News
and Notes
|
|
News
and Notes |
|
|
|
Updated , January 3, 2012 |
|||||||
|
New Project News from Ian McFarland
January is Shortwave DX Challenge Month! Try to
log as many countries On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com Several illustrated articles
about QSLs,
authored by JB, have appeared recently in Monitoring
Times. The October 2011 issue contained an article titled
"The
Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications." It is about the
history
of CPRV, and we have posted it under "The Committee to Preserve Radio
History/CPRV History" (new link at top of page). Two other
articles
are titled "Looking at QSLs and Seeing History" and "QSLs Give
Life to Radio History." The first, which was published in the
October MT, discusses QSLs and
political history, while the second, from the December MT,
addresses QSLs and radio history. These two articles are
posted under "DX History/QSLs & Other Station Memorabilia."
-- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan,"
three new articles by Adrian Peterson: "The Original Radio Free
Asia" and "AFRS American Forces Radio Service Celebrates 70
Years" (November 20, 2011), and "VOA Shipboard Relay Stations-VOA
Ships: Three More American Radio Ship in the Pacific" (November
27,
2011).
On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com On The
Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com Under "DX History/People," we
have
posted another group of "Shortwave Profiles" from "DXing
Horizons." This group includes John and Marjorie Gibson, Al Niblack,
Sidney Pearce, Sam Rowell, Ab Saylor, and Paul Silver. -- And under
"Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," you will find two new
entries from Adrian Peterson (July 31, 2011): "Canada on Shortwave: VOA
and RCI Relays," and "Australian States on Shortwave: 4 - Queensland." As more and more stations
reduce or cancel their
shortwave activity in favor of other media platforms, it is worth
remembering
how much hope shortwave engendered in its early days. During the
months
of April through July, 1935, Charles A. Morrison, President of the
International DXers Alliance, an international DX club, wrote a
four-part
series in Radio News called "The
Future of International Short-Wave Reception." Morrison felt the
world was on the verge of a "new international unity," thanks largely
to shortwave. In addition to his prognostications about the
future of
shortwave, he gave a nice review of the DX scene--stations and
equipment--of
the day. We have posted the four Morrison articles in one file
under
"DX History/General Radio History." -- And under "Specialized
Resources" there are three new "Wavescan" stories from Adrian
Peterson: from August 7, 2011, "Early Shortwave in
Pakistan:
Lahore" and "Radio Panorama RP12: Early Speech
Transmissions"; and from August 14, 2011, "VOA Shipboard Radio
Stations-Ship No. 1: The Story of the USS Texas" Many radio clubs have issued
seals or stickers
from time to time for use on reception reports or members'
correspondence. We have a few in a new file under "DX
History//Philately." Included are seals or stickers from:
(1)
Canadian DX Relay, an early Canadian broadcast band club; (2) the
International
Short Wave Club; (3) an early sticker from the Newark News Radio Club
which
displays an inset for the "Newark News DX Club," the club's original
name; (4) the traditional NNRC seal (in both red-black-gold and
green-black-gold); (5) the National Radio Club; (6) the Radio League of
America, a Gernsback-sponsored amateur radio organization formed in
1915; (7)
the otherwise-unknown Round the World DX Club; and (8) the Radio Signal
Survey
League (RSSL), a group formed in 1937 by All-Wave
Radio magazine. -- And under "Specialized Resources,"
you will find a new "Wavescan" entry from Adrian M. Peterson.
Dated August 21, 2011, it is "A New Radio Country: South Sudan, Pt. 1,
and
BFBS and AFRS in Sudan." Under "DX History/Philately,"
we have
added a new file with Voice of America items. The first five in the
file are
first day covers bearing the VOA five-cent stamp that was issued in
1967 to
commemorate the station's 25th anniversary. We have not posted these
particular
FDC's before. The sixth is an Art Craft FDC that we have posted
previously, but
this one also carries a ten-cent Cadillac "local post" VOA stamp. You
can also see the Cadillac stamp without cancellation. Then there is a
post
office advisory to the effect that the VOA stamp was not to be sold
before
August 2, 1967. And finally there is a VOA Chinese-language cinderella,
provenance unknown, which I have been told says, "Voice of America
Thank
You Certificate. VOA--The Program that Takes American News Around the
World." -- And under "Specialized Resources," this new
"Wavescan" entry from Adrian Peterson (August 28, 2011): "VOA
Shipboard Relay Stations-Ship No. 2: The Story of the Historic KSL
Transmitter
in Salt Lake City." EKKO stamps--the verification
stamps that were
popular in the 1920s--are quite well known, Bryant stamps less so.
Bryant
stamps were somewhat of a competitor to EKKO stamps. However, I have
seen many
thousands of old BCB QSLs and, unlike EKKO's, I have never seen one
bearing a
Bryant stamp. Presumably you bought them direct from the company (P. M.
Bryant,
Chicago). Under "DX History/QSLS & Other Station Memorabilia" you
will find a file containing some sample pages from a 1925 Bryant stamp
album.
It is set up much the same as an EKKO album--pages for the stamps
(which were a
little less artful than the EKKO's), then lists of American broadcast
band
stations arranged by call letters and location, followed by pages for
keeping a
log of stations heard. Also shown are several sheets of unperforated
Bryant
stamps. A little research shows that the stations are arranged on the
sheets
alphabetically by state (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), though not
necessarily
alphabetically by call letters within the state. Could you send a list
of
stations to Bryant and have them send you a sheet of stamps for the
requested
call letters? Did you have to send the QSLs? There is some suggestion
on line
that you could buy the album with a complete set of stamps. Unlike
EKKO's,
which bore the words "Verified Reception Stamp," Bryant stamps
carried no indication that they were meant to signify verification of
reception. -- Also, we have substituted a new version of the file
containing
club seals and stickers that we posted on August 28, 2011. This one
contains
two new items from John Herkimer, a red NNRC sticker and a
green-and-gold NNRC
decal (3" diameter). On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com I recently came across an atlas that contained some DXing information. Although there is a natural affinity between geography and shortwave, I don't believe I have ever seen them combined in a regular commercial atlas. On the inside front cover and first two pages of the 1967 Hammond Award World Atlas is a station list captioned "24-Hour Short Wave Schedule." It is a list of English-language shortwave broadcasts audible in the U.S.,, including time and frequency, and is reprinted from Electronics Illustrated. At the end of the atlas is another shortwave list, titled "Marine Weather Broadcasts," with many 2 MHz. stations arranged under four geographic areas. This is followed by a two-page world time chart. The rest of the atlas is a standard atlas. You will find the relevant pages of the atlas under "DX History/Lists, Logs, Guides & Columns." And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," three new entries from Adrian Peterson : "Five in a Row: The BBC Relay Stations in Arabian Coastal Areas--On Shortwave from Tin Can Island, Masirah" and Radio Panorama RP10: Signaling through the Air, Country by Country, Part 1" (June 19, 2011), and "Australia on Long Wave: Broadcasting Stations" (June 26, 2011). The battle over who was the "first" broadcasting station in the U.S. began long ago and still fosters strong opinions. Although most people give the prize to KDKA, WWJ has long made a strong case for the title. Under "DX History/Stations" you will find a pamphlet issued by The Detroit News that describes both the newspaper and it's station, WWJ. It looks like the pamphlet dates from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The station traces its lineage back to a predecessor amateur station, 8MK, which carried the newspaper's reports of the Michigan primaries over two months before the initial KDKA broadcast. A "cinderella" is any stamp that is not useable for postage. "Poster stamps" are a subcategory of cinderellas, usually used for advertising or promotional purposes. Poster stamps were a popular collectible in the 1920s and 1930s. Under "DX History/Philately" you will find a file containing examples of a number of radio-related poster stamps, mostly for radio shows where manufacturers displayed their latest wares. The stamps are from New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Detroit. I believe the "Radio Exhibition Olympia" stamp is from the U.K. More poster stamps next time. "DXing Horizons" was a short-lived but very nice DX magazine that was published from January 1960 to April 1961. Nearly half the magazine was devoted to shortwave, with other forms of DX taking up the rest. The shortwave editor was Ken Boord, probably the best known DX editor of the time. This was Ken's final appearance as a DX editor. Among the "DXH" features was the "Shortwave Profile" where Ken highlighted particular DXers. John Herkimer has gone through DXH and extracted these profiles, and we have posted the first group under "DX History/People." Included this time are profiles of August Balbi, Anson Boice, Floyd Backus, George Cox, Arthur Cushen, and Jerry Berg (who he?). Next week we will have a second group. And under "Specialized Resources," we have posted five new "Wavescan" entries from Dr. Adrian M. Peterson: July 3, 2011, "Early Shortwave Relay Stations in Australia"; July 10, 2011, "Five in A Row--The BBC Relay Stations in Coastal Areas: The New BBC Station on Coastal Oman"; July 17, 2011, "Jungle Radio in South America--The Terry-Holden Expedition, VP3THE," and "Radio Panorama RP11: Spark Flashes Through the Air, Pt. 2"; and July 24, 2011, "An Exotic British and American Radio Broadcasting Station on a Lonely Island in the Indian Ocean: The Story of Radio Gan."
