The Media Network Vintage Vault 2023-2024

Christmas and New Year were traditionally quiet times at Radio Netherlands, with a lot of pre-taped specials. We didn't really know whether anyone was listening. But apparently, they were because we had plenty of feedback to report on in this last Media Network of 1996. So join us for some time travel, back to the birth of the Internet.

I was delighted to discover in December 2020 that Neil Carleton of  Almonte, Ontario, Canada remembers us. We remember him. We originally got in touch with him because of his fascination for stamps connected with radio and his spot on HCJB, Quito. He must have owned the world's more comprehensive collection. But he also used shortwave radio for teaching. Here are some links to his more recent work. RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM    Making connections across the curriculum with shortwave listening and amateur radio was a grand adventure each year during my teaching career.  Early one morning nine students, one each from kindergarten to grade 8, had their questions about space answered by the Commander of the International Space Station as the crew passed high overhead in orbit.     COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER    During my retirement years I've enjoyed volunteering with a variety of community organizations.       Creative pursuits and amateur radio have also been special interests.       We also talked to Fred Vobbe of the US National Radio Club in more detail about AM DXing in the winter months. And Lou Josephs has been reviewing the new book from "shock jock" Howard Stern.

So whatever happened to the world's first green radio station, Radio Safari? In late 1996, we followed up on a and met up with Andre Waters who had clearly identified a need for such a station in South Africa. But apart from that article and our report 12 months later, I can find no record of what happened to that project. Did it run out of money? Or is it around today under a different name. The same programme reports that Radio Canada International has been saved (again). Kiwi Radio in New Zealand is going to try another international test. We also discuss our methods in testing receivers. Especially figures for the dynamic range are a hot topic for debate amongst other reviewers.

This programme includes a visit to the shortwave transmitter site at  a small town lying 15 km north of  in , . But the Wikipedia entry doesn't mention the radio towers that once broadcast the external service of Radio RSA during the apartheid era. Later it turned into Channel Africa, and spare airtime was rented out to other stations who wanted to reach Southern and Central Africa with a reliable signal. The trip to Meyerton was fascinating. So imagine my horror when the track with the interview I had done with Blackie Schwartz showed up as only 3 seconds long. Did I eject the disc too quickly? I sent the disc to Sony to see if the recording could be recovered. And 4 months later, they said they had recovered the file. Sure enough, it plays perfectly. These days the towers in Meyerton are silent, though recent time-lapse photos by would indicate that the towers are still there. So what will happen from 2021 onwards?

I remember this edition of Media Network like it was yesterday. It was edition 750. We had many greetings from around the world. And we reminded people that the programme's success was due to a great deal of help from people like Jim Cutler, John Campbell, Lou Josephs, Mike Bird and Victor Goonetilleke. And we celebrated the milestone by going to Las Vegas, NAB. Diana asked me a bit about how it all got started. Internet just starting to roll out to consumers. Big questions were being tabled about t the future of AM radio. We talked to Fred Vobbe, who was producing the monthly DX Audio Service. I'm delighted to discover that they have kept many of those fine programs  We also discovered a station in Melbourne, Florida which was one of the first to try broadcasting into the Internet instead of into the ether. We did a bandscan to discover that Las Vegas means "the meadows" and how to tip. The weather station was actually programmed by an automation company called WeatherRadio in Iowa. It uses 10,000 small audio files recorded by Tom Churchill. And I even found some of the early photos we took. Enjoy.

The main part of this edition of Media Network is a rather unique portrait of the Bhutan Broadcasting Service. Thanks to a duty trip by Radio Netherlands producer Dheera Sujan, we were able to visit the national broadcaster in Bhutan, the BBS. I remember the reason the station had a ping-pong table rather than a bar. Bhutan has an interesting policy on Tourism and there was no regulation in place covering broadcasting law. The radio is aimed at the rural population and at the time of Dheera's visit it had no TV station. They have technical challenges with only a 50kW shortwave transmitter. In winter this landlocked mountainous country had reception problems. They get QSL requests from places but have not printed a QSL as far as I know. They have an interesting policy about the ownership of satellite dishes. For more recent information, check out the page. In 2012, I remember showing a delegation from BBS around one of the Dutch regional broadcasters, Omroep Brabant in Eindhoven.

