Peter Horrocks appointed new BBC World Service Director

Current Head of the BBC's Multi Media Newsroom Peter Horrocks has been appointed as Director of BBC World Service, it was announced today, Thursday 26 February 2009. As Director of BBC World Service, Peter Horrocks will be responsible for the overall editorial leadership and management of the world's leading international multimedia broadcaster. He will take up the post in mid-April. BBC World Service delivers programmes and services in 32 languages on television, radio and new media to a global audience of at least 182 million every week. Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC Global News, said: "I am delighted that Peter is the new Director of BBC World Service. His experience as a strong editorial leader, coupled with his considerable energy and drive, will be a powerful asset as BBC World Service looks to build on its premier position in the global media landscape." Peter Horrocks said: "I'm very proud to have been given the chance to lead the world's most exceptional group of journalists and programme makers." Peter Horrocks has been Head of the BBC's Multi Media Newsroom since September 2005. He had previously been the BBC's Head of Current Affairs. Since joining the BBC in October 1981 as a news trainee, he has been the Editor of both Newsnight and Panorama – the BBC's domestic flagship television current affairs programmes. He has been responsible for BBC TV's election night results programme in 1992 and 1997, as well the BBC's coverage of the Budget, by-elections and local elections. Peter won BAFTA awards in 1997 and 2005 for his editorship of Newsnight and for the documentary series The Power Of Nightmares respectively.

(BBC World Service Press Office )

Community Radio Station to Start in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement on 25th February 2009 for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Sironj Tehsil, Vidisha District, Madhya Pradesh with Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), a Delhi based NGO. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Organisation after screening by a Screening Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community radio station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. This brings the count of total Community Radio Stations sanctioned by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to 107 which include 34 NGOs, 45 Educational Institutions, 9 State Agricultural Institutions and 19 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). Sironj Tehsil is a part of Malwa region having black cotton soil plains. It is famous for its Calicos and Muslin. As per 2001 census, Sironj has a population of 42,100 with 53% males & 47% females. Sironj has a literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5% with male literacy 62% and female literacy 47%. Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), New Delhi is a professional, "not for profit" organisation with a wide network of agriculture & allied sector professionals in India and the SAARC countries. It has 15,000 members, including 1500 Agri-Experts, about 1700 Disseminators, 900 Partner NGOs, more than 1000 Researchers, and a large number of Agriculture Journalists amongst others. The Ministry encourages setting up the Community radio Station as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.

(Press Information Bureau, Govt of India)

BBC Hindi, Urdu journalists on strike

Journalists from the BBC’s South Asian services walked out at midnight for a 24 hour strike protesting over the outsourcing of their jobs to India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Related News:

Standing up for journalism from Keighley to Kathmandu
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1136

Motion in British Parliament
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37953&SESSION=899

PTI Report
http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/857783C7E65A0DC165257569002FD8E6?OpenDocument

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/news/story/2009/02/090226_bbc_strike_alk.shtml

TDF-RFI DRM Txn to India on 15530 kHz

BBC Hindi service journalists to go on strike tomorrow

London (PTI): Journalists from the Hindi, Urdu and Nepali sections of the BBC World Service will go on a one-day strike on Thursday to protest against plans that will allegedly lead to 34 job losses and offshoring editorial content to the Indian sub-continent.

Read the full story here :
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200902251991.htm

CVC DRM Txn to India on 17590 kHz

Screenshot of CVC DRM Txn to India for BES Expo, loggedon 17590 kHz on 25th Feb, 2009

DRM transmission from France to New Delhi

Update from TDF ....
Due to propagation conditions more difficult than expected on F=21620 kHz, the DRM transmission from Issoudun - France to BES_New Delhi - India will use the following frequencies on Wednesday 25 February 09 :

F = 17570 kHz from 0830 to 1159 UTC
F = 15530 kHz from 1200 to 1300 UTC

AIR Stations logged on MW

Here are few All India Stations that I logged & I could identify by listening to their station identifcation announcement during night time (IST) last week.

AIR Rewa on 1179 kHz
AIR Raipur on 981 kHz
AIR Jabalpur on 801 kHz
AIR Darbhanga on 1296 kHz
AIR Najiababad 954 kHz
AIR Bhabanipatna on 1206 kHz
AIR Bhagalpur on 1458 kHz
AIR Sambalpur on 945 kHz
AIR Cuttak A on 972 kHz
AIR Jeypore on 1467kHz
AIR Allahabad on 1026 kHz
AIR Varanashi A on 1242 kHz
AIR Uttarkashi on 1602 kHz
AIR Lucknow A on 747 kHz
AIR Vijaywada A on 837 kHz
AIR Kolkata A on 657 kHz
AIR Kolkata B on 1008 kHz
AIR Siliguri on 711 kHz

And a few AIR radio stations of my region that can be heard here on medium
wave .....

AIR Dibrugarh on 567 kHz
AIR Guwahat B on 1035 kHz
AIR Guwahat A on 729 kHz
AIR Tezpur on 1125 kHz
AIR Kokrajhar on 1512 kHz (its the nearest AIR Radio Station from my place)
AIR Itanagar on 675 kHz
AIR Tawang on 1521 kHz (Best received station in the night mostly)
AIR Shillong on 864 kHz
AIR Silchar on 828 kHz
AIR Aizawl on 540 kHz
AIR Imphal on 882 kHz
AIR Kohima on 639 kHz
AIR Gangtok on 1404 kHz

73 & 55
Gautam Kumar Sharma(GK)
Abhayapuri, Assam, India
Geographical Location of Reception Place(Abhayapuri):
Longitude:26º18´20´´North
Latitude:90º37´50´´East
Receiver:Grundig YB400
Antenna:Long Wire

Report on BES EXPO 2009 & DRM Workshop

The BES Expo 2009 - 15th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting is being organized in New Delhi from 23rd to 25th Feb 2008 at halls 12 & 12A, of Pragati Maidan expo centre. Broadcast Engineering Society (India), the society of broadcast professionals organises this International Conference and Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite broadcasting every year. All the previous expo's had a large participation of major broadcast equipment manufacturers and service providers. Over 70 highly reputed organizations, service providers and major broadcast equipment manufacturers from all over the world displayed their latest state-of-art technologies and services. The event is approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and supported by Prasar Bharati, The Society of Broadcast Engineers,USA, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and endorsed by International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers.

International players showcased their products, facilities and services. On display were whole range of products like Amplifiers, Antenna Systems(Broadcast, FM & TV), Attenuators, conductors, Antenna testers, Audio measuring & test equipments, Audio mixers, Audio processors, Automation systems & softwares, Broadcast equipments & softwares, Broadband access products, Cables & accessories, Channel automation systems, Compact & digital disc production systems, DTH Systems, DAB Systems, Digital Audio & Video recording systems, Digital storage,archival & retrieval systems, DVB-T Transmitters, Earth stations/systems, Fibre optic solutions/services, Filters & splitters, Frequency monitoring systems, FM Exciters, HD Radio, HDTV, Headphones, Microphones, Mixers, Network management systems, Radio data systems, Radio automation softwares, Scheduling softwares, Satellite receivers, Switchers, Transmitters (AM,FM,TV), Test & Measuring equipments, Virtual Studio, VSAT systems, Wireless systems.

The event was inaugrated by Sri.Anand Sharma, Hon'ble Minister of State, External Affairs & Information & Broadcasting, Govt of India on 23rd Feb'09. Guest of honour were Sushma Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Mr.B.S.Lalli, CEO,Prasar Bharati & Philip Laven,Chairman DVB. The key note address was delivered by Ruxandra Obreja, Controller, Business Development, BBC & Chairperson, DRM.

In her keynote address Ruxandra Obreja said " I suggest that digitisation is vital for the 21st century interdependent world. Against all this I propose a vision that I could sum up as "globalization with local relevance". "FM is replacing AM, mobile phones are replacing fixed line phones, digital technologies are replacing analog ones, and what would have warmed my DRM chairperson's heart more than your is the DRM transmissions to Europe & the UK on your 250 kW SW transmitter at Khampur " Obreja said. Ruxandra Obreja summed up with " Digital technologies are here to stay. Digital Radio, DRM specifically, has an opportunity to play a part in the future to help build our relationship with audiences".