On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com Tuning through the 60 meter band today, it is hard to imagine the DX that could be heard on those frequencies 50 years ago. Among the best sources of signals were the stations in the countries of what was then called French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa. By 1960, most of these countries had become independent, and their stations were affiliated with SORAFOM, Societe de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre-Mer, a French government organization formed in 1956 to aid development of broadcasting in the former French territories. Under "DX History/Stations," we have posted a schedule of the SORAFOM stations as of September 30, 1960. As can be seen, most of the shortwave transmitters were 4 kw. units. Despite this low power, many were routine catches on east coast afternoons. -- And under "Specialized Resources" you will find a number of "Wavescan" postings from Adrian M. Peterson: April 17, 2011, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina--The Radio Scene in South American Argentina," and "Radio Panorama RP9: Wireless Signaling Through Water"; April 25, 2011, "Return to Argentina--The Shortwave Scene RAE," "VOA Relay Stations in Argentina," and "AWR-Asia with RAE Relay and QSL Cards"; and May 1, 2011, "Five in a Row: The Forgotten BBC East Africa Relay Station, Berbera in Somalia," and "The Radio Scene in New York City: The Earliest Known Reception Report." Following up on the SORAFOM schedule posted last time, this time under "DX History/Stations" we have posted several schedules of African stations that had external services transmitting on the international HF bands. They are: ELWA, circa 1962; Ghana Broadcasting Corp., 1961 (tnx Tom Carten, Wilkes-Barre, PA) and 1969; Radio Brazzaville, c. 1962; R. Leopoldville, c. 1962 (tnx Bob Schmid, LaPorte, CO); and R. Madagascar, 1973 (one-hour service on 17730 kHz., 100 kw). -- And under "Specialized Resources," two "Wavescan" stories from Adrian Peterson (May 8, 2011): "Middle Eastern Cave Radio: Yemen" and "Two Radio Ships: On the Air in Libya." Radio and humor were a frequent combination in radio's early days. This time, under "DX History/Literature & Humor," we have posted a file of humorous radio-related postcards. The first three were used by radio repairmen, presumably to inform customers of their services, and were printed by National Union Radio Tubes. -- And under "Specialized Resources," two more "Wavescan" scripts from Dr. Adrian M. Peterson: "Five in a Row: BBC Middle East Relay Station, Perim Island" (May 15, 2011), and "American States on Shortwave: Utah--The International Story of Shortwave KUSW/KTBN" (May 22, 2011). Under "DX History/Equipment & Advertising," you will find posted a 1931 publication of James Millen, chief engineer and general manager of the National Company, called "1931-32 Short-Wave Receivers." Serious shortwave receivers were just coming into use, and National was one of the first on the scene. The National "Thrill Box" came out in 1928, and by 1931 was being offered in the SW-3 and SW-5 models, both of which are described in this pamphlet. There is also a discussion of early television reception. National was one of the most famous of the early manufacturers of shortwave receivers designed for consumer use, and for decades remained a major player on the shortwave receiver scene. Although the list of stations on the inside back cover is titled "Short-Wave Broadcast Stations," the term "broadcast" is used in its widest sense. The list does include the broadcast stations of the day (W8XK, W8XAL, G5SW, I3RO, VUC, NRH, VK3ME, CT1AA, 7LO, etc.), but most of the stations shown were commercial or experimental stations. In the late 1950s, shortwave receivers manufactured by the National Company of Malden, Mass. were among the most popular. Under "DX History/Equipment & Advertising" you will find a promotional logbook distributed by National circa 1958. Welcoming users to the "National Association of Armchair Adventurers," it contained a promotional preface about National; a 7-page introduction to shortwave listening, courtesy of Electronics Illustrated; a very nice list of mostly-SWBC stations that brings back some fond memories; a page for the user's statistics; 20 pages of log sheets (only one is included in the scan); and an inside back cover with brief writeups on the National NC-60, NC-66 and NC-188 receivers. -- And under "Specialized Resources," a new "Wavescan" entry from Adrian Peterson: "Five in a Row: BBC Eastern Relay Station on Tin Can Island" (Masirah Island, Oman) (June 5, 2011). It recently came to light that the Newark Evening News, parent to the venerable Newark News Radio Club (originally the Newark News DX Club), is available on microfilm. A review was made of some copies of the paper from the years 1927-28, when the NNRC was born, and some from 1931. "Newark News Radio Club--The Very Early Days," a 15-page summary, with graphics, covering what was found, is now posted Under "DX History/Clubs & Publications." -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," we have posted another entry from Adrian Peterson. Look for "Australia on Longwave, Part 1: Yes, it did really happen!" (dated June 12, 2011). DXpedition in the arctic made easy for you! Going on DXpeditions has always been difficult: finding the right place, dealing with the interference, getting permission for the antennas, and the hard work of actually putting up the antennas. Not any more. We have just the right place in the Finnish Lapland, tested and found to be excellent for AM DXing, and already equipped with a huge array of 1-kilometer-long Beverage antennas. You may have read about the hundreds of legendary DXpeditions made to the Arctic since the 1970's. Now you can join the fun! We built "Aihkiniemi" last summer for ourselves. But we can't be there all the time, so we are also offering it for rent to fellow DXers from around the world. If you don't mind traveling, this is a unique chance to experience a DXpedition of a lifetime without the hard work. Check it out at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aihkiniemi_dx_cabin_for_rent.dx The article includes everything you need to know: what to expect there, how to get there, how to prepare, and how to make a reservation. 73s Mika Makelainen, on behalf of the eight DXers running Aihkiniemi On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com It hardly needs saying that SWLing was a lot different nearly half a century ago than it is now. To give you an idea how different, under "DX History/SWLing & DXing" we have posted some 1965-66 DX reports from two well-known DXers, Bob Hill, who was living in Boston in 1965 and Washington, DC in 1966, and Bob LaRose, who was listening from Binghamton, NY in 1966. These detailed reports reflect a common practice of active DXers in those days--preparing periodic (weekly or monthly) reports of their catches and sending copies to relevant clubs, newsletters, magazines and individuals. It was all paper, of course; e-mail had not even be imagined. Thanks to "the Bobs" LaRose (now living in San Diego, CA) and Hill (Littleton, MA) for permission to post these. We would be happy to post others that come our way. Under "DX History/Stations," you will find posted a booklet published by the BBC circa 1961 titled "Facts About the BBC." -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," there are two new entries from Adrian Peterson (March 13, 2011): "Another Middle Eastern Trouble Spot: Yemen, Pt. 1--The Story of Radio Broadcasting in the Land of the Queen of Sheba" and "The New Zealand Earthquake." Under "DX History/SWLing & DXing" is posted an article describing the 1927 broadcast band DX activities of Marjorie Lee Dodd of Hollywood, California. Marjorie died in 1979, and her radio notebook was discovered by her aunt by marriage, who was the executor of Marjorie's estate. The article appears in the March 2011 edition of Antique Radio Classified and appears with their permission < http://www.antiqueradio.com/> Can anyone solve the 6XT mystery? -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," three more stories from Adrian M. Peterson (March 20, 2011): "New Zealand Earthquake Update," "Radio Broadcasting in the Land of the Queen of Sheba: Yemen, Pt. 2-The Lightning and No Wire Company," and "Next on the International Radio Scene, Libya." Under "Specialized Resources," "Radio Postcards," we visit Illinois and post a file containing postcard views of stations in Chicago, namely: (1-5) five views of WGN; (6) WGES; (7) WJAZ; (8) WMAQ; (9-10) two views of WMBI, the Moody Bible Institute station--the studio in Chicago and the transmitter in Addison; (11) the Heisen Building, with the antennas of the Federal Wireless Telegraph Co. on the roof; and (12-13) two views of the Hotel Crillon, on the roof of which appears to be an elaborate antenna for the hotel's radio receiving system rather than a broadcast station antenna. Next time we will post postcards from other places in Illinois. -- Under "Specialized Resources, "Wavescan," we have posted two stories from Adrian M. Peterson: March 27, 2011, "Tribute to Japan," and April 3, 2011, "The Shortwave Radio Scene in Libya: Pt. 2." -- And still under "Specialized Resources," "Popular Communications Index," we have updated the index of PopComm historical material through April 2011. Under "Specialized Resources," "Radio Postcards," we have posted more postcard views of Illinois stations, this time stations outside Chicago. The stations are: (1-2) inside (1926) and outside views of WCBD, Zion; (3-4) two views of WEBQ, which was located in a bank building in Harrisburg; (5) the antenna of WJBC, on the roof of Hummer's Furniture Store, La Salle; (6) WJBL, whose antenna was atop the Wm. Gushard Department Store in Decatur; (7) WJPF, "the Voice of Egypt," in Herrin; (8) a television station, WREX-TV, in Rockford; (9) WOPA, located in the Oak Park Arms Hotel, Oak Park; and (10) a 1918 view of the antenna towers of the U.S. Naval Station in Great Lakes. -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," two new entries from Adrian M. Peterson: "American States on Shortwave: Texas-1, KAIJ," and "Australian States on Shortwave-3: Victoria" (April 10, 2011). DX-Hunter - The new
iPhone-App for DX-enthusiasts Hornungstr. 14 Canada Calling! Via Michael Rochon, Windsor, Ontario Back in 1949, David A. Smith produced this 18-minute film for the National Film Board of Canada about radio broadcasting in Canada. As the promo states: “This short documentary from 1949 looks at the state of radio in Canada. Focusing on the CBC, it illustrates the variety of radio fare available at the time by featuring snatches of favourite programs, including Trio Lyrique, Mart Kenney, the Toronto Symphony, the Happy Gang, forums, religious programs, drama and old-time music. Several key people involved in the business of broadcasting are introduced, as is the CBC International Service.” If only everything they mentioned in this film back in 1949 held true about radio broadcasting today. There is some excellent footage of historic radio programs and productions. As well we learn about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Service, the service that was to become Radio Canada International. So, click on this link and sit back and enjoy radio as it was back in 1949. http://www.nfb.ca/film/canada_calling
