DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-199, December 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 #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 RFPI: Tuesday 1900, Wednesday 0100, 0700, 1300 on some of: 7445-USB/AM, 15040, 21815-USB UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL It`s almost 2002 and I almost forgot to send my 2001 contribution. It`s been a really busy year --- not much time for DXing, but I really enjoy WOR, your postings in SW Programs and your always informative website. Send my thanks to John Norfolk for all his efforts with DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS and NETS TO YOU (James D. Strader, P.E., MA, Dec 9) ** AFGHANISTAN. As of December 16th (from the YA5T Web site), Peter, ON6TT, is running behind schedule, so he will not go back into YA-land before his Christmas break. As this bulletin was being written, Peter was in the United Arab Emirates and was expected to go back to Pakistan, Monday, December 17th. For up-to-date info, watch the Web page at: http://www.qsl.net/ya5t (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. TELEPOLIS: Taliban/Al-Qaida-Fighter Data Communication Connection Subject: TELEPOLIS: Wie die Taliban/Al-Qaida-Kaempfer mitein... Artikel-URL: http://www.telepolis.de/deutsch/inhalt/co/11357/1.html That's a long article about CODAN Radio connection of the Taliban/Al- Qaida fighter, which arrived from Heise Verlag, Hannover, of course in German language. Some links to English language contributions, see BELOW. vy73 de wolfgang df5sx [Codan is a brand of HF communications equipment; apparently Taliban & Al-Qa`eda stole a lot of it from UNICEF, relief organizations -gh] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wie die Taliban/Al-Qaida-Kämpfer miteinander kommunizieren Erich Moechel 16.12.2001 Systematisch wurden Codan-Radios von Hilfsorganisationen verwendet, was die US-Aufklärung lange behinderte, aber wegen fehlender Verschlüsselung gleichzeitig das Abhören wie derzeit in Tora Bora ermöglicht .... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Links [1] http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20011215-68264047.htm [2] http://www.codan.com.au/radcom/radcom_prod.asp [3] http://aitecafrica.com/cia/articles/twoway_radio.htm [4] http://www.unicef.org/emerg/Country/Afghanistan/011014.htm [5] http://www.medico.de/Presse/0110afghan/omar.htm [6] http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/Rwb.nsf/vID/BA966EB243C543A4C1256AE00043FEDA?OpenDocument [7] http://www.codan.com.au/radcom/publications/data_sheets/01/20132-ENl1.pdf [8] http://www.codan.com.au/radcom/publications/data_sheets/01/20131-ENl1.pdf [9] http://www.ee.byu.edu/ee/class/ee444/ComBook/ComBook/node34.html [10] http://futurezone.orf.at ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1996-2001 All Rights Reserved. Alle Rechte vorbehalten Verlag Heinz Heise, Hannover (via Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 17, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. Maps - Discounting politics, the following link has maps of the India/Pakistan/Uzbekistan area that might be useful: http://www.blythe.org/afghan-maps/index.html (Jerry Strawman, IA, DXplorer Dec 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) Sponsored by New York Transfer, which as I recall hosts, or used to host Radio Havana Cuba website (gh, DXLD) Very nice maps. Geo Clock has also added a couple of new maps of the area but not as pretty as these are (Bob Montgomery, USA, DXplorer Dec 16 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. Media round-up Monday 17 December 2001 Iran helps rebuild radio/TV facilities in Kabul | Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA Kabul, 17 December: Head of Afghanistan's future interim government Hamed Karzai here Monday [17 December] appreciated Iran's relief packages for the war-ravaged country, and called for the continuation of Iranian support for the people of Afghanistan. In a meeting with Iranian diplomats in the Afghan capital, Karzai extended an invitation to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to participate in the ceremony to transfer power to his administration. Iran's Red Crescent Society has dispatched several relief consignments by land and air to Afghanistan. Also, Iran's Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) contributed to the reconstruction of radio and television facilities in Kabul. Hamed Karzai was unanimously elected the head of Afghanistan's transitional government at the recent UN-sponsored conference of Afghan leaders in Bonn to discuss the future political set up of the war-torn country. Karzai's government will assume power in Kabul on 22 December. Source: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in English 1521 gmt 17 Dec 01 Taleban "minister" castigates international media for unchecked stories | Text of report by Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency Peshawar, 16 December: The Taleban finance minister has called on international media not to believe everyone they interview. The Taleban finance minister, Mola Agha Jan Motasem, has called on international media to check the identity of a person before interviewing him/her. Mola Agha Jan Motasem, who was speaking from an unknown location in Afghanistan to Afghan Islamic Press, said that foreign media, especially the BBC, should not believe anyone they interview. They should first establish the true identity of the person. He said that a day or two ago, a person introduced himself as the interior minister of the Taleban and said that Usamah [Bin-Ladin] had left Afghanistan. It should be said that the person was not Mola Abdorrazaq [Taleban interior minister] or the Taleban interior minister. He added that an anti-Taleban campaign has started now. This is also part of the same campaign. Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 1713 gmt 16 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 17 Dec 01 (via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. DIEGO GARCIA [tent] 8700: Now I got a translation of the Arabic message broadcast on [Commando SOLO] 8700 kHz (wherever it's coming from). The first message I heard was around 0450 UT and it went like this: To all AL QA'ADA members ... KANDAHAR is not ruled by MULLA OMAR any more. He gave the leadership to MULLA NAGIBULLAH. So why are you still fighting?? Just remember that USAMA BEN LADEN is a terrorist and he's not going to help you. TZ: Well, we all know KANDAHAR was taken over by the Northern Alliance a longtime ago ? - so why would they broadcast such a message? One more thing ... the Arabic accent of the OM was sort of an EGYPTIAN Arabic ... I'm sure I heard his voice somewhere but may be the Arabic section of VOA ... not sure! The second message was on around 0459 UT and it was like this: ATTENTION to all ALQA'ADA members ... Usama Ben Laden is just a snake hiding in his cave and he'll sneak out soon under cover of the night ... he'll not help you. And why don't you ask yourself??? Have you seen Ben Laden lately??? Did he contact any of your leaders??? Think twice because at the end you'll lose everything. This message was read by the same OM with the same message. (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, SU1TZ, BC-DX Dec 12 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTARCTICA NET. On 21275 kHz each Monday at about 1700z a traffic net-like operation is held on this frequency. DXers have a chance at this time to work stations from Antarctica; however, DXers should allow the Antarctica stations a chance to exchange their traffic info first before trying to work them. The net is usually visited by ZS7/ZS4AGA and R1ANF, as well as VP8CMH/mm regularly. In the coming weeks, they expect the following stations to possibly visit them: KC4/N3SIG from McMurdo Base, R1ANF who is expected to arrive at Bellingshausen Base, YL Mechita who might be active from DP0GVN from the Neumyer Base and the possible activation of the new German base "Kohnen Station". (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Een à twee maanden geleden deed het gerucht de ronde dat de Argentijnse Esperanza basis op Antarctica definities gesloten zou worden, en daar door dus ook R Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel definitief uit de ether zou verdwijnen. Dit blijkt niet te kloppen want vandaag is het station om 1950 op 15476,52 met een O/3 te horen. 73, (Guido Schotmans - Antwerp, BELGIUM, Dec 17, RX: AOR AR 7030 - ANT: Wellbrook ALA 1530 outdoor active broadband loop, BDXC via DXLD) Inderdaad. Ik heb ze afgelopen vrijdag nog gehoord. (Rik van Riel, Curitiba, Brasil, ibid.) 15475.51, R Nac Arcángel San Gabriel, 1953-2101*, pgm w/mx & comments concerning Escuela Nr. 38 of Base Esperanza. ID at 1956, and at 2055 "Y seguimos transmitiendo desde LRA36 R Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel en su frecuencia de 15476 kHz, desde Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina ubicada en 63 grados 24 minutos de latitud sur y 56 grados 59 minutos de longitud oeste. Nuestro correo electrónico para todos aquellos que se quieran comunicar es: lra36@infovia.com.ar y nuestra línea telefónica es 0054 081 02220770". Dec 13 at 2100 closing announcements as "Por hoy, en la Base, finalizamos las actividades; nos vamos con la seguridad de que mañana volveremos a trabajar con el mismo esfuerzo y entusiasmo y con la esperanza de que en algún momento, usted también forme parte de esta experiencia única e invalorable, la de sentirse en otro universo, en un lugar tan inhóspito como misterioso y deslumbrante. Desde la Base Esperanza les deseamos que terminen bien el dia y les recordamos que nos encuentran aquí, de lunes a viernes de 15 a 18, Esperanza al mundo, por Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 15476 kilohertz, Antártida Argentina. Hasta aquí, transmitió LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel desde la Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina", then s-off. 45444 (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Domestic relay on 29810 LSB provided near dawn to dusk reception on 15 & 16 Dec. Tuned in around 1400 UT and received with almost constant signal level, weak but clear, until QRT around 0000 UT; stronger by grayline propagation from around 2200. Spanish talk, music, news, and fútbol with IDs of Radio Continental and Cadena Tres, Argentina (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. (correction to OBSERVER #147): New schedule for Voice of Armenia on Sunday: 0800-0830 Armenian; 0830-0850 French; 0850-0910 German; 0910-0930 English all on 4810, 15270. 