RTI listeners club (Kolkata) meet snaps

Dear friends,

Some of the RTI listeners club (Kolkata) meet snaps can be seen at the following URL:

http://picasaweb.google.com/swopan/RadioTaiwanIntListenersMeetKolkata2008
Regards,

--
Swopan Chakroborty
Kolkata, India

International Radio Serbia - EU offers closer ties to Serbia

Following events from Serbia via shortwave radio

EU offers closer ties to Serbia

The European Union has said it wants to accelerate Serbia's progress towards membership following the re-election of pro-Western President Boris Tadic.Mr Tadic claimed victory after taking slightly more than half the votes cast in a tight run-off contest with nationalist Tomislav Nikolic.It comes as Serbia's Kosovo province prepares to declare independence.In a message to Mr Tadic, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - said the result was "a victory for democracy in Serbia and for the European values we share".

Continued news story from BBC News at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7225727.stm

International Radio Serbia is active on shortwave radio on the following
English schedule:
All times UTC
Target Areas; na (North America) eu (Europe)0100-0130 Mon-Sat. 7115
na0200-0230 7115
na1400-1430 7240
eu1930-2000 6100
eu 7240
eu2200-2230 6100
eu 7240eu
(Source: Monitoring Times-SW Guide)

Chad state radio station put out of action by looters/rebels

IR07
International Relations & Political Science

Chad Latest: Radio Off Air
Posted by Editor on February 2, 2008

It is about 1945 UTC (7:45 p.m.) Saturday - and the Radio Nationale Tchadienne frequency is blank. This new and reasonably high-powered transmitter was coming in well here at my location since its recent inauguration. I can only assume its absence is due to the fighting around Njamena. The Media Network blog reports others as saying they are also missing Chadian media outlets.

Chad state radio station put out of action by looters
Chad state radio went off the air on Saturday as rebels advanced into the capital, opposition leader Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh said. He made the claims in a telephone call from the central African nation’s embattled capital, N’Djamena. Saleh said rebels had entered the city and shooting that had erupted in the morning appeared to have died down. He said there were no soldiers in his neighbourhood and the state broadcaster had gone off the air in the morning.
(Source: Press Association)

Update 1645 UTC Sunday 3 February: More fighting is reported in N’Djamena. AFP reported this morning that government helicopters had attacked a column of rebels in the south of the city heading towards the main radio station. No broadcasts were monitored yesterday evening on 4905 kHz, which had been putting strong signals into Europe in recent days (see attached comment from Dr Derek Lynch).

On Sunday afternoon, the AFP news agency reported that the radio station had been “destroyed today by fires and looting.” Witnesses said the radio station had been pillaged by a mob that smashed broadcasting equipment and made off with computers. That suggests it was put out of action rather than totally destroyed.

Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland Says:

February 2nd, 2008 at 8:00 pm

CHAD 4905 SILENT
Radio Nationale Tchadienne’s new SW transmitter went silent today. I was unablke to hear its French newscast at 1930. The frequency was totally blank - it’s not a case of poor reception. But this transmitter was putting in an excellent signal here, both mornings and evenings, since its recent inauguration. DL

YouTube videos of fighting in Chad

In the absence of TV reports from Chad, I came across some videos posted on YouTube by members of Stop Genocide Now, who were at a hotel in N’Djamena, Chad, as the rebel forces entered the city. The group have now been evacuated. These are very high quality videos.
Fighting in N’Djamena Part 1
Fighting in N’Djamena Part 2
Fighting in N’Djamena: Part 3

Chad rebels fight their way into capitalN'DJAMENA (Reuters) -

Rebels in Chad seeking to overthrow President Idriss Deby battled their way into the capital N'Djamena on Saturday and said they were securing it, but a minister said government forces still controlled the city.Residents and diplomats said rebel fighters had entered the capital, but the situation remained confused. Machine gun and heavy weapons fire, sometimes sporadic, sometimes more intense, could be heard as France prepared to evacuate French and other foreign nationals.Consult the following web address for the additional story:http://www.reuters.com/

The following logs of Chad, reflect what has been monitored in recent weeks. Frequencies remain current at this posting.
Gayle VH - via mt-shortwave Blog

All times UTC

Yes, Chad received here in Sri Lanka too, but only in the evening slot, initially mixing badly with CNR. Thanks for the tip. I have ben rather slow with my DXing due to too much work. But one by one the antennas are getting refurbished and will come back with a lot of interest, not that I have ever been off the band. How can I when I earn a living being in front of a radio.

