Table of contents for Apr-13 in Popular Communications

Thirty years ago this month, Pop’Comm Founding Editor Tom Kneitel, K2AES/WPC4A (SK), and CQ Communications Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA/WPC2A, hit the jackpot when they got permission to run a cover photograph from the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Pop’Comm was just eight months old. The war was in the fourth of its 10 years. The exclusive picture was compliments of Soldier of Fortune magazine. “In one dramatic photograph, (SOF photographer) Jim Coyne captured one half of the entire Mujahideen communications system — that being a commercially made American 49-MHz handheld transceiver,” Tom wrote. “The other half of the rebel communications network cannot possibly be located more than a few hundred yards into the distance since that’s the communications distance offered by the system.” Under the headline “Afghanistani Rebel Communications: Unsophisticated, But…

Capitol Hill And FCC Actions Affecting Communications FCC Issues ‘Gigabit City Challenge’ Across the U.S. Broadband providers and local governments are being urged by the Federal Communications Commission to provide high-speed Internet services that offer subscribers speeds of 1 gigabit per second. Earlier this year, the Commission launched the “Gigabit City Challenge,” in which it is calling for at “least one community in all 50 states to offer residents speeds of 1 Gbps by 2015,” according to a report posted at FierceCable.com. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled the initiative at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He said the FCC plans “to hold workshops for broadband providers as well as municipal and state leaders to drive the ‘Gigabit City Challenge’ and that the commission will also create an online clearinghouse of…

One of the best uses of our federal taxpayer dollars — and of interest to communications hobbyists and the general public alike — is NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). More and more general coverage radios and scanners produced today are capable of receiving at least the audio transmissions from its VHF-based informational and early warning radio service, Photo A. With advances in technology, the format and the scope of this National Weather Service (NWS) offering has evolved and matured over the years in order to better serve its listening audience. Thanks to such improvements as enhanced RADAR imaging and analysis <http://bit.ly/Oqi9nB>, the leveraging of SKYWARN ® spotters <http://skywarn.org>, and the implementation of computer synthesized broadcasters, NWS forecasters are more prepared than ever to deliver potentially life-saving information in a more timely…

75 Years Ago (1938): The BBC televised the first live coverage of a football (soccer) match in its entirety, England vs. Scotland from Wembley Stadium. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., inventor E.H. Armstrong began testing experimental VHF FM radio station W2XMN on 43.7 MHz with an output of 600 watts from his lattice tower in Alpine, New Jersey. (NOTE: See Broadcast Technology for details, and visit <http://bit.ly/TIEGiH> to see pages of the original W2XMN logbook. – WPC1CAT.) 50 Years Ago (1963): The soap opera General Hospital premiered on ABC television. (WATCH: A “General Hospital” promo from 1963 at <http://bit.ly/XKGRxH>. – WPC1CAT.) “I Will Follow Him,” by Little Peggy March, <http://bit.ly/X2uxZ1> led Toronto’s 1050 CHUM Hit Parade. 25 Years Ago (1988): 104.1 WKIR Jackson, Tennessee personality Dan Baxter lost his job…

Your feedback is important to us at Pop’Comm. It helps guide us to make the magazine even more valuable to you each month. Please take a few minutes to fill out this month’s Reader Survey Card and circle the appropriate numbers corresponding to the questions below. We’ll pick a respondent at random for a year’s free subscription or an extension of an existing subscription as thanks for your participation — so don’t forget to fill in your mailing address and other contact information. We encourage your comments and suggestions in the space provided, as well. Thank you. Last, but not least: You can now take this survey online. See details below. As a communications hobbyist, what sources do you use to be informed on the equipment you buy? (Choose all…

World News, Commentary, Music, Sports, And Drama At Your Fingertips TThis listing is designed to help you hear more shortwave broadcasting stations. The list covers a variety of stations, including international broadcasters beaming programs to North America, others to different parts of the world, as well as local and regional shortwave stations. Many of the transmissions listed here are not in English. Your ability to receive these stations will depend on time of day, time of year, your geographic location, highly variable propagation conditions, and the receiving equipment used. AA, FF, SS, GG, etc. are abbreviations for languages (Arabic, French, Spanish, German). Times given are in UTC, which is five hours ahead of EST, i.e. 0000 UTC equals 7 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. CST, 4 p.m. PST.…

