The Media Network Vintage Vault 2022-2023: Recent Episodes
Jonathan Marks
Selected editions of Media Network, a weekly communications magazine hosted by Jonathan Marks that ran on Radio Netherlands, Hilversum, Holland between May 1981 and October 2000. Enjoy this blast from the past. Suggestions for future releases welcome.
COVID disrupted just about everything for me. And by New Years Day 2023, I started wondering if there is any value in continuing the Media Network archive I built about international sound broadcasting in the 20th century. What has always kept me going is unearthing the stories of the past and bumping into amazing people like Dr , who I knew in the 80's as Head of BBC International Audience Research. A year ago, I had the chance to have a zoom call with him. Only now have I found a moment to start montaging it. But you be the judge. Is this aural history still relevant in 2023?
Hello, welcome back to Part 2 of the Maarten van delft tapes. This time with unique studio recordings from the Caribbean made around 1988. Here is the link to LIST. Just to recap it is January 2023 and I’m playing around in the Media Network archive vault which sits on my hard drive. In the 1970’s and 80’s several of us interested in international broadcasting collected the sign-on and sign-offs of radio stations from around the world. Whilst it was easy to make an off-air tape of a far-off station, there was no guarantee you could hear it just by tuning in the right frequency. In fact the hobby of Dxing, was a popular pastime in some countries where you’d scan the dial looking for a weak station, trying to identify which one it was from an announcement, often given at the top of the hour. In the early 1970’s I remember Maarten van Delft would sometimes play some very clear recordings on Radio Nederland’s DX Juke box programme. And as a fellow jingle and ID collector, I often wondered how he got those tapes. I tried sending small reels of tapes and cassettes to the stations in the hope they would share a recording. Some Eastern European stations did return the tape, most didn’t. Maarten’s secret is that he travelled extensively in South America and Asia and he took his blank reel of tape to the station’s studio and asked them politely to add a recording to his collection. Those tapes went into a box and I picked up and digitized these tapes during covid lockdown in 2019. Fast forward to 2023 and it's time to listen what was on those on those tapes. Today, we’ll select tape F, marked as the Caribbean, with recordings from Santo Domingo, Martinique, Montserrat, Grenada, Barbados, St Vincent, and others. Sit back and imagine listening to a shortwave or AM radio with remarkably clear reception. It would have sounded like this…… And that’s where the tape runs out. I wonder if you recognised any of those famous Caribbean radio stations and spotted a few odd ones out. Maybe you heard them on your own radio. My thanks to Maarten van Delft for sharing these recordings and for helping us radio enthusiasts. The problem we have with radio Receivers is that they have no memory. The radio may still work, but it won’t tune in to the station as it sounded 40 or 50 years ago. For that we need to thank those with a tape recorder. If you’d like to hear more, then remember media network does have an email address. Drop me a line with your ideas. It is . And Maarten did make a list of the stations you heard today, which I will post in the Media Network vintage vault (see top of this post). So look after yourself in these strange and often surreal times we live in. But for the moment, this is Jonathan Marks saying, back soon, bye for now.
Here is s in this episode: Hello, it is January 2023 and I’m playing around in the Media Network archive vault which sits on my hard drive and beckons me to explore forgotten files when I have a moment to spare. In November 2019, a faithful Dutch MN listener Max van Arnhem contacted me with a request. He had about 19 reel to reel tapes from fellow radio enthusiast Maarten van Delft which he could not digitize because he didn’t have a recorder anymore. As it happens, I just restored a Studer Revox B77 to full working order and so I have the right equipment to digitize many formats. A few weeks later I stopped by his house to pick up the tapes. Now in the 1970’s and 80’s several of us interested in international broadcasting collected the sign-on and sign-offs of radio stations from around the world. Whilst it was easy to make an off-air tape of a far-off station, there was no guarantee you could hear it just by tuning in the right frequency. In fact the hobby of Dxing, was a popular pastime in some countries where you’d scan the dial looking for a weak station, trying to identify which one it was from an announcement, often given at the top of the hour. The problem is that it would often fade out at just the moment when they gave the station ID. In the early 1970’s Maarten van Delft would sometimes play some very clear recordings on Radio Nederland’s DX Juke box programme. And as a fellow jingle and ID collector, I often wondered how he got those tapes. I used to send small reels of tapes and cassettes to the stations in the hope they would share a recording. Some Eastern European stations did, most didn’t. Maarten’s secret is that he travelled extensively in South America and Asia and he took his blank reel of tape to the station’s studio and asked them politely to add a recording to his collection. Those tapes went into a box and those were the tapes I picked up in 2019. Fast forward to 2023 and it's time to listen what was on those on those tapes. Today, we’ll select tape D, marked as Brazil, Argentina and uruguay . Sit back and imagine listening to a shortwave radio with remarkably clear reception. It would have sounded like this…… I wonder if you recognised any of those famous Brazilian radio stations and spotted a few odd ones out. Maybe you heard them on your own radio. My thanks to Maarten van Delft for sharing these recordings and for helping us radio enthusiasts. The problem we have with radio Receivers is that they have no memory. The radio may still work, but it won’t tune in to the station as it sounded 40 or 50 years ago. For that, we need to thank those with a tape recorder. If you’d like to hear more, then remember media network does have an email address. Drop me a line with your ideas. It is . And Maarten did make a list of the stations you heard today, which I will post in the Media Network vintage vault.
I am gradually sorting out my off-air radio cassette collection. I realise that if I don't do it now, I will never get around to it. But I also realise that a lot of off-air recordings are disappearing, especially once the radio programme is made, and very few people keep the original interview or recordings. For some reason, I did. And 40 years later I am so glad I didn't throw things away. Today, I'm sharing an off-air recording of the Falklands Island Broadcasting Station during the Argentine invasion of April 2nd 1982. There are a few places where Patrick Watts, the station manager stops the tape. And in the end, it sounds to me as if the batteries are failing. But you tell me, you can't throw something like this away, can you? For more details check
This is the second edition of DX Juke Box that I hosted, having joined Radio Netherlands a couple of weeks earlier. The programme in those days was a mixture of music and tuning tips contributed by others. My goal, together with Wim van Amstel, was to do more investigative reporting. There was no production budget, but there were plenty of enthusiastic reporters. Before leaving BBC Monitoring I had also recorded several items with people like Richard Measham. In this edition we discussed how the Russian's had taken over Afghan media. Richard revealed that it all started with a tip off from Andy Sennitt.
Look what I found. When I was working for the ORF Shortwave Panorama, BBC Monitoring Service and later Radio Netherlands, I learned the importance of taping everything I was listening to. Radio has no memory. And back in the 70’s and 80’s there was no Wikipedia, no Youtube, no means to check a story on the wires. If you wanted access to Reuters or the wire services you had to monitor radio stations for news. I was collecting media news, so I used to tape colleague broadcasters. Many of the cassettes have gone, but then I discovered a box of mystery cassettes including an edition of warmongers monthly with the familiar voice of Vasily Strelnikov. This is an edition from December 1987 I think. And this is Radio Moscow poking fun at the Americans. It was completely out of sync with the rest of the station's output.
Another early edition of DX Juke Box, with input from my good friend Victor Goonetilleke. I sent him a tape recorder and plenty of cassette. I would phone him and he would record his answers on cassette and send them in. Phone lines were useless in those days. In this edition, Victor was still sending contributions on reel-to-reel tape, recorded at the studios of TWR. Photo when Victor visited RNW about 15 years later.
A little over a month after taking over the programme, I was starting to phase out the music in DX Juke Box and bring in more equipment tests to replace the construction lessons. I got a lot of help from Wim Van Amstel. Basically just fooling around. And learning that editing was supposed to be done electronically in studios. So I found an old machine on the 1st floor and pirated it.
For some reason this trip up North to Friesland to visit Radio Fryslan was digitized but never uploaded to this Media Network collection. So time to put that right. The picture is the modern studio centre. Very much smaller back then.
Going through some cassettes on the last day of February and I discovered several cassettes of BBC's programme for shortwave listeners. World Radio Club and Waveguide. The earliest recording turned out to be from July 1977 which I recorded while at a DX camp in Austria. Nice to hear the voices of Peter Barsby and Henry Hatch.
Going through some cassettes on the last day of February and I discovered several cassettes of BBC's programme for shortwave listeners. World Radio Club and Waveguide. The earliest recording turned out to be from July 1977 which I recorded while at a DX camp in Austria. Nice to hear the voices of Peter Barsby and Henry Hatch.
This edition had another Longwave update. We talk to John Ross Barnard about the attempts to get longwave radio out of the Isle of Man. Delta 171 seems to be a non-starter though. Web TV has challenges too. A personal computer program has been launched for the Lowe HF-150. Phil Murphy has comments about the program we did from Shanghai. Harald Kuhl sent a post-script on his trip to Shanghai. Long-distance trains have their own radio station. Lots of announcements discouraging spitting. And Jonathan picked up a Chinese wind-up radio - no spring like the Baygen version though.
In this edition, Lodewijk Bouwens launches DRM at a conference in China on behalf of other Western broadcasters. (This is the earliest announcement we know of concerning digital shortwave radio). We also look at USA Digital Radio. Some good signals came out of RCI in Montreal this week on their 53rd anniversary. Bryan Clark has news that Tahiti has suddenly returned on 15170 kHz. The second half of the programme features an extended interview with Professor Doug Boyd, who is a specialist on Middle East Broadcasting. Satellite Television is booming. But what happened to the BBC’s attempts? When the first attempt failed, it spawned the launch of Al Jazeera. Radio is becoming increasingly FM orientated.
Ignore all the email address and phone numbers mentioned in this edition of the programme. They are all obsolete. However, we have revived a new email address for reactions on these vintage editions as well as new video editions of the programme for 2021 - please email We started the Feb 1998 edition by previewing the results to the Big Survey. We investigate the first Audible Player (yes they are still going strong). In this case, the 1998 Audible player had a built-in FM radio. Fred Osterman will be in our Lightning special at the end of February 98. Andy Sennitt has news from Paraguay, where a military uprising was reported as a joke. Community radio has the go-ahead in Brazil. Radio Astronomers are complaining about interference from broadcast satellites. Professor John Campbell has an update on increasing bandwidth but network operators have responded. Campbell had some interesting predictions on the future Microsoft. He thought it would go the way of IBM. (I think he is right – in 2021 look at the popularity of Zoom compared to Microsoft Skype and Teams). Jonathan tells the story of the big bang at Flevo. And we were amazed at how many pirates had a transmitter ready to transmit on 5955 Khz. John Campbell has news about the pirates in the Eastern part of the Netherlands and North America. 6955 kHz is a popular channel. There are 500 new satellite transponders. We talk to in New Zealand about the Euro bouquet and what it costs to get into satellite. He had some very disparaging comments about Australian satellite TV. I am delighted to note Bob’s website is still around.
Episode 3 about Radio Netherlands has now been published on Vimeo and YouTube. It is video so it complements the collection here on Libsyn. I get mixed reports about YouTube containing adverts, but it is not my intention to try and monetise this archived content which has already been paid for by the Dutch taxpayer. Here is Episode 3 in the new second series of Media Network. or This edition focuses on the forgotten firsts connected with Dutch International broadcasting. I mixed a lot of footage I shot myself with other vintage footage from rescued archives from Radio Netherlands and YouTube. I hope it is a public contribution to a better understanding of what all of us involved in Dutch international broadcasting achieved over 85 years. In the Netherlands. There is a tendency by Dutch domestic media to always pick ancient footage from the 1960s when making documentaries or news items about Radio Netherlands. They ignore the brilliant investigative journalism and wide-ranging music productions from the early ’80s until 2012. We were pioneers in many formats, not outdated laggards. As the RNW studio complex at Witte Kruislaan 55 is sold to a private investor in January 2021, I think it is time to set the record straight. This adventure may be over, but let’s examine what we learned about international communication. I believe a lot of the ideas connected with community media are still valid, especially in a post-Trump world. Enjoy the past, but think about the future!
Media Network videos are hosted on Vimeo for the time being. In Episode 1 we visited the largest international radio archive on the planet. That was in September 2009. I kept in touch with its curator Wolf Harranth on and off, while my own career took an entirely different direction. But in May 2018 work took me to Linz in Upper Austria and being so close, I looked up Wolf again. A lot had changed and at the time of recording this episode, the entire future of the collection was uncertain. Their address had changed. They were now in the industrial part of Vienna where the Austrian Radio and TV, the ORF, keeps its logistics warehouse. So, for what seemed the last time, I met up with Professor Wolf Harranth for another instalment of unique international broadcasting history.
This is the link to the first edition of the new series of Media Network Videocasts. Please note they are hosted Libsyn which is audio only. I owe a lot to the city of Vienna and to the Austrian Shortwave Service for my start in broadcasting. In February 1974, I took part in a quiz that was running on their English service. You had to answer one question a day for a month. I did, and I won first prize. A week in Vienna courtesy of the Austrian tourist board. I went with my father - and it was truly wonderful. It was also where I decided that broadcasting sounded like a very interesting career. Two years later I was back in Vienna, freelancing for the English service. In 1976 I also met Wolf Harranth, at that time the editor of the German language programme KurzwellenPanorama. So began a life-long friendship. Fast forward now to the 2nd of September 2009. Austrian Radio’s shortwave service in English has long since gone, and Wolf is now leading the world’s largest Radio documentation project. It’s in a building across the road from ORF Funkhaus on the Argentinastrasse in downtown Vienna. And we have an invitation to visit. Feedback: There is only one link that accepts constructive comments and feedback. That is .
During the lifetime of Series One, we had a great relationship with Steve Whitt of the UK’s Mediumwave Circle. They were kind enough to host our receiver reviews when the radio show ended. And they are . (If you think we should archive those reviews and other DX Publications, please tell us at ) In this programme, at the end of a cold, dark January, it was an excellent time to return to the topic of long-distance AM (Mediumwave) reception. Steve reported some strange conditions in the UK, normally only possible for listeners much further North in Finland and Norway. Even in 1998, some stations were closing down. But things were starting to go full circle. And there was excitement around the expanded band with stations like WJDM on 1660 (later ), WCMQ on 1700 kHz. There is plenty more coming about mediumwave – check out the which we posted on YouTube 10 years ago. The programme also deals with the failure of Asiasat 3, with expert commentary from Bob Cooper.
This edition of Media Network covered updates on the numbers stations. But we started with news of unusual FM reception in New Zealand from Bryan Clark. Moscow has made a historic cutback to its output. We talk to Elizabeth Fox about broadcasting in Latin America. It was also time to renew the phone line to UK Numbers Station specialist Simon Mason to find out the latest on mysteries like the Lincolnshire Poacher, the Buzzer, and The New Star Station. This is an extensive interview with many off-air examples. Simon tells me (January 2021) that some are still running right now! .
Happy New Year 2021. This is THE place for vintage editions of Media Network, the weekly communications programme as aired on the English Service of Radio Netherlands. This edition broadcast on January 2nd 1998 was unusual in that it was just under 50 minutes long because it fell on a holiday when the current affairs programme “Newsline” was missing. Diana Janssen and Jonathan Marks used the time to share the results of a major survey we conducted into sales of shortwave radios. In the early days of DX programmes from Radio Netherlands, it was often cheaper to build your own set. DX Juke Box even sent out plans to make them. But by 1998, it was much better to buy one. Which is why we compiled the “Receiver Shopping List” with quite a comprehensive guide as to what was on the market. In this programme we spoke with dealers like Bob Grove, Martin Lynch, Fred Osterman, Jack Summers, and contributors Mike Bird and Lou Josephs. These days there are some excellent sites dealing with restoration of these old radios. We recommend , and in particular. Please remember to support them.
Christmas and New Year were traditionally quiet times at Radio Netherlands, with a lot of pre-taped specials. We didn't really know whether anyone was listening. But apparently, they were because we had plenty of feedback to report on in this last Media Network of 1996. So join us for some time travel, back to the birth of the Internet.
I was delighted to discover in December 2020 that Neil Carleton of Almonte, Ontario, Canada remembers us. We remember him. We originally got in touch with him because of his fascination for stamps connected with radio and his spot on HCJB, Quito. He must have owned the world's more comprehensive collection. But he also used shortwave radio for teaching. Here are some links to his more recent work. RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM Making connections across the curriculum with shortwave listening and amateur radio was a grand adventure each year during my teaching career. Early one morning nine students, one each from kindergarten to grade 8, had their questions about space answered by the Commander of the International Space Station as the crew passed high overhead in orbit. COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER During my retirement years I've enjoyed volunteering with a variety of community organizations. Creative pursuits and amateur radio have also been special interests. We also talked to Fred Vobbe of the US National Radio Club in more detail about AM DXing in the winter months. And Lou Josephs has been reviewing the new book from "shock jock" Howard Stern.
So whatever happened to the world's first green radio station, Radio Safari? In late 1996, we followed up on a and met up with Andre Waters who had clearly identified a need for such a station in South Africa. But apart from that article and our report 12 months later, I can find no record of what happened to that project. Did it run out of money? Or is it around today under a different name. The same programme reports that Radio Canada International has been saved (again). Kiwi Radio in New Zealand is going to try another international test. We also discuss our methods in testing receivers. Especially figures for the dynamic range are a hot topic for debate amongst other reviewers.
This programme includes a visit to the shortwave transmitter site at a small town lying 15 km north of in , . But the Wikipedia entry doesn't mention the radio towers that once broadcast the external service of Radio RSA during the apartheid era. Later it turned into Channel Africa, and spare airtime was rented out to other stations who wanted to reach Southern and Central Africa with a reliable signal. The trip to Meyerton was fascinating. So imagine my horror when the track with the interview I had done with Blackie Schwartz showed up as only 3 seconds long. Did I eject the disc too quickly? I sent the disc to Sony to see if the recording could be recovered. And 4 months later, they said they had recovered the file. Sure enough, it plays perfectly. These days the towers in Meyerton are silent, though recent time-lapse photos by would indicate that the towers are still there. So what will happen from 2021 onwards?
I remember this edition of Media Network like it was yesterday. It was edition 750. We had many greetings from around the world. And we reminded people that the programme's success was due to a great deal of help from people like Jim Cutler, John Campbell, Lou Josephs, Mike Bird and Victor Goonetilleke. And we celebrated the milestone by going to Las Vegas, NAB. Diana asked me a bit about how it all got started. Internet just starting to roll out to consumers. Big questions were being tabled about t the future of AM radio. We talked to Fred Vobbe, who was producing the monthly DX Audio Service. I'm delighted to discover that they have kept many of those fine programs We also discovered a station in Melbourne, Florida which was one of the first to try broadcasting into the Internet instead of into the ether. We did a bandscan to discover that Las Vegas means "the meadows" and how to tip. The weather station was actually programmed by an automation company called WeatherRadio in Iowa. It uses 10,000 small audio files recorded by Tom Churchill. And I even found some of the early photos we took. Enjoy.
The main part of this edition of Media Network is a rather unique portrait of the Bhutan Broadcasting Service. Thanks to a duty trip by Radio Netherlands producer Dheera Sujan, we were able to visit the national broadcaster in Bhutan, the BBS. I remember the reason the station had a ping-pong table rather than a bar. Bhutan has an interesting policy on Tourism and there was no regulation in place covering broadcasting law. The radio is aimed at the rural population and at the time of Dheera's visit it had no TV station. They have technical challenges with only a 50kW shortwave transmitter. In winter this landlocked mountainous country had reception problems. They get QSL requests from places but have not printed a QSL as far as I know. They have an interesting policy about the ownership of satellite dishes. For more recent information, check out the page. In 2012, I remember showing a delegation from BBS around one of the Dutch regional broadcasters, Omroep Brabant in Eindhoven.
Satellite Radio is going to happen in the US, despite opposition from the NAB. Q-FM is the new name for Radio London. There is the first of many features on the (now defunct) HAARP project. This segment is probably the most extensive feature we did on the HAARP tests in Gakona, Alaska 99573. We interview both those who are pro and against the military project. In fact, the HAARP project was discontinued in 2014. Don’t Cry for Me Arthur Cushen turned out to be a Jim Cutler joke that went further than we expected. We have new publications. Mike Bird says we got the propagation forecast wrong.
We start we extensive tuning tips. High Adventure Ministries Has started transmissions to Europe and opening a postbox in the US. Carl Kruger is hearing Costa Rica. Captain has heard a time signal station from Venezuela on 5 MHz while in the Dominican Republic. BBC. Austria is to resume test transmissions from Bisamberg on mediumwave 1476 kHz. Channel 5 has started up in the UK with test transmission. We test the Yacht Boy 207 and 217 portable receivers. DAB has entered a new phase of testing in the Netherlands. Radio E is also part of the mix. DAB is rolling out in Germany, with the addition of L-Band. WRN’s Jeff Cohen explains the DAB tests that have started in the UK. He explains what could happen with football communities. South Korea says their broadcast system will convert to digital by 2010. Mike Bird says the prediction was wrong this week.
Lots of calls from listeners at the start of this Media Network. David Ward tells us about a new wind-up radio from Morphy Richards. We compare it with the Baygen motor. Andy Sennitt reports a comprehensive website on AFRTS. http://afrtsarchive.blogspot.com/ . Us backed Radio Free Asia is now on the air targeting Vietnam. Victor Goonetilleke reports that the jammers are active again. Up to 5 transmitters are being used. RFA is using transmitters in Russia(!) and Palo. Esther van der Pluim helps out with the results of Media Quiz 1997. Martin Hadlow of UNESCO reports on the line from Alma Ata in Kazakhstan, Central Asia. Lack of newsprint is a problem. Internet access is 12 dollars an hour! Satellite television is important. They are trying to start Silk Road Information Radio between the countries of Central Asia. We cross to a boiling hot Mike Bird in Melbourne.
Channel Africa will lose its funding. The future of the Meyerton. The first Ariane 5 self-destructs. There were four satellites called CLUSTER which were lost. In the end they were rebuilt and launched. Dr Richard Thompson from IPS reports we are passed the end of solar cycle 22. We visit Montreaux to understand what is happening with EuroDAB. Hans Bakhuizen says that satellite DAB receivers are expected soon. Arthur Cushen and Mike Bird have reports and so does Diana on her Italian holiday.
We often spoke with Jemstone founder Tudor Lomas. This was the first time he explains what is happening between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. BBC World Service Arabic TV service has gone off the air because of a break with its partner ORBIT-TV. Professor Doug Boyd says he was surprised that it lasted so long. VOA is also experimenting with Arabic TV. Austria will operate a special Marconi radio station OE1M1M this weekend. CHNS in Halifax, Nova Scotia has a low power station on 6130 with an official callsign of CHNX. The CH used to stand for the Carlton Hotel. Victor Goonetilleke has news about Burma and Vietian, Laos. SLBC has joined the WWW on June 9th 1996 with a celebration including Arthur C Clarke.
We get a reaction on what we should be looking for in radios for visually disabled listeners. Sony is trying to boost its MiniDisc system and has a new SW receiver, the ICFSW40. Sky Radio is furious with the Amsterdam cable system for charging too much. The new 16 by 9 format is starting to take off. We look at some endangered sounds. Dutch VPRO programme OVT has launched a campaign. Andy Sennitt has been playing with Real Audio software. Luckily we don’t need to say http:// in URL’s any more. We look at Ni-Cd batteries Nickel Metal Hydride. We visited Nethold in Hoofddorp. There is a huge push to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting. We learn about near video on demand and plans for the pay-TV movie market. I remember seeing some VERY expensive 1TB hard drives. How times have changed. And we conclude with the sounds of very strong signals from Indonesia.
This programme paints an interesting picture of Southern African broadcasting. Gene Reich provides a different opening to the programme which comes from Johannesburg, South Africa. We look at both the domestic and shortwave external services. We include a bandscan from 1995 as we scan the FM dial in Johannesburg. We also did an extensive scan of the shortwave dial. Joe O’Connell explains that the federal budget problems are causing problems at VOA. The purpose of the meeting in South Africa was to discuss the future of satellite television and DAB. Delegates from Channel Africa thinks that radio is still relevant to rural Africa. We recall the old Radio RSA and how Channel Africa updated it.
We discuss two new communications receivers from AOR , the 7030 and AR5000. We talk with Roger Hillier from AOR UK. The rest of the programme is a major feature we did about the science behind Instore Radio and how music can influence people’s buying habits. The instore networks are still around, but you don’t seem to notice them as much these days – perhaps that’s good thing.
We started the show with some mid-season frequency changes and some reception problems. Maybe the Russian relays of RNW may work better? Hans Bakhuizen reports that 1200 have gathered in Geneva where they are trying to simplify the radio regulations. European international stations want just two schedules a year, instead of 4. Bill Gates has sent a project proposal called for Big LEO. In 2002 it was suspended. Radio astronomers are not happy. We did a feature on the review of Radio Australia Budget. Quite a lot of money will be taken away from RA’s distribution budget. The transmitter site at would be closed. Radio Australia’s Nigel Holmes explains the consequences. Ra’s Managing Director Derek White also has some views on replacement systems for shortwave. Listeners don’t want the snap, crackle and pop of HF broadcasting. Dave Porter reports that Bessmer Broadcasting. GG Little and Andy Sennit report that Indonesia has made a number of changes. Bhutan is having transmitter problems. Jonathan has found a weather blooper. Netherlands was the first country to start an extended weather forecast every 20 minutes.
Jan Willem Drexhage tells us about new satellite subcarriers. Listeners ask us to explain the Luxembourg Effect which turned out to be a natural phenomenon. We look at the first Boundless Sound conference in Amsterdam, with a memorable montage explaining why TV cannot deal with ideas. Chris Greenway of BBC Monitoring has heard a revived station on 8127 kHz USB Israel Defense Forces Radio. Willem Bos joins us to explain why point to point communications are still around on shortwave. Modern techniques like spread spectrum can hide military communications. Paul Ballister reports on temporary stations in North West London.
The programme starts with tuning tips from Arthur Cushen. We went to the Evoluon in Eindhoven to hear about the future of CD Interactive. With Nintendo and Sega switching to hardware cartridges the future for CD-I seemed rather bleak. Andy Sennitt reviews on a book called Tumano . The author is Oleg Tumanov who worked for 20 years at Radio Liberty in Munich. Andy is rather critical of the account. There will be a special shortwave station to coincide with the EDXC meeting in Denmark this year.
This is a mainly news edition of the programme covering the news that PA6RHN from Eindhoven was a success. will increase its power to 500 watts. Radio Charlie is a special station in Berlin. BFBS in Germany is busy with an anniversary gala in Hamburg. HD TV in the US has hit a snag. We look at the 20th anniversary since Vietnam was reunited. We remember the Robin Williams film Good Morning Vietnam. And we tell the real story of Hanoi Hannah. Our correspondent Arthur Cushen was also involved in monitoring North Vietnam. We listen to the answerline. Brampton, Ontario has new multicultural station CIAO 530. The Signals radio programme is running on RTE. The answerline number is changing. Agostino Pendola asks about weather satellites. Is Media Network getting too elite? David Ward passes on details on Radio Austria International. Andy has frequency changes to report from the WRTH. Mike Bird explains some figures.
In previous editions of Media Network we mentioned the strange Japanese religious station Aum Shinrikyo. They had hired a huge number of transmitters in Russia, while the broadcasts came from a DAT tape in Moscow. Things changed dramatically in this week in March 1995 when the sect was connected with a . Chris Greenway helped us with more details from BBC Monitoring. The doomsday cult is still around, though it changed its name. . Most of this programme takes an extensive look at the setting up of DAB networks in The Netherlands. We hear about the plans from NOZEMA, but also why the US IBOC system will not be used. You will hear many familiar voices including Maggie Ayre and Bert Steinkamp.
This is a mainly news edition of the programme covering PA6RHN from Eindhoven was a success. will increase its power to 500 watts. Radio Charlie is a special station in Berlin. BFBS in Germany is busy with an anniversary gala in Hamburg. HD TV in the US has hit a snag. We look at the 20th anniversary since Vietnam was reunited. We remember the Robin Williams film Good Morning Vietnam. And we tell the real story of Hanoi Hannah. Our correspondent Arthur Cushen was also involved in monitoring North Vietnam. We listen to the answerline. Brampton, Ontario has new multicultural station CIAO 530. The Signals radio programme is running on RTE. The answerline number is changing. Agostino Pendola asks about weather satellites. Is Media Network getting too elite? David Ward passes on details on Radio Austria International. Andy has frequency changes to report from the WRTH. Mike Bird explains some figures.
The Big Bells contest results, we announce the prize winners. Radio Delta 171 having second thoughts about longwave. NASA has been flying a Boeing plane over the VOA Greenville transmitter site to understand electromagnetic interference. DJ Wolfman Jack wants recordings of his early shows from Mexico. Blue Danube Radio is cutting back. Wolf Harranth reports on its origins as the Blue Danube Network. Having a station labelling system. We revisit the IDLogic idea from Pierre Schwab and a competing system called AMDS developed by Deutsche Welle. Also, do you remember when stations were thinking of adopting single sideband (SSB) in order to save bandwidth on the shortwave dial? A few years later it was dead. Mike Bird reports we got the propagation forecast this week. Lovely signoff jingle from Jim Cutler. (Diana Janssen’s partner is a lawyer).
This programme examines the extensive floods that are threatening the Netherlands and the role played by Dutch local community radio. We also devoted a lot of time in this edition to an extensive report by Veronica Wilson from the AMARC Community gathering in Africa. It includes an interview with AMARC president Steve Buckley. We hear about plans to change the nature of VOA Europe and the launch in the UK of Talk Radio on mediumwave.
This programme starts with the first extensive interview we did with broadcaster, listener and genuinely nice guy Jim Cutler. How ISDN is revolutionizing the voice acting business? Jim explains the difference between jingles and sweepers and how he makes them in the new era of digital production. Goodbye to tape and Fed-Ex. Jim also tells an amazing story about how ads need to be made on spec for a growing number of clients. We also talk with Candace Savage who lives in Canada has written a book about the Aurora – the Northern Lights. She did a wonderful job.
This programme gives a good overview of what people were tuning into on the new range of European broadcast satellite. We started with the news that BBC World DW switched off the Amsterdam cable. WDR is now back instead. Several radio stations have now switched to digital distribution. Low power stations popping up including KIWI radio in New Zealand. Voice of Vietnam now being relayed from Russia. Andy Sennit reports on cutback at Kol Israel. The SPEEDX club has closed down. Malta and Moldova are also in the media news. Leo Schenk gets a prize for a documentary about euthanasia. There is a clandestine radio contest in April. We also give a second chance to enter the Big Bells contest. Voice of Malaysia will add satellite subcarriers. SPUD is a new DX club. Thieves have stolen the shortwave antennas of a station in South America. BBC is relaying RAI Italy out of Singapore. WRTH Satellite Guide 1995 review with Bart Kuperus. Few extracts from the satellite dish in my garden. Astra 1D seems to be rather empty at the moment.
In their heyday, radio listener clubs did a lot to create awareness about international shortwave broadcasting. In this edition of Media Network from March 1998. This edition looks at the sign-off of Radio Portugal for the last time in English. The Oscars are being streamed on the Internet for the first time. We launched a PDF version of the Receiver Shopping List (anyone still want a copy?). Greg Hammond recalls listener to MW in the mountains. We test on the Sony Active Antenna ANLP-1. The second part of the programme looks at the annual gathering of radio listeners. Dr Harold Cones explains the Winter SWLFest, ODXA in Canada, and Bryan Clark helped us to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NZ DX league. They found a fantastic spot to listen. We listen in to what they have been hearing at there campsite spot. The trick is partly due to the longwire station. We also talked to Anker Petersen who turned up in New Zealand for the event.
We included full plans for the 50th Anniversary Open day on June 7th 1997. We also made a TV documentary called Lifelines (available on line Zomer-TV will resume on July 1st 1997. We look at Voice of Hope via Tbilisi which is new. International Broadcasting Corporation Tamil. There is a special ham radio station PI9RNW . Andy Sennitt has a list of almost impossible URLs! We investigate Europe by Satellite. Will it become a European CSPAN? The new Austin Powers film uses the old DXJukebox theme. Arthur Cushen reports that Radio New Zealand is moving to a new location. New Zealand is considering filling the space being left by the cuts to the Pacific Islands service from Radio Australia.
Most of this programme was devoted to the looming threats Interview with former Radio Australia DG Peter Barnett. The station costs US10 million a year to run. Staff suspended some transmissions in protest. There are no votes in Radio Australia”. Book Review. Joerg Klingenfuss has a CD with 2 ½ hrs of various utility radio stations. Fred Osterman explains how they come up with an estimate of how much these receivers are worth. We review a new CD of Radio Atlantis, the station. Wonderful Radio London is planning to move their train carriage to Zutphen station and change the name to Q-FM.
Where was the old theme from DXJB used in a film? The photo may be a clue. Hilversum had a serious communications problem just at the moment President Clinton arrived in the Netherlands. We looked at the Baygen Freeplay Radio which has moved on from the days (1995) when Trevor Bayliss was involved. We also look changes to liberate the FM airwaves. There are 104 million radio households. AIR doesn’t reach the rural areas. Andy Sennitt reports about Radio Antilles which has been affected by the volcano eruption on Monserrat. Lots of great Jim Cutler jingles in this edition.
We visited Nethold to find out more about digital satellite television in Africa, Diana spoke with Jock Anderson in South Africa. Stocks and Shares has had its transmissions via Meyerton terminated. We look at a new analogue portable from Sony ICF-SW12. We think it is poor value for money. The time signal station Radio VNG may close shortly due to lack of funds. It costs 50,000 dollars a year to run. Alan Weiner has put out a new book. He was best known for starting Radio New York International.
The History of Offshore Radio Jingles was a brilliant collaboration between Keith Skues (photo credit Offshore Echoes) and the Society of Jingles and Themes in Breda. We take a listen. The top end of the shortwave receiver market has slowed. So, we look review the AKD Target HF-3. We talked to the station manager of IBC, a new station aimed at Sri Lankan Tamils from London. They have hired airtime from World Radio Network. Victor Goonetilleke has other media news from South East Asia. The extensive Radio Australia budget cuts have been announced.
We follow-up on the Delta 171 Radio longwave project. They now have announced an address: P.O. Box 7065 Amsterdam has big plans. Radio Caroline may return from Ireland. Peter Moore also has plans. The DX-files. We plan to explain, We also look at Antarctica. 2020 update: The website penguincentral.com is still active. LRA36 from Antarctica. Letter from Nigeria about how Radio Netherlands is financed and the difference government and public service broadcasting. Is there a vintage market for old QSL cards. Value is limited because it is more of a personal experience. The Don’t Cry for Me Arthur Cushen jingle – Cushen explains the antenna’s he has in Invercargill. They will knock down broadcasting house in Wellington. PNG wants Radio Australia to continue to their region.
Radio Netherlands opens a new satellite service to stations for 16 hours a day. Lee Martin has an office in New Jersey. Iran has opened a massive new shortwave site, though no-one is sure how many transmitters are ready. Radio Prague has announced possible cutbacks. Thieves have stolen a lot of copper from the Radio Mozambique. Jim Cutler explains the new RNW publication vault. All India Radio is making it into Europe on mediumwave. Radio London with 1 watt is being heard well. Radio Caroline is planning new broadcasts on 1278 KHz. Hans Knot updates us on offshore and “inshore” broadcasting. MV Communicator will be sold back to its owners. He reports 3 different ships off the coast of Israel. There’s a connection between Arthur Cushen and Peter Arnett – both born in Bluff, New Zealand. Arthur reports on a number of new stations that have been purchased. And there are developments in Bougainville. Lou Josephs has an update on Microsoft’s browser package – a huge 21MB (!) download. The Investment Channel has disappeared. They phoned the Dutch embassy to complain about our comments on the station’s owner. Turned out to be a scam.
A reportage from the International Audio and Video Electronics show in Berlin. This year was the launch for the DVD format, with a vast improvement on VHS. Philips has a rival system called MPEG-Multichannel audio. I remember Professor Doug Boyd was involved to set up the new DRM standard, which was a system designed to turn analogue shortwave broadcasting into digital. Glyn Jones of the BBC acknowledged that a lot of work still needs to be done before Walkman-style DAB radios become available. (Yes, I know, Photo is from a later Funkausstellung. I think I took slides in those days!)
Diana Janssen and Jonathan Marks arrived in Atlanta at the weekend. That was a big mistake – the centre of downtown Atlanta was deserted, except for people queuing to visit the Coca Cola museum on the Sunday afternoon. We talked to Ted Turner to discover his philosophy for international broadcasting. As we visited, CNN had hit some very low ratings. We compared the output with VOA and RFE. CNN Interactive is now one of the 9 networks. 150 people work for the Internet department. 3100 people work for all the networks put together. In those days Radio Netherlands would contribute weekly to the World Report programme. Andy Sennitt reports that Bloomberg TV has started distribution in Europe. Radio London is back on the air with a power of 1 watt. Jim Cutler wraps up the show in his extra special way
We report from the Cable and Satellite congress in London. Analogue is still alive in Holland and Germany. Digital is still very expensive. Rupert Murdoch has not announced which receivers he will chose for his BSKYB service. Increasingly satellite signals are scrambled. We explain the conditional access module which has considerably complicated the market for individual satellite enthusiasts. Professor John Campbell can’t imagine that viewers will want to edit their own programmes. He thinks that traditional radio is trouble. Remember that CBS started by importing Cuban Cigars. He also sums up exactly what happened to a lot of shortwave radio. Andy Sennit has also news about ASTRA. There is also news about Radio For Peace International in Costa Rica. Joseph M Costello has passed away on April 23rd at 56 so the future of WRNO. We looked at into the archives. Mike Bird has the propagation review. Radio Australia is having its budget cuts, with 80 staff to lose their jobs.
A salesman calls: It seems more than 800 people are building the new satellite service. It is getting ready for launch in July 1998. We also look at the work of AMARC in Africa. It seems the so-called Francophone countries are well ahead of other countries. Nigeria is well behind. The Catholic church is very active in arranging FM airtime. There are differing views from Sierra Leone and Prof. Kwame Karikari based in Accra in Ghana.
This programme was broadcast on the station’s 50th anniversary. We learned that World Service of the Christian Science Monitor is getting out of shortwave. Monitor Radio is going away on June 30th 1997. WCSN has already been sold. It cost them US$6 million dollars to run the service. TWR has expanded their facilities on Bonaire. The future of Radio Australia is in doubt and the domestic services of the ABC takes priority. Radio Austria International is running a special station OE1M. Lou Josephs explains that IE4 has been launched by Microsoft. Microsoft has announced their answer to Real Audio. It’s called Netshow. Radio Netherlands Latin American service is organising a special conference for its 500 partners. We present a quick overview of what it sounds like.
The main feature this week was on public radio in Alaska. In the news, it seems NHK is cutting some of its radio programmes. However, in Australia the situation is the opposite. Although cuts need to be made it seems Radio Australia is favoured by the government instead of the Australian external television. We did a bit of digging to find out more about Jerry Hoffman. “Stocks and Funds” is a mystery SW radio station run by someone with a rather shady past. Our series on Radio in remote locations in Alaska, continues with Bert Oosterfeld visiting KHNS in Haines. Andy Sennit of the WRTH has news about low power stations in Kyoto. Irish Radio Ireland is in trouble before it even goes on the air. Radio Bayrak in Northern Cyprus is in the news again. North Korea appears to be having power problems.
Analogue satellite stations are scrambling as a result of the HBO Captain Midnight incident. Now the mystery has been solved. John Campbell reports that there are still pirate radio stations operating from Ireland, including Radio Rainbow. Richard Ginbey has new recordings of Voice of the Black Cockerel. Media Network’s research file looks at the Woodpecker Project. We discuss this in some detail with ANARC’s Robert Horvitz. There is a lot of publicly available now becoming available. It is amazing now to see how accurate Robert's research turned out to be. Youtube contains
Another news edition of the programme. We reported that VOA Europe has been saved. Director Frank Scott in Munich explains how they plan to save money. Plans in French and German have been shelved. A reporter from Radio Marti has been asked not to ask any more questions at US presidential press conferences. Dutch TROS public broadcaster announces a plan to go commercial. Laos is being heard in Europe via transmitters in the USSR. 11852 kHz is being heard from Caracas. Jeff White reports that Radio Discovery is back on the air. Also on 6245 kHz. Europa TV is in financial trouble. We did a feature on Radio Truth, a South African based clandestine. Rob Horvitz went to investigate a new US address being announced by the station on the air. It turned out to be home Ndabaningi Sithole (photo), former leader of ZANU, who was living in exile in Silver Spring, Maryland. We also did a feature on STAD Radio Amsterdam, interviewing Director Leo Jacobs, At that time the stations broadcast 3 hours a day from a converted house in the capital city. They had a curious way of doing bilingual programmes. They are waiting for the green light to becoming a provincial station. We can also hear a bandscan of some of the pirates on the FM bands heard in Amsterdam.
We always had fun with openings on Media Network in an era when programmes had signature tunes, ours included. So we had the BeeGees and Diana Ross open this edition. Radio Netherlands launched a European Press Review – a project which was doomed to failure. Marcel Rommerts reports on new relays via Moscow. Julius Hermans has an update on his recent trip to Radio Vilnius. He gives great insights on how they recovered from Russian occupation in 1991 as well as some idea of the size of station – 20 journalists in 1993. There is also a report on the satellite service Euronet and its link with Radio Caroline. Correspondent Heddy Lubberdinck takes us on a visit to rebel radio station in Iraqi Kurdistan. The report contains some unique off the air recordings.
An early edition of the show. We were more reliant on off-air recordings because the phone was poor quality and very expensive. Radio Monique, from the Ross Revenge ship in the North Sea has appeared on-air as expected. All the usual discussions about where the programmes are being made. The FM bands are full. A WARC has been held to tackle the overfull FM – there are 51,000 FM transmitters in the world in 1984. Nic Newman and I test out the new Panasonic RFB600L . We conclude it represents fair value, with some strange tuning quirks. Michael Murray updates on plans for the EDXC meeting in Madrid. The theme will be satellite communication. Richard Ginbey reports that a number of new transmitters are coming on the air in Botswana. Angola has launched an international service. We concluded this edition with Pubspot. Larry Miller has revamped his shortwave programme guide by turning it into a newspaper. We concluded with our own version of propagation – before Mike Bird appeared on the scene.
A news edition of the programme. This year (1989) we’re starting to see the spectrum analysers on radio, ten years after frequency readouts appeared in 1980. The Italian Radio Relay Service is expanding with PLAY DX with Dario Monferini. There’s news of a clandestine Radio Venceremos from El Salvador. CHU Canada has a new voice. Tim Hendl in Miami reports has suddenly identified as La Voz de Nicaragua. We did an interview with Tom Fikkert and Dr Kim Andrew Elliott (pictured) about international broadcast research. We discuss the challenges of measuring the size of international broadcast audiences in a pre-Internet era. There was also a strong rise in satellite-delivered relays, plus poor frequency management on shortwave. We review a shortwave radio that is made in Poland made by Sabena. And we call Kaz Matsuda who is leaving Radio Japan after 18 years and heading for Australia. We were sad to learn that in 2010
This edition of programme was subtitled “Crime Time”, a tongue in cheek look at the offshore pirate radio ship Laser 558, later sold to East Anglian Productions. I spoke with Ray Anderson, who said that Laser was going to Gibraltar. The UK Customs authorities have been very active in trying to prevent the ship leaving the UK. Ray Anderson says he has made a profit on the sale of the vessel. In InfoDutch, we talk about the HCC Hobby Club and the new CD-ROM player which can store a massive 600MB of data (remember this was the era of data on compact cassettes). We discuss the use of modems and the FIDO computer network. Victor Goonetilleke and Sarath Weerakoon report on new stations being launched in Sri Lanka. TWR is going on shortwave. RAE Argentina is being heard in South Asia on 15345 kHz at 1745 UTC.
Black Clandestine stations go back decades with many appearing during the Second World War. Media Network documented many stations like Soldatensender Calais run from Crowborough in the UK. But in 1985 (yes this is time travel stuff) we reviewed a Japanese publication which told the story of a fake Radio Bandung set up by the Japanese in Vietnam. John Campbell explains that many DX clubs are giving up their subscriptions to the BBC Monitoring Services World Broadcasting Information because of a major price hike. In other news, there has been an earthquake in Mexico. Victor Goonetilleke has spotted a new clandestine station Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front. Germany is switching off its chain of time stations like 12763.5 kHz. A nice escape from lockdown don't you think?
BBC Turkish service is being jammed. Dennis Thompson explains. DW and VOA are also affected. The audio on the Radio Netherlands Flevo transmitters are being tweaked. We have an in-depth review of the FRG-8800 shortwave receiver from Yaesu. UN Radio is expanding its broadcasts for an hour in English and French to Africa.
This early edition of Media Network reports that there have been reception problems. Reports on Radio Marti for Cuba has resurfaced. We hear the voice of Rudy Espinal who is now hosting The World on Radio Earth. We interviewed Peter Bradley about the difficulty in predicting shortwave propagation. I also looked at the BBC’s experiments to measure the state of the oceans. This is not the Russian Woodpecker but it is a radar system. Dick Klees looks at the growth of home computer club. The programme concludes with a feature on Blue Danube Radio, on 102.2 MHz. I recall one of the DJ’s on BDR was the now-famous presenter from New Zealand Paul Holmes. I interviewed John Wilde, who I knew from my days at the ORF shortwave service.
The end of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Radio Australia is in danger of grinding to a halt. Radio Thailand is planning to expand its English language programmes. I went out to the new Flevoland shortwave transmitter site. Some of the masts are up. Henk ter Loo of the Dutch PTT explained what they have installed. In equipment news, we looked at the Grundig Yacht Boy 700 together with Wolfgang Scheunemann of WeltWeit Hoeren magazine. There is a new shortwave receiver from Bearcat which is made in Japan. President Reagan has appeared in a James Bond promotion for the new film Octopussy. Roger Tidy has news about Brazil.
There was a postal strike in the Netherlands which gave us a lot of headaches both in terms of taped contributions to Media Network but also a vast drop off in listeners letters. Dennis Powell reports on an ELF system for communicating with submarines. We announced plans for ham radio communications on the Space Shuttle STS-9 from astronaut Owen Garriott W5LFL. We call Bill Whitacre who reports on new stations from Costa Rica. Radio Impacto is targeting Nicaragua. It seems that people in New Zealand who will not be prosecuted for watching satellite television feeds. We look at what can be received with a 6 metre dish! There is a souvenir issue of Monitor Magazine from Benfleet. We also interviewed Larry Magne on his forthcoming Radio Database International publication.
Not sure of the exact date of this early Media Network but I am guessing 10.01.1985 We started with a visit to the Sunspot Index Data Centre in Brussels. I remember assuming that with a name like Koekelenberg, the head of the centre would speak Dutch, but discovered he would only speak French and a smattering of English. Belgium remains a mystery to me with the language divide. We then looked at a proposal for a new Radio Free Europe programme called Radio Maccabee. The programme concludes with reports about various strange stations coming out of the northern part of South Africa. Irish music has been heard, but no station announcements. Reporter Roger Tidy went down to Stockbridge Post Office to investigate a letterbox announced by the South African political clandestine station Radio Truth which is beaming to Zimbabwe. We included several off-air clips from the station. The British Foreign Office wasn’t all that interested. Richard Ginbey has been noting some strong signals from Burundi, Kenya and Mauritius.
A newsy edition of the show. Good Morning Britain launches with David Frost. TVAM has some challenges with the unions. Quality Media said they were planning to expand their Caribbean Beacon station to include shortwave. They were planning 2 100 kw transmitters. Guyana is being heard in the European mornings on 5950 kHz. Radio Mediterranean in Malta is also been heard. We broadcast another short feature on spy number stations, this time a feature from a Swedish newspaper. This edition also included Part 2 of Forces Radio, where we featured the Canadians in Europe. I found some interesting post-war recordings and that prompted a visit to Brunssum to find out about the 5 Canadian radio outlets for their troops in Europe. Arthur Cushen has been hearing 7355 kHz is a new outofband channel for WYFR as well as several mediumwave stations from North America. KYOI in Saipan is also QSLing.
Tony Barratt in the UK reports on the VOA Bethany Closedown transmission. There are updates on KHBI, the Christian Science Monitor Station which took over KYOI in the Mariana Islands. There are changes going on at Radio Berlin International. In PUBSPOT we look at new Fine-Tuning Group's Proceedings 1989 which contains 27 articles from real specialists. John Bryant is one of the editors and explains why they went into so much detail. This edition is both for beginners and advanced alike. Bryant wrote a very practical article on the Beverage antenna. John Fisher has an excellent article on broadcasting in Brazil and Hans Johnson on broadcasting in the Middle East. A lot of information may be “dated” in 2020, but for someone who travels and wants to kill some time reading about SWL, they are a great resource. It’s like sitting down with a veteran DXer and picking his/her brain. The authors were “giants” of the hobby back in the day. All the books were available on a single CD-ROM for US$10 from Harold Sellers of the Ontario DX Association.. () There are earlier interviews with John Bryant of Fine tuning in these editions of Media Network: plus two other programmes with John Bryant which we did: covered the Zenith Transoceanic which went into some depth about the Drake R-8. In another publication “Latin America by Radio” Swedish DXer Henrik Klemitz has made a study of Latin American broadcasting. We report on the Ulysees mission from the European Space Agency. Roy Neal reports that in the wake Hurricane Hugo, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands have asked amateur radio operators for help.
Offshore station Laser Hots Hits is back with a new formula of hot hits on 576 kHz. Barry Johnson of Anoraks UK has more details. For some reason, Laser were running several Public service announcements, with an address in New York. Another project from the ship the Nanelle will come later. Europa TV has closed down. It seems viewers in Portugal miss it most. We speak with Jonathan Hill, author of the excellent reference book Radio, Radio. He thinks that that radios of the 1930’s are the most interesting. He also tells the story of why the Pye Rising Sun radios were withdrawn. Jonathan also explains that some of the international collectors are getting together. We hear a complaint about shortwave books review. We look at the mystery alphabet Morse stations. Arthur Cushen reports KSDA, Guam is asking for reports. BBC Monitoring reports a new mainland Chinese station targeting Taiwan.
Radio Canada International has announced a possible deal with South Korea to relay programmes into China. Next edition of RN's booklist is out. Jeff White reports on Radio Clarin in the Dominican republic. The crystal for 9950 kHz has just arrived! Dr John Campbell explains why reception in the Pacific seems to be better. Indonesian stations are also disappearing from shortwave. Victor Goonetilleke has been observing test transmissions All India Radio Bangalore. We also hear about the rise of local radio in Finland from Kauto Houpio. Dr Kim Andrew Elliott reports on TV Marti which will be part of VOA. VOA Tibetan has also been announced as a new language. We conclude with a piece of direction-finding Asian Broadcasting Institute who tracked down a couple of clandestines beaming into North Korea.
The programme starts with an international radio film review. That includes the parody Top Secret. Paul Hunter of KVOH in Van Nuys, CA says that testing has started at his station. Radio Station Peace and Progress seems to have inherited staff from an Iranian clandestine. Andy Sennitt reports that some Florida stations like WQVA are asking US government for compensation. Radio Antilles is now on 5955 kHz. AWR Forli has suspended operations. INFODUTCH feature on the FIDO bulletin board. Dr.John Campbell explained how . A new station BBC Essex is testing on mediumwave. Dynamic Carrier Control is being adopted by the BBC to save money on transmission power. Mark Warner has left the Voice of Peace. Late-night pornographic TV broadcasts may be coming from a mining site in Australia.
The programme starts with some of the furthest contacts made during the PA6FLD event the previous weekend from the Flevo transmitting site. The new facility is nearly ready for full operation. Hans Bakhuizen has written a computer program to help people tune in to the broadcasts. It is written BASICODE. Richard Ginbey reports changes from Angola in the African Media News. Lusaka is back on the air. Nic Newman reports from London on the development of community radio stations. The idea is to license some of the pirates. We review the World Radio TV Handbook for 1985. There may be more offshore stations in the North Sea shortly. Radio Time from Italy is being heard.
We may have passed the sunspot minimum as cycle 21 comes to an end. Charles Z. Wick head of the USIA reports that the Soviets have offered to stop jamming. The US wants mediumwave access is the Soviet Union. The soviets have also stopped jamming Radio Tirana and Radio Peking. Rudi Hill of Radio New Zealand International is annoyed that the country’s external service only gets one page in a very expensive Royal Commission report. A Dutch group is trying to raise money for clandestine radio stations. Media for Resistance movements, including EPLF, Eritrea, as well as El Salvador, Philippines, and East Timor. Victor Goonetilleke reports a strange pre-echo on BBC transmissions at his location in Sri Lanka. Arthur Cushen visited us in the studio to discuss work on his new book called The World in My Ears. Trevor Brook of Surrey Electronics announces plans for his own shortwave radio station. We close with propagation news.
A travelogue to the 1988 Dayton Hamvention in Ohio. Some 30,000 ham radio enthusiasts head for the disused airfield on the outskirts of the city. Grove Enterprises showed off the SR-1000 prototype. Fred Osterman of Universal Radio explained his new book about shortwave receivers past and present. We also learned that the VOA is to mothball its transmitter site in Dixon, California. There are alarming reports of DOD laboratories in the US are doing tests with Electro-Magnetic Pulses. We also look at early experiments with Packet Radio with Ben Kobb.
This programme focuses on the mysterious world of spy number stations, a topic which frequently came up in the early Media Network programmes. One of the most interesting editions included an extensive interview with the author "Havana Moon" who we were able to contact on condition we didn't reveal his location or name. Some say he was William Godbey who died in 1996. That is supposed to be his photo. "Spy Numbers Transmissions" are a shortwave oddity which have been around for the last 70+ years. In 1989 they were commonly heard in English, German, Spanish and the Slavic languages and took the form of four and five-digit groups of numbers which were preceded by a three-digit "identifier" and a "group count" which corresponds to the number of number groups transmitted in the crypt. They are generally broadcast by a mechanical-sounding female announcer, although Morse code (CW) "cut number" transmissions are also frequently reported. The "who" and "why" aspects of these transmissions are, for the most part, unknown. Their mysterious nature has resulted in their common characterization as 'spy' transmissions. The spy theory has been enhanced over the years by the FCC's inconsistent position in response to numerous inquiries by the Shortwave Listening community. In regards the "where" - a number of sites have been identified in recent years, notably in Warrenton and Remington, VA and Miami, FL. In addition, with the aid of sophisticated (radio direction finding) equipment and the invaluable assistance of highly authoritative and professional resources, several new transmission sites have been positively identified, including sites in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba and Cozumel.