One comment, someone said probably Chad is down here due to interference on 6 KHz. Well the reason is, I am sure, that evening and morning 6 MHz is not serving a wider area due to propagation in an area between the ground wave and the first sky wave coverage area. With the sun spots so low for local shortwave coverage the angle of return has to be wider as the frequency goes up. Right now here in the tropics in Sri Lanka which is almost similar latitude to Chad, till about 8 a.m. in the morning and after 7 p.m. it is hard to have any coverage in an area about 200kms from the txsite on 6, 7 MHz. So as hams we have to come down to the next band 75metres. With a lot of people depending on SW in Chad the 4904.5 is a logical move. (Victor Goonetilleke-CLN 4S7VK, DXplorer)

4905 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (Ndjamenne). 2256-2301*. 26 Jan 08. French. Hip hop music in English and Afropop in French. Station promos at 2300. National Anthem to sign-off at 2301S9/very good signal. (J Wood, TN)

4905 (reactivated frequency) Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne, Grevia, 1729-1914, Arabic, announcements, talks, local tunes, Vernacular, tribal tunes; French 1859, news, program "Espace Jeune"; 54444; I was unable to monitor its sign-on time, but estimate it as being 1600, and 4905 is ex-6165 evenings only for the latter is used during the day.

4905 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne. Armchair level signals from 0509 tune to 0645 end recording peaked at S5 from 0530 to 0630 with quick improvement from 0509 and slower degradation after 0630. Interesting programing. Local indigenous vocals at 0634-0636. Several telephone call-ins heard around 0600 and after 0636. SINPO 4/5-5-4-4-4. Best I have heard Chad here on any frequency. (Bruce Churchill-USA, DXplorer)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , Grevia, 1328-..., French, news. SINPO 25332, QRM de HRV later on only.
6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , Grevia, 1113-1400,. Vernacular to talks, ... , French at 1340 when signal rated SINPO 25342,..., tribal songs at 1450; 13441, QRM de HRV whose signal is usually felt well after 1400. (Carlos Goncalves-POR, WWDXC BC-DX)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne . Replaced by 4904.97 kHz at 0430-0730 and 1600-2230 UT. 6165 or 7120 on Sat/Sun 0730-1000, daily 1000-1600 UTC.
6165, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne 2210-2230*, Mixing with Croatia. Both in at fair levels with Croatia in English at 2215-2218*. Croatia abruptly off at 2218 leaving Chad in the clear with French talk, Afro-pop music and sign off with national anthem. (Brian Alexander, PA)

6165, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne, 2050-2200, Good Afro-pop with lively DJ, short ID (as stated) in French, 2115 "(Musique) Internationale" started with "Macarena", then mixed Afro, rap and raggae. Wiped out station underneath (Croatia?) completely almost. From 2145 QRM had completely vanished. 2200 News (Krone) (DX Window # 318 via Anker Petersen)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , 1114-Vernacular, tribal songs. SINPO 23431, QRM de HRV but also de RWN in Spanish via Bonaire. Propagation wiped out all 3 stns lateR.(Carlos Goncalves-POR, wwdxc BC-DX ) (Source: WWDXC Top News (BC DX # 796)

Correspondence may be directed to:Radiodiffusion Nationale TchadienneBoite Postal 892N'DjamenaChad(Source: World QSL Book/Teak Publishing)

RFI taken off the air in Ivory Coast (Cote-d'Ivoire)

Abidjan, 1 February 2008: The Ivorian media regulatory body has suspended the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale programmes “across the whole of the country”, “until further notice”, because of the lack of a radio correspondent in the country.“RFI programmes broadcast on FM and by satellite have been suspended as of midnight on 31 January,” says a statement issued by the Ivorian National Audiovisual Communications Council (CNCA), sent to AFP.

