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The Scout's unique Memory Tune 1l'a1.Pcnd. 1 feature a llows you to capture frequencies, log into memory and tune your ARS000/2700 at a later time. A distinctive double beep will inform you when the Scout has captured a new frequen-cy, while a single beep indicates a frequency that has already been recorded. For discreet monitor-ing, a pager style vibrator will inform you of any hits the Scout captures.

The Scout will also Reaction Tune and Memory Tune !com CI-V receivers: (R7000, R7100, and R9000) and (Pro 2005/6 equipped with 08456, Pro 2035 equipped with OS535l. Download the Scout frequencies to a PC with the Scout Uti lity Disk and CX-12AR (optional ), then compare them to the Spectum CD-ROM/PerCon FCC Database (optional).

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Records and saves 400 urnque frequencies Records 255 hits on each frequency in memory 01g1tal Filter and AutoCapture 1Pa1 P"Jld , 1 OMHz-1 4GHz single frequency range View frequencies in RECALL mode 1 O d1g11 LCD with EL Backhght 16 Segment RF signal strength bargraph CX-12AR Computer Interlace (optional) PC Uti lity Disk for downloading memory to PC Rap d charge N1Cads with 10 hour discharge time Scout Spectrum COROM/PerCon FCC database {optional) AC Adaptor/Charger DB 32 VHF/UHF mm1-antenna shown with Scout (optional) 01st1nct1ve BeeperMbrator mdrcate frequency hits

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Vol. 15, No.3 March 1996

Cover St01y

Will the Sun Set an Radio Canada International? By Ian McFarland

"O n December 11 , the entire staff of RCI received termination notices that the external broadcast-ing service was slated to be shut down March 31st-the end of Canada's fiscal year. Although re-cent developments cause station sup-porters to be "cautiously optimis-tic," the fact that such a move was even contemplated has wider impli-cations for international broadcast-ing as a whole.

Fonner RCI host McFarland takes a hard look at the role of RCI and how other international broadcast services are meeting the demands of their mandate versus their budget. Story on page 9.

Cover: Canadian sunset photo-graphed by John Bailey superim-posed on collage from RCI of past QSL cards.

CONTENTS

The LAFD Operations Center .................................. 16 By Les Butler

MT takes a unique tour this month-under the city of Los Angeles. Put-ting a new dis-patch system into place is never easy, but

try doing it four stories underground where 23 fire department dispatchers already live and handle the emergency needs of a major city .

Road li'ip far Your Radio ............. 23 By Ken Reitz

The spring thaw invites you outdoors, but you can ' t quite cut the umbilical cord that's grown between you and your radio over the winter! Don ' t fret ; you can shed those couch potato pounds enjoyi ng your bicycle, the out-of-doors, and your radio hobby al l at the same time. Here are a few practical tips from experience.

Grandpa John's Packet Watch ................................ 26 By Havana Moon

A mysterious, entertaining, and always controversial figure was Havana Moon, whose specialty was the "spy numbers stations." MT commemorates his contribution to the hobby by publishing this autobiographical account of how his interest in radio began. We' ll also finally disclose Havana Moon's true identity!

Reviews: I.,__ -

Brand new on the market is an attracti ve little shortwave portable from Grundig-the Travel ler II. Magne suggests

., ... ... i

-_,. - .... -

ti C' ~ ~.. ' , . ~" ~ .. >'; >-.: '

- !"' ,.....~.,. .. -

that this is the fi rst sign ofGrundig's quality improvements trickling down to the lower-cost models. Street price on this one is likely to be just under$ IOO. Check out the full review on page 98.

Doug DeMaw found an addi tion to his Workbench to be so indispensable, he had to review it for MT. Everyone should read DeMaw's review of CAIG's dcoxidizer spray (page 96). It might just save a trip to the repair shop.

On page 90 Computers & Radio brings us up to date on the latest version of Scan Star Plus fo r Windows-Catalano says he's never seen the FRG-9600 scan so fas t 1

DEPARTMENTS

Letters ................................................ 4 Communications ........................... ..... . 6 Beginner's Corner ............................. 28

How to Read Hauser Scanning Report ............................... 30

Scanning at CES Utility World ..................................... 34

A Trip to MARS Shortwave Broadcasting .................... 38 QSL Report ..................... .................. 42 English Lang SW Guide ... .................. 43 Club Circuit ....................................... 67 Propagation Conditions ..................... 68 Below 500 kHz ................................. 70

Lowfer Update American Bandscan/DX Tests ............ 72

Anatomy of an AM Antenna Outer Limits ...................................... 7 4

'95, '96 Pirate Activity On the Ham Bands ............................ 76

A Computer in the Ham Shack Special Events Calendar .......... ........... 77 DeMaw' s Workbench ........................ 78

Easy Circuit Boards Plane Talk ........................................ 80

Frequently Asked Questions

Federal File ....................................... 82 Guarding Royal Visitors

Satellite TV ........... ............................ 84 New Sots on Horizon

Experimenters Workshop .................. 86 NFM Discriminator Magic

Slcylink ............................................. 88 Rising Tide of Wireless

Computers & Radio ........................... 90 Market Watching, Scan Star Update

Net News ..... .................................... 92 Old-time radio

What's New ..................................... 93 Review: CAIG Deox/T

Magne Tests ........... .......................... 98 Grundig Traveller II

Scanning Equipment ........................ l 00 Fixing Bearcat Scanners

Antenna Topics ....... ...................... .. 102 Same Antenna: Different Results

K.l.S. Radio .................................... l 06 Buying Used Equipment

Ask Bob ......................................... 108 Stock Exchange .............................. 11 0 Closing Comments .......................... 112

A Theory of T echno Evolution

MONITORING TIMES (ISSN: 0889-5341 l is published monthly by Grove Enterprises, Inc., Brasstown, North Caroli na, USA. Copyright 1996. Second doss postage paid at Brasstown, NC, and additional moi ling offices. Short excerpts may be reprinted with appropriate credit. Complete a rticles moy not be reproduced without permission.

Subscription Rotes: $23.95 in US; $48.50 Canada air; and . $85. 95 foreign air elsewhere, US funds. Label indicates last issue of subscription

Address: P.O. Box 98, 7540 Highway 64 West, Brosstown, NC 289020098

Telephone: (7041 8379200 Fox: (70418372216 (24 hours) Internet Address: www.grove.net or mt@grove.net;

Ed itorial: mteditor@grove.net

Postmaster: Send address changes to Monitoring Times, P.O. Box 98, Brosstown, NC 28902-0098.

Disclaimer: While Monitoring Times makes an effort to ensure the information it publ;shes ;, accurate , ;t cannot be held Hobie lor the contents. The reader assumes any risk for performing modification or construction projects published in Monitoring Times. Opinion or conclusions expressed ore not necessarily the view of Monitoring Times or Grove Enterprises. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted. SASE if material is lo be returned.

Owners Editorial Staff Bob and Judy Grove

Publisher Bob Grove, WA4PYQ

Editor Rachel Baughn, KE40PD

Art Director John Bailey

Design Assistants Melody Adams, Emily Short

Advertising Svcs. Beth Leinbach

(704) 389-4007 Business Manager

Kelly Davis, KE4T AM

Frequency Manager ... Gayle Von Horn Frequency Monitors ... David Datko, Jeff Demers Program Manager ... Jim Frimmel Beginner's Corner ... T.J. Arey, WB2GHA

Plane Talk ... Jean Baker, KIN9DD Scanning Report ... Richard Barnett

Computers and Radio ... John Catalano Below 500 kHz ... Kevin Corey, WB2QMY

Experimenter's Wkshp ... Bill Cheek Propagation ... Jacques d' Avignon

DeMow's Workbench ... Doug DeMow, WlFB Digital Digest ... Bob Evans

Federal File ... John Fulford, WA4VPY Net News ... Bill Grove

SW Broadcasting ... Glenn Houser On the Ham Bands ... Ike Kerschner, N31K

Mogne Tests ... Lawrence Mogne

Communicotions .... Lorry Miller What's New? .... Lorry Miller

Skylink ... .Wayne Mishler, KG5BI Scanning Equipment .... Bob Parness, AJ9S

Satellite TV .... Ken Reitz, KS4ZR Antenna Topics .... W. Clem Small, KR6A

American Bondscon .... Doug Smith, W9WI SW Broadcast Logs .. .. Gayle Von Horn

QSL Corner .... Gayle Von Horn Utility World .... Larry Von Horn, N5FPW Outer Limits .... George Zeller

Correspondence to columnists should be mailed c/o Monitoring Times via e-mail {mt@grove.net) or via post office. Any request for a personal reply should be occomponied by on SASE.

