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Index

Contents Favourites Reviews Features News Profiles

Cover Story
ISSN 1748-8117 28 Malahit-DSP SDR
The editor has some practical advice and recep-
May 2022 Vol. 17 No 5
On sale: 28 April 2022 tion tips for those who are thinking about acquiring
Next issue on sale: 26 May 2022 the much-talked-about Malahit-DSP (MDS2000)
RadioUser Software-Defined Receiver.
Warners Group Publications plc
The Maltings, West Street
Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
www.warnersgroup.co.uk 21 WiNRADIO
Tel: 01778 391000 WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra
Editor Clint Gouveia is back in his well-equipped shack.
Georg Wiessala
wiessala@hotmail.com He offers the UK’s first in-depth review of the latest
Designer high-end SDR from WiNRADiO: the professional-level
Mike Edwards WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra.
mike.edwards@warnersgroup.co.uk
Advertisement Manager
Kristina Green 34 Emerging Issues in Radio
kristina.green@warnersgroup.co.uk Beginning a new two-part mini-run, Chrissy Brand
Tel: 01778 392096
offers some informed opinion on how radio might
Production Manager
Nicola Glossop evolve over the next decade, assessing future tech-
nicola.glossop@warnersgroup.co.uk nologies, formats and listeners’ choices.
Production Assistant 28
Charlotte Bamford
charlotte.bamford@warnersgroup.co.uk 38 International Radio & New Media
Marketing Manager 7 News and Products In her global column this month, Chrissy offers her
Katherine Brown
katherine.brown@warnersgroup.co.uk See also pp. 26, 41, 44-45, and 59, and the Radio tips for the very best in worldwide broadcasts and
Marketing Executive Enthusiast website at: www.radioenthusiast.co.uk podcasts, focussing on news programmes, and the
Luke Hider classical, folk and electronic music genres.
luke.hider@warnersgroup.co.uk
Publisher 10 Airband News
Rob McDonnell David Smith tracks military flights over Eastern 42 Early Broadcasting
robm@warnersgroup.co.uk Europe, looks into communications at RAF Benson Stations in Britain
Technical Help and reports on changes and new emissions policies Tony Currie relives the fascinating world of the
We regret that replies to technical queries
cannot be given over the telephone. Any at Luton and Amsterdam Airports. very first broadcasts in Britain and profiles a radio
technical queries by e-mail are very unlikely pioneer who seems to have been largely, and unjustly,
to receive immediate attention either. So, if
you require help with problems relating to 13 Airshows 2022 forgotten.
topics covered by RU, then please write to the In his second contribution to this month’s maga-
Editorial Offices, we will do our best to help.
zine, David Smith offers Part One of our popular 45 European Private Short Wave
Book and back issue orders
Send your completed form to: RadioUser guide to aeronautical displays, airshow Stations | News
RadioUser Subscriptions Dept celebrations, flyovers and history days out. Stig Hartvig Nielsen shares the latest edition of his
Warners Group Publications plc
The Maltings, West Street
pan-European Guide to privately-run Short Wave
Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH 14 Book Review Stations. Tune in to those for a radio landscape you’ll
David Harris reviews a new title delving into the love, and which you never knew existed.
This publication is
printed by Warners
radio history of Vietnam, in which we learn more
01778 395111
about propaganda, censorship, and ‘colour-coded’
radio broadcasts.
SUBSCRIBE TO RADIO USER
NEW New releases from Icom, RFinder,
GEAR NVSON, DigiRig & ZUMspot RPi

For the latest offer call

16 Digital Radio
Kevin Ryan presents a Beginner’s Guide to Internet
May 2022 £4.99 www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

MALAHIT OR MISS?
Our verdict on the SDR MDS2000 portable,
touchscreen, wideband packed with features

Signals from Space

01778 395161
Radio, looking at the rapid development of this flex-
The history and work of
Jodrell Bank Observatory

SDR Receiver Test

See page six for details.
Save up to 20%.
WR-G69DDCe Excelsior

ible medium, and investigating the distinct ways in

Ultra from WiNRADiO

AVIATION Latest on 2022 HOW TO Build Your Own

Airshows and Airbands Aerial for BBC Short Wave
Dates for the new season and news Hear broadcasts to Ukraine with this
of NATO activity over Eastern Europe simple aerial for 5785 and 15735 kHz

BBC 100 Years European Short Wave

The corporation from 1960-69 Tuning into private stations on the continent Display until 26th May 2022

001 May Front.indd 1 12/04/2022 21:56

Read on any device, anywhere, anytime at which you can enjoy its great diversity.
http://bit.ly/raus-mysub22

20 Rallies and Events

Keep up to date on Facebook Our in-depth listing of radio shows and Hamfests
www.facebook.com/radioenthusiasts
this summer and autumn is, perhaps, the UK’s most
Follow us on Twitter comprehensive guide to consult before you set out.
@REnthusiasts Check with organisers before you do.
42

Sign up to our FREE email newsletter at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

4 RadioUser May 2022
 Editorial

Welcome
Radio Technologies:
Traditional, Emerging,
and Evolving
Georg Wiessala
wiessala@hotmail.com

46
46 TV and Radio, Past and Present
Keith Hamer and Garry Smith move on to the 1970s;
this was the era of the foundation of BBC-2, the
inauguration of Television Centre, colour TV, and
programmes we still remember, and love, today.
50 Aerials Now:
Keith Rawlings builds an aerial to better receive the
new, special, BBC Short Wave broadcasts to Ukraine,
and he introduces the workings, applications and
requirements of a good trap-dipole antenna.
53 Signals from Space
Tim Kirby profiles the history and major achievements
of the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, a site of
global significance and appreciates the life and work
of Sir Bernard Lovell (1913-2012).
56 Long- Medium and Short Wave
Scott Caldwell shares some of his own and readers’
logs, profiles the Medium Wave Circle (MWC), consid-
ers current transatlantic MW DXing and reveals the
latest news from the world of HF radio.
60 Maritime Matters
Robert Connolly interprets emergency terminol-
ogy used on the Maritime Bands, shares common
frequencies to try for visitors to the Coast and intro-
duces the National Coastguard Institution (NCI).
60
H
ello and welcome to the
May edition of RadioUser, it
is nice to have you with us
again.
The ongoing Russian war in Ukraine is
beginning to echo throughout our pages
as well, as you will see from this issue,
and the next one. This month, Keith
Rawlings puts together a simple aerial,
with which the BBC’s new Short Wave
broadcasts to Ukraine (Україна) can
be received. David Smith tracks military
activity in that region, and he introduces
RAF Benson, as a prelude to a changing
Airband News column, which will see
military and civil aeronautical matters
become much more enmeshed in the
future.
Some of our prominent features this
time around are equipment reviews,
and I am proud to be able to offer a
UK- exclusive magazine review of the
new flagship SDR from WiNRADIO, the
WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra. Read on
and see what Clint Gouveia thought of
this new ‘super-radio’. At the other end
of the (price) scale, I take a look at the
Malahit DSP SDR currently available from
Moonraker, putting the little black box
with touchscreen through its paces on a
surprisingly wide variety of signals.
We are now one-third into the BBC
Centenary Year 2022, and Tony Currie
returns to RadioUser to allow us to cast
a glimpse at the fascinating world of the
early broadcasting stations, received,
at first just by a group of dedicated
hobbyists. This is complemented well by
our journey through BBC history during
the 1970s, undertaken for us by Keith
Hamer and Garry Smith.
Moving on to the present time, and
to a different kind of technology, Kevin
Ryan provides a comprehensive guide
to Internet Radio and how to receive it in
a variety of ways that will suit you. You
could read Kevin’s column in conjunction with
Chrissy Brand’s, if you like, on the future of
radio, this month and next.
Meanwhile, Tim Kirby returns to radio
astronomy and provides a telescopic view, as
it were, of the achievements of one of the UK’s
landmarks – the Jodrell Bank Observatory –
and the personalities behind it.
In our regular columns this month, I do
hope that you will be interested in learning
more about radio in Vietnam, music genres on
international radio, the National Coastguard
Institution (NCI), the emergency terminology
used on the VHF Marine Bands, and much
more besides.
Last but not least, for all you show visitors,
DXers and frequency surfers, we have Part
Two of our 2022 Seasonal Airshows List,
as well as the latest list of European Private
Short Wave Stations. In addition to this, don’t
forget to take a look at Scott Caldwell’s Long,
Medium, and Short Wave Column, which
homes in this time on transatlantic DX and the
UK Medium Wave Circle (MWC).
Enjoy this issue, and don’t forget to get in
touch and tell me what you would like to see
covered in this magazine.
Georg Wiessala
Editor, Radio User Magazine
www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

Why not visit our new online bookshop at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store

May 2022 RadioUser 5
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music
in the past. I remember my first foreign holi-

Fife an
d has pr lic-speaking m
day being a family fortnight in Austria when

FM lting re
New hybrid lations ent of
I insisted my parents allow me to pack a

they lo hara atxeu

1970’s Fidelity Rad 27. No one was going to
stop me this time, either.

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Appearance

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Whilst very much being a state-of-the-art

evious be illus in the sp le and its im ateur radioose

contemporary radio, the Tecsun H-501x

hip with
radio fr
does also have a reassuring ‘retro’ feel

ay. hs w
about it. I showed it to product design-

ly prov tion as re at its b rhaps

er Tim Sutton-Brand, who was impressed

trated
with ex The program
with the radio’s functionality and design; he

the
For th history om Ge
This DSP Noice Cancelling also commented that it had a boxy, classic-

i with portan
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ided th eech by tter ce was rvice al

The two speakers, the layout of buttons
In-Line Module Worth £159
tracks
and dials and the shape all reminded me a

rillia
little of some of the 1990s Grundig Satellit

e soleas
receivers, and maybe even some of the first

amples mes w M Ev
short wave receivers that I used, back in the

featurin em a- n
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consider this to be a positive thing.

e ill ber of th aria Him d

The five control knobs consist of a trio of

of thei derline
volume, bass and treble on the left front and

latest All 6 ep g music

side of the receiver. A fine-tuning dial and a
larger regular tuning dial sit on the right-hand

r e d The Tecsun
Chrissy Brand side. I always wonder if this standard design button and there it is, you ‘zap’ between a middle-aged Angolan singer, had a fresh

m fr N at m E nt eB
chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk implementation ever causes problems for the two bands. It is also simple to scroll urgency with all the musicians involved on

isodes ia us om the elbaue

left-handed users? through each of the short wave bands by the track Os Tais, being heard in equally fine

are avai ns who influ ic and plenum ional Counci M

y initial impression of the The dials give the user an incredibly tactile pressing the + or – keys. You can store voice. As well as music, jingles, news and

H-501x Deluxe
news
Tecsun H-501x was that it experience and are made to a high stand- station frequencies in the memory to your features all sounded crisp and clear on FM.

r,
was a larger receiver than ard. I simply wanted to turn them with my heart’s content. There are 3150 presets you I even enjoyed listening to advertisements,
www.radioenthusiast.co.uk
Decem
December 2021 £4.99

hu s
I had realised, and a slight thumbs all the time – such is their ease of can use, and which are separated over 25 for once.
panic set in as to how I use, enticing you to explore just a little fur- memory pages. This enables the storage of Short wave was, of course, dependent on
might take it abroad with me. It is a large
Shortwave Radio ther, gliding along whichever band you hap- 100 FM stations, 100 on medium wave, 100 propagation. Tuning to 13740kHz at 1845

enced improv l (with

portable and I am used to packing small ra- pen to be on. This is surely a DXer’s delight! on long wave (not that there are more than UTC one evening, I enjoyed a Radio France

ber 20 lable at ). It tabl

dios on my trips. However, that feeling very The rubberised surface on the side of the 40 or so long wave stations), 250 on short International broadcast, in French. An all 5

● and TECSUN H-501x

quickly subsided. This Tecsun is similar in two tuning dials enable you to quickly spin wave, 100 on SSB, and 100 on synchronous SINPO helped the song Tala n’dile, by Ariel

Stay up to date on all pthe

roduclatest equipment reviews and news s throughout
i
Chrissy Brand puts the highly-anticipated Tecsun

ap
size to many gadgets that people take on along the bands, whilst the more robust, detection. Sheney featuring DJ Arafat, sound great.

21 R ast th em
holidays. Larger than a tablet, for instance, metal, ribbed dials, accessed from the front The tone can be beautiful, although is BBC World Service, from the Woofferton

em ed pl
H-501x receiver through its paces during a trip to

k1
but far smaller than a laptop. of the receiver, emphasise that you are in slightly dependent on the station heard. This transmitter back in the UK, on 13660kHz at

ents, w ause
hich w two amendm
Portugal, appreciating both the technical performance

07.co. . (S
The radio’s exact dimensions are 277 x control and are driving this set. Of course, is where the two speakers, bass and treble 1800 UTC sounded excellent, and just up

adio
164 x 44 mm. This makes the H-501x of you can enter any frequency by using the controls are welcome and enhance the the dial, American evangelism was coming
a size that could be transported in a back-
and the unique design philosophy of this new radio. keypad, too. listening experience. in loud and clear from World Christian
We test this highly anticipated receiver pack easily enough. It is also a very good The LCD display is of a substantial size, The speakers produce a very good timbre, Broadcasting from the Madagascar

uk. Each ource:

size for a radio that could sit in the shack, ly in terms of its robustness, the generously when compared to the pouches that come large enough to see from a distance and, and I found there to be no distortion, even transmitter, on 13670kHz. Meanwhile, the

Use to see how practical it is on your travels the office, sitting room or your kitchen. sized display read-out, and because of the
benefit of having space to accommodate
with smaller, cheaper portable radios.
The receiver fitted very neatly into the
when close-up, does not require my middle-
aged eyes to use reading glasses (which I
when turned to full volume. I turned the
volume up to the maximum while listening
medium wave was dominated each night by
many powerful Spanish stations.

Colin ere ad ents

Big is Beautiful

r
two good speakers. small suitcase I took away with me, well- have to resort to on many radios). to Beatriz Rosario on the local FM station, As you would expect of any quality radio,

● t revie
The quality of sound, the tone and the loud- Maybe it is just me, but the tan-coloured, protected by rolled up clothes and a beach Radio Portimão (106.5MHz). The singer, there is a gentle fade away of the signal
The Listening Experience

with
ness all ensure that the radio can be placed leatherette carry case is reminiscent of a towel. The case itself would give protection who takes the Portuguese musical genre when you push the red on/off button.

Butler opted.
in any room in the house and be heard men’s grooming set or women’s vanity case enough on its own though. The long wave band is found more easily of Fado to a new, alternative level, sounded This bids a gentle adieu to the singers or

Podcas
Latest Products clearly and pleasantly, without distortion.
It is a case of ‘big is beautiful’ – certain-
from yesteryear. It has a reassuring look
of quality and a touch of luxury, especially
I did rather want to carry the radio around
in Manchester Airport with me, as I was feel-
than on some radios, as it is clearly marked:
Just press the medium wave/long wave
as if she could have been on the apartment
balcony with me. The rap music of Carlão,
presenters you have been engaged with and
is always preferable to an abrupt cut-off.

| ICQ A
Pages of new gear from
007 Ne
ws, v
Why not visit our new online bookshop at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

t).
the major manufacturers
14 RadioUser December 2021 December 2021 RadioUser 15

ws.indd mateu
2022. PLUS, read the latest issue one
11
isit w week
● before it’s on sale in the
r / Ham
21

Editor’s Shack
Getting to grips with the

shops when opting for the digital magazine!

ATS-20 SI4732 receiver

11/1
1/20 HISTORY Farewell to DIGITAL We Review
21 a Popular Museum the Telstar DIRA M 6i
11:4 The Collingwood Hertitage New hybrid radio from Germany
0 Collection and how its loss
is a sad day for radio history
with a range of recording options
and networking funtionalities Display until 30th December 2021

2021 Aerial Review ● Coastal Radio Stations ● Moonraker Vertical Antenna ● 9/11 Radio Comms

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*Saving is based on UK annual Direct Debit rate and is correct as of print 26.04.2022. For overseas subscription pricing visit bit.ly/raus-mysub22

6 RadioUser May 2022

 What’s new in the world of radio News

Radio Currents
Have you got something new to tell our readers about? If so, then drop a line to wiessala@hotmail.com

ST
Introducing the Icom

OP
PR
ES
S!
VHF/UHF Dual-Ban d
FM Transceiver
Icom has announced details of a new 5W VHF/UHF
dual-band Amateur handheld radio. The ICOM
IC-T10 has been built to the high-quality
specifications you would expect from Icom.
The radio features a clear, easy-to-use layout, rugged commercial build,
IP67 dust-tight specification and waterproofing. The 1,500mW loud
audio and a long-lasting Li-Ion battery life all make this an ideal radio
for beginners and seasoned amateur radio enthusiasts alike. Its strong
Mil-Spec build and range of features will also make it a practical dual-band
radio for voluntary Amateur radio emergency services, such as Raynet. At
the time of writing, ICOM described this radio’s main features as follows:
• 5 W RF output in 144 and 430 MHz.
• The large speaker provides 1500 mW loud and intelligible audio.
• IP67 dust-tight and waterproof construction.
• Up to 11 hours* operating time with supplied 2400 mAh (typical) Li-Ion
battery pack.
• The home button on the top panel gives quick access to the calling
channel.
• FM broadcast receiver.
• Built-in CTCSS/DTCS for repeater operation.
• 16 DTMF autodial memories.
• Priority, program, memory, skip and tone scan capabilities.
• Free downloadable CS-T10 programming software.
• Optional HM-222HLWP speaker microphone provides loud audio.
• VHF 11 hours, UHF 10 hours (approx.) at 1:1:8 duty cycle operation at 5 W
output power (Power save function ON).
ICOM UK is expecting the IC-T10 to be available this summer. The firm
will confirm the cost and availability as soon as they have them. Further
information about the IC-T10 VHF/UHF dual-band transceiver can be found
at the following URLs:
https://icomuk.co.uk/files/icom/PDF/newsFile/IC-T10_A4.pdf
www.icomuk.co.uk/imagebank
https://tinyurl.com/2p88r6wh

(SOURCES: ICOM UK | ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast)

[info@icqpodcast.com].

For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

May 2022 RadioUser 7
News What’s new in the world of radio

Moonraker:
Nevson
Triple Suction
Window Mount
The new NEVSON triple-suction window
mounts from Moonraker are excellent
when used with rail mount kits (pictured).
This new product will allow you to mount
Military-Grade 10" Tablet your antenna on the windscreen of your
car. Using VERSATAC technology, this will
with DMR Dual Band Radio even stick to brickwork and breeze blocks.
The perfect mount for all your antenna
This is a brand-new tablet from RFinder, with a larger screen, more network capability, updated installations. Each Sucker is 100 mm in
ROM, and a built-in general coverage SDR receiver capable of receiving up to 2.0GHz. Running diameter ensuring excellent suction grip.
Android, you can install all the available Play Store apps. This means that you can install Zello, If you want to use an HF antenna like the
Team Speak, EchoLink, and many others and use the built-in PTT button to key the transmission AMPRO range, Moonraker suggests binding
on such apps. If you don’t reach an EchoLink node, just use 3G, 4G, or even Wi-Fi, and you are two together for extra grip. Chris Taylor
connected. Never miss a QSO again just because there isn’t a nearby repeater. recommends only using on-side or rear
https://tinyurl.com/3b5tx323 windows to prevent obstructing your vision.
(SOURCE: RFinder | Network-radios.com |info@Network-radios.com) (SOURCE: Moonraker)

ZUMspot RPi
An advanced radio module board, supplied with a Raspberry Pi Zero WH
and the MMDVM software, it becomes a small and efficient multi-mode
digital hotspot. At the time of writing, its main features were described
as: • High-performance 32-bit ARM processor • The board is fully
assembled and tested • Supports DMR, P-25, D-Star, System Fusion, and
NXDN • Onboard LEDs to show status (Tx, Rx, PTT, Mode) • Up to 10mW
RF power • SMA antenna connector, UHF antenna included.
(SOURCE: Martin Lynch and Sons Ltd.; see also next page)
https://tinyurl.com/2p87sekv

Celebrate the arrival of spring in the

Northern Hemisphere with 30 pages of new
gear from the (USA-based) radio broadcast
industry’s leading manufacturers, software
companies, and service providers. This is
the annual Spring Product Review, with a
global reach. The new season brings cloud-
based products, remote and hybrid workflow
solutions, and plenty of other new ideas for
today’s streamlined broadcast air chains.

