HAM radio operator 'links up' Uttarakhand and W Bengal

HAM radio operator 'links up' Uttarakhand and W Bengal

Ravik Bhattacharya , Hindustan Times Kolkata, June 26, 2013

Sitting in his 8ft by 10ft dingy room in the Kolkata suburb of Sodepur, a
junior employee of a dairy firm armed with a small, black, ungainly kit,
has emerged as a ray of hope for dozens of families of missing persons in
disaster-ravaged Uttarakhand.

More at : http://tinyurl.com/ndmocoa

---
Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi DX India YG

VOA Radiogram for 29-30 June 2013

 

Thanks to everyone who sent reception reports to VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 22-23 June. Response was down somewhat, probably because of the many radio amateurs participating in Field Day during that weekend. I'm grateful that some of you found time to tune in to at least one VOA Radiogram at, or after, Field Day.

 

EasyPal

 

Last week's switch to 4-QAM EasyPal images, which require 7 minutes each to transmit, did not seem to result in many more successful decodes. For a real comparison between 4-QAM and 16-QAM (requires only 2:40), this weekend we will transmit both.

 

The result is that about ten minutes of VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 29-30 June 2013 will be devoted to EasyPal. Apologies to those of you who do not have the EasyPal software, or cannot get it to work. After this weekend, we will reduce the EasyPal transmissions to one per broadcast, once or twice a month. Please let me know how much interest you have in EasyPal.

 

Three listeners have devised interesting methods to help decode EasyPal images. See:  

voaradiogram.net/post/54018596203/voa-radiogram-easypal-decoding-tricks

 

MultiPSK

 

The new release (4.24) of MultiPSK is now available from f6cte.free.fr .  The new version can decode MFSK32 and MFSK64, as well as MFSK images, and so would be of interest to VOA Radiogram listeners. An interesting feature is a slant adjust for MFSK images. You might try running Fldigi and MultiPSK simultaneously, and compare results.

 

VOA Radiogram, 29-30 June 2013:

 

2:31  MFSK16: Program preview

4:19  MFSK32: VOA News: "super-earths"

2:05  MFSK32: Accompanying image

:23  MFSK32: Introduction to MFSK64

2:15  MFSK64: VOA News: China space mission

2:53  MFSK32: Accompanying image

:33  MFSK32: Introduction to EasyPal

7:00  EasyPal 4-QAM: "super moon" in Greece    

2:40  EasyPal 16-QAM "super moon" in Singapore

1:08  MFSK16: Closing announcements

:24  Surprise mode of the week

 

We're still especially interested in...

 

1) Reception on less expensive shortwave portables -- although not to the exclusion of reception on your transceivers and SDR receivers, which do generally provide more successful decodes.

 

2) Your audio samples of difficult reception which nevertheless results in a successful decode of at least one of the MFSK text modes.

 

Good listening and good decoding,

 

Kim

 

Kim Andrew Elliott

Produce and Presenter

 

VOA Radiogram

radiogram@voanews.com

http://voaradiogram.net

Twitter: @voaradiogram

 

Wavescan NWS225

* Theme - 00:00

            "Birthday Serenade" - Willi Glahe

 

* Opening Announcement - 00:16

            Welcome to "Wavescan", international DX program from Adventist World Radio

            Researched and written in Indianapolis, produced in studios of shortwave WRMI

            Program outline

                        1. International DX News

                        2. Focus on Africa: AWR FM Stations in Burundi & Cameroons 

                        3. Philippine DX Report

                        4. Bangladesh DX Report

 

* International DX News - 00:54

 

PCJ Taiwan:  We begin this week's Wavescan with various items of DX news.  You may remember that on a previous program we told you about some test transmissions from PCJ Radio in Taiwan via the Trincomalee, Sri Lanka relay station on Sundays from 1300-1400 UTC on the frequency of 11750 kHz with 125 kilowatts beamed to South and Southeast Asia.  One of our Wavescan listeners, Gautam Sharma in Abhayapuri, Assam, India tells us that he heard the PCJ Radio transmission on 11750 kHz on May 19 with satisfactory reception.  He monitored the broadcast for the first seventeen minutes or so, first at 1259 UTC with interval signal, station ID and Andy Sennitt announcing the time and the Focus Asia Pacific feature.  Here's what it sounded like in India:-

