BC-DX 292                                                    21 Feb 1997
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ANGOLA   Clandestine  Voice of the Resistance of the Black Cockerel,
Jamba, is the official radio st of the UNITA (National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola) opposition movement led by Jonas Savimbi.
The st is frequently referred to as "Vorgan", an acronym of its
Portuguese title (Voz da Resistencia do Galo Negro). Vorgan was first
heard on 4th Jan 1979, at which time it was believed to be operating
from a tx in South Africa. Since July 1986 it has bc from Jamba in the
central highlands of Angola. Times and frequencies are subject to
variation. In the past the station has operated more than one tx at a
time.
Portuguese/local languages, 0500-0900 9750 kHz, 11-1430 11830.1655-2100
6095. [English 1830-1845]. (BBCM via AGDX, Feb 12)
ANTARCTICA   v15476 USB mode. LRA36, 1900-2103 UTC, weak, not even
moving s-meter, not really readable most of the time, but snatches of
audio and music at times. Mostly a female announcer. Signal only
slightly better toward end, but clear "LRA36" heard in midst of multi-
language multi-minute s/off annts that started about 2055 UTC. Anthem
(?) 2058-2103 UTC. NRD-535D, high (about 90ft, 30m) inverted-L. With a
geomagnetic upset, this ought to give better results. Unfortunately only
got part of this on tape... but we'll try again. New for us.
(Tom Sundstrom-NJ, 16 Feb)
ARGENTINA   v13363.4 kHz, UNID Relay, 2310-2345 UTC on Feb 7, two OM's
announcing futbol match with Argentina playing Paraguay. Fair but fading
fast by tune out. (D'Angelo-GP, via DXW, Feb 7)
CANADA   Canada's heritage minister, Sheila Copps, has agreed to grant
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) an extra 10m Canadian
dollars a year, Radio Canada International reported. Copps also said
that once the latest round of federal budget cuts is complete, the CBC
will be "guaranteed stable funding for five years" .
(Radio Canada International, 11 Feb 97 via BBCM, via AGDX)
CYPRUS   6160 kHz R Bayrak, Voice of the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus, was heard 1200-1300 UTC with a nx bulletin in English and nice
pop mx. English progr continues all day long. Address: Bayrak Radyosu,
Ataturk Meydani, Lefkosa, K.K.T.C., Via Mersin 10, Turkey
(Yasar via DXW, Feb 17)
New st name: "BRT International": here is an e-Mail I've received today
from Radio Bayrak. Easy way to get a QSL! Took me 12 hours to get them
verified :-)  Please note the change in station name from Feb 15th
onwards!
From: mustafa tosun 
Subject: Re: Reception Report on Radio Bayrak
Dear Mr.
Thank you for the reception report on Bayrak Radio HF Transmission. The
program details have been confirmed by our Radio II program department.
A written confirmation will be sent via mail, along with some other
information on Bayrak Rd & TV Corp. and the Turkish Rep of Northern
Cyprus. For your information, following is a brief weekly schedule of
Radio II, which is renamed as "BRT International" from 15 Febr 1997 on.
Thanks and best Regards, Mustafa Tosun, Head of tx Dept.
(Elbe) do (Sharp) do (Kuhl) via DXW, Feb 17)
CZECH REPUBLIC   RADIO PRAGUE have an A5 center-stitched, 28 page, 60th
anniversary booklet printed in three colours on glossy art paper with a
board cover. Beautifully type-set and well laid-out it describes the
history of the station and its various language services throughout the
period of review.
The past 60 years have been anything but easy for this Central European
broadcaster - silenced for six years during World War II, followed by
another 40 years - with a notable exception in the late sixties - by
permanent conflict between the ruling ideology and courageous yet
powerless journalists.
The forerunner of the tube manufacturer TESLA - "Elektra" transmitted
experimental short wave signals on a 10-50 watt unit from their factory
around 1923 and a British listener wrote to an early 1960's Prague DX
programme saying he remembered hearing them.
Several attempts were made from 1924 onwards by the Prague-based
Radiojournal Broadcasting Company to air international music programmes
presented in English and Esparanto on medium wave which gave long-
distance reception during the hours of darkness in those days. In 1926
Radiojournal launched the most powerful transmitter in Europe. This new
5 kW transmitter who's output equalled the combined power of all radio
transmitters then operating in Asia began by testing with classical
music across the Atlantic. The response indicated that the signal on a
wavelength of 368 meters reached America loud and clear.
The construction of a SW transmitter at Podebrady was sanctioned in 1934
and the work was expedited as the political situation in Europe
worsened. The first test by the 30 kW unit was during the night of 24
July 1936. The second test on 13 August 1936 lasted for 24 hours with
foreign-language announcements interspersing gramophone records. Radio
Prague, call sign OLR, commenced regular shortwave broadcasting at 0900
GMT on 31 August 1936. During the first year Radio Prague was on the air
for 769 hours, more than six hours every day and the station received
4443 letters from across the world.
