[HCDX]: DX Listening Digest 00-53 April 15

["Glenn Hauser" <wghauser@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

	DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-53, April 15, 2000
		edited by Glenn Hauser

{Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing
full credit be maintained at all stages. DXLD may not be reposted in
its entirety without permission}

CONTINENT OF MEDIA 00-03: New edition did start on RFPI April 14, and
as of April 15 is available at http://www.DXing.com

** AUSTRALIA. A very long holiday weekend Fri-Tue April 21-25 will
mean a number of regular programs missing from RA, and a special
ANZAC Day dawn ceremony live from the Cenotaph in Canberra, UT Monday
April 24 at 1930 (Roger Broadbent, RA Feedback April 14 via gh, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)

** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s new US address is P. O. Box 1094, Eugene OR
97440. Someone is coming out to repair the cubical quad antenna on
the 200-foot tower in a few days from April 14, allowing the return
of the 30 kW transmitter which will be within plus/minus 5 kHz of
6975, to avoid interfering with some service in Portugal. Time for
that will probably be reduced to 0200-0800 UT, and 15049 may be
closing at 0300 or 0400. This has been a slow cash-flow month, so
additional contributions from members have been a great help. A new
antenna is under construction, quarter-wave length, 155 feet long.
(Joe Bernard and James Latham, RFPI Mailbag April 14, notes by gh for
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Hmm, full wave would be 189 metres or 1580 kHz; maybe really above
1600 which was alluded to briefly some weeks ago as a possible new
frequency range for RFPI. The 6975 QSY and reduced hours on that and
15049 will obviously impact the WOR and COM schedules. 15049 was
still on Sat April 15 at 1100 for the new COM, 1130 new WOR (gh)

** CUBA. Glenn: News summaries have begun to reappear during the last
week on the Radio Havana Cuba Web site. These had been absent for
three months (Mike Cooper, GA, April 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Still http://www.radiohc.org and still with the NY Transfer News
Collective they were talking about quitting before. Surprise! Lots
about Elian. Hey, Fidel, if you ran a country instead of a prison,
and Elian and his mother could have emigrated freely, none of this
would be going on. What nerve for Cuba to make an issue of it. BTW,
gringo newscasters sure have a hard time pronouncing Elian; at
least Harry Shearer deliberately merges it with Alien. Patria o
Suerte, Pensaremos!! (gh)

** GERMANY. DTK Juelich station photo:
http://www7.itu.int/newsroom/pLib/Detail.asp?ID=902
(Carlos Felipe da Silva, radio-escutas April 14 via DXLD)
See ITU photo homepage link at end

** GHANA. 3366, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Radio 2 or GBC 2)
1900-2030. GBC 2 is back on air after over 2 months off air
apparently because the valves used in the transmitters had broken
down and it was difficult replacing them since valves are now
outmoded and expensive. Gospel music, both foreign (Western) and
local was played and listeners were asked to ring 221445 and comment
on their come back. The first caller was from Kaneshie (Accra). At
2000 the local news bulletin was read by Esther Aseno and Isaac
Anthony. The comeback of GBC 2 was also read in the news item.
(Charles Wompiah, Ghana, April 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD)

** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Listen to RNI [Radio North Sea
International] for a month only on
http://www.keconnect.co.uk/company/RNIRadio.html They also broadcast
on AM and shortwave. I am listening as I write this. (Mike Terry, UK,
1552 April 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ISRAEL. New English times for Kol Yisrael from 4/14

This reflects the beginning of summer time (GMT +3) in Israel from
2200 GMT, 13 April. This was transcribed from the end of the 1500 BC
on the 13th.

0400 UTC -  9435 15640 17535
1030 UTC - 15640 17535
1400 UTC - 15650 17535
1900 UTC - 11605 15640 15650 17535

Israel went on summer time (GMT +3) at 2200 GMT Thursday. Among other
things, this means that the WRN webcast at 1400 GMT may actually be
that day's. (Who at WRN came up with the bright idea of having a live
webcast which would originate at the station an hour later for nearly
a month?) (Joel Rubin, NY, April 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ITALY. RAI MW closed down (maybe also SW) by the authorities

I think you may be interested in some breaking news from Italy:
================================================================
RAI national radio news reported tonight, April 14, 2000, on the 1930
news bulletin that RAI's Santa Palomba facilities near Rome has been
closed down by law enforcement agents today. The largest RAI's MW
transmitter (1 megawatt on 846 kHz) for RAI 1 & RAI 2 are currently
off the air. Shortwave transmissions may also be affected, as RAI is
broadcasting on Short Wave from the same facility, but we could not
verify this.

The action was in response of a complaint by local people, after the
local Public Health office (ASL: Azienda Sanitaria Locale) measured
that RF emissions were above the maximum levels prescribed by law at
the above broadcasting station.

RAI radio news tonight reported that they consider the closure of
Santa Palomba facility an "abuse", as RAI claims that RF levels were
within the margins set by law. RAI will appeal to Court to re-open
the Santa Palomba facility.

RAI also reported that closed down transmitters are part of the
national emergency system, covering central, southern Italy and most
of the Mediterranean. Also RAI's "Notturno Italiano" on the air after
midnight to Europe on Medium Wave transmitters from Rome will off the
air for the first time ever. "Notturno Italiano" is the program aired
to Italians abroad, and paid for by the Italian Council of Ministers
(Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, the same authority that
finances production and broadcasting of all Short Wave programs aired
by RAI).