A workshop on DRM was organized by DRM consortium,UK in which presentations were made by Julian Cable, SeniorProject Manager, BBC, Lindsay Cornell, Principal Systems Architect, Future Media & Technology Division, BBC & Chairman World DMB & DRM Technical Committee, Thomas Feustel, Head of Terrestrial Transmission, DW, Joseph Troxler, Managing Director, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG, T.V.B.Subramanyam, Senior Programme Manager, Analog Devices. Most of the All India Radio officials & engineers were present at the workshop. Julian Cable spoke about Content & Planning, Coding & Multiplexing, Distribution , DRM modes, coding rates & MW experiences. Joseph Troxler emphasized on DRM transmitter conversions, DRM features, Advance possibilities & Multi Program structure. T.V.B.Subramanyam spoke about DRM receivers using programmable DSP chips.

Prasar Bharati ( Broadcasting Corp. of India ) put up a huge stall (A 1-6) in which latest technical innovations from All India radio & Doordarshan were exhibited.
Among the systems displayed by AIR were :
a) DRM
b) SMS Based Remote Monitoring System for Unmanned VLPTs.
c) EWBS - Emergency Warning Broadcast System.
d) Telemetry System for MW Transmitters.
e) Remote Monitoring and Control System for FM Transmitters.

All India Radio Research Department carried out extensive propagation measurements at Delhi, Moradabad, Mathura,Gwalior, Agra, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Bangalore, Patna, Kolkata for the following investigations
· Near Vertical Incidence Skywave(NVIS) propagation for planning of DRM Regional SW transmitters of AIR.
· Long distance reception of DRM SW signals for external services.
· Simulcasting of analogue & DRM signals in SW band.
· Simulcasting of analogue & DRM signals in MW band.
The R&D propagation studies will help in choosing the optimum DRM parameters for example: Robustness mode, Modulation, Code Rate, Interlever, Bit rate, Power of transmitter, required difference between analogue & DRM powers during simulcast operation etc.

DRM Future Plans :
· Existing 25 MW transmitters will be replaced by DRM transmitters.
· Existing 10 MW transmitters will be modified to DRM transmitters.
· 40 New DRM + FM transmitters will be installed.
· Existing 43 FM/MW transmitters will be replaced by DRM+ FM transmitters.

Transmitter manufacturer & provider of technology,services & systems, Thomson also participated in this years expo, they displayed their latest DRM solution equipments & also some DRM receivers. Among some of the prominent exhibitors were Autodesk India, Autoscript Broadcast BECIL(Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd.), Broadcast & Cablesat, Broadcast Tecnologies, Falcon Technologies, Harris Broadcast Comm., HCL, NDTV Labs, Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd., Radio Frequency System, Radio Systems Inc., Royal Broadcasting, Samsung, Sony, Rohde & Schwarz, Sun Broadcast & Wide Orbit,USA.
A conference was also held for which theme was "Broadcasting Technologies : Integrating the World" at Pragati Maidan,New Delhi. Some of the prominent speakers were - Philip Laven,Chairman, DVB, A.K.Bhatnagar, Chief Engineer, Doordarshan, Vineeta Dwivedi,Project Director, DRM, Lindsay Cornell, Principal System Architect,BBC,Joseph Troxler, MD, Thomson,T.V.B.Subramanyam, Sr.Programme Manager, Analog Devices, S.R.Aggarwal, Chief Engineer AIR & DD, Thomas Feustel,DW, Mr.R.N.Choubey,TRAI,New Delhi, Sharad Sadhu,Technical Director, ABU,Malaysia, Hal Kneller, Broadcast Business development, Ibiquity Digital Corp., USA, Tim Bealor, Broadcast Electronics, Bharat Bhatia, Regional Director, Motorola, ManavSinghal, Sr. Project Manager, Infosys, Arnaud Elnecave, Dalet, Charles W.Kelly, Director of sales, Nautel etc........

----
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi.

AIR special transmission for BES Expo

Extended DRM transmissions by AIR on 6100 kHz at 0430 - 1200 UTC will continue till 25th Feb, 2009.

-----------

All India Radio will also have special transmission for BES Expo.
DRM transmissions will start at 0430 UTC instead of 0900 UTC

Special Txn : 0430-0900 UTC
Regular Txn at 0900-1200 UTC

Service : VIVIDH BHARATI SERVICE
Frequency : 6100 kHz (H 2/1/0.2) (via Khampur)
Power : 50 kW (7dB below the original analog power)
MODE: B (NVIS)

Additional English b'cast from VOA on President's address 25-FEB-09

Mon, 23 Feb 2009
VOA will b'cast additional English on the morning of 25th February 2009 only on President's address as per the following schedule :
0100 till the end of the b'cast/0400 UTC on 9885 11705 11565 13855 15230 17685

(Alok Dasgupta via http://dxasia.info/news)

Radio Australia Connects With Audiences

Monday, 23 February 2009, 2:07 pm
Press Release: ABC Radio National

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0902/S00412.htm

AIR special transmission for BES Expo

All India Radio will also have special transmission for BES Expo.
DRM transmissions will start at 0430 UTC instead of 0900 UTC

Special Txn : 0430-0900 UTC
Regular Txn at 0900-1200 UTC

Service : VIVIDH BHARATI SERVICE
Frequency : 6100 kHz (H 2/1/0.2) (via Khampur)
Power : 50 kW (7dB below the original analog power)
MODE: B (NVIS)

Report on DW Listeners meet at Dhaka

Deutsche Welle Bengali listeners meet at Dhaka :

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4047810,00.html

Listeners Meet Photo's at :
http://tinyurl.com/actowh

Screenshot of BBC/DW Special DRM Txn to India

BBC/DW DRM Txn to India - 12055 kHz, Screenshot at 0610 UTC

DRM Transmissions towards India for BES Expo

Deutsche Welle

Additional DRM transmissions to BES/ India carrying the recently launched DW / BBC service for Europe, from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) to India (New Delhi)
Date : 22nd to 26th Feb, 2009
Time : 0500-0759 UTC
Freq: 12055 kHz.

TDF

There will be special DRM transmissions from TDF / Issoudun to India
Date : 23rd to 25 Feb 2009
Code:
DRM Power = 150 kW,
Frequency = 21620 kHz,
Azimuth = 80°,
Antenna = Alliss 4/4
Time = 0830-1300 UTC
DRM Parameters:
Mode B,
BW = 10 kHz
MSC : 16 QAM
CR = 0.62
Audio bit-rate ~ 14 kbits/sec,
Audio Encoding = AAC, no SBR,
Depending on reception results, these parameters could be adjusted.
TDF would be pleased to receive DRM reports from India and other parts
of the world.

CVC

CVC will be broadcasting in Hindi towards India for the duration of the BES Expo 2009 in Delhi.
Dates: 23 - 25 Feb 2009
Time: 08:30 - 12:00 UTC (14:00 - 17:30 local time, India)
Frequency: 17590 kHz
Any reception reports and comments would be welcome.

(DRM Software Radio Forum)

DW eyes FM switch, wider audience

Sat, Feb 21st, 2009 1:25 am BdST
Dhaka, Feb 20 (bdnews24.com)-Germany's Deutsche Welle will soon switch to FM in its pursuit of a bigger Bangladesh market share as short wave broadcast increasingly becomes a thing of the past. "The number of short wave listener is falling," Grahame Lucas, who leads the South Asia team at Deutsche Welle Radio, told bdnews24.com Friday. bdnews24.com and DW Radio last year joined forces to deliver real-time news to a wider segment of readers both at home and abroad.

