[HCDX]: DX Listening Digest 00-25 Feb 15

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

        DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-25, February 15, 2000
		edited by Glenn Hauser

WORLD OF RADIO ON WWCR: The Saturday 2030 time on 12160 may continue
until March 4; meanwhile, to replace it a new Sat 1730 on 12160 may
start before then (Adam Lock, WWCR)

** ANTARCTICA. 15475.7 [sic, previously reported as 15476.0, or was 
this an unjustified assumption of more accurate significant digits 
than called for?] LRA36, R. Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel has changed 
its schedule due to equipment problems, currently: Mon-Fri 1630-2045. 
Programming: From 1630 opening and Argentine music with news every 30 
minutes; from 1800, commentaries and talks about Argentine provinces, 
their inhabitants, tourist locations, etc., until closing at 2045 
(Gabriel Ivan Barrera, Argentina, Conexion Digital, via DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

** ARMENIA. In connection with the retimed bcs someone got the Sunday
freq wrong (15240). They are still on 15270 Sundays, e.g. in German
at 0920 followed by English at 0940-1000 (Erik Koie, Denmark, Feb 3,
BC-DX via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. Hi Glenn, I saw the item regarding Radio Australia in
today's DX Listening Digest.

I didn't hear the item on Media Network that Bob Padula refers to so
don't know what was said. Advice from Nigel Holmes, Transmission
Manager of Radio Australia today is that:

1) The dummy load at Cox Peninsula (Darwin) is currently unserviceable

2) Australian Communications Authority DFing sites advised Nigel of
these transmissions emanating from a specific location in northern
Australia

3) Nigel has spoken to certain shift leaders employed by British
Aerospace under contract to BCL under contract to Dept. Finance about
the "tests" - and said he would prefer they used an audio source other
than RA's jingle bells (AKA Waltzing Matilda) but no other audio
material was available.

Most ABC/SBS transmitters were run by the National Transmission Agency,
this has since been sold to NTL - see http://www.ntl.com/australia for
more information. Cox Peninsula is I believe owned by the Department of
Finance. 73s (Richard Jary, Australia, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. Glenn, Here is the full info received this afternoon
from Nigel Holmes of Radio Australia...

"The Cox Peninsula high frequency broadcasting station has been
conducting brief, on-air test transmissions during local daylight
hours from December to present. The tests are part of the continuing
maintenance program at the site. The test transmissions which carry no
scheduled programming, are intended to evaluate the operation of
aerials, transmission lines and aerial matrix switches at full r.f.
power (250 or 300 kW) and are in accordance with obligations of the
contractors engaged at the site.

"The site is the subject of a long term lease tender offered by the
Australian Federal Government. The tender closed late last year. A
number of applications have been submitted.

"The amendment bill (Amendment Bill No. 3 1999) to the Broadcasting
Services Act which gives the Australian Federal Government a means to
regulate the content of international broadcasts originating from
Australia DOES NOT apply to ABC (including RA) or SBS. The ABC and SBS
have their own enabling legislation and are not affected by the
Broadcasting Services Act.

"A number of industry representatives, including ABC, were present at
a viewing of the draft Amendment in Canberra in November 1999. The
Amendment has now gone before Parliament."

(Nigel Holmes, Transmission Manager, RADIO AUSTRALIA via Australian
Radio DX Club via Richard Jary Feb 10 via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. I have noted an apparent new frequency used by Radio 
Australia of late the last few days. At 1230 I normally tune into RSI 
to Americas on 21810 and noted last couple of days some QRM not there 
before and found Radio Australia in English on 21815. Heard the 
broadcast from around 1200 to 1355 when the signal is barely audio 
able and fades out so when it stops is another question. Signal is 
fair and so is the audio and suspect it's for Asia and possible 
Indonesia as lot of the programming is Indonesian based news and 
interviews in English, Feb-10. (Karl Kruger, England, Electronic DX 
Press via DX Listening Digest) 

Listed for B99 21820 Shepparton 0900-1400 with English. (Bob Padula, 
ibid.)

RA continues to test on 9580 from *0030-0130* non-daily, carrying 
RA's normal English service, but this frequency not announced. I 
believe this to be from Shepparton, based on signal level and 
transmission characteristics. Signal strength is rock solid, which is 
consistent with ground wave propagation from Shepparton into 
Melbourne, about 200 km.

I do not believe that the operations referred to in the above 
message are associated with the hour-long programming currently heard 
on 9580. I'll give Nigel a call when I get a chance and see what he 
says! (Roberto Vincenzo Padula, EDXP via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. Anyway the test on 21720 materialized and the ones on 31
metres was announced by Mr. Holmes himself. Maybe "obvious" is an
exaggeration but one can hardly deny that both his secretiveness and
the format (nonstop RA interval signal as audio and break-offs) of
these 21720 transmission suggests an unofficial Darwin test. If this
is a wrong assumption it would be the turn of Mr. Holmes to put it
aside. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRIA. ORF's frequency in the 21 meter band (13730 kHz) has been 
silent for the past 8 days, at least from my QTH. 9870 kHz is booming 
here, however. I sent them a message five days ago, but haven't 
received any answers yet. Anyone knows what's going on? (Elmer 
Escoto, Honduras, Feb 5, Conexion Digital, where he is now editing a 
segment in English, via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. One wishes for a somewhat higher level on a science show 
for the masses, Quirks and Quarks. The Feb 6 edition had a segment 
interviewing Dr. Will Sager (sp?), oceanographer at Texas A&M 
University, College Station, about evidence for ``polar wandering`` 
some 84 megayears ago when Toronto would have found itself at the 
latitude of Tampa or Miami, and Washington in Cuba, yuk yuk. Over a 2 
megayear period there was a shift in the surface of the whole earth 
of about 20 degrees of latitude, tho the spin axis remained pointed 
at the same star. The north pole would have been somewhere in 
northern Siberia. Anomalous masses within the mantle shifted, and 
were redistributed to maintain the equatorial bulge. Evidence for 
this comes from seamounts under the Pacific, with heliomagnetic 
indicators in the lava no longer pointing north. The polar wandering 
amounted to about 10 degrees per megayear, or 110 cm per year. Also, 
the magnetic field went from constant polarity to flipping back and 
forth. The Cretaceous Period had several polar shifts, then after it 
from 80 to 40 megayears ago, shifted back. It seems the spin axis 
shifts, sticks for a while, shifts again, etc.

