Tag Archives: FCC

Radio Waves: Radio Bulgaria’s Polish Service, AM Support, HBCU Radio Preservation Project, Golden Age of Radio Exhibition, and EAS Alert Language

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors David Iurescia and NT for the following tips:


When the BNR “spoke” Polish (BNR)

Radio Bulgaria is trying to track down old recordings of its radio programmes

Today, the Bulgarian National Radio’s foreign language service Radio Bulgaria “speaks” 11 languages. Through the years, languages have been added, others have been dropped – something that happened to the Polish-language programmes. They were aired by Radio Sofia, as the Bulgarian National Radio was called then, and by Radio Varna channel in the seaside city of the same name, but today they are rarely made mention of in the history of the BNR.

We were contacted by ham operator Jaros?aw Jedrzejczak from Poland who helped us pick up the missing information, putting an enormous amount of effort into tracing the history of the undeservedly forgotten programmes in Polish.

“Radio is a hobby of mine. When shortwave radio stations started closing down their Polish-language services, I took an interest in their history,” Mr. Jedrzejczak says. “In the Polish weekly “World of radio” I came across an advert for Radio Sofia from 1946, from which I found out it had aired 10-minute broadcasts in Polish from Bulgaria. That was when I started looking for information about Radio Sofia and to listen to these broadcasts. That was 30 years ago.”

Jaros?aw set about tracking down the Polish broadcasts. He got in touch with the first anchors and translators of Radio Sofia and Radio Varna’s Polish-language programmes, their heirs, collected the memories of the first people working at the foreign-language programmes, kept up a correspondence with the BNR. Who were they, who were the people speaking their own language from faraway Bulgaria? [Continue reading…]

Your Phone Has Nothing on AM Radio (The Atlantic) 

Why Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders are teaming up to save the century-old technology

By Jacob Stern

There is little love lost between Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Rashida Tlaib. She has called him a “dumbass” for his opposition to the Paris Climate Agreement; he has called her and her allies “shills for terrorists” on account of their support for Palestine. Lately, though, the right-wing Cruz and the left-wing Tlaib have found a cause they can both get behind: saving AM radio.

In recent years, a number of carmakers—BMW, Volvo, Tesla—have stopped offering AM radio in at least some models, especially electric cars. The problem is that their motors cause electromagnetic interference on the same frequency bands in which AM radio operates, in some cases making the already fuzzy medium inaudible. Carmakers do have ways to filter out the interference, but they are costly and imperfect—all to maintain a format that is in decline anyway. AM radio was eclipsed by the superior-sounding FM in the late ’70s, and the century-old technology can seem akin to floppy disks in the age of Spotify and podcasts. According to Ford’s internal data gathered from some of its newer vehicles, less than 5 percent of all in-car listening is to AM radio. Which is perhaps why Ford decided last year to drop AM from all of its vehicles, not just EVs.

Because so much listening happens in the car, the Ford news seemed like the beginning of the end for the whole medium. But just a few weeks after announcing that decision, the company reneged in response to political pressure. Before Ford’s reversal, Cruz and Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, had introduced the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would require exactly what its title suggests. [Continue reading…note: paywall]

The HBCU Radio Preservation Project (WYSO)

The HBCU Radio Preservation Project is dedicated to honoring and preserving the vibrant history and cultural resource that is HBCU radio.

Nearly a third of the 104 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have radio stations, and many have been on the air for more than fifty years. Much of the material created at these stations is at risk of being lost. Magnetic tape and other obsolete formats are deteriorating, and with them the primary source material that documents the rich history and diversity of the Black experience through the Civil Rights era and beyond. Present day digital material is also at risk.

The HBCU Radio Preservation Project grew out of a 2019 survey of HBCU radio stations to assess their preservation practices and needs. We collaborated with the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) on a follow up pilot project. With the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, we are now in the implementation phase of the project, partnering over the next four years with WYSO, NEDCC, the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. The goals of the project are to foster an ethos of preservation at HBCU radio stations, to preserve the stations’ audio collections, and to facilitate capacity-building and sustainability through connecting and supporting the stations and the institutional archives on campus.

