NASWA Journal Columns · NASWA Notes, October 1999

Richard D’Angelo • 2216 Burkey Drive • Wyomissing, PA 19610 rdangelo3◊aol.com

NASWA Notes, October 1999

We have some exciting news about a new website devoted to the history of shortwave broadcasting and shortwave listening. It is called “ontheshortwaves,” and it can be found at http://www.ontheshortwaves.com. The site is a joint production of NASWA members Jerry Berg, who is also on Executive Council, and John Herkimer. The site is the gathering place for people who are interested in this subject. The main focus is on shortwave broadcasting and the listening hobby that has grown up around it. However, since shortwave listening grew out of medium wave listening, the site covers medium wave too, as well as other aspects of early radio, when they help tell the shortwave story. The site is also home to the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications (“CPRV”), where hobby enthusiasts can find information about the CPRV’s operation; copies of “The CPRV Page,” which used to be published in various club bulletins and which contains illustrations and descriptions of many QSLs; and a gallery of other interesting CPRV QSLs. Other parts of the site include a section called Articles, Research, etc., Book Reviews, Information for Collectors, On the Net and a Comments section. Jerry and John can be reached at the following e-mail addresses: jberg@ontheshortwaves.com and jherkimer@ontheshortwaves.com. Check out “on the shortwaves” and let us know what you think about it through a musing.

Member Bob Padula in Australia informs us of the latest project from the ELECTRONIC DX PRESS. It is EDXP ASIALINK. It was designed to allow shortwave listeners with Internet access the ability to quickly call up the latest external schedule of your favorite shortwave broadcaster, without having to waste time and money trying to remember the URL. The EDXP AsiaLink is a menu-driven listing of current URLs for External service schedules of various international broadcasters in Asia, the Far East, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and the Pacific. You can visit the EDXP AsiaLink at: http://members.tripod.com/~bpadula/asialink.html. AsiaLink was created, researched and compiled by Mick Ogrizek for the EDXP. I have taken a look at this service and believe shortwave listeners will find this a useful addition to their bookmarks!

There is more news from Bob and the EDXP: “Our newest Spectrum Study is now available. This covers the current (A99) international transmission season and contains the results of actual monitoring made here in south eastern Australia during June 1999, from 0000-0400 UTC, for SW broadcasting stations on frequencies up to 9999 kHz. The study is arranged in frequency order showing transmitter country, transmitter location, organisation/station, observed reception span, observed sign-on and sign-off times, languages, and other details. Several hundred entries are given. A description of propagation characteristics and effects of solar activity accompanies the data. The reception time period of 0000-0400 UTC corresponds to late morning until early afternoon here in south eastern Australia, and the study includes many entries for broadcasts heard throughout that four-hour time span, extending across out local noon. Such propagation, from all continents, is noted every year during our mid winter period, and is known as the “Antarctic Mode” due to some signal paths crossing the Antarctic Region.” The Spectrum Study is available electronically as a Word 7.0 document, free of charge, from its compiler, Bob Padula bpadula@compuserve.com. A print version is available for A$5 or 4 IRCs (or US$3 cash), covering airmail delivery worldwide, from Bob Padula, 404 Mont Albert Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127, Australia.

Word from “downunder” is that the Southern Cross DX Club, based in Adelaide, South Australia has closed down. Official reason, which appears on the club’s website maintained by webmaster Stephen Newlyn, is as follows: “The club has closed down due to a lack of administrative staff and declining membership.” Other Australian clubs to fold in recent years include DXers Calling, the South Pacific Union of DXers, and Oz DX. The Australian Radio DX Club remains as the only shortwave club in Australia.

By now, member Dario Monferini (PlayDX in Italy) has returned from his extensive travels, which includes radio stations along the route. We received a “Polskie Radio” postcard from him while he was in Poland. Dario included the three Baltic Republics and Finland in his travels.

We have a much larger Musings section than usual this month. Thanks to all that have written in to date. The Musings section is what the members make of it so it is nice to see a lot of activity. Keep it up!