Enter our competitions at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/competitions

8 RadioUser May 2022

New Products at Martin Lynch
IC-705 Meter
The IC-705 has probably spawned more rig
accessories than most radios in the last 20
years. We think this one is the most exciting
though. The meter’s functionality includes:
• Mode | Filter settings | Real-time display of
operating frequency
• SWR, Real Power, or S-Meter, in both text & a
needle on the usual radio-style scale.
Digi Rig Mobile
This is a tiny new digital modes interface. Its
main features are described as follows:
• It combines an audio codec, serial CAT
interface, and PTT switch.
• It supports a fully-featured CAT interface:
PTT, bands, tuning, etc. (not just VOX-based
PTT).
• It uses a single USB connection to a computer,
minimizing the cables mess.
• The CAT port can be configured for logic
For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk
May 2022 RadioUser
What’s new in the world of radio News
ST
OP
PR
ES
S!
levels, RS-232, CI-V, or TX-500. • 8 low & high bandpass filters.
• It works with all major Operating Systems: • 3-stage attenuator. • Twin antenna input.
Windows, macOS and Linux. • Selectable Pre-amp. • 24MHz bandwidth.
• It is permanently available, independently • 4 independent receivers scanned
from the CAT port an open-collector PTT simultaneously.
switch. • Sampling rate up to 122.8MHz variable.
• It is controlled by an RTS signal of the COM • Optional GNSS antenna.
port, to interface Handies/Mobiles, and so on. • Free FDM-SW2 software.
• Its ancillary connection points to the CM108 • Compatible with Simon Brown’s SDR Console.
codec. www.HamRadio.co.uk
• It uses the widely-supported CP2102 serial
interface & CM108 audio codec.
Back in Stock: Elad FDM-S3
(As Reviewed in RadioUser, April 2021: 20)
Not brand-new, but back in stock after a long
delay due to component shortages is this
high-end SDR, it is one of the ultimate SDR
receivers available today, with the following
key features:
• Receive range: 9kHz-108MHz.
9
Airband News

ALL PICTURES: DAVID SMITH

Military Communications:
Aircraft Tracking & Ukraine
David Smith
David Smith reports on the NATO activity over Eastern
dj.daviator@btinternet.com Europe as gleaned from flight-tracking sites, outlines
changes at Luton Airport, reports on Amsterdam’s

F
or obvious reasons, flights are avoid-
ing Ukrainian airspace; in the case
of certain routings, the closure of
Russian airspace to EU operators is
having a big impact. The worst-hit flights are
those to Asian destinations from Central and
Northern Europe.
For example, the Helsinki-Tokyo route now
takes an extra 2,137 nautical miles, equating
to almost five hours, A flight from Amsterdam
to Beijing will take an extra 855 nm (corre-
sponding to approximately 105 minutes).
Up to the time of writing this (in mid-March
2022), military air activity seen on virtual ra-
dar reached epic proportions, with a wide
variety of aircraft types. Notable were B-52s
from Fairford, some of which loitered for
efforts to reduce emissions and profiles RAF Benson.
hours over Romania, close to the border with
Ukraine. There were also RQ-4B Global Hawk
UAVs operating from the US Navy base at
Sigonella in Sicily. They used Forte callsigns,
with the usual two-digit suffixes, and orbited
over the Black Sea s up to 54,000ft.
I suspect that the drones and B-52s were
deliberately revealing their presence as a
‘propaganda tool’. Presumably, they are still
operating but have now ceased ADS-B and
SSR transmissions. Judging by the constant
tanker ‘towline’ patterns over Romania, there
are plenty of customers, including Typhoons,
F-35s, F-15s and F-16s, which definitely do
not advertise their existence! The tankers
operating from Mildenhall and Ramstein are
KC-135s, callsign LAGR, and KC-10 Extenders
callsign NCHO.
RAF Voyagers are also taking part, along
with Italian Air Force examples.
USAF and RAF RC-135 Rivet Joints were
and are constantly monitoring Russian radio
traffic and pinpointing its location, as well
as gathering a whole range of electronics
intelligence. Also on scene was a Northrop
Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target
Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), call-sign
Redeye.

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10 RadioUser May 2022

Fig. 1: NATO involvement over Eastern Europe.
Fig. 2: A Vulcan XJ823, at the Solway Aviation
Museum at Carlisle Airport
Fig. 3: RIP, Colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko.
Surveillance
and Special Personnel
This is a USAF airborne ground surveillance,
battle management and command and con-
trol aircraft. It tracks ground vehicles and
some aircraft, collects imagery, and relays
tactical pictures to ground and air thea-
tre commanders. The aircraft is operated
by both active duty US Air Force and Air
National Guard units.
It also carries specially trained US Army
personnel as additional flight crew.
Also in evidence was a WC-135W, code-
named Constant Phoenix. This aircraft is a
‘nuke sniffer, tasked with testing the atmos-
phere for evidence of nuclear explosions.
It is equipped with external flow-through
devices to collect particulates on filter paper
and a compressor system for whole air sam-
ples collected in holding spheres.
The experimental ARTEMIS (Airborne
Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-
Mission Intelligence System) has also been
deployed to the Black Sea region. It is a modi-
fied Challenger 650 aircraft, US civil registra-
tion N488CR, operated on behalf of the US
Army by a civilian contractor. Army person-
nel have the opportunity to operate both the
mission equipment in the back of the aircraft,
as well as the platform itself, to provide feed-
back for development and follow-on pro-
grammes.
US Army Black Hawk helicopters and li-
aison aircraft have also been much in evi-
dence, the latter using the call-sign prefix
Duke. The Army’s Beechcraft RC-12 Guardrail
is an airborne signals intelligence (SIGINT)
collection platform based on the Beechcraft
Super King Air. It collects SIGINT through var-
ious sensors and onboard processors and
the Eastern Europe examples are currently
using Yank as a callsign. The US Navy’s air
arm was also active, its operations included
an EP-3 Orion from Chania, Crete, flying the
usual elongated narrow racetrack pattern
along the Romanian border to gather intel-
ligence.
Much of this intelligence gathering is,
no doubt, shared with US Cyber Command
personnel, whose so-called ‘Cybermission-
Teams’ are said to be emplaced around the
area, disrupting Russian communications
and mounting digital attacks. As a result,
many Russian commanders have apparently
been overheard talking over open-source ra-
dio channels.
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May 2022 RadioUser
Airband News
RAF and MoD ATC Profiles 13 Benson
ICAO Code: EGUB IATA Code: BEX
Frequencies (MHz)
Benson Approach/Radar 343.525
136.450
Benson Zone 120.900
Benson Director 342.100
Benson Talkdown 246.650; 277.675; 136.450; 123.300*
Benson Tower 233.950; 127.150
Benson Ground 343.575; 121.800
(* = NATO Common frequency. Available on request only).
ATIS
Benson Information 397.575
Navaids ILS/DME CAT I Runway 19
TACAN BSO 110.000
Runways 01 (1825 x 45m)
19 (1825 x 45m)
NOTES (A-Z)
Circuit Procedures
Directions: Runway 01 right-hand, Runway 19 left-hand. Visiting crews are to be aware that fixed-
wing Run-In and Breaks are undertaken by Tutor aircraft not below 600ft QFE and Fast Jet aircraft at
1,300ft QFE, crossing from the dead side to the live side at various points along the runway.
Helicopter Landing Area
Northern edge and the midpoint of the Aircraft Servicing Platform.
Helicopter Operations
Helicopter circuits can also be flown to the Runway, the Load Park or at night, to Point East or Point
West. Helicopters may arrive or depart via Points East and West.
Military Aerodrome Traffic Zone (MATZ)
A circle 5nm radius up to 3,000ft with stubs aligned on Runways 01/19.
Noise Abatement
No overflight of the villages of Benson, Ewelme and Wallingford.
Operational Hours
Variable as published by NOTAM. Police Air Service, Thames Valley Air Ambulance, and Benson Fly-
ing Club may operate autonomously outside published hours.
Standard Instrument Departures
Daventry or Westcott SIDs from both runways. There is also the Vale Military Instrument Departure
(MID) to the west of both runways.
Warnings
Runway 01/19 is liable to be slippery when wet. Runway 19 threshold is situated 150m from a civil-
ian road, which may infringe the approach slope and present a risk to life. Runway 06/24 is disused
and operations using it are not permitted due to the hazard presented by the extremely poor surface.
The Chiltern Air Park microlight/light aircraft site lies 4nm south of the aerodrome. Parachuting
also takes place there dawn to dusk. Instrument Approach Procedures (IAP) for this aerodrome are
established outside controlled airspace.
NATO Involvement hosted by and based in Hungary, whose mili-
All European NATO air forces have had air- tary insignia it carries.
craft operating over Poland and Romania
(Fig. 1). Rzeszow in Poland is one of the Luton Airport’s
nearest airports in NATO territory to the bor- Airspace Reorganised
der with Ukraine and consequently has been A change to London Luton Airport’s arrival
receiving many military and special flights flight paths came into effect on 24 February.
relating to the crisis. Belgian and Turkish It comprises a new holding stack designated
Air Force A400s are frequent visitors, as are ZAGZO near the A1-A14 junction at around
C-17 Globemasters of The Strategic Airlift 9,000ft over Graffham Water, plus new flight
Capability (SAC), a multinational initiative paths for 70% of the airport’s arrivals. There
that provides participating nations in NATO are minimal changes from today’s flight paths
and the EU assured access to military airlift below 5,000ft, but a greater dispersion of
operations. It also fulfils UN commitments, flights above 5,000ft. The holding stack will be
as well as humanitarian relief efforts. The used during the busiest periods or if aircraft
SAC owns and operates three C-17s and is are prevented from landing immediately.
11
Airband News
The new procedures will simplify and mod-
ernise the arrival routes for flights into the
UK’s fifth-busiest airport and separate them
from Stansted’s. Given the growth at both air-
ports in recent years, separate arrival routes
and a dedicated hold for each airport will
ensure continued safety and help reduce de-
lays. It will end the current situation where a
delay at either airport can also mean a delay
for the other as aircraft queue in the same
hold.
Bots at Amsterdam Airport
Amsterdam Airport (AMS) is about to pur-
chase two TaxiBots, special towing vehicles
that enable aircraft to taxi without the use of
engine power. Amsterdam is Europe’s first
airport to start using TaxiBots. The sustaina-
ble taxiing process sees aircraft being taken
to and from the runway by a special towing
vehicle whereby the aircraft engines stay
largely switched off.
A previous trial at Schiphol showed that
sustainable taxiing leads to around fifty per
cent less fuel consumption during taxiing
and therefore lowers CO2, nitrogen and ultra-
fine particle emissions. Given the distance
involved, these fuel savings can reach up to
65 per cent when aircraft taxi to Runway 18
Right/36 Left. five kilometres from the termi-
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12
3 cus – there was some sad news: Colonel
nal. It is known as the Polderbaan and has its
own control tower.
Amsterdam has six runways that, apart
from the customary designations for pilots,
have individual names to avoid confusion for
vehicle drivers who need to enter or cross
them.
An initial live trial will transition to a stand-
ard procedure, with certain types of air-
craft taxiing sustainably to and from the
Polderbaan runway. Modifications to infra-
structure are already being made to facilitate
the procedure. One example is the markings
on the asphalt that ensure aircraft stop in the
right place so that they can be disconnected
from the towing vehicle and start engines.
Roads also need to be widened to enable
the special vehicles to drive to and from the
Polderbaan before and after taxiing has taken
place, without disrupting other taxiing air-
craft.
This month’s image shows a Vulcan
XJ823, at the Solway Aviation Museum at
Carlisle Airport (Fig. 2).
https://tinyurl.com/amn6n5tu
The ‘Grey Wolf’
Finally – and returning to our Ukraine fo-
Oleksandr Oksanchenko (Fig. 3) known as
Grey Wolf, was the Ukrainian Air Force Su-27
Flanker display pilot between 2013 and 2018
and was a star performer at a number of UK
airshows.
Despite leaving active service and joining
the reserves in late 2018, he volunteered to
remain in the Ukrainian Flanker Solo Display
Team as a coach/advisor and travelled with
the team during the 2019 display season. He
came out of retirement to defend his country
from the Russian invasion, but, tragically, on
25th February 2022, he was shot down and
killed in an air battle near Kyiv.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr
Zelenskyy, posthumously awarded him the ti-
tle of Hero of Ukraine.
RadioUser May 2022