I remember recording this edition of the programme very late at night in the hotel room. I made the recordings on a UHER 4000 and spent about 3 hours cutting tape with a razor blade and splicing block. I recall that EDXC didn't get too much support from Radio France that year, so they resorted to holding it in a rather dodgy hotel. When I got back to my car, all four tyres had been spiked and we had to pay a local garage a small fortune to tow the car and repair things. The programme starts with progress on France's first direct broadcast satellite TDF-1. In the end, the whole project was eclipsed by the Astra satellite. We were at the very beginning of connecting a computer to control a shortwave radio. I spoke with the late Kjell Stroem of Yaesu who was clear that this was the future. Roger Ellis of Japan Radio Company said the 1985 turnover of the company was 450 million dollars. We spoke to Larry Magne in PA, USA who had published a series of test reviews. They had the RDI NRD-525 and an overview of how to judge specifications. Jeff White had news to report about Radio Discovery. George Wood of Radio Sweden explained about the DXers Guide to Computing and why they had to charge $3 for it. Andy Sennitt updates us on the WRTH 40th anniversary. He reports hearing the clandestine Radio Iran on 9400 kHz. Roland Paget the conference organiser said there were 170 participants. Mike Bird concludes with the propagation report.
This is an early Media Network in which John Campbell reports that Radio Liberation, the voice of Chilean Resistance, has been trying some guerrilla broadcasting by breaking into the audio of several sports networks during football matches. Radio Delmare in Belgium has become more audible. There was a promo for PA6PCJ, with a special ham radio station operating from the station building. I remember co-hosting some of the broadcasts on April 30th together with Grant Coburn. We review the Moscow Muffler, designed to improve reception when the Russian Over the Horizon station in Ukraine was active. We talk to Mike Lamb on a rather ropey line to Lynwood, WA to ask him how it works. There was a fascinating interview with David Harris who was technical director of Radio Botswana in Gabarone. In 1985, shortwave was the only viable way to serve such a huge country. VOA has also benefitted. David was quite critical of DXers who were sending in useless reports and therefore decided NOT to QSL foreign reports. The programme concludes with Richard Ginbey who reports Voice of the Gospel via Moyabi, Gabon. Stations are opening in Nigeria. Paris Calling Africa from RFI is expanding its English output. We concluded with an interview with Henri Remmers who claimed this new satellite programme called Holland on Satellite was reaching 6 Million viewers. This marketing exercise didn’t last long, despite a contest to win a trip to the Netherlands. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
As we enter Media Network's 19 years on the wireless, and 5 years on the Internet, it's time to share a few anecdotes on how the programme is made. Diana asked Jonathan whether production of Media Network was a full-time job, we solve the mystery when Radio Netherlands and Radio Sweden were swapped around, we remember PA6FLD in February 1985, how did Jonathan build on the heritage of DX Juke Box, How Victor Goonetilleke discovered a new station from Baghdad before the official monitoring stations and the philosophy behind the jingles. We also reviewed a new Worldspace Sanyo DSB-WS1000 after a visit to a mall in South Africa. We encountered some challenges with this radio. We concluded this was a rather expensive way to pick up the BBC Radio, Kaya FM. But the 4-inch satellite dish is not weather-proof. We predicted that Worldspace will be the next Iridium. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
A report on The Antwerp EDXC Conference organised by (the late) David Monson. This was an unusual meeting. We learned about the danger of solar flares on satellite communication. The BBC World Service had a rather boastful promo and an interesting speech from Andrew Popperwell. Brian Flowers of the Eurovision explains how their system works. Radio Moscow has started broadcasting its English programmes via the SatCOM satellite to North America. Radio Sweden announces it is on ASTRA. Page 496 has the schedule plus extracts of Sweden Calling DXers. We talk to Wolf Harranth about the QSL Card collection and what they are doing in Vienna to preserve the past. The DSWCI Tropical Band Survey is just out. There is news about Caroline on 558 KHz. Tom Walters explained that the BBC’s Hong Kong relay is performing well. Seychelles will also be used to serve East Africa. Radio Antilles is also important for the Caribbean. The launch of Newshour is announced. Wolfgang Pleines reports that DW Trincomalee is being reactivated. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
Driving back from a visit to the VOA Greenville transmitter site, we passed through Fredericksburg That reminded me that Mike Bird has started referring to the Fredericksburg Index in his solar forecasts. It turns out there is a connection. On the last Monday in the month Radio Glasnost, a new programme on a West German FM station is airing messages from East German (religious and environmentalist) groups. The show airs via Radio 100. But conservative groups object to the programmes and attempts have been made to silence the broadcasts. There has also been talk of jamming of recent broadcasts. The programme also talks to Pat Gowen who explains what the Phase 3C satellite will do for Amateur Radio. Pat explains the problems with earlier launches including Oscar 10. The memory has gone because of the Van Allen Belt. The Transatlantic Traveloge reports from the Dayton Hamvention. We talk to Joseph Fell, who explains why NiCD batteries fail earlier than expected. He has developed a solution called the GMS-403. Bob Horvitz reports on a new Interactive radio system called TV Answer so you can broadcast answers to the cable head end on 218.5 MHz. But in fact, it only being used for music videos. The programme concludes with a propagation forecast from Mike Bird.
This edition covered the history of US Offshore broadcasting. The good ship Sarah fitted out in Boston harbour has just taken to the high seas to broadcast as Radio New York International. Lou Josephs and Dennis Powell helped tell the story of various stations like Carl Macintyre’s 1973 Radio Free America and KPF941. MTV Europe is coming to Europe spending 25 million dollars in the launch. We find out why. And some people are questioning the need for USIA WORLDNET with a budget of 30 million. They claim reach to 81 cable systems. Victor Goonetilleke has been recovering from the tropical flu but thanks to a new receiver he has been hearing a new transmitter in Burma. Thailand is also booming. Voice of Kenya is also an easy catch at 0200 hrs. Iran’s Flag of Freedom clandestine station is being heard at 1630. Christian Science Monitor station. I'm pleased at the sound of this recording taken from the 15 ips master. Agree? Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
There was a lot going on the shortwave bands in April 1991. Radio Afghanistan has been taken over and they have suspended all their external broadcasts. The Message of Freedom Radio has also been heard on 7090 kHz. Radio Georgia has been heard in English. Radio 16th of December has appeared targeting Haiti. We re-tested the Sony ICF-SW-77. We bought a new one to see whether it has really been improved. Bob Grove reports that the SR-1000 receiver has been cancelled and replaced by the SW-100 project at 800 dollars. Radio Netherlands your official information station. World Radio Network has started up on the Astra satellite. Tim Ashburner spoke to us from Wimbledon. The programme concludes with a call to Vasily Strelnikov in Moscow who notes that radio stations are sprouting like mushrooms in the rainfall from Chernobyl. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
This programme was made a couple of weeks after Operation Desert Storm had started. After an item about Kashmir, we contacted Victor Goonetilleke to catch up on Operation Desert Storm. I think we underestimate just how up to date our monitors were. From Wikipedia: The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and of and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase, was a war waged by from 35 nations led by the United States against in response to Iraq's arising from oil pricing and production disputes.
Well, I believe that listening to a shortwave radio in the 80’s and 90’s was far more exciting then than now when over 120 countries had stations active on the bands. Thanks to support from a global network of listeners and monitors we were able to make weekly updates on what was being heard on the wireless. And will never forget the programme we made about the Russian invasion of Lithuania on 17th of January 1991. While the world was focusing on an invasion in the Gulf, our listening antennas we turned towards Vilnius. Towards the end of the programme, we also had a short update from the Gulf. The photo shows a Russian jamming station in Vilnius designed to block shortwave broadcasts coming from the West.
Jonathan Marks here with another dip into the Media Network vintage vault. I think, listening to shortwave radio in the 80’s and 90’s was far more exciting then than now when over 120 countries had stations active on the bands. Thanks to support from a global network of listeners and monitors we were able to make weekly updates on what was being heard on the wireless. And on anniversaries, like 10 years after the Falklands conflict in 1982, we were able to give the story much more context. I’ve been looking for this programme from 1992 for some time, but now here it is. We also asked Dr Kim Andrew Elliott to report on a meeting of International broadcast bureaucrats. We can see that the broadcasters were having problems defining their mission. And when it comes to frequencies, Jan Willem Drexhage said that at a conference in Budapest 1180 incompatibilities. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
In February 1985, I helped to organise a rather special event over the weekend of 16th February. We broadcast live from the new Flevo transmitter site and invited ham radio operators from around the world to contact us. We were using some of the largest HF antennas in the world - 120 metres high. Today nothing remains of those giant beacons to the world having been demolished in 2019. But I like to think that for several decades more people came to know that Flevoland was the source of some very interesting programmes. This was the edition broadcast at 0930 UTC to Europe.
35 years ago on Feb 16th 1985, a small group of radio enthusiasts "misused" the giant shortwave broadcast antennas on the new Flevo transmitting station near Zeewolde. At the weekends, the new station was off the air, the old shortwave broadcast site in Lopik being still operational. So we made a series of regular broadcasts from the Flevo station, using the transmitters at Lopik. And the engineers lashed up a special plug so we could connect ham radio gear to the new antenna masts to see how far we could be heard. It was a fantastic success, to a point where the official launch of the station a few months later was a bit of an anticlimax. This was the first transmission at 0730 UTC directed to the Pacific.
This started when I found six cassettes I recorded during Christmas 1989. Radio Bucharest, which had traditionally been a boring propaganda station during the Ceausescu dictatorship suddenly become the voice of Romanian liberation. This is the story of the People's Revolution and how it changed the lives of the broadcasters at Radio Bucharest. This is primarily an audio production, but I did want to add some video footage I made during a visit to Bucharest in 2006. As far as I know, the stories heard here have not found their way into other media. So the idea is to add to the storytelling around the Romanian revolution. Always interested in feedback to medianetworknewseries@gmail.com
We’re trying to solve some reception problems from Dushanbe. There are changes going on with Grundig North America, with the transfer of the design from Fuerth to California. Lou Josephs recommends shopping around for receiver bargains. 47th Street Photo adds 8% sales tax. We talked to Richard McLaughlin of LOWE electronics about the HF225 and HF150. Benelux and Germany are the strongest markets. They will launch the HF250 at Dayton. Radio Netherlands will launch its HTML pages on April 21st 1995. A special AM station on the NAB convention. Arthur Cushen heard it on 1660 kHz.
This was our regular visit to the Berlin Funkaustellung, held in those days every two years. 50,000 people would stream through the gates of the exhibition centre in Berlin to see new Hi-Fi and marvel at new shaped television sets (16 by 9). Most of the technology we talk about in this edition has long been superseded, but it makes for a nice recollection. There is also a call to Ireland to discuss the future of Irish shortwave broadcasting.
. Chris Greenway reports that jamming under Vatican Radio is actually aimed at an Iraqi clandestine. There’s a station called Iraqi Army Radio. We follow up on the Cherry Ripe Numbers Station. A listener recognised the music and played the melody over the phone. (It was later traced to a site in Australia). A Czech listener shares some thoughts on cryptography. AWR announces plans for a facility in Paraguay, Latin America. WRN has a new audio service from London. There is a discussion about the existing RN lunchtime broadcast. We played the Radio Morania spoof. Our Big Bells Contest means you have to identify 5 bells all played at once. We look at India’s investment in new shortwave transmitters. AIR is making more use of 13732 kHz. The EDXC conference will be held in Denmark this year. Victor Goonetilleke reports on programmes from the Philippines aimed at their nationals in the Middle East. He reports that the modulation is poor on many of these stations.
Review of the Sounds Interesting programme from the old Hilversum Broadcast Museum. We set up a special station PA6RNW. We contacted Ben Witvliet at the Radio Netherlands. Madagascar relay station. SKY Radio has built up a dedicated following (12%) leading to other commercial radio stations pushing for FM frequencies. We discuss how the FM frequencies in the Netherlands will be redistributed. HitRadio1224 are complaining about the way things are being handled. RCI Is still waiting to find out about whether cuts will be coming to Canada’s International Broadcaster. Radio Australia is also in the line of fire with a call for a switch from television and away from shortwave. Voice of America might be switched off by the year 2000. We spoke with VOA Director Geoff Cowan. Andy has news from Montserrat. George Wood has a go at making a Media Network jingle and sharing news about the Radio Sweden website – love those complicated URL. ORF also had a complicated one.
MN.25.03.1993. A spring edition of the programme including: UK Police in Cheshire played a prank on scanner listeners. Professor John Campbell is back after a short break. He is still interested in clandestine stations, especially in Sudan, Cambodia, Ethiopia and in the area of Iran and Iraq. Although there are not as many stations, they are more interesting to follow. UK Gold on Astra has started carrying BBC World Service. We talk with Elizabeth Smith, Controller of English Services at BBC World Service who explains the plans. As France elects a new conservative government, the future funding of both RFI and RFO is uncertain. Eric Beauchemin reports from Tahiti where he discovered the FM dial has been turned upside down by the launch of commercial stations. This is an excellent feature full of local station identifications. This country was a regular in the reports from Dan Robinson as the was a regular catch in North America.
From 1980 to 2000, I produced and hosted a communications magazine on Radio Netherlands, the Dutch International broadcasting service. We made over 1000 editions of Media Network. Just over half of those shows still survive and are now on-line. Since then I have travelled the world several times in search of the stories of what made shortwave international broadcasting such a fascinating place to be towards the end of the 20th century. I am currently exploring what’s left of the Radio Netherlands archive. Here’s another VIDEO discovery. In 1997 I contributed to a documentary commissioned by Radio Netherlands TV department, released on the 70th anniversary of international broadcasting, or so we thought at the time. It looks rather slow-paced by today’s standards of documentary producing. But there is some rather rare footage of Radio Tirana in Albania. If you were listening to a shortwave radio at the end of the last century many of these names will be familiar. You will find it here:
Silly girlfriend opening. Tim Hendel asked about the Sony ICF100T. Irish Eyes are smiling in County Mayo. MidWest Radio, Box 1, Mayo Ireland is making programmes in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Irish, St Patricks Day starts at 12 -16 UTC. 11715 kHz using 250 kW. We broadcast our in-depth review the AOR-7030 first production line. Retails in the UK at 799 pounds. Our review proved to be quite controversial , even though the conclusions were very positive. Arthur Cushen has news about the Cook Islands.
A warm welcome on a wintry day. Receiver survey feedback reveals shortwave sales are dropping. Voice of Nigeria has returned to the air. WRTH reports that Radio Jordan has expanded its output. Kim Andrew Elliott reports on the fire at the VOA Relay station in Sri Lanka. We air the independent receiver review of the Drake SW1, Finally, we catch up with developments at Channel Africa in Johannesburg and Diana Janssen talks to the new Director. Finally Mike Bird has worrying news about budget cuts which may affect Radio Australia. (Thanks to Edward Zigoy for corrections to the line-up)
A week of shifting emphasis. Radio Vlaanderen International cancels German, Arabic and Spanish. They have decided to use Juelich site in Germany for broadcasts to Europe. In Indonesia private stations will, at last, be able to air their own news programmes instead of just relaying RRI. Donald McDonald of the ABC explains how they are going to cut 27 million AUS dollars from their budget. We look at the end of Sport7, a shortlived commercial network in the Netherlands. We investigate the strange new business network called Stocks and Funds based in Atlanta. Dennis Thompson, ex BBC Frequency Manager has been asked to set up the schedule. The programme concludes with a visit Diana made to the Baygen Freeplay clockwork radio factory in South Africa.
A news and science features edition of the programme. Victor Goonetilleke reports a problem on Radio Netherlands CIS relay – a loud hum. Arthur Cushen reports wider distribution of Radio Netherlands Dutch language material in New Zealand via Echo Radio. Space feature: We report on the European SOHO project and the results of the coronagraphs. Interview with Piet Maartens on the line from the Goddard Space Centre. We investigate a new top-level communications receiver one of the first software driven DSP receiver the Kneisner+Doering KWZ 30. We never got the chance to review the set because shortly after introduction one of the founders passed away. Interview with Hans Juergen Kneisner. Mike Bird comments on why shortwave receivers in Australia are so expensive. There is a 37% tax on sets and the market is small. Lou Josephs updates online audio. There has been a problem with compatibility. Netscape announces several new versions of their browser suite.
Will Ireland to return to shortwave? Michael Collins advises us of a radio conference in the West of Ireland where the keynote speaker will be Simon Spanswick. There is an extensive visit to SES Astra in Luxembourg. We get the tour from Yves Feltes. When the steel industry went down, the Luxembourg government looked for ways to diversify its economy. Satellites were the answer.
A regular edition of the programme. Across the Americas opening. We take a call from Lima Peru and talk to George McLintock station manager WWCR which has been airing some controversial programmes on shortwave. Victor Goonetilleke reports what’s going on in the Sri Lankan conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
One year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, radio colleague Kim Andrew Elliott jumped in my car and we toured some of the famous Eastern European radio stations. We went to Budapest, Prague and Berlin sending faxes in advance in the hope of getting the station tour. In Prague we were given a grand tour of Radio Prague and heard from several people what it was like to work in the English section. We also went to see Radio Free Europe (photo) operating from the old Czech parliament building. Studios were inside mobile vans on the floor of the building because permanent changes to the building were not allowed. I thought this edition of the programme was lost because the tape went missing. Luckily a CD copy has survived. Nice to hear the voice of the late Olrich Chip (Peter Skala) once again.
Many recordings of the predecessor of Media Network were not preserved. There was pressure on producers to recycle tapes since the large 30-minute reels cost 25 Euro each in those days. However, I quickly argued that many of the documentaries and Media Network specials would have value later - and I'm glad I put tapes aside for later. When I took over "DX Juke Box" in August 1980, the first thing I did was replace the music with features about broadcasting. The quality of phone calls was still poor, but we could be far more topical. In January 1981 I made this feature with several guests, including Richard Measham of BBC Monitoring, where we explored the changes at Radio Moscow and also spoke with those who were fascinated about the complex Soviet media scene. Remember that very little was published about this vast network of transmitters in the West. The programme concludes with off-air recordings of several Soviet stations. Remember this is a programme I made 38 years ago. No Internet. No Facebook. Just a shortwave radio and a tape recorder. The episode photo was taken in 2010 at the offices of the independent media publishers in Moscow. Fascinating to hear those stories too.
While the rest of the media was focussing on the Olympic Games in Atlanta, we ran an "Olympics Free" Programme...well almost. Problems for journalists in Atlanta with reporters being refused access to events. Lou Josephs discusses Macromedia and ActiveX technology. We link up with Christian Voice in Zambia and ask why it decided to broadcast only in English. Incidentally, as of 2019, the station is still on the air .
Richard Richter announces the new name for US surrogate broadcasting to Asia: Radio Free Asia They keep quiet about the transmitter sites and the frequencies. We dip into your letters including insights from Japan. AsiaSat is going to have difficulty getting listening in Japan. We launch a challenge for listeners to find an MPEG-2 satellite receiver in their city – no-one could find one. Apart from the news that Ireland is returning to shortwave for sports commentaries, most of this edition is devoted to calling up shortwave receiver dealers to get a feel of how things are changing. The Internet is having an impact on the level of shortwave listening, at least in the USA. Bob Grove in Brasstown North Carolina explains that the hobby of shortwave listening is in trouble. Fred Osterman of Universal Shortwave, though, was more optimistic, pointing to the softness in the US economy. John Day runs a shop in Australia. The Kenwood R-5000 receivers are popular there. Hans Doeven in the North of the Netherlands says his sales market is shifting towards the maritime market. Lowe Electronics says the German market is soft. They are promoting their HF-150 in Asia. Richard Robinson from EEB in Vienna, Virginia says the high-end portables are doing well.
Complete schedule of RNW in English in advanced of the winter transmission season. Interesting to see how extensive the schedule was in 1996. Also, there is an extensive explanation by Jonathan Marks giving tips on how to build an antenna in your garden. It updates a publication that Radio Netherlands published in the 1970’s. Perhaps you remember - Give your antenna some air? There is a curious sign-off from voice over champion Jim Cutler.
An interesting catch-up show as we re-convene for a new season of Media Network. Diana Janssen is back from Asia and has some concerns about how the pace of change is leading to discussions of censorship. Andy Sennitt explains about challenges in Belarus. WorldSpace seems to be expanding. Karl Miosga of WRN explains a plan to carry their network overnight on SAFM. Alok Das Gupta has a new edition of his South-Asia listening guide. ORF KurzwellenPanorama (photo of editor Wolf Harranth) and MN celebrate 15 years of collaboration. Lou Josephs has been testing Shockwave from Macromedia. NOS has abandoned plans to produce a regional TV magazine
Plenty of radio news in this edition of the programme. We talk to Flame Nieuwenhuizen about the future finances of Channel Africa. The station has been saved and moved to become part of the SABC. Radio ABC Denmark is to start up in 7570 kHz using 150 kW via Kaliningrad. The Voice of Tibet has started up from studios in Oslo, Norway. It goes out via the Seychelles. They are on 15445 kHz at 1145. They claim to have funding from private investors. Victor Goonetilleke reports the station is coming from FEBA in Seychelles. We review the Sony ICFSW600 receiver which has 9 SW bands on it. Jelle Boonstra reports a new series about Jingles on Dutch domestic radio.
This edition focused on the future of digital satellite television. We started with an Interview with Scott Zimmer of Echostar about the growing direct satellite television service. They have just launched the DISH network. They also plan data services including educational programmes. All this was the forerunner of what was the set-top box. But the price? Between 1000 and 2000 US dollars. 30% of US households have purchased PC’s of one type or another. There is controversy as to whether these systems will ever be two-way. We linked up with Arthur Cushen to find out about the sale of stations in New Zealand. There is also accusations of censorship and financial problems for stations on the Pacific islands. We talk about the new ATS909 receiver from Sangean. 9590 kHz has some interference problems from Channel Africa. Leo Kohl explains they had to go off the air in Bonaire for a few hours because freak weather threatened to push sand into the heat exchanges. Radio Australia’s Carnavon transmitters.
This edition starts with feedback from the answer line. DAB Radio E. As July 1st sees the daily email news service begins. NOS Gender Portrayal department is shutting down after 5 years which confirm rather traditional views about the way women are portrayed in Dutch media. Only 10% of the interviewed experts on the radio are women. We announce the 750 anniversary contest results. We gave away 50 CD anniversary. Arthur Cushen reports that there has been a lot of snow in Invercargill, New Zealand. He has been hearing a lot of Caribbean and Columbian stations on mediumwave. There is a new Nigerian clandestine via Meyerton, South Africa.
We are recording this edition of the programme in advance because of Diana’s upcoming Asian trip. Andrew Rodgers reports that he heard us on the Astra satellite mucking around in the studio 1 preparing jingles with Jim Cutler. We explain what happened. Lou Josephs has launched a new newsletter from Washington DC. He discusses what we would call Fake News today and how cookies can spy on your Internet activity. Profile of the new Radio France Internationale with Eric Baptiste. 6000 jobs to go at Philips in their audio/video divisions as part of Operation Centurion. CDI and DCC were disasters
Ginger da Silva announces that Radio Netherlands will switch from 1440 kHz via Luxembourg to 1512 via Radio Vlaanderen International. SKY Channel is now turning a profit. It will cost 200 million pounds for Sky to go digital. Lou Josephs gives the secret site for the FCC search. RTB will not be starting a shortwave service. Diana Janssen is off to Chile to attend a major media conference in Santiago. We review a designer-driven shortwave receiver. P-2000 is a new travel portable from Grundig Europe. There is a new book out about the BFBS in Germany. The author is Alan Grace and we spoke with him. It started in North Africa in Algiers. There was even a forces station in Iceland.
Professor John Campbell answered questions about the future of artificial intelligence and language recognition. It is hard to believe this was recorded in 1995! Campbell, as usual, was spot on. Listening to certain radio stations like Radio RSA in India can get you in trouble. Wolf Harranth of ORF’s Kurzwellen Panorama has been looking at the extent of monitoring of DXers by the Stasi in Eastern Germany. We have since visited the Stasi HQ in Berlin - the museum is highly recommended.
BVN and the future of Television: Lodewijk Bouwens (in photo) explains that Wereldomroep TV will get a permanent status as from January 1st 1998. Mike Bird reports on large geomagnetic storm, the 4th largest since records began. Radio New Zealand has been reporting some very bad weather in the Pacific, especially in the Cook Islands. Tahiti seems to have gone off the air, 15167 kHz is silent. BBC has stopped recordings of its news bulletins in New Zealand. Media Network visits NEWSWORLD for newsmakers. There was clearly a crisis of confidence amongst professionals. 24hr news channels not thought to be viable. The late Allister Sparks was quite outspoken, saying it was a first world broadcaster conference. . Chris Cramer from CNN claimed only CNN and BBC were serious about international news. Coping with sudden spikes in demand when news breaks is a challenge. 400-500 people can watch at the same time with online video. RTE has hired shortwave time to broadcast commentary on the World Cup. Julian Isherwood has a programme online from Copenhagen.
This was a general news programme with an indepth interview with Victor Goonetilleke who was visiting The Netherlands. European winter time has started. People using electronic mail more and more. InfoDutch promo. News from WRTH editorial office. In-depth Interview with Victor Goonetilleke.
Hilversum 3 opening with song by Herman van Veen. Jonathan’s annoying tie. Anniversaries. Hilversum 3 and Nederland resumes broadcasts to the Dutch East Indies. Interview with Frits Thors. 30 years since the creation of Hilversum 3. We find out more about the Trondheim student radio in Norway. Answerline number has changed. Tim Hendel enjoyed the wind-up clockwork radio. Arthur Cushen has news from the Pacific. Review of new 1996 edition of Passport to World Band Radio. We also talk to Craig Sigenthaler of KIWA electronics. Photo of Frits Thors via Polygoon Hollands Nieuws - Cut from File:WEEKNUMMER461-HRE00013A19.ogv / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid / NOS Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid / NOS, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10564395
This edition of Media Network was salvaged from a cassette and a few seconds before Chris Greenway you will hear that a bit is missing. Radio Netherlands using is a transmitter near Kalingrad, Russia for a European reception. At the time it was one of the world's most powerful transmission sites on MW. There was a problem with interference to RNW on 6020 from Moscow. We cross to Chris Greenway for news about Radio Moscow. Major expansion of Radio France International of 430 million francs over 4 years. There were two projects one in Djibouti which was abandoned. We also hear about plans for the Internet broadcasting System. They will put up to 2 hours of audio on the Internet. We also spoke with Carl Malamud who put up various data (like all US patents). Philips will put a couple of million into the development of DAB radios. We review the AOR 3030, made by a scanner manufacturer. Willem Bos has been putting it through its paces. Here is a link to a catalogue
This is the first in a new series of Media Network special video safaris, investigating the long slow fadeout of shortwave international broadcasting. Today's guest is Dan Robinson. We talk at length about the magic of shortwave receivers, international broadcasting and his 34 year career at the Voice of America. Since Libsyn is an audio podcast network, please watch this episode on I remember filling in US visa forms in the plane and using the zipcode 20547 when asked for a hotel address. 330 Independence Avenue was easy to remember and I had heard it mentioned so many times on the air. This is an in-depth video, and designed to ensure that important stories about international broadcasting are preserved. We may make a more popular, shorter version at a later stage. But for the moment, I am grabbing the stories long form while I can. Suggestions welcome to a special e-mail address: .
Crazy opening with Coco Jambo. The international service of Radio New Zealand may be axed. We spoke with Linden Clark (photo) who explains the importance of RNZI (now called , producing some 30 bulletins of news each day. Shortwave still makes sense because of the vast distances. There are problems with the license of independent station Star Radio in Monrovia, Liberia. They are funded by USAID. We look at the challenges facing documentary makers. We compare the glory days of radio theatre, programmes like The Shadow and Tales of Two Cities. Lots of quotes from Orson Welles. He explains that most directors and writers are actors. We have another visit to the documentary festival “Boundless Sound” in Amsterdam and hear from Chris Brooks of the CBC. ABC Australia argues that the “Listening Room” project works. Michiel Matszer says there may be too many documentaries being made in the Netherlands. 20-30,000 listeners daily, but each documentary may take a month to produce. Victor Goonetilleke explains the launch of student radio. The SLBC loaned a 50-watt transmitter, especially at science festival. He also reports Myanmar is being heard quite well in North America. Mike Bird’s report comes from a phone box, as Mike is on holiday.
Shortwave radio stations shifted their frequencies to cope with changing propagation conditions. It was often quite challenging to find where your favorite station had gone to when the summer schedule started. Although it may sound boring to read lists of times and frequencies, as in this edition of Media Network, there really was no other way unless you had one the station's programme schedules. Radio Mozambique is facing severe problems both technical and financial. We promote our "email facility". Radio Norway may close down its Fredrikstad transmitter. The Grundig Yacht Boy 320 and 360 has been announces. These sets costs around 150 Dollars. JIngle Feature: We look at the Dutch evangelist Johan Maasbach and how offshore radio disk jockeys would imitate the style of the religious sponsor. BBC World Service has closed its monthly magazine. Radio Netherlands launches new jingles for 1440 kHz from Hans Hoogedoorn.
This was a news update edition of the programme. Tony Barratt pays us a nice compliment. Lou Josephs reports about the newly expanded AM band above 1600 kHz. US Digital Radio is failing. BBC has announced that DAB demos will be made in Berlin in the Funkausstellung in 1995. We also look at the future of the Emergency Broadcast System as the US moves to a digital service. Who remembers the CONALRAD? Do you remember to BASICODE experiments in 1992? Optimod killed it. What happened to the AM data system to help spread schedule data in real time? Pierre Schwab in Hong Kong explains ID-Logic. Tom Sundstrom reports problems with the Mali transmitter of China Radio International. HAARP in Alaska is getting ready. Louis Slesin of Microwave News is critical. Voice of Russia has started using a new directional antenna on 1215 kHz, causing grief to Virgin Radio in the UK. Radio Free Europe/VOA has a new service from Holzkirchen on 1593. BBC Monitoring has completed an extension of its facilities in Caversham.
A news edition of the programme. Radio Tirana is now hiring out airtime on 1395 kHz. Trans World Radio signs on from the 1 MW transmitter in Albania. This is causing a bit of a headache in the Netherlands where Newsradio1395 is being planned by Veronica. Diana Janssen investigates. Piet van Tellingen from NOS Radio 1 thinks it won’t work – but then he would say that. BBC Radio 1 has left mediumwave. TalkRadio is to launch in its place. Dutch troops captured in Bosnia have been listening to Radio Netherlands as their only way of finding out what was going on. Because they knew their captors might understand the word “radio”, they gave the station the codename strawberry instead. We also play the solarplexis joke. The call of the FishEagle used to be the only identification out of Zambia. That was the government broadcaster Radio Zambia. We now follow-up on a new christian station called Christian Voice which has now gone on the air. We find out the details of how it has been organised and the technical details of the transmitter. A UK singer living in Denmark has released an album of songs about amateur radio called SEEKYOU. James Robinson reported on a new country radio network on Astra. Victor Goonetilleke reports on the 5th anniversary of the South Asian DX-SWL net on 7080 kHz +/-. An amateur radio operator has gone on the air in Palestine backed by Yassar Arafat.. Sam Voran’s Radio Free Somalia is back on the air. Arthur Cushen has been following up.
A news edition of the programme (i.e. plenty of short items). Richard Measham of BBC Monitoring Services explains that Radio Metropolis in Prague will start a commercial radio service on shortwave including programmes in English. Jeff White reports about the demise of La Voz del CID, the Cuban clandestine run by Cuban exiles. The FCC has a new bulletin board. VLQ9 Brisbane heard in Europe. Mike Bird investigates and discovers it’s a new channel for Radio Australia. George Soros announces it will take over the 15 million items in the RFE/RL archives and move them to Prague. Radio D-Day from Bournemouth is currently on the air. Radio Kiwi has announced a schedule of test broadcasters. Jeff White explains at WRMI. Radio Dnesti International, broadcasts three times a week heard on 15290 kHz.
A news edition of the programme. Radio Netherlands is closing the Arabic, French and Portuguese shortwave broadcasts after a re-organisation. Holland FM transmissions noted 1224 kHz. Radio Moscow is stopping its broadcasts in several languages including Dutch and Afrikaans. Australian TV’s future is in doubt because of high costs. There were questions when it was revealed that companies had paid to be part of the public service programming. Another review of Radio Australia has been set up. Hans Bakhuizen updates us on DAB’s launch, expected in Berlin in 1995 and the ESA Archimedes project. Visit to IBC 1994 in Amsterdam. Jeff Cohen explains MPEG compression and the plans for the World Radio Network. Arthur Cushen has been following the crisis surrounding the volcano eruption in Papua New Guinea. We also talk with Dutch radio engineer, Willem Bos, about the trend to launch cheaper communications receivers under 1000 US dollars.
Media Network grew in the mid-nineties because of topical input from its listeners who volunteered information. This was in an age before email and phone calls abroad were very expensive. That may help to explain the shoeshine sketch at the start of this news edition of the programme. This coming winter the lower sunspot numbers will mean difficult reception in the lower frequencies. Radio Thailand external services is now using the VOA Udorn transmitter site. SRI is now operating via French Guiana. SRI talks about its shortwave signal via Monsinery, French Guiana as well as satellite feeds to stations in Brazil. Lou Josephs reports that the Philips car radio DCC811 will only have the 49 metre band on it. Lowe radio is expanding in North America. Universal Radio has published a new utility guide. Lou Josephs explains that audio downloads from VOA are still rather slow through dial-up. Holland FM is to start shortly on 1224 kHz via the Communicator. Some of the stations in the Ukraine appear to be off the air. Also some Russian stations have disappeared. Ghana has also disappeared from Shortwave. Arthur Cushen has tuning tips from Invercargill, New Zealand including news that the BBC World Service AM frequencies are up for sale.
KGEI signed off for the last time. We trace the history of the station from the days when it was started by General Electric on Treasure Island for the 1939 . But now the costs of running this religious station out of Redwood City make no sense at all. We also find out about plans for a shortwave religious radio station in Zambia, Christian Voice. They will have a 100 kW transmitter serving a 1500 km radius. Karl Miosga explains expansion plans at World Radio Network in London.
We look at a mysterious station OPS which used to operate on 1430 kHz aimed at the US forces in Berlin. It was presumed to come from the Nalepastrasse, home of Radio Berlin International. Jonathan Marks visited to find out more about the BBC Networking Club. A small team of 8 people set up the club including a Bulletin board called Auntie. They started an Archive library. BBCNC started with 500 members. They were also trying to make the schedules of BBC World Service easier to understand. In 1994 there were an estimated 30 million users of the Internet.
This edition came from Washington DC where an international broadcasting meeting was being held at VOA Headquarters. There were major cuts announced to US International broadcasting. We did an interview with Worldspace founder, Noah Samara, who had a whole string of promises as a result of working with Motorola on satellite receivers. Gordon Harold of the BBC and an engineer from EBU comment on whether the Eureka 147 standard is suitable for satellite receivers. Terry Hargreaves of RCI says Canada has already made a decision for satellite DAB. In the final part of the programme, we chat with Alfonso Montealegre, media editor for Radio Netherlands Latin American service. He recounts his DXpedition to Easter Island and its radio links with Chile. Mike Bird closes with the propagation report.
Delighted to discover a cassette copy of this programme because the original Master has been lost. It includes a visit to Radio Moscow by Frans Suasso, former deputy programme chief at Radio Netherlands in the early 1990's. He was an authority on Eastern Europe, especially on the dramatic changes going on in the former Soviet Union. In 1994 he did a tour of Eastern Europe. This was the era where Russia had opened up its transmitting facilities and was relaying Western broadcasters (including Radio Netherlands) to the Middle East and Asia. Frans got to talk to Boris Belitsky, who presented programmes like "Science and Engineering". Boris was remarkably candid about the old days". We also found out more about the vast switching centre in Moscow at the heart of the largest radio transmitting network on the planet. We also had a correction to an item on WQEW which Arthur Cushen had been hearing in New Zealand. Robert Mugabe has inaugurated Zimbabwe's external service. Diana Janssen updates us on disappearance of Radio Gatashia and the role that radio was playing in the Rwandan genocide. Andy James gives us more information about Christian Voice in Zambia which has just signed on. Andy Sennitt has a round-up of tuning tips including the news that Radio Caroline is back on mediumwave.
After a few programme announcements and the propagation report, we presented a mini-documentary looking at various Western international broadcasters and their role in Eastern Europe. While stations like Radio Berlin International disappeared, stations like Radio France Internationale did deals with local radio stations in Bucharest, Romania. Obviously FM stations had running costs so nothing was for free. But exactly how much stations were paying for distribution on FM was often kept secret. This programme was made with a lot of input from Eric Beauchemin who was travelling in the region for other Radio Netherlands' programmes. The photo I made in Bucharest in 2007, where it was clear to see that the RFI relay was still going strong.
I recall that several of the early experiments in Europe wide satellite broadcasting by public broadcasters started on the top floor of one of the villas in the Emmastraat in Hilversum. Its started on the Orbital Test Satellite which required a huge dish to receive it. In this early episode of Media Network we talked to Klaas Jan Hindriks who was one of the early pioneers. The IBA from the UK explains about plans for direct satellite broadcast television in 1986. We suggest to Joop Acda, DG of Radio Netherlands, that this might be an opportunity for RNW. The programme concludes with the BASICODE promo (the famous Sherlock jingle from Pete Myers) and DX News from Victor Goonetilleke.
This edition of the programme is from the early series of Media Network. We were very much focused on the Falkands War at the time, and this programme was a catch-up show to report on other things. Richard Ginbey was a broadcaster who worked in South Africa, New Zealand, and Namibia. I think he was unique in recording and compiling what he heard on his shortwave radio. In this edition he traces the history of broadcasting in Lesotho. I think he used cassettes, so the editing must have been challenging. I think he cued up the clips and played them in to his live presentation. Some people may also remember him from the DX programme he ran on Radio Portugal - the Voice of the West. Wim van Amstel reports on his visit to the European DX Council in Cologne. This was an era when there was very little contact between shortwave broadcasters and their listeners. We also reviewed the Directory of World Band radio from Sony, concluding that it wasn't of much use. We spoke with Pat Gowen, G3IOR, (pictured) about the work of AMSAT and how the findings may have to modify our thoughts about radio propagation. The programme concludes with Arthur Cushen who had been hearing some amazing transpacific signals on mediumwave.
We started with a critical letter from William O'Dickerman who wants more tuning tips about English stations. Andy Sennitt also suggests that there isn't enough news. As Leonid Brezhnev was laid to rest, Radio Moscow said that there was a 5 minute silence across the country. We found that it didn't include the jamming stations. Richard Hunt queries if Philips is getting into the domestic satellite TV business. We visit Dennis Powell at radio station WOR in New York and marvel at their recent use of satellite feeds which improve the audio quality. We look at the priorities for news stations in New York. We spoke to the people behind Radio Freedom which was raising awareness for its shortwave broadcasts in the Netherlands. The programme concludes with DX tips from Dan Robinson. (This recording was made off the transmission line in Bonaire which explains the AM sound rather than usual studio quality).
A rather mixed bag this week. Pete Myers reports that the UN may make it difficult for countries to start direct broadcast satellite transmissions. There is a new series of photographs in Amsterdam which show all the various types of domestic broadcasters. DLF in Cologne has doubled its power on LW and you can win a radio. Mike Barraclough reports about pirates that will be testing across the Atlantic. We were quite famous for in-depth reviews of radio equipment. In this edition, we review the AN-1 active antenna from Sony. We found that the antenna totally overloaded the portable radio. (This was a very detailed test). Asian DX News from Victor Goonetilleke is hearing stations in Latin America. We also looked at broadcasting in Suriname. We talked to Victor Hafkamp of Radio Netherlands Caribbean Dept. SRS is calling itself Radio Venceremos.
We did several reports from Yugoslavia as the country gradually broke up. These were the days when we spoke of Serbia and rump Yugoslavia. Eric Beauchemin compiled this excellent feature on the role played by the media, especially television, in the Balkans war in 1983. This edition was actually sent out on transcription to other international stations, which is why it is only 15 minutes instead of the usual half hour.
This was a newsy edition of Media Network in early 1982. KYOI, the SW music station in Saipan is planning to start testing November 1st. 107 people have written to support Radio New Zealand on shortwave. Tunnel Radio is launching in the US. FEBA Seychelles is faced with political problems on the island. Andy Sennitt has news about World Music Radio on 6219 kHz. Capital Radio in Transkei may resite its transmitters. Over the last 18 months we've been looking at what it is like to listen to western broadcasters in Katowice, Poland. We did a quick feature on time signal stations. We find the transmitter of CHU in Canada. Dan Robinson has some tips of African and Latin American stations he has been hearing in Washington DC. Rudy van Dalen reports that the Greek military station has become ERT-2.
It was difficult sourcing audio from South Asia back in 1983. Tape recordings of radio stations were rare and phone lines to just about anywhere were crackly. We started with some frequency changes to our English transmissions. The shortwave equipment news is about the Sony ICF7600D. The new receiver has keypad tuning. Pete Myers has new RF-799 from Panasonic. There a clandestine station in Kabul. Gaither Stewart has news about Radio Free Afghanistan. Radio Nepal has two new transmitters, a gift from Japan. Mohini Shephard has been visiting the station. Pete Myers reports on the National Youth Association in Bhutan using recordings from Adrian Peterson in Poona. ORF Vienna has a Master Morse course. We also talked to Finn Krone, producer of AWR World DX News on 9670. Radio Freedom, the Voice of The Sri Lankan people. Finn thinks it comes from Germany. There is news from Cambodia and Thailand as well. The final report is about the radio battles going on in Andorra. Robbert Bosschart reports from Madrid.
We open a new telephone hotline for DX tips (overseas calls were still very expensive though). Professor John Campbell has been to Ireland and discovered why some of the unofficial stations are connected to hotels. Some may be coming back to shortwave. He shares some amazing stories about how these stations survive. We also talk to Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International about Radio 24 and the fight for local commercial radio. Venezuela claims it is on the air with a new broadcast for the Caribbean and the Americas. We review a new academic book on International broadcasting by Dr Donald Browne. Voice for the World has been published by the BBC External Services. Richard Ginbey has news that Namibia has appeared on mediumwave.
We started with news about frequency changes. I joined the VRT Open day and a trip to Wavre, the transmitter site of Radio Vlaanderen International. Director Jan van der Sichel has plans for a satellite transponder for Europe. They will not switch off the medium and shortwave. The World Radio Network is also launching its new English network on satellite. Professor John Campbell explains how clandestine stations have changed and why FM is the biggest enemy to clandestine monitoring. John reviews a new book called Danger Signals? by Barry Collins. He questions whether the unofficial stations are really causing interference to utility services. There news about a Sony radio ICFSW30L, and the ICFSW-55 Sony Style magazine. Note there is a of Radio Vlaanderen International made two years later
A regular edition of Media Network, one which I thought we wouldn’t be making. If there was an 11 cities skating race in Friesland, then the feature programmes were dumped. But in this case in 1986, things started thawing and the event was cancelled. An Ariane satellite will be launched, we spotted the clandestine Radio Bardai in Libya, Richard Ginbey can hear the Voice of Africa also from Libya. On the receiver front, there were free changes to the Philips D2999. Pete Myers joins us with a review of the Philips D2935. We thought it only fair. In clandestines, Prof John Campbell has news of transatlantic tests by UK unofficial station (Radio Medway), and Irish station Radio Ireland International. Andy Sennitt in Copenhagen had news about Mali, and Equatorial Guinea. The results of Media Quiz 1986 with the answers. Bob Horvitz has news about the Woodpecker Projects. Mike Bird says the ionosphere is quiet and the start of the ABC's shower service.
A lot has been written and documented about the growth of UK Commercial Radio. Much less on the growth of commercial radio in Ireland to break the monopoly of the Irish public broadcaster RTE. In 1982, we ran quite a comprehensive survey of the situation in Dublin. The late John Campbell also gave us frequent updates as the pirates tried to provide an alternative.
This was an era when year end reviews were still popular. There was no internet for research or to act as the memory of great radio broadcasts. So this is the way shortwave international radio was looking in Christmas 1982, the year of the Falklands conflict and the appearance of several clandestine radio stations. This was my first attempt at making a compilation of the year's events, with boxes of reels of tapes that I had been saving. The script was all typed out on a typewriter. It would be another couple of years before the Apple II appeared in the Netherlands. But enjoy what was possible 26 years ago.
This was an example of interaction with listeners calling in with media news, it seems the timesignal station in Australia VNG is in trouble, we look at 3 new QSL cards from Radio Netherlands, and visit the Test Card Circle in the UK. I see is still active in 2018. QSL Cards As from April 15th 1997 there will be three new QSL cards available from us for correct reception reports on any of our radio broadcasts. This series is entitled from wireless to the worldwide web. The first card shows the original wooden antenna masts built in Huizen just north of Hilversum way back in 1937. They were unique in their day because the whole construction was built on a turntable and so one antenna could swing round and serve various parts of the globe. Having built the antenna for external broadcasting, the Dutch tried to blow it up three years later. In May 1940, as Nazi troops crossed the Dutch border to occupy the country, attempts were made to disable the transmitter site before it fell into enemy hands. However, it didn't take the Germans too long to put the system back in order and from records in the broadcasting museum it appears the transmitter of PCJ was used for English and Dutch broadcasts directed to South Asia, most of them produced in Berlin. After the war, Radio Herrijzend Nederland used the site and later Radio Netherlands until in 1957 new facilities were built in Lopik, not far from Utrecht, right in the heart of this country. So, card number one looks back at this historic transmitter site in Huizen. D:The second card focuses on the Radio Netherlands building. Officially opened in 1961, the new Radio Netherlands broadcasting centre in the north of Hilversum was a vast improvement. For the first 15 years of its existence, Radio Netherlands operated out of four converted villas on the Bothalaan in Hilversum. Since the newsroom was in one house and the studios across the road, there are lovely stories of people missing deadlines because it was icy outside and newsreaders slipped over in their haste to get to the other building. A special documentary film was made to mark the opening where it clear that the job of the announcer was indeed very much to announce things to the world, rather than the more informal character we use these days. It's remarkable that in those days women were expected to leave the company if they got married, and the concept of female managers was just unthinkable. Anyway, if you look at the QSL card drawing made in 1961 you'll see there's a bit of virtual reality built in to it if you compare it with aerial photos taken in the 70's and early eighties. D: From the air, the building looks like an aeroplane, the studios being at the back end of the body of the plane. But the drawing shows two sets of studios, but in fact only one set was built initially, partly for cost reasons. It was drawing that adorned the sugar bags in the canteen for many years, accompanied by jokes of when are they going to build what they promised. Well in fact the building was extended some 30 years later. J: And, last but not least, card 3 in the series shows the production team behind the world-wide web at Radio Netherlands. The department of Strategy and New Media is currently three people, Katherine Farnon, Caroline van Oosten de Boer and is headed by Diana Janssen. And shortly a fourth member of the team will be coming on board. Alvaro Ortiz speaks Spanish and is also an artist. D: Yes, and of course it's not a department that's isolated from the rest of our radio and TV productions. So there are literally dozens of people in other parts of the programme division who are helping us build the web site and try out new things. We believe that Internet is content driven not technology driven. Everyone is talking about building the information superhighway, but frankly we're not going to be building the infrastructure, we're using it and we think you need a four-wheel drive approach. J: Our company Mission Statement is the map of how to get there, on time and within budget. We agree with partners on how to meet up at a particular point and then set to get to the goal in a straight-line. Sometimes the information highway hasn't been built yet, so the four-wheel drive comes in handy when negotiating the unpredictable communications terrain in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. D: So that's some detailed background to the three new verification cards being issued as part of Radio Netherlands 50th anniversary. Once again, they'll be issued for reports on or after the 15th of April while stocks last.
It was extremely rare that we prepared 5 Media Networks in February, so we thought of making this programme different from the usual bill of fare. But then, what was usual on this programme! Looking at the mailbag coming in at the moment, there’s a clear bias from people who want to hear more radio related documentaries, especially along the lines of the expedition to Northern Finland. Today’s programme comes as a result of surfing on the Internet. While looking through the excellent shortwave radio catalogue compiled by Pete Costello, we came across a link to a jingles society here in The Netherlands. So, every reason to find out more. We invited two guests into the wireless studio Benno Rozen (at that time working for Omroep Brabant in Eindhoven) and Jelle Boonstra. The (made much later) is still up. And we will be hearing more from them in 2019 when Dutch radio celebrates 100 years.
Update; December 2020. We found a better quality copy of this unique documentary programme. The late John Campbell mentioned the clandestine radio station, Radio Euskadi several times in the 1980's and early 1990's. But, thanks to the help of Eric Beauchemin, we eventually discovered the secrets of this rebel voice of the Basque underground. Indeed, in the next half an hour, we’re going to dig deep in to the history surrounding a clandestine radio station, which is now a legal public broadcaster. Like Radio Netherlands, this station is celebrating its 50th anniversary. is the public broadcaster in the Basque Country of Spain. The Basque language branch started broadcasting in 1980, when the Basque Country achieved the status of an autonomous region within Spain. The Spanish-language station was officially established two years later. But, in fact, the roots date back half a century and have clandestine radio connections. Recent research in the French and Spanish parts of the Basque Country by Radio Netherlands’ Eric Beauchemin reveals the full story of how the Basque underground fought for an independent voice in Spain. The Voice of the Basque underground has a colourful history, spread over two continents. If you’ve ever heard of the name Radio Euzkadi before, it could be because you came across a shortwave signal in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s when the station broadcast from Venezuela. The Venezuelan operation went off the air 20 years ago this week, on February 28, 1977. But the first clandestine Basque broadcasts came from southern France. The origins of Radio Euzkadi date back to 1939 when General Francisco Franco came to power. His army had defeated the forces of Spain’s legitimate government, the left-wing Popular Front. Franco’s repression was brutal. Trade union leaders and intellectuals were relentlessly persecuted as were the nationalist movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country. Both regions had obtained a good deal of autonomy during the Popular Front’s rule, and both the Catalans and the Basques were loath to give it up. Franco’s repression was particularly harsh in both areas, and many Catalan and Basque leaders and intellectuals fled abroad. Among them was Joseba Rezola who became the exiled Basque government’s information and propaganda director. He was keenly aware that since the Basques only had one source of information, the Spanish government-run media, they might eventually start believing Franco’s propaganda. Rezola got the green light from the Basque government in exile to purchase a surplus transmitter from the American military. José María Lasarte, a member of the Basque government in exile, who was on a visit to the United States, was asked to take the transmitter back with him in his luggage. Inaki Durañona was Mr. Rezola’s personal secretary, as well as a member of the Basque nationalist party.
Today is Sunday March 11 2018 as we record this, I’m Jonathan Marks, the producer and presenter of a programme called Media Network. Early on Saturday morning March 10th, I got a tip off from Rocus de Joode, a colleague who used to work in RNW frequency bureau. He told me to get in the car and drive to see what is left of the Flevoland shortwave transmitter site. There were reports a few months ago that the new owner, the Dutch Ministry of Defence, wanted to take down the towers. It was going to take a couple of months. So I packed a camera and headed for the Juttepeerlaan in Zeewolde, only to discover that everything except the transmitter building has gone. It’s as though the giant antenna masts never existed. Now I remember that group of us ham radio operators were looking rather jealously at those curtain arrays. And on February 16 and 17th 1985, when the station was doing its first test transmissions, a group of us got permission to misuse the facility for that weekend. I decided to try my hand at live broadcasting for the first time, and so we did all the Saturday transmissions in English live from the new transmitter site. I kept two tapes and if you promise to remember that this is 33 years ago, when there is no mobile phone, no Internet, and no skype. Each show was actually broadcast over the old Lopik facilities. I’ll come back at the end to tell you how you can get in touch with us and we gradually relaunch the programme.
Interested in more recordings from Richard Ginbey. Check out this unique compiled by Jerry Berg. This is a re-issue of a compilation I made on December 6th 2016. At that time I was thinking about bringing back an audio version of the programme. But at the time, while sorting a vast collection of cassettes, I found one sent to me by Africa media correspondent Richard Ginbey in 1989. Richard was a music presenter, first in South Africa, then in New Zealand, later moving to Windhoek in Namiba. But I guess his passion was listening to his shortwave radio. And with nothing more than a cassette recorder he put together some fascinating portraits of broadcasting history as observed from a listeners’ perspective. Richard also made features which traced the history of broadcasting in Africa, making some recordings which track the path to independence for many countries. I’m pretty sure many of these bandscans from the 1980s and before have long since disappeared from official archives. So, here’s a chance to listen again to Richard Ginbey’s media view. I’ve put together several episodes back to back. Enjoy. There are over 70 minutes of unique material here. Pretty amazed at the quality too. The cassettes have lasted better than some of the reel to reel recordings. Interested? Please send correspondence to I made the picture in the North of Benin in 2006 during a trip there with Soule Issiaka.
With the news that Radio Australia is planning to cease all shortwave transmissions as from January 31st 2017, I searched through some old cardboard boxes and discovered a lost programme which was never uploaded. It was first broadcast in December 1999 which explains the references to Y2K. This programme features an extended conversation with Mike Bird, and ABC's Radio former acting general manager - Arthur Wyndom who I met at several radio conferences in the 1990's. Dame Edna also puts in an appearance, alongside Andy Sennitt.