---------------
The above is provided for information purposes only. Please check
your own sources on the above or http://www.rai.it. Although we
believe the above data is true and accurate, we assume no
responsibility. (Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President,  NEXUS-Int'l
Broadcasting Association, Milano, via Hans-Joachim Koch, April 14,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** LIBERIA. [Re: DXLD 00-31] I wish to comment on the "... covert,
unlicensed, clandestine?" question. ELWA is none of these. The
license is merely a reactivation of an old licensed frequency. The
transmitter was imported openly with official permission. Although I
did not meet him, I was told that there was an inspector at the
transmitter site about three days after the station signed on. The
operation on 4760 was publicized widely in Monrovia and the rest of
the country. The transmitting site is the same one that has been used
by ELWA for decades. Nothing about the operation is "under the
table". If you have questions, I will answer what I can. I was on the
team (with Cordell Loken) who put the station on the air in February.
(Ted Miller, DXing.com Newsroom via DXLD)

** PERU. La Hora in Cusco, Peru: Having just visited Cusco, Peru, I
would like to convey the regards of Mr. Carlos Gamarra Moscoso to
DXers all around the world. Carlos works at Radio La Hora and is in
charge of verifying reports to the station. He has done this with
utmost sense of dedication and responsibility, and has kept a
detailed log of all reports received and all verifications sent out.

The management of the station has not cared much for reports before
Carlos took over the job. If you have sent a report to the station in
the past 10 years or so, but have not received a reply, please send a
follow-up to Carlos, preferably with a return postage. A reply is
guaranteed for all correct reports - he does check them. Carlos has
just one wish: please do let him know once you have received the
verification. The mail service is somewhat unreliable, and Carlos is
so worried that some of the QSLs sent by him never reach recipients.
So, all of you who have received a QSL from him, he would really
appreciate a short thank you note.

The Gerente of the station is Edmundo Montesinos G. It wouldn't hurt
if you also told him how much you appreciate the efforts of Carlos
Gamarra Moscoso, whose dedication is indeed unparalleled in all of
Peru. Instead of the station address, Carlos says however that
reports reach him with more certainty, if sent to his home address:
Avenida Garcilaso No. 411, Wanchaq, Cusco. And as he is DXer, I am
sure he would enjoy receiving the same kind of radio memorabilia that
all we DXers love to collect...

During the first week of July Radio La Hora is hoping to inaugurate a
new 2-kilowatt shortwave transmitter to replace the present 1-
kilowatt tx. Funding for the new transmitter is however still a
problem. 73  http://www.makelainen.com/dx/dxpedit.htm
(Mika Makelainen, hard-core-dx, April 15 via DXLD)

** U K. Once again April 15 on BBC WS, Write On was missing from its
only scheduled time to Americas of UT Sat 0330, tho 6175, 6135 and
5975 could not agree on what else to broadcast; and Quote, Unquote
was also missing at 0305; however, I checked the May issue of BBC On
Air and saw another Write On time of Sat 0845, so taped that on my
overnight cable relay - and it DID appear already in April, so the
same should be true of Waveguide April 22. Apply other May listings
to April and see what you get (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U K. >Report: Eavesdropping damaged spies hearing
> Heads up, BBCM Caversham!! (gh)

Don't worry, years ago we went over to having all headphones fitted
with limiters. Best wishes, (Chris Greenway, BBCM, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)

** U S A. We had a dramatic power failure at VOA yesterday (Friday)
1835 to 2000 UTC.  Our 1.5 megavolt/amp 16-valve Caterpillar diesel
backup generator kicked in immediately.  That restored electricity to
the newsroom and some live air studios.  But for hundreds of us, we
were making our way through totally dark corridors.  I was just on my
way to the men's room, urgently, when the lights went out.  Amazing
what one can do in pitch black dark if need be.

I had to rewind the tape of CW by hand (never did that before) and
take it to a studio with electricity to make the dub for the 28-
minute version.  I also hastily wrote, voiced, and inserted a lead
media news item about the power failure.

It did take varying amounts of time for studios, feed circuits, and
computers to come back up.  Our VOA e-mail is still not working.
E-mails to Communications World (cw@xxxxxxx) are probably bouncing.
The VOA Web site does seem to be working, though the home page looks
a bit odd on my browser.

The problem appears to have been caused by the PEPCO commercial
electric lines into VOA.  There are three.  One was down because of
maintenance (for the installation of our "uninterruptible power
supply"!).  The second failed, causing lights to flicker.  This put
all our power requirement on the third line, and, overloaded, it
blew.  Some people claimed to have heard an "explosion."

Probably unrelated: For the third week in a row, there was a problem
with the feed of the 28-minute version of Communications World to WRN
at 0100 UTC Saturday.  Thus, for the Saturday 0830 UTC transmission
of CW on WRN1, listeners heard something else (this week it was VOA
News Now from 0100-0130).  This also affects several other
rebroadcasts of Communications World.  And the program was not at the
WRN RealAudio server when last I checked.  I will be trying to make
that right this weekend. (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA, April 15,
swprograms via DXLD)

INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION PHOTO LIBRARY (thousands):
Pessoal, Para quem se interessou pelas fotos, aih vai o link inicial:

http://www7.itu.int/newsroom/pLib/IndexE.asp

(Carlos Felipe da Silva, Brazil, radio-escutas April 14 via DXLD) ###



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