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5019.65, Radio Net/Ecos del Atrato, Quibdó. Dec 2001 - 0300 UT. Ecos del Atrato only announces their MW-frequency 1400 kHz and have earlier been affiliated with Caracol. ID 0255: "Sintoníce los 850 AM en Bogotá, los 590 AM en Medellín, los 700 AM en Cali o los 1270 AM en Bucaramanga. Escuche a cualquier hora del día las noticias de su tierra en Radio Net". Directly after that "En Radio Net, Montería está más cerca", sounds almost like a local Radio Net-ID! ID 0259: "Ecos del Atrato en Quibdó 1400 AM es otra emisora afiliada a la única cadena que transmite noticias las 24 horas del día en Colombia". (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 17, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) Björn Malm has asked me to comment on a log regarding Ecos del Atrato, 5020. I can confirm that the station is affiliated to R@dionet. On MW also Meridiano 70, in Arauca, 1170, and on FM some sporadic stations around the country, but not in Montería, as said by BM. R@dionet originally did not broadcast other audio than from Bogotá - an exception I noted myself was the Christmas- and New Years Eve celebrations in 1997/8 - but now there are local blocks of ads 13 min. after the hour, beginning 6 o´clock local time, 1100 UT, in the evening only at 2213 local time, i.e. 0313 UT. R@dionet is owned by Caracol but broadcasts from their own premises - i.e. not from the Caracol-house - in Bogotá. The Net have reporters around the country, the material is edited in Bogotá. Since Nov 1 there is a neat web site (without audio) at http://www.radionet.com.co (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SW Bulletin Dec 17, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Here in Copenhagen RFPI 7445 USB is heard well these days until sign off at 10 UT (Erik Køie, Denmark, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, splitting the difference between nominal 0800* weekdays at 1200* weekends... However, earlier on UT Dec 17 I noticed they were running AM instead; or was it the previous night... (gh, DXLD) 7445U, RFPI, 0855 17th Dec, superb signal, with discussion on Indian poverty from Justine Toms of New Dimensions, programme 28/73. Transmitter changes have improved signal down here (David Norrie, Auckland NZ, AOR 7030, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. Bayrak 6150. I have not heard an ID yet, but seemingly R. Bayrak is now active on 6149.95 with its program of non stop international pop songs, now and then also Turkish style songs. Signal here in Germany is moderately strong with heavy QRM from both sides as well from China on 6150 from 1600 UT (till 1600: Singapore). Nice frequency ;-) Tried for R. Bayrak between 1500 and 2200 UT. Extremely difficult catch here because the QRG is occupied by other stations most of the time. But at 2200 I caught the Turkish National Anthem till s-off at 2201. Before that there was a studio talk, but with very low modulation. The music parts are quite OK. Hopefully they will get that fixed. No spoken ID heard. With the help of our son Max I woke up early enough for catching the s- on procedure of R. Bayrak on 6150 at 0430. After a short piece of local style music a female announcer welcomed listeners to "Radio Bayrak International". Into a program of nonstop international pop music. No news at 0500 or 0600. Quite good signal this time, so this is not a QRP operation. And it is confirmed now that their operating time indeed is 0430-2200. Bayrak 6159.6: I've got their QSL in Jan 1989 for 1098 MW (report was sent from Latvia, waiting 88 days). Few of FM (Es) reports are still unanswered since then ... yes, they promised printed QSLs for their Jan/Feb 1997 49 mb transmissions but they never materialized (Harald Kuhl, Germany, DXplorer Dec 13/14 via BC-DX via DXLD) Bayrak 6159.6: In the good old days they were quite friendly. This was probably because the people involved were enthusiastic (e.g. about the fact that they had built the station from nothing after partition). One of these people, almost certainly the manager for some time, was Hakki Suha. Probably he is retired by now. But if you tried to contact him (a letter c/o the station, with a request for forwarding it to him, would have a reasonable chance of reaching him, even if there are no answers to reception reports at present), and sent him a report after contact was established (i.e. don't put the report into the initial letter c/o the station), he might be able to arrange for a QSL. They probably still know who he was in the station's history, and where he is now. And if he asks them to do something, it's quite likely that they'll do it (John Campbell, UK, DXplorer Dec 12 via BC-DX via DXLD) There is a rumour that R Bayrak is again on 6159, at 0430-2200 UT. When I last heard them a couple of years back they relayed one of their FM programs. They never sent out a QSL despite several reports. The time I heard them (back in 1978 - 6278 kHz) was finally verified after repeated attempts till 1989. At that time Mr. D. Ozer Berkam was the Dir-General of the station. He was so impressed with my details (maybe too the fact my report had been overlooked) that for several years after that I received the monthly newspaper (Cyprus Times) from the station. Alas, till about 1992 the paper finally quite coming (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, DXplorer Dec 12 via BC-DX via DXLD) We are having a [Ramadan] BAIRAM-FEAST here nowadays. :-) Well, about BAYRAK. I tried them on the last days of Ramadan .. around 0430 UT. BUT no trace of them here in Egypt! Well - I'll give it a try again today. Well we'll tell you more about BAYRAK radio tomorrow. I got a QSL letter from them a long time ago. The funny thing is they said attached a QSL (Card), but bummer there was only the letter! I replied asking for the card, but they never sent one!! Well almost 5 years ago they were very active on the same freq of 6150 ... but it was during RAMADAN ... well, I'll give it a try (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, SU1TZ, BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) On 15 