DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-072, June 23, 2008 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.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. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2008 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html 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 NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1413 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 0530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AUSTRALIA. Walt, I have listened for audio on 2368.5 most mornings, no carriers heard. The other Australian stations on the Tropical band have been heard here during this time. Listening time has been from 0700-1230 UT (Dennis Vroomski, Salmon Creek, WA, June 21, IRCA via DXLD) 2368.5 kHz. Part of the very old Police Band. Very few stations -- even in the tropics (Mike McKenna, ibid.) Mike, I've been hoping that the 2368.5 transmitter propagates here, but so far, there's been one report from Finland, but that's about it. The 120 meter Australians (2310, 2325 and 2485) are being heard very well, but then again, they are 50 kW, while 2368.5 is only 1. Still, should propagate here (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, ibid.) So, Aussies, has R. Symban really stayed on the air 24/7? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) David Isele, VK6DI, in eastern [sic] Australia is on ndblist. I asked him to check for the 2368.5 station. He reported that while he got S9+ levels on the regular 50 kW AUS stations, there was no sign, not even a faint trace on his SDR waterfall display, on a check several hours past his sunset. He doesn't think the station is currently on the air (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, June 22, IRCA via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. ORF CHAIR: MW AND SW WILL BE AXED It appears that ORF has already concluded the Überprüfung of its mediumwave and shortwave services. Chairman Alexander Wrabetz said in a newspaper interview, published June 20: "We will save 50 million Euro. Everybody will contribute to that sum, that's all I will say about it. Many individual measures are necessary. We will also do without certain things. We can do without mediumwave. Some special radio programmes, like student [or schoolboys/schoolgirls] radio, can be transferred into the internet. We also want to transfer shortwave step-by-step into the internet definitely." http://diepresse.com/home/kultur/medien/392705/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/kultur/index.do What I find revealing is how much of a stereotype these statements are. "Transferring shortwave into the internet" --- what is the meaning of that phrase? Putting the few special programs still produced for shortwave into the Ö1 podcasting service as well? Note also how he gives away the fact of the planned MW and SW closure but does explicitly hide the plans for other cuts they obviously already made as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA [non]. Re 8-071: Unfortunately here in Denmark the Vatican Radio is blocking the frequency 4005. At 2300-2330* it has Italian, then one hour with their open carrier QSA 5, and then from *0030 program in Portuguese (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 28 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4795.02, 0020-0035 15.06, R. Mallku, Uyuni (tentative) Spanish talk, music 15222 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX-Camp, Denmark, AOR AR7030plus with 40 metres longwire with remarkable noisefree conditions, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) This one has not been reported in quite a while; Aoki has it on 4796. See also Kyrgyzia (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6155.2, RADIO FIDES. La Paz. 2244-2302 junio 14. Anuncios de Fundación Cinemateca Boliviana y Biblioteca de Radio Fides. "...Radio Fides tu radio, en 760 amplitud modulada y 101.3 frecuencia modulada..." Luego de las 2300 bloqueada totalmente la señal de la anticastrista Radio República (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C., COLOMBIA, SONY ICF 2010, JRC 525, WINRADIO G303I, Hilos de varias longitudes, Conexión Digital June 22 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 2379.85 tentative, Brasil, Rádio Educadora, Limeira, 1000 to 1020 OM in Portuguese, threshold, fading out, 19 and 20 June; not noted 2300 to 0100. 73s, (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, US, June 21, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5955, R. Gazeta, São Paulo, SP, 1032+, June 16, Portuguese, national news (headlines), 23332. 5980, R. Guarujá, Florianópolis, SC, 1012-1015, June 16, Portuguese, "Hora Boa da Guarujá", micro: "Noticiário policial da Rádio", local ads, 43433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980.57, Rádio Guarujá, Florianópolis SC, 21/6 2231 male talks in Portuguese about the Nacional de Brasil, fair, 33222. 6039.67, Rádio Club Paranaense, Curitiba, 21/6 2306, male talks in Portuguese about Brazil, noisy and CW QRM, 32222 (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Perseus MFJ 1026 - MFJ 1020C and diff. antennas Proff. dbx 1215, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA [and non]. BRITISH DETECTIVES HUNT COLD WAR KILLER WHO USED POISON-TIPPED UMBRELLA AS MURDER WEAPON === Friday, June 20, 2008 LONDON — British detectives are back on the trail of a Cold War-era killer who used a poison-tipped umbrella to slay a communist defector. British detectives acknowledged Friday that they had questioned suspects in the 1978 death of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. The playwright and broadcaster was a stern critic of his country's communist regime in reports for the British Broadcasting Corp. and Radio Free Europe. Markov was jabbed in the thigh with an umbrella tip as he waited for a bus on London's Waterloo Bridge. He developed a fever and died three days later. British government scientists later discovered the umbrella had been used to inject a pinhead-sized pellet of the poison ricin into Markov's leg. Though no one has ever been charged with the killing, many suspected the KGB and Bulgarian secret police of involvement. KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky has previously said Russian authorities offered help to Bulgaria for the murder plot. The case remained one of the most remarkable espionage-related deaths in London until the killing of ex-Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006. Litvinenko, a fierce Kremlin critic, died after he ingested the radioactive element, polonium-210, most likely from a cup of tea laced with the poison. Police in London said the Markov case has never been closed, and that officers are following up a raft of new leads. A small team of officers from London's Metropolitan Police went to Bulgaria in May in connection with the inquiry into Markov's death, a police spokeswoman said Friday on condition of anonymity in line with police department policy. She said the inquiry remains open and has been a particularly complex investigation. Officers also visited Bulgaria in March and in April last year to review files and request access to witnesses, including Communist-era secret police officers. Though Markov's killer has never been charged, Vladimir Todorov, a former intelligence chief, was jailed in Bulgaria in 1992 on charges of destroying files related to the case. Andrei Tsvetanov, the Bulgarian investigator in charge of the case was quoted by Bulgaria's Dnevnik daily as saying, "We are offering our full cooperation to our British colleagues and I can assure that now we have a 100 percent exchange of information on both sides — something we lacked so far." (AP via Fox News via Bruce MacGibbon, DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Last June in DXLD there were items on the never-completed superpower 1125 kHz MW transmitter site for V. of Russia. Follow-up: 1125 kHz planned 1000 kW V of Russia relay site at Cape Kaliakra, towards Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, 170 degrees, +/-20 degrees. G.C. 43 23'10.04"N 28 25'30.30"E Daytime towards East on Black Sea only, but nighttime space wave pattern and fading zone also. Nighttime coverage main lobe is at approx. 170 degrees towards Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus. Max. target at up to 2200 kilometers/1350 miles level towards maximum Aswan-Nile (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, June 22, 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. SCServices, etc.: ON, Toronto, CFNY, 102.1 daggerC (from daggerU), a relay, surprisingly enough, of KJMJ 580 AM Alexandria LA. Maybe it`s on for the engineer`s amusement (June FMedia via DXLD) daggerC means relaying a station; daggerU means tones or warbles fulltime. Does not specify which subcarrier frequency this refer to (FM Atlas XX via DXLD) ** CHAD. 7120, RNT, *0453-0505, June 20, Presumed. Abruptly on with African music. Very strong but distorted at sign on covering co- channel BBC but after several minutes signal dropped down to a very weak level under the BBC. 7120, RNT, 2130-2221*, June 20, local African music. French talk. Sign off with National Anthem. Poor. Mixing with unidentified co-channel station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7120, RNT, 0439-0510, June 22, on the air at approximately 0439 with African music. French talk. Weak under the BBC at 0439, but by 0450 both Chad & the BBC were in at equal levels (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So they are not using 4905 at all currently? (gh) ** CHINA. RE: DXLD 8-071 UNID: 6042.97v, believe my UNID to be PBS Yunnan, heard 1234-1248, June 21, best in LSB, sounded like Vietnamese (which is scheduled for this time period), clearly // 6035 (best in USB to get away from 6030 QRM), both poor to fair, playing SE Asia ballads (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is probably a spurious signal from Yunnan 6035 kHz, there should be another symmetric one on 6027 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) See also UNIDENTIFIED 6043 ** CHINA. 10000, BPM, 1259 Jun 20. Ten "BPM" CW ID's noted from 1259:00 to 1259:40. Not very strong so not sure if voice IDs followed. Fair at best under WWV (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R- 8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. UNCENSORED TV SERVICE TO CHINA SHUT OFF On Monday, June 16th, at approximately 6:30 pm US EDT [2230 UT], New Tang Dynasty Television’s (NTDTV) satellite broadcast covering Asia suddenly stopped after more than four years on air. Eutelsat Communications, the satellite operator, said that its W5 satellite had experienced “an anomaly to part of its power generator subsystem” and it had “reduced by a small number the operating transponders on the satellite” in collaboration with the satellite’s manufacturer, Thales Alenia Space. Zhong Lee, President of NDTV says “One week has passed, NTDTV’s signal remains dark across Asia, and we still do not know what caused the anomaly, why NTDTV’s service was shut off, and when it will be restored. Under normal commercial practice, if a transponder goes down then the satellite company responsible rapidly assures alternative service for its channels. This is an urgent matter of highest importance to NTDTV and to our viewers who depend on us for uncensored news and information in Mainland China.” Zhong Lee concluded: “The harm this interruption has caused to NTDTV and our audience must end. We will spare no effort to obtain a full accounting of the situation and to restore NTDTV’s open satellite broadcast over Asia as soon as possible.” (Source: NTDTV) (June 23rd, 2008 - 16:18 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 6210, R. Kahuzi, Bukavu, *1700-2005*, Apr 25 and May 09, French religious program with prayer and religious choir, clear ID's, from *1927 strong splatter from Iran on 6205. Not active every day! At best: 25332 (Roland Schulze, Stuttgart, Germany, DSWCI DX Window May 28 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. via South Africa, 11690.05, Radio Okapi, 0550- 0600*, June 22, French talk. Local pop/rap music. IDs. Poor in noise. Surprised they were slightly off frequency (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. 