Wavescan NWS293

* 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. North of the Stone Wall: The Radio Scene in Scotland - 2

                        2. HFCC Sofia Bulgaria 2014 Report

                        3. Japan DX Report

                        4. Special QSLs: Indiana listener received nostalgic QSL from the Voice of Mongolia

* North of the Stone Wall: The Radio Scene in Scotland - 2 - 01:03

            In part 2 of the  radio scene in Scotland, North of the Stone Wall, we go back to the early 1920s, at the time when the first radio broadcasting stations were installed in Scotland.  All four of these early BBC stations were Marconi units rated at 1½ kW; three operated in the mediumwave band, and one in the longwave band.

            Radio program broadcasting came to Scotland on March 6, 1923 with the inauguration of station 5SC in Glasgow with 1½ kW on 717 kHz.  The original studios were located in a confined area, in an attic in Rex House at 202 Bath Street, and the transmitter was installed in the Pinkston Power Station at Port Dundas, a mile north of Glasgow city.  The number at the beginning of the callsign 5SC has no apparent real significance within the territories of the United Kingdom, though the letters SC would seem to indicate the first two letters in the territorial name, Scotland.

            Subsequent stations that came on the air quite soon afterwards were Aberdeen 2BD 605 kHz,  Edinburgh 2EH 328 kHz, and Dundee 2DE 906 kHz.  The callsign for each of these three subsequent stations began with the number 2, and the letters in each callsign can be seen in the name of the city of  license.

            Thus the second radio broadcasting station in Scotland was 2BD (605 kHz) in Aberdeen, a relay station with studios at 17 Belmont Street and the transmitter almost adjoining at the Aberdeen Steam Laundry in Claremont Street.  This station was officially inaugurated on October 10 of the same year 1923.    

            The third station was the lone longwave relay station 2EH (328 kHz) with studios in the back premises of a music shop at 79 George Street Edinburgh

and the transmitter in a wooden hut in the quadrangle at the nearby university buildings at Teviot Place on the other side of the main railway station. 

            In addition to the relay of programs from the network key station 5SC in Glasgow, the Edinburgh 2EH was noted back in that era for the production of its own afternoon programming, and a Children’s Hour on Friday evenings.  This station was officially inaugurated on May 1 of the following year 1924.

            The fourth early broadcasting station in Scotland was 2DE (906 kHz) in Dundee with studios at 1 Lochee Street and the transmitter at the Caldrum Jute Works on nearby St. Salvador Street.  This station was inaugurated on November 12 of the same year 1924.

            All four of the original mediumwave stations in Scotland were subsequently replaced by the BBC at updated locations with new equipment before the commencement of World War 2 in 1939.

            North of the Stone Wall, in Scotland itself, the BBC is on the air these days with a multitude of radio and TV stations throughout the entire country.  The BBC Scotland runs separate radio & TV channels in English and in the Gaelic language.

            A map indicating all of the AFRS American Forces Radio Stations in the British Isles during World War 2 shows two stations in Scotland.  These stations were located at American bases apparently near the two major cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Almost nothing is known about these two stations, except that they operated at very low power, usually 50 watts.  It is known that one station was installed in the American Military Hospital at Cowglen, near Glasgow.

            No regular shortwave broadcasting station has ever been erected in Scotland, though hobby pirates have been noted at various times.  For example, QSL cards show:-

                        Radio Freedom         Midlothian                  1974      35 watts        6220 kHz

                        Radio Stella               Central Scotland       1983      20                  7319

                        Voice of Scotland     Cambridge England?           1993    300                  6205

            However, there have been some program relays on shortwave from Scotland with the usage of relay stations in the northern hemisphere.  A licensed internet radio station, Radio Six international in Glasgow, took out several short term relays via shortwave stations in Europe and the United States.  The shortwave stations in Europe were located in Italy and Latvia, and the shortwave stations in the United States were WBCQ in Monticello Maine and WWCR in Nashville Tennessee.  These shortwave relays from Radio Six International were on the air for a period of a little over five years, running from December 2003 to December 2008.

* Program Announcement - 06:25

            Allen Graham

* HFCC Sofia Bulgaria 2014 Report - 07:16

            HFCC Council

            Spaceline information

            Churches & monasteries

            Next HFCC Meetings

* Japan DX Report - 16:13

            Yukiko Tsuji

* Special QSL: Letter from “Home”, Voice of Mongolia, Honhor, Mongolia - 21:56

            For our unique QSL this week, we feature a very special QSL that was received by Mrs. Dr. Carolyn Lysandrou, amateur callsign KC9URR, who now lives in Bloomington, Indiana.  Some years ago, Dr. Lysandrou was living in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia where she spent some time. 

