A Sticker from SLBC's City FM

Mahapalipuram meet: An overview

I fell I am very lucky this year, Yes, I am continuously having many opportunities to attend ham meets one after the other and able to see all my good old friends frequently. Thanks to the organizers of these meets for enabling me to do so.

After the Yecaud meet in January, on 14th Feb, I went to The MA-HAM meet, arranged by of the veteran, VU2VIT Vittalji, VU2INA Inar, VU3MPK Appan and VU2KBX Anna. As usual this is another meet at the famous tourist spot Mahapalipuram, started at 9.am in the morning and went on till 5 pm in the evening.

Every year this MA-HAM meet is arranged on the second Saturday of February. For this meet no registration or entrance or any other fee is charged. In this respect I would dare to say that THIS IS THE ONLY ONE HAM MEET BEING CONDUTED AT SUCH A LOW AND CHEAPER COST EVER IN INDIA. All hams were invited earnestly, received respectfully in the venue, allowed to meet each other, chat, discuss and exchange information and experience between themselves through eyeball and a few talks and speeches were given by some hams, arranged on the spot. Between 1 pm to 2 pm all were requested to go for lunch to any hotels nearby, which are many in number, and have the food, to suit their taste and pocket. Really this was a thrilling experience to everyone who participated in such a meet.

I went through a record kept at the venue for registration and found that the number of participants in the year 07 was 54, in 08 was 143 and during this year, 09 it was 89. The entire expenses were born by sponsors, VU2TTL, VU3MII, VU3CPE, VU3MPK and SWL Nathan only, by way of their own contribution and private collection. They refused to receive any more donations from others. When I asked them why, the answer was that do not want to have any more money than what is required and they had sufficient fund by that time. When I again suggested receiving and keeping that for next year’s need, they replied that if they have more money then it would lead to politics and problems and hence declined that suggestion. What a fine statement? Have your ever heard like this in your life? In this world where chances are expected by all to get money, these individual behaved differently. I was really surprised and astonished. Really it was a bold venture and attempt by them to satisfy the hunger of all the hams by their own efforts.

Right from 8-30 am on words, all the hams started flowing in one by one and in groups, with lot of expectation and anxiety. By 9-30 the entire hall was full and I could see all the hams chatting with each other happily, exchanging greetings and reminding their earlier meets with them and passing on their activities details and improvements and new applications made in their shacks. I could see a great happiness in their eyes and in the interaction between all of them. Every one was shifting their positions from one to the other and was discussing with lot of interest. This went on till 11 am and after that, all were requested to take their seats and an informal meeting started. Every one was requested to make a self introduction.

After this, VU2PTR gave a talk on “Tips for a Home Brewer”; VU2GUR talked on “Satellite Communications”. Then some others came and expressed their critical experience on various applications. At 1 pm the crowd dispersed for lunch.

After the Lunch, all assembled to witness the different stalls exhibited by VU2LB, VU2PTR, VU2PAL, VU2MPK, VU2VSD, VU3STJ, VU2ARA, held personal discussions with them to satisfy their requirements and received their need also from them. A CD from VU2RQ, jam, containing very useful information was also available,

During this period all SWLs separately had a small gathering between themselves and they met some experienced hams, to get details on subjects such as, how to become a ham, how to attend the classes, what are the subjects to be studied, what would be the type of exam they have to undergo, where to write the exam etc., They were fully informed and I felt they were much benefited by such eyeball discussion.

With much happiness and satisfaction that they all attended a useful meet, one by one left the premises, taking leave of others and I also did the same and came back with a similar satisfaction and experience.