6165, Croatian Radio, 0600-0608, June 20, 3 minutes of English news to 0603. IDs. Instrumental music at 0603. Croatian talk at 0606. Weak. Much stronger on // 9470, 11690 - via Germany (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. CLANDESTINE, Radio República, 6100, noted June 21 at good level 0340 UT tune-in until 0400 sign off; rapid-fire Spanish talk until 0359, then ID by man over piano music background and carrier promptly off. Two interesting aspects: 1) audio was very muffled and "telephonic," making it very difficult to understand, and 2) absolutely no trace of any jamming after carrier was off --- maybe GH's observations about wasteful Cuban jamming on empty frequencies are being taken to heart in Havana? ;-) (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think that's new? All Radio República transmissions I earlier heard (with Rampisham being the suspected origin, perhaps that's of importance here) had good audio, away from the circumstance that the stuff was often overproduced with lots of effects (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Could be just that they had a breakdown in their usual feed route to Rampisham and had to phone it in as backup (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Radio República on 5940 and 6135 at 2200 sign-on. Both very strong in France (Jean-Michel Aubier, June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx to a tip from Jean-Michel Aubier in France, that R. República was on both 6135 and 5940 from *2200 June 21, I rushed to check out new 5940 at 2355 UT. Yes, still on then and beneath heavy jamming on both; as far as I could tell the two were // and synchronized, which has not been the case when RR was running from both DTK and VTC facilities in Europe. Therefore, I suspect new 5940 is also coming from Rampisham, as RR steps up its output to dilute the effectiveness of the DentroCuban Jamming Command. At 2359 there was ``Atención``, presumably a frequency change announcement, but could not copy it due to jamming. Both 5940 and 6135 went off at exactly 0000, and by the time I had retuned one receiver to 6155, it was already going there as per usual schedule. Then I looked around for a successor to 5940, but none found on 49 or 41m; altho jamming against nothing was then found on 5890, and it diminished in level by 0005. Also heavier jamming on 9885, both of which point to VOA Spanish target --- except neither starts until 0030, and with non-Cuban programming at the outset. Heavy splatter from WWCR/DGS 5935 started at 0000, but as far as I could tell the jamming was no longer on 5940. The previous addition to RR was 5955 but nothing on there at this hour; it had been observed May 22 at 0100-0200 Tue-Sat via Nauen (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. LOS PRIMEROS OYENTES TUVIERON QUE ABRIRSE CAMINO A TRAVÉS DE UNA TUPIDA SELVA BUROCRÁTICA --- [21-06-2008 00:49 UTC] Por Eva Manethová Las emisiones regulares de radio se iniciaron en Checoslovaquia el 18 de mayo de 1923. La estación Radiojournal fue la segunda de Europa, después de la BBC, en difundir diariamente sus programas. Su audiencia fue al principio muy escasa porque obtener el permiso para escuchar la radio era más difícil que conseguir de las autoridades una licencia para portar armas. Las autoridades checoslovacas consideraban la radiotelefonía como una esfera de interés estatal y vigilaban rigurosamente a todas las personas que se interesasen por la transmisión inalámbrica de la voz. La radio era sencillamente un medio de comunicación estratégico desde el punto de vista militar. Antes de que empezase a transmitir diariamente la estación Radiojournal en mayo de 1923, en el éter ya sonaron voces de militares checoslovacos en emisiones experimentales. . . [much more] http://www.radio.cz/es/edicion/105184 (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4909.2, RADIO CHASKIS DEL NORTE. Otavalo. 0034-0050 junio 15. Bella música popular del Ecuador en el programa: Ecuatorianísimas. "...desde Ecaudor, provincia de Imbabura, Otavalo para todo el territorio ecuatoriano, más música a través de Chaskis del Norte, tu radio amiga..." invitan a ponerse en contacto con la emsiora a través del correo electrónico radiochaskis @ hotmail.com o al teléfono 062 920922 (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C., COLOMBIA, SONY ICF 2010, JRC 525, WINRADIO G303I, Hilos de varias longitudes, Conexión Digital June 22 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is really in a rut, a captive of its unsupervised automation system. As I previously noted a few years before, when the Spanish service on 9745 signs off, this still happens: June 21 at 0501 Ecuadorian national anthem in progress, ending at 0503. Time to turn off the transmitter, right? Wrong. After a few seconds pause, starts playing an Andean music piece for about 70 seconds, and THEN the transmitter cuts off while that music is still playing. Could be a studio silence-sensor kicks in with such fill music instead of realizing it is time to quit, and a separate timer on the transmitter is set to turn off one minute too late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. Besides WORLD OF RADIO, Fridays at 1930-2000, IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA via Slovakia 7290 has added HCJB DX Partyline, Saturdays at 1845-1900 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see ITALY ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, Radio Nacional-Malabo, 0502-0545, June 20, Afro-pop music. Spanish talk. Euro-pop ballads. “Radio Malabo” IDs. Weak at tune-in but quickly improved to a good level by 0508 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUINEA ECUATORIAL, 6250, Radio Nacional, Malabo, 0535-0547, 21-06, canciones africanas, identificación por locutor "Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial". 24322. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, escucha realizada en casco urbano de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, Radio Ethiopia, 0325-0345, June 20, Amharic talk. Horn of Africa music. Talk with short breaks of techno music. Fair. // 5990-weak. // 9704.18-fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Russia --- EOTC HOLY SYNOD RADIO, Samara, 17875 kHz: il rapporto con CD MP3 inviato all'indirizzo P. O. Box 7097 - Los Angeles CA 9007 (USA) (WRTH 2008/sito web della stazione) è tornato indietro (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 17875, R. Freedom, Jun 10 *1400-1404, 35433-32332, Somali, 1400 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening announce, Kor`an, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) a.k.a. R. Xoriyo, or as EiBi puts it, R. Huriyo Ogadenia, Tue and Sat only (gh) ** FRANCE [non]. ``RFI Musique`` with nice eclectic selection, some in French, English, Mideastern, on 15515, Sunday June 22 from 1235 tune- in, pause for timesignal at 1300, more music. Don`t know how long past 1300 it lasted, but gone when rechecked some time after 1330. Music was not announced, just canned IDs at least in English, French and Spanish. Per all online schedules, this frequency is supposed to be on only at 1200-1230 in Spanish, daily, via Guiana French, 250 kW at 270 degrees to CAm. This seems like the fill music RFI typically runs during strikes; there was one last week, supposed to last only one or two days. Is it still going? But why would they add this extra transmission, anyway? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 9655, Voice of Gospel, via DTK, *1830-1858*, June 20, IS & opening announcements. Vernacular talk with short breaks of African music. S/off with IS. Poor to fair with noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the same one previously filed as CAMEROON [non], in Fulfulde (gh) Germania --- THE LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION, Wertachtal, 9655 kHz, Lettera QSL in 17 giorni. No RP. QTH: 150, Route de Feney - CH-1211 Ginevra 2 (Svizzera). V/s: Jukka Latva-Hakuni jukka.latva- hakuni @ mission.fi oppure jukka.latva-hakuni @ netikka.fi - Media Consultant (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Cross mixture on Woofferton this morning, June 21. OM Erich Bergmann from Germany logged the DWL Russian service of nominal registered 5910 kHz on 6075 instead, this morning at 0500 UT, mixture with German language sce which originate as common network from Sines Portugal. So, I guess German service was fired up on 5910 kHz instead. 6075 0400-0559 27,28,37 WOF 300 140 GERMAN G DWL DWL 6075 0430-0600 18,19,27-29 SIN 250 40 GERMAN POR DWL DWL 5910 0400-0530 28E,29,30W WOF 300 75 RUSSIAN G DWL DWL wb (Wolfgang Büschel, June 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Delhi (Khampur) 250 kW from tune in around 1330 today 22.6.08 on 6065 instead of 6165. Sked is still 1545 UT // 9620 11585. Same punching error noted in the recent past also. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India http://www.niar.org dx_india yg via DXLD) Thanks Jose. As per HPT control room guy, they are transmitting on 6165 and this was confirmed by their listening center. But actually they are on 6065 as I monitored. My QTH is just 3 miles from HPT (C. K. Raman, ibid.) ** INDIA. 9470, AIR Aligarh, 2220-2245, May 25, English news to 2230, then news in Hindi. Hindi music from 2240. 9425 was not audible; however it was heard the following day with strong echo the first 4 minutes, the same as the case for 9470 kHz. 34333 (Kaj Bredahl Jorgensen, Greve, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 11 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya (presumed), 1241-1316, June 20 & 21, both days had programs of indigenous music and chanting/singing, fair. Both days briefly heard a very faint station under RRI after 1300, which I assume might be Radio Bougainville/Radio Buka, with what sounded like the news in English (NBC?) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 100.7 MHz, Multilingual service for Tehran city. The schedule in WRTH 2008 is not correct. Although I could not monitor all transmissions, I could confirm the following; -1435- Chinese, -1640- English, 1700-1730 Japanese, 1800- German (Satosohi Wakisaka, Osaka, Japan, visiting Tehran, Iran, DSWCI DX Window May 28 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. RTÉ DIGITAL RADIO AVAILABLE ONLINE --- RTÉ 23 June 2008 http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0623/digitalradio.html RTÉ has made its trial digital radio stations available to listen to nationwide on the RTÉ website at www.rte.ie/radio. Digital radio has been on trial since March 2007 in the Greater Dublin and North East coast area. It has also been on trial in Cork and Limerick since last March. Now digital radio will be made available to the rest of the country though the RTÉ website. The benefits of digital radio are more stations, more choice and more content for listeners. Digital also means a clearer sound and some radios have a pause, rewind and record function. Currently RTÉ is testing new content and programming for digital radio, and content may change and develop over the coming months before the final services are launched later this year. RTÉ's digital radio will be on trial until November this year and the broadcaster expects to further expand its digital radio network during 2009. Electrical retailers in Dublin, Cork and Limerick are already stocking a wide range of digital radios (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ITALY. Re 8-071: ``26000, R. Maria, Andrate, 1359-1630, 12 Jun, children's quiz, phone-ins, Heidi songs, etc., rosary heard later; 25443; audible as early as 0930 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) By Sporadic E, no doubt. And evidently STILL not in DRM, its original raison d`être. Anyhow SWBC LIVES within Italy! (gh, DXLD)`` In simulcast since June 11: AM 26000, DRM 26010. RMS 250 W, antenna 5/8 WL (Roberto Scagione, Sicily, June 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM/AM simulcast is hardly ever done; how does this work? Is it a single transmitter or really two on adjacent frequencies? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Dear Glenn, Good reception here in Halmstad, SW Sweden, of the WORLD OF RADIO show at 1930 UT on IRRS 7290 kHz on Friday June 20. I'm really pleased to have your show on a European station. Kind regards (Christer Brunström, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ECUADOR [non] 7290, 20.6 1930, IRRS med Glenn Hausers "World of Radio", kanske det bästa DX-programmet för närvarande. Kommer att sändas varje fredag vid denna tid. 4 CB 7290, 21.6 1845, IRRS med DX Partyline. Det programmet skall nu sändas varje lördag vid denna tid. Vi får hoppas att Europas DXare upptäcker dessa sändningar och sedan kontaktar IRRS (reports at nexus.org). 4 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) 7290, 20.6 1930, IRRS with Glenn Hauser's "World of Radio", maybe the best DX-program on air at present. Will be on air every Friday at this time. O=4. 7290, 21.6 1845, IRRS with DX Partyline. This program will be on air every Saturday at this time. We hope that the DX-ers in Europe will discover those programs and will contact IRRS (reports at nexus.org). O=4 (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) CB is also a contributor to DXPL (gh, DXLD) NEW DX AND COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS ON IRRS-SHORTWAVE Dear listeners, Just a short message to inform you that we recently added new programs to our Shortwave and Internet streaming schedule devoted to shortwave listening and communication, as follows: - DX Party line, produced by Allen Graham at HCJB, the Voice of the Andes in Quito, Ecuador, aired via IRRS-Shortwave every Saturday evening at 20:45-21:00 CET (1845-1900 UT, summer) on 7290 kHz, and: - World Of Radio, by Glen[n] Hauser, aired every Friday at 21:30-22:00 CEST (1930-2000 UT, summer) on 7290 kHz. Both programs are now aired on behalf of IPAR (International Public Access Radio) via our new 150 kW antenna beam to Europe, Middle East and Africa. We welcome comments and reception reports, that we will gladly forward to the producers of the above programs for verification. Please email: reports (at) nexus (dot) org. Our latest frequency and program schedules are available online at : http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/ Stay tuned! 