and 16 Dec R. Bayrak from Northern Cyprus has been heard on 6150.02 kHz here in Sofia, Bulgaria. There were news and weather reports in English around 1730 UT, before the beginning of its Greek program. The broadcast came to an end at 2200 UT with Turkish National Anthem. This could have been heard here even at 1300 UT, but there were very severe interferences on the same frequency and +/-5kHz (Kunitoshi Hishikawa, BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. New Czech cities UNESCO QSL cards by R Prague, to be issued from Jan 2002. R Prag, Vinohradská 12, CZ-12099 Praha 2, Czech Republic. tel +420 2 2155 -2900 and Fax -2903 e-mail cr@radio.cz Hat eine neue Serie von QSL-Karten. Ab Januar 2002 erhalten die Hörer von R Prag für ihre Empfangsberichte QSL-Karten zum Thema "Das tschechische Erbe unter den Unesco-Kulturstätten". Darauf abgebildet sind die Ansichten von acht tschechischen Städten, die zum Unesco- Kulturerbe gehören. Weitere Informationen gibt es über die Internetseite von R Prag: http://www.radio.cz (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]. Dear Friends, While hearing Radio Denmark on 7490 kHz, 0230 UT at Dec 15 Saturday I was surprised to hear R. Denmark in English! English news carried for 5 minutes followed by news in Farsi or Arabic? but not in Danish. To my knowledge R. Denmark canceled its English programs by 1997. Did they restart the English service? I assume it as a relay from their domestic network. Further trying on Sat, Dec 15 at 1430 on 13800 or Dec 16, 0230 on 7490 I heard only Danish service. Is it a Saturday morning service or a mistake by technicians? Perhaps Glenn or friends at DSWCI may be able to tell. Regards (MR. T. R. RAJEESH, THANDIAKKAL HOUSE, CHEVOOR, THRISSUR- 680027, KERALA, INDIA, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This was already explained in DXLD 1-198 which I guess you had not yet seen. See also NORWAY (gh) ** DUCIE ISLAND. The "425 DX News" reports that Garth, VE3HO, is reporting that the DXpedition to Ducie Island has been rescheduled for the end of March. A new charter ship has been arranged and Kan, JA1BK, (group leader) is now looking for donations. The group of operators is still being finalized (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Re DXPL audio ondemand: That's a nice item, due of time collision of Dr. Kim Elliott's VoA CW Sats at 0700 6873usb, and HCJB DXPL at 0700-0730, I missed all DXPL transmissions since B-01 started. Download of 30 mins .rm file takes about 65 seconds on A-DSL access (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Dec 17, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Re 3380.07, C.R.I. Centro Radiofónico de Imbabura, Ibarra: The above logging of Centro Radiofónico de Imbabura was sent a little "in advance", before normal SWB stopdate, to TN for translation and forwarding to our exchange partners "DXLD" and "Cumbre" and to our e- mail members. I look forward to hearing your comments about this. A new Ecuadorian station on SW is a real sensación. Some days later I finally got in telephone contact with "C.R.I." in Ibarra and it was a very gratifying message they came up with. A very friendly lady told me the have the intention to continue their transmissions on shortwave - "C.R.I." is a religious radio station and is anxious to reach listeners outside the province of Imbabura. They transmit in // to their MW on 1230 kHz but will have a special programme, only for shortwave at 0200- 0400 UT. She said the première broadcast on SW was on Tuesday Dec 4 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 17, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Logged this morning Dec 17 around 0800 UT on 3279.57 kHz. This is the same split frequency as LV del Napo in Ecuador. Perhaps this is a relay of Radio Maria? (Gert Nilsson, Sweden, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. UK, 21550. Back to the Voice of Millennium ... SOUT AL QARN ... and replying to Anker Petersen concerning the PLACE of the radio organization ... well I had another Clue ... at 1400 UT they have the News ... the announcer said "it's 5.00 P.M. ACCORING TO THE TIME OF SOUT AL QARN)" ... which means they are UT +3 hrs, which is the time for UAE ... if I'm not wrong [sic, UAE is +4 zone ?!, QAT/ARS/YEM are +3 hrs, ed.] ... will keep an eye on that one as they just sign off ... with nothing ... No IS ... No ID at the end of the transmission!! (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, SU1TZ, BC-DX Dec 11 via DXLD) ... [sic] GAM - Millennium Voice / R Voice of Horn via Woofferton site. (IDHAAT SOUT AL QARN), Sudanese Arabic, 1330-1430 21550 WOF (BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) ** INDIA [non]. Mark Tully Working for CNN I was making my morning rounds of the news web sites, reading a story on cnn.com about the attack on the Indian Parliament a few days ago, when I noticed that there was a little sidebar in the story with a link to an analysis of the situation by none other than veteran ex-BBC correspondent and old India hand Mark Tully. You may remember that Tully resigned from the BBC in a very public manner after a protracted fight with management. I know he's occasionally been heard on the BBC since then in a freelance capacity. But I find it interesting that he's now doing some work for the BBC's main competitor in the world news market. You can find an archive of Tully's reports from India for CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/analysis/tully/frameset.exclude.html -- (Ralph Brandi, NJ, Dec 17, swprograms via DXLD) Well, if you call a regular