Satellite Radio is going to happen in the US, despite opposition from the NAB. Q-FM is the new name for Radio London. There is the first of many features on the (now defunct) HAARP project. This segment is probably the most extensive feature we did on the HAARP tests in Gakona, Alaska 99573.  We interview both those who are pro and against the military project. In fact, the HAARP project was discontinued in 2014. Don’t Cry for Me Arthur Cushen turned out to be a Jim Cutler joke that went further than we expected. We have new publications. Mike Bird says we got the propagation forecast wrong.

We start we extensive tuning tips. High Adventure Ministries Has started transmissions to Europe and opening a postbox in the US. Carl Kruger is hearing Costa Rica. Captain has heard a time signal station from Venezuela on 5 MHz while in the Dominican Republic. BBC. Austria is to resume test transmissions from Bisamberg on mediumwave 1476 kHz. Channel 5 has started up in the UK with test transmission. We test the Yacht Boy 207 and 217 portable receivers. DAB has entered a new phase of testing in the Netherlands. Radio E is also part of the mix. DAB is rolling out in Germany, with the addition of L-Band. WRN’s Jeff Cohen explains the DAB tests that have started in the UK.  He explains what could happen with football communities. South Korea says their broadcast system will convert to digital by 2010. Mike Bird says the prediction was wrong this week.

Lots of calls from listeners at the start of this Media Network.  David Ward tells us about a new wind-up radio from Morphy Richards. We compare it with the Baygen motor. Andy Sennitt reports a comprehensive website on AFRTS. http://afrtsarchive.blogspot.com/ . Us backed Radio Free Asia is now on the air targeting Vietnam. Victor Goonetilleke reports that the jammers are active again. Up to 5 transmitters are being used. RFA is using transmitters in Russia(!) and Palo. Esther van der Pluim helps out with the results of Media Quiz 1997. Martin Hadlow of UNESCO reports on the line from Alma Ata in Kazakhstan, Central Asia. Lack of newsprint is a problem. Internet access is 12 dollars an hour! Satellite television is important. They are trying to start Silk Road Information Radio between the countries of Central Asia. We cross to a boiling hot Mike Bird in Melbourne.

Channel Africa will lose its funding. The future of the Meyerton. The first Ariane 5 self-destructs. There were four satellites called CLUSTER which were lost. In the end they were rebuilt and launched. Dr Richard Thompson from IPS reports we are passed the end of  solar cycle 22. We visit Montreaux to understand what is happening with EuroDAB. Hans Bakhuizen says that satellite DAB receivers are expected soon. Arthur Cushen and Mike Bird have reports and so does Diana on her Italian holiday.

We often spoke with Jemstone founder Tudor Lomas. This was the first time he explains what is happening between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. BBC World Service Arabic TV service has gone off the air because of a break with its partner ORBIT-TV. Professor Doug Boyd says he was surprised that it lasted so long. VOA is also experimenting with Arabic TV. Austria will operate a special Marconi radio station OE1M1M  this weekend. CHNS in Halifax, Nova Scotia has a low power station on 6130 with an official callsign of CHNX. The CH used to stand for the Carlton Hotel. Victor Goonetilleke has news about Burma and Vietian, Laos. SLBC has joined the WWW on June 9th 1996 with a celebration including Arthur C Clarke.

We get a reaction on what we should be looking for in radios for visually disabled listeners. Sony is trying to boost its MiniDisc system and has a new SW receiver, the ICFSW40. Sky Radio is furious with the Amsterdam cable system for charging too much. The new 16 by 9 format is starting to take off. We look at some endangered sounds. Dutch VPRO programme OVT has launched a campaign. Andy Sennitt has been playing with Real Audio software. Luckily we don’t need to say http:// in URL’s any more. We look at Ni-Cd batteries Nickel Metal Hydride. We visited Nethold in Hoofddorp. There is a huge push to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting. We learn about near video on demand and plans for the pay-TV movie market. I remember seeing some VERY expensive 1TB hard drives. How times have changed. And we conclude with the sounds of very strong signals from Indonesia.

This programme paints an interesting picture of Southern African broadcasting. Gene Reich provides a different opening to the programme which comes from Johannesburg, South Africa. We look at both the domestic and shortwave external services. We include a bandscan from 1995 as we scan the FM dial in Johannesburg. We also did an extensive scan of the shortwave dial. Joe O’Connell explains that the federal budget problems are causing problems at VOA. The purpose of the meeting in South Africa was to discuss the future of satellite television and DAB. Delegates from Channel Africa thinks that radio is still relevant to rural Africa. We recall the old Radio RSA and how Channel Africa updated it.