Airshows
David Smith presents this year’s Airshows, Flight
Fests, Historical Re-enactments, Flypasts, and
related Aeronautical Displays.
Visit and enjoy, with and without your scanner.
May 1st (Saturday)
SHUTTLEWORTH SEASON PREMIERE:
Old Warden, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
SG18 9EP. Displays of historic aircraft,
both resident and visiting; a vehicle pa-
rade, and much else with a wide family
appeal.
www.shuttleworth.org
Tel: 01767 627 927
May 2nd (Sunday)
VINTAGE FLY-IN: Popham Airfield, Cox-
ford Down, Winchester SO21 3BD. Not
an airshow, but usually attracts many old
aircraft and is combined with a classic car
show with around 800 vehicles.
https://www.popham-airfield.co.uk
01256 397 733
May 7th (Saturday)
DUXFORD FLYING DAY ‘VE DAY’: Dux-
ford, Cambs CB22 4QR. The theme is the
role of aviation and RAF Duxford in the ulti-
mate victory in Europe, after WWII.
www.iwm.org.uk
Tel: 01223 835 000
May 14th (Saturday)
‘AN EVENING OF ESPIONAGE’
DRIVE-IN AIRSHOW: Old Warden,
Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SG18 9EP.
Commemorating the Special Operations
Executive (SOE) in the Second World War,
as well as observers in Korea and Vietnam.
www.shuttleworth.org/events/airshows
Tel: 01767 627 927
May 29th (Sunday)
WINGS AND WHEELS: Stow Maries Aero-
drome, Flambards Chase, Hackman’s
Lane, Purleigh, Essex CM3 6RJ. Aircraft
and vehicles at this recreated original
World War One aerodrome.
www.stowmaries.org.uk
Tel: 01245 429 134
June 2nd (Thursday)
QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY FLYPAST: The Mall,
London SW1A 2AX. Expected to include
the Red Arrows.
June 2nd to 4th (Thursday to Saturday)
MIDLANDS AIR FESTIVAL: Ragley Hall
Estate, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5NJ.
‘Nightfire’ is expected on Thursday even-
ing, a combination of a night-time aerobat-
Follow us on Facebook @radioenthusiasts and Twitter @REnthusiasts
May 2022 RadioUser
ic air display with lighting and pyrotech-
nics and a ground-based hot air balloon
glow. Also expect vintage aircraft, aerobat-
ics and other air displays.
www.midlandsairfestival.com www.cosfordairshow.co.uk ARMED FORCES DAY: Stow Maries Aero-
June 2nd to 5th (Thursday to Sunday)
1940S WARTIME WEEKEND: Quorn &
Woodhouse Station, Leicestershire LE12
8AG. Commemoration of wartime Eng-
land, with some flying expected.
www.gcrailway.co.uk/wartime www.aeroexpo.co.uk FORCES DAY: Cleethorpes DN35 0AR.
June 4th to 5th (Thursday to Sunday)
ENGLISH RIVIERA AIRSHOW: Paign-
ton, Torbay, Devon TQ4 6AG. Over the bay
along with supporting ground displays.
www.englishrivieraairshow.co.uk
June 5th (Sunday)
SHUTTLEWORTH JUBILEE FLYING CIR-
CUS: Old Warden, Biggleswade, Bedford-
shire SG18 9EP. Recreating flying events
of the 1930s.
Tel: 01767 627 927
www.shuttleworth.org/events/airshows
June 5th (Sunday)
‘COMMEMORATING D-DAY’ DUXFORD
FLYING DAY : Duxford, Cambs CB22 4QR.
Remembering Duxford’s role in fighter sup-
port for Operation Overlord.
Tel: 01223 835 000
www.iwm.org.uk
June 10th to 12th (Friday to Sunday)
GUERNSEY AIR RALLY: Guernsey, Chan-
nel Islands. The 48th annual Rally. This
event is always well-attended by a variety
of aircraft types.
Tel: 01481 265 267
http://guernseyaeroclub.com
June 11th (Saturday)
BLACKBUSHE 80TH ANNIVERSARY
FLY-IN: Blackbushe Airport, Camberley,
Surrey GU17 9LQ. Not an airshow as such,
but many visiting aircraft are expected;
plus a static aircraft display.
June 11th (Saturday)
TEESSIDE AIRSHOW: Teesside Inter-
national Airport, Darlington DL2 1LU. The
show is due to return after five years’ ab-
sence.
www.teessideairshow.co.uk
June 11th (Saturday)
MILITARY WINGS AND WHEELS DAY:
Bodmin Airfield, Bodmin, Cornwall PL30
4BU. Celebrating the 104th anniversary of
the RAF’s formation with military vehicles
and re-enactors. No landing fees for mili-
tary marked aircraft for this event.
www.bodminairfield.com/events
June 12th (Sunday)
RAF COSFORD AIR SHOW: RAF Cosford,
Shropshire TF11 8UP. A major display and
the only RAF-organised show.
Tel: 01902 377 922
June 16th to 18th (Thursday to Saturday)
AERO EXPO UK THE UK’S FESTIVAL OF
AVIATION: Cotswold Airport, Cirencester,
Gloucestershire GL7 6BA. Mainly a trade
fair, but the public can attend.
June 17th to 19th (Friday to Sunday)
WESTON PARK AIRSHOW INTERNA-
TIONAL: Weston Park, Weston-Under-
Lizard, Shropshire TF11 8LE. Mostly large
flying scale models but also some visiting
full-size aircraft.
www.airshowinternational.co.uk
June 18th (Saturday)
MILITARY EVENING DRIVE-IN AIR-
SHOW: Old Warden, Bedfordshire SG18
9EP. From trainers to fighters, from World
War 1 to World War 2, in a relaxed setting.
Tel: 01767 627 927
www.shuttleworth.org
June 18th (Saturday)
HEADCORN ARMED FORCES DAY:
Headcorn Airfield, Nr Maidstone, Kent
TN27 9HX. Apart from the usual airfield ac-
tivities which include flying training. Some
WWII aircraft, plus ground displays.
www.headcornevents.co.uk/Events
June 18th & 19th (Saturday & Sunday)
DUXFORD SUMMER AIRSHOW: Duxford,
Cambs CB22 4QR. Will feature a wide va-
riety of aircraft, plus numerous ground at-
tractions and free access to the museums.
www.iwm.org.uk
June 23rd to 26th (Thursday to Sunday)
FESTIVAL OF SPEED: Goodwood, West
Sussex PO18 0PH. Focused on cars and
motorcycles but includes air displays.
Tel: 01243 755 055
June 24th to 26th (Friday to Sunday)
BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIRSHOW: Head-
corn Airfield, nr Maidstone, Kent TN27
9HX. Displays by aircraft of the Battle of
Britain era, plus ground attractions.
www.britishairshows.com
Airshows
June 24th (Saturday)
NATIONAL ARMED FORCES DAY: North
and South Bay Beach, Foreshore Road,
Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 2ES. A
major event with air and ground displays
Tel: 01723 232 323
https://tinyurl.com/4ezsmvb3
June 25th (Saturday)
PLYMOUTH ARMED FORCES DAY:
Plymouth Hoe, Plymouth PL1 2PA. Air and
ground displays.
June 25th (Saturday)
drome, Flambards Chase, Hackmans
Lane, Purleigh, Essex CM3 6RJ. Air and
ground displays.
June 25th & 26th (Saturday & Sunday)
NORTHEAST LINCOLNSHIRE ARMED
Ground event with some air displays.
https://tinyurl.com/3s7u8bjs
June 25th & 26th (Saturday & Sunday)
WESTON AIR FESTIVAL & ARMED
FORCES WEEKEND: Weston Bay, Weston-
Super-Mare, Somerset BS23 1BE. Seafront
air displays and ground activities.
www.westonairfestival.com
July 2nd (Saturday)
BATTLE PROMS: Blenheim Palace,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1UL. A two-
hour orchestral programme in a stately
home setting, plus Spitfire display and Red
Devils Parachute Team.
July 2nd (Saturday)
TEIGNMOUTH AIRSHOW: Teignmouth,
Devon TQ14 8BB. Participants TBA.
Tel: 07464 750 735
www.teignmouthairshow.co.uk
July 2nd (Saturday)
WALLOP WINGS AND WHEELS: Army
Flying Museum, Middle Wallop, Stock-
bridge, Hampshire SO20 8FB. Airshow,
plus vehicles and ground attractions.
Tel: 01264 781 086
https://tinyurl.com/2p83yf3y
July 2nd & 3rd (Saturday & Sunday)
WALES AIRSHOW: Swansea Bay, Glam-
organ SA1 9SA. A seafront display with
supporting ground events.
Tel: 01792 637 300
www.walesnationalairshow.com
July 2nd and 3rd (Saturday and Sunday)
CAPEL MILITARY SHOW: Aldhurst Farm,
Capel, near Dorking, Surrey RH5 5HJ. A
ground show, with some helicopter fly-ins.
Tel: 07926 925 547
www.capelmilitaryshow.com
13
Book Review
David Harris
mydogisfinn@gmail.com
David Harris has read a book detailing
the recent – and largely unknown –
political and radio history of Vietnam,
revealing the mechanisms through
which music and broadcasting work
in autocratic regimes.
Lonan O Briain is an Irish professor
of Music at Nottingham University. In
2016/17, he spent a year in Vietnam
studying Vietnamese music and radio.
This book is the outcome: a fascinating
insight into this country, which has had a
very troubled past.
Vietnam was colonised by the French in
1887 and invaded by the Japanese from
1940 to 1945.
After the Second World War, the country
was divided into the North and South. The
North remained under French control until
1954 when the communist North won the
War of Independence. From 1954 to 1975,
there was a state of Civil War between
the North and South. Despite massive
American intervention on behalf of the
South, this resulted in the fall of Saigon in
1975 and the reunification of the country.
In 1986, the Communist Party instigated
major reforms, introducing the idea of a
market economy.
The author makes it clear that modern
Vietnam is an authoritarian Communist
state with very little press freedom and
limited opportunities for artistic freedom
outside of the control of the state.
What he does show is show how
Vietnamese traditional forms of music
have been preserved and adapted to serve
the aims of the regime. This is not entirely
a bad thing as it permits many musicians
and performers to be employed by the
state, and for their works to be broadcast
on state radio and television.
He particularly focuses on ‘Red’ music;
that is, music which reinforces the
messages and values of the communist
state. This is opposed to other forms of
music such as ‘Green’ music which is non-
contentious and ‘Yellow music’, which is
decadent and promotes western values.
In Vietnam, much use has been made
of public loudspeaker systems to transmit
propaganda messages to people in
urban areas. When Ho Chi Minh declared
independence in Hanoi in 1945, it was
through a system of public loudspeakers.
Red Music was also played on these
speakers to get people’s attention.
See our great book and magazine offers at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store
14
Music and Radio -
Red, Green & Yellow
Voices of Vietnam – A Century of
Radio, Red Music and Revolution
O Briain, Lonan (2022)
Oxford: OUP
205 pp. Pbk. £29.99.
www.oup.com
Apparently, this system is still in use,
despite Vietnam having a comprehensive
MW and FM radio network.
Radio in Vietnam is run by the Voice of
Vietnam (VOV) a state body with head
offices in Hanoi.
The name Voice of Vietnam implies a
singular voice – that of the communist
party, the state and the people.
Radio was introduced to Vietnam by the
French with the first broadcasts starting
in 1928 with Radio Sindex in Hai Phong.
This was followed by Radio Saigon in
1929. These early stations were private
enterprises, which were then taken over
in 1945 by the Viet Minh who were to
eventually drive the French out of the
North.
These early post-war stations were
clandestine broadcasters, often based in
caves and remote rural areas.
As the Civil War developed, clandestine
stations were also set up in the South,
Laos and Cambodia. The stations
broadcasting from the Communist
North to the South were given the name
Liberation Radio.
In 1972 US bombing destroyed the
main radio towers in North Vietnam
but the country was able to continue
broadcasting using facilities in Kunming in
southern China. In the South, Radio Saigon
broadcast alongside numerous American
Armed Forces Radio & Television
Service (AFRTS) stations, run by the US
Department of Defense.
The popular 1987 film Good Morning
Vietnam, which featured Robin Williams
as the DJ, gives a good flavour of life on
an AFRTS station. The US did fund the
clandestine station Voice of Freedom,
based in Hue (near the border with the
North) and broadcast anti-communist
propaganda to the North.
Vietnam today has a network of six
stations: VOV1 News, VOV2 culture, VOV3
Music, VOV4 Minority languages, VOV5
Programmes for Foreigners in many Asian
and European languages, and VOV6 Arts.
There are also a traffic information
station, a youth station and some regional
broadcasters.
Professor O Briain describes in detail
the archives of the VOV, which contain
many historical recordings, especially of
‘Red’ music. He was also able to attend
recording sessions with contemporary
Vietnamese musicians who were making
programmes for the VOV.
Interested listeners can also tap into the
VOV music archives via this website:
https://bcdcnt.net
One has to right-click to translate into
English and then register. This allows
you to hear some of the music, which is
very melodic – and often very different
from anything broadcast by British radio
stations.
In conclusion, this book is well written
and will be of interest to those who
want to learn more about radio in other
countries. There are also 16 pages of
notes and a very comprehensive 17-page
bibliography.
[Vietnam: WRTH 2022: 514, 522 – Ed.].
RadioUser May 2022
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Regular Columns:
Aerials Now (Keith Rawlings) ....................................... 01/53; 02/54; 03/24; 04/60; 05/56; 06/56;
07/52; 08/54; 09/60; 10/60; 11/26; 12/34
Air Shows (David Smith) ..............................................................................08/23; 09/22; 10/11;
Airband News (David Smith) ......................................... 01/30; 02/30; 03/28; 04/38; 05/30; 06/30;
07/30; 08/20; 09/20; 10/20; 11/30; 12/42
Book Review (David Harris)......................................................01/18; 03/42; 04/14; 05/14; 06/14;
07/14; 08/18; 09/18;10/12; 11/15; 12/18
Digital Radio (Kevin Ryan) ............................................ 01/56; 02/57; 03/49; 04/47; 05/34; 06/44;
07/44; 08/42; 09/43; 10/41; 11/44; 12/44
Emerging Issues in Radio (Chrissy Brand) .01/20; 02/20; 03/20; 04/53; 05/10; 06/16; 07/16; 08/14;
09/14; 10/34; 11/34; 12/14
European Private Short Wave Stations ........................... 02/28; 03/23; 04/13; 05/17; 06/23; 07/12;
(Stig Hartvig Nielsen) ..............................................................08/22; 09/27; 10/53; 11/43; 12/29
International Radio Scene | ........................................... 01/44; 02/46; 03/16; 04/50; 05/22; 06/47;
New Media and Internet Radio ....................................... 07/48; 08/46; 09/24; 10/22; 11/20; 12/20
Maritime Matters (Robert Connolly) .............................. 01/50; 02/50; 03/60; 04/34; 05/18; 06/60;
07/60; 08/60; 09/49; 10/56; 11/60; 12/60
Publications and Resources ......................................................................... 09/12; 10/59; 11/25
Push-to-Talk | Two-Way Radio Today (Tim Kirby) ..................................04/16; 08/57; 10/28; 12/56
Radio in History (Scott Caldwell) ..............................................01/48; 02/24; 03/38; 04/40; 05/46;
07/20; 08/50; 09/40; 10/54; 11/52; 12/52
Scanning Scene | Scanning Scene Extra (see below) (Tim Kirby) .......................................... 02/60
Signals from Space (Tim Kirby) ...................................... 01/38; 03/54; 05/42; 07/56; 09/56; 11/56
TV and Radio – Past and Present .................................. 01/60; 02/38; 03/30; 04/28; 05/49; 06/51;
(Keith Hamer & Garry Smith) ......................................... 07/41; 08/39; 09/37; 10/38; 11/48; 12/48
Commissioned Features:
A Remarkable Feline Operator (David Smith) ....................................................................... 10/26
A Year in the Life of the BBC (Tony Smith) .......................................................................... 12/24
Amateur Radio Distance-Learning in the UK (Steve Hartley) ................................................. 05/26
Broadcasting and the Media in Afghanistan (Martín Butera)................................................. 11/16
Contemporary Brazilian Radio............................................................................................ 01/14
Education and Radio in Brazil (Martín Butera) ..................................................................... 05/60
Emergency Communications at Sea (John Periam & Geoffrey Lee) ...................................... 07/36
Fading (Part 1) (Nils Schiffhauer) ...................................................................................... 07/24
Fading (Part 2) (Nils Schiffhauer) ...................................................................................... 08/24
HMS Collingwood (Keith Rawlings) ................................................................................... 12/30
Hobby Radio in Emergencies (Peter Hyams) ....................................................................... 03/34
Low-Power Long-Range Radio (Daimon Tilley) .................................................................... 01/24
Medium Wave DXing (Scott Caldwell) ................................................................................ 06/20
Meteorological Radio: Resources and Techniques (Ed.)....................................................... 10/45
Noise Cancellations: A Beginners’ Guide (Graham Somerville) ............................................. 09/28
Oliver Lodge (Ed.) ............................................................................................................. 06/34
PanAm Global Radio (Mark Allen) ...................................................................................... 08/34
Portishead Radio Aeronautical Service (Larry Bennett) ........................................................ 01/41
PPE: Observatório Nacional, Brasil (Martín Butera).............................................................. 10/14
P&P P&P
Radio Astronomy for Amateurs (Andrew Thomas) ..............................................................02/34
Radio Cardiff (Richard Nosworthy) ....................................................................................09/34
Raiders, Jed Sets, Gibson Girls, and Biscuit Tins (Tony Smith) .............................................05/38
RAJAR: Measuring Radio Audiences (David Harris) .............................................................02/12
Reception Reports & QDLs in the Age of Remote SDRs (Stig Hartvig Nielsen) ....................... 03/58;
Scanning Memories (Anne Reed) .......................................................................................06/27
The dependable ‘Angry-9’: Workhorse of the Special Forces (Tony Smith)..............................09/46
The Wonder of the Transistor (Geoffrey Evans) ...................................................................02/42
Time Measurement and Radio (David Reynolds)..................................................................01/34
Ultra-Light DXing (Clint Gouveia) .......................................................................................11/38
Waves and the Virus (Part 1) (Ed.) ...................................................................................... 03/44
Waves and the Virus (Part 2) (Ed.) ...................................................................................... 04/56
Other Contributions
A Dedication to Air band (Rick King) ..................................................................................03/12
Annual Listening Handbooks & Frequency Guides (David Harris) ..........................................02/14
Book Review Extra (Robert Connolly) .................................................................................11/14
Book Review Extra (Tim Kirby) ...........................................................................................03/27
Competition: Bhi 5W Amplified In-Line Module ....................................................................12/39
Competition: Inrico T-310 ..................................................................................................10/31
Feedback and Corrections ............................................................................ 05/59; 08/12; 09/53
From Black Cats to Carrier Sleuths (Chris Smolinski) .............................................................3/11
Going VLF with the Reuter RLA (Ed.) ..................................................................................08/28
Inspiring Radio Reading and Radio Books (David Harris) .....................................................12/59
PskovNDB: A Visual Tool for NDB DXers (Ed.) .....................................................................04/10
Radio Officers: A Window in Time (Scott Caldwell & Robert Connolly) ..................................05/16
Scanning Scene Extra: Amateur Radio (Tim Kirby) ...............................................................02/60
UK Airband Frequency Guide (UKAFG) 2021 (Ed.) ................................................................02/49
Where Radio and Space Intersect (Ed.) ..............................................................................03/52
Reviews/ Projects:
A Long Wave Receiver for BBC Radio 4 (Roger Thomas) ......................................................04/43
ATS-20 SI4732 Receiver (Ed.) ............................................................................................12/40
Belka DX HF Receiver (Clint Gouveia) .................................................................................06/24
bhi 5W Amplified In-Line Module (Ed.) ...............................................................................12/38
ELAD FDM-S3 Direct Sampling Wideband Receiver (Clint Gouveia) .......................................04/20
Icom IC-M94DE (Robert Connolly) .....................................................................................09/54
Inrico T-310 (Tim Kirby) .....................................................................................................10/28
Moonraker Mini1300 Antenna Analyser (Keith Rawlings) ....................................................05/56
Moonraker X1-HF Vertical Antenna (Ed.) ............................................................................12/12
RFinder B-1 Dual Band DMR 4G/LTE Transceiver (Tim Kirby) ................................................06/40
Sandstrøm Internet Bluetooth DAB Radio (Kevin Ryan) ........................................................06/44
Tecsun H-501x Deluxe Short Wave Radio and Audio Player (Chrissy Brand) ...........................12/14
Tecsun PL-330 (Chrissy Brand) .........................................................................................05/10
Telestar DIRA M 6i (Kevin Ryan) .........................................................................................12/44
Vine Antennas AS-OCF-404-HP (Keith Rawlings) ................................................................06/56

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May 2022 RadioUser 15
Digital Radio
Kevin Ryan
kevin@radio-digital.co.uk
I
will stick my neck out and guess that
virtually every contemporary broad-
cast radio station now makes its
audio output available online, either
as a continuous stream of audio or as a se-
lection of podcasts. Both formats need the
audio converted to a data format suitable
for downloading over a web connection.
‘Streaming’ means that you can listen to
the audio as it downloads. Usually, the au-
dio stream cannot be rewound or paused
like with a podcast. Together they are the
backbone of online radio.
Internet radio usually has good to excel-
lent audio quality. This can be much bet-
ter than DAB and very similar to the quality
provided by an FM station. Of course, there
are always the extremes where the audio
quality can be up to CD quality or down to
low-speed mono DAB sound.
The common streaming audio formats
include mp3, Windows Media Audio (.wav),
RealAudio, plus various versions of AAC.
I recently discovered that the BBC sta-
tions include other higher-bitrate formats,
such as Dynamic Adaptive Streaming
over HTTP (DASH) and Apple’s HTTP Live
Streaming (HLS).
As a test, I added BBC Radio Orkney to
My Favourites (Fig.1) on the Frontier Silicon
portal and checked it using the John Lewis
Octave radio. It played back the DASH
stream at 317 kbits/s, very close to the
maximum 320 kbits/s for the stream. I
could not tell if the audio was CD-quality.
Where it All Began
Sources tend to agree that Carl Malamud
created the very first internet station in
1993, named Internet Talk Radio. As the
name suggests the channel did not play
music but aired interviews with public
figures in the technology sector. Others
began putting music performances
online. In 1994, a company called WXYC
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16
Internet Radio Today
Kevin Ryan shows how internet radio developed, explains
audio streaming and radio portals, shows you the
different ways in which it is possible to listen to online
radio content and evaluates the future of DAB radio.
2 most important things to remember
(broadcasting in North Carolina) became
the first ‘traditional’ radio station to start
streaming internet radio. The WXYC
Group used the output from an FM radio
station, connected to a digital system
provided by Cornell University. They later
moved to commercial systems.
https://wxyc.org/simulcast
In 1996, Virgin Radio in London became
the first station in Europe to start broad-
casting an entire program live on the inter-
net. There are a number of short histories
of Virgin Radio on the web. A company
called RealAudio made internet radio hap-
pen because it used compression. This
made it possible to listen to an audio track
or stream while it was downloading. You
don’t hear much about RealAudio these
days, but they are still around and concen-
trating on video.
https://www.real.com/uk
Listening to Internet Radio
You can work independently of an internet
radio and maybe avoid mobile apps. If the
broadcaster has a separate URL for audio
streaming, it is most likely going to end in
something like ‘.pls’ or ‘.m3u’, rather than
just ‘.com’. You can listen to it directly
from the webpage because many stations
now embed a player as a rule.
You may then add the URL to your
bookmarks list for later use or find out
whether the internet radio station has
its own app. A radio portal, in the form
of an app or an internet radio, makes
this activity a lot simpler. One of the
about internet broadcasting is that
everything you do online eats into your
data allowance unless you have access
to unlimited data on your smartphone
or at home. The amount of data each
internet station uses can differ, usually
according to the length and quality of
the radio stream.
Wi-Fi Internet Radio
There is some debate as to when the
first internet radio set became available,
but I remember the excitement when the
Kerbango Internet Radio was announced.
It was intended to be the first stand-alone
product that let users listen to internet
radio without a computer. The device
was even advertised on Amazon.com.
It never went into production and was
discontinued in 2001. The device is still
listed on Amazon after all these years! 
https://tinyurl.com/ye263jxh
RadioUser May 2022
 Digital Radio

ALL PICTURES: KEVIN RYAN

The Kerbango 100E was to run on Linux

and was designed to play RealAudio and
mp3 streams. The set needed a broadband
connection to the Internet because dial-up
connections were not supported. In addition
to Internet streams, the 100E featured an AM/
FM tuner. Kerbango also had a companion
website, allowing potential users to control
aspects of the radio, save presets and
edit information. The website acted as a
streaming radio search engine; users could
search for, and listen to, streaming stations
through their browser.

Reciva Lead the Way

The first internet radio I bought was the
LOGIK IR100 in 2006. It used the Reciva
portal and a board designed by the same
company. It worked until the portal finally
closed down last year. There were issues
in 2008 when firmware updates from them
were not applied by the manufacturers of
the actual Wi-Fi radios. Frustrated users
created a project called Sharpfin to replace
the firmware directly from another website
on the internet. I bought a second Bush
TR2015 intending to try it out, but I did not
go that way in the end.
In response to this strong user reaction,
Reciva created its Beta (test) programme
for firmware updates. If you took part, the
radio became ‘locked’ to Reciva, effectively
excluding Sharpfin. I decided it was
better to stick with Reciva and used the
second radio for downloading firmware
under development.
Roberts Radio supported the Reciva
approach with updated firmware for the
WM201. At the same time, they marketed the
Roberts Radio (WM202). It used the Frontier
Silicon portal, ad this eventually outperformed
Reciva. I found some interesting reading
about the early days of Reciva on the web:
https://tinyurl.com/y4kkmvms
https://tinyurl.com/4eycu4au
3
Internet Radio Portals
There are three main portals available 2019 when it became clear that the old one Fig. 1: Several BBC local services are available
today. They are used by the current batch of could not be maintained or updated. The to stream at high bit rates, provided your device
internet radios. There are other directories portal has two modes, one connected with supports the recently-added formats.
of radio stations linked mainly to apps old-style Wi-Fi internet radios and their new Fig. 2: Barring an (unlikely) return to DRM, the
so it pays to do some research before idea of SmartRadio. There is more on that simplest way to access AIR English News content
purchasing a device because an app may topic later in the column. is through a built-in audio player.
be all you need. https://smartradio.frontier-nuvola.net Fig. 3: One of the many radio tuning apps
https://tinyurl.com/yshk8phb available. Fig. 4: A ‘radio-discovery’ app like
MediaU SmartRadio may not always be the easiest way to
Frontier Silicon I came across this portal in early 2018 when find a particular station.
I am not sure when this radio portal came I was interested in the Majority Pembroke Fig. 5: This is what is left of RCI, which no longer
into existence, but I bought my first radio hybrid radio, which offered internet, DAB, has its own voice. The podcasts come from the
(Roberts WM202) in the summer of 2008. FM, and other apps, as external audio domestic CBC. Internet radio is not always the
The new version of the portal appeared in sources. It does not list as many stations optimal way to reach your audience.