The statement, signed by the CNCA chairman, Jerome Diegou Bailly, notes that on RFI’s part there is “a clear determination not to meet either its written pledges or to keep its word”.“RFI put a request to the CNCA and gained approval for a correspondent to be put in place in Abidjan by 31 December, a pledge confirmed to Abidjan on 23 November by Ms Dominique Burg, the network director,” continues the statement, emphasizing that the radio had been given a “further extension until 31 January”.On 18 April 2007, the CNCA had already threatened to suspend RFI programmes until mid-May if the radio failed to keep a correspondent in the country. On 12 May 2006, the CNCA gave permission for RFI programmes to resume broadcasting in Cote d’Ivoire after a gap of almost 10 months, notably for “unprofessional treatment of news”, due partly to the “lack of a correspondent” in the country.

This authorization was given “after several meetings between the two parties, who decided to settle the dispute amicably”.The radio had closed its regional office in Abidjan following the death of its correspondent, Jean Helene, shot in the head and killed by a police officer in Abidjan on 20 October 2003.RFI FM broadcasts in Cote d’Ivoire have been suspended several times since the attempted coup d’etat of September 2002 by rebels of the New Forces against President Laurent Gbagbo.(Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 1629 gmt 1 Feb 08 via BBC Monitoring/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

All India Radio Special Broadcast 25-29 January 2008

All India Radio Special Broadcast 25-29 January 2008
Sat, 19 Jan 2008

Alokesh Gupta,New Delhi All India Radio will broadcast following special programmes in connection with the Republic Day Celebrations.
25 Jan 2008 (Fri) - 1330 UTC onwards : President's Address to the Nation. 9835, 9575, 5015, 6030, 6085
26 Jan 2008 (Sat) - 0350 UTC onwards : Running commentary on the Republic Day Parade and Cultural Pageant from Rajpath Hindi Commentary : 9595, 11620, 15020 English Commentary :6085, 9950, 11585,15050
29 Jan 2008 (Tues) - 1630-1700 UTC Radio Report on 'Beating Retreat' ceremony. 7140, 9835, 9575, 6085
Note : 9950 via Aligarh, 15050 via B'lore, all other freq's via Delhi.
Consequent to the above special broadcasts there will be changes/cancellation in the schedule of National bulletins in Regional languages, Hindi/English News & Current Affairas programmes.
All stations of AIR will relay at least one of these programs.

Reception reports to: spectrum-manager@air.org.in
Or can be submitted online at : http://www.allindiaradio.gov.in/recepfdk.html

Pacific Island Public Radio - RNZI Mailbox documentary January 21

The latest Radio Heritage Foundation documentary on Radio New ZealandInternational [RNZI] looks at the impending sale of government ownedSBC Samoa and considers its impact on local public radio in Samoa.

Previous privatization examples include Radio Cook Islands and WVUVAmerican Samoa. How have these stations fared since? What are the FMradio options that listeners in Apia, Pago Pago and Avarua currentlyenjoy.
Other broadcasters from outside the region, such as Radio ChinaInternational and Radio Australia, are now opening commercial free FMrelay stations across the region. Are the days of locally funded andoperated public radio stations in the islands numbered?
Currently, the 540 AM signal of SBC1 provides cyclone warnings for awide arc of islands including the two Samoas, Niue and Tokelau. Withthe station being sold, will this vital emergency service continue orbe closed down to save costs?
Listen to Mailbox on RNZI on Monday January 21 as David Ricquish ofthe Radio Heritage Foundation explores some of the issues. Visithttp://www.rnzi.com/ for shortwave frequencies and times, and to download anaudio on demand version of the program that will be available onlinefor four weeks from January 21.
For more information about broadcasting in the two Samoas, CookIslands and Tokelau, visit http://www.radioheritage.net/. An online versionof the program script along with exclusive images of Samoan radiowill also be available from later in January at http://www.radioheritage.net/.
Updated versions of the full Pacific Asian Log Radio Guides forMediumwave and Shortwave stations across the region are alsoavailable, and a new series of Pacific Radio Guides including all FMstations in the region will be available shortly athttp://www.radioheritage.net/.

