cushen

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.

We may have passed the sunspot minimum as cycle 21 comes to an end. Charles Z. Wick head of the USIA reports that the Soviets have offered to stop jamming. The US wants mediumwave access is the Soviet Union. The soviets have also stopped jamming Radio Tirana and Radio Peking. Rudi Hill of Radio New Zealand International is annoyed that the country’s external service only gets one page in a very expensive Royal Commission report. A Dutch group is trying to raise money for clandestine radio stations. Media for Resistance movements, including EPLF, Eritrea, as well as El Salvador, Philippines, and East Timor. Victor Goonetilleke reports a strange pre-echo on BBC transmissions at his location in Sri Lanka. Arthur Cushen visited us in the studio to discuss work on his new book called The World in My Ears.  Trevor Brook of Surrey Electronics announces plans for his own shortwave radio station. We close with propagation news.

Hilversum 3 opening with song by Herman van Veen.  Jonathan’s annoying tie. Anniversaries. Hilversum 3 and Nederland resumes broadcasts to the Dutch East Indies. Interview with Frits Thors. 30 years since the creation of Hilversum 3. We find out more about the Trondheim student radio in Norway. Answerline number has changed. Tim Hendel enjoyed the wind-up clockwork radio. Arthur Cushen has news from the Pacific. Review of new 1996 edition of Passport to World Band Radio. We also talk to Craig Sigenthaler of KIWA electronics. Photo of Frits Thors via Polygoon Hollands Nieuws - Cut from File:WEEKNUMMER461-HRE00013A19.ogv / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid / NOS Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid / NOS, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10564395

This edition of the programme is from the early series of Media Network. We were very much focused on the Falkands War at the time, and this programme was a catch-up show to report on other things. Richard Ginbey was a broadcaster who worked in South Africa, New Zealand, and Namibia. I think he was unique in recording and compiling what he heard on his shortwave radio. In this edition he traces the history of broadcasting in Lesotho. I think he used cassettes, so the editing must have been challenging. I think he cued up the clips and played them in to his live presentation. Some people may also remember him from the DX programme he ran on Radio Portugal - the Voice of the West. Wim van Amstel reports on his visit to the European DX Council in Cologne. This was an era when there was very little contact between shortwave broadcasters and their listeners. We also reviewed the Directory of World Band radio from Sony, concluding that it wasn't of much use. We spoke with Pat Gowen, G3IOR, (pictured) about the work of AMSAT and how the findings may have to modify our thoughts about radio propagation.  The programme concludes with Arthur Cushen who had been hearing some amazing transpacific signals on mediumwave.

It doesn't seem like nearly 15 years ago that Arthur T Cuhen passed away. He was probably one of New Zealand's most famous shortwave listeners, having made his hobby of radio listening into a career from the 1960's onwards. He reported regularly for magazines and radio stations, including Radio Netherlands DX Juke Box and Media Network. We broadcast this tribute programme in which I tried to mix tributes with some fascinating stories told by Arthur himself. While we recorded his contributions for the programme he would often reminisce. He also had made excellent recordings of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia even though he was monitoring the events in Prague on the other side of the world. He often spoke of his wife Ralda, who was his childhood sweetheart and faithful companion. They lived at 212 Earn Street in Invercargill, New Zealand - an address that was often read out over dozens of international radio stations. I was struck by his picture perfect memory in which he could recall his work for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service during the Second World War. He could hear stations in Japanese occupied Singapore and Indonesia, as well as Tokyo. They regularly broadcast the names of Allied Prisoners of War, which Arthur would transcribe by hand (there were no tape recorders) and pass on the message to grateful next of kin. Arthur was born with poor eyesight which gradually got worse in the course of his life. He not only did a lot of work for the shortwave radio community, he was also extremely active in local groups for blind and partially sighted in the South Island of New Zealand.  This programme is a celebration of Arthur's contribution to a very important time in international broadcasting.

We start with news of changes in ownership in Soviet media. Victor Goonetilleke reports on a mysterious station calling itself Colombo International Radio. Radio Ulan Batar now on 22 metres, VOA announced that Radio Marti and Worldnet are to be merged. Albanian refugees in Italy demand loudspeakers to listen to VOA Albanian. BBC is planning to start a BBC World News. Tony Barratt reports hearing HCJB from Quito on SSB. A strange story from Vietnam about cable radio and TRT expands. Arthur Cushen has tuning tips including WWCR and Brazzaville. We called Algerian radio to find out more about the Voice of Palestine. Very quiet conditions on the sun, reports Mike Bird in Melbourne.

The review of the Sony ICF1000T is still  though not at Radio Netherlands. In this edition of the programme you can hear us review it on air. I suppose now it seems silly to review equipment over the radio to the level of detail we did back in 1996. But there was no Internet to speak of and most of the audience didn't have access to independent consumer reviews. We spent a lot of time and effort compiling receiver guides and reviewing publications, but it I think it was worth it. The programme also includes updates on what the BBC was doing to restore services after a hurricane hit Antigua, home of one of the shortwave relay stations (since closed down). And there's a celebration of Arthur Cushen's 30 years of service to the media shows on Radio Netherlands.

I picked this recording out of the archives because it has a nice capsule summary of the major media stories from 1982. The highlight was, of course, the Falklands-Malvinas "conflict". This programme contains clips from the FIBS, RAE Argentina and the BBC's Calling the Falklands Programme. We also looked in some detail at the shortlived Radio South Atlantic which broadcast in May and June 1982 from a requisitioned BBC transmitter on Ascension Island. We asked the British Ministry of Defence to explain how the station was operated. We also analysed a transmission broadcast on May 20th 1982 (the second night of transmission).  But it was also the last programme in which Wim van Amstel appeared as RNW Frequency Manager. It was certainly not the last time he was heard on the programme, though. Again it is striking to hear some of the predictions - and how they were spot on. The call with Arthur Cushen in New Zealand is rather like making contact with the moon. Cannot believe how fast time has flown. At the time of publishing this podcast, I was also sad to hear of the passing of BBC correspondent and broadcaster Brian Hanrahan, who famous line when broadcasting under censorship from the Falklands Fleet was brilliant. Unable to reveal how many British aircraft had been involved in the conflict, he reported that after one sortie he "counted them all out and I counted them all back."