan. HCJB World Radio has ministries in more than 100 countries and broadcasts the gospel in more than 100 languages and dialects, the press release said. Source: HCJB World Radio press release, Colorado Springs, in English 16 Nov 01 Al-Jazeera TV shows destroyed Kabul office "targeted" by US Al-Jazeera TV has shown a video clip from international news agencies of the station's office in Kabul, which was reportedly destroyed by US missiles on 13 November. Al-Jazeera said the footage showed the "Al-Jazeera television office in Kabul, which was targeted by US missiles and which was heavily damaged by the US bombardment on positions, which - according to the United States - belong to the Taleban movement". Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 2120 gmt 14 Nov 01 Pakistan's media reassure population, advocate broad-based Afghan government Since the fall of Kabul, Pakistan's government-controlled media have sought to reassure Pakistanis that despite the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan, developments are continuing to move in a direction favourable to Pakistan. These media have also signalled Islamabad's strong opposition to a Northern Alliance takeover of Afghanistan. Pakistan's relatively free press has generally been pessimistic about recent Afghan developments. Pakistani TV and radio reporting on Afghanistan over the last few days suggests that the Musharraf government is trying to reassure Pakistanis that it is actively protecting Pakistan's interests and that its policy on a future Afghan government is moving forward. Government spokesmen stated on 15 November that developments in Afghanistan "pose no threat" to Pakistan and that "nobody will be allowed to enter" Pakistan without "valid travel documents" (Radio Pakistan). While reiterating Pakistan's calls for the establishment of a broad- based transitional Afghan government, media are also stressing that the UN is in fact moving rapidly on a "political blueprint" for just such a government (Pakistan TV, 15 November). Although the Foreign Office spokesman noted that there have been "killings of innocent civilians" in Kabul, media have also reassured Pakistanis that reprisals against ethnic Pashtuns in Afghanistan are unlikely. On 15 November, spokesmen stated that "local commanders and tribal elders" are moving to take charge in Pashtun-dominated areas and there are "no worries about any large-scale ethnic clashes" (Radio Pakistan, 14, 15 November). Selective TV and radio treatment of developments in Afghanistan also stresses that Pakistan continues to oppose a wholesale takeover by the Northern Alliance. A Foreign Office spokesman stated on 14 November that the Alliance "must not occupy Kabul," asserting that the city must be demilitarized and a multinational force be sent there quickly to remedy the "situation" (Radio Pakistan). Pakistan TV has so far not reported Afghans celebrating the Alliance's victories. Comment in the relatively free Pakistani press has generally been critical of the US, with the fundamentalist Urdu-language Ausaf blasting Washington for not preventing the Northern Alliance from entering Kabul and the respected Nawa-I-Waqt accusing the US of working with India and Russia to lay "siege" to Pakistan (14 November). Source: BBC Monitoring research 15 Nov 01 Chinese report says Al-Jazeera plans Jalalabad bureau The Qatari-based Arab satellite TV news channel, Al-Jazeera, is planning to establish a "reporter centre" in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper Renmin Ribao, reported on 16 November. Al-Jazeera already has offices in both Kabul and Kandahar. Source: Renmin Ribao web site, Beijing in English 16 Nov 01 Bin-Ladin said to have fled to Pakistan - Iranian radio "It has been reported in Pakistan that Usamah Bin-Ladin has fled to the Manatiq-e Azad (free areas) of Pakistan via a road in the country's Tribal Areas," Iranian radio broadcasting from Mashhad reported on Friday 16 November. "An informed source said in a telephone interview with the Pashto service of the Islamic Republic of Iran's radio today, Friday: Usamah Bin-Ladin has most likely abandoned Afghanistan for the Manatiq-e Azad of Pakistan to save his life. "The source added: The area where Bin-Ladin may have entered could be Tirah [southwest of Peshawar, near the Pakistani-Afghan border] or another free area not far from Tirah. The source considers the reason for Usamah Bin-Ladin's entry to the areas is his great influence in them. It added: A Taleban-style force has been set up in the Tirah area over the past few years, and it has always created many problems for the Pakistani government." Russia TV spoke on 16 November of reports that Bin-Ladin bodyguards have been seen near the northern Afghan city of Konduz. "A few hours hours ago, reports emerged that terrorist no 1, Usamah Bin-Ladin, may have landed in Konduz," the TV's correspondent reported at 1100 gmt. "Sources in the political leadership of the Northern Alliance report that his bodyguards have been seen on the outskirts of the town. It is in Konduz that the largest contingent of Taleban are concentrated - 15,000-30,000 of them. And these are the most radically-minded fighters. They include Chechens and Pakistanis." Sources: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0930 gmt 16 Nov 01 Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1100 gmt 16 Nov 01 Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research 16 Nov 01 Ed. Note: After 7-day-a-week operation since Sept. 11, BBC Monitoring are apparently taking this Saturday Nov. 17 off, with no new material issued. Our appreciation for a job well done! (gh) There have been questions whether Commando Solo still be on the air; at least it has been somewhat irregular. Gen. Stufflebeem, in his midday Pentagon briefing Nov 16, briefly mentioned that it made its broadcasts that day; and Nov 17 at 1252 check, we were able to detect some music on 8700-USB amid all the interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: Commando Solo message mentioning halal: Halal, or variations on that spelling, is the manner which meat is prepared according to Islamic rule. Many meat markets in ethnic areas of Washington DC- Northern Virginia include that phrase in their name (TK Wood, Alexandria, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oh, I get it, like kosher (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Have you noted that the BBCM report about Radio Free Afghanistan mentions a relocation of transmitters from the closed Playa de Pals site to the IBB station in Kuwait, so far operational on mediumwave (1548) only? I mean this inconspicuous sentence: "The plan includes the relocation of three radio transmitters from Spain to Kuwait, providing better reception in Afghanistan and the Middle East, at a possible cost of 10m dollars." (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CZECH REPUBLIC ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, RN San Gabriel, 2037-2100 Nov 9. At first tune in above and below noise floor. By 2044 a very pretty romantic tune with male vocalist in SS. 2055 male announcer with short talks then to another tune with male and female vocalist. Reception fair now at S5 signal level. Final tune very pretty. Male announcer with final comments at 2100 and ID and off. No NA noted (Bob Montgomery, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. A Rádio Voz da Armênia também está na Internet. Confira em: http://www.expo.am/natradio . Endereços eletrônicos: armen@arm.r.am e lusine@armradio.am (Célio Romais, Panorama Atual das Ondas Curtas, Nov 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Regarding the "Radio Africa International" via Moosbrunn: Now this turns out to be the programme recently mentioned in a ORF press release as "Tribüne Afrikas", to be broadcast also on 1476 daily 2200-2300, and indeed the actual on-air identification is "Radio Africa International", with the announcements already reported by Silvain Domen. 1100-1200 on 17815 and 1500-1600 on 17895 are included in the recently published ORF technical schedule, first making me wonder if these are some Merlin slots because they do not appear on the ROI program schedule, but now this matter is clarified, too. Evidently this is a Vienna-based project which simply does not know the "Radio Africa International" of the United Methodist Church, i.e. I guess there are not any connections between the UMC transmissions via Jülich and this citizen radio operation from Vienna (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 9550.6 kHz, Radio Bangladesh Nov 11 at 1758 in English. Talk about Islam, local songs. Very poor modulation but strong signal. Signed off at 1859. Also heard Nov 12 1825 to 1900 s/off. This past weekend we got together at the Don Moman antenna farm for our annual fall DXpedition. Don, Joe Talbot, Nigel Pimblett and myself with several receivers, beverage antennas and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic antenna made some nice catches. Here are some of my best loggings. We have been getting together in the fall for the past 20 or so years. Many DXers have attended this gathering and this year we missed one that we have had the pleasure of many a visits, the late Larry Shewchuk. This ones for you good buddy. Enjoy, 73 (Mickey Delmage, Alberta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) another: BURMA below ** BRAZIL. A freqüência de 3325 kHz, em 90 metros, voltou a ser ouvida. Desta vez, quem a ocupa é a Rádio Mundial, de São Paulo(SP). A emissora foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre, em 15 de novembro, às 0745, com o programa "Escrito nas Estrelas". A emissão era a mesma emitida em 4975 kHz (Célio Romais, Brazil, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA. 5986 kHz, MYANMAR, Radio Myanmar, 1455 Nov 11. Several US pop music including ABBA, Leo Sayer thru to 1515 with English news beginning with the headlines (which consisted of one item). 1522 local weather. A program of instrumental Big Band tunes from 1525. Poor (Mickey Delmage et al., Alberta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see above ** CHECHNYA [non]. RUSSIA. A website was opened for Radio Chechnya Svobodnaya: http://www.chechnyafree.ru An English version is available. Though the name of the station is not explicitly mentioned on the pages, it offers a large number of audioclips from its programmes. The website is maintained by GTRK Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia). The email given is: . [truncated by yahoogroups] R. Chechnya Svobodnaya is broadcast a.o. via the 1200 kW transmitter in Tbilisskoye on 171 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 17, MWDX via DXLD) and formerly on SW via St. Pete ** CHINA. Xinjiang PBS shortwave has been operating irregularly for some weeks, being wholly or partly off the air. Before that they had been operating with only one instead of two transmitters per language channel. Now they are back, not only to normal, but to double normal, with at least 16 frequencies identified so far as follows (all noted 1700-1800 today, Sunday): Uighur: 3990, 4980, 6120, 7195, 9595, 9600 (yes, only 5 kHz apart) Mongolian: 4500, 6190, 7120 (covered by co-channel CRI to Europe from 1730, no coordination there), 9705 Kazakh: 4330 (lone one) Chinese: 3950, 5060, 5960, 7155, 11770. All programs went off just before 1800. Some of the higher frequencies may be relays from sites located outside Xinjiang, but there being no appreciable delays this seems less likely I believe more channels will be found at hours with less congestion in the low frequency bands. The batch of testing new CNR transmitters are currently operating 0800-2400 with breaks when CNR is off the air. They are using a multitude of frequencies, some in order to suppress co- channel stations like RFA, VOA, etc. (including Falun Dafa 5925 at 2100-2200). Since the signals are very weak on 25 m at 0800 s/on and then rise to good or very good levels I believe these new transmitters (five each for CNR-1 and CNR-2) are located in the far south of China. I have also noted at least three more transmitters testing briefly. (Alm Nov 11) Xinjiang PBS was well heard this morning. Contrary to earlier practice, the frequencies were partly different from the evening ones, and also did not include several of the tropical band channels. Uighur: 4980, 6120, 7275, 9455, 9600, 11885, 13670 Mongolian: 7120, 7230, 9705 Kazakh: 7340, 9470 Chinese: 5060, 5960, 7310, 9560, 9595, 11770 It will probably take some time before the frequencies are finally settled.) Xinjiang PBS was heard until the late morning on the higher frequencies, but after that has been silent. Only one or two frequencies noted in the afternoon/evening, so apparently they are still very much in a testing phase (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Noticed you trying 7415 instead of 7380, but it clashes with WBCQ. Please do not use 7415 (Glenn Hauser, to Idea Radio) Gracias por su información. Idea Radio desde el 1993 estava utilizando dos frecuencias pero desde Europa para el mundo, 7380 y 7420..sw. Ahora estamos en problemas para encontrar y activar una nueva frecuencia que nos permita de tener la misma cobertura con lo mínimo de interferencia. Nos gustaría que usted pueda darnos reporte sobre estas frecuencia aconsejando qual le parece más útil para nosotros! ok?? Últimamente 7380 está totalmente interferida, sea da Russia, sea da Costarica (Russia 7380) Costarica (7375 y 7385). Esperamos su comentarios sobre dónde nos podríamos acomodar en esta banda. Nuestra emisión es omnidireccional e nuestra potencia de dos kw. Hasta pronto! (Idea Radio ingeniero capo Laudicina Andrea, ftb produzioni empresa Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [It should be no secret now that Italians are behind this station –gh] Estimado Andrea, Gracias por responder. Oigo regreso a los 7380 esta noche. Llega encima de Rusia acá, pero peor sin duda al sur. Por parte de WBCQ, gracias por quitarse de 7415. Es bastante difícil hallar una frecuencia libre toda la noche en los 7 MHz. Al momento alrededor de las 0330 TU, encuentro libre a 7485, y 7435. Mejor en 7485, debido a WEWN en 7425. (La emisora en 7385 no es Costa Rica sino WRMI de Miami). Más o menos libre también los 7395, donde debe hallarse WRNO de Nueva Orleans en vez de la actual 7354.4. En 7375 no sólo hay Costa Rica, sino también hasta megavatio desde Ucrania por la tarde. Si está dispuesto a cambiarse de frecuencias cada noche a una hora cierta, quedaría más fácil acomodarse. Por ejemplo, WBCQ se quita de 7415 a las 0600 los martes, miércoles, viernes (o 0630 para mí las madrugadas del jueves). Se varía por fin de semana tan tarde como las 0700. Vease http://wbcq.net Trataré de probar la banda a otras horas, pero no me dispongo de mucho tiempo para monitoreo constante... Bienvenidos más datos sobre su emisora. ¿Se emite tarjetas QSL o electrónicas? ¿Qué tipo de antena? Señal bastante buena para 2 kilovatios. Programación planeada además de música? 73, Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma (Nov 15 a Idea Radio, via DXLD) Don Moman did some RDFing against Idea Radio 7380.10 kHz Colombia versus a European QTH. Using a 5 element 40m beam at 150' at 45 deg (Central Europe) and a 3 element beam at 120' at 120 deg (South America). Over several hours beginning at 0130 Nov 11 GMT the signal strength was consistently higher and of better quality on the South American aimed beam (via Joe Talbot, Alberta, Nov 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) There seems still to be a question in some minds about the location of the Idea Radio station. DFing shows it to be near Barranquilla, Colombia (Dan Ferguson, VA, Nov 16) I presume that this is per the FCC DF network. (Ed.) (Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) see also RUSSIA Reception was pretty bad UT Nov 17, but seemed to be back on 7380 (gh, OK, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Hi folks, relaying a message from Henrik Klemetz, quote: Hello everyone, My friend Rafael Rodríguez, in Bogotá, tells me that he is receiving QSL requests from Europe and the US sent to his address in Bogotá, and that he is still in a position to have them forwarded to Villavicencio for verification and then finally returned to him for despatch to the original reporter. Rafael has no problem in carrying out this service, but he wishes to point out that he is not the verie signer himself, and that he would prefer not to have his private P O Box number mentioned in letters and envelopes so that one might think that he is a representative or associated in one way or other to the station. 73, (Henrik Klemetz via Torre Ekblom, Finland, Nov 7, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s web streaming direct from the station is now underway, via http://www.rfpi.org/webcast.html --- It is 24 hours on weekends, and weekdays around 2200-1400, i.e. except during local business hours. It`s at 8 kpbs to minimize bandwidth and maximize number of listeners. Please let RPFI know if you ever find the server too busy. The previous mp3 webcast, picked up off SW in eastern USA, remains available, probably better during the daytime. As for 7445, it has been ready to reactivate for over a week; just waiting on the tower crew to come out and make a very small connexion at the top. The windy season has started, and they have been delayed. Programming: with some staff back from vacation, new Far Right Radio Reviews should be on the air soon, perhaps including some live call- ins (James Latham and Joe Bernard, RFPI Mailbag Nov 16, first airing 2000 UT, notes by gh for DXLD) Checked at 0100 UT Sat, and very nice ``reception`` on webcast for COM --- another means for everyone to hear it; ditto for Mailbag repeat at 1407 (gh) ** CROATIA [non]. See GERMANY ** CUBA. Heard in New Brunswick, NJ on a Sony ICF-2010 with Kiwa Pocket Loop. Time in UTC; subtract 5 hours for ET. 840 CUBA CMHW, Santa Clara, NOV 15 0455-0505 - excellent; dominated WHAS at peaks. ID'd at top of hour as "Doble V, Santa Clara, Cuba." Played American pop music, for instance, just after top of hour "Africa" by Toto (David Hochfelder, NJ, NRC-AM via DXLD) This station has all of a sudden obtained super power status here in FL in just the last few days. Can be heard here in Sarasota during the day. Was rarely heard at nite before. Suggest some kind of upgrade has happened recently (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, Nov 15, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CUBA. RETIRAN TELEFONOS PUBLICOS EN LA CAPITAL HABANERA (CUBA) Se llevan los pocos teléfonos públicos existentes en la capital cubana LA HABANA, 5 de noviembre (Juan Carlos Linares / CubaNet) - Empleados de la Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) están desconectando y retirando los pocos teléfonos instalados en la vía pública. "Ellos dicen que se llevan el aparato para repararlo, pero no lo traen más nunca", declaró el empleado de un comercio de cuyo portal retiraron el teléfono hace varios días. En el municipio Arroyo Naranjo quedan muy pocos teléfonos. En el lugar donde estuvieron instalados se puede ver la marca y el cable de la acometida del poste. Se desconoce si los empleados de ETECSA tienen orden de retirar los teléfonos o es que actúan por su cuenta con fines lucrativos. Hace unos meses se instalaron equipos de telefonía que operaban con tarjetas magnéticas, cuyo valor de cinco pesos permitía 100 minutos de comunicación local, pero estos aparatos fueron sacados de servicio porque a muchos de ellos les robaban cierta pieza electrónica usada por particulares que se dedican a construir e instalar alarmas de autos y de casas. La pieza se vende cara en la bolsa negra. Pocos teléfonos públicos quedan en la capital cubana, la mayoría de ellos instalados en estanquillos de venta de periódicos y alguno que otro en comercios estatales, pero cuando éstos cierran los capitalinos se quedan sin aparato para efectuar llamadas. "Si ya quedan pocos teléfonos y ahora los desconectan, en breve quedaremos incomunicados dentro de Ciudad Habana", declaró una residente de Arroyo Naranjo. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono [por irónico que sea], ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. Cordiales 73's (via Oscar, FL, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. OPINION DE MUCHOS CUBANOS SOBRE RADIO MARTI Durante el paso del huracán "Michelle" por la Provincias Centrales de Cuba, he sacado de un artículo de Cubanet publicado el viernes 9 de noviembre lo siguiente sobre Radio Martí. No copié totalmente el articulo, dado que se desviaba un poco del tema de la radio y las telecomunicaciones. Muchos cubanos opinaron sobre la importancia de Radio Martí al paso del huracán lo siguiente: Se recogieron expresiones favorables en estos municipios respecto a la labor informativa de Radio Martí, en especial de los partes metereológicos de Angel Martín, los que fueron considerados oportunos, constantes y completos. A la pregunta de cómo escucharon Radio Martí, algunos damnificados contestaron que conectando sus aparatos radioreceptores a baterías de automóvil. "Radio Martí fue la única fuente de información que tuvimos durante y después del huracán, y que tenemos en este momento", afirmó un residente de Perico (Oscar, FL, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. The following link leads to an article in the Washington Post that suggests that WTC attacker Mohammed Atta considered an attack on Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Iraq in Prague, according to the Czech PM. This seems to have been a surprise to Secretary Powell. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5145-2001Nov9.html (Fred Waterer, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DUCIE ISLAND. ==>DUCIE IS NEWEST DXCC ENTITY! DXPEDITION OPERATION IMMINENT You might never have heard of it before, but Ducie Island in the South Pacific is the latest DXCC entity--the 335th, according to ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. A DXpedition was en route. Starting at 0000 UTC on November 16, 2001, Ducie Island became eligible for DXCC credit as a result of a favorable vote to accept the Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association (PIARA) as an International Amateur Radio Union member-society http://www.iaru.org/rel011116.html PIARA filed its application for IARU membership last March, and the matter went to a world-wide vote of IARU member-societies in June. Votes were counted this week, and PIARA's application was approved. Under DXCC rules, an entity that hosts an IARU society is considered a "political entity." Mills emphasized that only contacts dated November 16, 2001, and later will count for DXCC. For the moment, that point is a bit academic, however, since the DXpedition team has been delayed in reaching Ducie. The island has been activated previously for the Islands On The Air program (it's IOTA OC-182), but Mills says those earlier contacts will not count for DXCC. The group will use a VP6 call sign--to be announced. Some operation is planned on all bands, 160 through 6 meters (there will be a 6 meter beacon on 50.110 MHz) on CW, SSB and RTTY. Log checks will be available on the DX Cluster from Japan Web site, http://www.big.or.jp/~ham/dx.html Pilot station Bill "Dr Bill" Avery, K6GNX, said the team was expected to arrive on Ducie early on November 17. The DXpedition operation should last about five days. Ducie is located east of Pitcairn Island, perhaps best known among hams as the home of Tom Christian, VP6TC, who's PIARA president and head of the Ducie DXpedition team. Other DXpedition members are Kan Mizoguchi, JA1BK; Dave Brown, VP6DB; Mike McGirr, K9AJ; and Vince Thompson, K5VT, plus JA1SLS/VP6BB, JF1IST, and FO3HO. The QSL manager is Garth Hamilton, VE3HO, PO Box 1156, Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0, Canada. All 50-MHz QSL requests go to JA1BK. Ducie Island, about 2.5 square miles, is surrounded by water 3000 meters (9800+ feet) deep and visited only rarely. Due to ecological concerns, only one group may be on the island at a given time. The CQ zone for Ducie is 32; the ITU zone is 63. More information is available on the JA1BK Web site http://www.iijnet.or.jp/JA1BK/ (ARRL Letter Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Glenn- being I am keeping abreast of the Ducie Island DXpedition, I thought you may find this of interest. 73s Bill Bergadano KA2EMZ From: "Bernie McClenny, W3UR" bernie@dailydx.com Subject: [DX-NEWS] Ducie Island update Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 15:48:45 +0000 Bill, K6GNX, was unable to get this information out yesterday as he had an important business meeting. Here is a synopsis of what is going on with the VP6 Ducie Island DXpedition. Friday 1608Z -------------- As of 1600Z today we still have not heard from the FO0MIZ/MM, the team going to Pitcairn Island. Dave, VP6DB, says there is a 12-15 knot head wind so that would slow the team down. Dave and Tom, VP6TC, are ready and waiting for the arrival of the team. Once the team arrives they will get on 21260 and pass word of their safe arrival. The following press releases were received this morning, first from the IARU and second from the ARRL. DXCC country # 335 is Ducie Island! Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available. Friday 2134Z -------------- OK Bob, W3BTX, reports talking to the boys on the boat heading to Pitcairn Island. It seems they are doing OK however they are traveling a lot slower than they expected. As of about 2100Z they were expecting another 24 hours to get to Pitcairn Island. There they will pick up Tom, VP6TC, and Dave, VP6DB, along with their gear and fuel. It should take about two hours to load up their stuff and then on to Ducie Island. Under normal circumstances it should take just under 234 (24) hours to make it from Pitcairn to Ducie. Let's hope they are able to pick up some speed. I'll keep you posted if any other significant news comes up. For those of you who need a somewhat accurate lat/long on Ducie Island here it is. 24.39:57S 124.48:21W Saturday 0124Z ---------------- No the Ducie Island team is not swimming to Pitcairn Island! HI. Sorry about that gang! It was a typo. It should have said 24 hours. I just got finished talking to Kan, VP6BK/MM, on the way to Pitcairn Island. They are in a storm, which can been seen at http://kauai.nrlmry.navy.mil/sat-bin/display10?PHOT=yes&AREA=pacific/southern_hemisphere&PROD=vapor&NAV=tropics&CGI=tropics.cgi&ARCHIVE=Latest&MOSAIC_SCALE=15%&CURRENT=LATEST.jpg They were located at 24.30 South 131.09 West at 0000Z and going about 7 knots. At that speed they should be arriving at Pitcairn around 1000Z. Thankfully they are over half way through the storm, which I think is having its effects on the team. Everyone is doing OK, but I think some are suffering some seasickness. Kan will be on 21260 at 0300Z and Jin, VP6XX/MM, has been found on 21363 on the hour. Saturday 0342Z ---------------- Kan, JA1BK/VP6BK, reports that the wx got a little better and they are now (0315Z) at 24.30 South 130.80 West. They are moving at about 9-10 knots. At that rate they should arrive at Pitcairn around 1000Z. This is also approximately the same time that a container ship will be arriving at Pitcairn. This could add a little delay in the harbor. The DXpedition will not be extended. They will probably end on November 22 or 23 as they must be back on Gambier on November 27. Saturday 1538Z ---------------- The Ducie Island team have made it safely to Pitcairn Island. They arrived and anchored around 1230Z. There is still a storm in the Pitcairn area. The storm and the container ship in the harbor are holding up boarding of Tom, VP6TC, and Dave, VP6DB, the fuel and equipment. They hope they can start loading up around 1600Z. Thanks to VP6BB, VP6BK, WC7N and many others. 73 Bernie, W3UR http://www.dailydx.com ------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems, etc DX-NEWS http://njdxa.org/dx-news DX-CHAT: http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX NEWS items only, dx-news@pro-usa.net Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news%40pro-usa.net/ (via Bill Bergadano, NJ, Nov 17, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is getting into the act, adding Dari to Afghanistan. The evangelists much be licking their chops at another country opening up to them again -– but beware, the Northern Alliance, at least, still consider it an ``Islamic Republic``. See item buried in BBCM Nov 16 Afghanistan roundup above (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. After years of following up to a 1986 report for the MW channel of 621 kHz, today I received a PC QSL from R Cairo. V/s is Niveen Lawrence who provided an e-mail address: niveenl@hotmail.com Over the years I've tried many addresses, prepared cards, tapes, IRCs, US dollars etc etc to no avail until today, and I'm not sure which of my earlier requests this answers. A new MW country for me too! Regards, (Paul Ormandy, NZ, Nov 15, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. ERTU - Egyptian Radio and Television Union has brand new web site at: http://www.ertu.gov.eg/ It's 'flashy' and 'noisy' and still heavily under construction, but interesting ... 