VOA Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Special English

Washington, D.C., October 19, 2009 – The Voice of America's (VOA) Special English celebrated its 50th anniversary today, with speakers saying the teaching program is more popular than ever because of its credible, quality journalism. "Even with the changes in technology … in journalism, information still matters," said keynote speaker Frank Sesno, director of George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. "Credibility still matters. Quality still matters." Sesno, a former CNN anchor who started his journalism career as an intern with Special English, said the Service has a long tradition of helping people learn American English by broadcasting news and information at a slow pace. Using a core vocabulary of 1,500 words and short, simple sentence structure, Special English, launched on October 19, 1959, keeps listeners informed about current events while helping them improve their language skills.VOA Director Danforth Austin said Special English has expanded on new platforms so it is available on radio, television and on the Internet. The Special English website, one of VOA's most popular, will also soon have a Twitter page, a YouTube video channel and a "verb phrase of the day" SMS service.

The ceremony also honored Walter Roberts, part of VOA's original staff in 1942. "It's good to be home," Roberts said. Calling Special English an "ingenious invention," he said, "People with a minimum knowledge of English listened, and understood the message of the Voice of America."Special English also produced a slideshow of viewers, listeners and Internet users in their everyday surroundings. Nearly 1,000 users submitted photos of themselves. They can be seen at www.VOASpecialEnglish.com. Links to view or listen to today's ceremony are available at www.VOANews.com/english/About/2009-10-02-SpEnglish-Anniversary.cfm

(VOA Press Release)

RAE 15345 Logged

Its my pleasure to inform that I logged RAE i.e.RADIODIFUSION ARENTINA AL EXTERIOR Argentia English on October 1st, 2009 on 15345 kHz by my Grundig YB400 Rx with just a few meters of copper wire as external antenna from 1844 UTC onwards. There was perhaps DX Programme cum tourist Infos feature was going on (guessed).I was very surprised at first time & couldn't believe myself ..but later listening further ...upto..a few moments..I've no doubt it is indeed RAE..though the signal varied from fair to poor plus with occasional fading plus more displeasure was QRN..atmospheric noise..after English transmission signing off announcement by YL at 1856UTC there was interval signal of RAE plus ID announcement in Spanish perhaps..plus repeated for nearly four minutes or so sometime ID was announced in Male voice, around 1900UTC came the time signal & then music, another spell of ID announcements etc seems to me opening announcements of next service in perhaps either in Spanish or Italian..

73 & 55,
Gautam Kumar Sharma(GK)
Abhayapuri (Assam), India

Trial Issues of DSWCI Publications

This message especially to our not-yet-members:

We have uploaded new trial issues of DSWCI publications. Amongst them are the latest DX Window (No. 387 of 14th October 2009) and the September/October issue of Shortwave News.

You can download them at www.dswci.org/try

This page also gives an overview of the free material the DSWCI offers on the Internet. Most material is for members only though, as members fees are essential for the existence of a DX club.

Best 73
Rolf Wernli
webmaster @ dswci.org
Danish SW Clubs International

The 46th ABU General Assembly in Mongolia - A report

The 46th ABU General Assembly in Mongolia - A report by DRM Chair Ruxandra Obreja

http://tinyurl.com/yzq3fpg

19th Broadcast India 2009 - Conference & Exhibition

19th Broadcast India 2009

Conference 29-30 Oct'09

Exhibition 29-31 Oct'09

Venue :

Bombay Exhibition Centre

Goregaon (E)

Mumbai

10.00 am - 6 pm

Details at :

http://www.broadcastindiashow.com/index1.html

For further information please contact:

SAICOM TRADE FAIRS & EXHIBITIONS PVT. LTD.

Address:

148 Admiralty House

Near Colaba Bus Station

Mumbai 400 005

India

Tel: + 91 22 2215 1396/ 2215 2721

Fax: + 91 22 2215 1269

E-mail: saicomtradefairs@vsnl.com
Website: www.broadcastindiashow.com

Initiatives taken by Govt in J & K

Listing the initiatives taken by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry in Jammu & Kashmir, Smt. Ambika Soni said one of the highest priorities is to improve the quality of TV and Radio Transmission and increasing the broadcast coverage in the State. She said a provision of Rs. 100 crores has been made in the current financial year for setting up of High Power TV Transmitters in the border areas of the state and Lower Power FM Transmitters in uncovered areas of the State. She said under the scheme 3 High Power (FM & TV) Transmitters are to be set up at Sirpath, Jasrota Top and Khalsar in Kashmir, Jammu and Leh region respectively. One FM Transmitter would be provided at Naushera and one TV Transmitter for DD-1 and DD-News at Rajouri. Low Power FM Transmitters at four locations are also to be set up. It is also proposed to open up more towns to private FM channels with special incentives for border areas under the new FM Phase III policy, which is on the anvil.Smt. Soni said a new Doordarshan Studio at Leh is expected to be completed during 2010. She said a revamp of the programmes is under way for DD Kashir channel and new programmes produced and executed by young people of the State are expected to be available from 1st January 2010. She said Rs. 14.64 crores have been allocated for DD Kashir's commissioned programmes in 2009-10.

(Source : Press Information Bureau, Govt of India)

TWR-Africa Launches New Web Site

TWR-Africa announces its newly revitalized Web site at www.twrafrica.org The first phase of the site officially went live this morning. Phase two should follow within the next ten days and will include: National partner pages, a link to TWR.org, a flash photo gallery and an archive of past articles. Visit www.twrafrica.org to find out how God is ministering through radio in Africa.