Finally, congratulations to long time member and former Listeners Notebook editor Glenn Hauser for achieving an historical high point in his broadcasting career. As many of you know, Glenn has been hosting his World of Radio program for many, many years. In late August, gh produced show #1000. That’s quite an achievement! Here’s to another 1000 shows!!

That’s it for this month. Enjoy this month’s edition of the JOURNAL; it’s another good one.

Calendar Of Events

Oct 15 Meeting. Philadelphia Area NASWA Chapter. Kulpsville Holiday Inn, Kulpsville, PA at 7:30 PM. For more information contact Dan Cashin at 610-446-7831.

Oct 15 Meeting. Boston Area NASWA Chapter. The Lexington Club, Rts. 4 & 225, Lexington, MA at 7:30 PM. The location is 1/4 mile west of Rt. 128, Exit 31. For more information contact Paul Graveline at 978-470-1971 or Internet: 74007.3434@compuserve.com. The URL for the BADX guys is <http://www.naswa.net/badx/>.

Nov’99 Convention. The annual Conference of the European DX Council will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 5-7 November 1999. The venue will be the Hotel Eremitage (one night in single room 515 DKK or one night in double rooms 370 DKK/per person). This is with the condition that everybody with hotel reservation is requested to participate in the Banquet Dinner plus afternoon coffee costing 260 DKK. The conference fee isn’t set, as it depends a bit on the number of participants and also on what conference facilities we are going to need, but this will be 200 DKK as a maximum (hopefully clearly less than that). Reservations and private questions to risto.vahakainu@helsinki.fi. Suggestions, proposals, public comments etc. to edxc@kotalampi.com.&nbsp

Nov 12 Meeting. The Tidewater SWL’s meet at 6:30 PM. For more information plus meeting location contact Joe Buch at joseph.buch@dol.net. 

Nov 12 Meeting. The Cincinnati/Dayton Monitoring Exchange (MONIX) meet at the Lebanon Citizens National Bank on U.S. Route 42 in Mason at 7:00 PM. For more information contact Mark Meece at 513-743-8089 or e-mail at <mmeece@siscom.net>. For additional information about MONIX, check out their web site at <http://www.siscom.net/~mmeece/monix.html>

Mar 10-12, 2000 Convention. The 13th Annual Winter SWL Festival will be held at the Kulpsville Holiday Inn (Exit 31 on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike) on 10-12 March 2000.

Mar 19-21 Contest. 2000 North American DX Championships. For further information you can send a selfaddressed stamped envelope to 2000 NADXC, c/o Dr. Harold Cones, 2 Whits Court, Newport News, VA 23606. Rules will also be posted eventually at <http://www.anarc.org/>.

Sep’00 Contest. AWR Contest. Number of different QSL stamps in the listener’s collection. More details to follow.

Members are invited to submit items to be included in this calendar to Rich D’Angelo (Internet: rdangelo3@aol.com) or Ralph Brandi (Internet: webmaster@anarc.org).

ANARC SWL Net Survey

Dave Kirby, one of the net controls for The ANARC SWL Ham Net, has announced a survey to determine whether the net should come back from its summer hiatus. Questions include whether you would be willing to participate on air or via IRC chat channel #swl. Dave and Al Quaglieri hope to bring the net back this fall, depending on the results of the survey. You can find the survey and more information about the future of the ANARC SWL Ham Net at Dave’s web site, <http://www.n1dk.com/>.

Contribute!

Send your loggings and QSL information off to our Distributing Editor, Fred Kohlbrenner (2641 South Shields Street, Philadelphia, PA 19142). He will forward them to the appropriate editor. Remember, Fred has now expanded his business to include QSL report information and totals for the Scoreboard column. He can also be reached through the Internet at: fkohl@ix.netcom.com.

FRENDX: Twenty Five Years Ago.

Shortwave Center editor Ed Shaw was planning his move to San Diego and anticipating relinquishing is position with the club. Dan Jamison takes a look “The Inside Story: Broadcasting in China” while Harry Helms wrote “Some Caveats About Mechanical and Audio Filters.” Bob Hill of Berkeley, CA, replacing Dan Ferguson, joins Mac Leonhardt and Jerry Lineback as Log Report editors. Henry Rockwood and Robert Wiles (typist) took over the QSL Report editing duties from Larry Yamron. Larry Magne’s Clandestine Bulletin featured reports from Cyprus and Bulgaria.

Welcome to the following new NASWA members

Musings

This column provides a forum wheras members can express comments, ideas, and thoughts about NASWA or the SW radio hobby. Please feel free to comment on anything presented this month (or previous months). Opinions expressed here are are soley those of the submitters. Please submit all Musings to Richard A. D’Angelo, 2216 Burkey Dr., Wyomissing, PA 19610 or via email: rdangelo3@aol.com. 

Doug Robertson (KCA6XO-Seahaven), 4045 Sunset Lane, Oxnard, CA 93035

The foam earpads of my Yaesu YH-77 earphones turned into black dust, after many years of service with my FRG-8800. I guess my elderly ears aren’t generating as much earwax, which probably staves off oxidation and decay of the foam.

Radio Shack No. 33-375 Headphone Replacement Pads are an exact fit on the YH-77s, look good and are acceptable in performance although somewhat less dense than the original foam. They are a comfortable, inexpensive solution for the restoration of what I think is one of the best shortwave headsets.

73, Doug

Larry Colton <AnimalRus9@aol.com>

I am a NASWA member and enjoy receiving the monthly bulletin. Recently I saw a reference to “the Malta address” for the Voice of Africa (Libya). I am unable to find the actual address referenced. Do you know where I could find this particular address? Thanks. (No problem. Here is the Malta address you requested: Radio Jamahiriya, The African Service, P. O. Box 17, Hamrun, Malta. Good luck with your quest for a QSL from Libya. RAD).

Round #2 from Larry: I may have missed it originally, but I looked through about 4 years worth of bulletins and did not find the address (several mentions, but not the actual address). Also, please make note that this is just another reason to belong to the club-members helping members. Again, my sincere thanks. (I couldn’t agree more! RAD).

John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@nycap.rr.com>

I just finished listening to one of the programs Radio Netherlands is rebroadcasting to honor the memory of Pete Myers. In some ways, the series is very personal to Pete as it describes some of the things that shaped his life and led him to the career he chose. The program tonight dealt with aspects of music and the theatre (cinema, really) that made an impression on him. The program was principally music with some descriptive/historical comment by Pete introducing each piecenothing too fancy, in other words. But, in my opinion, it is fabulous radio because the person preparing the program (Pete) put something of himself in it and conveyed his deep appreciation for the subject matter and artistry of the performers. (And, yes, I know that the fact that Pete has passed on can color one’s opinion. But, dear reader, this was fabulous radio when Pete was alive, too!)

Here’s my point. To some, radio itself is an art form, a craft if you will. To others, it’s just a jukebox or a squawkbox — or an ingenuously disguised cash register. I’d much rather listen to programs produced by someone who appreciates it as the former, rather than one who exploits it as the latter. Somewhere along the line, American commercial radio became solely a means of delivering ears to advertisers. I say “solely” because while this mission was always a part — and (let’s face it) an important part — of American commercial radio, there was at one time some respect for the audience and the medium to be found in the programs produced and aired. That is gone today. It’s all about exploitation now. Delivering ears is not the by-product of the larger mission; it’s the ONLY mission.

I can remember sitting in front of our stereo as a teenager (because we lived about 90 miles from NYC and the stereo — being hooked up to a huge antenna with a rotor — was the only radio in the house that could pick up WNEW-FM) in the late 60s listening to Jonathan Schwartz’s program. Although this was a “progressive” rock radio station, he often built sets of music around a theme. I don’t quite remember what the theme was for this particular setperhaps it was baseballbut one of the songs Schwartz chose to play was a recording of Sinatra singing “There Used to Be a Ballpark Here”. It blew me away that a DJ on a rock radio station would play a Sinatra song to illustrate the theme and mood he was trying to set. (And yes I know that Schwartz had at that time — and for a number of years thereafter — a Sinatra show on the “AM side”.) But, boy, did I get his point! And I also learned at that moment that radio truly is an art form in itself and could be treated as a craft, if the person using this instrument was himself or herself, above all, a craftsperson.