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May 2022 RadioUser 17
Digital Radio
4 5
as Frontier Silicon and some internet radios
do not support selecting/adding favourites
through this portal.
https://www.mediayou.net/web
The Skytune Portal
This portal is used in the USA, and, as far as
I know, only implemented on one C.Crane
and two Ocean Digital internet radios. You
can browse the portal but cannot listen to
anything. Selecting a station as a favourite
opens a window to send its details directly
to the receiver, using its IP address.
https://tinyurl.com/3acd3vv8
More Listening Choices
Internet broadcasting delivers exceptional
diversity and choice. There are tens of
thousands of stations out there, all playing
different music, and shows from a range
of genres. The challenge is finding the
stations that interest you and discovering
new ones. You could spend time searching
for these stations manually and compiling
your own list. Sometimes you have to
do this, for instance when a station is
integrated into a player on the website.
The external English language service of
All India Radio (AIR) is unlikely to return to
Short Wave, especially on DRM, for Europe
but is available on their website via a built-
in player (Fig. 2).
https://newsonair.gov.in/Default.aspx
All India Radio now only broadcasts to
Europe in French in DRM. I tried to find a
streaming URL but AIR’s online alternative is
a YouTube channel.
https://tinyurl.com/2p93n924
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18
I went back to my old All India Radio app for
Android and iOS, but there was nothing on its
archive page, and the live stream was silent.
I have found that, in general, many station-
specific apps are not that user-friendly,
and I have ended up deleting them. I have
convinced myself that the sheer number of
online radio stations make it a mammoth task
to find all the apps, URLs and web pages to
pull all this together in one place. Thankfully,
there are providers called ‘aggregators’ ; they
gather these stations together in one place.
Other Ways to Listen
Many listeners tune into an internet radio
station via a Wi-Fi-enabled app on their
smartphones, a service on a computer, or a
dedicated internet radio. Many of the latter
also have FM and DAB+ tuners, and, more
rarely, include DRM and AM.
These multi-media devices can be
labelled as ‘hybrid’ radios and tend to
access the streams via a radio portal
provided by the manufacturer of the
radio modules. There are some excellent
radio portals online, as well as apps for
Android and iOS, but I am attracted to the
convenience of an internet radio.
Switch on and select the station either
from a preset button or an online list of
your stations. The following websites are
not associated with any specific internet
radio model and offer a comprehensive
list of stations.
https://mytuner-radio.com
https://streema.com
https://tuneyou.com
https://uk.radio.net
The Apple AppStore has some radio tuner
apps. I tried Radio Tuner and Tuner Radio.
The former’s list of stations did not impress
me while the latter has a much better list of
stations like Radio Romania International
but wants you to buy the premium version at
£8.99 per annum to get rid of the adverts.
Finally, I tried the Mytuner app. I attempted
to listen to ABC News Radio from Australia,
but the app blocked me from accessing it. I
listened on my PC instead.
You can find many of the same apps on
Google Play. I found a companion for Streema
(Simple Radio, Fig. 3); many others are pop-
ping up adverts at random. Tune In costs
£91.00 per annum to get rid of them.
Also listed is Radio Garden. This unique ap-
plication has a spinning globe where you can
discover radio stations at random. To find
a particular station you need a rudimentary
knowledge of geography. I wanted to listen
to Radio Romania International and I found it
by moving the target circle to Bucharest and
selecting one of the three streams for the
‘All Stations’ list (Fig. 4). On Google, I found
two similarly named apps called Radio UK
and Radio UK FM (Fig. 5). They both have
good and bad points, and I will hang onto
both for a while.
The SmartRadio Concept
The Frontier Silicon SmartRadio idea pushes
Wi-Fi internet radio technology in a new di-
rection. The old familiar list-based struc-
ture is still there but you are encouraged to
move towards discovering new radio sta-
tions and podcasts. I find it a bit ‘random’,
and I am still undecided if this is a good
RadioUser May 2022
 Digital Radio

development. This is following the Radio
Garden concept but on a physical radio.
Finding the station you know you want to
listen to, however, can be harder than using
a ‘graphical’ method on a mobile device or
a PC. Unless there is another software up-
date, SmartRadio devices lose access to the
Frontier Silicon portal where you can maintain
a large list of favourites, rather than being re-
stricted to 20 presets on the device itself. You
can use the ‘Last-Listened’ list to keep a few
more stations to hand but that is not ideal be-
cause it is constantly changing. At the time of
writing, more manufacturers are subscribing
to the SmartRadio idea, for example, Roberts
Radio with its 94i model.
https://tinyurl.com/4xmcxara
https://tinyurl.com/2p8px8ha
Is Internet Radio the Future?
At the moment, the ‘futurists’ predict that
it is very much looking that way. In the UK,
17% of radio listening is via the internet, but
the question is what will happen when ana-
logue is phased out. The prevailing view
is that DAB will share the spotlight with
internet-based channels going forward.
However, it only needs a crisis like Ukraine
to demonstrate how fragile the internet re-
ally is. Very quickly, the BBC World Service
started broadcasting again on Short Wave
to that region of Europe. In a, perhaps, sur-
prising move, it also provided detailed in-
structions to access content via the ‘Dark
Web’.
https://tinyurl.com/56rafxu2
Is DAB Obsolete?
The answer, in my view, is definitely ‘no’. I
think that countries will always maintain a
radio network just for emergencies, and for
the UK this will be DAB. The problem may
be that people just will not have digital ra-
dios (I am thinking of when analogue shuts
down). I still need DAB in my car, and I can-
not see that changing when I buy a new car.
DAB limits you to the radio stations on the
multiplexes that you can receive at your lo-
cation. The freedom that comes with inter-
net radio as a method of listening to music
from anywhere with an internet connection
makes it very appealing.
A Personal Choice
At home, I use a DAB radio for convenience
and my Wi-Fi radio for international
broadcasters like ABC Radio Australia and
Radio New Zealand International. With the
decline of Short Wave broadcasting, many
services moved to internet streaming. I
think that through that move they lose a lot
of their audience, face declining budgets
and are eventually closed. For example,
Radio Canada International (RCI) has been
reduced to a once-a-week e-mail.
There will be challenges to overcome, like
the limited portability of internet radio stream-
ing technology for people on the move. We
know that smart speakers will increase in
numbers, as will electric cars connected to the
internet; these may not include a radio tuner
at all. Listeners who opt for a smart speaker
rarely go back to a radio appliance – i.e. any
device that connects to the internet and looks
like a ‘traditional’ receiver.
I could use the Wi-Fi radio to listen to UK
stations or even use RadioPlayer UK on one of
my mobiles so I could get by without DAB, but
I am not sure that I want to.

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May 2022 RadioUser 19

Rallies

Rallies & Events

All information published here reflects the situation up to and including 14th April 2022. Readers are advised to check carefully with the
organisers of any rally or event, before setting out for a visit. The Radio Enthusiast website will have updates, please check here regularly. To
get your event onto this list, please, e-mail full details as early as possible: wiessala@hotmail.com

1 May 22 May off the A14). Doors open at 9.30 am and

THORPE CAMP VISITOR CENTRE, RA- DUNSTABLE DOWNS RC NATIONAL the entry fee for visitors is £2. Trade tables NATIONAL HAMFEST
DIO AMATEUR (HAMFEST) RALLY: AMATEUR RADIO CAR BOOT SALE: are from £10. (BB | CBS | CR | FP | RSGB | Please note that the National Hamfest
Thorpe Camp, Tattershall, Thorpe, Lin- Stockwood Park, Luton. All the usual facili- SIG | TS | GB4SWR HF station). is due to take place on Friday 14th and
colnshire, Open to the public from 9 am to ties will be there, further details on: Kevin G8MXV, Tel: 07710 046 846 Saturday 15th October this year.
1 pm; open to traders at 6.30 am. Entry £4 www.ddrcbootsale.org www.eswr.org.uk Further details will appear in
per person, under 12 Free. Hot and cold RadioUser over the coming months.
food on-site and car parking inside the 5 June 24-26 June
grounds. SPALDING RADIO RALLY: Holbeach Unit- HAM RADIO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN: Exhib-
Anthony Freeman, Tel: 07956 654481 ed Youth FC, Pennyhill Road, Holbeach, itors & visitors from 52 countries, large flea 17 July
Lincs PE12 &PR. Doors open at 10 am market with around 300 stalls. Talks, meet- MCMICHAEL AMATEUR RADIO RALLY
2 May (disabled 9.30 am), and entry is £3. (CBS | ings, socialising, and much more. & CAR BOOT SALE : The McMichael Rally
DARTMOOR RADIO RALLY: The Yelver- CR | FM | RF | TS) https://tinyurl.com/2p8up2rc begins at 09:30 am, with car boot setup
ton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Graham, G8NWC, Tel: 07754 619 701 from 8:30 am. The location is: Reading
Yelverton. Devon, PL20 6AL. Doors open rally2022@sdars.org.uk 25 June Rugby Club, Sonning Lane (B4446) Son-
at 10 am and admission is £2.50 (BB | CR GI-QRP CONVENTION: Tandragee Golf ning, Berkshire RG4 6ST, NGR SU 753 747.
| FP | TS). 11 June Club, 11 Markethill Road, Tandragee, Admission: £3 per person. Car boot sale:
Roger, Tel: 07854 088882 ROCHDALE & DISTRICT AMATEUR RA- Craigavon BT62 2ER. The venue has ample £10 per pitch, no booking required. No
2e0rph@gmail.com DIO SOCIETY SUMMER RALLY: St Vin- parking and disabled access. Doors open dogs are allowed, except for assistance
cent de Paul’s, Caldershaw Road, off Eden- at 9 am. Presentations start at 10 am. dogs (CBS | FP | SIG).
7 May field Road (A680), Norden, Rochdale OL12 As well as this being the first-ever QRP con- https://mcmichaelrally.org.uk
CDXC DX CONVENTION 2022 7QR. Doors will be open to the public at vention in GI, there will be an opportunity rally@radarc.org
(LOUGHBOROUGH) 10.15 am; disabled visitors at 10 am. to work the GQRP Club callsign GI5LOW traders@radarc.org
http://www.cdxc.org.uk Robert M0NVQ, Tel: 0777 811 3333 for the first time in the week leading up to
https://tinyurl.com/3tfetch5 m0nvq@outlook.com 24 July
the Convention and the weekend of the
FINNINGLEY ARS RALLY: Car-boot style
Convention.
8 May 12 June rally. Food bar. Near J2 M180, Doncaster.
The Convention is being held in associa-
LOUGH ERNE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB MENDIPS RALLY: Farrington Gurney www.g0ghk.com
tion with the GQRP Club. (BA | CR | L | LB |
ANNUAL RALLY 2022: Arena @ Share Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Farrington
RF | SIG | TS).
Discovery Village; 221 Lisnaskea Road; Gurney, Somerset, BS39 6TY. Open 9.30 31 July
Philip MI0MSO, Tel: 078 4902 5760
Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 0JZ; am (traders 7:30 am). Entrance £3 (FP). CHIPPENHAM & DISTRICT ARS. WILT-
r8.giqrp@gmail.com
Northern Ireland. Opening at 11.30 am Indoor & Field pitches. Tables: inside £8; SHIRE RADIO RALLY, ELECTRONICS
(9.30 am for traders). Facilities are avail- outside £5. FAIR & CAR BOOT: Kington Langley Vil-
26 June
able on-site for breakfast, tea, coffee and Luke Kelly, 2E0VHV, tel: 07870 168 197 lage Hall and Playing Field, Kington Lang-
NEWBURY RADIO RALLY: Following two
lunches. For those wishing to stay in the mendipsrally@hotmail.com ley, Wiltshire SN15 5NJ. 9 am to 3 pm. Ad-
years of postponement due to COVID re-
area for the weekend, there may be some mission free. Traders Welcome (CA).
Châlets available on-site. 12 June strictions, the Newbury rally is now back. Brian, G6HUI
Please contact Reception directly at: SNADARC JUNCTION 28 RADIO RALLY: It will take place at Newbury Showground, rally@chippenhamradio.club
www.sharevillage.org Alfreton and District Amateur Radio Club, Priors Court Road, Hermitage, Thatcham, https://wiltshirespc.org/wp/g3vre/rally
Traders wishing to attend should contact South Normanton. Alfreton Leisure Cen- Berks. RG18 9QZ (Next to J13 of the M4).
Alan R Gault Chairman at: tre, DE55 7BD. Tables still £10 and Admis- The is organised and run by the Newbury 7 August
alan.r.gault@btinternet.com sion£3. Everything is indoors with a meet- And District Amateur Radio Society (NA- BATC CONVENTION FOR AMATEUR TV
Alan GI6PYP ing room, bar, refreshments and full Café DARS) and attracts visitors from all over 2022 (CAT 22) PART 1: Midland Air Mu-
https://tinyurl.com/4end75em onsite. Opening at 10:15, traders will have the country. seum, Rowley Rd, Coventry CV3 4FR. CAT
access from 08:00. https://www.nadars.org.uk/rally.asp 22 will be a meet-up, show and tell, test
14 May Alan Jones M0OLT. Tel: 01332 679913 http://www.nadars.org.uk and fix-it, and Bring & Buy event, from 10
BARRY ARS RALLY: Sully Sports & So- secretary@snadarc.com am to 4 pm. Full test facilities available for
cial Club, South Road, Sully nr Barry CF64 www.snadarc.com 3 July 5.6GHz/Portsdown/MiniTiouner/Ryde/
5SP. Open to traders from 7.30 am and BARFORD NORFOLK power amplifiers/preamps.
to the public from 9.30 am. Admission is 18 June ARC RADIO RALLY
£2.50 (FP). BANGOR & DISTRICT ARS 53RD RALLY : www.norfolkamateurradio.org 7 August
Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church, 376 Bel- KING’S LYNN ARC 32ND GREAT EAST-
20-22 May fast Road, Ballyrobert, Bangor BT19 1UH. 3 July ERN RADIO RALLY: Gaywood Community
DAYTON HAMVENTION: World’s largest Doors open at 11.30 am. CORNISH RAC RALLY: Penair School, St Centre, Gayton Road, King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
amateur radio show, now in its 70th year. Andrew, MI0OBR. Tel: 07980 846 272 Clement, Truro, Cornwall TR1 1TN. Doors PE30 4EL. NGR TF638203. Open 9 am
Big stands from all major manufacturers, open at 10 am. Admission is £2. (BB | CR | (trade from 7 am). Admission £2.50. Out-
numerous smaller traders, a massive flea 19 June D TS | Local Club Stands). door pitch £8. Indoor £10 per table. (BB |
market, world-class lectures. Strong ARRL EAST SUFFOLK WIRELESS REVIVAL Ken Tarry G0FIC 01209 821073 CF | FP | TS).
and RSGB presence, including bookstall. (IPSWICH RALLY): Kirton Recreation pendennis38@btinternet.com rally.klarc@gmail.com
https://hamvention.org Ground, Back Road, Kirton IP10 0PW (just www.gx4crc.com http://www.klarc.org.uk
BA Buildathon BB Bring-and-Buy CBS Car Boot Sale CR Catering /Refreshments D Disabled visitors FP Free Parking LB Licensed Bar L Lectures RF Raffle RSGB (RSGB) Book Stall RU/PW RadioUser/ PW attendance SIG Special-Interest Groups TI Talk-In (Channel) TS Trade Stalls.

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20 RadioUser May 2022
 Review

Clint Gouveia M0OXF

-F INE
ST
clintgouveia@scientificmagnetics.co.uk

IR
LD AZ
OR G
W MA
I
f you are a serious DXer or simply in-
terested in radio beyond the local or
national BBC and Independent radio
stations, then it is likely you either own
or have an interest in, software-defined re-
ceivers (SDR). My initial foray into this area
was in 2015; a cheap RTL-SDR with an up-
converter purchased from eBay for not too
much money. Performance was medio-
cre at best, but the ability to visualise the
signals copied had me hooked and it was
not long before a major upgrade – the Elad
FDM DUO.
At a cost of around £850, this was
serious money, but with that came serious
performance. This was a game-changer,
and, coupled with a Wellbrook Loop, my
MW DXing capabilities were transformed.
I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a
tester for SDRPlay and have operated the
RSP1a, RSPduo and RSPdx. In terms of
performance as a function of price, I still
don’t believe they can be beaten. 1
However, what if you simply wanted the
best-performing SDR on the market? What
if you were prepared to pay any price within
reason? What if that price was in the region
WiNRADiO
of £8,500 (including VAT) in the UK? How
would that receiver perform, relative to
other, cheaper products? Would the huge
WR-G69DDCe
delta in price offer value to the serious
listener/DXer?
I am referring to WiNRADiO’s latest
Excelsior Ultra
offering the WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra
SDR receiver (Fig. 1). Primarily targeted
Clint Gouveia makes a welcome return to RadioUser,
at professional users, and government to take an in-depth look at WiNRADiO’s new flagship
and military applications, WiNRADiO
describe this device as also being suitable
Software-Defined Radio receiver, the WR-G69DDCe
for the high-end consumer radio market. Excelsior Ultra.
The Excelsior Ultra is a hybrid SDR/
superheterodyne, depending on where you serious computing horsepower, As regards There is also a switchable low-noise/
are listening to – more to come on that. scanning the bands, the Excelsior Ultra can low-distortion preamp, which can be
achieve this immensely quickly – at 3GHz enabled by the user, adding around 10dB of
Serious Specifications per second. amplification.
The Excelsior Ultra is a very serious piece A 16-bit 200 MSPS A/D converter is the This delivers higher sensitivity, albeit
of kit, and this is, naturally, reflected workhorse ‘under the bonnet’, and this is at the expense of dynamic range (strong
in its specifications. There are two one of the features of the Excelsior Ultra signal overload). Finally, the built-in
frequency ranges, with separate antenna that makes it expensive. Other outstand- preselector offers switchable filters that
inputs and signal processing: a direct ing features include an 80/34MHz-wide, can improve the image response of the
sampling SDR from 8kHz to 80MHz, and a real-time spectrum analyser, networking receiver, as well as reduce overloading and
superheterodyne receiver from 43MHz to options, and a frequency stability level of intermodulation distortion.
8GHz. The radio allows the user to record 0.1 ppm – the list is almost endless. You
and process band recordings up to 32MHz can also tune three frequencies simultane- First Impressions
wide (utilising digital down-conversion). ously, listening to them separately or mixed. The Excelsior Ultra itself looks very well
To be clear – this means it is possible Effectively three separate receivers in one, made – two machined blocks of aluminium
to record the entire LW/MF and HF bands provided the three frequencies are within bolted together, one of which incorporates
as a single recording and post-process the bandwidth limit of the primary Digital the heat exchanger fins and a small cooling
the data. This is going to require some Down-Converter (DDC1). fan (Fig. 1). There are 2 SMA connectors;

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May 2022 RadioUser 21
Review

ALL PICTURES: CLINT GOUVEIA | WINRADIO

Fig. 1: The WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra.

Fig. 2: The two SMA-type aerial connectors.
Fig. 3: The G69DDC software for the WR-G69DDCe
Excelsior Ultra.

one each for the independent frequency

range inputs. Two SMA to BNC converters
were included (Fig. 2), which made
attaching my antennas straightforward.
A flashing blue LED indicates the unit has
power, and a USB3 cable connects the
Excelsior Ultra to your PC. Other than that,
there is a socket for a standard network
ethernet cable – and that’s it.
I suppose the elephant in the room is
that this rig doesn’t look like it should cost
more than £8,500, but the key here is to
get past that and consider specifications
and performance. An SDR receiver is never
going to look much more than a ‘black box’
– in this case a silver box. However, this
is exactly the point - it is what is going on
inside that makes the difference.