73s, (Ron Norton, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association, http://www.nexus.org June 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [and non]. INDIA MAY BLOCK RADIO PAKISTAN IN IHK http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/June08/21/10.htm ISLAMABAD: The Government of India is contemplating blocking signals of Pakistan-and-Muzaffarabad-based radio stations beaming into the Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). The Indian government has already banned Pakistani television channels in the IHK. IHK authorities told reporters that the Indian Ministry of Defence has directed the All India Radio (AIR) to ensure blocking Pakistani radio waves into the region, Kashmir Media Service (KMS) reported. "A five member team of top AIR and intelligence officials landed in Poonch and Rajouri last week," the authorities said, adding that, "They had arrived with the intention of locating nine points near LoC where they could install towers disrupting the Pakistani radio signals." Rajouri District Development Commissioner Rafiq Sheikh confirmed that the team´s visit for inspection. "The team had come to carry out an inspection to install AIR towers along LoC," Khan said. Experts have said that if the Indian government installs the towers, it would disrupt the signals of BBC, Voice of America and Voice of Germany. app Courtesy DailyTimes (via Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DXLD) Very similar story to longer one in 8-071, but it does not use ``IHK`` term (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. 11709.95v, Voice of Korea, *1000-1010, June 21, IS, IDs & National Anthem. English opening announcements at 1002 and local music. English news at 1006. Poor to fair. Weak // 11735.02, 15180.12 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Russia --- VOICE OF WILDERNESS, Irkutsk, 11640 kHz, Lettera QSL e depliant in 20 giorni. No RP. Rapporto con CD MP3 inviato a: Cornerstone Ministries International - P. O. Box 4002 - Tustin CA 92781-4002 (USA). V/s: Michael Jeter (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. IRAQ. 6335, Voice of Kurdistan, Salah al-Din, -1900*, May 17, nice Kurdish music, good (Satosohi Wakisaka, Osaka, Japan, visiting Tehran, Iran, DSWCI DX Window May 28 via DXLD) 6335, 15.6 1825, R Kurdistan med inhemsk musik och prat på kurdiska. 1859 ID på engelska till Q 4. Jag har försökt höra den ett antal gånger i Saxtorp men misslyckas. Sänder de ej på lördagar. DO 6335, 15.6 1825, R. Kurdistan in native language and talk in Kurdish. 1859 ID in English at Q 4. I have tried to log this one in Saxtorp several times but no sign of this station. Do they transmit on Saturdays? (Dan Olsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZIA. 4795 2305-2315 KGZ 16.06 Kyrgyz R, Krasnaya Rechka, Bishkek Russian ann, Russian folksongs 45433 heard // 4010 (44444 QRM Vatican) (Anker Petersen, summer cottage in Vejers Strand on the west coast of Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with a new 100 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong World Christian Radio, presumed, Saturday June 21 at 1406 on WHRI 11785, playing the same rustic singing with frogs(?) chirping in background that we also hear on Hmong Lao Radio during the previous hour. Makes one wonder just how closely related these two programs are (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 9290, Latvia Today, 1014, June 21, only a threshold signal heard here. Too weak to copy any details (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. BRI special broadcast --- Britain Radio international (BRI) will be on the air via the Mighty KBC Saturday 28th June 08 using 100 kW on 6055 kHz from 2130 UT, repeated on 29th June from 0200 UT on 6110. BRI celebrating its 28th year on SW in style with 100 kW!! the programme will also be available via our webstream at http://www.geocities.com/britainradio48 Our contact email address is britainradio @ hotmail.com We ask you kindly to pass on this info to any of your contacts in the radio world to inform them of this BRI special broadcast. Thank you and we look forward to your company. 73s Roger Davis (FRnews via Hugo Matten, June 23, BDX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 11884.70, Voice of Malaysia (Suara Malaysia) via RTM, 1033-1040, June 22, very distorted, poor audio quality but decent signal, pop music, could not make out the language, tentative ID (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. I was actually looking for certain Asians, like MLA & SNG, this afternoon, and found R. Mali, Kati, back on 7284.5 parallel to 9635. 1513-1750 UT, vernacular, African songs, talks, French at 1540 for obituary, folk songs, a few VHF-FM frequency announcements, then vernacular again at 1600; 35433 but worse now when I'm writing this, with some adjacent channel QRM being experienced. At 1700+ UT, 9635 was no longer "clean" due to co-channel QRM. I shall be checking 60 m so as to see whether they also reactive one of their 2 old outlets, but don't think they'll be using anything else except 5995. [later:] Further to my today's report, my guess this late afternoon was correct; R. Mali's only evening outlet remains 5995 - nothing on 60 m is heard from them. 73. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, 2215 UT June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1212-1515, 22 Jun, Vernacular, talks, tunes, French for 1400 newscast lasting almost half an hour, Arabic at 1430; 35433 but improved to 45444 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 4799.9, RADIO TRANSCONTINENTAL DE AMERICA. México D.F. 0830-0840 Junio 15. Continuas melodías de alabanza. ID en voz femenina: "... están escuchando la XERTA Radio Transcontinental de América; que transmite desde la Ciudad de México a todo el mundo por onda corta en los 4800, banda internacional de los 60 metros y por internet en http://www.xertaradio.com Gracias por escucharnos. .." (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C., COLOMBIA, SONY ICF 2010, JRC 525, WINRADIO G303I, Hilos de varias longitudes, Conexión Digital June 22 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6104.87v, Mérida, Mexico, "FM de Mérida" 1300 to 1410, "FM AM Mérida"; La Radio Mérida" blasting in, telephone numbers, time checks, melodic vocals, 2200 to 2310 promos for upcoming events, mentions de Venezuela, "La Radio Mérida". 13 June. 1124 to 1230 "La Numero Uno...." jingles, time checks, OM vocals, extreme rolling of the rrrs (Robert Wilkner, FL, Japan Premium via DXLD) How can this 250 watts be ``blasting in`` to S Florida, while it is just barely audible in OK and CO? Direxional antenna? (gh, DXLD) 6104.77v, Mérida, Mexico, "FM de Mérida" various IDs, 1020 to 1030 21 June (KM, Cedar Key, FL via Bob Wilkner, NASWA yg via DXLD) BTW, Cedar Key is NOT in THE Florida Key Chain (gh) 6104.88, Candela FM, Mérida 1123-1135 Jun 16. Very tentative with M&W talking in Spanish, I think. Too weak to make out much (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V. of Mongolia, Khonkhor, 1009-1045, 22 Jun, Mandarin, talks, music & songs, IS 1030 for English, music, talks; 35332 but very fluttery after 1030. I was unable to observe it beyond 1045, but imagine the signal might have been lost. I'd appreciate some informaton re. the VoMNG A08 schedule. Thanks (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12085, 13.6 1030, Voice of Mongolia med engelska. Detta är en ny sändningstid sedan den 1 juni. Den andra sändningen på engelska kan höras 1530 UTC på 12085 kHz. O=2 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) 12085, 13.6 1030, Voice of Mongolia in English. This is a new time since June 1. The other broadcast in English can be heard at 1530 UT on 12085 kHz. 2 (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Thanks for the update. Meanwhile, I've just got the full A08 via Mauno Ritola. No bearings therein, but assume the Engligh b/casts are beamed to AUS/NZL, at least the 1030 UT one. There seems to be "something" peculiar w/ their audio. 73 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 0930 English broadcast was at 178 degrees, so probably same for 1030 now. The 1530 at 126 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. YouTube video with Deborah Rey fka Dody Cowan Deborah Rey (the author formerly known as Dody Cowan) talks about her her new book, "Rachel Sarai's Vineyard", in this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuCmX4eLae8 (Daniel L. Srebnick, June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Report of football match Russia vv Holland in RNW, special live commentary in Dutch transmission on June 21, 1800- 2152 UT. Short break 2152-2153 UT, followed by usual Dutch program and Holland songs till 2200 UT. Quick alive Youngsters from Russia beat the favorite Holland team on the EURO 2008 quarter final 3 - 1. Powerhouse S=9+30dB signals on Wertachtal 5955 and 5990 kHz. Fair signal on Tinang-PHL relay 5840 kHz, S=1-2 only. 11640 kHz additional Sackville fade in very tiny here in EUR, S=1 underneath Mali. Totally covered by CRI Bamako Mali in Arabic on co- channel, latter 1800-2130 UT. Powerful also via Issoudun on 9895, 13855, and 15650 kHz. 9895 strong signal here in Germany, up to S=9+20dB in last half hour. 13855 S=9+10dB at best. 15650 S=4-5 signal, peak around 2159 UT with S=9+10dB. 17485 Bonaire started S=5, later increased up to S=9 at 2159 UT. 17765 from Montsinery-GUF S=1-2 only. From 2000 UT also Nauen powerhouse started on 6125 S=9+40dB, at 2100- 2200 UT increased to S=9+50dB!! Grigoriopol Moldova relay on 6040 kHz suffered severe by co-channel Minsk BLR, only S=7 signal and I=1, useless in Stuttgart-Germany. Bonaire signal was three quarter second ahead of Moldova and France relays. DTK Media&Broadcast feed relay was 2 seconds behind the others. Next planned special transmissions on half final on Thur 26, and final match on June 29 is in question, due of the DROP OUT of the Oranje team (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews June 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's not in question - both transmissions are cancelled :-( (Andy Sennitt, Holland, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews June 22, ibid.) As you may know, I could not care less about stupid ballgames, but after dining at a restaurant which had some European soccer championship up on a screen, as it was shown in the USA even on ABC- TV, Russia leading 1-0 at that point, I inevitably ran across some of RNW`s special coverage during a routine SW bandscan. June 21 at 2119, WWCR/DGS 13845 was suffering from huge continuous crackling noise which also marred sidebands more than usual as far as 13835 and 13855, the latter bothering RNW in Dutch; this was not synchronized with strong 17765 and weak 17485. At 2122 I noticed a much stronger //, Sackville 11640, on for this occasion only, no trace of anything under it, during sad solo singing --- imagine that, MUSIC on RNW`s Dutch service!! ID, `Dit is de Wereldomroep`, but did not say which one; 2124 a vaguely familiar song in English! So mutch for Dutch music. This too was of a lamentational nature, so I concluded that Netherlands must have lost. This matters only insofar as Lowcountrypeople believe it does; in reality, it is better for a nation to lose such a contest, so it may then concentrate on something that really matters to national achievement, e.g. scientific research, the arts, freedom (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: EURO 2008 quarter final Russia vv Holland team in RNW on June 21 One stereotype about the USA is that they have a baseball hype but do not care for football at all. It seems this is yet another wrong stereotype? And did the fans from other parts of the Netherlands shout "Hup, Holland, Hup!" as well? (I don't think it is an arrangement like in the UK where England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are football-wise indeed kept separately.) Does VRT still use the phrase "the Flaamse Wereldomroep" for the remains of RVI? Anyway RNW is indeed known to the Dutch just as "the Wereldomroep". I think that's even pointed out on their English website for visitors who are advised to specify their destination to taxi drivers as such, because chances are that "Radio Netherlands" will say absolutely nothing to them. On Thursday evening fireworks told me what must have happened, followed by cars driving around and sounding their horns (they call it "Autocorso"). Meanwhile I know that a match Germany vs. Turkey will follow. Could result in pretty nice (excuse my cynicism) clashes at Berlin and other places where many