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THE FOUR WINDS ON LINE - Copyright Part 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year 4 Number 78 - Rome, 18 January 1999 FRANCE- RFI has cancelled its French Guiana relay, 15530 for English to North America at 1200; also less Spanish and French to Americas, as M. Bochent of TDF confirms; unheard when checked Jan 3. 1200 best frequency now may be 15155 for Europe (Joe Hanlon, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 971/ GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6) --- Grrr, can't be surprised due to previous developments; guess we were lucky they kept it going until yearend. It appears to be impossible to reason with these people. Whatever excuses they may make, I'm convinced it's basically chauvinism, and an anti-American attitude - who needs 'em? Everybody needs such a vital means of communication and understanding between major nations. Jan 5 at 1250, I checked all the frequencies listed below and could not hear RFI on any of them, tho conditions seemed subnormal. Now we'll have to try all the frequencies at the other times in case some marginal offbeam signal arrive. At *1359 17560 came on with a pretty good signal, but heavy flutter and echo; 12030 detectable but not 11910 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 971 / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6) FRANCE- As Joe Hanlon noted,
Radio France Internationale has snubbed English-language listeners in the
Western Hemisphere by completely eliminating any broadcasts in English to the
Americas. RFI put a new shortwave frequency schedule in place on January 1,
available only as graphics (no text equivalent) on its Web site. Some
broadcasts for other regions were heard here this morning: 12Z on 15155, very
weak and multipath echoing 14Z on 17560 and 12030, both relatively strong
but fluttery 16Z on 15210 and 15530, both weak, with the former a bit
stronger than the latter. Since the 14Z broadcasts are for Asia, I assume
NAm reception will depend heavily on good higher-frequency propagation.
Portuguese listeners get 1 1/2 hours a day in the Americas and there are a
few hours daily in Spanish and in French beamed to the Americas. RFI's
director was on French-language "Club RFI" last month and bemoaned
budget cuts and expense of local retransmission of RFI in various
cities. An RFI executive I met last year warned of drastic cuts in
shortwave broadcasts to the Americas and said Cuba was the prime reason
that any broadcasts remained. (Mike Cooper, Atlanta GA, Jan 5, REVIEW OF
INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING / SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-02, Jan 9)
HONDURAS- The 4930.6 station in
San Pedro Sula has a new name since its MW originator has become Evanecer
12-20", heard opening with this ID instead of R. Internacional at *1204 Jan
14, immediately into music and alabanzas. Tnx to tip from Jorge Garcia
Rangel and Santiago San Gil of Club Diexistas de la Amistad in Venezuela
(Glenn Hauser, OK, Mundo Radial / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03, January
14)
ICELAND- RUV on New Year's Eve:
not much audible on the lower frequencies, nor 5055 reported by Hill Xmas
eve, but 11402 was on a bit past 0100 Jan 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK / GH SHORTWAVE/DX
REPORT 99-01, January 6)
IRAN- [non]. From WWCR-1 12160
posted sked since Dec 21 and again in the Jan 7 update: Tue 1100-1200
Perspective on Iran (K) CHAIR/Eric Javadi --- Fri 1100-1200 Perspective on Iran
(Pe) CHAIR/Eric Javadi --- Sat 1100-1200 Perspective On Iran (Pe)
CHAIR/Eric Javadi --- I was finally able to confirm this on Sat Jan 9;
when 12160 came up at 1100 it was barely audible, but built up to good level by
1125 when I started taping during Persian program. Certainly does not
sound Christian-religious; mostly talks in Persian interrupted every 5-7
minutes by same canned sesquiminute ID by woman with music bed, sounds like
"Radyo Posesh" at 1125, 1130, 1138, 1145, 1150, 1155, and
mentions "megahertz". This program may well be in the
clandestine category, and needs to be monitored by Persian (and Kurdish)
speakers. So far WWCR has not posted a link to the program, and we don't
know who, what, or where CHAIR and Eric Javadi be, nor their agenda. At
1156 WWCR outro in English claimed the past hour had been in Ukrainian and
Russian! -- slightly outdated. There were continuous chirps of QRM, I hesitate
to say jamming, at the rate of 2 per second on the frequency (Glenn
Hauser, OK / SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-02, Jan 9)
ISRAEL- Reshet Bet, 7495, weak
and squeezed between stronger stations, indeed UT Mon Jan 4 at 0030 went into 5
minutes of news in English. Nothing audible on 9390 so maybe not on yet, but
even so would be lost in splatter from 9385 US station. UT Tue Jan 5, 7495
was detectable but unreadable. Tnx to Doni Rosenzweig for tip about this,
who later reports they will try 9395 instead of 9390 (Glenn Hauser, OK,
and WORLD OF RADIO 971 / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January
6)
ISRAEL - Kol Israel with fair
reception on new 9395 in English news at 0030-0035 Jan 13, much better
than //7495 (Glenn Hauser, OK / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03, January
14)
MALTA- [non]. I heard Voice of
Malta in English Jan 7 0635 tune-in on 7155 with a program "Hidden
Treasures", featuring a discussion on Caravaggio's "The Decapitation
of Saint John the Baptist", which is located in the Cathedral of St J the B
in La Valetta. Reception was quite good, with some interference from radio
amateurs. There was a break in transmission at 0650-0659. They returned with a
weather forecast for Malta, then straight into another language Maltese
?without an ID. Off at 0730. You can view this masterpiece at: <http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/caravaggio/decapitation.jpg.html>(Ivan
Grishin,Ont.,REVIEWOF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03,
January 14)
MOLDOVA- Fax in Spanish from R.