Nederhorst den Berg used to be the centre for the Netherlands Radio Control Service, the government department responsible for monitoring the airwaves. Part of their job was investigating interference complaints - the other part was monitoring the spectrum for pirates and clandestine stations (read spies). Several of the staff were listeners to Media Network, and so we accepted an invitation to have a look round. The photo shows the monitoring station at the height of its importance, in the 1950's.
The Geneva based International Telecommunication Union used to organize huge telecom exhibitions at the PalExpo in Geneva. They were enormous technology showcases, mainly aimed at government officials. International broadcasters used to attend, mainly to lobby for satellite frequencies and spectrum space in other parts of the dial. I tried to liven it up with a musical box....
This was a news edition of the programme. Astra 1C is safely launched from French Guiana. The American Forces Antarctica is rare catch a on 6012. There is no need for it any more so it may not come back on the air. NSB Radio Tampa is still on shortwave in Japan with business information. We investigate the mystery about Radio Niege in France. Australian Forces are broadcasting to Somalia. They have switched from using transmitters in the Cox Penninsula and switched to military USB transmitters. Arthur Cushen reports hearing WFLA on 25 Mhz. This is a studio to transmitter link. VOA Sao Tome is testing on mediumwave. And we did an interview with Radio Havana Cuba's DX editor and chief engineer Arnie Coro about changes coming to the Cuban international broadcaster.
Just found a cassette of Argentinian and Chilean radio stations taken off the air in 1981/1982. It was sent in by a Media Network listener while we were covering the Falkands crisis and I asked if anyone had recordings of the Argentine stations. This cassette starts with the official sign-on of RAE, Buenos Aires, and includes a longer extract of the clandestine station nicknamed by the Brits as "Argentine Annie". In the 1980's few stations operated 24 hours a day and one of the delights of long distance listening on shortwave was hearing stations in Latin America start and end the broadcast day. They were usually over the top, hyped to the extreme to match the 10 thousand watts of power they were using the transmit. The recording ends with the sign-on of LRA-36, Rado Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza in Antarctica as heard in 1982. The radio station broadcasts on 15476 kHz on shortwave and 97.6 MHz for FM.. Radio National Archangel Gabriel is the southernmost international radio station and the first to broadcast from the Antarctic.
Very sad to learn that my colleague and friend, Lou Josephs, has passed away much too soon. He died after a short illness at 6:13 am Sunday July 10th 2016 at a house on Merritt Island, Florida close to his beloved Cape Canaveral. He was 65. My condolences to his life-long partner Susan Koonin who was by his side. There will be funeral in Washington DC on Wednesday July 13th. Jim Cutler and Vasily Strelnikov sent their thoughts and best wishes when they knew he was ill. I delved into this Media Network archive to pick some of the contributions which stick in my memory - but it is a fraction of what Lou contributed behind the scenes. Lou was one of the first Media Network listeners in the 1980's to step forward and help us develop the programme into a serious media magazine on Radio Netherlands. He made hundreds of contributions to the programme over a period of 15 years, including this great portrait of commercial international broadcaster WNYW, New York. That documentary is one of the most popular editions in the current archive. I think you'll agree that was Lou at his finest. Some of the other about WNYW are also still online. From Radio Specialist to Internet Expert I first got to know Lou when he worked as a programme director at music station WROR in Boston. He was using very advanced audience research methods to understand the music mix that his audience wanted - and it made the station a market leader in an era when FM stations had big breakfast talent (Joe and Andy I seem to recall). Lou was always ahead of the game, got out of radio when automation took over, and then moved to Washington DC to work for one of the first US Internet companies. But he never lost his interest in broadcasting - championing on-line listening. As others have pointed out, the Media Network programme in 1992 was actually a remake of a profile Lou originally made in 1985. As a kid living in New York, Lou got a Saturday job working at WNYW, Radio New York Worldwide and (thankfully) made some unique off the air studio recordings, Space Lou's first love was space - he was an authority on all the missions and found ways to follow launches from the early days. He was delighted at the success of the mission and was hoping to witness the SpaceX launch this week. Lou's second love was radio and in my Skype conversations with him over the last few days, I've been reminiscing about how his predictions about digital AM, on-line audio and satellite television were spot on. I know of few other people who were so well read on the global media, yet willing to share their knowledge and expertise with friends and colleagues around the world. And he competed with our Australian propagation specialist Mike Bird knowing his California wines like no other. Lou was not on Facebook or other social media platforms. But over the last few days, I did manage to pass on greetings from those who reacted to an earlier post on FB. Susan says those thoughts made him so happy. So long, Lou, and thanks for your being a great friend to many people around the world. Other tributes from former MN contributors: Many best wishes came in over the last few days, all of which were read to him by Susan. This included: Victor Goonetilleke in Sri Lanka writes: I enjoyed the clever jingles he made but also the many contributions to Media Network on changes to digital radio. I was happy to meet him in Washington DC after an SWLFEST and Lou helped me fulfill a teenage DX dream as I listened to VOA and JFKs final rites in 1963; To visit the Eternal Flame at Arlington National Cemetery. Lou took me there and then gave me a fantastic tour of DC. We always remember great friends like that with great affection. It is friends like Lou who make the hobby (?) of DXing, SWLing so fine..the highlight is not only in the signals that come through sitting alone in your shack. Take care Lou and all the very best my friend. Tom Sundstrom in New Jersey: I am very sorry to hear of Lou's illness and I hope he recovers quickly. Lou and I often exchanged phone calls and notes while we were both associated with MN. The MN work was fun and interesting. I can't believe so many years have intervened. Space interests me too; the JUNO precision orbit insertion was bloody amazing! Richard Cuff: I remember Lou joining us for an SWL Fest in Pennsylvania in the mid-2000s, where he presented a great retrospective on WRUL / WNYW, the commercial shortwave station with its heyday in the 1960s. And, of course, I remember him very well from Media Network. Lou, hope you get well soon! John Figliozzi: Lou, I too recall with great fondness the presentation you gave at the Winter SWL Fest now several years ago about WNYW--Radio New York Worldwide. It was one of the first shortwave stations I tuned in on my then brand new Heathkit GR-54 receiver. I listened to the station regularly and it was great to experience such a thorough history and background of the station that only you were able to provide. It was clear that we shared a love for that broadcaster. It was great to meet you then and to link a face with a voice that I heard regularly on Radio Netherlands' Media Network. I am sorry to hear of your health issues and hope that this small message of support can help in some tiny but significant and ultimately successful way. Godspeed.
We visit the 1992 FIRATO, one of the last public audio/video fairs to be held in Amsterdam. 131,000 turned up to see widescreen televisions. The analogue MAC system is running into trouble. Sony demonstrates a MiniDisc but fakes the demo. Grundig will expand its range of Satellit receivers. Bob Grove says there will be a slight delay to the SW-100 communications receiver. This is a 100% US product. There also working on a spectrum display unit. Julius Hermans has some tuning tips. Steve Whitt has a guide for ICF2001 owners. BASICCODE is to be discontinued alongside (Hobby)Scoop. Lou Josephs explains how stations are using databases for customer marketing. (Not bad for 1992). NAB Superradio is the most expensive piece of garbage we’ve ever seen. David Hill dropped by our studios to explain the future of Radio Australia. Victor Goonetilleke reports that SLBC is testing to North America. We discuss why Iran might be interested in building a relay station in Sri Lanka.
This edition of the programme from 1992 has news that Kuwait has started up 2 250kW transmitters, BBC World Service television to Asia has been spotted in the clear. Then we reexamine the war of words across the Straits of Taiwan. We look at stations like Radio Democracy. We also examine the rise and fall of the Christian Science Monitor World Service in Boston. Includes clips from the World Monitor channel. BBC is expanding its Pay TV service to Africa. CNN has also appeared on Astra. Lou Josephs reports that several MW frequencies are being blocked with English transmissions from Havana. Voice of Europe has also been testing. Mike Bird wraps up with propagation.
Sections of this programme were recorded on a train heading for Harwich-Hook of Holland. We start with the news from BBC's Peter Udell that they are starting to feed radio as well as TV signals on the satellite. Spain will build a relay station in Costa Rica. Philips and Dixons have launched a Get into SW campaign at 60 stores. Sony reworks Tony Hancock's Radio sketch. Andy Sennitt has been to see the Cable-Sat exhibition in Brighton but was disappointed. The UK is also planning to extend its marine broadcasting offences act from 3 to 12 miles offshore. Britain has published a Green Paper on Broadcasting. Roger Tidy reports on the views of the community radio lobby. Carl Josephs reports on the data signals being sent over 200 kHz longwave to switch domestic electricity meters between a high and low tariff.
The late Dave Rosenthal was a regular contributor to the Media Network programme in the 90's. He was fascinated by the sun and propagation - as well as being a US airforce pilot. What a great friend he was. In this programme he reviews a new specialist book about the subject. Then we go through the new Radio Netherlands summer transmission schedule in English (remember this is pre-Internet!). Victor Goonetilleke has been hearing Kashmir on 6300 kHz. And there's a report on the Kosuth radio network from Hungary about some strange observations.
This programme from 1992 starts with the news that Radio Netherlands board of governors has approved relays of its programmes via transmitters in the Former Soviet Union. Broadcasts to Asia should have improved reception quality. BBC World Service had fire-alarm at Bush House. BBC will also hire airtime in Russia. DW likewise. We review the Sony ICFSW15. Nick Meanwell is the new presentation manager at Radio Netherlands, ex BRMB. Jeff White is on the line to report Radio Recovery, to serve those affected by Hurricane Andrew.
Radio Netherlands starts feeding radio stations in Latin America and the Caribbean with a satellite signal. We profile the first commercial radio station in Bulgaria which has just started up; Radio Aura. A listener in Gwent brings up the start of TV Marti. We test the Lowe HF150 communications receiver in some depth. Radio Australia is talking about a television service.
This was the first of two programmes I made for Dutch Horizons, a great show on Radio Netherlands English service. I helped to set up an exchange between NHK Radio Japan and Radio Netherlands. Jazz is extremely popular in Japan. So Hans Mantel and I went with the best of Dutch jazz talent to challenge the Japanese to an improv concert. Did it once in Tokyo, then a few days later in Nagasaki. Glad I kept the tapes. Mantel is a brilliant radio performer as well as being a great musician. He is a fountain of anecdotes, even though his is always under construction.
Part two of the two par jazz show I recorded with Hans Mantel in Nagasaki Japan. I recall it was a very strange time to be in Japan with the aftermath of 9/11 so fresh in peoples' minds.
This was a sad week - presenter Pete Myers had passed away the week before. This programme included a great tribute from Victor Goonetilleke. We made a full tribute to Pete in a programme called A Talent to Amuse which is also archived on this site. But the programme also included news about media changes in Iraq. And a clandestine station, Voice of the Tamil Tiger is a new AM broadcasting station being heard in Sri Lanka. We also look at the possible link with London based IBC. Radio Napa in Cyprus is linking with several local stations around Europe for a Christmas special. Peter Walsh in Australia on the future of radio. Andy Sennitt is working on the Real Radio Ezine and came on permanent staff at Radio Netherlands. Media Network's Christmas Quiz wants you to tell us what you like. My son, Christopher who was 9 years old at the time did the intros this time. Fun times.... Picture shows Pete Myers with Dheera Sujan and Maggie Ayre.
I personally think the old Media Network was at its best when it mixed documentary features with informed reports from the network of media enthusiasts around the globe. We built all kinds of conversations about our shared passion for international broadcasting and searching for signals between "DC and daylight." This was a typical show from December 1997, which this time featured a new station in Buenos Aires. Stay tuned to this podcast channel, because news is coming about the return of Media Network in 2016. I am personally intrigued to find out what happened since we reported all this. You heard it here first.
This programme from April 1988 was a based on my personal trip to Indonesia. I took a shortwave radio and a Walkman Pro on my holidays, making tapes of the local broadcasts off-air to compile this travelogue. I'm glad these recordings have survived because you couldn't hear most of it on shortwave. I recall the Voice of Indonesia kept re-using tape, with the result that the print-through from previous broadcasts was clearly audible. Interested in a copy of DXing Indonesia? Leave a message in the comments section.
A year after I joined Radio Netherlands, I remember making a feature on the different kinds of music you could hear on Indonesian radio stations. Thousands of stations were operating on the lower shortwave bands in those days, which meant the signal would often spill over to other parts of world. Victor Goonetilleke would often report hearing stations, but also Dan Robinson on the US East Coast. I got tape back from some of the stations in the RRI network and compiled the feature you can hear in this release. In fact this was a one-off repeat broadcast via Bonaire to the Pacific. There had been a transmission failure during the original broadcast, and we got letters asking to hear it again. The answer was to do the second of the two Pacific broadcasts live. So that explains why I sign-off the transmission at the end. I wonder if there is interest in posting the brochure "DXing Indonesia" which I still have?
The feature producers at Radio Netherlands were always given the task of making extended pre-recorded Christmas and New Years Day programmes because there were no current affairs magazines like Newsline aired on those days. So Media Network suddenly became 46 minutes long. I'm glad I found this Christmas Day show from 1997 in time for Christmas 2015. It includes a feature about offshore radio. You will hear the voices of Jim Cutler, Lou Josephs, Vasily Strelinikov, Andy Sennitt, Bryan Clarke, Esther van Pluym, Willemien Groot, Ray Anderson et al, Victor Goonetilleke, Katherine Farnon and Mike Bird. Please don't write to those addresses or call the answerline. Although it sounds fresh, this is time travel back to 18 years ago. Christmas was always a special time at Radio Netherlands, especially for kids of staff and freelancers. The visit of Sinterklaas a few weeks before at the start of December was always a highlight. Wherever you are this year and whatever you celebrate, I wish you peace, happiness and joy.
This edition of Media Network includes details of Radio Netherlands summer transmission schedule, an interview with the late Joop Heintz about the project together with Radio Benidorm and Director General Lodewijk Bouwens on the setting up of the BVN Television service. I see that BVN is finally streaming its for viewers outside the Benelux, though I am not sure why they are using a rather old-fashioned Flash-based player.
In 1981 we experimented with live special editions of Media Network directed to South Asia. There was a lot of mail coming in from India and Sri Lanka (mainly postcards) which we couldn't handle in the regular show. It was always a balance too - we were talking about technology that was not readily available in South Asia. But the feedback we got was that was an excellent reason to listen. This programme is 34 years old - from an era when phone calls were very expensive and mail sometimes took up to 3 months to arrive in Hilversum.
This early edition of the Media Network programme has details of proposed cuts at BBC World Service with a call to Douglas Muggeridge, the Director General. There was a feature on ethnic stations like 2EA in Sydney and short-term holiday stations in New Zealand.
In June 1995 we decided to borrow some airtime from Robert Chesal and broadcast a live programme from the Netherlands broadcasting museum. The premises were on the South side of Hilversum on the Oude Amerfoortse Weg 121 in what looked like a warehouse in those days. This was a decade before they moved to brand new on the Media Park, although much of the collection of old equipment didn't move with them. Since it was 60 years of the Dutch transmission authority NOZEMA we put on a ham radio station from the broadcast museum, in line with similar experiments we did on the Flevo polder in 1985. The shortwave transmitter site still stands on the Flevo polder, and Peter Veenendaal has posted a lovely which is now owned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence. We're told it is a backup system in case satellites fail or get hacked. One thing about analogue shortwave radio, it is difficult to block. This programme was one of several live segments Jeff Clayborn and I did during the day marking 100 years of radio, 60 years of NOZEMA, and 10 years of Flevo. Check out the helicopter sequence when they put a on top of the Lopik TV Tower.
This extended edition of Media Network broadcast on January 1st 1998 contains an extensive international survey on the state of the international shortwave receiver market. This was probably the peak of the shortwave listening period, when more than 60 receivers were available on the market. This was probably the most extensive survey we ever completed. Presenters Jonathan Marks and Diana Janssen. Enjoy!
There used to be an annual hi-fi and TV exhibition at the RAI Amsterdam called FIRATO. It gradually died out as organisers realized that going to see pop stars dancing on stages next to gadgets didn't sell any more gadgets. The acoustics in the vast halls bear no resemblance to what it sounded like at home. When we visited in 1982, the show was already passed its peak. I was always surprised that a new shortwave radio was often shown there, though seldom on the market until months after. Back then DAT was the big story. In 2015, the only show in Europe left is IFA in Berlin, but I seriously wonder for how much longer.
More editions of Media Network from a very turbulent year -1982. Malta and Libya had entered into a Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, in response to repeated overtures by for a closer, more formal union between the two countries; and, for a brief period, Arabic had become a compulsory subject in Maltese secondary schools. German international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, was forced to shut down its relay station on the island under the Foreign Interference Act. Mike Barraclough gives a plus for the popular Reading Meetings for SWLs. Voice of Greece and RTBF Belgium are being heard well at the moment. Tony Jones (pictured) gives us a feature about the return to shortwave of several Bolivian stations. We speak with George Otis, who has built the religious station the Voice of Hope that we're hearing on the 49-metre band. Professor John Campbell reports that some clandestine radio stations are replying to listeners letters. Radio Venceremos has an address in Mexico City. Richard Ginbey has an item about Radio Biko. Strange things happening in Swaziland, following the death of their long-reigning Monarch.
We started with an interview with Patrick Humphreys (pictured) who explains the demise of Voices magazine - an attempt to start a listening guide about the programmes on international broadcasting. Financially, it turns out to have been a disaster. This edition includes a profile by Richard Ginbey of broadcasting in Botswana as it was in 1982. There was also an oblique reference to the World and Rhodesia programme which the BBC broadcast from a transmitter site in Botswana. It would be 1995 before we discovered exactly what BBC's Douglas Muggeridge . We rang up the charming Andrew Piper, programme organiser at the BBC who explained about new series they were launching. We interview an author on new propagation theories. Victor Goonetilleke rounds out the edition with recordings he made of a coup in the Seychelles.
Paul Ballister reports from London on a Polish clandestine radio station supporting the Solidarity movement which has popped up in London. And Radio 4 Today's programme has been talking about pirates. Media Network was a labour of love for all those who contributed on a regular basis. Richard Ginbey, at that time a media enthusiast working in broadcasting in South Africa, compiled a series of radio portraits using his own extensive recordings taken off air. I think that they are probably some of the only surviving recordings of radio stations in places like Angola. Also, check out of the . This edition also contains an interview with Michiel Schaay, the Dutch author and publisher of many utility books.
The programme starts with news of a clandestine radio station, Radio Solidarity, broadcasting within Poland. The country is under marshall law. And BFBS has started a special programme of requests to the UK Task Force heading to the Falklands. In fact, those broadcasts from BBC Ascension Island were monitored in Buenos Aires and later used by an Argentine propaganda station to address the same UK troops. Sarah Kennedy was giving out names so the Argentines knew who was on which ship. We also asked the BBC World Service about their extended coverage in English and Spanish to Latin America. Beverley Wakeham has news on the fate of the Radio New Zealand shortwave service. And we solved the mystery of that strange Spanish language radio station reported back on April 1st.
Remember the TV ship broadcasting off the Israeli coast? Neither did I until I revisited this edition of Media Network and an interview done by Kas Van Iersel. There was also the on-going discussions about Radio Marti to Cuba. We talk with the late Willem Bos about Citizen's Band Radio on 27 MHz. He's set up a magazine to serve this new audience of radio enthusiasts. Dennis Powell has news about clandestine broadcasting in Afghanistan. Radio Caroline is promising to return over Easter. No mediumwave frequency has been announced. Arthur Cushen reports on Australian pirates. And we conclude with a unique recording of a strange Spanish language radio station. Professor John Campbell had some interesting theories.
We start this edition with news about clandestine radio stations being set up to broadcast to Afghanistan, currently occupied by Soviet troops. Dennis Powell reports on concerns in the US about vastly expanded Cuban mediumwave stations and possible interference. Andy Sennitt reports about the legendary format change for WABC in New York to all talk. We phoned RTV Hong Kong to find out why they were going on shortwave for a brief period. Richard Ginbey presents Part 2 of his illustrated feature on radio in Mozambique. Those recordings of Radio Free Mozambique must be unique these days. No-one else has kept this material. Sadly, Richard was killed in a car accident. Not sure what happened to his cassette collection of those radio recordings. Dan Robinson has been hearing Radio Portugal and Radio Singapore with very strong signals.
This edition of the programme involved phoning more than 9 different shortwave stations in the USA as non-government licences to broadcast internationally were dished out by the FCC, following the lead of WRNO in New Orleans. We also tested the Philips AC739, one of the few car radio shortwave receivers with more than the 49 metre band on them. I guess there are probably no surviving examples for this set left on the planet. I remember using it for a couple of years, but it was incredibly fiddly to change stations. Not recommended while driving.
From time to time we mentioned the low-power Canadian shortwave relays on the Media Network programme. These transmissions were originally intended for listeners in the far North of Canada as a way of hearing some of the commercial stations. But when part of the antenna came down in the storm, the owners decided to switch to an omnidirectional pattern. CFRB/CFRX in Toronto was featured in this 1984 edition of Media Network. The photo is of Harold Sellers, one of the founders of the Ontario DX Association, who still responds to for those lucky enough to hear the station. In the end, these stations lasted longer than Radio Canada International.
In July 2004 I decided it was time to use the summer to reorganise the Media Network archive. By that time, there were around 180 shows which I had made, plus several DX Juke Box specials from previous presenters. We were also getting correspondence from listeners in North America asking us to cover home computers and do less on antennas and build-your-own equipment like aerial preselectors. We decided to revamp the consumer guides like the Receiver Shopping List. Looking back on it, these were probably some of the most comprehensive publications of their day. This edition was also the first time we profiled the Radio Netherlands Training Centre. Started in 1969 in combination with Philips, the training centre became very important to Radio Netherlands strategy in Africa and Latin America. I find it fascinating to listen to the philosophy of Jaap Swart, the centre's first managing director because I think it still applies more than 30 years later.
This programme includes news of the rebuild of Radio Australia's facility, following damage by in 1974. Barry Seeber reports that 3 250 kW are being tested. The English language broadcasts will be relayed by Darwin once the station is fully operational. We also had news of shortwave tests from KFBS Saipan. They were using a 100 kW transmitter. Both Arthur Cushen and Victor Goonetilleke report good reception. The BBC has announced plans for a satellite TV service. Sinclair computing is interested in producing receivers for the home. We review the ICR-71 communications receiver - and the fact that the radio has 32 memories! Bill Whitacre reports from Washington DC that stations in Honduras are being heard well on the US East Coast. Following a tip from Roger Tidy, we picked up Laser 729 kHz in Hilversum is back on the air.
This edition of the programme looked at a religious radio station in Bethel, PA USA. YouTube now has video from the transmission site we're talking about in the programme. We also talked to UK listener Gordon Bennett about receiver specifications and the lack of standards in measuring radio sets. Pete Myers reports on the FRG-8800 from Yaesu. It can be controlled by a home computer. The ICOM ICR-71 interface has disappointed some. We review the book Harrier at War by Alfred Price about the radio side to the Falklands Conflict in 1982. This book looks at electronic warfare and the huge amount of money spent on deliberate interference. Richard Ginbey has a Mediaview feature on broadcasting in Rwanda. As usual it has some rather unique off-air recordings. We talk with Nevil Gray, who used to work with Deutsche Welle about the "Publicity in Africa project" which turned out to be a tax dodge. Andy Sennitt has news about King of Hope in Lebanon. Radio Netherlands new transmitters on the Flevo polder are testing on 9895 kHz next week.
These days it would be daft to broadcast long technical reviews of radio receivers over the radio. But in 1984, there were few sources of independent information about the performance of shortwave radios. So we used to send out lots of copies of our on-air reviews. This edition contains our summary of the ICOM-ICR71E, a communications receiver which was around until the mid-90's.
I remember this trip to Stockholm as though it were yesterday. I tried to cover this DX convention at Radio Sweden by editing interviews in my hotel room and then rushing back to Swedish radio to feed the result down a line to Hilversum so it could be cut into the broadcast tape of Media Network. I underestimated the complexity of the process, especially as I was used to fine editing with a razor blade and the UHER reel to reel tape was so thin it curled on the splicing block. The European DX Council meetings were mainly social gatherings - I rather enjoyed them. This was the first time I met Media Network contributor Victor Goonetilleke from Sri Lanka. I remember him shivering as we all waited for the boat trip on a summer evening. The programme also contains contributions from Professor John Campbell and Richard Ginbey has some unique recordings from Radio Cameroon.
This is a news edition of the show. The Catholic church is increasing its power in the light of the success of HCJB in Quito Ecuador. There is a new transmitter site being built in Sveio, Norway. (Note there is of the antenna being dismantled in 2012). Jim Vastenhoud talks about the possible move to Single Sideband. There's a promo for the Receiver Shopping List Edition 7 because 18 new receivers have come onto the world market. African Media Network reporter Richard Ginbey has noted Angola is now operating 24 hours a day. A lot of stations are drifting down the dial. We look at Radio Truth, a station beaming from South Africa towards Zimbabwe. We ask what's happened to Radio Database International and talk to Larry Magne.
KYOI will get its transmitter delivered to Saipan next week. We called Charles Brigg at the FCC who explained that KNLS Alaska still has to do environmental tests in Alaska before it can begin broadcasting over to the North Pole. And in Florida, a new station is preparing to go on the air. We look at the rather solemn coverage on Radio Moscow of the death of Leonid Brezhnev. There seems to be a new clandestine station in Libya. Elsewhere in this clandestine special, Professor John Campbell looks at trends in Italy and Ireland from unlicensed stations - and we look at the war of words between China and Taiwan.
We start the programme with several reports from listeners that Laser Radio is back from the North Sea, this time on a new frequency of 558 kHz. They are advertising for DJ's from a PO Box address in Grand Central Station, New York City. Prof John Campbell has been investigating The Voice of National Resistance of Mozambique which has been closed down as part of an agreement between South Africa and Mozambique. Radio Free Suriname is still on the air on 6850 kHz. There seem to be several unofficial FM pirates operating in German from Belgium near Aachen. Bob Chaundy reports on the Philips D7456 cassette radio and 9 band shortwave receiver. There is African Media News with Richard Ginbey who reports on stations from Southern Africa. There are problems with a Japanese DBS satellite. Radio Japan's signal to their Gabon relay station has been interrupted for several days. Radio Sweden has changed its interval signal. Iraq has started using 13 MHz. Sky Channel's Patrick Cox explains why it has taken so long to get their signal distributed in the Netherlands.
We're hearing a clandestine station from Central America, targeting Cuban troops serving in Angola and Ethiopia. Called Radio , it is named after the Cuban revolutionary who fought alongside Castro. But, in fact, this station has an anti-Castro message. Laser Radio 558 has started broadcasting from the North Sea. We learn some of the details about the ship being used. The crew is entirely American. The supplies come from Spain. Richard Ginbey's Mediaview looks at Equatorial Guinea. There are some rather unique off-air clips of Radio Malabo in his report. Prof John Campbell passes on some interesting anecdotes about the letters coming out from that country. We announced a computer program for propagation. Hans Bakhuizen explains how this has been developed. This is called MICROMUF has been derived, which shows the max and minimum usable frequency. Arthur Cushen reports that DX meetings are popular in the South Pacific.
By the mid-eighties, many international broadcasters were locked in a power race as the shortwave broadcast bands were full with the output of some 100 different countries. We looked at the plans that NHK Radio Japan were examining to strengthen their overseas signal. Because although Japan was the main country producing shortwave radios, it's commitment to shortwave broadcasting has always been somewhat meagre. Even today (2015) Japan broadcaster NHK is not allowed by law to make extensive use of the Internet - due to some archaic law designed to protect publishers. For some reason, NHK only used phone line quality connections to its shortwave relay stations for many years. That made music sound particularly awful. This program also contains a rare interview with Nico Bogaart, who was Director General at Radio Netherlands for a very short period. Much liked for his kindness and approachability, he sadly took his own life a short time after taking office.
It wasn't often that the spy number stations strayed into the part of the dial reserved for ham radio operators. But on this occasion, radio amateurs in Germany and Austria were furious when one of the espionage senders did just that. They did some direction finding and pinpointed the signal as coming from Czechoslovakia. We also look at the clandestine transmissions beaming across the straits of Florida. Robert Horvitz asked the organisers of what was holding up their return to the airwaves. Dennis Powell has news about a new type of rating system to find out what motorists are listening to. It is called . Universal Shortwave has set up an electronic bulletin board and Dxers Directory. Fred Osterman explains. Remember this is about 10 years before the Internet was opened up to the general public.
This edition of the programme explores the state of international satellite television. At that time, a commercial company in Amsterdam called Holland on Satellite was hiring airtime in the US for Holland promotion. But the BBC's Managing Director of External Broadcasting, , floated an idea of a TV service of sorts - sounded to me more like "radio with pictures". Interesting that he didn't see any future for direct- satellite delivered radio programmes. Radio France Internationale has been building a relay station in French Guyana. They are expanding their output in foreign languages, especially in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. There is also offshore radio news: Laser 730 signs off temporarily. Kas Van Iersel has been talking with the founder of Radio Paradise.
This is the third and final part of one of the first sound portraits I made of Dutch broadcasting in the 1980's. It includes a profile of Radio Bloemendaal, which has retained its mediumwave licence to broadcast on 1116 kHz since it was granted by the Dutch government in 1924. A lot has changed in Hilversum since this programme series was made, but Radio Bloemendaal is still on the air every Sunday from 09-21 hrs local Dutch time (+1 UTC in winter, +2 in summer) and every Tuesday from 12-1330 hrs. The transmitter belongs to the , formerly the Dutch reformed church of Bloemendaal. Their broadcasts also go out over the . For reference, the other two parts are here.
Thanks to on Twitter for pointing out that this edition was missing. Fixed now. More suggestions welcome.
This news edition of the programme kicks off the new year 1995 with a range of new items. This was a good example of a news show without a particular theme, based on a "crowd sourced" pile of news items. Victor Goonetilleke is hearing a new station from Ethiopia Radio Fanaa, DW has announced the old Radio Berlin International transmitter site in Nauen is to be upgraded. Voice of America announces major expansion and record audiences. Pete Costello has launched a catalogue of hypertext links. All the mediumwave stations in Austria have signed off for the last time.
This early Media Network is more than 30 years old, so be gentle when listening to it. Lou Josephs reports from Boston on how radio stations across the US have united to play the USA for Africa single, we are the world. Voice of America is expanding both its output and audience according to VOA Director designate Gene Pell. A VOA relay station is being planned for Belize. We discuss the use of a computer interfaces to control a shortwave radio. The TROS has published plans for the Sinclair ZX-80. Rainer Lichte has published plans to connect to a Apple IIe to a shortwave radio. The 10th West Coast computer fair has just closed. Our reporter talked to computer critic John C. Dvorak, now a host on the popular podcast and on the TWIT network. John actually had some interesting thoughts about why the home computer was never going to make it. Richard Ginbey had several interesting clips from the airwaves in his African Media report. John Campbell also has clandestine radio news, including a follow-up to the book Secret Warfare.
For many years, Media Network had a shorter version sent to around 150 foreign radio stations for rebroadcast on FM. That worked better than crackly shortwave, although the fading and static added to the magic of distance in different ways. This transcription edition of Media Network features an interview with Radio Netherlands Dutch Service presenter Wim Vriezen, someone who became one of the leading voices on the programme Newsline Europe. One of the best all-round news presenters in the Netherlands.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet revolution are starting to have an affect on stations serving Eastern Europe. This programme looked at the major changes announced to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty with budget cuts to staff numbers from 1540 to 705 people. In 1993 the Munich based station had a budget of US$200 million dollars. Services to Afghanistan, were stopped! Melisse Fleming explained they were moving eastwards. Olrich Cip, (in photo), frequency manager at Radio Prague explains the implications of the recent split of the Czechoslovak republic. Wolfgang Pleines at DW has news of changes to Deutschlandfunk. Hans Bakhuizen explains DAB tests about to start in Hilversum and why they are important. Lou Josephs reports that DAB tests are to happen in the US but with their own system. There are problems with the current audio algorhythms. Radio Australia is testing two transmitters from its new facility in Darwin.
This transcription version of Media Network was sent to about 150 stations who subscribed to a condensed version of the show. Obviously propagation reports were not relevant, and we were concious that the items had to be less time sensitive. This edition looks at the rise of rebroadcasting activities and distribution challenges facing BBC World Service, Radio Finland, RFE/RL, Radio Netherlands and Radio Austria International. Interesting to listen to this programme 20 years later, and realise that many of the fears expressed by the international stations actually came true. The rise of the gatekeeper has always been the biggest hurdle to the international broadcasters. If only FM radio could travel over the horizon, the scene would have been different. And this is before the convenience and lower costs of digital satellite television made it into a much more effective medium for many countries.
By the mid-nineties, the Internet was starting to interest many people in the communications business. We made trips to Silicon Valley to figure out what was going on and the role played by Stanford University. This is one of those on-location safaris. Diana Janssen and I spent some fascinating days talking to Netscape and various audio companies working on early mp3 players. We also visited Neil G Scott, who was building the Archimedes project on the campus of Stanford University. He later moved everything to . He was busy working out alternative interfaces to the mouse. Remember this is two years before Google went public and speech recognition was in very early stages.
This edition of the programme starts with an interview with Jim Vastenhoud. He was one of the authors of a fact finding survey to Asia where Radio Netherlands examined possibilities to build a new relay facility in the region and boost it's signal. Vastenhoud explains the reasons for narrowing down the options. NDXE says it has approached Voice of America in order to hire airtime on a mothballed SW radio facility in Dixon, California. That reminded me of station WLW in Mason, Ohio which was hired by VOA at the outbreak of war. Its famous diamond-shaped antenna mast is still there. In other news, Sky channel announces a major expansion plan when the Astra satellite launches later this year. Alan Sugar says he will deliver the dish sets for 199 pounds. A US listener travelling in Europe has heard a strange sound which turns out to be a national paging system. Arthur Cushen has been hearing distant stations on mediumwave from a listening post in New Zealand.
This programme carries the news about the launch of Classic FM in the UK and several stations having been recovering from storm damage. Jonathan Marks does a just outside broadcast from his garden, putting several commercial antennas side by side with some off-air examples of what they bring in. (Actually those antennas are still standing 20 years later!) We cross to Oslo Norway to find out the extent of the cutbacks announced at Radio Norway International. There are some rather spectacular videos on YouTube showing the described in this programme. This happened much later. We also get an update on the mystery spy number stations from UK listener Simon Mason. That includes the Lincolnshire Poacher.
We had just installed a new answerline recorder. Listeners want to know about the Sony SW600, the existance of a portable MP3 player, frequency changes for RNW, Victor has been hearing Radio Miami International - a rare catch in Asia. Voice of the Tamil Tiger being jammed by Sri Lankan authorities. Michel Schmidt wants to know about DAB in Germany and the Netherlands. 1997 will be the year of introduction. We followed the launch of Radio-E, set up to demonstrate digital radio. Radio Netherlands launches a daily email newsletter. The NOS Gender monitoring unit has been closed down. The Dutch seem to be rather traditional. Only 18% of all experts on TV are women. We got a lot of reaction to our contest. Arthur Cushen recalls a record frost - and excellent mediumwave reception in Invercargill New Zealand.
The programme starts with the voice of the late Paul Holmes, a New Zealand broadcaster who worked at RNW in 1980. I did shifts with him. International broadcasters usually have friends all over the world, but few in their own country. That's because they don't target their own people - and politicians are often clueless as to what their role is, relying on hearsay. During its life as a broadcaster, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep would regularly become the subject of commissions. One of the most important reports was put together by the (Media Council) in 1992, and triggered a major reorganisation of the station in 1994. Trans World Radio has hired airtime from Radio Tirana Albania..unthinkable a few years before. WRTH reports that Radio Czechoslovakia International may shortly change its name again as the country splits in 1993. Marcel Rommerts has problems hearing BBC Radio 1 on 1053 kHz. Russian separatists are jamming a station. Andy Sennitt makes me a cup of tea. Lou Josephs says the new transmitter in Costa Rica from Spanish Foreign Radio is difficult to hear. John Catlett of Radio Luxembourg announces the decision to end the English language programming on the great 208. The programme concludes with an interview with Pat Gowen, , who's fascinated by reception of satellites on the wrong side of the Earth.
There are rumours in Holland about the start of a second TV service from RTL, to be called. Vasily Strelnikov reports from Moscow about the start of the Voice of Russia, and its plans to serve the Russian speakers living in the Ukraine (sic- compare 1992 to 2014). There was an extensive WARC report from Malaga, Spain. Some important issues remain deadlocked on future expansion on shortwave broadcast bands. Victor Goonetilleke reports that SLBC has started a service to North America.
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 player...
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. BBC reports that Radio Kuwait is back on the air. Radio Baghdad has also returned to the air. Gulf Voice Radio is also being heard. Radio Monte Carlo is also being heard in French. The programme ends with the propagation survey from Mike Bird.
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 wants to revamp its international radio service in French with a new name.
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.
Radio Tirana has stopped using the Internationale and announced some curious changes to its transmissions, including taking adverts! Vasily Strelnikov on Radio Moscow says hallo to Radio Netherlands and wants a programme schedule! Radio Moscow is running syndicated programmes from Australia and has also made some drastic cutbacks to its English service. There has been a 10% cutback last year. BBC Monitoring has spotted a new station called Voice of Free Iraq. It mimics the real Radio Baghdad in its use of music. Paraguay is being heard on 11945 kHz with just 500 watts. Richard Ginbey reports that test transmissions have started from BBC's Lesotho site. Namibia Broadcasting Corporation has new station Idents, and to go on shortwave. Radio Truth targeting Zimbabwe has closed down. Rudy Van Dalen, reports hearing the Lincolnshire Poacher numbers station out of Cyprus. Clandestine station Agent 847 is also jammed. An anti-Sudanese clandestine station is also being blocked with a very old fashioned jamming sound. Radio France Internationale has been given the go ahead for a major transmitter upgrade. BFBS Middle East has started shortwave broadcasts plus operating an FM station out of al-jubail, a city in Northern-Eastern Saudi Arabia. NHK has started a morning broadcast in Urdu via Ekala, Sri Lanka. The BBC may have to close it's Hong Kong relay station. It is 41 degrees in Melbourne, where Mike Bird has the propagation news.
A listener-powered edition of the programme, with a range of updates from the shortwave bands. What power is being used by Radio Luxembourg on 15 MHz? The answer is 10 kW. Julius Hermans has been listening to Radio Ala, and Radio Dublin is back on 6910 kHz. There is a shortage of books about HF propagation. Dave Rosenthal has been reviewing what's available. Radio Netherlands English broadcasts are expanding to the Pacific. So why isn't QSL and DX in the Oxford English Dictionary. Victor Goonetilleke has been following broadcasts from Kashmir. A Purple Hair story from Hungary. In 1995 experiments with digital radio experiments (DAB) are due to start in the Netherlands. Arthur Cushen has media news updates from Tonga. The shortwave transmitter on 5030 kHz has been moved to a new building. Radio Free Bougainville is verifying reports via Sam Voron.
This was one of the few broadcasts to originate from a train. I was on my way back from London after meeting Richard Astbury, of British Forces Broadcasting Service based at that time in studios next to Paddington Station. He explained why they had started shortwave broacasts to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf. Andy Sennitt was trying to get a FIDO bulletin board working in Amsterdam and a company in Bussum wanted to use broadcast networks in Holland for scrambled distribution of programmes in the middle of the night. Bert Steinkamp and Andrew Taussig explain what international broadcasters are trying to do to improve coverage of their own continent. Trevor Brook of Surrey Electronics has critical remarks about Dynamic Amplitude Modulation.
This edition of the programme includes the news that the American Forces Radio relay in Berlin is to sign-off. We also reported on the death of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, as reported by Radio Pyongyang. BBC Caversham reports that Rwanda may be returning to shortwave, which we assumed was the transmitter site built by Deutsche Welle in Kigali. VOA is looking to expand their FM distribution in Africa.
At one time, Radio Netherlands was planning to build a third relay station to improve its shortwave radio coverage into South Asia and China. the late Bert Steinkamp and Jim Vastenhoud went on a fact finding mission to look at possible sites. Jim Vastenhoud came into the Media Network studio to explain the findings. In the end, the BBC found the money to build a station in Thailand - and Radio Netherlands did not.
Twenty years ago, I was part of a Radio Netherlands delegation to a conference in Quito, Ecuador on the future of radio, especially community radio. At that time many local radio stations were finding it difficult to compete with the new giant (international) music networks delivering slickly presented music programmes via satellite. They were buying up local FM licenses across the continent. Most of this programme was recorded in Quito and includes several off-air montages of stations broadcasting at that time. Enjoy.
This was the first of several visits we made to the VERON amateur radio news station, which operated at that time out of a tower in the Sikkens (now AKZO) paint factory in Sassenheim. You could see the antennas as you passed by the factory on the A44 motorway. The news service from the VERON still exists, and can also be followed . Again, remember this is all 10 years before the Internet was invented. So the only way to exchange news about ham radio was by radio or in a printed bulletin. The did both.
Here we are 32 years after this programme was made and some people still hope that AM stereo is going to work. Of course, AM Stereo was analogue technology. In the meantime, several attempts have been made to digitize the AM broadcast dial with technologies like HDRadio and DRM. Frankly, I think the conclusions we drew in 1983 apply now. It isn't going to happen. But it is still fun to discuss why. Enjoy this vintage edition of Media Network.
I remember Malta on my radio map because Deutsche Welle built a relay station for North Africa on the island, which was later nationalised. Malta started getting closer to both Algeria and Libyan. In this programme we interviewed the new station manager of the "Radio Mediterranean". The aim was to give Malta a voice in the world. In the of the Broadcasting Authority of Malta, there's a passage indicating that these government agreements for stations like DW and Radio Mediterranean were set up directly by the Maltese government. Although the contractual relationship that existed between the Broadcasting Authority and the Rediffusion were also operative with the Telemalta Corporation (when the latter became responsible through its broadcasting division, Xandir Malta) the same cannot be said for those stations which operated under direct licence from the Government. At the start of 1979 these included the Central Mediterranean Relay Station; the British Forces Broadcasting Service; the Deutsche Welle Relay Station; TiveMalta Ltd.; the Voice of Friendship and Solidarity (later Voice of the Mediterranean operating under joint management provided by the Maltese and Libyan Governments); and Radio Mediterranean (a joint venture between the Maltese and Algerian Governments) – all these were not contracted by the Authority Thanks to Mario J Cachi for the photo of Valetta. Never been to Malta myself , but one day...
This is a very early Media Network magazine documentary about broadcasting in Southern Africa, when apartheid South Africa had stations operating from the various "homelands". We had no internet, only cassettes - and the link to the late Frits Greveling who had presented and produced the previous DX show to this one, DX Juke Box. He returned to Johannesburg to work for several South African radio stations. Although the style is totally out of date, the information about broadcasting in Southern Africa in the early 1980's remains fascinating. I note that there's a site dedicated to the memory of Capital 604 Transkei. You can find most of the jingles they used . You may also find the video interview with David Smith to be interesting. He also had adventures with Capital Radio which can be found .
In 1983, Media Network broadcast a series of features on forces broadcasting. At the time, the Dutch were part of a UN peace keeping mission in Lebanon. It was also the era of FM pirate radio stations in many cities in the Netherlands. So, infact, Dutch forces radio had its origins as a pirate radio station. Infact the story of the Dutch forces is now brilliantly told at the new , which opened on December 13th 2014 on the grounds of the former American Air Force base in Soesterberg.
In 1983, Media Network ran a series of thematic features on Forces Broadcasting. This was the final part, which featured the British Forces Broadcasting Service. Apart from an FM transmitter in the South of the Netherlands, BFBS was heard widely on the cable radio systems in many cities across the Netherlands. FM signals could be picked up from neighbouring Germany by the aerials on the top of the cable head ends. But propagation was not reliable enough to hear FM signals from the UK. So, no BBC Radio 4. Remember this is 5 years before we saw the launch of SKY television. The photo is of BFBS in Hamburg in 1946, which is referred to in the interview.
This was a new edition of the programme covering the strange move by President Reagan to use clandestine Radio Liberation broadcasting from El Salvador. VOA Spanish is much better received in the target area of Nicaragua. We also learned that Radio France Internationale has decided against putting a relay station in Sri Lanka, looking at the island of Reunion instead (later dropped when they discovered the island is prone to very high winds). Mark Deutsch at BBC World Service explains their expansion plans for satellite coverage of Europe. People are not watching the new Superchannel service because there are no subtitles on the programmes. Radio Lebanon has been off the air because of a heat wave in Beirut. We also covered the Berlin Audio and Video Fair. Sony has launched a radio with a fax receiver built in SR6768. We learn about EuroMac and why Philips believes DAT will not take off as a consumer tape standard. Wolf Harranth reports on an Italian station broadcasting to Slovenia. Enthusiasts in the Netherlands have discovered a way to make free international calls via Denmark.
A nice summer edition of Media Network in which Diana and I looked at a revival of Radio Caroline in the Netherlands, organised by Sietse Brouwer from Harlingen. Land-based pirate stations have been meeting in London. Bob Tomalski reports on one of the biggest booze-ups in 35 years. Bob laments that the old passion has gone. Audio quality is not what it used be. Bryan Clark reports from New Zealand on the reappearance of American Forces stations on shortwave. And that includes Diego Garcia. We also looked at the future of radio design, highlighting some work going on at the University of Twente.
Media Network broadcast several radio safari's during its 20 year run. Looking back on them now they provide an illustrated time capsule of what (radio) broadcasting was like in several countries in the latter part of the 20th Century. Perhaps this one is the earliest. This was an illustrated radio documentary I made about Indonesian radio broadcasting, based on a holiday trip I took in 1988. I recall taking an ICF2001D and a Walkman Professional so as to capture sound effects of the train journey and do some off-air recordings with the radio. I thought the programme was lost, but while going through a box of old cassettes in July 2019 I discovered a copy of the original programme, which actually survived better than the original reel-to-reel. So I have reposted it here again. The sounds of RRI in English, especially on the local stations was something out of a living radio museum. I realise that the book "South-East Asia on a shoestring" by Tony Wheeler which I mentioned in the programme, turned into the Lonely Planet Guide. Enjoy.
This was an early attempt to do longer investigative features. We start the programme looking at the challenges facing the satellite broadcast industry (remember this is well before the launch of SKY television). Richard Ginbey also did a marathon overview of the history of broadcasting in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. I think the off-air recordings are rather unique - not sure that much has survived. He put this togther using cassette tape recorders - must have taken ages. And the programme ends with tuning suggestions from Andy Sennitt and Arthur Cushen.
Radio South Atlantic was a short-lived clandestine radio station started by the UK Ministry of Defence with programmes aimed at Argentine troops on the Falkland islands. This programme was broadcast from a transmitter on Ascension Island which was temporarily taken away from BBC World Service. The Falklands War (: Guerra de las Malvinas), also known as the Falklands Conflict, Falklands Crisis and the Guerra del Atlántico Sur (Spanish for "South Atlantic War"), was a ten-week war between and the over two in the : the and . It began on Friday 2 April 1982 when and (and, ) in an attempt to establish . On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval to engage the and before making an on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. This is a studio copy of Radio South Atlantic. In May 1982, the British government decided to set up a Spanish language radio station targeting Argentine troops. This was probably in response to an Argentine radio station (nicnamed Argentine Annie by the UK press) which appeared on shortwave some weeks earlier using the Beatles theme "Yesterday" as a signature tune. I was editing the Media Network programme at the time. We could hear Radio South Atlantic in Hilversum - but the signal was very weak. So I rang the British embassy in the Hague and asked if it would be possible to get a studio copy of the programme to use in a documentary feature we were making. A few days later, a courier riding a large motorbike arrived at RN's reception and asked for me. I went down to the front-desk to sign for the tape. "But you can't keep this tape. You can only listen to it" was the message from guy in the helmet. "I have to take it back to the Hague in about half an hour". I said I'd look for an empty studio, gave the guy a large coffee and wandered casually round the corner. Then I made a mad dash to the fast copy-room used to make tape copies of RNW transcription programmes for other radio stations. It had a machine that could copy tapes at around 8 times faster than normal. Luckily, Jos, the guy in charge, saw my challenge, set up the machine immediately and 15 minutes later I was back in reception to return the tape to the messanger. And I had a copy. It seems the British dropped leaflets over the Falklands to try and spread the word that this shortwave radio station existed. And we later analysed the programme. It was classic Sefton Delmer (Black Propaganda), although rather poorly presented. Bit like calling up Vera Lynne if the British had a dispute with France. But this is one of the few surviving recordings of Radio South Atlantic. You be the judge of how effective it all was.
This programme has a strong Latin American flavour starting with the news of test transmissions from Radio For Peace International in Costa Rica. Sky Channel in the UK is not making money yet but has no intention of stopping. Some broadcasters are experimenting with AM stereo. Don Rhodes in Australia reports that Deutsche Welle is going to start testing the new 22 metre shortwave band. A special shortwave broadcast is on the air from a station in Syria during the Mediterraean Games. We then announced the Radio Netherlands SSB Feeder Challenged. RNW has to bridge a four-week gap in the satellite feed to Madagascar. A special SSB transmitter was hired at a transmitter site at Ruislede, Belgium. The first edition of Passport to World Band Radio is reviewed with Harry Kliphuis. Christian Zettl from Austria is travelling in Central America and has been investigating some strange political clandestine radio stations in Guatemala, including one with a connection to a recording by Nat King Cole.
Jonathan gets a tube of "on-air" radio toothpaste. China is being relayed by Swiss Radio International, some transmissions being well heard. We started to spot strong signals from Radio Beijing but not coming from Europe. Dave Rosenthal explains Electrometeors and why lightning can make shortwave radios suddenly insensitive. Carefully tuned outdoor antennas can "blow-up" the front end of a portable radio. In fact, the Sony ICF2001D was particularly suspectible. A lightning arrestor is a bit of a misnomer. We review the RFB40L shortwave portable from Panasonic. We also report on superconductor research displayed at Telecom 87 in Geneva by AT&T.
A New Year has dawned but without the expected reduction in Soviet jamming of Western broadcasters. West German television airs the wrong new year speech from Chancellor Kohl. The Dutch have been measuring devices for radio interference levels, banning two devices because of poor shielding. We also talk to the UK engineers who had to shield a football stadium in Saudi Arabia, because of a nearby 1.2 Megawatt mediumwave transmission tower. Solar specialist Mike Bird reviews 1986 from a radio reception point of view. Out in the Iraqi desert, French transmitter manufacturer Thomson is to build 16 high power transmitters. We look at satellite radio with the BBC's Jonathan Stott. On 6009 kHz a clandestine radio station in Libya has been making some mistakes. Radio Truth, a clandestine in South Africa targeting Zimbabwe, has made a clever frequency change. Radio West in The Hague, a station of 18 people, has just started operations. Willem Bos has been testing a special device for scanner enthusiasts.
We start this programme with news of a two-in-one RS-10 and RS-11 amateur radio satellite launched by the Russians. Pat Gowen reports. . Radio Moscow has started a summer programme for the tourists to the capital. Radio Danubius in Budapest is doing something similar. Poland objects to a new Israeli relay station for VOA (never built). India is upgrading its time signal station. Philips says its solved the problem of poor resolution on LCD displays. We also discuss radio broadcast radiation and it's danger to humans. Wim van Amstel explains. We also discuss clandestine broadcasting to Iran, using transmitters in Iraq. We solve the mystery of the number station contest, and Anne Blair Gould reviews the Guide to Broadcasting Stations by Philip Darrington. The programme concludes with Arthur Cushen's DX report including a very clear recording of Radio Luxembourg signing off in English on 49 metres.
We're postponing a series of features until the satellite link with Madagascar is resorted after maintenance. Europe-1, a commercial network in France, has been heard on a Radio Caribbean on 1210 kHz 05 UTC. It seems it's the start of a major expansion plan. We tell the story of Atlantic 252, which apparently was an idea from Luxembourg. More than 4 million pounds has been invested in the project. Radio Tara was the project name. We explain the Stickers on the Move contest. Radio Nacional Venezuela is being heard more regularly. Paris KISS-FM has started a station Tahiti. We were clearly intrigued at how the signal got to the Pacific. Radio Finland has started using a new higher power transmitter on 963 kHz. Japanese cordless phones are being monitored on shortwave radios in India because they are so poorly made. We take the situation to its illogical conclusions. Ben Kobb explains that Citizens Band radio didn't start on 27 MHz but infact began in 1947 in 460 MHz.
This edition of the programme discusses how the US works. This was a predecessor to what is now called the Emergency Alert System. Benn Kobb elaborates and Frank Lucia explains how President Truman gave the go-ahead for the development of the CONELRAD system. Gary Burgeois also explains what could go wrong at 9.33 every Saturday morning. It sounds like stations then were better prepared than today. The programme also discusses changes to the domestic shortwave service in Australia. Andy Sennitt explains that Nigeria has discontinued some of its shortwave services and the location of Radio Sovereign. Bob Tomalski (known as Roger Tate in those days) reports on DAT digital recorders. The tape of this programme didn't survive as well as others, which explains the slightly higher level of hiss than other editions at the start of the programme. But it quickly gets better.
Vanuatu has been counting the cost of a major cyclone to hit this Pacific island chain. They’ve asked Radio Australia to help out while repairs are made to Radio Vanuatu. We also discuss progress 10 days into the WARC 1987 conference in Geneva. Jim Vastenhoud reports about the technical decisions being made. Single Sideband raises its head again. Of course SSB never happened. Willem Bos looks at decoders to receive and decode “telex over radio”. At that time there was a large group of enthusiasts monitoring utility stations. We also review a new book about Radio Wave Propagation written by antenna specialist .
