Monday, January 22, 2007

Clandestine, Voice of Kurdistan radio on new satellite frequency

BBC Monitoring observes clandestine radio Voice of Iranian Kurdistan (VoIK) on a new transponder on the Hot Bird 6 satellite at 13 degrees east, on a frequency of 11681 MHz, horizontal polarization, symbol rate 27500, FEC 3/4.
The radio is carried on the sound channel of Tishk TV when the latter is not broadcasting (currently observed schedule for Tishk is 1700-2000 gmt daily). A still image of a transmitter mast with the station’s contact details superimposed is displayed when the radio is being carried.
Voice of Iranian Kurdistan was first observed on satellite by BBC Monitoring in February 2005, broadcasting on 12597 MHz frequency, vertical polarization, symbol rate 27500, FEC 3/4 on the same satellite. This continues to be available on the same schedule as before, 1300-1400 gmt daily.
Until recently VoIK was also available on shortwave, although this has not been traced by BBC Monitoring since at least mid January.
Voice of Iranian Kurdistan and Tishk TV are operated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, which has a multilingual website at www.pdki.org. Tishk TV has a website at www.tishktv.net, and VoIK has a new website under construction at www.rdkiran.com.
(Source: BBC Monitoring research, in English 1620 gmt 21 Jan 07/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)