DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-197, December 15, 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 #1109: (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1109.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1109.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1109.html NEXT AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sunday 0330 on 5070, 0730 on 3210, Monday 0100 and 0600 on 3210 [note: I call it 1108 by mistake in the version lacking opening theme] FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Saturday 1800, Sunday 0000, 0600, 1200 on some of: 21815-USB, 15040, 7445-USB WORLD OF RADIO on RADIO LAVALAMP, a webcast-only station from Osaka, Japan. Thanks to Ralph Famularo for adding WOR to the schedule, currently 0500 and 1700 UT both Saturday and Sunday (JST: Sat 2 pm, Sun 2 am, 2 pm, Mon 2 am). However, there will probably be a week delay after the original broadcast. Check out their other programming while visiting the Radio LavaLamp web page: http://www.rinku.zaq.ne.jp/bkaec205/index.html HOLIDAY SPECIALS ON WEBCASTING US PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS: http://www.worldofradio.com/holiday.html MARCONI SPECIALS. Altho with the anniversary past, it is no longer frequently updated, some additional articles and logs have been added to http://www.worldofradio/marconi.html ** AFGHANISTAN [and non] Media round-up Friday 14 December 2001 - Iran donates radio, TV transmitters - US firm promises backing for Afghan TV and radio - UK-based Radio Voice of Afghanistan introduces weekly news review Iran donates radio, TV transmitters | Text of report by Iranian news agency IRNA Kabul, 13 December: The Islamic Republic of Iran has donated two more television transmitters and a radio transmitter to Afghanistan as a gift. The transmitters will be installed in Kabul and, when operational, the inhabitants of the city and other towns around Kabul will be able to receive the programmes of Kabul television which can presently only be seen in parts of the city. During their five-year rule, the Taleban destroyed Afghanistan's radio and television networks. Following the fall of the Taleban, Iran sent a television transmitter to Kabul, allowing the city's television station to become immediately operational. Kabul television currently broadcasts for four hours a day. The two television transmitters given to Afghanistan have a power of 200 Watts and 100 Watts. When they become operational, besides covering Kabul, they will also service adjacent provinces such as Meydan Shahr and Parwan. The radio transmitter has a power of 5 Watts. Iranian engineers began the installation of the transmitters in Kabul yesterday [12 December]. Source: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in Persian 1735 gmt 13 Dec 01 US firm promises backing for Afghan TV and radio | Text of report by Afghan Balkh radio on 13 December The head of the Balkh Province Radio and Television [word indistinct], Ustad Abdorrab Jahed, the general director of radio [word indistinct] esteemed Engineer Abdollah, the technical director of radio and television, esteemed Abdol Jalil Usmani, and the general director of the radio (?broadcasting) department, esteemed Lotfollah Raoufi have had a meeting with the [coordinators] of the American project for reconstruction of Afghanistan Mr (?Bill), Mr (?Aleris Kasin) and the deputy head of the [word indistinct] company, (?Farid Paikar). The technical problems of the radio and television body were discussed during the meeting. The delegation of the American project for reconstruction of Afghanistan gave assurances of support to meet the requirements of the radio and television body [break in reception up to end of the item]. Source: Balkh radio, Mazar-e Sharif, in Turkmen 1450 gmt 13 Dec 01 Radio Voice of Afghanistan introduces weekly news review On 14 December, Radio Voice of Afghanistan, which is based in London, introduced a new Dari-language programme in its 1330-1430 gmt broadcast on 9950 kHz . "Afghanistan in the Past Week" reviewed news relating to Afghanistan. It included reports on the fall of the Taleban stronghold Kandahar; power-sharing agreements among Pashtun commanders for the new interim government; Herat commander Gen Esmail Khan and former president Borhanoddin Rabbani express willingness to cooperate with new government. Children most suffering group in Afghan society - deprived of education and a normal life - to help their families they pull carts, clean shoes, carry water, beg. One reason is that their fathers have gone to Pakistan to work leaving the children and their mother behind without support; 150,000 children are in need of urgent assistance; overall 1,500,000 children need assistance; 7.5 million Afghans are suffering from the drought; there are 10 million mines in the country; over 70 per cent of the population do not have clean drinking water. The radio station broadcasts news, a UK press review, weather reports, recitations from the Koran, songs and poetry in Pashto and Dari. Today's broadcast also included a special programme on the plight of children in Afghanistan. Said Jalal Karim, Radio Voice of Afghanistan's founder, is an Afghan entrepreneur currently operating from London. The station's postal address is: Afghan Broadcasting Company, 21 Worship Street, London, UK EC2A 2DW. Since 2 December, the station has also announced a contact address in Kabul: Post Box 5459, Kabul. Radio Voice of Afghanistan can be contacted by telephone on +44 (0)207 382 9610 or by e-mail at afbc9950@hotmail.com. The contact for press inquiries is Penny Munro. [see below] Kabul TV/Radio Radio Afghanistan in the capital Kabul broadcasts from 0130-0330 gmt and 1130-1630 gmt on 1530 kHz mediumwave and 96 MHz FM. The news in Pashto is at 1430 gmt, and in Dari at 1500 gmt. Kabul TV broadcasts via a 10-Watt transmitter, which is very low power in terms of TV broadcasting, so range would be limited, probably to central Kabul. The station is on the air for three hours a day. Balkh Radio Balkh Radio, which is based in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, Balkh Province, continues to be heard. On Friday 14 December, the morning broadcast was observed as scheduled at 0430 gmt, but reception was lost at 0444 gmt; the evening broadcast was also observed from 1134-1521 gmt. Broadcasts are on the usual frequency of 1584 kHz. US PsyOps radio US PsyOps Information Radio continues to be observed by BBC Monitoring broadcasting in Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan. On Friday 14 December, the broadcasts were heard from 0030-0530 and 1130-1500 gmt. [note earlier timing of second broadcast! --gh] Information Radio 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. Source: Radio Voice of Afghanistan, London, in Dari and Pashto 1330 gmt 14 Dec 01 Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research, 14 Dec 01 (via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. From The Times: FRIDAY DECEMBER 14 2001 BY RAYMOND SNODDY The former prisoner of the Taleban wanted to get a simple message back to the producers and actors responsible for the Afghan radio soap New Home, New Life. "My life is their gift," the man said. When asked what this meant, he told how he had been close to death in jail, suffering from diarrhoea and extreme dehydration. His guard was listening to Naway Kor, Naway Jwand (New Home, New Life) when Fatima, a character from one of the three fictional Afghan villages in the programme, explained that a weak saline solution was the cure for his ailment. "I had salt, water and wheat flour. I mixed them up and now, look, I am out of the Taleban jail and alive," the man explained. New Home, New Life has been broadcast three times a week in Pashto and Persian since 1994, and is listened to by 35 million Afghans in Afghanistan and surrounding countries. Its influence, and its determination to deliver useful messages in fictional form, were noticeable from its inception. The first episode featured a character who took a short cut between two villages and was blown up by a landmine. The story told of his despair and suicidal feelings, and how he recovered with the help of an artificial limb. BBC Education Projects, which makes the soap and is based in Peshawar, across the border in Pakistan, received a letter from an Afghan who had just lost a leg in a landmine explosion. He decided that it was "his story" and followed the fictional character to recovery. This week the programme has been dealing with even more contemporary horrors - what happens when cluster bombs fall in the village. "The programme has been delivering the kind of lifeline messages that have been vital for Afghan audiences," says Shirazuddin Siddiqi, the editor of the education projects, which since July have also included radio programmes for young children. More than 200 people are involved in the radio effort, including 15 writers and 90 actors and actresses. Advised by aid, health and development agencies, the soap has dealt with everything from family decisions on whether to stay at home or leave, to advice on setting up secret home schools when the education of girls was banned. The programme told the story of how such a school was established by women teachers sacked by the Taleban regime, and was paid for in kind by local farmers and villagers. "Thousands were set up," says Siddiqi. "Home school projects started up all over the country as a result of the model we offered." Siddiqi was in Bonn recently, at a meeting parallel to the main political negotiations which concentrated on civil society and the redevelopment of Afghanistan, looking at everything from agriculture and the environment to health and the role of women in the future of the country. "In each one of those issues there was a strong recognition that the media could play a role," Siddiqi says. With no national newspaper worthy of the name and television in a rudimentary state after years of being banned, it is radio that will have most to offer, at least at the outset. David Morton, head of the Eurasia region of the BBC World Service, points out that an FM transmitter for a medium-sized town in Afghanistan can be provided for about £5,000. He is trying to raise money from international aid and development organisations to help to build, with international partners, a new broadcasting infrastructure for Afghanistan and to offer lots more programming, particularly distance learning. "It has been quite clear in all the conferences of the past few weeks that all the major players see an important role for the BBC in the reconstruction process," says Morton. Once the danger has subsided, teams could even work from Kabul. The BBC is keen to work with commercial partners and other national broadcasters, and believes it can offer technical expertise and training as well as programming experience. Distance learning projects that work without locally distributed educational materials would be particularly useful at the moment. "If you had £5 million to £10 million available you would be well on the way to a broadcasting infrastructure for Afghanistan," says Morton (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Bin Laden & shortwave Hello Glenn, for your information, some info I wrote for my website http://hobby.clubs.nl/kortegolf & rec.radio.shortwave. From transcript of the "Bin Laden Tape" 1) (..) as far as Sheikh Sulayman 'Ulwan is concerned, he gave a beautiful fatwa, may Allah bless him. Miraculously, I heard it on the Koran radio station. It was strange because he ('Ulwan) sacrificed his position, which is equivalent to a director. It was transcribed word-by-word. The brothers listened to it in detail (...) 