The trouble with this item is that NO distinction was made by the 
guest or brought up by the host between the geographical and the 
geomagnetic north pole. The two are NOT the same. The geomagnetic 
pole wanders measurably over short periods, but has stayed during my 
lifetime among the northern Arctic islands of Canada. Furthermore, 
there is a well-known phenomenon called precession of the equinoxes, 
wherein over a several thousand (not million) year period, the 
earth?s spin axis describes a circle in the heavens, making different 
stars the pole star. Now it is Polaris; at other times in the cycle 
it is closest to Vega.

The point is: the magnetic indicators in the lava do not point to the 
north geographic pole, but to the north geomagnetic pole, which we 
already know wanders both with relation to the geographic pole and to 
the land masses floating on the mantle. So although Toronto may have 
wandered down to Tampa, from my layman`s knowledge it appears the 
evidence cited is false. And nothing at all was said about what would 
surely be another major factor: continental drift (Glenn Hauser, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

** COSTA RICA. 5954.1, Radio Casino is irregular, maybe on one day
every three weeks. Their signal is fair when they are on. Best
reception just after *1200 (Hans Johnson, FL, Jan-Feb, Cumbre DX
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ETHIOPIA [non]. Opposition radio heard on new frequency:
The opposition radio, Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity
(which broadcasts on Sundays and Wednesdays only), was heard on 9th
February broadcasting on 15105 kHz, a replacement for 11670 kHz, at
its usual time of 1600-1700 gmt. Source: Monitoring research 9 Feb 00
((c) BBC Monitoring via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
                                                           
** HAWAI`I. Just noticed in the latest FCC database that KUAU-1570
Haiku, HI is applying for 50kw days, 25kw nights, non-directional.
Maybe that'll help more of us hear the islands.... (Blake Lawrence,
San Francisco, CA, Feb 5, NRC-AM via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. Glenn, Today (Sunday Feb 13th), I'm hearing Voice of
Indonesia once again on 15149.82 kHz. I was unable to hear any output
on 11785 Khz which we monitored back awhile ago.

Listening at about 1940 UT in French, and yes was able to hear English
once again at 2000 UT. Whew..no more DW which was covering up English
on the other frequency. (Gee Glenn...just maybe someone was reading/
listening to you/us ??) They still give both frequencies (plus 9525)
in announcements.

Signal today was very weak at my location here in southern Wisconsin,
but could make out just fine. No major interference here to have to
deal with, (JRC NRD-545 / Long Wire with RF Systems MLB) using ECSS-
USB. Regards, (David Zantow, Janesville, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 5046.37, RRI Yogyakarta, now reactivated. 1259 ID then 
news from Jakarta relay. 1330 time pips and Local News. ID as "Inilah 
Radio Republik Indonesia Yogyakarta warta berita". Yogyakarta heard 
as Jogjakarta". SINPO 23342 to 33443. (Feb 10, 2000, Nobuo Takeno, 
JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

5046.4, RRI Yogyakarta. Reactivated. Telephone conversation program 
at 1425. This day was local all night program. Still heard at past 
1800. Nobuo Takeno pointed out ID was heard like as "Radio Republik 
Indonesia Jogjakarta". I got the tape from him and confirmed that ID 
was heard as "Radio Republik Indonesia Yogyakarta dengan Warta Berita 
Daerah" at 1330. The station was inactive in the local eveving on 11, 
February, but the next day was heard again. 13 February was inactive. 
This is irregular broadcast. (Feb 10, 2000, Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, 
Jembatan DX via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** IRAN. USA/Iran: VOA says its Persian broadcasts "deliberately
jammed" by Iran Text of press release by Voice of America on 9th Feb

Washington, DC, 9th February 2000: On the eve of key Iranian
parliamentary elections on 18th February, the Voice of America's Farsi
[Persian] broadcasts have been deliberately jammed by Iran for the
last two weeks, according to monitors in the International
Broadcasting Bureau's Office of Engineering and Technical Services.
Jamming intensified in the first week of February.

"We very much regret that the Iranian government is jamming VOA
broadcasts at a time when our Farsi Service is offering special
programming on the 18th February elections and the 21st anniversary
of the Islamic revolution," said VOA Director Sanford J. Ungar. "It
makes me wonder, `What news and information is the Iranian government
trying to hide from its people?' VOA is committed to covering
important regional events, and listeners in Iran are complaining that
jamming only makes it harder for them to hear these and other VOA
programmes that are of interest to them."

The IBB Technical Monitoring Office in Bahrain and monitors at IBB
headquarters in Washington DC first observed the jamming of the Farsi
services of both VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty during the
last week of January. Detailed monitoring of the situation began by
IBB offices in Bahrain and Islamabad; an IBB Remote Monitoring System
in Yerevan, Armenia; and contract monitors in Karkala, India; Colombo,
Sri Lanka; and Auckland, New Zealand. Reports from these locations
confirmed the Iranian jamming in the last week of January and that it
had increased in the first week of February.