            Here in the United States two years ago, she endeavored on several occasions to tune in to the shortwave service of the Voice of Mongolia, and then on September 14 (2012) she was finally successful in tuning their signal on 12085 kHz.  This 250 kW shortwave transmitter is located at Honhor, a few miles south east from the national capital Ulaan Baatar.  

            Her reception report was verified by a friendly letter in English from Uyanga Ganchangaa together with a QSL card; that is, a tourist picture postcard with the QSL text handwritten on the reverse side.      

            Mrs. Carolyn states that she ”spent many days trying to hear the station”, and that “it was so nice to receive such a wonderful personal letter” referring to the area where she used to live in Ulaan Baatar.  With a nostalgic comment, Carolyn Lysandrou concludes by saying: “I miss Mongolia”.

* Music of the World - 22:15

            Mongolia: My Beloved Country, Mongolian National Song & Dance Ensemble

* Closing Announcement - 24:03

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

            Researched and written in Indianapolis

            Next week:-

                        1. 100^th Anniversary Panama Canal: The Radio Story - 2               

                        2. WRMI Insert

                        3. A multitude of QSLs from Calcutta in India

                        4. Philippine DX Report

                        5. QSL of the Week: Firedrake Jammer in China

            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.   Remember too,                            you can send a reception report to each of the DX reporters when their segment is on                          the air here in Wavescan: Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia & India.  They will                             verify with a colorful QSL card.  Return postage and an address label are always                                            appreciated.

            Wavescan address:-

                        Box 29235

                        Indianapolis

                        Indiana 46229 USA

            Wavescan @ AWR.org

            Jeff White, shortwave WRMI

* Music Outrun - 26:01

* Program Ends - 28:53

Wavescan NWS296

* 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

            Today begins a new transmission period

            Program outline

                        1. 100^th Anniversary Panama Canal: The Radio Story - Part 1

                        2. Indian DX Report

                        3. Australian DX Report

                        4. URU QSL: Thomas Drescher Self-designed QSL Card

* 100^th Anniversary Panama Canal: The Radio Story - Part 1 - 01:04

            Quite recently, we discovered an important anniversary from a couple of months earlier that had escaped our attention.  The official opening of the Panama Canal in Central America to shipping traffic occurred on August 15, 1914, and here we are a little over one hundred years later, and we have not yet presented a feature on this important anniversary.

            Let us catch up on this highly significant world event; and so here in Wavescan today we present this slightly delayed feature on the story of the Panama Canal, together with part 1 of the radio history in the American administered Panama Canal Zone.   

            We go back to the beginning, and we discover that the first suggestion for digging a canal across Central America to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans came from the Spanish in the year 1529.  Of course, back then technical capability was quite limited and there was no practical way in which this concept could be implemented. 

            In the year 1821, the Central American colony of Panama broke away from Spain, declared its independence from European control, and joined South American Colombia, which conjoined ultimately emerged as the Republic of New Granada.  However, 82 years later, on November 3, 1903, Panama split off from Colombia and thus became an independent nation in its own right. 

            It was in 1826 that the United States began preliminary negotiations with New Granada for the construction of a canal, though the French actually began construction work on the canal in the territory of Panama a little over half a century later.  Just two weeks after Panamanian independence (November 3, 1903), the United States and Panama signed a treaty which established the Panama Canal Zone (November 18).

            The Panama Canal Zone was administered as an American territory, and it encompassed 553 square miles in a swathe of jungle territory ten miles wide, plus all of the lakes and waterways that feed into the canal.  During its ¾ century tenure, the Zone issued its own postage stamps, some of which were overprinted Panamanian and American stamps, though the valid currency generally speaking was the American dollar.

            Nearly 50,000 men from all around the world were employed in canal construction, large numbers of whom died from poor hygiene, deadly jungle snakes, and a multitude of diseases, including malaria from the mosquito infected jungles.  In 1906 alone, 80% of the work force were hospitalized at some time or another for malaria.

             Work on the Panama Canal was completed in ten years, and the official opening took place one hundred years ago, on August 15, 1914 when the cargo ship SS “Ancon” traversed the entire system.  However, the first ship to traverse the canal was a pleasure boat the “Lasata” which made an unofficial voyage during the day before.

            The highest fee ever paid for the use of the canal was more than $⅓^rd million by the cruise ship “Norwegian Pearl” in 2010; and the lowest fee ever was paid by American Richard Halliburton who swam the full distance of the canal in 1928.  This epic swim took 50 hours of swimming spread out over 10 days and it cost him just 36 cents.  These days, more than 30 ships traverse the eight hour journey through the canal each day. 

