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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).
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.
Doordarshan TV channels also carry the President's address to the nation.
Ron Howard Asilomar State Beach, CA, USA
by alokeshgupta@gmail.com (Alokesh Gupta)
It is customary for the President of India to address the nation on the eve of Independence Day.
This year Mrst. Prathibha Devi Singh Patil, President of India will address the nation on All India Radio at 1330 UTC (7.00 PM IST) in Hindi and English on 14 August 2010. All stations of AIR will relay this on MW, SW & FM. Besides AIR, Gyan Vani stations will also relay the same on FM.
Here is a ready reckoner of AIR stations in frequency order on SW that will be on air at that time which was already posted by Ron Howard and Alokesh Gupta in dx _india
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."
According to Mr Kipp of Germany, who is the project Manager of Radio St. Helena Day revival project, the first batch of Radio St. Helena Day 2009 QSL was shipped on 15 July aboard the Royal Mail Ship RMS St. Helena. The ship would reach Ascension island about two days, then the cards would fly from there to England, then to worldwide. But the first batch is only 36 cards and remaining about three hundreds reports are still in process at St. Helena. The QSL cards and envelopes of Radio St. Helena Day 2009 were sponsored by JSWC. (Japan SW Club via Dario Monferini, Italy/playdx2003 ViaGayle)
The rollout of the third-phase of private FM radio stations in India is set to go ahead following approval from the Committee of Secretaries. The rollout of FM-III has been delayed for nearly two years over various issues including objections from the Defence Ministry on the potential interference of FM radio signals with those of defence installations.
The Defence Ministry had suggested that all private radio operators would have to seek their permission before establishing any FM radio station under FM-III, especially when the radio towers were in the close vicinity of a defence installation. But a compromise agreementg has been reached, according to which the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry will share details of all sites where radio towers will be set up under FM-III. The Defence Ministry will get two months to communicate its views on sites. "In case of any objections from the Defence Ministry, the height of the proposed radio towers will be reduced to 25 metres from the mandated 30 metres," a top I&B official said.
FM-III will see the rollout of 806 new FM channels across 217 towns in the country. The private FM stations will cover all towns with a population of over 100,000.
Anyone who has dabbled in shortwave listening, knows there is an underground component that borders on the quirky, if not bizarre side of the hobby.
Andrew Yoder, a pirate radio afficionado, has recently released his new 2010 Pirate Radio Annual, a 126 page book focusing on the pirate side of the shortwave hobby. Whether you’re a newbie or the seasoned hardcore pirate listener, this excellent edition will no doubt grace the likes of many radio listening post (including mine).
So, what is the great mystery when it comes to tuning in pirates ? It may surprise the beginner that it involves just listening! Andrew takes you through the pirate mine field explaining that listeners are no longer limited to their receiver, but now have access to the bizarre via the Internet. Additional information includes pirate web sites, QSLing Pirates, mail drops and QSL tips to get you started.
Classifying the stations, includes an explanation of the various classifications of pirate stations and a 97 page section of stations active in 2009 with detailed station information, and their active status during the year. Email and postal maildrop addresses are included, plus QSL card reproductions for each station to keep you up to date on QSLing
A CD is included that features 75 different pirate stations from on-the-air program recordings, a monitoring plus to those new to pirate chasing.
If you’re a seasoned pirate fan or have considered delving into the sometimes bizarre, 2010 Pirate Radio Annual is an excellent guide to assist your listening. The 2010 PRA is available for $15.00 plus shipping ($ 3.00 to US, $ 4.00 to Canada, or $9.00 to the rest of the world) from Cabinet Communications, P.O. Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214.
Reviewed by Gayle Van Horn for Shortwave Central and Monitoring Times.
BANGALORE, Aug. 30."Aralu Mallige", a remote village 10 km off Dodballapur, near Bangalore, is busy giving shape to All India Radio's long cherished dream of making its voice heard by people around the world.
Come January, the super-power shortwave radio transmitter being installed here will be in full bloom.
The idea of establishing this multiband transmitter for external services germinated as far back as 1979 when the Union Government realised that with the existing facilities it was impossible for it to disseminate to people in alien lands India's news and views. It was only in 1981, however, that the Public Investment Board gave the green signal to set up this super-power transmitter.