WPC4FJT, Knoxville, Tennessee I QSL’d Radio Havana . . . and Was Hooked!’ James Trame, WPC4FJT, Photo A, fell prey to the short waves almost 50 years ago when he happened to hear his neighbors’ “huge German radio.” As you can see, he’s put together a beautiful listening post of equipment — both vintage and new — and has in recent years taken the plunge into amateur radio as W4FJT. Today he has the parallel Pop’Comm Monitoring Station identification sign WPC4FJT. Like WPC4FJT, you, too, can be featured as a Pop’Comm Monitor of the Month. Please send us a photograph of your listening post and tell us about your monitoring experience. We’d be happy to include you in our pages. Write to Pop’Comm Monitor of the Month at: <PopCommMonitor@gmail.com>. In…

On the Short Waves, Taking the Good with the Bad We are in a good news-bad news conundrum this month. I don’t know which you normally prefer in such situations but I’ll take a guess and choose the good news first . . . The happier news comes in the form of the return of UBC Radio in Uganda <http://www.ubconline.co.ug> has not been on shortwave in quite a few years. The station suddenly reappeared in late December, returning to its old haunts on 4976, perhaps refreshed by a new transmitter, replacing the old 10-kilowatt unit. It’s being reported with a hefty signal up until 2107* closing. It’s also being heard around 0400 so, with conditions cooperating, you should get to enjoy either end of its broadcast schedule. Welcome back UBC!…

We shortwave listeners have a language all our own. It’s one that’s not necessarily interchangeable with those used by the hams, or UTE DXers. SWBC (shortwave broadcast) listeners, finding themselves amongst a table full of BCB (broadcast band) enthusiasts, can be just as mystified as anyone dealing with talk of night patterns, TAs, CPs, U-1, D-2s, and so on. Five minutes’ worth of that stuff could set your eyebrows on fire! Similar situations can be found elsewhere. Any profession would leave the neophyte or just someone who’s been out of touch for any length of time quite confused. Baseball players, dermatologists, plumbers — they all have their own slang and, in overhearing them, the uninitiated can be left in full head-scratching mode. Some three years ago my Global Information Guide…

‘He’s a WHAT?’ It’s official. I am now registered at several hospitals as S.O.B. That should be nothing new, I guess — I think there are similar notations next to my name at several stores, at least one dry cleaner, and the DMV. But seriously, folks, it’s yet another case of shortness of breath, caused by pneumonia (or ammonia, as I called it when I was a wee lad). They say that once you get it, you just keep getting it over and over until it gets bored with you and goes after someone else. The last two times I went to the doctor with it (or in this case, a friendly ER in Pennsylvania) I offered my own diagnosis to save them time, money, and x-ray film, but they…

The Weirder Side of Wireless, and Beyond RETRACTION: Pop’Comm Duped On BBC Stor On April 1, a call for retraction was received by Popular Communications regarding a previously published story reporting White House Chief of Staff Jacob “Jack” Lew (2012 to 2013) would defect from the U.S. to take the reins of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Our source offered as “proof” a cupcake bearing Mr. Lew’s signature which she alleged was served at the BBC’s “Welcome Jack, It’s a Fact” party in London, Photos A and B. None of this is true. Pop’Comm has great confection for truth, and regrets the error. – Urban Bates, YJPC1UB, Pop’Comm Ombudsman CBer Nailed for Broadcasting Misinformation A man who broadcast a woman’s address and phone number over Citizens Band radio as a place…

How ‘Connectedness’ Is Changing Our Lives How many ways are you connected to the Internet? How many wireless devices do you have? I’m betting that if you haven’t counted lately, the number has increased significantly in the past year or two. This has been a topic discussed in this column in the past. (SEE: “The Internet of Things,” March 2011 Pop’Comm, page 9. – K8RKD). At that time, I estimated I had 10 connected devices. The number now is at least 15 and the others in my household probably double that number. Looking to the future, it’s clear that more and more everyday items in our homes, cars, and workplaces will be connected in some fashion. Let’s take a look at what that means for our communications futures. If there…

