Radio Sawa testing from Cyprus on 981 kHz

Radio Sawa, the United States Government mouthpiece in Arabic, has begun testing from Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus on 981 kHz mediumwave. IBB Monitoring tells DXing.info that currently tests are conducted without a fixed schedule, but once completed, the transmitter will air Radio Sawa programming 24 hours a day. The new 600-kilowatt transmitter is primarily aimed at Egypt and countries of the Levant, the Eastern Mediterranean. Vladimir Titarev in Ukraine was the first DXer to pick up the station on August 27, and on August 28 it was heard as far away as Finland. A sample station identification is in the audio section.
    Radio Sawa is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, Arabic-language service of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) aimed at listeners under 30. It was launched in March 2002. Before Cyprus, Radio Sawa has already used mediumwave transmitters in Kuwait (1548 kHz) and Rhodes, Greece (1260 kHz). An additional AM transmitter in Djibouti is expected to be operational in 2003. The station is heard on FM in Amman, Jordan (98.1 MHz), Kuwait City, Kuwait (95.7 MHz), Doha, Qatar (92.6 MHz) as well as in Dubai (90.5 MHz) and Abu Dhabi (98.7 MHz), both in the United Arab Emirates. The station is also heard on shortwave and via Nilesat, Arabsat and Eutelsat Hotbird. Radio Sawa programming consists of a mix of Western and Arabic pop music with newscasts at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.
    In September IBB announced that the station is moving to 990 kHz to avoid interference caused to Greek ERT on 981 kHz, but later retracted the move.
(DXing.info, August 28, 2002, last update October 9)

Radio Veritas from Liberia returns to shortwave

Radio Veritas from Monrovia is back on 5470 kHz shortwave. According to the Africa News Service, the station returned to shortwave on August 22, at the same time expanding broadcasting hours from 12 to 18 hours a day. In addition to shortwave, the Catholic station is heard locally in the capital Monrovia on 97.8 MHz FM with 5 kW of power and call sign ELCM. According to the station's promo, programs in civic education, human rights, HIV/Aids, tropical issues and news would make up some of the many informative programs that have been planned. Radio Veritas, using the slogan Voice of Truth, was first heard on its reactivated shortwave frequency by Rafael Rodriguez in Colombia on August 24. Reception is best before sign-off at around 2300 or 0000 UTC. Years ago the station was also heard on 3450 kHz shortwave. Radio Veritas can be contacted through the Archdiocese of Monrovia. A few years ago the address was given as Box 3569, Monrovia, Liberia, telephone +231-221658.
(DXing.info August 27, 2002)

US station in Afghanistan on 864 and 6100 kHz

The US radio operation in Afghanistan is currently using 864 kHz (5 kW) and 6100 kHz (1 kW), reports the Charlotte Observer. The station is run by the 8th Psychological Operations Battalion from Kandahar. The studio operates from a truck, concealed under a tent in a US military base. It operates 18 hours a day in Pashtun and Dari. The purpose of the station is to gain popular support for the government of President Hamid Karzai and for the ongoing US hunt for members of al-Qaida and the Taliban. The 8th Psychological Operations Battalion is a subordinate unit of the 4th Psychological Operations Group. The Battalion, stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is the functional broadcasting and loudspeaker component of the Group. It took over the broadcasts in March 2002, when EC-130E aircraft of the 193rd Special Operations Wing used in the Commando Solo II operation headed home.
(DXing.info, August 19, 2002)

Sound Radio from London on 1503 kHz

A new multicultural station was launched in London on July 26. Sound Radio broadcasts on 1503 kHz with low power. As part of Radio Authority's one-year pilot scheme on Access Radio, Sound Vision Trust (SVT) was one of 15 groups out of over 200 applicants to be granted a license for its existing radio station - Sound Radio has been operating in the Hackney during the past 8 years. It has been a community-oriented station, running regular Restricted Service Licenses (RSL) from various parts of Hackney. Now Sound Radio aims to be heard across East London for the upcoming year. At the moment there is programming in English, Spanish, Kurdish, Turkish, Bangla and Sylheti (Bangladesh) as well as Yiddish/Jewish. At nights the station broadcasts urban music. The address is 15 Olympus Square, Hackney, London E5 8PL, United Kingdom. The station has already been heard for example in all Nordic countries. A sample station identification is located in the Audio section.
(DXing.info, August 15, 2002)