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland Webmaster of 1000 Lakes DX Page http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/dx.htm and dxlinks.com http://www.dxlinks.com/ Nov 8, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Radio Africa (Cumbre DX follow up) Pan American may believe that this is on, but I suspect that it is off. Untraced by myself in South Africa and Florida and Noel Green in the UK (Hans Johnson, Nov 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from GERMANY to ETHIOPIA. 15700, Radio Solidarity (presumed) heard at 1558 with open carrier than *1600. Not sure what their ID is in Tigrean, so presumed. Long talks by same man and a few musical bridges. Per Ludo Maes, this station is the same one that was originally listed as being on twice a week on 15620. Indeed, their website still list this frequency. This is the station of the Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy http://www.tisjd.net TISJD claimed to have already raised $20,000 to support the station. Their schedule is 1600-1629 Wed/Sat per Kai Ludwig, quoting a recent DTK Juelich schedule. Heard on Nov 10 till sign off in mid-sentence. The website also contains a total of five previous programs, which seem to have different openings than what I heard. The announcer sounds the same however. The group can be contacted at ethiopian@tisjd.et or at P.O. Box 60040, Washington, DC 20039 (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. France's La Tribune reports that more than 40 million French people listened to the radio daily during September and October, an increase of 476,700 over the same period last year. RTL was the nation's most popular domestic radio service, with a 13.9 percent audience share, down from 15.1 percent last year. RMC (Radio Monte Carlo), which shifted to an all-news format earlier this year, saw its audience increase by about 74 percent. The newspaper said state-run all-news channel France Info saw an increase in its audience, with 6.29 million listeners per day (Mike Cooper, GA, Nov. 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE? Hi, Glenn. Here's the latest update from Alan Roberts regarding 25925 kHz.+/- On November 4 at 1355 UT, Alan was hearing a male announcer in European cultured French with what seemed to be a sort of historical lecture talking about trade routes between France, Great Britain, New York and Shanghai. He also spoke about architectural features of buildings and bridges in the 1500s and 1600s. The broadcast continued, at varying levels, past 1500 UT. Most noteworthy was the fact that the lecture had a musical background, leading Alan to believe that this was actually TV audio. Again this morning, in the 1500 hour, Alan again heard a lecture in French mentioning the port of Larochelle, in western France. Alan is convinced that these transmissions have nothing to do with the old Radio Neige transmissions logged several years ago now. Those transmissions disappeared several years ago when the ski hills apparently ceased the service. Alan will be leaving tomorrow morning for a week in the U.K. He will resume tracking these signals upon his return next week (Sheldon Harvey, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. In case some further details about the German mediumwave matters are of interest for you: The statement from the media authority of Thuringia was actually a mess of Génève schedule parameters and the actual frequency usage until 1990. 999 was coordinated for Wachenbrunn with 20 kW but instead operated with just 5 kW from Weimar together with Wöbbelin and Hoyerswerda. This is actually a synchronized network, so it remains to be seen if Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will waive 999 although a test loop from a failed project was already on air from Wöbbelin. 1170 was coordinated for Erfurt with 20 kW but instead a transmitter of just 5 kW was installed at Keula, between Mühlhausen and Nordhausen while the Erfurt site was closed altogether and the transmitter moved to Wachenbrunn. 1089: Weimar used this frequency temporarily in 1990/1991 after leaving the 999 network which now carried RIAS Berlin while Weimar switched to locally produced programming instead. Originally 1089 was in use from Wachenbrunn, operated with the transmitter from the closed Erfurt site. When Weimar stepped into the 1089 channel Wachenbrunn moved to 1431 until this outlet was shut down in spring 1991. Later this transmitter was used for 882 until it was replaced by a new Thomcast rig about three years ago. Weida 1458: That's the only clear-cut case, 5 kW. Regarding 702 and 855: Probably the "Power-Radio" network of Radio NRW (not to be confused with the Kiel-based 612 operation) will be put on these frequencies. I do not know if the Jülich transmitter on 702 is ready for operation but at least Nordkirchen 855 was already on air with a test tone. So far this "Power-Radio" was carried on satellite and DAB only. By the way, the director of the media authority for Berlin and Brandenburg was just asked about the failure of DAB to attract the consumers: He rejects the plan to shut down all FM transmitters and stated that FM has a future, also considering the many cheap clock radios etc. I wonder how long others will keep their wishful thinking about shutting down FM in 2010 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. So far Deutsche Welle was believed to be a foreign service, but now they started domestic broadcasting, at least if one considers DAB as *broad*casting: They are now part of the DAB bouquet which goes out in Berlin on channel 8. However, Deutsche Welle uses only 40 kbit/s, i.e. broadcasts in rather poor audio quality. Also Westdeutscher Rundfunk received a DAB licence at Berlin for its WDR 2 network, which is already available via cable there. This was carried out on demand of civil servants from Bonn, forcing an observer to comment that the next step would be to carry the infamous JUMP network of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in western Germany for the many migrants from the East (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Clearly DW`s new website doesn't have all the bugs worked out yet. Both yesterday and today I'm getting "Cannot Find Server" messages. Clearly the website "isn't ready for prime time". Off the main DW-world website one first selects a language. Off of the main English website, there's a series of links on the left hand side; one is "DW-Radio". The next page then has a drop-down list box of individual programs. It is not intuitively obvious -- at all -- how to find on-demand program links. I gave up after 10 minutes of trying, and sent them an E-mail telling them that I could not find on-demand audio. It's too bad -- DW tried to make their website more of a true "multimedia" site like the BBC's site, or like Radio Australia's "Go Asia Pacific" website, with text and embedded audio and video. It used to be much easier to navigate; so far, this is a step backward in usefulness. We'll see what changes the E-mail brings (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA, USA, Nov 16, swprograms via DXLD) I don't like the new web-design at all. Never mind the Flash-like front page; many of the links (including the sitemap!) are Java scripts that open a new window (without any apparent URL!). The feedback page, where you can send them e-mail, is a *non-scrolling* pop-up window, both on Opera and the IE front-end I use. I can't get to the "send" button. What I don't understand is why the URLs to the various programs can't be something like http://www.dw-world.de/english/radio/*.html, where the * is replaced by the program name (eg. newlink.html, livingingermany.html, and so on). Instead, my browser lists the link for Living in Germany as http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,3071-184677-220252,00.html And I still can't figure out how to get a Real Audio format of the program. I guess they took web-design lessons from Mark Byford. ;-) (Ted S.:, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. Dave Porter forwards this link with information and pictures of the site of the wartime Aspidistra transmitter taken on a visit: http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/c/crowborough/ Mike Burden did a series of articles on the transmitter which are posted at http://members.aol.com/skywave48/aspidistra.htm (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Recent frequency changes for transmissions via Jülich: Hrvatska Radio 0400-0559 now 7285 (ex 9885), 320 deg. (HRS 4/4/0.8) [very much needed due to VOA – Botswana(?) on 9885 at 0400 --- but 7285 is in the NAm hamband: has DTK no shame? -gh] Voice of Hope 1330-1430 now 15750 (ex 15675), 70 deg. (HRS 4/4/1.0 at 60 deg. with slew +10 deg.) Family Radio 1700-1900 now 9470 (ex 9495), 60 deg. (HRS 4/4/1.0) And some antenna modifications: IBRA-Radio 2230-2330 on 9405 now LPH at 190 deg. (ex LPV at 175 deg.) Brother S. 6110 (1325-1725) only on Fri 1650-1725 through nondirectional HQ (otherwise LPH at 290 deg.); Adventist World Radio 5840 (1700-1759) only on Fri through LPH, otherwise still HRS 4/2/0.4; Voice of Hope 15715 now 1300-1500 from another HRV 4/4/0.9 curtain, otherwise still on original HRV 4/4/0.8 antenna, azimuth in both cases 115 deg. (excerpted from schedule document, released Nov. 15, via Kai Ludwig, DX LISENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. It`s All Greek to Me programme heard 1900-2000 on 5865 and 7475. Half hour English Orientations programme heard daily 1930-2000 on 12110 though the announcer still announcing former 11645. Orientations programme in English heard here 0930-1000 on 9420 15630 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, November 7th, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Re the Voice of Greece schedule in DXLD 1-164. I was trying to put their schedule together by monitoring when the same one you published arrived in my Inbox. The station appears to be using two transmitters at Avlis 100kW, and one of these carries the Macedonia service at 1100-2250 via either 9935 or 7430. The other carries the mainly Greek service. In addition, two IBB(?) transmitters at Kavalla are used, and these are designated in the IBB sched thus :- VAR ERT ERA5 600- 800 DL 02 11900 296 VAR ERT ERA5 1200-1500 DL 03 9690 075 VAR ERT ERA5 1600-2200 DL 01 17705 075 VAR ERT ERA5 2000-2200 GA 08 17565 164 VAR ERT ERT 0- 400 KAV 12 5895 355 VAR ERT ERT 400- 800 KAV 12 21530 095 VAR ERT ERT 400- 800 KAV 11 17520 095 VAR ERT ERT 900-1800 KAV A 792 999 VAR ERT ERT 1000-1500 RHO A 1260 134 VAR ERT ERT 1200-1430 KAV 12 15650 095 VAR ERT ERT 1200-1900 KAV 11 9420 355 VAR ERT ERT 1430-1700 KAV 12 11645 355 VAR ERT ERT 1700-2000 KAV 12 12110 355 VAR ERT ERT 1900-2100 KAV 11 5895 355 VAR ERT ERT 2000-2100 KAV 12 7450 355 VAR ERT ERT 2100- 0 KAV 12 15650 095 VAR ERT ERT 2100-2300 KAV 11 9420 105 VAR ERT ERT 2100-2230 KAV A 792 999 VAR ERT ERT 2200-2230 RHO A 1260 134 VAR ERT ERT 2300- 400 KAV 11 12110 240 VAR ERT ERT 2300- 0 KAV A 792 999 Thanks for confirming that 11900 is in use via DL at 1200-1500, and not listed (by IBB) 9690. In addition, I have not heard KAV 12 using 7450 2000-2100, 15650 2100-0000(I don't know what the * means either) and 5895 at 0000-0400. 5895 & 7450 are not included in the VoG listings. All other SW outlets are heard - except that KAV 11 is using 5865 (not 5895) at 1900-2100. (MW's are inaudible here) KAV 12 15650 carries "Orientations" in Arabic at 1400-c1430 followed by 11645 at 1430-c1700 in German, Russian, Spanish, Romanian & Turkish then it moves to 12110 at 1700-c2000 for Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian, French, Polish and English. All are c30 min programmes. And most (not all - ie English & Spanish are two) carry "live" BBC news broadcasts // BBC frequencies for the first c10 mins, clearly announced. In addition, another "Orientations" transmission in English is heard at 0930-c0952 during the Greek service on 9420 and 15630 - only these two frequencies are announced. The Africa anomalies are not understood - I hear no other frequencies on air at those listed times myself. I'm still searching for any other English news (or whatever) transmissions. I hope this is of interest - keep up the good work. Best 73's, (Noel Green, England, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA [non]. I caught the 2nd and 3rd harmonic producing spy #s station again this morning, Nov 15, @ 1121, on 3245. Audio on 2nd harmonic @ 6490, and het on third harmonic 9735. This is undoubtedly the same station I heard on 3360 the morning of the 14th, which means that the spy #s harmonics on 6720 and 10080 were in fact random coincidence and not connected to the Nahualá harmonics on same freqs. A very rare coincidence, but just chance none the less. The lesson: Don't be too sure of your self, almost anything can happen on SW! 73, (David Hodgson, TN, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Dear Glenn, With reference to your item on India in DXLD 1- 168, yes it is indeed AIR Urdu Service on 11620. They are on at 0100- 0430 and is beamed to Pakistan. The unID station on 11790 mentioned in same issue is the new freq of AIR Sindhi Service which is on air at 0100-0200 and is also beamed to Pakistan. Sincerely (Jose Jacob, India, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. All India Radio: Home Service SW News in English (B-2001) Prepared by Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India Note: All the News Bulletins noted below (except at 0300) originate at Delhi and are relayed by other stations. The 0300 News originate in Shillong and is relayed by Stations in NE India only. UTC: 0035-0040 4760 4775 4820 4920 4940 5010 5050 7170 0245-0300 3390 3945 4760 4880 4910 4940 4960 4970 4990 5040 6020 6030 7140 7150 7180 7290 7210 7220 11830 15135 (Morning News) 0300-0305 4970 4990 5050 7150 (NE Indian News) 0335-0040 5040 7210 7220 11830 15135 0435-0440 4860, Sun 7240 0630-0635 7140, Sun 7160, 7230 7240 7280 7290 0730-0735 5985 6020 6040 6065 6195 7115 7120 7150 7160 7210 7230 7280 7295 15185 15260 0830-0900 6150 6190 7115 7130 7140 7150 7160 7210 7290 7295 15185 15260 1135-1140 4970 5050 7250 9595 11620 11710 15185 1230-1235 3390 4760 4800 4820 4850 4860 4895 4920 5040 5050 6020 6085 17860 1430-1435 4840 5040 6085 9565 9835 1435-1440 6085 9565 (Sports News) 1530-1545 3223 3315 3390 4760 4775 4800 4820 4850 4880 4895 4910 4920 4950 4960 4970 4990 5040 5050 6085 7255 9565 9820 9835 9910 11740 1730-1735 3223 (Sat, Sun), 3315 3365 4800 4820 4880 4910 4920 4950 4960 5040 6085 7140 9565 9835 1830-1835 3365 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Nov 15, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Watch out for interesting propagation conditions: NASA Science News for November 8, 2001 On Sunday morning, Nov. 18, 2001, sky watchers somewhere will see a dazzling storm of Leonid meteors. Read this story and find out how you can be one of them. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast08nov_1.htm?list513634 (Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I.e., lots of meteor scatter DX on VHF, FM and TV, even if you can`t see the sky (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN. Mashhad radio increases broadcasting to 11 hours a day | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 16 November Dear listeners, before we present you the afternoon programmes of Dari [service of Mashhad] radio we inform you that God willing, as of tomorrow, 26 Aqrab [corresponds to 17 November], from 1200 to 2300 hours Iranian time, which is equal to 1300 to 2400 hours [0830-1930 gmt] Afghan time, the Dari [service of Mashhad] radio of the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, from the centre of Khorasan, will be broadcast for 10 hours for you [as received, should be 11 hours]. Of course, we draw your attention to its broadcasting time, wavelength and frequencies: it will be presented to you from 1200 to 1530 hours Iranian time, equal to 1300 to 1630 hours [Afghan time, 0830-1200 gmt] on 720 kHz mediumwave and on 25m shortwave, which is equal to 11860 kHz. It will be presented to you from 1530 to 1830 hours Iranian time, which is equal to 1630 to 1930 hours Afghan time on 720 kHz mediumwave and 75m short wave, which is equal to 3945 kHz. Uzbek and Tajik programmes will be presented one after another at their usual broadcast times, while the evening broadcast of Dari radio will be presented from 2100 to 2300 hours Iranian time, which is equal to 2200 to 2400 Afghan time [1730-1930 gmt] on 720 kHz mediumwave and 75m shortwave, which is equal to 3945 kHz. Morning programmes will be broadcast on their usual wavelength and frequencies. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0930 gmt 16 Nov 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAN. 3945, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1805-1825* Nov 7. Now here with Dari service, presumed news reports with many mentions of Taleban, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Identification 1823 followed by interval signal three times and off, good on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE TO IRAN, 3880.3, Voice of Communist Party of Iran 1750-1759* Nov 6. Talk by man in Farsi, identification and off with The Internationale which always makes me nostalgic of listening during the Cold War era. Fair on clear channel, some distortion on the modulation (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. CLANDESTINE TO IRAQ, 3903, Voice of Iraqi People (tentative) 1745-1755 Nov 7. Talks in presumed Arabic, tentative identification including "al-Iraqi" noted 1755, poor on clear channel, telephone like modulation (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN [and non]. Below I include the latest newsletter from the Isle of Man "MusicMan 279" project. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 7, DXLD) Dear Surfers, The IMIB team are still hard at work exploring the various transmission sites we have been offered for our transmitter, some of them suitable, but others not. What is interesting is that so many people have said that they don't mind being able to see the antenna, and a lot of people seem to think it will make an excellent landmark. The difficulty we have in selecting a suitable site is the terrain of the Island, the bottom three quarters of which comprises solid granite or slate, which the geologists call the Manx massif. It effectively blocks any low frequency radio signals and creates a shadow behind it for radio signals. In site selection, we must ensure that this shadow does not cover big parts of our potential audience. By locating the transmitter at the north east corner of the Island the shadow is across the Irish Sea, the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay. Not many listeners out there! We have of course taken on board the objections made at the Public Inquiry last year and now have several potential sites which we believe will satisfy everyone. Once we have decided on a final site we shall complete the Environmental Impact Assessment and submit the application for permission to build. We believe we will be successful this time and be immediately able to start construction of the transmission facility. Future of Long Wave In my last letter I mentioned our study of whether Long Wave has a future. It now seems that anything associated with the Internet is having a hard time, including the much heralded 'streamed transmissions' of radio stations. This is particularly the case in the British isles where we pay through the nose for internet access, however in many parts of the world internet radio does perform a useful service and provides a link to homelands or simply better choice for many people. We shall continue to explore all forms of delivery for our station, which will be more than just a regular common or garden radio station. After looking at the latest figures for DAB penetration and the sales figures for Long Wave I think we can safely say once again that "We remain convinced that Long Wave has many years left in it yet and the project has a bright future." A few months ago I wrote how Chris Carey's Radio Nova had been a satellite radio pioneer in the mid 1980s, but despite a star studded line up and some excellent music, listeners didn't vote with their radios - as they couldn't hear the station. One needed expensive satellite dishes to pick it up. Its much the same with DAB today and we are seeing history repeated. News of other stations Recently Radio Caroline has moved from a cheap type of satellite transponder (Astra analogue, on 19.2 E) to an expensive one. It only had a small audience to start with, but now most of its listeners must buy a new digital satellite receiver and point it at another bird, the audience will have plummeted. You can find out more about Radio Caroline at http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk Radio as we know it is about easily available programme delivery, on a simple radio that's close at hand. Its said that forty per cent of radio listening in the UK is done in cars - and satellite radio into cars is not very practical at the moment. As a former Radio Caroline DJ (the Top 40 and rock'n'roll days of 1973) and a long time Caroline supporter I would love to see the station regain its former glory; the guys manning the station today deserve success, but while Caroline is at usual at the cutting edge of technology, the great listening public isn't, and is unlikely to be for for some time. The Isle of Man is to get an extra radio station next month when well known Manx media workhorse Juan Turner puts his own station live on the air - Galaxy FM. The station will broadcast from Summerland, a well known teenagers' rendezvous on the sea front in Douglas. It will be on the air at weekends only and broadcast dance music to the Douglas area, using an FM transmitter at Carnane. We wish Juan and his team every success. Meanwhile across in Norway my good friend Sven Martinsen has been awarded the coveted LW licence to build a station with up to 1.2 million watts output. Sven has some great plans for a station playing a mixture of old favourites and country music which I'm sure will find support among listeners in Northern Europe. Sven's 'Northern Lights' foundation is a worthy organisation and also deserves success. At least listeners will be able to hear his station, and on radios they already have in their homes, cars and on the beach (and with this summer's weather there is no shame in wearing your anorak on the beach!). As that station progresses we will let you know - at the moment they have the same obstacle as we do - trying to get permission for a transmission site. Don't forget to send me your views on radio - including satellite and DAB (has ANYONE got a DAB receiver?) my e-mail address is ceo@longwaveradio.com and I look forward to hearing from YOU. Kindest regards to you all, (Paul Rusling, Founder, via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. You can hear Arutz 7 at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/english/radio/live/live.htm Language Broadcast Times [local??] Russian: Midnight - 7PM French: 7PM - 9PM English: 9PM - Midnight or the other channel has: Hebrew Midnight-9PM English 9PM-Midnight Arutz 7 plays Israeli pop music during the day, and specialist religious / right wing programmes at night. The policy of playing ONLY Hebrew pop music was a huge success with the Israeli public, and it made the Israel Broadcasting Authorities failing pop music station Reshet Gimmel (Network 3) change its format a while back to do the same. Now their rating is much higher. Another fact pointing to the influence of offshore radio (Mike, RadioAnoraksUk yahoogroup via Mike Terry, BDXX-UK via DXLD) ** JAPAN [and non].Dear Mr. Hanlon, Thank you for your e-mail of November 3, 2001. Regarding your inquiry, we have been broadcasting the emergency news programs of "US attack on the terrorist group in Afghanistan." Frequency schedule for Middle East & North Africa area is following (Time is UTC). 15:00-16:00 15265kHz(Skelton, UK) 16:00-17:00 15215kHz(Skelton, UK) 17:00-19:00 11880kHz(Dhabbaya, UAE) 19:00-21:00 9590kHz(Dhabbaya, UAE) 21:00-01:00 6160kHz(Dhabbaya, UAE) 01:00-04:00 11870kHz(Yamata, Japan) 04:00-07:00 9700kHz(Yamata, Japan) 07:00-13:00 15165kHz(Dhabbaya, UAE) 13:00-15:00 17555kHz(Rampisham, UK) 01:00-02:00 11870kHz(Yamata, Japan) 11880kHz(Ekala, Sri Lanka) 14:00-15:00 17755kHz(Gabon) 02:30-03:00 11930kHz(Gabon) 08:30-09:00 17820kHz(Ekala, Sri Lanka) 04:00-04:30 11930kHz(Gabon) 07:00-07:30 15220kHz(Ascension Island) Please be advised that the schedule is subject to change. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Best regards, (Radio Japan info@intl.nhk.or.jp Nov 5 via Joe Hanlon, PA, DXLD) JAPÃO - Os cartões QSL da Rádio Japão agora são completos. Quem enviar informe para qualquer departamento da emissora, receberá a confirmação com os seguintes dados: freqüência, dia, hora e assinatura do responsável. Anteriormente, a NHK apenas carimbava os cartões (Célio Romais, Panorama Atual das Ondas Curtas Nov 15 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Friends, The month long Muslim fasting festival of Ramzan is likely to begin from tomorrow, November 17, 2001 subject to the sighting of moon today evening. If the moon is sighted today evening, the first fasting day of Ramzan would be observed tomorrow. Radio Kashmir, Srinagar has been noted with special broadcasts on 4950 in the previous years during this period. Last year these special broadcasts were noted at 2345-0045. Later from 0150 they have regular transmissions. So watch out for these special broadcasts this year also around that time from tomorrow. 73 de (Jose Jacob, Nov 15, dx_india via DXLD) Later: Friends, Ramzan started a day late in India than most other countries. As expected the special broadcasts (Muslim devotional programs) from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar on 4950 & 1116 were monitored from today. I heard it from tune in around 2340 to sign off at 0005. (Last year they were at 2345-0015). They then began their normal program from 0120. These special broadcasts are for one month, i.e. up to December 17, 2001. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Nov 16, dx_india via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Hi Glenn, Here's the rest of what I monitored. Between 1000 and 1300 UT is not a good time to try to hear N Korea, especially on the low bands, so I really do mean "as observed". If any one can add to what I logged I'd be interested. I have not monitored between 0000 and 0700. 73's 1000 - 1200 No Foreign Service transmissions observed; 1200 Korean 9335 11710 - to close 1350; No other services heard - incl Japanese 7580 & 9650. 1300 English 11710 11335 9335 7505; Korean 9325 6575 (Noel Green, England, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. P5 is on the air: North Korea, the DXCC entity that tops everyone's most-wanted list, was activated this month by Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, of the Republic of Georgia. The operation has not yet been approved for DXCC credit, however. On the basis of oral permission from North Korean authorities, Giorgadze has been operating as P5/4L4FN since early this month. Bruce Paige, KK5DO, reports that 4L4FN now is awaiting written permission from the North Korean government--something that's required for ARRL DXCC credit. As a result, it's possible the recent contacts will not count for DXCC. Paige is posting P5/4L4FN operating news on his Web site http://www.amsatnet.com/p5.html and to other DX news sites (ARRL Letter Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. CLANDESTINE TO IRAN, 3985, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan 1650-1705 Nov 6. Talks in Kurdish, patriotic style music and identification 1700, fair on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIECHTENSTEIN. I made some goofs in both the URL and E-mail address. The URL for "Radio L" in Liechtenstein is http://www.radiol.li/ and their E-mail is: radio@radiol.li Am trying a revised E-mail to them ! Cheers, Bill Flynn, OR, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. Please note that the correct spelling of the (Russian- language) seperatiststation is "Radio Pridnestrovya", not Radio Pridnestrovye. You will find only this spelling in Russian language Internet source incl. those from Transnistria. 