Saturday, August 28, 2010

70 years of the BBC Burmese Service

On Over To You this week we take a look at the work of the Burmese Service.

2 September will be their seventieth anniversary and, let's face it, covering Burma is no easy task.

The military junta who rule the country do not allow the BBC any access and the recent history of the country has been extremely turbulent; from the monks protests of 2007, to the cyclone which devastated the country in the same year, to the forthcoming elections due later on in 2010, Burma is a country which is rarely far from the news agenda.

And this is without even mentioning the continuing house arrest of Aung San Su Kyi, a woman who in spite of all of the odds, remains firmly in the public eye. How can a station with no access to its beat possibly continue for so long?

Also on the programme, how many of you speak the language of finance? A listener contacted us concerned that terms like "Quantitative Easing" conceal what he would describe as the far simpler "Printing Money."

Is there a danger that the language of finance could conceal more than it reveals? 

Sometimes getting facts out of Burma seems a lot simpler than doing the same with the world of finance.

I do hope you manage to listen. Rajan Datar will be back from his holidays next week. 

Tazeen Ahmad is this week's presenter of Over To You

Over To You is your chance to have your say about the BBC World Service and its programmes. It airs at 00:40, 03:40 and 12:40 every Sunday (GMT).


Hamfest India 2010 HF Contest

The 19th Hamfest of India is to be held at Pollachi in Tamilnadu
during November 13-14, 2010. On this occasion, the Organizing
Committee of Hamfest India 2010 has the pleasure in inviting all VU
Hams to participate in the HF Contest whose details are as follows:

Phone Contest:

Start Date & Time: Saturday October 2, 2010, 0600 Hrs IST
End Date & Time:  Sunday October 3, 2010, 1800 Hrs IST

CW Contest:

Start Date & Time: Saturday October 9, 2010, 0600 Hrs IST
End Date & Time:  Sunday October 10, 2010, 1800 Hrs IST

Bands:  7 & 14 MHz.

Category: Single Operator

Exchange: RST plus Serial numbers.

The contest is open to and among VU Hams only. Contacts with Dx hams
by VU hams are invalid.

The same station can be contacted once per band.

Points: Each QSO carries one point.

Multiplier: 10 Point for each station contacted from Pollachi,
irrespective of bands.

Total Score: No.of QSO points x No. of Multipliers

Log: Entries to reach on or before Wednesday, 25 October 2010 by post
/ courier to:

Hamfest India 2010 HF Contest

c/o Mr.S.Vijayan, VU2WDP
2 / 140 Raju Nagar,
Chinnampalayam, Pollachi - 642 001
Tamilnadu

Or by email to

hamfestindia2010@gmail.com with the subject line "HFI 2010 Phone
Contest" or HFI 2010 CW Contest"

 A Committee shall evaluate the entries received.  The decision of the
Judges will be final and
binding in declaring the results & contest winners.

All those who send their logs will be given "Participation Certificate".

The Contest Winners will be awarded Mementos & Certificates during the
HFI-2010 function.

73

S.Vijayan, VU2WDP
General Convener

Hamfest India 2010

(Via vuhams yg)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Radio St.Helena Day 2010


Radio St. Helena Day 2010 : Date,Times and Targets
-------------------------------------------------------------
RSD 2010 will be on 11092.5 kHz USB, Saturday, 9th October 2010
=======================================
Target Region Times (UTC ) Beam Heading
=========== ============== ==========
EUROPE 1900 - 2030 UTC 10 degrees
INDIA 2030 - 2130 UTC 70 degrees
JAPAN 2130 - 2300 UTC 50 degrees
North America 2300 - 0030 UTC 310 degrees
Gary Walters, Station Manager of Radio St. Helena, has just confirmed the above information,and, as usual, Derek Richards will operate the RSD shortwave transmitting facility. There will be a special email-address exclusively for the evening of RSD 2010. As soon as Gary sets up this special email account, will be published.
The RSD 2010 QSL cards are being sponsored by the Danish ShortWave Club International. Reception reports for RSD 2010 should be sent with sufficient return postage to RSH using thespecial Airmail address via Ascension and the United Kingdom -- exactly the same procedureas for the RSD 2009 reception reports. ALL mail to RSH should use this procedure. ALL 266 QSLs for RSD 2009 have been mailed and should now be arriving around the world.
The sunspot minimum between sunspot cycles 23 and 24 is the longest in history -- much to the dismay of shortwave listeners everywhere. This minimum has lasted since 2007 and is still ongoing. There are not very many sunspots to "help" propagation, and there is no real sign of significant change. The UTC-times for broadcasting to the various target area have been very carefully selected to to have the very best chance of good reception in each area. Also, we need to have the RSD broadcasts one after the other.After RSD 2009, it was decided to change the times somewhat and to move RSD from November to October (as was the case back in the late 1990's -- Thanks, John). RSH hopes that everyone around the world has excellent reception conditions during RSD 2010 and is looking forward to your emails and also, if possible, to your telephone calls.
Gary Walters , Station Manager of Radio St. Helena via Robert Kipp
(Jaisakthivel, Ardic DX Club, India via dx_india yg http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/)