Using the Software Interface

I quickly downloaded the G69DDC 2
software (Fig. 3) and install it on my
Lenovo Windows 10 laptop computer.
There were no issues at all, which was
great, considering the issues experienced
when setting up an Elad FDM-S3 for
testing (RadioUser: April 2021: 20).
Opening the program for the first time,
you are immediately presented with a
virtual control panel; upon clicking the soft
‘power’ button in the bottom right-hand
corner, the spectrum scope immediately
sprung to life.
There are way too many features built
into the software to cover in an article of
this nature, so I have focussed on those
that a user might be most interested in for
general listening and DXing.
The control panel is dominated by three 3
windows. The spectrum scope in the top
left shows the output of the primary Digital drop-down menu controls, the software is Modes and Functionalities
Down-Converter (DDC1); on the right is intuitive and a pleasure to use. The Excelsior Ultra offers a myriad of
the secondary DDC (DDC2), which offers a In the upper portion of the display, there demodulation modes: AM, AMS (AM
more detailed, narrowband spectrum. are soft buttons for switching between Synchronous detection), LSB, USB, DSB,
The third window, stretching across the receivers, direct frequency input and a ISB, CW, FM, FMW, DRM, FSK, and UDM.
bottom of the screen, is a panoramic view virtual tuning knob for making adjustments The audio bandwidth filter is accessed
of the spectrum, allowing the user to view to the frequency. Next to this, there is a from the Tuning tab, and there are so many
the entire LW, MW and HF bands. signal strength meter that can read in dBm, options, that it is almost limitless. It can
This can also be viewed as a continuous S-units and micro-volts. Rather cleverly, also be dragged using the mouse cursor
waterfall. The control panel window is this can be read as a signal peak, RMS or directly on the spectrum – a feature most
completely re-sizable, with the three floating average. Very useful even if you are SDR software provides.
smaller sub-windows containing the just testing the unit against other receivers The rig can control the audio bandwidth
spectrum scopes automatically resizing in real-time! automatically – a nice touch. Selectivity
to fit in the main window; they can also It also shows the position of the Squelch of an SDR is a function of CPU loading; the
be dragged and resized independently. setting, thus allowing for adjustments to be longer the filter length (sharper effectively)
Coupled with the too-numerous-to-mention made before it cuts in. the more selective the receiver and this

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22 RadioUser May 2022
 Review

Fig. 4: The WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra on the

Airband.
Fig. 5: Medium Wave performance, for example
on 1053kHz.
Fig. 6: On Short Wave: 15270kHz.
Fig. 7: The G69DDC software offers many saving
and printing options.

is also adjustable in the software. A note

of caution though: above around 35%,
my Lenovo laptop started slowing quite
significantly. Should the receiver overload, a
notification appears on the signal strength
meter to read ADC CLP (clipping); this can
be compensated for using the Attenuator (0
to 21 dB) or hitting Auto.
Accessing each of the three receive 4
options is a piece of cake, simply click on
the RX1, RX2, and RX3 soft buttons in the
top left of the control panel. As might be
expected, there are various soft controls for
adjusting the audio, filtering, noise-blanker,
AGC, gain, squelch, and so on.
Other functions include networking the
receiver, storing frequencies into memory,
a scheduler for timing band recordings,
scanning - including the scanning of
memories and saving/printing DDC1, DDC2
and wideband spectrum and waterfall data.
There is, perhaps, not much more a new
user needs to know to start listening but
take the time to work through the excellent
manual. You will find numerous features
built into the software – too many to
mention here. They will take a long time to 5
remember, and master. That is fine though
because, at this price point, it has to be £760, whilst the RSPdx sells for much less across the Long-, Medium- and Short Wave
worth the effort to squeeze every last ounce – around £200. bands, thus from 153kHz to 21.69MHz in
of performance out of this rig. Both of these rigs have proven to be the 13m broadcast band.
superb additions to my shack, with similar I also compared the Excelsior Ultra to
Description of Test Protocol performance in terms of sensitivity and the RSPdx on Airband (Fig. 4), and the 2
I decided that most non-professional/ selectivity. The RSPdx, in particular, with its m and 70 cm amateur radio bands, using
military users of this radio would only HDR reception mode below 2MHz might be a Diamond X300 antenna and a wide-
consider purchasing it if they were the best receiver I own for medium wave band VHF/UHF vertical. Reception data
convinced it would offer a serious DX. I wanted to make the test as fair as was tabulated in MS Excel; station name,
performance upgrade over other SDRs possible and collect empirical reception frequency, noise floor in dBm, signal peak
on the market. Yes, you can record much data as accurately as possible. To this end, in dBm and the signal-to-noise calculated
wider bandwidths and scan with huge I employed a Bonito AntennaJet AAS300DP in dB from a formula. I used conditional
speeds, and so forth, but these USPs may RF splitter. With low insertion loss (typically formatting within the spreadsheet to make
be enough to convince potential customers around 1.5 dB), excellent isolation (around the results easier to interpret; thus, green
to part with 8 or 10 times the cash they 70 dB) and a frequency range of 9kHz – for the best signal-to-noise value, amber for
would spend on an Elad FDM DUO for 300MHz, it offered a way to share a single the second best and red for the least good.
example. antenna between the three rigs and thus
The question that really matters is, measure their performance using the same From Long- to Short Wave,
therefore: “will I be able to hear more?” signal at the same time, under the same and Beyond
With that in mind, I figured the most conditions. As you can see from Table 1, the receiv-
meaningful test of the Excelsior Ultra was I collected most reception data using one er that performed best on the Long Wave
to put it head-to-head with two of my best of my Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop band was, in my test, the SDRPlay RSPdx
SDRs – the Elad FDM DUO and the SDRPlay antennas – this was the input into the RF with 4 of the best signal-to-noise values,
RSPdx. The RX-only version of the former splitter. Using this method, I compared all out of a total of 6 target signals. This is per-
(FDM DUOr) currently retails at around three rigs in real-time using target signals haps not surprising given that this receiv-

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May 2022 RadioUser 23
Review
6
7 data, the balance of best SNR values
er utilizes an enhanced reception mode
(HDR) below 2MHz. The Excelsior Ultra was
the next best performing rig, with the best
signal-to-noise values on 2 of the 6 target
signals. The Elad FDM DUO was easily the
worst performer down here on LW.
On Medium Wave (Table 2 & Fig. 5), it was
a completely different story. The Excelsior
Ultra, well, excelled. Of the nine target sig-
nals recorded, it delivered the best signal-
to-noise, bar one – Jil FM in Algeria on 549
kHz. The key here appears to be the very
low noise floor the Excelsior Ultra demon-
strated on this band. For all nine frequen-
cies, it delivered the lowest value, which
more than compensated for the odd higher
signal peak strengths recorded from the
other two rigs. It was here where the perfor-
mance of the Excelsior Ultra was beginning
to show; clearly, it benefits from lower inter-
nal noise across this range of frequencies.
Across the entire Short Wave band (Table
3 & Fig. 6), the Excelsior Ultra shone very
brightly:
Of the 23 target signals recorded, from
See our great book and magazine offers at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store
24
CHU Ottawa on 3.330 MHz to Radio France
International on 21.690 MHz, it delivered
the best signal-to-noise value on 21 of them
– or 91.3%. A superb performance.
Here, the Elad FDM DUO was the second-
best performer, with the RSPdx bringing up
the rear.
On VHF and UHF (Fig. 4; Table 4),
the Excelsior Ultra beat the RSPdx very
convincingly with a perfect 100% score.
All signals recorded were copied with a
higher signal-to-noise than on the SDRPlay
rig. On a number of the target signals, the
signal-to-noise delta was not even close -
and remember these values are presented
in decibels, so the numbers in the table are
non-linear. My data were recorded using
a Moonraker wide-band vertical antenna
and a Diamond X300 for the 2m and 70cm
Amateur Radio (Ham) bands}.
Internal Noise and Sensitivity
It was clear that the Excelsior Ultra overall
was the superior rig, in terms of sensitivity.
This has been achieved, in part at least, by
Resources
• Radio Enthusiast:
https://tinyurl.com/yckpz7xb
• Specifications:
https://tinyurl.com/4bcart6b
• WiNRADiO / Radixon:
https://www.winradio.com
• Radixon UK Ltd,
Dunston Innovation Centre
Dunston Road
Chesterfield
Derbyshire S41 8NG
Tel: 01246 912348
info@radixon.co.uk
benefitting from the lowest internal noise.
In terms of being able to hear a signal in
the first place and then through the quality
of the audio, success is determined by
how much of the signal modulation can
be detected above the noise floor and
processed.
The Excelsior Ultra achieves this to a
higher level than either the Elad FDM DUO
or the SDRPlay RSPdx. The only band that
it did not ‘dominate’ was Long Wave. This
is because the RSPdx HDR Mode plays a
big part in boosting its levels of sensitivity
and noise suppression. However, even
then, the Excelsior Ultra still performed
well and perhaps with more reception
might have shifted a little between the two
rigs.
On Medium- and Short Wave, the
conclusion is very clear – the Excelsior
Ultra trounced both the FDM DUO and the
RSPdx. This theme continued on VHF and
UHF (Table 4; Fig. 4). Here, the Excelsior
Ultra outperformed the RSPdx in each
case – in some cases, significantly.
Very Challenging Signals
Having reviewed the above results, it
struck me that at this sort of price point,
the Excelsior Ultra should really be able to
copy stations with discernible audio that
either cannot be heard at all by cheaper
rigs or at least just come in with poor/
indiscernible audio.
This was proven to be the case up
to the end of the SW broadcast bands.
On subsequent evenings, I continued
to monitor some of the weaker target
signals used in my earlier reviews, running
all three receivers and collecting the
qualitative data (Table 5).
Reading from Table 5, you can see the
RadioUser May 2022
 Review

Elad FDM DUO SDRPlay RSPdx WinRadio WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra

Date Signal Frequency/ kHz Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB

2/13/22 CHT NDB 277 -110 -73 74 -122 -83 78 -118 -73 90
2/13/22 Polskie Radio 225 -110 -61 98 -125 -72 106 -115 -64 102
2/14/22 Iceland 189 -115 -90 50 -120 -78 84 -120 -90 60
2/13/22 Medi 1 171 -112 -79 66 -125 -89 72 -120 -81 78
2/13/22 Antenna Satelor 153 -114 -69 90 -132 -79 106 -120 -70 100
Table 1: Results for the Long Wave (LW) Band. Data was recorded using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna.

Elad FDM DUO SDRPlay RSPdx WinRadio WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra

Date Signal Frequency/ kHz Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB

2/16/22 CHU O`awa 3330 -115 -93 44 -113 -92 42 -115 -91 48
2/16/22 WGIT Puerto Rico 1660 -120 -83 74 -112 -83 58 -125 -85 80
2/14/22 China CNR 1377 -120 -78 84 -107 -68 78 -122 -79 86
2/16/22 Manx Radio 1368 -118 -80 76 -115 -91 48 -125 -84 82
2/16/22 Bloomberg NY 1130 -110 -78 64 -110 -82 56 -115 -80 70
2/16/22 NewsTalk Toronto 1010 -115 -87 56 -110 -88 44 -120 -86 68
2/16/22 BBC R. Wales 882 -115 -46 138 -120 -56 128 -122 -48 148
2/16/22 CHCM Marystown 740 -112 -88 48 -112 -89 46 -120 -86 68
2/16/22 VOCM, Canada 590 -118 -88 60 -120 -95 50 -120 -86 68
2/16/22 Jil FM, Algeria 549 -118 -77 82 -125 -94 62 -120 -81 78
Table 2: Results on Medium Wave. Data was recorded using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna.

Elad FDM DUO SDRPlay RSPdx WinRadio WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra

Date Signal Frequency/ kHz Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB

2/16/22 R. France Inter. 21690 -118 -82 72 -113 -85 56 -120 -83 74
2/15/22 Radio Saudi 21670 -122 -78 88 -115 -70 90 -122 -72 100
2/16/22 WRMI R. Africa 21525 -125 -75 100 -118 -79 78 -130 -75 110
2/15/22 Mashaal Radio 17880 -125 -87 76 -120 -88 64 -130 -87 86
2/16/22 CRI Bamako II 17630 -122 -79 86 -117 -79 76 -125 -81 88
2/14/22 GUAM 15550 -119 -79 80 -114 -81 66 -122 -74 96
2/14/22 Voice of Turkey 15350 -116 -49 134 -115 -49 132 -120 -46 148
2/14/22 GUAM 15255 -115 -79 72 -117 -83 68 -125 -79 92
2/14/22 WWCR 13845 -113 -73 80 -110 -67 86 -115 -71 88
2/14/22 VaXcan 13830 -117 -67 100 -110 -68 84 -115 -67 96
2/15/22 Taiwan 13825 -112 -76 72 -114 -78 72 -122 -78 88
2/14/22 RN Amazonia 11780 -115 -80 70 -112 -84 56 -120 -84 72
2/14/22 Voice of Korea 9435 -109 -73 72 -105 -74 62 -113 -75 76
2/14/22 Voice of Korea 9425 -109 -55 108 -105 -57 96 -116 -54 124
2/14/22 RNZI 7390 -112 -68 88 -110 -69 82 -115 -68 94
2/14/22 Radio Mali 5995 -118 -79 78 -115 -79 72 -121 -81 80
2/13/22 Shannon VOLMET 5505 -116 -78 76 -116 -81 70 -121 -78 86
2/13/22 Military 1 VOLMET 5450 -116 -76 80 -116 -77 78 -121 -80 82
2/16/22 Radio Clube do Para 4885 -115 -75 80 -112 -79 66 -120 -79 82
2/16/22 Radio Tarma 4775.03 -113 -81 64 -112 -78 68 -120 -79 82
2/16/22 PBS Xinjiang 3950 -122 -70 104 -115 -69 92 -120 -70 100
2/13/22 MW0OZI 3715 -121 -75 92 -117 -86 62 -125 -72 106
2/13/22 G0VAR 3715 -121 -99 44 -117 -90 54 -125 -89 72
2/16/22 CHU O`awa 3330 -115 -93 44 -113 -92 42 -115 -91 48
Table 3: Reception on Short Wave. Data was recorded using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna.

selection of weaker signals, all of which
were copied with discernible audio on the
Excelsior Ultra, but in most cases, there was
little or no signal with either the FDM DUO
or RSPdx.
To make this as accurate – and therefore
as fair – as possible, I ensured examples
were collected from LW through to the end
of the HF broadcast band.
This confirms that the user will almost
certainly hear signals on the Excelsior Final Remarks
Ultra that will not be usefully copied (or The WiNRADiO Excelsior Ultra is all about
not copied at all) on other, high-quality performance, albeit at a price. Ultimately, I
SDRs. However, this only applies to Long-, wanted to demonstrate whether said per-
Medium- and Short Wave. formance, as a function of price, offers
On VHF and UHF frequencies, particularly value to the user. I am not sure I achieved
Airband (Fig. 4), 2 metre and 70-centimetre that fully, because the Excelsior Ultra is so
ham bands, no signals were copied on the expensive, that most of us could not afford
Excelsior Ultra that couldn’t be copied on it anyway.
the SDRplay RSPdx. That notwithstanding, what was con-

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May 2022 RadioUser 25
Review

SDRPlay RSPdx WinRadio WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra

Date Signal Frequency/ MHz Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB Noise Floor/ dBm Signal peak/ dBm Signal-to-Noise/ dB

2/15/22 Brize Norton ATIS 126.500 -137 -93 88.000 -145 -90 110.000
2/15/22 LHR InformaXon 128.592 -142 -106 72.000 -145 -102 86.000
2/15/22 Kidlington Oxford Tower 133.425 -137 -92 90.000 -145 -90 110.000
2/15/22 LHR Control 135.250 -142 -102 80.000 -142 -92 100.000
2/15/22 LHR InformaXon 135.380 -145 -110 70.000 -142 -104 76.000
2/15/22 Oxford ATS 136.225 -140 -80 120.000 -142 -75 134.000
2/15/22 M0UHF IO91 (FM/6W TX power) 145.4125 -137 -103 68.000 -140 -103 74.000
2/15/22 M0UHF IO91 (CW tone/ 18W TX power) 432.3208 -140 -127 26.000 -145 -120 50.000

Table 4: Various VHF/ UHF Signals. Data was recorded using a Moonraker wide-band vertical antenna and a Diamond X300 for the 2m and 70cm ham bands.

firmed was that there is absolutely no doubt Signal Frequency/ kHz Elad FDM DUO SDRPlay RSPdx WinRadio WR-G69DDCe Excelsior Ultra
that this radio was by far the best overall R. France Inter. 21690 Discernable audio No audio Discernible audio
performer in this group test. With its ultra- GUAM 15550 Poor audio Unreadable audio Discernible audio
low noise-floor and super-sensitivity, in GUAM 15255 Poor audio Poor audio Discernible audio
most scenarios and across all of the fre- RN Amazonia 11780 Discernible audio Unreadable audio Discernible audio
quency bands tested, I have to conclude Voice of Korea 9435 Discernible audio Unreadable audio Discernible audio
that the user is definitely going to hear more Radio Clube do Para 4885 Discernible audio Poor audio Discernible audio
on the Excelsior Ultra than probably any oth- Radio Tarma 4775.03 Poor audio No audio Discernible audio
er receiver currently available on the market. G0VAR (LSB) 3715 Excellent audio No audio Discernible audio
I am left wondering how the Elad FDM-S3
CHU OTawa 3330 Poor audio No audio Discernible audio
would have compared to the Excelsior Ultra.
CHCM Marystown 740 No audio No audio Discernible audio
The S3 is a superb SDR receiver. However,
Iceland 189 Poor audio Discernible audio Discernible audio
based on the data I collected this time
around, I am quite sure the Excelsior Ultra Table 5: Challenging Signals. Data was recorded using a Wellbrook ALA1530 magnetic loop antenna.
would have out-performed it, although prob-
ably by a smaller margin. the Excelsior Ultra doesn’t look like a piece equation turned out to be very simple: the
Product perception is also important and of equipment that should cost £8,500 in best performance possible equals a very
this is something that presumably must be the same way that for example, the JVC- high cost.
resolved by WiNRADiO with some excellent Kenwood TS990 should cost £7,500. Those of us who are very serious about
marketing to ensure that potential purchas- Put the two together on a bench in your DXing – and who have deep pockets – will
ers understand the USPs and how the in- shack and it’s almost laughable how the find the Excelsior Ultra a superbly-engi-
credible performance specification will add perceived value for money in terms of hard- neered receiver, as well as a huge addition
value to their listening habits. Quite simply, ware compares. Ultimately, though, the to the capability of their shacks (Fig. 7).