Weather-Related Events Blizzard Warning Coastal Flood Watch Coastal Flood Warning Dust Storm Warning Flash Flood Watch Flash Flood Warning Flash Flood Statement Flood Watch Flood Warning Flood Statement High Wind Watch High Wind Warning Hurricane Watch Hurricane Warning Hurricane Statement Severe Thunderstorm Watch Severe Thunderstorm Warning Severe Weather Statement Special Marine Warning Special Marine Statement Tornado Watch Tornado Warning Tropical Storm Watch Tropical Storm Warning Tsunami Watch Tsunami Warning Winter Storm Watch Winter Storm Warning Up to the Minute . . . For Weather Event Updates, visit: <http://1.usa.gov/Wvi0kz> Non Weather-Related Events Avalanche Watch Avalanche Warning Child Abduction Emergency Civil Danger Warning Civil Emergency Message Earthquake Warning Evacuation Immediate Fire Warning Hazardous Materials Warning Law Enforcement Warning Local Area Emergency 911 Telephone Outage Emergency Nuclear Power Plant Warning Radiological Hazard Warning…

Monitor the Bouncing Flight Path — IFR in the L Region Monitor the Bouncing Flight Path — IFR in the L Region AVIATION My mom gave me my first GPS for my car about six years ago. I was amazed by how it could lead me quickly, and somewhat efficiently, from where I was to where I wanted to go. But a GPS unit, no matter what company it came from, is not 100 percent accurate. My unit has been known to take me down dead end roads. Eventually my daughter acquired the unit as I have six GPS programs in my iPhone. And that’s just for driving. I have eight programs in the same phone for hiking and biking. But anyone who uses a GPS knows sometimes there’s nothing…

Pop’Comm appreciates and encourages comment and feedback from our readers. Via email, please write: <editor@popular-communications.com>. Our postal service address is: Editor, Popular Communications, CQ Communications, Inc., 25 Newbridge Rd., Hicksville, NY 11801-2953 USA. – Richard Fisher, KPC6PC/KI6SN SWL QSLing: Ask and You Will Not Likely Receive Editor, Pop’Comm, In response to your request for Pop’Comm Monitoring Station Awards Program ideas, might I suggest an award for “Spurned Correspondent?” This would recognize the enormous amount of money, time, and effort put forth by SWLs and DXers in their attempt to receive station verifications via postal mail — only to receive diddly in return. The award could either be structured geographically or endorsements could be added to a standard award reflecting the number of unanswered reception reports in incremental levels. This is…

Kenwood’s New Flagship TS-990 Released Introduced during the 2012 Dayton Hamvention®, Kenwood’s newest flagship transceiver, the TS-990, has been approved by the FCC and is set to hit dealerships by the time you read this. Kenwood has stuffed the TS-990 with dual receivers to enable simultaneous reception of two different bands. The main receiver employs full down conversion and features a new mixer and narrow-band roofing filters. Kenwood said that it results in a third-order intercept point of +40 dBm. In addition, Kenwood has added triple, 32-bit floating point DSPs and an original IF AGC circuit featuring DSP technology. Also aiding reception are an adjustable-passband IF filters, simple IF filter switching (A/B/C), IF notch, band elimination, digital and analog noise blankers (NB1/NB2) to reduce pulse noise and noise reduction. On…