Moldova International asks for listener support against increasing
government moves toward closing down the station. To help keep RMI on the air so
that world public opinion will not be deprived of first-hand news about
Moldova, please write to: Mr. Petru Lucinschi, President of the Republic
of Moldova, Ave. Stefan Cel mare, 154, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova; Ministry
of External Affairs, 31 of August St., 80, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.
To contact RMI itself: Radio Moldova Internacional, Str. Miorita 1,
277028 Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Tel.: 3732 723379 / 723385
Fax.: 3732 723307; Telex: 163210 (Iurie Moraru, Director of [Spanish]
Department, RMI, via Ruben Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Jan 4 via Hauser / GH
SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6)
TONGA- I heard on the news last
night that the island of Tonga has been hit by a cyclone with over 100 mph
winds. The report said that over 70,000 people were left in the dark and every
banana tree was stripped off the island. Well, I guess we won't be hearing
Radio Tonga on SW in our lifetime because their antenna was mounted to a
banana tree. With their main export gone, this may cripple the country for many
years to come. I heard Tonga 12 years ago and reported it to you. I had
some help from the FCC Monitoring Station on Hawaii who DFed the signal
and they let me listen to it on the phone (Artie Bigley, KY, Dec 28, REVIEW OF
INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING and WORLD OF RADIO 971/ GH SHORTWAVE/DX
REPORT 99-01, January 6)
TONGA- While I'm sure the
Tongans have more to do at the moment than getting back on shortwave, the
lack of banana trees shouldn't affect their broadcasting plans for the rest of
our lifetimes. Banana "trees" are actually a very hard-stemmed
herb with a two year lifespan. The first year they grow very fast to a height of
around 3-5 meters. The second year the bananas grow and the tree dies. (Don
Moore, Iowa, responding to our 99-02 report/ GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03,
January 14)
TONGA- Glenn: As far as Tonga
goes, as I recall they were using an inverted V antenna connected to a
coconut tree for the SW service on 5030 per several reports that RN did on them
during the last sesquidecade. Were they active before the storm? If they
were, they are no doubt off the air now. I wrote this but was't expecting
it to be printed. It was something I wrote tongue in cheek (Artie Bigley, KY,
REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03,
January 14) --- Considering the lifespan of banana 'trees', coconut would
seem far more likely as antenna mast (Hauser / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT
99-03, January 14)
UKOGBANI- Found to my
displeasure on one of my BBC-overnight tapes of KMUW relay for Fri Dec 18:
at 0630 there was no Pick of the World as scheduled, but The World Today
from 0600 just kept running for the rest of the hour without explanation
or apology. As a result I never got to hear that edition of POTW. Probably BBC
thought that during Baghdad/Bill, Iraq/Impeachment there was "so much
news" that other programmes had to be blown off. I dispute that we could
not do without an additional half hour of news at that point ! This
is but one more example of what's wrong not only with BBC but most other
stations, especially American: making programme changes at the last minute
is one thing, and may sometimes be justified -- but whatever became of the
"courtesy announcement"--"we regret that the program scheduled
will not be aired because of the following special report" or some
such. NOBODY gives a damn about the loyal listeners/viewers any more (Glenn
Hauser, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT
99-01, January 6)
UKOGBANI- Lost in the shuffle of
BBC WS programme changes: From the Weeklies. This was a little gem, 15
minutes a week often with humourous touches with excerpts from the British
weekly magazines (not so weekly over the holidays), which said goodbye
last week and indeed no longer appears anywhere on the new BBC WS
programme schedule. We'll miss it. Gained in the shuffle: Wright Round the
World. I monitored the premiere of this Sat Jan 9 at 1205-1300 on 15220. It's
supposed to replace Anything Goes and A Jolly Good Show, but at the outset