Scanners/CB/Weather Stations New Scanner ProductsAvailab/.e Now it's easy to purchase communications, emergency management supplies, weather forecasting equipment and more directly from Communications Electronics Inc. Your free fax-on-demand catalog including un-advertised specials is instantly available by calling 313-663-8888 from your fax machine.

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the Davis Weather Monitor ll. Our topof-theline weather station combines the most advanced weather monitoring technologies available into one incredible package. Glance at the display, and see wind direction and wind speed on the comrass rose. Check the barometric trend arrow to see i the pressure is rising or falling. Push a button, and read indoor and outdoor temperature, wind chill, humid ity and barometric pressure. Our package deal includes the new ultra high resolution l/ I 00 inch rain collector part #7852-U, and the external temperature/humidity sensor, part #7859-U. The package deal is order #DAVl-U for S479.95 plus S 15.00 shipping. If you have a personal computer, when you order the optional Weatherlink computer software for $139.95, you'll have a powerful com-puterized weather station at an incredible price. For the IBM PC or equivalent order part #7862-U. Apple Mac Plus or higher including PowerBook, order part number 7866-U. TM W 0!,~~:R ; o, . - :~ ~: - ~ (-:: -, . ' ~:: ~. ' :~ .. ->.: _ '. : . ~; - :: \.. _ ~~~

Bearcat 9000XLT-U Radio Scanner Mfg. suggested list price $769.95/CE Special $369.95 500 Channels 20 banks Alpha numeric display Turbo Scan VFO Control 10 Priority channels Auto Store Auto Recording Reception counter Frequency step resolution 5, 12.5 & 25 KHz. Size: 10-J/2" Wide x 7-J/2" Deep x 3-3/8" High Frequency Coverage: 25.000-549.995 MHz., 760.000823.995 MHz., 849.0125-868.995 MHz., 894.01251,300.000 MHz.

The Bearcat 9000XL T gives you pure scanning satisfaction with amazing features like TurboSearch to search VHF channels at 300 sleps per second. This base and moble scanner is ideal for surveillance professionals bec3use ii has a selecuble a11enua1or to help eliminaJc annoying inJcrmodulation from adjacent fre quencies In highly populated areas and selectable AM, Wide FM and Narrow FM modes that a!Jow you to change the default receiving mode of the BC9000XLT. Other fea1ures include Auto Store - Aulomatically s1ores all active frequencies within the specified bank(s). Auto Recording - This fea1ure lelSyou record channel activiiy from the scanner onto a tape recorder. Hi-Cut filter to help elimina1e unwanted static noise. You can even get an optional C/'CSS Tone Board (Continuous Tone Control Squelch System) which allows the squelch 10 be broken during scanning only when a correct CTCSS tone is received. For maximum scanning cnjoymen~ order the following optional accessories: PSOO 1 Cigarette ligh1er power cord for temporary operation from your vehicle's cigarene lighter $14.95; PS002 DC power cord enables permanent operation from your vehicle's fuse box $14.95; MBOOl Mobile mounting bracket $14.95; BC005 CTCSS Tone Bo2rd $54.95; EX7l1 External speaker with mounting bracket & JO feel of cable with plug attached $19.95. 'Ole BC9000XLT comes wilh AC adapter, telescopic antenna, owner's manual and one year limited warranly from Uniden.

CB GMRS .Radi"l:>s ( .. . . ] ...... ,, .. _ .. , .... h .. , ...... ,., ... , .. , ... ,.: .. , ... : .......... . , ........... .. . .,,, ..

maxon The M:uon GMRS 2lo-+3 lransceiver is a Pll synthesized I 0 channel radio on General Mobile Radio Service frequen des. It's the Ideal radio for long range rommunlctions. Two repeater channels are programmable and one channel (462.675 Milz.) is sel aside for emer gency and safeJy communications. The seven remaining interstiU:il frequencies 462.5625, 462.5875, 462.6125, 462.6375,

462.6875 & 462.7125 Miiz are all-purpose GMRS radio channels. 2 watlS of RF power for exceptional ll'ansmitting range. Up to 5 waJIS when used with the supplied 12 voll vehicular DC power cord. CTCSS built-In. Includes 450mAh Ni-c.id rechargeable battery pack, AC/DC wall ba1tery charger, owner's ma.nual, FCC license applica lion, bell clip, antenna. Call 1-8()().USASCAN to order. Maxon GMRS210+3-U GMRS transceiver ...... $188.95 SPECIAL Buy 2 or more GMR210+3atS174.95 each

ll'TA31JT-U Ni.ad ba11ery ctwier for WTA6GN4 ll WTA6GN2 .. 158.95 WTA6GN4-U Ni.ad pack gives 4 walt5 power "ith 210+3 ... ...... S55.95 \\'TA6GN2U Ni-earl pad gives 2 walt5 power ";th 2103 ......... $29.95 WTA6GA-U Alkaline batlery C3SC - requires 6 AA ba11erles .......... 19.95 WTASGAU Carrying case for Maxon GMRS21C>+3 ........................ 129.95 \\7AIOGU Splt "'""~"e rmu ----------1109.95 Sangean ATS800-0 portt.ble 20 mmory shortwave r~hn -M------- S69.9S Sangean ATS803AU portable shortnve w/AC ldapter - 9 memory ---- SI29.9S Slngean ATS808-U poruble 45 memory shortwave real"" --------- $129.95 Unidcn EXP9200..U 900 MHL 1 or 2 lint sprttd spectrum rordlm phone . S289.9S Unldupread spe

A New Product Wish List Following are a few of your responses 10

January"s "Closing Comments enquiry into what new products readers would like 10 see in the marketplace. Joe Balitza. Jr.. of Palmerton. Pennsylva-nia. (a subscriber from MTs very first issue). says he wonders why manufacturers don 1 make portable radios with a variety of fre-quency ranges in the$ I 00 plus price range. For example. he'd like something on the orderofaSony JCF-M200orGrundig YB400 which also includes the TV station frequen-cies. Another charter subscriber. Will iam Marton of St. Louis, Missouri . sends his wish list:

I) An alarm clock with multiple alarms sellable to time and day of the week. similar to programmi ng a VCR. Ideally, it would include a recorded voice announcemelll (such as '"Listen to Glenn Hausers World of Radio on 9475 kHz'" or "This Old House coming on soon on PBS"). and could trigger a beeper if one were elsewhere in the house or nearby.

2) TV-audio radios that cover the full spectrum of TV transmissions-UHF as well as VHF.

3) Hand-held electronic solitaire similar to the one on Microsoft Windows.

4) Audio tape recorder 1ha1 uses VHS tape and records in VHS format, that can play audio from any VHS tape. and is stackable with other Hi-Fi components.

5) A really effec tive ballery charger that works on all types of ballerics automatically. Should automatically sense the type of bat-tery and amount of charge. Bob Fraser. a fa ithful contributor 10 MT from Cohasset. Massachuscus. says. 1 would like to see a good basic radio. one with excel-lent sensitivity. excellent selectivity. and ex-cellent dynamic range over the whole spec-trum coverage of the recci vcr. I feel that today's manufacturers are becomino too com-placent and are ignoring their custo"mers. We seem to be gelling glitz, not quality. From what I hear, the new scanners are no better than the old. New shortwave radios don "t even equal the ones they' re replac ing.

" If I were a radio manufacturer and had a new product to offer. I would make three dozen prototypes and have interested people try them in the field ... Steven Hada of Rosemead. Cali fornia. came up with some wishes and fantasies:

I) Handhcld combinatio n scanner/fre-quency counter.

4 MONITORING TIMES March 1996

LETTERS

Co11gratulatio11s to Floyd Perry of Stockton, California, whose name was drawn by Bob Grove out of two dozen entries. Floyd won the Phase Locked AM Option kit offered by Herbert Foster in January 's "Letters. "

2) Audio casseue recorder/radio that is time and frequency programmable (audio-only VCR).

3) Tabletop SW receiver with Drake' s performance. Grundig's audio qual ity and ergonomi1.:s. and JRCs bu ild quality.

4) Digitally-tuned TV-audio radio that recei ve~ TV channels 2 through 69 (with stereo and SAP).

5) Speech readout for 1111.whi111{ and everr-1hi11g with a digital display (for the blind)."

6) High quality radios with wood and metal cabinets.

7) Sci f-contained pedal-powered electric generator for use in charging balleries and running equipment during power outages.

8) Analog clock who~c hour hand can be moved with a single switch for changing between standard and daylight savings time.

9) A new telephone infrastructure wi th voice bandwidth greater than 3 kHz.

I 0) A TV broadcast standard with equi p-ment that can transmit and receive the entire frequency range of visible light and the same luminescence scale as daylight!