Read the full story here :
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=76912&cid=2

Radio Gloria International this Sunday

Date 22nd of February 2009
Time 1300 to 1400 UTC
Channel 6140 KHz

The transmissions of Radio Gloria will be broadcast over the transmitting station Wertachtal in Germany. The transmitter power will be 100 000 Watts, and we will be using a non-directional antenna system (Quadrant antenna).

Good listening
73s Tom

BBC World Service journalists in 'offshoring' strike

20 February 2009
By Tom Gillespie
National Union of Journalists members at the BBC World Service's South Asia division are planning to hold a 24-hour strike next Thursday in protest against "offshoring" plans. The BBC plans to move some World Service programme-making from London to Islamabad, Delhi and Kathmandu. The decision means that, according to the BBC, 10 London-based staff now face redeployment or redundancy.

Read the full story here :

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43138&c=1

A way ahead for community radio stations

Posted By: Anita Iyer 20 Feb 09 10:20 IST

Report on third annual meet of the Community Radio Forum
http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/a-way-ahead-community-radio-stations

International DRM Digital Radio Workshop in India

New Delhi, India - With the growing interest shown by India in the adoption of DRM - the universal, openly standardised, digital radio system - the DRM consortium is organising presentations and a dedicated DRM session during the BES Expo International Conference to be held in Delhi from 23-25 Feb 2009. Mrs.Ruxandra Obreja, Chairperson DRM Consortium, will deliver the keynote speech on the first day of the conference. On the opening day, 23rd February, DRM will conduct a specialised workshop covering many aspects of the technology and its usage. About 40 engineers of All India Radio (AIR) stations from all over India have expressed interest in the DRM workshop. These are stations which the national broadcaster plans to convert to digital using DRM technology. On the 24th there will be a two hour long DRM session dealing with the subject of multiple delivery platforms chaired by Mr Sharad Sadhu, Technical Director, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. During BES, there will be chance to listen to the special transmission of the recently launched DW & BBC channel for Europe. Deutsche Welle(DW) will offer this additional DRM transmission from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) to India (New Delhi) from 22 to 26 February at 0500-0759 UTC on 12055 kHz. DW has also regular DRM transmission to India from 0800 UTC to 0859 UTC on 12005 kHz. Indian state broadcaster AIR is already broadcasting in DRM from one of its high-power shortwave transmitter located at Khampur near Delhi. The DRM service was formally launched on 16th January, 2009, and almost five hours of transmissions are aimed at listeners in the UK and Europe.

Ruxandra Obreja, Chair of the DRM Consortium and Controller Business Development, BBC World Service, said: "Our presence at BES will give the All India Radio engineers the chance to explore the benefits and challenges of a DRM roll-out in India. As India is one of the most populated countries in the world with a dynamic media landscape, the DRM Consortium is very happy that a well-known broadcaster like All India Radio has decided to expand their DRM transmissions and take an interest in this most suitable digital option for India."

H.R.Singh, Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio, the overall engineering head of the All India network said, "Our regular DRM transmission from a 250 kilowatt shortwave is the first step of our digital radio switchover strategy. The DRM transmission is being beamed towards Europe from 1745 to 2230 UTC on 9950 KHz and a NVIS service in DRM mode is also under operation from 1430 to 1730 IST on 6100 KHz, to cover an area of approximately 800 kilometre radius around Delhi. We are also in the process of converting four 250 kW shortwave transmitters to DRM mode by March 2009. There are plans to introduce DRM transmissions in high power medium wave and short wave transmitters on a large scale in the near future."

About AIR
AIR is the national public service broadcaster of India. AIR today has a network of 232 broadcasting centers with 149 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 171 FM transmitters. The coverage is 91.79% of the area, serving 99.14% of the people in the largest democracy of the world. AIR covers 24 Languages and 146 dialects in home services.
In External services, it covers 27 languages; 17 national and 10 foreign languages.

About DRM
Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRM) is the digital broadcasting system for the broadcasting bands below 30MHz (long, medium and short wave). DRM has near-FM sound quality plus the ease-of-use that comes from digital transmissions, combined with long range and low power consumption . Further information on DRMTM is available from www.drm.org .

About BES
BES EXPO 2009: Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting is the fifteenth in the series of events to be organised by Broadcast Engineering Society. Nearly 300 companies from 25 countries displayed their products in BES EXPO 2008 directly or through their dealers in India. Exhibiting companies included those from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.A. BES EXPO 2009 is scheduled to be held from 23rd February 2009 to 25th February 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India. The theme of the Conference is "Broadcast Technology: Integrating the World".

(DRM Press release)

DW listeners club meeting in Dhaka on 22nd Feb 2009

Deutsche Welle's Bengali service is pleased to announce that it is holding a listeners' club meeting at the German cultural centre in Dhaka -- the Goethe Institute -- on 22nd February, 2009 at 11.00 A.M. The meeting comes at a time of great success for the Bengali Service. In 2008 DW Bengali received a record number of listeners' mails, SMS, voicemails, phone calls and letters. Some 110,000 Bengali speakers contacted DW to provide feedback last year. That is nearly double the figure for 2007. Moreover, according to Grahame Lucas, Head of the South Asia Department, DW's Bengali website at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.dw-world.de%2Fbengali is attracting growing interest as a reliable source of regional, European and international news. The site was visited by record numbers of users in 2008 during the Euro cup, Olympic Games, the Mumbai terrorist attack and the election campaign in Bangladesh. At the meeting DW fans will have the opportunity to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Deutsche Welle's Bengali Service and the new Bengali language website. There will also be a discussion about general changes in the media world, as well as about community radio and community blogging, with the participation of key media industry leaders. Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Currently, Deutsche Welle's Bengali service has a new exciting competition for Bengali speaking students, which offers them the unique chance to visit Germany. There are also several other quizzes for users who can win attractive prizes regularly.

Please visit the Deutsche Welle Bengali website for more information:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.dw-world.de%2Fbengali

Slovak Radio goes into DRM

Read this entry on drmrx forum :

http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2069

Primer on jamming

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=163003

Radio: Wave Of The Future

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=100315

Mahabalipuram HAM Meet 2009

The Mahabalipuram ham meet successfully held on 14th February 2009 at Hotel Veeras. The organizers of MAHAM eye ball meet are proud to dedicate this 2009 meet to OM M.V. Chauhan in recognition of his service to promote ham radio in India more particularly in Chennai.

Here are the photo's :
http://dxersguide.blogspot.com/2009/02/maham-2009-photos.html

(Jaisakthivel , Chennai)

World Amateur Radio Day 2009

Each year on 18 April, radio amateurs celebrate World Amateur Radio Day. On that day in 1925 the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was founded. In 2009, the theme of the event is Amateur Radio: Your Resource in Disaster and Emergency Communication. It is not by coincidence that last year's meeting of the IARU Administrative Council chose this subject at this time. While the Amateur Radio Service has traditionally made its contributions to emergency and disaster response ever since its very beginnings almost 100 years ago, this role has gained a lot of importance just in the recent past. It has done so mainly for two reasons:
* The number and dimension of natural as well as man-made disasters is unfortunately on the increase, and
* The modern communication technologies are increasingly complex, infrastructure-dependent and therefore also increasingly vulnerable.

The Amateur Radio Services puts two equally valuable assets at its disposal for emergency and disaster prevention, preparedness and response:
* A large number of very flexible and mostly infrastructure-independent, local, national, regional and global networks, and
* A large number of skilled operators, who know how to communicate with often very limited means and to establish communications even under the most difficult circumstances.
The tools at their disposal range from the most robust means such as battery-operated stations operating in Morse code to links through amateur radio satellites and interconnectivity with the Internet, in voice, text, image and data modes. They range from local VHF networks of fixed, mobile and portable stations to shortwave networks that span the globe. All these networks are operated on a daily basis by men and women who are thoroughly familiar with their technology and their intricacies. Telecommunications have become a commodity that society takes for granted, and the sudden loss of that service is often felt in a similar way to the loss of shelter, food and medical support. When disasters occur in regions that do not have good coverage by public networks, or when existing communications infrastructures have just been disrupted or destroyed by such events, the Amateur Radio Service comes to the rescue. Amateur Radio operators provide communications for the rescuers and relief workers and their organizations and they help to provide communications for those affected by a disaster. In fact, contributions to emergency and disaster relief are a major argument for the preservation and the extension of the privileges the Amateur Radio Service enjoys in international and national regulations. This is one of the reasons why more and more Amateur Radio operators, through their clubs and their national societies, prepare very seriously for their role in emergencies. However, their skills can be put to use only if they are known by other first responders. Effective response to emergencies can only occur with the work of volunteers in all the various fields; from search and rescue to medical assistance and those who can provide food and shelter. Communication skills are a new, but equally vital commodity. Activities on the occasion of World Amateur Radio Day 2009 can be a great opportunity to spread the word about what the "hams" are doing.

