baygen

Where was the old theme from DXJB used in a film? The photo may be a clue. Hilversum had a serious communications problem just at the moment President Clinton arrived in the Netherlands. We looked at the Baygen Freeplay Radio which has moved on from the days (1995) when Trevor Bayliss was involved. We also look changes to liberate the FM airwaves. There are 104 million radio households. AIR doesn’t reach the rural areas. Andy Sennitt reports about Radio Antilles which has been affected by the volcano eruption on Monserrat. Lots of great Jim Cutler jingles in this edition.

A week of shifting emphasis. Radio Vlaanderen International cancels German, Arabic and Spanish. They have decided to use Juelich site in Germany for broadcasts to Europe. In Indonesia private stations will, at last, be able to air their own news programmes instead of just relaying RRI. Donald McDonald of the ABC explains how they are going to cut 27 million AUS dollars from their budget. We look at the end of Sport7, a shortlived commercial network in the Netherlands. We investigate the strange new business network called Stocks and Funds based in Atlanta. Dennis Thompson, ex BBC Frequency Manager has been asked to set up the schedule. The programme concludes with a visit Diana made to the Baygen Freeplay clockwork radio factory in South Africa.

By the time 1996 started, Diana Janssen (see photo) was firmly established as the co-host of Media Network. Had enormous fun putting the show together each Wednesday evening. This was one of the few editions where Jonathan didn't present. But the programme was in capable hands. Smart Lady. This edition covers modifications to the Baygen clockwork radio in a interview with Trevor Baylis. There is also the first airing of Media Race 1996. Radio Vilnius hires a radio transmitter in Juelich, Germany. HCJB and Radio Norway announce expansion and VOA tests its new site in Sao Tome. America 1 signed a joint venture agreement to distribute public radio across Europe - remember this is well before Internet audio is good quality was available to the public.

I remember this edition of the programme well because we had one of only ten prototypes made of the Baygen Clockwork Wireless. I bought it in South Africa from the factory. This is rare because it's in grey and the first model issued to the public was actually in black. The spring inside is actually the same spring used in a car safety-belt. Other news from the script... We also had some e-mail recently asking about "real audio" which was featured at the Towards 2000 interview. This was the way to get live audio from a radio station not through the airwaves but by using an Internet connection and a 14.4 modem. The quality achieved is telephone quality at best, but it appears things are improving. So let’s pick up the satellite telephone and cross to Lou Josephs in Boston, USA who has an update on Real Audio. The BBC World Service transmitter in Hong Kong, which broadcast news of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Mandarin to China, is to be dismantled before the Chinese authorites take over the colony in 1997. Asiasat2 was succesfully launched into space. It went up from a site in Xichang in south-western China powered by a Chinese Long March 2F rocket. It was a tense time because of recent failures of the Chinese launch vehicle. When Asiasat 2 becomes operational, somewhere late January 96, it will be the most powerful and versatile satellite in Asia, with a lot of capacity to send radio and television pictures right across the continent. Germany’s Deutsche Welle Television is planning to start digital radio and TV transmissions in the course of 1996. Other partners are expected to join them. Already Portugal has announced that they plan to use the satellite for their international television service too.