 

Audio 1: PCJ

 

            A few minutes later at 1315 UTC Gautam made the following recording of Keith Perron introducing his Happy Station show:-

 

Audio 2: PCJ

 

            Thanks to Gautam Sharma in Abhayapuri, Assam, India for those recordings of PCJ Radio via Sri Lanka.  Keith Perron tells us that they have since changed from 11750 to 11835 kHz due to co-channel interference from Radio Havana Cuba.  The new frequency is 11835 kHz, still on Sundays at 1300-1400 UTC.  The tests were scheduled to end on June 9th, but they have been extended now as a result of some sponsorship from the Tecsun shortwave receiver manufacturing company in China.  So you still have a chance to pick up PCJ Sundays at 1300-1400 on 11835 kHz.

 

Sound of Hope Taiwan: Another transmission from Taiwan is the clandestine station Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, or Sound of Hope.  Dino Bloise here in south Florida heard a broadcast of Sound of Hope on May 27 on 13530 kHz, at 1445 to 1500 UTC in the Cantonese language.  Here's what it sounded like, signing off at 1500 UTC:-

 

Audio 3: Sound of Hope

 

            A recording of Sound of Hope from Taiwan on 13530 kHz at 1500 UTC made by DXer Dino Bloise here in Miami.  Dino is the producer of a popular Spanish-language DX program called Frecuencia al Dia which is broadcast on some of the same shortwave stations that broadcast Wavescan.

 

Radio Earth Anniversary: Michael Poulos of Evanston, Illinois reminded us that June 1 marked the 30^th anniversary of the first broadcast of Radio Earth, June 1, 1983.  Mike was a partner in the enterprise, along with myself and a number of others.  Listeners may remember the names of well-known shortwave broadcasters such as Rudy Espinal and David Monson who were also heard on Radio Earth.  It began as a daily one-hour program on the shortwave transmitter of Radio Clarin in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  

 

Audio 4: Radio Earth Intro

 

            "How well we remember hearing Suzanne Poulos' voice emerging from the heterodyne," writes Mike, "then Rudy in Santo Domingo, and then Jeff and Matt Bell in Curaçao, 'a breath of fresh air' as it was later described."  Over the next few years, Radio Earth moved to WRNO in New Orleans, KCBI in Dallas and WHRI in Indiana, and some programs were also broadcast from Radio Milano International in Italy.  Shortwave listeners from the 1980's may remember that the predecessor of Wavescan, Radio Monitors International, also produced by AWR's Adrian Peterson, was broadcast on Radio Earth during a good part of its life cycle.

            In his commentary on the first broadcast of Radio Earth in June of 1983, Mike Poulos said: Radio Earth is a worldwide radio service transmitting objective news, information, music, and feature reports to our audience, the world community, on the shortwave bands.  Financed by the sale of commercial advertising, answering to no one government, organization, or sponsor, we are free of political and parochial bias, free to blend impartial information with innovative programming.

 

            Radio Earth seeks to be a medium of expression for mankind in the broadest sense: programming to humanity's highest common denominator with broadcasts of universal interest; presenting those aspects of the human condition we all share along with the varied facets of individuals and societies so we may better understand each other and see our differences as diversity and not as divisiveness.  Despite our national and cultural dissimilarities, as a species - as life - we are more alike than we are different.  As they say, people are the same everywhere.  

            And thus, the charter, the goal of Radio Earth: to give the human species a chance to be heard above the din of nations which occupy these international, these worldwide, frequencies.  We give the earth a chance to speak for itself. 

 

Audio 5: Radio Earth Jingle

 

Radio Mil, Mexico City: In Mexico City, Julian Santiago tells us that the privately-owned station Radio Mil has reactivated its shortwave frequency of 6010 kHz with the call letters XEOI, airing the programming of its mediumwave station Radio Mil, XEOY on 1000 kHz AM.  Here's what they sound like:

 

Audio 6: Radio Mil

 

            Radio Mil from Mexico City on 6010 kHz, back on the air.  We had a chance to visit the station's headquarters in Mexico City several years ago.  They have their own building with real state-of-the-art facilities in a very nice part of Mexico City.  And incidentally, their programming now specializes in tourism and gastronomy, with lots of tourist information about Mexico City and all parts of the Mexican nation.  So it should make for some very interesting listening if you can pick them up on shortwave.