Monitoring has identified two forms of jamming. The first is "bubble
jamming," a fast oscillating tone transmitted by a jamming transmitter
operating on the same frequency as the VOA transmitters. The second is
"voice jamming," broadcasts of the external service of the Voice of
the Islamic Republic of Iran transmitted on the same frequency as VOA
Farsi.

Source: Voice of America press release, Washington, in English 9 Feb 00
(via BBC Monitoring excerpted by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA NORTH. Two-hundred kilowatt transmissions in English from
Radio Pyongyang in North Korea may be heard at 2100 UTC on 6575 and
9335 kHz. A little more unusual are their obscure messages to agents
which may be found by listening patiently using AM and SSB between
1600 and 2200 UTC on 3320, 4770 and 5872 kHz, and also in the 6 MHz
band. These unusual public broadcasts commence on the hour with five
minutes of martial music, followed by a female voice dictating coded
messages. This is a variation on the 'numbers stations' existing in
Europe, which have also been heard recently in exclusive amateur
bands sending Morse code. (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News,
posted February 9, via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** LIBERIA. Glenn, thanks for the mention of me and my Guinea Bissau 
logging of UT Jan 31 0500-0600 4848+ kc, in English. I have not heard 
them again, but would like to report my logging UT Feb 13: tune in 
0710-0800 fade out, 4760 kc; of ELWA Liberia, with American religious 
programming, in English. ID was at 0715 "this program is coming to 
you from radio station ELWA, Liberia"; again an ID was at 0745. No 
QTH/city was heard besides Liberia. Signal had bad fading and QRN, 
became inaudible by 0757. This signal received nightly this past 
week. Same USA religious program was heard on 4851kc 0500-0515, then 
dead air, the same night. Possibly, ELWA used a Guinea Bissau medium 
wave broadcast UT Jan 31 while readying their transmitter to return 
to the airwaves, or was an unrelated relay. I enjoy your show on 
RFPI, weekly. I use a Rick Mish R-390a and a 250 foot balanced loop 
antenna. My name is pronounced "ghoul-yahsh", I never miss your 2 
shows. Thanks, (Ron Guylas, MARE 73-good dx, Feb 14, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

** LIBERIA. ELWA on 4760 has fair signal near Dallas at 0600Z 13 
February. Sunrise at ELWA today is 0712Z. 73 from Bill Smith, W5USM, 
hard-core-dx via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** LIBERIA. I am Ron Sonius, former director of the SIM mission in 
Liberia that ran ELWA Radio before 1996. Your e-mail was forwarded to 
me to answer.  Because of the 8 year civil war in Liberia which 
destroyed the original radio station the post office in Liberia is 
not operating to it's full capacity; therefore the post offices 
around the world cannot send mail into Liberia. You may send your QSL 
card [sic] to Radio ELWA, % SIM Liberia, 08 BP 886, Abidjan 08, Cote 
d'Ivoire, West Africa. The SIM mission in Abidjan sends the mail to 
ELWA in a bulk package once a week by air. (Sonius, ELWA, via Enzio 
Gehrig, hard-core-dx via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO [non]. VOICE OF ZAPATISTA/LA VOZ DEL ZAPATISTA 6955 USB Feb 
6 *0100-0130 Relay of a program downloaded from the internet. Sign on 
with flute interval signal, Spanish talk about Chiapas by man and 
woman. Covered by Radio Bingo at 0130. (444 Coatsworth-ON)(555 Myers-
VA)(142 Majewski-CT)(354 Silvi-OH)(fr Wolfish-ON)(353 Zeller-PA)(554 
Kusalik-AB)(McArdle-OK)(good Demsky-ME) 6955 2-6 0130-0136 Under 
Radio Bingo with low key Spanish songs. (Frodge-MI) (all: Free Radio 
Weekly via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. R. Huayacocotla, 2390, was well heard UT Saturday Feb 12 
from the 3800 block of Seawall in Galveston, TX, as there was nothing 
between us but the Gulf of Mexico; on battery power with the ATS-909 
and whip. From tune-in 0043 a local oom-pah brass band, ``banda de 
viento`` was playing from the community of El Sotano. 0050 a nice R. 
Huayacocotla jingle. Nice on peaks with occasional deep fades and 
distortion presumably from dual path phase cancellation, but no QRM 
and only occasional static crashes. I taped most of this and may 
feature on a future WOR/COM. Program was ``La Carola(?) y el 
Trombon`` dedicated to wind bands. Sign-off announcement with XEJN 
calls, but faded down when giving hour of return. (However, I could 
detect a weak signal next day at 1432.) Concluded at 0103 with a solo 
child haltingly singing the Mexican national anthem with native 
(Nahuatl?) lyrics until 0105* (Glenn Hauser, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand TV audio pounding in on 50.750 and 50.760 
MHz. Good enough for wideband FM detection. Two video offsets 
fighting on 45.260 giving nice whistle het, 0730 UT Feb. 15 (Brock 
Whaley, WH6SZ, Honolulu, amfmtvdx via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** OKLAHOMA. Glenn, it sounds like Oklahoma City is getting ready to
have another radio war [between] long time KJ-103 and new Wild 97.9.
Usually lately there is no war but the usual is to buy out your
competition. I noticed that KJ [102.7] has added more titles that they
have not been playing that Wild has been playing. I thought they would
get to go after KOMA no 2 rating but somehow mo money KJ will spank
them along with other Clear Channel stations that pay listners a lot to
listen to really crappy music. It is nice to know that KOMA and WKY of
old are not the last stations to battle it out. If you listen to KTOK,
they have been running spots for KQSR and KJ-103 and vice versa;
sounds like they all need help. Take care (Bill Eckart, OK, Feb 9, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5130.92 Radio Uno, Tongod; Thanks to the latest news from
PFA, this new OA broadcaster was finally heard in Tokyo. First noted
at 1157-1205 on 05/FEB/2000. S/on at 1157 with the Peruvian National
Anthem and a long canned ID with deep echo. Followed by a morning
folklore show entitled "Despertar Andino". Thanks also for a phone
tip from Shoji Yamada. (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Relampago DX via
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 5865.4, R. Nuevo Cajamarca, Nueva Cajamarca; 3 Feb 0020-0140
33333 huayno folk music, ID "Radio Nuevo Cajamarca, desde Nueva
Cajamarca..." Note: I reported this station as Radio Nueva Cajamarca
on 9 Dec 99 on 5860.0 kHz, but now tuned on 5865.4 and I hear more
clearly that they say "NUEVO Cajamarca" [as name of station, while the
city is NuevA, an anomaly discussed years ago -gh]. On this new
frequency they are heard at times with distortion and background hum,
and the frequency varies slightly to both sides. Tnx TIN tip. Checked
the old frequency and there was no signal at all (Pedro F.
Arrunategui, Lima, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 7141.7, Radio Real, 1115-1130, Andean vocals, announcer with
time checks and ID's in passing over music. Very strong signal just
beginning to fade with local sunrise. Carrier drifting and jumping
around between .70 and .74. (Mark Mohrmann, VT, Feb 9, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)