I thought that I should express my impression and as the result I have reduced everything as a small write up, which I hope all the readers will read, enjoy and have a feeling that either they should have attended this meet or they must avail at least the next opportunity without fail. - K.Santhanam VU2YFS, 176,West Sambandam Road, R.S.Puram, Coimbatore.641002, Ph. 0422-2554433, 94422 42523, e-mail whyeffess@gmail.com

AIR's 25th anniversary

All India Radio - Here are some items from All India Radio, which began broadcasting in 1936: a first day cover issued on June 8, 1961 in commemoration of AIR's 25th anniversary, an informative pamphlet issued by AIR in connection with the event, and a postcard of the AIR building constructed in New Delhi in 1940. The postcard was sent from Colombo, Ceylon to New York in 1954. (Source: Ontheshortwave.com Mr. Jerry Berg)

50th Anniversary of Radio Nepal, 2000

Thanks to Ontheshortwaves.com Mr. Jerry berg

MAHAM 2009 Photos

The Mahabalipuram ham meet successfully held on 14th February 2009 at Hotel Veeras. The organizers of MAHAM eye ball meet are proud to dedicate this 2009 meet to OM M.V. Chauhan in recognition of his service to promote ham radio in India more particularly in Chennai. Here in the following link you will get some glimpses of the meet.
MAHAM 2009 Photos

Voice of Tigers back to shortwave?

Since the government of Sri Lanka has revoked the FM licence of the LTTE's radio station, Voice of Tigers, the station has regained its pirate/clandestine status. It has operated on shortwave in the past, and it seems to me highly probable that it will reappear on shortwave in the near future, assuming that the Sri Lanka Government puts its FM transmitters out of action. Something to listen out for... (DXLD Via Andy andys@euronet.nl)

COMMUNITY RADIO STATION MANAGERS WORKSHOP

SECOND CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR FUNCTIONAL COMMUNITY RADIO STATION MANAGERS
Held on February 10-11, 2009 EMMRC, ANNA UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI
Organised by
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India
Jointly with
Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia
In association with
EMMRC, ANNA UNIVERSITY CHENNAI

RADIO HAVANA, CUBA, NEW PHILATELIC CONTEST

*PHILATELIC CONTEST OF THE WORLD OF STAMPS SHOW*

*Honouring Ernesto Che Guevara on the 40th anniversary of this
death in Bolivia and his 80th birthday.
*Questions:*
What's your opinion about the first stamp dedicated to the heroic guerrilla
Commander?
What's the importance of the Cuban postal issues about Ernesto Guevara?
The best 40 answers will be awarded Cuban postal issues on various topics.
Besides, all participants will receive Cuban stamps dedicated to Che.

*Contest deadline is **December 31st, 2009*
**
*R Havana website www.radiohc. cu *

Via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India

BBC suspends FM broadcasts via Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC

PRESS RELEASE

BBC suspends FM broadcasts via Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC following “interference”
BBC World Service is suspending its FM programming to the Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC from Tuesday, February 10 due to deliberate interference of its broadcasts by the Sri Lankan network.
BBC programmes and individual news reports in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been blocked by SLBC and have not been broadcast to listeners in Sri Lanka.
The BBC noted 17 instances of interference to BBC Tamil and eight similar instances to BBC Sinhala broadcasts between November 27 and early January. Sometimes whole current affairs segments of BBC programming were not broadcast on SLBC.
The BBC expressed its concern directly to SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe in a series of letters and meetings throughout December and early January.
The BBC made it clear to SLBC that such interference and blocking meant that BBC programming was being editorially compromised by SLBC’s actions and this was contrary to the BBC’s contractual agreement with SLBC.
Despite the warnings, last week there were several further instances of interference to BBC programming in all three languages being broadcast on SLBC. There have been three instances of interference on BBC Tamil output, one on BBC Sinhala and two instances on the English language programming in the past 10 days.
BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: “We are dismayed that the BBC’s programmes in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been interrupted on the SLBC network. We are equally disappointed to see that our programmes continue to be interfered with even after our representations.

