From: BILL.KELSEY@n2lqh (BILL KELSEY) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Subject: Radio Netherlands' MEDIA NETWORK (5 Dec 1991) Date: 5 Dec 91 23:54:24 GMT RADIO NEDERLAND WERELDOMROEP [Radio Netherlands International] MEDIA NETWORK Thursday, 5 December 1991 Jonathan Marks began the show with "Hello, fellow Nedheads!", using Ralph Cook's term (posted in a SHORTWAVE echo message 10:35pm, 29 Nov. 1991) for listeners to RNI. Expressing some doubt about "that particular term", Marks invited suggestions to the RNI "Answer Line" at +31 35 724222. "ANSWER LINE" DX REPORTS: -=- from HOLLAND [reported by Julius Herrmanns(?)] -=- - USSR: RADIO KIEV was logged on a new frequency on Sunday (no date given, but the last Sunday was 30 Nov.): 4825 at 0530 UTC. The station, identified as Radio Ukraine, broadcast a special "nationalist" program (with lots of choir music) on the Ukraine independence referendum. [Marks noted that "Radio Kiev" is used only for the Ukrainian external service.] - AFRICA: The tropical 16m band is coming in clearly between 0500-0630 UTC, allowing enhanced reception of African stations: CAMEROON: various stations, including RADIO BERTOUA BENIN: RADIO PARAKOU on 5025 MALI: RADIO MALIENNE on 4835 ("like a local station") -=- from ENGLAND [reported by Tony Barrett(?)] -=- - COSTA RICA: RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL (RFPI) will not only have new office space and a new studio, but has funding for a new, larger transmitter (up to 30kW) and antenna, which are expected to be in place between 4-6 months (noted on 28 Nov, 0700, 7375USB broadcast). -=- from PUNJAB, INDIA [reported by Rajeeb Sandhu(?)] -=- - INDIA: The clandestine VOICE OF INDEPENDENT KASHMIR introduced a new transmitter for its 4 daily broadcasts; the operation appears to be backed by Pakistan, with new broadcasts on 6300 originating in Rawalpindi. Broadcasts are for 1 hour, at 0230, 1100, 1430 UTC on 6300 and 50000 (5mHz), both in "a sort-of" AM-compatible SSB (LSB is always missing). The fourth daily broad- cast is announced as being at 1630 on 5900, 6300, and 50000, "but so far it hasn't been traced". -=- REPORTS BY JONATHAN MARKS -=- - ECUADOR: HCJB ["THE VOICE OF THE ANDES"] will begin a special 60th anniver- sary celebration at 2100 UTC on Friday, 6 December. 18 station staffers are licensed radio amateurs, and will operate two amateur radio transmitters (2kW each) to try and contact as many hams as possible around the world, operating continuously until Sunday, 8 Dec. at 0300 UTC. The callsign for both trans- mitters will be "HC60JB". HCJB staffer Keith Clocke(?), organizer of the event, reported that the ham operators will be using some of the large broad- cast antennae, including a curtain array of 8 folded dipoles with a little over 20 dBi gain (towards North America and Japan), a 24 element cubical quad on 15m (towards Europe), and a rhombic antenna (towards Europe), with a 30kW SSB transmitter detuned to legal amateur limits. Transmissions will be in USB on the 10m (28500v), 15m (21300v), and 20m (14225v) ham bands. HCJB will accept contacts and SWL reports, and will be issuing special QSL cards using callsign "HC60JB". Reports are to be sent to: HCJB PO Box 17-01-00691 [or Casilla 17-01-00691] Quito, Ecuador - BOTSWANNA: To mark the start of its two new Botswanna relay transmitters, VOICE OF AMERICA announced on 4 December that, on Friday, 6 December, English broadcasts to Africa will be extended past the usual 2300 UTC signoff to 0300 (Saturday, 7 December), when the normal "breakfast service" airs. The special transmission will consist of news bulletins in English on the hour, with the rest "of the 50 minutes" devoted to music. VOA will confirm reception with a special QSL card. Special VOA-Botswanna Broadcast Schedule: 2300-0000: 11895, 15370 0000-0100: 11895, 15300 0100-0200: 11725, 15300 0200-0300: 11725, 6130 Address for QSL reports: VOA, Botswanna QSL Desk Voice of America Washington, DC 20547 USA - FRANCE: RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE established an FM relay station in Paris, alongside the existing MW transmitter. Starting Sunday, 1 December, RFI is being broadcast on 90m FM in Cotonou, Benin; this is the second African city (after Dakar, Senegal) to locally rebroadcast RFI in FM. But the French have refused to extend a temporary broadcasting license to Africa Number One [Afrique Numero Un], the "popular African broadcaster based in [Libreville] Gabon", which had setup a trans- mitter in Paris to cover the Francophone summit last week. - SONY ICF-SW77 RECEIVER UPDATE: In Holland and Germany, Sony has suspended deliveries to dealers of its new ICF-SW77 for the next couple of months to allow quality control tests on production models currently in Japan. Marks reminded callers that a couple of months ago MEDIA NETWORK tests on the ICF-SW77 revealed that medium wave performance and the synchronous detection facility are inferior to the Sony ICF 2001D/2010. Marks said that there are sufficient stocks of the ICF-2001D/2010 to "market it alongside the ICF-SW77 for the first part of next year". -=- from MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA [reported by Dave Wondly(?)] -=- Wondly requested a future program on the "how's and why's of MW propaga- tion", such as what the solar flux index means to the MW DXer. Marks promised a future program on MW propagation, which was the segue into a set of reports on LW and MW broadcasting and radios. -=- MW & LW BROADCASTING [reported by J. Marks] -=- - HOLLAND: The National Media Board recommended RADIO V [Five], the national MW network heard on 1008kHz, be closed for lack of listeners. Remarked Marks, "there are more watts coming out of the transmitter than listeners to it!" Some of the existing Public Broadcasting System broadcasters want to go com- mercial; VERONICA [Veronica Omroep Organisatie (VOO), Hilversum; independent] wants access to the national airwaves around the clock. Holland has 90% cable penetration, and many cable operators are asking the PTT (?) for as many radio signals as possible in a digital form, direct from the studio in Hilversum or elsewhere, rather than having to tape them off the air, with the resultant slight loss of quality. - SWEDEN: Sweden's oldest radio site, the LW transmitter at MOTALA went off the air last Saturday night; it first went on air in 1927 with 30kW. Accord- ing to Swedish Telecom, the cost per listener of operating the transmitter had become unrealistic. - UNITED KINGDOM: In Britain, both MW and LW remain viable media; ATLANTIC 252 on 252kW LW, broadcasting from Dublin, Ireland, manages to make a profit targeting teenagers in northwest Britain. There are plans to simulcast the same programming on both MW and FM. BBC ENGINEERING has announced that beginning 28 Feb. 1992 RADIO 3 (the clas- sical network) will no longer be broadcast on 1215 and 1197 MW. On 17 April 1992, the MW broadcasts of RADIO CLEVEDON on 1548, BBC NORTHAMPTON on 1107, BBC NOTTINGHAM on 1521, and BBC OXFORD on 1485 will cease. - UNITED STATES: In the US, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is trying to give AM (MW) "a shot in the arm" by promoting the purchase of MW receivers with "AMAX", which (according to the rebroadcast ad) "means you're getting the best sound available on AM". According to Mark's interview with Ted Schneider (?), chairman of the AM Manufacturer Task Force of the NAB, the overcrowding problem on MW (especially "co-channel and adjacent channel inter- ference") in North America has lead to poorly designed receivers that are "very narrow banded" (1.5-2kHz), resulting in poor fidelity; FM radios enjoy 7-10kHz bandwidths. The Task Force is trying to get MW radios built with a minimum 7.5kHz bandwidth, improving audio quality to FM standards. Marks asked about NAB "superradio" project; Schneider said that the radio has been designed, including all 6 of the AMAX criteria, prototypes have been com- pleted, the receiver is being built by the audio manufacturer Denon. It should be in stores in Spring 1992, at a cost of about $500 (original target price was about $350). They expect the price of AMAX radios to drop as demand increases and more radios are designed to meet the 6 AMAX criteria [note: the 6 criteria are never specified, other than the >7.5kHz bandwidth]. Over 1500 MW stations have committed to airing up to 30 spots a week for a year promoting AMAX; this means there will be 1-1.5 mil-lion announcements over the coming year, making it "probably the largest coor-dinated radio campaign on a single subject ever in the history of broadcasting." According to Schneider, the refusal of the FCC to adopt a single MW stereo standard resulted in neither the manufacturers nor the manufacturers knowing which standard to use, resulting in millions of automobile stero MW radios, about 600 stero MW broadcasters, but few home stereo home receivers. The FCC has approved expanding the North American MW range up to 1700kHz, which may ease congestion. FRED VOBBE makes a monthly tape (the "DX Audio Service") on MW listening for the National Radio Club; it focuses on both cur- rent news and nostalagia. Vobbe says that part of the MW problem is program- ming, that many broadcasters "put the 'lame duck' type of programming on the AM and leave the FM as the stronger suite ... I find it hard to listen to some [MW] broadcaster complain his station is failing ... when ... all he's doing is some format of polka music and Lithuanian folk songs." Media Network correspondent LOU JOSEPHSON (Boston) reports that MW sta- tions aren't moving quickly into the expanded MW band. "Other than the Car- ribean Beacon, which has been there since time immemorial, no one else has ventured into the expanded AM bands. The FCC's proposed "Notice of Rule Making" ... indicate[s] how they're going to set this up, and I don't expect to see anyone using the expanded AM band until probably the Spring, if that early, of '92." Reasons for this include the US credit crunch, resulting in banks being unwilling to loan broadcasters money to acquire new stations or undertake new construction. So broadcasters have to find money elsewhere, such as venture capitalists, limited partnerships, etc. Initially, MW stations will have to run two transmitters, one for the old frequency and one for the new, so MW interference problems probably won't go away for at least five years, according to the FCC. - AUSTRALIA: Marks said that this may all be too late; previous attempts to compete with FM by broadcasting MW stereo "haven't really amounted to much." Looking at Australia, he said that FM radio was launched there 11 years ago, in 1980, and began "quickly pinching advertising dollars" [I hope these weren't bottom dollars!]