2) Bin Laden: " We were at (...inaudible...) when the event took place. We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished our work that day and had the radio on. It was 5:30 pm our time. I was sitting with Dr. Ahmad Abu-al-Khair. Immediately, we heard the news that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We turned the radio station to the news from Washington. The news continued and no mention of the attack until the end. At the end of the newscast, they reported that a plane just hit the World Trade Center." The "Koran radio station" is probably a Sa`udi one, given the fact that the Sheikh mentioned is a Saudi (as is Bin Laden). On shortwave two radio stations could fit the profile, the 'Call of Islam Broadcasting Station', and the 'Holy Qur'an Broadcasting Service'. As to the station on which bin Laden listened to the "news from Washington", this could of course be any of the bigger international broadcasters, either in Arabic or English. Greetings, (Hans Ooster, the Netherlands, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to the transcript, carefully checked by a colleague in the Radio Netherlands newsroom, this referred, apparently, to two different stations. One was 'the Qur`an station' which, UBL being a Saudi citizen and Mecca being the spiritual capital of Islam, I'd assume is the one in Saudi Arabia. He also refers to 'turning the radio to the news from Washington', which of course does not necessarily mean listening to VOA, but listening to a news bulletin from *a* station to find out if there was any news of the attacks. And in the transcript he says there wasn't until near the end of the bulletin. From the description he was apparently listening to a regularly scheduled news bulletin. That's why I'm doubtful that it would have been VOA, unless it was 1300 UTC when the news was still breaking. All this is assuming that the tape is genuine. For me, far more interesting and important than what station he listened to, or what sort of radio he used, is whether it's a genuine tape or not. But that's something for another forum (Andy Sennitt, RN, swprograms via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. U.S. may provide radio broadcasts in Afghanistan | from Indo-Asian News Service Washington, Dec 12 (IANS) A bill authorising the establishment of a "Radio Free Afghanistan" to provide news broadcasts in Dari and Pashto languages for people of the country was submitted in the U.S. Senate. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the ranking minority member of the committee submitted the bill. Senator Joseph Biden, Democrat, and Senator Jesse Helms, Republican, introduced S. 1779 to the Senate last week. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. S. 1779 would provide $8 million for operations in fiscal year 2002, which began October 1, 2001, and $9 million for capital improvements for "Radio Free Afghanistan" in the same time period. (--Indo-Asian News Service via Frederick Noronha, dx_india [off-topic, chastised] via DXLD) [non]. 9950, Afghanistan Broadcasting Corporation short verification for a real audio file sent to their email address. v/s Ms. Alex Longson, who adds that Penny Munro is no longer with them (Hans Johnson, FL, Dec 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ARMENIA [non]. Armenia/USA: RFE/RL "denationalizing" Armenia - paper The Armenian newspaper Azg, which reflects the views of the Liberal Democratic Party, says that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are corrupting the country's youth and denationalizing it. The paper said that these media were trying to impose alien moral values and erode the foundations of the state, using Cold War methods which contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The following is the text of Ruben Badalyan report by Armenian newspaper Azg on 7 December entitled "What is the aim of RFE/RL broadcasts to Armenia?": Everyone is familiar with the role RFE/RL [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] played in the collapse of the former USSR during the Cold War and the years that followed. Unrestrained, vigorous anti-Soviet propaganda, unprecedented psychological pressure on the peoples of the USSR, severe onslaughts of false information aimed at the very foundations of the Soviet state. RFE/RL acted like this during the Soviet period. Forbidden fruit is sweet. Many of us were either openly or secretly trying to tune our radio sets to RFE/RL, Voice of America or other stations' destructive programmes, which sounded like a sweet melody at the time. All dictatorial regimes collapse sooner or later, no matter what names they carry. The Soviets also collapsed. Many began breathing more easily, even the dissidents became absorbed in their own matters. But RFE/RL could not calm down. What does it want now? Armenia has been independent for ten years already with its great and small mistakes, successes and failures. Do we need RFE/RL to preach to us, tease us and make fun of us? What is it saying? It speaks about the streets of Yerevan, about the problems of farmers, complaints by Armenian students that they have nothing to do in their leisure time. But let us not be naive, RFE/RL Armenian Service would not get a cent for propagating such trivialities. So it seems that there are benefits to be derived, equal to RFE/RL staff salaries, which range from 300 to 500 dollars per month. The Cold War is commonly believed to have started after the famous speech by Winston Churchill in Fulton [Missouri, USA] on 5 March 1946, but it appears that we are wrong here. The Cold War began earlier, in 1945, with a speech by Allen Dallas [presumably John Foster Dulles] in the US Congress, which was reprinted by Dardz magazine in 2000. So, what does the future head of the CIS say in reference to the methods to be used for the destruction of the USSR? [no, it was Allen Dulles, not John Foster, who became head of the CIA for many years, not the CIS!!! -gh] "By spreading chaos we shall replace their real values with false ones and make them believe in them. We shall gradually oust the social core from their literature and art. We shall help and raise those who start planting the seeds of sex, violence, sadism, treachery, in short, we shall support every form of worship of the immoral. We shall promote government officials' corruption, while honesty will be ridiculed. Only a few will guess what is really going on, and we shall put them in a helpless situation, we shall turn them into clowns, we shall find ways to slander them." Yes, these are part of the state's political principles, as instructed to organizations dealing with information wars, including RFE/RL. One might object that these principles were used against the former USSR. Make no mistake, the basic principles of powerful states never change. Look at what Armenian TV channels are showing today, movies full of sex, violence, sex maniacs and other loathsome matters. One of the components of RFE/RL's strategy is implication. "Are you going to leave or stay in Armenia after graduating?" it asks future graduates. The implication is "you do not have a future in this country". They say that if you want to make a nation collapse, make it hate itself. RFE/RL works according to this principle. "We, Armenians, are a nation of people who are not able to understand one another." Sometimes RFE/RL speaks openly, making fun of us in the most impudent way. Reporting on CIS military exercises in Russia's Astrakhan with the participation of Armenian troops, it says: "Armenians are shooting, shooting and US fighters falling down one after another." RFE/RL finds that the USA is Armenia's rival. This is pure provocation. We wonder if the presenter got a slap in the face from Prague. Or perhaps he was encouraged. The Karabakh conflict. Until 1998 RFE/RL believed that it [Karabakh] should remain part of Azerbaijan. Now it has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Do not think that RFE/RL is engaged in constant destabilization. No. It would unmask itself immediately. It is doing this work "imperceptibly, but actively", through minor programmes. If we are not mistaken, RFE/RL Armenian Service managed to add another thirty minutes to its airtime last spring. In this particular case, one should not search for special reasons. The relevant US bodies have estimated that the Voice of America assumes, at times, a neutral, and even friendly stance towards Armenia, which is not advantageous. This is why they took off 50 per cent of its airtime and gave it to RFE/RL to create a youth (i.e. destructive) programme under the alien name of Max Liberty. Having targeted the weak points of a human being under the difficult conditions the country is facing, the RFE/RL management has realized that under conditions when society is regressing in terms of moral values, it is much easier to disorientate naive youths, to divert them from national values. This promises no good for us, it is implanting an alien ideology and destabilizing the country. Every day, signing off the programme, a presenter with acting pretensions says: "I exist and it is up to me to decide who I am." Listening carefully, one could feel that the sentence is not constructed correctly and