            The Panama Canal Zone was taken over by the government of Panama on October 1, 1979 and once again the two sides of Panama were joined together into a single country.  The Panama Canal Zone, which for example had a population of 45,000 in 1970, was no longer an American territory.

            The first wireless station in the Panama Canal Zone was installed by Dr. Lee de Forest for the United States navy near the Atlantic entrance to the canal at Colon in 1906 and it was on the air originally under the callsign SL.  The 35 kW longwave spark wireless transmitter operated on 1250 metres, 240 kHz. 

            A couple of years later, a 100 kW spark transmitter was installed and the callsign was regularized to an American navy callsign NAX.  This station was in regular usage up into the 1930s.

            The United States navy operated two other wireless stations in the Panama Canal Zone: stations NNL at Coco Solo and NBA at Balboa.  The Coco Solo Station was located at a submarine base and it was on the air in the 1920s.

            Additionally, the U. S. army also operated half a dozen wireless stations in the Canal Zone, and these were located at army camps and they were on the air under army callsigns, such as:-

                        WUCG Fort de Lesseps         WUCH Fort Sherman                         WUCI Fort Randolph             

            The two best known wireless/radio stations in the Panama Canal Zone were the navy communication station NBA at Balboa, and the army broadcasting station at Quarry Heights.  That is the story next time, when we present part 2 of the story about radio broadcasting in the Panama Canal Zone.

     Audio Insert

            Panama Canal Song in Spanish: Instrumental & vocal

* Program Announcement - 08:03

            Allen Graham

* Indian DX Report - 08:53

            Prithwiraj Purkayastha

* Australian DX Report - 14:26

            Bob Padula

* Special QSL: Listener Designed QSL Card, AWR Sines, Portugal - 24:16

            Our unusual, rare, unique QSL for this week is a QSL card received by Thomas Drescher at Rosrath in Germany.  On August 26, 1977, he was listening to a broadcast from Adventist World Radio AWR-Europe that was on the air from a 250 kW transmitter at Radio Trans-Europe in Sines Portugal.  This QSL card was unique for Thomas Drescher, because he himself designed the card.     

            Back more than a quarter century ago, AWR-Europe staged a listener contest in which listeners were invited to design a QSL card.  The Drescher card shows a large red flame, signifying the ministry of the Holy Spirit, on a black background, and AWR identification is printed as a white breakthrough in the background. 

            Perhaps other listeners who also designed a QSL card for AWR back then are holding a QSL card of their own design.

* Closing Announcement - 25:19

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

            Researched and written in Indianapolis

            Next week:-

                        1. North of the Stone Wall: Part 2 in the Scotland radio story                                   

                        2. WRMI Insert

                        3. Japan DX Report

            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.  Remember too,                             you can send a reception report to each of the DX reporters when their segment is on                          the air here in Wavescan: Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia & India.  They will                             verify with a colorful QSL card.  Return postage and an address label are always                                            appreciated.  

            Wavescan address:-

                        Box 29235

                        Indianapolis

                        Indiana 46229 USA

            Wavescan @ AWR.org

            Jeff White, shortwave WRMI

* Music of the World - 27:00

            Panama Canal Song in English: Vocal & instrumental

* Program Ends - 28:54

Wavescan NWS295

* Theme - 00:00

            “Birthday Serenade” - Willi Glahe

* Opening Announcement - 00:17

            Welcome to “Wavescan”, international DX program from Adventist World Radio

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

            Program outline

                        1. KDKA Memorial: Historic 95^th Anniversary Ceremony in Pennsylvania

                        2. AWR Interview: Three Visitors to WRMI

                        3. International DX News

                        4. Unusual, Rare, Unique QSLs: Small  AFRS Station heard from a passenger airplane

* KDKA Memorial: Historic 95^th  Anniversary Ceremony in Pennsylvania - 01:02

            A few days ago, Ray Robinson of shortwave KVOH in Los Angeles alerted us to the information regarding a special historic ceremony in suburban Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Because of the interest and significance of this event, we postpone our intended opening feature in this edition of Wavescan and we present the story of this KDKA Memorial: Historic 95^th Anniversary Ceremony in Pennsylvania.                 We are indebted to a feature article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette written by Dave Zuchowski for his information regarding this event, and additional information is taken from other historical sources.