“We have no choice but to suspend broadcasts until such time as SLBC can guarantee our programming is transmitted without interference,” he says.
“In order to cover news events in the most comprehensive and balanced way for our audiences, the BBC adheres to specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic. In this way we can meet our audiences’ high expectations and maintain our reputation as the world’s most trusted international broadcaster.”
He said: “The BBC has had a very cordial and effective partnership with the SLBC since 1998 – part of a strong relationship with listeners in that country that goes back to the 1940s. We are keen to keep this relationship going provided that SLBC adheres to the agreements we have with it. But at the heart of these agreements is the guarantee that our programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil are broadcast uninterrupted. If this can not be guaranteed we can not continue our relationship.
“We are prepared to have further discussions to resolve this issue and will investigate any specific detailed complaint SLBC may have about BBC output. So far, no specific complaint has been raised,” he says.
The BBC’s services in all three languages remain in Sri Lanka via short wave; on bbc.com/news, bbcsinhala.com and bbctamil.com via the Internet; and news bulletins in English are available via the Sri Lankan commercial broadcaster MBC.
Editor’s notes
These are the short wave frequencies and timings to hear BBC services in Sri Lanka:
BBC Tamil
15:45-16:15 GMT = 21:15-21:45 Local Time
6135 kHz (49 mb), 7205 kHz (41 mb), 9540 kHz (31 mb)
BBC Sinhala
16:30-17:00 GMT = 22:00-22:30 Local Time
7345 kHz (41 mb), 9615 kHz (31 mb)
BBC World Service in English
Details of BBC World Service programmes and services in English can be found at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/internet/800/radio_frequencies_south_asia.shtml
Mainstays of the 24 hour a day coverage (but mainly daytime) are 17790 kHz (16 mb) and 15310 kHz 19 (mb).
Evenings: 11915 kHz (25 mb), 9740 kHz (31 mb), 7355 kHz (41 mb), 5975 kHz (49 mb)
Ends
For more information please contact:
BBC World Service International Publicity
+44(0)207 557 2944; wspublicity@bbc.co.uk

Community Radio Station at Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has permitted the DHAN Foundation Madurai to establish, maintain and operate a Community Radio Station at Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement.

DHAN Foundation, Madurai is a Non Governmental Organization. The Kalanjiam Community Radio Station will be established at Village-Vizhunthama vadi, Block-Keelaiyur, Distt-Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu.

It may be recalled that Nagapattinam is a tsunami affected area. The Community Radio Station is expected to serve particularly, the women, farmers, fishermen and empower them with information and communication critical for disaster preparedness and management. The community management committee has made linkages with the local government institutions like panchayats, health centers, schools and disaster management related Government institutions to establish a disaster management mechanism to face natural calamities.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting expects that the Community Radio initiative of the Ministry will provide an opportunity to the local communities to be better informed about the developmental initiatives of the Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.
(PIB, Govt of India Via Alokesh Guta)

For more details
DHAN Foundation
18, Pillaiyar Koil Street
S.S. Colony, Madurai - 625 016.
Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Tel: +91 - 452 - 2610794, 2610805
Fax: +91 - 452 - 2602247
Email: dhan@md3.vsnl.net.in
Web: http://www.dhan.org/media/index.php
Related News :
Tsunami-affected TN village to get community radio station
http://www.hindu. com/thehindu/ holnus/001200902 051922.htm

BBC World Service's "World Agenda"

After stop of the BBC "On Air" magazine, now BBC World Service send the 28 pages "World Agenda" (A4 Size) magazine to their listeners / Government / diplomatic services / Media / culture / Business and trade / Development agencies / NGOs and Education / research people.
To request a free copy of World Agenda or confirm your mailing details complete the form in the following link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/worldagenda/registration_form.shtml (Jaisakthivel, ADXC, Chennai, India)

IRC Coupons run out of stock in India

Source: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai Edition, 29 Jan 2009 Page 5

Yercaud Ham Meet Entry badge: 2009

Radio City School of Broadcasting to target graduates

Radio City has marked its foray into education business with the launch of Radio City School of Broadcasting (RCSB), an autonomous educational unit, instituted by Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. (MBPL), which owns and operates the radio station brand.

Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City and chairperson, RCSB, said, "Our school aims to provide students a 'real time, real world' radio experience. Involvement of the Radio City team as faculty will ensure that students are mentored through a truly robust radio training programme. The idea is to create world-class radio professionals with hands-on radio experience who are industry-ready from the word go." read more

Gurgaon to have its own community radio

Gurgaon based NGO, TRF (The Restoring Force) would be soon launching its community radio in Udyog Vihar, villages of Garhi Harsaru, Dhankot and adjoining areas. TRF had already been allotted frequency of 107.8 MHz by the Information and Broadcasting ministry. The NGO had applied for a radio license in the start of last year and received the Letter of Intent from I & B ministry in August 2008.