in accordance with Armenian grammar. This is obviously the translation of a phrase used in the US radio stations' vocabulary of psychological pressure. "I exist" sounds like a robot's or US homeless person's babble. RFE/RL bends the ears of Armenian youths: "Say: I exist." The implication is: "Look, US teens with rucksacks on their backs are wandering across America, moving from one town to another, spending the night where it catches them and having fun with whoever they come across. They themselves decide what and who they are." Quite recently the Max Liberty programme snatched another 30 minutes from the Sunday broadcast. Just imagine how important disorientation of the Armenian youth and students is. The goal? To denationalize them. Max Liberty does this with maximum effort, gasping for breath. It has to win over the confidence of the youth. Thus: "There are no closed or forbidden topics for us, if you know more than we do, call us," - this sounds like a motto. This is how young men are recruited for secret services. Another masterpiece of Max Liberty: "Virginity, what is that? I do not accept it," says Anoush Dashtents deprecatingly. Did you hear that? She does not accept virginity. One feels embarrassed, but we have to listen. This presenter does not know that only animals do not have virginity, which was given to humans by God for the sake of the family's sacredness and purity. Let RFE/RL and its Max Liberty seek out other countries for the imposition of these animal customs with their movies about bisexuals and porn stars. Jehovah's Witnesses and similar sects are destabilizing, or to be more correct, denationalizing Armenia, and the same is done by the RFE/RL, but with political motives. Does the US Congress know what kind of activity the station is involved in to expand it broadcasts in Armenia? What is it being financed for? "By spreading chaos we shall replace their values with false ones and make them believe them." This is the key to understanding the RFE/RL position. Source: Azg, Yerevan, in Armenian 7 Dec 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Re DXLD 1-192: I do not know why Ronald connects the Austrian wine industry with Radio Austria International, but he is wrong in both ways: never ever was Austrian wine mixed with anti- freeze (unless you call a bit too much water "anti-freeze") nor did we stop issuing the two QSLs mentioned. It is true a few (not "many") listeners (not "their parents") complained. We took it with respect - and a smile - and reported likewise. But some people lack humour and prefer slander - even 18 years after. 73 de Wolf OE1WHC (Wolf Harranth, ORF-Radio Österreich International, Redaktion Computer und Medien, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** BELARUS, 2338 USB, Radio Mayak, 1830-1905 Dec 13, Russian, music beds, long interview, ID followed by IS at 1859:35. Strong signal, bad modulation // 549 kHz, weak under DLF, Germany. Also, 4855 USB, Radio Retro, 1750-1805 Dec 13, Laid-back Russian tunes, cabaretesque, ID as 'Radio Retro'. Strong signal (Piet J. Pijpers, Holland, AR7030, ALA1530, SWBC via DXLD) ** CANADA. [I would pass along CBC-released material, if there was any such material!] The Canadian Media Guild is the union representing CBC journalists and (some?) administrative staff. - The CMG donates $50,000 to techs' union http://www.cmg.ca/cbccepcmgdonatesdec1401.htm - Meanwhile, its own contract with CBC is up, and negotiations are set to restart next week http://www.cmg.ca/CBCnegsupdates.html (Ricky Leong, QC, Dec 14, DXLD) viz.: December 14, 2001 --- CMG to donate $50,000 to CEP picketers The following letter was sent to Alf Walker of CEP, along with a cheque for $25,000. This donation was approved by the Guild’s National Executive Committee in a special conference call held December 12. Dear Alf & Pierre: CMG DONATES $50,000 TO CEP’S LOCKED OUT MEMBERS As your lockout moves into its second week, the Canadian Media Guild’s national executive has voted to donate $50,000 to be distributed in such a way that will best meet the needs and improve the welfare of CEP picketers across the country. Enclosed is $25,000 to be used immediately. Another $25,000 will follow, if there is no settlement by Christmas Day. As you know, our location units in cities across the country are raising additional money in various fundraisers. Most of that money will be directly transferred to the CEP locals in those cities. CBC’s management has been extraordinarily aggressive in this dispute, and CMG is committed to being equally aggressive in saying NO to CEP work; and to fight back against a senior management team that is seized with the idea that the corporation’s unions are enemies and not partners. We share our resolve with you, and we wish you the best in this very difficult time. In solidarity, Lise Lareau, President, Canadian Media Guild CBC Negotiations Update December 14, 2001 Bargaining with CBC set to resume December 20 & 21 Your bargaining committee is to resume negotiations for new Unit 1 and 3 collective agreements next week, December 20 and 21. We understand the Corporation's need to cancel our last set of dates because of the CEP situation. We are also continuing to encourage CBC to abandon its provocative approach with CEP and return to the their table to bargain constructively and in good faith. At the same time, the Corporation has to realize that one union’s work stoppage does not mean that other employees’ needs disappear. We expect the CBC to fulfill all its obligations to the Guild, particularly the obligation to bargain new collective agreements. We intend to present proposals to the Corporation on several key issues such as layoff and recall rights, workload, work week/overtime, and the use of freelancers and temporary employees. We will keep you advised of our progress. Your bargaining committee Arnold Amber, English TV, Toronto Len Carter, English TV, Toronto Fiona Christensen, English Radio, Fredericton Léo Dufault, French Radio, Winnipeg Don Genova, freelancer, Vancouver Jeff Mitrow, Finance, Ottawa Carrie May, English TV Scheduling, Toronto Barbara Saxberg, English Radio, Toronto Lee Siemon, English TV Sales, Toronto Dan Oldfield, Staff Representative, CMG Glenn Gray, Staff Representative, CMG (via Ricky Leong, QC, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI update: 7445 is not up to full power yet, and the antenna still has not been raised to the top of the 200 foot tower. It may test occasionally on AM instead of USB, perhaps tonight. A listener reported 21815-USB slightly off frequency, 21815.l. Has not been checked lately, since it is PLL-controlled does not vary much. 15040 has some audio dropout problems, down to 50 percent; working on it (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag 2000 UT Dec 14 on 21815-USB, not audible on 15040, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to ETHIOPIA: Sagalee Oromiyaa is a new station not related to SBO. It is a different organization. SBO has its headquarters in Germany, Sagalee Oromiyaa is based in the USA. 12120 Mon and Thu 1730-1800 (Ludo Maes, Belgium, Dec 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Subject: Fw: PLC in Sweden (from DXLD) Hi folks, in Germany PLC is dead in reality. That Internet connection for the 'last mile', from transformer to the house, is too expensive. All significant firms like SIEMENS, and a row of large Main Power companies have left this business field in past months. That's when DEUTSCHE TELEKOM appeared with the very aggressive marketing campaign of ASL option (assymetric 768 Kbit down, 128 up) via phonelines to the German Market. In practice they had difficulties to fulfill the needs in the hardware installation and modem/splitter field, when they started about two years ago. But now SIEMENS set up a new factory in Bruchsal to produce connection modems and splitters, and also three other companies deliver such equipment, -- one of them from Israel factory ! I believe DTK will reach the figure of total 2 Million access points this Christmas - Year End. ... and also the Intelligence services world wide, for example at US Echolon base at Bad Aibling and German SPY organisation at Munich Pullach posts were not so amused about this 'matter of interference'. vy73 de wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Hermod, here are copies of some links to internet pages ... also an item about Finland's plans with PowerlineC. There are a lot of propaganda and marketing pages to be seen on the webpages, but all of 'outdated value' of the past three years ... Real independent information to be found always via http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data Maybe in rural areas the chance for PowerlineC is reaching up to 8 % of A-DSL usage via telephone line ... But the economy reports expect up to 20 Mill user [out of 80 Mill people] in A-DSL technology in coming decade in Germany. positive Valuation: http://www.beer-net.de/power.htm http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/jk-25.09.01-002/ http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/dz-13.09.01-001/ http://www.rwe-powerline.de/ http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/pmz-23.08.01-000/default.shtml&words=Powerline negative Valuation: http://www.e-smog.ch/beitraegedritter/diverses/2000/mai/faber.htm http://www.mdr.de/online/wirtschaft/index_wirtschaft_unternehmen46591@.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/daa-29.06.01-002/default.shtml&words=Powerline http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/jk-08.04.01-001/default.shtml&words=Powerline http://www-iiit.