weekly programme (Something Understood) on BBC R4 that has been going for several years "occasional", then I guess you're right :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Well, since BBC Radio 4 doesn't have an FM transmitter in the New York metropolitan area, I missed this one.... :-) All I know is that back when I used to be able to listen to the World Service, I heard him a lot, then he quit, and after that I heard him a whole lot less. Anyway, I still find it interesting that someone whose name is so identified with the BBC should be working for CNN, especially since those two entities identify each other as their main competitor in the global news market —(Ralph Brandi, ibid.) Gee, I`ve heard Tully on Something Understood a number of times, and no Radio 4 transmitter around here, either. There`s this amazing way I get it over my computer... (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA: Voice of Iran in Persian via Miac-Grigoriopol` eff. Dec. 10: 1630-1730 (ex 1630-1830) Daily on 15690 (55555) over Iranian jammer. R. Barabari in Persian ceased broadcasts via Miac-Grigoriopol, Moldova, eff. Dec. 10: 1700-1730 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun on 7480.2. 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) The latter had been thought to be via ISRAEL; so did they go off or change site? (gh) ** ITALY. Today, 16-12-01, Alessandro Lega and Stefano Losio announced during Italian program that the AWR transmitting station in Forlì, Italy, will cease any broadcasts at the end of the year, 31 December '01. To commemorate this unpleasant event, they will verify the last two days of broadcasts via Forlì, at 30th and 31th of December, with a special QSL card (Silvestro Tanini, Verona , Italy, hard-core-dx via DXLD) So did you hear this actually via Forlì or some other site? We had a report recently that it was already inactive. Not so sad for AWR, as they are building a much better site at Argenta, but when will it be on? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AWR Forlì suffers technical problems, heard recently on 9610 (not coordinated by the HFCC) and 12020 kHz, but 9765 kHz is coordinated on HFCC table instead, and need to repair. So, at present AWR Forlì is off the air, -- I guess at least in 31 mb, and now be ready for repair. Though 12020 outlet at 1130 last Sunday had a fine signal... (ed. BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) Hi, today I heard Stefano Losio by phone from AWR Italy and he told me that there is no official news from AWR about closing Italian site, but probably this is true. In the program of 30 and 31 December they will broadcast news and information about this closing. I hope to send here more information in the next days. Check this: http://mediasuk.org/archive/awr_e.html for the photos and full information about AWR Italy station. Wishes, (Andrea Borgnino, Ham call IW1CXZ since 1991, Monitoring shortwave from Rome - Italy with a Kenwood R5000 - 20 Mt. Lw, Dec 17, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ITALY. New logs due to isolation on house due to heavy snow. Now it is about 50 cm. 13840, IRRS, 1114 Dec 14, relaying R Casablanca in German. ID heard from the web page http://mp3.nexus.org:8000/irn.mp3 and checked for parallel with this freq., delay of about 1 sec. Signal about S2 max with strong QRN from monitor. 7120 was S4-5 max but much clearer. Report has been sent to Alfredo Cotroneo who already responded to me (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, THS, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7120 and 13840, 0915 16 Dec, IRRS testing new 13840. Same programme, but delayed 4 seconds on 13840. Must have been something wrong with the soundtrack of the program in Italian (woman), as both frequencies had the same voices in German underneath. When music was played this was gone, also when a male announcer gave web addresses. 7120 better than 13840 (QSA 4, QSA 2-3 resp.), but later at 1130, 13840 had improved a bit and 7120 was subject to fast fading, but still good. At that hour different programs (in German) on these two (Johan Berglund, outside Trollhättan, near the west coast of Sweden, AOR7030 K9AY and longwire, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. U A E: Additional transmission for Radio Japan in Japanese to ME/AFG via DHA 500 kW/300œ 0200-0400 on 6180 (55544) 0400-0700 on 15470 (45444), ex 0500-0700 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. OPDX was informed by Toma, YU1AB, that operators Hrane/ YT1AD and Voja/YU7AV will be in North Korea on business December 18- 22nd. They will take a FT-570 + a 400w amp and 3 element beam. They will try to get a license. Ed's, P5/4L4FN, last two days of operation took place over the past weekend. He will disassemble some of his equipment before heading home for his Christmas break. There is still no word on his written permission. Let's hope when he returns in January that he will have it in hand (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CIS. On Sunday I heard Voice of Mesopotamia at new time of 0700-1100 on the same frequency of 11530. Is this extra transmission? I'm just tuned in to 11530 and found the station. Unfortunately I am to leave computer just before 11 UT so can't check sign off. Yesterday I didn't check 1500 transmission (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RUSSIA/CIS As of this Sat, Dec 15, Denge Mezopotamya (The Voice of Mezopotamya) expands its schedule from 6 to 12 hours per day. The planned schedule is 0500-1700 UT on 11530. We are curious to know if reception in the