Hard-Core-DX Digest, Vol 94, Issue 10
Send Hard-Core-DX mailing list submissions to hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to hard-core-dx-requ...@hard-core-dx.com You can reach the person managing the list at hard-core-dx-ow...@hard-core-dx.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Hard-Core-DX digest..." ---[Start Commercial]- World Radio TV Handbook 2008 is out. Order yours from http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2008 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt Today's Topics: 1. U.S. civilians donate radios to Afghans (Arnaldo) 2. sATmORN dx (Charles Bolland) 3. Oct. 05 - 08 logs (L?cio Ot?vio Bobrowiec) 4. Glenn Hauser logs October 8-9, 2010 (Glenn Hauser) 5. Fw: [DXplorer] RMRC broadcast at 9.10.2010 (Wolfgang Bueschel) 6. Re: [DXplorer] RMRC to NA 6130 (Wolfgang Bueschel) 7. Re: RMRC to NA 6130 (Brandon Jordan) 8. Logs for Al Muick (Albert Muick) 9. Glenn Hauser logs October 9, 2010 (Glenn Hauser) -- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 06:52:42 +0200 From: "Arnaldo" To: Cc: hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com, playdx2003 , DXLD , bcln...@yahoogroups.com Subject: [HCDX] U.S. civilians donate radios to Afghans Message-ID: <53b53a15ae4e46e99bca256d26306...@windowsv03oj4t> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" The U.S. military's mission in Afghanistan is more often about helping farmers and teachers than firefights with the Taliban. That gives people at home, like Royse City plastics maker John Stettler, a way to support the war by helping the military help the Afghans. Stettler put up $10,000 this year to buy radios for villagers in Afghanistan's Helmand province. A battalion of U.S. Marines is handing out these solar and hand-crank radios in places where there is no electricity. "If we send Americans to risk their lives in other countries, it's important for civilians to do their part," said Stettler, 53. "It's a citizen's duty." Stettler's $10,000 was a challenge grant given to Spirit of America, a Los Angeles charity. Jim Hake, founder of Spirit of America, asked Stettler and other donors to respond after he got an appeal for radios from the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Division in Garmsir. The appeal raised $30,000 that's being spent on 3,000 radios shipped directly to the Marines in Afghanistan. "Broadly speaking, we help the troops help the local people," Hake said. "From our perspective, by providing radios, we're helping to open families and villages to outside information and music as well. From the Marine Corps' perspective, it also opens villages to outside information and helps them combat Taliban propaganda." Hake said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, who led the Marine forces into Helmand province last year, told him: "We spend 10 percent of our time hunting and 90 percent of our time helping." U.S. generals running the war in Afghanistan say information is one of the key battlefields, and radio is the medium both sides use in this fight. Most Afghans live in small villages, cannot read or write, and don't have electricity. Their news comes over the radio. Taliban stations Media surveys in Afghanistan by aid groups have found most villages have had radios since U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban almost nine years ago. But the radio in the tea shop or mosque, powered by a small generator or a car battery, could be tuned by a Taliban sympathizer to a Taliban station. Giving families their own radios lets them listen to something else. So far this year, U.S. forces and their allies have handed out 45,000 radios - and put on-air many of their own radio stations. "We have three radio stations set up on combat outposts, with a fourth station coming in the next couple of weeks," Lt. Col. Ben Watson, the 3rd Battalion's commanding officer, wrote in an e-mail from Garmsir. Watson explained that the stations are manned by two local Afghan DJs and Marines working with translators. They offer a mix of programming, including local leaders supporting the government, music and news. "We encourage locals to write in or tell our patrols what they like and don't like about the programming so that we can constantly improve," he wrote. Scores of ra
[HCDX] Glenn Hauser logs October 9, 2010