I hope manufacturers will note there are some areas of signi fcant similarity in the above lists!

Hatteras DXpedition George Ze ll e r e labo rates o n the

DXpedition of which he was a part. and which is pictured in February's feature by Jacques er Avignon. Eight veteran DXers gathered in a vacat ion condo in Buxton. Nonh Carolina. George says, "This location proved to be an excellent spot for SWBC DXing. and

for European and Afri can recept ion on me-dium and long wave. The structure was far enough away from power lines and other buildings. so noise levels were fortunately qui te low.

upon arrival on Thursday afternoon, the fi rst order of business was the erection of antennas. More than a dozen longwires. di-poles, and terminated beverages were up be-fore sundown. Most of these were hundreds of feet in length. My own antenna was a 500 foot longwire poi nted west. The abi lity to stri ng very long antennas in a quiet spot is the most important advantage of a DXpedition. Excellent DX results are virtually inevitable under these conditions.

""This DXpedition featured an unusually good collection of excellent receivers, in-cluding two Watkins Johnson HF- I ooos. two Drake R-SAs. a Drake R-8. one each of a Japan Radio Corporation 535, 525, and 5 l5. a Lowe Europa. a Coll ins R388 and a Collins R390A. two Yupiteru MVT-7 IOO's.andTony Gennanolla 's ITI Mackay Marine 3020A that I had never seen before. I brought my Sherwood SE-3 Mark llT synchronous detec-tor unit. which was used wi th outstanding results on both the HF-IOOO"s and the R-390A. Other equipment included plenty of headphones. tape recorders. and a laptopcom-pu lcr used for rapid communicat ion of DXpedi tion logs via internet to the outside world.

""Literally hundreds of good logs resulted. Given the internet setup. the best of them have appeared already in DX resources. My overall favorite was clear copy of the 1200 kW mediumwave transmiuer on I 386 kHz in Bolshakovo (Kalingrad), Russia. with a relay of the English service of Radio Netherlands including Jonathan Marks' voice. It was odd to hear Jonathan via Russia on mediumwave.

.. I certain ly encourage all DXers to attend a DXpedition if possible. The long antennas in a quiet spot solve two constant problems that I have from my home QTH. Everyones DX skill improves considerably when there arc other DXcrs in the room, and when you spend some consecutive days roaming the bands.""

Ham DX Opportunities Jorge Martinez, stationed al the Panama

Canal. chimes in wi th others who mi ss the DX Tips Rob Gerardi offered in his boxed regular feature next to "On the Ham Bands."

(Continued on Page 104)

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Motorola 22.2; Gass 0 Talk about gelling hammered. Larry Gass,

who was recently convicted of modifying devices [radios l intended for unauthori zed interception or publication of radio commu-nications'' in Tulsa. Oklahoma. is now being sued by Motorola for copyright and trade-mark infringements.

Motorola. which d id $22.2 bi llion dollars worth of business in I 994, says that Gass used Motorola's "registered trademarks to create the false impression that the [presumably modified] radios originated w ith or were ap-p roved and autho rized by Motorola ." Motorola asked the court to g rant a perma-ne nt injunction against the defendants from engaging in further " illegal activ ity" in addi-tion to the granting of 'monetary and other damages."

According to Anthony Bie l!. manager of soft ware protection at Motorola. Gass "was actually programming radios to operate [ital-ics ours] on the Tulsa public safety radio systems for people who had absolutely no business communicating with these agenc ies on their own radio systems." T he company promised "an ongoing program" of enforce-ment against such inc idents.

Cellular Monitoring Bust An Oswego, New York, man has been

sentenced to one year of probation and I 00 hours of community service for monitoring cellular phone calls. According U.S. A llor-ney T homas J. Maroney. James D. Earhart "knowingly and willful ly imercepted and di-vulged to other people the radio portion of ce ll ular telephone commun ications without permission of the senders ."

Earhart monitored ce llularphonecalls three times in 1990 and 199 1. according to the Obserl'er-Dispatch newspaper. The case re-sulted from a n investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation but no further detail s were given.

I Hear Voices O ne of the most common " unusual" letters

that arrives on the desk of radio hobby editors is the one that begins. "I thin k that someone is tapping my phone .. ... While there are many vari ati ons of this leller, the source of the alleged tapping is almost always The Gov-e rnment. From the number of letters, you'd think that everyone is being tapped.

According to reporter Dan Freedman. the fact is that very few w iretaps are ever ap-proved. Jn 1994, says Freedman , federa l and

6 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

COMMUNICATIONS

- _J

state prosecutors asked the courts to ap-prove w iretaps on te lephones, cell ular phones . faxes, and computer e-mai l transmissions in only I. l 54cases. In 1993. court approval was granted only 976 times. [Contrast thi s w ith the record of the National Security Agency. Though fewer in number. every one of their req uests for a wiretap has been granted since its creation in 1979, according to a report in the Ann Arunde l Sun.]

A ll this could c hange if the FBI gets its way with the local phone com pany. It wants the m to engineer thei r computerized systems to permit the interception of I percent of al l simultaneous phone calls. T hat means that in a big c ity with a digita l equipme nt capacity for I 00,000 simultaneous phone calls, the FBI could be tuned in to 1.000 of them. The FBI calls wiretaps " the single most effect ive investigative technique used by law enforce-ment."

Oops. A Drug Deal A Sali sbury, Massachusetts, teenager was

arrested on drug charges after a local police officer " inadvertently" homed in on hi s cordless phone conversation. Darin Grenier, 19, was arrested after police officer Jack Carl picked up the call on hi s scanner while on patrol. During the conversation that was over-heard, Gre nier gave the exact times and loca-tion for a drug deal; Carl then no tified the local drug task force.

A pol ice spokesman explained the ''inad-verte nt" interception this way to a local news-paper reporter: "Cordless phone calls do no t usually get picked up by police scanners; however. on rare occasion phone signals have been known to go astray and encl up on scanner frequencies."

CBer in Hot Water It was just before Chri stmas 1995. Radio

hobbyist S teve n Ho lbrook was trimming the family tree with his 4 year old son, Brandon. There was a knock on the door and the police entered the house. Ho lbrook was arrested,

charged with d isrupting a public service, and taken to jail. All because of his CB radio.

The backgro und behi n d the story? Holbrook is a CBer and his ne ighbors in a Moraine, Ohio. apartme nt house had become upset that he was interfering wi th the TY. Said Mike Price, even the screen moved wi th his voice."

Eventually, Price called police who, in tum. warned Holbrook not to use his CB unti l he could solve the interference problem. When the officer left, Holbrook allegedly got back on the CB to tell a buddy what had happened . Price says that Ho lbrook's CB conversation-which he taped on his VCR as it came through the TY-included expletives a nd threats.

Price called police again and turned the tape over to the m. Holbrook was subsequent! y arrested. The charge of interrupting a publ ic service does not allow for a bond and carries a maximum pe nalty of I 0 years in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Holbrook's w ife, Lori , called the situat ion "appalling." ''Everything we were doing here is legal and they just took my husband to jail on a third-degree felony ...

Make My Day This is the kind of story that makes scanne r

liste ners cringe. A Newark, De laware, teen-ager who wore phoney po lice gear purchased at a farmer's market and who carried a scan-ner, was arrested by po lice. The I 5 year o ld boy was seen at an apartment complex, walk-ing around a pickup truck, writing down information.

The owner of the vehicle, who lives in the apartme nt complex, approached the boy/of-ficer and asked what he was doing. The teen said he was a special agent for county pol ice, was investigating the man as a wanted sus-pect. and would arrest him. The man didn ' t think the boy/officer was in fact an officer and called police.

When police arrived on the sce ne, they found the boy holding handc uffs and mace, trying to arrest the man. The unidentified man was no t wanted by police. Accord ing to po-lice, the teen looked o lder than 15 and the scan-ner looked like a police radio. All his phoney po-lice gear was taken from him.

Scanner Listener Saves Baby A man listening to his scanner was able to

save an newborn infant found abandoned in a Illinois cemetery. Charles Heflin , an off-duty firefighter with a scanner in his truck, heard dispatchers report an anonymous call saying that a baby was between a tree and a mauso-leum in the Mount Olive graveyard. Heflin happened to be nearby and stopped.

" I didn't see the baby at first, but I heard her whimper. It was newborn , red with mu-cous on it.'" Heflin. a trained emergency medi-cal technician, took the baby back to his truck and put her near the heater. He met incoming sheri ffs deputies on his way out of the cem-etery and turn the baby over to them.

"I know how fas t hypothermia works," Heflin said."! wanted to get that baby into a warm truck."