target area (Kurdistan and surrounding areas) will be good during the whole time period. We are trying to accomplish this using different tx sites and different power levels depending on the time of day. Staying on the same freq was the most important requirement from Denge Mezopotamya (Ludo Maes, Belgium, BC-DX Dec 12) scheduled via Samara site ... (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) see also UNIDENTIFIED 7090 below ** LAOS. Radio Nationale Lao, Vientiane, 6130 kHz audible 16 Dec from 1155 UT tune-in to 1244 fade with fair S5 signal. Seven deep-toned clock chimes at 1200, with talk to 1225 and music after. Thanks to tip in DXLD 1-196 (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. Opened up on 7245 this morning Dec 17 [Mon] at 0800. A loooooooooong recitation from the Kor`an until c0829 when a man started to talk in Arabic. Still audible at 0930, but too weak to copy (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. B-01 schedule for RT Morocco in Arabic: 0000-0500 on 7185 Tangier 250 kW/083œ 0900-1500 on 15340 Nador 250 kW/110œ 1100-1500 on 15335 Tangier 250 kW/027œ 1500-2200 NF 15340 Nador 250 kW/110œ, ex 15345 to avoid Radio Qatar till 1710 2200-2400 on 7160 Tangier 250 kW/027œ 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) ** MYANMAR [non]. I found Democratic Voice of Burma already operating on 17805 - 1454-1530 from Deutsche Telekom Jülich - and 5905 [latter is best freq here in Germany, ed.] - via Almaty-KAZ (x5945) at 1455. 17805 was about S7 and clear until Romania came on freq at 1500 in French. 5905 was 9+20+dB and on top of St. Pete/ Kaliningrad-Russia. I could not hear any signal on 15405 but splash from UAE 15400 was bad. DVB is still using 17805 at 1430 - I heard it today, but at very weak strength as compared to \\ 5905. Something Persian or Dari on 15405 at 1430. (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Dec 14/16 via DXLD) Heard DVB the other day before, and noted 5905 Almaty-KAZ at 1455-1530 one third second behind Jülich 17805, so - the MCB Russian satellite circuit path needs a fraction of a second time delay, I guess (WB, BC- DX Dec 15 via DXLD) ** NIGER. Hi, The 'easy one' (for us Europeans at least) on 5020.1 hasn't been heard for some time. 73 Piet Pijpers, Holland, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vs. 9705 recently reported ** NORWAY: Current schedule of Radio Norway International in Norwegian till Dec. 31: 0000-0030 7470 7490 0100-0130 7470 7495 9945 0200-0230 7470 7490 9590 0300-0330 7465 7490 9945 0400-0430 7465 7490 9945 0500-0530 5965 7490 0600-0630 5945 7180 9590 13800 0700-0730 7180 9590 0800-0830 13800 15705 0900-0930 13800 15705 18950 1000-1030 13800 21765 1100-1130 13800 21765 1200-1230 12070 13800 15735 18950 1300-1330 9590 13800 15735 18950 1400-1430 13800 17525 1500-1530 13800 15735 17525 1600-1630 7490 13800 18950 1700-1730 7490 9980 13800 18950 1800-1830 7490 9980 13800 15705 1900-1930 7490 9980 13800 2000-2030 7490 9980 2100-2130 7490 9510 2200-2230 7465 7530 2300-2330 7390 7465 7490 9480 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ xx30-xx55 on same freqs Radio Denmark in Danish 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) Look how much they are using 7490; aware that WJCR be inactive? See also DENMARK (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Azad Kashmir. Friday morning I gave Azad Kashmir 4790 a listen at 0215 when the high powered API-8 at Rawat is to go off. This one is rather steady on 4790.3 to 4790.4. Already a couple of minutes before API-8 went off as scheduled a carrier came up on 4790.0, and this turned out to be the other transmitter used (listed as Rawalpindi APR-2 10 kW). The 10 kW signal was much weaker and I could not ascertain when the audio was actually connected, but at least from about 0220 there was some muffled audio. API-8 opened on 5988 at 0220 with a good signal, programming from 0230 (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Dec 15 via DXLD) ** PALESTINE. Re destruxion by Israel of radio station: Has been reported on all German TV channels topic news and few repeats at night too. A lot of money taken from the taxpayers in the European Community has been blown up by the Israeli Forces under Sharon, as the Palestine broadcasting house was also destroyed. Our local SWR Stuttgart Germany radio and TV station - as representative of the German Public Radio Organization ARD - had a long established partnership, staff training and aid providing program to the Voice of Palestine in past decades. No conception, only right wing violence on both sides (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) ** PERU. 2903.74v harmonic, OCX1H Radio San José, La Unión, la provincia de Piura, el departamento de Piura. Nov 2001 - 1000 UT. Heard from Nov 29 and has been heard almost every morning. Transmitter problems as the station both announces and is listed on 1420 kHz. On Nov 29 Radio San José had a broadcast caused by the fact that "La Unión" and their 40,000 inhabitants completely lacked fresh water. Normally every morning Monday to Saturday they broadcast a program called "Mañanero musical", a music-program sponsored by a company marketing natural drugs. ID very seldom. 2nd harmonic from 1451.87 kHz. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de piura, cuya capital es Piura. Sus distritos son: Castilla, Catacaos, Cura Mori, El Tallán, La Arena, La Unión, Las Lomas, Piura, Rinconada Llicuar, Tambo Grande; con una población total de 560,907 hab. (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 17, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Hi again, Radio Blagovest, mentioned in both Glenn`s mail and in BC-DX, was heard from Radio Veritas with good strength on 9660 kHz, but one hour later than mentioned, which means 1430-1530. The e-mail address didn't work, so I hope the Moscow address is OK! I wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank you for the nice contributions through the year! 73 from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, Dec 16, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. LIGHTHOUSE (ARLHS) CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ACTIVITY. IOTA POR- 033. A special event station signing CS5E will be active December 26- 28th, from Outão Lighthouse to join the ARLHS Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party '2001. Contacts will also be valid for the Portuguese Lighthouse Award (reference DFP FES13), and the Portuguese Castles and Fortresses Award (reference F039 - Forte de Santiago de Outão). Activity will be on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters, SSB. Look for them near the World Lighthouse frequencies. Suggested SSB frequencies (+/- 20 kc): 7070, 14270, 21370 and 28370 kHz. QSL via QRZ.COM or via the bureau (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. On Sunday I noted poor interference for DW in German via Moscow (ex-9480). Right after transmitter switching off at 1559 there was Radio Mayak interval signals! At 1601 poor signal with Japanese dialogue appeared there. The only RM SW frequency for the time being is 4520 (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 4940, 16 Dec 1320-1500, Radio Miks-Master, Yakustk on top of AIR Guawati; actual name Miks-Master not heard, program was in Yakutian. ID included Sahka and Yakutsk, signal peaking at 1410 with QSA 4 when you could hear the breath of the announcers. Strange language and strange music. No evidence of commercials, tho. Later: 4940 was on from Yakutsk at 0800 in Russian this morning. Hits and jingles and commercials. Not at all like Sunday p.m. when I recorded a long program in Yakutian (Johan Berglund, outside Trollhättan, near the west coast of Sweden, AOR7030 K9AY and longwire, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 21810 [what?] was not audible - but the co-channel station was peaking to audibility, and identified as Saudi Arabia in French! It was \\ much stronger 21600. My guess is a spur or some kind of mixing product (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Dec 15/16 via DXLD) 21810 looks like a spurious of 21705, 21600 and 21495 Indonesian service of Riyadh. Each 105 kHz away, 2 x 105 kHz 210 kHz away (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Dec 15 via DXLD) ** TIBET. Local Lhasa radio station (ex-4035) can now be heard via new technical facilities even here in Central Europe: 4905, 4920 and 5240. Best reception at 1600-1700 and from 2250 UT onwards (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, OE2CRM, A-DX Dec 16 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U A E. [Dubai] is up on c21607.5 this morning - heavy QRM to/from REE 21610. The Spanish and Saudis are always good here under normal conditions, as well as Turkey 21715 (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Dec 15/16 via DXLD) But today Dec 17th, heard again on v21597.60 kHz at around 1210 UT, \\ 13675 15395 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Dec 17 via DXLD) ** U K. Subject: I Want My BBC Okay, we've gone close to six months without BBC World Service to North America. Is there anything else we can do? Perhaps! A strange thing came over me as I was studying ancient British history. The King (or Queen as in our experience) is allowed to grant a boon to a loyal subject each year at New Year's. Now, as Canadian citizens, we are still subjects to Elizabeth II Queen of Canada. So, what greater boon this year than to re-instate the BBC World Service to North America and Australia/New Zealand? In the case of a group of people, the request for a boon must be handled by a qualified individual. Such a petition must be properly worded. Signatories must be able to be contacted easily. What I propose is thus: Canadian DXers in favour of a re-instatement of BBC World Service to North America e-mail me at mark.coady@sympatico.ca with their name, full address (including postal code) and e-mail address. The message header must read "I Want My BBC" so that I will know where to file it. I will add their names to the petition. American DXers should do the same but insure that you add USA in your address so that I can separate them from the Canadian ones. After all, you're no longer loyal subjects but willing testimonial to the wonders of BBC World Service. Your names will be put on a supporting petition. I would ask those of other DX clubs to contact their members for such support. I would ask Bob Padula to do the same in Australia/New Zealand. Perhaps, Marie Lamb can forward this to him. I hope that Glen Hauser can publicize this on DXLD. I would like all replies back before December 28 so that I can assimilate them and send them on to the Queen in time to ask for the boon. Depending on the support received, I will forward a copy to each group that requests it - the ODXA group being already guaranteed a copy. If you have to use snail mail then the address is: I Want My BBC c/o Mark Coady 1038 Ward Street Bridgenorth, Ontario Canada K0L 1H0 Thanks to everyone in advance. If this doesn't work then I'll definitely say, we don't need a Queen! (Mark Coady, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re Chic Trib story on VOA