 

Radio Patria Nueva Bolivia:            Very nearby Radio Mil's frequency is Radio Patria Nueva from La Paz, Bolivia, which Arnaldo Slaen in Argentina reports in Noticias DX is now reactivated on 6025 kHz, heard in Buenos Aires at 1020-1040 UTC.   Radio Patria Nueva is operated by the Bolivian government, and it airs features like this one called Marvelous Bolivia:-

 

Audio 7: Bolivia Maravillosa

 

            Radio Patria Nueva from La Paz, Bolivia, back on 6025 kHz shortwave.  

 

* Program Announcement - 11:32

            Allen Graham

 

Passing of Don Jensen: Now some sad news to pass along.  This comes to us from Ralph Perry via David Zantow in Janesville, Wisconsin, USA.  Ralph says "with the heaviest of hearts, I must advise you that our friend and brother DXer Don Jensen passed away on the afternoon of May 23.  According to his wife Arlene, Don was working on his computer -- no doubt sending e-mails and working on reception reports -- at the time.  Don was a giant of our DXing hobby and can never be replaced.  We will all greatly miss him -- his wit, opinions and general brilliance." 

            The North American Shortwave Association (NASWA) reminds us that "Don Jensen began DXing in 1947 when, at the age of 11, he was introduced to the shortwave listening hobby by his father, a ham operator.  He has been associated with NASWA in editorial, administrative and committee activities for some 38 years, longer than any other active member.  In 1964, he founded and was the first executive secretary of the Association of North American Radio Clubs (ANARC).  From 1969 to 1989 he published and edited the Numero Uno weekly DX newsletter.  He was formerly the editor of Communications World magazine and had been a freelance writer since 1963, his DXing columns last appearing in the former Popular Electronics in 1999.  He also has had regular features aired on various DX programs around the world.  

            Don Jensen was a retired newspaperman and lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Bob Zanotti, formerly of Swiss Radio Internatonal and now producer of SwitzerlandinSound.com, sent us the following recording of an interview he did with Don Jensen at the 1979 ANARC Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota:-

 

Audio 8: Don Jensen Interview (2:30+)

 

            That was Don Jensen speaking with Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International in 1979.  Don died on May 23.  I had the opportunity to meet him a few times at ANARC conventions back in the 1970's, and he was certainly one of the great proponents of the DXing hobby in the United States and around the world.  Incidentally, Anker Petersen of the Danish Shortwave Club International reports that Don Jensen's grandparents were Danish and emigrated to the United States.  Don had been a member of the DSWCI since May 1962.

 

* Focus on Africa - 17:37

            Over in Africa, Adventist World Radio is operating a total of fourteen FM radio stations in ten different countries, each of which is on the air 24 hours daily.  For those of our listeners living in Burundi, you can tune in the FM station in Bujumbura on 101.8 MHz, with all programming in the Rundi language.  The AWR station in Yaounde in the Cameroons is at 92.4 FM with programming in four languages: Beti, English, French and Fulfulde.

 

 

* Philippine DX Report - 18:18

            Henry Umadhay

 

* Bangladesh DX Report - 22:32

            Salahuddin Dolar

 

* Music of the World - 26:58

            Germany: Snow Waltz, German folk style, instrumental orchestra

 

* Closing Announcement - 27:16

            Thanks for listening to "Wavescan", international DX program from Adventist World Radio

            Researched and written in Indianapolis

            Next week:-

                        1. Bulgarian Radio Through the Years - Part 6

                        2. Australian DX Report

            Two QSL cards available - AWR & WRMI

            Wavescan address:-

                        Box 29235

                        Indianapolis

                        Indiana 46229 USA

            Wavescan @ AWR.org

            Jeff White, shortwave WRMI

Status of implementation of DRM transmitters in AIR

Status of implementation of DRM transmitters in AIR

Status report as on 4th June 2013 by Mr Sanjeev Saxena, Dy Director
General, AIR

All the DRM transmitters are operating in simulcast mode at present.