This news edition of the programme starts with a major raid by Amsterdam police on the four largest pirate radio stations in the Dutch capital. We solved the mystery of very strong signals from Radio Beijing (now China Radio International) beamed to North America from a new relay station in Africa. It turned out this was a new project in Mali. There were other news headlines: Ariane launches TVSat1, which later turned out to be one of the most expensive launch failures. The D2MAC TV standard is having development challenges in Germany. Ralf Carlson of KUSW explains his plans. The Ross Revenge antenna has collapsed. We announced the results of the Radio Netherlands SSB Find-the-Feeder Challenge. The programme also looked at the challenges of pollution from batteries. That was 100 million in 1987. (Wonder what it is now?) I talked with Lucas Reinders about what’s been agreed to reduce the amount of mercury in alkaline batteries. Richard Dearborn of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston explains what they’re planning to do with the rock station KYOI on Saipan which they purchased. Victor Goonetilleke closes out the programme with tuning suggestions including a clandestine station targeting listeners in Iran.
I remember this edition of Media Network broadcast in August 1987. At that time digital recording was only just becoming possible, using a connected to a Umatic video tape recorder. The late Joop Zuidam was a music producer at Radio Netherlands and he told me he was heading to Breda to record another in his series about carillons, the set of bells in church towers. Radio Netherlands had been using an ancient recording of the carillon in Den Bosch, but the tape had been copied so many times that it sounded awful, especially when played back on a . So I asked Joop if he could arrange for Jacque Maasens, the carillon player of the Great Church of Breda, to record a new version of the interval signal played at the start of each broadcast from Radio Netherlands on shortwave. It seems there is an in Dutch on Youtube, also taken in the same tower. I will always remember the view (pictured). And we also recorded a few jokes, including Yankee Doodle, the theme used by the VOA at the time. This edition also includes news that the BBC is to start transmitting from Hong Kong on shortwave and Pirate radio sovereign has been broadcasting again. We look at the pirate radio scene on FM in Paris. Arthur Cushen has a bumper crop of tuning suggestions from his listening post in the Pacific.
Great to hear the voices of John Brannigan, a Scottish radio propagation specialist, who was the perfect interviewee. He really knew his field and could explain things in non-technical language. The other guest in this programme is BBC World Service Chief Engineer Keith Edwards. He was one of the first top managers to turn up at shortwave listener gathering and explain what they were trying to do at the transmitting end. He also anticipated home satellite radio and TV reception several years before it took off in hobby circles. Remember this is well before the launch of Sky Satellite Television. Feedback on this programme or the collection welcome to
One of a series of Media Network programmes that originated from the 1985 Expo in Tsuba, just North of Tokyo. I used the visit to the expo to visit Akihabara, called Electric Town, even then. The Sony ICF2001D has just gone on sale, and I remember picking one up for considerably less than in Europe. Just had to make do with a Japanese only instruction booklet. We also look at the domestic shortwave radio station Radio Tampa. This was one of the first Media Network safaris, exploring media in other countries. Remember it is nearly 30 years old!
Radio Netherlands won't be getting access to 747 kHz. Things are going to plan for PA6FLD ham radio station operating from the new Flevoland transmitter site. I also did a marathon edition of SW Feedback live from the transmitter site. Radio Jackie gets raided again in South West London. Bob Tomalski, later a contributor to Media Network, looks at whether they were a community station or just in it for the money. In the Netherlands, Broadcast minister Elco Brinkman says that pirate radio stations will not get access to extended FM bands. Roger Tidy in London has started a new monitoring magazine.
In 1985, we didn't know much about a new station that had gone on the air in Costa Rica, but was clearly targeting listeners in neighbouring Nicaragua. As wrote in 1992, Radio Impacto did little to hide its Contra connection. On its staff were an official spokesperson for the FDN, some announcers from former Somoza radio stations in Managua, and several former staffers for La Prensa, the the primary anti-Sandinista newspaper in Nicaragua. Elsewhere, Impacto's Tegucigalpa correspondent actually doubled as the FDN's local spokesman. The strongest evidence for the contra connection came from Edgar Chamorro, former director of communications for the FDN, who told the World Court that Impacto was a CIA operation.
I remember going on a trip to the BASF chemical factory in Ludwigshafen, Germany. We went to see why Chrome Dioxide cassette tape was such a superior recording medium. At that time, there were stories in the scientific press that audio and data could be stored in "bubble memory". BASF said that this was a long way off. In this programme the prediction was that solid state memory with a capacity of 650MB might be around by 2014. It shows how difficult it is to predict the rapid advance of techology, since some of the high end iPads now have 128 GB of solid-state storage. The machine I'm using for this entry has 256 GB.
We delve into the Media Network archives to look back at the early days of commercial shortwave broadcasting from the United States. On October 15, 1927, , a radio inventor, was granted the first license in the United States and began experimental shortwave station W1XAL in . In 1935, the station began transmitting non-commercial, educational, and cultural programs. Supported by charitable institutions it was a not run for profit. The broadcasts came from a transmitter site in Scituate, Massachussets. I found some recordings of the station in the audio section of the US Library of Congress for this programme. And got me the recordings from a later stage in the station's history when it was WNYW, Radio New York World Wide. He used to work there as a Saturday job in the 1970's, and made some great studio recordings which I haven't heard elsewhere.
This was my first visit to Copenhagen when the radio and television production were in two separate houses in the downtown area of the city. Radiohuset (literally "Radio House") was located on Rosenørns Allé in , . Vacated by DR when was inaugurated in 2006, the buildings now house the as well as the Museum of Music. On my visit to DR we went to a tiny room where a Revox tape-recorder on a time-switch was playing out the shortwave service of Radio Denmark. But there had been grander times. I also heard the story of DX Window, one of the world's first DX programmes which had more of a style of the off shore pirate stations. There was talk of working together with the Norwegians to make a Scandinavian external service. But when this was recorded, it was simply an idea.
Radio Caroline is back from the North Sea, complete with sounds of the generators. And we talk to Ruud Hendriks, producer of the media show on Veronica Radio which translated as the Enormous Confusion. Ruud is now a presenter on Business News Radio. Some would say that 32 years later, it is even more confused in Hilversum.
Africa Number One is still around, although unless you're in Libreville, Gabon, you'll need to listen online. Mind you, the station's audio quality via TuneIn is superb which is more than could be said for the shortwave signal in the 1980's. This edition of Media Network discusses the thorny problem of jamming of Western broadcasters. NHK Radio Japan is testing via the new shortwave transmitter site in Moyabi, Gabon. FIBS in the Falklands has switched its frequency of 2380 kHz. (Those bumps on the line with Andy were the counting system that worked out the cost of the call). We reviewed the new book by Ellic Howe called The Black Game. We later returned to the subject in the editions entitled . Professor John Campbell reports strange broadcasting on 3345 kHz. Sometimes its Radio Mayak. The radio situation is Chad is confusing with at least two stations operating. Radio Bardai is being heard on 2009 kHz. The programme also contains a comparison of the NRD515, ICR70, and the Drake R7A. Michael Schaay has tested all three.
A news edition of the programme, most of it triggered by listeners. Norman Scott reports that Dr Gene Scott is planning major expansion of his shortwave ministry. Andy Sennitt reports changes to WJCR, Voice of Vietnam, the rumour about Country Nights, a special station on RTL 1440. Richard Measham reports on the radio of the Bosnian Serbs, on 9720 and 6100 kHz. BBC resumes broadcasts in Albanian after a break of 26 years. Uganda changes their media law. Radio Hope in Somalia. Radio Ala, the station of the Bards, has disappeared. Voice of Iranian Kurdistan is being heard in the UK. James Robinson, Birkenhead has been monitoring Quality Country Music on satellite. Nick Meanwell reports on new shortwave radios. Grundig Yacht Boy 222 isn't as good as the Grundig Yacht Boy 206. We look at the difficulty of operating some shortwave receivers if you are visually disabled. And Bill Whitacre updates up on Chinese jamming of US broadcasts relayed via transmitters in the former Soviet Union.
I have only made it once to the Dayton Hamvention, the largest meetup of amateur radio operators anywhere on the planet. My trip was in April 1990, and I remember that Lou Josephs was invaluable in helping me to connect with the KLM flight connection at Boston Logan Airport. Lou warned me that the "Useless Air" flight from Dayton to Logan was always late. And sure enough it was. He gave me a lift from the wrong side of Logan to the right side for transatlantic departures. Made it with seconds to spare. Oh, and please enjoy the reportage from Dayton Ohio. It was immense fun. Also recall running in to George Wood of Radio Sweden.
This programme from 1990 profiles the Russian Forces Radio station Radio Volga set up in the GDR. We also look at how synchronous detection works on the Grundig Satelliet 7000 receiver, including some examples of how it improved reception. I remember recording this edition of Media Network with Mark Eylers on a boiling hot evening in Radio Netherlands Studio 11 studio. For some reason the airconditioning wasn't working that well, so the decision to do a just outside broadcast really happened. The studio was just below my office in those days, as the photo shows.
This edition of the programme in 1992 came together out of the blue. I suddenly got a tape from Taiwan from David Monson, a presenter on BRT Brussels who I knew in the 1990's. He was now in Taiwan and offered me a story about who is behind the Sangean shortwave radio company. The result in the second half of this show. (Sadly we learned that David Monson passed away in 2010). We discuss the international distribution of the Lowe HF150, DAK Industries new shortwave DM3000 is difficult to get hold of. Marcel Rommerts has news about Radio Galaxy from Moscow. Victor Goonetilleke has been hearing a strong station from Myanmar on 5973 kHz, aimed at the internal security forces. There's a new book called The Setmakers about the history of British radio receivers from the BREMA association. This includes the story about how Philips took over the Mullard valve company.
Long before Putin there was a different type of media in Moscow. It was just gradually breaking free of the old Communist era, experimenting with all kinds of different formats. In this editon of Media Network recorded in 1992, Vasily Strelnikov (who some now call the Russian Podfather) scans the dial for us. We look at the newly launched Radio-7 commercial station. This news edition of the programme also contains news of the Democratic Voice of Burma which has has challenges reaching Rangoon, and the French company of TDF has made a new type of shortwave transmitter, where each sender has its own curtain array on top. And we review the latest edition of Shortwave Navigator from Jim Frimmel.
We live in troubled times (again). Bumped into a Media Network programme recorded in December 1989. We were reporting on the media surrounding the US intervention into Panama to capture Manuel Noriega. Listener Al Quagleri tipped us off after monitoring airforce communications from in Panama. Lou Josephs helped us unravel the media plan, which revealed the involvement of Pentagon backed Radio Impacto as well as extended broadcasts from the Spanish service of Voice of America. We also looked at the serious situation developing in Romania and the involvement of Radio Free Europe and the plans to build a 34 million dollar shortwave facility in Israel. Note the comment that people in Europe no longer listen to shortwave, so that FM was important. We called KNLS in, Anchor Point, Alaska and talked to Dave Stuart about the volcano that's been erupting. Arthur Cushen sent in Christmas greetings. And there are changes to report at Radio Australia. They were celebrating 50 years of their existence. Andy Sennitt was celebrating the new office in Amsterdam. I think this is a good example of a listener-driven media show, about 6 years before the Internet started appearing in peoples' homes. This was the era when radio was the Internet.
Interesting programme which revealed that Radio Vilnius, Lithuania was no longer using material sent to the station from Radio Moscow. We also profiled the early days of Voice of America transmitting station in Bethany, Ohio which recently closed down.
This is a very early Media Network from the summer of 1983. Yes, the presentation is dated and it has nothing like the pace of later programmes in the series. But it is interesting none the less. I recall the indepth interview about what HCJB was building in Pifo, near Quito Ecuador. The photo shows the studio buildings in downtown Quito which I remember visiting years later in 1995. And Professor John Campbell had some excellent insights into the clandestine radio scene in North Africa. Enjoy.
On July 17th 2014, a commercial aircraft from Malaysian Airlines, flight MH17, was shot down over Ukraine. The exact details of who was responsible are still be determined. But 298 passengers were killed, many of them Dutch nationals. But this reminds me of an incident on September 1st 1983, when the Soviet government shot down a Korean airliner, flight 007. All 269 passengers and crew aboard the Korean airliner were killed, The aircraft was en route from Anchorage to Seoul when it flew through prohibited Soviet around the time of a U.S. mission. In this edition of the Media Network programme as broadcast in September 1983, we hear how Radio Moscow, the voice of the Soviet government reacted. Remember this is before the Internet...it took several days before an official reaction was forthcoming.
This edition of the programme reports on a raid on Radio Bophutatswana. We also profiled Radio RIAS in West Berlin, which has announced TV broadcasts to East Berlin. The US government paid for the transmission costs. Cable systems in Holland have been cleared to carry Worldnet and CNN. Radio 10 has run into problems. STAD Radio in Amsterdam will be expanded to include the rest of Noord Holland. Philips have developed a new laser - which was later used to DVD. MV Communicator, home of Laser 558, has gone into Harwich, UK. Don Otis, announces plans to broadcast from Palau. NOS Hobbyscoop is still broadcasting Basicode transmissions. We interview producer Hans G. Janssen. Arthur Cushen has tuning tips from Invercargill, New Zealand.
The date of this programme is only approximate. It contains an interesting interview with Pat Gowen, G3IOR, who has concerns about interference being caused to UoSAT by RAF s. We visit Reading to learn about the plans for a new Phase Track Receiver from Edward Vorster. Lou Josephs has spot on predictions about the AM Superradio from Denon. Dave Rosenthal reviews the Philips DC-777 for the in-dash reception of shortwave radio signals. He did an elaborate comparison while out on the open road. Corrections on the date? Please comment below.
We all sound rather young and hesitant in this early edition of Media Network, except Pete Myers. This was a regular edition of the programme with a lot of tuning tips, plus a short feature on the opening of the Netherlands Broadcasting Museum in Hilversum. Curator Cor van Driel explains that the Netherlands claims to have started the first regular series of broadcasts. Entrepreneur Hanso Schotanus à Steringa Idzerda not only broadcast from the Hague in 1919, he tried to make his own receivers to sell to the public. He also discovered the signals were crossing the Atlantic and even got sponsorship from the Daily Mail Newspaper for an English language programme. This edition also contains a report by Stig Harvig Nielsen from Copenhagen about new legislation for local radio and TV stations. There have been pirate radio stations on the air complaining that the law is taking too long. This included a spoof takeover on the DR P4 network. Radio Enoch, a right wing pirate has returned from Coventry. Lady Jane Birdwood was one of the presenters. Simon Spanswick explains about the EDXC Conference in London. The Receiver Shopping List Edition 6 is now out. Dan Robinson in Washington has been hearing Radio 15th of September and La Voz de Sandino. And the results of one of the very early DX quizzes.
In 1989, satellite television was in its infancy. I remember watching events in China unfold on CNN, which had only just been added to the cable system in Holland. Then in the early hours of June 4th, shortwave listeners in North America started calling the Radio Netherlands answerline with an off air recording of Radio Beijing. Apparently an announcer at the English Service of Radio Beijing had spliced a short but very clear message onto the front of the transmission tape. A very courageous thing to do. When he'd finished, the programme continued with the usual political commentary. We rebroadcast out this clip. I've reprocessed it again for clarity. At the time, the story in Western Media (and later in publications) was that the voice you hear in this clip belonged to Li Dan, then Head of the English Service at Radio Beijing. He disappeared for a time, but did return later as on-air Keith Perron, now living in Taiwan, supplies this version. Impossible for me to verify, but sounds more plausible. "Li Dan like other heads of department at Radio Beijing were sent to what the Chinese call Communist School for a bit, but then returned to RB. The two who did the story. The writer being the deputy director of the English Service Wu Xiaoyong who was also the news editor on duty was placed under house arrest for many years. When he did manage to leave China a few years later. He moved to Hong Kong and became one of the key people at Phoenix Television. Wu Xiaoyong was only placed under house arrest, because his father was a high ranking government official. The guy who read that announcement on air Yuan Neng didn't fare so well. He was sentenced for 14 years in a prison labor camp and was banned from ever working in media in China. After Li Dan returned from Communist School he resumed his position the new deputy director was Xu Huazhen who was a nobody in the English Service in 1989. But she had reported to the officials who in Radio Beijing was a supporter of the students. Not long after she became the deputy director she was promoted again to the party secretary of the English Service. Around 1994/95 Li Dan was promoted to one of the vice-president positions around the time the station changed its name from Radio Beijing to China Radio International. a few years later he became the president of CRI and in 2003 was promoted to CCTV as a vice president."
We got several hundred reactions after publicity on the BBC Radio 4 programme In Touch. This edition looks at launch of Ariane 6. Roger Broadbent reports from Noordwijk. Pat Gowen reports that one of the satellites on board, Oscar 10, was built by amateur radio operators. We also try to understand what ESA is doing with its ECS experiments. Radio Luxembourg's Benny Brown talks about the Earthlink programme. He tells a great anecdote about the great 208 (on 1440 kHz) from a flight engineer. And Rob Jones explains a new English language TV programme called "Before Our Next Programme". The programme concludes with a report from Andy Sennitt of the WRTH.
This edition has African Media News from Richard Ginbey. Mediumwave is expanding in Southern Africa. Parakou in Benin is being heard (later went to the transmitter site). We test a new automatic notch filter made by DATONG with a rather extensive demo. Grundig has announced the Yacht Boy 300. The major part of the programme is an interview with propagation specialist John Brannigan based in Scotland. He was active in the amateur satellite sector. One of the few interviews I have ever conducted where there was virtually no editing. This is fascinating story about what we know and still don't know about the way the ionosphere works. Every heard of a equitorial aurora? Africa Number 1 in Gabon had problems with flutter fading which no-one expected. John explores what mother nature is teaching us.
This news edition of the programme starts with a report that Radio Al Quds (The Holy One) is taking a far more active role. The station was first thought to be coming from Lebanon but our correspondent Joop Myers believes Southern Syria near to the Israeli border is more likely. The station is calling what they call "quizlings". The station signs on with an electronic version of the song "Turkey in the Straw". In other news, Pete Myers reports on a new use for the Crowborough transmitter site which has now been dismantled and moved to Orfordness. We look at broadcasts to Cuba by the US, by a radio station called Radio Marti. An investigation has been launched into starting a TV Marti. Is Radio Marti thinking about FM? Ginger da Silva reports on a scientific expedition going between Russia and Canada. And we ended the show with a cryptic quiz using a number station and the news that TWR's has put away its musical box. Pat Gowen in the UK has a theory about CFC's and the ozone layer.
A news edition of the programme. TROS, AVRO and Veronica are thinking of going commercial in the Netherlands, TV-SAT is given up for lost, Deutsche Welle is experimenting with rebroadcasting its programmes via Radio Bras, and an intriguing arrangement with Radio Veritas. DW's service to Russia and Afghanistan are still jammed. Radio Caroline has gone back on shortwave on 6210 kHz. SW Radios have changed. We bemoaned the fact that many major manufacturers like Panasonic and Sony have now a confusing range of radios on the market. We link up with Nashville TN to found out why they are building a 100 kW shortwave transmitter, WWCR. Christian Zettl shares developments about broadcasting in Guatemala and we find out why Capital Radio is being heard on a subcarrier of a US satellite.
A collection of short news items in this edition of the show. Roy Neal reports on ham radio plans from Skylab with astronaut Owen Garriott. Pete Myers reports on satellite relay piracy. BBC broadcasts a documentary on Electromania. Andy Sennitt reports on changes at Vatican Radio. The Hungarian service of Radio Free Europe carries pop music in English. Richard Ginbey made a feature on broadcasting in what later became Zimbabwe. (Some rather rare off-air recordings of broadcasting from Northern and Southern Rhodesia). Roger Tidy has items on China. Jim Vastenhoud explains whats going on in Geneva to regulate the shortwave broadcasting bands. Victor Gonnetilleke has his regular Asian Media News report.
The Ampies Broadcasting Corporation started in Paramaribo, Surinam in 1975. "It was a new station with influence in a new republic", said the founder André Kamperveen. But on 8th December 1982, André Kamperveen and a fellow journalist Frank Wijngaarde were among 15 people murdered by the military government which then ruled Surinam. Two stations, one of them the ABC, were torched and set alight. We spoke to one of André sons, Johnny Kamperveen (pictured) in September 1983, just before they went back on the air with a new station on December 6th 1983. Johnny passed away in 2003 at the young age of 56 from a bacterial infection. More history, in Dutch, on .
Media Network was a radio programme on Radio Netherlands. We had no travel budget. But we did have enthusiastic contributors who were travelling around. Like Jeff White, who found himself on the island of Montserrat well before the volcano caused devastation to this Caribbean holiday destination. Radio Antilles was subsidized by Deutsche Welle, then in Cologne. And Radio Canada International also planned to use. Radio Earth has to move from the Netherlands Antilles to Florida. We also had news about US astronaut Owen Garriott, one of the crew on board Space Shuttle STS-9. They were using 145.55 MHz. This edition also has shortwave receiver news including on a voice chip to announce the frequency that you're tuned to. Richard Ginbey explains how Radio Botswana explains its shortwave schedule. Dan Robinson is now in Nairobi, Kenya and reports on what he can here. Sony 2001 costs 450 Dollars on the local market.
In 1983, the UK pop group released an album called Dazzle Ships. OMD, then at their peak of popularity, opted for a major departure in sound on the record, using shortwave effects and off-air clips from Radio Prague. It was interesting to discover much later that Radio Prague announcers didn't know about it, but were actually quite flattered. We called up OMD to find out more - those analogue lines from London were ropey!
I believe that 1983 was probably one of the best years for listening to shortwave. All kinds of stations were popping up between 3 and 30 MHz on the radio dial. With the help of Bob Horvitz and Alfonso Montealegre, I compiled an overview of the political clandestine radio stations that were beamed into Latin America for a variety of reasons. Remember that this research was based purely on what had been monitored off the air. There was no Wikipedia. And many wirelesses still got hot!
In the 1980's you could find time signal stations quietly ticking away on the shortwave dial. WWVH from Hawaii, CHU from Canada, VNG from Australia. They were a useful beacon to tell you whether signals were coming in from a particular part of the world. In 1984 I compiled a feature with examples, mainly made by writing to the stations concerned and sending them a cassette. There was no Internet and phone lines sounded pretty terrible. We also included an interview with VOA who were busy building a new mediumwave radio station to improve the audibilty of their Spanish service in Nicaragua. And Victor Goonetilleke supplied us with news from his listening post in Colombo, Sri Lanka. His cassette machine was coming to the end of its life! By todays standards, this programme sounds incredibly slow. And it took ages to write on a typewriter with carbon copy in between. But the time signal recordings bring back memories.
This vintage Media Network programme looked at changes to the Time Signal Station VNG in Lyndhurst Australia and we compiled a feature looking at how international broadcasters like VOA, Radio Australia, Radio Netherlands and BBC World Service handle the hundreds of thousands of letters that each was receiving. Most, in fact, were having a hard time. In fact if you wrote to the BBC or VOA you were not very likely to get a reply, except perhaps a programme schedule. Remember this five years before anyone thought of using the Internet for correspondence to a radio station in another country.
This edition of Media Network is just over 20 years old. I found myself in London and decided to visit the facilities of World Radio Network who had the idea of bundling international broadcasters by language rather than country. Karl Miosga (pictured) showed me round. I think the concept worked in the days before the Internet rather destroyed the business model of satellite delivered radio. Its so difficult to do on-demand. Which is obviously what you are doing now.
A very early Media Network covering what we could hear about the worrying developments in Warsaw. On December 12–13 1981, the Polish regime declared , under which the army and ZOMO riot police were used to crush the Solidarity movement. The that Jaruzelski pacify the opposition with the forces at his disposal, without direct Soviet involvement or backup. Virtually all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. The United States and other Western countries responded by imposing economic sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union. With no Twitter, or even Internet at the time, one of the few ways of monitoring developments was to listen to Polish radio.
This is the edition of Media Network where we looked at the future of Radio Berlin International, the Voice of the GDR. We had visited the broadcast centre on Nalepastrasse on the banks of the River Spree. RBI was part of the much larger domestic operation, Stimme DDR. Many people don't know that the studios in are now a cultural centre, often used by musicians for rehearsals. We also phoned the owners of ELWA in Monrovia, Liberia to find out what was next for the station. We also had an update from Radio St Helena's Tony Leo, one of the rarest catches from the South Atlantic Ocean.
I note some recent discussions about the future of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale - not digital rights management). The current discussion makes it sound like DRM is new. In fact, the tests go back to 1996. This programme in September 2000 was probably the most comprehensive programme we did, letting people hear the difference between analogue and digital shortwave. I personally believe that the window of opportunity closed shortly afterwards. Of course, putting it back on shortwave defeated the object, but we knew that there might be opportunities later (though we didn't foresee podcasting). This was also the programme where I announced that Media Network was to end as a radio show. Got some immediate reaction via e-mail that it sounded like a bombshell. I recall about 1500 reactions in total. Co-host Diana Janssen had left Radio Netherlands for a career with Forrester Research and I could see the international sound broadcasting business was fading fast. We decided it was better to end the radio show on a high note.
The first part of this programme comes from Earls Court, from what used to be called the Cable & Satellite convention. We explain why broadband DSL is going to revolutionize the Internet experience. Victor Goonetilleke joins us in the second part of an indepth interview, this time looking at Internet access in South Asia.
Found this pre-broadcast montage which comes from two different Media Networks, one aired in the 1990's and one in June 1981. No prizes for spotting the join. Both montages survived longer than the transmission tape. One is an interview I did with Tony Leo (pictured), station manager of Radio Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. For many years the station made special broadcasts on shortwave for a small group of dedicated fans around the world. The medium and shortwave transmissions went off the air in December 2012, to be replaced by a government run FM network. Within three weeks, a group of islanders had formed a committee to revive the station It was their intention to re-launch it as a charity, but this status was declined, hence it now operates as a community enterprise. Councillors', some of whom had voted to launch the rival, are now in full support of the people's own radio station. This was expressed when one of these councillors, allowed a transmitter to be clamped to his home, to assist in getting the signal relayed across the island’s mountainous terrain. The station renamed Saint FM Community Radio, commenced broadcasting live on 10th March 2013, and was back Internet streaming the following month. But it was fun listening to the most remote station on the planet while it was there on shortwave. In 1981 I interviewed Dr Grant McCall about life on Easter Island, discovered by Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen in 1722. So added that montage for good measure. Photo from the in Vienna, the world's largest repository for radio related material.
Found this example of the Media Network safari to Capetown in May 2000. We answer listener questions to gadget guru Bob Tomalski who explains about the challenges facing SuperVHS and the expected switch to DVD recording. He turned out to be spot on. Then we talk to Zane Ibrahim (pictured), head of Bush Radio, the mother of community radio in Capetown. He holds the deal makers feet to the fire!. There is also a bandscan we made in the hotel in Johannesburg which captures the flavour of radio there at the start of millennium. We also talk to others working professionally in the radio licensing sector of South Africa, specifically the future of community radio stations.
Following a promo about a documentary on Pearl Harbour, we start a news edition of the programme. There are updates on Radio Caroline running aground, Radio Moscow reduces the output in its English servive due to budget cuts, Radio Luxembourg fixes the last day for English broadcasts on 208 metres, 1440 kHz. Radio Baghdad may resume programmes in English to Europe and North America. We then had calls about radio receivers from Madrid and answered questions about directional antennas. We worked with Mike Villard of SRI Research in Calfornia to produce a pamphlet Reducing Skywave interference. Victor Gooneilleke has an extensive South Asia radio report. VOA's Bill Whitacre reports on how they are restoring coverage to Africa after the loss of their relay station in Monrovia, Liberia. Two shortwave transmitters will beam North-West from Botswana (pictured). Mike Bird rounds off with propagation news.
Back in 1984, many of us in Hilversum bought an NTSC compatible TV. That wasn't easy because it had to be specially ordered, ordinary TV's only had PAL. The reason was to be able to watch the TV programmes from the American Forces base at Soesterberg, around a 20 minute drive from Hilversum. In this edition of the programme, I went down to Soesterberg to find out how it all worked and why it was in NTSC. The programme also carries a report from Rolf Lovstrom about why the US military wants a radio station in Norway, and there's a profile of other Hyperlocal radio stations like London Greek Cypriot radio in London. The programme includes an interview with Hans Bakhuizen who had been looking at shortwave as a back-up plan incase of a nuclear war that wiped out satellites. Ironically, that is exactly in Flevoland. This edition also includes an African media report from Richard Ginbey and an interview with David Hermges, Head of the English Section at Austrian Radio, later renamed as Radio Austria International.
This is a re-issue of a file first published in 2012, but which was buried on the site. Following comments on Facebook, I have re-released it. This is what you get if you take three production CDs that I used in the Media Network studio from 1995-2000 and fire them off one by one. It turns into 85 minutes of nostalgia with the daft jingles and promos we made to parody international broadcasting in the nineties. Ised the Dalet Workstation to make most of these - because it was the only way to do multirack mixes at Radio Netherlands. Before that we made jingles in the studio using complicated mixes of bit of tapes spliced together using razor blades. Was it efficient? No. Was it fun. Yes. Radio Netherlands had a broadcast licence to use commercial music, so that made it possible to make these kind of jingles. We weren't trying to make any money out of the montages. We tended to use new music, the idea being that new music would pop up on commercial stations later and that might trigger some people to ask "Where have I heard that before?". My thanks to the voice talents of Jim Cutler, Lou Josephs, Diana Janssen, Dennis Powell, Peter Barsby, Peter Spinks, George Wood, Gene Reich, the late Paul Holmes (before he was famous in New Zealand), Spike Milligan (who was trapped in a studio during a news bulletin), Pete Myers, and Kenny Everett (broadcasters prayer). I wrote the other scripts. Enjoy.
This edition of Media Network from 30 years ago looked at how the International Committee for the Red Cross set up its communications system based on ham radio equipment. We witness the launch of the satellite network Music Box and Bob Chaundy scans the bands to see what's been audible in Hiversum.
An early Media Network from 1983. We looked at the construction of KNLS in Alaska. There were also plans to build a mediumwave station KBQN on American Samoa. This was a Pacific version of the Caribbean Beacon. There were plans to build a 500 kW shortwave transmitter as well. The Surinamese government complains about Radio Netherlands broadcasts to their country. Victor Hafkamp explains the background. Radio New Zealand International may cancel its shortwave service. Radio Dublin is back on shortwave on 6910 kHz. We review the ICOM ICR-70 in great detail. Remember this was in a period when no website existed to share this kind of consumer information. Richard Ginbey does a profile of broadcasting in Swaziland. Victor Goonetilleke has been hearing KYOI beaming to Japan.
No apologies for my high voice. Media Network was just a few months old and I had been at Radio Nederland for just over a year. This program was recorded 33 years ago when having a radio with a digital readout was a luxury. People were also trying to develop the dream shortwave receiver, which included Karl Braun, a specialist receiver manufacturer in West Germany.
With every major disaster there are always those willing to set up a hoax, often to attract attention to themselves. Nowadays Facebook, Twitter, Liveleaks and Tumblr are popular as well as countless parody sites. Back in 1986, the only electronic outlets were traditional radio and TV stations. We look back at the hoaxes surrounding Chernobyl. Bob Horvitz looks at the Over the Horizon Radar proposals in the USA. We investigated an early 1.5 metre home satellite dish called Patronix. It wasn't easy.
This was a news review, one of the early editions with Diana Janssen. We talk about the Philips Transmitter Site Christmas Tree. Radio Luxembourg ceases 6090 kHz for its French programme. Victor Goonetilleke reports on the delays to VOA transmitter site in Chilaw, Sri Lanka. He is hearing Radio Fana, targeting Ethiopia. RIAS on 6005 kHz has closed down, Radio Volga has also shut. In Austria all mediuumwave transmitters have closed down. There will be no central media archive for the time being. Radio Netherlands expands its Papiamentu service. BBC World Service relays in New Zealand on 1386 kHz have been replaced by VOA, much to the surprise of local listeners.
We didn't stray that often from covering the news around international broadcasters. But we did do the occasional feature about other signals that could be heard montiored. This edition looked at weather satellites, with a visit to Hans Doeven at his shop in Hoogeveen.
This programme looks at the WRLI, Wonderful Radio London International from Arlington Texas, Radio Veronica runs a radio series to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Paul Ballster notes that several offshore radio DJ's are on UK legal stations. Dennis Powell looks at the battle for listeners in Cuba. Baseball is seen as Radio Marti's secret weapon. Feedback via Pete Myers on the content of Media Network for South Asia. RTV Hong Kong will broadcast briefly on shortwave for the yacht race. Saipan is testing. Perspective feature, with the retirement of Joop Acda. He looks back on what had changed during his tenure as Director General. He also talks about the challenges of international broadcasters working together. He recalls the text they broadcast during a hostage taking in Central America. We talk to the lawyer representing Radio USA which will beam jazz music and news to Central America.
Updated description; December 2019. This early edition of Media Network starts with the news that a postal strike in the Netherlands is delaying listener mail. We carried an interview with Owen Garriott, the first amateur radio operator in space. While attending the World Telecom Expo in 1983, Jonathan Marks walked down the hill to the Palais de Nations, the UN HQ in Geneva. The goal was to solve the mystery of SSB transmissions in Russian on 14500 kHz USB emanating from the gardens of the building. We spoke with Anthony Kernow of the UN to find out what goes on "radiowise" in the building. This edition also includes an interview with a former producer and translator in the English section of Radio Netherlands, the American Robert Haslach. In 1983 he published his account of Dutch World Broadcasting (still available via Amazon) which traces the early years of PCJJ and PCLL with transmitters in Eindhoven and Huizen. His book is quite critical of one of the early announcers/hosts on the radio station, Eddy Startz of Happy Station fame. He points out that Startz was born in Aachen right on the Dutch border and was never clear about what he did in World War 2. However, the work he did through Happy Station in positioning the Netherlands as a friendly nation is not disputed. It certainly covers the period when the English department was mainly operating to explain how the Dutch were reconstructing after the war, playing lots of music and tourist features interspersed with a short news bulletin and commentary. The book stops in the mid-seventies when transmission times were reduced and emphasis changed to more news and feature programmes. This edition concludes with African Media news from Richard Ginbey. He reports that South Africa is making more use of mediumwave, with Radio 5 appearing on 683 kHz. The test transmissions on 7295 kHz from Botswana were officially commissioned on November 3rd. Voice of Mozambique National resistance has moved their transmitter to a new frequency 4772 kHz. Radio Bardai has returned to 6009 kHz. There have been changes to the Spanish language broadcasts from Luanda aimed at Cuban troops in Angola.
This is a studio recording of the announcements put out by Radio Canada International around 2004 when I last visited Montreal.
This vintage Media Network from March 1986 includes a visit to Maastricht, which was then home to a regional station called ROZ, (Regional Broadcaster South). The station's head was Armand Sliepen, who years later joined Radio Netherlands, mainly to run the expansion of the BVN project. The programme also includes news of a bombing at Radio Veritas in the Philippines.
More time travel, this time 32 years!. Welshman Tony Jones, who lived in South America at the time of this recording, later went on to help with editing Passport to World Band Radio. He made a series of talks about broadcasting in several countries in Latin America. We didn't have much in the way of recordings to illustrate the piece. You can see the restrictions 12 years before the we had access to the Internets. This programme also includes the voice of John Campbell explaining the Radio Beauvais hoax. He also talks about the tradition of Sunday morning pirates and the Radio Freedom broadcasts towards apartheid South Africa.
The programme was recorded in 1982 after the first stone laying ceremony on the site of the new transmitter site for Radio Netherlands on the Flevo polder. I remember it well because the fog came down that day and it was almost impossible for the coach to find its way back to the road. The Flevo polder wasn't as developed as it is today. The late Joop Acda, then DG of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, explains the thinking behind the new station. Jim Vastenhoud, Director of Technical Services, talks about energy saving technology to reduce the collosal power bill. Four 500 kW transmitters used 3.2 Megawatts of energy from the mains.
A new time signal station has appeared on 6450 kHz operated by the Australian Navy, replacing the service that has been provided until now by VNG. Paul Ballster reports power cuts to both BBC domestic and commercial networks. BBC has trouble restoring power to its 648 kHz service in Oxfordness. Shortwave radio stations used to get a huge postbag before email made correspondence so much easier. The bulk of the mail was often a request for a QSL card or a programme schedule. Can correspondence with Eastern European stations in 1987 get you in trouble with Western authorities? Austrian Radio (ORF) has discovered that they have to send letters to listeners in the GDR with a handwritten envelope. Remember Earl Hunter of Radio Morania? (a parody creation from Kim Andrew Eliott) Tony Hackley at the real VOA reports an upward surge in mail response. Graham Mytton of the BBC IBAR says listeners get the best chance of an answer by writing in English. Least likely is Hindi! At Radio Australia they make sure the letters get to the producer concerned. There is also news from the bands from Andy Sennitt and Ginger da Silva.
Media Network didn't only cover broadcast technology. Occasionally we ventured into other areas where radio played a role, like radio astronomy. It was an opportunity to visit the only radio telescope facility in the Netherlands at Westerbork. This programme from 1986 also includes the voice of Arthur Cushen and Fred Osterman of Universal Electronics in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
This programme revisited a recurring topic; what is the future of radio? In 1999 it was clearly going to be DAB as well as the web. In other words we thought it was going to hybrid back then. This edition of the programme looked at major changes rumoured at the BBC World Service as well as Radio France Internationale. Radio Netherlands Bonaire relay station has been having delay problems. Jim Cutler also has the dig-deeper jingle which always brings a smile. I believe this is yet another example of how Radio Netherlands made maximum use of the resources sent in by its community of listeners. They were not letter writers, they were collaborators. The photo below shows the digital editors (Dalet) that we used to produce the programme on.
At the end of 1999 I made a trip to Australia and New Zealand. This programme includes an interview with Adrian Sainsbury, the technical frequency engineer at Radio New Zealand International. Feels like yesterday. The photo shows Adrian when I met him on that trip to Auckland.
Despite the fact that ham radio is over 100 years old, this hobby was still very much alive in 1999. About 15,000 people in The Netherlands had a radio ham licence. The many aspects of this fascinating hobby are highlighted in this museum, which now even has a DIY corner for the youngest soon-to-be amateur radio operators. Diana Janssen and I were at the opening of this museum in Budel in February of 1999. As of February 2014 I'm pleased to report is still there, open twice a month.
This news edition of the programme discussed your letters. We caught up on peace keeping radio, and the sale of Harry Helms shortwave website. In his farewell message, Harry predicted the demise of shortwave radio because they didn't understand the communications business. Of course, he was right. Fast and cheap web access is going each shortwave's lunch. We also had receiver news about Grundig. Grundig used to be a daughter organisation of Philips.
This edition ot the programme recalled the old and new versions of the Radio Ham sketch made famous by British comedian Tony Hancock. Later re-recorded by Paul Merton and released in 1997. We also reviewed a new program called EuroDx from Jan Nieuwenhuis. There's also the annual Media Quiz context with Jim Cutler. Don't try those numbers or email addresses today though. Lou Josephs has been looking at push content technology. Philips was putting a lot of money into Web TV. Love those descriptions of high-speed technology.
It was someone's birthday during this show in 1999. Can't recall who. I do remember the feature on broadcasting in Congo from the late Richard Ginbey. I don't believe anyone had such a more complete collection of off-air recordings.
This programme includes a contribution from Richard Jackson who was working in Bangkok at the time and updated us on what the radio scene sounded like at the start of the new Millennium. Thai radio was always difficult to hear in Europe. Now, many of the stations are available on the web. Like Radio Thailand's English Service. The looks like they haven't redesigned the site since we made this programme. The photo in the blog is of the BBC shortwave relay station a few years back when it want under water due to flooding.
I remember driving to Radio Kootwijk for the final farewell of Scheveningen Radio on shortwave. It was ironic because the satellite video link broke down during the ceremony. This was the first show in 1999.
In 1999, there was a lot of interest in listening to satellite transmissions and trying to overhear analogue links that probably were not meant for public consumption. In this edition of Media Network we talked to Dr Dish, a German satellite specialist who gave several insights in what could be done in those days. This is another episode on the Media Network radio series that ran from 1980-2000 and is scheduled to resume transmission shortly.
Very much an "island" edition of Media Network. A station in Anguilla was testing and we talked to Barry Ferber, and Australian radio consultant who went in to Radio Fiji to shake things up. There's another chance to hear Jim Cutler's impossible radio contest. Martin Roos opens Talk Radio on 1395 kHz from Holland. VOA Europe now becomes VOA Express.
Found this Media Network edition from November 1992 in which we incorporated a story from Rosella Strom who'd been visiting Vatican Radio. I will always remember the bumper sticker slogan at that time - Vatican Radio - Listen for Heaven's Sake.
Welcome. I'm Jonathan Marks, host of Media Network and the person behind this initative. Glad you dropped by! Thanks for making December 2013 a record month for downloads - we had just over 4570 downloads. No bad at all bearing in mind the material on this site is anything between 13 and 32 years old! This site is a project started nearly three years ago in early February 2010 - an experiment which is so far working well. It is simply a place to listen to vintage editions of the Media Network programme as broadcast on short-wave by Radio Netherlands in the period 1981-2000. As long as there is traffic on the site, I will maintain the site and keep adding to it. It is over 32 years since the Media Network was launched as the name of the media show on Radio Netherlands, building on the rich heritage of programmes that went before it. We ran on the wireless from May 7th 1981 until October 2000 with more than 1000 editions. Many of the features are gradually making their way onto this website as a celebration of international broadcasting's second Golden Age. Radio Netherlands no longer exists as a radio station in English as we knew it. (They closed at the end of June 2012 as documented ). The RN Classical Music station was around for a short while after, but that too had been yanked from the Interwebs. Join me in raising a glass to the great days of analogue adventures! Yes, you may have seen this page earlier. I keep moving it up the list because otherwise newcomers can't find it. I release between 6 and 8 vintage Media Network's a month, as time permits. We have now reached more than 104,000 downloads, numbers being boosted by interest in the programmes about Aspidistra, connected with the ending of BBC transmissions via 648 kHz at Orfordness in March 2011. Media Network was one of the first international communications magazines of its time. I hosted and produced the programme, but a lot of the content was made by a network of volunteer monitors, reporters and researchers located all over the globe. I kept copies of most of the programmes, especially those that dealt with specific issues or were connected to current events in that period. Since leaving Radio Netherlands in 2003, I have been slowly digitizing the tapes as part of my research into international broadcasting and where it might go after shortwave. Personally, I find it amazing to relive this era, especially as most of it was pre-Web, pre-Skype, pre-YouTube, pre-email, when most people thought twice about picking up the phone to call a radio station in another country. There is also a lot to be learned from what worked and what failed. Too many recent media ventures could have learned a lot from those who went before them. I am always interested in your reactions, especially from people who may be discovering this material for the first time. It will encourage me to post more. This site has a monthly storage limit. Feedback has indicated that people like a regular feed of shows, rather than a monthly flood. Looking at the site stats, it would seem that around 13% of the subscribers are downloading via iTunes. The rest do so directly from the site. Please tell friends about this site and encourage them to subscribe. There are also radio related videos which I made more recently over on my video vault. This podcast publishing system archives editions on a monthly basis, showing only the latest editions on the home page. Finding a show If you want to see what has been put up since February 2010, click on the Media Network Archives orange button on the left and all the editions will be listed. You can also subscribe in iTunes by searching for "Media Network Vintage". As each "new" edition is published, it will download automatically to your MP3-player. The statistics show that most people download the shows through this site directly or through Facebook. As of the end of 2013, the most popular programmes are still those on wartime deception, Radio London (offshore station and the train), the and the RNI Libya programme. Note that programmes are now archived under the months in which they were published. I know some of the material here is niche stuff - but I also know that people interested in international communications and broadcasting are very passionate people. Because of the politics, it provided a constant wave of stories. I also believe that we developed one of the first collaborative formats on international radio, where individuals could do some detective work, report their results, and share experiences with those with a similar passion.
This was Media Network edition 749. And this time we review the Sony ICFSW40 and the Grundig Yacht Boy 360. We looked at the subject of diversity in the Dutch media. Arthur Cushen has the Pacific media news and Mike Bird has the propagation outlook.
The photo shows the BBC Czech service which I visited on one of my many trips to Prague long after this edition of Media Network was made. This was almost two years after the Velvet revoltion and changes were afoot at Radio Prague as well as the Czech radio domestic service. We also talk to Bob Horvitz, formerly of ANARC, now resident in Prague.
A Media Network news edition from early November 1992 when we called up Radio Australia to find out why they were launching a service targeting listeners in Cambodia. Nick Meanwell has news about how All India Radio plans to use shortwave to serve audiences in Asia. Radio Miami International WRMI starts testing. Radio Netherlands is hiring 17 frequency hours a day via Russian transmitters as part of an expansion. David Ward in Norwich thinks that something should replace the International Listening Guide which has disappeared. We also hear the challenges facing visually handicapped shortwave listeners. Philips has designed a set of low-energy Christmas lights for the Lopik transmitter site. Radio France Internationale is expanding with a 6% increase in its budget. RFI is also adding Cambodian language broadcasts.
This Media Network from November 1999 includes a fascinating interview with Aidan White (pictured) who at that time worked for the Brussels based International Federation of Journalists. He discusses what goes wrong when governments control the radio waves, especially in politically instable regions like the Balkans. We also hear more Memories of the Millennium, recollections of listening in the 20th century sent in by Media Network listeners. We learn about the discussion that the BBC should cover adverts. Henry Stokes, writes from Green Bay and notes that films no longer have radio in their theme. He notes that the recent film "Jakob the Liar" staring Robin Williams. In Nazi occupied Poland, poor Jewish café owner Jakob (Robin Williams) overhears a forbidden radio news bulletin signaling Soviet military victories against German forces. To raise the spirits of those in the ghetto, Jakob relays fictitious news bulletins. We also hear about the how the impact radio made on a shortwave listener in China. Andy Sennitt discovers a radio with built-in CD player and one that claims to be Super-Hydrodyne. We also report on the first DRM tests from the Bonaire relay station.
This early edition of Media Network included the story of how a TV show in the Netherlands blocked the phone lines when it asked for viewer response, we review the book Border Radio about the high power stations from across the US-Mexican border and (the late) David Monson previews the Antwerp EDXC Convention which he organised in Belgium. Actually, that was one of the most interesting European DX Council meetings I ever went to. David was incredibly chaotic, creative and an acomplished musician. He worked for several years hosting the programme Brussels Calling on BRT (not VRT) in Belgium. He should have had a producer! Thanks to Jinterwas for the photo os Antwerp Zoo. Check out .
This programme broadcast in February 1988 included news of the Philips D2999 shortwave portable receiver. Early models were recalled and modified, so we tested a new unit. We also included a test of the Philips D2935. There is also news of the conflict between Chad and Libya. John Campbell talks about transatlantic pirate radio stations. Andy Sennitt described catches during the heavy geomagnetic storm.
On 3 July 1988, at the end of the , an B2-203, was shot down as it flew over the by fired from the United States Navy . The aircraft, which had been flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path to Dubai, was destroyed. All 290 on board, including 66 children and 16 crew, perished. The only way of getting the Iranian side of the story was via shortwave from the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the transmitter was only switched on mid sentence when we listened in. Radio Japan and Radio France Internationale have decided on a transmitter swap. NHK, for some reason, insisted on using narrow bandwidth phone lines so the audio sounded awful. Radio Bras also started relaying Swiss Radio International. We also talked to William Marsh about changes Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. He argued that dramatic events in the Baltic were not reported on by Soviet media. Radio Netherlands was also celebrated 300 years of Anglo Dutch relations. I went to the Dutch Postal Museum to discover that the Dutch East India Company had the right to read all the letters they were carrying. And they threw the letters from competitors into the sea. Sounds like an early NSA. (I remember that we were using a new brand of cassettes that week - but they were wrongly biased - hence the wierd sibiliance.
In February 2000, Media Network experimented with a live webcast simply to see if the audience would react and could get a reliable audio feed. This is 10 years before Ustream or Google Hangouts. We had several hundred reactions, although by today's standards the audio quality was only marginally better than AM for most users. Remember dial-up? This programme which followed the webcast throough the regular shortwave and satellite channels analysed the results.
This was a news edition of the programme, reporting on a bumper postbag from the UK as we started using the 1440 kHz outlet from Radio Luxembourg. We looked at how well the 120 different ethnic communities get access to the Dutch media. The participation of ethnic groups in mainstream media was improving. Arthur Cushen reports on what he could hear in Invercargill New Zealand. Radio Singapore International blocked by Chinese interference. We review two portable radios, the Sony ICF-SW40 and the Grundig Yacht Boy 360.
The super typhoon Yolanda which hit the Philippines in November 2013 reminded me of a Media Network we made in November 1992. At that time had hit the US Marshall Islands putting many of the radio stations off the air there. This news edition of the programme also looks at the discussion in the UK about the licence fee for radio and TV from the BBC, Radio Luxembourg decides to pull the plug on all English language transmissions, Doug Boyd had a joke about audiences and apples, VOA has reduced its Spanish language broadcasts to Latin America. TWR Bonaire 800 kHz announces major transmission cutbacks on MW and SW. The programme starts with one of those classic Hallicrafters SW Radio commercials from the 1950's.
Tony Jones is a Welsh radio enthusiast who emigrated to Paraguay in the 1970's. His name appeared in several DX magazines are a very active shortwave listener and specialist on the Latin American radio scene. He later went on to become one of the main editors of Passport to World Band Radio, a publication started by Larry Magne. I contacted him in late 1981 and asked him to give a presentation about the radio scene in South America at that time. We didn't have access to any station recordings, only music in the Radio Netherlands record library. So this time capsule episode would have been produced differently now. But it is an example of how the newly renamed programme was trying to do more reporting about media, rather than just times and frequencies.
This "clandestine" editon of Media Network checked the media accuracy of the gadgets in the James Bond Film, the Living Daylights. We found quite a number of mistakes. But then, James Bond is fiction guys!. Danish Radio decided to broadcast extracts from the book Spycatcher by Peter Wright. The book had been banned in the UK. Wright died a millionaire in 1995 after selling 2 million copies so it was clearly a good publicity move to have the book censored. Reminds me of the recent revelations about the NSA. WHRI is testing to Europe, but not announcing the frequencies they are transmitting on. The good ship Sarah is being prosecuted for transmitting from ship off the US coast. Wim van Amstel explains the radio regulations. Dorothy Weirs has a story about a clandestine station in San Salvador.
This was a news show 1.6 million tune in to Radio Netherlands in Dutch during their summer holiday. WWV and WWVH have had problems with their automated time announcements. Drum recorders are back on line. Victor Goonetilleke has news about Cambodia. VOA is having challenges building its transmitters at a new site 50km North of Colombo. Why did we broadcast all these numbers? People forget none of the listeners had access on-line and only a fraction of the audience had access to printed DX bulletins. Andy Sennitt reports on what is in the 1992 World Radio TV Handbook. James Robinson reports that several UK local radio stations are leaving mediumwave. WLS 890kHz is scrapping its FM format. A new Catholic SW station WEWN was being built in Birminngham, Alabama. Dave Rosenthal reports on an experiment in McMurdo. Remember this show is 22 years old! Vasily Strelnikov signs off at Radio Moscow World Service and recommends people to tune into Radio Netherlands. Radio Moscow staff watch the red flags of the USSR being lowered.
Welcome to the 1980's and era when giant world expositions were in fashion. By finding the cheapest flight I could, I managed to persuade the RN programme director to let me go and report on what was one of the last great expos. Radio Netherlands was, at that time, thinking of building a relay station in Asia. NHK Radio Japan was part of what I called the gang-of-five international broadcasters, although NHK was much larger than Radio Netherlands.
There is an excellent rt on Youtube which gives you some idea of the scale of the event. The Tokyo expo was actually in Tsububa, so I recall my first ride on the bullet train. One hundred eleven countries set up exhibits using the theme, "Dwellings and Surroundings - Science and Technology for Man at Home". More than 20.3 million people attended the three-month event. I was one of them. Wish I had had a camera. But I did have a microphone and help from NHK. Remember being amazed at how cramped everything was at Radio Japan.
recently retired from Radio Australia. Many shortwave listeners know him from the many programmes he produced and presented for Australia's international broadcast network based in Melbourne. Some remember his voice on Radio Netherlands. He was with the English department for 15 years, leaving in 1986 to return with his family to the Pacific. He set up most of the feature programmes during the reorganisation of the output in the early 1980's, as Radio Nederland concentrated more on information than music. Roger has always been a people person, a great colleague and someone who just got things done. He was a regular presenter on Media Network in the early years, along with Pete Myers. Just rediscovered the last Media Network he did with me before literally stepping on the plane for Melbourne. Remember this is 1986 - 27 years ago.
I often feel that many exhibitions in 2014 will go the way of Comdex. Many people don't even remember the name. They were a whole series of computer exhibitions in the US which suddenly collapsed into a black hole. Those were the days when phones were phones and the only way to make a video on it was to fiddle around with Powerpoint and fake it. Far more impressed with events like Techcrunch Disrupt these days.
Very early edition of Media Network when Dennis Powell reported on monitoring the US invasion of Grenada in November 1983. We did everything on very ropey old phone lines which must have sounded horrendeous on shortwave. But we got the news out.
This is a news orientated programme making use of a full postbag. We did a lot of reporting about shortwave receivers on Media Network, broadcasting rather lengthy reviews over the air. Nowadays, the web would be a much better medium. But it wasn't fast enough in the 1990's and only a small proportion of the audience has access.PC computing in a slump - looks like what's happening in 2013 is exactly the same as when we made this programme in April 1997. Shortwave radio dealers were closing. Remember Gilder Shortwave? We discover what is new about the Drake SW-2 receiver. We report that Radio Netherlands use of 1440 kHz (the great 208 from Radio Luxembourg) is being extended over the summer period. Andy Sennitt is trying to solve a Tanzanian mystery. Lou Josephs reports on improvements to broadcasters websites. Victor Goonetilleke has been hearing both Angola and Costa Rica. We also talked about Radio Fax, 6220 kHz from Trevor Brook of Surrey Electronics. Trevor was trying to get an official licence to broadcast programmes.
We did a special 2 hr webcast to celebrate the 1000th edition of Media Network in February 2000. We were rather ahead of our time because although we were streaming live into the web using a Real Audio server, we only knew that around 575 people were able to listen at any one time. We had none of the webstats that are available now. Glad I found the audio on a CD so we can share it again with the Media Network Vintage Radio audience. It is a marathon session....2 hours of greetings and links with listeners. Were you part of the celebrations? Many were.