Designed and built by Asea Brown Boveri of Switzerland, the installation at present consists of two 500 KW shortwave transmitters along with associated antenna equipment. Under Phase-II of the project, four more 500 KW transmitters will be added on in the next two years.
Mr. R. K. Taneja, Deputy Director of Engineering, AIR, who is in charge of the project, says the progress of the project has been impressive.
LITIGATIONS: The project would have become operational by now but for the land acquisition litigations which delayed the execution by a year. In fact, AIR came into possession of the plot only in January 1986, Mr. Taneja said.
Installation work, which started roughly a year ago, is fast nearing completion. The AIR civil works wing put up the building providing for Phase-II installations. While the outlay for Phase-I is Rs. 15 crore, Phase-lI will cost Rs. 35 crore.
AIR external services are currently being broadcast by shortwave transmitters at Aligarh, Khampur-Delhi and Kingsway-Delhi, with support service by Bombay and Madras stations. The Aligarh station with a 250 KW transmitter is the strongest station (external services) in the country now. With most foreign countries (including Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) installing 500 KW transmitters, the reception of AIR broadcasts in 'target areas" had deteriorated considerably. The Indian embassies abroad had also constantly complained about this. The "Aralu Mallige" complex will make India's voice more audible in the target areas hereafter.
BIGGEST IN ASIA: When commissioned fully with all the six transmitters in action, the Dodballapur complex will be the biggest of its kind in Asia. Said Mr. Adiran Bergamin, Commissioning Engineer of Asea Brown Boveri: "The latest technology has been incorporated in the manufacture of the main tube of the transmitters, the faraday cage and the modulator."
The computer-aided frequency control system helps control 100 frequencies at a time. Devoid of manual work, the system also has the facility to know the operational conditions of various sub-systems. The Phase-II transmitters are likely to involve the still more modern "pulse step modulation" technology resulting in very high efficiency.
The aerial system consisting of nine multiband aerial curtains are being installed by Marconi and Co of UK. Under Phase-II, 27 more aerial curtains will be installed. The 36 high gain curtains in eight beam directions will help AIR to simultaneously broadcast in various foreign languages to the benefit of listeners around the globe. The aerial system will have remote operation facility for changeover and slewing of certain aerials. The direction of the antennas and the aerials are changed depending on weather conditions, sunspots, target areas and the day and time of broadcast.
PROGRAMMES FROM DELHI:
The complex will be manned round the-clock by a band of 50 AIR technicians. The programmes to be broadcast will be readied in New Delhi and passed on to the complex either through microwave or the INSAT satellite (with one of them acting as a constant standby).
The Electronic Corporation of India of Hyderabad has been entrusted with the erection of the nine gigantic pylons (the tallest tower measuring 97 metres) and the aerials. The company has also supplied certain components, like connectors.
While the "European beam" (centred on Moscow) will cover Europe and parts of America, the "North African beam" will serve most part of Africa. In its reverse direction, the beam will land in Australia
CITY IN SHADOW AREA: With the Dodballapur complex's "skip area" being 100 kin, Bangaloreans will not be able to catch the waves on their sets.
Mr. MJ. Viswanathan, AIR South Zone Chief Engineer, who recently visited the project site, said work on the upgradation of the present 50 KW MW transmitter in Bangalore to two 100 KW MW transmitters (supplied by BEL) and the erection of the new 132-metre high ECIL mast was likely to be completed by November 1988.
Mr. Viswanathan also said that the work on the FM Radio stations at Hassan, Hospet and Chitradurga would be completed by March 1989.
The New Sangean ATS-909X Coming in November of This Year
(Re-post)
Thanks to Tom for this great news. For radiophiles, the up and coming Sangean ATS-909X, featured on Universal Radio, is equivalent to a new version of the BMW M5. No price mentioned yet, but I'll be pre-ordering mine and hope it arrives around my birthday. Here are the specs from the Universal Radio site:
The ATS-909X is the new flagship of the Sangean line. It packs features and performance into a very compact and stylish package. Coverage includes all long wave (153-519 kHz), medium wave (520-1710 kHz) and all shortwave frequencies (1711-29999 kHz). FM and FM stereo to the headphone jack is also available (87.5-108 MHz). The new enlarged LCD features a bright white LED for excellent clarity.
Shortwave performance is enhanced with a wide-narrow bandwidth switch and excellent single side band performance (SSB tuning to 40 Hz steps via fine tuning). Five tuning methods are featured: direct keypad entry, manual tuning, auto scan, manual up-down tuning, memory recall or manual knob tuning.
