DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-08, January 19, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages} ** ARMENIA. New schedule for V. of Armenia in English: 0940-1000 Sunday on 15240; 1850-1900 daily on 234 and 1395 kHz; 2055-2115 Mon- Sat on 4810, 9965 (Edwin Southwell, England, Jan 2, [delayed receipt of fax], DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BERMUDA. I haven't heard "The Herb Show" mentioned yet on the group, so I thought I'd do it myself -- it's a nice thing to listen to, one man using his radio to help others. The numbers: It starts at 2000 UTC every day on 12359 kHz, a marine simplex frequency, and sailboats anywhere in the Atlantic region check in with Herb for their free weather reports and forecasts. Herb -- aboard "Southbound II" moored at Bermuda, I believe -- has been providing this service free-of-charge to the cruising community for quite a few years now, and it's nice to listen to him hold court every day. He does accept donations but doesn't ask for them--the cruising crowd is reasonably well-off and some of them must kick in something now and then. Check it out someday, as it's really pleasant to listen to the sailboats and Herb go about their business. The sailboats generally check in a little bit before 2000 so Herb has a chance to log them in and then call them when he's got the antenna pointed in the region they're sailing in. (Donald Reeve, rec.radio.shortwave via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn! The STARF strike [at RCI, CBC] is still going on. So are the negotiations...they took the weekend off, since the mediator appointed in the case (a) had some other commitments and (b) needed time to look over the dossiers in the case. As of what I've heard so far, they're still talking, but haven't come to any agreements. I'll keep you posted. BTW, I should point out an error in DXLD 00-05, concerning Ricky Leong, who doesn't live in Nova Scotia. His e-mail address fooled me, too; the first time he e-mailed "International Radio Report," I asked in my reply how he came to find out about us in NS. Actually, he lives in Brossard, Quebec...one of the South Shore suburbs of Montreal. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, Jan 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mr. Hauser: I have a very misleading e-mail address that would have led you to believe that I am in Nova Scotia [has ns. in it]. I wish I were there, but I'm actually from Brossard, south of Montreal. In fact, this is where the CBC has its transmission towers; I can see them quite clearly from my house. Just wanted to clear things up. There's not much I can do about my domain to make it less confusing! Thanks Ricky Leong, MONTREAL!, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Following up the previous story about the CTV anchor who got fired for a few remarks in take one, she herself writes this story: Marv Albert has a job. I don't http://www.nationalpost.com/network.asp?f=000119/180955 (via Ivan Grishin, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI was back on 6975 Tuesday evening, UT Wednesday. COM 00-01 has not yet started but surely will on Friday Jan 21 at 1900 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DW on extended sked in English on 6140; previously had German at 1330-1600, but English programming observed at this time (Edwin Southwell, England, Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As previously reported, DW now has continuous 24h English on satellite; this was the last gap to be filled in, and 6140 is on for very long hours before and after it (Hauser, DXLD) ** INDIA. Hi Mahendra! Happy Y2K. I just saw your notes in Hauser's DXLD re Indian stations on the Web. On our local public TV station for New Jersey, tonight the news team did a lengthy feature on a new Indian FM radio station in Metuchen, NJ, WCNJ, broadcasting 24/7 on 89.3 MHz and via the Web. The story suggests this new operation is very, very popular. The URL is http://www.ebcradio.com/. Hope this helps. Regards, (Tom Sundstrom cc, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last night they had a little blurb about WCNJ on the NJN (PBS) news. http://www.ebcradio.com/ They're supposed to be streaming with Webradio.com but I get a "no broadcast" error right now. Supposedly, their most popular music is Bollywood (Indian film music). They have two frequencies in the FM educational ghetto and say they are licensed to Metuchen, NJ which is maybe 15 miles of the south tip of Staten Island but I don't think I can get them here in Queens. (Joel Rubin, NY, Jan 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12084.8, Voice of Mongolia; Ulaanbaatar, Jan. 18, 1204- 1224, Female speaker with news in English. At 1215 Mongolian ballad, at 1219 followed by ID: "Welcome back to the Voice of Mongolia". Them mailbag program. Nasty hum in audio. 