On The Shortwaves www.ontheshortwaves.com Under "DX History/Equipment & Advertising," we have posted a pamphlet from the National Radio Company containing photos and brief writeups about the receivers in the National line. Although undated, this looks like it hails from around 1960. -- And under "Specialized Resources," two more "Wavescan" entries from Dr. Adrian M. Peterson. Dated February 13, 2011, they are "Wireless and Radio on Land and at Sea in Antarctica: Tragic News Bulletins from the Antarctic Mainland" and "Radio Panorama RP8: Signaling through the Earth." Under "DX History/General Radio History," we have posted a pamphlet from RCA called "Rip Discovers Radio" in which an RCA information girl explains to an awakening Rip Van Winkle all about the wonders of 1939 RCA. -- And under "Specialized Resources," two more "Wavescan" entries from Dr. Adrian M. Peterson (February 20, 2011): "A Long Wave Failure: The Story of (Partly) Unsuccessful Criggion in Wales" and "Australian States on Shortwave: New South Wales." We tend to forget that the National Radio Club, which today is a mediumwave-only club, once covered shortwave as well. It was founded as mediumwave-only in 1933, but the NRC bulletin had a shortwave column as well from 1935 to 1944 (and a ham band listening column from 1937 to 1940). Under "DX History/Clubs & Publications," we have posted a file of eight NRC shortwave columns from 1943, specifically the January 9, February 27, March 6, April 24, May 15, June 19, July 17 and August 14 columns. Back then the bulletin was published weekly during the DX season (October through March), monthly otherwise. Thanks to John Herkimer for these issues. -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," another entry from Adrian Peterson: "Cyclone Radio in Australia: The Aftermath of Cyclone Yasi" (March 6, 2011). *** Terry Ferguson Silent Key
"We regret to inform everyone of the passing of long-time ODXA member Terry Ferguson on January 1, 2010. Terry was a familiar sight at Ontario hamfests flea markets and hosted twice yearly DX weekends at his Muskokan Motel in Gravenhurst over the 1980s and 90s. His friendship will sorely be missed." NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT <http://www.ontheshortwaves.com> Under "DX History/Stations," you will find a 4-page folder from the well-known early Costa Rican shortwave station, TI4NRH. It contains a typewritten letter dated 1931 from station owner Amando Cespedes Marin to one Milton Carlson, W9FFQ, of Rockford, Illinois, inviting him to listen and urging him to buy ACM's then soon-to-be-published book, "Me and Little Radio NRH," some sample pages of which he enclosed. The printed part of the folder also contains comments from prospective readers of the book, plus a summary of the book's contents. Set your PDF reader for side-by-side viewing for best effect on this one. And look under "Book Reviews" on this site for a previously-posted review of "Me and Little Radio NRH." -- Another interesting TI4NRH artifact: In "The CPRV Gallery" we have placed a 1922 postcard QSL from Ames, Iowa broadcast station WOI-9YI (9YI was its amateur/experimental call). What is noteworthy about it is the handstamp on the address side, "Radio Emisora Ti4NRH Heredia Costa Rica," and the handwritten notation, "Read it too Dec 6-1941," over ACM's signature. What do you suppose caused the recipient of the QSL, who lived in North Dakota, to send it to ACM? And did ACM read it over the air? -- Also this week, under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," two new stories from Adrian Peterson, both dated August 1, 2010: "Beam Wireless Stations in England," and "Radio Panorama-2: Distant Communication in Ancient Times, Visual." This time, under "Specialized Resources/Radio Postcards," you will find photos and drawings of seven different broadcast band stations in Kentucky. They are WAVE, "The Brown Hotel," Louisville; WLBJ, Bowling Green; WLSI, Pikeville; WOMI, Owensboro; WSFC, Somerset; WVJS, Owensboro; and a street scene of Hopkinsville showing the location of WKOA. -- Also under "Specialized Resources," there are three new "Wavescan" stories from Adrian M. Peterson (August 8, 2010): "The Fascinating Story of a Temporary PWI Shortwave Station in Europe-France," "Deception on the High Seas," and "The Early Beginnings of Adventist World Radio in Southern Asia." Under "Specialized Resources," "DX Newsletters," you will find a file containing a sample of issues of the Short Wave Review Flash Sheet, an informal publication issued by C. M. Stanbury II when he was editor of the "Short Wave Review" column in SWL, the bulletin of the American Shortwave Listeners Club. These issues are from 1963-64, which was a tumultuous period in the life of the then-four year old club. Stanbury issued this monthly "round robin" carbon paper flash sheet for the use of his regular contributors. He also used some of the material in his column in Electronics Illustrated magazine. Thanks to Bob LaRose for these copies. We'll have more C. M. Stanbury material in the future. -- And under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," four new stories: July 25, 2010, "The Majestic Empire Wireless Scheme"; August 15, 2010, "The Long and Interesting Story of All India Radio Hyderabad, Part 1" and "On the Air with AT&T in New Jersey"; and August 22, 2010, "The Long and Interesting Story of All India Radio, Hyderabad, Part 2."
Dear Editor,
73, Robert, VA3RO\M Lori, VE3VAI
NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT http://www.ontheshortwaves.com In "Specialized Resources" (under "DX Newsletters"): The bi-weekly Shortwave Messenger was published by J. Art Russell of San Diego, California from September 1960 until Russell's death in February 1963. It appears that the reader was on his own in matching names (sometimes mentioned in various narrative parts of the newsletter) to WPE calls. We have posted two issues from April 7, 1961 and March 21, 1962. The USSR High Frequency Newsletter was published by Roger Legge of McLean, VA beginning in November 1976. UHN dealt mainly with Foreign Service transmissions from the former Soviet Union and its constituent Republics. The newsletter was useful because of the frequent changes in Soviet frequencies and the Soviet policy of showing transmitter sites on QSLs when requested. We have posted two issues of UHN: March 1977 (No. 4) and November 1980 (No. 30). Tropical DX Newsletter began publication in August 1974 and was edited by Fred Heutte, Jr. of Washington, DC. The bi-weekly newsletter focused primarily on reception of the tropical regions of the world on 60 meters and below although other shortwave news was covered as well. TDXN ceased publication in February 1979. We have posted two issues from December 20, 1977 (No. 79) and November 15, 1978 (No. 100).
NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT <http://www.ontheshortwaves.com> Under "DX History/Philately," we have posted a file containing eight radio-related postal covers from Canada. The first five were issued in connection with the 1971 "RCI Speaking to the World" stamp commemorating RCI's installation of new high power transmitters in Sackville, New Brunswick (the fourth cover has an explanatory insert). The sixth cover features the CBC "exploding pizza" stamp issued in 1986 (the reverse of the cover explains this well-known CBC symbol). The seventh cover is also from 1986, and features an overprint memorializing the 1986 ANARC Convention in Montreal. The final cover memorializes the first Seventh Day Adventist Church World Session held in Canada (2000), and includes an Adventist World Radio-Toronto imprint on the front. Two other Canadian covers were posted in our "Philately" section in the past, one from 1971, the other from 1986; to locate them, search the section for "Canada." -- Under "Specialized Resources" we have posted another "Wavescan" script with two stories (May 30, 2010): "Radio Broadcasting on Lonely Ascension Island, the BBC Atlantic Relay station," and "Radio Events in the Chile Earthquake." Under "Specialized Resources/Radio Postcards," there is a new file containing eight postcard views of the 500-room U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, California, home of station KFSD. The extensive antenna structures are prominent on the roof. At one time the overcrowded hotel offered guests a fresh air alternative--one of 20+ completely furnished rooftop tents! These are visible on the fourth and fifth cards. -- In "DX History/Stations," we have posted a booklet, "Lyngby Radio Calling," which tells the story of Lyngby Radio, OXZ, the Danish coastal station whose history dates back to 1904. Thanks to Jim Cumbie of Texas for sending this in. -- And under "Specialized Resources/Wavescan," two new stories from Adrian Peterson (June 6, 2010): "The Temporary VOA Relay Station, Hicksville, Long Island, New York" and "Early Mediumwave QSL Cards." We
have begun a new section under
"Specialized Resources." It is called "DX
Newsletters." In the pre-internet days, the monthly club
bulletin
was the principal means for disseminating DX information throughout the
listening community. DX newsletters were a second
vehicle.
Shorter
in length, and often issued more often than monthly, they served up DX
information more promptly, and usually to a smaller audience.
Here we will
be posting samples of some of the DX newsletters of days gone
by.
Thanks
to John Herkimer for the first NL posted here: a June 1949
issue
of Ken
Boord's "Flash Sheet." The Flash Sheet served as an
information
exchange among some of the most faithful contributors to Boord's Radio & Television News
column,
which he edited from 1944 to 1955, and an important source of
information for
the column. -- And under "Specialized
Resources/Wavescan," three more entries from Dr. Adrian M.
Peterson:
(1) "Non-QSL Cards, Mediumwave and Shortwave" (June 20, 2010); (2)
"1938 Eclipse Broadcasts from Antarctica-South Georgia-Radio
Broadcasting
from Shortwave Communication Station ZBH" (July 4, 2010); and (3)
"Radio Panorama 1-Ancient Predictions" (July 4, 2010). NASB Meeting in Hamilton
The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters held their annual meeting in Hamilton Ontario this year, hosted by Galcom International, makers of missionary radio stations and pre-tuned radios. As part of their weekend, the participants toured the Crossroads Communications (100 Huntley Street) facility and Tim Whitehead spoke on that television program about the activities of Galcom. On Friday, Steve Canney of the ODXA gave a talk about his activities as QSL manager for CFRB/CFRX. Check out his CFRX page here.