28 January 2009
Hans Zimmermann, F5VKP / HB9AQS
IARU International Coordinator
for Emergency Communications

(Via Gopal Madhavan, President, ARSI)

DW Bengali Listeners meet at Kolkata

Report

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4036460,00.html

Related links :

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4033858,00.html

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4004361,00.html

http://tinyurl.com/cwz2wc

ARSI Generations in Contest 2009

Aim: This is the 3rd " Generations Contest" organised by ARSI, your national society. It is a contest for all the age groups of VU operators. You have to exchange "the year of your first Amateur licencing" with the other participants. Suppose, you might have got Grade II in 1985 and graduated to Advanced Category in 2003, you have to give 1985 for the exchange, and not 2003. This contest is open for VU QSOs only. Regular/Occasional Net controllers, Organisers of this contest, are not ELIGIBLE FOR ANY PRIZES. They may, however, take part and send their logs to help the participants.

Date and Time : The Contest takes place between 0530 Hrs IST of 28th February 2009 and 1730 Hrs IST of 01st March 2009
Modes: CW or Phone or Mixed
Categories: Single Operators take part in the following categories:
Single Band: CW or Phone or Mixed
Multi bands: CW or Phone or Mixed
Bands: All bands from 160 to 10 metres No WARC bands.

Exchange: No RS/RST is required. The year (in four figures) in which you got your first licence and continuing without a break. is the important exchange.

QSO points: The difference between 2008 and the four figure year you get in your contest QSO.
Example: If operator "A" gives you 1985 in Phone mode, then the QSO points are (2008-1985)=23. If operator "B" gives you 1995 in Phone mode, the points are 2008-1995= 13. If operator "C" gives you 1967 in Phone mode, then the points are (2008-1967)= 41.

Bonus: If a station is worked in CW, you get an incentive 5 points as bonus, in addition to the points you get, as shown in examples earlier. This is to encourage CW. Example: If operator "A" gave you 1985 in CW mode, the QSO points are (2008-1985)=23+ bonus 5=28. If operator "B" gave you 1995 in CW, then the points are (2008-1995)=13 + bonus 5=17. If operator "C" gave you 1967 in CW, then the points are (2008-1967)=41 + bonus 5=46.

Duplication:The same station cannot be worked again in any band or mode

Multipliers: None.
Compulsory: All participants must SEND logs, else their QSOs will not be accounted for. This is very much needed for cross-checking logs received.

SWLs: You can log a station only once in any mode or band and claim points, but , logging the same station again has NO QSO pointvalue. A complete QSO only, is to be reported.

Total Score: QSO points from a band or all bands, totalled together, is the Final Score
Awards: Special awards for the oldest licence holder (his amateur age) and the youngest licence holder (amateur age) would be issued. All categories carry first three place awards.
Dead Line: All contest logs are to be sent by mail, to reach VU2UR-Arasu, Contest Manager, MIG-6, 80 Feet Road, Kengeri Upanagara, Bangalore 560060 before expiry of 30 days from the last date of the contest.

Any feed back regarding this contest, may please be sent to:
gopal.madhavan@gmail.com , vu2ur@rediffmail.com
All the very best in the Contest and Good Luck.

Deutsche Welle Reaches 86 Million Weekly

Deutsche Welle's radio, television and online services are used by at least 86 million adults around the world every week. Director General Erik Bettermann presented these figures to the Frankfurt Press Club. The projections are based on representative studies from more than 60 countries.Radio programming from Deutsche Welle is especiallysuccessful in Africa. "In Ethiopia for example, we reach more than 10 percent of adults and 43 percent tune in to the Kiswahili program in Tanzania," says Bettermann. He went on to say that the Hausa program is popular in Nigeria, where it has nearly 10 million listeners weekly. Bettermann also said that other means of broadcasting are more successful in other parts of the world – in Europe people watch DW-TV and in Latin America users go online to DW-WORLD.DE. "The usage of our foreign-language media services shows that Deutsche Welle is well-received around the world," emphasized Bettermann. He referred to the fact that 90 percent of listeners tune in to DW-RADIO broadcast in languages other than German. "Germany's media footprint is important internationally and for many people offers an alternative perspective to global events," said Bettermann. "This is due to Deutsche Welle's credible and independent reporting." These results support Deutsche Welle's orientation to its target audience of so-called "information seekers". That was also shown in the results of a survey of DW-WORLD.DE users in 2007: "We are primarily reaching people with a higher level of education who are looking specifically for reliable
information and news," said Bettermann. Special programming projects with partners have also been successful: "Youth Across Borders", a co-production from Deutsche Welle and the Egyptian television station ERTU has 1.1 million viewers weekly and a market share of 12.5 percent. This talk show is an example of how successful these co-productions can be. With 6.5 million users around the world weekly, DW-WORLD.DE is continuing its positive development. "That just shows that the multiplatform strategy is working," said Bettermann. "Our target audience has different interests in every region and we can serve each of these based on the technological framework of their media market."
With regards to the future, Deutsche Welle is focusing on the already-running regionalization of programming. "Competition for international broadcasters has become much more difficult," said
Bettermann. "However, with its range of multimedia services, Deutsche Welle doesn't need to shy away from the growing competition." He stated further that if Deutsche Welle wants to continue to play a determining role in the global media market, its services and distribution channels must be updated constantly to meet the changing conditions.

February 13, 2009
(DW Press Release)

All India Radio Dibrugarh turns 40

All India Radio Dibrugarh celebrated its 40th anniversary on February 15, 2009. This Medium Wave Station had gone on air on February 15,1967. At that time it was in Lepetkota, which is 15 kms away in western side of Dibrugarh town. In 1975, its studio was shifted to its present location at Molokhubosa in Dibrugarh. AIR Dibrugarh broadcasts on 567 kHz. A special documentary "MOI AKHASBANI" i.e. "I'm ALL INDIA RADIO" was aired by AIR- Dibrugarh to mark this occasion from 1400UTC i.e. 7.30PM IST on February 15,2009.

(Gautam Kumar Sharma, Abhayapuri, Assam, India)

Radio Japan to use Ujbek relay for A09 onwards for Indian languages

It has been decided by Radio Japan NHK World that they are going to air their transmissions in Bengali, Hindi & Urdu languages via transmitter in Uzbekistan from March 29, 2009 i.e. from this coming summer season (A09).The details of frequencies of broadcast will be decided soon & will be announced accordingly. The decision of change of transmitters from Wertachtal,Germany to Uzbekistan has been taken due to long spell of poor receptions in the target areas of broadcast i.e. in South Asia. Its on a few occasions that you can get loud & clear reception of Radio Japan in Bengali, Hindi & Urdu languages on 15215 kHz via Wertachtal, Germany. Sometimes there is no signal at all for several days & sometimes the signal fades away after a while. Many listeners are also demanding atleast two frequencies for the transmission in South Asian Langauges. According to radio experts, low sunspot numbers rather nil & resulting poor propagation conditions to blame for poor reception of many radio stations here & there.

(Gautam Kumar Sharma, Abhayapuri,Assam)

Saudi Arabia modernizes broadcasting network with Harris Corporation Radio and TV Transmitters

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 29 -- Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, was selected to provide a range of radio and television broadcast transmitters to Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) as part of the ongoing modernization of Saudi TV and Radio's transmitter infrastructure.
To support the upgrading of its network, the Saudi MOCI chose a wide range of Harris transmitters: 21 AM radio transmitters, including 3DX(R) digital solid-state transmitters; 40 FM radio transmitters, including the ZX(R) range of low-power transmitters; and 36 TV transmitters, including Atlas(TM) digital solid-state air-cooled transmitters. These transmitters have been deployed across multiple Saudi TV and Radio facilities to allow for the broadcast of audio and TV programs terrestrially throughout the kingdom. The new TV transmitters are an especially critical element of Saudi TV and Radio's program to upgrade its television infrastructure to digital. Four DVB-T transmission sites have already gone live this year with Harris transmitters. "We selected Harris transmitters because they provided the highest quality in terms of technology and reliability, as well as reduced operating costs," said Dr. Riyadh Najm, deputy minister of engineering affairs, MOCI. "Harris is an established leader in the transmitter business, with a long track record of success worldwide. The company's experience, along with the efficiency of the Harris systems integrator, was the major factor in our decision to allow Harris to play a central role in the major modernization project of the terrestrial network infrastructure for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Harris systems integrator First Gulf Company
(FGC) is the contractor for these projects. About Saudi TV and Radio The Ministry of Culture and Information is the owner of the official Saudi TV and Radio Network. Currently, it has four TV channels (operating in both terrestrial and via satellite) and four radio channels (operating in FM and AM frequency bands). In order to cover the whole country terrestrially, the ministry has about 20 medium-wave transmission stations, as well as about 130 TV and FM transmission stations of different power levels.

About First Gulf Company
First Gulf Company is one of the leading contractors in Saudi Arabia in the broadcast field. Its activity covers all of the broadcast spectrum, from TV and radio studios, to TV and radio transmission, satellite uplink, TVRO, SNG, OB vans, etc. FGC enjoys the full in-house capabilities of design, integration, installation and commissioning of systems. FGC is extending its activities into the MEA region.

About Harris Corporation
Harris is an international communications and information technology ompany serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of $5.4 billion and 16,000 employees -- including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications(R) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com .

(Harris Corporation Press Release)

VOA Trains Bangladesh Betar Engineers

http://www.voanews.com/bangla/archive/2003-09/a-2003-09-06-2-VOA.cfm

Visit to AIR Mussourie - By Jose Jacob

Jose Jacob of National Institute of Amateur Radio visited All India Radio station at Mussourie during Dec'2008, an article on the visit is available at following link:

http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/AIR_Mussoorie.pdf

DW/BBC DRM Transmission to India for BES Expo

23.02.2009 - 25.02.2009
DRM consortium is holding a workshop for All India Radio engineers at the annual BES Expo international conference and exhibition on 23rd February 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India. Engineers from 35-40 AIR stations (which plan to convert to DRM) as well as other delegates will take part in the workshop. There will also be a full DRM session on 24th Feb. Ruxandra Obreja, Chairperson DRM, will deliver the keynote speech on the first day of the conference that will be attended by other DRM members such as Lindsay Cornell and Julian Cable (BBC), Joseph Troxler (Thomson), Thomas Feustel (DW), TVB Subramanyam (Analogue Devices), Vineeta Dwivedi (DRM). Sharad Sadhu, Technical Director ABU will chair the DRM session. There will be a chance to listen to the recently launched DW / BBC channel for Europe, that will be transmitted to India. Deutsche Welle will offer this additional DRM transmission from Trincomale (Sri Lanka) to India (New Delhi) from 22nd to 26th of Feb, 0500-0759 UTC on 12055 KHz.

BBC World Service South Asia staff vote to strike

Leigh Holmwood
guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 February 2009 18.03 GMT
Staff on the south Asian section of the BBC World Service have today voted overwhelmingly for strike action over plans for redundancies and relocating jobs and programme-making overseas.

read the full story here :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/13/bbc-world-service-vote-strike

EMR This Sunday with Radio Jackie Part 6

Time : 1300 -1330 UTC
Channel 6140 kHz
Date : 15 Feb 2009

Tom Taylor + The Radio Jackie History Part 5 with Colin King
EMR/ Internet repeat times - All programmes are also repeated via the EMR internet stream at: http://www.emr.org.uk/ and click on the "EMR internet radio" button which you will find throughout the website (see the menu on left). Today's programmes will be repeated at the following time: 1700 - 2000 utc. The Radio Jackie book can be bought from http://www.jackiebooks.com/ The price in the UK is £10 + postage & packing.

A Happy New Year and Good Listening
73s Tom

Radio Sweden on Twitter

Radio Sweden is now available on Twitter :

Check this :
http://twitter.com/radiosweden

Radio Havana Philatelic Contest

Honouring Ernesto Che Guevara on the 40th anniversary of his death in Bolivia and his 80th birthday.

Questions:
1) What's your opinion about the first stamp dedicated to the heroic guerrilla Commander?

2) What's the importance of the Cuban postal issues about Ernesto Guevara?

The best 40 answers will be awarded Cuban postal issues on various topics. Besides, all participants will receive Cuban stamps dedicated to Che. Contest deadline is December 31st, 2009

Source : www.radiohc.cu

(Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata)

Hamfest India 2009 Registration at Mahabalipuram Meet

Greetings to you from Hamfest India 2009 Organising Committee.
We are happy to inform you that the Delegate Registration for Hamfest India 2009 to be held in Bangalore on 7 & 8 November 2009 will be accepted at the Mahabalipuram Ham Meet on 14 Feb 2009. We already have 50 plus registrations in the First month of 2009 itself. We have numerous Dx Hams who have confirmed participation. Our target is to make 1000+ hams & SWLs get together during the Hamfest India 2009 in Bangalore and make it the greatest and the largest Ham gathering in India. Please contact OM Ajoy-VU2JHM or OM Varadan-VU3ITI who will be coordinating for the Delegate Registration during the Mahabalipuram Meet. All payments will be acknowledged with a receipt on the spot.

73
Ramesh Kumar
VU2LU
Member, Organising Committee
Hamfest India 2009

Community Radio Station at IIT Kanpur

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Media Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. The Community Radio Station (CRS) is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. The Community radio station being established in IIT, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh will serve the surrounding populace comprising of students, housewives, skilled and unskilled labourers, petty traders and private and government employees as well as retired persons. The Community radio station will disseminate knowledge on health care, agriculture, science and technology in addition to the literacy programmes for children and adult. The station will provide a platform for creative and innovative programme making and run awareness campaigns on social issues. It will also have group discussions on contemporary topics. The Ministry encourages setting up the Community Radio Station as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47375

BBC suspends FM broadcasts via SLBC

BBC World Service is suspending its FM programming to the Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC from Tuesday 10 February due to deliberate interference of its broadcasts by the Sri Lankan network.BBC programmes and individual news reports in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been blocked by SLBC and have not been broadcast to listeners in Sri Lanka.The BBC noted 17 instances of interference to BBC Tamil and eight similar instances to BBC Sinhala broadcasts between 27 November 2008 and early January 2009. Sometimes whole current affairs segments of BBC programming were not broadcast on SLBC. The BBC expressed its concern directly to SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe in a series of letters and meetings throughout December and early January. The BBC made it clear to SLBC that such interference and blocking meant that BBC programming was being editorially compromised by SLBC's actions and this was contrary to the BBC's contractual agreement with SLBC. Despite the warnings, last week there were several further instances of interference to BBC programming in all three languages being broadcast on SLBC. There have been three instances of interference on BBC Tamil output, one on BBC Sinhala and two instances on the English language programming in the past 10 days.BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: "We are dismayed that the BBC's programmes in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been interrupted on the SLBC network. We are equally disappointed to see that our programmes continue to be interfered with even after our representations."We have no choice but to suspend broadcasts until such time as SLBC can guarantee our programming is transmitted without interference," he says."In order to cover news events in the most comprehensive and balanced way for our audiences, the BBC adheres to specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic. In this way we can meet our audiences' high expectations and maintain our reputation as the world's most trusted international broadcaster."He said: "The BBC has had a very cordial and effective partnership with the SLBC since 1998 - part of a strong relationship with listeners in that country that goes back to the 1940s. We are keen to keep this relationship going provided that SLBC adheres to the agreements we have with it. But at the heart of these agreements is the guarantee that our programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil are broadcast uninterrupted. If this can not be guaranteed we can not continue our relationship."We are prepared to have further discussions to resolve this issue and will investigate any specific detailed complaint SLBC may have about BBC output. So far, no specific complaint has been raised."The BBC's services in all three languages remain in Sri Lanka via short wave; on bbc.com/news, bbcsinhala.com and bbctamil.com via the internet; and news bulletins in English are available via the Sri Lankan commercial broadcaster MBC.