Not so many programmes from 1989 have survived because Radio Netherlands switched to a cheaper and rather inferior brand of recording tape. It was fine in everyday use, but it didn't store well. As a result, many of my tapes in this period have become sticky and unplayable. However, this transcription show is fine. It deals with recent violent solar activity and its effects on shortwave radio reception. And we also hear from Wolf Harranth (pictured) who reports on one of the few cases of pirate radio in Austria. I was always amazed at the Austrian monopoly maintained by the ORF.
This edition of Media Network includes news that the Dutch broadcasting museum in Hilversum has reopened to the public and TV Marti has been off the air because the blimp balloon keeps blowing away. We look at Radio , an in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Antennas often got a lot feedback from listeners, especially when we went outside to talk about how to set up an effective aerial like a T2FD. Actually that antenna I am describing is still hanging in the garden, though I am doing much less listening on it than I was then. The programme also examines changes coming to Radio Norway International. Do you remember their weekly programme in Spanish?
This is an edited edition of Media Network which was released on transcription to other radio stations on 11 Jan 1995. In the light of the recent revelations by about espionage currently conducted by the NSA and UK GCHQ, this programme from 18 years ago is rather tame. Spies were expected to sit infront of shortwave radios to take down a message on a one time pad. We talk to spy numbers specialist Simon Mason who made a lot of recordings in the last part of the 20th century and also knew where to find these strange voices.
A Media Network special from late 1997 focussing on longwave broadcasting. We also profile the Christian broadcaster ELWA in Monrovia, Liberia.
There was a time when Media Network at 1430 UTC would carry special editions of the programme aimed at the large shortwave audiences in India. At least, we used to get thousands of letters from that region. And when we responded with relevant programmes, we get several thousand brown postcards via the p.o. box in New Delhi. This one example from 1994. Time travel indeed.
There used to be a programme on Swiss Radio International called the Name Game. It was a travel show which told you everything about a place except the name, We tried something similar on Media Network, except I told the story by doing bandscans in the area where I went on holiday. Fascinating listening to the airwaves after so many years.
Is high power HF dangerous for your health? In the mid nineties there were certainly concerns expressed about the long-term exposure. Many shortwave transmitting centres were originally built well away from population centres, but local housing projects often encroached. Later we discovered that in Russia transmitting towers of the Voice of Russia could be right next door.
This programme from December 1994 was made at the time that reports of the media's role in the Rwandan genocide were starting to emerge. The full horror would only be uncovered much later during the trials in Arusha. We also heard from Frans Suasso, the former programme director at Radio Netherlands, who had been around the Voice of Russia. This was the "new" name for a station we had called Radio Moscow. Now it was possible to get a glimpse inside.
Professor John Campbell was the Professor of Computing Sciences at Univerity College London. He contributed several columns and reports to Media Network in the early eighties because of his fascination with clandestine radio stations. He was a brilliant storyteller. We lost contact until he came through The Netherlands on a lecture tour and we had a chance to sit down and talk about computers and the media. We ended up talking about how computing might look in 2010. Check it out for yourself. I believe John was spot on in describing what would happen to applications. Remember you heard it first on Media Network.
This news edition of the programme also includes a featurs that examined the United Nations media in Cambodia, with the huge UNCTAD programme being set up to ensure fair elections in that country,
Thirty years ago, the business of international broadcasting was very different. I would argue to that do the job well, you needed to understand two cultures rather than just one. The best form of international broadcasting is always a comparison. This early Media Network programme phoned several international broadcasters to find out if they were in a "recruitment posture" as VOA described it. How we laughed all the way to the studio on that one.
The second part of Media Network's safari into Silicon Valley 16 years ago. So what's changed in Palo Alto? Just about everything. We start off with a visit to the Philips Multimedia Center on Sand Hill Road, on the outskirts of Palo Alto. It was originally set up as a outpost of the Philips Research facility Natlab in Eindhoven. But they quickly discovered that consumers in San Francisco were 3-4 years ahead of consumers on the West Coast of Europe. So it quickly became a consumer test facility. At the time of our visit they were testing their equivalent of the Palm Handheld computer and an early smart phone. In the end I believe that with Philips' shift away from consumer electronics and more towards healthcare, the facility in Palo Alto was shuttered. We also drove up to Redwood City to meet the head of Grundig USA. He was bullish about the future of shortwave radio - and had developed a great business through Sharper Image, airline catalogues and camping magazines.
In the summer of 1997, Diana Janssen and I spent the best part of a week in Silicon Valley. This was a period when Netscape was hot, and Google had yet to be launched. We made two shows from San Francisco and Palo Alto. Not bad, bearing in mind there was only enough budget for gas. We first spoke with Spencer Reiss, who at that time was working for Wired Magazine in the SFO offices. He discusses the future of media and how things are converging. He turns out to be spot on! We also went to Cupertino. But we didn't go to Apple. We went to Audiohighway. explained what was really an early iPod. He is regarded by some as the father of the MP3 player industry. The huge problem with AudioWhizz was the bandwidth restrictions.
Andy Sennitt and Mike Bird add contributions including what ever happened to the Investment Channel.
UPDATE: August 16th 2020. The programme file was updated with a better quality copy of the programme. Things are very cold in Holland, which is essential for the Eleven Cities Skating Tour in Friesland. We learn about changes at Radio Prague. The programme also contains an interesting interview at the start of Radio Kudirat. This was a Nigerian clandestine radio station which operated via the World Radio Network in London. Articles have appeared subsequently explaining that the station was set up after the Nigerian military annulled the election in June 1993. We also interview the boss of Talk Radio, a shortlived station on 1395 kHz that operated out of the Radio Netherlands building. We talk to Julian Isherwood in Copenhagen to find why Danish Radio has stopped broadcasting in English.
In the weekend on February 1985, we misued the new Flevoland shortwave transmitter site by connecting ham radio gear to the giant Shortwave antennas outside the building in Zeewolde. This year, 2013, the same thing is happening on 26/27th January. But this time the shortwave broacast transmitters are no longer active. The site belongs now to the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. The ham station we ran in 1985 had the callsign PA6FLD.
This programme features the start of WRMI from Miami Florida, a commercial station aimed at Cuba and run by entrepreneur Jeff White. We also profile broadcasting in Fiji in the Pacific.
A news edition of the Media Network programme. This programme kicks off with a super-fast Morse test. The Goddess of Democracy ship leaves France for the coast of China and Lithuania proclaims its regained independence. Ironically, the broadcast came via transmitters in Russia. Richard Ginbey sends in news about Radio Namibia where he was working. 2MInternational launches, as the first private TV channel in North Africa. Thieves break into HCJB's transmitter site in Pifo and steal equipment. Venzuealan National Radio plans programmes in other languages. Radio Nacional de Venezuela also has plans for expansion. Julian Clover (now editor of Broadband TV News) compiled an item on Incremental Radio. Radio Romania International is the new name for Radio Bucharest. New programmes are being broadcast from Southern Iran beamed into South Asia. Big ionospheric storms hit shortwave reception.
We had no idea that behind the station we reported on in this programme would later be responsible for a Sarin gas attack in Tokyo. But that was three years later. Spanish Foreign Radio is working on a relay station in Costa Rica. Radio Miami has done a deal with a station in Honduras. The Megaphone Newsreel marches across the continent. Radio Vilnius is worried about its relay in Moldova. Baltic Radio International is going to make money, so Paul Rusling claims. AWR Europe's World DX News signs off. Radio Norway plans special transmissions for Burma. Radio St Helena may return to the airwaves. Paul Ballster has found a new station in Wimbeldon. Radio Free Asia cancels a visit to Beijing.
This programme included a visit to the radio station across the Central Station in Amsterdam. It was the idea of Ronald Jan Heijn, the former international hockey player who decided to become a spritual entrepreneur. Son of Gerrit Jan Heijn, he set up a centre called Oibibio. By the time we visited, they were on the verge of financial collapse. The programme also looks at a financial crisis within the BBC Internet department, which has overspent its 1998 budget already.
Radio Prague returns as the country of Czechoslovakia ceases to exist. Jim Cutler goes mad about our phone number. Radio Sweden changes its output. Changes are afoot at Radio Luxembourg, with the ending of English broadcasts. Wolfgang Schultz reports from Hamburg. Radio Monique is revived on Euronet via SkySports. Euronews is launched from Lyon. Dutch public broadcasters scorn the channel. We remember LM Radio out of Mozambique. Victor Goonetilleke remembers hearing it. Moldova is testing, as so is Radio Australia.
Found a whole batch of programmes that are just over 20 years old, from an era when international broadcasting was grappeling with the arrival of satellite television, but had not heard of the Internet. In January 2013, the structure and functioning of US International Broadcasting in again under discussion...just like back in 1992 when Radio Free Asia was first suggested. No progress for decades it would seem. The budget for the radio broadcasts into China were similar then to the budget for Russia Today today. Radio Netherlands was expanding its output. Italy approves 500 local FM stations. We look at slow changes in the media in South Africa, despite the change of government. Radio RSA is no more - changing its name to Channel Africa. The ICF-SW33 is coming from Sony. Marcel Rommerts reports on the new High Adventure Ministry's station on Palau during his trip to Asia.
Thanks so much for making 2012 a great year for radio nostalgia, especially at such a momentous time for international broadcasting. There are still interesting items left in the archives, and we will start to add new material recorded since the demise of Media Network and the Radio Netherlands as we knew it. Keep it locked in to this frequency...er channel.
Jonathan Marks
This is a really old edition of Media Network, from November 1986 when I visited what was then called Stad Radio Amsterdam. Since then, I don't believe Amsterdam has really been the success story of local public broadcasting. Stations in Rotterdam and Eindhoven sound a lot closer to the people than AT5. And why they put Radio Noord Holland out in an industrial park remains a mystery to me (in the picture). Radio stations need to be seen operating as well as heard. Look at the success of campaigns like the Glass House or the Radio 2 cafe in Holland. Out of site means definitely out of mind. And these days it means out of business.
A radio Christmas spent in the Media Network studio way back in 1996. Sounds like we were having fun! I look back on this period as perhaps one of the golden years for Dutch external broadcasting, producing a range of documentary productions in English and Spanish and recording great concerts, both classical and jazz. This programme focussed on answering listeners letters on subjects like satellite television in Australia (DW was organising a bouquet of signals) and the major changes to the commercial radio scene in New Zealand. The auction of FM frequencies in the Netherlands and shortwave stations that sold radios were also topics for discussions. RBI archives have, for the most part, been destroyed. Swiss shortwave listeners were quizzed on their listening habits. The 410 ft tower formerly used by AFN has been dynamited out of existence. Capital Radio in South Africa is in trouble.
This is the last chapter in the 8 part series telling the story of Radio Netherlands focusing on the English language department. With Pete Myers as your guide we focus on our present decade as it draws to a close. This final episode for was broadcast by several stations, including Radio Netherlands, on December 3rd 1997. It is presented here purely for academic interest. The programme was researched and presented by Pete Myers and Luc Lucas. I supplied some of the recordings from the Media Network archive. At the end of the 19th century, Oscar Wilde wrote that the only duty we have to history is to re-write it. When this decade is done I wonder what will have changed in the perception of Radio Netherlands in 1990's and the role it played in international broadcasting. The English service signed off in 2012. Let me draw your attention to the last part of this programme, where we projected what might happen at the start of the new Millennium. In fact, it all came to pass. I still firmly believe that great international broadcasting needs an emotional context in order to bridge the cultural and political barriers. Without it, there doesn't seem much point any more. The days of effective government propaganda are over.
This is edition 7 of the 8-part documentary series on Radio Netherlands focuses on the 1980's and what it meant to the English language department in particular. It was a decade in which many women producers arrived, breaking through what had been a mainly male dominated radio station. Names such as Veronica Wilson, Dorothy Weirs, Dune Porter, Ginger da Silva, Martha Hawley, Marijke van der Meer and Anne Blair Gould. News to Africa and Asia was regionalised. The decade started with a coronation in the Netherlands and a speech by US President Reagan about the evil empire. The massive delta-works were completed, making Zeeland less vulnerable to flooding from the North Sea. Taboos were broken in Rembrandt Express and the decade ended with fall of the Berlin Wall. The series was written and presented by Pete Myers, with research from Luc Lucas and audio contributions from the Media Network archive. This programme was originally broadcast by several stations, including Radio Netherlands, in October 1997. It is released here for academic purposes only.
The sixth part of the history of Radio Netherlands was originally broadcast on October 1st 1997. It's presented here for academic interest. Radio Netherlands got a shock awakening in the seventies from its cocoon of request shows and Holland promotion. Pete Myers opens with words which could equally well apply to 2012. It was the decade of the attacks on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. The age of the common man had passed to become the age of the common crook. The US pulled out of Saigon. A Dutch correspondent was one of the last to leave Vietnam. No baggage allowed. Was Dr Spock was the architect of the permissive society? Spock says it was connected to his opposition to the war in Vietnam. ABBA wins the Eurovision Contest in 1974. After some internal opposition, Radio Netherlands added news and introduced current affairs coverage with Afroscene. Tom Meyer took over Eddy Startz at the helm of the Happy Station interviewing the Dutch band Shocking Blue. Roger Broadbent, later head of Radio Netherlands English Department (later Radio Australia) says farewell to Fritz Greveling, the fourth DX editor of DX Juke Box.
This second part of the look at the station in the 1960's was originally broadcast in July 1997. Pete Myers recalls the plans to put a man on the moon before the decade was out, and the Erasmus Prize went to Charlie Chaplin. There are extracts from the last Happy Station with Eddy Startz and the popular His and Hers Show with Dody and Jerry Cowan. Perhaps you remember Bed-In for Peace campaign that John Lennon and Yoko Ono launched from their bedroom in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in March 1969.
This part four of the eight part story of Radio Netherlands, the Dutch international broadcasting service.This first part of the look at the station in the 1960's was originally broadcast in June 1997. It recalls the opening of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the visit of David Ben Goerion to the Netherlands. Radio Netherlands moves from old studios in the Bothalaan to a purpose built studio complex in the North of Hilversum. Reporter van der Steen does an interview with the architects. Pete Myers doesn't recall seeing many rabbits from the studio window. We also recall thoughts about the European Common Market, the Berlin wall and the assassination of President Kennedy. The second part of the sixties is covered in programme 5. The programme was written and presented by Pete Myers with additional research by Luc Lucas. I found the clips with the architects buried in the archives.
Third part of an eight part series presented by Pete Myers on the history of Radio Netherlands. It was made in connection with the station's 50th anniversary in 1997 and broadcast by several dozen radio stations back then who were in the Radio Netherlands partner network. This part deals with Radio Netherlands coverage of the 1950's. This included the devastating floods that hit Holland in 1953 and the uprising in Hungary in 1956. I'm posting it here for it's academic value. Earlier parts can he heard
This is the second part of an 8 part series broadcast as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Radio Netherlands in March 1997. This part covers the period 1947-1950. The programme, presented by Pete Myers, includes fragments from Eleanor Roosevelt during her trip to the Netherlands, George Marshall who came up with the famous plan to help European post-war economies, Winston Churchill on European cooperation. There is also an interview that George Sluizer made with Leonard Berstein. Queen Juliana ascends to the throne. The thorny question of Indonesian independence is also part of this programme.
This is Part One of an Eight-part series on the history of Radio Netherlands, the Dutch International Service. Presented by the late Pete Myers, he was in top form when this was recorded. This is probably the most comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio broadcaster. The series was recorded in November 1996 and broadcast in February 1997. It contains the voices and sound fragments from Guillermo Marconi, PCJ-tune "Happy Station" and Eddy Startz, Radio Oranje , Radio Herrijzend Nederland, Lou de Jong, Henk van den Broek, (the station's first Director General), hr. Van Dulken, (the first Head of the English department), Joop Acda (Director General in 1980's), Bert Steinkamp (Programme Director), Lodewijk Bouwens (Director from 1994) and myself, Jonathan Marks (Director of Programmes 1992-2003). I was talking back then about the need for Radio Netherlands to modernise and embrace new technology including the Internet. I was also concerned that the reason for international broadcasting was about to change - and that we were not moving fast enough to address the "why". In the end, they didn't - so these recordings lasted longer than the station! About the host Pete Myers made his name in international broadcasting on the BBC African Service in the 1960's, and at Radio Netherlands as the host and producer of the Afroscene, Mainstream Asia, Asiascan, as well as countless documentaries. There is a to him on this site. Pete wrote the series together with translator and researcher Luc Lucas. They used material from the Radio Netherlands sound archives, as well as recordings that I found in the Media Network broadcast collection. From the Independent Obituary, written by Mike Popham. Pete Myers, broadcaster: born Bangalore, India 17 April 1939; died Utrecht, The Netherlands 15 December 1998 Pete Myer's decision to leave the BBC while at the height of his popularity robbed listeners to the African Service and what is now the World Service of one of the most innovative and magnetic broadcasters to grace the international airwaves. In the mid-1960s, as the first presenter of the African Service's controversially revamped breakfast programme, Good Morning Africa, Myers was an immediate hit with the huge new audience which had just been opened up by the mass-marketing of cheap transistor radios and, particularly in West Africa, by the start of the BBC's Atlantic relay station on Ascension Island. Within months, he was being accorded pop-star treatment whenever he arrived on tours to meet his fans in person. Pete Myers was born in 1939 in Bangalore of Anglo-Indian parents but as he grew older enjoyed shrouding his origins in mystery. Consequently, and much to his delight, few people knew whether he was a Latin American, or an exotic blend of English, German, Jewish, Lebanese and Chinese. His father had in fact worked on the Indian railways. Myers's feel for Africa resulted from his arrival in Ghana in 1957, around the time of independence. His broadcasting career began unexpectedly in Accra when he was 17. He had got to know the presenter of a jazz programme who allowed him to listen in the studio while the show was being broadcast. Then came the day when the presenter remembered, just as he was about to go on air, that he had left his script at home. Dashing out of the building to retrieve it, he was knocked down and killed. The panic-stricken producer had no choice but to ask the teenage Myers to take over. Myers did so with such natural assurance that after five years he became Ghana's top music DJ and radio personality, and a favourite of the country's president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Away from the microphone, Myers pursued a parallel career as one of the founders of what subsequently became Ghana's National Theatre. During the Congo crisis, he and his companions risked their lives entertaining UN troops in Katanga. As Myers like to recount, the high spots of his thespian activity were taking the part of Elvis Presley in a musical called Pick Me a Paw-paw and playing Hamlet in Moscow at Nkrumah's behest. Leaving Accra for London in the mid-1960s, he was snapped up to become the presenter of the BBC's Good Morning Africa. In stark contrast to what had gone before, his resonant baritone and slick mid-Atlantic informality soon made him a household name throughout the African continent. A year or so later, while increasing his workload at Bush House, he became one of the founding presenters of Radio 1's Late Night Extra. But with a restricted playlist, and without the freedom to indulge his sometimes anarchic sense of humour, he failed to make the same impression on his domestic listeners. However, at the beginning of the 1970s, as a result of his spectacular success with African audiences, Myers was entrusted with transforming Good Morning Africa into a flagship breakfast show for the world. He presented The Morning Show, with its mixture of pop, politics and personalities, four days a week, and at the weekends hosted PM, his own show-biz interview programme. His treatment of celebrities like Peggy Lee, Shirley Bassey and Ingrid Bergman - his favourite - heralded that of Michael Parkinson on BBC TV. Myers was thrown by Dame Edna Everage, for once impersonated across the microphone by a dapper Barry Humphries in suit, monocle and trilby. Having broken the mould of broadcasting at Bush House, Myers felt he needed a change of scene and went to Lebanon to become the manager and resident impresario of a nightclub, the Crazy Horse Saloon. Unfortunately, he arrived just before the outbreak of the civil war. Bombed out of Beirut, he returned to London to find that The Morning Show had been relaunched as Network Africa and a new presenter, Hilton Fyle from Sierra Leone, had taken his place. Through ex-colleagues, he found a job opening Radio Nederland, in Hilversum. From 1976 onwards, he produced and presented hundreds of programmes in the Asian Service (Mainstream Asia, Asiascan), African Service (Afroscene) as well as the general English department. He eventually took over the helm of one of its most popular programmes, Happy Station. Pete Myers last visited London in 1987 for the 30th-anniversary recreation of the original Radio 1 group photograph on the steps of All Souls', Langham Place.
And this is the last in the series of programmes on Propaganda Past and Present. Remember it was made in 1982, probably at the height of the popularity of international radio broadcasting when the Cold War was still very much alive. This edition contains the voice of Bernard Bumpus, who was head of audience research at the BBC External Services. Gerard Mansell, then the Managing Director of BBC World Service points out that the French external service had big plans for expansion by 1985. We also hear from the late Nevil Gray who worked for Deutschlandfunk in Cologne before joining Radio Netherlands. He recounts a tale of how a programme he made for DLF was taken off the air and rebroadcast by East Germany, but then out of context.
This first half of this edition looked at the start of Radio Netherlands in 1947 and the challenges it faced in the questions srrounding Indonesia at the time. Was it an instrument of government propaganda. The second half of this episode looks at clandestine broadcasting across Africa, illustrated with unique off-air recordings from the late Richard Ginbey. He was based just outside Johnannesburg at the time, but has managed to collect off-air clips from a multitude of stations. This includes the Voice of Namibia, Polisario Front - Voice of Free Africa, and the various stations targeting the warring factions in Angola. I believe the recordings of the Zimbabwean clandestines haven't been heard for years. I wonder if anyone recognises the music used by the Voice of Truth (20 minutes into the programme). It sounds like a film score, but although I have tried various services like Shazam, still don't know the title. Be careful - it is very very catchy and even 30 years later I can hum the melody. Wish I knew where it came from!
This edition of Media Wars looks at how governments often make a mess of the message they are trying to put across. We started with Radio South Atlantic, which was run by the British MOD. Gerard Mansell talks about British clandestine radio during the Suez Crisis. It was the Voice of Britain (Sharq-el-Adna) and came from the mediumwave transmitter near Limassol in Cyprus. When this programme was made there was no as there is today. We also looked at the mystery surrounding the Radio Euzkadi transmitter tower and how the Voice of the Basque Underground faked the picture on their QSL card. You can also hear some rare recording of the anti-Russian station NTS which operated from Bavaria in Germany. While Portugal was under a dictatorship, there were no less than two clandestine stations broadcasting to the country, one from Algeria. There are also examples of black propaganda beamed into China. They originated from Soviet Union. Remember Sparks? (Note I am aware of a few tape drop outs around 20'00 into the programme).
Pim Reijntjes explains some ways round the "dreary" Sunday programming that was invented in the Dutch East Indies. The programme draws the parallel with the Falklands Malvinas Conflict in 1982. There was also a Dutch equivalent to the British Forces Broadcasting Services operating from Indonesia. Pim Reijntjes explains the secret of the time signal pips. They sounded official but had little to do with time keeping. Sietze van der Werf explains the Dutch position of New Guinea. (Remember this programme was originally broadcast at the time of the Falklands Conflict in April 1982). There were other programmes broadcast in 1982 (also in ) where we talked about Radio South Atlantic, the programme set up by the British MOD to target the Argentine forces. We also discussed "Argentine Annie" which was the Argentine clandestine aimed at he British Task Force.
This Second edition of Media Wars looks at the rather unique situation that Dutch broadcasters found themselves in at the end of the Second World War in the Dutch East Indies, today's Indonesia. It's ironic that Pim Rijntes was one of the first broadcasters at Radio Netherlands and took part in the last Dutch language broadcast on May 11th 2012. Interesting to contrast the different cultures. Love the story about how the year of 1947 started a little late. And how the technicians for the Dutch broadcasting network were lent to them by the opposition Radio Republik Indonesia.
In 1982 I decided to gather some of the interviews I'd made with international broadcasters who had been at the start of it all. It was my first attempt at making a documentary. Bearing in mind the equipment we had was rather rudimentary (it was all recorded on 1/4 inch UHER's), the final result isn't all that bad. It was broadcast in the course of 1982, basically as I found time to make them. The research was the challenge...no wikipedia being available at the time. The scripts were typed on a typewriter with carbon paper between the sheets to make copies for the engineer. I remember that quite often the letter O would punch holes ever time it was tapped. Thirty Years after the series was first broadcast, it is time to put it back on the wireless. In fact, the recordings lasted longer than Radio Netherlands English Service. This first edition relies heavily on the input from Bernard Bumpus, who was the Head of BBC International Audience Research at the time, as well as Gerard Mansell, then the Managing Director of BBC External Services. I remember chasing him around London in order to grab the interview, ending up at his home in Golders Green. I remember having a huge argument with the cab driver who wouldn't give me a receipt for the trip.
This programme kicks off a series of nostalgic episodes about radio broadcasting. In 1997 we visited Wim Stuiver, a radio enthusiast who had built a private museum inside a farmhouse near the Dutch town of Diever. It was one of the best collections I've ever seen, telling the story of the early days of radio. Wim had not only restored each piece to working order, he also knew the history behind each of the set. Sadly the museum no longer exists. Although a foundation was set up to try and preserve the collection in the Plantron in Dwingeloo, in the end the money ran out. Everything was sold off for a song. The display cases are now in the Archeological Museum in Diever. I'm guessing this is the only radio programme that was made there in quite such detail. I understand Wim Stuiver now lives in Happy Memories.
This news edition of the programme started with a report from Sri Lanka on how the Tamil Tigers were using radio in their fight against the Sri Lankan government. They were sending coding messages in English. Several listeners phoned in with tuning suggestions. Diana Janssen talked to Andy Sennitt about broadcasting in Chechyna. There are also clandestine radio stations run by the Russians targeting this part of the world. Vasily Strelnikov publishes photos from his days at Radio Moscow. Radio St Helena plans broadcasts on SSB. There were rumours that Atlantic 252 in Ireland was going off the air.
We made much of this programme in Naarden at the headquarters of Radio Noordzee Nationaal. The Strengholt company got the licence in the summer of 1992 to broadcast Dutch language music. It later became Q Music and is still on the air. Of course, we were curious as to the connection with the old Radio Noordzee International offshore radio ship. The show also explained the plans to broadcast Radio Free Burma on shortwave via the transmitters of Radio Norway at Kvitsoy. BBC starts to discuss what later became Radio 5 Live.
This programme includes an appearance from Professor John Campbell. He was a professor of computing science at the University of London, but better known to Media Network listeners as a contributor on clandestine radio. When he popped through the Netherlands in 1996, we asked him about Radio Euskadi, the Voice of the Basque underground. It claimed to broadcast from the Pyrenees, but in fact came from a site in Venzuela. John is referring to the picture on their QSL verification card which had indeed been hurriedly montaged. Guess they didn't have Photoshop in those days. Today, is rather different. Not sure if it shares any history with the clandestine station.
An interesting chat in this programme with Olrich Cip, who was still frequency manager for Radio Prague at the time of the interview. Recently did an interview with him in Prague on camera in which he explains a lot about the Prague spring and how they managed to keep Radio Free Prague going. But in 1991, it was still too soon to talk about those times...still too many fresh memories of ruthless security services in one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Olrich was the man behind Radio Prague's Monitor Club, appearing on air as Peter Skala. In 1991 there were already concerns that the new governments would cut back on the extensive use of shortwave that was seen in Warsaw Pact times.
This programme explored the idea of BVN-TV, Dutch language satellite television for Europe. We also looked at why more stations is the US have not moved into the expanded mediumwave band. We examine how the NOZEMA was planning to use lower bit rates for DAB. In the end, DAB never took off in the Netherlands so the research was superceded by events. There was a look at the IBOC alternative. The IBOC camp did not like the way the European's scheduled the Eureka 147 side by side tests. Voice of America is threatened with cutbacks. As AFN closes down it's operations in The Netherlands and Germany, so new stations are starting in the Balkans, Bosnia, Hungary and Uzbekistan. Victor is on the line from Sri Lanka with news about how to follow cricket on shortwave. Just love these early days of the world-wide web...Jim Cutler doing a full URL because browsers needed http:// or you got an error.
Stocks and Shares Radio for Africa was one of the more unusual private shortwave ventures, dating back to 1996. And they got the prize for the most boring sign-on music.
Yes, this is a Media Network edition dating back to October 1984, which includes a double report from Roger Tidy and Bob Tomalski from London. At that time there were a nuge number of FM pirates, many of them operating out of semi-permanent locations in the tower blocks that dominate the skyline in North and South London. David Hermges reports on the disappearance of Austrian regional station Radio Tyrol on 6 MHz. Professor John Campbell has clandestine news from Tonga, started as pirate. Jim Young of WaveView explains a new type of low power television transmitter for 8000 pounds sterling. We talk to Dutch radio hams who are participating in one of the Friesland DX contexts. We also talked about the first test transmissions from the Flevo transmitter site. Victor Goonetilleke has bad news that the Maldives SW transmitter is off the air.
This edition goes way back to the time in late October 1984 when they started testing the new Radio Netherlands transmitter site out on the Flevo polder near the town od Zeewolde. I got a chance to take a short helicopter ride as they put the transmitters on low power to measure the antenna radiation pattern. I'll never forget the ride because I learned later the German helicopter couldn't stop the rotors when we landed because the battery had failed and he needed to get back to Germany the same day. It's rather ironic to learn that in 2012, the entire Flevo transmitter site has been sold to the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. The facility will now be converted to operate in the ultility bands, acting as a back-up system to Dutch military abroad incase conventional satellite systems failed or are compromised. Bearing in mind Syria and Iran are both jamming satellite communications at the moment, I can understand why they take precautions. Of course they will need much lower power than the 4 500 kW transmitters used for Radio Netherlands broadcasts. The programme also discusses the return of Wonderful Radio London International. We spoke with John England from Texas. Enjoy this flashback.
AM (mediumwave) stereo has been trying to take off since as long as I've been in radio. The idea surfaced in the early nineties again and we covered it in Media Network in December of 1991. Rather wierd listening to it 21 years later. Never did take off. Interesting to hear how listeners were calling in their tips to the show even though the cost was rather high compared to today's standards. And some familiar voices from long-time Media Network listeners in this show - Tony Barrett, Julius Hermans, Dave Onley.
A rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the strongest propaganda voices out of the Balkans from one of its smallest countries. Today Radio Tirana is a shadow of its former self when it was the mouthpiece of . One of the older female announcers used to fascinate me. She would sometimes sign-off with the words. And that is the end of our broadcast. "Goodbye dear Listener". Perhaps I was the only one.
One of my favorite programmes from 1999 because of an excellent contribution from listener Nevil Coles in the UK explaining how fanfares used by international broadcasters had intrigued him. We voiced his contribution and managed to find most of the interval signals he was talking about in the Media Network Archives. We also looked at how the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was shutting down its AM broadcasting facilities as it transferred to FM. The new FM transmitter was opened with fireworks. But the shutdown of the AM facility in Hornby Ontario was witnessed by reporter Scott Fybush. I am delighted to report that Fred Vobbe's DX Audio Service is still going strong in 2012.
A Media Network edition from August 1997. One of the items is an interview with Tudor Lomas who used to work for the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in the early nineties, before heading out to start a training centre called Jemstone based in Jordan. I did a training session with him in Beirut in that year. Would be impossible now.
Media Network's first visit to Chile. This was in connection with a radio festival that Radio Netherlands organized with several hundred partner stations in Santiago. Diana Janssen made the trip - I stayed in the Netherlands working on other projects at the time. She spoke with Bruce Girard who later went on to do a lot of work with AMARC, the community radio organisation.
The mystery of the spy number stations has been a recurring theme in Media Network. Perhaps the most elaborate project to catalogue them was a 4 CD project set up in 1997. I see it's in Wikipedia. The edition of Media Network talked with the producer of the CD in the second half of the show. We also looked at how radio was seen in the dim distant past (Remember the TM Century Punk Country Campaign?) and Jim Cutler threw in a surprise T-shirt competition. Perfect proof that the nineties weren't boring, even though no-one had a smart phone.
This programme starts with a portrait of Radio Denmark. Then we presented a feature on Hate Media. Recently found the complete edition of this programme, so I am reposting the complete programme. We knew that Radio Milles Collines incited genocide in Rwanda in 1994. But in March 1995 we didn't know the full extent of the tradegy. That would be revealed several years later at the trials in Arusha, Tanzania. Eric Beachemin did a lot of travelling in the Great Lakes region of East Africa and brought back with him some unique insights into how media could help repair the social damage as well. This version is slightly shorter than the regular Network - was used in transcription to other radio stations. We also noted that some of the later work we did on publishing information about hate speech was used (and credited) by those who made the film Hotel Rwanda in 2004. That was the true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.
In 1994, the Dutch broadcast museum was just that. It was a collection of equipment in a rather nondescript technical centre tucked away in the complex spiderweb of lanes that is Hilversum. It wasn't until 11 years after this recording that everything moved into the spanking new centre on the Media Park (photo shows it under construction). Arno Weltens was working as a curator of the Netherlands Broadcast Museum at the time and organised an excellent exhibition about offshore broadcasting. This was rather different than some of the other recollections of the offshore days, when several entrpreneurs tried to break the monopoly in public service broadcasting in the Netherlands. Arno illustrated the exhibitions with recordings from the broadcast archives.
In 1995, Radio Netherlands signed a deal with RTL Radio Luxembourg to use the great 208 metres for a few hours each night for it's English language broadcast. We combined that with a visit to the station and made the following documentary. This was one of the first dual presentations we tried with co-host Diana Janssen. Interesting old recordings of RTL which I haven't heard elsewhere in a long time. The picture of the transmitter site at Marnach is shown below. That was were the English transmissions came from.
Some mysteries remain unsolved. So let's reveal a rather old one. In February of 1988, George Wood of Radio Sweden visited Radio Netherlands on a duty trip. He was there to see how we were doing things in the English department. He dropped by on a Wednesday. Over lunch we decided on a prank. We'd swap programmes for one week only. He gave me some scripts to read and he read the texts I'd compiled for that week's show. And then Pete Myers, Mike Bird and other contributors played along. We changed the jingles for that week only. It was if George had always presented the programme. On the day of transmission I took the day off. After the European transmission at 1130, listeners started to call the station, asking what happened to Jonathan Marks. Had I been fired? Had I said something wrong? The sweet lady operator on the Radio Netherlands switchboard tried to connect the listeners, but there was no answer from my extension. She told the callers that I was not "in anymore", implying that I had left for the day. But that's not what callers assumed. Within a few days my demise was already being posted in weekly DX newssheets that were around. Until I popped up the following Tuesday on Radio Sweden, presenting Sweden Calling Dxers as though I had always been there. Two days later everything was back to normal. George and I both made no reference to the swap. Ever. There's nothing like a mystery. When some people asked me about the incident a few years later, I wondered whether it might have been a trick of propagation? Did anyone have a recording? No-one ever did. But I kept one. Here it is back on the Interwebs. Everyone loves a mystery.
This week back in in 1995 I went down to the open day organised in Brussels by , the voice of the Flemish community in Belgium. The radio station has long since disappeared, gradually stopping its foreign language broadcasters, becoming an Internet only radio station, and now only a . This programme, recorded in September 1995, recalls the early years of the station with guests Frans Vossen (DX Editor) and Jacques van der Sichel (who was the director at the time). Some interesting archive recordings too. This version is slightly shorter than the original transmission (missing Mike Bird's report).
It doesn't seem like nearly 15 years ago that Arthur T Cuhen passed away. He was probably one of New Zealand's most famous shortwave listeners, having made his hobby of radio listening into a career from the 1960's onwards. He reported regularly for magazines and radio stations, including Radio Netherlands DX Juke Box and Media Network. We broadcast this tribute programme in which I tried to mix tributes with some fascinating stories told by Arthur himself. While we recorded his contributions for the programme he would often reminisce. He also had made excellent recordings of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia even though he was monitoring the events in Prague on the other side of the world. He often spoke of his wife Ralda, who was his childhood sweetheart and faithful companion. They lived at 212 Earn Street in Invercargill, New Zealand - an address that was often read out over dozens of international radio stations. I was struck by his picture perfect memory in which he could recall his work for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service during the Second World War. He could hear stations in Japanese occupied Singapore and Indonesia, as well as Tokyo. They regularly broadcast the names of Allied Prisoners of War, which Arthur would transcribe by hand (there were no tape recorders) and pass on the message to grateful next of kin. Arthur was born with poor eyesight which gradually got worse in the course of his life. He not only did a lot of work for the shortwave radio community, he was also extremely active in local groups for blind and partially sighted in the South Island of New Zealand. This programme is a celebration of Arthur's contribution to a very important time in international broadcasting.
Towards the end of the Media Network radio show series, we did several radio safaris to countries in Latin America and the Pacific. I tried to ensure that they captured the sounds off the air as much as possible, to give a flavour of the radio scene in the country. Argentina went well. And Chile was a fascinating discovery. Santiago had huge smog problems when I visited and it was great to escape to the mountains and the coast. Had long talks with local radio operators who were having difficultly keeping their business going. Slick satellite music networks attracted advertisers away from the smaller operators. At that time, Christian Voice had also purchased the transmitters of the former Voice of Chile network. In fact government had sold off all its broadcast properties. I remember wandering around a Sunday market in Valpariso and seeing world band transistor radios being offered for sale for a few dollars. Incredible names on the dial. Took a photo in lieu of carrying them half way round the world.
Safety officials in the US are studying the navigational black boxes to determine the final moments of the Korean Airlines Boeing 747 which smashed into a jungle covered hill on Guam on Wednesday. Later on Wednesday evening we reached Glenn Scheyhing, assistant news director at KTWR in Guam. Because from the news video it looked as if the plane came down very near their shortwave radio station. Was that the case? In receiver news, the International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA passes on the results of two major field tests of the BayGen Freeplay radio. These have been undertaken by the BBC Afghan Education Drama (AED) Project in Afghanistan, and the Cranfield Disaster Preparedness Centre (DPC) in Eritrea. Each of the tests was designed to test whether the clockwork radios would match up to the expections and durability claims that we’ve seen widely quoted in the press in many parts of the world. Victor Goonetilleke (photo taken in 1997) joins us to discuss a non-governmental Tamil language station based in London which was starting a series of test transmissions to South Asia. Former members of the BBC have started a station called IBC from the studios of the World Radio Network in South London.
Enjoyed relistening to this Media Network programme recorded in October 1997. Pete Myers was not only a famous presenter and producer at Radio Netherlands. He had a previous life in London being the main anchor for Good Morning Africa on the BBC External Services. But he also presented evening talk programmes on the new Radio 1 when it launched in October 1967. He went back to London to the reunion and recalls what life was like at the Beeb. In the famous , he's the one further to the right sitting behind John Peel. He always wore sun-glasses for this type of photo. I believe this one was made on the steps of All Souls Church next to broadcasting house. Golly, nearly fifteen years have passed since we made this.
A news edition of the programme including items about World Radio Network London, Radio Netherlands analogue audiosubcarrier update and changes to the RNW webste.
It seems our efforts to make a different kind of offshore radio special last week did not go unnoticed. We’ve had a nice post bag of reaction, plus a question from Humphrey Macintosh in Leeds in the UK. He notes that many of the offshore radio personalities of the 60’s went on to make a big name for themselves in either BBC or independent local radio. But were there any people who were famous on the high seas but never made it ashore? Well to wrap up our coverage of the scene for the time being, we put that question to Dutch offshore radio specialist Hans Knot. We also talked to Paul Rusling about his various projects in the Isle of Man and the Baltic States (a station targeting Sweden).
This Media Network is concerned with closedowns rather than sign-ons as we delve back into the archives for a special documentary on offshore radio. Jonathan Marks, Diana Janssen, plus a host of other stars will be tracing one of the most important stages in the development of European Radio. We now present, “30 years in 30 minutes”. That’s the voice of the late Paul Kaye, who 30 years ago today made the very last announcement on Radio London, or Big L. Radio London was the most successful of the radio stations which operated from ships and old army forts off the British coast between 1964 and 1967, and which had a major influence on the development of broadcasting in this part of Europe. A company called East Anglian Productions obtained a so-called Restricted Service Licence, which allowed them to operate the station for one month on mediumwave 1134kHz, using very low power - officially just one watt. Back in the 60’s, the original station operated with much higher power and covering a large part of the UK as well as the Benelux countries. To explain how it came to be on the air, we need to go back to Easter 1964.
Yes, welcome to the last Media Network of June, we’re 26 programmes into 1997 and going strong. Meanwhile in Hong Kong British Forces Broadcasting Service is still going strong, but only for a few more days. You may recall in November last year we did a series of special programmes from Hong Kong, previewing the transfer of power from Britain to China. That will happen next Monday night at midnight local time. With 8.000 journalists currently in the British colony it’s going to be difficult to avoid coverage on many stations around the world. Radio Netherlands Newsline programme will be no exception…..we’re building satellite links right at this very moment. When we examined the local broadcasting scene in Hong Kong back in November, BBC World Service had started to dismantle it’s shortwave relay station. That’s now being completed. And the British Forces Broadcasting Service had grand plans about it’s final days of broadcasting. Rory Higgins, stations manager of BFBS Hong Kong told us then they hoped to sail out of Hong Kong harbour, broadcasting as they went. BFBS Hong Kong may not be able to re-create the feeling of offshore radio, but between July 18th and August 14th this year, another group in the UK is trying to do just that. You may recall that a Dutch Radio entrepreneur tried to re-create the feeling of Radio London by starting a satellite radio station of the same name from a disused railway carriage parked at a station in the East of The Netherlands. Whilst the project brought in a lot of enthusiastic letters at first, the response wasn't sustained enough for the operation to remain solvent, at least as Radio London. As from next month though, there will be another Radio London, operating on 1134 kHz, or 266 metres if you're a wavelength nostaligist. British authorities often grant what they call restricted-service-licenses for special events. In this case you could argue that broadcasting from a ship moored off Frinton-on-Sea, in East England is quite unique. It turns out this location is quite close to the original anchorage of the ship, Radio London. A studio will be built on board and a transmitter installed as well. Event organiser Ray Anderson of East Anglian Productions says it’s a short injection of nostalgia connected to an anniversary.
Found this interesting montage while searching for something else. It's a show we did from Hong Kong looking ahead to how the Special Administrative Region would change when HK was handed back to the Chinese in July 1997. It's interesting as is currently chairman of the BBC Trust. That quote at the start of the programme is rather appropriate in the UK at the moment. Between now and July 1st 1997, an estimated 8000 journalists will be passing through Hong Kong examining basically the same story. In January 1841, China and Britain signed a Convention which ceded Hong Kong island to Britain, a year later Kowloon was ceded too and in 1898 the land north of the Kowloon peninsula was leased by the British from the Chinese. Now that lease is coming to an end. As sovereignty of the whole of this area changes from British to Chinese, what will happen to life in Hong Kong as it becomes a special administrative territory. Around 2000 Dutch speaking families are part of the international community living here, most of them working in the banking or electronics sector. We've been talking to them as well as to Chinese and English speakers to find out what they think will happen. The answer is the same. China has pledged to preserve Hong Kong's capitalist economy, currency and freemarket policies until the year 2047. But with economy booming in the Peoples Republic of China, home to 1.2 billion people, its no wonder some doubt whether the government in Beijing really needs or cares about the long term fate of 6.3 million packed into the tiny space called Hong Kong. And since the public media is government controlled, many feel than any changes will first be heard over the airwaves. Hong Kong's governor, Chris Patten, stressed this during the recent meeting of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Radio TV Hong Kong puts out a continuous relay of BBC WS in English on 675 kHz.The majority speak of the residents speak Cantonese. Next year, though RTHK will start programmes in a new languageThe name Hong Kong comes from the Cantonese which means "fragrant harbour". Its not so fragrant these days, more rather choppy as hundreds of boats criss-cross across Victoria Harbour between the island of Hong Kong and the mainland tip of Kowloon. The Star Ferry charges 2 Hong Kong Dollars to cross from one side to the other. That means the upperdeck trip costs a mere 28 US cents. It's one of the cheapest rides in the world. It also allows you to escape for a few minutes from the continuous traffic and watch the high-rise skyline. The travel brochures encourage you to shop till you drop and the shops in both Kowloon and Hong Kong island stay open until 10 at night. Shop windows bulge with famous name fashions, electronics and photo goods. Tourists from Europe comment that Hong Kong's relatively expensive. But depends what you're looking for. Shifty looking characters on many street corners near Nathan Road near Tsim Sha Tsui hiss at foreigners in loud whispers. Copy watches, fake clothing? And if you're willing to disappear up three flights of stairs into a dimly-lit backroom, you too can bargain for a fully functional Rolex-looking watch for less than 80 dollars. Its backed by a lifetime money-back guarantee. If you value your life, you won't try and claim your money back. Police in Kowloon at least at currently cracking down on the counterfeits.But if you take a few stops north on the super efficient underground railway, the MTR, get off at Sham Shui Po. The high rise buildings are the same. But the shop and street signs are only in Cantonese and there are fewer Western faces. Passengers splurge from the high-speed escalators onto the pavement. Across the road, the Golden Arcade has a scruffy sign about the Internet which is flapping in the upward breeze generated by the humid air and exhaust fumes. Inside are three vast floors of computer and video hardware. A sign strongly discourages you to take photographs. Once your eyes adjust to the off-white fluorescent bulbs, you find stand after stand of software. It looks genuine. But its a copy. Often the CD-ROM covers are empty. If you decide to purchase just about all the Internet publishing software available on one CD-ROM, expect to pay 7 dollars, to watch the stall holder call someone on a mobile phone and 20 minutes later someone else taps you on the shoulder and shoves a wafer thin plastic bag at you. Inside, there's a shiny CD with the software you wanted. Further inside, someone is selling software manuals. A sign claims they're original. A man standing in a tiny shop front tries to tempt us to step inside and buy a multi-media PC. It looks like it might work. But is what you see anything like what you get? For there's such a fine line between fake and genuine. Even with bargaining, the real hardware is still expensive by most standards. The illegal software of course costs a few cents to mass produce. Most of it is coming from factories across the border in China. Will the tide really stop in 1997? Making money seems to be more important that authors rights. The packaging often turns out to be more impressive than the contents. The video CD of the latest Walt Disney block buster is the result of someone taking a consumer video into a cinema and filming the screen from his backrow seat. That maybe the hunchback of notre dame shuffling across the TV screen. Its difficult to tell after a videos been copied so many time. And the soundtrack is muffled by the sound of someone munching popcorn and giggling in Cantonese. Short-wave portables from Philips, Grundig and Sangean are easy to find in Hong Kong. Shop salesmen know what they're talking about too. Three hours drive from Hong Kong into Ghanghou province of China, you'll find the joint venture factories making many of the budget portables. China may have diplomatic problems with Taiwan. But more than 10,000 Taiwanese are running factories in Southern China and exporting the products out of the peoples republic. They'd like to exploit the vast domestic Chinese market too. But that's more difficult and means finding more influential friends.
This was a regular news edition of Media Network covering items from the Pacific, we interviewed Bob Edminston (pictured below), the multimillionaire owner of Christian Voice about their purchase of Radio Australia's Darwin shortwave transmitter site. Radio Australia's Jean Gabriel Manguy hopes they will get access to the station. We also looked at the hate radio station Radio Milles Collines in Rwanda and how Western observers didn't understand the influence it was having. This week broadcasters on the stations have been found guilty of genocide. Bryan Clarke has been following the difficult situation in the Solomon Islands. He has been monitoring the SIBC. Lou Josephs has been looking at Low Power FM stations in the USA and we've been looking at how Holland hopes to raise money by auctioning off the FM licences. Bob Tomalski explains DVD regional coding and NTSC/PAL - his advice is still valid.
In 2003 the British Forces Broadcasting Service made an excellent hour-long documentary celebrating six decades of Forces Radio. I was sent a copy as part of a promotional package during the celebrations and kept it because it's the best overview I have heard of what BFBS was trying to do. It contains several well-known voices too who really got their start on Forces Radio, before joining UK commercial or public broadcasters.
If you find this show as interesting as I did, you might want to watch a I made with the late John Russell who played a key role in BFBS at several locations, but especially in Cyprus. That video contains pictures I made in Cyprus a year after this radio programme was made.
We had around 3800 unique downloads on the Media Network vintage website last month, one of the best so far. Not bad for a vintage wireless site. If you were one of those people, thanks! Nostalgia is certainly hot at the moment. Wish I could say the same for the weather.
On July 12th 2012, the BBC leaves Bush House for the last time, with a world news bulletin at 11 hrs GMT. That iconic building on the Strand has been the home of the World Service since 1941. There have been various tributes in BBC programmes on the network in the last few months. As a World Service listener since 1969, I watched this organisation for the outside looking in. I was pleased that Newshour honoured the late Pete Myers by including his famous "Goooooood Morning Africa" call in their sign-off piece. I often thought he must have inspired Adrian Cronauer's famous call in Good Morning Vietnam, although,the film was largely fictitious. Pete later came to Radio Netherlands to start Afroscene and Mainstream Asia. I remember him showing me his scrapbook of newspaper cuttings compiled during his days in Ghana and at the BBC African Service. My fear is that these great stories of an intriguing building will get lost and separated in cyberspace as they move down the vast archiving system. It's already happening as BBC World Service moves on to a new life and purpose in New Broadcasting House at the Langham, just by Oxford Circus. So I've simply combined what I've heard into one compilation in the hope that by putting it together, the context of these stories won't disappear. The photo is of well-known presenter , a voice inseperable from BBC World Service in the 70's and 80's.
Just found a couple of CDs with examples of Media Network jingles and montages that were used in the programme between 1985 and 1996. They feature the voice talents of Bill Mitchell, Lou Josephs, Jim Cutler, Gene Reich (ex VoA), Pete Myers, Nevil Gray, Peter Barsby (the presenter of BBC's World Radio Club in the 1980's), Rob Groen and that mysterious lady who worked on Radio Tirana. Let me know if you want to hear more. Boy we were having fun then. Radio Netherlands may be a memory now, but they were strong memories weren't they? Photo of Lou Josephs, Jonathan Marks and Jim Cutler was taken in August 2001. We've all got much younger and wiser since then...
More photos of Friday's closedown are on my Flickr account: Dropped by Radio Netherlands building for the last few minutes of their broadcasts in English. Did an interview with Jonathan Groubert, host of the State We're In, as he prepared a few words to add to the final broadcast towards Africa. Then went downstairs to an almost empty newsroom where Rob Kievit, producer of the last day, was making a few last minute preparations. Then, we all joined Jonathan Groubert in Studio Booth Number 4 where English programmes (including news bulletins) have originated for decades. After Dheera's last words, Jonathan added one final thank you. I left a small audio recorder running to capture the moment for the history books. And so a bottle of champagne was opened, knocked back rather hurriedly, and then we all headed for the last train home. So ends an era. This recording captures the moments....before, during and after the final signoff. I added a stereo copy of the Radio Netherlands interval signal, played on the carillion in Breda. I was actually present in the bell tower during the summer of 1985. It was one of the first all digital recordings we ever made. It replaced a worn out recording of the same tune which had been made in the 1950's at the cathedral in s'Hertogenbosch. The tape had stretched after being copied so many times. Thanks to Kai Ludwig in Germany for sending me a better copy of Jonathan Groubert's last words captured from the satellite. I've mixed them in.
Just got back from watching the very last hour of broadcasting in English from Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Holland's external broadcasting service which signed off today on shortwave, satellite, in fact the radio station is no more. Holland has no external broadcasting service as from July 1st 2012. Dheera Sujan presented this final show, which was a farewell and thank you to listeners worldwide.
We kicked off the show with news from Dennis Powell in New York about Radio Marti. We fantasize about Radio Delta, a scheme to start a joint MW/LW project with Belgium and Netherlands. The late Bert Steinkamp explains the plans. Radio Polonia has gone off the air after the declaration of martial law in Poland a few days ago. Warsaw 1 on longwave is the only way of hearing what is going on. African Media News - Richard Ginbey has a profile of media in Bophutatwana. In receiver news there is follow-up to our test of the Panasonic RF-3100. Dan Robinson has North American tuning observations from Washington DC.
This was an example of a listener driven show. We start with changes to Radio Netherlands, Pete Myers talks about Hidden Holland - Emporer's and Engineers. Listener complaint about elitist digital radios! We're printing special QSL cards for a special test transmission 9860 kHz. Satellite news from Paul Balster. Quality Europe FM starts satellite transmissions. Hallmark isn't a new brand though. Sunrise Radio is back on Astra. Holland FM is also active. Eclipse FM is to operate from Jersey! Arthur Cushen has news from New Zealand, including Japanese from RNZI. RNW sends out 15000 QSLs a year. Wolf Harranth explains what the ORF Radio Austria International are doing to keep an archive. Jim Cutler does a promo for Booklist edition 13. Plans have been announced for a large SW station on behalf of the Eternal Word Television Network. Lou Josephs has a transatlantic tip for us and news about 530 kHz in the Caribbean. Gordon Darling phones in from Papua New Guinea. WWV Time announcements have changed.
Just before the influence of Enver Hoxha collapsed in Albania, the external service Radio Tirana was one of the largest broadcasters in Europe, with a massive megaWatt transmitter operating on 1395 kHz. My colleague, Wolf Harranth of ORF Vienna, wrote to them and managed to get hold of a studio tape of part of one of the last English broadcasts under the old guard. The Albanian English language announcers had never been abroad. They were apparently trained by an Australian Marxist, which explains their strange Australian accent. This 5 minute tape consists of the opening, a very funny Lets Learn Albanian lesson (what were they thinkiing?) and the grand sign-off. Haven't heard this for years. Anyone else remember this stuff? Makes a change from Glee.