COLOMBO, July 2 (Xinhua) - China Radio International (CRI) held a ceremony here on Friday to celebrate the launch of a radio channel in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake Jayaratne told the ceremony that China and Sri Lanka have been enjoying traditional friendship. Jayaratne said in the era of "Global Village", the launch of the radio channel will provide a new bridge for the two peoples to understand each other.
Wang Gengnian, director general of CRI, said Sri Lanka is among the countries where the CRI has the largest number of audience and receives most letters. "With the support of our friends in Sri Lanka and China, the Colombo FM channel will play an important role in promoting the bilateral relationship and the two countries' cooperation in broadcasting," said Wang.
Formally launched on April 23, the Colombo FM 102 channel broadcasts 19 hours of news and culture programmes in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Mandarin every day. The channel covers Western Province, the island's political, economic and business centre with an area of 3,700 sq km.
Founded in 1941, CRI aims at promoting understanding and friendship between the people of China and people throughout the world. CRI's programmes include news, current affairs, and features on politics, economy, culture, science and technology.
(Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1633 gmt 2 Jul 10 via BBC Monitoring)
1. a) Jerome S. Berg, 2. c) International Broadcasting Corporation 3. a). Kununurra 4. b)Jonathon Marks 5. b) DW 6. a) RN 7. c) RN 8. a) 1413 9. c) Digital Radio Mondiale 10. a)Best regards 11. b) FEBC 12. c) What is your position in latitude and longitude 13. b)Shortwave News 14. a) China 15. a) Dublin – Ireland 16. a) Bangladesh Betar 17. c) RadioNacional d'Andorra 18. a) RVA 19. c) RAI, Italy 20. a) Over to you 21. a) PoornamVishvanathan 22. a) 872 23. c) Radio Free Asia. 24. b) 70 25. c) Rhein-Main-. Radio-ClubSupported by ADDX.
AIR 70th anniversary special QSL (Back)
Winners of the quiz
1. P. Girish Chadaga, Bangalore – WRTH 2010
2. S. Muhammad Shamim, Chullimanoor, Kerala – PWBR (Collectors copy)
3. E. Selvaraj, Minnakal - “This is All India Radio” book given by Alokesh Gupta
The Auroville Radio is testing since December 2009 broadcasting trough cellphones connect with GPRS connections. It's working fine but you need a cellphone supporting Flash technology and for time being are expensive. If you have a Flash enabled phone connected with Internet you can log into http://www.aurovilleradio.org/mobile and listen the AurovilleRadio from all over India.
A new South Indian radio service is set to launch on DAB digital radio in London in the coming weeks.
IBC Tamil has previously broadcast on multicultural station, Spectrum Radio before it was removed off the platform. According to industry sources, IBC Tamil failed to make payments on time during its contractual period with Spectrum Radio. It will however run full-time on digital radio.
IBC Tamil has been on air for over 11 years and was started as a community radio station for the UK Tamil community.
IBC Tamil will replace Q Radio on London DAB multiplex 3. A launch date is yet to be confirmed.
Victor Goonetilleke writes: As of today (4 June) the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has temporarily discontinued its service to Sri Lankan expats in South Korea on 15120 at 1030-1130 UTC via DW Trincomalee. Instead, SLBC has started another hour of Hindi to India on 11905 kHz via Trinco (azimuth 355 degrees) with 200kW at 1530-1630 UTC.
Reception reports will be welcome to:
Engineer AM Services Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation PO Box 574 Colombo
SLBC in association with the Union of Asian DXers (UADX) will QSL all reports on all its shortwave broadcasts during June. If the project is successful we will extend it. The full schedule is:
* 0055-0330 (Sun 0430) UTC on 6005, 9780, 15745 kHz (English to Asia) * 0020-0500 and 0830-1230 UTC on 11905, 7185 kHz * 1530-1630 on 11905 kHz * 1615-1830 on 11750 kHz
SLBC is also progressing with the installation of a 50kW mediumwave transmitter in Puttalam on 1125 kHz to beam to South India where there are large numbers of Sri Lankans who fled the war over the last 30 years, and also to strengthen the coverage to the North of Sri Lanka.
(Source: Victor Goonetilleke, UADX by Andy Sennitt)