The Info Superhighway Sex, violence, and gambling. Sounds like

the Red Light district of any major ci ty. But we're talking about the Internet.

According to the WSYI Report, vice is big business on the ne t. But even it takes a twist in cyberspace. Take. for example, gambling. No local penny-ante stuff here. Go to http:// www. interlotto.li and play the nationa l lot-tery of Liechtenste in. Pick 6 of 40 numbers and win more than a million dollars . Entry fee is 5 Swiss Francs, payab le with your Mastercard.

Also avai lable are various casino games from the Caribbean and Cuba. According to WSYI. they're easy to find a nd access. "Just.... type in key words like 'casino ' and ' lottery.' It 's very interesting ... even if you don' t gamble." No wonderwecan' t keep 'em down on the farm anymore.

Pool! It's Gone Portland's $8.5 million emergency radio

system got its first big test this winter and according to the Associated Press, it fa iled miserably. For more than 5-1/2 hours at the height of a storm, many po lice and firefighters could hear dispatchers but were unable to answer. Radios carried outside their vehicles were useless. Radios in police cars and fire trucks worked sporadically.

Motorola offic ia ls are working to find out what caused the 800 MHz system to buckle. It is known that the day that the system fai led was an especially heavy one. On an average day, Portland handles about 50,000 calls. On this particular day, it handled 11 8,9 13. St ill , city officials wonder what would happen in a

COMMUNICATIONS

bigger crisis, such as an earthquake. Says police Sgt. Bob Baxter, "Here we

have th is multimi llion-dollar system that al-lows us to talk to everyone but the Lord himselfand when we need it most, it's gone."

FCC: Land, Ho! The FCC has amended its rules to allow

private land mobile users to share the 18 frequencies used for VHF marine te lephones. There are nine frequency pairs at 157.20 through 157.40 MHz and 16 1.8 through 162.00 MH z. Operations will be a llowed on a primary basis for stations located at least 11 6 miles from an existi ng public coast sta tion or navigable waterway.

Interest ingly, this is another case of the law following usage. Thousands of marine radios are purchased every year throughout the United States in places where the only boats seen are in bath tubs. In some commu-nities in the Midwest, the law has been ig-nored for years and the marine bands are widely used for business and personal com-munications.

WJDM 1660AM After literally years of waiti ng, the first

expanded-band AM statio n is on the air. Elizabethtown, New Jersey-the nation 's big-gest city wi thout a full-time local radio sta-t ion-now talks to the nation on 1660 kHz. And WJDM can be heard big-time.

John Quinn, the station's owner/manager, says he's received reports from as faraway as Seaside Heights, Oregon. During the day the station broadcasts time-brokered fore ign lan-guage and rel igious material. At 4:30 each afternoon, however. the station launches into a "60s and "70soldies format with station IDs. There is no announcer, no news. no weather. and no spots. It has been signing off at 10:30 each evening.

Quinn says that a new format is forthcom-ing, but at press time it remains o ldies only. WJDM, whic h also operates on 1530 kHz, is authorized on 1660 at JO kW days and 1 kW nights . According to Quinn, there are 280 million receivers capable of picking up the expanded band.

Family Radio Service Here is the proposed channel and fre-

quency plan for the new Family Radio Ser-vice. initiated by Radio Shack. Channel I : 462.5625; Channel 2: 462.5875; Channel 3: 462.6 125; Channel 4: 462.6375; Channe l 5; 462.6625; Channel 6: 462 .6875; Channel 7:

462.7125: C hannel 8: 467.5625: Channel 9: 467.5875; Channel 10: 467.6125; C hannel l I : 467.6375; Channel 12: 467.6625: Chan-nel 13: 467.6875: Channe l 14: 467.7 125.

Maximum power wi ll be 1/2 watt: opera-tion would be unlicensed. Motorola filed com-ments in support of the recently-fi led peti-tion.

Keep the Towers {?!) Glance toward Annapolis as you cross the

Bay Bridge and you see them. Nineteen an-tenna towers, ranging in height from 60 to 1,200 feet. stand at the Naval Radio Trans-mitting Fac ility on Greenbury Point just east of Annapo lis. Maryland.

For decades an anchor in the Navy's glo-bal communications network. they are now Cold War dinosaurs , no longer of use to their nation. Navy offic ials say the t ime is coming to tear them down. But after 80 years of living in their shadow, something crazy is happen-ing. In an area where ne ighborhoods regu-larly battle against cellular phone companies who want to install new towers, res idents of Annapolis say they want the Navy towers to stay.

Those towers are as cherished a part of the Annapolis skyline as the dome of the State House, say some. Steve Carr, president of a group hoping to save at least one of the towers. pleads, "We can t throw away pieces of our culture."

Wonder if they ' ll be saying that about cell phone towers 80 years from now.

"Communications" is written by Larry Miller with help from Rachel Baughn and the following readers who arc vital members of the Comm unications Medi a Monitoring Team: Mr. Anonymous,Anytown, USA: Bob Combs. Tome, NM; Ulis Fle ming , Gle n Burnie, MD; Bob Grove. Brasstown, NC; Michael Hilton, Scotia, NY: Robert Harford; Kevin John Klein. Appleton. W l: Fred Latus, Jr. Whitesboro, NY; Jack McCartan, New-ark. DE; Richard Sklar. Seattle. WA; Larry Thomsen, Des Moines. IA; Phil Yasson, Vancouver. WA. We also consu lted the fol-lowing publications and organizations and li st their names in appreciation: Associated Press. National Sca1111i11g. WSYI Report.

Become a member of the MT news monitoring team: send clippings and stories of interest lo the hobby lo "Communications," P.O. Box 98, Brasslown, NC 28902; fax 704-837-2216; e-mail mteditor@grove.net.

March 1996 MONITORING TIMES 7

It's New, It's Fun, It's Groundbreaking /[Of/ LRND f/08/LE -REPRC~S, ONSRLE NOIJ , ..

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Want to talk to us? Just click your mouse anywhere on the mike for a link to our e-mai l addresses. Want to view (and order from) our on-line catalog of great shortwave and scanner products and accessories? Just tap the CAT button.

Of course, you may want to check on late-breaking news from Monitoring Times or Satellite Times magazines, which you can do in a flash. Then there are buttons for Bob's Bargain Bin (BBB), the Grove Special (SPCL), About Grove (?Ii.?), Repairs (REP), the Grove Communications Expo in Atlanta (EXPO), and our Local Internet Services (LCL).

The WebCom has an animated LCD-type display that delivers a multi-part message, guiding you to the best deals that we have to offer. We even have included a SEEK button that takes you to a random page on the Grove web site.

Hmmm-perhaps we ought to put this thing in a metal case and sell it? But no, it's just another service to our customers as we attempt to strengthen our reputation as the most interactive company in the hobby radio business. Just push our buttons and you will see what we mean!

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8 MONITORING TIMES March 1996

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Times pages for late-breaking news, subscription information and some of our more popular columns and departments!

Will

By Ian McFarland

The master control room, newly opened in Ja1111ary 1994, demonstrates the irony of Radio Ca11ada's predicament, as does the recent 50th A1111iversary celebrations.

hat a way to wind up a fiftieth anniversary year! After several weeks of the usual rumors, the news was fi nally official on the morning of December 11,

and was immediately included in RCI' s newscasts. It was the most devastat-ing news to hit the international broadcasting fie ld in a very long time, if ever.

The unthinkable was happening again !

Thi.: Canadian Broadcasti ng Corporation (CBC). RCI s parent organization, which is facing a budget cut of some $225 million in the coming fiscal year. announced that it could no longer afford its share or RCI's $ 16.5 million budget, and Canada's shortwave radio voice to the world would be closed down on March 3 1. 1996. The l'cderal

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. which funds the other half of the RCI budget at the moment, also announced that it could no longer afford 10 fund RCI.

As any regular RCI listener knows, the Canadian government is currently involved in a fierce round of spending cuts in an effort to reduce the country's unman-

ageable debt and defi cit. RCI is simply one of the vic tims of these cuts. along with social programs like unemployment insurance. wel-fare. and medicare.

Wi th in a matter of days the entire staff, from Executive Director Terry Hargreaves and Program Director Allan Fami liant on down. had received their termination notices from the CBC.

Two days after the news broke on RCI. the Mo/I/real Ga-;:.e/le gave the story a banner head-li ne-"CBC Cuts World Service." The story was the topic of edi torials in every major news-paper in Canada. The coverage in the Canadian media was unprecedented in RCJ' s history.

Morch 1996 MONITORING TIMES 9

Those immortal words uttered some years ago by the late Yogi Berra come to mind to describe this latest RC! crisis .... "it's like deja vu a// over again. " (Indeed, the MT cover of May 199 I shows how close it came once before.)