** PERU. 7141.8, RADIO REAL DE HUARMACA, 2210-2315: 2210-2240 Musica 
chicha. "..gracias por su amable sintonia de Radio Real de 
Huarmaca..." "..la hora a nivel nacional en los estudios de Radio 
Real de Huarmaca, la autenctica voz del pueblo huarmaqueño..." but a 
few times the word was different: ".. La voz del pueblo 
huarmaquino..." Mentioned nominal frequency of 7155 kHz. Thanks to 
Arrunategui info on this station (Rafael Rodriguez, Bogota, Colombia, 
Feb 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOUTH AFRICA. Channel Africa to be commercialized, minister says
Text of report by South African news agency SAPA

Cape Town 9th February: Government intended to corporatize [as
received] the SABC's radio service arm, Channel Africa, by the end of
this year, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said on
Wednesday [9th February].

Addressing a media briefing in Cape Town, she said this was part of
the restructuring of the SABC into public and commercial entities.

The public broadcasting service would focus on delivering a public
service, while the commercial service aimed to attract investment in
order to draw skills, technology and resources to enable the SABC to
be competitive.

"The corporatization of Channel Africa into a relevant and profitable
independent company is another aim of the overall project," she said.

It was also aimed at aligning Channel Africa to President Thabo
Mbeki's concept of an African renaissance and the objectives of South
African foreign policy.

Matsepe-Casaburri said it was also intended that Channel Africa support
the establishment of an Africa think-tank, drawing on a pool of African
experts in the communications sector.

Source: SAPA news agency, Johannesburg, in English 1450 gmt 9 Feb 00
(via BBC Monitoring, via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TEXAS. While my trip to Galveston was mainly for R&R, beyond the 
gross megurban obstacles of The Metroplex and Houston, I did note a 
few things of interest concerning stations here.

530 TIS at Texas City was running a loop about the water supply; when 
checked the next day at 1245 UT, presumably the same one, was running 
nothing but a female non-computer giving time, day and date, the 
latter as ``2, 12, zero`` -- but the time was two minutes slow! What 
a great public service.

1070 KENR Houston, ethnic format, Sat at 1610 UT was in Hindi(?) with 
ad for Savoy Jewelers for Val. Day

1180 KGOL Humble, as usual in Vietnamese Sat morning

1400 KHCB in Galveston (whose FM station is in Houston) may be 
Spanish most of the time, but Sat at 1608 UT was in Mandarin Chinese.

2660 had a harmonic, no doubt 2 x 1330, both night and day at 1250 
with US music, 1300 net news from a US station so likely one of the 
Texans or Louisiana.

A perfunctory FM bandscan, including checking every audible station 
for RDS, from Galveston u.o.s. found:

88.1 KJIC gospel originally on 90.5 has translator strong enough to 
     be local, but unlisted by FM Atlas. Other nearby 88.1 listed in 
     Freeport, Katy, Pasadena (RDS: KJIC)
89.1 KEOS Bryan/College Station got a joint ID on KPFT 90.1 Houston 
     at 1601 UT Feb 12, but when I later listened to KEOS locally it
     was not duplicating KPFT
89.5 no sign of the Galveston KPFT 90.1 Houston translator listed by 
     FM Atlas, but instead KLUX, religion from down the coast at 
     Robstown near Corpus.
90.1 KPFT direct with only 28 kW is iffy with unID co-channel. Many 
     full power Houston FMs blast in with no problem, not that far
     away.
90.3 KEDT Corpus public radio barely squeezes in
90.5 KJIC gospel from Santa Fe TX; (RDS: KJIC)
91.3 KVLU Beaumont public radio barely squeezes in
95.7 KIKK-FM Houston (RDS: KIKK FM)
97.3 Galveston translator of 89.3 KSBJ Humble-Houston gospel rock 
     instead captured by classical public radio WRKF 89.3 Baton Rouge 
     LA, not only in the evening with Nightmusic at 0236 but at 1559
     UT with ID after Lawn and Garden Show. Those engineering off-air 
     pickup translators in this area need to realize the power of Gulf 
     Tropo, of which I gather there was some from Bill Hepburn`s 
     forecast. WRKF usually on top but hash from the intended primary. 
     On 89.3 itself, all I could hear was KSBJ.
97.9 KBXX Houston (RDS: THE BOX)
98.5 KTJM Port Arthur-Houston (RDS: THE JAMM)
107.5 KTBZ Lake Jackson-Houston (RDS: THE BUZZ)

Reluctant to leave the coast, I decided to drive down to Freeport 
before heading back thru Houston. A few miles west of Galveston there 
was a stretch with extremely high noise level on AM from adjacent 
power lines, whose poles deliberately lean seaward to give them an 
edge against hurricanes. Beware the toll bridge as you leave 
Galveston county, where you will not only owe a dollar to escape but 
the dollar-taker puffs a smelly cigar. 