With the NGO working independently in the areas of education and vocational training, the community radio initiative aims to intervene in the inequality of access and opportunity. TRF community radio project manager Arti Jaiman says, “We have multiple aims for our community radio initiative, we plan to take our programmes to a larger audience. Through the initial stages of setting up the radio station, we were successful in breaking the barriers of caste that still exists in these regions.” Read more

Sri Lanka bans LTTE's FM radio

After cornering the LTTE to the thick jungles of Sri Lanka's north-east, the Government has banned the official radio of the rebels' -- Voice of Tigers -- two weeks after it proscribed the militant organisation.

The Government on Monday banned the Voice of Tigers (VoT), the mouthpiece of LTTE, Director General of the Media Center for the National Security Lakshman Hulugalle said.

The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Monday terminated the broadcast license granted to the radio during the tenure of the United National Front Government headed by Ranil Wickramasinghe.

The ban on VoT became mandatory after the Government proscribed the LTTE, Chairman of the TRC told The Island newspaper.

"This (ban) was discussed very much during the last couple of weeks, but decision was only taken on Sunday," he said.

The Sri Lankan Government banned the LTTE on January 7, five days after its army captured the rebels' de-facto capital of Kilinochchi, accusing it of holding the civilians in areas controlled by it against their will.

The Army had on Sunday claimed to have captured the last rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu, considered as the headquarters of 'Sea Tigers', the coastal wing of LTTE. (hindustantimes.com)

Misty launches in Gangtok

The PCM Group's Radio Misty launched its Sikkim station at Gangtok on 31 January.

With this launch, the group now has two FM stations, Siliguri being the first one. Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM is the first 24X7 FM station of Sikkim, claims the company.

Radio Misty Sikkim will play a blend of popular Hindi music, English music along with local songs, pops, fusion, remixes, retro music and international music. The focus will be on promoting local music.

Radio Misty, that has partnered the BBC and Radio Netherlands worldwide, will air exclusive international music and programmes provided by the two content sources.

A state of art studio is ready at development area in Gangtok, says the company. More details..

150 scholarships announced - IGNOU's community radio programme to become more job oriented

IGNOU's community radio programme to become more job oriented Indopia - India To impart practical knowledge to its students of certificate programme in community radio, IGNOU has entered into an understanding with the
Commonwealth ...

To impart practical knowledge to its students of certificate programme in community radio, IGNOU has entered into an understanding with the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) http://www.cemca. org/ and 10 broadcasters across the country.

The broadcasters are mostly based in the Southern states and in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa. They will impart on-the-job-training to the enrolled students of the certificate programme at their centres and hands-on training to the pass-outs in the initial stage, said an IGNOU spokesperson.

" Half of the course component is thoroughly practical and will be learnt through apprenticeship, " he said.

The broadcasters would, in turn, be financially supported by IGNOU and CEMCA. CEMCA has also announced 150 scholarships for students willing to set up community radios, the spokesperson said.

Importantly, he said, IGNOU's School of Journalism and New Media Studies has also decided to utilise the Gyan Vani facility in selective charts of time-slots to run community radio broadcasting schedule. These efforts are
likely to generate jobs and boost extension services in agriculture, fisheries, floriculture, horticulture, among others. (George Lessard)

HAM RADIO CLASSES IN BANGALORE AT I.I.H PREMISES

Indian Institute of Hams (I.I.H.) is conducting classes for Amateur Radio Examination. The classes will commence on 15 th of Feb 2009 for a duration of 6 days (3sat & 3Sun). The examinations will be in the month of April 2009. Those who are interested may please pass on this info to SWLs to join the classes. Location :-Sree Kanteerava outdoor stadium second floor. contact vu2fi on email : ham7388@gmail. com. (vu3iti)