The Radio Heritage Foundation "Sharing the Stories of Pacific Radio"
Radio New Zealand International website: http://www.rnzi.com/

Radio Heritage Foundation website: http://www.radioheritage.net/

Cops clean up the air over Sagar, 6 illegal radio stations busted

Suchetana Haldar
Posted online: Saturday , January 12, 2008 at 02:08:16
Updated: Saturday , January 12, 2008 at 02:23:15

Kolkata, January 11 The West Bengal Police today cracked down on six unauthorised private radio stations operating on Prasar Bharati frequencies. All have been operative in the various pockets under the Sagar police station in South 24 Parganas under names like Nagraj betar kendra, Ma Bishalakkhi and Ma Kali asthayi betar kendra. Acting on secret information from amateur radio operators, officers from the Sagar police station raided these centres.
Praveen Kumar, SP (South 24 Parganas) said: “We raided and dismantled six radio stations. Four persons were arrested. These stations have been running for long.”

A huge number of music CDs, DVDs, microphones and six radio transmitters and high frequency antennae were seized from these offices. The operators — Anukul Shaw, Shanatan Jana, Srikanta Pramanik and Gaur Chandra Maity — were in their early twenties. Jana runs a radio repair shop in his neighbourhood.
A year ago, amateur HAM radio operators had warned the monitoring station at Gopalpur, in South 24 Parganas, about unauthorised radio stations.
The monitoring station is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Communications, Government of India. The monitoring station had filed a police complaint last year, but it had been difficult to locate the base stations then. This year, the police succeeded in tracking them down.
In general, the makeshift stations operate by procuring indigenous transmitters. “Transmitter circuits can be readily made at homes. The radio operators then procure these transmitters and the entire station could come up for an investment of Rs 5000 only. Then they are free to air music, organise request shows and make revenues from advertisements,” said an amateur radio operator. The operators make brisk business round the year airing local ads.

These operators operate in the medium wave in the range of frequencies 565 KiloHz to 1600 kiloHz used for broadcasting services like All India Radio.

The unauthorised broadcasters often suppress the Prasar Bharati broadcasts as the transmitters are quite powerful locally, say within a radius of five to seven kilometres.

Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition 5-6 January 2008

Radio Havana Cuba
Dxers Unlimited
Dxers Unlimited’s weekend edition 5-6 January 2008
By Arnie CoroRadio
amateur CO2KK

Hi amigos radioaficionados around the world and in space… welcome to the weekend edition of Dxers Unlimited coming to you from Havana . I am Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK , and it is my pleasure to begin another year during which Dxers Unlimited will be on the air, as always at the service of radio hobby enthusiasts , people like you and I who enjoy this wonderful way of spending our spare time.Now here is our first item of today’s program, it’s certainly very important news, that I am sure is going to make everyone really happy…