We will be able to serve all 29 HBCU radio stations through the project. Our replicable model will serve not only HBCUs, but ultimately any college radio station—and tribal stations, rural stations, and other public and community stations. [Continue reading…]

Golden Age of Radio in US (DPLA)

Tuning into the radio is now an integrated part of our everyday lives. We tune in while we drive, while we work, while we cook in our kitchens. Just 100 years ago, it was a novelty to turn on a radio. The radio emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, the result of decades of scientific experimentation with the theory that information could be transmitted over long distances. Radio as a medium reached its peak—the so-called Radio Golden Age—during the Great Depression and World War II. This was a time when the world was rapidly changing, and for the first time Americans experienced those history-making events as they happened. The emergence and popularity of radio shifted not just the way Americans across the country experienced news and entertainment, but also the way they communicated. This exhibition explores the development, rise, and adaptation of the radio, and its impact on American culture.

Explore Exhibition here

FCC Report 2/18: Should Stations Be Required To Offer EAS Alerts In The Language Of Its Programming? (Radio Insight)

The commission is opening a comment period for a proposed rulemaking for a “simplified multilingual alert processing approach for EAS alerts through which pre-scripted alerts that have been pre-translated into non-English languages can be initiated by alert originators for distribution to the public by the TV and radio broadcasters, cable service providers, and other services that make up the EAS public alert distribution system.” Among the topics the proposal seeks comments are whether stations should be required to transmit alerts in the language of the program content it carries, whether stations should also be allowed to transmit templated alerts in languages that do not correspond to the content offered on the station or whether to limit it to the language that corresponds to the station’s programming.

The proposal would see alerts offered in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese along with English and ASL. The FCC noted that the preliminary 2023 national EAS test revealed that already 2% of EAS participants transmitted alerts in Spanish, while 0.1% did so in other non-English languages. [Continue reading…]


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Radio Waves: BBC Emergency Service for Gaza, FCC Bolstering Amateur Radio, and Crowdsourcing the Ionosphere

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Andrea Borgnino, Paul, and Dennis Dura for the following tips:


BBC World Service announces Emergency Radio Service for Gaza (BBC Media Centre)

It will provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies

BBC News Arabic has today (1 November) announced an Emergency Radio Service for Gaza in response to the conflict in the region.

The emergency service – Gaza Daily – will broadcast vital news daily to the people of Gaza during this time of urgent need.

It will provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies.

Produced in Cairo and London and broadcast on medium wave, the service will initially run one programme a day at 1500 GMT from Friday 3 November. A second daily update will be broadcast at 0500 GMT from Friday 10 November.

The BBC World Service has a history of responding to emergency situations globally. Most recently, in May 2023 during the conflict in Sudan BBC News Arabic began an emergency radio service. In February 2022, the BBC News Ukraine service began extended TV bulletins following the invasion of the country. The BBC also previously launched a service for Gaza in 2014 following a summer of conflict.

Liliane Landor, Director, BBC World Service, says: “BBC News Arabic are extremely well-placed to offer this vital service for the people of Gaza at a time of greatest need. Their expertise and specialist knowledge of the region alongside the BBC’s reputation as the most trusted news provider, means we can reach civilians in Gaza with the information they need.”

RM3

Notes to editors: The Gaza service will be broadcast on MW 639kHz for morning and evening episodes.

FCC Wants to Bolster Amateur Radio (Radio World)

Commission will vote in November on plan to remove outdated technical restrictions

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says the FCC plans to “incentivize innovation and experimentation in the amateur radio bands” by getting rid of outdated restrictions and providing licensees with the flexibility to use modern digital emissions.

The commission at its November meeting is expected to take action on a Report and Order that would eliminate the baud rate limitation and establish a bandwidth limitation in the amateur radio bands below 29.7 MHz.

The order being circulated for tentative consideration by the commission would remove the baud rate limitation — the rate at which the carrier waveform amplitude, frequency and/or phase is varied to transmit information — for data emissions in the amateur radio bands, the FCC says. The current baud rate limits were adopted in 1980.

