[HCDX]: DX Listening Digest 00-08 Jan 19

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

	DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-08, January 19, 2000
		edited by Glenn Hauser

{Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing 
full credit be maintained at all stages}

** ARMENIA. New schedule for V. of Armenia in English: 0940-1000 
Sunday on 15240; 1850-1900 daily on 234 and 1395 kHz; 2055-2115 Mon-
Sat on 4810, 9965 (Edwin Southwell, England, Jan 2, [delayed receipt 
of fax], DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BERMUDA. I haven't heard "The Herb Show" mentioned yet on the 
group, so I thought I'd do it myself -- it's a nice thing to listen 
to, one man using his radio to help others.

The numbers: It starts at 2000 UTC every day on 12359 kHz, a marine 
simplex frequency, and sailboats anywhere in the Atlantic region 
check in with Herb for their free weather reports and forecasts. Herb 
-- aboard "Southbound II" moored at Bermuda, I believe -- has been 
providing this service free-of-charge to the cruising community for 
quite a few years now, and it's nice to listen to him hold court 
every day. He does accept donations but doesn't ask for them--the 
cruising crowd is reasonably well-off and some of them must kick in 
something now and then.

Check it out someday, as it's really pleasant to listen to the 
sailboats and Herb go about their business. The sailboats generally 
check in a little bit before 2000 so Herb has a chance to log them in 
and then call them when he's got the antenna pointed in the region 
they're sailing in. (Donald Reeve, rec.radio.shortwave via John 
Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. Hi Glenn! The STARF strike [at RCI, CBC] is still going 
on. So are the negotiations...they took the weekend off, since the 
mediator appointed in the case (a) had some other commitments and (b) 
needed time to look over the dossiers in the case. As of what I've 
heard so far, they're still talking, but haven't come to any 
agreements. I'll keep you posted. 

BTW, I should point out an error in DXLD 00-05, concerning Ricky 
Leong, who doesn't live in Nova Scotia. His e-mail address fooled me, 
too; the first time he e-mailed "International Radio Report," I asked 
in my reply how he came to find out about us in NS. Actually, he 
lives in Brossard, Quebec...one of the South Shore suburbs of 
Montreal. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, Jan 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Hi Mr. Hauser: I have a very misleading e-mail address that would 
have led you to believe that I am in Nova Scotia [has ns. in it]. I 
wish I were there, but I'm actually from Brossard, south of Montreal. 
In fact, this is where the CBC has its transmission towers; I can see 
them quite clearly from my house. Just wanted to clear things up. 
There's not much I can do about my domain to make it less confusing! 
Thanks Ricky Leong, MONTREAL!, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** CANADA. Following up the previous story about the CTV anchor who 
got fired for a few remarks in take one, she herself writes this 
story: Marv Albert has a job. I don't 
http://www.nationalpost.com/network.asp?f=000119/180955 
(via Ivan Grishin, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COSTA RICA. RFPI was back on 6975 Tuesday evening, UT Wednesday. 
COM 00-01 has not yet started but surely will on Friday Jan 21 at 
1900 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** GERMANY. DW on extended sked in English on 6140; previously had 
German at 1330-1600, but English programming observed at this time 
(Edwin Southwell, England, Jan 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

As previously reported, DW now has continuous 24h English on 
satellite; this was the last gap to be filled in, and 6140 is on for 
very long hours before and after it (Hauser, DXLD)

** INDIA. Hi Mahendra! Happy Y2K. I just saw your notes in Hauser's 
DXLD re Indian stations on the Web. On our local public TV station 
for New Jersey, tonight the news team did a lengthy feature on a new 
Indian FM radio station in Metuchen, NJ, WCNJ, broadcasting 24/7 on 
89.3 MHz and via the Web. The story suggests this new operation is 
very, very popular. The URL is http://www.ebcradio.com/. Hope this 
helps. Regards, (Tom Sundstrom cc, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Last night they had a little blurb about WCNJ on the NJN (PBS) news.

http://www.ebcradio.com/

They're supposed to be streaming with Webradio.com but I get a "no
broadcast" error right now. Supposedly, their most popular music is 
Bollywood (Indian film music). They have two frequencies in the FM 
educational ghetto and say they are licensed to Metuchen, NJ which is 
maybe 15 miles of the south tip of Staten Island but I don't think I 
can get them here in Queens. (Joel Rubin, NY, Jan 19, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

** MONGOLIA. 12084.8, Voice of Mongolia; Ulaanbaatar, Jan. 18, 1204-
1224, Female speaker with news in English. At 1215 Mongolian ballad, 
at 1219 followed by ID: "Welcome back to the Voice of Mongolia". Them 
mailbag program. Nasty hum in audio. 34433 (Mark Veldhuis, 
Netherlands, hard-core-dx via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** MYANMAR. XZ0A DXPEDITION TO MYANMAR. This major DXpedition is now 
very active on all bands. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the 
press release as additional bulletins [see below]. Activity is 
scheduled to last until February 6th. Just a couple of points to 
note. 