New languages were added and broadcasting hours extended until by 1939
Radio Prague was on the air for 19 hours a day. During the Nazi
occupation Radio Prague remained silent although the transmitter was
used for three hours a day to broadcast propaganda to ex-patriots living
in North America.
The legendary "Calling All Czechs" message went out on 5th May, 1945.
Prague was back on the air. Thereafter services in many languages were
introduced, but by 1946 forced by economic consideration the half-hour
format of the newly added languages was reduced to 15 minutes.
After the Communist coup in 1948 Czechoslovak Radio was nationalized to
become a propaganda mouthpiece for Moscow. Even so, expansion continued
apace with the [Bratislava] Velke Kostolany 100 kW facility being
inaugurated in May of the following year. Litomysl [east of Prague] was
inaugurated in 1955 with two 100 kW units and a 300 kW medium wave
transmitter, composed of two 150 kW units. Then in May 1956, two Tesla
100 kW short wave transmitters were installed at Rimavska Sobota [in
Southern Slovakia, near Hungarian border]. During 1968-1969 the two
Litomysl transmitters were replaced by five Tesla 100 kW units. This was
followed by the replacement of the Velke Kostolany units with 100 kW
Tesla units.
Then, with 1968 wind of change of the "Prague Spring" things seemed to
be better, until at 0130 GMT on 21st August 1968, Radio Prague broke the
news to the world that Warsaw Pact troops were invading the country. At
noon the National Anthem was played during a bulletin of news during
which submachine gun fire could be heard. About 20 people were killed
during the battle for the radio station. Clandestine broadcasting
followed for a short time. For the next 20 years Radio Prague was under
strict Communist control.
>From 1972 the famous Interprogram unit began broadcasting news, comment
with plenty of music in five languages - Czech, Slovak, English, German,
and French. This was achieved when two synphased aerials at Litomysl
were rigged to enable the grouping of the 100 kW units to achieve 400-
500 kW power for the daytime broadcasts of the multilingual programme on
6055 kHz. Between 1979-1982 two 250 kW Soviet built transmitters were
installed at Rimavska Sobota, followed later by two more.
With the collapse of the Iron Curtain in November 1989, Radio Prague
returned to its pre-war signature tune, the fanfare from the New World
Symphony by Dvorak played on a French horn. All foreign language
broadcasts were suspended on 1st April, 1990 while the authorities took
stock. Four 250 kW, seven 100 kW SW transmitters and two medium wave
transmitters had been in use by the communist authorities.
As Radio Prague International the station returned to the air on 7th
May, 1990 with one 100 kW at Velke Kostolany, 2 x 250 kW at Rimavska
Sobota, and 2 x 100 kW at Litomysl, plus the Interprogram transmitters
in operation. From August that year, Litomysl commenced to carry Czech
and Slovak services of RFE and from the end of the year one of
Litomysl's 100 kW transmitters was used for the Czech Home service relay
on 5930 kHz.
Radio Prague became the broadcasting service of the Czech Republic when
the country split into two nations. During 1994 rising costs compelled
Radio Prague to abandon three 100 kW outlets at Litomysl, and the one
100 kW unit at Velke Kostolany. This was followed a 1995 decision to
abandon shared use of the 250 kW units at Rimavska Sobota, now in
Slovakia, leaving just two 100 kW transmitters at Litomysl under Czech
control in operation. It is these transmitters that carry today's
programmes in Czech, German, Spanish, French, and English (12 half-hour
slots a day). The Czech Home Service to Europe 0300-2300 (0400-2300 Sat
& Sun) is now on long wave 270 kHz from Uherske Hradiste.
Quite a number of Czech Ham/DXers joined the World Communications Club
of Great Britain just prior to and during the Prague Spring. Their
memberships extended into the newly re-formed World DX Club but their
enthusiasm quickly diminished under new communist administration.
Despite all Prague's financial troubles funds were found to produce a
fine historical document which was used to compile this featurette.
(Radio Prague, via WDXC Contact, Feb 1997)
ECUADOR   DX Party Line Highlights--Febr 22.
We are planning several good features for our listeners this weekend on
HCJB's DX Party Line. We have a special report on the use of wind-up
radios among refugees in Zaire, a feature on the threat of broadcast
censorship in Colombia, an exclusive interview with a representative of
World Harvest Radio on their new plans for expanded broadcasting, and a
report from Fred Vobbe on how you might be able to hear something new on
the 1060 medium wave frequency--is KYW going off the air? There will be
other useful news as well as a long list of loggings from our listeners.