Turks live (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI`s newer DRM transmitter is also capable of AM, and that was evident June 21 at 0421 when I found BOTH RNZI frequencies, 15720 and 13730 running AM! Some show about downloading songs, good reception on both. But what will the poor Pacific Island relayers do when the DRM frequency comes in on AM instead? Do their receivers automatically switch to AM? Then I look for an explanation on the RNZI website but only find this referring to six days earlier, not exactly applicable now, or since it was posted 21 June about a future happening, did they mean 22 June: ``21 Jun, 2008 09:15 UTC --- There will be no DRM transmission on Sunday 15 June due repairs being carried out to the AM transmitter`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6089.90, Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, 21/6 0456, male singing in Hausa, and African drum music, fair, 33222 (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Perseus MFJ 1026 - MFJ 1020C and diff. antennas Proff. dbx 1215, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Re: Spooky MW tests from Oklahoma have started WE2XFZ Anyone hear these tests this morning? I believe I heard these tests beginning about 09:49 Central time [1449 UT June 20] and still there at 10:08 Central. This was at strong S9 level on 540 and 1680. Nothing noted on 830. However I noticed something rather strange, so I am not sure about this. Beginning at 540 and then every 60 kHz up the band, I heard the same kind of signal that I heard on 540. I heard this all the way up to 1680. I do not know if this is some strange spurious signal caused by my computer on the Eton E-100 or if the Chilocco station is testing on some previous unreported frequencies. I will check other radios that I have here at the house and see if I note this same thing. I will also test this when the computer is off. Also on every frequency that this was heard, when I pointed the side of the E-100 in the general direction of Chilocco, the signal seemed to peak every time (Carl DeWhitt, Ponca City, OK, June 20, mwdx yg via DXLD) Chilocco on SW --- I've been looking at the SW frequencies listed, and have found a fairly strong signal on 26185 at 2050Z June 20. The strength fluctuates on the meter from S1 to S3 or 4. At first, I thought it might be a birdie in the receiver (an Icom IC745), but I think a birdie would be steady in strength. Some of the other channels listed were vacant or covered by adjacent channel QRM. I note now, at 2108, a faint signal on 4015, which appears to be steady in strength. This is tentative, though, as 4085 does have a loud birdie on it. (These may be coming from the computer rather than the radio.) The antenna is a droopy multi-band dipole (Dave Bennett, Aldergrove, BC, mwdx yg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I'm sorry I forgot to answer your questions about if the school is still in operation and if there's an airstrip there. My apologies. The school operated as a school for native American children from 1884 to 1980. Much more information is readily available via your favorite search engine. The Church of Scientology (Narconon) opened a treatment center there at the old Chilocco school I believe in September 1989 which caused quite a stir in the town of Newkirk. The newspaper there actually had some interesting news to report rather than the usual very small town newspaper venue. As far as I know, the school has been "empty" since the center left in 1993. As far as the presence of an airstrip, I've not been on the grounds since the mid 1970's when the school was still in full operation, so currently I've no idea what is there or isn't there. I do know that in years past, there was certainly nothing like that present there then. As you know, the grounds themselves extend far enough away from existing roads, one would be hard-pressed to know exactly what's on the grounds unless one was allowed to search the entire grounds area. My friends and I have driven by there on numerous occasions through the years, and I've never seen nor heard anyone report seeing aircraft that appeared to be landing or taking off (Kirk Allen, Ponca City OK, June 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [later: Kirk points out that the FCC info indicated the nearest airstrip is some 20 miles away] More stuff like this coming from Wichita? see USA ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Call letters assigned or changed: North Enid, 107.1, KZLS (June FMedia! via DXLD) Not yet on the air; part of a complicated realignment by Chisholm Trail Broadcasting to get a slightly bigger fraxion of the OKC market. Cf KXLS calls on 95.7 ex-99.7; 99.7 moving to Mustang OK, SW of OKC (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DXLD) Format changes: KS, Kiowa, KQZQ, 98.3 k ``Double Q Country.`` (June FMedia! via DXLD) Guess this means it is on the air, tho Enid gospelhuxter translator is still blocking it here co-channel (gh) ** OKLAHOMA. Long thread on the sad state of local news in the OKC market (like everywhere): FRUSTRATED BY KOCO'S CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS this thread has 58 replies and has been viewed 1628 times http://www.okctalk.com/art-books-film-tv-radio/13011-frustrated-kocos-constant-interruptions.html (via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, Radio East New Britain, 1211-1230, June 22, in English with Christian religious program produced in America ("Gospel Time"?), weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.4, ONDAS DEL HUALLAGA. Huánuco, Perú. 0100-0130 junio 15. Pgm: Campesinos al desarrollo. "...Ondas del Huallaga, la señal de unión entre nuestro pueblos..." luego pgm: La Olla del Luque. Informativo del Distrito de Baños del Inca. 4824.4, RADIO LV DE LA SELVA. Iquitos, Perú. 0000-0030 junio 15. Programa de celebración por el día del padre "...mi querido papito, mi buen amigo, las gracias te doy por jugar conmigo y en este día te entrego, todo mi amor, feliz día papito te desea LVS digital..." Luego música y anuncia transmisión deportiva de fútbol Perú vs Colombia por eliminatorias al Mundial. "...gracias por estar a través de los 4825 de la onda corta internacional, sintonizándonos, somos Radio La Voz de la Selva para todos ustedes..." (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C., COLOMBIA, SONY ICF 2010, JRC 525, WINRADIO G303I, Hilos de varias longitudes, Conexión Digital June 22 via DXLD) ** PERU. Question: is R Atlántida still on air ? All the logs I read recently from Rich d'Angelo, Peruvian DXers, German tourists in EQA, my good DXer Erich Bergmann here in Stuttgart Germany, etc. etc. belong to "R. Visión, Chiclayo" co-channel !! (Wolfgang Büschel, to Anker Petersen, via DXLD) Dear Wolfy, You are right. "La Nueva Atlántida" on 4789.6 has not been heard since May whereas R Visión on 4790.07 is heard nearly daily at the moment. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) ** RUSSIA [and non]. We have received alarming rumours about the Russian shortwave centre in Samara. As Kai Ludwig informed in DXLD bulletin (I quote): “Well-placed sources hint that the Russian transmitter operator RTRS intends to close down his shortwave facilities at Samara, perhaps by the end of the current A08 season. If so it would be the third shut-down of a major shortwave site in the former Soviet Union, after Brovary (Ukraine) and Yekaterinburg (Russia). And it would be by no means a surprise. Just compare the amount of installed capacity with the remaining demand for airtime, if not for Samara in particular for the facilities in European Russia altogether. It does not appear to be an exaggeration to call the situation precarious.” Mikhail Timofeyev from Saint-Petersburg noted that still Samara would remain on short waves, but in a new, contemporary capacity. And as the acting director of Samara Regional Radio and TV Centre Sergey Neudahin said, the whole site of the Radio Centre 3 is occupied by complex technological equipment, because this radio station broadcasts to dozens of countries. To clear the site for residential area needs, it will take at least two years. It is planned to remove equipment to some analogical objects. The additional transmitters will be made in Saint-Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar and other towns of Russia to compensate for the loss of Radio Centre 3. [UKRAINE] Such a problem faces the Brovary shortwave radio centre too, which is divided into two grounds, one of which is closely surrounded now by civil buildings. So there is a plan to remove it to another site near Brovary. But such a complex work will need much financial resources, time and such an important thing like political support and good will of the governmental circles to continue the international shortwave broadcasting (Olexandr Yegorov, Whole World on the Radio Dial June 14, RUI via DXLD) But is there any plan to actually use Brovary? For some seasons now we have seen only Kharkiv, Lviv and Mikolaev on the transmission schedules (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. VOR, English on 13635 via Pet-Kam to WNAm, inbooming June 21 at 0423 during talk about a St. Pete music festival, but there were occasional split-second audio dropouts. During the following semihour, 13635 was better than 9450 via Germany (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15250, R. Jeddah, 1154 June 15 with regional news in English and about S Arabian Basketball, by a very sweet female voice! Signal was 314x2 much time unreadable due to very strong QRM from 15255 a Chinese language station and sometimes Firedrake (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SENEGAL [non]. Saludos cordiales, parece que WADR ya se ha percatado en parte que han dejado de emitir en Onda Corta, se aprecia en su web http://www.wadr.org/ un ligero cambio. Ahora anuncian en la parte superior en un recuadro móvil que emiten en FM en Dakar y por satélite; han eliminado cualquier mención a las transmisiones en SW. Sin embargo en un recuadro estático en la parte superior izquierda siguen anunciando que emiten en 17860 de 0700 a 1100. Siguen la contradicciones. Pero van avanzando (José Miguel Romero, Spain, June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. 6080, R. Singapore International, 1159-1208 Jun 15. Program notes; time check for "8:00" at 1200, then into news in English. Good signal. The days are numbered for this station (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 6150, 2300-2310 16.06, Mediacorp, Kranji, English: "You are listening to the news on 938 live", news from Singapore, 44544 (Anker Petersen, summer cottage in Vejers Strand on the west coast of Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with a new 100 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Which raises the question of whether the domestic service relays on SW like this will remain, after R. Singapore International closes down at Julyend. This English service, 320 degrees to Malaysia, per WRTH 2008 is scheduled at 23-11 and 14-16; merely the interim 3-hour break being RSI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SPRINGBOK RADIO COMING BACK, BUT NOT ON SHORTWAVE Boerewors Express 14 June 2008 http://boereworsexpress.blogspot.com/ Springbok Radio is back! If you can remember what a wireless is, you probably remember Springbok Radio. If you can recall the Jet Jungle or Squad Cars jingles, this is your lucky day. Springbok Radio was one of the most beloved and successful commercial radio stations in South African history. Thanks to the Springbok Radio Preservation Society of South Africa, favourite programmes such as Squad Cars, Lux Radio Theatre, Taxi, The Epic Casebook, The Men From The Ministry, The Sounds Of Darkness, and The Creaking Door, will be heard again when the society launches its Internet radio service on July 1. The new service will operate 24 hours a day, repeating a six-hour compilation of programmes four times daily. Programming will change on a daily basis. There would also be new programming that would include popular music and variety shows, and concentrate on nostalgia. For the past 21 years the society had been collecting, restoring and archiving over 20 000 original Springbok Radio programmes. The Internet Radio Service of http://springbokradio.com/ will be on the society's Web site. From Wikipedia: On 1 May 1950, the first commercial radio station in South Africa, Springbok Radio took to the airwaves broadcasting in both English and Afrikaans. This followed almost 5 years of intense investigation by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and after consultations with both Lord Reith of the BBC and the South African Government it was decided to introduce commercial radio in South Africa to supplement the SABC's existing public service English and Afrikaans networks. The first voice heard on the air that morning was that of Eric Egan. Eric would be well remembered for his daily "Corny Crack" and catch phrase "I Looooveee Yoouuu". Many of the drama programmes during the 1950s were imported from Australia but as time moved on and more funding became available, Springbok Radio produced almost all of its programmes within South Africa through a network of independent production houses. However, in the eighties the SABC ended up killing off many of these independent production houses by producing most of the programmes itself. Backing up the apartheid system's segregationist policies, no black voices were ever heard on Springbok Radio. If on the rare occasion a black character was introduced into the storyline of one of the station's hastily slapped together entertainment productions, they would be portrayed by a (poorly paid) white actor. And by the mid seventies, at the height of Separate Development, there were no black policemen or criminals in the South Africa as reflected in Squad Cars, for instance. In 1976 television was launched in South Africa and this was followed by television commercials in 1978. Commercial TV was the major factor in the demise of Springbok Radio, which closed on 31 December 1985. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springbok_Radio (via Mike Terry, June 15, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Ran across Brother Scare on a frequency new to me, fair-poor 11520, June 21 at 2126; is it // WWRB 9385? No, but he is talking on same subject, prophecy of inevitable armed conflict between US and Iran before Bush is out (do we need this crap to muddy the waters, or contribute in the minutest way to it possibly happening?). So may be same program but unsynchronized from different sites. I forced myself to keep listening, and eventually determined that 11520 was running 2 minutes and 48 seconds behind 9385! That`s a lot of delay, even if multiple satellites, internet and digital processing are all involved. It so happened that B.S. went on to talk about his current SW schedule, so this broadcast was of some usefulness after all. Here is how he gave it, never mentioning timezone! But probably EDT of UT -4; my comments in brackets: 3185, 1-9 am [WWRB] 5110, all-night [WBCQ] 5745, 8 pm - 1 am [WWRB] 6110, 10 am - noon [DTK] 6175, 3-5 pm [DTK] 6890, 6 pm - midnight [WWRB] 7415, 9-11 pm [WBCQ – surely not every night now, just filling in?] 9265, Sat 10 am - 2 pm [? Inactive WMLK scheduled from 1600 UT; WINB only until 1200] 9330, all-day [WBCQ] 9385, all-day [WWRB] 11520, 5-6 pm daily [no listings at all for this on any of the online skeds; but suspect DTK; = 21-22 UT when I heard it] 13570, 2-3 pm daily [WINB] 13810, 10-11 am daily [DTK] 17435, 11 am - noon daily [sic, means 17485, DTK] A few minutes later he gave the SW sked again in a different form, mixing local time and UTC, sic: 12-9 am, 3185 [WWRB] 3-11 pm, 7415 [WBCQ; he still thinx he has 8 hours straight on WBCQ rather than here and there!] 9 pm-8 am, 5110 [WBCQ] 7 pm-midnight, 5745 [WWRB] 14 UTC, 6110 [DTK; no end times given] 19-21 UTC, 6175 [DTK] 6 pm-midnight, 6890 [WWRB] 8 am-9 pm, 9330 [WBCQ] 9 pm-7 pm, 9385 [sic, means 9 am-7 pm; WWRB] 14 UTC, 13810 [DTK] 15 UTC, 17485 [DTK, got the frequency right this time] Yes, I know, DTK is now supposed to be called M&B. Note latest addition 11520 is missing from second version, and so is 9265. I`ll leave it to others to pick out the conflicts between the two versions other than those and 7415. Said his total SW airtime is now 144 hours per day. And he is on 133 stations around the world, 31 of which run him all-night. I heard him on WOAI 1200 recently plus IBOCs; has Clear Channel no shame? Also plugged his availability on cellphones, for a long-distance call anytime to 712-432-7250. Thank a god for that! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4635 ofta 0100 Har inte IDat denna stn med bra styrka, förmodligen Dushanbe men stämmer inte med WRTH, skall kolla upp den men styrkan är på nedåtgående just nu. LES 4635, often, 0100. No ID on this strong one yet, but can be Dushanbe. Does not match info in WRTH though; will check up this one but just now the signal is declining. LES (Lars Erik Svensson, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 6765-USB, Bangkok Radio, Bangkok, 1042-1046, June 16, English, Interval signal and report by male, 24332 // 8743-USB with 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4750, R Dunamis, Mukono, Kampala, 1558-1630*, May 18, Vernacular talks, 1601 mentioned "Uganda", 1603 religious hymns with short announcement, Afropop, 1629 closing mentioning "Radio Dunamis", weak (Roland Schulze, Stuttgart, Germany, DSWCI DX Window May 28 via DXLD) See also UNIDENTIFIED ** UKRAINE. Plans for moving Brovary SW site: see RUSSIA [and non] ** U S S R. Amusing story about Radio Moscow http://www.allmediascotland.com/articles/2721/20062008/more_thrills_than_skills_a_half-life_in_journalism_-_part_two […] "However, the devious purpose of some of the international propaganda broadcasters was shockingly revealed to me on an Association of Teachers of Russian school trip to Russia in 1965. Ahead of the trip, I dispatched a letter to Radio Moscow’s English department advising them of my imminent arrival. To my astonishment, they wrote back and urged me to come and see them. After a few boring days with my school chums at the Intourist Hotel, I telephoned the comrades over at Radio Moscow. "The Radio Moscow people were all very charming, Kim Philby types, with far back British accents and quaint political observations drawn directly from Marx and Lenin. Even at 16 years of age I could discern that. They asked me if I would give an interview commenting upon my experiences in Russia. Being a co-operative sort, I gladly agreed. "I expounded at length on Russia and the communist experiment and was pretty pleased with the result. It seemed my lengthy contribution was destined to be treated with all due importance. After the broadcast came another pleasant surprise. “Now please come to the cash room.” This was an unexpected turn of events, indeed. It had never occurred to me for a moment that I might be paid for my youthful words of wisdom. "Down at the barred cash room, in the deep-most bowels of Radio Moscow, I was handed a brown envelope (my first ever) and asked to sign a receipt. When I opened it up, I was stunned to see that it contained the equivalent of £50 sterling: the equivalent of more than a year’s pocket money, and almost what I had paid to go on the trip. "Can joy be so unconcealed? Well, I soon discovered that Russian roubles were completely non-negotiable and could not be exported under any circumstances from The People’s heaven that was the USSR. What on earth to spend this fortune on? To cut a long story short, vodka seemed to me to be a great investment. It cost virtually nothing and I was more than happy to fund a stupendous party in our hotel rooms. My last enduring memory was of prostrate bodies, everywhere. "Somebody informed on us and we were all paraded at 0700 hours in the yard of the Intourist Hotel for Scottish country dancing. Worse still, when we got back to Scotland, the whole matter was paraded before Moray & Nairn District Council Education Committee. Guess who was blamed? "However, I couldn’t care less. I was now an international broadcaster. A week later. I was glued to Radio Moscow as the short wave signal alternately faded and grew in strength. The introduction was flattering. I was an expert commentator, apparently. The content was not quite what I expected. "I had given what I regarded as a well-balanced view of life in Moscow. Good and bad presented in an even-handed manner. Of course, all the negative, or even slightly critical, comment had been left on the cutting room floor. My brilliant interview was one long paean of praise for Russia and the communist system. "A temporary setback. No matter. A new radio passion had taken over." (via Fred Waterer, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. A good time to hear From Our Own Correspondent on that antiquated medium, SW, from BBCWS, is UT Saturdays 0432 on 9410, 62 degrees from Rampisham, as I did June 21 instead of webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Wolfgang, I can add re 13675, that the sound was very similar to Rampisham signals especially on the 62 degree beam to European Russia. There was also another BBC mystery yesterday found on 9670 between 2200 and at least 2300 with World Service in English. 73's (Dan Goldfarb, England, June 21, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) 9670 2100-2300 37,38W SKN 300 kW 180 degrees BBCWS to NWAf That's a 2nd channel from UK to NWAf, additional registration in \\ 12095 kHz at same time span and target, started in June 2008. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** U K [non]. 3380, 9.6 -2100, BBC World Service med portugisiska till Angola från 2030 och med cd 2100. Ganska svag och verkade ligga långt österut I Afrika. Hittade en uppgift i TBS att det är Meyerton i Sydafrika som flyttat från 3390 till 3380. 2-3. Fick ID på denna någon dag senare. TN 3380, 9.6 -2100, BBC World Service in Portuguese for Angola from 2030 and with closedown 2100. Weak and seemed to be located in the east of Africa. Found a notice in TBS that this one is Meyerton in South Africa which has moved from 3390 to 3380. 2-3. Final ID in English some days later (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by TN for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Just listened to a fascinating programme on Radio 4 which will soon be available on Listen Again. Today's "Cosmic Quest" programme focuses on radio emissions from the cosmos and the early radio telescopes. Its a fascinating story of discovery about signals from supernovae, pulsars and possibly aliens. It was a period when more was learnt about how events in space affect radio propagation. Heather Couper continues her narrative history of the cosmos and our place within it. Weekdays, 3.45pm (UK) from 26 May 2008 for six weeks. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/cosmology/ (Mike Terry, UK, June 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cosmic Quest is one of those programs that the BBC does so well, and which makes listening to Radio 4 online so enjoyable. I've always been fascinated by the night sky. Astronomy was my science elective in university. I've been following this program for a few weeks as it traces the development of scientific discovery from the ancients to Copernicus to the present day. Todays episode is number 21 of 30; while 1-15 are no longer audible you can also hear an "omnibus" edition on the archive, featuring episodes 16-20. Just go to the Radio 4 player and click Cosmic Quest Omnibus. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ then click Listen Live and the player should pop up (Fred Waterer, Ont., ibid.) ** U S A. SUNDAY: CBS'S 60 MINUTES WILL SKEWER ALHURRA "American taxpayers are paying for a Middle Eastern television network that broadcast an anti-Israeli diatribe as recently as last month, a joint investigation by 60 Minutes and ProPublica reveals. This, despite the fact that Al Hurra management promised Congress nearly two years ago that they would take measures to prevent such mistakes, which had occurred repeatedly before. The joint investigation will be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, June 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT [2300, 0200 UT]. ... Former [Alhurra] news director Larry Register says governments and journalism don’t mix. 