34433 (Mark Veldhuis, Netherlands, hard-core-dx via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. XZ0A DXPEDITION TO MYANMAR. This major DXpedition is now very active on all bands. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the press release as additional bulletins [see below]. Activity is scheduled to last until February 6th. Just a couple of points to note. There are no plans to have on-line checking for the XZ0A operation. The QSL Manager W1XT has no logs, so please don't ask him to verify your QSO. AS PER A PRESS RELEASE by Dick, N6FF, "If you have any doubt of a good QSO, please work them again to be certain. The operators will not get upset with a dupe QSO." Bob, W1XT, has posted a Web page about the QSLing for XZ0A. It is located at: http://www.superphoenix.com/xz0a-qsl.htm It gives the current QSL address and details of the XZ0A operation as it applies to QSLs. Additional details can be found on the DXpedition web site at: http://www.getnet.com/~k7wx/myanmar.htm (KB8NW/OPDX/ BARF80 January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. XZ0A Press Release (Ongoing Press Releases, direct from the XZ0A Team, will be available throughout the DXpedition at http://www.getnet.com/~k7wx/flash.htm) 14 JAN 00. Thahtay Kyun Island, UNION OF MYANMAR. The XZ0A team arrived on the island several days ago. The low band antennas are currently being assembled from the equivalent of Rohn 25 tower sections and should be complete within the next 48 hours. These will consist of a full size 80-meter four square, a full size 40-meter four square and a full size elevated feedpoint 1/4 wavelength transmitting tower for 160-meters. Much of the antenna work is being carried out with the assistance of HS0/G3NOM and members of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand. This is an enormous project with the top band transmitting tower expected to be over 180-feet high when assembled and tuned. A full complement of LF beverages will be used for receiving. Throughout the operation our HF operators have been instructed to pay special attention to areas where propagation may be quite limited, such as the East coast of North America and much of South America. The continued patience of DX operators in Europe and Japan during these special times is greatly appreciated. All observations (positive and negative) are welcome and may be forwarded to us through our pilot stations vie e-mail. Special insights into regional propagation is the most helpful type of information. Pilot stations: West Coast North America Dick Wolf, N6FF, n6ff@tco.net East Coast North America Richard Briggs, WA7MTF/8, wa7mtf@intrepid.net Yesterday the RSGB assigned Thahtay Kyun Island the IOTA designation AS-144. Additional details can be found on the DXpedition web site at: wa7mtf@intrepid.net The members of the XZ0A DXpedition look forward to working you from "The Golden Land." 73 de Warren, K7WX ("Steve," N7TX@chevytruck.com via KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Glenn, I have to disassociate myself from your unwarranted comment about RNZI in DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-05, January 16. At the end of my New Zealand report you said: "They seem to have continuing problems remembering that UT conversion differs depending on whether NZ is on DST". The phenomenon of RNZI broadcasting on new freq 17690 kHz beyond advertised & announced 1005 UT, to 1100 UT and further, is probably more interesting than you would have us believe. Here are my latest observations about the service: 1. Closedown, days & times UT: -Sunday 16 Jan 1109 -Monday 17 Jan 1105 -Tuesday 18 Jan 1209 [No typo, 1209]. 2. Programmes after advertised close-time of 1005 UT are taped repeats, but not all? There is some live news. Examples: Monday at 17 mins to 0900 UT I heard Alistair Cooke's 'Letter From America' and repeat of same some two hours later. Today, Tuesday, I heard [three times] an item on special equipment being installed in NZ school playgrounds which incorporates astronomical info, meridian markers, etc. That was included in 'Late Edition' and repeats, to the best of my knowledge. Nevertheless, RNZI's news bulletin at 1200 UT Tuesday 18 Jan was live, as lady reader mentioned that it was "one o'clock". That would be one o'clock on Wed morning 19 Jan NZ DST from my perspective. Glenn, the following dated 18 Jan, received by me from Adrian Sainsbury RNZI Tech