The news about RCI spread around the world with lightning speed via such modern marvels as the fax machine and the In ternet. The level and speed of thi s response to RC!' s plight was inc redible, exclaimed RCl' s Pro-gram Director A ll an Famil iant. 'Tm over-whelmed at the very professional way that our staff reacted. and by the reaction from w ithin Canada and from overseas."

Within hours of the news breaking, the lette rs of protest began coming in via fax to the offices of Canada's Prime Minister Jean C hretien. and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Andre Ouellet. One of many Canadian listen-ers to lodge a protest wrote in part: "Canada s good reputation abroad has been he lped enor-mously by RC!. Do we really want to be the o nly G7 nation without a voice on the Air Waves? Do we really want to be the onl y country in that august group without the means to reach past local governments and the ir media. and speak to the people ourselves? We need to tel l them about ourse lves directly. about Canada. what we stand for and who we arc: The listene r also argued that RC! fund-ing should be restored to pre- 1991 levels. and its future assun.:d and not constantl y threat-ened.

As any Canadian who travel~ abroad wi ll agree, Canadian news in foreign media is a very scarce commodity except on rare occasions. and this is very much the case in Canada's south-ern ne ighbour the United States. As one U.S. lis tener of 46 years standing pointed out in hi s lette r to the Canadian Prime Ministe r. "Over that span or years I. ve come to knO\,. your cou nt ry. your people. and the values they hold dear. That news could have come to me from no other source. The news about Canada in our newspapers and magazines is nonexistent. The same can be said of our radio and TV outlets. Given our common bor-der. that state of jo urnalism is w retched."

Minister with thi s plea: '" RCI provides us with a window to look in on Canada. and for Canada to show itself to the world. Please do not shut thi s w indow forever."

S imilar sentiments have been repeated many times in letters from RCl listeners around the world . during the many previous threats to RC!' s existence. It s a message that seems to have eluded an endless string of Canadian politic ians over RCl" s 50 year history. One can' t help but wonder if Canada, or at least the Canadian government. simply has such an entrenched inferiority complex that it just can't understand that there arc millions of people in other countries who feel that Canada is worth hearing about. and greatly apprec iate RCl' s role in providing this information.

I Money Well Spent It 's difficult in this latest RC ! c ri sis to

avoid making some comparisons wi th the overseas services o f o the r countries. Switzer-land. with a ~ervi ee that has virtually the same size staff as RCI. and the same number of broadcast languages, spends three times as much on Swiss Radio International as Canada spends on RC !. Holland. with its very popular Radio Netherlands. broadcasting in only fou r languages with a staff more than double that of RC!. gives its overseas serv ice a budget

A listener in England ended his RC/ digital studio. recent le tter to Canada' s Prime

10 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

that's four times that of RC!. For added con-trast, the budgets o f the BBC World Service and the VOA come to more than 17 and 2 I times RCI' s budget respectively.

T hose immortal words uttered some years ago by the late Yogi Bena come to mind to describe this latest RCI crisis .... " it' s likctleja vu all over again. The decision to close down RCI came almost five years to the day after the previous cris is in I 990/9 1. when another CBC budget cut led to the devastating 35% cut in RCI funding. the dropping of 7 lan-guage services. and a staff reduc tio n of some 50%. at the end of March 1991. For RCl' s staff of 120 thi s deja 111 keeps on happen ing every few years it seems.

What about commerc ial spon~orship and program underwriting as a possible solution to RC r s funding cri sis? The VOA are trying it. and so is the Voice of Russia .

That ' s o ne suggestion that RC I Program Director A llan Familiant is \"ery anxiou ~ to put to rest permanentl y. He says cmphati-cally. " ( don! want to sound like an o ld dinosaur. not interested in new ideas - but hav ing gone through study after study. there is no way that underwriti ng. private bus iness. pri vatization. commerc ia ls etc .. can support an international service. We did myriad ~ t udies prior to 1990 and subsequently, and I

wou ld tell you. simply. that the I Ill studies have cost more than the

"".'J monies that arc predicted to come in from undcrwriting."

It 's interesting to note that of the 126 international radio broadcas ting o rgani zat io ns around the world I 0 I arc funded by governmcnts . For the most part the other 25 arc funded by religious organiLations.

Chris Greenway. Foreign Media Editor in the Foreign Media Unit of BBC Mo nitoring in Reading. England, s ays of RCI' s possible dcmisc. "It would in fact be the first time that I can remember that a w hole country that used to have quite a substan-tial presence on shortwave has

Scanner WEAR .\frmory hanks include I 00 channe ls per hank with frequency. description and mode. NEW databa.

"It would in fact be the first time that I can remember that a whole country that used to have quite a substantial presence on shortwave has completely disappeared. ,,

-Chris Greenway

complete ly disappeared." He adds. "There have been a few cases in past years where stations have disappeared. A few shortwave stations in Africa have fa llen by the wayside. but these have been due to technical problems with transmitters and so forth."

Greenway poinis out that , in Europe we've seen RTB, the French language exter-nal service from Belgium. go off the air. but Belgium itself stayed on shortwave via BRT. th e Dutch network (known as Radio Ylaanderen International)."' Greenway says he can' t really think of anywhere else in the world where a whole country will lose its int1.:rnational radio voice.

"'A country such as Canada has rather a unique role to play.'' says Lawrence Magne, MTcolumnist and editor-in-chief of the popu-

lar annual shortwave publication Pa.upor/ JO World Band Radio. "because people here in the U.S. tend to view Canada as a northern extension of the United States. which of course it" s not. Canada has many or the democratic traditions of !he U.S. well entrenched in it. and a definite role to play, which it has shown 1hrough peacekeeping and so forth , and which is a leadership role." Magne s!resses that if Canada is to get its message across about what ils values are, it needs a vehicle do do so. The private sector, he says, can provide the entertainment that people are looking for, but it isn't really concerned with reflecting the nation's values.

Magnc feels !hat ii ' s imponant that Ameri-cans undersiand Canada, and laments, "In this coumry- and it 's suprising if you think

about it- Canada is covered more poorly than a remote comer of Bosnia. And you could pick any num-ber of countries-Is-rael forcxamplc-Lhat are halfway around the world. that are very wel I covered. rou-tinely. in our media. whereas Canada is vir-tually ignored, even during the rcccn! Que-bec referendum cam-paign." In terms of the United States. Magne concludes. s i nee RC I is rea ll y !he onl y mean s by which Americans who are interested in Canada can learn about it and understand wha! is going on there. to pull the plug on ii is aston-ishing because the U.S. is so important to Canada.

RCI 's tra11smiJter site at Sal'kville, courtesy of MALAK, Ottawa. One of the most

astute and knowledge-

12 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

able observers of the international broadcast-ing scene is Graham Mytton. the head of Audience research at the BBC World Service in London. ln!erviewed by Peter Gzowski. host of the CBC domestic AM network pro-gram Morningside, about the RCI situation, Mytton commented !hat Canada may be un-derestimating the quality of what it can do on shortwave.

He said, canada can do things !hat the British can' t do. You can do programming with a different flavour. wi1h a Canadian flavour. You've go! a lot going for you in that country. Canada has a multi-ethnic. multi-cultural society. which is an example to so many of us. I think there is lots that Canada can tell the rest of the world. And the most important thing. I think. is that the BBC can"t do all of this on its own: Mytton acids. "There' s an enormous information need in the world which the BBC does something 10 provide, but ii can"t possibly, wi th its limited fin ances. do everything."

He feels 1ha1 !here is a big case to be made for broadcasters in the free world getting together and asking. what can we do 10 supple-ment wha1 each other is doing? 'The BBC.'' Mytton says, feels !hat Canada and other countries in the West have a lot to offer 10 other countries in terms of supplying infor-mation 10 those parts of the world that con-tinue to be short of informaiion."

It"s 10 be hoped !hat members of the Canadian governmen! heard !hat interview. wh ich Pe1er Gzowsk.i commented was the best commercial for RCI that he' cl ever heard. and it came from someone who works for 1he compe1i1ion:

I Listener's Lobby Still Needed While !he 199 1cuts10 tht.: RCI opera1ion

were pu! into effect in just a few days. this time 1hc decision to close RCI came three and a half months before the possible last day of the service. This valuable time is being used lo mount a lobbying effort which is well underway. says Woj tck Gwiazda, an RCI staffer and key member of !he Coalition 10 Restore Full RCI Funding. The ad hoc group

"What we're trying to get across to the politicians is that if you're a country you have certain obligations, not only to your own population, but to the world . . . you have to have a voice, otherwise you disappear. "

was formed in the aftermath of the savage cuts that hi t RCI in March 199 I. Since that time, Gwiazda says, the coalition has been acti vely lobbying politicians to get RCI's funding restored to what it used to be. A few years back the coalition was successful in getting a Senate commitee to hold hearings on RCI funding. The committee's report was highly favourable to RCI's plight, and recom-mended that funding be restored to prc-199 1 levels. and that the language services that were cut in 199 1 be restored as well.