I wound up spending the next night at Bryan/College Station, where I 
was not impressed. Not only is it the home of misinformation about 
polar wandering [see CANADA], and of stupid and dangerous bonfire 
piles, but also of almost invisible median curbs down the main drag 
at night, and of all-smoking motels run by rednecks. So I wound up 
paying extra just to get a room free of poison gas. 

Cable TV at the Preference Inn deleted PBS affiliate KAMU from 
channel 4 in favor of HBO instead of putting it on any of several 
higher vacant channels. However, I got the chance to see a bit of the 
International Channel on cable 48, which was mostly in original 
languages without subtitles (closed captioning unknown), such as a 
Hungarian sitcom, Japanese music videos, but something from Korea was 
partly in English.

Another very dangerous stretch of highway is Interstate 45 just north 
of Corsicana, where there are varying little curbs instead of shoulder
on the inside lane next to the grass median. If one strays slightly
off the highway at 75 mph it is far better to hit the grass than a
curb! These are hard to see even in full daylight, and come and go
with no rhyme or reason, never a full 6 inches, but 0 to 3 inches or
so. I saw this southbound, and on the same stretch of highway
northbound in 1986 a pickup in front of me hit the center curb, lost
control, and caused me to roll over totalling my car full of household
goods including an R390 and HQ160, from which I was very lucky to
emerge with only a few scratches and bruises.

As I was driving thru Fort Worth, which BTW is a very ugly city: 
will they ever finish the interchange in the middle of town? -- And 
the wonderful Amon Carter Museum is half-destroyed for remodeling the 
next two years - I happened upon ``Memories 96.7`` with some nice 
oldies and claims to 40 minutes in a row without ads (but not without 
jingles and DJs). Could not believe the signal on this class A 
channel, which held up almost to Ardmore OK, beyond most Metroplex 
FMs. Then I see it is 92 kW licensed to Flower Mound, north of FW, 
KMEO (Glenn Hauser, TX, Feb 10-13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TEXAS. What's in a name? The historic "KLIF" call letters have 
gotten a reprieve - but only because officials can't find anything 
better. The station retooled itself in early January, eliminating its 
sports shows in favor of straight talk and renaming itself "Big 570." 
At the time, program director Steve Konrad said he wanted a new set 
of call letters, too. But "as we look for something that works, 
they're either all taken, or they belong to other companies, and it's 
a pain right now," Mr. Konrad says. "Technically, we're keeping them, 
but it's only because there aren't any available that make any 
sense." Still, he acknowledges that the venerable call letters do 
hold some value, and "all things being equal, we'd prefer not to have 
someone else glom onto them." Should "Big 570" ever find an 
appropriate set of letters, he says, "KLIF" will likely be 
transferred to KKLF-AM (950), the outlet that carries the station's 
programming in the Denison-Sherman area. And if you listen carefully 
near the top of the hour, you can still hear the letters "KLIF" in 
the federally mandated station IDs. Just make sure you're listening 
very carefully.  (Al Brumley, Dallas Morning News Feb 13 via Mike 
Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K O G B A N I. Feb BBC On Air mentions only one subject for 
Concert Hall, Sunday 1601-1700 on 17840: The Viderunt Project. We 
enjoyed this Feb 6 and were looking forward to more of the 26 
compositions, but instead on Feb 13 it was a totally unrelated New 
York Philharmonic retrospective; and Feb 20 will be the Millennium 
Concert, Elza Soares, Rio`s Queen of Samba. So will there be any more 
Viderunts? Like so many other programmes, BBC On Air refuses to give 
specific dates or weeks during the month for topics mentioned, whilst 
they could easily do so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K O G B A N I.  Dear Glenn, Here is a copy (minus address info) 
of a letter I am e-mailing to Write-On. I know it is kind of harsh, 
but I think there are a hell of a lot of people who feel the way I 
do, whether or not they express it.  Feel free to quote this letter 
anywhere you wish. Tim 
 
Dear Write-On,
 
I don't know why you even bother to broadcast Write-On.  Week after
week you read letters, mostly from listeners who object to the changes
which BBCWS is making.  Then you usually reply with some variation of
"We don't care a whit what you think, we've made up our mind."  If you
feel this way, why continue the pretense of caring what we, the
listeners, think.
 
This week you spent five minutes or so speaking with a Penny Something-
Or-Other about why Farming World was being dropped, despite numerous
letters of protest. I have no idea what this woman was trying to say,
she made no sense at all.
 
I believe this indifference to what your listeners really think goes
back to when BBCWS was split into what you called "Streams." That is
when I began to detect this not caring on the Write-On program.
 
Just when BBCWS is becoming more available than it has ever previously
been, through local re-broadcast, internet, etc. it is also becoming
less worth hearing. I used to fantasize about how wonderful it would
be to have BBCWS available 24 hours per day on a local FM station.
Now I hardly care.
 
I feel that BBCWS has three elements, news and information,
entertainment, and atmosphere. Only the first of these elements seems
to be important to you any more. 
 