'You can’t make independent decisions if you have a government over you telling you what you can and can’t do. It’s a no-win situation, as I painfully found out.'" CBS News, 19 June 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The likely backlash to revelations in this 60 Minutes piece could spell the end of hopes for independent, credible, and successful U.S. international broadcasting. Expect calls for legislation calling for U.S. international broadcasting to support and adhere to the policies of the United States. In other words, propaganda rather than news and current affairs. In such a scenario, U.S. international broadcasting could thrive as a bureaucracy. It would transmit to the world messages that would make Congress and the Administration smile. Congress and the Administration would in turn award U.S. international broadcasting with generous budgets. The problem is that people do not tune to foreign broadcasts for propaganda. They tune to get the comprehensive, objective, balanced news that they do not get from the state-controlled domestic media. And so U.S. international broadcasting will have no audience. It will be a waste of taxpayers' money. But maybe this won't be a problem, as Congress supports several agencies, program, and projects that are a waste of the taxpayers' money. In any case, BBC Arabic television is probably now displacing Alhurra as the honest-broker news channel for the Arab world. There is evidence that Alhurra was beginning to fulfill that role, because it was neither Sunni nor Shiite, nor associated with any single Arab country or faction. Providing news about the Arab world to the Arab world is a heady business. It must include coverage of Arab newsmakers who are virulently anti-Israel, or worse. Because MPs tend to understand the concept of international broadcasting, BBC Arabic Television will be allowed to succeed. Members of Congress are less prone to understand the concept of international broadcasting and probably will not allow Alhurra to succeed. This could lead to the demise of Alhurra and the fulfillment of the dream of many VOA employees to restore the VOA Arabic service. But radio, mainstay of the old VOA Arabic Service, will no longer do. Arabs are now watching television, for entertainment and for news. And television must come in the form of a 24/7 channel on Arabsat and Nilesat. The VOA 24/7 Arabic channel could counterprogram BBC Arabic by providing a full-service programming, interspersed with newscasts that focus more on the American rather than the Arab experience. Arabs can witness American democracy, and all of its compelling messiness. Arabs will learn about the imperfections of American democracy, and might conclude that such imperfection would be a good thing in their own countries. Posted: 20 Jun 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS CORRECTS THE CBS 60 MINUTES STORY ABOUT ALHURRA TELEVISION http://www.bbg.gov/printerfr.cfm?articleID=243 A segment about Alhurra Television that aired Sunday night on the CBS program 60 Minutes distorted facts about the station's audience research, its coverage of Israel, and its editorial practices. "60 Minutes unfairly portrayed Alhurra, which is watched by 26 million Arabic speakers in the Middle East each week," said James Glassman, until recently the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting, including Alhurra. Glassman now is Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "Independent research tells us that Alhurra is relevant to people who value its balanced news and information about the region and about the United States." 60 Minutes dismissed the facts about Alhurra's audience - research conducted by ACNeilsen, the respected firm that does similar research for CBS and others. Instead the program gave credence to less relevant opinion polls. (Details about Alhurra's extensive audience research are available online in our Other Reports section at Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV: Performance Update.) This independent research indicates that Alhurra has the largest weekly audience of any non-Arab broadcaster in the Middle East, up from 21 million in 2006 to 26 million today. In the strategically critical countries of Iraq and Syria, Alhurra's weekly reach rates are 56 percent and 55 percent, respectively. A majority of viewers find Alhurra's broadcasts to be credible: 90 percent of Egyptian viewers say that Alhurra is "very" or "somewhat" trustworthy. The CBS segment claims that Alhurra displays a pattern of anti-Israel rhetoric. To support its conclusion, 60 Minutes cited a single comment from one of three guests on a live hour-long talk show that aired on May 18, 2008. The Alhurra program was focused on President George W. Bush's speech at Sharm El Sheik that morning, which Alhurra broadcast live. The discussion panel consisted of a Palestinian journalist, an Egyptian journalist and an American Middle East expert, Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service. When the Palestinian journalist veered off topic criticizing Israel in harsh terms, the program’s host steered the discussion back to the original topic and directed a question to the American analyst. "While Alhurra, unlike some other Arabic-language networks, seeks a tone of moderation in all broadcasts, we cannot control every word said in a live program," said Jeff Trimble, executive director of the BBG. "If we tried to do so, we certainly would not be a model of free press in the democratic tradition. Our aim, in daily debates such as this one, is to show different sides of an issue, even if we don’t agree with them." In its segment, 60 Minutes linked a recent comment by the Palestinian guest with serious programming lapses that occurred 18 months ago, including coverage of a speech by a leader of a terrorist organization. Alhurra acknowledged then that it had violated its policy of not providing a platform for terrorists and has since taken numerous steps to tighten oversight to prevent a recurrence. 60 Minutes also failed to note that an independent review of Alhurra conducted recently by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of State and the BBG showed that Alhurra had implemented editorial controls that the BBG promised to Congress following the earlier editorial lapses. 60 Minutes was provided a copy of the report but regrettably chose not to include it in their story. Alhurra provides objective news and information about a wide range of issues and points of views. Unlike other Arab networks, Alhurra regularly presents the full perspective of Israeli issues. Alhurra frequently features Israeli government spokespersons as well as reports by Alhurra’s Jerusalem correspondent. "The BBG's commitment is to live up to the highest professional journalistic standards, and to provide for the open communication of ideas in the Middle East and around the world," said Glassman. The 60 Minutes segment also stated that Alhurra failed to terminate the contract of a correspondent involved in an editorial lapse more than a year ago. Alhurra did terminate its relationship with the reporter; however the reporter continued to file reports for Radio Sawa. Radio Sawa now has ceased to use the reporter. The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency which supervises all U.S. government-supported, non-military international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA); Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa); Radio Free Asia (RFA); and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Martí). For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203- 4959, or e-mail publicaffairs @ bbg.gov (BBG press via DXLD) 60 Minutes TV audio has been simulcast on CBS Radio flagship stations, such as WCBS, WBBM, KRLD, KNX, tho not reconfirmed lately. So probably also available on webcast everywhere (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Carried on WBBM 780, Chicago, at 6 PM CDT (2300 GMT). 22 June (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE RADIO FARDA AUDIENCE REDUCTION ACT OF 2008 MOVES FORWARD The Senate Finance Committee "has approved legislation [The Iran Sanctions Act of 2008] that would tighten sanctions against Iran in an effort to press that country to halt its uranium enrichment program. ... In addition, the measure would establish exchange programs between Americans and Iranians, and would require that the U.S. government-run Persian language network, Radio Farda, devote a greater percentage of its broadcasts to news and analysis. ... It is not clear when the full Senate will act on the sanctions bill. Other Senate committees are working on their own drafts of the legislation." Voice of America News, 18 June 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The idea of Radio Farda was that young audiences in Iran can be attracted by playing music that is not available from domestic radio stations in Iran. It's the same idea that made Radio Luxembourg so popular in the U.K. during the 1950s and 1960s. In the radio research business, they say "talk is a tune-out." If Congress actually requires Radio Farda to broadcast more news and analysis, a smaller audience is the likely result. The primary measure of the effectiveness of an international broadcasting effort is how many people tune in, not how many words are transmitted. In any case, VOA also has Persian television and radio services, and they specialize in "freight," i.e. large doses of news and analysis. Why should Radio Farda duplicate them? Maybe this should be called the Duplication of Effort in U.S. Broadcasting to Iran Act of 2008. Posted: 20 Jun 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) see too ZIMBABWE [non] ** U S A. Re 8-071: Concerning the WEWN Portuguese program; it did occur to me that the speaker might have been a native Portuguese speaker speaking in Spanish, as the Portuguese word end-sounds crept in now and then (Harold Frodge, MI, June 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I must give it a listen for authenticity (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Airline Transport / WWRB shortwave --- Glenn: We have raised our commercial broadcaster rate to $240 per hour. This rate change (if we decide to carry the program) includes any 'patriot' 'take back America', gold dealers, water filter sellers, herbal / survival food dealers', commercial radio networks' etc. Our broadcast rates to religious broadcasters that come directly to WWRB for airtime is still $60 per hour; with plenty of free airtime donated to them as part of our tithes. Our Web page http://www.wwrb.org has been revised to reflect the change. Airline Transport Communications is in the process of purchasing another Citation for our aircraft fleet. Our airplanes fly almost every day now: they are kept very busy with various projects. A 'tidbit' to share with you: One airplane in our fleet has the ability to trail out 1000 feet of wire in flight --- Care to speculate what it's used for??? Regards!!! (Dave Frantz, WWRB, June 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Revolutionary new process for drying laundry? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WWCR/DGS service, 13845, suffering from revival of heavy continuous crackling on audio, June 21 at 2119, pushing sidebands further than usual to 13835 and 13855, latter bothering R. Netherlands soccer special. I could also hear the crackling on Anguilla 11775, but much less of it. They may have better audio filtering, but taking the same defective satellite feed from HQ in LA. I assume uplink dish is not aimed accurately, altho downlink dish misalignments could add to the problem. This has been a recurring problem for years with The University Network; they obviously don`t care or don`t know how to fix it. None of the Costa Rican frequencies were audible to look for crackling there too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KDKA-AM Goes HD --- The first commercially licensed radio station in the country, perhaps the world, has jumped on the HD Radio bandwagon. I kept hearing their promos today use "KDKA-HD," so when I got home, I found: http://www.kdkaradio.com/HD-Radio/1262125 (Jeff Kitsko, Latrobe, PA, June 20, WTFDA via DXLD) Wow, they have really fallen for this very flawed technology. Appended is long list of ``HD`` stations in Pgh, all but two on VHF (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. LEGENDARY JOURNALIST BILL MOYERS ADDRESS THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA REFORM IN MINNEAPOLIS, June 7, 2008. Presented by FreePress.net. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y0r71L7cojE (via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK AS A SPLOTCH WITH A SPEECH IMPEDIMENT As might be expected, I have spent much time recently wondering what will happen to me when I die. For centuries, the ignorant and superstitious have sought answers to that question in religion. However, I am an educated modern man of science and logic, and so I instead seek those answers in cable television reality programs, specifically Most Haunted, Paranormal State, and, of course, Ghost Hunters. All three purport to be true accounts of actual scientific investigations of hauntings and other paranormal activities conducted by a team of investigators using instruments such as electromagnetic field detectors, infrared viewers, digital videocams and recorders, etc. Much of each episode takes place in the dark, filmed with night vision camera, as members of the investigative teams take turns saying things to each other like "did you hear that?" and "I can't believe what I just saw!" All claim to have captured evidence of hauntings, including photos and audio recordings of actual ghosts. And, since it's on TV, I have to assume it's all true. . . . http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-dont-want-to-come-back-as-splotch.html (Harry Helms blog Saturday, June 14, 2008 via DXLD) ** U S A. I heard KSFR Santa Fe announce via webcast that their transition from 90.7 to 101.1 will be complete around 1 July. It has been simulcasting for many months. Then 90.7 will be turned over to the gospel huxters, but KSFR winds up with superior coverage, including Albuquerque, axually from White Rock, near Los Álamos (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The NY Times has a regular Q&A with a member of its editorial staff regarding some behind-the-scenes element of the newspaper. This week that Q&A covers New York Times Radio -- which includes the newscasts on WQXR in New York as well as podcasts and other radio partnerships. I consider the NY Times -- and the Guardian out of London -- to be at the forefront of for-profit news media with global perspectives, and both produce well-craft audio podcasts that can provide insight on