* 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. A Visit to All India Radio: Khampur on Shortwave
2. "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs": AWR "Focus on Asia" 2014 Annual DX Contest
3. NASB 2014: KTWR Guam DRM Tests
* A Visit to All India Radio: Khampur on Shortwave - 00:56
All India Radio AIR is one of the world's largest radio broadcasting stations. They have erected numerous shortwave transmitting sites throughout the country for external service coverage as well as for domestic broadcasting. Back in April 2010, a group of three well known international radio monitors made a visit to the AIR shortwave transmitting station at Khampur which is located on the swampy out skirts of the city of Delhi. The external service of All India Radio at the time of their visit was on the air via shortwave transmitting sites at:-
Khampur Near Delhi 7 @ 250 kW
Kingsway Delhi 2 @100 & 3 @ 50
Malad Mumbai 1 @100
Gorakhpur Nepal 1 @ 50
Dhodballapur Bangalore 6 @ 500
Aligarh In North India 4 @ 250
Bambolim Goa 2 @ 250
Guwahati Assam 1 @ 50 & 1 @ 200 kW mediumwave
The visit to the station by three visitors, T. R. Rajeesh, Alokesh Gupta and Anker Petersen from Denmark, was organized by the former station Engineer of Delhi Khampur, Mr. V.Baleja.
After visiting the AIR headquarters on Parliament Street New Delhi, the three visitors traveled by car for a little over half an hour to reach the Khampur station which is located 25 Km from New Delhi. On the way to the Khampur station, they saw the Delhi Kingsway transmitting site from the road. This 256 acre site is used for transmitting programs on shortwave for the national service as well as for the external services beamed to India's South Asian neighbors. They also saw the self radiating mast of the AIR New Delhi mediumwave station at Nangli which is capable of broadcasting in the DRM mode.
The Delhi Khampur transmitting station is located on a large 630 acre site in the swampy fields of Khampur village in outer Delhi, bordering on the state of Haryana. While approaching the transmitting station they could see the antenna towers and the curtain arrays from the road.
Several photos of the antenna masts were taken from the roadside as they were aware that it is impossible to take photos inside where photography is prohibited. On the way to the station office, they saw much wildlife in the swampy field. The dancing peacocks, doves and storks welcomed them without any official formalities!
The Station Engineer, Mrs. Sonilatha Saigalin welcomed the visitors to her office and she was amazed that three international radio monitors would travel so far to visit this transmitter site! Anker Petersen told her that the broadcasts from this station can be heard quite well in Denmark and he suggested that he could send monitoring reports to her. The Station Engineer replied that such reports are forwarded to the Frequency Management Division in New Delhi.
The Superintending Engineer, Mr. S. K. Aggarwal, who is the chief of the station, directed the Station Engineer to show the visitors the transmitters and antenna field. They observed the old and new transmitters as well as a new DRM transmitter, and also the antenna towers and the vast arrays of shortwave curtain antennas.
This Khampur station houses 7 @ 250 kW shortwave transmitters and 36 antenna masts, and 49 curtain arrays. A special power substation provides electricity to this transmitter station. At the time, the Delhi Khampur station had a staff of around 200 employees, including 50 engineers and technicians.
The Delhi Khampur transmitter site was opened on January 1, 1959 and the first transmitter was
a 100 kW Marconi, which was more recently sold as scrap. Two AWA units from Australia at 20 kW each were installed in 1962. During 1965 four more transmitters were installed, two at 50 kW and two at 100 kW, made by STC (Standard Telephones & Cables) of Australia.
A recent modernization plan was undertaken to transform Khampur into an external services transmission facility. All of the new transmitters were placed in an oblong but spacious antenna switching hall and all of the AWA and STC transmitters were retired from service.
In 1989, two 250 kW Brown Boveri transmitters were commissioned exclusively for the external services. Then, two new modern Continental Electronics units were installed in June 2000. During the year 2002, three new 250 kW Thomcast transmitters were commissioned for the external services and this converted Khampur into the second largest transmitting station of All India Radio, after Bangalore.
The Delhi Khampur transmitting station celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009 with the participation of listeners and engineering staff.
Digital Radio Mondiale or DRM is the new trend in shortwave broadcasting, particularly in India. Like many other major shortwave broadcasters, All India Radio has also introduced DRM transmission on shortwave. It is from this site, Delhi Khampur, that AIR has tested DRM transmissions for both domestic and international audiences.
A 250 kW Thales/Thomcast transmitter was converted to DSB/DRM capability with an output of 55 kW for domestic transmission on 6100 kHz, and on 9950 kHz for external service to Europe. The domestic transmission is monitored inside the transmitter building with a Chinese manufactured Himalaya DRM receiver.
During the evening after the informative visit to AIR Khampur, there was an informal meeting with local international radio monitors in New Delhi.
For those who would like to do so, reception reports for AIR Delhi Khampur may be addressed to:-
AIR High Power Transmitting Station Khampur
Grand Trunk Karnal Road
Delhi 110036
India
Acknowledgment:-
Information from Alokesh Gupta of New Delhi
Photos & support from Anker Petersen of Denmark
T. R. Rajeesh for the original article which has been adapted for broadcast
Audio Insert
AIR Khampur
* Program Announcement - 09:39
Allen Graham
* "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs": AWR "Focus on Asia" 2014 Annual DX Contest - 10:26
The time has come! Beginning on Monday (September 1) it is Contest month for AWR "Wavescan".
