DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-185, November 29, 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 #1107: (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1107ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1107.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1107.html FIRST AIRINGS ON WWCR: Thursday 2130 on 15685, Friday 1030 on 3210[or maybe back to 9475], Saturday 0300 on 3215, 1230 on 15685 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Friday 1930, Saturday 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800 on some of: 21815-USB, 15040, 7445 ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK: Sat 0900 to rest of world; 1500 to NAm SELECTED ENGLISH LANGUAGE DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS ON SHORTWAVE compiled by John Norfolk, OKCOK new revision November 28, 2001: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to AFGHANTISTAN 9950, Voice of Afghanistan: I rang them this morning. I was able to speak with someone who identified himself as a broadcast consultant, but didn't wish to be identified by name: 9950 is coming from a CIS transmitter. The website and email addresses are not up yet, but it is to be http://www.afghanbroadcasting.net Their postal address is: Afghan Broadcasting Company, 21 Worship Street, London, UK EC2 A2DW [sic]. They don't have QSLs yet, but will make one and issue it for reception reports. They plan to expand as follows: 2 hours a day starting January 1st with an idea of signing on at 1230 instead of 1330. 3 hours a day in February and 4 hours at a yet undetermined date. They plan to air this all on 9950 kHz as long as the frequency holds up. The consultant said that 9950 is providing good reception into Afghanistan right now (via Hans Johnson, Nov 28, Cumbre DX Special via WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) Foreign relays on SW through facilities in the CIS [only Clandestine] kHz Loc kW Azi UTC (B01: October 28-, 2001) 9950 SAM 200 130 1330-1430 Radio Saday-e Afghanistan [Radio Voice of Afghanistan] The transmitting site of this broadcast is Samara in Russia with 200 kW of power according to the information given by ITU frequency list (T. Hirayama, Japan, Nov 28, 2001 for CRW via DXLD) I called the station this afternoon on the number given in their press release. The Voice of Afghanistan says it broadcasts via `a powerful shortwave transmitter', but the man behind the station, Said Jalal Karim, would only tell me that the transmitter is located "in Europe", and did not wish to be more specific. The studios are located at 21 Worship Street, London, EC2A 2DW. The station can be contacted by phone at +44 207 382 9610 or by E-mail at afbc9950@hotmail.com The phone number and address turn out to be a company called Coppernob Business Services http://www.coppernob.net/ an Internet service company which also runs various Web radio stations. However, when I called they answered as "Voice of Afghanistan", which kinda surprised me. More at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/afghanistan.html (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, hard-core-dx Nov 28 via WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Source: Radio Voice of Afghanistan --------------------------------------------------------------------- Medium: Radio. Main Studio: London. Category: External. Country: United Kingdom. Media Provider: Said Jalal Foundation (Afghan Broadcasting Company). Date of Issue: 28-Nov-2001 12:16. Last Modified: 28-Nov-2001 12:15 Comments : Test transmissions from this radio station were first reported on 17 November 2001. Its official launch was announced at a press conference in London on 27 November 2001. A press release from the station on 27 November stated that "The new radio station is the voice of moderate Afghan political opinion and broadcasts news, comment, interviews and music in both the Pashto and Farsi [Persian/Dari] languages. The London-based team of Afghan journalists are producing one hour a day of output to start the service and this will quickly build to four hours a day over the next few weeks". The press release added that "Voice of Afghanistan is a project conceived and created by Said Jalal Karim [earlier reports had given his name as Sayd Jalal Afghan], a 32-year old successful businessman born in Afghanistan and now based in Saudi Arabia... the Said Jalal Foundation funds the operation of the new radio station through a non-profit making organisation, the Afghan Broadcasting Company". The radio identifies as "Radio Voice of Afghanistan" (Dari: "Radio Sada-e Afghanistan", Pashto: "Da Afghanistan Ghaq Radio"). The radio is believed to broadcast via a hired shortwave relay transmitter in the former Soviet Union. Languages: Dari, Multilingual, Pashto. Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 9610. Delivery Methods : Terrestrial --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1330-1430 Daily MULTILINGUAL AsDom Ter: 9.950 (DARI/PASHTO) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring Nov 28, condensed for DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Media round-up Wednesday 28 November 2001 - Radio Voice of Afghanistan uplinks from London. Station's founder interviewed by BBC radio - Kabul TV shows Taleban "crimes" - Balkh Radio, US PsyOps radio on the air - Canadian journalist allegedly abducted in Afghanistan - Canada warns of "Taleban plot against journalists" - Swedish media withdraw following journalist's death Radio Voice of Afghanistan uplinks from London Text of press release in English from London-based Radio Voice of Afghanistan on 27 November [already in DXLD 1-184] Radio Voice of Afghanistan founder talks to BBC radio | Text of BBC Radio 5 Live interview with Said Jalal Karim, founder of Radio Voice of Afghanistan [Presenter] A new radio station, the [Radio] Voice of Afghanistan, begins transmission today. It is based in London and output will be beamed on shortwave to Afghanistan. All of the station's staff are Afghans and the project has been organized by Said Jalal Karim, who was born in Afghanistan but now lives in Saudi Arabia. He told me why he decided to set the radio station up. [Said Jalal Karim] Well, actually I have been involved in the peace process in Afghanistan for the past couple of years, and I have not seen that the people of Afghanistan - the people who are not famous, the people who do not have access to the international press - have anything to say inside Afghanistan. So I wanted to give them the platform to say what they wanted to say. [Presenter] Is there anything for them at the moment, radiowise? [Said Jalal Karim] No there is not actually, no. [Presenter] Absolutely nothing. So this will be the first one. [Said Jalal Karim, interrupting] [words indistinct] there is others, but the BBC does not give enough times to the locals and they just try to take news and to make interviews with important people. That's what I would like to give, I would like to give all Afghans, all platforms the right access, so that they can give their views and share the future peacemaking in Afghanistan. [Presenter] How can you do that from London? [Said Jalal Karim] Well, you have a free press here. That's the best thing about it. If you are in any other place, you could be censored, you could be stopped, you could (?and I don't want that to happen to this). [Presenter] Now forgive my complete ignorance about radio, having worked on it. Do you transmit from Europe or do you transmit within Afghanistan? [Said Jalal Karim] No, our transmission is actually faces to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, those areas. [Presenter] And where do you transmit from? [Said Jalal Karim] Well actually, currently I think it's from Samara. [Presenter] And is it going to be completely factual or will you be carrying opinions for one side or the other as Afghanistan rebuilds? [Said Jalal Karim] What do you mean by that - from one side to the other side? [Presenter] Do you support one particular part of the factions that are trying? [Said Jalal Karim, interrupting] No, no, not at all, no, no. We're going to be very factual, we're going to allow the people to express what they have from all different factions. [Presenter] Because it is a very, very difficult thing to do isn't it, given the number of factions that there are at the moment? [Said Jalal Karim] Yeah, I know that, but we are going to be trying to be as much as professionally possible to do that. [Presenter] So you say that you'll be putting the voices of the people of Afghanistan on. What sort of things will people be able to hear? [Said