There are no plans to have on-line checking for the XZ0A operation. 
The QSL Manager W1XT has no logs, so please don't ask him to verify 
your QSO. AS PER A PRESS RELEASE by Dick, N6FF, "If you have any 
doubt of a good QSO, please work them again to be certain. The 
operators will not get upset with a dupe QSO." Bob, W1XT, has posted 
a Web page about the QSLing for XZ0A. It is located at: 
http://www.superphoenix.com/xz0a-qsl.htm

It gives the current QSL address and details of the XZ0A operation as 
it applies to QSLs. Additional details can be found on the DXpedition 
web site at: http://www.getnet.com/~k7wx/myanmar.htm (KB8NW/OPDX/ 
BARF80 January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MYANMAR. XZ0A Press Release (Ongoing Press Releases, direct from 
the XZ0A Team, will be available throughout the DXpedition at 
http://www.getnet.com/~k7wx/flash.htm)

14 JAN 00. Thahtay Kyun Island, UNION OF MYANMAR. The XZ0A team 
arrived on the island several days ago. The low band antennas are 
currently being assembled from the equivalent of Rohn 25 tower 
sections and should be complete within the next 48 hours. These will 
consist of a full size 80-meter four square, a full size 40-meter 
four square and a full size elevated feedpoint 1/4 wavelength 
transmitting tower for 160-meters. Much of the antenna work is being 
carried out with the assistance of HS0/G3NOM and members of the Radio 
Amateur Society of Thailand. This is an enormous project with the top 
band transmitting tower expected to be over 180-feet high when 
assembled and tuned. A full complement of LF beverages will be used 
for receiving.

Throughout the operation our HF operators have been instructed to pay 
special attention to areas where propagation may be quite limited, 
such as the East coast of North America and much of South America. 
The continued patience of DX operators in Europe and Japan during 
these special times is greatly appreciated.

All observations (positive and negative) are welcome and may be 
forwarded to us through our pilot stations vie e-mail. Special 
insights into regional propagation is the most helpful type of 
information. Pilot stations:

West Coast North America Dick Wolf, N6FF, n6ff@xxxxxxx East Coast 
North America Richard Briggs, WA7MTF/8, wa7mtf@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Yesterday the RSGB assigned Thahtay Kyun Island the IOTA designation 
AS-144. Additional details can be found on the DXpedition web site 
at: wa7mtf@xxxxxxxxxxxx

The members of the XZ0A DXpedition look forward to working you from 
"The Golden Land." 73 de Warren, K7WX ("Steve," N7TX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
via KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 January 17 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST) 

** NEW ZEALAND. Glenn, I have to disassociate myself from your 
unwarranted comment about RNZI in DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-05, January 
16. At the end of my New Zealand report you said: "They seem to have 
continuing problems remembering that UT conversion differs depending 
on whether NZ is on DST". The phenomenon of RNZI broadcasting on new 
freq 17690 kHz beyond advertised & announced 1005 UT, to 1100 UT and 
further, is probably more interesting than you would have us believe.

Here are my latest observations about the service:

1. Closedown, days & times UT:
   -Sunday  16 Jan 1109
   -Monday  17 Jan 1105
   -Tuesday 18 Jan 1209 [No typo, 1209].

2. Programmes after advertised close-time of 1005 UT are taped
repeats, but not all? There is some live news.

Examples: Monday at 17 mins to 0900 UT I heard Alistair Cooke's
'Letter From America' and repeat of same some two hours later. Today, 
Tuesday, I heard [three times] an item on special equipment being 
installed in NZ school playgrounds which incorporates astronomical 
info, meridian markers, etc. That was included in 'Late Edition' and 
repeats, to the best of my knowledge. Nevertheless, RNZI's news 
bulletin at 1200 UT Tuesday 18 Jan was live, as lady reader mentioned 
that it was "one o'clock". That would be one o'clock on Wed morning 
19 Jan NZ DST from my perspective.