The order would implement a 2.8 kilohertz bandwidth limitation in place of the baud rate in amateur radio bands. The 2.8 kHz limitation is consistent with the commission’s treatment of other wireless radio services, the FCC says.

The current rules limit the baud rate for high-frequency amateur radioteletype/data transmissions to 300 baud for frequencies below 28 MHz (except in the 60-meter band), and 1200 baud in the 10 meter (28-29.7 MHZ) band. [Continue reading…]

Ham Radios Crowdsourced Ionospheric Science During Eclipse (EOS.org)

Amateur radio operators who study space physics and the upper atmosphere probed the ionosphere’s response to the 2023 annular solar eclipse using shortwave transmissions.

On 14 October, millions of people in North, Central, and South America peered through safety glasses and other viewing aids at the partially obscured Sun. Simultaneously, thousands of folks experienced the annular solar eclipse in a different way: through transmissions sent and received over amateur radios.

Before, during, and after the eclipse, ham radio operators pinged signals off the ionosphere and connected to people hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. The experiment, part of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), is gathering hundreds of thousands of those contacts to investigate how the ionosphere responds to the temporary loss of sunlight during an eclipse. [Continue reading…]


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Radio Waves: Old Time Radio Book, AM to Digital, and Radio in Maui, and Nationwide Emergency Alert Test in October

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Mike, David Iurescia, Rich Dalton, and Dennis Dura for the following tips:


Former Downriver music educator pens book on history of old-time radio (News-Herald)

Brian Rogers is an adventurer of sorts. He’s what you might call a renaissance man. Born in Buffalo, New York, Rogers has been a part of the fabric of the Detroit area since his family moved here in 1943.

Since then he’s been a music educator, choir and band director, speech therapist, paralegal and a freelance writer.

You could say that everything Rogers has pursued, both vocational and otherwise, has centered on the art of communication. And the affable educator and author certainly honed his literary skills through the revised edition of his new book “Adventures in Old Time Radio.”

It is 146 pages and 50 chapters of brief excerpts and articles on the evolution of radio from its inception in the 1920s through 1960.

Rogers, a longtime Allen Park resident who now lives in Dearborn with his wife, Clara, was inspired to compile the book out of his love for, and activity in, the shortwave radio community and as a columnist for the Great Lakes Monitor. [Continue reading…]

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Crawford Will Flip an Alabama AM to All-Digital (Radio World)

Crawford Broadcasting is going to give all-digital HD Radio a try on an AM station in Alabama.

On Sept. 1 the Christian broadcaster will flip WYDE in Birmingham to the MA3 mode; only listeners with HD Radio receivers will be able to hear the AM signal after that, though the same content will be available on two local FMs. Two other AMs in the country currently operate in all-digital.

“We’d like to give all-digital AM a try and see how it performs,” said Director of Engineering Cris Alexander. “The timing is right for us.”

The FCC approved the use of all-digital AM in 2020. WYDE airs at 1260 kHz with a 5 kW signal by day and 41 Watts at night.

“That particular station is ideally situated for an all-digital move,” said Alexander, who also is technical editor of Radio World Engineering Extra. [Continue reading…]

Radio and Maui: A Failure To Communicate? (Jacobs Media Strategies)

The morbidly funny video from the 1960’s classic “Cool Hand Luke” became a popular meme well before there was an Internet. You see it pop up when organizations or people on the same team (or in a relationship) suffer a serious breakdown in communication. Suffice it to say, this is a common condition.

When we look at what happened in Maui, we have a human tragedy that is off the charts. By the time this is all set and done, we will likely be looking at hundreds of people dead, upwards of $6 billion in funds to restore the damage, and incalculable pain and suffering. When weather disasters happen, widescale damage is often unavoidable. And the wildfires that swept through Lahaina fit that definition. But could the damage in human, financial, and property costs have been mitigated or decreased?