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de/~plc/FS_EMV00.jpg http://www.anti-elektrosmog.de/esmog-82.htm SIEMENS cease: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/ea-19.03.01-000/ http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/ea-07.12.01-001/default.shtml&words=Powerline http://www.heise.de/newsticker/search.shtml?T=powerline http://www.heise.de/newsticker/result.xhtml?url=/newsticker/data/klp-22.03.01-000/default.shtml&words=Powerline E.ON cease: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/dz-01.12.01-002/ http://www.oneline.de/ No.Web cease: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/dz-08.09.99-000/ BEWAG cease: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/dz-14.10.99-001/ http://www.muenster.de/~dl5qe/plc082.htm http://www.dfg-westfalen-lippe.de/plc_proco.htm http://www.traian.de/de/community/3538.html http://www.nein-zu-powerline.de http://www.darc.de/aktuell/PLC-Flugblatt.PDF (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Am 15. Mai 2001 um 20:08 Uhr schrieb Ulrich Hilsinger Hallo, interessante Seiten - nur die Werbung für Powerline paßt da nicht so ganz. Wer auf Powerline setzt, kann nicht mit anderen Zugangstechnologien wie xDSL oder Breitbandkabel mithalten. PLC arbeitet mit vielen Nutzern in einem Übertragungskanal, je mehr Betrieb herrscht, desto lahmer wird das ganze. Am Ende ist es auch nicht besser als ISDN. Die Reichweite von PLC ist bescheiden, und der praktische Nutzen fraglich - wer wirklich eine sinnvolle Vernetzung im Haushalt realisieren will, ohne Leitungen zu verlegen, kann bald auf Bluetooth zugreifen - billiger und flexibler als Powerline. Wireless- LAN-Lösungen werden auch immer schneller... Überhaupt scheinen die Powerline-Anbieter darauf zu bauen, daß viele Kunden nicht merken, was für einen technischen Unsinn sie sich da zulegen... Von den prinzipbedingten Problemen der Technik mal ganz abgesehen. (EMV usw.) Gruß (Ulrich Hilsinger, May 15, 2001, via Büschel) ** HONG KONG/U K. BBC boss axed after arrest The Birmingham Post - United Kingdom, Dec 14, 2001 A senior BBC executive arrested in Hong Kong in connection with an alleged pounds 1 million bribery ring involving Tweenies toys was yesterday sacked by the corporation. Jeff Taylor, BBC Worldwide's director of global marketing and brand development, was dismissed on the grounds of breaching the company's employment policy on conflict of interests. All Material Subject to Copyright (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INDIA. The list/schedule of all AIR SW stations are now at last listed in the official web site of AIR. Times are in Indian Standard Time. Some slight changes in real usage and this official schedule is noted. To check that page directly go to: http://allindiaradio.com/schedule/swhome.html (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio, dx_india Dec 13 via DXLD) ** INDIA. In November, I received an e-mail QSL from AIR- Mumbai via Indiran Munuswamy the Superintending Engineer. Then I was surprised to get a snail-mail QSL from him on 2 December. I sent a thank you e-mail for the snail-mail report from Indiran of AIR- Mumbai. I thought his response was worth sharing with the group. Makes you wonder why most of the QSLs come from New Delhi after reading his e-mail. 73s- (John Sgrulletta, NY, Dec 14, dx_india via DXLD) ----- Original Message ----- From: Indiran Munuswamy mindiran@yahoo.co.uk Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 7:39 AM Subject: Re: QSL Card Dear Mr. Indiran- I just wanted to tell you how surprised I was to receive my self- prepared card in the mail on Saturday (1 December). I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your finding my report and verifying it by post, even though you had already answered me by e-mail. I am sure you have many duties being the Superintending Engineer in Mumbai and you are to be commended for the extra effort you displayed on my behalf. I hope you have a good week and I will continue to tune in to Mumbai. Best regards- John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, New York, USA Dear Mr. John Sgrulletta, Thanks for acknowledging receipt of QSL card. In fact it was my utmost duty to respond your reception report. I also take this opportunity to thank for your kind words about me. From the photograph you had sent earlier I notice that you are a quite young gentle man. I am an Engineer and is 56 years of age and I have two working sons like you. What a generation gap? I am also glad to know that you are an engineer by profession but must be enjoying this extra curricular hobby of DXing. Please keep it up and in the process you are doing a fine job for broadcasting. I wish all the best for the NY city you live in and hope that America succeeds in their effort to eliminate terrorism similar to one that brought down massive WTC. We will vehemently condemn such inhuman activities. With best regards, Yours sincerely, (M. Indiran) (via Sgrulletta, dx_india via DXLD) ** IRELAND. 252 kHz, Atlantic 252, 0604 Dec 15. The last news I heard about this station was that it was to be sold to a German company and turned into a book reading service; however, this morning I found it with the same pop music format. The YL announcer did ID several times: The "new" Atlantic 2-5-2, so I assume the station finally did sell, but retained its old format. Very nice signal here with a peak of S9 on the 300m (1/4 wavelength) wire. I even had a weak copy on a couple of SW antennas (David Hodgson, Nashville TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Kol Yisrael frequencies from 15 December, Per the 2000 BC on 14 December: 0500: 6280, 7520, 17545 2000: 6280, 7520, 15640, 15650 (Joel Rubin, NY, swprograms via DXLD) Confirmed on new midwinter channel 6280, with ute QRM, UT Dec 15 at 0500, also on 9435, but nothing on 7520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. [BDXC-UK] RRS tesing this Sunday with shows of Radio 510 International From: DJ Stevie steven.willers@rol3.com Hi Guys, Just got this piece of info from IRRS: We will be testing next Sunday between 0800-1200 UT on an additional frequency of 13.840/13.835. We will be carrying our Internet feed, with a slightly different audio than on 7120. Possibly Radio Casablanca (or something else) will be heard on this channel, but do not know the exact schedule yet. The 13840/13835 audio will be also available via our home page at http://www.nexus.org or http://mp3.nexus.org:8000/irn.mp3 Please send all reports to : reports@nexus.org. Happy listening folks and make sure you check out our web site which is updated from Monday to Friday. Stevie, Station Manager (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. Re DXLD 1-196: Hi Glenn, Checking Clandestine Radio Intel http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/kurdistan.htm I suspect the station in question is Voice of Islam, Voice of the Islamic Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan, which indeed was on shortwave. This seems to be the closest fit to the description in the report. 73, Andy Sennitt, Holland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA. V Of Malta [sic] is suggesting to visit their new web site which is http://www.vomradio.com & new email ID info@vomradio.com (Chakroborty via Lamb, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I just tried it. They are running test transmissions of their Web audio with Windows Media. I heard them at 1647 UT with a Luciano Pavarotti-Michael Bolton duet that was part of a live concert recording. Sound quality was excellent (Marie Lamb, NY, Cumbre DX Dec 14 via DXLD) Looking at the single-page site, you have no idea what or where this is. Does the M really stand for Malta, or is it the SW station we know as V. of the Mediterranean? The wmp ``test transmission`` would not work when I tried, but the rm ondemand test played in 128 kbps stereo for 45 seconds, designating left and right channels --- but still, no hint of what this really be or whence (gh, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. The Great Eastern Marconi special is now available on the GE web site at http://frigate.ce.mun.ca:8080/great/ Thanks to Tim for the file. GE Completists will be interested to know that there was at least one difference between the version broadcast Wednesday morning in Newfoundland and the one on the network in the afternoon. At the station break after Community Announcements, Jim Brown comes back briefly to mention the difficulties in synching up the CBC and BCN signals, something about Amperes per Jigamarandy and how they had to "buff down our A's per J." As for me, I thought it was a great show -- as someone said, it was as if they had never stopped production. My favourite parts always occur at the margins of audibility, like: "Hey Paul, Matthew, 9:32...You're reading my mail! ...It's the Martians...." and Ari Uldmanis: "Those smug little von Trapps. If I had my time back, Paul, I never would have let them slip through my fingers!" Great show, guys, and keep those amperes buffed. (Gerry Porter, School of Continuing Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland 709-737-7575/2380, Message 246 of 247, Great Eastern yahoogroup via Mike Cooper, DXLD) I must add my voice to the chorus. It was wonderful. I almost got teary-eyed when I heard Rita Malloy come on with community announcements. The From The Vault was hilarious-- "At dinner we had my producer"-- and while I wish there had been an appearance by Morris Jesso or Erling Biggs, I was nonetheless happy to see Kathleen Hanrahan back on stage. It was like two episodes of GE-- an all BCN-based one, and one of the documentary ones compressed into one compact glorious moment. I never thought I'd say the day where I was nostalgic for 1999, but here you are. Everyone stepped back in the groove effortlessly. It made me realise how much I love and miss The Great Eastern. Thanks guys. Graeme. Message 247 of 247 (Great Eastern yahoogroup via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [non]. Hi Glenn: Have you seen any reports from DXers who heard the Poldhu transmission on 1700 kHz? For such an historic event, I would have thought DXers throughout Europe and North America would have had their receivers poised and tape recorders running. The production company that made a video of the event in St. John's says it doesn't have the audio of the S because it missed the first transmission, and the second was covered by crowd reaction. There is no recording of the Marconi transmission in 1901, and perhaps there is no recording of the reenactment in 2001. Thomas Giella in DXLD 1-196 and you on WOR 1109 made the best arguments I've seen so far that Marconi may have really heard the S from Poldhu. 