These are the short wave frequencies and timings to hear BBC services in Sri Lanka -

BBC Tamil: 1545-1615 GMT (2115-2145 Local Time); 6135 kHz (49 mb), 7205 kHz (41 mb), 9540 kHz (31 mb)

BBC Sinhala: 1630-1700 GMT (2200-2230 Local Time); 7345 kHz (41 mb), 9615 kHz (31 mb)BBC World Service in English: Radio frequencies for South Asia.

Mainstays of the 24-hour a day coverage (but mainly daytime) are 17790 kHz (16 mb) and 15310 kHz 19 (mb). Evenings: 11915 kHz (25 mb), 9740 kHz (31 mb), 7355 kHz (41 mb), 5975 kHz (49 mb).

(BBC World Service Press Office)

SLBC inaugurates new FM channel

07-Feb-2009
The latest radio channel of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation , "The Wayamba Handa" , will commence transmissions from today. The channel is being transmitted through FM 99.6 frequency. The "Wayamba Handa" is concept of Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and has become a reality due to the initiatives of the SLBC chairman Mr.Hudson Samarasinghe. Director General of the Corporation Mr.Samantha Weliweriya says the aim of the new radio broadcast is to further strengthen the concept of the Mahinda Chinthanaya to carry forward media communications to the village.

(Source : SLBC)

Bangladesh Betar revamps its website

Bangladesh Betar website has been re-designed. The new look Bangladesh Betar website is available at :

www.betar.org.bd

Some new features have been added to website which includes a feedback form & new photo gallery section.

Grove Enterprises FREE 3-month subscription offer

From now until January 1, 2009, Grove Enterprises is giving away a FREE3-month subscription to Monitoring Times Express with ANY order you place with us (limit one per customer). Even if you are ordering a subscription to MT Express, you'll get 15 months instead of 12! No catches, no fine print, just a gift from us to you, our valued customers. In each issue of MT Express you'll find 80 pages PACKED with the latest radio new, reviews and stories. The entire magazine is in full color, with direct, clickable links to the websites and email addresses throughout the issue. We believe that you'll find this to be an invaluable resource to your radio hobby. Thank you for being our customer, and we hope that you enjoy your gift.

http://grove-ent.com/html/free_sub_.html

Community radio stations to be set up for farmers

8 Feb 2009, 0538 hrs IST, Sanjeev Kumar Verma, TNN
PATNA: Farmers in Bihar would soon have their first brush with community radio. To be set up under the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Project of Union ministry of agriculture, the community radio would air programmes catering to the needs of the farming community. Apart from airing informative programmes about the latest farming practices and the precaution the farmers should take to safeguard their standing crops, programmes based on lives of successful farmers of a given area would also be aired. Then, the community radio would provide localised weather reports. In the first phase, three such community radio stations would come up at Krishi Vikas Kendra (KVK) Birauli in Samastipur, KVK Barh in Patna and KVK Jamui.

Read the full story here :

http://tinyurl.com/bzcg9z

RFA Releases Chinese Lunar Year QSL Feb 2009

Radio Free Asia (RFA) announces its latest QSL card which is the third its Chinese Lunar New Year series. According to the Chinese astrology calendar, 2009 is the Year of the Ox. People born in ox years are considered kind and caring, logical, positive, to have a great deal of common sense and with their feet firmly planted on the ground. They are also considered to be hard workers in order to provide comfort and security for their families while also highly intelligent and strong minded. While this year's design is based on the one using in our 2007 Lunar New Year card, this marks the first design by RFA's Valerie Johnson who handles the majority of RFA's reception reports and the sending of RFA's QSL cards. The card will be used to confirm all valid reception reports from February 1 - April 30, 2009. Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information to listeners in Asian countries where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean to North Korea, Lao, Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke, Amdo, and Kham), and Uyghur. RFA strives for accuracy, balance, and fairness in its editorial content. As mentioned on the front of the QSL card, as a 'surrogate' broadcaster RFA provides news and commentary specific to each of its target countries, acting as the free press these countries lack. RFA broadcasts only in local languages and dialects, and most of its broadcasts comprise news of specific local interest. More information about Radio Free Asia, including our current broadcast frequency schedule, is available at www.rfa.org. RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and
quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at www.techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX'ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by emails to qsl@rfa.org , and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to:
Reception Reports
Radio Free Asia
2025 M. Street NW,
Suite 300 Washington DC 20036
United States of America

(AJ Janitschek, Radio Free Asia)

Final SW broadcast of ZLXA

Dear friends,

Today came this message from the QSL Manager of ZLXA about a Board decision of making a final SW broadcast on 3935 kHz on 20-22 March for us international DX-ers. Please publish this special event.

Best 73,
Anker Petersen
Danish Shortwave Club International

----- Original Message -----
From: Kelvin Brayshaw
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 12:31 AM
Subject: Decision on ZLXA 3935 kHz

Dear Friends

Following a meeting of the Board of N.Z. Radio for the Print Disabled Inc. on 2 Feb 2009, below is an extract from the Secretary's reply to my letter of 26 January in which I discuss the possible closure of our shortwave service.

Quote:
The Board of the NZ Radio for the Print Disabled considered all the facts presented but came to the decision to cease broadcasting as ZLXA on 3935 kHz forthwith. The main reason for this decision is the state of the valves on the transmitter. We would need to renew the four valves (4/400c) at a cost of approximately $3000 also the cost of power at $400 per month and an annual licence of $700 combined makes this broadcasting service completely unfeasible. We are at this point in time trying to raise finance to replace the MW transmitter which suffered damage during last year's storm. The Board, though, has agreed to broadcast on 3935 kHz over a weekend from 5.00pm Friday 20th March through to Monday morning 23rd March 2009, (0400 20/3 - 1900 22/3 UTC), depending on the transmitter functioning for that period. This is the best that we can do to enable the many international DXers to receive our transmission for one last time.
Unquote.
As you will appreciate, for an organisation reliant on grants and donations to continue serving our listening community, the shortwave component is no longer viable. Therefore, RRS will maintain local broadcasts on 1602 kHz (2XA) and 107.3 MHz FM only.

Kindest regards & Best DX
Kelvin Brayshaw
QSL Manager
NZ Radio Reading Service
LEVIN

Special event call-sign AU30SHI

Dear HAM friends,
I am going to operate with my friends VU2SMN, VU2SMS & VU2ROE with call sign AU30SHI around the birth date Of the great emperor Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Place of operation - SHIVNERI hill fort near Junnar in PUNE, Maharashtra.

Birth place of SHIVAJI.
DATE : 21st Feb (1830 UTC) to 22nd Feb (1829UTC) 2009
Frequencies : 7070, 14250, 14215, 21280, 28290 kHz.
QSL's to :

VU2DSI,
DATTA DEOGAONKAR,
"SURABHI" MEHERABAD
AHMEDNAGAR.414006.
INDIA.