To you want to know what I really miss? No, you probably don't, but
I'm going to tell you anyway. I miss Lilliburlero at the beginning of
the news, and the chimes of Big Ben at frequent intervals, when
program breaks permitted it. Why were these dropped? If you dare to
say that the air schedule was too tight to include them, I simply
won't believe you.
 
I've spent a fair amount of time in foreign countries and odd
locations, sometimes under a lot of stress. NO matter where I was, or
what I was doing, when I heard Lilliburlero coming over my shortwave
radio at the top of the hour, I felt that the world was the same place
I had always known. It was tremendously comforting to me, even when
the news which followed the song was bad. I don't expect you to care
about this, but maybe someone in London ought to at least know. A very
unhappy listener. (Timothy Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 15, via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K O G B A N I. Glenn, I have been receiving the digest regularly 
- many thanks - you must spend hours on it every week - its 
excellent. At last I have a contribution. Here is something of 
interest (hopefully): 

JAB INFOLINE: This recorded telephone information line has been in 
operation covering offshore & other radio news for many years & is 
regularly updated. Slight change of telephone number for the "JB 
(Jaybee) Infoline" is now in operation - (UK) 07626 910 390. I have 
checked & confirmed this number. Calls are not a premium rate in the 
UK but I'm not sure about overseas rates. I am not the organiser but 
make contributions from time to time - give it a call. Calls last 5 
minutes with a facility to leave a message. Please leave a short 
message as it would be appreciated. The old number will continue to 1 
April. (Mike Terry, Feb 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
                                                                      
** U S A. VOA plans to create a special service to Colombia, if and 
when Congress provides funding; to include news and info directed 
exclusively to Colombia, which is currently the third greatest 
recipient of US foreign aid. (AFP Washington via El Tiempo, Bogota, 
Feb 11, via Henrik Klemetz, translated excerpts by gh, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

** U S A. KIM: On Thursday, Voice of America director Sandy Ungar held
a town meeting for VOA employees to discuss the outcome of a language
service review by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Some VOA
employees called it "black Thursday," because the BBG, the highest
authority of U.S. government international broadcasting, determined
that personnel cuts will take place in several VOA language services.
Mr. Ungar announced that 51 VOA jobs will be cut. VOA Polish is most
affected, with the loss of 15 positions. Also facing reductions are
VOA Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovene, Romanian, Lao, and
Portuguese to Brazil. The VOA News division will lose five positions
at its New York and Chicago bureaus.

Mr. Ungar explained that most of the European services that will
experience personnel cuts will form a new VOA multimedia unit.
[TAPE: CUT 1 NOT TRANSCRIBED]

VOA transmissions are also affected. The amounts I will give are per
day. Albanian will eliminate 15 minutes, leaving 1 and a half hours
per day, including a 30-minute radio-TV simulcast. The Bulgarian 30-
minute transmission on 792 kilohertz from Kavala, Greece will be
converted to an Internet and affiliate feed service. Croatian will be
reduced by 30 minutes to one sesquihour per day. The Romanian half-
hour now on shortwave will be converted to an Internet and affiliate
feed service. Serbian will be reduced by 30 minutes to two hours,
including a half-hour radio-television simulcast. Slovak, now one hour
on shortwave and Munich 1197 will be converted to an Internet and feed
service. Burmese will change times to allow the resumption of service
on 1575 kilohertz medium wave via Bangkok. Khmer will be reduced by 30
minutes for a total of one and a half hours. Lao, or Laotian, will be
reduced by thirty minutes, leaving total of thirty minutes. Vietnamese
will be reduced by 30 minutes, leaving a total of two and a half
hours, but the service will add medium wave; the frequency was not
specified.

These reductions will be implemented by the end of August. The BBG
language service review is based on such factors as media freedom in
the target country, U.S. foreign policy interests, and audience
numbers.

Some VOA language services will be under particular scrutiny in the
coming year because of their present performance as indicated by
audience research. These are Russian, Portuguese to Brazil, Arabic,
Hindi, Indonesian, Kurdish, and Turkish.

Mr. Ungar said that if funds become available, VOA would like to
restore 13 and a half hours recently cut from Amharic, English to
Africa, Hausa, French to Africa, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, and Swahili.
Also, to acquire FM frequencies in Jakarta, as well as Dili, East
Timor; expand VOA Macedonian by 15 minutes to a total of 30 minutes;
and establish a targeted Spanish news and information service for
Colombia.

Radio Free Asia will not be subject to any reductions this year, but
a press release from the Broadcasting Board of Governors states that
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty will also be making cuts to some of
its services. Paul Goble, RFE/RL`s Director of Communications, told
me that his organization is making no comments about cuts at this
time. (Kim Elliott, VOA Communications World Feb 12 via John Nofolk,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Several months ago I spoke to Dave Frantz on the phone
regarding QSLs. Once I got past his stand on "we know we are getting
out"....."so we don't want reception reports", I offered to set up a
maildrop and work with him on verifying some of these reception
reports. At that time he told me he had hired a person (I think he
said a sales person?), and went on to talk about the 5 hours of
program details for a QSL. Those 5 hours of reception details would be
used to market/sell air time. Fair enough; he is running a commerical
SW station!