Before Media Network, there was a show on Radio Netherlands (or Radio Nederland as it was called) entitled DX Juke Box. For the period August 1980 until May 1981, Jonathan changed the format of DX Juke Box bit by bitso that it morphed from purely a hobby show into a programme that answered the why of broadcasting rather than just the where and when. In October 1980 we took the show to Brussels for a few days to examine the pirate scene in the Belgian capital. Paul Renard was the DX editor for the RTBF and he introduced us to the pirate stations operating from apartments in the heart of Brussels. By today's standards this programme is rather corny, but it shows how we were trying to push the envelope from very "scripted" shows into something that came from a location. Remember this is 31 years ago!!. Enjoy
Broadcasters in Germany are not really promoting DAB. Radio Norway returns for a brief period. Bernt Erfjord joins us to explain. 675 kHz. Victor Goonetilleke is hearing Radio National from Angola. Bryan Clarke tells us about an early long distance experiment. I note that the he mentions is still active. Bryan also explains special tests by club. Bob Tomalski is disappointed in CD recordables, the CDR765. It has a bug which Philips refuses to admit the problem.
This programme starts with the media situation in Serbia and Kosovo with Andy Sennitt, includes various extracts from stations like B92. We try to follow up with the facility. The Haarp website seems to be in suspended animation these days. Photos date from 2004 and the website has recent updates from 2007. The Truman Show seems to have been inspired by shortwave radio. Victor Goonetilleke explains progress on the shortwave site in Sri Lanka. IBB is also using a network of shortwave receivers and sharing these interested listeners. He is hearing Bhutan this way. Harald Kuhl explains MP3. DAB has been switched off in parts of Germany. Astra Digital Radio is doomed. Update: April 2014. NPR in Alaska is to be closed.
This programme had the news that the was returning (website still up), AMARC starts a special webcast and radio marathon, Jim Cutler explains the new safari series, Steve Whitt talks about how mediumwave is being down graded in favour of FM. In the UK there have been more low-power special event licences. Radio Caroline though, would not qualify. Frequencies such as 999 kHz. Media Network's MW Test lab: we've been testing the radio.
This was a consumer oriented edition. We did a lot about high solar activity and the effect it can have on satellites, especially as there were several satellite failures and the topic came into mainstream news coverage. It started with the temporary loss of the SOHO spacecraft studying the sun. Joe Allen has discovered more than 10,000 examples of satellite failures. So there is no terrestrial back-up for most satellites. We also talked about new recycling projects which were just starting in 1999. Bob Tomalski has story of a digital dogs dinner. Pay-TV set-op boxes have been plagued with teething troubles.
This programme starts with the news about Chris Carey was caught in New Zealand connected with pirate decoders. There's a rather ironic item about public service broadcasting. Steve Whitt generated a nice response about earthing rods. Feb 1st was a landmark day in the end of Morse Code for maritime use. We talked about a Atlantic Hop experiment using Morse Code and involving the old Kootwijk shortwave site in Holland. We also looked at why Radio Luxembourg is still remembered, even though its been off the air for years. Shaun Tilley talked to us from Swansea. He argues that Luxy hasn't really been replaced. There are also the results of the Christmas contest to guess how many hits we had on RNW.nl in 1998. Alan J Knapp got my 1999 copy of the WRTH.
Search for Common Ground opened Studio Ijambo in 1995, a year after the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. For years Burundi media had helped fan the flames of hatred between Hutus and Tutsis. By 1995 more than 200,000 Burundians had been killed in the conflict and it seemed that the country was following Rwanda’s lead in destruction. The transformation in Burundi was painful and slow, beginning in a small studio known as Ijambo, meaning “wise words” in Kirundi. “Studio Ijambo would become a place where Hutu and Tutsi journalists, writers, producers and broadcasters would together create programs to dispel the rumors, stereotypes, and hate messages that had permeated the Burundian public sphere. While most media reported atrocities committed by the “other” side, Ijambo journalists covered them all. Teams, one Tutsi and one Hutu journalist, ventured together into conflict zones, refugee camps, and devastated lives, seeking to make sense of events and share their knowledge with their fellow Burundians. By 1999, Francis Rolt (who used to work for Radio Netherlands) was the manager of Studio Ijambo. We made this portrait of the challenges for media in this country with his help. The programme also had other news in brief, including a tribute to the founder of Sweden Calling DXers, Arne Skoog.
This programme includes updates from Kosovo, the Swatch watch company cancels its Beatnic project on 2 metres from space after protests from amateur radio operators. Bryan Clarke has his report from the South Pacfic. David Smith reports from Bangui on how the project Radio Minurca is going. He explains the problem with the shortwave transmitter. Harry Helms, a popular US radio author, retires and makes an interesting comparison between international broadcasting and railroads. He expects the web to eat shortwave radio's lunch! (Not a bad prediction!)
This was a listener driven edition of the Media Network, asking questions about DAB. We talk to Roberts Radio and World Radio Network in the UK. There's also a link to Professor Doug Boyd (pictured) who has comments on the Worldspace radio system and why it might have difficulty try to fly. They estimate that the potential audience globally is around 16 million listeners, not the 4 billion claimed by Worldspace. Andy Sennitt has a bumper bundle of listening suggestions.
More time travel. This programme starts with the news of a fire in the TV tower in Moscow, a blaze that later turned out to be very serious indeed. Vasily Strelnikov went off to investigate and was surprised at the extent of the blaze. We talk about security on the web comparing it with spy number stations! Love the Marconi radio joke. Also the Lincolnshire Poacher recording was crystal clear. We also talked to Bryan Clarke in Auckland about the BBC Calling the Falkands programme. Bob Tomalski talks about a new Onkyo hi-fi system. The DVD player with have a digital video output. Onkyo had no clue about copyright issues. Philips announces a delay to its DVD+ recorders.
This was the last programme in the Media Network series that looked at pirate radio and the offshore stations. It featured the late Bob Tomalski who, at the time of the recording, was Media Network's UK gadget inspector.
This programme includes a feature about the US clandestine station targeted at Cuba called . Declassified documents from the CIA reveal how the station was involved in the Bay of Pigs attempted invasion. We hear from a Media Network correspondent at a Blutooth conference in Monaco. Radio Netherlands works with Bush Radio to produce a CD for AIDs awareness. We also look at the MP3 and start the discussion about the best codecs and copyrights. We try to understand how Napster works. Love the parody on the MTV song.
This show is shorter than usual because it was prepared in Johannesburg and fed to Hilversum. I can't find the original show which would have had propagation news and listening tips as well. But the 20 minute feature on broadcasting in South Africa as it was at the start of the Millennium is interesting in itself. I get the impression that community stations in South Africa have not embraced the new media as well as had been hoped. That's strange in a country where mobile has become so important.
This news programme starts with a call from Fiji (the furthest we ever got), and we investigate all the various radio projects that CLT is involved in. This included a rather obscure radio service in French on shortwave towards Quebec. CLT was also planning a classical music station as well as Atlantic 252, together with RTE, from County Meath, Ireland. All India Radio tests shortwave out of Port Blair. Pete Myers reports on hopes that HDTV plans will expand. We also looked into the problems of frequency announcements on shortwave, including the parody from Radio Morania and some bloopers from BBC World Service. Radio Australia spends 2.5 minutes announcing their schedule and have decided to get rid of references to "metre bands". Remember Radio Moscow with announcements that just mentioned metre bands - they had some many tranmitters they didn't need to be more specific. Kim Andrew Elliott, a researcher at Voice of America, had been doing research into receiver coverage. Andrew Piper explains why they add metre bands in some the transmissions to Africa. Andy Sennitt has news about Namibia and transmissions from Radio RSA. RCI from Sackville (see photo) started using 13 MHz for the first time.
We didn't go to many offshore radio conventions on Media Network, but those that we did attend were fascinating. I realise now that it is over two decades ago since I last visited Blackpool, the holiday resort in NW England. I remember climbing the tower and that the weather was actually superb for early September. Fortunately, I found this report from Communicate 1988 the seaside. Remember that this was an era where the off-shore radio ships like Laser 558 were still fresh in the minds of many European listeners. I also believe I found where the presenters for the spy-number stations were trained. John Catlett was involved in Laser 558. By the time of the Blackpool conference, he was the consultant to Radio Tara, the name of the project that was later to become Atlantic 252. It was a joint project between Radio Luxembourg and RTE. BBC Radio 1 was changing to FM! So were'nt they trying to flog a dead horse with using longwave?. We also heard that AFTRS (American Forces) signed off from shortwave. A new station was planned to broadcast offshore Israel and Alan Weiner talked to us about the good ship Sarah and his plans for Radio New York International. BBC is hiring a relay via Radio Bras and also opened their relay station in Seychelles. Wolf Harranth explains their shortwave agreement with RCI in Sackville.
Pete Myers would often come up with great ideas towards the end of the year when the production budget in the English section was running low. Wednesday slots had to be filled. There was no money for in depth documentaries. Each producer was asked to make a 30 minute programme grabbing music from the record library and explaining what it meant to you. I confess that I did my best to get rid of just playing records in DX Juke Box. But those early days working in a foreign country for an international broadcaster was certainly the source of adventures. So this isn't a Media Network, although there are radio stories in the show.
On April 17th 2012, my late friend and former colleague Pete Myers would have been 73 years old. Sadly, this great broadcaster passed away all too soon on December 15th 1998. It still seems like yesterday and partly because the Media Network programme now only exists as a nostalgic collection on the Internet I thought it appropriate to add this documentary tribute I made with Luc Lucas in 1999 shortly after his passing. It is called A Talent to Amuse. Pete Myers was a regular voice on many editions of Media Network. He made his name at the BBC External Services in Bush House with a programme called Good Morning Africa. He was one of the early presenters on BBC Radio 1 in 1967 and from 1976 onwards one of the regular producers on Radio Netherlands English Service. He was the engine behind many magazine programmes but also excelled at making radio documentaries. As we busy ourselves with Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat I just wanted to put this documentary tribute back on the web for everyone to enjoy. Here are some of the memories sent in by listeners at the time. Much of the joy and magic of shortwave radio was ignited by Pete. Mainstream Asia, Asiascan, Happy Station, the specials and a host of other programmes, they all sparked of creativity. That personal touch gave radio sparkle and vitality. It touched many of us here in Asia and rest of the world. His spirit of bringing so much heart and texture to his reports was both a pleasure and inspiration to us. He was more than a voice to me, more than a friend, more than just a broadcaster. Long live the excellence that Pete strived for. Xavier Gomez, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Not only did he entertain and inform on radio he also kindly wrote me some extremely funny letters. He will be sadly missed. Michelle Thompson, Australia Listening in South Africa to the BBC Morning Show in the early seventies, I found Pete Myers an inspirational broadcaster. He ignited my lifelong passion for radio and for Africa. In particular, his programmes opened my eyes to the world north of the Limpopo River which white South Africa tried so hard to ignore in those days. Above all, he enjoyed that rare gift... the genuine ability to communicate with his listeners. Peter Biles, London, UK A year ago I returned from serving with the Peace Corps in Romania. One day I discovered Radio Netherlands via shortwave and delightedly, I sent an e-mail to Pete Myers telling him how much I loved R.N. He called me up and interviewed me. Later he sent me a tape of some of his interviews which I played for my classes. The tape exposed my students to stories and sounds the like of which they had never encountered. Cynthia D. Earman, Washington DC, USA. All of the troubles I may have had would gently step aside for the duration of Pete's time on the air. I miss him tremendously. He was a reason to get through another week. Steve Talia, Eugene, Oregon, USA For how many times, I don't know, I have been amazed at his presentation...December 15th for some unknown reason was missing from the diary and now suddenly you announced that he's gone...I just don't know what all this means! Cui Litang Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, P.R.China We lost a golden voice on the radio but his various documentaries will still be fresh in mind for all his numerous fans of the radio. Alok Das Gupta, Calcutta, India We needed him. We will always miss him... Alexandre Mossiava Moscow, Russia Pete was one the icons during my growing years. I'll miss him. Kittu Chennai, India - I always knew that when Pete was on the air, it was going to be something worth listening to. Mike Conway Merced California, USA We are all diminished by his passing, but were most uplifted by his work. Pete Myers has left a fine legacy. He will be missed by all of us, including those of us who were privileged to know him via the radio. John A. Figliozzi Clifton Park, NY, USA Pete as a broadcaster not only reached the pinnacle that all broadcasters silently wish to reach, but he will live on in the hearts of us who heard him and through the works of people that he inspired. He was the centre of any gathering and the laughter and good cheer that exploded from him. Even in sadness, his voice echoes and the sound of his laughter soothes our wounded hearts. Victor Goonetilleke, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka As someone who worked with Pete, I know how touched he would be to read these heartfelt messages from listeners around the world. Their wonderful sentiments are, of course, nothing less than the man deserves. He was a magnificent broadcaster. That rich deep voice of his so enveloping and warming. I am honoured to have known him, better for having learned from him, and proud that he was my friend. Mike Bullen, former RN producer, writer of the award-winning TV series "Cold Feet", now resident in Australia.
This was the final Media Network audio show of all, broadcast in October 2000 just before we went back to winter time. It was really a thank you to the audience for sharing so much time with us over 2 decades. We certainly had worked out the pace of the programme by that time - and I believe it's strength was that it was a true listener participation show. It wasn't live - it was alive. Don't worry, there are still more programmes in the Media Network collection. It just seemed appropriate to issue them now as Andy Sennitt is retiring from Radio Netherlands, and the Media Network weblog will close on March 24th 2012. The final programme contains a rather comprehensive survey of the media events surrounding the Falklands Malvinas conflict of April 1982. Remember Radio Atlantico del Sur? We also looked at black propaganda stations in Asia, notably those along the Soviet-Chinese border.
I thought I'd post these two shows as a pair. This was the last but one Media Network which contained extracts from the WRUL/WNYW with Lou Josephs and the Prague story 1945/1968. We were celebrating the strength of the documentaries.
This was another milestone, at least for me, hosting the 1000th edition of Media Network at the start of March 2000. We used the programme to share some of the behind the scene stories and celebrate anecodotes with our contributors. Andy Sennitt, the retiring editor of the Media Network blog in 2012, explains how he got involved with the programme. And there are plenty of memories from the loyal audience too. Enjoy!
This was my first programme as a host and producer on Radio Netherlands. It is August 7th 1980. I had arrived a few days before from the UK and was on the air within 48 hours. You can hear that I'm already trying to reduce the amount of music, which is why the name of DX Juke Box morphed into Media Network. As the Media Network Blog ends its run on Radio Netherlands this month (March 2012), I decided to share a few milestones from this collection. Don't worry we'll still be digging in the archives even though Media Network is no more.
We start with news of changes in ownership in Soviet media. Victor Goonetilleke reports on a mysterious station calling itself Colombo International Radio. Radio Ulan Batar now on 22 metres, VOA announced that Radio Marti and Worldnet are to be merged. Albanian refugees in Italy demand loudspeakers to listen to VOA Albanian. BBC is planning to start a BBC World News. Tony Barratt reports hearing HCJB from Quito on SSB. A strange story from Vietnam about cable radio and TRT expands. Arthur Cushen has tuning tips including WWCR and Brazzaville. We called Algerian radio to find out more about the Voice of Palestine. Very quiet conditions on the sun, reports Mike Bird in Melbourne.
I owe a lot to Wolf Harranth (pictured), former DX editor at Radio Austria International and now the curator of the world's largest radio documentation centre in Vienna. I made a with him just before they moved the centre. This show starts with a summary of news in brief including clandestine radio into Nicuragua, Over the Horizon Radar in the US. We then launched the Media Network SW Car Radio Investigation. Remember the Grundig converter? We then looked at the cancer scare risks near the Delano shortwave transmitter site owned by VOA. Wolf Harranth talks about plans for commercial radio in Austria. He explains that many stations from across the border are audible. Richard Ginbey reports on developments in African Media including Angola, Botswana and Mozambique.
The programme kicks off with a review by Jeff White of what a range of international broadcasters have been doing to reach their nationals in the Middle East following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces. Frans Vossen reports on changes expected to the French language network RTBF-4. Pete Myers and I review the . The reviews were later hosted by the UK Mediumwave Circle when the Receiver Shopping List on Radio Netherlands site was discontinued. We wonder what South Shropshire communications is doing on 1512 kHz. BBC 648 changes it's name to BBC for Europe. Andrew Taussig explains that mediumwave is no longer the only way to get a signal across. He also argues why they do their coverage in three languages.
The programme starts with an analysis of a major solar flare on the sun (like the one this week) with the late David Rosenthal (still miss him). We preview a special programme coming from Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. Remember the voice of Bruce Parsons. And a call from Rich in California triggers us to experiment with a Heil receiver connected to a satellite dish. We look at a clandestine station which pretended to be Radio Tehran so it broadcast extracts from the Satanic Verses. Wolf Harranth joins us with an explanation of how private radio is trying to get established in Austria. We learn about a summer school for radio in Bregenz, Austria. A snake switches off Radio Uganda and Andy Sennitt has been exploring harmonic signals. Remember VOA Europe? This programme recalls the lesser known VOA Pacific.
Media Network web editor Andy Sennitt announced late this afternoon that their international is closing down as of Saturday March 24th 2012. Andy is retiring. Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) is heading off in a very different direction in the future. So it makes sense to bow out knowing that a job has been well done. Several thousand people a week have relied on Andy’s sharp eye in spotting international media developments and their implications for those who work in the business of international story-telling. I understand the plan is to keep it online as a reference, since it’s a searchable record of media stories over the last decade that has more than academic value. That’s good news.
I hope you’ll join me in thanking Andy for great time and effort he put into editing the on-line version of Media Network. There are over 15,000 stories on the blog going back to October 2003 and he’s continued the tradition of international media reporting in fine style. That can only come from someone who is fascinated by the medium – it’s not a job – it’s a passion. As you can hear in our Media Network , Andy was a regular contributor from the very start of the programme in 1981. I particularly remember that show we did about the offshore radio days. Andy has spent his career following the media, especially radio. He worked for BBC Monitoring in Caversham Park, UK as well as becoming Editor of the in Denmark. He moved the HQ of the WRTH to Amsterdam and Diana Janssen recruited him to work on a web-version of the radio programme.
It’s not going to be possible to replace the Media Network news blog. But I will increase the frequency and focus of this Critical Distance blog to include more international media stories. I have been playing around with the Storyful platform, which allows you to mix video and audio clips to add to the traditional text and photos. So if you’re interested to follow what we get up to, visit the blog (if you're not already there), subscribe and contribute to the next stage of the journey. We’re also on Facebook. I hope we can persuade Andy to drop by from time to time. But for now, Andy we salute you. Big time!Andy isn't on Facebook (and only by accident on Twitter). So if you want to contact him with wishes and memories of his time at the wheel, the address is
More time travel into the past, to a time when shortwave broadcasting was expanding. This programme starts with the news of a major solar disruption on the sun (like the one we're experiencing as this is being uploaded). We then catch up on two US shortwave stations KVOH and KYOI, we called Vincent Monsey in New York to find out why Radio Caroline is being heard on shortwave. There's a flashback to the West German pirate station Radio Valentine. We talked to Dick Robinson who at that time was the boss at Electronic Equipment Bank in Virginia. He talks about modifications to filters and the specialized world of the high end of shortwave receivers like the ICOM ICR-71. Paul Ballister phones in with news about Radio Essex. Andy Sennitt has more news about NDXE. Radio Earth hires time from Radio Milano International. HRRI in Honduras is on the air. If you're interested in propagation maps, check out from NASA.
This programme looks at how amateur radio helped in the aftermath of the two earthquakes which hit El Salvador in October 1986. Around 1000 messages were sent on behalf of official organisation. 14313 kHz is the emergency frequency to monitor. Bob Horvitz reports on the political clandestine stations beaming into the area, including Radio Venceremos. FMLN has declared a truce. The programme also looks at stereo mediumwave tests in China. On 10870 kHz Radio Iran Toilers is being heard from transmitters believed to be in Afghanistan. Receiver Development Update deals with Escom 500. Eddy Visser is working on modifications for ICOM receivers with a Phase-locked system. We also looked at what happened to Radio West, an updated AM filter on a Philips D-2935 and a new communications receiver, the SRX-351 from Germany. We investigated why there is a pitch change to the Radio Netherlands interval signal and changes at RCI for SWL Digest.
This programme was one of several in the period to look at clandestine radio broadcasting. Although there were later programmes that went into detail about number stations, the remarks by Professor John Campbell of the University of London Computer Science Dept were spot on. I wonder if there is any on-line evidence of that oil company using numbers for communications with Nigeria? He also reviews the book Nish No Kaze, Hare by American writer Robert Haslach. I can still see copies of the book listed in antique book shops here in the Netherlands, though I don't know of any English language translations. Robert worked at Radio Netherlands, when it was "Radio Nederland" and later wrote a history of the station. The programme also includes the news of the start of , a new educational TV network for Africa.The English language pages of the current CFI website must have been done by a machine! We also discuss the rather confusing Sony shortwave line of 7600 receivers. Sony is launching the ICF7601. You can probably skip the RN Hertzian adjustment file - there was no Internet to announce all that schedule information. And even though we printed thousands of programme schedules, the postal services have never been that good at delivering this kind of information.
What were ANARC meetings like 25 years ago? ANARC was the Association of North American Radio Clubs, coming from an era when groups would organise around their passion for listening to distant radio stations on AM, FM, and/or shortwave. I think their peak was in the late 80's, when there were still plenty of stations on the tropical bands of 60 and 90 metres, the Cold War was still on (with all the mystery of clandestine stations) and receiver technology was experimenting with digital processing to dig out weak signals from the noise. I recall this hotel in downtown Montreal because I ended up using the fire-escape a couple of times to get down to breakfast. And on the last day, my pyjamas disappeared from underneath the pillow. I remarked about it in an off-hand way during an edition of the show and a listener in India sent me a new pair!
The photo was taken outside Polish Radio in Warsaw in 2005. The programme that accompanies it was made in August 1988, a difficult time for Poland. There were at least 15 illegal FM stations on the air, trying to combat the official government voice coming out of the Polish Radio building. Do you remember international reply coupons? If you were trying to get a reply out of a radio station, sometimes enclosing an IRC would help out. In theory, such a coupon could be exchanged for postage stamps in another country. However, in my experience, they often turned out to be an expesive proposition. We discuss IRC's in this programme. This was also the week that General Zia was toppled from power in Pakistan and IRRS was preparing broadcasts from Northern Italy. If you've arrived at this page from Thomas Witherspoon's SWL Blog, then you may like to know that Media Network's Pubspot talks to John Bryant of Fine Tuning about 9 minutes into the programme. Professor John Campbell looks at clandestine antennas and reviews a book about Harold Beverage called
This news edition of the programme included news of the WRTH award scheme. We examine Jim Frimmel's computer program which will record audio off air, and talk to German reviewer Rainer Lichte about the Grundig Satelliet 500. There's a short extract from the DX Window programme on Radio Denmark. Jorgen T Madsen explains that they will be hiring airtime on Radio Norway International. For Media Quiz 1989 we invented a spy station and asked you to crack the code. David Monson, then working for the Belgian external service, BRT, explains about his international broacasting conference in Berlin. We were shocked to hear that David Monson passed away in March 2010. He was not only an accomplished musician, he was a master of ad-lib. Dave Rosenthal explains the work of the Space Environment Services centre in Boulder, Colorado.
February 2012. VOA is 70 years old. The first broadcast was in German to Europe. Later, from studios in Munich, VOA tried to reach Europe again with a "music and more"service called VOA Europe. This operation, launched in 1985, didn't last very long. In the early days it sounded like AM radio on FM. And it was cable radio in the Netherlands, rather than over the air FM. More successful in the Balkans, I believe. The photo is of the VOA entrance was taken last year. I understand the VOA logo is to return to its familiar red, white and blue later in 2012.
This programme examines plans for a TV station on by Roy Bates on one of the disused wartime forts in the Thames Estuary. We talk with offshore radio specialist Hans Knot (still going strong in 2012 - check out the website). You might want to skip the frequency changes at the start of the show...those were the days when Radio Netherlands had a major presence on shortwave. The programme also talks to media researcher , now teaching in Bulgaria. He'd been commissioned to look into the future of shortwave radios up to 2000 and beyond. Actually, they seem to have got quite a lot of it right.
As a student, it was often fun to listen on the radio between the broadcasting bands. You would tune just above the mediumwave (AM) broadcast band, say around 1.8 MHz, and you'd often pick up one half of what sounded like a very personal conversation. That's because, in those days, ship-to-shore communications went mainly via medium and shortwave radio. Ships had a communications officer, and they were responsible for setting up calls from the ship which then connected to the public telephone network on land. I still recall the trip to Ijmuiden like it was yesterday, and I find it difficult to believe we made this programme nearly 27 years ago, way back in October 1985. I remember the female operators at Scheveningen Radio were drop dead gorgeous, had fantastic voices and were clearly driving the place. They were often the only female voice men out on the ships had heard in weeks. The men at Scheveningen Radio were mainly in the Morse code section which, even then, was being phased out. I vividly recall sitting in the canteen and seeing the Morse Code operators looking at the newspaper and their right hand involuntarily tapping out out on the table what they were reading. There is one anecdote too. In this programme we set up a Morse Code link with the Hoek-Harwich ferry. I had to do it twice because the first time, when we asked the ferry for its destination, they came back with a string of expletives along the lines of - "We're the Hoek-Harwich Ferry, where do you think we're going?". The guy at Scheveningen radio cleaned up what they said, but I knew the Media Network audience had a high chance of understanding what was really said. So we did it again. If you want to find out why they called it Scheveningen Radio, even though they operated from further up the coast at Ijmuiden, then take a listen to this vintage show. It's in huge stereo.
Hearing reports that it's 26 degrees below (Centigrad) in Moscow at the moment, reminded me of a programme we did with Vasily Strelnikov, the former Radio Moscow WS presenter. This programme takes you back the start of March 1992, when things are starting to open up, media-wise, in the Russian capital. Did you know that Vasily also has a FaceBook page these days? The show starts with a report by Rosella Strom who went to Geneva, Switzerland as part of the World Radio Congress at the ITU where large chunks of the radio spectrum were allocated. And guess what. They are doing the same thing again right at this moment. Actually, it seems surprising that most of the battles haven't changed a bit in 20 years.
We had no idea of what had really happened in the Ukraine at the end of April 1986. I remember that when the news broke, we were celebrating Queen's Day in the Netherlands (April 30th). I tuned into Radio Moscow and Radio Kiev, but they didn't give us much detail. I love the offhand way the announcer in Kiev says "and now sports". The programme also had contact with Pat Gowen, G3IOR a radio amateur in the UK who monitors and contacts Russian amateurs on a regular basis. He confirmed that amateurs in Kiev made no mention of the situation. In other news, the Head of the Russian service of Radio Liberty, Oleg Tumanov turns up in Moscow denouncing the station. It seems he had been a KGB agent - at least according to the that came out later. Captain Midnight blocks HBO satellite signal in protest at the new rates being charged. It turns out later that this is a based in Florida. NDXE announces a date for buying the transmitter. KVOH has also hit some delays. Len Scott of the English service of Radio Budapest talks about plans to have sponsored programmes on their station. Andy Sennitt rounds off the show with a contribution from the WRTH office in Copenhagen.
I confess I don't understand the by John Tusa. He seems to think that a tiny piece of advertising on the Berlin relay on BBC World Service (where currently promos for programmes are slotted in) is somehow a threat to the editorial independence of the World Service. John Tusa may be correct in that the Berlin relay won’t raise much of the 3 million pounds that BBC World Servce radio is trying to raise this year to offset the drastic budget reductions announced nearly a year ago. But for years, ads alongside BBC World Service radio output have been heard on many stations that partner with the external broadcaster. Some stations insert their own commercials at 29 and 59 minutes past the hour when London carries programme promos. That's common in Africa where the local stations need to generate revenue because they are not subsidized by the government. Infact these countries will probably never be able to finance the public service broadcast model that survives in parts of Europe, like the UK, Belgium and Germany. But what's wrong here? Are the radio presenters and editors in London aware that this is happening? Even if they are, do the adverts have any bearing on the editorial decisions being made in Bush House - and later this year in Broadcasting House? No. BBC World Service has always been looking for ways to supplement its income by charging some stations that can afford it. Stations in the US pay a fee to Public Radio International to rebroadcast programmes from BBC World Service. Companies can also sponsor these relays as PRI is happy to explain on it's . Again, these activities don't have any bearing on the editorial content coming out of London. Mind you, none of this is new at all. I recall a clip from the very same John Tusa broadcast by Media Network on January 22nd 1988 (yes almost 24 years ago) in which there were definite plans to make money out of content - he even quotes a figure of how much money they thought they could earn. The clip is short and can be downloaded below. Also note that this was the point at which cable systems in the Netherlands switched off their relays of BBC 648 kHz in favour of a satellite feed. There are some interesting variations in order to squeeze in commercials. There has been a MW relay in Auckland, New Zealand of BBC World Service since the late 1990's. It is run by a who have developed a clever system to raise money to cover their running costs. The automated system puts the feed on BBC WS into a buffer. They carry 2 minutes of ads at the top of every hour and then play back a slightly sped up version of that hour of programming from London squeezed into 58 minutes. Sounds fine to me. Lou Josephs in Washington DC reports that many small stations in the US use the same trick of time compression on satellite syndicated shows so that they can squeeze in local commercials. They call it a "cashbox". I am more concerned about the by their TV channel BBC World News of the BBC's editorial guidelines. This was reported by the BBC Trust back in November. BBC World News buy in programmes made by production companies who are making disguised PR rather than independent investigative journalism. Nobody seems to be checking that thoroughly enough. I will be curious to see the coverage of the Consumer Electronics Fair in Las Vegas this coming week by BBC World News programme "Click". This is that is happy to accept what the BBC terms as sponsorship. It will have to remain strictly editorial independent (i.e. completely opposite to shows like Channel 5's The Gadget Show). If it doesn't, I'm sure viewers will interpret that as breach of trust and that will spill over into their trust of BBC current affairs programmes and investigative documentaries in general. Don't forget you have a situation where BBC World Service radio also has a show called Click (formerly Digital Planet) which is not sponsored and which infact it is a completely different programme to its TV namesake. I personally see more potential with ads on their websites, especially if they make websites that mix general BBC entertainment content with the news output. They could be far more creative with their embedded player than resorting to the tedious pre-roll ads before every clip. There have been far too many cases recently where bank ads for HSBC have preceded another doom and gloom report by Robert Peston about banker salaries or the Euro crisis. Now that really is mixed messaging.
A "Jaws" style opening to this news edition of the programme. There's a report about Offshore Radio Stereo 531 from David Ward in Norwich. Paul Rusling says he is not involved! Buster Pearson has died. VOA English is now on MW. Africa Media News from Richard Ginbey (presented by Mike Bullen). Grove Enterprises has a new publication - The Listeners’ Handbook. Lou Josephs on the Whole Earth Catalogue. New Irish Bulletin Board. Radio Earth is back via Radio Milano International. NRC has a special test on mediumwave. News about the RX99PLL from Escom, we called Dutch engineer Eddie Visser (then in Denmark, now retired in ). What’s going on in the countryside? There has been a break in to the bunker at Lopik. MN Satellite Technology report - the ECS-1 runs into problems.
A very early Media Network just a few months after being relaunched under a new name. The music from DX Juke Box has gone and we're starting to train the correspondents to write and present their own pieces. Richard Ginbey is the first to really compile features about broadcasting in Southern Africa, this time it focuses on Capital Radio 604 in the Transkei. There was also a scandal at VOA after some rather confusing statements by a politician on the station's real role. Robbert Boschart also explains the strange situation about broadcasting in Andorra, locked between Spain and France. You can hear that phone lines were kinda rough in 1981 in the calls to Andy Sennitt and Dan Robinson. Wish we had access Skype in those days. Wim van Amstel reports back on his trip to Oman.
This programme was broadcast just before Christmas as rumours started emerging that the Soviet Union was about to stop jamming Western broadcasters like the Voice of America. Richard Ginbey reports on what he could hear from a listening post in Johannesburg, South Africa. The EDXC convention was to be held in Helsinki 1987. We tested the Kenwood R-5000 communications receiver, Andy Sennitt reports from WRTH editorial office and John Campbell discussed how to contact clandestine radio stations. Pete Myers also looked at an automatic car starter launched in Japan in time for Christmas.
This programme looked at the launch of Cable One, a precursor to Sky Radio, started by two Dutch entrpreneurs and record producers. Although it launched, legal problems with the Dutch broadcasting law at the time put an end to the plans. Those were made up jingles by the way - Carl Josephs did the voice-over. The programme also included a piece by the late Dave Rosenthal on solar eclipses, Richard Ginbey has a nice crop of catches which sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. We also managed to visit the Funkausstellung in Berlin thanks to Hans G Janssen and Wolfgang Schulz who wandered around on our behalf. DAT recorders were the talk of the show. John Campbell reports on novelty clandestine stations like Radio Duck. Mike Bird rounds off the show with propagation conditions. Work has started on the Radio Netherlands extension.
This programme starts with a report on the clandestine station, Radio Free Suriname which was backed by opposition groups in the Netherlands. The principal backer was the late Johnny Kamperveen, who's father Andre started ABC Radio in Paramaribo, but was killed in the December murders. Johnny later returned to Suriname to start the station in 1993 and passed away ten years later. There's also news of the sale of the ship Laser 558. The Admiralty says it will look at the buyer. John Campbell reports that shortwave conditions are improving, just in time to observe the Irish pirates. We also look at brief shortwave broadcasts from Hong Kong during the boat race and talk to Bob Grove about Monitoring Times and the Ten Tec 535.
Europa TV was a rather disasterous attempt at pan-European satellite television by a group of ex-public service managers working in Hilversum. They underestimated the cultural differences across Europe, wasting a lot of money in the early part of the project. It started off as Olympus TV. The team seemed shocked when Olympus cameras of Japan took out a court injuction to stop them using the name (after all the logos, bumpers, jingles had been produced). They also realised the hard way that live voice-overs in feature programming doesn't work because languages vary in how long it takes to say the same thing. Very quickly dubbed as "Europeless TV". The exception was the music programme "Countdown" hosted by Adam Curry which became very popular in Southern Europe, especially Portugal. Veronica TV was able to get better acts to the Netherlands because of the European exposure the programme gave to international talent. But in general Europa TV was a perfect example of public broadcasters trying to be commercial entrpreneurs with license-fee money. The programme also reviews the popular Sangean ATS-803 shortwave radio, which was the Taiwanese company's answer to the Sony ICF2001D.
In the mid 1980's it was always extremely difficult to balance the programme bearing in mind the varying listener interests. Most of the feedback came from South Asia, North America, Europe and the Pacific, so compiling an edition to interest someone in Bombay as well as Boston was challenging. Following my trip to Victor Goonetilleke in 1985, we experimented with some special Asian editions of the programme which were only broadcast to Asia at 1430 UTC. They had very different content, focussing mainly on South Asia. The programmes brought mixed response. Some said they liked the fact that we highlighted issues affecting South-Asian listeners. But there was an equally strong lobby that said the reason for tuning in to a European station was to find out what new technologies were being used there. They thought we should not single out a particular area as being a special case. In the end, we limited the number of special opt-out programmes, prefering to do "media safaris" to various regions of the world and making the programmes available to all target areas. In this edition we looked at the different approaches taken by foreign radio manufacturers in India. Philips set up Philips of India and made radios locally to match the buying power of that market. The Japanese, on the other hand, did not share their technology and would only build screw-driver assembly plants in India using components shipped from Japan. In the end, the Indian engineers had the last laugh. They quickly became the engineering entrpreneurs in the Middle East, South-East Asia and Silicon Valley leaving the Europeans very much in the shade. On later visits to Delhi it was obvious that operations like TV Today and NDTV didn't need any help from "developed countries". They were well ahead already. Only Indian state TV and radio remains firmly stuck in the 1960's, strangled by its own bureacracy. When was the last time you listened to All India Radio?
There have been plenty of fantasy stations on short and mediumwave. Today we'd call them hype or vapourware. Back in the 80's, if someone started advertising the existance of a station in the World Radio TV Handbook (page 45, 1986 edition), then you tended to assume that it looked serious. In fact, NDXE very quickly became a standing joke in the international broadcasting business, boasting that it was going to broadcast in stereo, printing a list of fantasy programmes that were never comissioned and starting a listeners club before it had acquired a shortwave transmitter. By the middle of 1986, the project was falling apart and it was time to expose the nonsense that was Dixon Norman.
Towards the end of October 1987, around 70,000 headed for PalExpo in Geneva, Switzerland, an exhibition centre right next door to the airport. The event was organised by the ITU, so despite efforts to attract international broadcasters, it was really aimed at the government controlled phone companies of the day - and information ministers on a junket trip to the Swiss capital. Companies spent millions on making their stands look rather like the motor show held annually in the same building. I mixed a visit to the city with a look around the EBU and a visit to a musical box museum. This show was the result.
This was a fun show to end 1992, catching up on the media news that was current on the last day of that year. It was a rather momentus day for Radio Luxembourg because they closed down their English service, playing many of their jingles in full so enthusiasts could tape them. But the majority of the show is devoted to a collection of radio mistakes which seemed funny at the time. Remember a lot of international broadcasting was pre-recorded in those days, so many of the fluffs were retaken. Sometimes though, people forgot to edit them out.
Satellites helped Radio Netherlands become far more topical in the 1980's. Before that, feature programmes like Media Network were recorded three weeks in advance and then shipped to Madagascar and Bonaire for playback at the transmitter site. By the time I arrived at the station, the programmes were being fed by satellite. But old habits die hard and it took me a while to persuafe the studio booking department that I wanted to record the programme as close to transmission time as possible, i.e. Wednesday evening rather than Monday afternoon. So much could happen. And in January 1986 it did, with the explosion and loss of seven NASA astronauts about the Space Shuttle Challenger. This was certainly a radio moment, since it was possible to follow the recovery operation if you knew where to search on the shortwave dial. As it happened, the feature that I'd prepared that week was on air-traffic control and the use of shortwave by planes.
Much of this programme is devoted to looking at World War 2 receivers and visits two Dutch collectors who have turned their houses into workshops to restore old receivers. One collects the old German equipment, the other material from the Allies. I remember this programme well having recorded both interviews in Amsterdam on a very wet day and getting absolutely soaked on public transport (was carrying a UHER tape recorder, which is now a collectors item in itself). The photo is from the dial of the famous AR-88 shortwave receiver made by RCA and found in many military surplus outlets in the mid-eighties.
This edition starts with a clip of a Radio Netherlands programme I discovered in the archives from 1963 when everything sounded much more dramatic than it really was. We then switch to developments on mediumwave 675 kHz is no longer used by public broadcasters in the Netherlands but an announcement on the frequency by Erik de Zwaart seems to have lead people to jump to the wrong conclusions. Virgin Radio starts testing on the old BBC Radio 3 frequencies and Radio Fax tries to get a shortwave licence again. There's a new guide to Indian broadcasting and John Wilson of Lowe Electronics announces some changes to the proposed HF-250 shortwave communications receiver. The picture is that of the reserve MW mast at the Northern end of the Lopik transmitter site which I watched being dismanted ten years after this show was made. Plenty of calls to the Radio Netherlands - including the new Channel Africa, the new name for Radio RSA. The FCC is trying to decide which system to choose for advanced television standards, to replace NTSC. There's also news from the Society for the Eradication of Televison!
This is an interesting mix of radio news and reportages dating back to April 1986. We started with news about the clandestine radio station which targeted Zimbabwe from a transmitter base in South Africa. There was much speculation at the time as to who was behind it. It broadcast on shortwave, picking a frequency very near to the ZBC. The show encourage listener participation from the start and this programme is yet another example. Engineer and radio enthusiast Trevor Brook took a trip out to the radio station Laser 558 and recorded the experience for us. There was a satellite update on the broadcast satellite TVSAT (what a lemon that turned out to be) and Mike Bullen sent us a profile of changes at Radio Peking. Mike later left Radio Netherlands to become a writer, authoring the very successful comedy series Cold Feet. He now lives in Australia.
Just found a clean clear copy of this documentary that Andy Sennitt and I made one Saturday afternoon in August 1987 at the Radio Netherlands studio centre at Witte Kruislaan 55 in Hilversum. It had been a busy week, so no time to prepare clips for what would be a nostalgic look back at the offshore era. So we took all kinds of records and tapes into the office and spent most of the day just messing about and putting the extracts into some form of logical order. Andy recalls a cleaner asking us towards the end of the afternoon what we were doing in the building at the weekends. I retorted that this wasn't working it was the best fun in a long time. Thanks to (still going strong as one of the main organisers of the each year) as well as the late Buster Pearson. I am glad these clips survived quite well. Hans has published countless books and newsletters since this programme was made. If the nostalgia of that era still brings back memories of adventure, then I recommend checking out his.
This was the first show of the New Year 1986, when the talk of the day was John Campbell's report on political clandestines radio stations in Europe, and Marcel Rommerts calls to observe a "numbers station"in the middle of the 49 metre shortwave band. This was probably a switching error by a transmitter site which put out both broadcasts and spy number stations. Later in the programme, Taher Aftab, a listener from Pakistan, explains the shortwave scene in that country, where HF was still used for domestic broadcasts. Andy Sennitt reports on a crackly line from Copenhagen about the plans that Radio Earth (Jeff White) has to build a transmitter in the Netherlands Antilles and Roland Paget does a pitch for the EDXC Conference to be held in Paris.
This regular show from January 1993 focused on financial problems facing Radio Sweden, changes to BBC Management structure, and Richard Measham from BBC Monitoring updates us on the clandestine station, the Voice of Free Iraq. On a lighthearted note we looked at the problems of printing QSL cards for Radio Netherlands Russian relay.
This is another newsy edition of Media Network, this one dating from December 1992 when Eric Beauchemin was just back from a visit to Zagreb in Croatia. The radio in that part of the Balkans played a crucial role in the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. And CNN was taking night-sensitive cameras to Somalia to watch the landings of US troops for an operation in the Horn Of Africa. How little has changed. Radio Czechoslovakia International was to be dissolved with the split of the country into Czech Republic and Slovakia and Radio Norway International ponders the future of its foreign service. Enjoy.
Since you've found this page, you might be interested to attend the RadioDays nostalgia radio convention. It's a one day celebration of radio, especially offshore radio. and traditionally it's been well attended. Although held in Amsterdam, it's a great mix of people from both the UK and Dutch offshore stations, as well as fans from Germany and Scandinavia. Entrance is a mere 14 Euro, you just need to turn up, and more details are posted at . If you can make it for 11.00, then you might be interested in a chat by Andy Sennitt and myself about the Media Network era 1980-2000 and what we think the wireless show achieved in understanding the international radio audience as well as celebrating radio in the last half of the 20th century. May be I should tape it and put the recording here?
The review of the Sony ICF1000T is still though not at Radio Netherlands. In this edition of the programme you can hear us review it on air. I suppose now it seems silly to review equipment over the radio to the level of detail we did back in 1996. But there was no Internet to speak of and most of the audience didn't have access to independent consumer reviews. We spent a lot of time and effort compiling receiver guides and reviewing publications, but it I think it was worth it. The programme also includes updates on what the BBC was doing to restore services after a hurricane hit Antigua, home of one of the shortwave relay stations (since closed down). And there's a celebration of Arthur Cushen's 30 years of service to the media shows on Radio Netherlands.
A news show with contributions from Andy Sennitt, Victor Goonetilleke, and Arthur Cushen reports hearing Radio Alma Ata from Kazakstan. We interview an old friend of the programme who we last spoke to when he was in the Solomon Islands. Martin Hadlow is now in Central Asia for UNESCO. It is interesting that the radio and TV stations in the area have changed little in the last 15 years since this programme was made, although they seem to be on the verge of making heavy investments in digital television. The TV stations were using consumer video formats of Sony's Hi-8 and Panasonic's SuperVHS. Radio was suffering back then. There's a second chance to enter the Media Network Car Route to visit 12 international stations. There were also major refurbishment to Radio Netherlands entrance hall! I remember that well - an early attempt to explain the mission to the general public. I think it worked rather well - but then I was involved in pushing for the change to building. The inside of RN was deliberately austere, because the idea was that all the walls were grey or dark green. The people would bring the colour into the building it was thought, at least by the architects at the end of the 1950's.
In a regular edition of the programme, we hear about the start of the CBC Overnight service in Canada which relayed various international broadcasters while CBC programmes were off the air. The KNVB decides to launch Sport 7. It would cost an extra 12 Euro a year on a cable subscription. Lou Josephs looks at the Telecommunications Reform Bill which removed restrictions on ownership. One company spent a billion dollars acquiring 52 radio stations. DW ceases from facilities in Malta. Radio Mediterranean also leaves the airwaves, a joint Maltese-Libyan operation. We had 500 pages on the WWW ! All those http's. Arthur Cushen reports Radio North Solomans has been reactivated.
By the time 1996 started, Diana Janssen (see photo) was firmly established as the co-host of Media Network. Had enormous fun putting the show together each Wednesday evening. This was one of the few editions where Jonathan didn't present. But the programme was in capable hands. Smart Lady.
This edition covers modifications to the Baygen clockwork radio in a interview with Trevor Baylis. There is also the first airing of Media Race 1996. Radio Vilnius hires a radio transmitter in Juelich, Germany. HCJB and Radio Norway announce expansion and VOA tests its new site in Sao Tome. America 1 signed a joint venture agreement to distribute public radio across Europe - remember this is well before Internet audio is good quality was available to the public.
A pre-Christmas show in which the news of the week was the appearance of religious station TWR from Albania (the old 1 MW transmitter of Radio Tirana) on 1395 kHz. This caused problems to Veronica News Radio on the same frequency. Interesting to hear the old budgets stations had in those days for news production. Radio 1 had 50 million dollars for the network. Veronica was trying to run a news service with no less than 60 journalists. I believe that Business News Radio in the Netherlands currently runs the distant successor to Veronica News Radio with a staff of 36. Adam Curry, now co-host of . Talk Radio announced plans for the old BBC Radio One mediumwave network. Transmissions will start in early 1995. There's news about "strawberry radio" in Bosnia, the nickname for Radio Nederland. Rick Lansig has a go at Mike Bird on his propagation. The call of the Fish Eagle used to be the only voice out of Zambia. Now Christian Voice has added a 100 kW transmitter on 6065 kHz. Andrew Huddleston a British born singer living in Denmark has released a record called Seek You. We also heard about Radio Free Somalia operated by Sam Voron. Arthur Cushen recalls the frequencies.
This was a documentary I made in 1993 looking back at the floods in the Netherlands in the winter of 1953 and what had happened since. It contains many broadcast extracts from broadcasters that used the station's facilities to broadcast to the US. UK listeners may recognise the voice of Brian Matthew, who worked for Radio Netherlands in the 1950's and then went on to a career at BBC Radio 2. The documentary won a prize at an Asian Broadcasting Union meeting a year later. Bearing in mind the floods that affected New York and New Jersey in late October 2012, I am beginning to wonder whether we have learned all the lessons from these tradgedies. Yes, we have understood how to build barriers. But we don't know how to communicate disaster preparedness. Wrote this with more information.
A Media Network news edition edition from early October 1995 in which we were concerned with the extension of the mediumwave band in the US. Chris Greenway from BBC M looks at news out of Yugoslavia, including a swap with China Radio International. We also lift the lid on DVB and find out how Victor Goonetilleke got into shortwave listening. The photo shown is the mediumwave mast on the Flevopolder used for 747 and 1008 kHz. In those days both the signals were from the public broadcasters in the Netherlands.
This edition is tinged with sadness because the DXer featured in the programme, Bernt Erfjord, in June 2004. The photo is from happier times at NRK Sørlandet, the regional station belonging to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. In this programme Bernt explains about the student station in Trondheim. He also reported many times to the Media Network programme on events in the Baltic states which he could hear from this vantage point in Norway. Great guy, still missed.
Throughout 2020, the Netherlands is celebrating from Nazi Occupation. Media Network on Radio Netherlands was famous for doing documentaries about broadcasting during the Second World War and using recordings from both public and private archives that you don't normally hear in UK/US documentaries. To celebrate 750 editions of Media Network on May 4th 1995, we told the story of the station that predated Radio Netherlands, Radio Herrijzend Nederland. At the Philips Radio Factory in Eindhoven, a radio transmitter had been built in secret. When the Allies liberated the South of the Netherlands in September 1944, the transmitter was quickly prepared for action. The first programmes were broadcast on October 3rd 1944 by the broadcasters from Radio Oranje (Orange) who had travelled back from London to report from liberated Europe. Broadcasts were led by the journalist , who led . The station started from North Brabant with makeshift equipment while the North of the Netherlands was still under Nazi Occupation. Full liberation of the Netherlands only came in May 1945. The station was renamed Radio Nederland Wereldomroep in April 1947, with studios in the Bothalaan in Hilversum. But that is another story.... to . Other programmes in English from Radio Netherlands are being released on . Please spread the word via Facevook, Twitter, or Instagram.
I got a chance to visit Tehran, Iran as part of a delegation to the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union meeting taking place there in October 1995. It remains one of the most amazing trips of my life. Nothing could prepare me for the visit as a CIP - a commercially important person. The programme includes off air recordings I made in the hotel of what IRIB sounded like in those days on FM. The language lessons were decidedly different. In those days listening to foreign stations was discouraged - there was a giant poster to that effect at the airport. But looking out on the rooftops outside my hotel there was nothing but a forest of dishes.
Remember Trevor Baylis and the wind-up radio? I organised a conference for Radio Netherlands at the International Broadcasting Convention IBC between September 11-14th 1995. We decided to celebrate the fact that we were 5 years away from a new Millennium by looking at the technologies that would carry us forward. That included a look at different codings for DAB, a reality check on radio by Sri Lankan broadcaster Victor Goonetilleke and a special performance about the Clockwork Radio from Trevor Baylis, the British inventor who turned up in Amsterdam and charmed the audience with his frank, funny and brilliant introduction to the concept of wind-up radios. A few weeks after the conference we produced a special CD for those who took part. This is a copy for those who missed it. It's double the length of a normal Media Network, just over an hour.
Andy Sennitt has some media news updates from the WRTH, the Lowe HF-250 has started to appear in the UK and here in The Netherlands this past week. Kevin Whitehead is the general manager of Lowe Production in Matlock Derbyshire England. Jonathan Marks had a preview of the radio before we do our own test on it to find out more about the philosophy behind the new set and, to the point, what it is made of. There’s a feature on the rather curious Turkish Police Radio and we review an excellent book about Zenith Shortwave Radios produced by the Radio Professors of P.O. Box 592, Stillwater, Oklahoma, 74076, USA. The ISBN number is: 0-88740-708-0. The authors were John H. Bryant and Harold N. Cones and the title of the book is “The Zenith Trans-Oceanic, the Royalty of Radios” It was published by Schiffer Publishing in 1995. Photo is one I took in Istanbul back in 2004.
So here it is then, the sixth and final installment of the HitchHikers Guide to DXing, broadcast a full year after the last episode. The references to a monitoring service not unlike one in Caversham in the early 1980's are purely coincidental. Just a note to say that the popularity of this 30 year old radio parody has been more than I could have expected. I had more than 5500 recorded downloads in the course of July. Thanks for the feedback on the material so far. I an very curious to know which epiosde you enjoyed most. It was blast then, and it's a blast now.
Oliver and Drisopholis escape in a van carrying white books to Geneva. They weasle their way into the auction where frequencies are bought and sold to the highest bidder. At the time the "white book" of frequency registrations was only a guide to what had been registered by stations. There was no guarantee that stations actually used the channels they claimed. The ITU is still based in Geneva, opposiite the UN HQ in Geneva.
In this episode, Oliver Pass and Drisopholis escape to the jamming shed in the grounds of Radio Polizania. They meet the head of jamming and discover how the noise is really generated. The episode also includes clips from Radio Daddy LongLegs, the pirate station with all the latest closedown news complete with home-made jingles. They also get a tour of the QSL verification department where "word-processors"are helping to reduce the workload (Radio Netherlands had no computers in those days),
The introduction to this episode was a story in itself. I discovered that Peter Jones, the actor who narrated the original HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy was appearing with Arthur Lowe in a TV drama being filmed at the NOS, a short walk from Radio Netherlands. I quickly typed out some copy from the HHGuidetoDXing and ran over to the studio at lunchtime with a UHER tape recorder. Explaining I was a great fan of the original I asked Peter if he'd be willing to record a few lines of text for my little wireless show. He agreed. What a nice man! In this episode our two heroes are still trapped inside Radio Politzania. This time they visit the advertising department and hear the recording of a DXTel advert with Graham Gill. Thanks to Surge Forward for the make-up.
In this episode, Oliver Pass and Drisopholis discover the secrets behind how DX programmes are made as they explore inside Radio Politzania. How are stations really broadcast on shortwave? And why do DX shows keep interviewing each other? Thanks to George Wood of Radio Sweden and Ian McFarland, formerly of Radio Canada International for agreeing to play along. This episode was originally broadcast on April 30th 1981.
It is thirty years ago since I wrote a rather silly parody on both international radio broadcasting based on my favorite radio series at the time, the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. There seemed to be so much to make fun of at the time...the boring propaganda at the height of the Cold War, jamming, the waste of energy shouting from one country to another, and the variable quality of reaction from listeners. I don't think it was the listeners's fault that most of the feedback was very technical, to do with signal strength and QSL cards rather than comments on the programme. May be people were being too polite. My father would often answer the door to religious groups by apologizing that he couldn't continue the conversation because we were "drisopholia"in this house. It was years later that I p and understood the wry smile on his face as he closed the door. It seems like an excellent name for a character in this fantasy visit to Radio Politzania, the place where all shortwave signals really come from. There wasn't much time to write radio drama on the second floor of the Radio Netherlands building. And there was no budget to hire actors. So I just rattled it off on a typewriter and asked colleagues to come and read their parts in a lunchtime recording session. This was all two track material, sliced together with a chinagraph pencil and a razor blade. In total we made 5 in 1981 to fit the 5th Thursday in the month, and then one more in 1982 as a Christmas special. Listening to it now, I find it strange that we managed to predict Freeview, that all the DX programmes would be gone by 2022, and that flash memory would replace tape. It is great hearing the voices of Pete Myers, Harry Kliphuis, Neville Gray, who are sadly no longer with us. But there are plenty of people who went off to do great things elsewhere. went to Tokyo to become Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce, responsible for public affairs, Roger Broadbent climbed the ranks in Melbourne with Radio Australia, Bob Chaundy went back to the UK and specialised in writing detailed obituaries for the BBC and Guardian,, co-presenter of AsiaScan later wrote the comedy series Cold Feet, and so the list goes on. Listen to this for what it was. A bit of fun in the studio when times were very different to now. The series was repeated in 1984 by request. I have also had comments to this archive asking me to put them on line. So, they will all go up one by one in sequence.