The coalition ' sactivitics now arc focussed more on survival for RCI than restored fund-ing. RC J' s Wojtek Gwiazda says that it 's rather iron ic that five years ago, when RCI was undcrthreat when the Conservative Party government was in power in Ottawa, the Liberal Party opposition headed by Jean Chretien. now the Prime Minister. sent the coalition a copy o f a posi tion paper by the party's communications critic. The paper stated that cutting the service that RCI pro-vided showed a shortsightedness and a lack of understanding of how Canada should behave on the international stage. It 's truly amazing how a political party 's views on any given subject can change depending on whether it 's in opposition or in power.

.. What we' re trying to get across to the politicians is that , if you're a country you have certain obligations. not only to yourown population, but to the world, and if you're a self-respecting nation on an international stage. you have to have a voice otherwise you disappear. The reality is. if you' re not there you don't ex ist. The government has to de-

How to Support RCI For those concerned readers who wish to write letrers in support of RC!, here is the address:

The Rt. Honorable Jean Chretien, Prime Minister, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, KIA OA6. Fax#: (613) 957-5556

cide that part of be-ing a nation means having an interna-tional radio voice. Hopefully ," says Gwiazda, 'we can shame them with the help of reaction from RCI' s international audience."

-Wojtek Gwiazda

He can't empha-s ize s trong ly e no ug h. Gwiazda says. just how im-portant a role is played by the well thought out letters of The Ca11adia11 Forces programming studio at RC/. concern that are being sent to the Canadian government by RC I listeners in Canada and abroad. These letters have been the key to RCJ' s survival a number of times in the past, and they continue to be so in the present crisis. He says the most important letters are the ones that explain, in personal te rms, just what RCI has meant to the liste ner over the years, and just what it will mean in the future if the service is cut.

The clear danger in these latest di fficul-ties is that listeners will throw up their hands and say - .. Not again! Not another plea for help to save RCI." They could be forg iven for wondering if this foolishness is ever going to end, and how many times do they have to come to RCl's rescue. RC l' s Gwiazda says he hopes that won't happen. "The reality is," he adds, "we're not crying wolf. It's actually happening. This time they've told us that the doors will shut on March 3 1. The government can save us," he says, ' 'but the machinery is all set up to close RCI down."

On January 25, the day of a major reshuf-f1ing of the federal cabinet in Ottawa. the level of cautious optimism at RCI took a decided leap upward. The newly appointed Heritage Minister. She ila Copps. who is also the Deputy Prime Minister. said in Ottawa that "We think that RCI was a strong voice for Canada internationally and we should not allow it to die."

She said that restoring RCI' s funding was one of her first priorities. Copps added that she had already begun talks with the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Ax worthy, aimed at saving RCI. Sources in Ottawa said that money for RCI's budget would be found and given 10 the CBC on a dedicated basis. At RCI headquarters in Montreal fo llowing Copps' announcement there was a mood of cautious glee. Sheldon Harvey, a member of the Coal ition to Restore Full RCI Funding, commented. " It's too early to rejoice. but it's a good sign.''

Whi le the announcement that RCl' s sur-vival is indeed a priority for the Deputy Prime Minister was good news. at press time there were sti ll a number of unanswered questions. Would RCI be given an assured budget for at least five years, or will they s imply be getting a reprieve for a year and have to go through all this unbearable agony again in early 1997? The possibility of that happening is as un-thinkable as RCI's possible demise.

I Will the Ripples Spread? The demise of RC! would doubtless come

at a cost for Canada in terms of international recognition. The savage c uts that were made back in 1991 did in fac t result in a sizeable drop in RCI's worldwide audience. But what about a poss ible domino effect on other inter-national broadcasters which are experiencing

March 1996 MONITORING TIMES 13

'As a result of the massive lobby effort that has been going on, (we have/ some indication that again, funding may come from somewhere.

hard times. fi nancia l or o therw ise'! BBC Monitorings C hris G reenway feels that th is certainly couldn ' t be ruled out.

" Diplo matically."' he says. Canada is certainly a count ry that has a highe r profile than one might o the rwise expect from its s ize. in te rms of population. So, for a country like that to w ithdraw from w hat is quite a major part of world of internat ional diplomacy and so fo rth , is really rather a dramatic develop-ment. A nd," he adds, " it' s ce rtainly a possi-bility that o ther governments that have per-haps felt that they don "t reall y want to keep running an external shortwave service, but because most countries in the world seem to want to do it we musn ' t be left beh ind . But if they can see that a count ry like Canada has actually cut its service then it might make them think that they can get away w ith it as we ll. ..

While the news of RC I' s poss ible demise may be the worst news to hit the shortwave scene in many year~. financia l problems also exist for o ther inte rnatio nal broadcasting ser-vices these days. One trend which is hav ing a dec ided impac t on a number of shortwave stations is the fact that a lo t of the interna-tional broadcasti ng that" s being done today includes te levision. whereas it used to be just the traditional ~hortwave rad io medium. In terms of traditional shortwave broadcasting. funded by governments, there's no doubt that in recent years there s been a reduction in this fo rm of broadcasting. However. the pattern of this development varies fro m one part of the world to another.

Germany" s Deutsche Welle ha~ for sev-e ral years now been putting an increasing emphasis on international T V broadcasting. Whik the station may not in fact have its budget cut. the money be ing spent on TV effecti vely reduces the funds available for traditional short wave broadcasti ng.

As BBC Monitorings Chris Greenway points out. .. There a re al so cases where some governments arc no longe r interested in any form of international broadcasti ng and want to get out of the busines~ for political or financ ial reasons, or both. In o ther cases sta-

14 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

-Allan Familiant

tions a rc very inte rested in maintaining. or even stepping up. their presence in interna-tio nal radio ... Rad io France International would be a good example of thi s latter trend .

Just how widespread is budget cutting and changing attitudes and priorities in interna-tiona l broadcasting? It" s very muc h a mixed bag. says Chris Greenway.

A good example o f how local and regional factors are affect ing the changes wc" rc seeing in international broadcasting is what is hap-pening in Europe. As Chris G reenway ex-plained in an interview ... lt s quite a mixed picture in Europe. If we look al the count ries of Easte rn Europe- the former Soviet Bloc. for example-during the Communist e ra all of these countries operated an ex ternal short-wave radio service. really as a propaganda tool and to get their nations on the air. They probably had re latively few li~te ners in the target countries he says . There was a fee l-ing amongst many o bservers that in view of the completely changed political cl imate in

that part of the world. and also because many of these coun-tric~ have gone through quite severe economic difficult ies.

that this would be an opportun ity for the government to quite painlessly cut out these external services:

However. addsGrccnway. when it comes rig ht down lo it. none of these exte rnal ser-vices have fa llen by the wayside. All these former Communist countries o f Easte rn Eu-rope still have an external radio service o n shortwave: In many cases these stations arc fac ing great financial hardship and are run-ning on a shoestring. lt" s qui te surpri sing really. that they're sti ll on the air. Where there 's a will theres a way. as the old saying goes.

The situation in Western Europe is more complicated. says Greenway. France. for ex-ample. is o ne country w here international broadcasting remains a priority fo r the gov-e rnment. and thcy" rc quite explic it about it. Radio France International is very much in an expansion mode. and proceeding w ith ambi-tious plans fo r new services in both inte rna-tional radio and television. As well. many of Europe s internationa l broadcasters are mov-ing towards sate llite radio services. in par-ticular for the European audience-in some cases at the expense of traditional shortwave.

Rad io Vlaandercn in Belgium, while it is not currently fac ing financial problems, has decided not to put any more money into new shortwave resources. W hen the present lineup of aging shortwave transmitte rs fina lly ex-pires that wi ll be the end of the li ne for Radio Vlaanderen on s hort wave. Presumably they arc hoping that the transmitters last long enough to see the station into the next era o f international broadcasting technology.

In many areas o f Asia these days one o f the most striking developments in broadcast-ing as a whole concerns the emerging popu-larity of sate llite TV . In India especiall y. a country that has long been a major target area fo r shortwave broadcasts. thi s is making great in roads . The Hong Kong based S tar TV in particular. w ith its heavy emphasis o n enter-tainment, is luring peoplc"s attention away from shortwave broadcasts- a medium with an o ften heavy news and curre nt affai rs con-tent.