73 (Kim Andrew Elliott, DX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. More News of Marconi Centenary Special Event Stations --- From: http://www.rsgb.org/news/index.htm Wednesday the 12th of December marked the 100th anniversary of the reception of the first trans-Atlantic radio signal. A repeated letter 'S' in Morse code was sent from Poldhu in Cornwall and received by Guglielmo [pron: "Goo-lee-el-mo"] Marconi at Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Canada. Last Saturday, the 8th of December, Marconi's daughter, Princess Elettra, sent a greetings message to Newfoundland from the RSGB's GB4FUN mobile amateur radio demonstration vehicle. Princess Elettra sent the message while on a visit to Chelmsford, as part of that city's centenary celebration of the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission. After sending the message on the 20-metre band, she spent some time at the GB4FUN vehicle signing copies of a new book about her father. GB4FUN was also operated by members of the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society. There are some pictures of this event on the RSGB website. All radio amateurs in Canada are being allowed to replace their ordinary prefix with a special prefix to celebrate the Marconi centenary. VE stations can use VX instead, while VA stations use VG; VO stations use XJ; and VY stations use XK. These special prefixes may be used between the 12th of December and the 12th of February. Many special event stations from both sides of the Atlantic were on the air for the actual anniversary on the 12th, and some of these are still active now: GB100MC is being operated from three different locations around Leicester until the end of this month. In Italy, Marconi's country of birth, IU0M, IY4FGM, IR7GM and II3GM are all active throughout December. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs is operating with the special callsign VO1S during the whole of December. And in the USA, today [sic], Sunday the 16th of December, is the final day of activity for the Marconi Radio Club and Falmouth Amateur Radio Association's special event station W1AA/CC, located at Marconi's 1903 trans-Atlantic radio station at Cape Cod, Massachusetts (RSGB Dec 15 via Mike terry, DXLD) ** NORWAY. A set of R Norway propagation forecasts for December 2001 are available at: http://www.uwasa.fi/~jpe/nrk/dec01/ 73 (Jari Perkiömäki, Vaasa, Finland jpe@uwasa.fi DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE. Israel expands attacks on Palestinian Authority Armored bulldozers destroy radio and television facilities Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times Friday, December 14, 2001 ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle [excerpts concerning broadcasting] Ramallah, West Bank -- Israeli forces bore down on Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority yesterday, moving armor to within easy shooting range of his headquarters as warplanes pounded this and other Palestinian cities late into the night. Armored Israeli bulldozers demolished Palestinian television and radio transmission facilities in a bid to silence the Voice of Palestine. Troops occupied neighborhoods across the West Bank, searched Palestinian homes and sliced the Gaza Strip into three pieces. Israeli soldiers also seized the home and family of a leading Palestinian militia commander and Arafat lieutenant here in Ramallah. Here in Ramallah, the business and government center for the Palestinian West Bank, Israeli tanks entered the city from three directions, taking up position on a muddy field about 300 feet from Arafat's compound, where he has been holed up for days. Arafat was effectively trapped, working the telephone in a bid to build support among foreign leaders. The guns on the turrets of two tanks were trained on the compound. A short distance away, tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers methodically demolished the studios of the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority. Two three-story yellow stucco towers collapsed in a mound of rubble. Soldiers then lay dynamite charges at the base of a 300-foot transmitting tower, which dominated the Ramallah skyline. Two huge blasts, and the tower fell, as if in slow motion, to the ground. The actions knocked the Voice of Palestine off the air. Local FM stations picked up the signal and rebroadcast it, but at a greatly reduced range. Both the studios and the tower were built in the 1930s. Israel has frequently accused Palestinian broadcasters of inflaming their public. But yesterday's demolition also targeted symbols of Arafat's power and seemed aimed at further diminishing his image and his authority in the eyes of his public. The soldiers worked unencumbered by the fact they were standing in the middle of Palestinian-controlled territory. A small group of youths gathered to watch, along with a couple of politicians and quite a few journalists. At one point, the soldiers fired three or four smoke grenades at those interviewing the chairman of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. One soldier fired a smoke grenade directly into the back of a photographer. "It's a game of cat and mouse," said Radwan Abu Ayash, the broadcasting official. "We have to play Mighty Mouse." ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 1 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Glenn, As part of my Marconi Loggings that I mentioned to you this week, I heard Radio Nacional Paraguay on 9736.18 kHz. I know for a fact that the previous night it was on 9737.5 kHz but at 0002 on 12/12 it was definitely 9736.18 kHz. This confirms previous reports in DXLD that despite using 9737.5 kHz virtually every day, there are occasions when it appears on 9736.18 kHz. 73's (Graham Powell, Wales, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Webmaster for The Online DX Logbook and 21MHZ.COM. Full Details are available at http://www.shortwave.org.uk ** PERU. 4835.4v, Radio Marañón has reactivated. First noted here on Dec 7 at 0128, but the signal was too weak. A bit better on Dec 8th, but still no solid ID. Finally heard at a good enough level during the 1000 hour of the 8th with several IDs. Plays a lot of what sound like radio dramas to me as well as pop music. Also has plenty of talk, very little in the way of typical Peruvian music. Frequency has been a bit variable. I guess it has been off a while as I can find no record of it on Mark's LA-DX in the loggings sections (Hans Johnson, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) cf DXLD 1-193, 1-194 ** PERU. 13565.5, Ondas del Pacífico, 2252-2300 Dec 8. (2nd harmonic 6782.2 x 2). Tropical music. Ann.: "..la mejor música por su radio, Ondas del Pacífico... la mejor música, los mejores disc-jockeys están en Radio Ondas del Pacífico". Time check and complete ID: "las 5 de la tarde con 56 minutos en todo el territorio peruano. Transmite desde los 6760 kHz, desde Ayabaca....". Greetings to San Ignacio, in Cajamarca department. The program is "Radiosaludos Musicales". Other ID: "Radio Ondas del Pacífico, la Onda Integradora". 25432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, December 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. ITAR/TASS News Agency Kamchatskenergo puts off TV transmitters outage till Dec 17 Story Filed: Thursday, December 13, 2001 7:39 PM EST PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Dec 13, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Power providers have postponed till December 17 the electric outage of television transmitters in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky that relay the signals of national channels. Originally the blackout was scheduled for Friday. According to the chief of the regional television and radio transmission center Konstantin Sokolov this gives sometime to try to find ways of settling debts to the local power utility Kamchatskenergo. The power provider demands the settlement of a 7 million ruble debt for electricity consumed previously. The transmission center in Kamchatka is unable to cope with the problem on its own, Sokolov said. He argues that the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company must intervene, because financial relations with the main debtors of the Kamchatka transmission center are within its area of competence. The debts of three national channels, ORT, RTR and NTV have exceeded 20 million rubles. If the problem fails to be settled promptly, the national television channels will become unavailable to audiences in the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak autonomous district. By Alexander Arkhipov. Copyright © 2001, ITAR/TASS News Agency, all rights reserved. You may now print or save this document (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) These stories often ignore related radio/shortwave facilities, which also may be affected (gh, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Hello Glenn, Since when has Sa`udi Arabia been on 21600 kHz in English at 1600 UT? 73's (Ron Melanson, Bathurst NB, Canada, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess you mean you heard them today Friday? Since they don`t always get the transmitter turned off promptly following the French broadcast. Anyhow, checking at 1630 I do not hear it. How long did it last? Glenn It was early this week. It lasted at least 20 to 25 minutes. I will try to monitor their broadcasts more regularly from now on. 73's (Ron Melanson, ibid.) Also watch out for UAE Radio Dubai, which has English at 1600, supposed to be on 21605, but lately varying around 21598 (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. The UK based Tamil clandestine radio station "International Broadcasting Corporation-Tamil" has launched 24 hours internet web radio in Tamil recently. the www address is http://www.ibctamil.com This organisation already provides 24 hours Tamil programmes via Astra -1b {ADR} to Europe and two hours Tamil programmes via shortwave to South Asia. (D. Prabakaran, Mettupalayam, dx_india via DXLD) ** TUVALU. Here's a rebuttal to the "sinking" Tuvalu item you picked up in DXLD. I believe this was on Newsmax. (David Crawford, FL, DXLD) ENVIRONMENTAL DISINFORMATION By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid, December 6, 2001 On October 29, a left-wing British newspaper, The Guardian, ran a sad story about Tuvalu, nine tiny islands in the Pacific inhabited by 11,000 people. The Guardian reported that they were being forced to leave their islands because they are doomed by the rising sea level caused by global warming. The inhabitants have asked New Zealand to accept them as "environmental refugees." The New Zealand government has agreed to do so, beginning next year. This story was picked up by Lester Brown, a veteran prophet of environmental doom who runs an organization called the Earth Policy Institute. Brown reported this, saying that during the twentieth century, the sea level rose by eight to twelve inches and that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects a rise of as much as one