Jalal Karim] We're doing a little bit of, first of all, the programme starts with the Koran, and then we have a small portion of news, then some interviews, some music and some other cultural programmes. [Presenter] And this will all be fairly new to people who perhaps have only been able to get their news during the Taleban regime? [Said Jalal Karim] Yes. Actually the nice thing about the programme is that it's a mixture of Islamic culture and what the people of Afghanistan would like to hear both about Afghanistan's culture itself, poetry and other issues that concern women. We have women broadcasters also [word indistinct]. [Presenter] Was this your idea or were you approached? [Said Jalal Karim] No, no, I had this idea for quite a long time. [Presenter] And have you got much feedback from Afghanistan yet? [Said Jalal Karim] Yes, we have received some feedback from Kabul because we have been doing test broadcasting in the past week. And the feedback is very good, the voice is very clear and the people are quite comfortable with what has been broadcast until now. [Presenter] Now, I understand that you have a sort of history of philanthropy. You've invested in orphanages and schools in the past. Are you going to put yourself on the radio? [Said Jalal Karim] What do you mean - I put myself on the radio? [Presenter] Well, will you be broadcasting? [Said Jalal Karim] Myself? [Presenter] Yes. [Said Jalal Karim] No. I have a speech only. One speech that I'm going to be giving through the radio and that's it. [Presenter] What are you going to say? [Said Jalal Karim] It's time for peace, prosperity and unity. That's (?about) all I have to say. [Presenter] And the rest of it will come from people in London? [Said Jalal Karim] You mean from the staff? [Presenter] Yes. [Said Jalal Karim] Oh yes. I have very good staff. We've got about seven or eight people working. All Afghans, professionals. And I'm quite happy with their produce until now and I'll be supervising them and helping them as much as possibly I can. [Presenter] You're starting at one hour a day. Are you hoping to be able to do longer? [Said Jalal Karim] Yes, we are planning a maximum of probably three hours. [Presenter] And you won't be rivalling the BBC? [Said Jalal Karim] Well, actually no. See the BBC is more concentrating on news and we're not trying to concentrate on the news because if we do that, we will not be able to beat BBC's capabilities. So we will be concentrating on other parts that the BBC is not concentrating on. And we are an Afghan radio for Afghans. BBC is a United Kingdom broadcasting company. [Presenter] That's Said Jalal Karim, who will be setting up a Radio [Voice of] Afghanistan that starts today. Source: BBC Radio 5 Live in English 0319 gmt 27 Nov 01 Radio Voice of Afghanistan programme summary The station was observed by BBC Monitoring on 28 November from 1330- 1430 gmt on 9950 kHz and began with the usual opening announcements, programme preview and a recitation from the Koran. This was followed by news in Pashto which included these items: - Report on talks in Bonn stating that agreement had been reached on setting up an interim government. - A high-ranking official from Vatican met the former king yesterday. - American aircraft bombed Taleban positions in Kandahar yesterday. - Fighting continuing in Lashkargah, provincial capital of Helmand, quoting Al-Jazeera correspondent from Herat. - Uzbekistan has not yet agreed to open its borders in order for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Afghanistan. - UN has called for an investigation into the killing of Afghan Taleban prisoners in Qala-e Jangi, Mazar-e Sharif. Report gives some details of the incident. - UN has called on a number of countries to close some 152 accounts belonging to the Taleban, including Taleban leaders and their officials in Pakistan. - Correspondent files a report from Peshawar, Pakistan on the current situation in Afghanistan. The correspondent reports on a meeting of elders in Konar Province. The meeting agreed that UN peace-keeping forces should be deployed in Afghanistan as soon as possible. The participants also expressed their support for a Loya Jerga to decide the fate of Afghanistan. The report also refers to an emergency meeting of Taleban commanders which was chaired by Mola Akhtar Osmani. The meeting discussed the possibility of attacks on Kandahar from border areas. Taleban sources have been quoted as saying that the meeting decided to take action against any attacks from Pakistan. The meeting elected a senior Taleban leader, Mola Abdorrazaq, as the leader of resistance against foreign attacks. Mola Abdorrazaq said to a correspondent that no-one would be able to take control of Kandahar through fighting. He said that anyone who thought about taking control of Kandahar would face stern resistance. - Interview with a local tribesman from Paktia, Timorshah Nur-Kuchi, speaking about the talks in Bonn. He talks about the need for a Loya Jera in Afghanistan. He said that no representative had gone to Bonn talks from Paktia. [The interview ended incomplete as the Dari programme began] At 1345 gmt the Dari programme commenced The news in Dari carried the items as described in the Pashto version with the addition of the following items: - Announcer in Dari says that "while inside Afghanistan the people are holding jergas and are calling for the Bonn talks to succeed. In Kandahar, Taleban leaders are preparing to confront attacks by American troops. Please pay attention to a report by our colleague from Peshawar." The correspondent began filing his report in Pashto, presumably in error, about a meeting held in Konar. - Amnesty International has called for investigation into the killing of Taleban in Mazar-e Sharif. Iraq condemned the incident as mass murder. Pakistani religious leaders call for a national day of mourning. - Announcer in Dari: "We have reports from Konar Province where the elders have expressed support for Loya Jera. Please pay attention to a report by our colleague from Peshawar" Correspondent files a report in Dari about the meeting in Konar. This time it was the correct report - Announcer continues: "As you have heard, American forces intensified their operations around Kandahar. However, the Taleban continue their resisting. Our colleague reports from Peshawar." Correspondent files a report on the meeting of the commanders. Announcer began to speak over the report, while the report was continuing in the background which then was cut, being replaced by a station identification jingle. - Report on talks about Bonn meeting. It says that over 1,000 journalists are covering the talks. Announcer interviews an Afghan journalist on the Bonn talks. - Interview with a Kabul citizen on the arrival of Russian forces in Kabul yesterday. The interviewee talks about the equipment brought in by Russians, the colour of their uniforms and where they were deployed (Wazir Akbar Khan). At the end of the programme the announcer apologises for the technical problems experienced during the broadcast. At 1400 gmt and 1415 gmt respectively the Pashto and Dari casts were repeated. The station closed at 1430 gmt. Balkh Radio Balkh Radio, which is based in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, Balkh Province, was observed broadcasting as scheduled from 0230-0430 gmt (0700-0900 local time) and from 1130 gmt. All broadcasts are on the usual frequency of 1584 kHz. Kabul TV shows Taleban "crimes" The BBC has not yet observed radio and TV broadcasts in the capital Kabul. Kabul radio is broadcasting daily for three hours in the morning and four hours in the evening via a mobile transmitter. Kabul TV is broadcasting 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 three hours a day. Following is text of a report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA on 27 November Kabul, 27 November: Kabul television broadcast the crimes committed by Taleban forces and Usamah Bin-Ladin on the outskirts of Kabul, according to informed sources. Kabul television broadcast was put into operation a few days ago after a five-year silence ordered by the Taleban forces. The Kabul National Security Committee proposed Kabul television broadcast on Tuesday [27 November] the crimes committed by Taleban on the outskirts of Kabul. Crimes committed in other areas of the country will soon be broadcast. Currently, Kabul television broadcasts programmes three hours per day mainly filled in by news programmes as well as Iranian and Western movies. Also Kabul Radio broadcasting programmes for the public in Pashto and the current Persian (known as Dari) consists