To get a QSL from Radio St. Helena, you must send a written and verifiable reception report by AIRMAIL and include sufficient return postage (3 IRC's). Email-reports will be not be verified. Recordings will not be returned. In EURO-countries, please send a 5-Euro banknote. Otherwise, please send 3 or more US dollar banknotes to cover the required return postage.

Radio St. Helena
P.O. Box 93
Jamestown, St. Helena
STHL 1ZZ
South Atlantic Ocean
via AIRMAIL
via United Kingdom & Ascension

by 


The Long and Interesting Road of All India Radio Hyderbad

Part 1

Some time ago, Jose Jacob VU2JOS, at the National Institute of Amateur Radio in Hyderabad India, sent us a batch of detailed information about the radio station located in his city of employment, Hyderabad Deccan. We have compiled our Station Profile on All India Radio Hyderabad this week with the usage of his information, together with additional research information taken from various other historical sources.
The city of Hyderabad itself has a very long and interesting history. According to the local story, the fourteen year old Sultan of Golconda fell in love with a beautiful village girl, Bhagmati. He later married her, and he also established a new village-city nearby, which he named Bhagynagar in her honor. "Bhagynagar" would mean "Bhagy Village". When Bhagmati became queen, she took a new name Hyder Mahal, and so the village of Bhagynagar was renamed Hyderabad. "Hyderabad" would mean "Hyder City".
The now large and illustrious city of Hyderabad traces its earliest origins to the year 1589 under the reign of Shah Muhammad, the Sultan of Golconda. The best known landmark in Hyderabad would have to be the Char Minar, a roadway building consisting of four joined minarets. This ornate structure was built in 1591, and it is still standing proudly today, more than four hundred years later.
In pre-federation days, the princely state of Hyderabad was the largest princely state in all of India. Back in those times, Hyderabad flew its own flag, issued its own currency and postage stamps, and it operated an airline, a railway system, and its own radio station.
At the time when India obtained independence from England in 1947, Hyderabad opted to become an independent country within the British Empire. However, a year later, under Operation Polo, Hyderabad was incorporated into the new nation of India. The state boundaries for Hyderabad were re-drawn, with various language areas carved off and added to the adjoining states where the same language was spoken.
However, the new Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as it was named, with the state capital Hyderabad, is still a huge territory, and it is the 4th largest state in India. The state language, Telugu, is the 3rd largest language in India. The nation of India recognizes 22 languages as official languages.
We go back to the very beginning of wireless in Hyderabad, and we find ourselves looking at the admittedly sparse information about the early communication station in the area. This original station, established somewhere around the year 1919, was located, not in Hyderabad itself, but rather in the nearby twin city, Secunderabad.
Station VWX was a spark wireless station established and operated by the Indian government for communication with other early spark wireless stations in British India. A report in an Australian radio magazine published in 1924 states that station VWX, along with eight other wireless stations throughout British India, was to be placed "in care of maintenance parties, which will keep the stations in running order and ready for service on six hours notice."
However, in spite of the fact that this historic wireless station was to be downgraded, available information would suggest that just the opposite took place. During the following year, 1925, a new spark station was installed and the station was given a new callsign, VWT.
And what happened subsequently to wireless station VWT? We just don't know. There is no known additional information. We can only guess that when the era of valve or tube transmitters came into vogue, then the station must have been closed.
The first known radio broadcasting station in Hyderabad was a very small one watt unit constructed in 1933 by a postal official and installed in his own home on Chirag Ali Lane. As was the custom in those days, this transmitter was used at times with the broadcast of what we would call radio programming. The coverage area, with just one watt, would have been very small indeed.
During the following year, the Nizam of Hyderabad initiated the development of a radio broadcasting station which was inaugurated on February 3, 1935. This station became known as Deccan Radio.
On May 1, 1939, the foundation stone was laid for a substantial radio broadcasting station, and soon afterwards the new 5 kW facility was inaugurated on 730 kHz. This station was allocated the Indian callsign VUV, though some radio magazines at the time incorrectly listed the callsign as VUH. As time went by, this station was taken over by the Indian government and absorbed into the AIR nation wide radio network.
As often happened in the region in those days, a shortwave transmitter was installed with the mediumwave station. The best available information would suggest that this was an 800 watt unit and that it was inaugurated on December 1, 1948. This station is listed in two consecutive editions of the World Radio Handbook, 1949 & 1950, and it is shown as operating on 3335 & 6210 kHz. However, there are no known loggings of this small and somewhat temporary shortwave station.
OK, now that's as far as we can go in our story of radio broadcasting in Hyderabad, India, in this edition of Wavescan. We plan to present Part 2 in the story of Radio Broadcasting in Hyderabad here in Wavescan in two weeks time. So, you will want to keep listening for the concluding information in this fascinating story.
(AWR Wavescan # 77 via Adrian Peterson)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