current events that rivals what one might hear from the BBC. In addition, this results in overlap when it comes to "radio" as well. You can read the Q&A here: http://snipurl.com/2lu1k [www_nytimes_com] (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, International broadcasting / shortwave blog: http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST CALLS FOR MURDER OF ANTI- WAR ACTIVIST: Posted by monty (monitor) on June 13, 2008, 2:57 pm 76.10.182.76 from: markdice.com http://members2.boardhost.com/scrapbook/msg/1213383430.html (San Diego, CA) Radio talk show host Michael Reagan is calling for the murder of political activist, Mark Dice, after hearing that Dice is mailing letters and DVDs to troops in Iraq. Reagan wants to pay for the bullets. Audio link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJO-kUINMs Transcript of Reagan’s statements: “Excuse me folks, I’m going to say this. We ought to find the people who are doing this, take them out and shoot them. Really. You take them out, they are traitors to this country, and shoot them. You have a problem with that? Deal with it. You shoot them. You call them traitors, that’s what they are, and you shoot them dead. I’ll pay for the bullets.” Reagan adds, “How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of a firing range. Tie him to a post, don’t blindfold him, let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice.” Dice is demanding that Reagan be fired immediately. “Calling for the murder of someone because you disagree with their political stance is absolutely unacceptable, un American, and possibly illegal,” says Dice. Dice has filed a report with the FBI and is considering legal action against Reagan. Link: Reagan Youtube clip (Southern Ontario/WNY Radio TV Forum via DXLD) ** U S A. PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 455 12TH STREET, S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News media information 202/418- 0500 Fax-On-Demand 202/418-2830 Released: June 11, 2008 Report No. 412 EXPERIMENTAL ACTIONS The Commission, by its Office of Engineering and Technology, Experimental Licensing Branch, granted the following experimental applications during the period from 2/1/08 to 5/1/08: [selected, the only ones from a long list involving MF or HF; can`t find any details about specific frequencies --- gh] WE2XDB RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY 0295-EX-PL-2006 New experimental to operate in various bands between 540 kHz to 18 GHz for testing the ability of aircraft to shield against high intensity radiated fields. Mobile: Wichita (Sedgwick), KS WE2XNL CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY 0590-EX-PL-2007 New experimental to operate on select frequencies between 2.3226 MHz and 28.6426 MHz for antenna testing. Mobile: Wichita Mid-Continent Airport (Wichita), KS (from http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-282820A1.txt via DXLD) see also OKLAHOMA ** VATICAN. Re: Vatican 4005 kHz transmitter -- Here are pictures of the Vatican City transmitters, including the vintage Marconi shortwave rigs. True steam radio! http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/stato_vaticano/stato_vaticano.html The inauguration of the Vatican City shortwave transmitter in 1952: http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/museo_tecnico/it/gal_fot_20.asp Check out also other photo galleries there, including the inauguration of the Santa Maria di Galeria site (seems the Pope himself was pushing an actual "plate on" buttom), delivery of transmitters for SMG to the Vatican railway station (which is technically just an industry access, no main signals and real trains there) and so on. Note also the catalogue of preserved items, even including studio clocks. They maintain this collection in the MW/SW transmitter building (called Marconi palace), and visits can be arranged individually if I get the Italian explanations correct (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see BOLIVIA [non] ** VIETNAM [non]. Que Huong Radio was on 15655 at *1200 these dates: June 6, 11, 12, 17 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 13590, CVC, 1020-1035, June 21, English pop music program. ID. Fair signal but occasional weak co-channel QRM from China Radio Int. in English (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. Hi Glenn, An article you may wish to read regarding Zimbabwe where if you own a satellite dish you face having your home burnt down. http://www.swradioafrica.com/news200608/kadoma200608.htm 73 (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. via Madagascar, 11610, Radio Voice of the People, *0400-0455*, June 22, sign on with African music and opening ID announcements in vernacular and English. Vernacular talk at 0402 along with short breaks of African music. English at 0443. English news at 0445 about Zimbabwe elections, violence & security. Closing announcements at 0454 with contact info. Very good, strong signal. Not usually heard this strong. Did they change transmitter sites or is it just the propagation (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, they didn't change transmitter sites. This is still via the RNW Madagascar relay station (Andy Sennitt, RNW, ibid.) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Zimbabwe, Performance Review and Objectivity Every VOA programming service regularly undergoes what is called a performance review. A dedicated team of specialists evaluates the content and production values of the service’s output for TV, radio and the web. These evaluations are usually coupled with fresh research data and an analysis of the service’s audience and its needs and desires. The goal is to improve overall quality and hopefully increase audience appeal while checking on the service's adherence to VOA's standards. This past week VOA’s Zimbabwe service, known as Studio 7, had its performance review. Given the current crisis in Zimbabwe, Studio 7, now in its sixth year, is providing an important service to Zimbabweans. Its audience has increased steadily despite what our research terms “substantial barriers” to tuning to VOA, including jamming, recurring power outages and ever-soaring battery prices. Interviews conducted among listeners in three Zimbabwean cities late last year found that almost unanimously, they think Studio 7 delivers credible stories of Zimbabwean news and politics. Most said if VOA went off the air, they would be very sad and at a loss for equivalent coverage. While radio remains the dominant method for Zimbabweans to access news, cell phone use has increased substantially in the last two years with a corresponding increase in the use of SMS to get news. Studio 7 has integrated SMS text messaging into its operations. Internet use has also grown. VOA’s Zimbabwe website has experienced remarkable growth with monthly average visits exploding from about 16,500 a month in 2006 to just under 70,000 visits a month this year. And like VOA’s broadcasts to Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe website posts news content in three languages: English, Shona and Ndebele. The latest performance review found Studio 7 “has done an outstanding job of providing comprehensive coverage” of political developments in Zimbabwe. Reports on the political atmosphere, voter expectations, incidents of violence and more were described as “remarkable for the depth of views and analysis they offered.” The review noted one of the service’s challenges has been getting senior Zimbabwean government officials to appear in programs. They routinely declined, accusing Studio 7 of being opposed to President Robert Mugabe. As a result, broadcasts mainly included the voices of opposition politicians, human rights activists and regional analysts. But over the past two years, some high profile individuals within the Mugabe government have appeared on Studio 7. They include cabinet ministers, ambassadors and the chief spokesman of the ruling party. As the performance review team’s content analysis report states, “the appearance of these officials… has allowed for a more comprehensive and balanced presentation of the news. The impact and credibility of Studio 7 may have contributed to prompting Zimbabwean officials to participate in… programs they regard as anti-Mugabe.” The review team now hopes that perhaps Mr. Mugabe himself will soon consent to an interview. Given that government-controlled media dominate Zimbabwe and that, unlike VOA, they make no effort to air points of view other than Mr. Mugabe’s, some might wonder why Studio 7, like all VOA services, strives to be inclusive? To answer that, we want to quote Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times. At a meeting held earlier this year of leading journalists and journalism educators, there was a discussion about objectivity in which he said the following: “…our job is not to tell people what we think, or what they ought to think, but to provide them with enough information to make up their own minds about what they ought to think. That’s my standard of objectivity.” If that sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because we have said much the same right here on the News Blog: “…we believe strongly that our responsibility is to inform audiences about all significant points of view and let them make up their own minds. It is not our job to tell the people in our audiences what position to take or what to believe. When we say, ‘we report and you decide,’ we mean it.” We still mean it. Posted by Alex Belida at Friday, June 13, 2008 (VOA News Blog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4750, 16.6 1840, OID med musik px, svårt att höra om det var religiöst eller ej. Kan vara Radio Dunamis Shortwave, Uganda, då enligt uppgifter R.Peace har sändareproblem. Har inte hörts de senaste dagarna. 1 LRH 4750 16.6 1840-1904, OID med kort prat på OID språk och sedan nonstop sånger av romantisk (religiös?) karaktär på engelska. Stängde genom att bara ”tyna bort”. Svag, S 2. Dunamis, Uganda? BEFF 4750, 16.6 1840, unID with music progam, difficult to hear if it was religious or not. Might be Radio Dunamis Shortwave, Uganda; some info says that R. Peace has transmitter problems at the moment. Not observed the last days. O=1 (Leif Råhäll, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4750, 16.6 1840-1904, unID with short talk in unknown language, then into nonstop singing of romantic (religious?) character in English. Close down by "fading away". Weak, S 2. Dunamis, Uganda? (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin June 22, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6043, 6101.34 heard around 1300 on June 22. Too weak to make out language; probably Asian (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Are you implying there is some relation between these two frequencies, even //? (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP The next meeting will take place on Saturday June 28 at 2.30 p.m. in Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading. The programme will include a look back at emergency and post-nuclear broadcasting arrangements past and present in the UK and abroad, moonbounce and propagational research, and archive audio material from Radio Netherlands, Radio Berlin International and other broadcasters. For further details email me or phone 01462 643899 (Mike Barraclough, England, June 22, worlddxclub yg via DXLD) 3A. FENARCOM Estimado Glenn Hauser, Agradeço se puder divulgar o que segue. 73 Ulysses Galletti Informação para os radioescutas e dxistas: Nos dias 25 a 27 de julho próximo, será realizada, na cidade de Indaiatuba – Estado de São Paulo – Brasil, a 3ª FENARCOM - FEIRA NACIONAL DE RADIOAMADORISMO E COMUNICAÇÕES, com expositores nacionais e internacionais, e local para compra, venda e troca de equipamentos usados. O DX CLUBE DO BRASIL estará la no estande No. 6, pronto para recebe- los. Para maiores informações consultem o site da feira: http://www.fenarcom.com.br (Ulysses Galletti, Membro do DX Clube do Brasil, June 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MEXICO: YA ESTÁN LOS PREPARATIVOS PARA EL 14o. ENCUENTRO NACIONAL DE DIEXISMO!!!! El Organizador, el Amigo, Paul Sebastián Caldera Aguayo (XE2LPS) es el anfitrión. Fecha: 1 al 3 de Agosto del 2008 Lugar: Sede (por confirmar) Auditorio CNOP Ciudad: Gómez Palacio en el Estado de Durango, México El XIV Encuentro Nacional Diexista y de Radioescuchas de las Ondas Cortas se llevará a cabo en la progresista y norteña ciudad de Gómez Palacio, Durango, conurbada a Torreón, Coahuila y a Lerdo, Dgo., en la región llamada Comarca Lagunera, uno de los centros económicos más importantes del norte del país, los días viernes, sábado y domingo 1, 2 y 3 de agosto de 2008. Entre otras actividades, está planeada una gira turística por las tres ciudades y la noche diexista será en el Observatorio Astronómico de La Laguna. Están ya confirmados un recorrido turístico por las tres ciudades, una conferencia sobre los orígenes de la radio y la demostración de una práctica de radioaficionados. El coordinador del Encuentro será el Sr. Paul Sebastián Caldera Aguayo; su dirección de correo electrónico es paul_sebastian c @ hotmail.com (SI NO FUNCIONA SU CORREO, OTRA ALTERNATIVA: ) paul_sebastian_c @ yahoo.com.mx su teléfono celular es 871 212 4257 y su dirección postal es: Sr. Paul Sebastián Caldera Aguayo, vive en González Ortega 402 Poniente, 35050 Gómez Palacio, Dgo. Sebastián ha participado anteriormente en el XII Encuentro Nacional DX celebrado en Ascensión Chih. en el 2006. Las páginas web donde podemos encontrar más información son: http://mx.geocities%20.com/dxmiguel/%20xivdx.html http://mx.geocities.com/comunicacionglobal59/xivdx.html (Páginas elaboradas por el Dxista Profr. Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez) (via Dino Bloise, Conexión Digital June 22 via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ I'd like to hear about some of the DX expeditions folks have been on. Was the listen location out in the middle of nowhere or just outside of the city? Were you using battery power or AC? What types of antennas did you use? Any other important details would be appreciated. Where you near the coast? I am thinking about organizing a local DX expedition here in Ohio. I have never done this before so I'm looking for all the advice I can get. Thanks, (Mike Rohde, OH, June 22, NASWA yg via DXLD) Mike, DXpeditions come in all shapes and sizes. They do provide a great opportunity to hear stations that are difficult or impossible to hear at home. We have been doing Gifford Pinchot/French Creek DXpeditions since 1990; well over 50 in all. The Pennsylvania state parks system has a number of locations with heated cabins that make great DXpedition locations; full kitchens, beds, etc, making it a comfortable experience. We began at Gifford Pinchot blind; we had no idea what the location had to offer. When we switched to French Creek, Fred Kohlbrenner took a portable radio with him to check out the local noise. Other than that we just made sure there was a place to string up long wire antennas. Basically, French Creek cabins offered protection from the elements while providing a noise free environment. The trees surrounding the cabins provide something to hang antenna wires on. Some folks run short wires; 50 to 100 feet; other extend to 500 feet or in some cases 1000 feet. The main driver is the noise free environment that isolated cabins offer. I have done a handful of local 2-3 hour DXpeditions driving out to a local park and setting up a portable radio such as the Eton E1 and DXing until either cool weather or hunger set in before heading for home. The advantage of being away from home means a noise free environment (depends upon the park of course) and few interruptions that happen when at home. Finally, I frequently do "backyard DXpeditions" where I sit on my deck with the Eton E1 tuning the world. Just being away from the house helps reduce the noise level making it a worthwhile expenditure of time and effort. Of course, you are still at home so all the usual interruptions are still possible, hi! I would recommend looking into state parks in Ohio that offer all weather cabins which would enable you to do something during the winter. At French Creek we usually do series of outings from a mid- November, to a mid-December and finally a late January DXpedition. The cost of two nights split three, four or five ways makes these outings relatively inexpensive. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, ibid.) Rich is the Past Master of the DXpedition and I would not for a moment think I could add much of importance to his comments. I would, nonetheless, like to emphasize his main points. Reasons for a DXpedition: 1. Socialization. Getting together with a group of fellow DXers for a weekend reinforces what is normally a "solo" experience. 2. Conditions. Particularly for city dwellers, it can be great to get away from your usual noise sources to a quieter location. 3. Again, for city dwellers it may be, and usually is difficult to impossible to install certain antennas. DXpeditions preferably should pick a location where you can experiment, particularly with long and/or directional antennas --- something new and different. Rich mentions scouting out the place in advance to be sure it is electrically quiet. It can be especially useful if to be totally away from power lines and operated on 12 volts DC -- bring extra batteries, though. But being away from electricity may complicate creature comforts, like needing gas or kerosene lamps. Obviously winter is likely to produce more and better DXing results, but then things like all weather cabins are pretty essential. But I have done surprisingly well in a very rustic "hunting" shack with a pot belly strove!! Going to the same place a number of times, as Rich notes, can be a plus. Not only do you get to know the conditions, but it MAY be possible to even leave inconspicuous antennas in place from Dxpedition to Dxpedition. What is ideal, say is if you have enough space to install, say, a 1000 ft. beverage! The nice thing about a beverage is that you don't have to climb trees!!! A necessity for old guys like me. If not a problem for you, and with enough and suitable trees, a rhombic can be really fun! I like to have a list of targets for the various times of days, but others prefer just tuning around. Often each group has its "natural chef," somebody who likes doing the meals, as long as the rest are willing to do clean up. Some groups have a specialty, like grilling steaks, or "Joe's special spaghetti" on Saturday night. Others keep a pot of chili or stew on the fire at all times of day or night and folks eat early and often when the spirit moves them. Ditto coffee! And sufficient "tuning oil" is essential in some groups. And a deck of cards and poker chips are useful if the bands are REALLY dead. --don (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, ibid.) Hi Mike & all, While I haven`t been on any extended Dxpeditions, I have done ``mini Dxpeditions`` on many occasions. Not much comradeship, but a good chance for better than average solo listening. As Rich said, scouting an electrically quiet location is important. I found a local park where we were going for backpack practice a few years ago. Out of curiosity, I toted along a SW portable on one of the evening outings. To my surprise, one of the picnic areas had very low QRM. So check places even where you might not suspect, it might be more quiet than you might guess. That park is only 7 miles from my house. On the other hand, there is another park further out in the country and far from other structures, etc. which I thought would be quiet. It has a very electrically noisy mercury vapor light always on for security, so it is a poor location. Everything for the outing fits into a small backpack. I walk into a picnic area - which is closed when I get there in the AM. I put up an antenna which can be put into trees quickly with a slingshot (currently I use a wrist rocket and Flextenna). If necessary, drag a picnic table at the base of one of the trees. Run coax from the antenna to the radio. For a receiver, I use the e1 with batteries. Within a half hour, I`m set up. Complete with coffee, a copy of a frequency list, NASWA Journal, log, pen, sweet roll, trash bag, mosquito repellant, head phones (I use ear buds), a few other bits, I`m ready to listen. I usually go early in the morning. I often stay out for a few hours, and get home by 9:00 AM. I`ve done the same in the evening. Since that park is largely surrounded by marshes, I¹ve been driven out of the area in mosquito season by dusk. At 5:00 AM local, there usually aren`t many people around. In the evenings, I have been ready to explain what I`m doing more, since there are generally people around in the evening. I`ve had park personnel approach me several times ­ including park police, but more with curiosity than enforcement ideas in mind. The most hassle I`ve had is once I was reminded that the area was reserved and I needed to leave by 9 (no problem). Usually when conditions permit, there are things audible which I don¹t generally hear at home. I¹ve gone out as late as late October (chilly), and mid April (chilly). (Mark Taylor, WI, ibid.) Greetings from California, Recently 95% of my listening has been done away from my home, which has gotten too heavy with RF noise to be enjoyable. Am usually up before my local sunrise and drive less than two miles to my local state park at Asilomar Beach. They have no parking there from midnight to 5:00 AM, so I arrive just at five, which is a perfect time to check out the Asian stations that I like so much. I sit in my car and use either my Etón E1 or E5, with just the attached whip antenna out the window. It's a very scenic area, with the waves from the Pacific Ocean rolling in along the rugged, rocky coastline. Is still a "solo" experience, but much more enjoyable that listening at home and have found the conditions to be outstanding, as there are very few buildings around and no street lighting of any kind. In fact I park at the beach across from a golf course. After listening to SW for several hours, I get out and walk for an hour or so along the trails by the beach, so I am not too sedentary. Occasionally I go to the beach before sunset and listen to SW while I enjoy the sun setting out over the Pacific. I realize how very fortunate I am to live in such a gorgeous place, which also has great reception. Hope that others can also find as enjoyable a location to listen from! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NASWA yg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ SPELLING BEE FOR ADULTS In my recent critique of the National Spellinge Bee, I lamented that this is only for young people; why? Now I find this in the June AARP Bulletin, a bit too late for this year, which still outleaves two sesaquidecades of humans, aged +20-50: WYOMING --- Spell-fest. AARP the Magazine`s National Spelling Bee will draw competitive orthographers age 50-plus from across the country to Cheyenne on June 14. The winner of the annual contest will receive a cash prize of $500 [that`s all? How about a $25,000 scholarship?] and a trip to New York to appear on national television [Assignment America kicker on CBS `Evening` News June 20, really?]. Second- and third-place winners will receive cash prizes. Started 12 years ago by AARP members in Cheyenne, the spelling bee is still run mainly by volunteers. To register, go to http://www.aarp.org/spellingbee or call 1-866-663-3290 toll free, by June 11. The $25 entry fee includes lunch. To join an online community of spellers, go to http://www.aarp.org/community/groups/spellingbee (via Glenn Hauser, AARP, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: ITALY; NEW ZEALAND ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC: SOUTH CAROLINA [non]; USA KDKA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Plan B - Jamming GPS Interesting to see the analogue transmission systems attempting to bounce back using the threat of security as a main argument. The following is adapted from BBC News Satellite navigation is used by millions of drivers as well as emergency services The UK government is being urged to invest in a longwave radio system developed during the Second World War, as a back-up to GPS satellite navigation. Loran is less vulnerable to jamming than GPS and could protect vital infrastructure after a terror attack, a committee of MPs was told. Doug Umbers, whose firm, VT Communications an updated version of Loran for UK coastguards said it was far more robust than GPS. Asked about keeping communications going in the event of a terrorist incident or other emergency, Mr Umbers said: "The last man standing, typically, will be the high frequency radio communications that we run, on behalf of the military." But he said the low frequency Loran, which stands for Long Range Navigation, could be used as a back-up to GPS. "GPS is very easily jammable," he told the MPs, adding that a "biro" sized device could "stop ships in a port being able to receive GPS". But, he added, "you need a huge field of transmitters" to jam Loran. It was "highly resilient and mission critical clearly, for the maritime market, and could also have uses elsewhere". . . http://criticaldistance.blogspot.com/search/label/%22VT%20Communications%22%20%22Loran%22 (via Jonathan Marks, Critical Distance blog via DXLD) SHORTWAVE EPILATOR, $499.95 At last, unwanted hair removal has been made safe, easy and fast! How Does Shortwave Tweezer Hair Removal Work? Water molecules inside the follicle shaft are "excited" over 27 million times per second through the use of high intensity radio waves, resulting in a Thermolysis (heating) effect. It works exactly the same way a microwave oven cooks food. This heat build-up thermally desiccates (dries) and coagulates (cooks) the hair papilla cells. This creates site-specific deep-tissue traumatization, which severely damages hair follicle tissue beyond the point of regeneration. . . (from an ad accompanying a yahoogroup associated with shortwave radio, so it`s on CB? how helpful, via DXLD) ###