Radio News The ACF was originally supported by funding left

AUDIO CONTENT FUND (ACF): An Open Letter
has been published calling on the Government to
provide continued public funding for the Audio
Content Fund (ACF). The ACF was a three-year
contestable fund pilot, run independently and
overseen by AudioUK and Radiocentre. It has
distributed around £1m a year to support public
service radio projects, made by independent
audio producers for commercial and community
radio. The Open Letter, which is available for all
to sign online, has already been signed by a range
of media organisations and educators, as well as
over 30 audio production companies from across
the UK and over 20 executives from radio stations
of all sizes. The letter points to the success of
the Fund in providing cost-effective high-quality
PSB content for audiences across a wide range
of genres. ACF commissions have also led to
new creative partnerships between independent
producers and commercial and community radio.
over from the TV Licence Fee money put aside
for digital switchover. However, the conclusion
of the TV Licence Fee negotiation in January
revealed that no new TV Licence Fee money
would be available for contestable funding. The
ACF’s supporters are therefore making the case
that public funding should be found elsewhere to
continue the work of the Fund, which so far has
supported 145 projects from 83 different suppli-
ers broadcast on 340 radio stations. It has been
UK-wide in its reach, including a specific element
for indigenous language content. So far 62% of
ACF grant funding has been awarded to com-
panies outside the M25 and 65% of the projects
awarded funding are based outside the M25. The
ACF is currently due to conclude its final round of
the current pilot period, after which the Dept. for
Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) will con-
duct a formal evaluation. During its three years,
the Government awarded additional funding.
(SOURCES: ACF | RadioToday | Industry Press)
https://tinyurl.com/5anj5x72
https://www.audiocontentfundfuture.org
RADIO’S NEXT FRONTIER: “Wireless Group will
be launching its long-promised TV channel later
this month. Talk TV will share the DNA of talkRA-
DIO and many of the same star names. But is a
merger of TV and radio output the next big mul-
timedia adventure? Or is it a foolish experiment
that will satisfy neither listeners nor viewers?
Back in the summer of 1981, I was sofa-surfing
at my sister’s flat in Southport. Her TV stopped
working. While the screen was blank, the sound
carried on. It was striking how many programmes
still made sense without the images. News at
Ten, This is Your Life and even Coronation Street.
They made great radio. Fast forward, and this
weekend I watched Radio 4’s Media Show on the
BBC News channel. The TV incarnation was only
half a step better than a standard Zoom call. The
visual add-ons were cheap and fairly low-value
for viewers. But it was reaching a new audience
and usefully filling airtime. Radio 4 will keep me
as a listener, but I may end up as a viewer from
time to time [...]”.
(SOURCE: RadioToday [excerpts] | Online Blog).
admin@radiotoday.co.uk

See our great book and magazine offers at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store

26 RadioUser May 2022
 WiNRADiO G69DDCe ®

Excelsior Ultra
A whole new level of performance.

• 8 kHz to 8 GHz
• Super sensitivity
• Superb engineering
• Ultra-low noise floor
• Miniaturized construction

www.winradio.com
In the Editor’s Shack

Georg Wiessala
wiessala@hotmail.com

F
ollowing last month’s test of the
Moonraker GA-450 indoor loop aer-
ial (RadioUser, April 2022: 46-47), a
much-noticed new radio arrived in
the Editor’s Shack this month – the Malahit
(‘Malachite’) DSP SDR (Fig. 1).
The model under review was the
MDR2000.
The radio covers a spectrum from
150kHz to 250MHz, and 400MHz to 2GHz,
in CW, USB, LSB, AM, NFM, and WFM
modes; moreover, there is an in-built CW
decoder (see more later).
This little box, therefore, appears more
‘fully-loaded’ than some of the other radios
of this kind, which we have seen here in the
past. Above all else, what will draw many
in, is, in my view, the waterfall feature.
This enhances the unit’s useability and
makes it almost a little self-contained
monitoring station, for single-frequency
use or on whole bands or service areas.
Many of you will be aware of this little 1
receiver because previous, arguably
less-developed, test versions have been
appearing – then vanishing again, as these
things tend to do – on the internet.
New at Moonraker:
A plethora of reviews, hints and tips
regarding the Malahit are available to
YouTube users, most of them of an
The Malahit-DSP
‘idiosyncratic’ nature – to say the very
least.
This latest version is now distributed by
SDR MDS2000
Moonraker, which made me take notice.
MR also loaned me the review unit, for
The editor’s latest ‘guest radio’ is the Malahit-DSP SDR.
which my warm thanks. This touchscreen, portable, wideband receiver offers great
Out of the Box customisation and features that will please travellers, SW
The unit is lightweight, and metal-housed, listeners, utility fans and radio experimenters.
and it arrived in a well-padded box with its
own small telescopic antenna and USB/ receivers show improved reception adjust one is, arguably, one of the most
charging cable. For other aerials, you with something like the Bonito GI-1000 useful ones, should you find the radio is
might need a small adapter, in my case switched in line with the aerial next to the off-frequency; you can also choose your
SMA-to-BNC Female. radio. gain, aerial selection, audio-out options,
The charging cable is of the smartphone And I use a stylus too, for touchscreen and other parameters. Furthermore,
type. operation, this is so much easier, in my the AUDIO menu is broad, covering four
Run it off a power bank, such as a experience. Sub-Menus: Noise Blanker, AGC, Filter
TalentCell Lithium-Ion Battery YB1203000- Upon switch-on (‘OFF/ON’, then leave (8000, 12000 and 15000Hz), and Squelch
USB, for mobility, improved reception and this ON and use ‘START’) for day-to-day settings.
many hours of unadulterated listening fun. use, the screen temporarily provided The latter is, of course, useful for
It is always a good idea to put some information about product ID, firmware Airband listening or aurally visiting any
rubber studs underneath a radio such as version recent patches, and CPU ID radio amateurs on the air.
this one, to protect it from scratching and number.
sliding about across the table. The unit offers six broad menus In Operation
You might wish to use a Galvanic alongside the bottom of the screen, most The frequency coverage of this little
Antenna Isolator with this radio, where of which are self-explanatory. Under marvel is very broad (see above), and it
required. ‘HARD’, you’ll find a pleasingly-flexible would be futile for me to try and cover
I am finding that most Software-Defined choice of options. Here, the frequency- everything that you can do with it. Rather

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28 RadioUser May 2022
 In the Editor’s Shack

ALL PICTURES: GEORG WIESSALA

Fig. 1: In the box: the Malahit-DSP SDR MDR2000.

Fig. 2: A Short Wave broadcast from the USA
during daytime. Fig. 3: The Moonraker GA-450
Loop Aerial suits this receiver very well.
Fig. 4: Warton ATIS on 121.7250MHz.
Fig. 5: HF VOLMET: 5450kHz.
Fig. 6: My local NDB on 337.5kHz.

than writing a merely technical evaluation

based on measurements of parameters
such as sensitivity, selectivity, and so on, I
have opted to take another approach.
I have picked out a small number of
things that I usually do with (some or all
of) my other radios, or that are simply fun
to do, ranging from general listening to
more specialised activities. This is what I
embarked on:
• Daytime Short Wave and MW Broadcast
Radio
• Checking out VOLMET / ATIS (HF and
UHF) 2
• A nearby Non-Directional Beacon
• Finding an SFTS Station (60 and 77.5kHz)
• FM Radio
• Amateurs on CW
• RTTY and Weather Fax from the DWD

Daytime Short Wave

and MW Reception
My ‘go-to’ (test) frequency for listening to
Short Wave during the day is 15770kHz,
which carries both Supreme Master, Short
Wave Radiogram, The Overcomer, WRMI 3 4

and other religious broadcasters from

the USA on a transmitter-sharing basis
(Fig. 2; WRTH 2022: 592). The Voice of
Turkey on 15350 came in too, as well as a
host of other stations, from the USA and
elsewhere.
It is great to be able to see signals on the
waterfall and quickly move over to them if
they are of interest. I used the Moonraker
GA-450 (see above) to pull in some of the
signals (Fig. 3).
I also deployed my main station 5 6

Wellbrook ALA1530 loop – which the

Malahit did not baulk at, even for strong
signals. On Medium Wave (MW), BBC
Radio 4 on MW 730kHz came in with more
than average quality, whilst Spirit Radio
from Ireland, which is often tricky here,
showed strong reception on 549kHz.
Weather: ATIS/ VOLMET
If you fancy a separate little aeronautical
weather monitor for your shack, you ought
to consider the Malahit. The frequency
coverage is there, for both HF and VHF/
UHF, as is the 8.33kHz frequency step.
It is just fun, I find, to have a ‘running
comment’, so to speak on the weather
in the shack. My ‘local’ VHF VOLMET is
Warton on 121.7250MHz, and it is often
quite weak, although I live, literally, within
sight of the large facility.
The Malahit brought it in loud and clear,
in fact, better than with my dedicated
Airband Scanner (Fig. 4). This was a
nice surprise. Make sure you use a
good airband aerial, such as a Discone
outdoors. A ‘rubber-duckie’ does not cut
the mustard, I’m afraid, but (surprisingly)
the diminutive Diamond Antenna SRH103
120/300MHz Airband Receiving stub (Fig.
4) did, especially when I moved outside.
Other, stronger, airband frequencies
came in too, but this radio has no scanning
function, remember.
On HF VOLMET, I found the RAF
(5450kHz) on 5458.1kHz (Fig. 5).
Be aware that you can correct any
frequency inaccuracies and offsets in the
‘HARD’ | ‘F-correct’ menu.
Non-Directional Beacon (NDB)
My ‘home’ NDB is Warton at 337.5kHz
(Fig. 6). It was there loud and clear, and
I could easily identify it, but there was

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May 2022 RadioUser 29
In the Editor’s Shack

Fig. 7: The Malahit as time signal station receiver,

attached to the UKRAA VLF Loop (nominally
15-35kHz). Fig. 8: BBC Radio 3 with PS and PTY
services. Fig. 9: A radio amateur using Morse
code, which is being decoded by the Malahit.
Fig. 10: RTTY from the German Weather
Service(DWD) decoded with SeaTTY on my PC.
Fig. 11: Radio Facsimile (HF Fax) on 7880kHz
from the DWD: A respectable catch. Fig. 12: You
may wish to use a battery pack (pictured), stylus
and, where needed, a galvanic insulator.

also interference from broadcast radio

stations, which I noticed all across LF.
For a reliable list of beacons receivable in
2022, see the websites, below:
https://www.kilkeel.org.uk
https://tinyurl.com/3enuccww

Standard Frequency and

Time Signal Stations (SFTS)
This receiver goes surprisingly low, to
50kHz. I have only one (non-SDR) radio
here at the moment that goes even fur-
ther down; this is the trusty AOR AR7030.
Time signals from DCF77 in Mainflingen
(77.5kHz) and from the National Physical 7
Laboratory (NPL) in Cumbria (60kHz) we
both resolvable, both with my Wellbrook
ALA 1530 Loop antenna and with some
more specialised VLF aerials, such as
the VLF Loop made by the UK Radio
Astronomy Association (UKRAA; Fig. 7).

FM Radio (87.5-108MHz)
FM radio reception on WFM worked very
well. For a change, you can leave the
small telescopic aerial on for this mode. I
enjoyed the waterfall display most on FM
and often shifted to new frequencies, just
‘visible’ nearby (Fig. 8). There is both an
RDS/ PS (Programme Service) and PTY
(Programme Type) display in FM mode,
for example, PS: BBC Radio 3, with PTY:
Serious Classical. The sound quality, of
course, can be much improved by hook-
ing the Malahit up to a larger speaker
or system. The Malahit does not offer
Bluetooth.
Amateur Radio (CW)
The Malahit has a nifty, inbuilt, CW decod-
er so that you can easily read what radio
amateurs are transmitting, calling CQ or
just wishing one another a nice weekend
(Fig. 9). I could also listen in very well to
many conversations and calls, for exam-
ple on the 20-meter HF band (14.000 –
14.350MHz).
In fact, I was so happy with the way in
which I could adjust this little radio to get
8 9
a ‘taste’ of amateur radio, that I decided
that this is what I would use it for, were it to
join the shack permanently.
The Malahit also covers the VHF
Amateur Radio bands of course, and
I could often hear activity here on
145.525MHz. Once again, though, do not
rely solely on the telescopic aerial with this
radio. It is a joy to experiment with, using a
wide range of aerials, to see what your new
little friend may capture.
[See also this month’s feature by Tim
Kirby on how to listen to amateur radio –
Ed.].
https://tinyurl.com/yckj32sw
Weather Data (RTTY & Fax)
Last, but not least, one of my ‘stalwarts’:
I try this on every new radio that comes
through here. Given my location, here
in the Northwest of England, receiving
weather facsimile and radio Teletext from
the German Weather Service (Deutscher
Wetterdienst, DWD) in Hamburg is always
a challenge, even with the best of aerials.
However, I did receive the signals on
7645kHz, with the Malahit connected to
my sound card and the ‘HARD’ setting
‘Audio out’ on ‘Phone’ [this probably means
‘Phono’] Fig. 10).
Crank the volume up quite a bit for
this and fine-tune audio levels with your
soundcard.
For weather fax reception via 7880kHz, I
was rewarded with a number of reasonably
respectable images, with fair resolution
(daytime reception 20th March 2022;
Fig.11).
Therefore, I could well imagine running
this little radio in the background all day
long, as a portable maritime weather
monitor, with the right aerial(s).

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30 RadioUser May 2022

10
In fact, of the many small black boxes
I have recently seen, this is probably the
best performer in this regard, so far, and I
had no issues with longer-term frequency
stability.
This would free up some of my
other radios, for example for HF
voice monitoring; once again, seeing
the strength of the signal, even just
approximately, on the waterfall diagram,
was a real bonus and allows you to make
a judgement about what times of the day
are, perhaps, not so good for reception.
I connected the Malahit to my current
main station aerials for this; for outdoors,
the Cross Country Wireless LAA ++ and my
Wellbrook ALA1530; and, for indoors-only,
the Reuter RLA3A Cross-Loop.
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May 2022 RadioUser
In Conclusion
This is a great little piece of touchscreen
radio kit, and it is fun to use and
experiment with, especially if you would
like to try out various aerials or go out and
about. You could also use the ‘Malachite’
as a propagation indicator for the shack,
and a monitor for listening in to the radio
amateurs or FM.
You should connect an external aerial to
this, to achieve better results, in all cases
described here, except FM broadcast
radio. The Malahit performs well on
Medium and Short Wave, daytime and
night, and the inbuilt noise-reduction
and other adjustments are effective. The
waterfall display is always interesting to
watch.
In the Editor’s Shack
11
12
I found the tuning knob to be ‘stuttering’;
often, it did not move things on at all, or it
incremented by more than one step at a
time; you have to try a few times to move
things along. I am sure this was just a one-
off.
I would not recommend using this for
LF (Long Wave and Lower Medium Wave)
reception, as there can be interference
and selectivity issues. The radio offers
no memories and no external control via
USB cable, and nor does it have Bluetooth;
no doubt there will be future incarnations
including all of this.
That notwithstanding, however, I
found this to be a very versatile piece
of equipment that will definitely find a
place in my shack here, as an all-round-
auxiliary-device. It is not (meant to be)
a DX machine but sits, arguably, on the
border between radio enjoyment and radio
experimentation (Fig. 12).
This radio has made me think of all sorts
of ways in which I can pursue the radio
hobby, especially while mobile.
Finally, my thanks go to Moonraker, for
the loan of the review unit.
31
 Sales line 01908 281705
E-mail sales@moonrakeronline.com

www.moonrakeronline.com
ONE STOP HOBBY RADIO SHOP Moonraker (UK) Ltd, Cranfield Road, Woburn Sands, Bucks MK17 8UR

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Mini Clips
Emerging Issues in Radio

DANIELA MOTA ON UNSPLASH

Chrissy Brand
chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk

T
oday, listening to the radio already
comes a long way down the list of
priorities for most people, which
makes projecting how the industry
might look and sound in 20 years seem a po-
tentially gloomy scenario. However, radio in
another two decades is unlikely to be all bad
news for radio professionals or listeners –
far from it, in fact.
In 2022, people in the western world are
spoilt for choice in how to spend their lei-
sure time, with young people playing online
video games such as Fortnite, creating and
viewing TikToks or buying and selling on
Depop.
Meanwhile, many middle-aged people are
obsessing over Wordle, social media and
the latest Netflix box sets (my recent rec-
ommendations include Inventing Jane and
Russian Doll).
Future equivalent forms of entertainment
will doubtless continue to dominate peo-
ple’s free time in western society, with radio
in all its forms (linear, digital and online) hav-
ing to compete harder than ever before, in
order to maintain its presence in the crowd- 1
ed leisure sector. In another couple of dec-

The Radio of the

ades, there will be much-improved internet
and Wi-Fi connections throughout all parts
of the western world, in the form of 6G or its
successor.
This will make whatever forms of web-
sites, apps and social media are then in use,
even easier to access. Likewise, the stream-
Future – The
Future of Radio
ing of videos, TV programmes, podcasts,
vlogcasts, and radio programmes. Whether
you are being ferried around in a driverless,
connected car or resting in a hut after trek-
king in the hills, your choices of entertain-
ment and information will be even easier to In the first of a two-part mini-series, Chrissy Brand
access than they are today.
envisages how the world of radio may look and sound
Radio’s Role in the years ahead, discussing the future of specific
On UNESCO World Radio Day 2022, Radio
Romania International (RRI) was amongst
formats and technologies over the next two decades.
many organisations that reported the words
of Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of ranking first in 65% of the countries sur- This is fine for those with Wi-Fi or good 4G
UNESCO. She commented on the independ- veyed. access and data allowances on their phone
ence and reliability of radio, “Radio is often The importance of radio’s role as educa- contracts.
the medium through which learning contin- tor, informer and entertainer is not in doubt. For community elders in the UK and those
ues when schools are closed. A medium People turn to the radio for information, es- living in countries where internet access is
over 100 years old, radio is today more rel- pecially in times of crisis, and will continue a luxury, traditional, analogue, then linear
evant than ever. May it live on for many more to do so. However, the methods by which radio is still vital. With few signs of the
years to come!” radio is accessed have evolved quickly. world’s governments addressing global
Moreover, a study by the European Listening on-demand and via live-streaming inequalities of wealth, health and education,
Broadcasting Union (EBU) conducted in give greater choice than being restricted to it is doubtful that this pattern of comparative
September 2021 concluded that radio was only hearing programmes live-as-broadcast inequalities in access to radio output will
the most reliable mass medium in Europe, (Fig. 1). change much over the next two decades.

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34 RadioUser May 2022
 Emerging Issues in Radio

NIKOLA TOPIC ON UNSPLASH

Fig. 1: Listening to a radio programme: on-

demand, and ‘on-the-go’. Fig. 2: FM radio will be
retained in the UK, until at least the year 2030.
Fig. 3: Radio station apps are a benefit for AM
and FM radio. Fig. 4: FM in use as an emergency
service for Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
Fig. 5: Radio Caroline is championing Medium
Wave for the foreseeable future.

Radio Broadcast Bands

There is an ongoing debate about the poten-
tial end of FM in the UK. In 2009, a close-
down date of 2015 was spoken of. Seven
years on, FM is still very much alive for lis-
teners in the UK. Listening to commercial
and community radio stations in the car (Fig.
2), or enjoying a play or concert in the kitch-
en, are still a habit for millions of people.
This pattern changes by the day, how-
ever, with the use of smart speakers and
smartphone apps, enabling radio listeners
to access live or archived radio programmes
by voice command or a tap on a screen.
Accessing radio stations online is already
the norm and will be the dominant choice for
the majority of radio listeners over the next
decade or two.
The UK’s use of the FM band will contin-
ue until at least 2030, according to a Digital
Radio and Audio Review by the Department
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This
October 2021 policy paper also explained
how, “Projections from Mediatique suggest
that, on current trends, including allowing for
the emergence of smart speakers, FM will de-
cline to around 12-14% by 2030. FM will con-
tinue to be an important platform for listeners
and be needed until at least 2030.” 2
Norway switched off FM in 2017, while
Switzerland’s FM closure keeps being post- DAB in the UK has its limitations: it is not and traditional analogue radio often
poned, currently until the end of 2024. It is available in many homes and on sections of remains a life-saving mechanism.
not difficult to imagine that any decision the road network; and older DAB radios can One good example of the need for
on a UK FM switch-off will be deferred. FM only receive DAB, instead of DAB+. Despite emergency broadcasts appeared in Poland,
will still be in use in 20 years, I am sure, cer- that, it is difficult to see DAB fading away, in March. RMF Ukraina commenced
tainly for the ever-expanding range of com- with the industry having spent the past 20 broadcasts for Ukrainian refugees, on
munity stations, both permanent and with years building transmitters, receivers and 93.3 and 98.6MHz (Fig. 4). Languages
Restricted Service Licences (RSL). audiences. included English, as well as Ukrainian,
The two giant organisations that own Medium wave will also be the choice of advising refugees about food collections,
most of the UK commercial stations, Bauer a handful of UK stations for years to come. school admissions and weather updates,
and Global Media, may have undergone Having spent over 50 years trying to gain plus more harrowing news. This is a prime
many changes but will be major players on a medium wave licence, Radio Caroline example of the power of radio.
FM in the next ten years or more. will be in no rush to give up its presence on Equally important, FM is still a medium
Like any sensible radio station or broad- 648kHz. It, and a handful of other stations, much in use. FM radios are still available, as
casting organisation though, they are ‘future- may end up as ‘novelty stations’ on medium there is a demand and broadcasters have
proofing’ their brands. wave, while retaining an online stream and not deserted the band yet, nor been forced
For the average listener, it will be an easy, app, of course. to by governments.
ongoing journey to follow their favourite AM and FM should also be retained for Smartphones should all be equipped with
radio stations from FM to all the other plat- emergency broadcasts from authorities, an FM radio too. This was standard a few
forms: streaming online through a phone, governments and broadcasters. years ago, I recall, but has been lost in the
smart speaker or using a broadcaster’s app Internet access can be restricted by race for upgrades and otherwise ‘improved’
(Fig. 3). governments or affected by power outages, phone technology.