The Galcom Table
A self contained Radio Station produced by Galcom
Longtime ODXer Michael Murray and Hans Johnson
Thais and Jeff White of Radio Miami International
Allan McGuirl and Tim Whitehead of Galcom with their radio station and the "Go-Ye" pre-tuned radio receiver. NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT <http://www.ontheshortwaves.com > Over the years, pictures of radio stations, especially standard broadcast band stations, have often adorned postcards. Such cards have also depicted various other radio themes. Although not QSLs, they can be interesting to the listener-collector. We have begun a new section in "Specialized Resources" featuring groups of these postcard photos (or similar) of radio stations. Most are American broadcast band stations, but there will be some shortwave, humor and other radio-related cards as well. Our first posting is a group of six postcards of station WSB, Atlanta, Georgia, including a poem-schedule Christmas card from 1922; and four postcard views of WJAX, Jacksonville, FL. -- Also in "Specialized Resources," we have posted three new "Wavescan" stories: from April 4, 2010, "Early SW Stations in the Philippines-The RCA Story"; and from April 11, 2010, "The Ticking Time Clock - Chronohertz WWV" and "The American Chronohertz Station WWV & the Russian Satellite Sputnik." Who doesn't have fond memories of the Radio Netherlands Happy Station program? Under "DX History/QSLS & Other Station Memorabilia," we have posted four Happy Station calendars. These are from 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1989. The 1969 calendar contains some great old photos of Happy Station host Eddy Startz, "and friends." The 1989 calendar is a montage of various Happy Station graphics, and is best viewed by setting your Adobe Reader to "four panel square" mode. -- And under "Specialized Resources," you will find four new "Wavescan" scripts; from April 18, 2010, "World's First Wireless Station in Antarctica-The Macquarie Island Saga," and "The WWV Sister Stations," and from April 25, 2010, "The BBC on Shortwave: The Temporary Shortwave Station at Lisnagarvey in Northern Ireland," and "New Zealand Leads the Way - Early Wireless before Marconi!" Under "Specialized Resources," we have posted five more sets of "The Pioneer Days" column from the NNRC bulletin. In these columns, Carroll Weyrich looked back at what was happening in the NNRC from the 1930s through the 1950s. These columns were published in the years 1974 through 1978. -- Also under "Specialized Resources" you will find two more "Wavescan" stories, both from May 2, 2010: "The VOA at Ocean Gate, NJ," and "Earthquake Radio in Haiti." In "DX History/Recordings," John Herkimer has posted a special Radio Canada International Shortwave Club LP recording produced in 1974 by Ian McFarland, producer and co-host of the Radio Canada Shortwave Club. Copies were offered as a prize in an RCI Shortwave Club survey contest. (Some copies were also available at various DX gatherings.) Side 1 of the LP contains an introduction by Jim Coward, host of the Radio Canada Shortwave Club; a long discussion about World DX Friendship Year 1973, originally broadcast on October 6, 1973 and featuring participation by Harry Van Gelder (Radio Nederland), Reg Kennedy and Henry Hatch (BBC), Arne Skoog (Radio Sweden), and Arthur Cushen (Radio New Zealand); and a segment on SWBC transmitting antennas. Side 2 contains segments on SW receiver specifications; interference (with examples of 14 different kinds); and the Northern Lights; plus a closing message from Ian McFarland. Thanks to John for this nice piece of SWBC history. -- And under "Specialized Resources," two new "Wavescan" stories, both from May 9, 2010: "Early Mediumwave Stations in the New Pakistan," and "American Applause Cards." (For some examples of applause cards, search for "Applause Cards" in the "QSLs & Other Station Memorabilia" section of the "DX History" page of www.ontheshortwaves.com .) Under "Specialized
Resources/Radio
Postcards," you will find some new cards from Arkansas and Alabama.
From
Arkansas: KFPW, located in the Hotel Goldman, Fort Smith; the "radio
receiving station" in the Hotel Mariana, Mariana; and an unidentified
antenna array atop the AOUW ("Ancient Order of United Workmen")
Building
in Little Rock. From Alabama: WDNG, Anniston; WTBF, Troy; a photo of
WJMO,
Opelika; and an unidentified tower at Duncan Place in Mobile. -- And
under
"Specialized Resources/Wavescan," two more stories (May 16, 2010):
"Early Shortwave Stations in the Philippines" and "Radio
Broadcasting from Japanese Ships."
New
History Material at ON
THE
SHORTWAVES http://www.ontheshortwaves.com This week, under "Specialized Resources," we have posted three more years of Carroll H. Weyrich's "The Pioneer Days" columns from the NNRC bulletins. These are from the 1968, 1969 and 1970 bulletins, and cover NNRC doings in various years of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. -- Under "DX History/SWLing & DXing," an article by Harold Sellers on the origins of "Radio Golf. (This article is also posted in the "Articles" section of the ODXA website <http://www.odxa.on.ca/listeningin/index.html -- And>) under "Specialized Resources," another "Wavescan" script from Dr. Adrian Peterson (March 7, 2010): the story of the temporary BBC relay station at Clevedon. Under "CPRV," "CPRV QSL Gallery," we have added ten "new" U.S. mediumwave QSLs. They are from the 1920s and 1930s, and serve as a reminder of the varied kinds of organizations that operated radio stations in those days. And they boast excellent graphics. The QSLs are from: KFDM, Magnolia Petroleum Co., Beaumont, Texas (1928); WCAH, Columbus, Ohio (1933); WHB, Sweeney Radio & Electrical Co., Kansas City, Missouri (no date); WLAG, Cutting & Washington Radio Corp., Minneapolis, Minnesota (no date); WOMI, Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer, Owensboro, Kentucky (1938); WREN, Jenny Wren Co., Lawrence, Kansas home of "Jenny Wren ready mixed" flour (1928); WSVS, Seneca Vocational High School, Buffalo, New York (no date); WTAR, Reliance Electric Co., Norfolk, Virginia (1924); WWAO, Michigan College of Mines, Houghton, Michigan (1924); and WWSW, Hotel Schenley, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1933). These QSLs are from the collections of Homer Lee, Carroll Weyrich, Samuel Murphy, John Tweedie, and Eugene Allen. -- And under "Specialized Resources," a new "Wavescan" file (March 14, 2010) containing two stories: "The Story of Radio Broadcasting on the Pacific Islands of Tonga," and "American Fax Radio" Part I. One of the nice things about CPRV is that by combining the QSLs from several donors you can get a broader picture of a station's QSL history. This week, look under "CPRV," "The QSL Gallery," "Africa - Tangier (Morocco)" and you will find a newly posted compilation of IBRA Radio QSLs. A Pentecostal organization based in Sweden, IBRA Radio ("International Broadcasting Association") began broadcasting in 1955 over Radio Africa Tangier. The power was 10 kw., and the station was fairly well heard in the U.S. afternoons. When all private stations in Tangier were ordered closed at the end of 1959, IBRA continued broadcasting over some small stations in other countries. However, it did not regain a major shortwave presence until 1971 when it began broadcasting over the new Radio Trans-Europe, Portugal, a joint relay project of Deutsche Welle and the former owner of Radio Africa Tangier. QSLers liked IBRA Radio because each language program verified with its own card sent from that particular language service's headquarters for reports sent to that QTH. So for a Norwegian program you wrote to Norway and the Norwegian program QSLed with its own card from Norway, for the the French service you wrote to France and obtained that service's QSL sent from France, etc. The QSLs shown are from 1957-59. They are in a single PDF file and appear in this order: Denmark; England; Finland; France; Germany; a generic "IBRA Tangier" QSL sent from Yokohama for a Japanese program; the Netherlands; two Norway cards; and three Sweden cards. These cards are from the collections of Roger Legge (USA), Jan Tuner (Sweden), Eric Ericsson (Sweden) and Jerry Berg (USA). A close look at the cards will show that most of the frequencies used by IBRA in those days were out of band: 9226, 9275, 9630, 9900, 11342, 11458, 11507 and 14858 kHz. -- If you have any other IBRA QSLs from the 1950s, send along a JPG scan (150 dpi) and we will add them to the file. -- Also this week, under "Specialized Resources," two more "Wavescan" episodes, March 21, 2010: "Original Mediumwave Stations in Pakistan," and "American Fax Radio-2." Moving On An update on Passport to World Band Radio from http://www.passband.com/moving-on/ posted 19 March 2010 It's no secret — Passport 2009 is to be the last in an annual series that began in 1984. Now, the time is nigh to further phase down that operation by shuttering this website. Timing is inexact, but the wire should be snipped late this month. Long, Strange Trip In Deadspeak, this has been one long, strange trip. It started some 40 years back, when my first and wonderful wife was having increasingly serious personal problems. These led me to quit what I had been doing so I could watch over her fulltime. Alas, this left me pretty much cooped up with little else to do. So, restless, I purchased a Drake R-4B receiver, which I still have, and became absorbed by digging through the boundless offerings of shortwave broadcasting. It was fascinating, yet frustrating because of stations' technical and content shortcomings. Never one to keep my trap shut, I let blast with critiques and suggestions, and in due course wound up consulting professionally. (Cynics might conclude, in the spirit of Lyndon Johnson's explanation of why he retained J. Edgar Hoover, that they preferred to have me on the inside pissing out rather than the outside pissing in.) It was fantastic work — especially victories against the KGB's vast jamming firewall — but the base of viable clients was thin. In 1980, after several unforgettable years, that client base all but vanished, thanks to shifting political winds. We scrambled into survival mode. Our most useful assets for public consumption turned out to be within our frequency management activities. First, our team of monitors and experts from intelligence and other backgrounds was top-drawer. Second, we had what was generally recognized as the world's premiere database of shortwave spectrum occupancy. Thus it was that the idea of publishing a world band database was born out of desperation. But it wasn't to be a slam dunk. Until then, our "database" had been a internal pencil-and-ruler exercise like what Roger Legge had been preparing at the Voice of America. Obviously, this had to be computerized if a book were to be timely and attractive enough for public sale. PCs Appear in Nick of Time Since 1961, when I had had the good fortune to land a summer job at IBM-Paris, I'd been working on and off with mainframe computers and database development. However, in the early Eighties the attractiveness of renting mainframe time began to fade as the embryonic world of PCs with hard disks — "Winchesters" — came into being. We first committed to a DEC Rainbo system with a 5 Mb disk and a hard-wired Pascal compiler, but it had development issues. So we wound up purchasing, instead, an IBM PC-XT with a then-astonishing 10 Mb "fixed disk" and RAM upgrade to the maximum-allowed 256k. This was the lone demonstration unit which had just arrived at a major Princeton outlet in advance of XTs being nationally introduced for sale. Thankfully, I was able to persuade a young lady there to part with it anyway, as we needed something fast. Still, with nearly every dime we had going to lawyers, we nearly didn't make it. First, finding affordable programming talent to properly turn my specs into a working program was a huge hurdle. U.K. professor John Campbell, like Patton at Bastogne, ultimately came to the rescue. But only dogged persistence allowed us to overcome the main hurdle: a Federal lawsuit from an existing publisher. Tarted Out for Survival A small edition, dubbed Radio Database International, was ultimately released in early 1984, with the title eventually morphing into Passport to World Band Radio. But this was preceded by several near-death experiences, among them: In late 1983 our legal counsel in New Jersey warned that we needed to produce something soon in print if we were to prevail in the lawsuit. Alas, we didn't have enough time to input the massive volumes of data into our lone PC, and there were no rentals or funds for a