. MIKE BIRD reported that desperate Australian MW broadcasters turned to the MW stereo systems developed by 5 US companies (Harris, BelAir(?), Motorola, Magnavox, and Kahn), and in the early 1980's the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters proposed that the Dept. of Com- munications test the American systems. The Dept. lab tested the systems between May-July 1983, finding 4 of the systems were suitable for Australia, and in Jan 1984 approved 14 stations conducting on air tests for 6 months. In late 1984, the Minister of Communications announced the Motorola system was adopted. In Feb. 1985, 31 MW stations went stereo, and home and auto MW stereo receivers were available. Within a year, it became clear that audiences were not responding as hoped; it was still subject to the usual MW limitations: 9-10kHz bandwidth (vs 15kHz for FM); susceptibility to inter- ference from powerlines, cars and trucks, and nighttime skywave propagation problems. Within 2 years, MW stereo equipment began disappearing from catalogues. The Dept. of Communications estimates that less than 1% of MW listeners listen in stereo. However, since the Japanese have also adopted the Motorola stereo system [April 1991], which may make MW stereo receivers more common, the situation in Australia may improve. - GE SUPERRADIO [Superradio II?]: According to Marks, the MW performance of many communications receivers is "patchy", some deliberately being made insensitive to avaoid overloading by local stations. However, "in the MW business, cheap radios can often provide surprises." He "picked up an old fashioned looking set in the US for just $40, called the General Electric Super Radio." Terming the dial calibration "terrible", he said "the rich, full sound was like nothing on earth" and that the radio is "extremely selec- tive". According to LOU JOSEPHSON, many MW DXers will add special MW anten- nae: loops, beverages, long wires, and home-brewed antennae able to acquire distant stations while ignoring those more local. Most of the loops are home- built; either open-coil or ferrite-rod antennae. Marks suggested that listeners wanting "to know more try checking out the publications listed in one of our free publications". [Musical humorous ad for "The Booklist", edi- tion 13 (free); write to: THE BOOKLIST English Section Radio Netherlands PO Box 222 1200 JG Hilversum The Netherlands "Trust Radio Netherlands to come up with something different!"] - NORWAY: Media Network reporter Jans Ehrfort (?) of Norway, reports that RADIO NORWAY INTERNATIONAL will conduct a one-time MW transmission on Friday, 20 Dec. For 3 hours, they will interrupt the normal domestic programming and feed all MW and LW transmissions with a special program: 2000-2030 UTC: Radio Norway's first ever programming in German 2030-2100 UTC: programming in Norwegian 2100-2300 UTC: progamming in English Asked why 20 Dec. was chosen, SVERRE FREDHEIM, Head of External Broadcast- ing, said "No special reason, but we thought it was just before Christmas, and we'd like ... to give our listeners kind of a small Christmas present, which means that we will be on the air for the first time ever in German." Frequencies to try: 1314 [best]; 218; 153; 702; 1485 According to Fredheim, Radio Norway has MW transmitters as far north as Vadso [Vads/o], near the Russian border, although the main transmitter for Europe is in Kvitsoy [Kvits/oy] That transmitter is 1200kW, on 1314kHz. They've had reception reports on that transmitter from all over the world, although it's targetted to Europe (as far south as the Alps). While MW has lost favor in much of Europe (due to FM coverage), Norway's scattered popula- tion and geography makes MW more important. It takes about 2,000 FM trans- mitters to provide coverage to Norway, and Radio Norway is hoping to show MW is a real alternative to reach Scandanavia and Europe. Fred Schneider of the US NAB said that analog and MW broadcasting will be important for at least the next decade; it will be at least 10 years before digital audio broadcasting becomes widespread, and then there will be a long transition period before people have DAB receivers. The Propogation Survey by Mike Bird followed. -=- END OF SHOW -=- RNI ANNOUNCEMENT: On Saturday, 7 December, following the news and Newsline, RNI will air a spe- cial program marking the 50th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which lead to the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans in US camps; there will be a personal account from one of the interned Americans. -=- END OF MESSAGE -=- * Origin: Pinelands RBBS 609-859-1910 HST DS (8:950/2) (1:266/22.32)