            It was on Friday evening October 17, 1919 that the Westinghouse engineer Dr. Frank Conrad made a significant broadcast over his amateur radio station 8XK.  The station was installed in the second floor of his red brick garage in Wilkinsburg, a city adjacent to the better known city Pittsburgh.                  This was Conrad’s first broadcast after the United States re-opened the usage of the airwaves to amateur radio operators subsequent to the end of World War 1 and it was one of the very early program broadcasts in the history of radio broadcasting.  This initial two hour broadcast over his homemade radio equipment included several different styles of recorded music together with announcements and spoken information.  This historic broadcast proved so popular that he began a series of similar broadcasts each Wednesday and Saturday evening from the same station 8XK.

            In September of the following year, the local newspaper ran an advertisement on behalf of the Home Department Store offering the sale of radio receivers which could tune in Conrad’s radio program broadcasts.  The Westinghouse company decided that they would construct their own radio broadcasting station and install it in a small wooden and canvas shack on the roof of their K factory building in suburban East Pittsburgh.

            Engineer Conrad assembled the necessary equipment for their new radio station and they requested a commercial license from the federal government licensing authorities.  This new station made its first broadcast on Tuesday evening November 2, 1920 with progressive information about the Harding-Cox presidential election.  For this inaugural broadcast, Westinghouse was on the air under a temporary callsign 8ZZ, and a couple of days later the commercial license arrived by post, granting a consecutively issued callsign KDKA.

            To honor Dr. Conrad’s contributions to the broadcast industry, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approved a historic marker to be erected on a street adjacent to the Conrad garage and this was dedicated on December 1, 1990.  That marker was later removed and placed in storage when the property and garage were sold during the year 2000 to make way for a fast-food restaurant.  With financial backing, the garage was dismantled and all of the items were placed in storage along with documentation on how to reassemble the garage once more.

            At 2:00 pm last Friday October 17, just two days ago, a special commemorative ceremony was held at a planned new location at South Trenton and Penn Avenues in Wilkinsburg and the original marker was rededicated at its new location.  This event took place exactly 95 years later to the very day after Conrad’s first historic broadcast and it was staged at two consecutive locations, the Community Life Building at 301 Meade Street and then at the new location for the memorial marker.  Present were two of Frank Conrad’s great grandsons, Jamie Conrad and actor David Conrad.

            Plans are in hand to reassemble the garage and currently they are looking at several sites in the Pittsburgh area.  It is intended to have the garage rebuilt in time for the 100^th anniversary of Conrad’s first broadcast, October 17, 2019.  The completed project will cost an estimated $1.6 million and already $225,000 has been raised for this historic event.

            The international radio world is indebted to the historic endeavors carried out by Dr. Frank Conrad, together with Westinghouse and radio station KDKA.  It is true that there were many earlier ventures into radio broadcasting in the United States and in several other countries, and even their historic election broadcast was not the first in the history of radio broadcasting.  However, the KDKA venture was indeed a major turning point in the development of radio program broadcasting, not only in mediumwave broadcasting but subsequently also in shortwave broadcasting.

                                                                                                                        Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

                                                                                                                        By Dave Zuchowski

                                                                                                                        September 25, 2014

                                                                                                                       Additional historic information

     Audio Insert

            KDKA identification

* Program Announcement - 06:28

            Allen Graham

* Interview - 07:18

            Three AWR visitors to WRMI Okeechobee Florida

                        Brook Powers AWR KSDA Guam

                        Greg Scott AWR HQ Silver Spring MD

                        Kent Sharpe AWR HQ Silver Spring MD

* International DX News - 23:43

            Family Radio on WRMI, programming to India

* Special QSL: Airplane Monitoring, AFRS, Adana, Turkey - 24:26

            For our weekly feature about unusual, rare and unique QSLs, our DX editor Adrian Peterson tells the story about his QSL card verifying the reception of a low powered radio broadcasting station in Turkey.  Back in the year 1980, he was flying from India to the United States to attend meetings at the head office for Adventist World Radio in suburban Washington DC. 

            While the passenger airliner was flying high over Turkey, he was invited into the flight deck of the passenger airliner and given the use of one of the plane’s radio receivers.  He tuned the radio to 1590 kHz and heard his desired station, the low powered AFRS American Forces Radio Station which was installed in the American Air Base near Adana, in the Mediterranean corner of Turkey. 

            At the same time as he was seated in the comfortable high flying airplane, he could see in the distance the clear figure of Mt Ararat, covered in brilliant white snow.  Mt Ararat is a reminder of another method of travel, in a long distant era, with a huge wooden boat, Noah’s Ark, the remains of which are said to be in that area to this day.

            In due course, a do-it-yourself, self-prepared tourist travel QSL card, replete with American postage stamps, was received.  This card, with full QSL details, verified AFRS Adana, with just 10 watts on 1590 kHz.  Interestingly, the wavelength is shown as 61886.792 feet which is actually a mistake in calculation.  By moving the decimal place by two positions, the equivalent is indeed 1590 kHz.