1. 1000 kW AM DRM transmitter at Rajkot, is already transmitting analog
service at 1071 kHz and DRM service at 1080 kHz w.e.f. Sept.2012.

2. 1000 kW AM DRM transmitter at Chinsurah has been tested on 594 kHz and
1134 kHz. The transmitter will operate on 594 kHz in day time and on 1134
kHz in evening and night time. Test transmission has been started with
analog frequency at 594 kHz and DRM service at 604 kHz.

3. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Chennai C is transmitting analog service at
783 kHz and DRM service at 793 kHz w.e.f. March 2013.

4. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Bikaner, is under testing. The analog
service will be at 1068 kHz and DRM service will be at 1078 kHz.

5. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Barmer, has been tested. The analog test
transmission has already started at 1458 kHz and DRM service at 1468 kHz
will be starting soon.

6. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Delhi C, is under testing. The analog
service will be at 1395 kHz and DRM service will be at 1405 kHz.

7. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Guwahati, is under testing. The analog
service will be at 1035 kHz and DRM service will be at 1045 kHz.

8. 20 kW AM DRM transmitter at Tawang, is under testing. The analog service
will be at 1521 kHz and DRM service will be at 1531 kHz.

Source : DRM India chapter noticeboard June 2013
http://tinyurl.com/oo8jqvs

---
Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, DX India YG

Shortwave radio works when all else fails

When the non-hygienic organic substance strikes the oscillating blades of the air distribution device and everything from 911 communications radios to cell phones are rendered useless, you can still rely on the weird guy down the street with the big antenna strapped to the side of his house.

More than 100 years after the advent of amateur radio, known as short wave, the old form of communication remains a backup to emergency crews in times of disaster. "We're sort of the third tier for disaster situations," said Dick Becker, an Orange County amateur radio enthusiast and member of the Culpeper Amateur Radio Association, which includes operators in Orange and Louisa counties. "If the power goes down, police and emergency radio communications can fail. They fall back on cell phones. But in emergencies, cell phones get overused and become useless. They then fall back onto the third tier. That's us."

On Saturday, the amateurs will turn pro for their annual field day, 24 hours of communicating via radio for points and fun. The Culpeper organization will swarm the Waugh Harley-Davidson parking lot in the town of Orange with mobile devices powered by generators, solar panels and battery packs.

The national event, sponsored by the Amateur Radio Relay League, is part practice and part competition, with points awarded for operators who can keep on the air without relying on fossil fuels or electricity and talk to as many other operators as possible.

It cranks up at 1800 UTC (Universal Time, Coordinated) on Saturday and winds down at 2059 UTC on Sunday. For those of us who don't surf the short waves, that's 2 p.m. Saturday to 4:59 p.m. Sunday.

We're invited to watch and learn.

"It's fun. You take mobile devices out into the park and you string wires in the trees to create a makeshift antenna and whatever else you can do to stay on the air and talk to as many people as possible," Mr. Becker said. "The idea is to simulate a situation where there is no power and find ways to keep communications open."

That's important. When hard winds blew through Northern Virginia last summer, they took out the 911 communications system, plus cell phones. Short wavers, however, remained in contact.

"When everything is down, they come to us. We relay information for emergency crews and we want to be available for as long as it takes. That's the idea behind keeping them running for at least 24 hours in this exercise," Mr. Becker said. "We want to stay on the air until the power's back on."

When called, they answer. When Hurricane Katrina blew through the South, amateur radio operators became the communications backbone, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Many states have amateur radio stations in hospitals and emergency operations centers and amateur operators are an integral part of emergency operations in hurricane-rich Florida.

When officials at the nuclear plant in Louisa run disaster tests, short wave operators are often included.

Short wave doesn't need cable connectivity. It doesn't require Wi-Fi. There are no little bars telling short wavers that they don't have service.

"We're not reliant on that technology. We're not affected by storms. About the only thing that knocks us off the air is an electromagnetic pulse," he said. "Short of that, we're there."