It’s news we were all waiting for ansiously… finally, it has happened, 93 million miles away from Earth, the long awaited first reverse magnetic polarity high latitude sunspot group has appeared, signaling the start of solar cycle 24 !!!Yes amigos, the Sun made headlines asSOLAR CYCLE 24 BEGINS: Solar physicists have been waiting for the appearance of a reversed-polarity sunspot to signal the start of the next solar cycle. The wait is over. January the third a magnetically reversed sunspot emerged at solar latitude 30 N,, and that amigos is what we were all waiting for …this is an almost one hundred percent assurance that the new cycle has now started, but let me add that the solar maximum for this new cycle is still several years away…The magnetic configuration of bipolar sunspots with leading positive/negative polarity in the northern/southern hemisphere, is associated with solar cycle 23. According to what is known as the butterfly rule, the new high latitude sunspot region belongs to cycle 24. It was named active region 10981 or just 981 for all practical purposes.New solar cycles always begin with a high-latitude, reversed polarity sunspot, according to solar scientists."Reversed magnetic polarity " means a sunspot with opposite magnetic polarity compared to sunspots from the previous solar cycle. "High-latitude" refers to the sun's grid of latitude and longitude. Old cycle spots congregate near the sun's equator. New cycle spots appear higher, around 25 or 30 degrees latitude.The region that appeared on Dec. 11th fitted both these criteria. It was high latitude (24 degrees N) and magnetically reversed. Just one problem: There wass no sunspot. That region was just a bright knot of magnetic fields. If, however, these fields coalesced into a dark sunspot, scientists were ready to announce that Solar Cycle 24 had officially begun, something they could not do, as no sunspot appeared there, but things changed radically early during 2008, when a real true active sunspot region was spotted by optical observations around the world. The new sunspot active region 981, at approximately 30 degrees latitude is a perfect match for all the criteria about the start up of a new solar cycle, so amigos, solar cycle 24 is now here with us. Now let me add that during the next several months sunspots from both cycles will be seen, those at high solar latitudes will be from cycle 24 and the ones near the solar equator will be the last ones from now coming to an end cycle 23…As more sunspots from cycle 24 appear, we may see an upward swing in the daily solar flux, and that should improve shortwave propagation all along 2008.Si amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis… Cycle 24 is here and we are certainly happy that it finnally started !!! I’ll be back in just a few seconds after a short break for station ID. I am Arnie Coro in Havana……………….

You are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is Dxers Unlimited and here is item two of today’s program…Our antenna topics section will be devoted today to a special type of short wave antenna systems that are especially designed to provide short range ionospheric communications, using the so-called Near Vertical Incidence Skywave or NVIS propagation mode. NVIS antennas are very important for emergency communications systems, that use it when other systems suffer damages that reduce their traffic handling capacity or simply take them off the air. NVIS communications stations can be deployed anywhere and even one single individual is capable of setting up such a station in less than an hour, using low height wire antennas. Today, here at Dxers Unlimited’s antenna topics section we will be describing to you some of the most efficient NVIS antennas that have been used here in Cuba during tropical storms and hurricanes related emergencies, achieving a very high degree of reliability. The amateur bands used for NVIS systems here are 40 meters during the local daytime hours and 80 meters at night. The typical NVIS antenna is a half wave dipole installed at a very low height above the ground, so that the signal sent out by the antenna goes almost straight up at angles between 45 and 90 degrees. The signals come back to Earth with high intensity at distances from practically zero to around 700 kilometers around the transmitting station when the degree of ionization is at an adequate level. One interesting fact about NVIS communications is that they work quite well at rather low power levels, making possible for field stations to communicate using power outputs in the 10 to 100 Watt range. Base stations usually run higher power levels, but need to use the same type of low height antennas in order to assure that they are using the Near Vertical Incidence Skywave propagation mode. Another type of antenna recommended for these EMCOMMS or emergency communications stations is a full wave loop that is also installed at very low heights above the ground. One of the big mistakes that is often seen during communications emergencies is that field stations try to establish the NVIS mode links using vertical whip antennas, something that will prove to be a fruitless effort. Vertical antennas radiate at very low take off or departure angles, so very little radio frequency energy goes straight up as required for the NVIS mode to work. A few days ago a group of radio amateurs started to work on a new compact antenna system , that is smaller in size than a half wave dipole, while at the same time still been very efficient on the NVIS mode. The wire antenna , in its 40 meters band version requires just 11 meters of horizontal space between the masts or support structures, and is off center fed with coaxial cable and a coaxial cable choke to suppress the common mode radiation from the outside of the coax shield. The new antenna was designed using up to date sophisticated antenna modelling software and I am going to start testing the prototype next week. As soon as the preliminary test results are available, as always, I will be very happy to share them with Dxers Unlimited’s listeners and readers around the world.……

And now here LA NUMERO UNO, the number one most popular section of Dxers Unlimited, here at the first 2008 edition of the program, YOU have questions and Arnie tries to answer them…

