{"id":23610,"date":"2017-01-23T19:30:43","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T23:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=23610"},"modified":"2017-01-23T19:30:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T23:30:43","slug":"abc-rural-interviews-garry-cratt-about-decision-to-end-shortwave-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/abc-rural-interviews-garry-cratt-about-decision-to-end-shortwave-service\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC Rural interviews Garry Cratt about decision to end shortwave service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23612\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635.jpg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635-768x486.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABCRadioFront-QSL-001-1024x635-624x395.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Troy Riedel, who shares the following announcement from a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tecsunradios.com.au\/store\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tecsun Radios Australia<\/a>\u00a0email newsletter:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-Australia.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23611\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tecsun-Australia.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"57\" \/><\/a>Tecsun Radios Australia owner Garry Cratt was interviewed by ABC Rural this week about the ABC\u2019s decision to end their shortwave radio transmission after almost 80 years.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PySh8DNX6mE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/PySh8DNX6mE\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to listen via YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The ABC have decided that as shortwave technology is now nearly a century old, it is outdated and serves a very limited audience. They are planning on moving towards a digital focused service instead.<\/p>\n<p>Garry discussed this in\u00a0his interview with ABC Rural:<br \/>\n<em>&#8220;A lot of the places that do receive Radio Australia, there is no power for a start, so they&#8217;re relying on batteries and solar panels.\u00a0The people that are listening, that will be affected, are those people who are maybe still back in the last century, but that&#8217;s not their fault.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tecsun Radios Australia recently sent a shipment of 500 radios to the Solomon Islands to be given out to remote villages. Shortwave radio is often the only way to communicate in rural villages like these, this is especially important during times of natural disaster such as the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and as recently as cyclones Yasi (2011), and Pam\u00a0(2015).<\/p>\n<p>The ABC are planning on building a stronger FM transmitter network to use instead of the shortwave transmission &#8211; but what will happen to the people who are out of range of\u00a0FM radio?<\/p>\n<p>There are many people without this equipment living in places like the Pacific Islands, where Radio Australia is one the few news and entertainment resources. Due\u00a0to the sparse population\u00a0and wide geographic dispersion it is extremely difficult to\u00a0correctly measure the effect that turning off the shortwave transmission will have.<\/p>\n<p>Here at Tecsun Radios Australia, we are asking you to help us let the ABC know that shortwave radio is a much valued service. You can do this by tweeting a photo of your shortwave radio tuned into Radio Australia, making sure you tag <strong>@ABCAustralia<\/strong> and <strong>@TecsunRadios<\/strong> and using the hashtag\u00a0<strong>#saveshortwave<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, we are calling on the Australian Government to restore funding to the ABC, (previously provided via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) to support the ABC\u2019s international television and radio broadcasts. We acknowledge that the ABC has continued to provide international radio and television broadcasts by internally funding these programs, and now we ask the Australian Government to support our rural and Pacific Islands communities by giving the ABC the appropriate funding they require.<\/p>\n<p>We are talking about $1.9 million in funding after all, which we think the Prime Minister could find if he checked under the Chesterfield seat cushions in his office&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>To read the full article and listen to Garry\u2019s radio interview, click here:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/tecsunradios.us11.list-manage1.com\/track\/click?u=6da0ffe5ca671ecc582c50492&amp;id=b488d0b02f&amp;e=23e6219cf3\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/tecsunradios.us11.list-manage1.com\/track\/click?u%3D6da0ffe5ca671ecc582c50492%26id%3Db488d0b02f%26e%3D23e6219cf3&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1485295454495000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGMaVefn9Ar9njSsBSikPNb5TwVEQ\">http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/<wbr \/>2017-01-18\/abc-shortwave-cuts-<wbr \/>tourists-operator-pacific-<wbr \/>island\/8191374<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who shares the following announcement from a\u00a0Tecsun Radios Australia\u00a0email newsletter: Tecsun Radios Australia owner Garry Cratt was interviewed by ABC Rural this week about the ABC\u2019s decision to end their shortwave radio transmission after almost 80 years. Click here to listen via YouTube. The ABC have decided [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3,43],"tags":[2924,5484,5451,5865,5866,368,1920,5867],"class_list":["post-23610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-abc-cuts","tag-abc-northern-territories","tag-abc-northern-territory-shortwave-services","tag-abc-rural","tag-garry-cratt","tag-radio-australia","tag-radio-australia-cuts","tag-tecsun-radios-australia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-68O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23891,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/continued-public-support-for-restoration-of-abc-shortwave-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":0},"title":"Continued public support for restoration of ABC shortwave services","author":"Thomas","date":"February 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who shares the following from a Tecsun Radios Australia press release: Public support has been steadily increasing in favour of the #saveshortwave campaign. Opposition leader Bill Shorten has written to the Prime Minister to ask him to step in urgently to stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25023,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/radio-outbackistan-the-next-shortwave-broadcaster-for-rural-australia\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":1},"title":"Radio Outbackistan: &#8220;the next shortwave broadcaster for rural Australia&#8221;&#8211;?","author":"Thomas","date":"April 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: ABC Rural via London Shortwave) Could Radio Outbackistan be the next shortwave broadcaster for rural Australia? In response to the ABC abolishing its HF shortwave radio service, the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association (NTCA) president has turned to humour to propose his own broadcast alternative. On Friday, in front of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Radio-Outbackistan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Radio-Outbackistan.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Radio-Outbackistan.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Radio-Outbackistan.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23735,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/abc-unveils-enhanced-support-measures-for-those-affected-by-loss-of-shortwave-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":2},"title":"ABC unveils &#8220;enhanced support measures&#8221; for those affected by loss of shortwave services","author":"Thomas","date":"January 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: The Australian via Andy Sennitt) [...]In a statement yesterday rebutting opposition claims that the ABC\u2019s decision was somehow linked to government funding cuts, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the ABC\u2019s \u00addecision, announced unexpectedly in December, had since been \u201cconfirmed\u201d. \u201cWhile the ABC has confirmed its decision I think the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28411,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/the-guardian-study-shows-abc-cuts-to-shortwave-rural-broadcasts-jeopardising-safety-of-remote-communities\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":3},"title":"The Guardian: Study shows ABC cuts to shortwave &#038; rural broadcasts &#8220;jeopardising safety of remote communities&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"September 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: The Guardian via Ian P) Reduction of local news and station closures disastrous for people living outside Australia\u2019s cities, researchers say Cuts to the ABC in regional and rural Australia and the corporation\u2019s increasing reliance on digital technologies is jeopardising the safety of remote communities and their access to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NorthernTerritory-Australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23506,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/ross-knows-firsthand-the-importance-of-abcradio-australia-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":4},"title":"Ross knows firsthand the importance of ABC\/Radio Australia shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, we posted a\u00a0news item\u00a0regarding the importance of the ABC's shortwave service to those working and living in the Australian Outback.\u00a0It appears\u00a0the ABC has no intention of reversing the decision in any meaningful way. A follow-up piece from The Guardian: The ABC has remained steadfast in its decision to scrap\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23156,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/abc-friends-plea-for-urgent-ministerial-action-to-retain-nt-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":23610,"position":5},"title":"ABC Friends: &#8220;Plea For Urgent Ministerial Action&#8221; to retain NT service","author":"Thomas","date":"January 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Phil Brennan, who shares the following press release from ABC Friends. ABC Friends represents the community\u2019s interest in independent national public broadcasting: MEDIA RELEASE 5\/1\/2017 NEW THREAT TO LIVES IN OUTBACK PLEA FOR URGENT MINISTERIAL ACTION An urgent call for ministerial action to protect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ABC-Friends_logo.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}