of news and music. US PsyOps broadcasts continue US PsyOps Information Radio continues to be observed by BBC Monitoring broadcasting in Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan from 0030- 0530 gmt and 1230-1730 gmt daily. It is heard on 8700 kHz upper sideband mode and at times on the former Kandahar mediumwave frequency of 864 kHz. A third announced channel of 1107 kHz (former Kabul frequency) has not yet been observed by BBC Monitoring. The 864, 980 (reportedly a relay of Voice of America) and 1107 kHz channels are believed to be broadcast from US PsyOps "Commando Solo" EC-130 aircraft. Canadian reporter "held in chains" in Afghanistan A Canadian freelance reporter from Montreal, Quebec, has reportedly been kidnapped and "held in chains" in southern Afghanistan, the UK's Guardian newspaper said on 28 November. The Guardian said Ken Hechtman, of the Montreal Mirror, was taken prisoner in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, south of Kandahar. He was being held in a windowless room, chained hand and foot after being kidnapped by "bandits", a local resident told the Guardian on the evening of 27 November. The Montreal Mirror, a weekly newspaper, told the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that the paper had received word of the abduction from correspondents for the Guardian and USA Today. According to Guardian correspondent Jonathan Steele, witness Mohammad Zai said Hechtan was guarded by about 11 armed men. They wanted money and threatened to kill him, Zai told Steele. Montreal Mirror's associate editor, Matthew Hays, told The Globe and Mail: "Someone received a note from him [Hechtman] in prison, he's being held in chains. We don't know if anyone else has been taken prisoner from the press but obviously we're very alarmed." François Bugingo of Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) told RDI, Radio- Canada's all-news network, that Hechtman was "tied down to the ground and apparently he's been brutalized at least a couple of times", The Globe and Mail reported. "We're looking for a contact in order to negotiate his release," Bugingo added. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who is in Dallas, Texas, said everything is being done to locate Hechtman, The Globe and Mail reported. "We will do whatever we can do. But if he has been kidnapped by people we have to find out where he is and how we can get him out of there... So all of our services in Pakistan are working on that. ," Chrétien said. Patrick Lejtenyi, news editor at the Montreal Mirror, told The Globe and Mail that Hechtman, who is in his early 30s, was on his first assignment as a war correspondent and was actually a laid-off computer employee. "He's not really a journalist. It was really kind of like the first assignment that he's done. He just wanted to go. He's a good writer, he's a computer guy with a strong interest in the area. He had lost his job in Montreal with the layoffs and he said he just wanted to go there and be a war correspondent," Lejtenyi told the paper. Hechtman also writes for Canadian news web site straightgoods.ca. Canada warns of "Taleban plot against journalists" Text of report by Radio Canada International on 28 November Canada's Foreign Affairs Department is calling on news organizations to warn of a Taleban plot against journalists in Afghanistan. The department says the Taleban plans to invite Western journalists into Kandahar, then capture them to be used as bargaining chips. Foreign Affairs spokesman [name indistinct] says any such offers from the Taleban should be refused. He did not say how Canada learned of the plot. Swedish media withdraw following journalist's death Text of report by Swedish SVT Europa TV on 27 November TV4 [Swedish television station] and Aftonbladet [Swedish newspaper] are pulling out of Afghanistan together with several other Western media. A convoy has now left the town of Taloqan after one of TV4's staff, photographer Ulf Stromberg, was killed during a robbery at his accommodation. [Sven Irving, chief editor with TV4] We know that they are part of a large convoy leaving Taloqan in Afghanistan en route to Dushanbe in Tajikistan. [Reporter] Who is travelling with this convoy? [Irving] As far as we know, the convoy consists of 10-15 vehicles. We know that Rolf [Porseryd of TV4] is with it, we know that Aftonbladet's dispatched team, which was also affected by this robbery, is with it... Many are withdrawing their staff from Taloqan. [Reporter] There was a sorrowful atmosphere at the news desk today - a news team in shock since photographer Ulf Stromberg was killed during a robbery late last night in Taloqan in northern Afghanistan. A gang of robbers broke into the house where Aftonbladet's and TV4's reporting teams were living and Nyheter's [Swedish television news] correspondent Rolf Porseryd found himself in the same room when Ulf Stromberg was shot down... Photographer Ulf Stromberg died later of his injuries on the way to hospital. He was 42 and leaves a widow and three children. Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research 28 Nov 01 (via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. ARRL approves Afghanistan operation for DXCC: The ARRL DXCC Desk reports it has received acceptable documentation for YA5T in Afghanistan and has approved it for DXCC credit. Afghanistan is among the top 10 "most wanted" countries. The license, which authorizes operation on all bands--including 6 meters--was issued by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government that's still recognized by the United Nations. YA5T will be operated by Peter Casier, ON6TT, as well as by Mats Persson, SM7PKK, Robert Kasca, S53R, and Mark Demeuleneere, ON4WW. All work for the UN World Food Program. YA5T will be on the air as their schedules permit. The DXCC documentation is for contacts made on or after November 20, 2001. "No other call signs or operations have been approved as of this date," ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, said on November 26. Casier also has operated as YA/ON6TT/m. For more information, visit the YA5T Web site http://www.qsl.net/ya5t managed by Bruce Richards, WD4NGB (ARRL November 29 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. It seems R. Mosoj Chaski has expanded its broadcast on 3310 kHz with at least one extra hour in the morning and in the evening. ILG lists R. Mosoj Chaski as transmitting from 0900-1200 in the morning and 2200-0100 at night, but they now have transmissions starting at 0800 in the morning and ending at 0200 at night. This should provide DXers with better opportunities of catching this Bolivian station. R. Mosoj Chaski kHz UTC SIO date details 3310 0810 233 22/11 Quechua talk, Andean music, station ID at 0823, sounded like typical breakfast program 3310 0137 333 29/11 musical program, unmistakable Andean music, went straight off-air in the middle of a song at 0200 Kind regards, (Rik van Riel, Brazil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3375.14, Rádio Nacional São Gabriel, 0940-0955 Nov 18, Announcer with talk, time checks and IDs. Fair to good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @ 180 degrees, "LA-DX" at http://sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. New info on Canadian 11m TV feeder: Progress has been made with my presumed Canadian TV feeder/cue station log on 26142-50 FM. Since I speak no French, I mailed a copy of the tape I made of this station, to 11 meter DXer Guido Schotmans in Belgium. Fortunately, the recording contains a station ID. This was his response: Hello David, Here are some more monitoring results from the tape recording made on 26143-26150 4 Nov '01 Wide FM. The program format looks like news, weather, sports, like so may stations do. A.o. I recognized these sentences: ...le sécretaire américain de défense a conduit un tour de 3 jours ... Indie… the American secretary of defense had made a tour of 3 days ... to India ...beaucoup de nuages... ...lots of clouds... ... et la ville de Montreal... ...and the city of Montreal... ...et travailler avec l'équipe entien... ...and work with the whole team... Then something about Afghanistan ...dans la région de Danaque (spelling?) la justice de Trois Rivières .. la chute de se meurtre se venu... ...la victime un jeune homme blanc de 14 ans de Saint-Anmaire il a été trouvé sans vie... in the Danaque region, the justice of the three rivers .. the fall of this murder… the victim, a young boy of 14 years old from Saint- Anmaire, was found lifeless... Then some ads. No products recognized. All prices in Canadian $. ...dans quelques instants les autres détailles dans "l'avenir de Canada"... ...in a few moments the other details in "The future / the posterity of Canada"... Ads again. And then the ID "Ici CKTM (or N) Télévision".. I don't know if this call-sign really fits for one or another Canadian station. But it must be possible to find on the internet. Guido was not absolutely sure whether the last letter was M or N, since they sound so similar. (This is a very common problem Dxing stations using call letters as identification, such as FM BC DXing) I contacted Sheldon Harvey, and asked him if he was able to confirm that such a station exists. Mr Harvey’s response: I would say that the station is most likely CKTM television in Trois- Rivières, Québec (Three Rivers). CKTN is located in Trail, British Columbia. A search on Yahoo revealed that it couldn't be CKTN as they are in western Canada and broadcasts in English. The reference to Trois-Rivières made me check out stations in that region and CKTM came up. Trois-Rivières is about halfway between Montréal and Québec City, on the St. Lawrence River. I can drop a note to the station and ask them if they are using some sort of remote to studio link transmitter. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the help, guys!!! (David Hodgson, TN, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Dear Listener, Please find below a list of frequency changes starting November 28th, 2001. Best Regards, RCI Internet Team ********************************************************************* Starting November 28th, 2001 20:00-20:59 UTC: French to Europe/Africa kHz Transmitter kW Azimuth Action --- ----------- -- ------- ------ 11925 Sackville 250 kW 60' deleted 12015 Sackville 250 kW 60' added 20:15-20:44 UTC: Arabic to Middle East 9805 Vienne 100 kW 115' deleted 9615 Vienne 100 kW 115' added 21:00-21:29 UTC: Arabic to North Africa 11945 Wertachtal 500 kW 180' deleted 5995 Wertachtal 500 kW 180 added 2100-2159 UTC: English to Europe/Africa 5995 Sackville 250 kW 60' deleted 9770 Sackville 250 kW 60' added 12015 Sackville 250 kW 105' added http://www.rcinet.ca/horaires/b01.htm (via John Norfolk, Nov 29, DXLD) ** CANADA. Steve Lemay of RCI has advised Kim Elliott, host of VoA's Communications World, about a series of upcoming programs commemorating the 100th anniversary of Marconi's first receipt of trans-Atlantic radio signals in Newfoundland. Kim will have more details on this weekend's CW program. When I visited the Marconi museum in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia a couple summers ago, I learned that Marconi was forced to move his station from Newfoundland to Canada due to a squabble with the local government which at the time was a separate colony of the UK. I guess the Canadians inherited this historic legacy when they adopted Laborador/Newfoundland into their Dominion in 1949. You will also be able to hear these shows on the usual internet and Nimiq satellite feeds in North America. November 30th to December 11th Planet Radio during hour 3 of This Morning Planet Radio is a funny, frightening, war-mongering, peaceloving, dance machine that sells soap in hundreds of languages. Planet Radio tunes you into what's really happening on your radio. Planet Radio takes you behind the knobs for what's really happening on the radio around the world. The air on Planet Radio crackles with the voices of humankind. The biggest stars and the smallest voices are heard all over the world. What are they saying? Planet Radio celebrates the world's most widespread medium and exposes its dark corners. On Shortwave to the United States and the Caribbean on 9515, 13655 and 17710 Khz from 0800-1100 ET / 1300-1600 UTC; On the Hotbird-5 satellite, channel RCI-1, in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East from 0900-1200 ET / 1400-1700 UTC. [to be continued...] (via Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. Dalfen to be named to top CRTC post --- Highest paid 'culturecrat' --- by Ian Jack, Financial Post OTTAWA - Charles Dalfen, a Toronto communications lawyer, is to be appointed as the new chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as early as today, sources say.... http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20011128/807774.html (National Post, Ottawa, via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CHINA. Yet another Chinese station appeared today on 60 mb. At 2135 (UT November 28) I noted Qinghai PBS in Chinese on 4750. Also station Hulun Buir in Mongolian from Nei Menggu Autonomous Region have been using this channel so 2 stations are there interfering each other but Qinghai is stronger. Qinghai PBS parallel frequency is 6260 (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. You know, the only thing more frustrating than actually catching the virus is getting 100-plus emails from well-meaning contacts warning you about the virus!! It's another solid argument in favour of shortwave radio - when was the last time you got a virus off shortwave? Although, the proliferation of new frequencies from China National Radio (CNR) on the bands at the moment is perhaps approaching something close to it! I'm listening to their English language lessons right now (1115 UT). Things have certainly changed since the 80s when people started reporting the provincial stations directly. Their English lessons were good reportable content --- but the style has changed dramatically between then and now. Today's lessons are much more colloquial --- perhaps an indication of how far English language skills have evolved since the rote-learning approach two decades ago. Good DX, (Matt [Francis?],. Nov 28, ARDXC via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. FAR RIGHT RADIO REVIEW takes a critical look at radical, reactionary, right-wing organizations and their spokespeople on shortwave, as well as AM, FM, TV, print media, and Cyberspace. The backgrounds of racist program producers are exposed, the links between different groups investigated, and the effects of a barrage of scapegoating hysteria analyzed. Thu Nov 29 at 1900- [repeats UT Fri 0100, 0700, 1300] A look at James Wickstrom and how his activities fuse together elements of the militia, Christian Identity and the Posse Comitatus. Sat: 2030- TBA NOTE: Archive editions of this program are also available in RealAudio at the RFPI website: http://www.rfpi.org/webcast.html (RFPI previews via DXLD) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn, Right now at 0255 UT, I'm able to listen to the RHC Canal 1 stream, but Canal 2 is down (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I tried to listen to Radio Havana's 2 WMP audio streams but with no success. Kept saying "connecting" on my set top box unit. You wanted to know (Petro Giannakopoulos, GA, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. About three weeks ago my friend Patty and I decided to look for a short western Caribbean cruise over the Thanksgiving holiday. We found one out of Miami on Carnival that still had room. Left on Thursday and I brought my new DX398 to do some surveillance. Also a portable TV. Can you believe I forgot my hand held scanner. I had a few AM DX sessions along the way and here are some random notes I am doing from memory. If you try this, make sure you bring headphones. We went to Key West and Cozumel, Q.R. and back.... Due to an exclusion zone, we went close to Havana and then hugged the coast of Pinar, could see lighthouses etc. Watched some Cuban TV on my hand held. They had news at midnight with a 10-minute piece with Fidel touring some farm, was showing it to others on the top deck and they were just flipping out. Naturally they had little idea of where we were, thanks to GPS I solved that problem... I paid a lot of attention to 650 as there has been a report of Mérida here, but 650 was empty. What is here is a low power Cuban locally- programmed station in far western Pinar, sounded like Radio Pantorino, heard as we came eastward past Pinar with mountains clearly visible to the south about 15 miles distant. Reloj-870 good in that area, and Progreso-880 (no 890 until later). The big mystery was very loud carriers on 820, 1020 and 1030 heard while passing Pinar. There was very weak audio heard, probably 40 dB down and I couldn't tell if this was just very bad modulation, or from a different station way down. These carriers were full-scale on the bar graph and on-channel. The 820 probably is related to a past report of 'jamming against WMGG' in some fashion. It was interesting to see how Martí and Progreso played against each other as we headed east, and they are some 20 to 25 Hz apart by my estimate... Watched