73s, Bernd to gh Bernd, Thanks for the info. I am just wondering, is there really no D in ``Transnistria`` Glenn Hauser Hi Glenn, I was using the Moldovan form for the region which is "Transnistria" without "d". If you search the web for English sources, you will find all kinds of spellings, both "Transnistria" as well as various "d" forms like "Transdnistria", "Transdniestria", "Transdnestria", etc. BBC Monitoring called the breakaway area "Dnestr Region" when they first reported the station in 1992. As for "Radio Pridnestrovya": the region itself is called in Russian "Pridnestrovye", while "Pridnestrovya" is the genetive case. This is a common grammatical form for names of radiostations in Russian, one analogue example is "Radio Rossii" (instead of Radio Rossiya). The pronounciation of "Pridnestrovye" and "Pridnestrovya" is very similar though, that's why it is easily misunderstood by non-Russian ears. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. 7164.4, R.Nepal 1130-1145 Nov 10, ID tentative. Peaked around 1155. Male and female announcers with talks and a number of tunes. Female appeared to have been interviewing the male announcer. Rapid fades Unable to get ID at 1215 (Bob Montgomery, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Nov 10 1144-1148, Weak flute music heard when I tuned in. At 1145 announcement by YL, followed by alternating talk between a YL and OM. I couldn't distinguish if they were reading the news, or if it was some sort of drama. SINPO was 23332. My re-check the next morning (Sunday) was futile, due to ARO activity. Probably the frequency is less congested during weekdays (George Maroti, NY Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Glenn, As you know, since military action started in Afghanistan, Radio Netherlands has been broadcasting in Dutch on additional frequencies (21475 and 21490) from Madagascar at 0557-0800 UT, beamed to the Middle East and South Asia. I have just been told by our Programme Distribution Department that these extra transmissions will be dropped after tomorrow until further notice. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Hi radiofriends, I know that the article is in Dutch but some of you can read it (hhhh 23 pages long). My new article on soundscapes is about Propaganda Radio in the past 60 years. The reason I sent you is that there's not only a Dutch article but a lot of soundbytes from the past 60 years. http://www.soundscapes.info Volume 4 and the storie Radio als politiek wapen. Enjoy it, Hans Knot (DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. Just stumbled upon this website today: http://www.tuningtheworld.com Not really a DX site, despite the name. Rather, it's a site set up by CBC St. John's (Nfld) for the special programming they'll be doing to mark the centenary of Marconi's first trans-Atlantic radio transmission. Rather nice site to look at...but you'll be frustrated if you want to try to print out any of the information...give it a try. The site (according to a guy here at RCI) has only been up and running since Wednesday 14 Nov. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. The shortwave transmitters they just "officially commissioned" are in fact some five years old. The purchase of these Thomcast rigs was widely reported then, and at this time also 15120 returned on the air temporarily, allegedly from one of these transmitters, so it seems they were indeed delivered and installed. Considering this I wonder if "the new Voice of Nigeria" is just the next short-lived passion (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 12025, R. Salama, 1907 Nov 12. Young indigenous female speaker in (assumed) Hausa. At 1940 re-tune male indigene speaking in difficult-to-follow English. Typical evangelical presentation whatever the creed or language. Good strength signal but some distortion of audio (Charles Jones, Australia, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. R. Pakistan, 15485.09 (thanks to DXLD tip) & 17894.93 with talk in Asian language, ID at 0147 "You are listening to Radio Pakistan", then female vocal. Seems unusual to hear this broadcast on these frequencies at this time of day (local darkness), 2001 PWBR says these are aimed at SE Asia. By 0150 the latter frequency becomes much stronger (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Received full data signed "Monkey-eating Eagle" photo QSL card for my report of April 21, 2001, after 6 months. Also enclosed a nice "FEBC Friend" sticker and a letter/apology. Letter states "the Overseas English service is presently closed". States the audience relations department closed in November 2000. The signer, a "Jan Bayliss" writes there is "only one person left to write letters at this time" and is trying to catch up on the backlog of mail. The QSL was for a "Burmese tribal languages broadcast" on 15095lHz from 1330 - 1430 and consisted of some very interesting music. Closes by stating that "while Ohio is not our prime target for Burmese broadcasts, we are always happy to hear from DXers who have been able to pick up our signals". As I recall I sent a Cleveland postcard and $1US with my reception report. (Lee Silvi, Mentor, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. Chinese Reporter Unveils Defiant Qatari TV Station Al-Jazeera (The Peninsula), a popular Arab satellite TV channel in Qatar, has become a headache to western countries by broadcasting Bin Laden's two speeches after the "September 11" incident. Global Time's reporter Lu Zhixing lately unveiled the mysterious TV station.... This article on the People's Daily website seems a little out of date... http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200111/16/print20011116_84703.html Home page has a banner add across the top...for Pravda.ru.... (Fred Waterer, Nov 16, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re DXLD 1-165, "new "V.O.R. Interval signal. I've uploaded a clip of this old tune on a new glockenspeil(?) to the Interval Signals Archive at http://www.intervalsignals.net (Dave Kernick, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.intervalsignals.net/rus-voice_of_russia_041101.ram ** RUSSIA. Glenn, I have been hearing VOR on 7335 between 03:00 & 05:00 clashing badly with CHU. The announced frequency is 7330 & I heard them there a couple of weeks ago (Dave Hughes, KC MO, November 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still there UT Nov 17; poor CHU (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Estimados amigos: He aquí las frecuencias de nuestra emisora para el actual período de invierno. FRECUENCIAS DE LA VOZ DE RUSIA PARA EL PERÍODO INVIERNO 2001-2002 HACIA EUROPA HORA UTC FRECUENCIAS (kHz) Período 28.10.01 a 30.03.02 2130 a 2200 7380, 6145 HACIA AMÉICA CENTRAL HORA UTC FRECUENCIAS (kHz) Período 28.10.01 a 30.03.02 0100 a 0200 9860, 7180, 7125 0200 a 0300 9860 HACIA AMÉRICA DEL SUR HORA UTC FRECUENCIAS (kHz) Período 28.10.01 a 30.03.02 0100 a 0200 9965, 9860, 9810, 9480, 7570, 7440, 7410, 7390, 7350, 7310 0200 a 0300 9965, 9945, 9860, 7570, 7440, 7410, 7390, 7350, 7310 Atentamente, Francisco Rodríguez, Programa "Frecuencia RM", LA VOZ DE RUSIA, via Patricio Cortés, Rusia, Nov 17, DXLD) Note 7380 is NOT among the frequencies listed, except before 2200, the assumed source of QRM to Idea Radio, Colombia – so what is clashing with them? VOR in Portuguese or something? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. – O Departamento de Português da Voz da Rússia está promovendo novo concurso. É o "Consonâncias", que faz perguntas sobre pintores, escritores e músicos russos. Para responder, o ouvinte deve escutar os programas especiais, levados ao ar, nas terças-feiras, entre 0000 e 0100, em 7350, 7390, 7410, 9480, 9810 e 9965 kHz. Recentemente, foi divulgado o resultado do concurso comemorativo ao primeiro vôo do homem ao espaço. Mais de mil ouvintes tiveram suas respostas escolhidas, entre eles, os associados do DX Clube do Brasil, Rubens Ferraz Pedroso e Kariane Golembieski. A informação é de Rubens Ferraz Pedroso (Célio Romais, Panorama Atual das Ondas Curtas Nov 15 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. The strong over-the-horizon radar tx in western Russia was noted on the following frequencies: 33.79 (31/10), 33.99 (3/11), 33.67 & 34.35 (4/11), 34.035 (5/11) and 34.095 (7/11). 73s, Tony Mann Perth Australia, 32S, 116E antenna: Hills 205/02 Band 1 (ch0/ch2) 7el Yagi at 24 feet. rx: Icom R7000, plus PC (Mac) based audio spectrum analyser (vhf skip yahoogroups via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. MCB tests via Mykolayiv-Kopani-Simferopol(SMF) / and via Lviv-Krasne-Lemberg(LV) in Ukraine. MCB Moscow Russia on test towards N America 2300-0100 in Russian 9385 via SMF. 0200-0400 in Russian 7240 LV. (Nov 4) So that's where 7240 is coming from! I noted this one last week with English (once) or Russian (twice) 0200-0300 and only Russian 0300- 0400 (Olle Alm-SWE, BC-DX Nov 5 via Krist, DXLD) Actually no big surprise to me, instead I already suspected it when VoR started to use Krasne 936 and Petrivka 1278 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So, it's very interesting situation now - a revolutionary moment: Concern RRT began leasing the SW transmitters to VOR without notice to RUI and on our main frequencies reserved for N. America. With the best regards, (Alexander Yegorov, RUI, Nov 7, via Kraig Krist, DXLD) The very interesting report was sent us by R. Zaputovycz from USA: from 2200 to 0108 in the night from 28 to 29 October on 7240 kHz he heard very loudly unusual programme of unID Ukrainian radio (presumably one of the FM stations) with news in Ukrainian and Russian talks and pop-music. Tx in Brovary was calm that night. Yes, we should be forsee such course of the events. Concern RRT will lease its transmitters like all owners of the broadcasting means in various countries. And I am sure that this process will continue. With the best regards, Alexander Yegorov. (via Kai Ludwig, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "The Voice of Russia" News. Russian World Service of Radio "The Voice of Russia" added two frequencies for broadcasting to the Northern USA and Canada (1th, 2th and 6th ITU zones) at 0200-0400 UTC: 7240 and 9385 kHz (via transmitters located in Lvov, Ukraine). Our Technical Dept. is interested very much in information on quality of a reception on these frequencies at 1th, 2th and 6th ITU zones letters@vor.ru 73! (Pavel Mikhaylov, "CLUB DX" Program, Radio "The Voice of Russia", Moscow, Nov 15, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** RWANDA. 6055, R. Rwanda, 2057-2100 Nov 7. ID at 2056 in French by male announcer. ID female in EE with ID with listing of FM stations and shortwave freq list of 6055. Then to talks in FF and NA at 2059. Excellent copy S6 level with good audio (Bob Montgomery, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 7530, R. Hargeisa, 1913 Nov 12. Male and female speakers with indigenous music. Signed off with male solo ending at 1931. Fair level of signal degraded by atmospheric noise (Charles Jones, Australia, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. PIRATE: 6880 Andino Relay Service. 0202-0222. November 17. LSB mode transmission. Latinoamerican folk music. At 0210 UT ID by man in Spanish: "Andino Relay Service....6880 khz....Estás escuchando el Andino Relay Service. Escríbenos, envíanos tu informe de recepción a Casilla 159, Santiago 14, Chile. Nuestra dirección de correo electrónico es ARSSW@yahoo.com .......". After, the speaker announced the email address in English language. More Andean music. 44444 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ERITREA to SUDAN. 6965, Voice of Freedom, 0330-0400 Nov 12. Tune in at 0330, Arabic style mx playing then to male announcer in Arabic hrd at 0340. Id tentative as found in Passport 2002. I have hrd this for the past 3 weeks but extremely weak and mostly a hint of mx hrd in the past. Tonight is an s9 signal level with RTTY QRM. A number of musical interludes heard during talks (Bob Montgomery, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Ex 6985 (Johnson Nov 16, ibid.) ** TATARSTAN. Ildus Ibatullin, QSL manager of the Voice of Tatarstan, asked me to inform all QSL hunters (primarily from the US, but may be applicable to other states, too) about the change of QSL policy. Read the new conditions at: http://votat.by.ru/qsl_cond.htm 73, (Dmitri Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Nov 8, hard-core-dx via DXLD) viz.! To avoid the danger of bio terrorism, QSL manager of the Voice of Tatarstan temporarily suspends to accept reception reports from the United States by ordinary/air mail. I recommend all US listeners the following way of sending your reports (non-US DXers may use it, too): write all technical data, program contents, comments and suggestions by email to: votat@beep.ru pay for QSL printing/postage by means of bank transfer. Each QSL costs $1.16. I can accept US $, DM and Euro (for two latter cases recalculate the value according to the exchange rate). Transfer purpose must be stated as "gift". My bank details follow below: Transfers from the US in US$: <> SWIFT IRVTUS3N THE BANK OF NEW YORK NEW YORK 890-0057-610 <> SWIFT SABRRUMMNA1 SAVINGS BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (VOLGO-VYATSKY OFFICE) NIZNIY NOVGOROD LENINSKOE BRANCH 6672 (KAZAN) <> 42301840562260002383/01 <> Ibatullin Ildus Mansurovich Transfers from other countries in US$: <> SWIFT COBADEFF COMMERZBANK AG (GERMANY) <> SWIFT SABRRUMMNA1 SAVINGS BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (VOLGO-VYATSKY OFFICE) NIZNIY NOVGOROD LENINSKOE BRANCH 6672 (KAZAN) <> 42301840562260002383/01 <> Ibatullin Ildus Mansurovich Transfers in DM or Euro: <> SWIFT DEUTDEFF DEUTSCHE Bank AG (GERMANY) <> SWIFT SABRRUMMNA1 SAVINGS BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (VOLGO-VYATSKY OFFICE) NIZNIY NOVGOROD LENINSKOE BRANCH 6672 (KAZAN) <> 42301276362260000065/01 <> Ibatullin Ildus Mansurovich ============================================ Somebody guessed the bank charge would amount to $30 for this (gh) ** TURKEY. 