On RCI’s Listener Letters and the RCI Action committee‘s website, you can read listener reactions to the looming RCI cuts.
To their credit, I’ve noticed that RCI programs (like The Link with Marc Montgomery) are continuing “business as usual.” I’ve noticed no degradation of their content or quality.
(Source: Radio Australia via Keith Perron)
Details of an interruption to our shortwave services to Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and the south west Pacific for Thursday April 19th.
This is an important announcement for shortwave listeners.
Due to essential transmitter maintenance, some broadcasts to Indonesia, PNG and the Western Pacific will not be available TODAY Thursday April 19th .
This will affect short wave broadcasts to: East Indonesia; French broadcasts to the south-west Pacific and numerous broadcasts to PNG and the central Pacific region.
The work will commence at 5am Jakarta time, 8am in Port Moresby, 9am in Port Vila, 10am in Suva, and is expected to take up to eight hours.
Some Pacific listeners will still be able to hear us 9660, or 12080 kHz.
Radio Australia’s FM, satellite and web streaming services will continue as normal. So you can still hear us on FM and the web.
The following shortwave frequencies will be suspended between 0800-1600 Melbourne time (2200-0600 UT):
1938: The Gernsback Radio Newspaper (Photo: Smithsonian Magazine)
(Source: Smithsonian Magazine)
The introduction of broadcast radio caused some in the newspaper industry to fear that newspapers would soon become a thing of the past. After all, who would read the news when you could just turn on the radio for real-time updates?
Newspapers had even more to fear in 1938 when radio thought it might compete with them in the deadtree business as well.
The May, 1938 issue of Hugo Gernsback‘s Short Wave and Television magazine included an article titled “Radio to Print News Right In Your Home.” The article described a method of delivering newspapers that was being tested and (provided it didn’t interfere with regular radio broadcasts) would soon be used as a futuristic news-delivery method.
[…]This invention of a wireless fax, as it were, was credited to W.G. H. Finch and used radio spectrum that was otherwise unused during the late-night hours when most Americans were sleeping. The FCC granted a special license for these transmissions to occur between midnight and 6am, though it would seem that a noisy printing device in your house cranking away in the middle of the night might have been the fatal flaw in their system. It wasn’t exactly a fast delivery either, as the article notes that it takes “a few hours” for the machine to produce your wireless fax newspaper.
The full article, is a must-read.
Fascinating to realize that even in the infancy of wireless, newspapers already felt threatened by new technology. Goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
(Source: RCI Action)
How can you help?
How can you help stop this drastic cut of 80% of Radio Canada International’s budget?
Please write to Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore. (See addresses below.) If they are your Member of Parliament, please mention that as well.
Ask whether CBC/Radio-Canada should be deciding how strong or weak Canada’s Voice to the World should be?
Whether they feel comfortable with the fact our Chinese audience will now be cut off from RCI’s uncensored news about Canada and the World.
We feel because of the continuing cuts to RCI since 1990 (See: http://rciaction.org/blog), the government should give RCI financial autonomy and take RCI’s budget away from CBC/Radio-Canada’s control.
If you agree with us, please make your point of view heard.
We have very little time to achieve our goal. We’re counting on you.
Some points you might want to bring up with the ministers or your Member of Parliament:
Please consider sending an e-mail to the three ministers, even if you live outside Canada. If you are in Canada, you can send letters free to the ministers, MPs and Senators.
Thank you,
RCI Action Committee
http://twitter.com/rci_action http://rciaction.org/blog
Addresses:
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird E-mail: [email protected]
Mailing address:
Hon. John Baird
418N Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
—————————-
Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: E-mail: [email protected]
Mailing address:
Hon. Jim Flaherty
435-S Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
—————————
Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore E-mail: [email protected]
Mailing address:
Hon. James Moore
15 Eddy Street, 12th Floor
House of Commons
Gatineau, QC K1A 0M5
——————————-
http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E
http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/Senate/SenatorsBiography/ISenator.asp?Language=E
Universal Radio has published the “List Price” of the Bonito 1102S RadioJet at $784.00 US.
This could make the RadioJet a very strong competitor to other SDRs on the market in North America. The list price (not necessarily the final price Universal will announce–which could be lower) is $216 less than that of the Microtelecom Perseus ($999.95 US) and the $116 less than the WinRadio Excalibur ($899.95 US).
After reading Fernando’s review of the RadioJet–where he compared it to the Perseus–this may be one of the best SDR performers for the price. We will be reviewing the Bonito 1102S RadioJet in the near future as well.
To follow all updates of the Bonito 1102S RadioJet, please follow our tag: RadioJet
Myke Dodge Weiskopf, who we’ve mentioned on the SWLing Post for his shortwave radio recordings, has informed us that he will be hosting a long-form radio show May-19-20th, showcasing live radio recordings from Mali. You can listen to the show online, or live (if you live near Cambridge, MA, USA).
Details from Myke:
I’ll be producing and hosting another long-form radio broadcast on the music and sounds of Mali for WHRB 95.3 FM, Cambridge, MA (USA). The broadcast is part of the biannual WHRB Orgy® tradition.
Mali is perhaps the most popular and influential hub of African music. This continuous, 22-hour-long broadcast will feature rare live recordings from more than a dozen of Mali’s finest homegrown musicians and bands, as well as extensive folkloric and regional music from the libraries of Malian state and community FM broadcasters. Recordings were made in January 2012 during a three-week overland journey ranging from the country’s capital, Bamako, to the legendary Saharan city of Timbuktu. Fans of Malian music, African community radio, and world folklore should consider this required listening.
Available via terrestrial FM (95.3 FM) or streaming online at www.whrb.org.
The details in short:
FROM HERE TO TIMBUKTU: The WHRB Mali Orgy®
WHRB 95.3 FM (Cambridge, MA) or www.whrb.org
START: Saturday, May 19 (1800 UTC / 1 PM EDT)
END: Sunday, May 20 (1600 UTC / 11 AM EDT)Further details will be posted soon at www.maliorgy.info.
The DR111 DRM Radio (Photo: Chengdu NewStar Electronics)
Based on this initial review, it appears that the CDNSE Newstar DR111 is an improvement over the company’s last portable DRM radio, the DiWave.
(Source: DRMNA.info)
[T]he unit is quite sensitive. RNZI evenings at 17675kHz and 13730kHz can be received various places within my house with only the internal whip. REE at 9630kHz using an external ham vertical antenna was similar copy on Pappradio (with a slight edge given to the Pappradio.)
DRM Audio while adequate, seems narrow and compressed in comparison to DReaM on my PC. I verified this by switching A to B between the Newstar and the Pappradio with DReaM using my JBL headphones. I’m beginning to wonder if the DRM audio is being processed by the DSP, just like the analogue audio. The DSP in analogue is a tad too aggressive. A real bonus in analogue is the adjustable bandwidth (1-6kHz) however. That and the DSP make analogue quite enjoyable even in the crowded 49M (6MHz) band. I have been listening to BBC on 5875kHz in the early AM with armchair copy and great audio using only the whip (throughout the house).