DW Bengali Listeners meet in Kolkata

Dear Friends,
After 1993 Deutsche Welle has decided to arrange a listeners' meet at Max Muller Bhavan, Kolkata (8 Ballygunge Circular Road (Pramathesh Barua Sarani) Kolakata 700019.) on 17/2/2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mr Graham Lucas, head of Deutsche Welle South Asia section & Ms. Debarati Guha will represent DW. The program will include powerpoint presentation on DW Radio and Website, Question-Answer session, Quiz etc. Interested listeners may send me a line expressing their willingness to come to the program. As Ms Debarati Guha is now on a trip to Australia and Thailand, I may collect your names to send it to Ms Guha. I want participation of all the interested listeners. Please mail me at ussrajib@yahoo.co.in

(Rajib Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata)

SWR February 2009

Dear listeners, Scandinavian Weekend Radio shall start 24 hours broadcast this evening 22 hours UTC. Our frequencies are 11720/ 11690 kHz on 25 mb. I encouarge specially to try these 25 mb frequencies because we might have antenna tests there during transmission (specially towards South-East from tx location). Other frequencies are 5980 / 6170 kHz on 49 mb and 1602 kHz MW. Timetables for frequencies and programes available can be found from our web:
http://www.swradio.net/schedule.htm

Main page: http://www.swradio.net/index2.htm

Best Regards,
Alpo Heinonen
Scandinavian Weekend Radio
P.O.Box 99
FI-34801 Virrat
FINLAND

Community Radio Station at Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has permitted the DHAN Foundation Madurai to establish, maintain and operate a Community Radio Station at Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. DHAN Foundation, Madurai is a Non Governmental Organization. The Kalanjiam Community Radio Station will be established at Village-Vizhunthamavadi, Block-Keelaiyur, Distt-Nagapattinam, Tamilnadu. It may be recalled that Nagapattinam is a tsunami affected area. The Community Radio Station is expected to serve particularly, the women, farmers, fishermen and empower them with information and communication critical for disaster preparedness and management. The community management committee has made linkages with the local government institutions like panchayats, health centers, schools and disaster management related Government institutions to establish a disaster management mechanism to face natural calamities. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting expects that the Community Radio initiative of the Ministry will provide an opportunity to the local communities to be better informed about the developmental initiatives of the Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.

(PIB, Govt of India)

Related News :
Tsunami-affected TN village to get community radio station
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200902051922.htm

More DRM Broadcasts to Central Europe

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) in collaboration with Deutsche Welle has started an experimental DRM shortwave transmission to Central Europe. Started on 31st January 2009 the RDP International channel is available in DRM digital quality on Saturdays and Sundays
from 09:30 UTC to 11:00 UTC on the frequency 9815 kHz. The broadcasting of RDP International is a tool to promote, divulge and circulate the values of the Portuguese culture and of the reinforcement of the national identity. You can find the official RTP press release in Portuguese by clicking here .
http://ww1.rtp.pt/programas/index.php?article=2382&visual=4

(Source : drm.org)

Gyan Vani Bengaluru on new 107.2

I was in Bengaluru this weeke end. Monitoring observations showed that the Gyan vani station there has moved 107.2 Mhz from 105.6 Mhz. Enquires with the station officials revealed that it was due to co channel interfernce from Gyan Vani Mysore (near by city)

(Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio )

DW Bengali Listeners meet in Kolkata

Deutsche Welle Bengali service listeners meet is scheduled on 17.02.2009 (TENTATIVELY) at Maxmuller Bhavan, Kolkata. Mr. Graham Lucas, head of Deutsche Welle South Asia section & Ms. Debarati Guha will represent DW. Interested listeners may contact Deutsche Welle or Ms. Debarati Guha who is now in Kolkata.

(Swopan Chakroborty,Kolkata, India )

AIR launches digital radio transmission

From AIR Website .......

All India Radio has launched first Digital Radio Transmission from Delhi in Short-Wave band by using DRM Technology on 16th January, 2009 for the following services:

Service Time (IST) Time (UTC) Frequency (kHz) Target / Coverage Area

GOS-IV 2315-0115 1745-1945 9950 UK & WEST EUROPE
HINDI 0115-0215 1945-2045 9950 UK & WEST EUROPE
GOS-V 0215-0400 2045-2230 9950 UK & WEST EUROPE
VIVIDH BHARATI SERVICE 1430-1730 1430-1730 6100 800 Km (Approx.)

With the advent of Digital Transmission in Short-Wave band significant improvement in the reception and coverage of AIR programmes is expected. People can listen to near FM quality programmes of above services by tuning the respective frequencies on DRM Radio receivers only. The reception reports on technical quality of DRM Transmission on the above Short-wave frequencies are welcome and may be sent to Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy) through email: spectrum-manager@air.org.in

Shack of Atunori Ishida, NDXC

Here's the impressive shack of Indonesian charge of NDXC monitoring Atunori Ishida. He is a PERUSEUS enthusiast & five PERUSEUS operates in his shack.

BES EXPO 2009

BROADCAST ENGINEERING SOCIETY (INDIA)

Established in 1987, the Broadcast Engineering Society (India) is the largest society of broadcast professionals in India. The Society aims at projecting the interests of the broadcast engineering profession at national and international forums through lectures, seminars, conferences and exhibitions. BES EXPO, International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting is a step in this direction. The Society has ten local chapters located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai,Jaipur, Thanjavur and Thiruvananthapuram. At the time of going to the press, the Society had more than 2,000 individual and 40 corporate members on its rolls.

BES EXPO 2009

BES EXPO 2009: Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting is the fifteenth in the series of events to be organised by Broadcast Engineering Society (India). The event follows BES EXPO 2008 which was appreciated by exhibitors, delegates as well as visitors. Nearly 300 companies from 25 countries displayed their products in BES EXPO 2008 directly or through their dealers in India. Exhibiting companies included those from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.A.

DATES & VENUE

BES EXPO 2009 will be held from Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 February 2009 in Halls 12 and 12A in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Located in the heart of Delhi, Pragati Maidan is India's biggest exhibition centre. BES EXPO 2009 will be inaugurated at 10.00 A.M. on 23 February 2009.

PARTICIPATION

BES EXPO 2009 is open for participation by manufacturers, dealers, distributors and suppliers of products, equipment, systems and services related to terrestrial & satellite broadcasting for Radio and TV as well as studio, post-production, analog as well as digital. Equipment and technology which can be displayed in the expo includes, among others• Archiving• Audio • Multimedia• Automation • Networking• Broadband • Production & Post Production• Cable • SAN/NAS• DRM • Satellite & Microwave• DTH • Satellite Radio• DTT • Satellite Uplinking/Downlinking• DVB-H • Transmission & Delivery• Graphics & Animation • Video• HDTV • Video Streaming• IPTV • Any Other Product Related to Radio & TV Broadcasting• Mobile Service

VISITOR PROFILE

BES EXPO 2009 is expected to be visited by over 5,000 engineers, managers, cinematographers, consultants, entrepreneurs and policy and decision-makers from Radio and TV broadcasting organisations as well as studio and post-production units in the private, public and Government sectors. Visit to the exhibition by delegates attending the conference has always been a feature of the exhibition. Last year, over 1,000 delegates attended the conference and the number is likely to increase this year. A selected list of organisations visiting BES EXPO 2008 is enclosed.

ENTRY

Entry to Pragati Maidan is by invitation to be extended by the Society. Entry to exhibition is FREE by registration at the expo venue. Entry to conference is by payment of fee.

APPROVAL & SUPPORT

BES EXPO 2009 is endorsed by IABM, U.K. and supported by ABU, Malaysia, Society of Broadcast Engineers, U.S.A. and several other national and international organisations.