** ARGENTINA. Reception from Lithuania, q.v., was so poor that I kept bandscanning during the 2230 sesquihour Oct 9, periodically checking 6130. On 15345.0, R. Nacional seemed right on frequency for a change, Oct 9 at 2248 with silly ballgame, as obvious from keywords ``pelota`` and ``partido`` but they never really said ``partido tonto de pelota`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 12174, SRDA is still putting out horrible loud extremely distorted spur, Oct 9 at 2246, also much weaker 11356. Checking the fundamental 11765, seemed to be a YL gospel huxter alternating with David Miranda, and much lower modulation level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 6165, RNT, Oct 9 at 2254, hilife music with French comments interspersed, considerably better signal than Lithuania; 2301, ``Ici Ndjamena, La Station(?) Nationale``, brief NA by military band until 2302:30, carrier stayed on a while. I assume this is back to normal schedule following Ramadan, -2300 Sats, unlike -2230 otherdays. RN Venezuela did not reappear as it had once recently on this unscheduled frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6035, Oct 9 at 2319, could make out some Spanish commercial-hype-sounding talk vs the 6030 ACI from the DentroCuban Jamming Command, and R. Martí, so presumably LV del Guaviare, not doing as well as DR on the other side. No major broadcasters are scheduled here in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025, as soon as I tuned in Oct 9 at 2255, they said ``Amigos oyentes de Radio Amanecer Internacional``, so I could immediately tune on, escaping the religionist exhortations to follow; fair over CCI (Bolivia? Or Iran`s 13-hour overnight Arabic service), and considerable ACI from the Dentro-FueraCuban radio war on 6030. Another check at 6025: CCI worse, making low rumble tnx to RAI being off-channel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA [and non]. 6130, Rhein-Main Radio Club special consolation broadcast for Radio Saint Helena Day, which was canceled: Did not anticipate very good reception from that far into eastern Europe, and such was the case. No CCI or ACI, but signal generally too weak and fading vs noise level. Tune-in Oct 9 at 2235 , poor with music only; 2241 some talk but unreadable, 2242 music, and so forth. 2252 mentioning QSL cards; 6130 now a little better, maximum 7 bars on the DX-398 with reel-out antenna, 8 with a longer random wire clipped on, but that`s still far from enough for clear copy considering the noise and modulation levels. 2304 announced ``Life on the Ocean Waves``, RSH theme tune and played a bit of it; then schedule to different regions, presumably studio recording of last year`s RSHD. 2307 seems two guys conversing, mentioning R-M-R-C-. SINPO at best 35333. 2317 mentioned 11092.5 U-S-B, time quarter to one GMT. By 2327 signal had worsened, now unreadable. Tnx to RMRC for undertaking this, and hope we may get to hear this hour later online. Probably would have been better to NAm on 7 MHz band; e.g. RUI on 7440 was much stronger in English before 2300, but they do have a few hundred more kW and I assume lots more antenna gain. I gather reception was quite a bit better north and east of here, as would be expected (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [and non]. 7350, I`m wondering if this new frequency for R. Nigeria, Abuja, weakly audible here from 0600, is also on the air in the evenings? No sign of it on a few chex after 2235 UT Oct 9, and by 2358 the frequency had Chinese on it, which is CRI English via EAST TURKISTAN from 2300. Unfortunately, unlike the mornings, there are several other major broadcasters scheduled on 7350 in the evenings; but it might be free after 2030 if Moldova`s registration at 2000-2200 is wooden; and surely between 2200 and 2300. A Nigerian would not likely be on later than 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 5900, checked Oct 9 at 2256 and later, no sign of V. of Russia, English to North America, apparently gone since the end of September, but is there a replacement as yet unfound? Predictably, their sked at http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/schedule/ still shows 5900 at 22-02. But it also fails to show 9665 at 23-02 which has really been on for several weeks. What do they know back in Moscow? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9330-CUSB, Oct 9 at 2325 plugging http://www.radio211.com where you may request a QSL for SW or webcast, or P O Box 456, Orangeville Ont., missed postal code. ``Radio 211, on WBCQ, 50,000 watts of Amplitude Modulation`` (well, not exactly: ``compatible`` USB, i.e. reduced carrier and reduced LSB but could also hear some modulation on lower side.) On to Bible quotation about olive oil. This is Rod Hembree`s latest enterprise, part of the Good Friends Radio Network, which has bought out 9330 for 15 hours daily, 13-04 UT
[HCDX] Logs for Al Muick
QTH:Kabul, Afghanistan RX: WinRadio G303e ANT:200m Longwire/Randomwire ACC:Palstar MW-550P Mediumwave Preselector 6676 USB 09 OCT, 1624 UTC, SINGAPORE, Singapore VOLMET with synthesized male voice reading weather conditions for Malaysia and Singapore. Good quality signals and no QRM. 7165 09 OCT, 1605 UTC, ETHIOPIA, Radio Ethiopia (tent.). Strong carrier but very weak modulation. I could just barely make out the English language by the male announcer. Taking turns with a female announcer and many mentions of Ethiopia. 7175 09 OCT, 1540 UTC, ERITREA, Voice of the Broad Masses, in presumed Amharic (according to schedule) with area music and announcements by man. Station ID at 1558 and suddenly smashed by what appeared to be strong DRM signal as viewed on the specral display, however, although it locked, there was no data. Fair signals with no QRM and some slight fading up to that point. Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I had time for the hobby, but finally getting some spare time again. I completely missed the RMRC broadcast by drifting off to sleep. If there are any fiber optic technicians out there who might be interested in working on Kandahar Airfield, please drop me a note and a CV/resume. I need 2-3 technicians and a project manager for converting our WiMAX network to fiber, utilizing the existing NATO pit and duct systems. Hope everyone is well! 73 Al Muick "When the government keeps detailed records on every move we make and we either need advance permission for everything we do or are penalized for not knowing what the rules are, America will be declared a police state." - Rep. Ron Paul, Texas ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
Re: [HCDX] RMRC to NA 6130
LITHUANIA, Rhein-Main Radio Club special RSH 2009 broadcast via Sitkuani, 6130, 2230-2330 - English with clips of RSH 2009 broadcast, comments, QSL details. Initially poor but improving to fair by 2330. Transmitter left on until 2332. Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN Perseus SDR, Wellbrook K9AY, Welbrook ALA330S, KAZ www.bcdx.org | www.dxtests.info ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
Re: [HCDX] [DXplorer] RMRC to NA 6130
LITHUANIA 6130 TCI-California antenna beamed in direction of 310 degrees serves a powerful signal in target zones 4,7,8,9,10,11 in North America. 6130 here in Stuttgart only co-channel CNR Lhasa Tibet in English (!) with typical Chinese dance music, S=9+10dB, 2230 UT Oct 9. From 2234 UT onwards heard the St. Helena Happening broadcast TINY UNDERNEATH. In an angle difference of 51 degress ... to main lobe via TCI 8-dipol beast at 310 degrees. (wb) - Original Message - From: "Don Jensen" Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2010 12:49 AM Subject: Re: [DXplorer] RMRC to NA 6130 Powerful signal from carrier on at 2228. IS, ID into pgming, which continues strong at 2350/ --don From: James Ronda Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 5:38 PM Subject: Re: [DXplorer] RMRC to NA 6130 Traces of audio here at 2230; some improvement so that individual words and voices could be heard by 2236; best in LSB Jim Ronda Tulsa, OK On Oct 9, 2010, at 5:33 PM, John Herkimer wrote: Huge signal on clear freq (6130) at *2230 with Rhein-Main Radio Club English program to NA. John ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
[HCDX] Fw: [DXplorer] RMRC broadcast at 9.10.2010
Subject: Re: [DXplorer] RMRC broadcast at 9.10.2010 Wonderful strong signal of S=9+35dB, here in Stuttgart, Germany, centered in the main lobe of the 259 degrees outlet from Lithuania, no QRM. China co-channel now heard at 1633 UT after Sitkunai ceased transmission, but CRI Hakka bcast weak in 212 degrees from Urumchi site, in direction of Bombay, Maledives/Seychelles, Madagascar and Eastern South Africa. ... and three seconds bargain of HCJB's German feed too, bcast on 9770 kHz instead of scheduled 5940 kHz from 1630 UT regularly. Same excellent transmission signals from Sitkunai heard already 40 years ago on USSR era. But not that happening content ... :-) Danke RMRC und Harald fürs Ereignis. 73 wb ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
[HCDX] Glenn Hauser logs October 8-9, 2010
** AUSTRALIA. 15400, unlike yesterday, HCJB propagating well Saturday Oct 9 at 1325 with some downunderite reading boring loggings, so checked their other frequency, 15340: nice south Asian vocal music, and still no het from Morocco, neither audibly from ex-15341, nor subaudibly from presumed 15340, whence it is presumably not propagating instead. Back to 15400 at 1330 just as DX Partyline ends on time, no ID, immediately into Chinese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. 15700, Oct 9 at 1333, R. Bulgaria with folk music on accordion, lo-fi announcement; 1350 now it`s accordion with piano in Saturday traditional music show (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6070, Oct 9 at 0601, CFRX newscast by YL with improved modulation, and I was ready to give them an R5, but a few minutes later it declined to R4 and continued to plummet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 9625, Oct 9 at 0553, tone test as happens so frequently, long after CBCNQ 0506 sign-off; why? Vs splatter from REE/CR 9630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 9: none found 8-16 MHz before 1300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 11760, back on the air and VG with RHC English, Oct 9 at 0551, jazz piano music // 5970, 6060 and JBM 6150, but no 6010. Next check 0603, 6010 had replaced 11760. But unlike a previous night, 9525 in Spanish was not extended. As I started to tune down the 21m band, Oct 9 at 1339, no signal on 13880, so figured one of the RHC channels would be off, unable to produce this leapfrog. Yes: 13780 VG as usual, but nothing on 13680. Despertar con Cuba was airing a report from Puerto Rico on a baseball championship, slanted to how the Cuban team was doing; 1342 Agenda 21 environmental report about a weather radar in Pinar del Río established in 1972; urging us to go green. By this time I was axually listening on 12030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055-, TGAV, Oct 9 at 0555 carrier and JBA music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Can`t get enough of that Bengaluru hum! 9690, AIR GOS English channel at 1330-1500, already on air at 1318 Oct 9, otherwise open carrier, but off again at 1322 check, having confirmed that the transmitter will be ready to radiate. 