"When Everything Else Fails, amateur radio often times is our last line of defense," said Craig Fugate, FEMAs top man. He made his comments in a 2012 earthquake emergency response forum. "We get so sophisticated, and we have gotten so used to the reliability and resilience in our wireless, wired and broadcast industry and all of our public safety communications, that we can never fathom that they'll fail. They do. They have. They will. I think a strong amateur radio community [needs to be] plugged into these plans."

Besides being a public service, amateur radioing is fun, Mr. Becker said. With an estimated 700,000 amateur radio operators in the United States and some 2.5 million worldwide, he doesn't run out of folks with whom to chat.

"I've talked to other operators in Moscow or Italy. It's fun and we share information about our equipment and maybe some modifications we've made," Mr. Becker said. "I guess you could say it's sort of the first social media."

Source: http://www.dailyprogress.com

Greek state TV, radio broadcasts go off the air

Greek state TV and radio were gradually pulled off the air late on Tuesday, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts and lay off about 2,500 workers as part of a cost-cutting drive demanded by the bailed-out country's international creditors.

The conservative-led government said the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp, or ERT, will reopen "as soon as possible" with a new, smaller workforce. It wasn't immediately clear how long that would take, and whether all stations would reopen. "Congratulations to the Greek government," newscaster Antonis Alafogiorgos said toward the end of ERT's main TV live broadcast. "This is a blow to democracy," he added, as thousands of media workers and supporters protested the closure outside the company's headquarters in the Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi.

The surprise move heralds the first direct public sector layoffs in more than three years of painful austerity, which have already cost nearly 1 million private sector jobs. The announcement widened cracks in the year-old governing coalition, with both minority partners condemning the corporation's suspension, while international journalists' associations expressed dismay.

ERT TV and radio started to be yanked off the air in several parts of the country around 11pm (2000 GMT) Tuesday, about an hour before the government said all signals would go dead, although satellite broadcasts continued.

"I was hoping up until the last minute that the reports were not true. It's unbelievable," news reader Stavroula Christofilea said moments after the move was announced.

A finance ministry statement said ERT has been formally disbanded, and authorities would "secure" the corporation's facilities. Riot police deployed outside ERT buildings in several parts of Greece, but no clashes were reported.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou - a former state TV journalist - described ERT as a "haven of waste" and said its 2,500 employees will be compensated.

"ERT is a typical example of a unique lack of transparency and incredible waste. And that ends today," Kedikoglou said. "It costs three to seven times as much as other TV stations and four to six times the personnel - for a very small viewership, about half that of an average private station."

Debt-stifled Greece has depended on rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. In exchange, it imposed deeply resented income cuts and tax hikes, which exacerbated a crippling recession and forced tens of thousands of businesses to close, sending unemployment to a record of 27 percent. As part of the bailout agreement, Greece's government pledged to cut 15,000 state jobs by 2015, out of a total of about 600,000.

While lacking the prestige and popularity of other state broadcasters _ such as Britain's BBC _ ERT was long seen as a bastion of quality programming in a media landscape dominated by commercial stations. But it was also used by successive governments to provide safe jobs for political favorites, and, while nominally independent, devoted considerable time and effort to showcasing administration policies.

The broadcaster is largely state-funded, with every Greek household paying a fee through its electricity bills _ whether they have a TV set or not.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

BBC World Service in government funding cut

The BBC World Service is to have its funding cut by £2.22m this financial year, the government has announced.

BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten called the news "disappointing", though the head of the World service said there would be "no cuts to output".

Funding for the World Service will transfer from the Foreign Office to the BBC licence fee from next April.

In response to the announcement, Lord Patten said the BBC would increase the service's funding to £245m in 2014.

The figure is £6.5m more than the £238.5m currently being provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

"This is the fourth 'one-off' funding cut in four years," said Peter Horrocks, director of the World Service.

The service, he continued, was "determined that this unexpected cut should not damage existing services to audiences"

There would be "no cuts to output nor reductions to staff or headcount as a result" of the cut, though it did mean the service would "not be able to invest in new programmes and platforms as planned".