Today’s question was sent by listener Mark in Ontario, Canada, and he wants to know more about low cost amateur radio equipment, because he tells me that he is on a shoestring budget, but nevertheless wants to start his own ham radio station. Well amigo Mark, not too long ago I made an attempt to create a low budget HF or short wave ham radio station, and after a few days , I was pretty happy with the results… Instead of trying to homebrew a sophisticated transceiver, my option uses a portable solid state short wave receiver that has a built in BFO or beat frequency oscillator. In my case the radio used for the project is a Sony ICF-7600-G portable, that is powered from four 1.5 volts penlight cells. The low cost ham station project includes a bandpass input filter and attenuator , with the transmit- receive switching incorporated into it, the 10 to 25 Watts power output solid state transmitter, and the AC power supply . No attempt was made to make anything miniature, in order to simplify the homebrewing. The Sony ICF7600-G is used with communications type earphones, and let me add that this is a CW , that is radiotelegraphy mode station, but a further development may turn it into a double side band voice station in the near future. The switching between receive and transmit is done while providing full protection to the front end of the portable receiver, and you can monitor the output of the transmitter by listening to the signal on the earphones. The whole station can be used for fully portable operation with a gell cell accumulator , that provides twelve volts DC to the transmitter, and 6 volts for the radio trough a simple one integrated circuit voltage regulator circuit. By using the SONY ICF-7600-G portable with its BFO, or any similar receiver, the low cost CW amateur station’s construction is simplified in a very significant way , because homebrewing a high quality digital readout receiver is quite a challenge, even for experienced radio amateurs. Assembling the bandpass input filter and RF attenuator and the transmit receive switching, the CW transmitter and the AC power supply while not a simple task is much more within the possibilities of homebrewers that are familiar with electronics and that can always obtain help from more experienced radio amateurs of your radio club. So amigo Mark, I have already e-mailed to you the block diagrams of this unique low cost amateur radio station project, as well as the circuit diagrams and some notes about the CW transmitter, the bandpass input filter and the transmit-receive switching system. This station is now on the air at CO2KK, operating on two bands, 40 and 20 meters with good results, despite the prevailing HF propagation conditions due to the extremely low solar activity. It like amigo Mark you are interested in learning more about this low cost approach ham radio station, just drop me an e-mail to arnie at rhc.cu, and I will send you the dot zip file with all the information required to duplicate this project.……

And now amigos, as always at the end of the show, here is Arnie Coro’s Dxers Unlimited HF propagation update and forecast … Solar flux is at a rather low 80 units, and the K index, the three hourly geomagnetic disturbance indicator was at a rather high figure of 5 early morning Saturday my local time here in Havana, at 12 hours UTC. This is due to the effects of a high speed solar wind that will disrupt HF propagation at high latitudes during the next two days. The winter Sporadic E season is now coming to an end, and we will have to wait until late April for the spring summer E skip season to start. The effective sunspot number is 20, and the daily sunspot number is now 20…

See you all at the midweek edition of the program amigos…
Send your signal reports,
QSL requests and radio hobby related questions to arnie at rhc.cu
or VIA AIR MAIL to
Arnie Coro
Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba

More FM Stations in India

Big FM has launched in Jodhpur, taking the totalnumber of stations to 42 across India.Big FM is already operational in places that includeMumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata andBangalore, and several Tier II towns.It will launch 4 more stations to complete 45 stationsall over India.Some of the shows are Big Chai, Nakhrali, Dil Dostietc, Big Dhamaal and Raat Chand Aur Mai.- Indiaprwire.com 03/01

Club FM 94.3 started broadcasting from here Kerala –Kannur on December 30. The new FM station started byMathrubhumi was inaugurated by Mathrubhumi ManagingDirector M.P. Veerendrakumar, MP. Mathrubhumi ManagingEditor P. V. Chandran was among those present.- The Hindu 02/01