Wright acknowledged only the latter, which I never listened to, never being
that desperate to hear British pop music. First music played was Prince,
and it appears musically this will go little beyond that narrow genre. Pandering
to youth, included bizarre news (not that funny), phone-out to a 21-year- old
Chinese, asking her if she is beautiful, in need of a pen pal, and a guest
appearance by Phil Collins (yawn). Once again BBC has "fixed"something
that was much better in the first place. The dumbing-down marches on (Glenn
Hauser, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT
99-01, January 9)
UKOGBANI- [non]. I checked the
new London Radio Service show via WWCR 9475, Thu at 2230-2245 Jan 7, Pulsando
las Noticias. M&W co-hosts, and the woman, Ana Lia Guimaraes had a heavy
Brazilian accent, always amusing to Spanish speakers. At closing indicated
they also produce shows in Arabic, Russian, Portuguese. LRS is on behalf
of the British government, ironically hiring time on a US station since it
can't programme via BBC (Glenn Hauser, OK / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT
99-01, January 9)
USA- WMLK, 9465, unmistakable
intonations of Elder Meyer barely audible at 1955 Jan 4 in heavy sideband
splash from The Overcomer on 9475. Tnx for tip to Hans Johnson, Cumbre, who
found out they're back with only 20 kW, daytime only (Glenn Hauser, WORLD
OF RADIO 971 / GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6)
USA- WWBS, 11900, Macon at
closing 0200* UT Sun Jan 3 had Joanne Josey identifying herself as hostess
for the evening, and admitting they "had some problems with interference in
the neighborhood". When resolved they hope to expand to more nights
than just Saturday and Sunday. She has a pronounced southern accent,
sounds quite pious and sincere in her faith (Glenn Hauser, OK / GH SHORTWAVE/DX
REPORT 99- 01, January 6)
USA- World Harvest Radio again
demonstrates its utter incompetence, and insults both its listeners and program
producer: Sat Jan 2 at 2300 on 5755 I decided to tape Dxing With Cumbre, not
having caught it earlier, whilst paying primary attention to VOA
Communications World on WWCR. WHRI audio kept dumping out every few
seconds for the entire half hour, making it impossible to follow anything Marie
Lamb was trying to say. It may have been a satellite feed problem, tho
already going at 2327 was the same show on 9495, which did not to have
this problem, although there was crackling in the background. IF there were
an actual human being at WHR running the station(s), and monitoring
what was going out of the studio, what was coming back from the
satellite, and from the SW transmitters, at least this problem could have
been dealt with rather than ignored. Tho they would never admit it
in a megayear, I'm sure one reason for automation is they know most of
their programming is so boring and obnoxious that forcing one of their own
people actually to listen to it, even in spot checks, would be cruel or at
least soporific -- leave that to what few listeners may happen upon their
wasted frequencies (Glenn Hauser, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING /
GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6)
USA- Gleaned from Al Weiner
Worldwide, UT Sat Jan 2 from 0120 tune-in on WBCQ 7415: Overcomer is
dropping 0800-1100 slot (did you notice he's also gone from the WRMI sked; heard
Fri afternoon on 13790-- WINB?). New Randi Steele show is Sat 2100-2200, but
pre-empted this week for a special German music show. Basic rate is $50 an
hour, but discounted at 3 am or for quantity. At outset, WBCQ was prepared
to give Pacifica some airtime, but they got all
"hoity-toity" about it and wanted to be paid for their
programming. That's not the way it works on SW. Down the road is possibility of
a second transmitter. Not frequency-agile yet, so needs to stick to 7415,
but can expand further into daytime when skip is shorter (Glenn Hauser, OK
/ GH SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-01, January 6)
USA - Correxion to WOR 971: I
said VOA Communications World on WBCQ 7415 is Sat at 2100 starting Dec 26;
actually it is on Sun starting Dec 27! (Glenn Hauser, OK / GH SHORTWAVE/DX
REPORT 99-01, January 9)
USA- WRMI, 9955, relay in
Spanish of R. Praga, Czech Republic, Jan 12 at 2230 in clear at first when
gave entire Spanish schedule not mentioning WRMI relay, but at 2250
recheck, Cuban bubble jammers had started up, and still going against R.
Vaticano relay at 2315 -- an Xmas program, so perhaps by tape? I thought Fidel
was trying to be friendly to the RCC (Glenn Hauser, OK Hauser / GH
SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-03, January 14)
---------------------------
DX PROGRAMS --------------------------- WORLD OF RADIO MASTER SKED,
SHORTWAVE ONLY, as of Jan 8, 1999, Days and Times Strictly UT --- WGTG has
been dropped and one time has changed on WWCR -- THU 2130 WWCR 9475 --- FRI
1930 RFPI 21460-USB --- SAT 0330 RFPI 6975 --- SAT 1130 RFPI 6975 --- SAT
1800 RFPI 21460-USB --- SUN 0200 RFPI 6975 15049 21460-USB --- SUN 0330
WWCR 5070 [NEW, ex-Sat 2330] --- SUN 0730 WWCR 5070 --- SUN 1000 RFPI 6975
--- SUN 1030 WWCR 5070 --- SUN 2300 RFPI 15049 21460-USB MON 0600 WWCR 3210 ---
MON 0700 RFPI 6975 --- MON 1500 RFPI 21460-USB [irregular] --- TUE 1330
WWCR 15685 --- TUE 1900 RFPI 21460-USB --- WED 0300 RFPI 6975 --- WED 2200 WBCQ
7415 - -- On RFPI also check 15049 before 2100 and after 0300 in case its hours
have re-expanded. Regards, Glenn Hauser
PRESS RELEASE Dear Radio Monitoring Colleague,
I am pleased to advise that the "HIGH FREQUENCY SPECTRUM STUDY #5" is
now available from the Electronic DX Press. This Study is a nine-page A4
booklet, summarising the results of the 1998 coordinated monitoring
project by several Australian DXing hobbyists. The Study was made in June 1998,
during the Australian mid-winter period, corresponding to a yearly
smoothed sunspot number of 60, during the ascending phase of Sunspot Cycle #23.
The purpose of the Study was to monitor and document actual reception of
HF broadcasting stations operating in the frequency range 2300-9999
kHz between 0000 and 0400 UTC, corresponding to local time here in eastern
Australia of 10am to 2pm. The Study concentrated on commercial broadcasting
stations - amateur and utility broadcasters were excluded. Each winter,
extraordinary midday reception is observed during eastern Australia on
frequencies as low as 6 MHz from all continents, over transmission paths
of up to 30,000 km! This reception is locally known as the "Antarctic
Mode", due to many signal paths crossing the Antarctic region; the
precise propagation mechanism is unknown, and has been vigorously debated
for some 30 years! The 1998 Midwinter Study resulted in several hundred entries,
and shows transmitter country, organization, site, reception time, and
language. The Study is the 5th in the series. The full listing of studies
available and planned is: #1 June 1996 (Midwinter Daytime Mode) 14
pages 4750-7490 kHz 0000-0400 UTC #2 January 1997 (Midsummer Daytime Mode)
12 pages 4750-7490 kHz 0000-0500 UTC #3 June 1997 (Midwinter Daytime Mode)
12 pages 4750-7490 kHz 0000-0400 UTC #4 January 1998 (Midsummer Daytime Mode)
** 11 pages 2500-9999 kHz 0000-0400 UTC #5 June 1998 (Midwinter Daytime
Mode) 9 pages 2500-9999 kHz 0000-0400 UTC #6 January 1999 (Midsummer
Daytime Mode) - this study is currently in progress and will be released
during February! (estimated 12 pages) 2500-9999 kHz 0000-0400 UTC ** Note: Study
#4 covers reception across all of Australia, with separate coverage of the
Eastern states, and Western Australia The Midsummer Daytime Mode is the
corresponding reception phenomenon which occurs each summer, where
inexplicable reception of stations in all continents is observed from late
morning, aross noon, and into mid-afternoon, on frequencies down to 4 MHz, with
propagation across substantially daylight paths!! The Studies
include discussion on possible propagation mechanisms and general background
information, and will be of value to anyone interested in HF propagation
over long distances. Hard-copy versions of each study are available for a small
charge to cover costs of printing and mailing: - to Australian addresses: Aus
dollars 5 - elsewhere via economy airmail: USD 5, 5 IRCs, Aus Dollars 8
Payment please by cash, (Aust or US), IRCs, cheques in Australian
currency drawn on Australian banks, GIRO, money orders or postal orders.
Payments should be for the credit of Robert J. Padula. Available from:
Electronic DX Press, 404 Mont Albert Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127,
Australia, Tel/FAX: +61 3 9898 2906 E-mail:
<bpadula@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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