Here are the newest station monitors granted a station identification sign, authorized to receive a Certificate of Registration and welcomed to the Pop’Comm Monitoring Station Program. KPC and DX Prefixes They are listed by name, station identification sign, and monitoring station location: Ernest Baldini, KPC4RBD, Melbourne, FL; Jean-Francois Bouvette, VAPC2JFB, Tres Rivieres, Quebec, Canada; Terry Jones, KPC1HOG, Trumann, AR; Joseph Aronson, KPC4RCU, Cocoa, FL; Mike Witowski, KPC9CQ, Stevens Point, WI; Dean Dalrymple, VAPC3DBD, Stratford, Ontario, Canada; Doug Wilkerson, KPCØDW, Fort Collins, CO; Kevin Snyder, KPC3YCB, Rockton, PA; Ken Winograd, KPC1KEN, Merrimack, NH; John Dvorack, KPC8BIN, Toledo, OH; Jim Murphy, KPC9JM, Waukesha, WI; Jamie Lucas, KPC4OEY, Flint City, AL; Kevin Hastings,VEPC9XYZ, Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada. WPC Prefixes Also: Brian Smith, WPC9IND, Greenwood, IN; G. Stewart Taylor, WPC4BV, Suffolk, VA; Robert McCarthy,…

We believe the Global Information Guide — month after month — offers more logs than any other monthly SW publication. (Nearly 350 shortwave broadcast station logs were processed this month!) Why not join the fun and add your name to the list of GIG reporters? Send your logs to Gerry Dexter, Global Information Guide, 213 Forest St., Lake Geneva, WI 53147 or email them to <gdex@wi.rr.com?. See the column text for formatting suggestions. *Not all logs submitted are used. There are usually a few which are obviously inaccurate, unclear, or lack a time or frequency. Also discounted are unidentified, duplicate items (same broadcaster, same frequency, same site), and questionable logs. – WPC9GLD…

Who can be absolutely certain of the identity of the boy pictured in the falling tower photo printed in the St. Petersburg Times? A musty clipping showing the 1965 event was sent my way by a Pop’Comm subscriber wondering if I could verify the kid as his former fourth grade chum. The mother of shortwave listener/scanner enthusiast, Jayson Tucci recently found the picture — ripped from all but a few words of its related caption — while unpacking some old Christmas decorations. It was part of a larger piece of shredded newsprint protecting a delicate Rudolph reindeer ornament. Because Tucci’s mom noticed that one of the newspaper’s articles was radio-related, she set it aside. It became a topic of conversation during his December 2012 holiday visit to the old Florida…

Communications News, Trends and Short Takes Stamps Issued to Commemorate UN Radio Anniversary In celebration of World Radio Day, February 13 — the date on which United Nations Radio was launched in 1946 — a series of postage stamps depicting UNR’s history is being issued. “Since its establishment, UN Radio has used its multilingual programs carried by media outlets around the globe to tell the story of the international community’s efforts to meet the challenges of building a better world,” according to UN officials (VISIT: The UN Postal Administration at <http://bit.ly/WDrVEL>. For the UN Radio website: <http://bit.ly/WjYKXT>. – KPC6PC.) (Source: United Nations) New Tour of BBC Broadcasting House Opens this Month An updated tour of the BBC Broadcasting House launches this month, “bringing to life the work of the (broadcaster’s)…

COMMENTARY It can take a lot of walking to discover radio gear and new technologies that may impact the communications hobbyist. I’m reminded of this each year when I take in the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center — on the hunt for trends in two-way and shortwave/scanner radios. There was no lack of people or goodies. CES 2013, January 7-10, broke both attendance and exhibitor records! • 150,000 attendees (35,000 from more than 170 countries) • 3,250 exhibitors • 20,000 new products spread across 1.92 million square feet of space, Photo A. During my four-day radio walk, I could see clearly the changes and additions in the consumer electronics marketplace. Overall Impressions There were a mind-boggling number of cell phone case exhibits. (NOTE: I bet there…

Understanding ‘Fighting Modulation,’ And a DXing Challenge It was some 80 years ago when inventor Major Edwin H. Armstrong first experimented with frequency modulation of radio signals. However it took another 40 years before FM radio would begin to gain popular acceptance over AM. For one thing, the circuitry was inordinately complex compared to AM. Then the reassignment of the FM broadcast band from 42 to 50 MHz to the current 88 to 108 MHz made early receivers obsolete. Perhaps more importantly, the early development of FM was stunted by parallel experimentation with television in addition to competition with AM. Why invest additional time and money into FM when AM radio was doing well enough and the prospect of television held so much promise? Maybe FM should stand for Fighting…