Sunday December 2 2007 13:44 ISTExpress News ServiceT'PURAM: With Sun TV's S FM all set to follow Malayala Manorama's RadioMango, the sky of Kerala is changing to a battle field of corporate mediahouses.S FM will go on air from Kozhikode early next week as the second private FMradio station in the state.December will also see the entry of Radio Mirchi from the Times of Indiastable, Big FM, an Adlabs-Reliance joint venture, and Club FM, Mathrubhumi'sFM station, in the Kerala sky.Thiruvananthapuram is going to witness a fierce battle to see who willbecome the pioneer as S, Big, Mirchi and Club have all geared up for theshow and are waiting to clear a technical snag."Kerala had a good tradition of radio listening, thanks to the AIR. Thiswill make our task easier," said Nisha Narayanan, project head, S FM."Though we primarily target youngsters in the age group of 15-40 years, I amsure the channel will be acceptable for all who love music," said Nisha.S FM 93.5 has the most number of stations, five, in the state. The group hasplans to make these stations the best among its 45 stations in the country.Krishna Menon, station head, Radio Mirchi said Radio Mirchi is a 'bollywoodchannel' in Mumbai and likewise in Thiruvananthapuram, it will be a channelfocussing on Malayalam film industry.The Big FM has plans to win Malayalee hearts by organising Corporate SocialRelief activities.But, will a medium market like Kerala has the potential to support four orfive FM stations in each town? "The future lies in smaller cities," saidNisha Narayanan.The experts point out the example of Colombo's success. Though a mediumtown, Colombo is successfully supporting around 20 FM stations in Simhaleseand Tamil.

Updated Shortwave Pacific Asian Log Online

Updated Shortwave Pacific Asian Log Online
The latest database and pdf editions of Bruce Portzer's shortwavePacificAsian Log are now online at www.radioheritage.net.All the latest changes, new stations, new formats and much more.Thousands of SW radio stations covering the entire Asian Pacificregion. Online search possibilities. Access remains complimentary24/7 for worldwide users.This is the most comprehensive listing freely available anywhereonline. Well over 23,000 data entries to make your listening easier.Some shortwave countries are close to becoming extinct, with only oneentry each for places like Afghanistan, Antarctica, Bhutan, andNepal. Others have only two or three entries.However, China has 865 current entries indicating that shortwavebroadcasting remains very healthy in this growing Asian powerhouse. Whilst at www.radioheritage.net, read our new articles and stories aswell. Plenty of interest for everyone wanting to know all about radioacross the region.The updated mediumwave database version is already online as well.The NewZealand @ A Glance AM database now contains 200+ stations and hasalso been updated.
The New Zealand Low Power FM Radio Guide isupdated daily.Thanks for visiting www.radioheritage.net, home of the Radio HeritageFoundation.

Radio fans rejoice, 97 new FM channels in a fortnight

Over the next fortnight, the country will have 97 new FM radio stations, a big leap for the already booming industry.The Information and Broadcasting Ministry would allow open bids from 27 companies for the FM radio stations to be launched in cities in five categories on December 29 and January 10. While cities like Delhi, B, Mumbaiangalore, Hyderabad, Allahabad and Jamshedpur will have only one channel, the FM magic will make its mark in smaller towns like Bikaner, Trichy, Udaipur, Warangal, Agartala and Gangtok.The ministry believes the FM bandwidth is already crowded in major cities and therefore, the scope of providing new FM channels to these centers would be difficult. However, in smaller towns the FM radio is expected to be a major success as more and more people are taking to listening to radio programmes.The auctioning is proving to be a win-win situation for both the government and the private radio stations. During an earlier bidding, the government had earned Rs 11 billion and has also resulted in a continuous flow of revenue. The government expects to have a huge response from the players this time also.Although there has been a delay of over six months for the auction to take place, industry sources said, that good sense has prevailed at last with the announcement of the new dates. The government had earlier announced an auction date for June, but had later postponed it to November. However, the December-January deadline is expected to stand.The ministry is also working on the third phase of FM channels, where all cities would get more FM stations. By next year FM radio players can expect the launch of the third phase, an official said.