more Cuban TV, had 4 VHF channels and zero UHF. It is all old European movies with English voice and Sp. subtitling, or interviews, cartoons or sports, saw some basketball where the Centrales played the Cosmopolitanas (? forgot already). Cubans have little idea of on- hour IDs on TV as far as I could tell but then this was Sunday so who knows, maybe no one on duty... Ship DXing is actually easier now as I never heard any HF QRM and the radar was no problem, could easily get to the noise floor, such as it is on a DX398 with no external antenna... It would not be too hard to bring and set up a small loop, but usually you want to be on the top fantail and it is still so windy there the acoustic buffeting in the headphones drowns out the really weak stuff. And then the bar and buffet beckons... (Bob Foxworth, Nov 28, NRC-AM via DXLD; gh edited out non-Cuban portions of this report) ** CUBA. CENTRAL/SOUTH FLORIDA REPORT. Between Nov. 20-26, I was in Florida for my brother's birthday and a high school reunion with nights in Orlando, Delray Beach and Miami, a day visit to Micanopy (NW of Orlando) and a bit of driving in between (Fla's. Turnpike, I- 4, I-95, I-75, SR408, SR50). Of note: CUBAN STATIONS -------------- Daytime in Miami unless noted otherwise. No call letters or locations ever specifically heard. Not presented to reflect raving catches, but rather, as an indicator of northerly radiation. 570 - Radio Reloj, Santa Clara (Miami [through WQAM slop] & Delray days) 750 - strong //630 820 - nighttime jammer (presumed, but why? Is the vicious WMGG's 1 kw night signal too much for Fidel? Apparently, as per Bob Foxworth's report, the jammer in Pinar runs OC days but churns at night) 840 - CMHW Santa Clara - strong 870 - Sancti Spíritus, Radio Reloj, fair 890 - R. Progreso - strongest Cuban daytime signal driving around Miami. Fair in Orlando nights and always //900. 910 - Radio Reloj, weak 1080 - extremely distorted/overmodulated in Orlando 11/26 2220, // 1100 & 1120. 1100 - Havana - good South Florida signal 1110 - fair 1120 - also gets out quite well (heard all three places at night) (As I recall, 1100/1110/1120 were //). 1240 - possible Cuban under presumed ZNS outlet (5 min. ZNS dead air 11/21 0955). 1310 - probably Cuba; low modulation 1540 - even with ZNS days driving around the southern part of Miami. It's not impossible that this might have been an image but it seems unlikely. 1560 - Radio Encyclopedia? In Orlando, WAGL s/off noted 11/26 1715, followed by SS info/talk. My first inclination was to think WRHC had shifted but the formats were dissimilar. This was in only briefly (lost out to WAOA). These were of interest to me for totally arbitrary reasons. Other less interesting Cubans were heard days in Miami on 590, 600, 630, 640, 690, 960, 1290, 1330, 1340, 1380, 1390. I spent a great deal of time scanning. It was hard enough assimilating the dial (I was raised in Miami eons ago). But when you add images to an already strange dial, it becomes even more challenging. My apologies if some of the loggings are of images; I just didn't have time to clarify everything (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, Nov 29, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4815.00, Radio El Buen Pastor, 1039 Nov 26, Ad/promo block with IDs. Announcer with time checks and Andean music "la música de mi patria", program titled "Amanecer Ecuatoriano". Excellent reception on weak signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @ 180 degrees, "LA-DX" at http://sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. Today again no any trace of a carrier on 21550 around 1330 and at 1405 recheck. Interesting that these broadcasts were preceded by a 1 kHz tone like "Voice of Afghanistan" on 9950, indicating that probably the same playout facility is in use by both; World Radio Network? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio Propagation Forecast for Dec 1 Available. I have made a set of coverage maps for the coming Scandinavian Weekend Radio broadcast on Saturday, December 1, 2001. They will be available on SWR's web site http://www.swradio.net but also at http://www.uwasa.fi/~jpe/swr/ 73s (Jari Perkiömäki Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Starts UT Friday Nov 30 at 2200, for 24h -gh] ** FRANCE. Promotional announcement by David Page on Radio France International English broadcast on Nov. 27 promises "side-splitting, rip-roaring" RFI bloopers on his "Club 9516" next Sunday Dec 2. (Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) Another strike at Radio France Internationale. French service just carrying music with occasional announcements in French about a strike. English broadcast at 14Z on 17620 is running the same fill music today (Mike Cooper, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Agence France-Presse reports (in French) today (Nov. 28) that Jean- Paul Cluzel has been named to another five years as president of Radio France Internationale. AFP said the announcement was made on the same day that five labor unions were conducting a 24-hour strike (that began at 2300 UT Tuesday) to preserve their labor agreements as the RFI shifts to digital. Cluzel is considered the mastermind of RFI's all-news format, AFP said. Under his presidency, the number of FM relays of RFI has risen to 88. Cluzel was mentioned in 2000 as a possible head of Agence France-Presse and in earlier this year as a possible new head for TV5. AFP quoted an internal source as saying "the most positive thing Cluzel has done is to have given coherence to RFI with the creation of the all-news format" for broadcasts in French (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) ** GERMANY. It appears the DW website now has some active audio links, but the site itself still loads with difficulty. Arts on the air -- this week, anyway, appears to be at URL http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,3040-184677-216083,00.html# Newslink is at http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,3083-184677-225547,00.html# Insight and Spectrum don't appear to have audio links established yet. The airtime schedule is not very useful, IMHO. You see a list of air times, and it would be great if each air time listed was a live link to a list of target areas and frequencies. Alas, this is not the case. A link called "reception" takes you to a world map, and then (ideally) you enter your CIRAF zone (how many website visitors would know what that meant?) to get a list of shortwave frequencies -- but, wait! Error 404 - File Not Found! What a mess -- they should have done much more tweaking and user testing before implementing this. If I were them I'd ask for my money back from their website designer (Richard Cuff, Nov 27, swprograms via WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) Sorry to see that DW is using Vignette; that must have cost them a pretty penny. I have a decent idea of how much it cost the company I work for to implement it on their web site, and it ain't cheap. I know of dot-coms that spent literally millions of dollars to customize Vignette to meet their needs. It probably would have been cheaper and just as effective to use the freeware PHP and a database like Oracle or maybe even the freeware MySQL (remarkably fast database) to home-grow their own content management system. (Can you tell I spend way too much time in a text editor munging web pages by hand?) (Ralph Brandi, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and I do mean Vacuum]. No, Radio Caroline cannot be heard on an audio subcarrier of Satcom C3, transponder 24. There are currently no active audio subcarriers on this transponder (Mike Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) --- In RadioCarolineMailinglist@y..., trewentpark@h... wrote: Apologies if I may have missed something, but is Caroline still available on Satcom C3 in North America? The parameters I have for Radio Caroline are transponder 24; 4.180 Ghz; Horizontal; 7.74 (or perhaps 7.8?) I asked a satellite forum in Canada about these transmissions and the response was: "I tried those parameters. There are no audio subcarriers on Satcom C3 transponder 24." Anyone know any more? (Chris B. http://www.vinylgems.info (note new URL), via Mike Terry, DXLD) Subject: [RadioCarolineMailinglist] Re: Caroline on Satcom C3 in North America I think I can answer my own question, about Satcom C3, having received this detailed reply from Canada: "Radio Caroline was used with permission as a "fill in" between regular program segments on the W0KIE satellite radio network. C3/24 7.5 wideband audio. W0KIE turned around a signal