The DX Party Line is bc every Sat by HCJB, The Voice of the Andes in
Quito, Ecuador, SoAM. To EUR & ME 0730 UTC on 5860 kHz, 1900 UTC on
11960 kHz. To SoPAC & asia 0900 UTC on 9445 kHz. To the Americas 0100 &
0400 UTC Sunday (8 and 11 p.m. EST Sat evening local time).
(Kenneth D. MacHarg, HCJB, Feb 19)
GERMANY   Deutsche Welle Radio & TV is now in the Net:
http://www.dwelle.de
More than 1000 pages, including information about the 38 foreign
language programmes. Daily news in 12 languages (from Albanian to
Spanish). Comments are welcome:
kroop@dwelle.de               (Mark Veldhuis-HOL, Feb 16)
IRAN/CIS   Voice of Southern Aizerbaijan, Radio Station of the National
and Independent Front of Aizerbaijan, has the announced address of
Vosa Ltd., Postfach 108, A-1193  Vienna, Austria.
Schedule: 0630-0730 UTC 11935 kHz; 1630-1730 6055 kHz.
(Yasar, via DXW, Feb 17)
[11935 kHz noted here; professional signal quality indicate coming from
CIS radio st site. WB]
JAPAN   Radio Japan's programs will be greatly revised on April 1st, so
that NHK may put the specific gravity on man power and the budget for
NHK World TV's program production. - Therefore, Media Roundup will be
discontinued by March 30th. Radio Japan's DX program continued for 15
years. (Yamashita, via DXW, Feb 17)
MADAGASCAR   Radio Malagasy is being heard fr 0800 UTC on 6135 kHz
(x4960), //v5009 and 6075 kHz.
(Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, in WDXC Contact Feb)
MOLDOVA   Trans World Radio bc via Moldova. International radio ministry
TWR rent a new tx site in December, bc via super power MW station
Grigoriopol in Moldova on 999 kHz. Mon-Fri at 2030-2100 UTC, bc
christian progrs in Ukrainian to 51.5 million Ukrainians, and in
Bjelorussian language. Previously TWR bc Ukrainian progrs via SW tx in
Albania only. TWR expect a wider audience in Ukraine for the new
broadcasts on medium wave. Progrs are produced on studios in Brest,
Kiev, and Vinitsa.
Commonly with TWR, other users of the powerful 500 kW MW station
Grigoriopol are BBC London-UK, and Deutsche Welle Cologne, Germany.
(ERF - TWR Germany, Feb 15)
PARAGUAY   v5976.23 kHz Today I send news that I would never have
thought would see light of the day: R Guiara is back on SW again!! With
the lack of interest in SW in this country, this is very unexpected to
me. About a week ago I saw a newspaper-ad for the st in which the
frequency of 5975 kHz was mentioned again after a long absence. So here
we go: 1402-1509 UTC R. Guaira, reactivated, heard in //with the FM
outlet 103.5 MHz only id the FM frequency. I cant hear the MW (840)
outlet here due to QRM from local 860, but usually MW and FM are
separate. But it could be that all are in //at weekends. Prog.with
incoming telephone calls during a contest. Studio went off for 4 min.
while carrier still was on, due to electricity failure according to the
announcer. Ads for "mundi sport" and a song by Jose Luis Rodriguez, give
tel number as "2436". News at 1502 UTC, low modulation, about 50% .
33433. (Iversen, 15 Feb)
I continued to listen up to 0106 UTC. When I checked again at 0116 UTC,
it had gone. Again heard this morning at 1046 UTC.
(Iversen, via DXW, Feb 16)
USA   New programs on WRMI.
We are pleased to announce a number of new programs which have recently
begun or are scheduled to begin soon on WRMI.  They include:
"News You Can Use" -- a program of national and international news and
commentary from the Viking Companies of Arizona, USA.  Mon-Fri 1700-1800
UTC. (This is a live program, and listener phone calls are invited.)
"Prophecy and the New World Order," a discussion of Biblical prophecy
hosted by John Sassor.  Mon-Fri 1900-2000 UTC.
"Freedom Now," a program about tax issues with Irwin Schiff, broadcast
from studios in Las Vegas, Nevada from 0000-0100 UTC Tues-Sat.  (This is
a live program, and listener phone calls are invited.)
"Radio Sparks" - a free radio program of music from Switzerland. Sat,
Febr 22 at 1900-2000 UTC. Thereafter, "Radio Sparks" will be heard on
the fourth Sat of every second month (for example, April 26, June 28,
etc.) at 2:00-3:00 pm Eastern time (currently UTC -5, but will go to UTC
-4 during summertime from Apr-Oct). Special color QSL cards will be
issued for reception reports on "Radio Sparks."
"Bob's Radio Show" - For something a little different, tune in to this
one-time special program at 0000-0030 UTC on Sun, Febr 23 (UTC date).