Kazakhstan's first clandestine station on shortwave

Becoming the first clandestine station opposing Kazakhstan's leadership, Dat Radio has begun transmissions on 9775 kHz. Dat Radio can be heard at 0100-0200 and 1500-1600 UTC. On its website the station describes its mission as follows: "DAT Radio breaks the veil of the lies created in the Kazakhstan state media belonging to the Nazarbayev family. DAT Radio offers its radio waves to all democratic forces and independent journalists in Central Asia". According to the website, DAT in Kazakh means I demand a word. The station can be contacted by email. A sample station identification is found in the audio section.
    From October the station has been broadcasting also on the mediumwave band on 1251 kHz from Monday to Friday at 06:30-07:15 and at 20:15-20:30 Almaty local time, possibly via a transmitter in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
(Aleksandr Mak on active_dx via Vlad Titarev on DXplorer via DXing.info, August 15, 2002, updated on October 25)

New clandestine station to Syria

A station tentatively identified as The Arabic Radio has been logged with programs aimed at Syria. The station has been heard at 0330-0400 UTC on 9950 kHz and at 1500-1530 UTC on 12085 and 12115 kHz. 12115 kHz has been heard up to 35 seconds ahead of 12085 kHz, and in Europe it is stronger than 12085 kHz, so these frequencies (both slightly over the nominal frequencies) presumably originate from different locations. The morning transmission is a repeat of the evening broadcast. The station plays music by the Egyptian singer Mohammed Abd al-Wahab and talks about human rights issues criticizing the government of Syria. Material from the Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) is frequently used in the broadcasts. The station was first heard by K. M. Patel in July in India. The opening announcement is available in the audio section.
    In October the station website gave a revised schedule, listing 0430-0500 UTC on 9950 kHz, 1500-1530 on 12085 kHz and 1600-1630 UTC on 12115 kHz.
(Patel in DXLD 2-118 via Tarek Zeidan in BC-DX and DXing.info, August 15, 2002, updated with info from Mahmud Fathi via Cumbre DX 413.2 on Aug 31, last update October 24)

Polish Twoje Radio on 1062 kHz

Twoje Radio has kicked off a new station in the town of Cmolas on 1062 kHz. Cmolas in located in South Poland near Kolbuszowa. Twoje Radio Cmolas (TRC) began transmissions on August 10, with a power of 100 watts. Transmission schedule is at 0430-0530 UTC and 1530-1630 UTC on weekdays and Saturdays, and at 1100-1300 UTC on Sundays and holidays. In between TRC programs the station transmits programming produced by Polskie Radio - Rozglosnia Regionalna Radio Rzeszów, i.e. Polish National Radio Regional Programme from Radio Rzeszów. The station has been created under the project of regional radio promotion conducted by Polskie Fale Srednie S.A.
(Krzysztof Rybus in mwdx via DXing.info, August 15, 2002)

Ireland's longwave station TeamTalk (252 kHz) fell silent on July 31. The station announced on its website that control over the frequency has been transferred back to the national public broadcasting service Radio-Telefís Éireann (RTE). TeamTalk 252 has been losing money (GBP 2.2 million since its acquisition) and audience (60% during the first three months of 2002). The license is owned by Radio Tara Ltd, 80% of which was owned by TeamTalk (in turn owned by UK Betting) and 20% by RTE. According to its press release, UK Betting has agreed in principle to dispose of its shares for a nominal consideration to RTE. TeamTalk bought 80% of Radio Tara in December 2001 for GBP 2.0 million. The station has been using a 500 kW transmitter located outside Dublin in Trim. Before TeamTalk, the frequency was used by music station Atlantic 252.

Susy Radio from UK on 531 kHz in August

British RSL station Susy Radio from Redhill will begin broadcasting on August 3 at 2300 UTC on 531 kHz. In an email to DXing.info, the station says that everything is ready to begin transmissions. Susy Radio will transmit live 24 hours a day until the end of August with only 1 watt of power. This is the second year that Susy Radio operates on AM; in August 2001 the station was heard as far away as Finland. Susy Radio is a charity operation, but this year's charity has not yet been revealed. You can reach the station by email or by telephone at +44 1737 217507.
(DXing.info August 1, 2002)

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