acquired via the Internet. The W0KIE network has moved. It is now on GE-7 channel 5, 7.5 wide band audio. I'm not sure if they are still retransmitting Radio Caroline as an occasional signal. Satellite GE-7 was just renamed by its new owner and is now officially called AMC-7. Most of us have not yet gotten used to the new name." Can anyone add to this? Cheers, (Chris B. http://www.vinylgems.info ibid.) To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: RadioCarolineMailinglist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com The Radio Caroline Mailinglist on the web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RadioCarolineMailinglist (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service. Media Provider : Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Date of Issue: 21-Nov-2001 10:36 Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI) is the external service of the Voice and Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI), which is also known as Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). This schedule, valid until 31 March 2002, is based on information from VIRI and monitoring observations. Broadcasts are NOT generally subject to Summer/Winter time changes. External broadcasts from Mashhad in Dari, Persian (for Tajikistan) and Uzbek are the subject of a separate schedule. Languages : Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Azeri, Bengali, Bosnian, Dari, English, French, Georgian, German, Hausa, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Kurdish, Malay, Mandarin, Multilingual, Pashto, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish, Turkmen, Urdu Address : PO Box 19395-6767, Tehran, Iran. Tel: +98 21 2042808 Alt Tel : +98 21 2162953 Fax: +98 21 2051635 E-mail : Webmaster@irib.com Web Site: http://www.irib.com/ All daily: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 MULTILINGUAL Global Net: http://www.irib.com/ - live audio 0000-2359 MULTILINGUAL EuMEAfAs Sat: 13 E Hot Bird 1-5 12437 H MPEG- 2: 62 E Intelsat 902 11172 V 5.94 0000-0030 FRENCH EuAm 6.135 11.730 100.7 0000-0030 MANDARIN As 7.130 7.210 9.635 0030-0130 SPANISH Am 9.630 9.650 9.660 0030-0130 BENGALI As 0.765 6.005 6.085 6.185 100.7 0030-0130 ENGLISH Am 6.065 6.135 0130-0230 KAZAKH As 7.190 9.880 0130-0230 URDU As 0.765 1.098 6.010 6.190 7.210 100.7 0130-0230 SPANISH Am 6.135 9.630 9.650 9.660 0230-0300 HINDI As 15.165 17.640 0230-0300 RUSSIAN EuMEAs 9.805 9.830 11.780 11.850 0230-0330 SPANISH Am 6.065 0230-0330 PASHTO As 0.765 1.098 6.095 9.525 9.605 100.7 0230-0500 TURKMEN As 1.449 0300-0330 ARMENIAN EuAs 7.295 0330-0530 KURDISH ME 0.612 0.639 88.6 0330-0430 SWAHILI Af 13.640 15.125 15.260 15.595 100.7 0330-0530 AZERI ME 0.702 11.720 90.4 100.9 0430-0600 TURKISH EuME 15.260 15.365 100.7 0530-0630 BOSNIAN Eu 15.235 17.680 17.860 0530-0630 SPANISH Eu 17.590 17.785 0600-0630 HINDI As 100.7 0600-0700 HAUSA Af 17.840 21.810 0630-0730 FRENCH EuAf 17.590 21.645 21.775 100.7 0630-0730 ITALIAN Eu 15.084 17.560 17.605 0630-0730 ALBANIAN Eu 15.235 17.680 0730-0830 MALAY MEAs 100.7 0730-0830 GERMAN Eu 15.084 21.770 0900-0930 PASHTO As 11.675 17.680 0930-1000 ARMENIAN ME 9.615 9.885 15.260 90.2 1000-1100 ITALIAN ME 100.7 1000-1100 SWAHILI Af 17.780 21.755 1100-1230 ENGLISH MEAsAu 0.702 0.765 15.375 15.385 15.480 21.470 21.730 100.7 1130-1630 KURDISH ME 0.639 1.161 88.6 1200-1300 ITALIAN Eu 15.084 15.275 17.610 1230-1330 MALAY As 15.200 15.585 17.560 17.690 1230-1330 PASHTO MEAs 0.765 1.098 7.165 9.790 11.870 13.775 100.7 1300-1330 JAPANESE As 9.655 9.880 1300-1500 DARI As 0.720-(from 1300) 7.180-(from 1300) 11.675-(to 1400) 1300-1330 ARMENIAN EuAs 9.615 9.885 15.260 90.2 1300-1400 KAZAKH As 11.750 13.755 15.410 1330-1430 MANDARIN As 9.810 11.670 13.645 15.240 100.7 1330-1500 URDU MEAs 0.765 1.098 7.145 9.480 9.655 11.775 11.950 13.595 1400-1500 RUSSIAN EuAs 0.702 1.449 9.575 11.660 11.930 1430-1530 PASHTO MEAs 0.765 1.098 7.270 1430-1530 BENGALI MEAs 6.090 9.885 11.870 15.135 100.7 1430-1700 AZERI ME 0.702 1.323 6.200 100.9 1500-1830 TURKMEN As 1.449 1500-1530 HINDI As 7.195 11.775 11.950 13.745 1530-1630 RUSSIAN EuAs 7.165 7.200 7.230 9.705 9.810 11.785 1530-1730 URDU As 0.765 1.098-(to 1630) 7.270 1530-1630 ENGLISH As 9.605 11.775 11.870 1600-1730 TURKISH EuME 7.125 9.735 1630-1730 PASHTO As 1.098 3.945 6.005 6.015 7.195 1630-1730 ARMENIAN ME 6.185 7.230 9.780 100.7-(to 1700) 1700-1730 HINDI ME 100.7 1700-1745 GEORGIAN ME 0.720 1730-1830 RUSSIAN EuAs 6.035 7.115 7.205 7.305 1730-1830 BOSNIAN Eu 7.295 11.660 11.895 1730-1830 GERMAN Eu 6.180 7.190 9.500 100.7 1730-1830 SWAHILI Af 9.595 11.750 1830-1930 ALBANIAN Eu 6.100 7.165 9.610 1830-1930 FRENCH EuAfAm 6.180 7.135 9.565 9.805 100.7 1830-1930 HAUSA Af 11.880 15.140 1830-1930 ASSYRIAN MEAs 0.936 1830-1930 TURKISH MEAs 0.639 0.702 1930-2030 RUSSIAN EuAs 6.045 7.100 7.205 9.805 100.7 1930-2030 ENGLISH EuAfAs 0.702 6.110 9.890 11.695 15.140 1930-2000 ITALIAN Eu 7.295 9.615 11.890 2030-2130 ALBANIAN Eu 6.100 11.895 100.7 2030-2130 SPANISH Eu 6.005 9.750 2100-2130 JAPANESE As 6.125 7.180 2100-2200 DARI As 3.945 2130-2230 BOSNIAN Eu 6.100 7.235 9.710 100.7 2130-2230 ENGLISH AsAu 9.780 11.740 2230-2330 HAUSA ME 100.7 2330-2359 MANDARIN As 7.130 7.210 9.635 2330-2359 FRENCH EuAm 6.135 11.730 100.7 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring, condensed for DXLD) ** IRAN. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Arabic Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Issue: 21-Nov-2001 10:36 Last Modified : 16-Nov-2001 14:35 This schedule, valid until 31 March 2002, is based on monitoring observations and information from VIRI. Only shortwave frequencies have been confirmed. All frequencies are liable to change. Certain frequencies may carry a separate "Ashena Voice" service at certain times. Broadcasts are NOT subject to Summer/Winter time changes. External broadcasts from Mashhad in Dari, Persian (for Tajikistan) and Uzbek are the subject of a separate schedule. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-2359 Global Net: http://www.irib.com/ - live audio 0000-2359 EuMEAf Sat: 13 E Hot Bird 1-5 12437 H MPEG-2 0000-0130 MEAfAmDom 1.224 6.200 11.710 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0130-0230 MEAfDom 1.224 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0230-0330 MEAfDom 0.576 1.224 7.155 9.640 9.895 15.545 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0330-0430 MEAfDom 0.576 1.080 1.224 7.155 7.250 9.505 9.640 9.895 15.545 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0430-0530 MEAfDom 0.576 1.080 1.224 9.895 15.125 15.545 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0530-0630 MEAfDom 0.576 0.612 1.080 1.224 9.895 15.125 15.545 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0630-0930 MEAfDom 0.612 1.080 1.224 15.125 15.545 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 0930-1030 MEAfDom 0.612 1.080 1.224 15.125 15.545 17.540 21.545 21.820 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1030-1130 MEAfDom 0.612 1.080 1.224 13.675 15.125 15.545 17.540 21.545 21.820 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1130-1230 MEAfDom 1.080 1.224 13.675 15.125 15.545 17.540 21.545 21.820 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1230-1245 MEAfDom 1.080 1.224 9.860 13.675 15.125 15.545 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1245-1530 MEAfDom 1.080 1.224 9.860 13.675 15.125 15.545 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1530-1630 MEDom 1.080 1.224 9.860 15.125 15.545 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1630-1730 EuMEAmDom 1.080 1.224 6.025 6.065 9.860 13.750 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1730-1830 EuMEAmDom 1.080 1.224 6.025 6.065 6.200 9.860 13.750 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 1830-2130 EuMEAmDom 1.080 1.224 6.025 6.065 6.200 7.115 9.860 13.750 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 2130-2359 MEAfAmDom 1.224 6.200 11.710 88.6 96.7 97.7 98.4 99.3 102.8 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (© BBC Monitoring, condensed for DXLD) ** IRELAND. [BDXC-UK] Ireland - RTE announce Cuts DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From THE RADIO NEWSLETTER 29/11/01 Following a comprehensive discussion at its recent meeting, the RTE Authority adopted proposals, which will impact across all divisions and necessitate reductions in staff numbers, non-staff expenditure and the level of services. The details of the proposals and implementation mechanisms will be discussed at corporate partnership meetings with all reductions will be implemented as soon as possible. The cuts are a result of announced operating losses