meter during this century. He said the sea level is rising because of the melting of glaciers and the warming of the ocean as a result of climate change caused by the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That he blamed largely on the burning of fossil fuels. Brown said that as the sea level has risen, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding, and saltwater intrusion is adversely affecting its drinking water and food production. He added that the higher temperatures were causing more destructive storms that were eroding the coasts of the nine islands that comprise Tuvalu. This was brought to our attention by Progressive Review, an operation that disseminated material of this type on the Internet. But it so happened that just a week before this showed up in our e-mail in-box, Patrick Michaels has a column in the Washington Times in which he explained what was really going on in Tuvalu. Citing a recent issue of "Science" magazine, he said that the sea level around Tuvalu has fallen sharply in the past fifty years according to French scientists who have studied the historical record. They found a close correlation between sea level and the rise and fall of the deep-ocean temperature. The temperature record goes back to 1955. It shows that the ocean around Tuvalu has cooled sharply since then, and the sea level has dropped correspondingly. Dr. Michaels, a climatologist at the University of Virginia, says that if the global temperature rises even at the highest rate predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it will take fifty years for the sea level around Tuvalu to return to where it was forty- five years ago. That, he says, is very unlikely to happen. So why are the inhabitants so anxious to leave? Michaels says bluntly that it is because Tuvalu "sucks." It has no rivers or sources of potable water. Most of the vegetation has been burned as fuel, and the beaches have eroded because the sand has been used as building material. He says the people want to leave because they have wrecked the place. This is a good example of how incorrect information is spread by journalists, folks like Lester Brown and Progressive Review. They don't check the facts because they might spoil a great story- one they like because it supports their pessimistic forecasts of environmental doom (via David Crawford, DXLD) ** U K. Radiogoss Latest News: http://www.radio2xs.addr.com/1frames.html Short Changed Over Short Wave? Trevor Brook got the bum's rush from UK authorities following his challenge to the Merlin monopoly. Read his assessment of the situation now: (7/12) Short-wave Monopoly Challenge Trevor Brook has long campaigned for competition in UK short-wave broadcasting. At present, the Government allows an unacceptable 'privatised monopoly' through Merlin Communications. This dubious organisation was set-up by ex-BBC transmitter staff but has now been sold to a defence contractor. He challenged this state of affairs through the European Court of Human Rights last year and through the UK Office Of Fair Trading this year. Both actions failed. We asked Trevor for a comment and this is what he says: "I'm not surprised at the OFT outcome. Back in December 1992 we attended a meeting on SW licensing at the Broadcasting Division of the Department of National Heritage. Two representatives from the Radiocommunications Agency at the DTI were also present. The DNH informed us that these short wave plans were in line with Government policy and represented independence, diversity and an increase in choice. They also stated that a policy regarding short wave broadcasting needed to be produced and hoped this would be achieved within a year. More fobbing off. Despite the commitment, short wave licensing remained a monopoly. I did try to get Private Eye interested in the recent angle: would Merlin have been worth anything like £95m without the monopoly? You could get deeply suspicious of government motives in having a policy which allows friends to benefit (Chairman of Vosper Thorneycroft which bought Merlin is Peter Jay's brother) but actually I suspect things are rather more mundane and politics is not even involved. To do a U- turn on the restrictive policy would impair the career and OBE prospects of the very public servants who obstructed liberalisation when they were more junior. So, it won't happen, unless politicians get involved and start making awkward demands. With mass pirating, CB became a big enough issue, but this isn't. Amongst other nonsense, the government could quietly make the outrageous claim to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that '...additional short-wave requirements with plainly questionable objectives would demolish the UK's credibility...' Er...? Meanwhile, Merlin was broadcasting hours and hours of such straight BBC World Service fare as Virgin Radio, Radio Caroline, Global Sound Kitchen, Merlin Network One, Radio Korea, etc., etc." Guardian story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4299253,00.html UK Radio story: http://ukradio.com/news/articles/5690049A05A04F659A68C3C2D9BC202D.asp (Trevor Brook, Surrey Electronics, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. LBH Radio - Gay radio's future is in the pink. From: http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/14/nmed214.xml By Matt Born (Filed: 14/12/2001) TORQUIL RILEY-SMITH makes an unlikely gay-media mogul. For a start, the founder of LBH, Britain's first and only gay radio station, is heterosexual. Then there's his chequered business career whose highs (as a racehorse owner) have been book-ended by lows (a squandered family fortune and, most recently, a misjudged foray into the water purification business). Nor, on paper, does LBH's pedigree seem much more promising. Its music playlist steers clear of traditional gay favourites, such as Village People and Abba, opting instead for the likes of Kylie Minogue. The majority of its DJs are "straight" ("we're an equal opportunities employer," Riley-Smith explains with a grin) and the station itself is based in Colchester - culturally as well as geographically a long way from the gay hubs of Soho or Brighton. Yet a year after its launch, LBH (that's lesbian, bisexual, homosexual radio) appears to have defied the formbook. It may not yet be a household name but with an audience of 300,000 British listeners - and a string of "celebrity" interviewees, including Vanessa Feltz and Holly Johnson, the singer from Frankie Goes To Hollywood - it is well on the way to carving out a successful niche. Next Tuesday, the story of the station's roller-coaster first 12 months will be the subject of a BBC2 documentary, Queen of the Airwaves - part of the Trouble at the Top series that looks behind the scenes of struggling businesses. With its cocktail of high camp and dogged ambition, the programme makes compelling viewing: one moment, Riley-Smith is seen acting in the station's daily soap opera, Kingsbridge (his character is apparently Polish, though it's hard to tell from the accent); the next, he is having his plans for a Hitler-themed advertising campaign overruled. In contrast to the glass-and-stainless-steel offices favoured by media folk, LBH's headquarters in Colchester (chosen because the rent is a fraction of London prices) has been decorated and furnished for just £600. And Riley-Smith himself, with his crooked teeth, crumpled shirts and penchant for tweed, is far removed from the stereotypical slick- suited media executive. How many other radio chiefs get away from it all by going woodcock shooting on the Isle of Jura? One wonders, though, if Queen of the Airwave's portrayal of him as an enthusiastic but somewhat amateurish radio entrepreneur will do LBH more harm than good. He thinks not: "I have a slogan: `There is no publicity that is bad for business, unless your name is Boeing'." Indeed, his only grumble is that the documentary gives the impression that he has no prior business experience. "They've made out that I inherited a load of cash, flushed it down the drain and then thought up this [radio station]. In fact, I inherited a load of cash, flushed it down the drain 12 or 13 years ago, and ran several different businesses before coming up with this." Riley-Smith, 39, arrived in radio via a circuitous route. Educated at Harrow, he went on to agriculture college with the dream of becoming a farmer. That plan went awry when his mother sold the family's 750-acre estate in Sussex shortly before he graduated. "I had no intention of going to manage someone else's farm for £100 a week", he says, adding that it's still "my master plan to make enough wonga to buy a bloody nice farm". Some of his business ventures have been raving successes. During a seven-year career of buying, racing and trading horses, he won 41 flat races and, at one stage, was ranked among the top 20 owners in the country ("above even the Queen") before finding himself priced out of the market. Others, though, have proved less fortuitous. He still has the £25,000-worth of water purification filters that he imported from Canada, having failed to sell a single one. Before LBH, Riley-Smith's experience of radio was limited (he had DJ- ed for a hospital radio) and his knowledge of the gay "scene" even more so. The idea of starting a gay station came to him over lunch with a friend, while they were brain-storming for money-making schemes. At that point, Riley-Smith had sold his house and most of his assets, following a business dispute. To the budding entrepreneur, the attractions were immediately obvious. Although there are roughly 35 million gay people in Europe - with five million in Britain alone - there was no dedicated pan-European radio station. More importantly, they are an advertiser's dream market. "The average 28-year-old gay man has the disposable income of a 36-year-old manager and the spending habits of an 18-year-old," claims Riley- Smith. The station - financed by a firm of stockbrokers - launched on Oct 2 last year, but soon ran into difficulties. The exorbitant cost of broadcasting on AM (through a transmitter in Poland [sic]) meant LBH was eating up £120,000 a month. At the same time, no revenue was coming in. Advertisers refused to place commercials because the station could not tell them how many people were tuning in. And, without any income, it could ill afford an audience survey (established researchers charge hundreds of thousands of pounds). Caught in a Catch 22 situation, Riley-Smith