6900, Turkish Meteorological Radio (presumed) 1530-1545 Nov 7, Continuous local music, fair to poor, clear channel but narrow filter needed, heavy interference both sides of frequency (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6900, Turkish Meteorological R., Nov 7 0503-0520. Carrier prior to top of hour, and then to mx at 0502 with female vocalist. Continuous mx and no announcer hrd. Typical Turkish mx. Id tentative (Bob Montgomery, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. See RUSSIA non ** U K. Amid surprisingly little fanfare, the BBC has today re- launched its web and interactive TV presence under the single banner of "BBCi". The lower case "i" looks rather intrusive, though it seems to be following a rather tired trend in corporate culture today (cf British Midland bmi in the airline world) and certainly draws attention to itself. I guess the thinking was that it is rather like the internationally recognised "i" for information or maybe this is some kind of pun on "eye". No doubt the corporation's house journal "Ariel" will have something to say on the subject today. Another developing feature of the new site will be "Where you live", an attempt to bring to the web an even more local presence than large county-based local radio stations currently provide. Existing bbc.co.uk/ addresses seem to remain valid so here is your first stop for behind the scenes insights into BBC Radio (including live Real Audio feeds and programme archives) and TV (MARK Savage, Nov 7, BDXC- UK via DXLD) ** U K. Ex-BBC staff enjoy windfall Team sells former World Service business for £95m Terry Macalister, Thursday November 15, 2001, The Guardian A group of former BBC staff yesterday become millionaires after selling for £95m the radio transmission business bought from the World Service for £13m only four years ago. Merlin Communications, which still operates from the BBC's Bush House in London, has been acquired by Vosper Thorneycroft, the warship and support services group. The move is a last shot from retiring Vosper chief executive Martin Jay, who is married to a former BBC producer and whose brother Peter has just stepped down as BBC economics editor. Fiona Lowry, chief executive of Merlin, has expanded the group from a media operation to include defence business with the help of fellow former BBC executive Kevin Cawood, now Merlin director of global facilities. It employs nearly 400 staff, many of whom are ex- employees of the World Service and BBC Transmission. Most of them have at least a small share ownership in Merlin, which should earn them £34,000. The BBC team paid only £320,000 for 40% of the shares when Merlin was privatised, with the rest bought by venture capitalists Electra Fleming and 3i. Last year it made overall operating profits of £7.2m, on turnover of £74.6m. Merlin has a 10-year contract to operate and maintain the BBC World Service's short and medium-wave transmitters, a move favoured by then director general John Birt, but opposed by many staff. Merlin is working on a £34m deal to upgrade the BBC World Service transmitter relay station in Oman. It has also won a five-year contract with the European Space Agency to operate and maintain its transmission satellite ground station at Kourou, French Guyana. Neither Ms Lowry nor any of her colleagues were willing to comment on the sale but the Vosper chief executive said: "The acquisition of Merlin continues our strategy of developing our support services business. It marks the commencement of an important new relationship with the BBC and deepens our relationship with the Ministry of Defence." The disposal of the former BBC business for more than seven times its sale price has angered some staff who continue to be sceptical about the wisdom of losing control of their own transmission. One said: "The whole thing is pretty gut wrenching. [Merlin] makes all its money by making us pay for receiving our own news gathering operation." Vosper shares ended up 112.5p at 1570p. (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Dear Denis, Charles, BBC WS & Swprograms readers, The 82 million pounds profit on Merlin would pay for many, many years of shortwave to North America and Australasia, with MONEY LEFT OVER. If these are the facts, it appears that someone, somewhere, should at least be ashamed things happened this way, if not held to account for it. Americans, and others worldwide, are reading this and trying to understand Brit logic. How can you, on one hand, go to the trouble of "saving" a half- million and losing over a million listeners, and, on the other hand, "throw away" 82 million, and gain nothing at all-- except maybe more bad PR? I'm still waiting patiently for BBC WS to wake up to the reality that dropping shortwave to N. America means they are losing loyal listeners and adding to other bad PR for BBC and the WS, such as this item I'm forwarding to you (Geoff White, Atlanta, Nov 16, swprograms via DXLD) The BBC is a *customer* of Merlin and will not make a dime from this sale. They sold their shares in it four years ago. Merlin, a private company, has acted sensibly to protect the future of its employees in the face of uncertainties in the market. And if they make some money into the bargain, good luck to them! (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Yes, I'm aware that BBC "doesn't make a dime" from the sale of Merlin. I thought that was the point I was trying to make. Apparently, in the 4 years since they bought it, the folks at Merlin made operating profits of more than they paid for the assets? Topping it off, they are selling the assets for over 7 times what they paid for them? So it seems folks at BBC apparently under-valued those assets by 8 times or more? If I've got the numbers wrong here, please clear it up for me and everyone else. Believe it or not, I really would prefer to *not* think there was stupidity, or worse. I just latched on to the numbers and felt, "Gee, something must be wrong here. How can this be?" Thanks for any clarification you can provide (Geoff White, ibid.) On the face of it, yes. But I wonder if Merlin would have expanded so much if the BBC still had the controlling interest? That we will never know, and I think it's futile to fill this newsgroup with "what if" scenarios. The world is littered with people who made bad business decisions. That's life :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid., std disclaimers) Seems to me that most of us in this group are WAY too 'close' to shortwave radio. BBC has cut its use of shortwave A LOT in the past several years on a GLOBAL basis, not just to North America. Merlin started out with and maintains a great big 'cushion' of nearly guaranteed income from their BBC contract. From that base they've built a business that depends on a lot more than shortwave radio! Their satellite distribution system alone is worth a lot to many, many users. The interesting thing about the shortwave business is what Merlin has 'filled in' the transmitter time that BBC used to utilize at relay stations all over the world -- private, mostly religious, niche broadcasters who are on the shortwave for VERY different reasons than most 'mainstream', state-run international broadcasters. That's where shortwave radio is headed -- issues radio; resembling Rush Limbaugh a lot more than NPR! (Bill Whitacre, DC, ibid.) To be fair, you need to pull out what the growth in stock price was from the time of the BBC's spinoff of Merlin to now. If half the growth in the value of Merlin was due to general stock market growth, then you would only be able to ascribe "4x" growth in value to the BBC's undervaluing the business. I am guessing the BBC probably retained som high-falutin' fnancial consulting firm to value Merlin before its spinoff. Those are the folks you should take out to the woodshed. It would seem that Ms. Lowry should get some credit for getting Merlin into the defense business -- as this wasn't part of Merlin's business activity when the BBC sold it four years ago. It may be *that* part of the business -- not the media business - that was worth the premium Vospers paid for it. Company valuation is not an exact science; quite often valuation is based not on assets, but on a company's potential future cash generation, net income, or other measure of future earnings (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U K. Glenn--- This article in Friday's Financial Times on the popularity of the BBC's local language services in Afghanistan. I expect the point of the article (impartial news reporting, and some entertainment programming written for the audience, are the reasons for the Beeb's audience) will be lost on Safire and the others on the American right who are demanding yet another American propaganda operation directed at the region. Original text can be found at http://www.ft.com/media (Chuck Albertson Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) **************************************************** World Service air strikes penetrate Taliban defences Financial Times; Nov 16, 2001 By JAMES HARDING While the US has deployed the B52 bomber to hit Afghanistan with weeks of air strikes, the UK's main contribution to the rout of the Taliban has arguably been a hearts-and-minds bombardment by the BBC Pashto and Persian service. With roughly 70 per cent of the Afghan population said to tune in regularly to the local language radio broadcasts, the BBC World Service has penetrated deeper into Taliban territory than the British army special forces. The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, underlined the BBC's central role in the conflict when he called it on Tuesday night, a couple of days after his followers fled Kabul, to say he wanted to give an interview to address both the Afghan people and his enemies. Speaking via an intermediary on a walkie-talkie, Mullah Omar warned the West that the "destruction of America . . .will happen within a short period of time".... (FT via Albertson, DXLD) ** U K. Radio man upstages the stars (Filed: 15/11/2001) WILLIAM REEVE'S reports have given authority to the BBC World Service, report Tom Leonard and Matt Born http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/15/nmed15.xml (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. Dyke warns staff on criticising BBC Jason Deans, Friday November 16, 2001 The recent outbursts by BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nicky Campbell and news correspondent Kate Adie will no longer be acceptable, Greg Dyke has warned in a furious email to staff. The BBC director general today said it was simply "not acceptable" for stars or staff to air their grievances in public while receiving salaries and fees from the corporation. "I want to say something about some BBC on-air talent who seem to think it is fair game for them to criticise the BBC while continuing to receive its money," he said in the email.... Read more here-- http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,596135,00.html (via John Figliozzi, Nov 16, swprograms via DXLD) Also see the previous Nov 8 story linked at bottom (gh ** U K/ U S A. To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk World Service will not call US attacks terrorism Matt Wells, Wednesday November 14 2001, The Guardian The BBC World Service has taken a policy decision not to describe the attacks on the US as "terrorism". Mark Damazer, the BBC's deputy director of news, said the service would lose its reputation for impartiality around the world if it were seen to use such a subjective term. While guests and contributors to World Service programmes may describe the deliberate flying of jet planes into the World Trade Centre as acts of terror, news correspondents use more neutral terms such as "attack". Mr Damazer, speaking in a debate about television coverage of September 11 at the Newsworld conference in Barcelona, insisted the decision was not intended to downgrade the horror of the event. But if the word terrorism was used there would be implications for the description of more subjective acts of terror such as those carried out by Hamas in the Middle East or ETA in Spain. He said of the attack on the US: "However appalling and disgusting it was, there will nevertheless be a constituency of your listeners who don't regard it as terrorism. Describing it as such could downgrade your status as an impartial and independent broadcaster." Because of its reputation for impartiality, the World Service has to be careful about its use of language. It does not usually describe IRA attacks as terrorism, because they may not be seen as such in a world context. John Renner, commissioning editor for news programmes at the World Service, said after the debate yesterday that while the attacks on New York and Washington had put a strain on the policy, it had to be maintained. US networks came in for particular criticism. Tony Burman, executive director at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, said the US coverage of the crisis had failed to take account of the international perspective: "It's depressing to see the jingoism which is lamentably part of the culture and spirit of the coverage." He said US networks regarded the attacks on Afghanistan as a football match with Washington as the home team. Comparing BBC World coverage of the war with that of the US networks, he said they appeared to describe "two different wars". Bill Wheatley, the vice-president of NBC, in a satellite link from New York, rejected the charge of jingoism, but said: "It's true that US networks are focusing on the attempt to defeat the Taliban and apprehend Osama Bin Laden, but I don't think we've been pulling punches in terms of the difficulties of the war effort and the problems of US foreign policy." He acknowledged that the Qatar-based news channel al-Jazeera was not always regarded as a trusted source, despite its insistence of impartiality. "Because they have been given special status in Kabul we feel it's correct that our viewers know that they have that special access." Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K / U S A. This is admittedly a rant. Forgive me. The idea that news that news has become a commodity solely concerned with bums on seats is a tragic flaw of modern society. The demise of traditional journalistic principles seems especially frustrating now, because we need those the most. Sept. 11 was a big wake-up call about what we should expect from the media. It amazes me that while the US media was obsessing over Gary Condit, the Middle East was exploding but was totally ignored because it wasn't sexy. But when the explosion sent two planes into the World Trade Center, suddenly the question everyone was asking was "How could this happen? Why does the world hate us?" If the media had been doing its job, people would have seen this all coming -- and perhaps we could have headed it off before it came to this. Unfortunately, the media still hasn't gotten the message. The war on terror is the new obsession. But there is still much other ferment and other crucial issues brewing in the world that are currently being ignored. The unwillingness of our entertainment-news managers to bring those to our attention will also likely come back to haunt us someday too. Until the 1980's, broadcast news in the U.S. was separate from the profit centers because it was considered an obligatory payback by broadcasters for the legal monopoly they had to print money with the Beverly Hillbillies. No one cares about that any more, and we're paying the price with the dearth of news as a public service. That is one reason I found the Byfordization of the BBCWS and the decision to end SW so frustrating and angering. Because there was also symbolism there. The BBC was one of the few broadcast news organizations in the world that was more concerned with covering the world with depth as a service rather than trying to maximize the "bums in seats." (I realize some would say the BBC was never idealistic, but I'm writing this as a listener.) But under Byford, the BBCWS is now obsessed with bums on seats -- and especially decision-makers's bums. So they increasingly emphasize flash and gimmicks, and are losing the straightforward strength they used to have as a news organization. Fortunately, there IS still enough residue of their previous values among the staff there that the quality remains high. But it seems like those have more of an uphill battle now against the CNN mentality. Sorry to go on. But it just seems like a frustrating time, because the skewed priorities of the media seem so stark at a time when we need quality news media the most (John Townes, Nov 16, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Bill Cooper has been shot and killed in a confrontation with Arizona law enforcement officers. I first heard this tonight on James Lloyd's Apocalypse Chronicles on WBCQ. I monitored the program Sweet Liberty with Jackie Patrou (not sure of spelling) on WWCR, 3215, 0300 to 0400 UT tonight, and the entire hour was devoted to a discussion of this event, with Jackie interviewing one Michelle Moore, of Norman, Oklahoma, who apparently wrote a book in collaboration with Cooper several years ago. Meanwhile, my friend Debra in Omaha was monitoring Alex Jones on WWFV, 5085 (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was listening to the horrible propagation of WBCQ around 10pm tonight and Allan Weiner came on and said Bill Cooper had been shot dead by a police officer. Allan referred everybody to williamcooper.com and then played a repeat of Cooper's "Hour of the Time." (Paul McDonough, MA, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Finally have some Jewish programming on the air. Spiritual Dimensions with Rabbi Yaako Spivak to air Tuesdays 9 pm-10 pm eastern on 7415. Another new show: Patriot News Now, a show on political commentary to air Wednesdays 6-7 pm eastern on 7415. I am still shocked at the loss of my friend Bill Cooper. Radio will never be the same. In all of my years in broadcasting I have never heard anyone so passionate about freedom, this country, and trying to wake up the listening audience!! He will never be replaced. We are running repeats of his programs during The Hour Of The Time, Mon-Thu, 10 pm-11 pm eastern on 7415. We will keep the show going as long as we can. We have noticed a large increase in listenership to WBCQ. More and more people are tuning into shortwave for "the rest of the story". This month`s Smithsonian magazine features a full page ad for the Grundig 800 receiver. Shortwave radio is becoming "mainstream" to a lot of people. Glenn, we are still trying hard to change the face of shortwave radio. As long as we can get new and different programs on the air- we have a good chance. Our rates are the lowest around just so the many programmers that do great radio, but have little funds, can have access. Cheers, (Allan Weiner, ME, WBCQ, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Another site with lots of photos of WBCQ, and beautiful fall colors is: http://www.complexvariablesstudio.com/wbcq_tasha_web_2_003.htm (Allan Weiner Worldwide Nov 16 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Bro. Scare found on new frequency 7560 in bandscan around 1240 UT November 17 --- could it be WWCR? (gh, OK, DXLD) 7560 WWCR NF ex 7460. I didn't hear Overcomer on temporary 9475 this morning so I started checking around. Found Overcomer here at 1143. Adam Locke of WWCR with ID and new temporary schedule for this transmitter at 1201: 9475 1300-2200, 7520 2200-0400, and 7560 0400- 1300. [Note that 7520 is also new for WWCR.] I couldn't find anything about these new frequencies or schedule on either the WWCR or Overcomer websites (Hans Johnson, Nov 17, Cumbre DX Special via DXLD) Hmm, if that is the #4 schedule now, I guess #1 may be back to normal with 9475 at 2200-2400, 1000-1100 and 3215/3210 in between. The reactivation of 2390 was short-lived, as was the clash with Cairo 9475. By 1720 UT, a revised #4 schedule had been posted: Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees FREQ TIME (CDT) TIME (UTC) DATES 9475 7:00AM- 4:00PM 1300-2200 16 Nov 01-30 Nov 01 7520 4:00PM-10:00PM 2200-0400 16 Nov 01-30 Nov 01 7560 10:00PM-7:00AM 0400-1300 16 Nov 01-30 Nov 01 But still shows 9475 long hours, and 2390 as from December 1, surely not now planned to be the case. And #1 has not been changed from the 15685/3215/3210 schedule in effect the past few days (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 7355, WRNO has dropped Overcomer Ministry, effective Nov 13. No longer listed on the Overcomer website. Instead, the station is now relaying programs from a New Orleans FM station per Hauser in DXLD. Overcomer had previously made up the vast bulk of WRNO's schedule (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Per the Overcomer Ministry newsletter of Nov 12th- We are building another 24 hours SW that will be carrying us for 24 hours a day we trust on 2 frequencies one for the day and the other for the night and should give us blanket coverage for the Europe and US areas as well as other parts of the world (via Johnson, Cumbre, Nov 12 via DXLD) Another transmitter at WBCQ? (Hans Johnson, Nov 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 11900, WWBS heard in LSB-compatible airing the freebie, Spoken Word of God, at 0157. Heard the previous night as well, Nov 11/12. Just a fair signal. Sign off by JoAnne Josey at 0200, giving ID, usual postal address and email address of wwbsradio@usa.com (Hans Johnson, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Hey, Glenn: With regards to the 15470 station, Radio America, according to onair monitoring, they were said to have been broadcasting "from somewhere off the North American Coast". It was heard with strong carrier on October, 1984, at around 2300 Universal Time. I used a Uniden CR-2021 receiver at that time but forgot the address to get QSL, but rumored to have been the PA, maildrop. You might check the fcc.gov website and go to their frequency database to see if 15470 was even registered for them. I think this may have been a predecessor to WBCQ (Noble West, TN, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I've picked up a station that isn't in Passport or WRTH. I just picked it up a few minutes ago at 1648 Nov 17 on 9315. Its not very strong but they ID as Radio USA. Gave an address of box ? New York. They are playing music like from 80s. At 1700 a female announcer came on and said welcome sw listeners mentioned the address and the box no. I couldn`t make out but said they were for the freedom of the downtrodden?? I'm listening in the Toronto area. Anyone else get this station and know what they are? It`s still going here and its just past noon in Toronto, 1700 UT. Thanks (Tom Witruk, ODXA via DXLD) There is a pirate by that name, but unusual frequency. Nothing audible here at 2025 check (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY. High Adventure plans to air its "Gems from Jerusalem" program to Allied Forces based in Southwest Asia. No word on times and frequencies yet, but High Adventures did inform that it will be broadcast via Julich. They also plan to start Urdu broadcasts for Pakistan, but no times or frequencies have been decided (DIRECT via Hans Johnson, Nov 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. KHFM, the erstwhile classical music station for Albuquerque, NM, is occupying at least its fourth studio in almost as many years, on north Carlisle Blvd., along with several other stations in the same group, with which it really has nothing in common, since Citadel sold it off, and moved it out of a downtown highrise, where it was also the odd station, as it switched to a site below Sandia Crest on 95.5 instead of 96.3. This also disrupted KHFM`s network of several translators in outlying areas of NM. As we noted last spring, the 105.5 in Ratón as off the air, but the 105.5 at Conchas Lake dam, which originally kept relaying the Buzzard on 96.3, is now back with KHFM, as heard near the turnoff on I-40, and an announcement on 95.5 mentioned it along with two others remaining: 95.9 in Ruidoso, 103.1 in Roswell (Glenn Hauser, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I've posted some pics from my visits this past weekend to KKTY in Douglas WY and to the Gillette WY LORAN station. They are on my web site at http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ Tab down to the bottom of the list for these newest entries. Hope you enjoy them! (Pat Griffith Westminster, CO, Nov 15, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Came across this web page for WUMB, a Boston-area public radio station, regarding the costs to stream audio. The article makes a good case for the costs (and inefficiency) of streaming audio vs. broadcast audio. http://www.wumb.org/wbaud-quality.html (Regards, Richard Cuff, Nov 16, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [and non] Yahoo Radio to charge to listen to streams Hi. My name is Ted Chittenden (rhymes with hit 10 den), and I now hear your World of Radio and Continent of Media broadcasts through the Internet. I have also sent audio feeds in the recent past to Kevin Kelly of publicradiofan.com. I am writing to let you know that according to Cnet as reprinted in Streaming Magazine http://www.streamingmagazine.net Yahoo Radio will start charging listeners a monthly fee to listen to its stations on line possibly by the end of the 4th quarter. The company says it is to shore revenues from a soft ad market. While most of the streams are for commercial stations, public stations KJHK-FM in Lawrence, Kansas, KEOM-FM iin Mesquite, Texas, and WWOZ-FM in New Orleans, Louisiana, are also available through the site. While recognizing the growing costs surrounding streaming, I must protest vociferously (I hope I spelled that right). I have sent E-mails to my friends requesting they boycott listening to any terrestrial station that requires them to pay to listen. I would like other members of your listening audience to do the same. You should not have to pay for hearing over the Internet what you can hear free over the air. Thank you for reading this letter (Ted Chittenden, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. A while back in DXLD 1-165 we mentioned the USPS `EID` stamp... http://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/features/2001/stamp/011103.stamp.html But how`s your Arabic? Can you find the mistake in the illustration? We have had absolutely no response to this challenge! Actually it was a tricky question: error not in the calligraphy but in the `Arabic` numerals showing the denomination which was 33 cents! The stamp obviously designed before the rate uppage but issued afterwards. Compounded by this: the original illustration we referred to early in the day was replaced later in the day by the correct 34 cent stamp. The 33 was straight, the 34 tilted. So now, you know, whether you care or not (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. The Amateur Amateur: Frequency--the Movie By Gary Hoffman, KB0H, Contributing Editor, November 15, 2001 The movie Frequency employed ham radio as a plot device. The film now is available in video, just in time for the holidays. It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas, so I started looking through catalogs for gift ideas. While perusing the video release sections I noticed that the movie Frequency was now available. That brought back some good memories. Here is what I wrote about the movie when I first saw it. Amateur Radio, as any other endeavor, likes good press. I had heard that the recent movie Frequency was supposed to be about ham radio but had not heard whether it portrayed the hobby in good or less- than-favorable terms. Nancy and I decided to check it out for ourselves. Let me tell you right away that the movie was engrossing. I can say that without fear of contradiction. We saw the movie on a Friday night in a small rural Missouri town. The theater was packed with teenagers engaged in every activity except watching the movie, and I still enjoyed it. That's about the highest accolade I can give a film. The question, though, is how did the movie portray Amateur Radio. The initial answer would be "not so good," since the main character said of ham radio, "Nobody does that any more." Once the movie got past that first negative statement, however, things picked up. In fact, it described a number of things that I never knew about Amateur Radio. FACT #1: An old, long unused ham radio can be turned on, and it will work fine without an antenna or even electrical power. Well, perhaps it had something to do with the aurora borealis (northern lights) being visible in New York City. They did say that there were unusual solar conditions. High solar activity was used to explain a number of strange phenomena. For example . . . FACT #2: It is possible to talk to someone in the future using a ham radio. This is not an everyday occurrence, of course. Aside from the mandatory presence of the aurora borealis, the operator must use the 15-meter band, and the Mets must win the World Series. Naturally, only Extra class operators are allowed to contact the future. I was suspicious of the inclusion of the Mets in the movie. Everyone knows that baseball movies are about magic (see Field of Dreams and The