Maui is a place where many of us have been on vacation. Looking at the photos, it is unimaginable just how extensive the damage is. And in the aftermath, there are questions – lots of them – about what went wrong. [Continue reading…]

Hawaii Puts AM Radio to Work on Maui

The state has acquired four portable emergency advisory radio systems

Emergency officials in Hawaii will use AM broadcast equipment to help communicate with the public during the ongoing wildfire recovery efforts on Maui.

The State of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has purchased four RadioSTAT portable emergency advisory stations from Information Station Specialists in Michigan, which also makes specialized systems for applications such as Traveler’s Information Stations and Highway Advisory Radio.

The Wireline Competition Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission last week granted the state an emergency authorization to use the stations immediately at four locations including a checkpoint and police and fire stations. They can be used on 1620, 1650, 1670 or 1700 kHz. [Continue reading…]

FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023 (FEMA)

Test Messages Will be Sent to All TVs, Radios and Cell Phones

WASHINGTON — FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) this fall.

The national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

The WEA portion of the test will be directed to all consumer cell phones. This will be the third nationwide test, but the second test to all cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset.

The EAS portion of the test will be sent to radios and televisions. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.

FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and to maximize the public safety value of the test.

The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level. In case the Oct. 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.

The WEA portion of the test will be initiated using FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), a centralized internet-based system administered by FEMA that enables authorities to send authenticated emergency messages to the public through multiple communications networks. The WEA test will be administered via a code sent to cell phones.

This year the EAS message will be disseminated as a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

All wireless phones should receive the message only once. The following can be expected from the nationwide WEA test:

  • Beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell towers will broadcast the test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.
  • For consumers, the message that appears on their phones will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
  • Phones with the main menu set to Spanish will display: “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.”

WEA alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible handsets in geo-targeted areas. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.

Important information about the EAS test:

  • The EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will be conducted with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.
  • The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar. It will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.

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Shortwave Modernization Petition

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Benn Kobb (AK4AV), who writes:

Thomas,

The FCC has placed the Shortwave Modernization petition online for
public download:

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1042840187330

The petition was filed by a coalition of financial services companies
affiliated with HF stations operating in the Experimental Radio Service
(FCC Part 5).

They ask the FCC to allocate frequencies for commercial international
shortwave data communications. That is not currently permitted except as
temporary experiments.

The FCC has not yet opened a proceeding for public comment on this
petition, but I expect that to happen soon.

That process assigns the petition a RM-number. It sets a deadline by
which the public may file comments referencing that number.

73,
Benn Kobb AK4AV
Experimental Radio News
https://www.experimentalradio.news

Thank you for the tip, Benn!

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Radio Waves: Colombia’s life-saving pop song, FCC Commissioner Pro AM Radio, Experimental Radio News 6, FCC Comments on FM Power Increase, and Leo Laporte Retires

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!


Colombia’s life-saving pop song (BBC Sounds)

It is 2010 and Colombian Colonel Jose Espejo has a problem. Not only is the Farc increasing its kidnapping activity, targeting police and military hostages, but many of the soldiers already in captivity – some kept in barbed-wire cages and held isolation in for over a decade – are losing hope of ever being rescued.

Colombia’s dense jungle and mountainous terrain mean rescue missions can take months to plan, especially because Farc guerrillas are known to shoot all hostages dead at the first hint of a raid. Colonel Espejo knew that in order for future missions to succeed, he would need to warn the captives that help was coming so they could be ready to make a break for it when the army arrived. But how do you get a message across to military hostages without tipping off their captors and placing them in even greater danger?

The unexpected solution – hide the message in a pop song with an interlude in Morse code that the military hostages could decipher. Soldiers learned Morse code in basic training, and it was unlikely that the Farc, who were not military trained, would know it. This is the tale of Better Days, a pop song with a secret Morse code message that became an actual lifesaver.

Click here to listen to this program on BBC Sounds.

FCC Commissioner Advocates for Preservation of AM Radio (Radio World)

At the NAFB Convention, Simington said AM radio is an “indispensable resource”

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington met with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting during their 79th annual convention on Nov. 16. In his remarks, Simington emphasized the importance of AM radio and outlined the steps needed to ensure its future in a changing market.

