May 2000

1584AM Utrecht going live
On June 1, radio station 1584AM, in Utrecht, the Netherlands, will start live transmissions from 1300 UTC.
Transmitter has a power of 650 watts at the moment.
(Ruud Vos, hcdx list, May 25)



Voice of Hope abandons Lebanon
High Adventure Ministries has dismantled all of its transmitters and antennas, following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Southern Lebanon.
The station continues to operate on FM and have studios in Metulla, Israel.
Broadcasts that took place on 6280, 11515 and 11530 kHz have been discontinued and are being replaced by broadcasts from Jülich according to the following schedule:
0800-1200 on 21590 kHz (Middle East)
1200-1600 on 21460 kHz (Middle East)
1700-2100 on 11985 kHz (Europe, Africa)
(Ludo Maes, hcdx list, May 24)



Radio Trafic, Belgium, on medium wave
Trafic Plus, Belgium, is broadcasting traffic information on 1125 and 1233 kHz.
Trafic Plus is an initiative by the RTBF and can be considered an additional radio station.
Originally Trafic Plus was intended for broadcasting via DAB only, but as almost no one listen to DAB, RTBF decided as from May 5 to broadcast the programme on medium wave La Louvière-1125 kHz and Liège-1233 kHz. (Herman Boel, hcdx list, May 9, 2000)



Radio Tigre, Peru, on 5580-5620v kHz
Peruvian station Radio Tigre has been logged by Swedish DXer Björn Malm, living in Quito, Ecuador.
Announced frequency is "5250 kilociclos", while actualy reception is varying between 5580-5620 kHz.
Station heard in early May, from 2000 until close dwon, which varies a lot between 0100-0300.
Location unkknown, as DJ never, for hours, mention location; but Malm believe station is broadcasting from Cochapampa in Departamento Cajamarca.
Some typical IDs: "Esta es Tigre, la radio", "Radio 2000 es Radio Tigre, la voz del nuevo milenio".
(hcdx partner SWB, May 7, 2000)



Colombia Stereo on 4895 kHz
New station Colombia Stereo has been heard on 4895 kHz by several DXers.
First heard by Colombian DXer Yimber Gaviria on April 15, as unidentified.
Now American DXer Mark Morhmann reports log and ID on May 7, between 0056-0205: "Esta es Colombia Estéreo 93.4, HJE, desde Bogotá, el centro capital de Colombia, banda...Colombia Estéreo...cadena radial de...nacional".
Station also heard in Holland on May 7 at 0235 by Mark Veldhuis. (hcdx list, May 7, 2000)

Colombia Estéreo web site

Catholic Radio shortwave radio
Most Catholic shortwave radio stations are to be found in the Americas.
Michael Dorner of Catholic Radio Update presents the whole list.

Catholic shortwave radio

Russia's Radio 1 longwave closing
Russia's old station Radio 1 has been allowed to stay on the air on longwave until 10th May and to complete the broadcasting of its Victory Day festive programmes, Voice of Russia's "DX Club" reported.
On 11th May, the station will go into receivership as bankruptcy procedures will be launched.
However, the authorities have allowed the station to continue broadcasting on VHF (66-73 MHz).
This means that Radio 1 will still be able to reach listeners in Moscow and Moscow Region and that the team of the radio journalists will be able to keep their jobs, the report added.
(Voice of Russia web site, Moscow, via BBC Monitoring, DXLD and hcdx, May 5, 2000)



Radio Nationaal testing
The new Dutch commercial radio station Radio Nationaal is testing on 1035 kHz medium wave.
Listeners also report that Radio Nationaal is testing on 1332 kHz.
Reception of the station, on both frequencies, have been reported from around Europe.
The official start of Radio Nationaal is scheduled to May 5 at 1200 UTC. (hcdx list, May 3, 2000)



Finnish station aim at shortwave
Scandinavian Weekend Radio, SWR, is to become Finland's first private owned radio station on shortwave.
.The station plan to start broadcasting on June 30, 2000, at 2200.
SWR then plans to be on the air once a month for a 24 hour stitch, starting on the first Friday of the month at 2200.
SWR is to broadcasts in 25 meter band, on either 11690 or 11720 kHz, depending on interfering stations.
Target area is the Nordic countries and the area around the Baltic Sea. Besides Finnish, they also plan to broadcast some programs in English and Swedish.
"Our purpose is to function as the radio enthusiasts' radio channel", SWR says on its web site.
"We want to support and promote the radio hobby. We will be reporting on news events from the radio world, as well as other information of interest to shortwave listeners, such as solar activity.
Studios and transmitters are located in Virrat, in western Finland.

SWR web site

Radio Netherlands Bonaire back after fire
Radio Netherlands relay station on Bonaire, the Netherlands Antilles, is back at full power after a major fire.
"Thanks to a fantastic effort by station manager Leo Kool and his entire staff, our Bonaire facility resumed operating at full power on all sheduled frequencies as of 1730 UTC on 2 May", reports Andy Sennitt at Radio Netherlands.
It was on Sunday, April 23, that a major fire broke out in the generator room of the Radio Netherlands relay station. The fire totally destroyed the generators, silencing the station. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but the cost of the damage may run into several million dollars.
More about this in the Media section of Radio Netherlands' web site at www.rnw.nl/realradio.