HAMFEST 2010

Hamfest at Pollachi city in Tamilnadu on Nov13 & 14 2010

Venue: P.A.Collrgr of Engineering and Technology
            Palladam road
            Pollachi. Coimbatoor 642 002

Registration: Rs 500. Spouse Rs 400, Children 10years  Rs 300.

Dormitory Rs 100 Per night
Hotel Economy Rs 350 to Rs 600  full amount should be sent.
          2 Star Rs 1000 to Rs 2000

For send  Money order /DD ,DD should be taken on Hamfest india 2010 Payable @ sbi pollachi.

Address for sending: Hamfest India 2010
                                 2/140,Rajunagar
                                 Pollachi 642 001
                                 Tamil Nadu -India

For further details please see web site: Hamfestindia .com

VU2WDP. S.Vijayan
ll: 04259-236667
mobile: 09442005599

VU2FFM  K.R.Kasiviswanathan
   093646 73000

AIR Monitoring observations

AIR Monitoring observations of Aug 14, 2010 in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, Deep south of India.


kHz Kw Station SIO

3945 50 Gorakhpur 222
4760 10 Leh 222
4775 50 Imphal 222
4800 50 Hyderabad 232
4810 50 Bhopal 222 at 1400
4820 50 Kolkata 222 with Interference
4830 50 Jammu Nil

4837.5 10 Gangtok 222
4840 50 Mumbai 232
4850 50 Kohima  Nil
4860 50 Kingsway Nil
4880 50 Lucknow 222
4895 50 Kurseong 212 at 1400
4910 50 Jaipur  322
4920 50 Chennai 444
4940 50 Guwahati 222
4950 50 Srinagar 222
4960 50 Ranchi Nil 
4965 50 Shimla 222
4970 50 Shillong 222
4990 50 Itanagar Nil
5010 50 Thiruvananthapuram 343
5015 50 Delhi Nil
5040 50 Jeypore 222 with Interference
5050 10 Aizawl 232
6030 50 Delhi 222

6085 50 Delhi 222 with Interference
9425 500 Bengaluru 333
9470 250 Aligarh 222 with Interference
9575 50 Delhi 222 with Interference
9835 50 Delhi 222 with Interference
9870 500 Bengaluru 333

FM

105.6 - Gyan Vani, Tirunelveli


MW

576 AIR Alappuzha

612 AIR Bengaluru

630 AIR Thrissur

684 AIR Kozhikode

720 AIR Chennai

738 AIR Hyderabad

765 AIR Dharwad

900 AIR Kadapa

936 AIR Tiruchi

999 AIR Coimbatore

1053 AIR Tutucorin

1161 AIR Thiruvananthapuram

1269 AIR Madurai


Receiver: Sony ICF 2010D

///////////////////////
Monitor by 
Jaisakthivel, Asst. Professor, 
Dept. of Communication, MS University, 
Tirunelveli - 627012, India 
Visit: www.dxersguide.blogspot.com
www.sarvadesavaanoli.blogspot.com
Join: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sarvadesavanoli
Mobile: +91 98413 66086
///////////////////////

 
///////////////////////
For Contact:
Jaisakthivel, Asst. Professor,
Dept. of Communication, MS University,
Tirunelveli - 627012, India
Visit: www.dxersguide.blogspot.com
www.sarvadesavaanoli.blogspot.com
Join: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sarvadesavanoli
Mobile: +91 98413 66086
///////////////////////


Thursday, August 12, 2010

SLBC to Recruit Disabled Security Personnel as announcers & technical staff

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has launched a programme to recruit soldiers with disabilities as announcers and technical staff.