second machine. So, one of our female co-conspirators dressed in her best approximation of a ditsy young thing married to some rich guy. Thus tarted out, she proceeded to a Philadelphia department store. There, she cooed to an eager salesman that for Christmas she just might be amenable to getting a computer for her husband. She also pointed out that she couldn't be certain Daddy Warbucks would care for it. Not wishing to miss out on a juicy sale, the salesman suggested she could take home a fully equipped PC and peripherals. If hubby wasn't pleased by his lavish surprise, she could return it weeks hence, in January — not incidentally allowing the salesman to collect his commission. Thanks to this creative tomfoolery and the resulting round-the-clock keyboarding, we were able to successfully publish a first bare-bones edition within weeks. Rise and Fall of World Band Radio The rest, you may know. In the best of times sales were over 80,000 units a year, and for one snapped-fingers instant Passport was actually a national top-ten best seller. But that was over 15 years ago. World band radio gained vigor during the buildup to WW II, and of course during the War. After that, the Cold War with its ideological bent kept the field thriving. But once the Berlin Wall came down, questions arose as to why these government broadcasts were taking place in the absence of any major conflict. So, some reinvented themselves, while many phased down or terminated their shortwave operations. Add to that Sony's near-downfall, the growth of the Internet, and even the possible fading away of print publications — and it's sadly evident that the time has come to shutter Passport's declining operation. Great Folks, Grand Times It has been a fantastic quarter century creating and growing this book. I can but wish that everybody could experience what I have: the opportunity to do work that makes you excited about going to the office and getting cracking. And what a pleasure to have had such exceptional folks as colleagues! Heading the roster has been the amiable Tony Jones, who was central to Passport's success from 1982 to the end. Without him, the book simply wouldn't be have been what it was. One of life's eternal truths is that you don't know who your friends are until the chips are down. So it's worth recalling that early on, when we were threadbare, being sued and few gave us any chance of succeeding, we were fortunate enough to have had in our corner the likes of Don Jensen, Noel Green, David Meisel and Pennsylvania attorney Brian Price. During Passport's 25-year run there were a good hundred other angels, including Craig Tyson, Mike Wright, Jock Elliott, Rik Mayell, David Zantow and Rob Sherwood, who turned their exceptional skills into meaningful results. That's only some, and the names of certain others can never be made known. But you know who you are and how much your roles have meant. The same holds for those who have read and supported Passport over the years. Especially, thank you, thank you and thank you for your many recent kind comments. We had precious little of this warmth when we started, and the difference cannot be overstated. It has thrown sunshine on otherwise difficult moments, even as we're gently pulling down the curtain. –Lawrence Magne NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT
<http://www.ontheshortwaves.com
> For many years the National Radio Company of Melrose, Massachusetts was one of the leading names in shortwave receivers. This week, under "DX History/Equipment & Advertising," we have posted a booklet that was published by National in 1964 in commemoration of the company's 50th anniversary. It contains photos of much of the fondly remembered National equipment. National started business in 1914 (!) as a manufacturer of power plant specialty items. It expanded into the toy business, then aircraft parts and household items, finally getting around to radio in 1924. -- Also this week, under "Specialized Resources," you will find two new "Wavescan" scripts: January 31, 2010, "In Touch With Time--The Story of Chronohertz Station ATA in India," and February 7, 2010, "Eclipse Monitoring in the Pacific (1930)." Under "DX History/Stations," we have posted a group of postcard views, undated, of Japan Wireless Telegraph Company facilities. The company, a semi-official organization, was formed in 1925 to assume control over the government commercial (utility) radio stations. There are six cards: a map of the country's stations, views of the Kaizo and Fukuoka receiving stations, and views of the Yosami, Haranomachi and Tomioka transmitting stations. -- And under "Specialized Resources," four "Wavescan" scripts: February 14, 2010: "The Story of the Good Ship Seth Parker," and "In the Air and On the Air With Many Callsigns and Many Locations--NBC Shortwave Transmitter, Part 1," and February 21, 2010: "Radio Broadcasting in Tajikistan, Part 1," and "In the Air With Many Locations and Many Callsigns, Part 2." DXAsia-UADX News
and
information about radio broadcasts in and for South
Asiahttp://dxasia.info/ The
Union of
Asian DXers has recently revived the UADX
Newsletter. It is available free of charge by e-mail and back issues
are
archived at their website. The
World DX Club, Great Britain The World DX Club is
pleased to announce that we can now
offer E-Membership of the World DX Club at a considerably
reduced
rate compared
to standard postal rates. E-Membership will
entitle you to receive Contact Magazine by
a downloadable pdf file. Each month you will be sent a
password to
enable
you to download that month's issue from the World DX Club
webpages. Note
that E-Members will not receive postal copies of the magazine. For details of
E-Membership rates, and on how you can join
the World DX Club, just go to http://www.worlddxclub.org.uk. You can also download
a free sample copy of a recent issue
of Contact magazine on that page. The
World DX Club was founded in 1968, and the
first edition
of Contact published by the club was mailed soon afterwards.
Today, the
club continues to publish Contact Magazine every month,
consisting
of up to
56 pages containing station logs, news, information and
comment
about radio and radio broadcasts
- primarily, but not exclusively, international
shortwave radio. ***
Special
Notice Regarding LORAN Closure: *** http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/Loran/default.htm In
accordance with the DHS Appropriations Act,
the U.S.
Coast Guard will terminate the transmission of all U.S. LORAN-C signals
effective 2000Z 08 Feb 2010. At that time, the U.S. LORAN-C signal will
be
unusable and permanently discontinued. This termination does not affect
U.S.
participation in the Russian American or Canadian LORAN-C chains. U.S.
participation
in these chains will continue temporarily in accordance with
international
agreements. You may read more and download pertinent documents via
our LORAN-C page LORAN-C
GENERAL
INFORMATION LORAN-C
was originally developed to provide
radionavigation
service for U.S. coastal waters & was later expanded to include
complete
coverage of the continental U.S. as well as most of Alaska. Twenty-four
U.S.
LORAN-C stations work in partnership with Canadian and Russian stations
to
provide coverage in Canadian waters and in the Bering Sea. They system
provides
better than 0.25 nautical mile absolute accuracy for suitably equipped
users
within the published areas. and provides navigation, location, and
timing
services for both civil and military air, land and marine users. It is
approved
as an en route supplemental air navigation system for both Instrument
Flight
Rule (IFR) and Visual Flight Rule (VFR) operations. The LORAN-C system
serves
the 48 continental states, their coastal areas, and parts of Alaska.
Dedicated
Coast Guard men and women have done an excellent job running and
maintaining
the LORAN-C signal for 52 years. It is a service and mission of which
the
entire Coast Guard can be proud. LORAN-C
Termination Information The
Coast Guard published a Federal Register
notice on Jan.
7, 2010, regarding its intention to terminate transmission of the
LORAN-C
signal Feb. 8, 2010. A LORAN Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement Record
of Decision stating that the environmentally preferred alternative is
to
decommission the LORAN-C Program and terminate the North American
LORAN-C
signal was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 7, 2010. The Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 allowed for termination of the LORAN-C signal on January 4, 2010, after certification from the Commandant of the Coast Guard that it was not needed for maritime navigation and from the Secretary of DHS that it is not needed as a backup for GPS. Full details are contained in Section 559 of this act which can be found at the Government Printing Office website (clicking on the link will open a new window). In
accordance with the DHS Appropriations Act, the U.S.
Coast Guard will terminate the transmission of all U.S. LORAN-C signals
effective
2000Z 08 Feb 2010. At that time, the U.S. LORAN-C signal will be
unusable and
permanently discontinued. This termination does not affect U.S.
participation
in the Russian American or Canadian LORAN-C chains. U.S. participation
in these
chains will continue in accordance with international agreements. The
Canadian
Coast Guard has also issued a statement, which
is
shown on their website. You
may view the estimated remaining LORAN-C
signal coverage
areas of these international chains in Appendix B, pages B-6 through B-9 of the
Specification of the LORAN-C
Transmitted Signal, COMDTINST M16562.4A. The entire Specification may be
downloaded also. The
Coast Guard strongly urges mariners
currently using
LORAN-C for navigation to shift to a GPS navigation system and become
familiar
with its operation as soon as possible. Mariners will not be able to
rely upon
LORAN-C for navigation as of Feb. 8, 2010. LORAN-C
has, as a result of technological
advancements in
the last 20 years, became an antiquated system no longer required by
the armed
forces, the transportation sector or the nation’s security
interests and is
used only by a small percentage of the population. The Coast Guard
understands
that LORAN-C is still used by a small segment of the public and that
those
users will have to shift to GPS or other systems; however, continued
use of
limited resources to operate LORAN-C is no longer prudent use of
taxpayer funds
and is not allowed under the 2010 DHS Appropriation Act. The
Coast Guard has enjoyed a long and close
relationship
with the many communities located near LORAN-C facilities and we value
those
relationships. The Coast Guard will continue to honor those
relationships by
working to minimize any adverse impacts to communities caused by site
closures. The decision to cease transmission of the LORAN-C signal reflects the president’s pledge to eliminate unnecessary federal programs. Letter
from Fred Saxon, Toronto: “As an information and entertainment medium, the radio is #1. I am always thrilled to receive the miracle of free radio signals to my 35 feet rooftop bare copper aerial through the sky to feed to Palstar R30A short-wave receiver. “I look up your World English Survey chart. This is the best short-wave listener’s guide. My favourite short-wave stations: NHK World Radio Japan, The Voice of Russia, The Spanish National Radio, Radio Ukraine International. The signals of these radio stations are almost always loud and clear. Also, their news production and the selected local news is always good, relevant and interesting. “Between the sunset and sunrise time in Toronto, I listen to 880 kHz WCBS New York for the CBS news, the New York weather and traffic. “Between the sunrise and the sunset time in Toronto, I listen to 1180 kHz WHAM Rochester, New York, for the ‘Fox’ news and 970 kHz WNED Buffalo, New York, for the ‘NPR’ news from Washington.” NEW
HISTORY MATERIAL AT <http://www.ontheshortwaves.com Under "DX History/Stations" we have posted some interesting material on the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation that was received from Martin Hadlow, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia and a follower of ontheshortwaves.com. Martin was involved in the development of the SIBC, and has sent a booklet which he produced commemorating the opening of the SIBC Broadcasting House in 1982, together with a broadcasting-related First Day Cover issued in the Solomons in 1984. Thanks, Martin, for this excellent material. -- And under "Specialized Resources," two new "Wavescan" stories, both from December 20, 2009--"Radio Australia Anniversary-Wanneroo" and "Pitcairn Island-Callsigns and QSL-Cards."