This is one of several bloopers shows I made at Radio Netherlands in the 1980's at a time when a lot of material was pre-recorded and making a mistake on air was frowned upon. Sense of humour has changed a lot in over 30 years. But some of the slips still raise a smile. Enjoy
This programme contains a profile of Radio Austria International in Vienna. That station holds fond memories for me since I worked at the station briefly 1976-1980 in the days when the shortwave service was part of the ORF Zentrum out in the 23rd district. They subsequently moved back to the Argentinerstrasse across the road for the Funkhaus. Several listeners called and e-mailed after monitoring announcements at the weekend on Radio Austria International. The station is just putting the finishing touches to a new 100 kw shortwave transmitter at its Moosbrun transmission centre. But as Roland Machatschke, director of Radio Austria International, explained to us, it looks as though shortwave output from Moosbrun will be cut by 50%. 5.5 million dollars won’t leave much left over for programming. We also reported on the launch of the Sirius satellite radio system and noted that cassette holders were disappearing from shops, which is usually a signal that a format is coming to an end. We were still trying to work out whether to put old shows onto CD's for listeners before we realised we would never have the budget!
This second part of the series Inside Story broadcast in 1983 explores the broadcasters who joined the public broadcasting system in the 1960's like TROS and Veronica. Another new broadcaster was the evangelical EO. Amazing that it took 50 minutes to explain Holland's Unique Broadcasting system. No wonder it remains unique. The photo was taken on the Dutch media park in Hilversum very near to the new Media experience building Beeld en Geluid.
More time travel for you. This programme was an attempt to explain the extremely complex Dutch broadcasting system to a foreign audience. Remember it is 1983! By today's standards, broadcasting still sounds very formal and scripted (because it was!). People still talk about radio, whereas today the political discussion is purely about TV. In this first episode, we looked at the original public broadcasters AVRO, VARA, NCRV and KRO. The photo shows the KRO building on the Emmastraat in Hilversum. Radio Netherlands used to hire one of the studios for "Ship of the Week" in the 1950's before it had its own studio that could accommodate an audience. I went past the old KRO building in July 2015 on the bus and it seems to be abandoned. There was a plan to convert the place into apartments, but I don't believe that has happened. You can also see it on Google Earth if you use Streetview. The re-release of this programme in 2014/2015 is timely as Dutch public broadcasting goes through a major reorganisation as a result of new legislation going through the Dutch parliament. There are other episodes in this series.
This was a "regular"edition of the programme first broadcast at the start of 1993. This week the news is that veteran DXer Adrian Peterson of AWR has been hearing strange harmonics in Costa Rica and the VOA Brazilian Branch has a new lease of life thanks to take-up by Brazilan radio stations of its satellite signal. Shortwave to Brazil was already written off as being no longer viable! Adrian continues with a commentary of what's happening to shortwave services in Central America. Canadian commercial station CKFX, plans a comeback with a low-power transmitter on 49 metres using a single vertical array. We visit Gijs Pappot, then the Chief engineer at Radio Netherlands, who explains how the signal gets to Moscow for the recently started broadcasts to Asia. Victor Goonetilleke has some great recordings of Radio Iraq International plus some other tuning suggestions.
It's ten years since Radio Netherlands organised a "short wave" of publicity stunt targeting English speakers in North America. On July 1st 2001, BBC World Service ended its broadcasts on shortwave to North America. Mark Byford, then the Director of BBC World Service, decided to pull the plug rather abruptly instead of quietly phasing out the service. It caused quite a commotion in shortwave-listening circles. As programme director at Radio Netherlands at the time, I was rather curious to see what would happen if we hired the same BBC transmitting facilities from Merlin Communications for a short period after sign-off to see what the reaction would be. I made a simple shortwave showcase programme explaining that there were other stations on the dial apart from the BBC. The programme got a satisfactory response, so much so, that after two weeks we decided to add a regular morning broadcast to North America, following on from the success that the RN Latin American service had enjoyed. At the time, there were high hopes for Digital Radio Mondiale, a digital standard for AM broadcasting. I also pointed out in the programme that broadband was not available for the majority of the audience which is why shortwave still made sense. The situation is very different today. Today, shortwave broadcasting to North America makes no economic or strategic sense at all. But it was fun while it lasted.
In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This fifth programme explores an unusual hobby in the Netherlands, importing and restoring jukeboxes. I was intrigued at the way they get around the problem of the different phase in the power lines - 60 Hz in North America, 50 Hz in Europe. This was the final and concluding part of the radio series. The earlier episodes are also on line. Let me know what you think!
In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This fourth programme examines gramophones and phonographs in the company of a local collector, Fred Haanebeek. The final part of this series is released tomorrow.
In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This third programme looks at player pianos or . I was amazed at the number of people in the Netherlands who were collecting at the time. I was particularly impressed by the recordings of Gustav Mahler playing his own compositions. He recorded the rolls in 1908 if I remember correctly. It's obvious that he was a better composer than performer though. Part 4 tomorrow. Enjoy!
In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This second programme looks at Bells in the belltower. If you come to the Netherlands you'll still find carillions being played by hand or by machine. Part three released tomorrow. Enjoy.
In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones, phonographs and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This first programme looks at all kinds of clocks that perform melodies. Another one all this week to complete the series. Enjoy.
This edition was recorded in Cannes France and nearby Monaco. We look at the state of the music industry in 1996 (they still don't really understand the Internet do they?) and visit , a radio station targeting British expats living in the South of France. 25 years later (this update in 2021) the station is still there although the website looks as though it was built in 1996 and all they changed was the copyright notice. I love the story about the shortwave site, formerly used by Trans World Radio Monte Carlo. The Germans built it originally to blast into North Africa during the war.
Six months ago we took you on a tour of a special exhibition being held in the Netherlands Broadcasting Museum on the south-side of Hilversum. The great thing about the museum is that part of the collection always changes. The popular exhibition on off-shore radio which we covered last year has now made way for an equally fascinating portrait of wartime radio. It covers the period of German Nazi occupation, starting on May 10th 1940 when German troops crossed the Dutch border.The exhibition looks at the powerful influence that radio had and the way it was used by the Germans and Allied forces to persuade. As you walk through the exhibition there are headphones attached to many of the glass cabinets. They bring the past to life. Arno Weltens has designed the exhibition and he started our tour by explaining that after the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14th 1940 and the capitulation of Dutch forces hours afterwards a German infantry patrol headed for the centre of Dutch broadcasting on Wednesday the 15th. (note this programme was originally posted as May 4th in error.)
This week most of the programme focussed on a profile of the new South African external service, Channel Africa. Lebona Mosia was its first director and he visited Hilversum in April 1996 to discuss possible cooperation. He had worked as a broadcaster on the anti-apartheid clandestine station Radio Freedom which beamed programmes into the country from neighbouring Zambia and Madagascar. Following the change of government, Radio RSA was renamed Channel Africa and went through a major period of change, having much less money than before. The programme also includes an interview with the then boss of Sentech, Neil Smuts, who explained that the Meyerton shortwave centre was being prepared for jamming operations when the regime collapsed.
This vintage edition of the programme contains news of a special amateur radio station PA6RNW to celebrate the Dutch transmission company Nozema, we follow-up on a call from Florida about the clandestine women on the radio, (Tokyo Rose, Hanoi Hannah, Liberty from Argentina). It seems people were suggesting we should re-issue Media Networks on CD (something which had to wait until this site 16 years later). The programme concludes with a feature on magnetic loop antennas with inventor . A difficult subject, but I thought, well explained. The photo is of the replica PHOHI/PCJ towers put up a couple of years ago in the town in which I currently live, a monument to shortwave's glorious past.
This is part two of the documentary about Dutch broadcasting in Indonesia. The programme begins with a look at the current state of the sunspot cycle and then launches into Part Two of the feature. This part looks at the rather uneasy situation between the Dutch and Indonesian population in the lead-up to independence. Then follows a portrait of the complex radio situation in Indonesia in 1995. I made most of these recordings during a trip there in early 1995. Joe Coman, head of Radio Netherlands Indonesian department at the time, added to the conversation.
This is an expanded rewrite and reworking of an episode of Media Wars, first broadcast in the 1980's examining the curious broadcasting situation in the Dutch East Indies from 1940 onwards. When the Japanese invaded Indonesia, the Dutch lost control of the broadcast networks. But there are some untold stories of what they tried to do under such unusual circumstances.
This programme starts with a report from Hungary about protests to changes at Radio Budapest. We also learned of the passing of the editor of the RBSWC, Dennis Herner. Andy Sennitt had news of the reactivation of LRA36, the Argentine station on their Antarctic base. Victor Goonetilleke is on the line with news that TWR plans to return to shortwave. Bob Tomalski has some rants about why wide angle televisions are only appearing in PAL, and we look at some of the thoughts behind the Grundig 206 shortwave receiver.
Great to find a specialist book like Audio Audio by Jonathan Hill after 15 years - and just a few pounds more than when it was published in 1995. This was a follow-up book to the popular book Radio Radio which is illustrated below. This Media Network programme kicks off by interviewing the author and asking him what's the fascinating of Vintage audio. The programme also includes news of changes at BBC Monitoring from Chis Greenway as well as developments in the Spanish service of Radio Netherlands. The jamming situation has changed in Asia - we have a report from Victor Goonetilleke. And the programme concludes with a profile of Radio TV Hong Kong.
There were major changes going on at AFN Europe at the start of the 1990's. That explains why I revisited the station even though we'd done an extensive profile on them just two years before. Sadly I understand that the great voice of AFN Europe in this documentary, Bob Harlan, is no longer with us. He passed away in Jacksonville, Florida in 2003 aged 77. Youtube has . You also can hear the voice of Paul van Dyke. I do admire the get up and go attitude that I found at AFN Shape and AFN Frankfurt. Their mission was clear - and they sounded dedicated to that mission.
This show starts with callers to the Radio Netherlands answerline concerned about changes to Radio Netherlands' European service. A caller from Germany recommends looking for a UN Radio programme to verify Radio Bhutan. A feature on buying a second-hand shortwave radio follows, plus a conversation with the late Bob Tomalski on the introduction of no less than 3 new audio formats. Remember Mini Disc? It doesn't seem like 19 years ago does it? The programme also features an interview with the new boss of Radio Vilnius who told us the inside story on what happened when Soviet troops raided the station the year before and how they broadcast from the blind institute not knowing if their voices were being heard. I find that sign-on music they used continues to haunt me. We also hear about the plans for a special ham radio station to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voice of America. K3EKA is the station based in the VOA HQ in Washington DC.
This programme was aired a few days after Radio Luxembourg's English service signed off from the highpower mediumwave channel of 1440 kHz, better known as the Great 208 (208 metres). The farewall show went on well into the night and contained some great stories of the English service in Luxy. The mediumwave transmitter in Marnbach is still there - I passed by on a trip to Luxembourg in the car a few years back. RTL German and China Radio International have used it since. I find it interesting that nearly 20 decades after this programme was made, Holland still has a mediumwave service. They have reduced the power to keep the coverage down to just the Netherlands and I am sure there must come a day when Radio 5 from the public network vacates 747 kHz. This programme also contains an illustrated interview with Richard Jackson about the decision by the Thai government to terminate the licences of 5 radio channels in the hope of raising the commercial revenue of the government station Radio Thailand.
This programme turned out to have a different ending than was originally planned. During the recording session on a Wednesday afternoon came the tragic news that long-time contributor to the programme, Richard Ginbey, had been killed in a car accident. Richard was a true broadcast professional working on several stations in Southern Africa. He also spent some time in New Zealand it seems, as several Dxers in the Pacific recall him as a DJ there in the 1970's. He also ran his own media show on Radio Portugal in the days when it was known as the Voice of the West and had a shortwave service in English. The programme, called Radio Safari, even issued its own QSL cards signed by Richard. This programme simply broke the news of his passing. There were tributes in several subsequent programmes. Other items in this programme include Radio Netherlands' single sideband tests to North America, changes at Radio Finland (interview with Juhani Niinstoe), a profile of VNG - the time signal station in Australia, Paul Ballster has news about GLR in London, and there are delivery problems with the International Listening Guide.
I see that v is back on the Voice of Russia, reminiscing with colleagues about the days of Radio Moscow World Service. They have a (search for "from Moscow with Love"). Richard Measham of BBC Monitoring explains how time changes in Russia have affected the complex external broadcast schedule (curiously time changes are back in the news as Russia has decided to adopt permanent summer time in 2011). In this programme Vasily explains about Radio Ala, a station which played which popped up on shortwave having hired transmission facilities formerly used by Soviet jammers. It was fascinating while it lasted. There's also an interval signal contest as compensation for Jim Cutler's Impossible Contest which we put out in April 1992. We played three interval signals at once, one of them backwards. But it didn't fool the dedicated listeners. I made the photo on a wet but fascinating day in Moscow. Incredible to see where those programmes were made.
This programme contains an interview with the late Joseph Mark Costello III, the founder of WRNO shortwave in New Orleans. He passed away from complications from diabetes in late April 1997 at the young age of 56. His first job after college was at a small radio station in DeRidder, where he became chief announcer. It was, Mr. Costello later said, the only time that he worked for a company he didn't own. In 1967, the son of Algiers grocery-store owners mortgaged his parents' rental property to help raise $25,000 to build WRNO, a pioneer FM stereo rock-music outlet that became one of the city's most listened-to and profitable radio stations. It was a risk. But Mr. Costello said in a 1982 interview, he never was worried. "I didn't know it would be successful," he said, "but I knew I could always make money at something. It's easy. You just don't spend more money than you make." When he couldn't hire a disc jockey, he acted as the station's announcer, too. Even long after Joe Costello became a millionaire with five homes and a 50-foot yacht, his voice could be heard delivering the station's slogan, "We're the rock of New Orleans." In 1991 I remember getting a call from him. He was visiting Amsterdam and wanted to see around Radio Netherlands. That explains his appearance in this programme. This show also contains a link up with Richard Measham talking about the wide range of Russian radio stations appearing on shortwave as well as a lab test of the Sony ICFSW-55 which I purchased in Tokyo. The programme actually starts with a promo for a programme by Dheera Sujan and gradually turns into Media Network. I could cut that bit off, but decided not to. Hope you enjoy the show.
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This was a regular edition of Media Network in the summer of 1986. We review the Grundig Satellit 400 shortwave receiver made in Portugal from German designs. Roger Broadbent explains about AM stereo and the challenges it faces. We look at the growth of English language radio in Paris - stations are now carryingVOA Europe. Arthur Cushen's tips include recordings of the internal shortwave services of ABC in Australia in Tennant Creek. I personally remember this programme not for its content but for the panic before broadcast. We used an Apple IIe to write the script and the power supply short circuited a few hours before the recording. Luckily some of the segments had already been recorded but the main script was hastily rewritten before we went to air.
About 90 minutes drive east of Amsterdam towards the German border you’ll come to the city of Apeldoorn. If you turn south-east and drive along the Apeldoornse Kanaal you’ll soon come to the village of Eerbeek. In the summer it is still full of campers, people of walking or cycling holidays. The village has a railway station and parked in the siding in the summer of 1995 were two strange looking coaches. They used to ride around in the days of the German Democratic Republic. Now they’re home to a new satellite station called Radio London. Peter Jansen is the director and sitting inside the carriage I asked him to explain the name. The music on the new Radio London though is very different. It is world music. Look at the countries that have a beach looking out onto the Atlantic ocean and you have some idea of the music now being broadcast..world music from Africa and Latin America, reggae, rhythm and blues, and album tracks from the years 1965 to 85. The station later changed its name to Q Radio and moved from the train to a ship in the Ijsselmeer polder before closing down due to lack of funds. But it was fun while lasted. This programme also has a review of a Grundig Yacht Boy receiver and there is DX news from the late Arthur Cushen MBE.
This show kicks off with the news that ICRC (Red Cross) reorganises in Geneva. Has Lowe Electronics missed the boat with the lack of passband tuning? Roy Sangren of Radio Scandinavia does another test. I think he has a world record in test transmissions. We then ran a feature on the Internet for Shortwave Radio Listeners. We chatted with Media Network contributor about his vision of what could happen next. He was spot on. The problem in those days was the speed. 28.8 kb/sec dial-up modem was the standard. We talk to one station experimenting with 8 kb/sec audio. The commercialization of the Internet could be its downfall! Jim was spot on 16 years ago about how VOIP would develop. We also talked to Vasily Strelnikov, formerly of Radio Moscow World Service and then of Radio 7. He explains how stations are migrating to the “new” FM band. BBC WS used to have English on an AM station in Moscow.
This programme looked at the activitiee of Press Now in former Yugoslavia and its work to support independent media in Bosnia. In other news Veronica Radio says they will commence test transmissions of their new Newsradio AM station as of September 18th. Look for low power tests between 5 and 17hrs UTC consisting of news bulletins, weather and traffic reports. The Dutch Transmitting Company, NOZEMA expects the delivery of the permanent transmitter in October so that by the middle of next month the station will move to 24 hr operation. The tests on 1395 will also determine whether the expected interference problems with Radio Tirana which uses that channel in the evening are serious enough to warrant a frequency change to another part of the medium. There have been problems in the Caribbean with very bad weather and this has affected the island of Antigua, home to the BBC’s relay station for the region. Geoff Spells is a senior engineer for the BBC’s schedule and frequency management unit and he is on the line from Bush House in London. Geoff says that for the moment, at least, BBC Antigua is silent. We also review of a new book by Nicolas Negroponte, Being Digital.
We visit the Radio Documentary Festival in Amsterdam “Boundless Sound”. More than 100 documentaries from all over the world were played and more than 400 people turned up to hear them, not bad when you realise that it was boiling hot outside. There were some great arguments for theatre of the mind from producers who made documentaries in Bosnia during the war. Radio doesn’t try to simplify the situation – it celebrates its complexity. Somehow it is easier to remember great radio programmes than TV shows. Across Europe at the moment several laboratories are working to try and squeeze more audio into a smaller space without hearing the difference. Philips DCC digital compact cassette and the Sony Minidisk system are examples of this. In fact the system doesn’t record everything the microphone picks up but only what the ear will detect when the recording is played back. If a loud noise masks a quieter one, then the quiet sound isn’t recorded. Of course its important that there are international standards for this technique and these have been set by so-called Motion Picture Experts Group, or MPEG. All this is very important for the development of digital audio broadcasting. Later in 1995 at the Funkausstellung in Berlin, RFI, BBC, DW and Radio Netherlands hope to demonstrate how three international radio broadcasts can be squeezed into one DAB channel, very important if international radio is going to compete in the long term when medium wave loses its popularity. Harald Prop, is senior engineer at the Frauenhofer Institue for integrated circuits in Erlangen, Germany where they compress and decompress audio all day in the hope of getting an even better sound out of a lower bit rate. We also look at stations that supply their programme schedules in Braille. Arthur Cushen refers to the Ontario DX Association. Chris Greenway of BBCMS looks at developments in Lithuania.
This edition marked the start of Radio Netherlands presence on the World-Wide Web (21st April 1995) after three years of experimenting with MCI-Mail and participation in bulletin board systems like FIDONET. As Director of Programmes at the time, I remember suggesting as the URL to the head of IT at the time. We chat with Esmail Amid-Hozour, head of Grundig North America. I think you would be hard put to find someone who has more enthusiasm for AM broadcasting, and shortwave in particular. He was very clever in putting shortwave portables in airline catalogues and Sharper Image. There’s also a visit to the BBC World Service shop in Bush House (long since gone) and a report on Lowe receivers designed and made in Matlock, Derbyshire. Still love those long URLs. I suppose we really covered the birth of Adam Curry’s love affair with the web, well before podcasting. Then it was called metaverse.com and you could download software to listen to radio stations, like a station in Melbourne, Florida. These days Adam’s devoted himself to producing with John C Dvorak. Haven’t time’s changed? We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of NDXE, the station that had a listeners club but never built the transmitter. This was a global radio station that claimed it would broadcast on shortwave in stereo.
I co-hosted the show with Victor Goonetilleke who was passing through Hilversum on his way back to Sri Lanka. With recent discussion in January 2011 about funding of the BBC World Service, this flashback to a conference in September 1995 is rather topical. Sam Younger was the Managing Director of BBC World Service in 1995 and he questioned whether it is desirable for public broadcasters to work with commercial operations, especially in television. He predicted that the growth of international TV would have a major impact on radio transmissions. He also warned against certain types of sponsored programmes. The programme also contains the voice of the late Pete Myers who explains the reason for ending the run of the Happy Station programme. A nice cup of tea was one of the standard tunes that recurred in the Happy Station programme hosted by Eddy Startz, first on PCJ in 1928, and after the war when broadcasting resumed, Happy Station was a station within the station, Radio Netherlands. Last Sunday saw the last transmission of entertainment in English under that programme title. Pete Myers is one of the four hosts of the show during its 67 year run. Before the recording started he explained why the entertainment will continue, but not under the title of Happy Station.
This programme was made just after Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal celebrated its official 50th anniversary with a great listener get together in Brussels and a visit to the shortwave transmitting centre in Wavre. What a great celebration it was of Belgian external radio broadcasting. As we looked back in the archives we discovered Belgium has been active on shortwave for much longer than 50 years. Jacque van der Sichel, then director of RVI, has researched into the history and explains that Belgium’s appearance on the dial actually goes back 58 years. Just before the German invasion, the Belgian National Radio had been planning to upgrade the facilities in Ruiselede to improve reception of its programmes in other parts of the world. In fact, with war in Europe, the new high power facilities were moved to Africa, in the Belgian colony of Congo, now Zaire. Frans Vossen, media producer at the English department of Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal takes up the story. It's a shame that nothing seems to be left on line of these radio programmes from Brussels.
In this edition: Chris Greenway of BBC Monitoring reports on RFE-RL moves from Munich to Prague. Paul Rusling has an idea for a longwave radio station from the Isle of Man (Atlantic 252 for grown-ups) and Wolf Harranth reports on plans to revive a radio station in Lichtenstein. In other news here in Holland the PTT, quote media and the De Telegraaf newspaper have launched internet access for the general public. You pay 20 dollars a month for 6 hrs access. Meanwhile in London the BBC is in talks with Compuserve with the view to providing news and information to customers of this American online news provider. And in Israel, English programmes on shortwave are being cutback again as from July 1st. But the 19 hrs UTC transmission is being restored to a full half hour. However the feature programmes will not come back because Israel radio is closing its English features department at the end of June 1995. This week European Digital Radio changed its name to Radio E, ready for a test DAB launch in late August. Thats a group of stations including the BBC, RFI, Deutsche Welle and Radio Netherlands. Does this mean there’s a trend away from individual international broadcasters. You see smaller stations clubbing together and larger ones starting to talk more and more about their own region. There is always a danger than when public money is tight policy makers simply want to broadcast news about their own country, saying that regional news from other parts of the world is too costly to collect. It was a point that our correspondent Victor Goonetilleke raised at the EDXC conference a few weeks back.
I remember this edition of the programme well because we had one of only ten prototypes made of the Baygen Clockwork Wireless. I bought it in South Africa from the factory. This is rare because it's in grey and the first model issued to the public was actually in black. The spring inside is actually the same spring used in a car safety-belt. Other news from the script... We also had some e-mail recently asking about "real audio" which was featured at the Towards 2000 interview. This was the way to get live audio from a radio station not through the airwaves but by using an Internet connection and a 14.4 modem. The quality achieved is telephone quality at best, but it appears things are improving. So let’s pick up the satellite telephone and cross to Lou Josephs in Boston, USA who has an update on Real Audio. The BBC World Service transmitter in Hong Kong, which broadcast news of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Mandarin to China, is to be dismantled before the Chinese authorites take over the colony in 1997. Asiasat2 was succesfully launched into space. It went up from a site in Xichang in south-western China powered by a Chinese Long March 2F rocket. It was a tense time because of recent failures of the Chinese launch vehicle. When Asiasat 2 becomes operational, somewhere late January 96, it will be the most powerful and versatile satellite in Asia, with a lot of capacity to send radio and television pictures right across the continent. Germany’s Deutsche Welle Television is planning to start digital radio and TV transmissions in the course of 1996. Other partners are expected to join them. Already Portugal has announced that they plan to use the satellite for their international television service too.
This was one of the first shows to also be broadcast on mediumwave via the 1440 kHz Radio Luxembourg transmitter. These are some of the items mentioned in the programme.
Sony Corporation is celebrating its 50th anniversary at the moment. This is reflected in major efforts to get MiniDisc going, major campaigns to boost the switch to 16 by 9 format televisions, plus home entertainment enhancements such as Prologic. As far as shortwave receivers is concerned Sony continues to invest in the travel market. The latest offering is a portable receiver called the ICF-SW-40 which combines digital tuning with the feel of an analogue tuning knob. We looked at the growth of Sky Radio, and Dutch consumer electronics companies are reporting a growth in the sales of the 16 by 9 letterbox format television sets. Most of it is in the top end of the market amongst the larger screen TV. The Dutch Facilities company NOB, which follows the market reports that about 100,000 wide-screen TVs will be sold in the course of 1996. The Dutch pubcaster VPRO wants to set up an archive of endangered sounds. Kees Slager says it started when they looked into the archives at broadcasting house looking for sound effects and discovered many distinctive sounds had been wiped. They couldn't find any sounds of Dutch soldiers on parade, a mechanical hand-driven sewing machine or the sound of metal dustbins being collected early in the morning by the refuse collector. The VPRO programme OVT which specialises in historical subjects has now called on listeners to collect endangered sounds and send them in. I recall the BBC World Service doing a similar thing in 2009. The British DX Club has just published the fourteenth edition of its publication Radio Stations in the United Kingdom.The Dutch consumer association, the consumentenbond has just published the results of an extensive survey into rechargeable batteries. A fire at a receiver manufacturing plant in South Africa has delayed the European launch for Nethold slightly, but the marketing plans continue. Mark Cutten is director of Demand Video at Nethold. We asked him to explain why there's such a push to satellite TV. Radio and TV Hong Kong will again appear on shortwave briefly to cover the China Sea Race. We got in touch with the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for the details.
Been cleaning up a video archive and came across video I shot in Ordfordness in 2003. It turns out to be topical because the BBC will cease using 648 kHz which originates from there as from March 27th 2011. This video will never be shown on TV - it is designed for those of us in radio who enjoy the details of high-frequency engineering. This over on my video vault, therefore, is unanashamedly detailed. There are frequent references to a BBC transmitter site in Crowborough Sussex. This was the home of the most powerful transmitter in the world during the 2nd World War, nicknamed Aspidistra after the song by Gracie Fields. On this site you can also listen to a couple of Media Network episodes more about this famous transmitter.
I met the late Harold Robin a couple of times at his home in Tunbridge Wells, UK. He was a brilliant Foreign Office engineer who built the wartime Aspidistra transmitter famous for its clandestine work out of Crowborough. Have a listen to the programmes Wartime Deception on this site and you'll see what I mean. Although his work during the war is well documented in books like "The Black Game"by Ellic Howe, I think we managed to capture the other stories from later in his life. For instance, how he invented the "Picolo" modulation system as used by the diplomatic service to communicate text over shortwave between embassies. He also built the BBC Overseas relay station in Oman, and the external service of UAE Radio from Dubai. This edition, recorded after Christmas in 1995, looked at the story of the British response to the declaration of independence by Ian Smith in, what was then, Rhodesia. Harold talks about setting up a mediumwave transmitter in a matter of weeks in the town of Francistown, in the , now called Botswana. Thanks also to Colin Miller for some of the recordings of the RBC. It seems that one of the two transmitters was sent to Cyprus after the World and Rhodesia operation ended, the other ended up in Ordfordness for some experiments on 648 kHz. You might also want to check out the , who refers to a special programme transmitted over this MW sender. It was called the World and Rhodesia and was more of a UK government editorial than any programme the BBC would make. The programme concept didn't work although it seemed to have taken the British government a couple of years to find out. Harold refers to staying in the, about 8 kms outside of Francistown. Sure enough, it's still there.
Most of this week' s edition of Media Network was narrated from the island of Barbados in the sunny Caribbean. It contains quite a lot off off-air recordings made by plugging a Sony ICF2010 into the professional Walkman WDM6 that I used to carry everywhere (and still own, although there are better recorders now with Flash memory). I think this programme is a good example of armchair radio listening, taking you to places on the dial you wouldn't normally visit. Its pure theatre of the mind. I just love those long URL's. Forgive us. 15 years ago, URL's were still new to us.
This edition of Media Network includes a feature about a guy in the North-West of the UK who had contact with hundreds of Dutch Mediumwave pirates. Hans Bakhuizen discusses satellite delivered DAB. 15 years later still nothing has happened. This is partly because the cost of the satellite delivered radios proved prohibited. Manufacturers were also not interested in building the chipset. Veronica also plans to rebroadcast the Dutch programme from Deutsche Welle in Cologne. That happened - but not for long.
Amazing how history repeats itself in international broadcasting. At the start of December 1995 we reported that BBC World Service has to cut back by 5.5 million pounds in 1996. Interview with Caroline Thompson, then with the BBC WS management. 10 languages were threatened at that time. BBC has also been testing a mediumwave transmitter in Slovakia. We also reported from a field to the East of Quito in the antenna farm of HCJB. Jonathan Marks attended a conference of local broadcasters in Ecuador and took a side trip to meet those behind a station he'd heard in Europe from the early 1970's. They were also testing a 26 MHz antenna. There are two weather problems - either winds or lack of rain. HCJB also build 100 kW shortwave transmitters as well as small FM transmitters. The site has now been dismantled as on their blog in 2009.
This is what was news in April 2000 - We had quite a few e-mails reacting to our comments on this show that we believe Digital Audio Broadcasting DAB to be so seriously in trouble that it will probably have to be re-launched in a different form. With less than 10,000 receivers in use across the entire continent and no portable set yet on the horizon, this 10 year old technology needs a rapid re-think. David Aldridge in Northampton agrees with our correspondent Bob Tomalski that DAB lacks a focused publicity campaign and no-one will get excited about an 800 dollar radio. We reviewed the ICOM ICR-75 receiver. The ICOM ICR-75 first appeared in North America towards the end of 1999. This is a tabletop receiver for the serious listener. At a price of 610 pounds sterling in the UK, 780 dollars in Canada, or 1775 dollars in Australia, that’s before the options have been selected, you’re not going to be interested in such a set unless you take the hobby of digging weak stations out of the noise quite seriously. Bryan Clark has some interesting catches from a DXpedition. Enjoy!
This programme comes from a park bench in the Vondelpark, Amsterdam - I was testing out a new Minidisc recorder and it was a boiling hot summers day. Diana and I discussed the success of CNN Interactive with the then boss of the Interactive department in Atlanta, there was news of a Radio Veronica revival broadcast, and a parody on QSLing phone conversations. 12 years on, the memories have apparently not faded. is still attracting crowds each November- this year's reunion is set for Saturday November 12th 2011. In the UK, a discussion had also started about how much of the UK licence fee should be devoted to serving the interests of non-payers living abroad. The BBC made an attempt to offer Internet access in 1994 with its Networking club set up by the Educational branch of this vast organisation. They quickly discovered that answering queries about modems and problems with operating systems wasn’t really their core business. So it was taken over by a commercial company in November 1995. So it is interesting that the BBC Online is about to try it all again but this time going further by launching free Internet access. The Jupiter communications research group has been predicting that free Net access in Europe is imminent, but the major European Internet service providers like AOL Europe and T-Online are not convinced that advertising and electronic commerce can cover the cost of telephone calls. Likewise, the grey area between public and private partnerships raises its head again. There will be some major questions about unfair competition down the bumpy Internet superhighway ahead no doubt.
We talk to Herman van Wijk of Digitag who explains what's right and wrong with the future of Digital television. We also talk about the long running Delta Radio project which planned to move offshore. They wanted 2 antennas of 400 metres to broadcast on Long Wave 171 kHz from the North Sea. The cost was estimate at 12 million dollars. BBC was planning to cut its domestic radio channels by 10%...hey what's new?
This edition of the programme looked at the work in the garden of Radio Netherlands, the Radio Netherlands Training Centre founded as a joint venture at the end of the sixties by Philips and Radio Netherlands. The electronics company in the south of the Netherlands at that time made a lot of broadcast equipment - and outfitted many of the Radio Netherlands studios. But they quickly got out of that side of things, although I still find some Philips studio mixers in various states of repair during my travels in Africa.
We talk of propagation and desert islands. There's also a profile of broadcasting in Tonga. Mike Bird appears twice and chooses the kind of music he'd like to take with him on a DXpedition.Martin Allard, is a Project Consultant to UNESCO. Writing in the newsletter of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. He outlines some of the problems facing stations in the Pacific. We stay in the Pacific for today’s main feature, following up on several letters. Peter Williamson from London, Ontario Canada, Kurt Gruber from Hamburg and Stefan Hoekstra in San Francisco California are just some of the people who want us to discuss more aspects of the ionosphere and how its affects reception of signals between 3 and 30 MHz.
This programme looks at Kerbango, the Internet radio that (with hindight) never was.At the last count there were three devices promised on the world market to allow you to listen to internet audio on a separate stand alone device. A few days ago (in Feb 2000), a California based company, calling itself Kerbango, showed the prototype of a special radio to be launched in a few months and which is styled a bit like a valve radio of the 1950’s. We asked Marc Auerbach, who’s Vice President of Marketing, why their approach is different. Clement Stokes of Springfield,Durban in South Africa is a regular listener to this programme via the relay on SAFM on their domestic service. Two weeks ago he heard us mention that today we’d be testing one of the new Worldspace receivers. He is particularly curious because he sees the radio advertised in a hi-fi shop not far from his house, although he points out only one South African broadcaster is so far participating in the scheme. The question is simple, does the performance justify the price of more than US $300 . So we explain our findings on the Hitachi KH-WS1, one of four radios on the market in Southern and West Africa designed to pick up the proprietary Worldspace radio system. I still have the radio on my window sill, but the Worldspace feed is dead. Rather expensive FM radio!.
We started this week's edition by looking at how Western countries are trying to get signals into Serbia now that the authorities have silenced independent radio stations in their country. On Thursday and Friday of the previous week press briefings at NATO headquarters created quite a bit of confusion in the media. It was first suggested that NATO was planning to destroy Serbian radio and television. In fact, NATO air-raids early on in the campaign had already severely damaged or destroyed domestic TV and radio transmitting masts. But the position was clarified in a briefing on Friday April 9th when NATO spokesman Jamie Shay said that whatever NATO feelings about Serb television, TV transmitters are not a main target. However, Serbian military communications facilities are often co-located with TV transmitters, as in many East European countries, so bombing may well have had a secondary effect. On Thursday the 8th April 1999 NATO started its own radio and TV transmissions to Serbia and Kosovo from a fleet of specially modified Lockheed EC130E aircraft. The 193rd is normally based at Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA where 1100 people have been trained in the mission of psychological warfare. This part of the US Air National Guard reportedly had an annual budget of $35 million dollars, and these flying broadcast platforms have been deployed in previous conflicts in Grenada, Haiti, The Gulf, Somalia and most recently in Bosnia. The programme also looks at what's next for UN Radio. People forget that in 1984, UN Radio was producing a total of 2,000 hours of programmes a year in 25 languages. Some 750 hours were transmitted on short-wave, including a number of SSB feeder frequencies aimed at stations willing to take and rebroadcast items in their own programmes. One of the more unusual outlets among these was a transmission from UN Radio in Geneva, Switzerland, on Fridays only in Russian on a frequency of 14500 kHz USB intended for Radio Moscow.
Flashback to a news show in January 1999 when the capture of Chris Carey in New Zealand were the radio headlines and Lou Josephs explained how Command Audio was planning to bring Internet radio to the home. We explain the difference between UTC and GMT and the leap second. It seems that some of the Millennium countdown clocks are running too slow. We also talked to Swatch who had a strange idea to make the time metric with the Swatch Beat! We review the World Radio TV Handbook for 1999. Deutsche Welle's monitoring station has collected and published a CD of interval signals, including a number from Southern Africa. Brian Clarke talks about the rescue of the BBC World Service on mediumwave in Auckland. The station had an ingenious system of delaying the feed from London and speeding it up slightly, so as to squeeze in some commercials each hour. And the station with a strange name from Azerbaijan. Harald Kuhl reports about a new Peace Station in Ecuador. Jonathan also reported on a short revival of Kootwijk Radio on the ham bands as part of bit of fun following the closure of facility for maritime communications.
Yes those early home DAB receivers were kinda expensive. Interesting to hear the thinking behind digital radio as captured 11 years ago. There's a great, spooky recollection in the Memory of the Millennium about listening on an old Hallicrafters' receiver. Q-Radio struggles on 1224 kHz and we asked whether the Euro will encourage more co-ooperation between European international broadcasters. The photo is more recent. I think Radio 538 comes up with some of the most original campaigns (this one on disused gas towers in Amsterdam) and is doing a lot with developing digital radio's hybrid future.
Twenty years ago the Media News was centred around changes at Radio Moscow. With no way of doing a direct interview, we called Richard Measham at BBC Monitoring. And there were interesting comments from Vasily Strelnikov on his show. BBC had also found a new clandestine station, the Voice of Free Iraq. Radio Tirana, Albania suddenly announced what they were planning next - a sign that there were humans there after all. Richard Ginbey also had media news from Southern Africa, including items about Namibia going onto shortwave. Rudy van Dalen had a question about the Lincolnshire Poacher, a numbers stations believed to be operated by the British from Cyprus.
Quora: Is it time to revive a show like Media Network broadcast 1980-2000 on Radio Netherlands? I put this question out on Quora to see what people think. Interested in your comments too. I find the discussions there are stronger than on this site which most people are simply using to download. ... Answer:
This programme includes a report from the late Bob Tomalksi about digital television and how bandwidth is being squeezed to cram more channels into a satellite transponder. Bob explained that DAB radios were finally starting to take off. But the BBC had lost its way in marketing the medium. Wireless Internet starts to pop up in Japan. But we were evidently confused about how it worked. Andy Sennitt recalls Radio Pamela and Your Radio of the Sea, both in Eastern England. As from Monday October 19th, Radio Voyager is to be launch to replace the now defunct VOA Europe. It's a commercial venture run by 4 full-time staff in Washington DC.
This programme is typical of a listener supported edition. We talk to Linden Clark of Radio New Zealand International about budget reductions. Derrick Lynch reported hearing Sri Lanka Clandestine produced in Canada Alan Weiner of Radio New York International fame gets a licence to build a SW transmitter in Maine to beam to Canada. RNW pages have been framed. Brian Clark reports on the Chatham Islands. Andy Sennitt says that FEBA is planning simplified English Bible lessons using no more than 1500 words. We also looked at the CIA public relations campaigns to publicise Radio Free Europe at the start of the sixties. RFE was "the in sound from outside". By the way, the photo in this is actually of the new HQ of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty a little further out from the centre of Prague than it was when this edition of Media Network was made.
This edition includes a mean Christmas contest promo, Media News from Victor Goonetilleke and we talk to special guest Karl Rossiter, on the future of digital television and radio. At that time, the economic downtown in Asia had actually stimulated the broadcasting business to tighten its belt and look for alternative technologies. Karl predicted that costs could be cut to 1/5th if IP protocols were adopted. TV New Zealand was running a couple of networks on servers as early at 1998. Note Karl's use of the word Hybrid, because that word seems to be very much in vogue again now, 12 and a bit years later. Actually, I would argue that digital radio has been rather slow to see the advantages of a hybrid approach - using broadcast for mass distribution and IP technology to narrowcast things like profile driven commercials or specialist programming. Karl was spot on - and I see he is still in the business (at least according to Linked-In). Towards the end of the programme Mike Bird gets an intro from Jim Cutler like never before (and never since).
We came across a fascinating a promo for "Books from America" broadcast in the US in the 1960's. They were trying to collect books in English to counteract the cut-price propaganda distributed by the "Chinese and Russian communists". We talk to Jerry Berg who had just started a new website called , which I am pleased to note is still there and regularly updated. We also talk to the founder of SonicBox - an early form of wifi radio - before wifi had been invented. Professor John Campbell also explains about a low-Power radio station hoax in 1977 which was supposed to have been located on Ocean Island. Radio Guano was in fact closer than they thought.
If the names Laslo Pinta and Charlie Coutts mean anything to you then this edition of Media Network recorded in Budapest, Hungary in 1991 will bring back memories. Budapest no longer has an external radio service like the one described in this programme. I am so glad that once Eastern European became more accessible at the start of the 1990's, I jumped in the car and drove to the places that had only been accessible until then via a shortwave radio. My only regret is not visiting Albania. The voices in this programme tell some fascinating stories. Dennis Herner was the editor of the Radio Budapest SW Club and probably provided listeners in Eastern Europe with the only paper bulletin they were allowed to receive. Dennis also confirmed that one of the resistance radios in the black propaganda schemes run out of Woburn Abbey actually got through to the target area. It being wartime, there doesn't seem to be much evidence of listeners' letters ! the existence of wartime clandestine radio stations. The other voice in the programme, that of Charlie Coutts, was occasionally heard on BBC Local Radio giving football commentaries when a UK team played the Hungarians. I am glad I captured the stories he tells here about life running the English language department of Radio Budapest.
This show starts with the news that money troubles are affecting the BBC World TV, Wolf Harranth reports that James Blades who played the drums on the BBC's Victory V campaign passed away. And Bavaria's BR decides to upgrade its 49 metreband channel. (I guess it was one of the last European broadcasters to do so). This programme was broadcast at a time when independent radio in India still wasn't fully commercialised. Only 13 Indians per thousand had access to the telephone, let alone the Internet. In those days the Star TV network was losing money. We also reviewed a book by Bob Padula - The Shortwave Guide to South Asia. We also got a great contribution to the Memories of the Millennium contest in this edition. including some rare VOA English bloopers and recordings from the BBC World Service when Big Ben was playing up. Jammin' Oldies was the hot format of the day. There's also a flashback to Radio Free Grenada.
I picked this recording out of the archives because it has a nice capsule summary of the major media stories from 1982. The highlight was, of course, the Falklands-Malvinas "conflict". This programme contains clips from the FIBS, RAE Argentina and the BBC's Calling the Falklands Programme. We also looked in some detail at the shortlived Radio South Atlantic which broadcast in May and June 1982 from a requisitioned BBC transmitter on Ascension Island. We asked the British Ministry of Defence to explain how the station was operated. We also analysed a transmission broadcast on May 20th 1982 (the second night of transmission). But it was also the last programme in which Wim van Amstel appeared as RNW Frequency Manager. It was certainly not the last time he was heard on the programme, though. Again it is striking to hear some of the predictions - and how they were spot on. The call with Arthur Cushen in New Zealand is rather like making contact with the moon. Cannot believe how fast time has flown. At the time of publishing this podcast, I was also sad to hear of the passing of BBC correspondent and broadcaster Brian Hanrahan, who famous line when broadcasting under censorship from the Falklands Fleet was brilliant. Unable to reveal how many British aircraft had been involved in the conflict, he reported that after one sortie he "counted them all out and I counted them all back."
Love this programme about the UK Radio Interference service, especially with hindsight. In the 1980's, perhaps stimulated by the offshore stations, the FM band in London was full of pirates. Those were the days when the police also operated in the top end of the FM dial - but in AM mode so it was more difficult to follow what was being said. Also, on the 49 metre short-wave band, just above 6200 kHz, hobby pirates operated with just a few watts on holidays and Sunday mornings. In this programme, we also talked to Michiel Schaay about his hobby of RTTY listening. Richard Ginbey gave an interesting overview of the history of broadcasting in Angola and we talked to Maurice Tainton of the BBC Club in London who explained how staff would celebrate the 50th anniversary of BBC External broadcasting, despite the demise of the BBC's World Radio Club programme.
This was a news edition of the programme including a portrait of the battle for English language radio on the French Riveria. I remember visiting the studios of Radio Riveria a few years later and discovering it was built by the Germans during the 2nd World War. They had hired space in the studios of Radio Monte Carlo, one of the periphery commercial stations that beamed back into France from border areas to break the monopoly of Radio France. (You may remember Europe No.1, RTL, and Radio Andorra were part of the game too). I remember the studios of RMC had extremely thick walls and the transmitter site up on the hill behind (on French territory) was designed to beam Goebbel's propaganda directly into North Africa. Never went to transmitter site. I was told you could imagine where the Nazi swastika banners had once fluttered.
In the summer of 1992, if you tuned up and down a shortwave radio in many parts of the world you could hear what sounded like a Yoga meditation class on several dozen frequencies. At this time, the Russian authorities were hiring out shortwave airtime to anyone who wanted to pay for it. Radio Moscow World Service, the Russian external broadcaster had been downsized well before it became the Voice of Russia. As a result, many shortwave transmitters were lying idle. Aum Shinrikyo bought a major amount of airtime....42 simultaneous transmitters. The movement was founded by Shoko Asahara in his one-bedroom apartment in Shibuya, Tokyo as a meditation class known as Aum-no-kai ("Aum club") and began steadily growing in the years that followed. It gained the official status as a religious organization in 1989. Because it attracted such a considerable number of young graduates from Japan's elite universities that it was dubbed a "religion for the elite". The Wikipedia entry goes on to explain that at the end of 1989 there were rumours that some public figures who criticized the "religion of truth" were being eliminated. At the end of 1993, the cult started secretly manufacturing Sarin nerve gas nerve and VX (nerve agent) Aum tested their sarin on sheep in remote parts of Western Australia. Both sarin and VX were then used in several assassinations (and attempted assassinations) in the course of 1994. The most notable was on the night of 27 June 1994, when the cult carried out the world's first use of a chemical weapon in a terrorist attack against civilians when they released sarin in the central Japanese city of Matsumoto, Nagano. The gas killed eight and harmed 200 others. However, police investigations focused only on an innocent local resident and failed to implicate the cult at that point. Flashback to 1992, when enquiries that we did in Moscow revealed that the cult hadn't made much in the way of new programming. All these transmitters were being fed from a DAT recorder put into a continuous playback loop the central transmission control centre in Moscow. It played Side A for 57 minutes then switched over to side B. Little did we realise that these rather poor presented programmes were fueled by such cruel actions. Note that the group reformed in the early parts of this century and the chapter on this Japanese cult is far from closed, even though they are no longer in the headlines.
This programme includes news about jamming in Sudan. What's curious is that in 2010 the jamming transmitter in Sudan would seem to be back on the air, this time jamming the station Radio Debanga aimed at Dafur. We also looked at radio tourism. Jan Taner decided to visit 1548 kHz Radio St Helena and helped to start the Radio St Helena Day. The frequency of 11092.5 kHz Upper Sideband has become synonymous with Radio St Helena - at least if you Google that number you'll find it. They have been several St Helena days since, always on the same frequency. We also looked at cheap shortwave portables like the DAK Industries DMR3000. Reposted 12 December 2010 because of broken link complaints. Seems to work now.
This was a very consumer conscious edition of the show, in which Jonathan and Diana find out why some leading scientists expect the peak in the solar cycle 22 to cause more damage that the millennium bug. We’ll also be exploring why the world’s first terrestrial digital TV service in the UK (the forerunner to Freeview) has more bugs in it than a tropical rain forest.
In late September 1998, we broadcast a news edition of the programme at a moment when the revelations about President Clinton were threatening to overload the Internet. Sam Younger stepped down from the BBC World Service and Mark Byford announced some changes to the UK external broadcasting service. We talked to the Internet department at CNN to find out how audio and video downloads were going and Kim Andrew Elliott, Audience Researcher at VOA has some interesting comments to share. And we did a remarkably silly sign-off. What fascinates me is how international broadcasting got stuck in a time warp since then..
In this first Media Network of April 1998 , we kick off a brand new summer season of our weekly communications programme by staring into space. Can a company that has created a virtual country in space deliver a worldwide phone system by the end of the 1998? Iridium thought it could. This programme also has news of a new Democracy Radio station announced by the Clinton Administration (which took VOA by surprise) as well as portrait of the Hague music station Arrow Classic Rock and its fight for a commercial licence.
I find Northern California to be steeped in fascinating broadcast history. There's the Marconi transmission and receiving centre in Tomales Bay. Check out this link. Then you there is the mission control centre for the This Week in Tech network in Petaluma, with Chief twit Leo Laporte. The photo shows the cottage which I visited in February 2010 and posted this video. But so much for the present... In 1998 Diana Janssen and I visited San Franscisco where we met Brian Cooley who was heading up CNET radio at the time. 11 years later, Brian is still with CNET but doing video. The radio bulletins are over. This show marked Media Network's 17th anniversary since it hit the airwaves in 1981 and to celebrate we decided to visit a radio station that hadn’t got a transmitter but it has got a beautiful view of the San Francisco bay area. There are not many studio windows that look out on the famous island of Alcatraz. This programme formed part of a trip to examine what was happening in Silicon Valley.
In this edition of the show we were messing about in boats. For instance, Light Vessel 18, the former Trinity House lightship was nearly ready for her new role as a floating Radio Station to help celebrate the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's 175th anniversary. Radio Northsea International was planning to be heard over in the area of the English county of Essex and beyond starting on 3rd August 1999 on 190 metres medium wave, that is, 1575 kiloHertz. This revivial was only for the month of August. This programme also updated the story about Quality Radio 1224 kHz and quashed the rumour that AFN was planning to close down its Frankfurt transmitter on AM. I also like the preview of the Funkausstellung 1999 from the late Bob Tomalski. He was brilliant - still sadly missed. And he was spot on in his predictions. The photo is taken in Lemmer, one of the harbours on the Ijsselmeer lake
I have always been struck by the connection between radio and transport, especially trains. Many of my friends in broadcasting have an interest in trains - especially steam. So while at a conference in Canada in 1998 I took the tour of the CBC English service in Ottawa, and learned how trains have been important to the start of national radio in that part of North America. It turned out to be important to me too. I went out to the airport to catch the KLM flight back to the Netherlands. I then discovered that there was no plane. It was a bus to Montreal. Where did the bus leave from? The Canadian National railway station opposite my hotel. This show also contains news on the book series about the great manufacturer of portable radios - Zenith.
So who remembers the radio stations that operated from the Forts in the 1960's? They were trying to break the monopoly of the BBC but choosing to use abandoned WWII anti-aircraft defenses built in the North Sea rather than the ships used by Radio Veronica and Caroline. The answer is that plenty of people still remember those broadcast pioneers, as I discovered at the Radioday.nl in the Casa400 hotel in Amsterdam on November 13th 2010. That lead to a request to dig up this show from August 13th 1998 in which we reviewed a new CD about the Forts, containing interviews from those involved. I see those CDs are still around - judging from the displays of offshore memorabilia. This show also included a great opening from Jim Cutler hinting at the crowded shortwave bands. Rocus de Joode was in the frequency coordination meeting in KL. Frederick Noronha submitted a piece about community radio in India. It is a shame that it didn't take off as fast as the commercial FM. The programme ends with the review of the double CD about screaming Lord Sutch and his fort adventures.
Enjoyed saying hello to several listeners to this podcast. You gave me several useful suggestions about which editions of Media Network they'd like me to upload from the archive. I am always surprised about which editions people remember and to hear how people in Eastern Europe took enormous risks to listen in. The Radioday was held on November 13th at the spanking new Casa400 hotel in Amsterdam. It was packed with passionate people. I think it works because those there realise that offshore radio was a unique era. Many people had enormous fun working on the ships and made friendships that have lasted more than 40 years. There aren't many industries that can attract people to come to a nostalgia day - and I haven't seen as many people smiling about radio in a long time. The next radio day will be November 12th 2011.
In 1998 we remade a documentary on Tokyo Rose in the light of new recordings and websites that were springing up. This was before Wikipedia of course. I think it interesting to contrast this story about Tokyo Rose (it was more than one person) with that of American actress Mildred Gillars who broadcast from Berlin to North America. I see that she is the subject of a new book by Richard Lucas called 'Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany". There are recordings of her in the US Library of Congress. The original programme is also on this website.
This was a regular edition of Media Network which aired on my birthday in 1999. In this week we included an interview with Quentin Howard, then the boss at the UK Digital radio network Digital One. Interesting to hear how the debate about digital radio seems to have moved forward rather slowly since then - although there are far more receivers on the market than 11 years ago. The UK is now facing a first-mover challenge with so many DAB radios in the market. Countries like Australia that now adopting digital radio are leapfrogging to DAB+ which uses the codec that Quentin believed back then was not robust enough. The programme also dipped into the archives to hear a profile on broadcasting in Congo compiled by Richard Ginbey. I find those off-air recordings conjure up a completely different world when radios like the one shown here were state of the art. It was the Sony ICF5900W - crystal controlled if I remember rightly.
This edition was recorded in a small village just outside Geneva, Switzerland. Hirondelle, the Swiss media foundation which had been running several post-conflict media projects organised a symposium. It focussed on what broadcasters could do to restore the peace in places like Burundi and Liberia. Hirondelle is still going, having since got the contract to build and maintain the Radio Okapi network in Congo. Once again, I believe that most of the sentiments in this programme are still valid today, even though the programme was compiled in July 1998. For a time there was also a hate media website maintained by Radio Netherlands which is referred to in the programme. We discovered that this site was also used as one of the references for researchers on the film Hotel Rwanda. I see the man at the centre of the film, Paul Rusesabagina, is still involved in a bitter feud with Rwanda's President, Paul Kagam. Allegations flared up again in October 2010.