The Voice of America, RC/'s fellow government-sponsored international broad-caster in North America, received a budget cut of some $25 million last spring. At the time of writing VOA was awaiting word on an additional cut of somewhere between $40 and $50 million.

In Japan. which has been venluring more inlo international TV over the past year or so. Radio Japan hasn't suffered any budget cuts per .l'C'. but. as wi th Deutsche We lle. there has been a reallocat ion of funds from lhc short-wave service to TV.

Radio Au~tralia is also being affected by the increas ing em phasis on TV. According to Derck White, General Manager of Radio Australia, the Australian government has ef-fe c tively decided to close down RA's Carnarvon transmitter site at the end of June. leaving the remaining three sites to carry the load. The move is expected to provide sav-ings of some two million dollars, which wi ll be reallocated from RA s transmission re-sources to Australia Television. RA' s trans-mission facilities are owned and operated by the federal government's National Transmis-sion Agency. RA is having discuss ions with the agency about the possible re locat ion of one or more of the Carnarvon transmitters to other si tes. and for extended transmiss ion from lhe Darwin station. Apal1 from the cut in transmiss io n resources. RA s overall budget has uctually been increased .

In the Americas- North . South. and Cen-tral America-there are comparatively few international broadcusting s tations compared to. say. Europe. Whi le there arc scores of stations on shortwave in South America for example, the vast majority are domestic. com-mercial and highly competitive. Their pro-gramming is c losely attuned to the ir local

li ~ tcncrs. and thi s is tough competition for the internat ional broadcaste rs. However, says BBC Monitoring s Chris Greenway, with the inc reasing use of means such as cable radio and program placement on local stations . the situation is slarting 10 change for 1he interna-tional broadcasters.

The Voice of America. RCJ' s fellow gov-ern ment-sponsored in ternalional broadcaster in Nor1h America. rece ived a budget cut of some $25 millio n last spring. Al 1hc time of writing VOA was awaiting word on an addi-tional cut of somewhere be1ween $40 and $50 million. Early in 1995 the VOA' s Bethany transmitter silc was closed down.

VOICE OF AMERICA

In Canada and 1he United S tates. where each counlry' s domestic radio markcl is a highly competitive mix o f local commercial AM and FM stations. 1he competi1ion for li steners is stiff fo r the interna1ional broad-casters. As in Sou1h America the local broad-casters know their audiences ex lrcmely well.

As far as the fuwrc of internal ional broad-casting is concerned, whclher it he via sho11-wave or some other means. the BBC' s Greenway is op1irnistic. despite the fi nancial woes being experienced by many broadcast-e rs thcse days. In fact. the general feeling amongst in1erna1ional broadcaslcrs generally. is one of opt imism. even where shonwave is concerned. While Greenway and others agree that in some pans of the world shortwave has already begun what is going to be a long 1erm decline, Greenway feel s that general ly speak-ing people arc still interested in li ste ning to broadcasts from abroad.

In Africa. I hough. he says shortwave will

con1inue for a long time yet as the medium of choice for in1erna1ional broadcasting for lis-teners and broadcasters alike. He adds that pioneering efforts Ii kc the London-based World Rad io Nc1work are doing a 1remen-dous job of sparking an interest in inlcrna-tio nal broadcasting amongst 1hose who wouldn 1 otherwise be tuning in on short-wave.

Let's hope rha1 the optimism expressed by Chris Greenway and others in 1he interna-tional broadcasting field is borne out in the coming years. especially for Canada' s belea-guered external service. Radio Canada Inter-national.

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Morch 1996 MONITORING TIMES 15

MT Goes Underground with Los Angeles Fire Department Operations

By Les Butler KBSWKE

ou're driving home listening to the radio try ing to catch up on the events that happened while you were at work. You hear about a fire in town and listen

inten tly lo the radio announcer.

Dispatcher in the temporary ce/lter. File 0 11 right is engine response cards. Note bottom right black box (extreme right) with printout tape is TTD machine for the deaf Motorola radio display 011 left.

16 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

''Eleven companies of firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief Richard Markota responded to a greater alarm hi-rise structure fire at 11 845 West Olympic Boulevard in the West Los Angeles area. The first units to arrive on scene reported a twelve story modem high rise office buildi ng wi th nothing showing. After securing the lobby and activating the control room. firefighters ascended to the ninth floor of the Westside Towers 10 discover a fire in a wal l. Firefighters made an aggressive attack with hand lines and extinguished the fire in 26 minutes. There were no injuries and no evacuations from the unoccu-pied structure."

You then wonder how the news crew ascertained so much from the scene. Well. chances are they didn't: they just called the LAFD's Public Information Officer. In the above instance it was Officer Brian E. Humphrey.

A Public Information Officer is the liaison between the ci ty fire department and the press. The PIO fields all the calls from the press so they don 1 tic up the 9-1- I operators. He also makes sure the press gets the correct information to avoid unnecessary speculation. In L.A." s case a PIO is assigned to the dispatch floor 24 hours a day. Actually, the job title is Public Service Officer (PSO) but they find the PIO title is more familiar and self explanatory.

I The Operations Center The cemer is located under a parking garage on Los Angeles Street

bet ween I st and Temple across from the famous Parker Center (LAPD

Captain Dave Murray sits at the supervisor post.

HQ). I pu lled up to the guard shack and told the guard I was there to sec Brian Humphrey. A phone call later I was driving down two stories be11emh the c ity of Los Angeles to the parking area for the fire department's small vehicles-also the home of their fuel ~tat ion.

After a hearty welcome from Brian we proceeded another two stories below L.A. to the "Operations Center." Surrounded by two-foot thick concrete walls located 80 feet be-low the ci ty, this could have been a movie about NORAD or NASA. After a ll. this was the home of Hollywood.

Currently the operations center is housed in a temporary area while work is being completed on the new center. The Operations Control Division (Dispatch) is staffed by 23 people who rotate 24 hour shifts. Each shi ft has an ''odd and even" watch so there are I I people on the lloor and I I others who arc exercising. studying. performing housework. or sleeping. The 23rd person is the one doing the cooking or an additional eight hours on the floor.

All the operators and dispatch personnel are certified E.M.T. 's and Firefighters. Each member also must have been in the fie ld for at

least four years and has to be recom-mended forthejob. A rather large kitchen is staffed by the same people. who all take turns cooking meals for everyone on duty. I regretted having to turn down the invita-tion to share a meal whi ch both looked and sme lled deli -cious.

Another room which gets a good workout is the exercise room. Everyone is required to get one hour of exercise dai ly during le isure hours, since they may be called out into the field while on duty.

As you can see in the photos, the dis-patcher has four PC's in front of them which provide Unit Summary. Radio Controller, Incident Summary, and Map Display. Quar-ters arc small and crowded but it doesn'tseem to bother the men and women on duty. The area 1650 MH1

MVT8000 6Mlfl to 1300 Ml ll

March 1996 MONITORING TIMES 17

Expo '96 Dates and Keynote Speaker Announced By Larry Van Horn

Expo '96 Publicity Chairman

II s hare the experience. bring a friend" is the theme for the 7th annual Grol'I' Co1111111111irn1io11s Expo that wi II be

held on October 18-20. 1996 in Atlanta. Geor-gia.

In commenting on thi~ ycar"s theme Bob Grove. President of Grove Enterpri ses said. "'Just as we host the Expo a~ a gcsture of good will to the radio hobby community. you can be an ambassador for recreational monitoring by bringing a friend to the Expo. With growing pressure from commercial interests to own the radio spectrum and lock out listeners. our num-bers are what speaks loudly to the law makers. I' m looking forward to seeing you all this year, and to seeing frc~h faces as well."

Formerly known as the M1111itori11g Times convention. the name of this popular annual event was changed in 1995 to the Grove Com-1111111icatio11s Expo. The name change was made to broaden the scope of the annual event to cover new and e merging communications tech-nologies.

To help foster the Expo theme, Grove is offering special rates to convention registrants who bring along someone who has not at-tended a previous convention. If you bring a full registrant to the Expo you can take $ I 0.00 off your regular registration fee of $55.00 for the weekend full of acti vities. In order to get the spec ial rate. bo th reg istrant s must register at the same ti me.

The highl ight of this year"s Expo is the Saturday night hanquel. NASA astronaut and asu-onomer, Ron Parise, WA4SIR will deli ver the keynote speech. Dr. Parisc has made two

Great prizes are always awarded at the Expo!

18 MONITORING TIMES Morch 1996

Astronaut Ron Parise

trips into space aboard the space shuttle and during those missions operated the shuttle amateur radio experiments (SAR EX). Tic kets for the Saturday night banque t arc $25.95 and seating is limited. so make your banquet and convention reservat ions early.