No doubt it has been some time since the postman has brought you a schedule for the External Service of Radio Ghana. Under "DX History/Stations," we have posted one for the period January-March 1977. Along with African political news, it contains the schedules for the station's six English services, two French services, and two Arabic services, together with services in Portuguese, Hausa and Swahili. Just reading the frequencies on the back cover reminds us--not that we need it--how much the shortwave scene has changed. Ghana's external service began in the early 1960s. In 1977 it was on 6130, 9545, 11850, 15285, 17870, 21545, 21720 kHz. It is hard to believe that it was over 30 years ago. -- Also this week, under "Specialized Resources," two new "Wavescan" scripts--December 27, 2009, covering the Philippines on Medium Waves (Early Years), and January 3, 2010, covering the BBC London on Shortwave (Start Point), and Dutch Radio Stations in Australia.
TURN
ON
MORNING RADIO---AND YOUR COFFEE MAKER Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star, via Jeff Richardson ODXA Yahoo Group, January 12, 2010 CBC Radio could soon be providing more than news and weather in the morning. How about adjusting your thermostat, or maybe switching on your coffee-maker before you slink out of bed? Canada's national radio broadcaster has partnered with e-Radio Inc. of Toronto to test a way to control "smart grid" appliances using FM radio frequencies. So far, the companies say, the results are encouraging. At the heart of the technology is e-Radio's FM receiver module, a tiny chip that's slightly smaller than a postage stamp. When installed inside the control system of a smart appliance, such as a dishwasher or thermostat, it allows for remote operation of the appliance using wireless FM frequencies. "Pre-production units are already installed in a real residential setting and successfully tested in Toronto," said Jackson Wang, president and chief executive of e-Radio. "I believe it is a first in Canada." The idea of using FM frequencies to manage appliances has been picking up momentum. In October, the U.S. National Association of Broadcasters asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to permit the use of FM radio data system (RDS) signals to enable smart grid applications. "In many cities, RDS technology is used to communicate traffic information to consumer GPS devices," said the association, pointing out that it doesn't require investment in new infrastructure to expand that use to smart-grid applications. "The radio broadcast communication system is already built and provides service to nearly every house and vehicle in America." The data are delivered over an FM sub-channel so the quality of radio broadcasts is not affected. The signals could eventually be used to broadcast electricity price information to e-Radio's FM receivers, making it to possible to program appliances so they only run when power demand and prices are at their lowest, or at times when wind farms are most productive. Wang said CBC Radio's FM signals reach close to 99 per cent of the Canadian population, making the national broadcaster an ideal partner. He said e-Radio is also working with one of the largest appliance makers in the world to embed FM receivers in standard household appliances. "We will be disclosing our specific activities with this partner in due time," said Wang. The company is taking part in at least six pilot projects to test its technology. It's widely believed General Electric is one of the appliance makers working with e-Radio. In addition to FM radio technology, GE is developing appliances that can use the ZigBee and HomePlug standards to communicate. Michel Tremblay, senior vice-president of corporate strategy, said CBC Radio is "proud to help pioneer this new made-in-Canada innovation. If it takes off, FM radio broadcasters could find it a valuable source of new income." HCJB DX Partyline Co-host Helen Howard Dies At 89 Source: HCJB Global Jan. 7, 2010 A missionary teacher and broadcaster whose work with HCJB Global spanned more than four decades, Helen Howard, died Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010, at Go Ye Village in Tahlequah, Okla. She was 89. Born into a Baptist minister’s family in Pontiac, Mich., on March 29, 1920, Helen was raised in the Midwest. Missionaries, including HCJB Global co-founder Clarence Jones, were often in her parents’ home. She went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Christian education from Wheaton College in Illinois in 1942. While there she met Clayton Howard whom she later agreed to marry. In 1942 she sailed to Ecuador to serve with Radio Station HCJB in Quito, joining Clayton who had arrived in the South American country about a year earlier. Her voyage required travel in blackout conditions due to a threat of enemy attack on the Chilean ship during World War II. A year earlier, the Howards’ long-distance courtship had culminated in an on-air proposal on the live program, “The Back Home Hour.” Helen and Clayton’s Sept. 12, 1942, wedding was also broadcast live on the international shortwave radio station. “They were probably the first couple to be married over shortwave radio so the folks back home could hear it,” said Chuck Howard, their son who serves with HCJB Global in Ecuador. Helen’s minister father in the U.S., along with Rev. Evan Welsh, pastor of Clayton’s home church, had sent a recording of the complete service to Ecuador with Helen, only leaving gaps for “I do” from both Helen and Clayton. During the next 42 years in Ecuador, Helen’s passion was in child evangelism. She began holding child evangelism classes in her backyard, and as others joined these efforts it led to the founding of Iñaquito Evangelical Church in Quito where she was a deaconess and teacher. She also did home visitation and counseled for the church’s Women’s Society. “I would often come home from school to find her in the front living room, leading someone to the Lord,” said Chuck. “She won many people to the Lord.” Helen assisted Clayton as host of the ever-popular shortwave radio listeners’ program, “DX Partyline,” as well as answering English-language letters from listeners worldwide. And she was involved in Andes DXers International, or ANDEX, a shortwave listeners’ club sponsored by Radio Station HCJB. She also did secretarial work, helped in the record library and taught kindergarten. “We remember Helen as our neighbor in Quito for many years and the beloved teacher of the mission’s Humpty Dumpty Nursery School,” said HCJB Global’s Doug Peters, now retired in Florida. “My heart has always been with children’s work,” Helen said in an interview in 1988. “We enjoyed going into the country and holding classes with children. Adults would also attend.” The Howards retired and left Ecuador in 1984, living for about a decade in Florida before moving to Oklahoma. In addition to her husband, Clayton, Helen is survived by three children—all involved in Christian work—as well as 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Her children include Leland, a pastor in Lamar, Mo.; Ruth Anne Leaf, who retired as a missionary to Japan; and Chuck, a missionary schoolteacher in Quito. Helen’s testimony and life continue to speak of her Savior. In Ecuador, Chuck received word of his mother’s death 15 minutes before teaching his youth Sunday school class. His lesson preparation had been on the death of an Old Testament character, Abraham. “I taught the class and just shared from my heart,” Chuck said. “Boy, those young people listened!” A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, in the chapel of Go Ye Village. Memorial gifts in honor of Helen Howard may be designated either for HCJB Global or Go Ye Village. Memorial gifts may be sent to Clayton Howard in care of Go Ye Village. Thanko debuts
USB shortwave, AM & FM radio Japan's
purveyor of odd electronic curios, Thanko, has
released what it claims is the first USB shortwave radio. The device
also picks
up AM and FM radio and allows you to simply plug into your computer
(after
installing the appropriate software) and begin drawing sounds from the
ether. The
connection also lets you save audio in MP3 or WAV format
to your computer's harddrive, perfect for collecting those spooky late
night
transmissions floating around the shortwave frequency. Thanko's USB
shortwave
radio can be yours for just 3,980 yen ($44.73). (via Mike Barraclough,
DXLD
Yahoo Group)
NEW HISTORY MATERIAL AT
<http://www.ontheshortwaves.com Under "DX History/Equipment & Advertising," we have posted a nice Hallicrafters catalog dating from around 1948 or 1949. There are a lot of familiar communication receivers here--the SX-43, S-40A, S-53 and S-38, as well as FM, TV, and amateur equipment. -- And under "Specialized Resources" we have added two new editions of"Wavescan," both aired on November 29, 2009: "Radio Australia--Lyndhurst" and "Shortwave Listener Cards." (More on Lyndhurst can be found in the Wavescan scripts #480, March 14, 2004 and #497, July 11, 2004. More on radio cards can be found in the scripts of August 2, 9 and16 and September 13, 2009.) Tour
of
VOA Transmitter - Greenville, NC on April 26, 1998 Jim Hawkins' 1998 video tour of the VOA (actually International Broadcasting Bureau) is now available on YouTube Site A (now mothballed), near Greenville, North Carolina, is now available at YouTube as Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Greenville Site B is still in operation. Three GE 250KW, one 500KW Marconi and One 500KW Continental transmitter(s). Part
1 of 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7g8UCEQFE8 Part 3 of 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffnxBJQA6rU
Part 4
of 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYp2zw8FuKg For
more transmitter site tours, please visit www.j-hawkins.com/radio.html Latest News About Passport to World Band Radio November 28 posting on Passport to World Band Radio website by Larry Magne, Editor: Thanks for your many kind and helpful comments, which have touched us greatly. Alas, although the long-term future of IBS’ activities continues to be mulled over, there will definitely be no printed 2010 edition of Passport to World Band Radio. At this juncture it appears nearly as certain that online options aren’t going to be feasible, either. Nonetheless, the Japanese-language (only) Blue Pages for 2010 will be offered within Japan, as in the past, by ohtaket@kyp.biglobe.ne.jp later this year. For equipment issues, Passport