I asked him what about the small mountain of existing reports; Dave
told me those would be taken care of. As one of you mentioned, there
may be a great deal of $'s in those reports. Please, rather than
turning WGTG or any other station away from QSLing perhaps we can work
with with them in getting some QSLs out. Another Nepal or Bhutan we
don't need. I will call Dave Frantz tonight (Feb 9) and see what can
be arranged to clear up the reception report backlog. [Later:]
                                                               
Hello Hard Core DX group: I was able to speak with Dave Frantz last
night for over an hour. It was quite a conversation. Here is the
bottom line. The 5 hours of program details stands. This 5 hours of
programming can be over an extended time, i.e. days, weeks or months,
with 5 hours of detials WGTG has "an obligation to give an immediate
reponse". What about the old reception reports? To be honest he
"doesn`t care". Dave said they are not a priority now, expanding the
station is. I explained to him his hard line ``doesn`t care`` answer
is not an answer, but a problem! He went on to say that he was not
sure where those reports are. They may have been "thrown out, lost or
stored". He has agreed to look for those reports when time permits and
"if" found perhaps a maildrop/QSL service can be set up. I personally
am not holding my breath! Anyone interested in hearing the story of
setting up a SW radio station in Georgia, could call Dave Frantz at
WGTG; he is really not the hard liner he appears to be. On a positive
note reception reports received under the 5 hour policy, have been
QSLed, they have recently mailed out. Dave mentioned QSLs sent out to
"some Scandinavian DXers". I know this really doesn`t solve the
issue(s), but perhaps gets to WGTG's bottom line. Please be assured
that I am not happy with this commerical station`s stand, but "at the
end of the day" that`s their call! Let us hope things work out in
the end. If not, oh well, I am still going to continue this great
hobby. Wishing you all the BEST! (Joe Talbot, Canada, hard-core-dx
via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Neo-Nazi SW broadcaster Kevin Alfred Strom made a brief 
appearance on ABC`s 20/20 Wednesday night, Feb 9 around 0315 UT Feb 
10, in a story about women in the far right movement. One who has now 
seen the light is his ex-wife Kirsten Kaiser, who said, directly 
quoted, ``I was married to a monster``. They share custody of three 
children. She was going to chat at abcnews.com Thursday at 2 pm ET. 
Are these things archived? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Those away from their TVs at 0000 UT Mondays may still hear 
60 Minutes on some CBS radio stations. Feb 14 reconfirmed on KRLD 
1080 Dallas, and 7 seconds later on WBBM 780 Chicago. What`s the 
matter, finger on the button waiting for naughty words on this show?? 
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. You never know what AFN is going to do; for ABC 
Perspective, Sunday Feb 13 at 1205, 12689.5 and 4278.5 were instead 
carrying something else, so I could hear it only on 6458.5 from 
Puerto Rico; fortunately, KOA 850 Denver was better. BTW, ABC 
recently started much longer commercial breaks within this program. 
They used to be only one or two minutes max, usually PSAs. So there 
is less editorial and minute after minute after minute of breaks 
between stories (Glenn Hauser, Bryan TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Bob Collins of WGN 720 AM Chicago died recently in a tragic
plane crash and this email was read by him on his last show.

http://www.wgnam.com/shows/collins_bob/thingsilearned.htm
--
(Kevin Maly, hard-core-dx via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Hello Glenn, I wonder if you heard me on Al Weiner's talk
show tonight just after 7:00 PM Central.  In case you didn't, I called
to say that some of the afternoon shows on WBCQ which I really enjoy,
such as Marion's Attic, WOR and Jean Shepherd are hard to hear, as
7415 does not propagate all that well, and that this will become worse
as hours of daylight increase. I suggested that Al simulcast some of
these programs on 9340, at least until that frequency is fully
occupied. Well, this was Allan's cue to tell me that as of Monday,
Feb. 14, 9340 is going to be on the air all day long (I think he said
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern time, but I am not sure of this) carrying
some Christian network. It's probably just another one of these far
right satellite networks, such as WGTG and WWCR already carry. I know
Allan has to make money, but what a shame that he has to do it this
way! (Tim Hendel, AL, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Notes from Al Weiner Worldwide on WBCQ, 7415, UT Sat Feb 12 
at 0100: WBCQ-2 will start regular broadcasting Monday Feb 14: the 
Mon-Fri 8 am to 5 pm ET (1300-2200 UT) block has been sold to 
Christian Media Network, which is expected to carry a variety of 
mostly talk programs. CMN deal was with James Lloyd who does The 
Apocalypse Hour. This will be on compatible USB, carrier -6 dB, or 
roughly half of normal AM, so receivable on any cheap SW radio.
Evenings and weekends are still open, and not clear whether would
stay on the air until time is sold, but Tim Hendel called from 
Alabama asking for repeats on 9340 of Marion`s Attic and other 
enjoyable afternoon shows now becoming inaudible in the ever-
increasing pre-spring daylight. She, for one, has already asked to be 
on 9340, but Allan made no definite commitment to simulcast 7415 or 
repeat shows on 9340. One problem in running longer hours is finding 
techs qualified to handle 50 kW transmitters who are willing to live 
in northern Maine in the winter, and take the pay WBCQ can offer. Tom 
called from the site asking Allan to wrap up the show in time for a 
spot to be run at 0159. WBCQ has been pushing spot sales, and one of 
the first takers is Kurt ``extreme weapons`` Saxon, who is still 
salivating for the collapse of the USA. What peace, love and 
understanding!

A new 2-hour music show on 7415 starts Feb 19 Sats at 9 pm EST after 
RFNY [0200-0400 UT Sun]; they were not sure of the title but it seems 
the first hour will be ``Hear Now`` and the second ``Lay [Le??] Bon 
Bon Club``.

Medical news: Big Steve Cole is going in for surgery shortly, and we 
hope all will be well. There are several some pre-produced Different 
Kind of Oldies Shows so may not have to miss any weeks, UT Suns 0100-
0200.

Elayne Star (Mrs. Weiner) is having trouble walking, and is being 
examined for spinal cord problems.

