Laser Hot Hits from Netherlands reactivated on 1584 kHz

A low-power Dutch transmitter on 1584 kHz has once again been heard on the air, now with station identifications for Laser Hot Hits. The station was logged on December 26 in Germany by Martin Elbe. Laser Hot Hits broadcasts from Utrecht and has a power of 600 watts. Previously the station has been known as Radio Caroline, Radio Paradijs, Radio 1584 AM and Radio 1584 The Bells. Reception reports are welcome and can be sent by email.
(DXing.info, December 26, 2002, updated December 28)

US begins radio propaganda in Iraq

The United States has begun propaganda radio transmissions in Iraq. U.S. "Information Radio" broadcasts anti-Saddam Hussein messages which Pentagon officials say are aimed at weakening his support among the Iraqi people and military. Radio broadcasts are transmitted five hours a day, and at least part of the broadcasts originate from American planes flying near Iraq. As previously in Afghanistan, Air Force EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft are used for the transmissions.
    The broadcasts began on Thursday, December 12, said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Daniel D. Hetlage to the Associated Press. On Monday, December 16, the U.S. Central Command said it had dropped 480,000 leaflets over southern Iraq, giving details about Information Radio broadcast times and frequencies. According to the leaflets, Information Radio can be heard at 18:00-23:00 Iraqi time (1500-2000 UTC) on 693, 756, 9715, 11292 kHz and 100.4 MHz. The station has already been reported by DXers on both shortwave frequencies, identifying as "Idha’at Radiyo al-Ma’ulumat". A sample station identification is available in the DXing.info audio section. The mediumwave frequencies are currently used by Iraqi transmitters in Basra and Baghdad, and also other frequencies have at some point been used by Iraqi Radio. U.S. Central Command has provided transcripts (translated from Arabic) of the pre-recorded radio programs on its website.
(DXing.info, December 17, 2002, last update December 21)

The All India Radio (AIR) station in Jammu, identifying as Radio Kashmir, has returned to shortwave. According to Jose Jacob in India, a new 50-kilowatt transmitter was inaugurated on December 11. The schedule is as follows:

Ukrainian radio network Niko FM is due to begin transmissions on 1215 and 1566 kHz. According to Bernd Trutenau on MWDX, Niko FM will transmit from from Dnipropetrovsk on 1215 kHz with a power of 5 kW and from Odesa on 1566 kHz with a power of 7 kW. The commercial Niko FM network is based in the capital Kyiv and has 11 FM transmitters across Western Ukraine, but in Odesa only an AM frequency was available. Niko FM was assigned the frequency of 1566 kHz in November. The address of the station is: 1, Laboratorny prov., Kyiv, Ukraine-01133. The station can also be reached by phone at +380-44-252-90-76 or by email.
     In March 2003 it was told that Niko FM has cancelled its plan to broadcast on the AM band, since it would require the installation of new antenna equipment, as the old antenna field in the town has recently been dismantled.

A new private mediumwave station is being launched in the Latvian capital Riga. Radio Gold 945AM will conduct a test transmission on Saturday, December 14, at 0700-1900 UTC. According to Bernd Trutenau on MWDX, the power on 945 kHz will be 20 kW. Earlier in 2002, Radio Caroline tested the same frequency from Riga (Ulbroka) with 150 kW. This used to be the last mediumwave transmitter of the state-owned Latvijas Radio.
     On December 14, the station began broadcasting at 0700 UTC with German schlager music. Here is the first station identification aired. The station can be contacted by phone at +371-922-4105 or by email. Raimonds Kreicbergs of Radio Gold tells DXing.info that the station is planning to start regular transmissions in February or March 2003. The station will broadcast for 18 hours a day from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. Latvian time. Programming will be produced partly by Radio Gold in the Latvian language, aimed at older people in Latvia, and partly by Tourist Radio Riga in English and possibly even in Scandinavian languages, with a target audience in the entire Northern Europe. Transmitter power will be 20-50 kilowatts.

The United States is launching a new radio service to Iran. Radio Farda (Radio Tomorrow), first heard testing on December 3, is aired on frequencies previously used by Radio Azadi, the Farsi service of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL). Radio Farda is aimed at people under 30.
    - We need to reach out to the young people of Iran, large numbers of whom share the American ideals of freedom and democracy, says Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of BBG, the US Broadcasting Board of Governors. BBG supervises all US government-funded non-military international broadcasting.
    Radio Farda is a joint effort of the Voice of America (VOA) and RFE/RL. VOA's Farsi service will continue both on radio and television. Radio Farda is operated from Washington DC and Prague, using transmitters in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. In addition to the mediumwave and shortwave bands, Radio Farda is available on the Internet and via satellite.
    Radio Farda is expected to cost annually about 8 million dollars, all of it from internal reallocations by the BBG. Radio Farda will eventually operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Aside from news and information, it broadcasts a mix of Persian and Western pop music, a format adopted previously by the Arabic service Radio Sawa. Radio Farda was first logged by Paul Ormandy in New Zealand on December 3. Sample station identifications of Radio Farda , Radio Azadi and Radio Sawa can be found in the audio section of DXing.info.

A new mediumwave station from Paraguay is planning to hit the airwaves on December 6. Radio station AM 1000 operates in San Antonio (close to Ñemby where Radio América is located) on the frequency of 1000 kHz. According to Paraguayan DXer Levi Iversen, AM 1000 will be a relatively high-power station, at least 10 kilowatts. Iversen says that the station is owned by Herminia "‘Mina" Feliciángeli, presumably with senator Juan Carlos Galaverna. "Mina" is a famous journalist who has previously worked for example at Radio Uno (650 kHz) and Radio Cardinal (730 kHz). People in the vicinity have protested against AM 1000, saying the station doesn't have a permission to install the antenna. Previously, Radio Ypoá in nearby Paraguari has been using the frequency of 1000 kHz.
     The station signed on as planned, and has purchased a 15-kW transmitter previously used by Radio Uno (650 kHz).

KHPY from California testing on 1670 kHz

A new X-band station is testing from California, the United States. KHPY from Moreno Valley was first logged testing on November 22 by Patrick Martin in Oregon. The station played 80's type of rock and adult contemporary music. KHPY has been a 10-kW daytime only station on 1530 kHz, and announced in October that they would be moving to 1670 kHz shortly. The station was closed down to install new equipment. 1670 kHz was originally assigned to KSUL, but the station changed calls to KHPY in November, while sister station KHPY 1530 kHz changed calls to KHPI. KHPY is broadcasting from San Bernardino Valley, but with the new frequency, the station plans to reach Los Angeles as well. According to the NRC AM Radio Log, KHPY is licensed to broadcast on 1670 kHz with 10 kW of power in daytime and 9 kW nighttime, with the address as 24490 Sunnymead Blvd #215, Moreno Valley, CA 92553, United States.
(DXing.info, December 1, 2002)

Nevill Hall Sound from UK new on 1287 kHz

A new low-power hospital radio station is due to begin broadcasting shortly in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Nevill Hall Sound from Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, is scheduled to start test transmissions on 1287 kHz on December 21. The station was formed already in 1979, and was originally called Radio PYF, reflecting the days when it used to broadcast to Pen-y-Fal Hospital, but has not been broadcasting on AM before now. The transmitter power is only 1 watt, and transmissions will be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The address of the station is Nevill Hall Sound (Hospital Radio for Abergavenny), The Old Workhouse, Hatherleigh Place, Abergavenny, NP7 7RL, United Kingdom.
(Alan Pennington/BDXC-UK via DXing.info, December 1, 2002, last update December 17)

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