dropped the AM frequency to broadcast solely on Sky Digital and over the internet. He also hired Carole Straker, a former executive at Capital Gold, to streamline the station. But the real breakthrough came in May when, with LBH on the brink of collapse, his receptionist read a newspaper article about Continental, a company offering radio audience research for a fraction of the usual cost. The survey results showed that more than 300,000 people were tuning in each week, defying the expectations of even the eternally upbeat Riley-Smith. With proof of their audience, the advertisers began to reach into their wallets. Monthly costs have been reduced to £31,000 and, both in January and February, at least half that amount will be recouped through advertising. Riley-Smith is confident the corner has been turned. "Radio stations are not overnight success stories. Even Capital lost money for years before it started making a profit." The comparison with the country's biggest commercial station may seem far-fetched, but he believes that LBH could have a weekly reach of one million listeners by the end of 2002. "Word is spreading on the gay grapevine. Lots of straight people tune in, too. It's growing very rapidly. "Fifteen, even 10 years ago it would have been too early for something like this. There would have still been a taboo attached. But, now, gay culture is firmly in the mainstream." Surprisingly, given LBH's frequently risque content, there has only ever been one complaint - from a group of East German neo-Nazis. As Trouble at the Top reveals, the stress of setting up LBH have been immense. But Riley-Smith has no regrets. "Even though it's been a bloody drama, it's been a lot of fun." LBH Radio broadcasts on Sky Digital and the internet at http://www.lbhradio.com © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2001 (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/inside/digital.shtml BBC Radio is planning a new digital radio station aimed at a generation of popular music lovers. The new station will target the 'post-Beatles' generation who want to hear music from their formative decades (the last 40 years), contemporary music evolved from those decades, new artists from within that tradition and true 'greats'. 'This station will put music first and be passionate about good music' Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio The station will feature iconic artists exploring their whole career, not just their greatest hits, and showcase the wealth of live performances and interviews taken from the BBC's extensive archive. The station will be aimed at listeners with a keen interest in music. It will play music from the entire canon of an artist's work, reflecting key periods in their careers. It will also broadcast contemporary music influenced by the great popular music of the past four decades. Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio says: "This station will put music first and be passionate about good music. The new station will also give listeners the chance to enjoy the BBC's huge archive of recorded music which carries some of the best live sessions available as well as remarkable interviews." 'The station will not be dictated by the charts' Jim Moir, Controller BBC Radio 2 James Moir, Controller Radio 2 says: "Music will be at the heart of the station. It will carry sessions and concerts by the greatest performers, and will develop a playlist that supports their new releases. It will also nurture new musical talent by exploring work by new artists who have the potential to mature into the great artists of the future. Crucially, the music carried on the station will not be dictated by the charts, but will reflect influential tracks with continuing relevance." The new station will be available on all digital platforms - including the internet, digital radio and digital satellite and cable. The station will also have a website providing listeners with the depth of artist information that they require (via Mike Terry, Dec 15, DXLD) So what are they going to call the new station, and when will it exist? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. BBC R 4: "DJ Culture" 2000 UT (8 PM London time, 3 PM ET) Saturday, Dec 15 "Mark Lamarr tells the story of the DJ, counts down a top ten of the greatest-ever DJs, and gives a history of related themes such as payola, jingles, corny jokes and silly voices. Then News." (via Chet Copeland, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re problems getting BBCWS streams from their website: Try the following for the European stream direct from London. pnm://rm.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/live24/liveinfent.ra and for the "Americas"* stream from Broadcast.com try: rtsp://63.250.214.75/bbc288.ra?StreamID=8535&Segment=78153624&b=157min8tsqsvl3bd815ea&ru=EasyDL/1RUPERIOD00&CG_ID=5572&stream_clip_id=0 for Real Audio or, for Windoze Media Player, try: mms://l3-wm1.dallas.broadcast.com/qcradwm001.broadcast.com/bbcworld?StreamID=231095&Segment=78153624&b=ek7a8octpkl&ru=broadcastRUPERIODembeddedRUPERIODyahooRUPERIODcom&s=78177033&CG_ID=57024&stream_clip_id=0 the last time I looked the Spanish stream via Clarin.com was carrying the European English stream when no Spanish was available and if my maps are correct, the Clarin newspaper of Buenos Aires is in the Americas (Joel Rubin, NY, Dec 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC expands Somali broadcasts | Excerpt from press release by BBC World Service on 13 December London, 13 December: The BBC World Service is increasing its Somali language programming from Monday, 17 December. There will be two additional news programmes at 1100 and 1600 GMT which will be broadcast on FM in key cities and towns in the Horn of Africa - Djibouti, Mogadishu, Hargeysa and three towns in Puntland. "This is a tense time in the Horn of Africa", said Mark Byford, Director of the BBC World Service. "Somalis there and in the diaspora rely on the BBC to keep them informed about events in the world and their region. We want to give them the opportunity to keep up with the news throughout the day". The new programmes will increase the BBC's weekly output in Somali from just over nine to just over 12 hours. It is not possible to do audience research in most of the Horn of Africa because of political instability. However anecdotal evidence suggests that the audience is extremely high with life in entire villages and towns coming to a halt when the BBC Somali Service in on air. A survey of Somalis living in Kenya found that two out of three listen to the BBC weekly. On the Internet, BBC Somali audio is one of the most accessed of all World Service sites. The BBC has already increased its output in Pashto, Persian [Farsi], Urdu and Arabic in response to the events of 11 September. The BBC Somali Service currently broadcasts from 1415-1500 GMT and 1800-1830 GMT seven days a week with an extra 15 minutes at 1400 GMT on the Somali weekend. The programmes are broadcast on shortwave, on the BBC's own FM relays in Djibouti and Hargeysa and on rebroadcasting partners in Mogadishu (Horn Afrik) and Bossaso, Qardho and Garowe in Puntland (Somali Broadcasting Corporation). The new programmes will be broadcast from 1100-1110 and 1600-1615 GMT seven days a week... Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 13 Dec 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA chief restricts airing of interviews By James Warren, Chicago Tribune staff reporter Published December 14, 2001 The Voice of America on Thursday mandated that the federally backed broadcasting group not air interviews "with any official from nations that sponsor terrorism," a move that prompted claims of censorship from employees. In a memo to department heads, VOA chief Bob Reilly indicated that radio and television operations must heed "both the letter and the spirit" of a provision tucked away in a pending congressional bill covering the agency's 2002 appropriation. That provision, apparently not previously known to many VOA staff members, states the expectation of Congress that the agency "will not air interviews with any official from nations that sponsor terrorism or any representative or member of terrorist organizations, or otherwise afford such individuals opportunities to air inaccurate, propagandistic, or inflammatory messages." Initial response Thursday was negative and led to a lengthy meeting between Reilly and about 70 VOA staffers. Many workers saw the directive as an undue response to a disputed, exclusive VOA interview with the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. The September interview, which was part of a larger report that quoted President Bush and others, initially was put on hold because of criticism from top officials in the State Department. The department directly oversaw the VOA until a 1998 restructuring that left the agency under the guidance of a board of governors that includes the secretary of state or his designee. The initial decision infuriated many journalists and others at the agency, whose charter calls for the presentation of news in an "accurate, objective and comprehensive" way, though VOA also broadcasts clearly defined U.S. government positions on issues. The report was broadcast later. At the meeting with staffers, Reilly sought to calm concerns, according to several in attendance. According to one top staffer who took notes, Reilly maintained that there is "a clear distinction between giving someone a platform to disseminate their views" and news. "We do the news," he said. A VOA spokesman could not be reached, but several who attended the session said confusion remained. In recent weeks, the VOA has broadcast interviews with members of the Taliban and officials of Sudan, Syria and the Palestinian Authority, all of whom seemingly could be defined as officials from "states that sponsor terrorism" under the new mandate. http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0112140080dec14.