"Radio La Colifata" - Un programa muy especial en espanol producido por
los residentes de un asilo neuropsiquiatrico en Buenos Aires, Argentina
-- la primera vez que han transmitido en onda corta.  UTC viernes, abril
18, 1997 a las 0230-0300 UTC (es el jueves en la noche en las Americas)
en 9,955 kHz.
["Radio La Colifata" is a special program produced by the residents of a
neuropsychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina -- the first time
they have every bc on SW.  This special program will be bc at 0230-0300
UTC Fri, April 18, 1997 (which is Thurs night in the Americas).]
Please note that all WRMI programs are on 9,955 kHz.
MONDAY-FRIDAY
1430-1445 Wavescan English,  1500-1515 Wavescan (Friday) English
SATURDAY
2115-2130 Wavescan English,  2330-2345 Wavescan English
SUNDAY
1315-1330 Wavescan (beg Apr 20)  English
2000-2015 Wavescan (till Feb 23) English
2015-2030 Wavescan (till Feb 23) English
2100-2115 Wavescan               English
2130-2200 Encontro DX            Portugues
0200-0215 Wavescan (till Mar 30) English
Schedule updates are available by e-mail from:
71163.1735@compuserve.com
How to contact:
WRMI, P.O. Box 526852, Miami, Florida 33152 USA
Telephone/Telfono: +1  (305) 267-1728
Fax:                +1  (305) 267-9253
WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMS DO YOU BROADCAST?  Unlike most SW stations (which
are owned by governments or religious organizations) WRMI is a
commercial SW station. We sell airtime to religious, political, cultural
and commercial organizations -- even to individuals. So we have a very
wide variety of programming, including news, music, culture, talk and
entertainment. We call our format "international public access radio."
WHERE CAN WRMI BE HEARD?  Our antenna is directed south from Miami,
covering primarily the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America.
However, we have a good signal off the back of our beam in North
America, which we consider our secondary coverage area. In fact, we have
applied to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for permission to
install an additional antenna to improve our signal even more in North
America. WRMI is regularly heard in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania as
well. SW reception conditions (we call it "propagation") vary from hour
to hour, from day to day, and from season to season, depending on
conditions in the ionosphere (a layer of the earth's atmosphere) and on
the sun.  So when the conditions are right, WRMI can be heard anywhere
in the world. (Feb 18, 1997)
VIETNAM    v12017 kHz Voice of Vietnam Hanoi 1550-1600 UTC Cantonese YL
with talk, ethnic mx px, many mentions Vietnam 1555 UTC mx with French
vocals - at this stage there appeared to be short periods of "Dead Air"
when Hanoi's signal disappeared. - No definite ID was heard as Hanoi was
drowned by RFI Mayobi s/on at 1600 UTC. Warming/tuning up tx could have
caused earlier signal loss?
(Clemitson, via DXW, Feb 15)
[Normally Hanoi switches back to 15010 kHz on Febr 15th]
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After a production time of only 12 days, all orders for the brandnew
1997 INTERNET RADIO GUIDE
have been shipped by today Tuesday 18 FEB 1997. Enjoy!
Due to the cost of this massive A4 size tome, we expected only a few
dozens of orders for the superb new book
>  SHORTWAVE COMMUNICATION RECEIVERS PAST AND PRESENT 1945-1996
>  by Universal Radio's expert and boss Fred Osterman.
Instead, we were overrun with hundreds of orders. Seems there are quite
some people out there still interested in shortwave ;-) There is now a
waiting list, and we expect all orders to be mailed by 20 March 1997 at
the latest. Sorry for any inconvenience - this book is worth waiting
for!
73 -  Klingenfuss Publications, Hagenloher Str. 14, D-72070 Tuebingen,
Germany     Phone ++49 7071 62830     Fax ++49 7071 600849
E-Mail 101550.514@compuserve.com
WWW-Site http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Klingenfuss/
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BBCM-BBC MONITORING information primarily sourced to German AGDX
umbrella organization may not be further reproduced, except with BBC
MONITORING permission.
Extracts of items sourced to EDXP may be further reproduced, but only by
organizations or individuals which have on-going exchange arrangements
with EDXP.
This file is put together on a voluntary basis, and is also included
in our WWDXC WWW homepage,-German AGDX Club-direct address:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/wwdxc/topnews.htm
or via Link of Homepage:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/wwdxc
Both actual and previous week issue are available.
e-mail  wwdxc@compuserve.com
#*#**#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
vy73 de Wolfgang  DF5SX   -   CompuServe 100523,3446
Crossposted from Packet Radio (HAM).
I am not responsible for the contents of these contributions!
GRTX Martijn R. PE1NQR
Member of the Benelux DX-club
--- TimEd.01+_GEcho.11+
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