Mr Horrocks welcomed the Trust's confirmation of its 2014 budget, which he said would protect the service.

"International broadcasting is a business that needs long-term strategy and consistent funding support," he said.

"When it comes under licence fee funding from April next year, the BBC Trust will be able to give the World Service a far greater degree of financial security," said Lord Patten.

As a result, he continued, "it can continue to provide its much-needed and valued services for audiences around the world".

The BBC said it was also expecting the Foreign Office to fund an extra £500,000 this financial year for new TV services in Afghanistan, Burma and Somalia.

Speaking last year, Horrocks said 2012 had seen the World Service recover from "very substantial cuts and drops in audience".

The operation lost an audience of around 14 million following government cuts to its budget which resulted in five of its language services being dropped.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22853598

Telegram Service to end in India

Dot, dash, full stop: Telegram service ends July 15

SANDEEP JOSHI

Come July 15, one of India's oldest communication services — the telegram — will become history. Financial constraints have forced the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to wind up the telegraphic service, which would be remembered mainly as a historically inexpensive but relatively quick method of sending alerts related to births, deaths and emergency situations.
"The growing use of mobile phones and Internet has led to steep decline in the usage of the telegraphic service…it [the telegram] has become financially unviable. After stopping telegram service for overseas communication earlier this year, we have now decided to discontinue it for the domestic market from July 15. The BSNL Board has already approved it. Final clearance is now being sought from the Department of Telecommunications," a senior BSNL official told The Hindu.
In India, the first telegraph message was transmitted live through electrical signals between Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour, a distance of about 50 km, on November 5, 1850; and the service was opened for the general public in February 1855.
Over the years, the BSNL made several technical upgrades in the telegraph service, with the latest being the introduction of a web-based messaging system in 2010. However, growing Internet penetration and cheaper mobile phones in the last decade have kept people away from the 182 telegraph offices across the country.
"In May 2011, we revised telegram charges after six decades to arrest declining revenues…but it did not work. It is estimated that the BSNL is suffering an annual loss of Rs. 300 - 400 crore from its telegraph service alone. As it has virtually become redundant, it is prudent to shut it down. However, there will be no job cuts and all those working in telegraph offices will perform other jobs related to telephone and Internet services," the official added.
The BSNL's financial performance in recent years has been alarming. From a profit of Rs. 575 crore in 2008-09, the telecom giant has been reporting massive losses for the last three years. In 2012-13, its losses stood at a staggering Rs. 8,198 crore.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bsnl-to-shut-down-telegram-services-from-june-15/article4806921.ece

Via Jose Jacob, DX India YG

IS THE GOVERNMENT TRYING TO ECONOMIZE ON DEMOCRACY?

Reporters Without Borders urges the Greek government to immediately reverse its absurd decision to shut down the public broadcaster ERT’s three TV stations, which went off the air yesterday at 20:00 GMT, a few hours after the government announced their suspension.

The government’s spokesman said the broadcaster had to be closed for restructuring because it was a “haven of waste” but the future outcome of the proposed overhaul was left unclear.

“We are stunned and dismayed by this sudden and savage decision,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Does the Greek government think it can economize on democracy?"

“With the economic crisis already endangering the country that gave birth to democracy, the closure of ERT’s TV stations shows a contempt for freedom of information, enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The government’s methods are incredible.”

Media freedom has declined steadily in Greece since 2011. The media’s financial model has collapsed as a result of the financial crisis and many journalists have been forced to seek refuge on the Internet. News websites are growing in number and are gradually becoming the main source of news and information for many citizens.

“Even if it means not being paid, you can at least be useful and try to do what is no longer possible to do in the print media,” a former senior journalist with a leading daily told Reporters Without Borders during its visit to Greece in June 2011.

Greece’s journalists are also exposed to judicial persecution, especially when they take too much interest in certain business interests. The victims include Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor of the weekly Hot Doc, whose trial for publishing the “Lagarde List” of suspected tax dodgers began on 10 June.

At the same time, journalists and media – both traditional and online – are the constant target ofthreats and violence from neo-Nazis, while radical anarchist groups attack reporters during demonstrations, as do the security forces, often with exceptional brutality.

