Media Network Vintage Vault 2018-2019

We're trying to work out why listeners have not received the latest Radio Netherlands programme schedule On Target from Costa Rica. Typhoon Brian hit Guam but didn't do any damage to station KSDA. Jeff White reports from Bogota profiling Caracol and RCN and their use of international broadcasters. Ken MacHarg reports on other areas where they plan to establish relay facilities. Listeners in Asia are hearing National Unity Radio in Sudan. Richard Measham reports on why it was set up - to counteract the clandestine Radio SPLA. Entrepreneur Lex Harding says he will start  before the end of the year. Andy Sennitt of the WRTH has news from the Balkans about transmitters for hire.

This programme starts with a link to Bill Whitacre who reports on the start of a VOA Kurdish language radio service. Bill also explains that VOA has started relays of its programmes from a transmitter in Armenia - something that would have been unthinkable just a few year ago. Marcel Rommerts can hear Spanish Foreign Radio on a new out of band channel.  The Asian Broadcasting Institute reports on the current war of words between North and South Korea. It includes several recordings. Lou Josephs reports on the financial woes of the Christian Science Monitor. Spanish programmes have suddenly disappeared.  The programme includes a test of the Grundig Satelliet 700. The set is manufacturerd in Portugal. The set comes with a 32 page instruction manual. It sells at 540 US dollars.

Another listener driven programme. Kanwarjit Sandhu spots a station called the Voice of Free Kashmir. It seems to be a separate station from Azad Kashmir Radio. Victor Goonetilleke reports on his observations from Sri Lanka. He can hear Baghdad on 3980 kHz at 1800 GMT. And terrorists have planted a bomb outside the VOA transmitting station in the Philippines. Richard Measham of BBC Montoring reports that Mother of Battles Radio hasn't been heard since 4th of February. Pete Myers looks at the coverage by CNN of the Gulf War. EBU is worried. It later led to the establishment of Euronews. The feature today is a look at broadcasting from Andorra. AWR Andorra is off the air and there's a dispute in the courts. Andorra wants to restart its plans for satellite TV broadcasting. Richard Langley reports on plans to cut RCI funds again. Richard Measham reports on Radio Rossi.   

We start with receiver news. Yaesu Musen announces a new FRG-800, which is supposed to have better dynamic range than the FRG-8800. Radio Free Europe, TV Marti and Radio Free Asia are under fire from the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Tom Korologos chairs the commission and spoke with us. It's trash week on Radio Netherlands. So we played a few bloopers from the recording sessions which haven't been aired before. Tony Barrett has heard a special transmission from HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.   

This programme starts with an interval signal contest with a difference. We played 3 signals at the same time, and one of them was backwards. Can you still get them right? Swiss Radio International announced a major change to its transmitter usage - realising that its transmitters inside Switzerland had limited range. This was a significant change for a neutral country. Tim Hendel believes we should rely more Radio Caroline is being rebroadcast by Radio Fax on 6205 kHz, but they are from the archives.  BBC closes its Daventry SW transmitting station at the end of March 1992. Ham radio operators have an idea. They have gained permission for a celebration station on April 4th and 11th. GB67XX. Bryan Clarke reports on a station in Bougainville on 3880 kHz. As of the 8th of February, NOS has started D2MAC test transmissions as Bart Kuperus reports. Victor Goonetilleke closes out the programme with tuning tips from Asia.

The tape of this programme has not survived well, so I have only included part of this programme. I think it's interesting because it explains the plans the US had to expand the number of relay stations for Voice of America. It involved major investments in several countries to strengthen America's voice abroad. Remember this is November 1988, more than a decade before the Internet was even a remote possibility as a way of getting audio around the planet. (pictured) was broadcasting jazz programmes from the Voice of America.

Media Network was putting the bang back into WorldBand Radio. We begin with news about QSL cards, which I made myself in the Keukenhof. We also look at the challenges some stations have in making a station identifcation. In the UK and Netherlands, many stations started by pushing their mediumwave wavelength. Lou Josephs has been travelling in the Caribbean, where he encountered many satellite fed music stations. Is the culture of the region being affected by all these US music feeds. There is also a clip from Radio Free Grenada which operated on the 19 metre band, set up to relay cricket commentaries to the UK. We also explain the story of Radio Antilles, originally set up by Deutsche Welle. BBC's Caribbean service was very popular in those days - 

We started with news about Radio Tirana, VOA Liberia, Spectrum Radio in London has a problem with interference from Radio Caroline. BBC is changing its focus, cancelling Japanese but expanding to Europe. Part of this programme was recorded in Washington DC at a time when Voice of America broadcast to Brazil and was looking at ways to replace shortwave. SW audiences in Brazil were never large (except in the Amazon) - it's always been dominated by TV. Niels Linquist headed the VOA Brazilian Branch. He believed in finding radio talent rather translators with a written language skill.  We also talked with Lou Josephs who has been reading a new book about pirate radio in the USA. And we reviewed the DAK Industries MR101 portable radio, which was one of the first cheaper portable digitally-tuned receivers.