As Adventist World Radio enters into its 43rd year of international radio broadcasting, we take pleasure in announcing our annual "Wavescan" DX contest, which comes to you under the title, "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs". In short, you are invited to check your collection of QSL cards and letters for rare, unusual and unique QSLs from shortwave, mediumwave and communication stations throughout the world. You are also invited to log AWR programming to Asia on shortwave, mediumwave or FM during the month of September 2014.
Here are the details of our 2014 "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs": AWR "Focus on Asia" Annual DX Contest:-
A. Rare, Unique and Unusual QSL Cards and Letters
* You are invited to make a list of what you consider to be your rare, unique or unusual QSL cards or letters in your QSL collection. Perhaps no one else in the world has a QSL verifying some transmissions that you have verified.
* Your list of QSLs can show any number of different rare, unique or unusual QSLs up to a total of 5 QSLs.
* Your QSLs may verify a wrong transmission channel or an emergency broadcast due to flood, fire, earthquake, turmoil etc, or a transmission from an emergency transmitter, or test broadcasts, or first broadcast or last broadcast, unusual propagation, etc.
* These QSLs can be from any shortwave broadcasting station or shortwave communication station or mediumwave station located in any country anywhere in the world. Amateur QSLs nor CB QSLs are not valid for this contest.
* You are invited to provide a photocopy of each of the QSLs that are on your list in Part A. Preferably, these photocopies should be in color, though black & white copies may be acceptable.
B. Details of Rare, Unique and Unusual QSL Cards and Letters
* Please state very briefly, no more than one paragraph for each, why you consider each item in your list of QSLs is rare, unique or unusual.
C. AWR Reception Reports
* You are invited to prepare three reception reports for the broadcast on shortwave mediumwave or FM of any AWR Asian programming. These broadcasts from Adventist World Radio may be from shortwave, mediumwave or FM stations located anywhere in Asia or on nearby Asian islands; or AWR programming beamed into Asia on shortwave from other countries.
* It is not necessary to send an off-air recording of your reception. We just need your honest reception report on paper.
D. Adventist Photograph
* You are invited to visit a unit of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in your country and take a photograph of it, preferably in color, though B&W can be acceptable, and submit one picture with your contest entry.
E. Three Radio Cards
* Where possible, you are invited to include three radio cards for the Indianapolis Heritage Collection with your contest entry. These cards may be old or new, and they may be QSL cards, reception report cards, or picture cards of radio stations, etc. Not valid for this contest are amateur cards nor CB cards.
Other Contest Details
* Well, there you have it, the details for our Wavescan 2014 "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs": AWR "Focus on Asia" Annual DX Contest.
* This contest will run through the month of September 2014, and all contest entries should be postmarked at your local post office anywhere in the world on any date up to the end of the month of September and they should be received at the AWR post office address in Indianapolis no later than the end of the month of October 2014.
* Partial and incomplete entries are considered valid.
* Post your entry with all items to Adventist World Radio in Indianapolis, remembering that neatness and preparation, will all feature in the judging procedure. Due consideration will also be given to the area of the world in which the contestant lives.
* Where possible, please enclose return postage in the form of currency notes in any international currency, or mint postage stamps. Please note that IRC coupons are too expensive for you to buy, and they are no longer valid in the United States.
* Please enclose your postal address label also.
* The awards for the 2014 AWR "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs" - AWR "Focus on Asia" Annual DX Contest will be similar to all previous contests. There will be a special award for the world winner, one of the Jerome Berg radio history books; and World Radio TV Handbook 2015 for each continental winner. In addition, there will be other special awards as well as AWR souvenirs and radio curios for many participants.
* You can remember that all AWR reception reports will be verified with a specially endorsed AWR QSL card. Please remember that it will take a period of many months, well into the new year 2015, to process all of the contest entries and reception reports, but each will in due course be processed.
* The only address for the "Rare, Unusual, Unique QSLs": AWR "Focus on Asia" Annual DX Contest is:-
QSL DX Contest
Adventist World Radio
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229 USA
* NASB 2014 Report - 17:13
KTWR Guam George Ross, DRM Tests, Japan & India
* Music of the World - 26:21
India: AIR instrumental & vocal
* Closing Announcement - 26:32
Thanks for listening to "Wavescan", international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Researched and written in Indianapolis
Several QSL cards available. Send your AWR & KSDA reception reports for Wavescan to the AWR address in Indianapolis; and also to the station your radio is tuned to: WRMI or WWCR or KVOH, or to the AWR relay stations that carry Wavescan.
Next week:-
1. A Blast from the Past: American Mediumwave Stations on Superpower
2. WRMI Insert
3. Japan DX Report
Two QSL cards available - AWR & WRMI
Wavescan address:-
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229 USA
Wavescan @ AWR.org
Jeff White, shortwave WRMI
* Music Outrun - 27:52
* Program Ends - 28:55