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May 2022 RadioUser 35
Emerging Issues in Radio

NEIL SONI ON UNSPLASH

Short Wave, Long Life

Short Wave was in the news around the
world in March, even gaining a rare men-
tion in outlets as far apart as CNET, The
Huffington Post and ‘radio-futurologist’
James Cridland’s e-newsletter.
The immediate reason for this resur-
gence is, of course, the war in Ukraine. The
BBC, ORF and others reinstated or added
additional short wave services. With the
US Agency for Global Media not follow-
ing suit, a crowd-funder called Shortwaves
For Freedom aimed to raise $10,000, in or-
der to rebroadcast VOA, RFE and Radio
Liberty programmes in English, Russian and
Ukrainian via WRMI.
Other stations, such as Radio Onda in
The Netherlands, relayed Ukraine televi-
sion, on 6140kHz. In March, Radio Ukraine
International was also being relayed, in
Ukrainian, English and German from the
Kall transmitter in Germany at 0900 UTC on
6005kHz.
I imagine the realisation by broadcasters
and governments of the continuing need
for analogue radio will be a harsh lesson
learned and could preserve the future of AM
and FM in many countries.
James Cridland also asked a question
that I have pondered on for many years.
Is there a radio that can receive FM, AM
(including short wave), DAB+ and DRM? I
would extend this challenge to radio manu-
facturers and distributors to design a porta-
ble radio that can be powered by solar, wind
up-mechanism and batteries (as well as
mains power), with internet access as well.
This could be a life-saving route for radio
to follow, as we live in such uncertain times.
As stated before in these pages, the
mass exodus of international broadcasters
from short wave over the past 25 years has 3
been a costly error, both in terms of losing
audiences, and for humanitarian reasons. In Ukraine and elsewhere, it looks like equipped to receive broadcasts. … Younger
Broadcasters, quite rightly, availed those who still own short wave receivers people with no experience of short wave
themselves of the internet technology may be tuning in. This could herald a long- themselves … dismiss it. I somehow think
that the 1990s brought, developing their lasting revival, for stations, manufacturers that the older folks still have a short wave
programme output to enable streaming and audiences, due to the uncertain times radio somewhere and are dusting them
and on-demand capabilities. This made that we live in. A future world may need to off. On top of that, I doubt that serious
sense financially and was also paramount better access news and information via broadcast organisations like the BBC would
in the continual requirements to seek and battery-powered radios, in times of crisis, waste time and money if they didn’t believe
build new audiences, particularly amongst such as war, plague, climate change, power there would be an audience, albeit a small
younger generations. outages in extreme weather and soaring one - at least at the beginning. Word of
But to effectively abandon audiences in electricity costs. mouth works.”
their millions was reckless and unforgivable, Switzerland in Sound’s Bob Zanotti
especially in parts of the world with little commented on the current situation, with Predictions
electricity, let alone affordable internet some prudent words for radio’s future. In the context of this article, one ‘must-
access. “Yes, the number of listeners is smaller hear’ programme is Wireless: Radio about
Once an audience is forsaken, it turns to than before, but I still believe that news Radio. This is a monthly show that is
other radio stations and is hard to entice will spread in an emergency. Also, let’s not presented by John Walsh on Flirt FM in
back. forget the many radio hams who are well Galway. It covers many pertinent issues

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36 RadioUser May 2022

4
5
of how radio will evolve. In the March 2022
episode, several features took current-day
radio situations and projected them into a
future world.
The importance of AM broadcasting was
one such topic. Steve Whitt of the Medium
Wave Circle spoke of its key role, while
Radio Caroline’s manager Peter Moore,
talked of the station’s medium wave plans.
If one station is still going to be on the
airwaves in another 20 years, I would bet
money that it is Radio Caroline! (Fig. 5).
Also on the programme was Sally-Ann
Wilson, CEO of the Public Media Alliance,
who addressed funding models for public
service broadcasting. This is another key
issue that will determine the shape of the
future radio landscape, in the Republic of
For the latest news and product reviews, visit www.radioenthusiast.co.uk
May 2022 RadioUser
CHRISSY BRAND
Ireland or any country.
(See my two-part mini-series on this
subject in RadioUser, March 2022: 34-37;
April 2022: 34-37).
James Cridland summarised the current
situation well. The pattern of radio events
that he spoke of will doubtless dominate in
the future. In addition, reporting for Radio
World, James Careless wrote that, “When
it comes to reaching younger listeners,
Cridland wants to target them where they
are. This isn’t on smart speakers, where
72% of the content consumed is radio,
he said. Rather, it is on their smartphone-
connected headphones. The big takeaway:
The 13–34 audience is listening to in-depth,
meaningful spoken-word content when they
listen to podcasts and audiobooks — the
Emerging Issues in Radio
RMF UKRAINA
References
• What Is 6G Internet & What Will It Look Like?
HighSpeedInternet.com
• No FM Switch Off in the UK Until at Least
2030, Radio Today, October 2021:
https://tinyurl.com/czrpe4k8
• World Radio Day 2022, Radio and Trust,
Radio Romania International (RRI):
https://tinyurl.com/2ma7jaxn
• Digital Radio and Audio Review (Policy
Paper, October 2021)
https://tinyurl.com/5n8x2xhm
• Short Wave Radio: Who Owns the Receivers?
James Cridland, March 2022:
https://tinyurl.com/2scrfewa
• RMF Ukraina:
www.rmf.fm/magazyn/tag,Ukraina.html
• Short Waves for Freedom by Kate
Neiswender:
https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/61xi2e
• The Future of Media Commission:
https://futureofmediacommission.ie
• James Cridland: Human Connection Draws
in Younger Listeners, by James Careless,
Radio World, February 22nd, 2022
https://tinyurl.com/EBUCrid0222
• James Cridland:
https://james.cridland.net
kind of content commercial radio rejected
decades ago when it went Top 40… Cridland
also advised radio broadcasters to stop
defining themselves in terms of their delivery
mechanisms (i.e., AM, FM, and DAB), and
start thinking of themselves as content
providers first.”
Next month, in Part Two, a look at future
radio programmes, apps, and how audio will
fare in the ‘connected’ car.
37
New Media and Internet Radio

ACCURADIO

Chrissy Brand
chrissyLB@hotmail.co.uk

C
lassical music is well represented
across radio platforms in
most western countries, with
many specialist stations and
programmes. The podcast market
is also in a healthy state, with a large
demand for the genre, especially stories
behind the scenes and interviews with
musicians and composers.
The growth of mainstream stations 1
such as Classic FM and Scala Radio,
plus well-known pieces being used in
film and advertisements, has led to the
more commercial and accessible forms
of the genre becoming embedded in
society. The elitism that some more
Business, Music,
traditional radio stations like BBC Radio
3 are sometimes accused of is unfair,
as such stations do much to explain
and Inspirational
the music they play, with talks, and
background features.
It is easy to stream most classical
music radio stations from anywhere in
People
the world, direct from a station website or
using apps like Radio Garden. In addition, Chrissy Brand expands her listening habits with
classical music stations can also be classical, folk and electronic music, and current affairs
found via portals such as AccuRadio
(Fig. 1), which is “by music lovers,
programmes, and she offers top recommendations for
for music lovers”. this month’s best international radio programmes.
AccuRadio is a Chicago-based
organisation, founded in 2000, as a ‘multi- both ends of the scale (pun intended), and check out our suggestions to expand
channel Internet radio enterprise’. Free of include Avant-Garde Classical (serious your musical IQ.”
charge, it runs over 1,000 music channels music by contemporary composers) www.vialma.com/en
across most genres: Alt-rock, Brazilian and Beethoven’s Greatest Hits. Streams
jazz, Celtic, Nordic Folk Songs, Protest such as Classical Concentration The Streaming Business
Music and Road Trip radio. Surely you and Classical Boost use music as BBC World Service’s Business Daily
Joust is medieval music for cosplayers an aid to getting through the tasks programme ran an interesting feature
and role-playing gamers, and there is of the day, while Classical 101 is an in its programme on 25th February.
also workout music and concerts from introduction to the field. Streaming Wars, Survival of the Smallest,
legendary venues. www.accuradio.com/classical looked at subscription services for the
With commercial-free weeks and I have been testing an app called average household (presumably in the
crowdfunding drives to create new Vialma. This allows the user to stream western world) which subscribes to
channels, AccuRadio offers a lot. Seven classical music, “personalized to your four or five of these. Surprisingly, Apple
years ago, Billboard reported on the taste.” It is a subscription service, which TV has a 100% turnover of subscribers
successful rebranding of AccuRadio. At will doubtless have a niche market for annually, with people signing up,
the time, 77 channels were added around classical music aficionados, musicians seeing everything that they want to,
the theme of ‘workplace mood’, with the and academics. Vialma states that their, then not renewing.
slogan, “better radio for your workday”. “passionate team have come together to www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1j1l
The rationale for this was to target the offer a fresh perspective on a historical When Business Daily began, back in
35-to-64 demographic of daytime office art form with a catalogue of exceptional the noughties, I feared it would be too
workers. The initiative worked and saw music. Explore classical music in multiple pro-business (Fig. 2), I asked instead
listener traffic increase 35% in one month. formats! Watch videos, listen to playlists, for daily programmes about conserving
https://tinyurl.com/2febfwnu find great music and feed your curiosity the environment and workers’ rights.
Examples of the AccuRadio classical with articles, biographies and anecdotes. However, Business Daily has proven to
music channels that are on offer, at Take our quizzes, talk to our musicologists be a very versatile creature, covering

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38 RadioUser May 2022
 New Media and Internet Radio

ABEL PEREZ ON UNSPLASH

Fig. 1: AccuRadio music, from hip-hop to sounds

for a Spa. Fig. 2: The BBC World Service’s
Business Daily programme goes beyond stocks
and shares. Fig. 3: From India, the World is One
News Channel aims to provide an independent
global view. Fig. 4: Vloggers Johnny and Ben
fled Kyiv and recorded their journey. Fig. 5: Delia
Derbyshire by artist Stewy, at his 2016 Dissenting
Academy exhibition.

everything from office politics to seed

banks, sanctions on Russia, homelessness
in Sacramento, robots and labour
shortages, disability rights, and other
pertinent breaking stories.
https://tinyurl.com/4ypuwhcw
Even die-hard, old-school radio fans, such
as me, equally enjoy watching vloggers and
following podcasts on topics of interest.
For me, these are often travel, music,
environmental causes, and food. This might
mean chef Rachel Khoo in Stockholm doing
a charity cook-in on Facebook or trying
recipes from every corner of Ukraine.
For a more serious mood, I might turn
to WION explaining Ukraine and Russia’s
historic, turbulent relationship. WION (The
World is One News) offers independent
news from India. I watched a very good
video of Ukrainian and Russia’s shared
history, Gravitas Plus, Explained: The
Russia-Ukraine crisis. WION is a New Delhi
based organisation delivering unbiased
information, whilst examining global issues
with in-depth analysis (Fig. 3).
www.facebook.com/rkhooks
https://tinyurl.com/2p9333vx
www.wionews.com
https://youtu.be/nK-yJD_fAtk
I have been following US vlogger Johnny
Jen, for a year or so, when he bought a
flat in Kyiv, Ukraine. That process and
his escapades there were all interesting
enough, but became quite harrowing in
recent months, as the build-up to war 2
occurred. In late February, Johnny did the
sensible things and evacuated the city (Fig. www.youtube.com/c/JohnnyFD/about Oamenii Mei (My Village, My People).
4), heading for the Hungarian border, along www.youtube.com/c/baldandbankrupt The DX Mailbag programme is still
with his fellow vlogger, Benjamin Rich, also a staple of the station (1040 UTC on
known as Bald and Bankrupt. Johnny has Remaining Romanian Tuesdays on GCR Channel 1). Generation
since been reporting on the war, from a Romania Folkloric Music Goes Metal was 3.0 is a short feature, looking at young
base in Budapest. part of an RRI programme that grabbed people. In the Spotlight, meanwhile, covers
The experience of taking flight from my attention, via Global Community current affairs. Whether you listen to RRI
Kyiv was captured in vlogs they made for Radio. Another interesting song was on short wave, from the station website,
their respective YouTube channels. I am called Twosome by the Romanian blues or via other streams, such as Soundcloud,
sure neither of these adventurers would band, Your Midwife on Ice. A gentler WRN or CGR, it is always a wondrous
consider themself to be experts on current track followed, Departe De Tine by Ravi. journey into a land of heartfelt music,
affairs or history. In fact, it is partly the very Simply Folk always lifts my spirits and the interesting facts and figures, and a healthy
factor of them being ordinary, down-to- programme celebrated the 77th birthday cultural perspective.
earth, people, that makes their recordings of teacher and musician, Florica Bradu, www.rri.ro
so captivating. with a recording of her singing, Satul Meu, https://tinyurl.com/fjcbyuem

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May 2022 RadioUser 39
New Media and Internet Radio

Date Time (UTC) Station Programme Podcast URL/ Stream/ Frequency

30 April to 27 May 24/7 Hastings Rock (RSL) Rock, pop, live and local music www.hastingsrock.co.uk 87.7 MHz and www.hastingsrock.co.uk
First and third Friday Uploaded circa 1400 Radio France International Africa Calling with Laura-Angela Bagnetto https://tinyurl.com/2p97bytf www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/africa-calling
of the month
First Monday of the 1500 to 1600 Flirt FM Show about radio & media with John Walsh https://tinyurl.com/2pzv5nvw FM and online
month
DAB in Surrey and South London, apps and
Monday 2100 to 2300 Care Radio Richard Allan’s Musicals, Movies & Memories https://tinyurl.com/4jsxp4ev smart speakers www.careradio.org
Uploaded daily, 40 https://tinyurl.com/2darzxnk
Daily Alfred, Shaftesbury This is Alfred Daily 107.3 MHz and https://thisisalfred.com
minutes and podcast apps
Dol Dhachaigh, Drivetime with https://radioskye.com/listen-again FM, RadioPlayer, TuneIn, Smart Speaker
Weekdays 1630 to 1800 Radio Skye Suzy Lee, Hector Cormack via RadioPlayer App and https://radioskye.com
Thursday 1100 to 1200 WSCS, New Hampshire, USA The Radio Thrift Shop with DJ Frederick https://tinyurl.com/2p96k9tz GCR Channel 2
Thursday 1900 to 2100 Legacy FM Manchester DJ Lighta’s Dub to Jungle Show Legacy app or Tune In Radio FM and https://legacy901.com/radio-schedule
Saturday 1700 to 1800 WSCS, New Hampshire, USA The Radio Thrift Shop with DJ Frederick https://tinyurl.com/2p96k9tz FM and http://classicalwscs.org
Sunday, Monday, World FM, Marahau, New 88.2 and 107.6 MHz low power FM,
1100 to 1300 World FM Overnight, diverse music https://tinyurl.com/5y7nwewy
Tuesday, Thursday Zealand Marahau, Tasman Bay http://worldfm.radio

Table 1. Top Listening Recommendations for the Month Ahead.

WION

A reminder that the 2022 EDXC

Conference is taking place in Bucharest
from May 20 to 22, having been postponed
in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. It is open
to anyone with an interest in radio; details
are on the EDXC website.
https://edxcnews.wordpress.com

Great Lives
The BBC Great Lives programme from
Series 44 in 2018, about Nikola Tesla (1856 3
to 1943), was repeated on Radio 4 Extra JOHNNY JEN CHRISSY BRAND

in February. Actor and broadcaster Liza

Tarbuck chose the extraordinary life of
the Serbian-American scientist and, with
Professor Iwan Morus from Aberystwyth
University, explained how his inventions
were ahead of their time.
Amongst many was his invention in
1891 of the Tesla coil, an induction coil
that was widely used in radio and television 4
technology. Sadly, despite his genius,
“he died virtually penniless in a hotel delightful stubbornness and being so driven
room in New York.” by her work comes across well. There were
In January of last year, composer also glimpses of a lively social and personal
Delia Derbyshire (1937 to 2001) was life in the 1960s and 1970s. I had always
remembered by actor Caroline Catz for wondered why she had such a well-to-do
an episode of Great Lives. Delia is best accent. The reason was that this working-
known for her work at the BBC Radiophonic class woman had received elocution
Workshop, where she realised the theme lessons at grammar school, which was
tune to Doctor Who. Caroline Catz took common in that era.
her interest to an even higher level when As a young woman in Preston, the
she beautifully portrayed Delia, BBC Four’s sound of clogs on workers’ feet was one
engrossing Arena docudrama programme, of many that Delia wished to recreate 5
Delia Derbyshire, the Myths and the electronically. Before that, she had lived
Legendary Tapes. through the Coventry Blitz in World War www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09nvrs5
It is an insightful glimpse into another 2. The sounds of the air raid sirens were https://tinyurl.com/2p9f5pft
world, of sexism in the workplace and her first experience of electronic music www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000rcpn
throughout society. Delia coped by being and a future influence. She became https://tinyurl.com/y5uhntpw
so immersed in her work in the windowless known to many as the godmother of EDM https://deliaderbyshireday.com
studios of the BBC workshop. Her rather (Electronic Dance Music). www.delia-derbyshire.org