restricting interviews: Aha! So [new VOA Director Robert] Reilly's true colors now finally emerge. All that sanctimonious talk about unbiased journalism and the importance of the VOA's integrity. Window dressing, is all. And, I wonder who's been working with Congress (which hasn't a clue what the VOA is anyway) fashioning this "provision" that isn't even law yet, but needs to be immediately adhered to. Could it be Mr. Reilly? When this crowd finishes shredding the Constitution, we're all going to wonder what it was we were defending in the first place (John Figliozzi, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." -- Benjamin Franklin (Fig`s tagline) ** U S A. LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ACTIVITY. IOTA USA-069. Anita/N5AOK and H. O./WA5MLT will activate Boliver Point Lighthouse, Texas, during the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society's second Annual Lighthouse Christmas Lights event 2001. The event period will start 0001z Saturday, December 22nd, and will continue through 2359z Sunday, December 23rd. Listen for the special event callsign N5L. Daytime activity will be on 20/15/10 meters and the nighttime activity will be 40 meters. QSL direct with a SASE to N5AOK. IOTA USA-475. Look for John, W2AGN, to activate the special memorial callsign W3IYQ from Marcus Hook Rear Range Light, in Delaware, for the "Lighthouse Christmas Lights" event, December 22nd to January 2nd. Look for SSB activity on 14270, 21270 and 28370 kHz, December 22nd. Look for CW activity on 14035, 21035 and 28.035 kHz, December 29th. A special QSL will be issued, SASE requested (KB8NW/OPDX December 17/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. U K: Effective Dec. 1 World Beacon ceased transmission to Russia: 1500-1700 on 15340 via Rampisham 500 kW/047œ 1700-1900 on 9575 via Skelton 300 kW/070œ 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 17 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Snail mail logs from Roland Schulze, Philippines. Roland sent some Vietnam logs of Dec 5th, arrived in Europe on Dec 14th: VTN regionals list 5034.7 \\ 6165 VOV-4 (as listed) /1155-1330*, /2200-2300* 4795.8 Son La /1200-1400*, not active at 2200 UT onwards. v5596.8 \\ 6762.6 Lao Cai /0945-1058*, /1200-1400*, /2230-2300* v6380.3 Lai Chau /1055-1330*, /2200-2300* (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Nov 16-18, BC-DX via DXLD) After extensive search found the two regionals: v6500.7 Cao Bang /1200-1400* 4930 Yen Bai presumed time schedule /1000-1400*; Rare catch, signal is weak + QRM of TKM & RUS + QRN (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Nov 23-28; Dec 2, BC-DX via DXLD) / here must mean fade-in time, or tune-in time? (gh) ** VIETNAM [non]. KAZAKHSTAN 13690.00, V of Khmere Kron [sic], *1359 s/on IS, ID in Khmere, into talk/news, Khmere mx, with good level (Dan Henderson-USA, Maine DXPedition, DXplorer Dec 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) Other sources mentioned 7515 or 15690 channels for this service, Fridays 1400-1500 only (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX ed. via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9769.8, 16 Dec, 1856 with a fantastic signal. Transmitter must have been replaced by a stronger one, compared with Sep to Nov loggings. QSA 4+ and I was first fooled to think it was VOIRI. Just heard the final minutes of the 60 minutes of the English Service of Sana`a Radio, as they said. After a break, program in Arabic. Busy days, take a break, do some DX-ing. 73 and Good DX-ing (Johan Berglund, outside Trollhättan, near the west coast of Sweden, AOR7030 K9AY and longwire, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean 9779.8, where Yemen is usually found? And see previous report that they appeared to be alternating transmitters and off-frequencies (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED Are you hearing something strange on 15375, at 2145 UT Dec 17? Three other listeners in the east are also hearing it (Larry Van Horn, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, sort of a high-pitched whine, actually closer to 15376. There is some carrier, but no intelligible modulation. After we talked, I felt more strongly it`s Cairo with a transmitter very much out of order, nothing new from them. And then it went off at 2159:30, just as scheduled. Since it`s weaker here than there, it also seems likely to be eastward. Then noticed a different rapid pulsing on 15380. That would more likely be jamming against something, perhaps Far East. 73, (Glenn to Larry Van Horn, DXLD) I have unID on 7090, 16 and 17 Dec at 0600 QSA 2-3 and of course a lot of ham QRM. Fading at 0700 and lost in noise. Program probably in Dari, "darí " and " Kabul.." heard at 0639 today. Music very much like the one 8700U Psyops has taught us to enjoy, plus one that definitely was rapping, but in language I can't understand. Today also 0625 to 0635 a program for children, I suppose, as these adults heard talked in a most "childish" way, as adults usually use addressing small kids.... Later: Re 7090 I found, by google, that this might well be Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan, as reported by Anker Petersen. The clandestines seem to have become so much established that scheduled programming, not just political talk, drum-beating and harsh words can be expected. This one was not jammed. Nor is 6995, Voice of the People of Kurdistan, regularly heard (Johan Berglund, outside Trollhättan, near west coast of Sweden, AOR7030 K9AY and longwire, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###