We discuss two new communications receivers from AOR , the 7030 and AR5000. We talk with Roger Hillier from AOR UK. The rest of the programme is a major feature we did about the science behind Instore Radio and how music can influence people’s buying habits. The instore networks are still around, but you don’t seem to notice them as much these days – perhaps that’s good thing.

We started the show with some mid-season frequency changes and some reception problems. Maybe the Russian relays of RNW may work better? Hans Bakhuizen reports that 1200 have gathered in Geneva where they are trying to simplify the radio regulations. European international stations want just two schedules a year, instead of 4. Bill Gates has sent a project proposal called for Big LEO. In 2002 it was suspended. Radio astronomers are not happy. We did a feature on the review of Radio Australia Budget. Quite a lot of money will be taken away from RA’s distribution budget. The transmitter site at would be closed. Radio Australia’s  Nigel Holmes explains the consequences. Ra’s Managing Director Derek White also has some views on replacement systems for shortwave. Listeners don’t want the snap, crackle and pop of HF broadcasting. Dave Porter reports that Bessmer Broadcasting. GG Little and Andy Sennit report that Indonesia has made a number of changes. Bhutan is having transmitter problems. Jonathan has found a weather blooper. Netherlands was the first country to start an extended weather forecast every 20 minutes.

Jan Willem Drexhage tells us about new satellite subcarriers. Listeners ask us to explain the Luxembourg Effect which turned out to be a natural phenomenon. We look at the first Boundless Sound conference in Amsterdam, with a memorable montage explaining why TV cannot deal with ideas. Chris Greenway of BBC Monitoring has heard a revived station on 8127 kHz USB Israel Defense Forces Radio. Willem Bos joins us to explain why point to point communications are still around on shortwave. Modern techniques like spread spectrum can hide military communications. Paul Ballister reports on temporary stations in North West London.

The programme starts with tuning tips from Arthur Cushen. We went to the Evoluon in Eindhoven to hear about the future of CD Interactive. With Nintendo and Sega switching to hardware cartridges the future for CD-I seemed rather bleak. Andy Sennitt reviews on a book called Tumano . The author is Oleg Tumanov who worked for 20 years at Radio Liberty in Munich. Andy is rather critical of the account. There will be a special shortwave station to coincide with the EDXC meeting in Denmark this year.

This is a mainly news edition of the programme covering the news that PA6RHN from Eindhoven was a success. will increase its power to 500 watts. Radio Charlie is a special station in Berlin. BFBS in Germany is busy with an anniversary gala in Hamburg. HD TV in the US has hit a snag. We look at the 20th anniversary since Vietnam was reunited. We remember the Robin Williams film Good Morning Vietnam. And we tell the real story of Hanoi Hannah. Our correspondent Arthur Cushen was also involved in monitoring North Vietnam. We listen to the answerline. Brampton, Ontario has new multicultural station CIAO 530. The Signals radio programme is running on RTE. The answerline number is changing. Agostino Pendola asks about weather satellites. Is Media Network getting too elite? David Ward passes on details on Radio Austria International. Andy has frequency changes to report from the WRTH. Mike Bird explains some figures.

In previous editions of Media Network we mentioned the strange Japanese religious station Aum Shinrikyo. They had hired a huge number of transmitters in Russia, while the broadcasts came from a DAT tape in Moscow. Things changed dramatically in this week in March 1995 when the sect was connected with a .  Chris Greenway helped us with more details from BBC Monitoring. The doomsday cult is still around, though it changed its name. . Most of this programme takes an extensive look at the setting up of DAB networks in The Netherlands. We hear about the plans from NOZEMA, but also why the US IBOC system will not be used. You will hear many familiar voices including Maggie Ayre and Bert Steinkamp.

This is a mainly news edition of the programme covering PA6RHN from Eindhoven was a success. will increase its power to 500 watts. Radio Charlie is a special station in Berlin. BFBS in Germany is busy with an anniversary gala in Hamburg. HD TV in the US has hit a snag. We look at the 20th anniversary since Vietnam was reunited. We remember the Robin Williams film Good Morning Vietnam. And we tell the real story of Hanoi Hannah. Our correspondent Arthur Cushen was also involved in monitoring North Vietnam. We listen to the answerline. Brampton, Ontario has new multicultural station CIAO 530. The Signals radio programme is running on RTE. The answerline number is changing. Agostino Pendola asks about weather satellites. Is Media Network getting too elite? David Ward passes on details on Radio Austria International. Andy has frequency changes to report from the WRTH. Mike Bird explains some figures.