* 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. The Early Shortwave Stations by Jerome Berg
2. An International Call!
3. QSL Calendar
4. HFCC Kuala Lumpur: Interview WWCR Brady Murray with Jerry Plummer
5. Japan DX Report
* The Early Shortwave Stations by Jerome Berg - 01:00
The 4th book on the 90 year old history of shortwave radio broadcasting, all authored by the noted radio historian, Jerome Berg in suburban Boston, USA, is now on the market and available to all who have a keen interest in the fascinating backgrounds to international radio broadcasting.
Ray Robinson KVOH
This new volume, The Early Shortwave Stations, is replete with more than 300 pages of information on the early shortwave stations and it makes for very interesting reading. The new book completes the four volume compendium on shortwave broadcasting and shortwave listening, running from the earliest year, 1923, right up to the present time.
The 1st book in this series, under the title On the Short Waves, was issued in 1999, and it covers the early shortwave scene from 1923 up to the end of World War 2 in 1945. Because of its popularity, this volume has already completed its 2nd printing.
The 2nd book, Listening on the Short Waves, covering the era from the end of World War 2 up to the present time, was published in 2008, and this one also has already gone through its 2nd printing.
The 3rd volume, Broadcasting on the Short Waves, covering the era from the end of World War 2 up to the present time, was also released in 2008, and as we would expect, a 2nd printing was issued just two years back.
And now, Book 4 is available, and in this volume with the title The Early Shortwave Stations, Jerry Berg has gone back to the beginning and covered the era from 1923 up to the end of World War 2. Thus it is that these four volumes, Listening on the Short Waves 1 & 2, and Broadcasting on the Short Waves 1 & 2, cover the entire spectrum of shortwave history during the past 90 years.
Volume 4, The Early Short Wave Stations, was released just before the end of last year, and it begins with the story of the earliest radio broadcast programming on shortwave via the well known mediumwave station KDKA in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 1923. Back then, most of the programming via Westinghouse shortwave 8XS was a relay from the mediumwave unit KDKA itself. Although KDKA shortwave was the dominant shortwave station in those very earliest days, yet other stations quickly followed, not only in the United States, but also in other countries overseas, including England, Germany and Australia.
The book documents a year by year progression in the book as many other shortwave stations, large and small, took to the air in so many different countries around the world. By the end of the era covered in this book (1945), volume 4, the shortwave bands were full of stations all around the globe, as it still is to this day.
Among the many almost forgotten and interesting observations that are brought to light in this new volume, we could mention that:-
* Station KDKA began a regular international shortwave service to the scattered inhabitants in
the frozen areas of northern Canada
* Holland came into the act with station PCJJ in 1926 with a 300 watt transmitter on 3313 kHz
* The General Electric station W2XAF in Schenectady New York broadcast a special program to
the Falkland Islands in 1933
* Early broadcasting stations in Madras, Bombay & Calcutta in India under such calls as 2GY,
7BY & 7CA, eventually gave way to VUM VUB & VUC
* General Electric had a cat called Kilowatt and a dog named Short, and they gave their calls
occasionally in shortwave programming
* Station CSW in Lisbon Portugal announced its callsign phonetically as C Canada, S Spain, W
Washington
* Amateur station EA9AI in Mellila, Spanish Morocco in North Africa, was on the air for an hour
each Saturday and Sunday evening with broadcast programming on 7180 kHz
* And many more interesting items of early shortwave information in the sections year by year
When we come to the concentrated radio events associated with World War 2, we find ample detail regarding many interesting mediumwave and shortwave stations in a multitude of countries, and these are covered effectively in volume 4. For example:-
* The first callsign for a 200 watt experimental shortwave transmitter in Budapest Hungary was
HAAQ2, and this was soon afterwards regularized as HAD
* Tiny Andorra established its own shortwave voice as Radio Andorra; and Ireland launched its
own shortwave service with just 1½ kW
* The Bahamas also launched a low power operation on shortwave with just 200 watts as a
relay from mediumwave ZNS
* Callsigns in Czechoslovakia under the German administration were changed from OLR2A &
OLR3C to DHE2A & DHE3C
* The German station XGRS in Shanghai China sent IRC International Reply Coupons to its
listeners in an endeavor to increase its mail response
* The British established a small 1½ kW clandestine shortwave station on the island of Mauritius
that claimed to be located in Madagascar
* Under the Japanese administration, Radio Saigon broadcast programming in the Dutch
language pretending to be Radio Batavia in what is now Indonesia
* The Chinese shortwave station XGOY planned the production of a broadcast service to Latin
America and they asked California based KWID to relay this programming
We might also add that the detailed information contained in the appendix makes for very interesting reading. And, in addition, you will appreciate the many pictures of QSL cards, letters and documents that are reproduced in volume 4.