Simington began his remarks with a more personal anecdote. He said he grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, where “besides the trade papers, there was no media institution more trusted to inform us about all we needed to know than AM radio.”

“AM radio was for us then, and is for the more than three million farmers across the U.S. now, an indispensable resource,” he said.

Simington said AM radio is the “essential spine” of the Emergency Alert System and “lets you know what’s happening not just globally, but locally — from school closures and traffic delays to city council and county management meetings and high school sports games.”

He comments on the growing populations that view AM radio as a “dead” and outdated technology, and why he believes that to be a falsity. [Continue reading…]

Experimental Radio News 6

This issue is devoted entirely to experimental high-frequency (HF) or shortwave radio, including a new FCC docket accepting comments on a license application.

Click here to check out the latest Experimental Radio News issue!

Continue reading

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High-Frequency Trading Service: FCC posts two lobbying documents by DPA Mac

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Benn Kobb (AK4AV), who notes that the FCC has posted for public inspection two lobbying documents by DPA Mac, applicant for a new DRM HF broadcast station with 2 kW of transmitter output power.

Benn notes:

“Regardless of DPA’s claims that its broadcasts will be free of charge and not encrypted, its non-broadcast high-frequency trading service will be for paying customers only.

“That is the purpose of this station and is why its target areas, as seen in a world map slide, are limited to the location of certain foreign exchanges. This despite its claim to be a worldwide service.

“There is little profit in SW broadcasting today, and what business there is available is accommodated by those existing US HF stations that can hang on through economic shifts. No, the DPA Mac station is not devoted to global information as a business venture. It wants a license to provide private telecommunications. The broadcasts to the public are just so it can get licensed, because there is no other radio service in the HF spectrum for private international data links.

“At this time no one knows what the FCC will do with this license application and two other similar applications. What is clear is that the applicants want to get on the air ASAP before any possible changes that may affect the HF broadcasting service.”

The FCC posted the following documents in an accessible place on their website yesterday morning:

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1110171119378/1

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1110171119378/2

Thank you for the update, Benn.

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Radio Waves: Mazdas Stuck On KUOW, Golden Age of Radio, Russian SW Broadcasts to Arctic, FCC Cleans Up Rules, and Starlink Loses 40 Satellites to Geo Storm

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers.  To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Much thanks to the many contributors who shared the following items:


You’re listening to KUOW … like it or not: Mysterious glitch has Mazda drivers stuck on public radio (Geekwire)

Drivers of certain vehicles in Seattle and other parts of Western Washington are shouting at their car radios this week. Not because of any particular song or news item that’s being broadcast, but because an apparent technical glitch has caused the radios to be stuck on public radio station KUOW.

The impacted drivers appear to all be owners of Mazda vehicles from between 2014 and 2017. In some cases the in-car infotainment systems have stopped working altogether, derailing the ability to listen to the radio at all or use Bluetooth phone connections, GPS, the rear camera and more.

According to Mazda drivers who spoke with GeekWire, and others in a Reddit thread discussing the dilemma, everyone who has had an issue was listening to KUOW 94.9 in recent weeks when the car systems went haywire.

KUOW sounded unsure of a possible cause; at least one dealership service department blamed 5G; and Mazda told GeekWire in an official. [Continue reading…]

The real reason the 1930s were considered ‘the golden age of radio’ (The Grunge)

While it’s been widely contested who actually invented the first radio (both Italian physicist Gugliemo Marconi and Serbian-American inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla were fighting for the first patent, per PBS), it was Marconi who came out top in 1904, when the U.S. Patent Office officially dubbed him the inventor of the new breakthrough technology. According to APM Reports, in 1920, Americans had their first commercially licensed radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: KDKA. That number quickly rose after KDKA broadcast the election that saw Warren G. Harding become the 29th president, and by 1924, 500 stations were available for listening.