AIR special broadcasts on eve of Independence Day

The 64th Independence Day celebrations will shortly be taking place in India on August 15. It is one of the major holidays of the year and affords us the great opportunity to hear some special programming via SW.


Of particular interest to listeners in North America is the President's annual address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day (August 14). President Shrimati Pratibha Devishingh Patil's speech will be delivered via SW radio at 1330 UT (7:00 PM IST). This gives us a good opportunity to attempt to hear the rarely used AIR Kohima SW transmitter on 4850, which is only used for special event. Also the other regional AIR stations will all be broadcasting her speech to the nation, which will be delivered first in Hindi and then repeated again in English.

As a guide to what can be heard, here is the log of my 2009 reception:


4850, AIR Kohima, 1301, August 14, 2009 with today's program schedule; talk show about rugby in English; 1315 health program in Hindi; 1327 marching music/anthem; President's address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day in Hindi, repeated in English till 1402; pop music program till tune out at 1410. Nice local IDs; slightly better than 2008 reception here. Started fading about 1350.


Last year the speech was heard in parallel: 4760 (AIR Port Blair); 4775 (AIR Imphal); 4835 (AIR Gangtok); 4880 (AIR Lucknow); 4895 (AIR Kurseong); 4920 (AIR Chennai); 4940 (AIR Guwahati); 4970 (AIR Shillong); 4990 (AIR Itanagar); 5010 (AIR Thiruvan.) and 5050 (AIR Aizawl). Noticeably off the air last year was 5040 (AIR Jeypore).

An audio file (MP3) of a portion of last year's reception is posted at :
http://www.mediafire.com/?7r8e117ju2mum3h >.


It should be noted that AIR Gangtok is currently off frequency. Mauno Ritola (Finland) measured them on 4837.215 kHz. with sign off at 1600:30, on August 11. Thanks to Mauno for the update.

Special thanks to Jose Jacob of Hyderabad, India for confirmation that this year's speech will indeed be broadcast at 1330 UT, August 14, 2010 and he sends along this additional information:

4760 (leh), 4800, 4810, 4820, 4910, 5015, etc. are additional frequencies to check, as well as 9470, 9425, 9835, 9575 and 6030. Shortly after the broadcast in Hindi and English local station broadcast its translation in local languages.


Reception reports may be sent to : spectrum-manager@air.org.in

Doordarshan TV channels also carry the President's address to the nation.

Ron Howard
Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA


by 


Monday, August 09, 2010

Radio offers a lifeline to Pakistan as crisis worsens

Flood relief camp in Pakistan

In response to the devastating floods in northern Pakistan, lifeline radio programmes are to be broadcast in the most severely affected areas through the BBC Urdu service.

With much of the region's transport and communication links destroyed, the programmes will plug a critical gap in delivering information in the immediate aftermath of the disaster using one of the only media channels still available - radio.

Since heavy rain began falling two weeks ago, some 1,400 people have died and aid agencies say three million people have been affected by Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years, warning that thousands are still cut off and waiting for help. The new 'infoasaid' service, a collaborative project developed by BBC World Service Trust and Internews, will transmit lifesaving information to the hundreds of thousands of people.

It is the simplest information such as where to get food or how to avoid diseases that can save thousands of lives.

The United Nations has said around 98,000 people have already lost their homes or been forced to leave, and that figure is set to rise. With forecasters predicting further heavy rain fall and flash floods, and aid agencies warning of the threat of waterborne diseases, the service will provide vital information including how to stay safe, avoid disease and access aid.

BBC Urdu will transmit six ten-minute bulletins daily, three in Urdu and three in Pashto. As part of an increasingly nationwide response, the programmes will be broadcast on up to 34 BBC partner stations, reaching over 60 million people.

Director of the BBC World Service Trust, Caroline Nursey says:

"This humanitarian crisis is growing every day and is now on a huge scale. Very often it is the simplest information such as where to get food or how to avoid diseases that can save thousands of lives. This is what lifeline programming will deliver."

Infoasaid is funded by UKaid from the Department for International Development. Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan says:

"As flooding continues to cause destruction and suffering in Pakistan, many will find themselves cut off from family, friends and home. While of course not everyone will be able to access a radio, this is a proven way of reaching as many people as possible when no other means of communication are available.

"The lifeline radio programme is another great example of potentially lifesaving innovation from the BBC World Service Trust, providing essential emergency advice and information on staying healthy and accessing food and shelter, to help those affected cope with the immediate effects of this disaster."


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust