sabato 10 maggio 2008

NASB NEWSLETTER April 2008

NASB NEWSLETTER             www.shortwave.org

April 2008
         
IN THIS ISSUE:         
2008/2009  NASB-USA  DRM Annual Meetings
HFCC  News
DRM  News
HCJB  News
Galcom International
VT Communications
Beth Shalom
WHRI
KAIJ
KTWR
EDXC
NASB  Mailbag

All Set for 2008 NASB-USA DRM Annual Meeting

Our 2008 annual meeting will take place May 8 and 9 in Cary (just outside of Raleigh), North Carolina, hosted by NASB member Trans World Radio.  Here is the agenda for the two days of meetings, as well as conference hotel and other information:

Agenda

Meeting Venue:  Trans World Radio - Cary, North Carolina
Thursday, May 8, 2008 – USA DRM Annual Meeting

8:15-9:00 am – Trans World Radio Staff Meeting – moderated by John Summerville, with the participation of  NASB personnel.  Is shortwave radio viable today in the midst of all the new technologies?  Meeting is open to all.

9:00-10:00 am – Tour of Trans World Radio headquarters


10:00-10:30 am – Welcome Remarks from Thomas Lowell, TWR Interim CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors; and an update on TWR's global ministry from Tom Tatlow, TWR Global Media Services Officer

10:30-11:00 am - Coffee Break, courtesy of Trans World Radio 

11:00 am-5:00 pm - USA DRM Group Meeting at TWR headquarters building

11:00-11:15 am - USA DRM welcome remarks - Adil Mina (Continental Electronics), Jeff White (WRMI), Mike Adams (FEBC)

11:15-11:45 am – DRM Consortium Update from Adil Mina and Don Spragg of Continental Electronics

11:45 am-12:15 pm - DRM Diversity Receiver Project - John Wineman - HCJB GTC.  A joint project of HCJB Global Technology Center and LeTourneau University in Longview, TX, this project seeks to develop a high reliability DRM capable receiver for use especially in the Tropical Bands.  Reliability is increased through frequency and antenna polarity diversification and signal recombination.  This has potential for low cost program distribution for rebroadcast, especially in the tropics.

12:15-1:15 pm - Lunch at TWR headquarters, sponsored by Media Broadcast (formerly T-Systems Media & Broadcast, www.media-broadcast.com).  On the menu today are traditional North Carolina favorites:  barbecue pork sandwich, slaw, potato salad, fruit cup, cookie and sweet tea.

1:15-1:45 pm - HCJB DRM transmissions to Germany and Brazil - Charles Jacobson - HCJB Global Technology Center.  Over the last year Radio HCJB in Ecuador has carried out regular DRM transmissions to Germany, and begun a regular transmission to Brazil.  This report will summarize those broadcasts and the results.

1:45-2:15 pm - DRM SDR Monitoring Receiver/Spectrum Analyzer - John Stanley, HCJB Global Technology Center, will talk about a low-cost spectrum analyzer/shortwave monitor that HCJB has developed using a computer sound card and free Winrad software.

2:15-2:30 pm – Introduction to WWCR – by Jason Cooper and Brady Murray (subject to confirmation)

2:30-3:00 pm - Coffee break, courtesy of Trans World Radio

3:00-3:30 pm – IBB Greenville – Presentation about the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau's shortwave station in Greenville, North Carolina by Station Manager Wilfred Cooper and Deputy Manager Walter Konetsco.

3:30-4:00 pm - Experiences with Radio Frequency Exposure Measurements at Shortwave Facilities Worldwide, by Stephen Lockwood and Matt Folker, Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers


4:00-4:30 pm – Presentation by Tim Ayris of  VT Communications about their latest shortwave and DRM activities (subject to confirmation)

4:30-5:30 pm - Mike Adams, FEBC, leads open discussion about plans for the USDRM platform and DRM in the United States during the coming months

5:30 pm - USA DRM Meeting ends.  Departure from TWR headquarters to Comfort Suites hotel. 

7:30 pm - Dinner at O'Charley's restaurant, adjacent to Comfort Suites.  Sponsored by Thomson Inc., Comet North America and WMLK/Assemblies of Yahweh. Tonight's menu includes a selection of appetizers, your choice of any two entrees (the list includes bite-size fried shrimp, barbecue ribs, grilled chicken breast, Chicken O'Tenders and butcher's cut premium steak), served with salad or soup (overloaded potato soup or soup of the day), beverage and a scoop of caramel pie ice cream for dessert.
                                                      
9:00 pm - NASB Board of Directors meeting in lobby at Comfort Suites
    
Friday, May 9, 2008

20th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters

9:00-9:15 am - Welcome remarks by Jeff White, NASB President; and Mike Adams, NASB Vice-President

9:15-9:45 am - Fundamental Broadcasting Network - A presentation by representatives of NASB member FBN, which operates shortwave stations WTJC and WBOH in Newport, North Carolina

9:45-10:30 am - Responding to Disaster - panel moderated by Mike Adams, FEBC.  Participants will include Scott Hollinger of Trans World Radio and Allen Graham of HCJB.  This panel will look at how international broadcasters respond to natural disasters and crises, such as Hurricane Katrina.

10:30-11:00 am - Coffee break, courtesy of Trans World Radio

11:00-11:30 am - Monitoring Times - presentation by Rachel Baughn, editor of this popular publication geared to shortwave and other radio listeners

11:30 am-12:00 pm – Audience Research for International Broadcasters – presentation by Tom Tatlow, TWR Global Media Services Officer; Curt Detwiler and Bill Damick, also of TWR

12:00-12:15 pm - Galcom Update – The latest receivers, transmitters and other equipment from Galcom International.  Presentation by Allan McGuirl.

12:15-1:15 pm - Lunch at TWR headquarters, sponsored by Continental Electronics.  Today's menu features Italian dishes:  meat lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread, tea and tiramisu. 

1:15-3:00 pm - NASB Business Meeting.   Members, associate members and visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. Reports from NASB personnel who have attended recent shortwave conferences around the world.  Allen Graham of HCJB will talk about his program “DX Party Line” and other programs especially for shortwave listeners.

3:00-3:30 pm - Coffee break, courtesy of Trans World Radio

3:30-4:30 pm - NASB Business Meeting continues

4:30 pm - Official closing of NASB Annual Meeting

4:30-4:45 pm - NASB Board of Directors Meeting.  This is a brief closed session for the newly-elected Board members.


Hotel Information

The conference hotel for the annual meetings is the Comfort Suites hotel, located at 350 Ashville Avenue in Cary, North Carolina (a suburb of Raleigh), zip code 27518.  This hotel is located near Trans World Radio headquarters (about five minutes by car), and TWR will be assisting us with transportation for those who need it between the hotel and TWR.  Therefore, we strongly suggest that you stay at this hotel. We have arranged a block booking for the group at a price of $82.00 per night, single or double occupancy. To make your reservation, please contact the hotel directly by phone or fax:

Telephone +1-919-852-4318
Fax +1-919-854-4398

When making your reservation, please specify that you are with the "NASB-TRANS WORLD RADIO" group. By mentioning "NASB-TRANS WORLD RADIO," you will get the lowest available rate of $82.00 per night, and you will have until 24 hours prior to your arrival date to cancel your reservation if necessary. (If you cancel less than 24 hours prior to your scheduled arrival, they will charge your credit card one night's accommodation.) The rate of $82.00 per night will be available to NASB/USDRM meeting attendees for a few days before and after the meeting as well, in case you want to arrive early or stay late.

Our block booking will be held until April 21, 2008, or sooner if all rooms are reserved earlier. Reservations will be on a space-available basis only after April 21, or before April 21 if we exceed our block booking. So we urge you to make your reservation as soon as possible. You can always cancel it until a day before arrival if you need to do so.

Please note there is a local tax of 12.5% on hotel rates in Cary. The hotel offers a complimentary hot breakfast buffet each morning, free wireless Internet access in all rooms, and an indoor pool/spa and fitness center.


Getting to Cary

Cary is located about 20 minutes by car from the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RUD).  From the airport, you can take a taxi to the hotel in Cary (fare is approximately $18.50), or you can rent a car at the airport.  Note that the hotel does not provide transportation from the airport.  The following rental car agencies have branches at Raleigh-Durham Airport:  Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty.

The following airlines offer service to Raleigh-Durham Airport from numerous cities throughout the United States:  Air Tran, American, America West, Continental, Delta, Express Jet, Jet Blue, Midwest Connect, Northwest, Southwest, United and US Airways. Air Canada has service from Toronto to Raleigh-Durham, and American Airlines serves Raleigh-Durham from London-Gatwick (but this will be changing to London-Heathrow on March 29, 2008) with connections to/from many cities throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa via London.

Directions from Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) to Comfort Suites:

Exit airport onto Airport Blvd.  From Airport Blvd merge onto I-40 East towards Raleigh.  From I-40 take Exit 293A  (US 1 South / US 64 West towards Sanford.)  Follow US 1 South for about four miles to Exit 98A Tryon Road East.  Merge onto Tryon Road.  It’s only a short distance to Ashville Avenue on the left.  It’s a small street just before the WakeMed Cary Hospital.  O’Charley’s restaurant is on the corner.  Follow Ashville Avenue around to Comfort Suites.

Directions from Comfort Suites to TWR:

Ashville Avenue to Tryon Road.  Turn right.  Tryon Road becomes US 64 West on the other side of US 1.  Turn left onto Gregson Dr. (There is no street to the right, but there is a traffic light on the corner.)  It’s only about 1.5 miles from the hotel.  After you turn you will see a BP gas station on the right, but it’s not visible from the main road so there is no landmark to tell you where Gregson Dr. is—just the street sign.  It’s MacGregor Business Park.  Just follow Gregson Drive around until you come to TWR on the right.

Bids being accepted for 2009 NASB Annual Meeting
We urge any NASB member or associate member who might be interested in hosting the 2009 NASB-USA DRM annual meetings in your locality to submit your proposal to us before or at the 2008 meeting in Cary.  Thanks very much.
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NASB Present at HFCC A08 Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

George Ross
KTWR Trans World Radio

On Feb.4-8, 2008 the 5th Global Shortwave Coordination Conference took place in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. There were 160 shortwave frequency managers, the largest delegation ever to have been present. They were from various countries representing the ABU (Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union), ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Union) and HFCC. They represent 85 percent of the world's shortwave radio broadcasters.

NASB members present were Glen Tapley, ETWN and George Ross, KTWR.
Brian Coombes, VT Communications Director Broadcast, welcomed again those who were here in 2000. In 2008 there is a record number of participants. He said high frequency broadcasting is not going away. The importance of this type of coordination is equally important when DRM takes effect.

Mr. Yousef Ghadaksaz of the ABU added his welcome to the 5th Global Shortwave Coordination Conference. He mentioned the importance of this coordination was shown in how it brought coordinators from five different continents.

Oldrich Cip quickly gave a greeting, and then had to skip his usual opening remarks due to almost completely losing his voice. He asked Geoff Spells to MC the conference in his behalf.

David Astley, the Secretary General with ABU extended a warm welcome to delegates of the Global Conference. The inaugural global conference originally took place right here in 2000. Shortwave reaches beyond borders and great distances prior to satellite and internet. He stated that propagation conditions have always raised doubts previously of the service reliability on the receiving end, as well as the congestion of broadcasters. However, collisions are much less now than in years past thanks to the efforts of the frequency managers in their planning and coordination. He also mentioned the increasing involvement put in now by ABU and ASBU as part of the coordination process. HFCC has nurtured the participation of these other organizations. ABU is thankful for the assistance of HFCC and looks forward to a closer working relationship.

Jan Willem Drexhage speaking for the group of experts discussed the old requirement files from last season that were in the coordination database (because certain broadcasters had not submitted an up to date schedule).  They are of no use in the scheduling from today. Their requirements will be removed from the schedule. (The schedules of Monday morning were the only ones that had these frequencies listed.)

He also made mention of at least two undersea Internet cables that had been severed. This was having an adverse impact on Internet connectivity. He asked for individuals to be considerate in their use of the Internet.

Norbert Schall gave a presentation of his upgraded wplot 2000 software for frequency coordinators. The software currently uses the REC533 prediction method. It primarily uses point to point calculations. He covered the way to work through plotted calculations of wanted transmissions in target zones and unwanted transmissions in the coverage areas. Specific antenna design is a key to getting accurate analysis. The aim is to visualize the configuration and the interference situation as accurately as possible. It shows coverage area in either CIRAF zones or by a grid of determined points called a polygon.

My conclusion from working through this software tool is that it is very effective and a great resource in the coordination process. It is a much more powerful tool and has many new fields added from the original software. It is able to use quite a few different variables to show actual coverage situations. It also has the ability to determine new desired broadcasts and changes. The majority of coordinators are using this software as a tool in the coordination process. It is quite possible that this software may become the standard for use by HFCC.


Monday night the delegates were treated to a banquet sponsored by RTM (Radio/TV Malaysia). David Astley of ABU welcomed the delegates and gave a brief overview of RTM. He mentioned that RTM is in the process of testing DRM.


Brian Coombes gave a presentation on February 5. He mentioned that VTC does 5% of all SW broadcasts globally. They have been broadcasting for 70 years and are doing 1000 hours daily, keeping a worldwide HF presence. Below is an outline of his discussion of challenges to broadcasters:

* Audience behavior is changing.

* There are more platforms to manage.

* There is increasing pressure to do more with less.

* Shortwave is less fashionable yet still critical (183 million listeners per week to BBC). He said, “I can’t accept that shortwave broadcasting is a dying art!”

* The infrastructure is aging. (There seems to be less opportunity to invest in this infrastructure.)

* There are reducing levels of expertise. This is a specialist market and needs succession planning.  Is the age of people in this room going to get younger or continue aging?

He then gave his own responses to the challenges:

New media services mean IP distribution. It also means content aggregation and management -- archiving/multiple platform/content management system/DRM.

The nature of broadcasting says we of necessity have to go digital. DRM is not just necessarily a swap out of analog to digital.  It does utilize the HF part of the food chain as well as the logistics of the digital audience.

We need Global Infrastructure Solutions (look at it as industry sites and individually done sites…).

* Global capacity utilization

* Consultancy/ project management

* Design build operation

* Network /service management (what are the investment plans around the world?)

* Partnership

Brian concluded:  “International broadcasting is definitely changing.”

From my discussions during the meetings, a couple of points about DRM bear mention:

* Global initialization is at a standstill. The reason for this is there are no affordable receivers available. This has proven discouraging to broadcasters. There are a few broadcasters that see analog as not being diminished in the near future.

* It is however worth noting that broadcasters are still preparing for DRM implementation. The general feeling from quite a few broadcasters is that DRM is here, and is a natural progression from current analog broadcasting (note Brian Coombes' comments.) Gary Stanley of VTC mentioned their DRM broadcasts are diminishing until there is a change in the receiver distribution. He said when they upgrade transmitters it is to DRM-compliant ones. It is a consensus that new transmitter implementation is with DRM-compliant transmitters. Mr. Jacques Gruson of TDF mentioned that France has fully implemented DRM.

The conference took place during the Lunar (Chinese) New Year celebrations. On Thursday evening the HFCC delegation was invited to a Chinese New Year Banquet at the Saloma Bistro & Theatre Restaurant. This was a Malaysian style Lunar New Year dinner that was preceded by the traditional Chinese Lion Dance. During the meal we were also treated to some Malaysian cultural dances.

Notes from the plenary meeting:

Next conferences:

The B08 conference should be in Russia, 25 – 29th August 2008

The A09 conference has been confirmed to be in Tunis 02-06th February 2009

Articles of Association

A proposed revision of the Articles of Association had been approved at the Birmingham meeting. Since then, there had been minor amendments to take account of. The revision was necessary to bring the Article of Association into line with current practices and to introduce a new level of membership of Associate Membership. GFC raised a concern about the wording of Section 8:1. The steering board will be meeting with them after the conference to look at revising the wording of that paragraph if necessary. Once this is completed, it would be assumed that the articles could be approved by the Plenary. There were no objections to this.

Finance and Membership Fees

The Czech Koruna became much stronger against the Euro, and inflation rose in the Czech Republic as well. The result is that the increased expenses almost used all of the savings up. The conclusion is that a 10% increase in fees is necessary. This was approved and membership fees must be raised immediately by 10%.  There will be a second stage in the increase of membership fees in 2009.

Elections

Vice Chairman: Horst Scholz (re-elected)

Finances: Geoff Spells (re-elected)

Group of Experts Meeting (GOE)

HFCC has had a new web server online. It has proven to be much more reliable and guarantees speedy access. Navid Homayouni (IRIB) has continued work on the new procedure for S/I calculated collisions. Norbert Schall has also proposed some improvements in calculation methods. These should be implemented soon.

As demonstrated by Norbert, the coverage area can be significantly influenced by the antenna design frequency so this should be included in requirements. Only a few requirements include the antenna design frequency. All coordinators are urged to include the antenna designs in their requirements.

Because CIRAF zone classification is sometimes too large for actual coverage/target areas, Norbert Schall has proposed a solution using a polygon to describe the wanted service area and to use a regular grid of points inside the polygon for calculation.

As discussed at the Birmingham meeting, it is now possible to go ahead with managing DRM Service. HFCC has set up a web server to coordinate the uniqueness of DRM IDs.

New Language codes: The ITU will be implementing ISO693-3, the most up to date language coding.  This is to provide area for more language codes.

The Steering Board is putting a great effort into eliminating wooden frequencies. It was noted that a part of the HFCC database requirements are still either wooden or alternative frequencies.

Monitoring (IRUS)
There has been a lack of monitoring data for this season. There will be more effort put into the IRUS monitoring. There is hope of more consistent data coming from the new monitoring system now in the Asia Pacific region.

WRC-07:
Geoff Spells gave a summary of the outcome of additional spectrum for HF broadcasting. There was no outcome! Usually there is a spirit of compromise to reach an outcome acceptable to all. There was no discussion or willingness to do so. There was such strong opposition from administrations who were opposed to HF broadcasting that it was thrown out. The only support for the article came from the Europe region. The rest of the world was against it. The amount of antagonism against broadcasting was incredible! Broadcasting service was the only one that had a detailed requirement, but it wasn’t even given a consideration. Other services are actually out to take spectrum away from broadcasters.

As a consequence of the decisions taken at WRC-03 Article 12, from 29th March 2009 the band 7100-7200 kHz is allocated to the amateur service so cannot be used for broadcasting. However, the band 7350-7450 kHz becomes available to the broadcasting service but the use of this band in some countries is subject to a number of footnotes in Article 5 of the ITU Radio Regulations. This needs to be taken into account when planning the A09 schedule. Much of the bandwidth from 7350-7450 kHz is already being used by HF broadcasters!

Oldrich said a rather grim picture has been painted regarding any additional spectrum and the difficulty we continue to have in our process.

Membership Issues

There is a new category of Associate Membership. They won’t have any part in the coordination process.  (For example, BBC would like to participate, but VTC does the frequency management.)

Applications for membership:

Mr. Sigitos Ziliones from Lithuania applied. Oldrich explained that he would be submitting frequency requirements for ZRC

Jaap van der Leest from the Radio Communications Agency of the Netherlands (RCA) had applied for membership.

New applications from Russia: 1) GFC is an official government organization and will be the only representative for VOR.  2) VOR applied for associate member. 3) TRC (works with VOR) applied for associate member. 4) For some reason TRW is not an official member though they have been coordinating, so it was proposed to make them members today. 5) Russian TV and Radio Network (RTRN) applied for associate membership.

WRTH have asked to become an Associate Member. As they are not a broadcaster, their request was questioned as to what reason there would be for membership.

At the conclusion of the conference, Sharad Sadhu Technical Director of ABU made mention that one individual, Oldrich Cip, had put a great deal of effort into making the coordination process work. In honor of appreciation for his pioneering contribution to the regional co-ordination process for shortwave radio broadcasting, he presented Oldrich with a plaque from ABU.
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Upcoming HFCC Conferences

B08 – Russia (exact site not yet determined), 25-29 August, 2008 hosted by GFC and Voice of Russia
A09 - Tunis, Tunisia 2-6 February, 2009 hosted by Arab States Broadcasting Union

NASB members who might be interested in representing the Association at either of these meetings under the standard partial reimbursement plan should contact us as soon as possible.

Other News from the HFCC

Vladislav Cip of the HFCC Secretariat informs us of the retirement of colleague Honorio L. Llavore of Radio Veritas Asia in the Philippines.  After thirty years of service to Radio Veritas Asia, Honorio Llavore retired on April 1, 2008.  In view of this, his duties as representative to the HFCC have also been terminated. “I would like to take this opportunity,” said Honorio, “to thank all our colleagues at the HFCC for extending to me all the help and wonderful moments at the conferences I have attended.”
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BBC World Service Appointed Chair of DRM Consortium

News release from Fanny Podworny, DRM Consortium (pressoffice@drm.org)

Bonn, Germany– Every two years, the Digital Radio Mondiale TM consortium holds elections. This year the members of the Steering Board, the key players of the DRM Consortium, were elected. After 10 years as Chairman of DRM, Peter Senger retired from both DRM and his position as Deutsche Welle’s Director of DRM. His successor comes from another well known and respected international broadcaster, the BBC World Service in London. Mrs. Ruxandra Obreja, Controller Business Development, BBC World Service, has been unanimously elected as new Chair of the DRM Consortium and DRM Association.

The voting took place in Bonn at the premises of the long time DRM member and broadcaster Deutsche Welle. There was a great round of applause from the members of the Consortium for Mr. Peter Senger who as Chairman of the Consortium for the past ten years made an enormous contribution to the development of the DRM standard.

The new Chair, Mrs. Ruxandra Obreja, introduced her vision to the members in a short presentation. She stated that: “DRM is on the threshold of a new era. Thanks to the brilliant work of our technical colleagues over the past ten years, the DRM standard is now mature. The challenge for all of us is to ensure that in the next few years the DRM standard is taken up on a mass scale. I see this as both the biggest challenge for the consortium and me personally.”

The DRM consortium greatly appreciates the offer of the BBC to take the lead in this enterprise announcing that it is ready to host the DRM Project Office in London.

DRM also elected two Vice Chairmen – Jochen Huber of TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG and Giuseppe Allamano of RAI Way. Michel Penneroux of TDF was re-elected as Commercial Committee Chair. Lindsay Cornell of the BBC was re-elected as Technical Committee Chair. DRMs Treasurer and EB Chair, Albert Heuberger of Fraunhofer Institut IIS, stepped down from his DRM role.  Alexander Zink of Fraunhofer IIS was elected as Treasurer and Vice Chairman of the DRM Association.

Jochen Huber of TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG is now the Executive Board Chair. DRM elected five new companies to its Steering Board: Analog Devices, Dolby Laboratories, RAI Way, SWR Südwestrundfunk and TDP. They join the re-elected Steering Board members BBC, Continental Electronics, Deutsche Welle, Fraunhofer IIS, Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., Robert Bosch GmbH, RIZ Transmitters, TDF, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia, TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG, VT Communications and WRN.







Axión Launches DRM Spanish Website

Geneva, Switzerland – The broadcast operator Axión, a Spanish subsidiary of the DRM
Member TDF, has launched a Spanish website dedicated to DRM at www.drm.org.es. Several of DRM's Spanish members participated in the creation of the website, which displays DRM promotional activities in Spain. This is the Spanish extension of the Digital Radio Mondiale consortium website (www.drm.org.)

The launch of a Spanish DRM website is a key Internet source for all those interested in
discovering information in Spanish about DRM. This will not only increase the understanding of the DRM system but will also describe its commercial roll out in Spain.  Besides detailed technical information on the system, the website has the facility for visitors to listen to the excellent quality of the DRM digital sound and to compare it with the traditional analogue sound. The Internet user can view the latest developments in DRM radio receivers and download the DRM live, on air, broadcast schedule. The DRM Consortium and the Spanish Platform, in which Axión actively takes part, provide the Internet user with complete and up-to-date news about Digital Radio Mondiale.  Click and view the new DRM website in Spanish on www.drm.org.es.

Axión is a broadcasting and transport networks operator and a service provider for both digital and analogue radio and television, mobile and fixed phone, as well as other communication services. Following its parent company, TDF, Axión has collaborated in the impulse of Digital Radio as the only independent operator who possesses a mediumwave broadcasting network.

Last year, Axión took part with Cadena Ser, the University of the Basque Country and the equipment’s supplier Vimesa in broadcasting DRM tests. These began last June from Pozuelo tower (Madrid) in order to evaluate the benefits of the technology. In cooperation with COPE radio and the University of Vigo, Axión initiated broadcasting in DRM at Zamora, simulcasting in analogue and digital.  Further information on Axion is available from http://www.axion.es/.
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Decision Extends HCJB’s Shortwave Broadcasts; New DRM Service Starts



HCJB Global Voice in Ecuador has been granted an extension to continue using its shortwave radio antennas that are scheduled for dismantling and removal from the mission’s international transmission site near Pifo, a town 18 miles east of Quito.

The extension postpones, for at least six months, removals that the station agreed to two years earlier with the Quito Airport Corporation (CORPAQ) to make way for a new international airport. Once the new facility is completed, some of the shortwave station’s antenna towers could obstruct the approach of landing planes.  “Specifically, this means that we can continue broadcasting on two shortwave frequencies to Brazil,” said Doug Weber, radio director for the Latin America Region. “Two frequencies allows us to better cover Brazil. With two, we can cover both north and south Brazil.”
The mission agreed that 30 towers would be removed by December 2007. The first phase of dismantling, initiated in early 2006, saw 18 towers lowered. HCJB Global’s engineering staff was poised to remove 12 more towers in the second phase. But Weber was informed that CORPAQ granted the mission’s request for continued use of those 12 towers, along with 18 others that will not impede approaching aircraft.  “It also means we can continue with test transmissions of digital shortwave signals to Europe and other countries while opening the way to digital shortwave broadcasting to Brazil,” Weber said, adding that while European listener replies to the digital broadcasts are few, the listeners report a strong signal. HCJB Global Voice is conducting German-language digital shortwave broadcasts as a member of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium  [1100-1200 UTC on 15275 kHz].  In addition, on 26 January the pioneer missionary broadcaster inaugurated a daily, one-hour DRM program stream in Portuguese [2300-2400 UTC on 11795 kHz] created especially for the digital shortwave format. Weber said the programs are recorded by staff members at the HCJB Global-Brazil office in Curitiba.

(Source: HCJB Global via Radio Netherlands Media Network)



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Welcome to New Associate Member Galcom International

The NASB is pleased to welcome its newest associate member, Galcom International.  Galcom is perhaps best-known for manufacturing small fix-tuned radio receivers used by many religious broadcasters around the world.  Rev. Allan McGuirl of Galcom will be at the 2008 NASB Annual Meeting in Cary to display and talk about Galcom's latest products.

Galcom International can be contacted at 115 Nebo Road, Hamilton, Ontario CANADA L8W2E1.  Phones: 905-574-4626 and 877-242-5266.  Fax: 905-574-4633.  E-mail: galcom@galcom.org.  For more information about Galcom, go to their website:  www.galcom.org.

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VT Communications on the Move
News release from VT Communications

NASB associate member VT Communications moved their London Head Office to the Blue Fin Building on London's Southbank on Tuesday 25th March 2008. The Blue Fin Building will also be the new home of VTC's Media Management Centre, the control centre of its Global Media Network, delivering broadcast and media content globally across multiple platforms.

The Blue Fin building boasts a carbon emissions rating that is the lowest possible for a deep-plan office in London. It is named after the 2,000 square metre blue aluminum panels that shade the outside of the building and help keep its inside temperature consistent.  Therefore from Tuesday 25th March 2008, please address all correspondence to:

VT Communications Ltd
Blue Fin Building

110 Southwark Street
London
SE1 0TA
UK
The telephone and fax numbers will remain the same:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7969 0000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7396 6221
We have organised a temporary redirection service with Royal Mail to ensure we receive any late postal deliveries.  We will be organising tours of our Media Management Centre in due course. Please let your VTC Account Manager know if are interested in visiting.  If you have any further questions or queries concerning our move, please contact your VTC Account Manager or Laura Luckett (Head of Marketing and Communications) on +44 (0)20 7344 5777 or email at:  laura.luckett@vtplc.com.

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Farewell to Beth Shalom Center Radio

Andrey Nekrasov of NASB associate member Beth Shalom Center Radio informs us about some big changes in their church and radio ministry.  In January this year, during a board meeting, the organization was renamed Beth Shalom Media, and they have re-focused their radio ministry.  They will no longer be involved in shortwave radio.  Their main goal is to reach out to non- believers (Russian-speaking immigrants in the U.S. and people in Russia) through local radio, LPFM, Internet technologies and local cable TV channels.  Therefore, Beth Shalom has canceled its associate membership in the NASB.  However, Andrey will be joining us for the NASB annual meeting in Cary May 8 and 9 and he will be visiting Russian churches in Charlotte, North Carolina during the same trip.  Our best wishes go to Beth Shalom Media for their future activities.
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World Harvest Radio Prepares to Expand Service to the Caribbean and Latin America


March 15th, 2008 - US religious broadcaster and NASB member World Harvest Radio is installing a sixth transmitter at WHRI, its shortwave station in South Carolina. The plan is to send more programming into the Caribbean, Central and South America. The transmitter is already on site. The costs of installation are around $100,000. Once on the air, the cost of operation is estimated to be around $10,000 per month or about $120,000 for the first year.

(Source: LeSea Broadcasting via Andy Sennitt of Radio Netherlands Media Network)

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KAIJ Signs Off

George McClintock has informed NASB Secretary-Treasurer Dan Elyea that member station KAIJ (Two if by Sea Broadcasting) has signed off and will not be returning to the air.  George has applied for his own shortwave station near Nashville, Tennessee.

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KTWR Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Shortwave radio station KTWR in Agana, Guam – a member of NASB --  held its 30th anniversary celebration with a fiesta at the station from 3 to 5 pm on 12 April. On 13 April, author and international Christian speaker Woodrow Kroll spoke at the station. The public was welcomed on those days.  Kroll's “Back to the Bible” broadcasts are heard daily on about 1,000 radio stations in the US and another 100 stations in Canada.  KTWR broadcasts to Asia and the South Pacific and in more than 70 countries. The public is welcome on these days.

(Source: Pacific Daily News via Andy Sennitt of Radio Netherlands Media Network)
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EDXC Conference 2008 to be Held in Vaasa, Finland

EDXC Conference 2008 to be held in Vaasa, Finland

Risto Vahakainu of the Finnish DX Association provides the following update on the 2008 European DX Council (EDXC) Conference. The NASB is an observer member of the EDXC.