By 1930, over “40% of American households owned a radio,” per APM Reports. This became known as “The Golden Age of Radio.” As revealed by PBS, in 1930, 12 million Americans owned radios — growing to a whopping 28 million by the end of the decade.

Access to the radio came at a turbulent time in history. As the Great Depression caused widespread suffering for millions of Americans (via History), the households that could afford a radio saw it as a welcome source of entertainment and news that made them feel connected to the rest of the country. These days, with over 15,445 radio stations available in the U.S., it’s clear the radio still remains relevant, but its impact on society truly began nine decades ago. Let’s take a look at the real reason the 1930s were considered “The Golden Age of Radio.” [Continue reading…]

Russia initiates cross-border radio broadcast in North’s languages (Russian News Agency – TASS)

ST. PETERSBURG, February 7. /TASS/. The International Consortium for the Preservation of Arctic Cultural Heritage, based at the Russian State Hydrometeorology University (RSHU), initiated a cross-border radio broadcast in languages of the North’s indigenous peoples, the university’s representative in Moscow Andrei Bryksenkov told TASS.

An application for the broadcast has been filed with the Arctic Council. “The application must be filed from two countries, and we plan to go along with Norway – with the Sami Radio, which is a part of Norway’s big television and radio concern. <…> The idea has been supported at all levels. As for the cross-border broadcast, we, probably, will begin from the shortwave broadcast, as it covers bigger territories and is less costly,” he said.

At the initial stage, the pilot broadcast will be organized on the territories of Finland, Norway and Russia. The project’s initiators are ready to cooperate with other countries. “One transmitter in Krasnoyarsk may cover 80% of the Russian North. Norway has such a transmitter, which covers the Scandinavian territory. Another two transmitters are on Alaska,” he continued. Later on, the broadcast will be also on middle and long waves, thus one frequency will carry 3-4 channels, he added. One of them will be in Russian and English, and the rest – in languages of the indigenous peoples.

The audience will learn about traditions, skills of the peoples living in the North. The content will fully focus on culture. The countries, participating in the project, will open newsrooms. “We hope the general center, which will coordinate the project, will be at the Arctic Council,” he said.

The International Consortium for the Preservation of Arctic Cultural Heritage includes St. Petersburg’s committee on the Arctic, the Arctic museum and exhibition center in St. Petersburg, the Association of indigenous low-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East, and others. [Read full article…]

FCC Is ‘Cleaning Up’ Of More Radio Rules. Here Is What Will (And Will Not) Change. (Inside Radio)

The modernization of radio’s regulatory rulebook that began under the prior administration continues at the Federal Communications Commission. It is slated to approve a half dozen changes at the Commission’s February meeting, in what Chair Jessica Rosenworcel says is a “cleaning up” of the broadcast radio rules.

“The Commission’s current rules for full-power and translator radio stations contain a number of provisions that are redundant, outdated, or in conflict with other rules,” said Rosenworcel. She said the proposal would “update and clean up” those provisions “in order to reduce any potential confusion, alleviate unnecessary burdens, and make sure our rules reflect the latest technical requirements.”

The proposed order (MB Docket No. 21-263) would update six rules, while scrap plans to change another. They include –

Eliminate Transmitter Power Limit Rule For AMs.

The draft order says the FCC has tentatively concluded the rule is “outdated and unnecessary” given its current reliance on actual operating antenna input power as the most accurate and effective means of ensuring that AM stations adhere to their authorized power limits. The FCC also agreed with comments filed by the National Association of Broadcasters that said the elimination of the technical restriction will allow AMs of any class to use transmitters of any rated power. That, it says, will benefit all AMs by broadening the market of transmitters, enhancing the secondary market for AM transmitters, and reducing the number of transmitters that need to be disposed of.

Clarify AM Fill-in Area Definition

The FCC is poised to amend the definition of an “AM fill-in area” used when an FM translator simulcasts an AM station. [Continue reading…]

Geomagnetic storm and recently deployed Starlink satellites (SpaceX Blog)

On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.

SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.

Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.

Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation. [Read at SpaceX…]


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