Farewell to broadcasting site after nearly 60 years

Just stepping on the property one knew that it was a special place. Others declared that it was holy ground.Whatever a person's viewpoint, these 110 acres of rolling green fields with a spectacular view of the perfect snow-covered volcanic cone of Mount Cotopaxi to the south were a single point from which shortwave radio programmes could be beamed from Ecuador to the four corners of the earth.Pifo, as the transmitter site for Radio Station HCJB, the Voice of the Andes, was known ...

Read the full report here :
www.hcjb.org.uk/global-news/farewell-to-broadcasting-site-after-nearly-60-years.html

Radio Vlaanderen International to leave shortwave

http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/2009/10/radio-vlaanderen-international-to-leave.html

CVA via RVA in B09

Sun, 11 Oct 2009
For the first time Vatican Radio (CVA) is going to use regularly - Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) transmitter in the Philippines to India in B09 schedule period for their second morning transmission at 0200-0320 hrs. Earlier this service was relayed via Russian transmitter and at present it is coming from Santa Maria. This should improve reception in South Asia. This service
comprising Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and in English(repeat of 0040-0200 hrs transmissions)at 0200-0320 hrs can be heard on 15460 kHz in B09 ie.
effective 25th October 2009.

RVA via CVA in B09

Mon, 12 Oct 2009
In Exchange Radio Veritas Asia will use Santa Maria transmitter of Vatican Radio in B09 in Urdu at 1430-1457 hrs on 9585 kHz and Filipino to the ME at 1500-1553 hrs on 11715 kHz w.e.f 25th October 2009.

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

SLBC resumes its transmissions on Wanni service

Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 07:07 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 12, Colombo: The Wanni service of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, which has been suspended temporarily due to the war in the North in the past, resumed its service again. SLBC confirmed that the Wanni service had commenced a testing transmission this morning. SLBC is transmitting its services to the Wanni region from Irattaperiyakulam in Vavuniya. The Wanni service suspended its broadcasting in 2002 due to the heavy fighting between Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE. According to the SLBC sources the service will transmit its programs in both Sinhala and Tamil languages.

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Oct1255354668RA.html

VOA Boosts Broadcasts Across Pakistan on AM and FM Stations

Washington, D.C., October 13, 2009 - The Voice of America (VOA) is expanding its reach across Pakistan. A new arrangement with Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) now allows VOA to broadcast Pashto language programs on medium-wave (AM) radio and Urdu broadcasts on FM stations for the first time."We're delighted Pakistan's Cabinet has ratified our agreement with PBC," said VOA Director Danforth W. Austin. "This arrangement will allow millions of people in all parts of Pakistan to listen to the VOA's popular news and information programs.

"VOA's Deewa Radio, a Pashto language service for people in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, is now available on medium wave (AM) at 540 kHz from a transmitter in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.From 1800 to 2200 daily, Deewa Radio's AM signal will broadcast news and current affairs programming plus call-in shows on politics, literature and poetry. Deewa, which began in 2006, continues to broadcast nine hours of radio programming daily on shortwave, FM (transmitters located in Afghanistan) and Internet (www.VOANews.com/Deewa/).For the first time, VOA's Urdu language program Radio Aap Ki Dunyaa (Your World) (www.VOANews.com/Urdu) will be heard on the FM band. A 30-minute morning program at 0900 and a 30-minute evening program at 1800 will air on 11 FM stations across Pakistan, including Islamabad and Lahore.VOA's audience is strong in Pakistan, with almost 12 percent of the population listening to or watching Urdu programs. Beyond the Headlines is a 30-minute television program that airs on Geo News, Pakistan's leading cable and satellite TV news channel

(VOA Press Release)

QSL from TDP for DRM Txn on 17755

QSL received from TDP

Malaysia's Digital radio plans

Excerpts ....

As RTM moves forward, their future plans for radio are not less than impressive. The government radio stations have not only started planning for the dawn of digital radio but its implementation is also underway. "There are two areas when talking about digital radio; the station and the transmission. So far at RTM, we have developed our digital radio infrastructure since 1995, with digital radio studios set up throughout the country."

He added, "The next step will be the transmission phase, which is divided into two categories, DRM (digital radio mondiale) and DAB + (digital audio broadcast plus). For DRM, basically it is a secondary transmission, with DAB+ being the primary transmission, thus those who want to replace FM should use DAB+."

For short wave the use of DRM is best. With DRM, one can use analog and digital but DAB+ can only be used for digital transmissions. "In most of our radio stations, we use FM except in Kajang and Kuching where we have DRM and also for Suara Malaysia and Suara Islam stations, short wave transmission is used. However for Suara Islam and Suara Malaysia we have introduced Internet protocol."

Datuk Ibrahim goes on to explain that it was in the year 2008 that the DRM trial run was carried out in Kajang and MCMC has reported good transmission on DRM is received all over the country including Sarawak. "Our ultimate goal is for all major stations to be equipped with DAB+. DRM will be mainly for areas which need their own transmitter, such as rural areas surrounded by hills and mountains."

It is with this encouraging start that RTM hopes to implement digital radio along with digital TV in 2012. The only obstacle to this plan is the issue of cost as for listeners to enjoy digital transmission, they need to be equipped with a digital radio set. At the moment, digital radio is not yet available in Malaysia thus cost cannot be calculated. However, taking the America as a reference point, a digital radio set costs US$100.

Read the full story here .....
http://www.adoimagazine.com/newhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4997&catid=21&Itemid=2

PU radio station to go on air soon

Amit Sharma, TNN 8 October 2009, 05:21am IST
CHANDIGARH: Community radio is all set to go on-air at Punjab University, with School of Communication Studies ready to broadcast its first programme within four months. The round-the-clock station is a result of the Memorandum of Understanding between PU and Broadcast Engineering Consultants Limited (BECIL) under Union ministry.

Read the full story here :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/PU-radio-station-to-go-on-air-soon/articleshow/5099890.cms