The complete set of four volumes of Jerome Berg’s monumental series on the history of shortwave broadcasting and listening has set a standard of excellence in this area of radio broadcasting that is not met in any other way by any other publications. No other histories cover the intricate details of the widespread impact that has been accomplished to the peoples of the world during the past nearly one century of shortwave broadcasting.
All four volumes are worthy of attention by all international radio monitors, and we would recommend them for inclusion in the libraries of the communication departments of all universities throughout the world. We here at Wavescan are pleased that we can offer one of these volumes as an award each year in our annual DX contest.
These books have been produced by McFarland & Company of Jefferson in North Carolina and also in London England. You can make contact with them at their website mcfarlandpub.com or by phone at 1 800 253 2187.
We conclude this monograph with reference to the fact that the author, Jerome Berg, has followed a regular publishing custom and dedicated each volume to specific people. We are grateful, and humbled too, that he has included our DX host, Dr. Adrian Peterson, on the dedication page of his volume 4, The Early Shortwave Stations.
* An International Call! - 09:35
At the end of the Preface in volume 4 of his shortwave radio history, The Early Shortwave Stations, author and radio historian Jerome Berg makes this statement:
And once again I say thanks to my wife, Ruth, who has accepted my pronouncement
that this is the last of my big shortwave projects with knowing skepticism, and who I
know will understand if it turns out I was wrong.
So, does this terse statement mean the Jerome Berg is indeed quietly giving consideration to the preparation of additional radio books? It is true, there is a wide need for the production of more books in association with the story of shortwave broadcasting.
The time has come; and we would like to suggest, recommend, and urge, that serious consideration be given to the preparation of a series of publications containing a compendium of QSL cards from around the world. Maybe these publications, each with a list of countries and shortwave stations in alphabetic order under a continental area, could contain a listing of QSL cards with pictures in color and text, in much the same way as catalogs are available on all of the postage stamps issued by each country around the world.
Ample quantities of QSL cards in four different major collections are available for this purpose at various locations:
CPRV Collection
Under the auspices of Jerome Berg, USA
ORF Collection
Vienna Austria
Major Heritage Collections
New Zealand
Indianapolis Heritage Collection
Indianapolis USA
A sampling of some of these colorful QSL cards from earlier times is pictured on the front cover of Jerome Berg’s volume 4, The Early Shortwave Stations.
* Program Announcement - 11:23
Allen Graham
* QSL Calendar 2014 - 12:13
For the past many years, the Rhein-Main Radio Club over there in Europe has prepared a QSLCalendar in full color, depicting two QSL cards on each page. Some of the QSLs that are pictured in full size are very old and exotic, and others are from more recent times. (List of 10 different QSLcards depicted.) The 2014 QSL Calendar is available at $20, and you can make contact with Dr. Harald Gabler at DrGabler@t-online.de
* Focus on Asia: HFCC Kuala Lumpur 2014 Report - 14:16
Interview: WWCR Brady Murray with Jerry Plummer
* Japan DX Report - 21:38
Yukiko Tsuji
* Music of the World - 27:07
Malaysia: Instrumental & vocal
* Closing Announcement - 27:24
Thanks for listening to “Wavescan”, international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Researched and written in Indianapolis
Next week:-
1. WRTVHB 2014
2. Australian Radio History, Dr, Bruce Carty
3. International DX News
4. Philippine 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 - 28:38
* Program Ends - 28:55