The conference will be held 5-7 September in Vaasa, Finland organized by the Finnish DX Association (FDXA) as the 50th Anniversary meeting of the club.

The conference web pages are at www.netikka.net/edxc2008. The pages include prices of the conference packages, including accommodation at the hotel as well as without accommodation (for those willing to use other options). However, all accommodation reservation to the conference Hotel Silveria shall be made through the FDXA, as the room reservation has been centralized to us.

The pages include a description of an optional post-conference tour.  There were several options for this tour, and voting was conducted to determine which would be the most popular option.  The majority of potential attendees were interested in visiting the Baltic states.

Risto writes:  We have then investigated the possibility of having a group flight to or from Vilnius, Lithuania, but it turned out that it is not possible for a reasonable price. Therefore, this tour will be organised totally as a bus tour.  But those who don't want to go by bus from Vilnius back to Helsinki (about 650 kms) can book a flight on their own from Vilnius to anywhere they want.  (This flight is of course not included in the tour price).

The preliminary plan:

Sun 7th of September:  Leave Vaasa, Finland in the afternoon, either by train or by bus. A ferry to Tallinn, Estonia in the evening. Overnight at a hotel in Tallinn.

Mon 8th of September:  A look at the old section of Tallinn in the morning. Leave for Riga around noon.  Arrival in Riga, Latvia around 1700 hours. A walking tour in Riga. Overnight in Riga.

Tue 9th of September:  A little bit of time still in Riga. Leaving for Vilnius around 1100 hours.  Arrival in Vilnius around 1600 hours. Time in Vilnius will include some radio
activities (visit to a radio station, visit to the TV tower), but full details are not yet available. Overnight in Vilnius.


Wed 10th of September:  The bus to Tallinn will be leaving around noon. Arrival in Helsinki will be either late on Wednesday or early Thursday (in this case overnight in a ferry).

This tour will be offered for a price of 390 euros. This will include transportation, three nights in good hotels (double room including breakfast, extra for those wanting to have a single room) and dinners on Monday and Tuesday. The price for those taking a flight from Vilnius will be 350 euros.

We would be very pleased, if all who are interested in joining this tour, would contact us as soon as possible. Please write to risto.vahakainu@helsinki.fi.
                       

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NASB Mailbag

A new shortwave station, KTMI, has a construction permit from the FCC and is trying to get on the air this summer in Oregon.  They are looking for various pieces of equipment: transmitters, baluns, antenna hardware, studio equipment, wire, transformers, etc.  If you should have any such surplus equipment, please email Bob at bob@lund.com

Martin Clancy, Midlands Engineer at RTE Ireland (martin.clancy@rte.ir), writes:  I am writing in relation to some spares we have for radio transmitters.  We have 12 NEC 10KW VHF transmitters which use the 4cx15000 tubes.  We also have a large number of filters and combiners, and a large number of other radio tubes – Eimacs, etc.  We have surplus spares from 100kw Continental, and surplus spares for a 600kw LW Continental transmitter.  We are located in Ireland.  I would be grateful if you can pass this information on to your engineers.

Thomas Witherspoon (thomas@SWLing.com) writes:  I have created a website to encourage families and children to listen to shortwave broadcasts. Please take a
look at:  http://www.SWLing.com.

New AWR relay location

Dr. Adrian Peterson, DX Editor of NASB member Adventist World Radio, reports that a new relay location has just been implemented.  AWR is now on relay from the Issoudun site in France for one and a half hours daily.  This is the schedule:

1630 - 1700  UTC   17575 kHz  250 kW Somali to Somalia
1700 - 1800             17575         250        Oromo to Ethiopia
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NASB  Members:               

Adventist World Radio        
Assemblies of Yahweh
EWTN Global Catholic Radio WEWN
Family Stations Inc.
Far East Broadcasting Co.                                        
Fundamental Broadcasting Network
La Voz de Restauracion Broadcasting, Inc.
Le Sea Broadcasting Corp.                          
Radio Miami International
Trans World Radio
World Christian Broadcasting

NASB Associate Members:
Comet North America
Continental Electronics Corporation
Galcom International
George Jacobs & Associates
Good Friends Radio Network
Hatfield and Dawson Consulting Engineers
HCJB World Radio                          
IBB    
TCI International, Inc.
TDF
TDP
Thomson  Inc.                       
VT  Communications

National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters
10400 NW 240th Street, Okeechobee, Florida  34972

Ph: (863) 763-0281  Fax:  (863) 763-8867    E-mail:  nasbmem@rocketmail.com