Glenn, the following dated 18 Jan, received by me from Adrian 
Sainsbury RNZI Tech Manager, should explain once and for all the 
exact reasons for RNZI's recent extended broadcast times and late 
closedowns on 17690 kHz. "Hello Finbarr, RNZI has been carrying out 
unscheduled test transmissions for the past few weeks. We have 
extended our transmission by 2 hours for the benefit of NZ Peace 
keeping Troops based in Bougainville and East Timor. This exercise is 
to evaluate whether the signal from NZ is reliable and of value to 
Kiwis on tour duty in the region. The NZ forces have requested end of 
day NZ News programmes to keep in touch with what is happening at 
home. The 2 hour extension is repeats of programmes broadcast 
earlier. Late Edition first broadcast 10-11 UT is too early for Timor 
[5 pm Timor time] so we repeat it at 11 UT - 12. Recorded 
announcements saying who the transmission is for will appear from 
today or tomorrow. We will also put up information about this 
additional broadcast on the Web in due course. -Adrian." 

Glenn, RNZI website http://www.rnzi.com/  has been updated as
of 18 Jan. The pages 'How To Listen' and 'What's New' both contain 
this wording: "New Transmission 1005-1205 UTC.

We have extended our transmission on 17690 kHz by 2 hours for the 
benefit of NZ Peace keeping Troops based in Bougainville and East 
Timor. The NZ Military have requested News and Current Affairs 
programmes to keep in touch with what is happening at home. The 2 
hour extension contains programmes broadcast earlier. Late Edition 
first broadcast 09-10 UT is repeated from 11 - 12 UT."

No more to be said on the matter... (Finbarr O'Driscoll, Ireland, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

** SOMALIA. Somalia: Pro-Aydid radio resumes broadcasting The pro-
Husayn Muhammad Aydid station, Radio Mogadishu, Voice of the People 
of the Somali Republic, which has been off the air since 26th July 
1999, was observed on 16th January broadcasting on 6750 kHz. 
According to a report in the Somali newspaper `Xog-Ogaal' on 16th 
January, the radio resumed broadcasts after undergoing refurbishment. 
The following programming was observed [all times gmt]: 1500 - Sign 
on. Programme in Somali; 1700 - News bulletin in Somali. 1800 - 
Somali language programme ends. 1801 - English broadcast; 1815 - 
Arabic broadcast; 1830 - Amharic broadcast; 1900 - Sign off. During 
the one-hour broadcast in foreign languages, the radio carried music 
instead of news bulletins. Sources: Monitoring research 16 Jan 00; 
Radio Mogadishu, Voice of the People of the Somali Republic in Somali 
1700 gmt 16 Jan 00 ((C) BBC Monitoring, excerpted by Hauser, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. [Re: DXLD 00-05 and GH DX 99-83]  Helms? 104.1 item was 
about Berkeley Liberation Radio, perhaps a different station from 
Free Radio Berkeley referred to by Rubin (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

Berkeley Liberation Radio (believed 94.5) back on air, 38 watts, 15m 
antenna, heard from north Oakland to the Berkeley Hills and El 
Cerrito, ``an incarnation of Free Radio Berkeley, which shut down in 
1998 under federal threats of arrest and seizure.`` FCC agents have 
visited twice and issued an order to cease operations, ``which the 
unconcerned pirates have proudly hung on their wall. Activities of 
this kind make us wonder how FCC Chairman Kennard imagines that his 
agency could police hundreds of new LPFM licensees and continue to 
shut down pirate broadcasters,`` mused the NAB (January FMedia via DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

BTW, on an old Savvy Traveler tape, I heard a native, or at least 
resident of SF pronouncing Ghirardelli with a soft G, so it is done, 
despite the disapproval of Joel Rubin and myself. Also, the second R 
tends to get lost (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)

** U S A. Glenn: Here is description of VOA's new "Our World" 
program, to be presented by Rob Sivak (formerly of "Agriculture 
Today"): -- As the former host of the "Agriculture Today" (1991-98), 
I've been asked to produce and host a 26-minute science & technology 
program each Saturday that we're calling "Our World." In a nutshell, 
"Our World" will explore human technologies and the natural universe. 
That means basic and applied sciences of every stripe, from space and 
engineering to medicine and agriculture, and it means environmental 
issues, from soil and water conservation and biodiversity protection 
to pollution control and global climate change. --- This will begin 
February 5, and will be heard Saturdays at 0332, 0732, 1132, 1532, 
1932, and 2332 UTC. The news on the half hour will end sometime 
between 32:20 and 32:40, and "Our World" will follow. 73 (Kim 
Elliott, VOA, Jan 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST)                      ###





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