9425, Bengaluru at 1318 Oct 9, AIR IS, flutter, ACI de FEBC 9430; 1320 Vande Mataram, 1321+ sign-on in Hindi mentioning kHz. Could not hear this National Channel on // 9470 Aligarh with huge WTWW from 9479. 9870, Bengaluru with VBS, Oct 9 at 1319 pop music, flutter, CCI from presumed China (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, Oct 9 at 1231 tune-in to hear talk in Indonesian, but vanished at 1231:30*. This could explain why I was not hearing any signal the day before when I tuned in somewhat later, after having had nice daily peaks before 1300: RRI Palangkaraya turning off transmitter earlier, for some reason. What does Atsunori Ishida at http://rri.jpn.org/ say? Observations since Oct 7 not yet entered However, Ron Howard heard 3325 on the air from 1439 Oct 9 Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI, back to normal VG signal Oct 9 after weakish yesterday; 1249 rock in English during Japanese hour; 1314 in English Today in History about consequences of NK nuclear tests; 1315 Focus, on ``Indonesia becoming more attractive to international business``; usual IADs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. R. Nikkei, Oct 9 at 0553 fair on both 9595 and 9760 in non // Japanese talk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6049.6, Oct 9 1306, weak music to talk, VP, 1308 mixing music and talk. Confirmed off-frequency compared to WEWN 12050. A semihour earlier I was only hearing the het with HCJB(?). Now with some audio there is still a het from algo on 6050.0. I defer to Ron Howard who reported thus Oct 4: ``pop music show at 1301 in vernacular with many "Radio Malaysia Asyik FM" IDs; fair; slight drift.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 7350, Oct 9 at 0559, JBA carrier from presumed R. Nigeria, Abuja; wonder if this will ever rise to audibility over here. Shame to have such a nice clear frequency, with pitiful peanut power. Is anyone in Europe hearing it in the evenings? But then it would collide with Russia, Moldova, Iran, China, East Turkistan. Maybe there are some gaps when it could be detected (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1610, NWS Enid relay again audible, Oct 8 at 2200 UT, JBA on caradio in Enid, so the Great Salt Plains TIS (Jet/Cherokee OK), WQCL720, is back in biz after radiating loud noise blob for a few weeks. 1580, checked KOKB Blackwell Saturday Oct 9 at 1347, and it`s nominal with local sports talk during the hour when, tnx to KOKB open carrier, we used to hear the mystery Spanish sports show which turned out to be KHGG Fort Smith AR. With KOKB applying modulation, no cha
[HCDX] Oct. 05 - 08 logs
3945, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. October, 05 0835-0845 female in English hosting listeners by phone, listener talks followed by male in studio in comments "in 1993..police..Australia rescue", many times this sequence. 35322, (lob-B). 3970, Korea, North, KCBS Pyongyang, Wonsan. October, 05 0846-0855 elation music, short male and female in Korean talks in music break. 25222, (lob-B). 5020, Solomon Islands BC, Honiara. October, 05 0858-0910 Pacific music, male and female in English announcements on top of the hour "Solomon Islands..company..you're listening radio..www". 34333, (lob-B). 5055, Brasil, R. Difusora, Cáceres. October, 06 0900-0918 male in Portuguese ID annoucements "..60 metros..", religious talks "Igreja..pedir a Deus a sabedoria", religious music; fading, 25322. October, 08 0859-0908 sign on at 0900 with male ID announcements "R. Difusora de Cáceres para o Brasil", "abre espaço para seu programa A hora milagrosa..a Igreja Apostólica apresenta o programa A hora milagrosa" male explaining miracles happened with followers of this religious entity Igreja Apostólica "a mãe, a Sra..explicou ao filhinho que confiasse no poder da fé..então o garoto recebeu um milagre atestado pelo médico..pois voltou a enxergar"; 35333, (lob-B). 73's Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - Dipole 18m, 32m; Longwire 22m. ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
[HCDX] sATmORN dx
Bolivia, 6134.83, Radio Santa Cruz, 0950-1020, Noted a female and two males in Quecha Language comments while the signal bounces between good and poor. At 0956 music presented. At times the language sounds like Quecha and then Spanish. Signal seemed to peak on the hour to a good level. (Chuck Bolland, October 9, 2010) WR-G31DDC 26.37N 081.05W ---[Start Commercial]- Order your WRTH 2009: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2009 ---[End Commercial]--- Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ ___ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