readers have
increasingly been visiting Passport equipment maven David
Zantow’s webpage for
up-to-date equipment news and expert
advice. Two
Years
of Ultralight Radio Reviews Those DXers considering a purchase of one of the new DSP-enhanced Ultralight radios may not be aware that almost every popular AM-DXing pocket radio has been extensively reviewed during the past two years, with the competitive results posted on the web. Those considering a purchase of any ULR radio (DSP or otherwise) are welcome to download any of the following major competitive reviews, covering the models listed: Original Sony SRF-59 Review (November 2007).....SRF-59 http://dxer.ca/latest/55-sony-srf-59-reviewed Ultralight Radio "Round One" Shootout (December 2007).....SRF-59, SRF-M37V, DT-200VX, ICF-S10Mk.2 http://dxer.ca/latest/56-ultralight-radio-am-dx-shootout-round-one 2008 Ultralight Radio Spring Shootout (January 2008)....SRF-39FP, SRF-T615, DT-180V, DT-210V, C.Crane SWP 2008 Ultralight Radio Summertime Shootout (September 2008)...SRF-S84, SRF-M97, E100, SRF-M37W, DT-400W http://www.mediafire.com/?2t5godzzyaw 2009 Ultralight Radio Shootout (September 2009)...R911 (a.k.a.WRX911), R9012, C.Crane SWP (a.k.a RP300), DE1123, PL-300WT (a.k.a. G8), D92L, D96L http://www.mediafire.com/?nokcjzwtyzt Tecsun PL-310 Review...PL-310 http://www.mediafire.com/?yennzd1iu0i Hopefully all DXers thinking about trying out the fun of Ultralight radio DXing this season can use the above resources to make wise purchasing decisions, and choose the best models for their needs. 73 and Good DX,
New
AM
Radio Log Available The NRC's AM Radio Log is a source for information on AM Radio Stations in the United States and Canada. The 30th edition of the Log contains approximately 290 pages of data and cross references and 18 pages of instructions in 8-1/2" x 11" size, 3-hole punched, U.S. loose leaf format. This publication fits nicely into a 1" three-ring binder. Nearly 8000 updates since last year's 28th Edition of the log! Additional reference lists include call letters of FM simulcasts, listings of regional groups of stations in the groups section (separate section of the log book) and a cross reference of those stations that are licensed to use IBOC (In Band On Channel) digital audio. Details at http://www.nrcdxas.org/ Ascension
Budget Problems Threaten Relay Station The Times, October 21, 2009 via Mike Barraclough, DXLD Yahoo Group More than 1,000 miles from the African coast, Ascension Island is a refuge and breeding ground for millions of birds. For the past two centuries it has also served as one of the Western world's most vital staging posts, guarding Napoleon in his St Helena exile, policing the seas to stamp out slavery, linking the Atlantic's undersea cables, offering a lifeline to the Falklands and monitoring the skies for satellites, space shots, radio transmissions and the electronic signals of terrorists and hostile powers. The birds, once threatened with extinction, are now returning in their millions, thanks to a programme to eradicate feral cats and other predators. Unless the Ministry of Defence pays millions of pounds in unpaid taxes for its RAF airbase, the island will be bankrupt by June. The only school will have to close, the hospital will have no doctors, the few shops, one hotel and fledgeling tourist trade will be unviable. Even the conservation programme will have to be abandoned. The threat comes because the MoD is determined to cut costs to pay for Afghanistan. Its refusal to pay back-taxes on the airbase that Britain shares with the US has left Ascension with a £900,000 deficit on its £6 million budget. The island's small council and government, responsible for all services to the 900 inhabitants, have cut spending to the bone. Unless a deal can be done in Whitehall, Britain's strategic asset in the South Atlantic may soon become no more than a barren fortress, the function it first had when troops arrived in the 1820s to prevent a French fleet from rescuing Napoleon. The row pits the MoD against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which has a keen interest in Ascension's viability, not only because of international obligations to protect the island's ecology, but also because Ascension houses a key listening post for GCHQ, Britain's electronic intelligence service. It also has one of the world's most powerful relay stations, broadcasting BBC programmes in dozens of languages across Africa and Latin America. The BBC World Service depends on Ascension, and the 50 specialist engineers who maintain the power station and vast array of transmitters, antennas and satellite dishes would leave overnight if they were forced to send their families off the island. Without the BBC relay there would be no power generation or desalination plant. There would be no water for anyone on the island except the Americans, who operate their own power and desalination plants. The quarrel stems from the establishment of a proper administration in 2002 to replace the ad hoc services reluctantly provided by the BBC and other users of the island. It is also the result of Britain's decision to keep Ascension a closed island, inaccessible without a permit and with no right of abode for those working there. The reason is that Ascension is one vast listening station, packed with radar, antennas and military intelligence personnel. The Americans, who own the two-mile runway (one of the world's longest, designed to accommodate the space shuttle), have no interest in outsiders prying into their affairs. The crisis comes as Ascension boasts one of the boldest and most successful conservation programmes in any British overseas territory. The plan to kill all the feral cats was controversial. The birds now nest on the main island again — and thousands circle the guano-covered rocks daily in a long breeding season. Some of the work is vital in monitoring climate change. Next year, if the budget is not settled, it may all stop. The tiny island that has played such a crucial role in British history, from Napoleon to the Falklands war, would be ruined by a quarrel in Whitehall. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6882948.ece National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters, Inc. Annual
Meeting 8:30
am FRIDAY,
MAY 21, 2010 at Hamilton,
Ontario,
Canada hosted
by
Galcom
International NASB
associate member
Galcom International cordially invites you May 20-21, 2010 to the
NASB-DRMUSA
Annual Meetings in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. The tentative agenda for
the
meetings is below: USA
DRM Group Meeting will be held Thursday May
20, 2010 ---------- If
you plan to attend, please notify Dan Elyea at
863-763-0281 or
by e-mail no later than May 10,
2010 at: fsiyfr@okeechobee.com Dan
Elyea, Secretary National
Association of Shortwave Broadcasters,
Inc. 10400
N.W. 240th Street Okeechobee,
FL 34972 Tentative
Plans for 2010 NASB Annual Meeting in
Hamilton,
Ontario Thursday,
May
20, 2010 8:30
am - “100 Huntley
Street” -- Taping of this syndicated
national television show at Crossroads Media 10:30
am - Crossroads Facility Tour 11:00
am - Tour of Galcom International's
facility where
fix-tuned receivers are manufactured 12:00
pm - Barbecue Lunch at Galcom 1:00
pm - DRM USA Meeting begins at Mohawk
College in
Hamilton 2:30
pm - Coffee Break 4:00
pm - DRM USA Meeting ends 4:30
pm - Bus Tour & Dinner, Niagara
Falls Friday, May
21, 2010 9:00
am - NASB Annual Meeting begins
– Speakers will include
representatives from Canadian shortwave stations and shortwave clubs 10:30
am - Coffee Break 12:00
pm - Lunch (at Mohawk College) 1:00
pm - NASB Business Meeting 3:00
pm - Coffee Break 5:00
pm - Meeting ends
----- There
is a planned bus tour to
Niagara Falls on
Thursday evening. There will be a dinner at a restaurant in Niagara
Falls
called the Old Stone Mill. The tentative menu is: Bread Service; 1st
course:
Mixed Green Salad with House Dressing; Main course - choice of: Dry
Aged Angus
Prime Rib of Beef au jus with Yorkshire Pudding, Mashed Potatoes and
Seasonal
Vegetables, or Angel Hair Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Crumbled Goat
Cheese,
Arugula in Garlic & Olive Oil, or Eggplant Parmesan; Dessert
course -
choice of: New York Style Cheesecake or Lemon Craze or Apple Blossom;
Coffee,
Tea. If you have any questions about the 2010 NASB-DRM USA Annual Meetings, or would like to sponsor an event at the meetings, contact Jeff White at radiomiami9@cs.com Early
Development of Radio - 600 BC to the early 1920s via
Mike Terry, DXLD Yahoo Group For
those who enjoy studying history, especially early radio
history, here's a real treat. 'The
History of the development of radio from 600BC to the
early broadcast days' is the title of a wonderful, illustrated
website put
together by Greg Whiter, VK3CA. In
six parts, it chronicles the many discoveries and
inventions that have led to the development of radio as we know it
today. All
the ususal suspects are here - Samuel Morse, Michael
Faraday, Heinrich Hertz, Nikola Tesla, Reginald Fessenden and of course
Guglielmo Marconi - plus many other not so well-known names. So,
begin your history lesson by clicking here: http://www.clarkmasts.net.au/developement%20of%20radio/history%20of%20radio%20-%20page%201.htm Radio
Canada
Shortwave Service Audio Archive
Enjoy
some great archived audio from Radio
Canada’s
International Shortwave Service at the following link. http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/media/clips/10982/ An
example: Who's
listening? Broadcast
Date: Feb. 23, 1950 When
the International Service reaches out to
listeners, they reach
back. The service has been on the air for five years, and if there's
any way of
judging its success, listener mail might be it. Letters —
135,000 so far — have
come from wherever the Canadian shortwave service is heard. In this
clip
celebrating the fifth anniversary of the International Service, we hear
excerpts from letters sent by listeners in Czechoslovakia, the
Netherlands,
Germany and Argentina. LETTERS John Schmelzer, St. Louis, MO: “Thanks
for
publishing the Empire Club speeches. They’re all very
interesting. The Social
Implications of Television” was particularly interesting to
me since I can
remember the days before TV and the first broadcasts in Buffalo in the
early
50s, and the much better programs on CBL-TV as the fifties progressed.