            This unusual QSL card features a unique threesome: a receiver in the flight deck of a passenger airliner, a low powered mediumwave station on the ground, and a wavelength measured in feet, not metres.

* Music of the World - 26:25

            Bulgaria: Music in the Sunrise, folk instrumental

* Closing Announcement - 26:52

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

            Researched and written in Indianapolis

            Next week:-

                        1. 100^th Anniversary Panama Canal: The Radio Story - Part 1

                        2. WRMI Insert

                        3. Australian DX Report

            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.  Remember too,                             you can send a reception report to each of the DX reporters when their segment is on                          the air here in Wavescan: Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia & India.  They will                             verify with a colorful QSL card.  Return postage and an address label are always                                            appreciated.  

            Wavescan address:-

                        Box 29235

                        Indianapolis

                        Indiana 46229 USA

            Wavescan @ AWR.org

            Jeff White, shortwave WRMI

* Music Outrun - 28:33

* Program Ends - 28:55

RNZI Mailbox Retires at 65

As part of a re view of all our programming and our costs, we’ve reluctantly made the decision to end our DX listener programme – Mailbox. With fixed funding for the past few years but increasing infrastructure and fixed costs, we’ve had to look very carefully at all our expenses and consolidate funds on our core Pacific regional news and information service.

Mailbox has run since 1990 in its current format - but actually started when New Zealand began its short-wave service in 1949. It has always had a very loyal following.

Since 1990 it has been wonderfully produced and presented by Tony King, then by Myra Oh, with technical input from Adrian Sainsbury. It has featured a series of dedicated and knowledgeable contributors and has included comment and information from listeners all across the world.

I’d like to sincerely thank the presenters, contributors and listeners for their work, commitment and dedicated listenership over the last 24 years. You’ve all been a significant part of the RNZI story.

The final Mailbox programme goes to air week commencing 4 August.

Linden Clark

Mailbox is presented by Myra Oh, with regular contributors Bryan Clark and John Durham who provide DX reviews, and Kevin Hand who reviews the 'Utility Bands'.

There are occasional features on Pacific Radio from David Riquish. Frequency Manager Adrian Sainsbury attempts to answer technical questions and letters, and Mike Bird provides the latest in propagation news from IPS Radio & Space Services. This programme is for the short-wave listener enthusiast.

Listen here:Mailbox for 4 August 2014 ( 20′ 34″ )

All India Radio's First FM Station in Kerala to Celebrate Silver Jubilee

All India Radio's KochiFM station, the first FM radio in Kerala which introduced a new audio culture in Malayalam rightly blending information and entertainment, is all set to celebrate its silver jubilee.

Still a hot favourite of radio buffs in and around central Kerala, the station began its broadcast on November 1, the state formation day, in 1989.

Though a large number of private players have entered the field, the public broadcaster is far ahead in terms of revenue and popularity, AIR officials said.

The Kochi FM station is now gearing up to mark the jubilee by launching a number of new programmes, Station Director Balakrishnan Koyyal said.

"We are planning to celebrate the silver jubilee by airing a number of new programmes and organising some cultural events for our audience. Their unconditional support and valuable suggestions are our sole strength in this two decades of service," he told PTI.

An audio-history of Kochi, a 'kathaprasangam' series, a 'kavyasandhya', a folk fest, and a seminar on women issues are on the cards to mark the occasion, he said.

A get-together of all the staff of the Kochi station, including retired broadcasters will be held at the AIR campus in Thrikkakara in Kochi on November 1, he said.

He said though private FM stations posed challenges, the Kochi FM could retain its traditional audience and caught the attention of youth through quality content.

"It is natural to face some challenges in the initial days as we were the only players in the field then. We suffered the same challenge during the entry of private TV channels also.But their entry has created a healthy competition in the field which in turn helped to improve the quality of our contents," he said.

Sreekumar Mukhathala, a programme executive of the station, said Kochi FM caters to the interest of all kinds of audience, be it high-profile, downtrodden or youth.

"Private FMs have their limitations. They have to pay more attention to their profit. But as a public broadcaster, we can give more priority to the interests of our audience. It is the main reason behind the success saga of our FM station," he told PTI.

A programme titled 'FM Diary', which began during the time of the launch of the station two decades ago, is still being aired.

In addition to the major programme zone of Ernakulam district, AIR's Kochi FM is available in Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Idukki, Alappuzha, and major parts of Kottayam, he added.

Story First Published: October 13, 2014 02:29 IST

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/