For the most part, we have none of that today. And it is most lamentable! What passes for ingenuity today is a “new format” which simply takes what music is there and redefines it down to an even narrower demographic. Pure drivel, IMHO. And I, for one, bitterly resent it more and more each day as this little but important part of my world comes increasingly under the thumb of the bean counters, who are squeezing every last drop of true creativity out of it. When some of you here talk about how radio is getting much better in the UK because of the growth of the commercial sector there, I wonder (respectfully) if you really know what you’re wishing for. Even our (and your) public service broadcasters are being forced to dance to the tune of these charlatans. So I turn to my shortwave and hope for the best while fearing the worst.

So, thank you Pete wherever you are, and thank you Radio Netherlands for still appreciating what quality is and freely offering it to us.

Gayle Van Horn <gayle@grove.net>, Monitoring Times, Brasstown, North Carolina

Kudos to Maryanne Kehoe! She’s absolutely right, we lady DXers are in the minority! From my count, I could come up with only five active lady enthusiasts. No doubt there are others who are a “silent majority”, and isn’t it a shame! Perhaps, because this is a male dominated hobby, some may be surprised, or dismayed, that a woman would be so enthused about radiobut I assure you gentlemen, are numbers are growing. Maryanne’s opening “ARE WE WELCOME”, certainly made me reflect on past instances when as a new DXer, my opinions were not welcomed, my loggings criticized and generally was ignored by many of the supposed top DXers (gee, I’d love to name names). Thank goodness, I refuse to give up! When I wasn’t DXing, I was reading about radio, theory, and propagationand as my mentor taught me, “read it and read it again and when you think you know it, read it again.” He’s right. Are we dedicated? You tell me! Someone should ask my husband Larry about the “fix your own” dinners and the PTA meetings I skipped because I was chasing a flea-watt Peruvian! I’ll admit to some raised eyebrows from postal clerks (thank goodness the Navy kept us moving for twenty years!) and FINALLY our families have grown accustomed to our “radio-talk”!

Anyone ever noticed Sheryl Paszkiewicz’s totals? She’s one of the best and thank goodness she represents NASWA with an excellent column. Anyone ever heard of Marie Lamb?

My point? Quite simply, the welcome mat may not be out from all of our male colleagues, but Maryanne and the rest of us aren’t going away. We love radiojust as much as you do!

(As many of you know, Gayle handles the SWBC Logs and QSL Report Editorships for Monitoring Times magazine. You can visit her official VIRTUAL BRASSTOWN website at http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Quarter/8827 –RAD)

Richard A. D’Angelo, 2216 Burkey Drive, Wyomissing, PA 19610 rdangelo3@aol.com 

For those of you that have not checked out the new On The Shortwaves website, created by Messrs. Berg and Herkimer, I highly recommend you do. The site is a wonderful collection devoted to the history of shortwave broadcasting and shortwave DX’ing. In fact, if you have not checked out Jerry’s book by the same name, I’m not sure what you are waiting for. The book is essential reading for anyone that calls the medium of shortwave radio a “hobby.” The new website continues that work (see NASWA Notes). Two of my personal favorites are the CPRV Page and the comprehensive listing of World Radio TV Handbooks published.

Frank Aden, Jr. <N7SOK@aol.com>, 4096 Marcia Pl, Boise, ID 83704

I don’t report as much as I used to but am somewhat still active. Have been teaching a local Community Education Class on Short-wave Radio about 3 times a year. I always pass around JOURNAL samples. I hope of some these students will join NASWA.

I am interested in organizing an Expedition this fall in the desert south of town. Two years ago we set up two beverage antennas. Had pretty good results. Anyone interested in helping out can reach me at 4096 Marcia Pl, Boise, ID 83704 or at N7SOK@aol.com. 

73 Frank N7SOK, NASWA since 1970!

Membership Questions?

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