The
Arctic articles are always interesting. We Americans don’t
get to hear much
about the Canadian Arctic except from CBC. (I’m hoping that
CBW doesn’t go to
FM; it’s the last reliable CBC frequency here in
Missouri.)” Keep those
letters and e-mails coming! Harold Sellers On
The Shortwaves NEW
HISTORY MATERIAL AT
<http://www.ontheshortwaves.com> Under
"DX History/QSLS & Other Station
Memorabilia," we make a visit to Radio New York Worldwide. The station
traces its history to W1XAL, which came on the air in 1931 (and itself
traces
its history to W2XAL, which started broadcasting in 1927). W1XAL became
WRUL in
1939, and--with the same call letters--Radio New York Worldwide in
1962. It
adopted the call letters WNYW in 1966. This program schedule is from
May-October 1964, and illustrates one of the best modern-day examples
of
American private shortwave broadcasting. It points out the station's
coverage
of the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York; the station's political,
olympic and
Wall Street coverage; a special Peace Corps program; the Indianapolis
500; and
more. There is a brief history of the station on p. 6, and on p. 7 news
from
listeners (including a promotion for the ASWLC, which had been formed
in 1959).
Radio New York Worldwide's affiliation with ABC gave the station access
to a
professional news team, whose members are shown on the last page. Under "DX History on the Net," some new website URLs. -- A new entry under "Stations and Voices of war" is (1) "World War II Radio Propaganda: Real and Imaginary" http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/index.html In
this April 24,
2008, program of the "Talking History" project, downloadable in two
parts, historians Ann Pfau and (her husband) David Hochfelder discuss
their
research into the World War II propaganda broadcasts from Japan and
Germany
made by Iva Toguri, William Joyce, Mildred Gillars,and Rita Zucca. They
cover
wartime rumors, popular legends about World War II radio propaganda,
oral
history, British and American wartime propaganda monitoring, soldier
surveys,
and popular histories and Hollywood depictions of Tokyo Rose, Lord Haw
Haw, and
Axis Sally. Pfau is researching a book about World War II
radio
traitors. (Select "Jan-June 2008" in "The Radio
Archive" window and click "Go.") Under
"Listening in Wartime," check out (2)
"Honoring Those Who Listened" http://www.usmm.org/duffyhonoring.html
>
Capt. George Duffy
had been a POW in Japan. His site presents some of the cards
and letters
that his mother received from 35 POW message monitors when two of
George's
letters were read over the air. Increase the magnification of
your
browser to better read this material. And
under
"Post-War Shortwave," three new
sites. (3) "Radio in Latin America in 1963--David Gleason on
the
Web" http://www.davidgleason.com/Radio%20Photos.htm
>
is an excellent
collection of photographs taken at various radio station studios,
transmitter
sites, etc. in Latin America during the mid-1960s. In 1963,
following an
internship in Mexico, David Gleason wandered through Central America,
Colombia
and Venezuela. These are some pictures of the radio stations
he visited
in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and
Colombia. On
the "Swan Island DX Assn." website http://www.qsl.net/sidxa/history.html
are a number of
interesting links to information about Radio Swan, the CIA-operated
station
that operated in 1960-1961 before becoming Radio Americas.
Also of
interest is http://cuban-exile.com/doc_226-250/doc0241.html
which is a short
paper from the "Cuban Information Archives" concentrating on the
anti-Castro role of the station. (5)
And finally, the "Russian Woodpecker" site http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/12/abandoned-giant-duga-3-system-antenna.html
Remember the
strong, rapid-fire tapping
of the Russian woodpecker that emanated from several Russian
over-the-horizon
radar installations? Operating at unpredictable hours and for
varying
durations, the woodpecker affected many frequency ranges and radio
services,
including international broadcasting, and often rendered reception
virtually
impossible over wide swaths of frequencies. It
didn’t disappear until
1989. This website has pictures of a woodpecker installation
in Ukraine. Under
"DX History/Stations," we have posted a
file
containing three issues of "The Voice of Denmark," a quarterly
newsletter
published by that station's shortwave department. Included
are the
newsletter's first issue, published in the fourth quarter of 1958, plus
issues
from the third quarter of 1959 and the first quarter of 1961.
Intended to
appeal to a broad audience, there were articles in English, Danish and
Spanish. The 1958 issue contains an introduction to the
station and a
description of the English department; the 1959 issue has an article
(and
photo) of WRTH publisher (and Voice of Denmark DX bulletin preparer) O.
Lund
Johansen; and the 1961 issue contains a photo of Hans Hansen, the
"Saturday Night Club" host at the time. Each issue contains a
schedule of the station's shortwave broadcasts. --
Also under
"DX History/Stations," an article about CHNX by Harold
Sellers.
-- And under "Specialized Resources" we have posted four
"Wavescan" scripts from Adrian Peterson. These are about the
original Empire Service from England (Sep 13), early radio between
Australia
and New Zealand (Sep 13), early QSO verification cards (Sep 13), and
G5SW,
predecessor to the BBC's station at Daventry (Sep 20). Although
White's Radio Log was not the first AM
station log,
it became the best known; and while it disappeared for a time in the
1950s and
again in the 1980s, it also had the longest overall lifespan.
Known under
various names in its early days, the first issue was published in 1924,
and the
last in 1985. This week, under "DX History/Lists, Logs,
Guides &
Columns," we have posted a very early copy of White's, known as White's
Mileage and Radio Call Book. This was probably not the first issue of
White's;
however, this one was published in 1924, which was White's first year
of
publication. It lists stations by call letters and states
(but not by
frequency, which came later). It was published in Rhode
Island, and the
New England flavor of this edition is evident by the mileage chart (p.
16) that
is based on Boston, and the hours of operation (p. 18) "of the
principal
broadcasting stations commonly heard by Mass. radio fans."
--
And under "Specialized Resources," we have posted another of Adrian
Peterson's "Wavescan" scripts (September 27), this one continuing the
story of the BBC at Daventry. Under
"Specialized Resources," we have posted
the
final two parts of Adrian Peterson's five-part "Wavescan" series on
the BBC shortwave station at Daventry. The two parts are "BBC
Daventry" (October 4, 2009) and "Demise of BBC Daventry"
(October 11). To complement these articles, we have also posted, under
"DX
History/Recordings," a recording of the closedown announcement for
BBC-Daventry that was broadcast on March 29, 1992 at 1126 UTC on 15070
kHz., a
frequency that had come into use (as GWC) around 1941. (More than one
BBC
transmitter was operating on 15070 at the time, so the actual moment of
Daventry's closedown cannot be discerned on the recording.) An
excellent
95-page book about BBC-Daventry, "Daventry Calling the World," was
authored by Norman Tomalin in 1998, and is available free on line in
PDF format
at <http://www.bbceng.info/Books/dx-world/dx-calling-the-world-2008a.pdf This
week, under "DX History/Equipment
&
Advertising," something that will bring back memories for SWLs who were
active in the late 1950s and early 1960s: a SW equipment feature from
the
January 1962 issue of Electronics Illustrated. The first six pages
contain
brief writeups on some of the most popular equipment of the day--the
Knight
Ocean Hopper, the Space Spanner, the Heathkit AR-3, the National NC-60,
the
Hallicrafters S-38, the Hammarlund HQ-145X, and others, plus
accessories.
Following this are three articles on "new" receiver kits of the
day--the Heathkit GR-91, the Philmore CR-5AC, and the Knight-Kit R-100.
"Those were the days!" -- And under "Specialized
Resources," three new "Wavescan" scripts": early radio
broadcasting in Irian Jaya (August 23), early wireless stations in the
Philippines (August 30), and radio in connection with the 1937 eclipse
(September 6). Under
"DX History/Stations," we have posted an
interesting historical item from VU2ZP, an early Armed Forces Radio
Service
station located in Bangalore, India, in the "China-Burma-India"
theater. A mediumwave station, it operated on 1355 kc. There is some
history
about the station on the web at <http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/roundup/roundup122745.html
and
<http://www.cbi-history.com/part_vi.html
-- And
under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan," a new
entry about the original Radio
Australia, at Pennant Hills (November 1, 2009) Under
"DX History/Philately," we have posted
some
new philately items: (1) an envelope from HCJB showing the various
mediumwave
and shortwave frequencies that the station was using at the time (1948,
if I
read the postmark correctly); (2) a 1979 stamp from Radio Nacional de
Bolivia
commemorating the station's 50th anniversary; (3) a stamp from Peru
depicting
the Radio Nacional del Peru antennas and giving the call letters and
frequencies of familiar R. Nacional shortwave channels 9562 and 6082
kHz.; (4)
a first day cover issued in 1970 to commemorate the fifth anniversary
of Trans
World Radio transmissions from Bonaire; (5) a first day cover issued in
2008 in
recognition of Radio El Salvador; and (6) a great looking 12-stamp
sheet issued
by Galei Zahal, the Israeli armed forces station, in 2008. Radio
Philately
Welcome
to the website
of RADIO PHILATELY related to the postage stamps of radio
stations and
brodcasting. http://radiofilateliadx.weebly.com 2009
Ultralight Radio Shootout Article Uploaded Hello
All, For
those interested in the new DSP-enhanced
Ultralight
radios and their awesome DXing potential, a full review of the newest
Chinese-market models has been uploaded to DXer.ca
(http://www.dxer.ca/file-area/doc_download/258-2),
and the Yahoo Ultralightdx file site. Including
full coverage of the Kchibo D96L,
D92L, Degen
DE1123, Grundig G8/ Tecsun PL-300WT, C.Crane SWP, Tecsun R911 and R9012
models,
complete details on relative sensitivity, selectivity, nulling ability,
spurs/images, AGC, audio quality, digital tuning noise and quality
control
record are given. Bonus reports are given on these units' DXing
performance
compared with the SRF-59, SRF-39FP, SRF-T615, SRF-M37V/W, E100,
DT-400W,
DT-200VX and the DT-210V. After reading this article, you will have all
the
information you need to choose your dream Ultralight radio-- in time
for an
exciting new DX season. If
you have yet to enjoy the unique thrills of
Ultralight
radio DXing, we welcome you to join us as we experience more DXing fun
than we
have had in decades! 73
and Best Wishes, Gary
DeBock (in Puyallup, WA), Sept. 26/09
|
||||||||