In this edition, let's head back to the 1980's. The late Richard Ginbey was a keen shortwave radio listener who did more than most to document African broadcasting. He lived in South Africa, Namibia, and New Zealand for much of his life, working as a radio presenter for a number of music radio stations. He was one of the few people making audio recordings of the stations he heard. In the 1970's he was heard with his own radio programme on Radio Portugal (then known as the Voice of the West) and a publication called the World Radio Bulletin. By the time I joined Radio Netherlands, he was already contributing a monthly spot for that station. I encouraged him to give us more profiles and less lists - and he duly obliged. Sadly, Richard was killed in a road traffic accident. I tried to find out what happened to his priceless collection of cassette recordings, but my letters were never answered. This programme from June 1983 includes a contribution from Professor John Campbell on the Irish pirates, a promo for ANARC 1983 with Dan Robinson (now with VOA News), and an update on Basicode 2, a universal language for home computers broadcast by the Dutch domestic channel NOS in a programme called Hobbyscoop.
We only really started to get an idea of what broadcasting was like during the Cold War towards the end of the 1990's. I remember we had a visit from Estelle Winters, who is still a regular presenter on the Voice of Russia, the station that took over from Radio Moscow World Service. I remember when we finally saw pictures of the studios of Radio Moscow and realised why the station always had a signature sound - no matter what language, you could often identify the station on a crowded short-wave dial because of the modulation. The studios had two microphones pointing towards the presenter, giving it a characteristic echo since there is a phase difference between the sound captured by the mikes. This show originally aired on 22nd January 1998.
This is a very early Media Network from December 1982 when distance still had a certain magic. There was no wikipedia to get a briefing on far away places. Phone lines were prohibitive expensive (6 Euros a minute to the Pacific) and awful quality. Via a complicated method of simultaneous recording (two tape recorders running at the same time in different locations), I managed to link up with Martin Hadlow, at that time working for in the Solomon Islands. Hearing the station was virtually impossible outside the Pacific, even though they had a short-wave transmitter. Martin later when on to do some fascinating projects for UNESCO in Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan. The photo illustrating this podcast was taken in 2005 when Martin was stationed at UNESCO HQ in Paris. He is now a professor in Brisbane, Australia. This same broadcast includes a review of a book called "Let Truth be Told" written by the late Gerard Mansell, one of the directors of BBC External Services in the early 1980's. BBC External Services was celebrating 50 years on the air. Richard Ginbey also shares some recordings from Malawi made from his listening post in South Africa. I wonder what the show would have sounded like if we had Skype and multi-track recording facilities. We only had razor blades and splicing tape. (I know about a few short glitches in this copy of the recording during the Mansell book review).
Towards the end of May 1998, 150 international broadcasters got together at a hotel golf resort just outside Ottawa for a conference on the future of international broadcasting. It was organised by Radio Canada International together with 6 Canadian Universities and it was the fifth in a series of meetings, all of which have focussed on the future of international broadcasting. Even then, the writing was on the wall for shortwave international broadcasting. Radio Prague in the Czech Republic, for instance, had decided to invest 10% of its programme budget into “new media”. They said they were better able to reach Czechs living abroad using e-mail than their limited shortwave facilities. On the other hand some stations in Asia are actually putting new transmitters on the air although these aren’t being designed in such a way that they could be digitised later. But in the light of the recent decision in October 2010 to fund the BBC World Service in a different way, its interesting to listen to Frits Groothuys who, back in 1998, was responsible for BBC strategy at the World Service in London. He drew a fascinating comparison between international broadcasting and sailing ships like the Cutty Sark. He could not have predicted that the tea clipper he was talking about would catch fire 9 years later, but I think he did forsee that digital shortwave was invented too late.
During the Cold War there were several clandestine stations that popped up from Eastern Europe, being the voice of the communist party in exile. One was Radio Independent Spain which got airtime from Radio Prague. This was one of the memories towards the end of this show recorded in 1999. This edition also carried news of HCJB in Quito which was having challenges with a nearby volcano. Broadcast September 30th 1999.
I remember listening to a jingle of the Voice of Lebanon, a shortwave radio station that operated well outside the conventional 49 metre short-wave band. So even though it had a low power, it didn't have competition from higher powered stations and would propagate into Northern Europe most evenings. But I had to visit the station, and hum the tune of the jingle before I realised that, for the locals, the music had a very different significance. When I visited Beirut in June 1998 to take part in a training course for journalists, the country was on a lift. From current reports, it seems to have become very polarised again. And that could not be more dangerous. The cafes in the hills around Beirut are still fantastic - and you could see why artists and singers preferred to work there than in dusty Cairo or the heat of the Gulf. Thanks to Sorgul for the photo. Mine still have to be digitized. Like the show? Leave a comment.
There used to be a great round-table discussion about radio content organised by the EBU and Spanish National Radio RNE. It was held every two years in Torremolinos. The venue in the Malaga conference centre was great because the room was like a football stadium. It worked because everyone could see each other which is essential if you want to get people talking whose native language is not English. I went to one of the events in 1999 and got a glimpse of what people where thinking about the future of radio 11 years ago. I think it was a pity they were discontinued. Perhaps that's because the venues they chose later were more like a classroom. So who got it right and who was well off the mark? Listen back to this Media Network spring safari and let me know what you think. If you are interested in more great photos of Torremolinos as it is today, check out this Flickr stream from William Helsen. Photo used under creative commons licence.
This edition was a mixed bag....no single theme. Strange going's on in London as reported by Nic Newman (Suitcase TV), African Media News from Richard Ginbey, a visit to the VERON Dutch Amateur Radio station PA0AA located in the Sikkens Paint Factory just off the A44 on the way to Noordwijk and John Campbell had some interesting comments on La Voz del CID, a station targeting Cuba. Time travel back 25 years. The photo, by the way, comes from the old Marconi transmitter located in the grounds of the Vatican..but that's another story.
In 1986 I attended an ANARC convention and gave a slide show about European and Asian radio. I dragged two Kodak Caroussel projectors across the Atlantic and a device that synchronised them with an audio from a cassette. I must have been mad. I remember having to take two suitcases. In fact, the tape lasted longer than the projectors. It is really radio with pictures, a sort of early Slideshare I'd say. Give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world, or at least the world as we saw it in 1986. Never broadcast as far as I can remember. Mike Bird free.
This programme covers three media wars going on in the middle of 1999. One was in Kosovo, there was increased tension in the Koreas (nothing has changed) and problems in the Solomon Islands.There's also an interview with Jerry Berg who wrote an excellent book on the early days of shortwave broadcasting. In June 1999, one of the Radio Netherlands transmitters began carrying a daily programme of just under 2 hours produced by the journalists of Radio 21. If you've been following our coverage of the media situation in Kosovo, you may recall that Radio 21 was a Web-only radio station based in Pristina, serving the Albanian community. In the disputed waters off the coast of Korea, north and south Korean naval vessels became involved in yet another incident in which two North Korean ships were sunk. The political tension between north and South Korea has of course been high ever since the Korean war, and the airwaves of that region are full of propaganda from both sides. Jerry Berg is a well-known and highly respected short wave listener. He is on the Executive Council of the North American Shortwave Association and is chairperson of the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications. He is also the author of a new case-bound book called On The Shortwaves 1923-1945. It tells the story of shortwave broadcasting from the earliest days up to the end of World War II. It’s surprising that nobody has tackled this subject in depth before. Probably the reason is the difficulty of finding relevant material. But researching information must be second nature to Jerry Berg, as he's an attorney by profession. Photo by unnamed Radio Netherlands reporter who reported from there in 2004.
In 1998 I had the chance to go to Shanghai to take part in an Asian Broadcasting Union meeting. Frankly, the topics for discussion were mind numbing - political more than practical. But it gave me a great opportunity to tour some of the radio stations in the city and keep a kind of audio diary. We experimented with sending files over the web - and it didn't sound too bad. Certainly good enough for shortwave. Remember that China is roughly the same size as the United States, except it has 5 times the population. ABU meetings have a reputation of doing things on a grand scale, in-fact a scale of grandeur that has long since died out in Europe. And because many of the stations have government connections, including this year's hosts, the Radio and TV of the Peoples' Republic of China, there's an official reception desk waiting behind passport control. A young girl in a white jacket spots my briefcase with the Radio Netherlands sticker. Yes, I am Mr Marks, but for the next few days, I'm better known as delegate 157 - please hang this large name badge around you neck. Just in time, I remember to hand out my business card with two hands, English characters face side up, but with a hopefully accurate Chinese translation on the back.
Looking back through old radio magazines of about 25 years ago, you see some very strange articles. Speakers at international radio conferences like ANARC and the European DX Council proudly talked about short-wave turning to single-sideband by the year 2015 and that satellites would not play a significant role before the end of the century. They seemed to have totally misjudged the competition from commercial TV broadcasters like CNN, or the growing demand from the consumer for better quality audio and more choice. Another denial, this time from BBC World Service. They were reacting to an article in the Sunday Times of London which claimed on the 26th September that BBC’s external service is about to shut some language services. (history is repeating itself in 2010). BBC’s German service, which has just celebrated 60 years on the air, was supposedly to close together with transmissions to Nepal, Portuguese speaking Africa, Slovakia and Hungary. BBC told us that a decision on how to bridge a 5.7 million pound shortfall had not been taken. We also spoke with former RNW programme Director Frans Suasso, who had just returned from a trip to Kazakhstan to examine the media scene there.
I remember this edition of Media Network because it had a superb story from China as part of the Memory of the Millennium. The author explained how radio had been a friend and foe in his life, especially to his father. It is only when you visit other countries where listening to foreign radio stations is discouraged that you realise the risks people took in the past, and (in some countries like Burma) risks that they still take today. This edition also contains a chat with the late Bob Tomalski on recordable DVD's (what a standards mess that was) and we hear from a listener in the UK who believes the BBC is trying to do too much. This edition was recorded at a time when BBC German was amongst a number of language sections threatened with closure. We also did film reviews: Henry Stokes writes from Green Bay Wisconsin. I remember in the dim distant past, Media Network ran a series of features about Motion Picture musings, a sort of film review section where the idea was to spotlight films that somehow involved radio in their plot. It seems incredible that films such as Good Morning Vietnam are now well over a decade old. Since then a few James Bond films have had a radio connection with fights on radio telescopes for instance, but these days’ secret agents are sent abroad to blow up satellite TV stations not clandestine radio transmitters. I live in an area with quite a lot of people from Polish origin and there has been some considerable discussion about a new film by Robin Williams called Jakob the Liar. It is actually a remake of an East German film from 1974 with the same name, although the new version gets more treatment from Hollywood special effects. This is a holocaust drama about a Jewish concentration camp. The critics have panned it because of the rather forced Polish accents by the American actors, especially Allen Arkin. It also disappeared from the cinema circuits here very quickly and I’m not sure whether it has been released yet in Europe, I doubt it. My reason for bringing it up is that it the star of the film, Jakob, is a lonely widower in 1945 who starts to become popular when he listens to allied broadcasts from the BBC and then relays the information to the others in the Polish concentration camp. Excited by the news that the Russians are on their way, he gives a lot of people hope in the midst of their despair. But since the news isn’t always want they want to hear, he starts embellishing. He also claims to own a transmitter so he can get secret news in and out. I enjoyed the way they portrayed short-wave broadcasting at the time. The rest of the film was only fair. The photo was taken at the entrance to the Shanghai metro in the days when being asked not to take explosives onto the metro was really quite funny. How times have changed.
Diana Janssen sent the following postcard on her holiday which we published on the web, asking you to identify where she'd been. I thought it was Albania. Others suggested Ukraine. No-one got this one right. But there was some more offshore news as Radio 10 celebrated an anniversary and Merlin Communications started to broadcast other programmes than the BBC out of Orfordness, Suffolk. We also spoke with Mike Kelly, who had refitted VOA's Master Control and had now started a satellite business. BVN-TV was later broadcast to North America through Kelly's system.
A news programme reporting on a remarkable number of closedowns and mysteries. You can see that several stations are starting to play with the web, though no-one is really sure about what they are doing. Radio Netherlands tests 7130 from an undisclosed location, the Nozema Christmas Tree, Radio Luxemburg ends shortwave analogue broadcasts, Victor Goonetilleke reports on protests to VOA transmitter site in Chilaw, Ethiopia being heard again, RIAS switched off shortwave, DW expands Nauen near Berlin, Austria pulls the plug on medium, Pete Costello launches a links lists. The URL's were so new we thought http:// was important enough to mention on the air :-). REE joins the web, alongside RTE in Ireland. Bethany gets a new life in Ohio. Chris Greenway at BBC Monitoring, reports on a longwave transmitter from Oslo remains on the air. Estonian radio puts mediumwave back on the air and Georgia has LW plans too. The show closes with Mike Bird’s propagation survey.
Today’s radio feature says bravo for bakelite, an early form of plastic which brought radio to the people. When radios were first manufactured in the first twenty years of this century, they looked more like an experiment in a physics laboratory than something which was designed to entertain. Then some firms started using a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin for their cases, formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde, usually with a wood flour filler. It was developed in 1907–1909 by Belgian chemist Dr. Leo Baekeland. Wikipedia has more here. In this programme, broadcast on the Queens Day holiday in 1998, we visit the home of Willem Bos who has scoured the flea markets in the Netherlands is search of his passion for bakelite. Thanks too to Scott MacLeod Liddle for his terrific photo on Flickr.
First broadcast in 1984, this programme looks in some detail at a mystery that took decades to solve. Light and radio waves travel 7 times around the world in one second. So how can you explain some echoes noted on early shortwave broadcasts from PCJ, sometimes of several seconds? Did the ionosphere have a memory? Was the sun part of the equation? Unashamedly specialist this one. But we got good response from those interested in the technical aspects of shortwave radio.
Buenos Aires is a truly amazing city, a mixture of Paris, Madrid and London all rolled into one. The Brits built the communications infrastructure in the country during the first part of the last century. That explains the UK style phone and postboxes. Each time I have visited, I have dropped by at the studios of Argentine National Radio tucked away in the heart of the city. I found the tour to be fascinating because although it is very old, it seems to work. One floor houses the external service and in this edition of Media Network, broadcast in February 2000, we compiled a portrait of the English service of RAE as it was then. They are still on the air in English, with a broadcast to Europe at 3 PM (BA time - 18 hrs UTC) on 9690 and 15345 kHz. Actually, I listen on a Pure Evoke wifi radio and get much better reception. The website hides a lot of the history of what's going on. The city oozes music, poetry, dance, and mystery. I can spend hours wandering around, soaking it up. Having followed the Falklands-Malvinas "conflict", I confess a fascination for the English Tower, which for many years rang out with the Westminster Chimes. Not anymore, of course. Today the tower is closed, there is graffitti at the base, and the monument to the Argentines killed in the war stares at the tower from across the road. I have done video interviews at the station, as well as some of the local stations in the city. Let me know if I should put these up.
At one time, Radio Canada International hosted some very interesting discussions on the future of international broadcasting. If you're interested in what stations thought would have happened by now, this edition of Media Network may prove interesting. In fact the future turned out to be very different, partly because stations didn't do enough to measure and grow their audiences. There is also another edition avaiilable recorded in Ottawa two years earlier. Search under the uploads in October 2010 for Cutty Sark.
If you tuned a shortwave radio a decade ago, one of the more exotic catches in Europe was Radio For Peace International. So when I had a chance to go out to a meeting at the University of Peace in Costa Rica, I persuaded the colleagues travelling with me that it was worth a short detour. As well as a look around, there's an interview with one of the station owners, James Latham. The tribute website is still up at rfpi.org. The video of the visit is over on the Video Vault.
This wireless show came from Wales when the Radio Academy decided to hold its annual conference in the Welsh capital. I remember flying over with Dan-Air in what must have been an ancient Hawker Siddeley aircraft which had incandescent lights in the cockpit. It was like a flying underground train - and the flight from Amsterdam took two hours. But I digress. This show was really a commentary on the state of UK radio at the start of the new Millennium. What concerns me is that 11 years later a lot of what is discussed here is only just happening. Nice to rediscover the old recordings of Kenny Everett at the Beeb. The programme also features interviews with Howard Rose, then editor of the Radio Magazine, and Quentin Howard talking about DAB.
There are still hundreds of clandestine radio stations operating in the world. Some are part of psychological warfare campaigns organised by the military. Others are exile voices intended to overthrow the government of another country. Some of them use FM and can only be heard a few kilometres from the transmitter. Others use short-wave (although there numbers are dwindling in 2010), and thanks to the way the ionosphere works, these clandestine operations can be heard well outside the region. Such was the case throughout the 1980s in Central America. But when the conflict is over, the voices disappear. Sometimes it is possible to find and interview those who were responsible. And that was the purpose of this occasional series. It was 1981 when Radio Venceremos appeared on the air waves in El Salvador. The station’s first broadcast on the 10th of January coincided with the beginning of the war in that Central American nation. Many Salvadorians had felt for some time that the only way to break the oligarchy’s grip on power, thus bringing about social and economic changes was to take up arms. So rebels, calling themselves the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, or FMLN for short, launched an offensive against the government. They knew that part of the battle was to persuade the local population this was the only way forward. They needed a radio station, and the FMLN knew that to get the message they needed Carlos Enrique Conzalvi, who, even today, is still known by his war-time pseudonym: Santiago. There are also videos of the station up on Youtube which appear genuine (the voice is the one I remember hearing on shortwave and we were right about the use of modified ham radio gear as the transmitter). Look about 1 minute into the video. There is another one here.
This is the complete edition of a documentary called Truth Shall Prevail, the engaging story of Radio Prague in 1945 and 1968. I discovered a rather large set of recordings in Dutch archives in 1988 because, it seems, there was an agricultural conference going on in Prague at the time when the Russians invaded in August 1968. I have also managed to do a video interview with Peter Skala, the frequency manager of Radio Prague and the founder of the Radio Prague Monitor Club. He is just fascinating. He confirmed that many of the educated guesses we made at the time in 1988 were correct. If you're interested in more of this, check out the interviews I made with Wolf Harranth, former DX editor at the ORF in Vienna. He followed those eventful days very closely, being so close to the Czechoslovak border.
A safari to South Africa at the start of the Millennium, including an interview towards the end with the father of community radio, Zane Ibrahim (photo). I think what he says about radio in South Africa still applies a decade later. The programme contains a lot of historical stuff about the early days of Radio 702 from the late Frits Greveling who presented DX Juke Box before going back to South Africa in 1980. An interesting show, but absolutely no Vuvuzelas
This programme examines the boarding of Radio New York International , which broadcast from a radio ship anchored in international waters just off Jones Beach, Long Island New York in 1987 and 1988. I seem to recall that the authorities said one of the reasons for the boarding was that it is illegal to broadcast from a ship. Except that the Voice of America did exactly that off the coast of Greece in the 1950's. The "Courier 410" was fitted out with 150 kW diesel generators by RCA and transmitters designed to put a shortwave signal out via a tethered balloon. The good old Interwebs has plenty of photos here and here. - nothing like that when we made the programme. From 7th September 1952 till May 1964 the USCGC Courier broadcast Voice of America programs in 16 languages to Communist bloc countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, transmitting these programs 10 hours each day. During these tense years, USCGC Courier, operating as a sea station, was constantly alert to crisis, with the ability to move to a "hot spot” and begin broadcasting in a matter of hours. They had two Collins 207B 35 kW short-wave transmitters on board coupled to the folded Discone antennas, up front at starboard a higher frequency MW antenna and at port a lower frequency MW antenna. They also had an RCA MW transmitter with 150 kW. output. Originally it was planned to have six additional ships but due to the high cost, only the Courier was put into service. According to the German offshore radio site, "the ship was not allowed to broadcast on the high seas and was only permitted to operate within the territorial waters of a country when granted permission. The local population viewed the ship and its crew with mixed emotions. Rhodes was under Italian domain from 1812 to the end of WW2 and now they were back under the Greek Flag and Queen Fredrica. After a period of adjustment, the Americans were generally accepted into the Greek community. For the first year or so the main antenna was carried aloft by a barrage balloon. The ballon was 69 x 35 feet in size and held 150.000 cubic feet of helium. It was held by means of a winch-operated line to float 900 feet in the air to support the medium-wave antennas. The ballooon was lost a couple of times, and it ended up in Turkey. Then a VOA engineer, Ivan Boor, designed an inverted delta antenna that fitted between the masts. There was a slight loss in signal output but being free of the balloon problems proved to be well worth the loss. A receiving site was constructed on the highest point of Monti Smith, a hill south of the city of Rhodes. A VHF link was set up to send the program material sent from Washington DC on tape and via SSB link down to the ship. Many innovative antennas were designed and implemented to thwart Russian jamming and natural phenomena such as selective fading. There was a very large impedance matching device under the flight deck. Oh, and the rest of the programme reports on the launch of Music Television into Europe. Enjoy.
This show looks at vintage radio copies. And following a tip from Tony Barratt we recall how Harold Robin chose a transmitter site in Oman from a plane and Bob Tomalski ponders why certain Japanese companies see a future for tape. If you're interested in shortwave transmitter sites, I highly recommend joining the transmitter group that has plotted all these sites on Google Earth. Masirah is Oman's largest island, located some 15 km from the coast of Al Wusta in Central Oman, just south of the Wahiba Sands and east of Bar Al Hikman. It has an hour-glass shape with a width varying between 6 and 18 km. It is a real a Desert Island, with a rocky east coast facing the strong northwestern winds and a protected western coast with large bays and muddy sabkha's (salt-flats). The main income is from the fishery (a vivid trade with the Emirates) and the military base in the North. The BBC Eastern Relay station is still visible on Google Maps. The only account of the island in English that I have seen can be found here. As we reported here, BBC Masirah was closed in 2002.
Don't let the opening music mislead you. This show contains another indepth safari, this time in the form of an in-depth interview with Janet Anderson. She used to work for Radio Netherlands in the late 1990's before moving to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Its strange listening to this programme now because I have just visited Tanzania and other parts of East Africa myself to compare the changes in the media scene. The phone companies have developed much faster than the broadcasters. I drove by the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation HQ and was astonished to find them building a new extension for digital terrestrial television broadcasts. This is strange because the commercial competition is on satellite, so it seems to be a rather expensive way of reaching such a huge country. If you'd like to see video of that trip, then leave a message below. This edition also look at the state of the Freeplay Clockwork Radio, four years after launch and the late Bob Tomalski had news about a trick being played by commercial stations with RDS.
I have been getting some nice reaction to a video that's sitting in my video vault over on Vimeo. It is part of a series of interviews I have been doing looking back on the age of international broadcasting via shortwave in the second half of the 20th century. Margaret Howard is best known the UK for presenting Pick of the Week on the BBC Radio 4 as well as several great programmes she made for Classic FM. Internationally, though, I first recall her as the host of LetterBox on BBC World Service. I first met her at the ANARC radio convention in Montreal, Canada and remembered why she left the World Service in the 60's. While passing through London a few months back, I dropped by to capture some of her memories of working for the shortwave wireless. Here's part of our conversation. http://www.vimeo.com/12542380 After our chat, she made me a superb cup of tea.
I remember listening to Peter Homfray on an R-107 communications receiver back in the early 1970s. They boomed in the mornings in a era when distance had magic. Visiting Melbourne was a far-off dream. With hindsight, I would say Radio Australia in the 1970's was one of the first social media stations - there was a lot of entertainment and personalised style programming in an era where there was no FM, no Internet and an international call was beyond the reach of most people. They entertained and informed with a truly personal touch. It had a sort of Facebook group feel to it all. Radio Australia is now in its 70th year and has opened up a website to discuss and celebrate the past. That prompted me to find ways to copy a DVCAM interview I made with Peter in 2004, in which we discussed Christmas Island and how a Brit ended up managing Australia's overseas radio service for 18 years. It is a very personal view on his time at RA. The superb Radio Heritage site has a lot more details on the transmitters used in the early days. Peter also revealed some of the work he did in India and Burma during the 2nd World War. He was part of a unit involved in deceiving the Japanese in Burma, helping to support the Chindits. What a fascinating man! Hope you enjoy our chat. It's over on vimeo here.
It has gone rather quiet media wise in Angola, though since this programme was made the country has had to do a lot to recover from decades of civil war. Oil money is flowing again - but Angola remains low in the country list of press freedom. In 1999, a colleague in the Portuguese dept of Radio Netherlands left to do extensive training in the region and we interviewed him on his return. It was a chance to dip into the Richard Ginbey collection of rare African radio recordings. Between 1998-2000, we did a lot of Safaris on the programme and I've found it fascinating to revisit these shows after just over a decade. What amazes me is how international broadcasting has virtual stood still since 2000, stuck in a time warp with nothing but future plans.
August seemed to be the month when we frequently looked at off-shore radio. This edition was crafted together with a big contribution from Nic Newman, at that time working for Radio Netherlands before going on to do great things at the BBC's Interactive Departments. Nic went out to the ship on one of the boats - pretty brave since we had some pretty dreadful storms in the summer of 1985. He talks to the DJ's on Laser 558 including , now a political commentator living in the UK. The show also looked at communications with the Space Shuttle and there are tuning tips from Arthur Cushen, Victor Goonetilleke and Sarath Weerakoon. I know that off-shore radio editions seem to score as some of the highest in the download figures, so let's see what this one does. Enjoy.
This podcast is actually two Media Network programmes rolled into one. We originated the show from Berlin on November 8th and 15th 1990, a year after the fall of the wall. I was keen to visit Radio Berlin International, the voice of the GDR, located in a former furniture factory on the Nalepastrasse. Because of its former owner, the building had huge empty hallways where the furniture was built and rather smaller offices alongside. The English section had mostly been dispanded by then, but there was familiar GDR propaganda material lying around in the office. If you want to understand more about the media situation in the GDR before the wall came down, check out the fabulous interview with Wolf Harranth who runs the radio documentation project in Vienna. Those videos are to found here http://www.vimeo.com/10320815 and http://www.vimeo.com/10320815 . What amazed me was realising that the RBI staff could see the wall from their office windows and that some of the presenters, like commentator John Peet, had gone across the wall the other way.
This was actually my first attempt at making a mini radio documentary, being 23 at the time. Joined Radio Netherlands (Radio Nederland as it was then called) the year before. In July 1981 I got an interview with the late Professor Lou de Jong (he died in 2005), who worked at Radio Oranje in London during the war. Alongside the BBC Dutch Service broadcasts, there was time allotted to governments in exile. Before doing the interview, I did quite a bit of research into what happened at the offices in Stratton Street. Lou de Jong was a bit stiff to start with. He was testing me to see if I had really done my homework or just wanted a sound clip for something else. I told him I was fascinated in broadcasting history and really wanted to find out what it was like to be a broadcaster in those difficult times, especially working for the Dutch government in exile. So, after a while, he began to really enjoy telling the story even though it must have been the hundredth time. The Dutch government had a 15 minute slot in which they could beam their message back to occupied Holland, but also, as it turned out by looking at the schedule, to the Dutch East and West Indies. The entire scripts of the transmissions were in the archives of Radio Netherlands building (since the station grew into Radio Netherlands in 1947) before being donated to the National Archives. The original programme was broadcast in two parts, which explains the strange length. More details on the is here.
There was quite a bit of reaction to the interview segments I posted with David Smith, Director of Okapi Consulting. I first met David when he worked as a current affairs producer at Radio Netherlands. An earlier video vimeo.com/11938989 talks about how he got involved in the re-launch of Capital Radio, Transkei in the mid-nineties. In a video segment posted at http://www.vimeo.com/13671139 , he recalls how he ended up with UN Radio and how he developed radio networks in conflict areas. Though a series of fascinating anecdotes, he explains what works in the field - and what doesn't. I have a lot of respect for David and how he seems to get things going under very difficult conditions. A true radio professional. His company, Okapi Consulting, is named after the Okapi - a close relative to the giraffe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi . I'm sure those with an understanding of radio - and what it can do, will find this interesting.
This is a show that aired in early 1990, looking at the consequences for Forces Radio in Germany following German reunification. It turns out this is an old building, but it is the one I remember visiting in Frankfurt. And the site at the end of this post some fantastic pictures of studios with rotary faders in them. You were not operating a studio - you were driving a finely-tuned machine! This picture of the old AFN Headquarters comes from this site run by C. Park Seward. Do visit his site to listen to more vintage AFN.
I am pleased to announce that if you're using a Pure Internet radio, like the Evoke, then these Vintage radio podcasts are all available through The Lounge (www.thelounge.com). Just select the Lounge on your radio and search for Media Network. Sounds great! It is a shame that the other Internet brands like Reciva have let their databases get so full of duplicates and mistakes. I use both - but definitely prefer Pure.
Turn the clock back 24 years and join us for a radio profile of what radio sounded like on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The World Cup in Mexico had just finished...and Pete Myers reports on what the ABU wants to do about radio in South Asia, Alan du Pre tells us how a UK commercial station is broadcasting DX news at just after midnight and the Media Network book review is 'Assigned to Listen' being the memoirs of those who worked at BBC Monitoring. Wierd that many of those same items come back in the news as though nothing has changed.
This is a follow-up to the visit to the Vintage Radio Wireless Museum in London. More great stories from Gerald Wells. I particularly love the stories about Bakelite and the Philips V7U radio which was a nightmare to repair. It was built without a chassis! The programme also looks at the work in the Netherlands on AM stereo developed by the late Professor Jan Geluk. I recall that Holland was successful in pushing for the 19 kHz pilot tone as a worldwide standard for FM stereo. Ken Mason Junior explains the US scene. Gerald Wells discusses the onion tube used in early televisions. We also review the Woody Allen film "Radio Days".
I remember visiting the UK's Vintage Radio Wireless Museum in Dulwich, South London as though it were yesterday. It's just an ordinary terraced house from the outside, but inside its a celebration of the tube (Valve) radio, especially in the era 1920-1950. What's more, Gerald Wells, who , was one of the world's experts on valves - and had a flood of stories about the famous names I heard second-hand as a child. Did you know that Vidor Batteries were named after the manufacturers two daughters? And what were the better brands of radios. Enthusiasts in the UK have since made a DVD about Gerald which I can recommend. Part Two of this programme I made in Dulwich one year later has also been released further. BBC World Service commissioned and broadcast an excellent portrait of Gerald on August 20th 2010. I am sure you could have visited Gerald 1000 times and still take away new and different stories about this era of broadcasting. Anyone restoring early iPods?
In this edition of Media Network from July 1987 we were covering the crash of the Virgin Balloon and how it was possible to monitor the rescue of Richard Branson on shortwave. Piece by Mike Bullen (who later went on to write the series Cold Feet and now lives in Australia) on the Voice of Tamil Eelam. Results of a direction finding survey on the stations targeting Cuba. Professor John Campbell (pictured in this entry, but more recently than this show) who discusses Indonesia and Irish stations. Gary Newman's single called Radio Heart is discussed by Lou Josephs. Wolf Harranth reviews a shortwave log program called Swiss Log. We also tested a double notch filter to get rid of whistles and RTTY signals. We also look at clandestine stations in Africa. Propagation from Mike Bird.
Ireland once had its own shortwave transmitter in Athlone, long before RTE rented airtime on shortwave to broadcast programmes from its broadcast centre just outside Dublin. In 1987, we visited Dublin and met up with colleagues at RTE who had unearthed the (short) history of Ireland on shortwave. (Prof John Campbell later took up the stories of the Irish pirates, but that's for another edition). One of the first uses of shortwave was to relay programmes from the Vatican on the 100 kW transmitter in Athlone. The history of the station goes back in 1939. Note that the transmission date of this programme was corrected in March 2020.
It is 1991 and the Russian radio monopoly is being broken by all kinds of stations, including Radio Roks. Jeff White investigates the return of Radio Impacto, or at least the old transmitters of the station which had targeted Nicaragua in the 1980's as part of a US-backed clandestine media operation. And we hear from the late Dave Rosenthal on what Dxers have been up to in Eastern Canada as part of the Ontario DX Association Summer Camp.
This programme dates back exactly ten years ago to June 23rd 2000. What fascinates me in that how little has changed. England was exiting a football tournament, DAB was still trying to get adopted (to be fair its doing better in the UK and Denmark these days) and Worldspace still pumping out claims that they were going to be the platform of choice for the developing world. Ten years on Worldspace is no more, although I keep hearing of rescue attempts, cause the satellites are still up there. Does anyone believe the idea is not broken beyond repair?
This is the second of three programmes Jonathan Marks made in the Pacific. It follows on from the previous week's edition made in Auckland New Zealand. Jonathan was sent to represent Radio Netherlands at a meeting of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union at a very expensive hotel in Sydney. But he escaped some of the rather dry "working groups" to explore some of the stations, including the SBS and ABC. It didn't seem sensible to travel so far from Europe just to sit in a hotel room. Mike Bird, (pictured) our propagation man in Melbourne took the one hour flight to Sydney and we walked around the harbour recalling how media was changing at the start of a new century. I see the in Dutch - I would have thought the audience had really dwindled away to nothing by now.
More mysteries solved. In May of 2000 Diana Janssen and I rounded off our memories of the Millennium by recalling some of the magic that has gone into Media Network from its start in 1981 until the 1000 edition. That included the incident with George Wood and why people arrived outside my house at the start of the first Gulf War. We ended the show with a review of the (currently) defunct Worldspace system, concluding then that this was a very expensive way to listen to international broadcasting. Although I hear stories of all kinds of rescue plans in 2010, I think the window of opportunity has closed on the Worldspace system. To illustrate this podcast, a photo of us both taken around the same period. It was a case of the bald and the beautiful, although on that photo it is the other way round.
I don't deny I had a lot of fun making this programme. It is March 1989 and I realise there is nothing in the RNW archive about the great work that goes on at the relay stations and the story of how the satellite changed an entire industry. I combined it with reportages on the other ABC islands. Curacao was nice, but the beauty on Bonaire, especially under the water, was spectacular. I remember meeting a great Aruban engineer working at the station who actually swam to work. This programme was made before the admin building in Kralendijk was closed and the building expanded for the DRM capable transmitters. In November 2012, the transmitter towers were blown up as part of the closedown of the facilities on the island. An era has closed.
The date is August 13th 1981. Time to launch an expedition to the Radio Netherlands transmitter site at Lopik. It has been there since 1957 when it took over from the low power site in Huizen. But the 100 kW and 10 kW units are wearing out and plans are afoot for a new transmission centre somewhere on the Flevo polder. A visit to the Bonaire transmitter site in 1989 is the next programme in this mini series.
In this programme we tell the fascinating story of the Kootwijk transmitter built in the centre of the Netherlands on the heathland. In the early 1920's the main goal of the station was to maintain contact with Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies. It was pretty amazing bearing in mind they were using the wrong frequency band because the existence of short-wave radio was as yet unknown. The listening site in Eemnes mentioned in the programme is still there, although I believe the station is part of the monitoring network used by the military. The original airing of this programme was on March 3rd 1988. We went back at the end of the Millennium for the close of the station - those shows have yet to be re-released. It was a great story to make, even though its about a "utility" station not a broadcaster. In fact, the same place was used for a short period after the Second World War for longwave broadcasts.
Now this is something that won't ever be repeated. If you had a shortwave radio around August 1991 then it was probably tuned to Radio Moscow, but also other international broadcasters, because of an attempted coup. http://tiny.cc/tyfri Again this is an example of listener participation well before the web and mass use of email, as well as great inside stories from Vasily Strelnikov, a former presenter at Radio Moscow World Service. I love his story about how his "filling in the time" almost caused a diplomatic incident. He also explained how the news reading translation system worked, which solves another mystery from the Cold War era.
BBC Monitoring has been the owner of Caversham Park House since the end of World War 2. This imposing mansion - the large building you see on the hill as you pass through Reading on the train - has long been a major employer in Caversham. But it has also always been very low-key. And, because historically it has also attracted so many foreign nationals from many parts of the world to work there, overall BBC Monitoring's presence has contributed immeasurably to the quality and richness of life in Caversham. This visit to Caversham was designed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of operations - a period where radio was still the mainstay of the work and satellite TV monitoring was only just starting. 500 people worked there at the time from 50 countries. The second part of the programme has some rather dramatic developments surrounding Radio Caroline which prompted a lot of calls to the Radio Netherlands answerline.
Media Network lives on with a series of video interviews with David Smith, a lifelong shortwave enthusiast - and someone who has put it to good use in several projects un Africa. He is back again with some more great radio stories from Southern Africa. This time he explains what made him search out Capital Radio 604 while in Zimbabwe in 1983, and end up working there - twice. There is a website that looks at Capital's music years in the 80's and 90's (capital604.com), but not the project that David ran in the 90's. Perhaps it was just ahead of its time? The video can be found here.
This programme begins with an illustrated call for entries for the Memory of the Millennium competition (programmes and stations that no longer exist) and then moves into a feature about the time signal station WWV and WWVH in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Thanks to Alfonso Montelegre for grabbing the interview material (he went to Fort Collins, not me) and also to the late Dave Rosenthal who shared a fascination in these ticking clocks. These stations now have a website full of photos and even more technical background than we had time for. Check out http://tf.nist.gov/stations/wwvh.htm
Eleven years after the first show on jingles (republished last week) I revisited the subject of jingle production in the 1990's, this time talking with makers on both sides of the Atlantic. This edition was originally broadcast on the last Thursday of 1994. I've posted it following nice comments on the first one!
We made several visits to the topic of radio jingles, how they are made and what programmers in the early 1980's thought they were for. Their use seemed to go in waves, sometimes stations overused them and there were periods when stations hardly used them at all. There were enthusiasts like Tom Konard who made vast collections of station idents and sweepers. Some are still on line - check this reference. http://www.reelradio.com/af/index.html . This show was broadcast on December 29th 1983 and I remember the recording well. Technican Pim Wijmer thought it would be a simple mix and wondered why I had booked four hours of studio time. Today, you can make the same show on a laptop using free multitrack software. In those days you had to cut and splice audio tape and cue everthing with yellow leader. There was more yellow leader on those montages than tape. Fun, nonetheless. Let me know if you want to hear more of these kind of features.
We take you now to a Thursday in May 1986, when we did a lot "with" the public, ten years before e-mail was mainstream. The show starts with a report on the balloon hunt organised by the NOS Hobbyscoop programme. The interview is with the late Hans G. Janssen, with whom I worked on the BASICODE project. Then, Trevor Brook of Surrey Electronics (now editor http://www.radiojackie.com) reports from Spain on something he saw from his hotel balcony. He went off to find out more rather like a fox chasing chickens. Knowing this show had been found, he wrote back to me just a few days back. He writes. Here are a couple of photos that you are welcome to use. Shots with the mast are very rare. At the time I did the report, the ship was a kilometre offshore at Santander, an overcast evening and a drab rainy morning I seem to remember. Telephotos can't fix everything! The rest of the holiday had been solid sunshine." There's also a story on Radio Wapping in UK and Prof John Campbell reviews a book on illegal stations in UK. Rebel Radio by John Hind and Steve Mosco. Victor Goonetilleke reports from Asia and changes at Radio Afghanistan. We sign off with computer line promo...when you had to call internationally to connect your computer with ours.
For the most part, shortwave has become a medium of last resort. That's not to say there are several countries in the world where it remains a very important medium, especially to reach rural areas. Radio Bar-Kulan is a Somali speaking station trying to unite the different factions in Somali. It's a difficult task, especially with the news this week of yet another journalist being killed in Mogadishu. Which is why I have enorous respect for the journalists behind Radio Bar-Kulan (meeting point) who are using shortwave, FM and the web to reach Somalis and discuss a plan B. There is a 16 minute video interview with the launch director of the station sitting here . Enjoy it if you have the bandwidth.
It is April 30th as this entry is published. Its a national holiday to celebrate the Queen's Birthday, although Beatrix is not actually having a birthday today. Her late mother was born on April 30th and this is a better time of year than the queen's official birthday on 31st January (1938). So when she was inaugurated in 1980, Queens Day didn't move. The programme attached to this entry is also from Queens Day, but as broadcast on Thursday 30th April 1987....23 years ago. In this show we learn that VOA Europe goes stereo and will also carry commercials, through a barter arrangement with Westwood One We hear the plans for satellite scrambling in MAC mode. AWR Guam signs on. There's also a feature on Audience research - Tom Fikkert of Radio Netherlands and Graham Mytton who was Head of the International Broadcasting Audience Research department at BBC World Service. I find it fascinating to hear how shortwave was declining back then. Finally, clandestine radio expert John Campbell reports on some fascinating books he discovered at book fairs across the North-West Europe.
As 1999 came to a close, Jonathan Marks was fortunate enough to attend a broadcasting conference in Australia for Radio Netherlands. He grabbed the opportunity to make a short visit to Auckland, New Zealand to examine the amazing radio scene that was emerging at that time in the Pacific. The local members of the NZ Radio DX League did us proud with a very warm welcome right in the middle of the . Our narrative steers a different course as we explore radio history in New Zealand. New Zealand is also home to the great . In this programme you'll hear the voice of Media Network's correspondent Bryan Clark who explains his interest in radio was sparked in the mid 60;s by the offshore ship i which had a major impact on NZ public radio. The station still operates today (2019) and their logo still reflects the nautical past. in 1999 the old Hauraki MW frequency of 1476 was reused for a rather ingenious listener-sponsored relay of the BBC World Service. The sped up the programmes from London slightly so as to be able to insert some local commercials. Bryan then takes us through a bandscan of the radio dial in Auckland, explaining the background to some of the stations. And no, has nothing to do with Albania. Barry Hartley recalls his experiences of Radio New Zealand International. Adrian Sainsbury reflects on the current discussion about the future of RNZI and its role in the Pacific. The travelogue closes with our visit to (easy to find on any web radio) which has one of the most efficient antennas on the planet. They need it, because they only have a few microwatts of transmission power. They have brilliant ideas - and have since become a major force in the Auckland music scene. The programme continued a week later from Sydney.
The first half of the programme is devoted to an interview with the developer of secret radio transmitters used by the agents working for the Special Operations Executive during WW 2. The sets were remarkably crude because the budget was a pittance. We then cross to southern Germany at the command centre for the European Space Agency. Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels was aboard SpaceLab 1 at the time. Those were the days when any space mission got ample coverage.
This show, broadcast on 14th November 1985 has an in-depth feature on the offshore station Laser 558 being escorted by a sister ship hired by the UK DTI authorities. Lack of power forced the station to ask for assistance. Interview with station representative John Catlett and former owner of the ship, the Guardline Seeker. We also caught up with Bob Horvitz, at that time running the Woodpecker Project, which involved watching the Russian Over The Horizon Radar. There is also a visit to VOA Europe in Munich, African Media News with Richard Ginbey and the Propagation Report from Mike Bird. I remember I had the flu that Thursday, so excuse the croaky voice.
Seeing that Thailand is in the news as I write this, I picked this programme broadcast from Bangkok on 4th December 1987. This includes an interview with Richard Jackson who was working for many of the stations there at the time and who was instrumental in bringing the show together. We looked at the 60 years celebration of Thai King's Birthday and noted the poor quality of AM transmitters. NBT runs two services. including HSK-9, Radio Thailand's external service. VOA also has a special service called Voice of Free Asia. There were clandestine stations from Communist Party of Thailand via Beijing. Thanks to telmo32 on flickr for sharing the photo under Creative Commons. http://www.flickr.com/people/telmo32/
You will hear contributions from Wolf Harranth in some of the Media Network archive programmes. You might like to know that I interviewed him on camera for my video blog and that both parts of that tour are now on line. Wolf leads a team that has built the the world's largest documentation archive for radio. This reportage will definitely interest anyone who remembers or collected broadcast station QSL cards. In fact the millions of QSL cards, magazines, books and unique government records tell the story of communication across international borders. They survive on help from volunteers and I hope that this second video will help to explain why they are so passionate about preserving the golden age of international radio. It reminds me of an early version of Facebook. This site doesn't like embedded video. So more details here: Part One:http://vimeo.com/10320815 Part Two: http://vimeo.com/11129204
In this edition, we're going back to May 23rd 1985 when I was fortunate to visit Sri Lanka for the first time, as part of a stop-over on Air Lanka to Tokyo. Actually, it was great to spend some time with two long time friends of the Media Network programme, Victor Goonetilleke (pictured) and Sarath Weerakoon. This was just before a new round of hostilities broke out in the North and East of the country. I travelled with Adrian Petersen (AWR) to see the Deutsche Welle Trincomalee relay station - a trip of almost 8 hours. We stayed in the Moonlight Bay hotel, which I found out later was blown up a few weeks later. On our return, Victor had organised a meeting of Radio Netherlands' listeners and I was amazed to discover that some people had travelled over two days just to say hello and express their appreciation for Media Network and Pete Myers show at the time called Mainstream Asia. Again, as you listen to this it important to realise this is 10 years before Internet had mass appeal, only a few satellite TV channels requiring 11 metre dishes and the only way for ordinary folk to follow events was with a shortwave radio. Enjoy this one. I personally love the story from the late Chairman of the SLBC about how SLBC got its transmitting station by clever negotiations with the British. He also explains the relations with VOA and TWR. At the end of the programme is late-breaking news from Dennis Powell as hits the airwaves for the first time.
In August 1992, Media Network contributor Lou Josephs took me in his car to a poison-ivy infested ruin on a hill over-looking the Atlantic Ocean. It was from this point in Scituate, Massachusetts that WRUL, WNYW and WYFR broadcast programmes for several decades. Lou was working then for WROR in Boston, but in earlier years he had a Saturday job working in the New York City offices of WNYW. Luckily he also owned one of the first cassette recorders (so new they didn't know how to pronounce it on DXing Worldwide). I always thought that at its peak in the late 60's the station radiated remarkable energy. Perhaps it was because distance still had magic. More from Lou are still floating around the Internet. Thanks to Jim Cutler for the photo of the old WNYW site. Lou tells me that Larry Yount has passed away. He was a versatile news anchor in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s, working at stations that included WVNJ, WRFM (and its sister shortwave station, WNYW) and WQXR. Yount died August 25th 2011 in Hickory, N.C.; he was 77. Larry was Program Director for 3 years or so at WNYW and voiced DXing WorldWide He is the host of the media WNYW clip, the guy with the "k set" pronunciation problem.
In the early hours of Thursday August 2nd 1990, Iraq launched an invasion on Kuwait. Initially, Iraqi forces managed to capture the studios of Kuwait Radio & Television at the Ministry of Information building. But after a period of silence, people running the shortwave transmitter of Radio Kuwait succeeded in getting the station back on the air with an announcement on all Radio Kuwait's frequencies. In this edition of Media Network we examined the media aspects of the Iraq-Kuwait conflict and some rumours that started to lead a life of their own. The show is an example of how important shortwve external broadcasting was during that era in trying to follow all aspects of a story. Remember this is well before the influence of Internet or satellite television in the region. The show is also a good example of how the audience took part in sharing their observations alongside the "official" sources. I was always amazed at peoples' willingness to contribute, especially when making an international phone call was a big deal.
In the course of its life as a radio show, Media Network covered the mystery of the numbers stations in between the broadcast bands on several occasions. The first time we devoted most of the programme to the strange voices shouting numbers was on August 2nd 1990. So turn back the clock 20 years and find out what was intriguing international radio listeners before the Internet had any form of mass appeal.
Media Network was one of the first international programmes of its kind to encourage and get collaboration from the audience. Listeners were encouraged to do their own detective work and report on their results, usually with audio clips of what they had heard. In a time when a call from Australia to Holland cost around 2 Euros a minute, this was no mean feat. As well as doing mini documentaries, Media Network also became a news magazine show about communications and international broadcasting. In this edition, broadcast on January 27th 1991, the focus is on the crisis in the Middle East. For me it seems hard to believe it was more than 19 years ago.
First broadcast on the 10th of December 1982, this Media Network programme looks at the broadcasts from North & South Korea aimed at each other and to other parts of the world. Professor John Campbell, then head of the computer science department at UC London, had a regular column on the programme, following on from his articles on clandestine radio in the World Radio TV Handbook and Passport to World Band Radio. Check out the wikipedia entry about this place. The programme concludes with a contribution from the late Richard Ginbey, who regularly shared a unique collection of off-air recordings from his base just outside Johannesburg.
Media Network Wartime special. Looks at Lord Haw Haw, Liberty from Argentina during Falklands War, Voice of Vietnam's Hanoi Hannah. The rest of the programme then focuses on Tokyo Rose, with an in depth interview with author Russell Warren Howe who has been one of several people to dig deep into the background of Iva Toguri D'Aquino, who broadcast as "Orphan Ann" during the 15-20 minute DJ segment on Radio Tokyo's The Zero Hour program. For more information, check out the wikpedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Rose. This programme was first broadcast on 14th June 1990.
This is Part Two of a two-part documentary about black clandestine propaganda from the UK towards Nazi occupied Europe. The late Harold Robin explains why Canadian soldiers dug a hole in one of hills near , Sussex and how the high power mediumwave transmitter sent from the US was buried underground. George Jacobs explains the mysterious Glenn Miller Jazz programmes made for German soldiers. Aspidistra, as the transmitter was called, could change frequency quite quickly and did more than broadcast fake German forces radio programmes. This must be the ultimate in "fake news" networks. After the war, the transmitter was handed over to the BBC and later sent to Orfordness, Suffolk. Bits of the original transmitter survive in the transmission hall of that site. The original transmitter site in Sussex is now a police training ground. The photo shows the transmitter shortly after installation. The bunker was designed by an architect who built cinemas before the war. You can find the first part of the documentary .
Take your mind back to January 30th 1996. Audio on the web sounds like early wax cylinders. Mobile phones are catching on. Jonathan Marks recounts an expedition to Lemmenjoki, near Ivalo in Northern Finland, well above the Arctic Circle. The reason to head up to the frozen North was to listen to mediumwave radio with friends of the Finnish DX Association and to understand the fascination of hearing stations from all parts of the globe. This was a time when distance still had magic, especially as you never knew what might fade in next. The temperature outside was -26 C. Inside the log cabin we were listening to Japan on mediumwave starting a new day. What's the fascination? You're able to hear the world talking to itself live. Even though the number of mediumwave stations has decreased in the world, the Dxpeditions still continue. Check out this link for news of a new location that opened in 2010. Tip of the hat to Daneen Vol for sharing the photo via Flickr. Must look for my negatives.
A few nights before the Americans went into Kuwait with Operation Desert Storm on 17th January 1991 to liberate it from the Iraqi's, Russian troops went into Vilnius, the capital of what is now the independent country of Lithuania. This is the story of that Russian invasion as recounted by Radio Vilnius, operating at the time from the recording studios of the blind foundation. It is also an amazing story of how listeners to Radio Vilnius got a front-row seat in what was happening. The sign-off music from the station is one of the most evocative you will ever hear and always remember.
This is a flashback to a Media Network in 1991 which contained an interview which solved the mystery behind the broadcasts in 1977 from Tripoli Harbour, Libya which contained cryptic references to Radio Northsea International. We talk with Jules Retro who was on the ship at the time. The programme was originally aired on March 21st 1991. Photo by Rainer Knebel
This is Part One of one of the most popular documentaries broadcast in the Radio Netherlands Media Network programme in 1993, looking at UK black propaganda during the Second World War. In 2019 we might call it deliberate "fake news". This programme features an interview with the late Harold Robin, the Foreign & Commonwealth broadcast engineer who put a number of "fake" resistance stations on the air from a transmitter site not far from Bletchley Park. I was glad to see that they haven't forgotten the role of these broadcasts - it's mentioned in the exhibition at Bletchley. The second part of this 30 minute documentary can be found (see March 22nd 2010). The second part deals more with the Aspidistra transmitter built very near Crowborough, Sussex and still used by Sussex Police as a training ground. Little known fact is that it was also used a for an episode of BBC's Dr Who. The only remaining parts of the Aspi 1 transmitter were hanging in the entrance hall of the Babcock transmitter site at Ordfordness, Suffolk. That site was used until March 27th 2011 for transmission of BBC programmes on 648 kHz towards Western Europe.
This edition of Media Network included a fictious horse race between several international broadcasters as well as a profile of Mozambiquan radio compiled by Eric Beauchemin. I am pleased to note that there is a website recalling the early days of Radio Clube de Mocambique and Lourenco Marques (LM) radio, thought to be the first commercial radio station in Africa. I note on the list of DJs at LM Radio, the name of Fritz Greveling, one of the presenters of Media Network's predecessor. Fritz Greyling (as he called himself in English) was born on 10 October 1947 in Hengelo in the Netherlands, but grew up in Kroonstad in the Free State. He was fluent in English, Afrikaans and Dutch and joined LM where he was known as 'your tall groover' from 1969 until the station closed in 1975. Later he joined Dions stores in Johannesburg where he worked with Paul Nel in the record division. He then decided to return to Holland where he worked for a long time as a presenter with Radio Nederland Wereldomroep English Service in Hilversum. He came back to South Africa in the early 1980s and joined Radio RSA (then, the SABC's international service) as a journalist and presenter with the Dutch Service. He died in Johannesburg in 1994
This programme was the last in a series of five, broadcast in the summer of 1982. The episode examined the curious media situation between the Dutch and Republican forces looked at the time of Indonesian independence in 1949 as well as clandestine broadcasts during the Angolan civil war.
An Episode of Media Network devoted to the history of Propaganda and broadcast during the summer of 1982. This episode includes an interview with the late Gerard Mansell (former BBC External Services DG) who authored a book called Let Truth Be Told. In this programme he explains a period when the British government used clandestine broadcasting in the Suez Crisis. This was from a transmitter near Limassol in Cyprus. We also look at Eastern European clandestine stations including a white Russian broadcaster than broadcast from Munich and a clandestine voice from Romania.
Early Media Network reviewing the clandestine radio stations operating in Central America, targeting Nicaragua.
This Media Network was broadcast on 6th May 1982. It focussed on the Falklands "conflict", as the BBC called it. Remember it is just over a month after the young Argentine forces landed. British Forces Broadcasting Service got airtime from one of the BBC Ascension Island transmitters to broadcast a request show to the Falklands Fleet. The photo in the insert was taken in the city of La Plata, Argentina just south of Buenos Aires. There was a memorial there to the Malvinas dead from the Argentine side. There is also a national memorial in the centre of Buenos Aires, opposite the now derelict "English Tower".