[HCDX] U.S. civilians donate radios to Afghans
The U.S. military's mission in Afghanistan is more often about helping farmers and teachers than firefights with the Taliban. That gives people at home, like Royse City plastics maker John Stettler, a way to support the war by helping the military help the Afghans. Stettler put up $10,000 this year to buy radios for villagers in Afghanistan's Helmand province. A battalion of U.S. Marines is handing out these solar and hand-crank radios in places where there is no electricity. "If we send Americans to risk their lives in other countries, it's important for civilians to do their part," said Stettler, 53. "It's a citizen's duty." Stettler's $10,000 was a challenge grant given to Spirit of America, a Los Angeles charity. Jim Hake, founder of Spirit of America, asked Stettler and other donors to respond after he got an appeal for radios from the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Division in Garmsir. The appeal raised $30,000 that's being spent on 3,000 radios shipped directly to the Marines in Afghanistan. "Broadly speaking, we help the troops help the local people," Hake said. "From our perspective, by providing radios, we're helping to open families and villages to outside information and music as well. From the Marine Corps' perspective, it also opens villages to outside information and helps them combat Taliban propaganda." Hake said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, who led the Marine forces into Helmand province last year, told him: "We spend 10 percent of our time hunting and 90 percent of our time helping." U.S. generals running the war in Afghanistan say information is one of the key battlefields, and radio is the medium both sides use in this fight. Most Afghans live in small villages, cannot read or write, and don't have electricity. Their news comes over the radio. Taliban stations Media surveys in Afghanistan by aid groups have found most villages have had radios since U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban almost nine years ago. But the radio in the tea shop or mosque, powered by a small generator or a car battery, could be tuned by a Taliban sympathizer to a Taliban station. Giving families their own radios lets them listen to something else. So far this year, U.S. forces and their allies have handed out 45,000 radios - and put on-air many of their own radio stations. "We have three radio stations set up on combat outposts, with a fourth station coming in the next couple of weeks," Lt. Col. Ben Watson, the 3rd Battalion's commanding officer, wrote in an e-mail from Garmsir. Watson explained that the stations are manned by two local Afghan DJs and Marines working with translators. They offer a mix of programming, including local leaders supporting the government, music and news. "We encourage locals to write in or tell our patrols what they like and don't like about the programming so that we can constantly improve," he wrote. Scores of radio stations are operating in Afghanistan and sending signals from across the border in Pakistan. The Afghan government, Britain's BBC and the U.S. government's Voice of America broadcast nationwide. Voice of America also sends FM and short-wave signals into the tribal regions of Pakistan across the Afghan border - an area rich in Taliban radio operations as well, according to a State Department inspector general's report released last year. "The Taliban operate a large number of unlicensed FM transmitters throughout the region," the report found. "While they have limited range, these 'rogue' stations regularly broadcast propaganda, including frequent claims for terrorist actions carried out by the Taliban." Media groups operating in Afghanistan say villagers are skeptical of the Afghan government's broadcasts and prefer programs that relate information about their local area. That's where the Taliban and the U.S. military try to operate. 'First with the truth' Soon after the war started, the U.S. Agency for International Development sent 30,000 radios to Afghanistan, but U.S. AID workers in Kabul say that effort has ended. Voice of America is distributing 20,000 more radios. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, issued guidelines in August that urge his forces to "fight the information war aggressively." "Be first with the truth," the guidelines read. "Beat the insurgents and malignant actors to the headlines." But supplies aren't always in place when they're needed, which is why Watson turned to Spirit of America. "We are at the end of a long and challenging logistics pipeline out here, and we don't get everything we want just as fast as we'd like it," Watson wrote. "SOA [Spirit of America] helps immensely to supplement the number of hand-crank, solar-powered radios we get through military channels in order to allow us to supply to the local population so they can listen to our radio stations. Their support is a huge help." Some radios are both h