ENQUIRY

For details regarding BES Expo 2009, please contact
For Conference:The Chairman Conference CommitteeBES EXPO 2009912 Surya Kiran19 Kasturba Gandhi MargNew Delhi-110 001Tel: 91-11-4352 0895,6Fax:91-11-4352 0897E-mail: conference@besindia.com
For Exhibition:The CoordinatorBES EXPO 2009F-6 Shopping Complex, Madan Lal BlockAsian Games VillageNew Delhi - 110 049Tel: 91-11-2649 2444Fax: 91-11-2649 2888E-mail: exhibition@besindia.com

Ham radio classes in Bangalore

HAM RADIO CLASSES IN BANGALORE AT I.I.H PREMISIS

Indian Institute of Hams (I.I.H.) is conducting classes for Amateur Radio Examination.The classes will commence on 15 th of Feb 2009 for a duration of 6 days (3sat & 3Sun).The examinations will be in the month of April 2009.Those who are interested may please pass on this info to SWLs to join the classes .Location :-Sree Kanteerava outdoor stadium second floor. Contact vu2fi on email : ham7388@gmail.com.

Community Radio Forum Annual Meeting - Orchha,14 Feb 2009

COMMUNITY RADIO FORUM-INDIA Invites all community radio broadcasters and enthusiasts to its 3RD ANNUAL MEETING on 14, FEB, 2009. 10 AM TO 6 PM at Radio Bundelkhand Community Radio Station TARAgram, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh .More than two years after we managed to create space for people's organizations to apply for radio licenses, we only have two operational CR Stations in the this country. According to the 30 Nov 2008 figures, the ministry of Information & broadcasting has received 297 CR license applications, including 141 from NGOs and CBOs, 105 from educational institutions and 51 from agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras. 107 Letters of Intent have been issued, and 13 Grant of Permission Agreements (GOPA) have been signed. There are currently 38 operational radio stations in the country under the CR Policy of which two are CRs and the rest are Campus Radios. This is not the situation we had all envisaged while fighting to democratize our airwaves.
There are many reasons for this dismal numbers. We intend to discuss some of these key reasons so that we could foster a true CR movement in this country. Agenda: Visit to Radio Bundelkhand; CRS experiences of Sangham Radio and Radio Bundelkhand; Programming for CRS; Copyrights and royalties; Ads, revenues and funding of CRS; Application procedures – screening committees, survey forms, expensive follow ups; CR in urban India – potential and disappointments; Nurturing and protecting true CR in India;

Venue: TARAgram, Orchha Tigela, Orchha, Dist. Timkamgarh 472246, Madhya Pradesh. Tel: 07680-252866
Confirmation: Please send in your confirmations to Priya Panicker at priya.panicker11@gmail.com. Kindly let her know how many people from your organization would be attending and your travel schedules.
Contribution: All participants are requested to contribute Rs.200 (per participant) at the venue. This is to cover the cost of lunch and teas during the meet. Development Alternatives, our host, has kindly agreed to take care of the cost of venue and will also host the dinner on 14th.
Travel: Participants will need to take care of their own travel cost and arrangements. Orchha is a 20-minutes drive from Jhansi railway station. Please book in advance to get reservations.
Stay: At TARAgram, Orchha DA has a dormitory with 28 beds. Please contact Wg. Cdr. Pramod Sahney of Development Alternatives at 09415031058.
You can also stay in hotels in the city of Jhansi. DA recommends Sita (0510 2444690) and Srinath (0510 2445555)
CRF sincerely appreciates all at Radio Bundelkhand and Development Alternative for hosting us. We hope that you would all take this opportunity to stay on for a day or two to learn more about Radio Bundelkhand (Please see note below).
Looking forward to meeting you all.

Stalin K.
Convener, CRF-India

CRF-India is a registered society committed to fostering true community radio in India through trainings, advocacy, research and lobbying. CRF India represents the civil society organizations and individuals committed to the ethos of a community owned and managed media.
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Radio Bundelkhand at TARAgram, Orchha
Radio Bundelkhand 90.4 is an initiative of Development Alternatives in partnership with the communities of Bundelkhand, to give voices to the deprived and marginalised communities of Bundelkhand region of Central India. The project was initiated by DA in early 2007 with a mission of disseminating relevant information to the rural audience. It covers a radius of 600 acres. 90.4 FM seeks to promote development interactive communication. It aims at broadcasting The target community of the project are women, youth and men from marginalised caste and class of Bundelkhand, the central Indian Belt of Bundelkhandi (local dialect) speaking communities. The goal is to bring a progressive social change in the area of Bundelkhand. The objective is to provide a platform to the people of the region to gain wider access to information, understand their own needs, express their concerns, be heard and exchange ideas amongst themselves - all in their own language. The activities involve in the project are community mobilization, training of community reporters, construction of the station and installation of the equipments, formation of governing and management bodies, managing the
operations of the station and making it sustainable. The major output of these activities is establishment of Radio Bundelkhand as ICT tool of villagers for voicing their own stories and concerns. The idea is to make it "for the people, of the people and by the people" of Bundelkhand.

How does the Radio Bundelkhand station work?
The purpose of this radio is to work along with our communities in the radius of the proposed radio station the communities and use this communication medium - to create awareness, give information, participate in local self governance and provide entertainment - all based on requests and feedback from the community. It was agreed upon that they would like information related to employment and livelihood opportunities, development of women, women education, legal rights, farmers' issues, training, their culture and history, how to ensure the availability of basic infrastructure such as water, energy and roads, development issues, and any other information sought by the communities. The programs of the station are based on the issues and content identified by the communities and broadcasting in the formats which they prefer that includes the use of traditional Bundelkhandi songs, folk music and nataks, discussions, reports, commodity prices, phone ins, experts speak, coverage of events in villages, jokes and satire, listeners' letters and feedback. A participatory activity is contacted time to time in villages to find out the need of the listeners/villagers, their likings, etc. The communities with DA representatives decided what they would like to listen through Radio Bundelkhand. Radio Bundelkhand has a core team includes the station manager, producer of the programs and most importantly 5 community reporters. These reporters are members of the communities, living the villages where the radio has its reach. These 5 reporters collect information from ground, get feedback from the villages and make programes that the community wants to listen.

Management of the Radio Bundelkhand Station
The management of the station is handled by the management committee members including village representatives (Sarpanch, representatives from women SHG group), representative of Development Alternatives, Radio Bundelkhand All India Radio; Medical Officer Public Health Center and school teacher. The daily operation is managed by the Radio Bundelkhand team. In addition, a Public Advisory Council (PAC) which comprises member representatives from the villages covered and local policy makers from the region functions in an advisory capacity to ensure buy-in from district authorities in an advisory capacity to ensure buy-in from district
authorities

Urgent appeal to monitor Radio Damascus on 9330 Khz and 12.085 Khz

Radio Damascus - Urgent appeal

My friends at Radio Damascus are asking to monitor both frequencies which are registered at Radio Damascus : 9330 kHz and 12085 kHz . Although I haven't personally monitored 12085 Khz for a very long time, some listeners did think to have heard the Spanish program of Radio Damascus recently again on this frequency (see Glenn Hauser's DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-010, February 1, 2009).

Maybe Radio Damascus re-activated 12.085 Khz again. My own monitoring of Radio Damascus on 9330 Khz in Belgium gives the following results :

1800 UTC : German : if on the air, fair to strong signal (1)

1900 UTC : French : idem but heavy interference from Radio Farda (?), using a transmitter in Kuwait (1)

2000 UTC : English : only on satellite - no shortwave

2100 UTC : English, second hour : no reception on shortwave -signal too weak

2200 UTC : Spanish : idem as English at 2100 UTC

(1) Very weak modulation. Even when 9330 kHz is on the air with a strong signal, it is very difficult listening because the extremely low audio signal.

May I ask all listeners of Radio Damascus, wherever they are, to monitor both frequencies 9330 kHz and 12085 kHz) in the coming days and to send their comments and reports to this email address :

radiodamascusenglish@yahoo.com

Please also report on the modulation. I will forward every report immediately to the head of the English section at Radio Damascus.
unofficial website of Radio Damascus : http://www.radio-damascus.net

Radio Damascus Listeners club :
http://www.radio-damascus-listeners-club.tk
or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radio_damascus

Kind greetings from Belgium!
Kris Janssen