This programme had good news about Radio Canada International. Andrew Simon was also investigating commercials on RCI. Radio Denmark is closing its shortwave site, hiring airtime out of Norway instead. Dutch radio is going to make more radio plays. Booklist Edition 12 is out. We find out more about Radio Clarin. Jeff White says the SW transmitter on 11700 kHz is coming back. We also discuss some of the stations targeting Cuba. Professor John Campbell explains why listening in the Pacific is often better in Europe. He notes the end of many Indonesian broadcasters on shortwave. Victor Goonetilleke has been hearing AIR’s new Banglore transmitting station just in time for the elections. He also has news about clandestine stations targeting Burma. Listener Kauto Huopio also helped us make a profile of Finnish Local Radio. And DXers have been looking at South Korean clandestine stations broadcasting towards Pyongyang. 

A very technical edition of the programme, but then we were never afraid of talking tech on Media Network. After announcing some frequency changes, we look at the possible use of single sideband (SSB) for shortwave broadcasters. in theory, 2015 should have been the point at which AM could be switched off. In the end, that's probably true, except that it wasn't replaced by SSB. This was before anyone saw the opportunities of the Internet. Trevor Brook of Radio Fax was completely sceptical. Peter Senger of DW was also realistic. It was all about the availability of receiving equipment. We did an in-depth on-air review of the Drake R8 and spoke with John Bryant, one the authors of Proceedings 91. This was an excellent collection of in-depth technical articles. A great read. Thomas Witherspoon reported in July 2015 that the Ontario DX Association has published Proceedings electronically. All the books are available on a single CD for $10 from the ODXA if anyone is interested. (). Hope you can still find a CD-ROM

This programme was recorded on location at the HAM-FEST in Friedrichshaven, Southern Germany. We talked to Uwe Bräutigam of the German clubc ADDX about the German BC scene. We’ve seen some stations cease broadcasting in the German language. They heard from many people during the Gulf War. VOA has also resumed a new half hour programme in Germany. We also looked at the various English language services coming out of Yugoslavia. Radio Slovene also appeared with its side of the story. The Receiver NewsDesk. 8 radios are being seen here in Europe for the first time. In the case of Sony ICF-SW55 and the ICFSW-77. The Sony car radio XRU882 also had shortwave coverage. DW was also working on a system to add an inaudible label via medium or shortwave. Peter Senger explains how the system could work. There is also a total eclipse of the sun o July 11th. Dave Rosenthal has been checking into what might happen to shortwave propagation. 

This news edition covers media developments in Yugoslavia and a group in Canada supporting Croatian independence. Radio Libertas has been using WHRI. Radio For Peace International has a new transmitter on the air on 15030 kHz. Austrian SW Panorama is returning to air after a short hiatus. ELBC is back on the air in Liberia with English news at 0700 on 7275 kHz. Radio Netherlands announces expanded services to the Pacific, adding 0830 UTC. 0930 UTC is also new. Arthur Cushen is dismantling antennas at Shepparton, so European beams will become a thing of the past. Radio Bras carrying the programmes of Radio Beijing has also been logged by Arthur. Satellite dish owners in Latin America have noticed that CNN is scrambling its signal. It turns out the signal was being pirated. They are also experimenting with more Spanish language material from Atlanta. A new cassette with off-air recordings of Brazilian radio stations has been produced. Lou Josephs adds a note about US ham radio operators in space.

This was a news edition of the programme which starts with a short survey of English programmes coming out of the Baltic States and the Soviet Union. Radio Vilnius is still being relayed by Russian transmitters. Radio Riga, Latvia is on the air at 2130. Each Monday, Radio Tallinn Estonia is also heard at 2130 UTC on 5925. English programmes have also appeared from Kazakhstan, Radio Alma Ata. Radio4 International RTBF says they are going off the air. We also tell the story of how Belgian international broadcasting began in Zaire. Philips and Thomson are cross that high definition standard D2MAC has not got the support of satellite broadcasters like Astra. A private transmitter called Radio Centrus is operating in Lithuania. The 1991 Soviet Radio tour is being organized by ANARC. Spend a week in Moscow and Leningrad! Wolf Harranth reports that Radio Tirana in Albania is suddenly cutting back.   We look at satellite radio regulations and the story of Intelsat and Tongasat, in what was a Polynesian power play.