Greece is ranked 84th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, a fall of 14 places from 2012.

Source: http://en.rsf.org/greece-is-the-government-trying-to-12-06-2013,44764.html

AIR Kashmir - Preserving History

In a period spanning over half a century, Radio Kashmir became an

inseparable part of Kashmir's modern history and culture. While the station
gradually lost its sheen with the emergence of an overwhelming situation in
Kashmir valley, the management of All India Radio, Srinagar has finally
began to digitize its rich archives, Bilal Handoo reports.

More including a rare photo of Radio Kashmir :

http://www.kashmirlife.net/preserving-history/
Via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, DX India YG

Sri Lanka: Tribute to Ekala Tx Site

Adventist World Radio

Special One Day QSL Card

     As was announced a few weeks ago, a special one day QSL card will be offered for reception reports of the broadcast of the special edition of the AWR DX program, "Wavescan" that honors the closure of the Ekala Shortwave Station in Sri Lanka.  The Seventh-day Adventist denomination made its first broadcast from the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation back in 1951, on the very first day of what was the new SLBC Commercial Service on shortwave.  Over the years, these initial radio broadcasts blossomed into Adventist World in Asia, AWR-Asia, and the programming of Adventist World Radio is still on the air shortwave from the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, though these days from the ex-Deutsche Welle Relay Station located near Trincomalee on the east coast of the island of Sri Lanka.  

     Without a specific announcement, SLBC closed their historic Ekala station on the last day of May and they transferred their international programming to the station at Trincomalee.  To honor the long and illustrious history of the Ekala Shortwave Station, the AWR DX program "Wavescan" is airing a special edition under the old title, "Radio Monitors International" and this will be broadcast beginning next Sunday, June 9, and during the following days next week.  These days, "Wavescan" is researched and written in Indianapolis by the AWR DX Editor, Dr. Adrian Peterson, and it is produced in the studios of shortwave station WRMI by Jeff White, who is noted also for his key roles with NASB, the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters in the United States.  The AWR international DX program "Wavescan" is on the air from stations in the AWR network, and also from WRMI, WWCR & WINB in the United States, and from Spaceline in Bulgaria.  

     The old Ekala Radio Station is of such significance in the long history of international radio broadcasting that the well known International Radio Monitor in Colombo Sri Lanka, Victor Goonetilleke, is campaigning widely to have the site recognized as an International Heritage Site.

     This once-in-a-lifetime special QSL card will feature a reproduction of two QSL cards that were in use from AWR in Poona-Pune nearly forty years ago.  All reception reports of this special program will be verified with this special event QSL card, and return postage and an address label will be appreciated.  The only address is:-

 

Adventist World Radio
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229
USA

   

Wavescan Scheduling: A13 Transmission Period

March 31, 2013 - October 26, 2013

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day UTC Call     kHz kW Station   Location Country

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun 1030 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

1530 AWR 15335 250 Media Broadcast   Nauen Germany

1600 KSDA 15360 100 Adventist World Radio  Agat Guam

1600 KSDA 15670 100 Adventist World Radio  Agat Guam

2230 KSDA 15320 100 Adventist World Radio  Agat Guam

2330 KSDA 17650 100 Adventist World Radio  Agat Guam

Mon 1100 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

Wed MN00 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

1100 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

1900 WINB   13570   50 World International   Red Lion Pennsylvania USA

Thu 0300 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

Fri 0315 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

Sat 1100 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

1300 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

1530 WWCR2 12160  100 Worldwide Christian   Nashville Tennessee USA 

2230 WRMI      9955   50 Radio Miami Int   Miami Florida USA

Spaceline Bulgaria

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--

Dr. Adrian M. Peterson
Co-ordinator - International Relations & DX Editor
Adventist World Radio

N9GWY - Ex KA9YPQ

Board of Directors

       Radio Heritage New Zealand

       Adventist Radio Stations in Indiana

Board of Directors Emeritus
       Adventist World Radio 

       NASB National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters USA

     

    

wavescan@awr.org

Adventist World Radio
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229
USA

317 891 8540