over the last year. Following the Authority meeting the Chairman, Paddy Wright, said: "RTE is in a complex and very difficult financial situation and the Authority supports the Executive's determination to ensure that decisions taken now are sustainable and will help secure the organisation's future. The financial targets agreed are not a quick fix solution - they are part of a strategic process that will result in a more efficient organisation fully discharging its public service remit." In welcoming the decision of the Authority the Director General, Bob Collins, said: "This is a particularly difficult time for RTE; the change in economic circumstances has had a major negative impact on our financial security. The financial targets adopted by the Authority is primarily designed to impact on expenditure with immediate effect; there will be further proposals to the Authority in the near future which will address the overall structure of RTE and its future cost effectiveness. As is appropriate, we will be keeping the Government fully informed and seeking positive reinforcement of its commitment to public service broadcasting." The cuts will affect TV and Radio. Changes to its Radio Operations will have target cost reductions of £1.3m and the loss of 3 staff. RTE will also close the Radio One World from Jan 1st and Radio 1/RnaG transmission to US on Galaxy from the end of this year (via Mike Terry, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 2390.00, Radio Huayacocotla, 2331-0101 Nov 19, LA pop vocals, 2338 ID, sign-off 0101 after kids singing song. Good signal with occasional deep fades (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @ 180 degrees, "LA-DX" at http://sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Printed Radio Romania International schedule was received in early November 2001. Schedule valid from November 2001 For Western Europe 1400-1500 11940, 15365, 17790 1700-1800 11940, 15245 2100-2200 7105, 9690 2300-2400 7195, 9570 For Northern Europe 1700-1800 9625, 11830 2100-2200 5955, 7215 For North America 2300-2400 9510, 11940 0200-0300 9550, 11830 0400-0500 9550, 11830 0600-0700 9550, 11830 For the Pacific Area and Japan 0200-0300 11940, 15370, 11740, 15290 (Japan) For South Asia 0400-0500 15335, 17735 For Africa 0700-0800 15335, 17720 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Russia longwave broadcasts in Sakhalin resumed | Text of report from Voice of Russia "DX Club" web site on 29 November Russia, Far East: Radio Russia broadcasts in Sakhalin on longwave frequency 279 kHz have resumed in full since 8 November. They stopped unexpectedly in August 2000. Its programmes are on air between 1800 and 1400 UTC, our Japanese colleague reports from Hokkaido. Source: Voice of Russia web site, Moscow, in Russian 29 Nov 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. LTTE LEADER Velupillai Prabakaran delivered his speech through their clandestine' Voice of Tigers Radio', on the occasion of 'Heroic Day' celebrations on 27-11-2001, 1212 utc. Several Tamil radio and TV stations like IBC-Tamil, TRT-Paris, TBC- London, Tamil Televisin Network, Geethavani Radio-Canada, Deepam Satellite TV, Inda Tamil Radio-Australia, CTBC-Canada, ITBC-Canada, etc. relayed his speech live around world. But Voice of Tigers usual frequency 7460 kHz was not active during this time (D. Prabakaran, Mettupalayam, India, Nov 28, dx_india via DXLD) Any relation? (gh, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Coming up later this week from Radio Sweden: Tuesday -- a feature on Women Inventors Thursday -- a feature on Swedish glass Saturday -- Weekend: Introducing the Euro Sunday -- In Touch With Stockholm: Östermalmshallen, environmental effects of the Oresund bridge, and entertainer Lisa Nilsson (George Wood, CA, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 27 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Broadcasting House plans outlined ===================================== The BBC has submitted plans to Westminster City Council for its redevelopment of Broadcasting House as the new home of BBC Radio & Music, BBC News and BBC World Service. The project will create the largest live broadcast centre in the world providing facilities for over 5,000 staff. The new complex will include public spaces and amenities designed to make the BBC more accessible and welcoming to visitors. Digitally equipped for national and international radio, television and online, the site will be completed in 2007. In line with its strategy to direct more money into programme making, the BBC plans to source funding to finance the development through a commercial partner. This will enable the development to be undertaken at no additional cost to the licence fee payer (The Radio Newsletter, November 29th via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** U S A. I guess this is maybe OT for a group about SWBC since it's on 1710 just above the MW band, but it's an interesting log anyway. Here's one of the odder pirate loggings I've ever made: a messianic Jewish pirate radio station. UNITED STATES. 1710 kHz, Lubavitcher Radio, 0056 Nov 29, Lengthy talk about messiah (pronounced "mesh-ee-uhch"), talk about whether the messiah has come already or not; messianic Judaism. Mention of "The Rebbe" and how he brought this message to the Jewish people @ 0215. Music at end of lecture. Definitely the Lubavitchers. http://www.therebbe.org has much information about Moshiach (presumably pronounced the same way); see also http://chabad.org/moshiach/index.html Probably a rebroadcast of a program intended for legitimate radio stations; at the end of the loop at 0220, there was mention of how you could hear this on WWMF(?) something-teen forty (1340? 1540? 1640?) (Ralph Brandi, NJ, SWBC via DXLD Hmmm, 0056 UT Thursday, just minutes after I first mentioned this as an unID on WBCQ, WORLD OF RADIO 1107; would Ralph admit to getting tipped this way? Joel would, implicitly (gh, DXLD) I can't hear anything on 1710 but I might guess Radio Moshiach (Messiah) & Redemption http://www.radiomoshiach.org which has previously been on 87.9 MHz. This is run by Lubavitcher Chassidim associated with chabad.org. (but not AFAIK official http://www.chabad.org ) They have a webcast so (remembering delays) it might be possible to verify from this. It should be fairly easy to distinguish between Yiddish and Hebrew as Yiddish is a Germanic language (on a base of a slightly lower [more northerly] dialect than official German). Yiddish is written in Hebrew letters but then Serbian and Russian are written in the Cyrillic alphabets of the Orthodox and Croatian (essentially the same as Serbian) and Polish in the Latin alphabet of the Catholics. Religious Yiddish would have a lot of Hebrew words and Hebrew spoken by a Yiddish speaker might have sounds more like Yiddish (an Eastern variation on Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation, Toyreh, Shab'bes, Ehmes --- truth --- note the broadcasting chain) rather Israeli Hebrew (a variation on Sephardic pronunciation Torah, Shabbat', Ehmet). Perhaps it's just a coincidence but a defunct Yiddish socialist/ anarchist/antireligious newspaper was called "Freie Arbeter Shtimme" using the Germanic for voice whereas the Yiddish program on WUNR near Boston is "Dos Yiddishe Kol", (yv.org) using the Hebrew "Kol" for voice. As in English, using words derived from one language rather than another can make for a subtle shade of meaning. Chassidim tend to talk a lot about "Der Rebbe" (long final "e") meaning the leader of their Chassidic movement. A specific Lubavitcher religious work is "Tanya". Some people within Lubavitcher Chassidism have been accused of a sort of new Christianity by making the late Rebbe out to be the Messiah (Joel Rubin, Queens, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. What were they smoking? A Texas Clear Channel radio station agreed to host a show on marijuana decriminalization. It's never made it on the air. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Daniel Forbes Nov. 26, 2001 | Rick D. Day, the executive director of Texas NORML, the marijuana rights group, swears he had no intention of lighting up a joint on his new radio show at KTRA-AM in Dallas/Ft. Worth. So it presumably wasn't concern over any on-site combustibles that caused the Clear Channel Communications station to walk away from the contract it signed with him.... http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/11/26/norml/index.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Article from yesterdays International Herald Tribune, discusses Fred Allen and radio from the depression, WW2 era, FYI: http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=40213 (Fred Waterer, Ont., Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Historic coast radio station to celebrate Marconi event: Stations KPH and K6KPH will be on the air December 12, 2001, to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first wireless signal to cross the Atlantic, received by Guglielmo Marconi on December 12, 1901, at Saint John's, Newfoundland. Both stations will use the original transmitters, receivers and antennas of KPH, a former RCA coast station. K6KPH, the Maritime Radio Historical Society club station, will be active on amateur frequencies 3545, 7050 and 14,050 kHz. K6KPH will begin operation at 1700 UTC. KPH will be active on commercial frequencies 500 and 426 kHz at a power output of 4.3 kW and using a Marconi T antenna. KPH will begin operations at 0000 (December 13) UTC. "Commercial practices and procedures will be used on all frequencies to give amateurs the experience of working a real coast station," said K6KPH Chief Operator Dick Dillman, W6AWO. "Traffic lists will be sent, and messages for stations that have worked us in the past and sent reception reports will be awaiting in the message rack." Former commercial operators from KPH, KFS and other coast stations will staff KPH and K6KPH. Amateurs and shortwave listeners are invited to contact or monitor KPH and K6KPH. Reception reports or QSLs go to Dick Dillman, W6AWO, 435 Utah St No. 4, San Francisco, CA 94110. KPH reception reports go to Tom Horsfall, WA6OPE, 1862 Tulare Ave, Richmond, CA 94805. More information is available on the Maritime Radio Historical Society Web site http://www.radiomarine.org (ARRL November 29 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. WINB test transmission on 9475 this morning around 0400 UT. My WINB QSL card is from 1972. Is this the same site? SIO was 222- 233, S5-7. 12 meter longwire, MLB, Lowe HF-150/AP-150/PR-150. 73 de (Kjell-Ingvar Karlsson, Upplands-Väsby, SWEDEN, Nov 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1107, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Only one site I know of (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Made a point of checking for the Jihad show on WWCR 12160, Thu Nov 29 at 2100 on 12160, but playing instead was ``Inspirations Across America`` (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U S A. Subject : "WKNM" 1570 Lowell, MA. Hi Gang, We've probably discussed before in passing a couple of folks who logged this "station" playing Portuguese Popular music and local advertisements. "WKNM" isn't licensed according to the FCC listings. I'm wondering what is the max power a flea-powered station can have without a license. Less than one watt, I'd imagine. Their antenna is mounted on top of what I estimate to be a 50 foot tower, the element is about five to ten feet long, maybe. Interesting to see this station to remain in operation for about three years now out of the same location. It's not that they bother WGSR's 10 kw NDA operation down this way [Jacksonville, FL]... and I'd seriously doubt that they'd do much damage to the 1570s in Massachusetts - WNSH and WPEP. Looks like someone's getting away with something. Again, I got photos of the sign outside the bldg, and also of the tower/antenna and the presumed owner's truck with Massachusetts WKNM vanity license tags. I can email them to whoever's interested. I didn't hang around for another aircheck since I still have the one recorded from 1998. Anyone know what this operation is about? (Ron Gitschier, Nov 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) Ron, For AM the power is limited to 100 mw input to the RF stage and the antenna cannot exceed 10 ft. Hobbyists running such stations in a beacon mode have been heard for hundreds of miles at night under just right conditions! {530-1700khz}. LOWFERS are long wave stations limited to 1 watt input to the RF stage and an antenna of no more than 50 feet. These too are heard hundreds of miles {160-190khz}. FM is limited more to field strength rather than power out per se. The Commission intends for a low power nonlicensed FM to fade out at a mile out from the antenna. {88.1-107.9 MHz}. There are a few other low power nonlicensed "things" out there...even shortwave. But I suspect "WKNM" is running much much more power (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering, WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo .., WCXL 104.1 Beach 104..., WQDK 99.3 Q-Country..., WWOC 94.5 WaterCountry 94.5..., Ray Communications Radio Network, Mid-Atlantic Engineering Services --- providing radio stations with engineering services in the middle eastern Atlantic area; Chief Engineer --- WRCS-AM 970 Ahoskie NC, WBXB-FM 100.1 Edenton NC, WURB-FM 97.7 Windsor NC, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Xband stations in Hartford CT Area. I heard Spanish language and or music on 1620, 1630 and 1640 on the car radio while in East Hartford CT this noon time. They were 3 different stations with 1630 being the weakest (Jim, K1YGG, Springfield, MA, Nov 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. RFA schedule in B-01, valid til Mar 30, 2002. RFA currently broadcasts 1100-0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming including Mandarin for 12 hours, Cantonese for two hours, Uighur for two hours, and Tibetan for eight hours. RFA uses IBB txs in HOL=Holzkirchen Germany, IRA=Iranawila Sri Lanka, SAI=Saipan & TIN=Tinian NoMariana Isls. And Merlin relays TWN=Taiwan and UAE=Al Dhabayya-UAE. Additional transmitter sites have been researched but deleted from this list upon request of RFA to suppress this info, to avoid pressure from China upon the host countries. Are we to assume that China has no way to find out this sensitive info except through DX publications? Thus American taxpayers paying for this enterprise are also denied the most basic info about it -[gh] RFA B-01 updated schedule of Nov 28th. 0000-0100 LAO 11830I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11535 11570 13710S 15155T 0100-0300 TIBETAN 7470 7560 9570H 11695UAE 15225T 17730 0100-0200 UIGHUR 7485 9365 9580UAE 9690UAE 15405T 17590T 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17515 17540 17720 21500T 21690UAE break 1100-1300 TIBETAN 7470 9365 11540 13625T 15435UAE 15185H-(from 1200) 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9775T 15555I 15695 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 11510 13725I 15395T 1300-1400 BURMESE 7550 9355 11795T 15250T 1300-1400 TIBETAN 7470 9365 11540 13625T 15185H 15435UAE 1400-1500 CANTONESE 11500 11950T 15260T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9365 9455S 9920 9930W 11535 11605TWN 11760T 13635P 15470T 1400-1500 KOREAN 5855 7475 12000T 13790T 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470 7495 9920 15385UAE 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11945T 13690T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1600-1700 UIGHUR 7515 7530 9595UAE 11955T 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540 9455S-(fr 1630) 9905P 11850T 11945T 13690T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9905P 11850T 11945T 13690T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 11790T 11945T 13690T 13745T 15510T 17615T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9875P 11790T 11945T 13625T 13690T 13745T 15510T 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9875P 9885T 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2100-2200 CANTONESE 9570S 11740T 11785T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7540 9875P 9885T 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9570S 9845P 11740T 11785T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9455T 11905T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 7185I 7530 9930P 15485T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11785T 13800T 15430T 15550T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 6010UAE 7415 7470 7550 9875H 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 7515 9490 9930P 11580 11605TWN 11670T 13720S (various sources, updated on Nov 28, 2001 by Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 3059.98, YVNP --- Radio San Felipe (2 x 1530 harmonic), 1013 Nov 26, Venezuelan anthem then sign-on ID at 1017. Good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @ 180 degrees, "LA-DX" at http://sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7070.6, Nov 23 1502-1513*, 34333, Arabic Talk. 1513 s/off (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, NRD525+RD9830, NRD515, FRG- 7, 35m LW, Japan Premium via DXLD) ###