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune (via Jim Moats, Mike Cooper, DXLD) Colleagues, There's been a lot of buzz about a director's memo this morning on the subject of interviewing terrorists. Questions about this were raised at the town hall meeting in the Washington headquarters this afternoon. Considering all that was said, there is only one conclusion we can reach: We continue doing our jobs the way we have in recent months. We talk to whomever we have to get the news and produce the kind of comprehensive, objective and balanced reports we've been producing all along in this crisis. We do not engage in self-censorship. We've been doing some truly admirable work here and we should not ease up one bit in covering the issues we need to cover and in talking to the people we need to present those issues to our audience. In short, we keep up the good work. Andre [de Nesnera] and Jack (Jack Payton, VOA Assignments chief, Dec 13 memo to VOA workers, via DXLD) http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011214/en/media-terrorism_1.html Friday December 14 4:05 AM ET Radio ads urge Americans to aid terrorist hunt By Pamela McClintock WASHINGTON (Variety) - Packing Washington's latest public relations punch, Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday urged all U.S. radio stations to play new PSAs asking Americans to join in the hunt for Osama bin Laden`s network and become eligible for a multimillion- dollar reward. Powell twinned his announcement with the worldwide play of a tape in which a smiling bin Laden discussed and celebrated the Sept. 11 attacks on Gotham and Washington. The tape was released by the Defense Dept. The new PSAs, produced by the State Dept., will encourage every American to do their part. ``Today, for the first time, we are rolling out an extensive domestic media campaign to support the Rewards for Justice Program. This campaign will distribute public service announcements to every major media market in the United States,'' Powell said. ``I strongly encourage every newspaper and radio station to the run the ads and join us in this fight.'' Some broadcasters began airing the PSAs on Thursday, a State Dept. spokeswoman said. ABC's radio network is helping to distribute the messages. The State Dept. has long worked with the nonprofit Rewards for Justice Program, a clearinghouse for information about terrorism. The rewards program was recently authorized by Congress to offer a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of bin Laden and other key al-Qaeda leaders. The program has already paid out $8 million. There are four different PSAs authorized by the State Dept. for radio play. ``Do you know a terrorist? Not long ago, this would have seemed like a ridiculous question. But not anymore,'' one script reads. ``Stop and think about it. Information about suspicious activities involving aircraft. About stolen explosives or biological materials. About letters or packages. It could all add up to preventing a terrorist attack.'' Two others essentially extol the same message, stressing that even an ordinary American may hold the key. The remaining radio PSA headlines an American-Muslim woman. ``These terrorists do not follow the teachings of Islam. They worship only evil. I beg you to come forward, if you can prevent further acts of terrorism,'' the woman intones. Reuters/Variety REUTERS (via Yahoo News via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-etrad142508791dec14.story RADIO WAVES, Peter Goodman, December 14, 2001 PACIFICA SETTLEMENT. The war at Pacifica is just about over, and the rebels have won. That's the gist of a settlement announced late Wednesday in Los Angeles between the board of the five-station, listener-sponsored Pacifica Foundation and the plaintiffs of four lawsuits brought against it by dissidents. "I am personally satisfied," said board member Tomas Moran of Palo Alto, Calif., one of a minority who fought what it considered an attempt to remake a freewheeling, largely left-wing network into a more mainstream outfit. "On the spectrum of types of resolution from the legal arena, I think this is among the best." Pacifica, which owns WBAI/99.5 FM in New York, has been riven by fighting for two years between a board increasingly dominated by executives and lawyers, and dissidents - including those fired or banned from stations, others who quit in protest and listeners loyal to endangered formats. The agreement - which had not yet been signed by all parties - would create a 15-member interim board, including five members of the majority, five from the dissident minority and one each from listener advisory boards at the five stations. Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) SF Gate: Settlement ends feud at Pacifica radio/Local stations likely to regain control This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/12/13/MN124747.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 13, 2001 (SF Chronicle) Settlement ends feud at Pacifica radio/Local stations likely to regain control Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer The long-running legal battle over the direction of the Pacifica Foundation and its listener-sponsored radio network has ended with a settlement that is expected to give control of the board of directors back to Berkeley's KPFA-FM and the network's four other stations around the country. The settlement, finished yesterday in an Oakland courtroom, ends four lawsuits filed by listeners, local station advisory boards and dissident Pacifica board members who had charged the foundation's board with destroying "any semblance of democratic participation, lawful governance, accountability and fiduciary stewardship." Those involved in the settlement hope it will bring to a close a national battle over control of one the nation's few noncommercial media outlets. Protests have been continual since the spring of 1999 when the board took away listeners' role in naming board members. The board also enraged critics by dismissing Nicole Sawaya, the outspoken station manager at KPFA, whose 59,000- watt signal reaches a third of the state. Carol Spooner, lead plaintiff in the listeners' lawsuit, said she believes that the agreement will return the network -- with stations in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston and Los Angeles as well as Berkeley -- to the mission outlined in 1946 by its pacifist founders. "Pacifica was founded to help the public understand the causes of conflict and resolve them," she said. "It has been a media outlet for dissent and critical political analysis. That's Pacifica's place in the nation's political dialogue." Former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry, a member of the majority faction of the board and a defendant, said that ending almost three years of bitter infighting will allow the network to grow and improve. "It frees us up to put our energy into making these stations as great as they should be," he said. "It took compromise on all sides." After the settlement was entered into the court record, Barry, Spooner and almost two dozen other plaintiffs, defendants and their attorneys, exchanged hugs and handshakes, and expressed their gratitude to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw, who worked late into the night Monday, shuttling back and forth between the parties to forge an agreement. "What is at stake is a very, very valuable community asset in the form of the Pacifica Foundation and its member stations," Sabraw told the litigants. "These are very hard-fought issues over which everyone has struggled mightily." Under the terms of the settlement, the current board of directors will step down. The majority faction will then appoint five members to an interim board, the "dissident" minority faction will appoint five members and the local advisory boards at the five stations will each appoint a member. That arrangement is expected to give the lawsuit plaintiffs nine seats on the foundation's 15-member board, meaning that the former dissidents could control financial, programming and personnel decisions. However, the parties worked out a complicated scheme to make sure all sides have a say. Ordinary business matters will require a majority with at least one vote from each of the three camps. In an unusual provision, when the board approves something by a simple majority but lacks a vote from each camp, Judge Sabraw will be called in to approve or deny the vote. And the parties agreed that changes in the foundation's bylaws will require a two-thirds vote. The interim board will have 15 months to revise the foundation's bylaws to again include listeners in selecting future boards, and it will have to resolve a host of personnel and financial problems. Several dozen staff members and volunteers have been fired or banned at KPFA, New York's WBAI and the Pacifica Network News for speaking out against the network's board and management. At last month's meeting, board members got the news that the network had $2 million in bills and only $300,000 in the bank. Pacifica has spent millions of dollars on legal fees, security guards and public relations firms. "There's been a lot of damage done, a loss of listeners, a loss of money," said Leslie Cagan, a board member from New York who brought one of the suits. "This is not a victory, this is a settlement. The challenge is to be smart enough and committed enough to make it work." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 SF Chronicle (via Bill Westenhaver, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. From: http://www.rsgb.org/news/index.htm US Experimenters' Licence Approved FCC's Office of Science and Technology has approved a request by members of the '600 Meter Research Group' for an experimental licence to operate on 166.5, 440, 470, 480 and 495kHz. The callsign WC2XSR is authorised for use at 36 locations across the USA. This type of licence is strictly for experimentation and the stations are forbidden to communicate with others (RSGB via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. I found this link on the Illinois Radio Board: http://www.conelrad.com Does anyone have links or details about what stations participated in 640/1240 broadcasting? (Wally Wawro, WFAA-TV Dallas, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. UNKNOWN, 17004 USB, R Carama (tentative), 0826 Dec 15, High paced commercial format with popular music. I think the language was Portuguese, but not 100% sure. Heard ID given at least 3 different times. Listening to the recording over and over again; I think the name is Radio Carama with the accent on the 2nd syllable. My guess is this might have come from Brazil. Sounded like a relay of a commercial BC station. Was it a pirate, feeder, or something else? Signal was quite nice from 0826-0845, weak by 0900, and inaudible by 0920. If anyone has info on this, please contact me (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###