Natural), and we hams like to keep our radio phenomena strictly in the realm of science (or at least science fiction). The movie was not just a treatise in weird radio, though. It was a bona fide murder mystery and thriller. The plot was good, and the characters were well-developed. Non-radiophiles would definitely enjoy it. Despite being enthralled by the plot, I was a little disturbed that so much of the movie had to do with unlicensed use of the ham bands. But then I realized the movie makers had found a loophole in Part 97: FACT #3: Unlicensed operations are allowed in emergencies or when communicating with the dead. I was not the only one who learned some amazing facts. Even one of the central characters learned that: FACT #4: When communicating with the future, your microphone switch won't work. Well, of course not! The guy in the future was already using it! I suspect that cross-time ham operations are strictly QRP (low power). The person in the future and the person in the past were literally using the same radio and the same antenna. That would explain why there was no pileup of hams trying get a QSL card from the future. The effective range of the transmissions were 0 miles, 0 feet, 0 inches, and 30 years (plus or minus). The same character also learned . . . FACT #5: Smoking cigarettes will slowly kill you. Smoking a warehouse will kill you even faster. James Caviezel stars as John Sullivan, Frank Sullivan's son, in Frequency. I know that has nothing to do with ham radio, but the moviemakers were apparently trying to appeal to fire buffs as well. Getting back to radio matters, we saw something that is never seen these days . . . FACT #6: Ham operators of the past could actually repair radios. One of the main characters was so good, in fact, that he managed to repair a radio that was 30 years in the future. Well, it's true that it was an old Heathkit model. You could actually see the internal components, unlike the newer high-tech radio components, which can only be seen with a scanning electron microscope. I said that the movie was a thriller, and it certainly was. The end involved a lot of action, mayhem, morphing household furniture, and the past and present getting mixed up. In case you haven't seen the movie yet, I won't say anything more, other than . . . FACT #7: Psychopathic killers shouldn't mess with ham radio operators, not even dead ones. For more information on Frequency, visit the Frequency Web site http://www.frequencymovie.com/ Editor's note: ARRL member Gary Hoffman, KB0H, lives in Florissant, Missouri. He's been a ham since 1995. Hoffman says his column's name- - "The Amateur Amateur"--suggests the explorations of a rank amateur, not those of an experienced or knowledgeable ham. His wife, Nancy, is N0NJ. Hoffman has a ham-related Web page. Readers may contact the author via e-mail (ARRL via John Norfolk, OKCOK) Actually, the movie has been on video for quite a while (I bought it on DVD when it was first released) but the VHS tape was available only for rental until now (Norfolk) ** U S A. Glenn: There is a very interesting weekly on-air antenna seminar conducted by MARS members beginning around 0200, UT Sundays on 6913 LSB, and lasting for an hour or so. The moderator is AAR2BV. Content includes basic antenna theory, design, and construction. After the moderator or other MARS participant give a description of a particular subject, various questions are asked by net members. Good info, worth checking out. I am not sure how much longer this seminar will last. I also heard reference to a 20 m net, but didn't get any freq info. -(David Hodgson, TN, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dear Glenn, It seems to me that a repeal of the ECPA (re- your discussion on the last COM) is mostly irrelevant these days. With more and more cell phones becoming digital, the ability of scanners to receive the entire 800 megahertz band seems to be kind of useless. I don't think it is possible, at this point, to build a scanner which can decode digital cell phones, so why bother? (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. (from an Infoworld mailing list) November 15, 2001 11:03 AM THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS Commission (FCC) announced Wednesday the creation of a council to craft contingency plans addressing a possible attack against the nation's telecommunications infrastructure and to plan for maintaining essential communications during emergencies. For Full Story: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/11/15/011115hnfcccouncil.xml?1115alert (via Joel Rubin, Nov 15, swprograms via DXLD) I remember monitoring one test of the Conelrad system when I lived on Long Island in the 1950's. I was working at Eldico Corp. in Mineola at the time so it must have been in the summer between 1954 and 1957. Eldico made ham radio stuff and their factory had lots of radios around. I remember tuning the shop radio, a Hallicrafters SX-43, to listen to what the test sounded like. Contrary to what has been said here earlier, the stations operating on 640 and 1240 were not civil defense stations, they were normal broadcast stations that could quickly retune their transmitters and antenna systems to these two frequencies. The audio came from a central civil defense headquarters via phone line to each of the stations. The carriers were switched on and off under remote control from the central facility. The whole purpose was to deceive bombers that might be using MW broadcast transmitters as navigation aids. Because all stations were on the same frequency and the on/off cycling of each station was randomly controlled, a DF system would swing crazily when tuned to either frequency. All stations that were not part of the Conelrad network were required to terminate transmission for the duration of the test. I observed exactly what one would expect. The band was quiet except for these two frequencies and the receiver S meter was bouncing around as each station would cycle on and off. The test worked well from my perspective. It was only done once as far as I can recall because it interrupted the programming of every station in the country. Today the Conelrad concept is obsolete as GPS satellites allow any raghead with $100 for a hand-held receiver to navigate to an accuracy of a few feet. The EBS system has been superseded by the EAS system. It has a unique feature which allows the president of the USA to commandeer every radio station in the country, even unattended ones, to get an alert message out to the general population. On lower level situations it allows stations to decide which alerts are passed on to the public depending on their applicability to the coverage area of each station and the nature of the emergency. That allows automated stations to be set up to pass only applicable alerts for its coverage area. EAS alerts can come from any authorized government agency. It was interesting to note that a recent fire in a railroad tunnel which released toxic fumes into downtown Baltimore did not cause the activation of the EAS system. A review of the incident revealed that the folks who should have issued such an alert were not aware of the EAS plan for the state of Maryland. The EAS system works on a daisy chain principle where a master station passes the message to other stations which in turn relay the message on down the line until every station eventually gets it. Codes are included in the message to signify the geographic area the alert is applicable to. FCC licensed stations are now required to issue a test alert on a weekly basis and attach a printout from the machine that issues the test message to the station log. There are also monthly tests from each state headquarters which is relayed down to each station that is required to be attached to the station log. It was the original intent that consumer radios would have circuitry that continuously listened for the EAS alert signal and then switch on so everyone would hear the message. Unfortunately the same government that invented this system forgot to require manufacturers of consumer radios to include this feature. I think Radio Shack once sold a weather radio capable of unsquelching when the alert signal was received but I have never heard of a radio intended for general listening being sold with this capability. Another government boondoggle gone awry. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch -- Infidel and proud of it. -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ swprograms Nov 16 via DXLD) If you want more information about conelrad, there is a web site. Http://www.conelrad.com it does include some real audio files. The EBS system that replaced it was not much better. As one Saturday AP sent the wrong message to it's subscribers indicating an attack. Great fun ripping open the envelopes to verify the attack. EANS, is better but the broadcasters and state authorities are really talking to each other, hence mass confusion. I would have expected something on September 11, but nothing was broadcast. I was involved in state plans for Florida (mainly for hurricanes) Boston and later Worcester (we dealt here with snow). Natures fury rather than war time attacks. Yes, the original plan was to have radios made that would turn on when the alert tones were transmitted (Lou Josephs, Nov 17, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARCONI'S HISTORIC TRANS-ATLANTIC RADIO TRANSMISSION I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in Los Angeles, with a late breaking bit of radio history. December 12th will mark the 100th anniversary of the first Trans-Atlantic radio transmission by Guglielmo Marconi. To commemorate the event, The Marconi Radio Club and The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association radio operators are making plans to celebrate this important historical event from December 11th to the 16th. And in this very rare recorded interview supplied by Q-News, Marconi himself commented on the his first contact across the Atlantic pond. Take a listen: Audio of Marconi commentary here. No text available. Please listen to audio newscast. Links are at http://www.arnewsline.org The signal Marconi referred to was a series of the letter S transmitted using CW across the Atlantic from Poldhu, Cornwall England to St John's, Newfoundland. For this 100th anniversary, the Marconi Radio Club will be using the call sign W1AA slash CC and will be operating from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S.A.. This was the location of Marconi's 1903 Trans-Atlantic radio station. Marconi's 1903 call sign back then was "C C" For exact times, frequencies and modes of operation for W1AA/CC go to http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=w1aa (K1VV, Marconi Radio Club W1AA. Marconi audio supplied by QNews) (Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE? from PALAU to VIETNAM. New Horizon 15675 ex 15750 per the High Adventure website. Still scheduled 1330- 1430 in Vietnamese, but untraced when I checked at 1345 on Nov 13, not surprised to not hear this from Florida though. Following up on my original report in Cumbre DX I asked High Adventure in late September for details on this program, particularly why a Christian station is airing what seems to be a very political program. High Adventure asked for some information citing New Horizon's political programming which I sent them. They said that they would check into it and get back to me. That was six weeks ago. Several follow-ups haven't brought a response either. Not sure what that means, perhaps that New Horizon is indeed a political program and not a Christian one, but that High Adventure wasn't aware of this until I pointed it out to them nearly a decade after the program started (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Does anybody know the transmitter site of High Adventure World Radio Network station on 7485 kHz signing on with English programme at 1200 UT??? The station announces only "You are listening to the High Adventure World Radio Network" with no mention about transmitting station. English until 1245 UTC, Vietnamese 1245- 1400 and Mandarin 1400-1600 UTC. S/off at 1600. High Aventure Ministries web-site lists this as "China Beacon". (Vesa Hienonen, Finland, Nov 11, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I think it's from Russia, Novosibirsk is scheduled there from 13.00 to 17.00 with 100 Kw with az. 110 to China and Korea (Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it ibid.) Novosibirsk is listed on 7485 by HFCC for B-01. However, a colleague in Japan tells me that the transmission is actually from Koror, Palau, which tested on 12160 recently. This is the "Vietnamese Beacon" of High Adventure Ministries - the Web site shows programming 1330-1430 Sa/Su only. I understand that Palau also has programming from studios other than High Adventure, including RFA (not listed in HFCC!). This includes Asian language services from North American based religious organisations. The call-sign is T8BZ (ex "KHBN"). Needs more sleuthing! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia, Nov 13, had- core-dx via DXLD) THIS DAY`S ARABIC LESSON Re WOR 1102: glottal stops in Taliban and Qa'ida: Transliteration has always been chaotic. Now combine the chaos of e- mail typesetting... Your comments inspired me to research. In textbooks, apostrophe (dot with tail below)is commonly used for hamza (glottal stop). Inverted apostrophe (dot with tail above) for 'Ayn (an Arabic consonant without English equivalent. Described as a voiced pharyngeal fricative.) 'Ayn is the first letter in 'Arab and in 'Iraq. Taliban has neither hamza nor 'Ayn. The letter after the T is Alif, which is normally the "chair" for hamza, but here Alif just makes the A long and does not carry hamza. Al Qa'ida, the base, Osama bin Laden's group, has 'Ayn. (Root: q-'Ayn-d.) If the apostrophe equals hamza, you have a word for commander. But that is from another root (q-w-d). Is DXLD the most sophisticated magazine in America? Where else are people free to express themselves in Spanish/Portuguese/French/German/Icelandic/... in addition to English? All done with a natural flow, not affectation. A multilingual magazine for a multilingual hobby. Yet I wonder how many of the wise men on TV, our supposed betters who tell us campesinos what to think, could read DXLD? 73 Tu amigo (Anton Kasemacher, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###