Try our national anthem contest, although the closing date was in 1991. Radio Vilnius, Lithuania is calling members of the public to help defend broadcasting house. Radio Riga International, Latvia has now expanded its English language output, twice a week. Peter Walsh in Australia has a question of the Icom ICR-1. Kim Andrew Elliott sends in a bizarre recording of Radio Beijing New Year Staff party. We visit Radio Free Europe, in those days based in Munich, and talked to William Marsh.  He explains how the audiences to shortwave are going down. BBC is now being heard on FM in Czechslovak republic. Peter Herman explains how the RFE’s audience survey’s worked. Interesting that the slogan in those days was "Crusade for Freedom". That has very different overtones now.

This edition includes tuning suggestions from Arthur Cushen – Caribbean Beacon is trying a shortwave relay. Bob Tomalski is delighted that a universal video recorder NVW-1 that will handle PAL and NTSC. But at £2000 it is expensive. Paul Ballster in London has spotted two VOA Europe programmes. So which is the real one? Eric Beauchemin researched a piece on a planned radio station from RTL-4, the new commercial network that grew out of RTL Veronique. Iceland is being heard on shortwave as a result of b ad weather. We also talked to a listening group in Vilnius about the serious situation in Lithuania and why Russia is still relaying programmes. RCI’s funding is still up in the air. Jeff White says that the budget estimates are between 10-13 million Canadian dollars. Atlantic 252 has won a court case about its mast in the Irish country side. And ABC has been criticized for its coverage of the Gulf War. 

This programme looks at the private initiatives beaming into mainland China as a result of events at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Now, two years later, the June the 4th Production company has been active from Chicago. We also hear that WYFR is reducing its broadcasts because of a funding challenges. Radio Austria International is resuming transmission of its SW Panorama programme. Sarath Weerakoon reports on what happened as a result of the military coup in Thailand.  

The programme starts with the news that Irelands only commercial radio network Century FM has closed. We analysed why. Herbert Visser called with news that Radio Caroline has not sunk as reported by some mainstream media, but it did lose its anchor and drifted. A special ham radio event is being held in India. Domestic public broadcasting is reacting to a report that no-one is listening to Radio 5 on mediumwave. What has happened to Radio Vilnius in Lithuania? Queensland Australia is being heard in Europe. Andy Sennitt reports that Radio Surinam International has signed off. We do a follow-up on Radio Polonia and recent changes to its focus. And Mark Deutsch says the BBC has time on 17 stations in Poland. 

This was a news programme in which we looked at DX programmes to replace RCI's DX Digest which has ceased transmission. World of Radio from Glenn Hauser runs via WWCR. And Radio Havana Cuba's Arnie Coro reported his station was doing tests with compatible single sideband. Western media this week have speculated that a new clandestine station called Voice of Free Iraq coming out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is actually backed by the CIA. Richard Measham of BBC Monitoring has details of clandestine stations operating out of Kurdistan. Sarath Weerakoon in Sri Lanka is hearing a new service out of Radio Baghdad which also seems to be aimed at Kurdistan. We hear about a new FM station in Jaffna run by the Tamil Tigers. That part of Sri Lanka at the moment is going through very difficult times, with batteries being banned and no mains electricity being available. BRTN Teletekst reports that Libya has started broadcasts to Eastern Europe with German and Russian being monitored so far. And the Francophone part of Belgium

This was a news edition of the programme. Kol Israel is planning to cut its shortwave broadcasts in half. We also aired the impossible context presented by voiceover artist Jim Cutler (pictured). The 10th anniversary contest promo later won a gold medal at the New York Radio Awards. We had a barrage of listener complaints - which subsided when we aired a proper contest a few weeks later. Victor Goonetilleke reports a successful convention for DXers in India. The Radio 5 Africa project, a joint project of several Francophone countries, appears to be building momentum. 

There are terrible shortwave conditions at the moment because of solar flares. We looked at new stations, including Radio Northern, the Voice of Oro in Papua New Guinea which is now on the air, as Gordon Darling reports. The BBC has announced that the Daventry transmitter site is to close in 1992. VNG Time signal services will change frequencies. Icelandic National Broadcasting Service has started a new English news broadcast via the phone! The main feature looks at the last 10 years of commercial shortwave broadcasting in the USA. WWCR has sold all of its airtime. Jeff White helped us with the interview with George McClintock of WWCR (transmitter site picture is their current facility). The programme also includes clips from the various stations broadcasting to Cuba.