Manager, should explain once and for all the exact reasons for RNZI's recent extended broadcast times and late closedowns on 17690 kHz. "Hello Finbarr, RNZI has been carrying out unscheduled test transmissions for the past few weeks. We have extended our transmission by 2 hours for the benefit of NZ Peace keeping Troops based in Bougainville and East Timor. This exercise is to evaluate whether the signal from NZ is reliable and of value to Kiwis on tour duty in the region. The NZ forces have requested end of day NZ News programmes to keep in touch with what is happening at home. The 2 hour extension is repeats of programmes broadcast earlier. Late Edition first broadcast 10-11 UT is too early for Timor [5 pm Timor time] so we repeat it at 11 UT - 12. Recorded announcements saying who the transmission is for will appear from today or tomorrow. We will also put up information about this additional broadcast on the Web in due course. -Adrian." Glenn, RNZI website http://www.rnzi.com/ has been updated as of 18 Jan. The pages 'How To Listen' and 'What's New' both contain this wording: "New Transmission 1005-1205 UTC. We have extended our transmission on 17690 kHz by 2 hours for the benefit of NZ Peace keeping Troops based in Bougainville and East Timor. The NZ Military have requested News and Current Affairs programmes to keep in touch with what is happening at home. The 2 hour extension contains programmes broadcast earlier. Late Edition first broadcast 09-10 UT is repeated from 11 - 12 UT." No more to be said on the matter... (Finbarr O'Driscoll, Ireland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. Somalia: Pro-Aydid radio resumes broadcasting The pro- Husayn Muhammad Aydid station, Radio Mogadishu, Voice of the People of the Somali Republic, which has been off the air since 26th July 1999, was observed on 16th January broadcasting on 6750 kHz. According to a report in the Somali newspaper `Xog-Ogaal' on 16th January, the radio resumed broadcasts after undergoing refurbishment. The following programming was observed [all times gmt]: 1500 - Sign on. Programme in Somali; 1700 - News bulletin in Somali. 1800 - Somali language programme ends. 1801 - English broadcast; 1815 - Arabic broadcast; 1830 - Amharic broadcast; 1900 - Sign off. During the one-hour broadcast in foreign languages, the radio carried music instead of news bulletins. Sources: Monitoring research 16 Jan 00; Radio Mogadishu, Voice of the People of the Somali Republic in Somali 1700 gmt 16 Jan 00 ((C) BBC Monitoring, excerpted by Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. [Re: DXLD 00-05 and GH DX 99-83] Helms’ 104.1 item was about Berkeley Liberation Radio, perhaps a different station from Free Radio Berkeley referred to by Rubin (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Berkeley Liberation Radio (believed 94.5) back on air, 38 watts, 15m antenna, heard from north Oakland to the Berkeley Hills and El Cerrito, ``an incarnation of Free Radio Berkeley, which shut down in 1998 under federal threats of arrest and seizure.`` FCC agents have visited twice and issued an order to cease operations, ``which the unconcerned pirates have proudly hung on their wall. Activities of this kind make us wonder how FCC Chairman Kennard imagines that his agency could police hundreds of new LPFM licensees and continue to shut down pirate broadcasters,`` mused the NAB (January FMedia via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, on an old Savvy Traveler tape, I heard a native, or at least resident of SF pronouncing Ghirardelli with a soft G, so it is done, despite the disapproval of Joel Rubin and myself. Also, the second R tends to get lost (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn: Here is description of VOA's new "Our World" program, to be presented by Rob Sivak (formerly of "Agriculture Today"): -- As the former host of the "Agriculture Today" (1991-98), I've been asked to produce and host a 26-minute science & technology program each Saturday that we're calling "Our World." In a nutshell, "Our World" will explore human technologies and the natural universe. That means basic and applied sciences of every stripe, from space and engineering to medicine and agriculture, and it means environmental issues, from soil and water conservation and biodiversity protection to pollution control and global climate change. --- This will begin February 5, and will be heard Saturdays at 0332, 0732, 1132, 1532, 1932, and 2332 UTC. The news on the half hour will end sometime between 32:20 and 32:40, and "Our World" will follow. 73 (Kim Elliott, VOA, Jan 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###