Several special evenh will be conducted in conjunction with this year's Expo. The Society of Amate ur Rad io Astronomers (SARA) will be conducting their fall conference for the ir members during the Expo weeke nd. Members of SARA can attend their confe re nce fo r a $25.00 fee. SARA wi ll also be conducti ng radio astronomy workshops. foru ms and ex-hibiting at the Expo throughout the weekend. Full registrants to the Grove Expo are welcome to attend any of these fo rums and workshops as pa rt of their registration fee.

On Friday night, October 18. the Expo will sponsor an International Sho1t-wave Broadcasters forum that will be hosted by noted broadcast host Ian McFarland. We expect broadcasters from stations around the world to be in atten-dance. Some of these broadcasters wi ll also have exhibits at the Expo.

Exhibitors have already started sign-ing up for displays at this year's Expo. Computer Aided Technologies. Grove Enterprises. Mn11i1ori11g Times. Satellite Time.1. Optoelectronics. Radio Astronomy Supplics. the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers. Sony. and Swagur Enter-prises (manufacturer of weather satellite receiving systems) are j ust a few of the

companies and organizations that have signed up for booths. Companies. clubs, and broadcasters can get more information or secure exhibition space by contacting one of the following:

Debbie Davis

Beth Linebach

Satellite Times Advertising Manager 704-837-6412 Monitoring Times Advertising Manager 704-389-4007

This year's seminar program has been ex-panded greatly. Over 40 seminars covering topics on computers. the Internet, radio as-tronomy. satellites and space. and scanning and shortwave radio by some of the world's leading experts in their fields will be conducted. Live demonstrations of equipment and listening tech-niques by convention speakers and exhibitors at the Grove Listening Post will also be a part of the program. Future Expo Update columns will have complete detai ls on these seminars and the speakers.

' 'We are going to have the biggest and best Expo ever this year." said Judy Grove, this year's Grove Comm Expo coordinator. " We had a low turnout last year, due to some m is-takes on our part. but that will change this year."

The Expo wi ll be held at the Atlanta Airport Hilton and the ho tel is offering a special con-vention rate of $76.00 plus tax per day, single or double occupancy. To make your hotel reserva-tion for the three day event call the Hilton hotel chain toll free number 1-800-Hiltons. You must mention the Grove Communications Expo to receive the special convention rate.

Complete details on the Expo 96 are avail-able at the Grove Internet home page on the Internet. Point your web browser to URL ad-dress: http://www.grove.11etlh111pgexpo.html for the latest information and Expo updates. You can also register for the Expo by sending e-mai 1 to the follow ing address: expo96@grove.11et. An automatic Expo infor-mation service is available by sending e-mail to expo96-i11fo@gro1e.11et. To register by phone. call the Grove order line at 1-800-438-8155 or by fax at 1-704-837-2216.

In the words of one attendee from last year' s Expo, "The Grove Comm1111icatio11s Expo is truly a unique event. I enjoyed the experience of meeting all the friendly hobbyists in a very relaxed atmosphere of learning, seeing, doing, and sharing. I will never miss another one." And neither should you.

\\\\\~I H if Come to Grove Commu.nications EXPO '96

If you are interested in electronic communications, the Grove Communications Expo is your event of the year! Expo '96 in Atlanta, to be held Oct. 18-20, unites you with hundreds of like-minded communications enthusiasts who assemble to exchange information, introduce new products, and offer technical help. This is an outstanding opportunity for you to move into the information age! This year's expanded program includes over 50 seminars, forums, demonstrations and events in the following areas:

~ Computers and the Internet ~ Shortwave and scanner monitoring ~ Satellite communications ~ Radio astronomy

As in recent years. the Expo wi ll feature exhibits by top-name vendors, a hands-on listening post. club booths and prizes. Tours wi ll be conducted to the Delta Communications Center, CNN, Marta Communica-tions and more.

Keynote speaker at this year's banquet will be Ron Parise, NASA astronaut and astronomer. Parise, WA4SIR, has made two trips into space aboard the shuttle and operated the shuttle 's amateur radio experiments (SAREX). Several special work-shops. forums and exhibits will be sponsored this year by the Society of Radio Astronomers (SARA), which will be conduct-ing thei r fa ll conference in conjuction with the Expo!

Other knowledgeable and enjoyable speakers include Bob Grove, Larry Van Horn, Jacques d' Avignon, Ken Reitz, John Fulford, Bill Grove, Kevin Carey, Jeff Wallach, George Zeller, Keith Stein, John Catalano, T.S. Kelso, Doug Gra-ham, Bob Wyman, Don Dickerson, Bob Evans, Tom Taylor, and Jorge Rodriguez .

The bottom line is that the Grove Communications Expo is the only show of its kind-don't miss it !

Atlanta Airport Hilton October I 8-20, 1996 Registration is $55 per person (take $10 off if you bring a

first-time registrant with you). Rooms at the Airport Hilton available at the convention rate of $76 per night, single or

double occupancy. CaU 1-800-Hiltons.

Grove Enterprises, Inc. 7540 Highway 64 W., Brasstown, N.C. 28902

For more information and schedules, set your web browser to http://www.grove.net/hmpgexpo.html, e-mail us at expo96-info@grove.net, phone us at 1-800-438-8155, or fax us at 1-704-837-2216.

Bria11 Humphrey sits at the console of the 11ew dispatch center. Not quite visible in this shot are the giant scree11s at the front of the room.

Last year the cen ter hand led 309.000 inc i-dents. By 6 pm of the day I was the re in earl y December. they had a lready had 6 17 ca ll s and 30 active cal ls were in progress at that mo-ment. With an OK from Captain Dave M urray. I was allowed to don headphones and monitor live calls . I sat w ith Matt Johnson. Southern Cal. Fire Service Dispatcher of the year. Ten minutes with him and l knew why he received those honors: some cal le rs are rude and crude, but he knows what to say and how to say it in a way that will calm people down and save lives.

A ll call s originating from within the c ity except ce llphones are answered by L.A. dis-patchers. Cellular calls are answered by the Californ ia Highway Patrol (CHP). then redi-rected to the city. What if a deaf person or a non-Eng li sh-speaking person ca lls in? No problem: LAFD subscribes to the AT&T lan-guage line which can handle 140 different languages. LAFD uses a TTY/ TTD machine to print out the calls from the deaf and to type back to them. The call takers arc even trained in Deaf Cultures.

radio technic ians and Pacific Bell te lephone techn ic ians who keep things running without interruptions.

The New Dispatch Center The new center wi ll debut in early 1996 if

a ll goes we ll ; it is located in the same complex 80 feet underground. T he new fac ility looks like something out of 1Jm111a11 Forever. and truthfully. part of it is . A wal l of Sony TVs and video recorders was donated by Warner Broth-ers in appreciation for the use of firehouse number 6 in fil ming of the movie. Now they're part of Operations Center and most certainly will be moved to the new location.

The new dispatch software system is de-signed by S HL Systemhouse. Many City em-ployees are work ing unti l 3 am without com-pensation just to make sure a ll the little "gre m-lins arc ou t in time . The consoles are all ergonomically designed for user comfort. The

mouse counte r, chairs, and keypad tray were all designed to reduce fat igue among dis-patchers. As in the old cente r. ead1 dispatcher will have four monitors in front of him. dis-playing Unit Summary, Radio Control ler, Incident S ummary. and Map Display. The dispatcher will use a mouse that can trave l ac ross and click on any one of the four screens.

At the front of the room four very large screen monitors will keep track of all the un its in the c ity. and the supervisor wi ll be able to bring up any screen for all to see. The system is being developed with Pentium 75 M Hz machines running OS/2 as the operating sys-tem. The supervisor control position at the rear of the room wi ll have I 0 monitor screens to watch; the mouse at his position wi ll move among a ll I 0 screens effortlessly.

All of the trucks will be di rected to the scene of the emergency via the currently-insta lled dead reckoning system. but with the added benefit of GPS for an even more exact-ing guidance. The di spatcher will be able to tell the fi refighters if they missed the s treet, or guide them to a difficult location street by street.

Coming in the near future wi ll be a camera beaming live shots of the dispatch center to the Inte rnet every I 0-20 seconds. The wi ring is already pecking through the cei ling. Brian and fire fighters Lee Weber and Bud Gunderson already mainta in a Web page on their own time. Visit it at http://www.ci.la.ea.us/dept/ LAFD/index.html. 1t s a great looking page and very informative. As Brian H umphrey would say "It' s 72 and fl uorescent 24 hours a day down here in Operations.

Communications I'll bet you thought I'd never get around to

ta lki ng about radios! In the comm center they use Motorola CentraCom ll Pius's. Pic tured is on