We were checking 9340 Monday Feb 14 at 1300, but nothing, and still 
nothing at 1440 recheck. Propagation not to blame, as RCI was fine on 
9640. Still nothing on 9340 during the daytime Tue Feb 15, as Tim
Hendel also notes (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Followup to DXLD 00-21: Current schedule for amateur
bulletin station WA0RCR, Wentsville MO, Saturday afternoon and evening
in North America, Central time. All tape delayed u.o.s.

Begins 1 pm [1900 UT]: Amateur Radio Newsline; RAIN [Radio Amateur
Information Service]; St. Louis Amateur Radio Newsline; This Week In
Amateur Radio; and special announcements, taped and live.

5:30 pm [2330 UT]: The Houston AMSAT Net. Continue with: Amateur Radio
Newsline; RAIN; St. Louis Amateur Radio Newsline; This week In Amateur
Radio.

8 pm [0200 UT Sunday]: This Week In Amateur Radio (Live)

9 pm [0300 UT Sunday]: The Houston AMSAT Net.

10 pm [0400 UT Sunday]: Amateur Radio Newsline; RAIN; This Week In
Amateur Radio.

12 Midnight until 2 am [0600-0800 UT Sunday]: Continue with
retransmission of latest Amateur Radio Newsline; RAIN; This Week In
Amateur Radio.

2 am or after [0800 UT Sunday]: Close Newsletter; Sign off.
(wa0rcr.com via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

No mention here of the ARRL Audio Service but I suspect it may be
heard sometime during the 13 hour period. While I'm on the subject,
W1AW broadcasts ARRL bulletins Monday through Friday at 9:45 pm ET
[Tue-Sat 0245 UT] on 1855, 3990, 7290, 14290, 18160, 21390 and 28590,
all SSB. Also, W4KLV, Official Bulletin Station in San Antonio TX has
been heard opening the South Texas Emergency Net Sundays at 8:30 am CT
[1430 UT] on 3955 LSB. The International Amateur Radio Network's
bulletins via K1MAN on 3975 and 14275 SSB and 3890 AM are currently
inactive. RealAudio ham bulletins: Newsline http://www.arnewsline.com
or http://www.newline,org ; RAIN Dial-up http://www.rainreport.com
(includes FCC Enforcement Report from FCC Chief Enforcer Riley
Hollingsworth, updated Sundays); This Week in Amateur Radio
http://www.twiar.org ; ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org (John
Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [et al]. Glenn, Sunday 13 February 2000... Today was the the 
day for WEu Shortwave listeners to push the envelope. There was a  
marvellous opening across the Atlantic all of this Sunday afternoon 
for anyone interested in monitoring Amateur Operators working Narrrow 
FM via the W1OH repeater in the American North West. Although 
conditions seemed a little scratchy into Ireland at times, 
nevertheless stations were just as good to hear at 1830 as they were 
four hours earlier at 1430 UT.  However, things changed dramatically 
for the worse around 1900 UT.

Throughout the evening, stations from as far afield as Jamaica, 
Canada, Russia, Poland, Germany, Belgium and England were heard. 
Needless to say, Massachusetts stations were plentiful, but stations 
from Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana were also heard via the W1OH 
repeater throughout the period. In the latter part of the evening, 
after dark had fallen in Ireland and conditions were getting tricky, 
EI9EJ from County Kerry in Sou'-West Ireland had a brief QSO with a 
station in Denver, Colorado.

The magic frequency for all the fun was 29.620 MegaHertz. By the way, 
the repeater in question is situated at Bolton near Boston MA.

Often, operators in the vicinity of the repeater itself were heard to 
say that they were mobile, using CB antennas or even on occasions 
some were heard to say that they were simply using handhelds. There 
was a variety of antenna details from operators in Europe and 
elsewhere, but the most frequent type seemed to be some sort of 
vertical. Amazingly, one UK station was getting through with a G5RV. 
Several times, European stations, in countries that were relatively 
close to one another, had a QSO by going TransAtlantic via the 
American repeater. A good example of that happened at 1617 UT when 
stations in Belgium and Germany linked up.

Power output from stations was modest by all accounts, the maximum 
heard mentioned was 100 watts, but the Jamaican station, 6Y5WW beat 
all with a mere 12 watts. That guy's name was William and he was 
clear as a bell into the Irish South West at 1721 UT in a QSO with 
Canadian station VE3SMI.

The repeater station W1OJ was heard giving a loud and clear voice
identification at 1645 UT. An automated voice [female] said "This is 
the W1OJ Repeater near Boston". Incidentally, this particular 
repeater is owned and managed by Roger Perkins W1OJ, Bolton, MA., 
USA. By all accounts, Roger has six such repeaters, but the Boston 
one seems to be the daddy of them all. It has been in operation for 
close on twenty years. Note that the input is 29.520 MegaHertz and 
the system is open for shared use. (Finbarr O'Driscoll, Ireland, Feb 
14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ZIMBABWE. [Re: DXLD 00-23] ZBC dropped use of 3306 kHz early in
November 1999, I happened to be visiting Harare at the time. They were
then found operating the following schedule:
 
Radio 2: 4828 kHz 0300-0530 & 1630-2200; 5975 kHz 0530-1630
Radio 4: 6045 kHz 0300-2200
 
Radio 2 is all in Shona/Ndebele, but Radio 4 has daily 10-minute
newscast bulletins in English at 0600, 1130, 1800. All times UTC.
 
Incidentally, ZBC now has a website at www.africaonline.co.zw/zbc/
================================================
Check out the Interval Signals Archive at http://home.clara.net/dkernick
(Dave Kernick, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

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