While we’re getting into what you’ll likely be hearing, here’s a little tutorial on where to listen. To find aviation frequencies specific to your local airport you’ll need a scanner that covers from 118.0 to 135.975 MHz. If you’d rather listen online, you’re in luck. There are many websites from which to choose. Here are a couple to get you going: <http://www.liveatc.net> and <http://www.radioreference.com>. Often, you’ll need to know the ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center) code for the airport you’re interested monitoring. A comprehensive list of codes for facilities around the world can be found at <http://bit.ly/MGUk8P>. Use the IATA Code (International Air Transport Association) search function to find the ARTCC code for the airport you’re seeking. Here are some basic frequencies in MHz to keep handy: • 121.5…

Most ‘Low-Loss’ Coaxial Cable is Anything But . . . A couple of my ham radio buddies were recently discussing the monster-size coaxial cables used by FM and TV broadcast stations, and they were marveling at the amazing low-loss properties of cables they’ll never likely afford. Three-inch to 9-inch hard line — perhaps nitrogen filled — sells for $50 to $500 per foot, and the connectors on each end are priced commensurately! I found that out in the late ’90s when I installed the first wireless Internet system in my hometown. I was lucky enough to score a free 75-foot piece of 2-inch hard line (50-ohm coax with a semi-rigid outer copper sheath) that had been freshly removed from a cell tower that had to be moved. The cable was…

FOI: Who Will Silence the Next Shortwave Broadcaster? Follow the Money . . . COMMENTARY Late in 2012 I found the coincidence a bit much to take: On one hand, there was Syria, a highly volatile country struggling for stability. On the other, there was . . . Canada? Each, on December 1, performing media shut downs. No doubt, most every Syrian with Internet access knew their access had been shut down, while very few Canadians at the time knew their international radio voice had been silenced. In both cases, the government was mostly to blame — though in Canada the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was left holding the knife. In both cases, we have a travesty against Freedom of Information — FOI. The Venerable, Vulnerable Internet I’ve mentioned numerous…

Low-Band DXing By the Light of the Full, Silvery Moon The November 2001 issue of CQ included an interesting article titled “80 Meter DX — The Moon Effect” by Donald Anderson, W7DD, Photo A. In his opening paragraph he wrote: Many years ago I noticed a phenomenon on the 80-meter band when working DX. It seemed that one night each month the band would be incredibly good. EDITORS NOTE: Filling in this month for Tomas Hood, NW7US/WPC7USA is award-winning propagation expert Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, Propagation columnist for WorldRadio Online magazine. This piece appeared in the September 2012 edition of WRO. – KPC6PC From Arizona I would work 30 to 50 Europeans in one evening. A few days before and after that day would also be above average. As this time…

To show our appreciation for your loggings and support of this column, each month we select one “GIG” contributor to receive a free book or other prize. Readers are also invited to send in loggings, photos, copies of QSL cards and monitoring room photos to me at Popular Communications, “Global Information Guide,” 25 Newbridge Rd., Hicksville, NY 11801, or by email to <gdex@wi.rr.com?. The email’s subject line should indicate that it’s for the “GIG” column. So, come on, send your contribution in today! Georgia’s John Miller is this month’s prize winner, namely a copy of the 2013 World Radio TV Handbook, the essential “must have” guide to international broadcasting. If you don’t have your copy yet you had better get with it. You can get the WRTH from any radio…

A New Lease on Life for a Vintage Heathkit SB-220 Amplifier for the Radio Amateur Despite being a relic of another time in amateur radio, many Heathkit SB-220 amplifiers are still operating reliably in daily use in ham stations around the world. My SB-220 came to me back in the early 1980s. It was “used” when I purchased it, and it has since suffered through three decades of heavy use in my shack. I’ll confess to being lazy, and the amplifier was pretty much neglected for those years. One fateful day I reached to tune the amplifier, and while running full power I managed to turn the band-switch knob instead of the plate tuning — instantly destroying the switch and causing other damage. The designers had the same size knobs…