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40 RadioUser May 2022

Radio News
POLISH RADIO LAUNCHES PROGRAMMES
FOR UKRAINIANS : Public broadcaster
Polish Radio is on Thursday launching a new
weekly programme for Ukrainians escaping
the Russian invasion and their compatriots
residing permanently in Poland. The hour-long
broadcast will be delivered in Ukrainian, airing
every Thursday at 7 pm on Polish Radio’s mobile
app, web player and DAB+ platform, the public
broadcaster’s IAR news agency reported.
Listeners will hear advice on where to find
help, how to apply for assistance available to
refugees, and how to obtain information about
their loved ones, according to IAR. Also, the
programme will feature news on how the Polish
government, local authorities, and charities are
working to support refugees from Ukraine, and
on Poland’s efforts to facilitate Ukraine’s entry
into the European Union and the NATO alliance,
IAR reported.
The weekly broadcast is prepared and hosted
by journalists from Polish Radio’s External
Service, also known as Radio Poland […].
As the programme develops, it is also set to
feature Polish-language courses for Ukrainians
seeking shelter in Poland, and items on
Ukrainian music and culture, IAR reported. Ever
since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on
February 24, Polish Radio has been airing news
bulletins in Ukrainian on several of its channels,
as well as launching a 24-hour live audio and
video stream about the war on YouTube. It is
also broadcasting the signal of Ukrainian Radio
on its web player and DAB+ platform so that
the people escaping the Russian attack can
listen to programming in their native tongue,
executives said. Poland on Thursday reported
it had admitted nearly 2 million refugees fleeing
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(SOURCE: IAR | SWLing Post [USA] | Polish
Radio | Online Blogs).
https://tinyurl.com/4msurced
https://tinyurl.com/23jxze2s
Similar Story on Radio Romania:
https://tinyurl.com/ya22buar
Similar Story, Vatican Radio:
https://tinyurl.com/33z2b6mx
BATTLE OF THE BRANDS : Almost all
commercial music radio stations in the UK
are now owned by either Global or Bauer. Both
companies built their portfolios of stations
through the acquisition of smaller radio groups.
When commercial radio began in the UK in 1973
it was very tightly regulated, and the emphasis
was on each station being independent and
local. The high operating costs of local stations
made them unsustainable and gradually most
Follow us on Facebook @radioenthusiasts and Twitter @REnthusiasts
May 2022 RadioUser
What’s new in the world of radio
stations were taken over by smaller groups
who in turn were swallowed up by these big
corporations. British-based Global Media &
Entertainment, which was formed in 2007, is
Europe’s largest radio company and operates
the following radio brands: Capital, Classic FM,
Gold, Heart, LBC, Radio X, and Smooth. Some of
these are divided into sub-brands such as Heart
70s, Heart 80s, and so on. Bauer is a German
company, founded in 1875. It publishes over
600 magazines and owns 50 radio and TV
stations. Bauer also operates radio stations
in many countries including Denmark, France,
Germany, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia,
and Sweden. In contrast to Global which has
a neat portfolio of brands, Bauer is an untidy
collection of brands together with many
“orphan” stations that have been bought up but
still retain their original name. The main Bauer
brands are Absolute; Greatest Hits; Hits, Jazz
FM; Kiss, Magic; Planet Rock, and Scala. There
are over 20 “orphan” stations including CFM,
Clyde 1, Cool FM, Downtown, Fire, and many
more. For the full list go to this URL [...]:
(SOURCE: David Harris | BDXC Communication,
No. 569, April 2022).
www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands-radio
NEW OFCOM CHAIR: Former BBC, ITV, and
Channel 4 executive and current Conservative
peer Michael Grade has been named as the
next chair of Ofcom. Nadine Dorries said:
“Lord Grade’s experience at the highest level
of a number of broadcasters and his expert
knowledge of the British media landscape
makes him an ideal candidate for this role. The
government has given the BBC World Service
£4.1m in emergency funding to continue
expanding its reach in Russia and Ukraine, help
fight Russian propaganda and help relocate
staff to safer locations”.
(SOURCE: Press Gazette Daily | via David
Harris | OFCOM | FT)
https://tinyurl.com/5xx3zhft (FT).
News
NEW SCHEDULE FOR BBC RADIO NAN
GÀIDHEAL: BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is
launching a new schedule next month with
new voices more shows for young people. The
changes include two new daily topical shows,
new evening music strands focussing on young
talent development, and the consolidation
of resources for Gaelic learners within the
schedule. As the long-established morning
show Prògram Choinnich comes to an end,
presenter Kenny MacIver will visit communities
around the country, meeting and recording
both established and new contributors, to
understand what life is now like for people
in these locations. The programmes will be
broadcast over the summer. Cathy MacDonald
will host a new show, Naoi gu Deich (Nine
– Ten) Monday to Thursday, exploring and
developing the discussion points of the
day. In that same slot on Fridays Maureen
MacLeod and her contributors will undertake
a review of the week’s news. Each lunchtime
Niall Iain MacDonald and Emma Lamont will
start the afternoon with Feasgar an-diugh
(This Afternoon) which says it will be a lively,
informative, and sometimes provocative
cross-generational meeting space, with people
at different ages and stages of life offering
their perspectives on everything that’s going
on. The changes to the evening schedule will
see more on offer for younger audiences.
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal’s long-running music
show Rapal returns to its roots as a home
for new and emerging musical talent with a
two-hour show each Tuesday night. Monday
nights will see a new show, Cruinn (Together)
mixing music, conversation, and discussion for
younger audiences. Cruinn will be presented
by a pool of young stars who have been honing
their presentation skills over the last year in
on-air ‘take-overs’. Later in the spring a new
programme will launch showcasing the vibrant
traditional music scene [...].
(SOURCE: BBC | RadioToday | Industry Press).
41
Feature

ALL PICTURES: TONY CURRIE

Tony Currie
tony@radiosix.com

A
small wooden hut in the quiet
little English village of Writtle,
a mile west of Chelmsford,
seems an unlikely location for
the birth of British broadcasting, but at 7.15
pm precisely on Valentine’s Day 1922, ra-
dio station 2MT began regular broadcasts
of speech and music to listeners in the UK
(Fig. 1).
Tuning in to 700 metres (428kHz,
between what are now the Long- and
Medium Wave bands) listeners heard the
Marconi station’s manager-cum-producer-
cum-announcer, Captain Peter Pendleton
Eckersley (Fig. 2; later to become Chief
Engineer of the BBC), welcome listeners
for the first time to the regular Tuesday
evening half-hour of songs, records and
(often very) humorous chat.
Amid the BBC’s justifiable pride in 1
celebrating its own Centenary this
November, it should not be forgotten that
there were many other pioneers of radio
before a consortium of set manufacturers
Early Stations and
combined their resources to launch
the British Broadcasting Company, a
commercial organisation whose sole aim the True Father of
Radio Broadcasting
was to help to sell wireless sets. So there
needed to be something to listen to.

Bold Attempts – Small Numbers

Before the BBC’s daily programme ser-
vice began, there had been many bold at-
tempts to provide some sort of service for
the small number of experimenters willing
to spend hours, earphone-clad tickling a
cat’s whisker to hear something. Anything.
The Marconi Company had stumbled
on the idea of broadcasting speech and
music more or less by accident when test-
ing their 15kW transmitter at New Street,
Chelmsford. On an irregular basis, the suc-
cess of playing occasional records had
led to a historic live broadcast by world-
famous opera star Dame Nellie Melba,
whose Daily Mail-sponsored programme
on 15th June 1920 was heard in many
countries and opened British ears to the
possibilities of radio broadcasting.
The government, unfortunately, was not
interested in broadcasting – it believed ra-
dio should be put to more ‘important’ uses
like Morse communication between ships.
Therefore, Marconi’s broadcasts were ter-
minated.
But an increasing groundswell in de-
mand from radio amateurs, who desper-
ately wanted something to try and tune in
Tony Currie takes a look at the early radio stations with
such callsigns as 2MT, 2LO, 2MG, 2BP, and 2ZY and
introduces a pioneering figure from the foundational era
of UK broadcasting.
to, led to the grudging concession of half The half-hours ended with Eckersley
an hour’s broadcasting a week. Since most (whose almost ‘manic’ performances of-
amateurs had jobs and needed to be fed ten pre-empted the style of The Goons by
when they got home, the broadcasts were over 30 years) singing the station close-
scheduled on Tuesday nights between 7 down. The lyrics varied but usually ended
and 7.30 but from 29th May moved to 8 pm with the line, “Hark, the engine’s failing –
on 400 metres (749kHz). goodbye you old low-brow!”
A few months later, on 11th May,
Programming Marconi opened a second ‘rival’ station in
and Other Stations the centre of London.
Peter Eckersley (Fig. 2) took charge of the Station 2LO was located at Marconi
programmes and established a popular House in London’s Strand, and it also pro-
mixture of chat, listener’s letters, live vided a brief weekly transmission on 369
music and gramophone records. These metres (812kHz).
were provided by the Columbia record This was so perilously close to the
company, the first in the UK to realise the Chelmsford wavelength that listeners
promotional power of radio broadcasts. (whose crystal sets lacked the selectivity
2MT even transmitted the ‘balcony scene’ of modern superhets) asked the station
from the play Cyrano de Bergerac, the very to refrain from broadcasting on Tuesday
first broadcast drama. nights between 8 and 8.30!

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42 RadioUser May 2022

2 3
Arthur Burrows, who had arranged the
Melba programme, had been transferred
from Chelmsford to London to run 2LO;
he later became the BBC’s first Director of
Programmes. Although it opened with a
mere 100 watts of power, within the first
month 2LO had been increased to 1.5kW
thanks to the installation of a new Marconi
transmitter. Other stations followed.
Six days after the first broadcast from
2LO, the Manchester station 2ZY came on
the air on 450 metres (666kHz) from the
ornate water tower of the Metropolitan-
Vickers electricity works in Old Trafford,
with 60W of power. Around the same time
in Glasgow, George Garscadden – the own-
er of a household appliance business –
and his friend Frank Milligan set up station
2MG (known as Milligan’s Wireless Station)
in Bath Street and brought the delights of
wireless entertainment to Scotland for
the first time. Both men’s daughters –
Kathleen and Primrose respectively – were
to enjoy lifelong careers as Scottish radio
personalities.
Station 2MG was the first one to
face broadcasting rivals in the same
city: Station 2BP came on the air from
Hughenden Road in Glasgow’s fashiona-
ble West End on 24th January 1923. It was
a joint venture of Marconi and the local
Daimler dealer to demonstrate – and hope-
fully sell - the very first Marconiphone car
radios at the Scottish Motor Show, having
already operated in London for the dura-
tion of the Motor Show at Olympia.
The Marconi V2 (Fig. 3) was modified
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May 2022 RadioUser
to be carried in a moving vehicle, although
whether the driver was able to operate
it under these circumstances is open to
question!
Unstoppable Growth:
The British Way
There had been consternation on the part
of Daimler upon the discovery that 2MG
was not on the air during the hours the
Motor Show was open to the public, which
had led to the partnership of Marconi and
the motor manufacturer. 2BP ran only for
the eleven days of the show, with an esti-
mated 3,000 listeners. The station opened
at 5 pm with a news bulletin provided
by a newspaper group that published
the Glasgow Herald & Evening Times.
Programmes included an exclusive ap-
pearance of music hall star Lupino Lane.
By now, the government recognised that
they could not stop the growth of broad-
casting in the UK but were determined not
to allow the kind of ‘free-for-all’ that exist-
ed in the United States, where unregulated
commercial radio stations were popping
up and vying for listener’s ears.
That simply wasn’t ‘British’, so
Westminster sought to persuade the wire-
less experimenters to join together and
form an orderly system that covered the
country without competition, with the new
stations benefitting from a new ten shil-
ling licence fee levied on all users of wire-
less sets.
The manufacturers were understand-
ably keen to encourage the expansion of
Feature
Fig. 1: The original 2MT transmitter at Chelmsford
with an output of just 200W.
Fig. 2: Captain Peter Pendleton Eckersley.
Fig. 3: A Marconi V2 ‘installed’ in a vehicle.
radio and saw an opportunity to create
a lot more sales by going along with the
Government’s suggestion. Thus, on 18th
October 1922, the British Broadcasting
Company was formed with its first broad-
cast on 14th November 1922.
The early experimental stations were
eventually all taken over by the BBC, start-
ing with 2LO, and many of the characters
involved found themselves with new job
titles in this brave if less irreverent new
enterprise. At the same time, the wave-
lengths of most were changed. Indeed
some changed frequently during the first
few years of the BBC. It is worth consider-
ing that if the fledgling BBC had appointed
Peter Eckersley - the true father of British
broadcasting - as its General Manager
(rather than the flawed John Charles
Walsham Reith) it is entirely possible that
broadcasting would have taken a very dif-
ferent course over the last 100 years!
Tony Currie | Director of Programmes,
Radio Six International
The Studio, Port Ramsay, ISLE OF
LISMORE, PA34 5UN, Scotland
Tel: +44 1631 760 100
www.radiosix.com
http://radiosix.com:8000/radiosix.mp3
Facebook.com/radiosixinternational
Facebook.com/TheLivelyLounge
43
News What’s new in the world of radio
Radio News
FALKLANDS WAR PODCAST: A new podcast
from local BBC radio looks back at the Falklands
War on the 40th anniversary of the conflict. The
five-part series, ‘My Moment In History: The
Falklands War’, will feature personal stories
of those involved in the 74-day conflict that
began on April 2, 1982. It is fronted by former
Royal Marine and broadcaster JJ Chalmers
and historian Professor Helen Parr from Keele
University, who has a family connection to the
conflict. Each episode features interviews with
people who tell their personal stories, bringing
the series to life – including a paratrooper who
fought in one of the bloodiest encounters of the
war. The series also hears from the next genera-
tion of young Falkland islanders, about why the
conflict should never be forgotten. JJ Chalmers,
who was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
in 2020, was injured in Afghanistan while serving
with the Royal Marines. His co-presenter Helen
Parr was seven when her uncle died while serv-
ing with the British forces on the last day of the
Falklands War. JJ Chalmers said: “I’ve always
been interested in the Falklands War and telling
some of the stories of those involved so that
soldiers, their families, the civilians involved are
not forgotten. These days it feels more important
than ever to understand the sacrifices involved
and that the impact of war is felt throughout
families and runs through the generations.” Chris
Burns, Head of Audio and Digital for BBC Eng-
land added: “This series is a very timely reminder
of how conflict impacts on people. These are
very personal stories and in the light of current
events, have a special poignancy.” My Moment
In History: The Falklands War will be available on
BBC Sounds on Monday 28 March. It will also be
on local BBC radio stations and is a BBC England
production for BBC Sounds.
(SOURCES: BBC | RadioToday).
https://tinyurl.com/mrynm2bn
RUSSIA AND BELARUS SUSPENDED FROM
CEPT MEMBERSHIP: On March 17 the Euro-
pean Conference of Postal and Telecommunica-
tions Administrations (CEPT) announced the
indefinite suspension of Russia and Belarus
following the invasion of Ukraine. This was
the outcome of the written procedure with the
CEPT Assembly regarding the suspension of
the Russian Federation and Belarus from CEPT
Membership. Based on a request from several
CEPT members, the CEPT Presidency carried
out a written procedure, in accordance with the
CEPT Arrangement, on the proposal to suspend
indefinitely and with immediate effect the
memberships of the Russian Federation and
Belarus in the CEPT. Thirty-four responses were
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44
received to the CEPT Assembly letter in support
of the proposal and one abstention. Based on
the above, the CEPT Assembly has therefore
decided:
• To suspend indefinitely memberships of the
Russian Federation and Belarus in the CEPT.
• That the suspension of the said CEPT members
will take effect from 00:00 (CET), 18 March
2022.
• That any future readmission to the CEPT would
follow the usual rules established in the CEPT
Arrangement, notably the need for a two-thirds
majority of members of the CEPT to endorse
such a decision.
Moreover, the CEPT Presidency requested the
Office to take all necessary measures to put in
place the above-mentioned decisions.
(SOURCES: CEPT | ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio
Podcast (info@icqpodcast.com).
https://tinyurl.com/4vuvb7d4
CROSS-OVER RADIOS: Our columnist David
Harris writes, “I have been using the Tecsun
PL-990x for the last few weeks and am very
impressed by its performance on all bands. This
radio can be seen as having near communica-
tion receiver performance. There no longer
appears to be any new entry-level conventional
communication receiver on the market. The
cheapest now seems to be the Elad FDM Duo-r
(£760). The Alinco DX-R8E and AOR 8600 are all
discontinued or out of stock in the UK. Perhaps
there is less demand because many DXers have
replaced tabletop communications receivers
with SDRs.
Over the last few years, world band radios have
upped their game and are filling the gap in the
market left by the demise of entry-level commu-
nication receivers. I would see this new breed of
radio as being a ‘Cross-over Radio’ – world band
size and convenience but with communication
receiver performance. The communications
receiver was once a very distinct piece of
equipment. It would be very large, heavy, mains
operated and designed for military or profes-
sional use. During the Second World War huge
numbers of such radios were produced for the
military by firms like Collins, Drake, Hallicraft-
ers, Hammarlund, and RCA [...].
(SOURCE: David Harris, BDXC Communication,
No. 568, March 2022: 10-11).
www.bdxc.org.uk
CROWDFUNDED SHORT WAVE SERVICES
INTO EASTERN EUROPE : Saying it has
received strong public support, the grassroots
crowdfunding campaign Shortwaves for
Freedom this month announced additional
Short Wave radio broadcasts to Russia, Belarus,
Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. The
broadcasts consist of rebroadcast content
from Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The content is
in the public domain and available for unauthor-
ized reuse, the campaign stated. “We quickly
raised enough money from our online appeal to
start funding transmissions last Tuesday to the
region from a private FCC-licensed shortwave
station in Florida and from early this week we are
expanding broadcasts from commercial stations
outside the United States,” said Kate Neis-
wender, a California lawyer and spokesperson
for the campaign. The private U.S. shortwave
station that Neiswinder referred to is WRMI Ra-
dio Miami International in Okeechobee, Florida,
which is owned and operated by long-time Short
Wave enthusiast Jeff White. According to Short-
waves for Freedom, reception of the initial WRMI
broadcast has been confirmed in the targeted
countries. They are being sent via the station’s
100,000-watt transmitters beaming to Eastern
Europe [...]. Shortwaves for Freedom’s VOA and
RFE/RL broadcasts are not backed by the United
States Agency for Global Media, the parent group
of those media outlets. Nor is the VOA planning
to add Short Wave broadcasts to this region [...].
(SOURCE: RADIOWORLD Engineering Extra).
https://tinyurl.com/2hdjvhrw
RadioUser May 2022
 What’s new in the world of radio News

European Private Radio News

Shortwave Stations
April 1st 2022
Only legal stations are included. Most stations use low power, but a few use several kW. Note that UTC is used here -
not CET, nor CEST! Abbreviations used: D = Germany, DNK = Denmark, FIN = Finland, NL = Netherlands, NOR = Norway
F.pl.: future plan, Int’l = International, Irr. = irregular, LT = Local time, 24/7 = twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
Mo = Monday, Tu = Tuesday, We = Wednesday, Th = Thursday, Fr = Friday, Sa = Saturday, Su = Sunday.

kHz Country Name Transmitter site Schedule (UTC)

3955 D Radio Channel 292 Rohrbach Waal Daily 0600-2000 & 2100-0500
3975 D Shortwave Gold Winsen Daily 1600-2200
3985 D Shortwaveservice Kall-Krekel Daily 0700-1930 (‘Radio Popexpress’ a.o.)
3995 D HCJB Weenermoor 24/7
5895 NOR The Sea / Radio Northern Star Bergen Silent. But renewal of license granted.
COMMUNITY MEDIA ASSOCIATION: The Commu-
5920 D HCJB Weenermoor 24/7 nity Media Association is Celebrating The Power of
5930 DNK World Music Radio Bramming 24/7 Inclusion at its upcoming Community Media Festival.
5940 NL Radio Piepzender Zwolle Irr. (0800-2000) The event, on Saturday 7th May 2022, is happening at
5955 NL Sunlite Westdorpe 24/7
the University of Bedfordshire’s Luton campus.
Bill Best, Operations Manager, Community Media
5970 DNK Radio208 Hvidovre 24/7
Association, says: “We’ve amended the format of The
5980 DNK Radio OZ-Viola Hillerød We 2100-2200 Community Media Festival this year to have shorter
5980 FIN Scandinavian Weekend Radio Virrat 1st Sa LT of the month 21-07 & 13-16 sessions and to have a more celebratory feel since this
5990 NL Lomp Radio Klazienaveen F.pl. is well-deserved as we emerge from the pandemic. We
6005 D Shortwaveservice Kall-Krekel Daily 0800-1600 are also launching the Community Media Champions
event in the evening to recognize the contributions
6005 NL Radio Delta International Elburg F.pl. (Fr or Sa 2100-0300)
made to the UK community media sector by some
6020 NL Radio Delta International Elburg Su 0500-1400
outstanding and very special individuals.” [...]
6030 D Shortwaveservice Kall-Krekel Alternative to 6085 (SOURCES: CMA | RadioToday).
6055 DNK Radio OZ-Viola Hillerød Sa-Su 1100-1300 https://tinyurl.com/2p8kke5e
6070 D Radio Channel 292 Rohrbach Waal 24/7 https://tinyurl.com/2p8nhwn3
6085 D Shortwaveservice Kall-Krekel Daily 0700-1700 (‘Radio MiAmigo Int’l’)
OFCOM PUBLISHES SPECTRUM ROADMAP:
6115 D Radio SE-TA 2 Gera Irr. (1000-1200)
Ofcom has published its first Spectrum Roadmap,
6140 NL Radio Onda, Belgium Borculo, NL Irr. (mostly weekends) which sets out how they are preparing to ensure
6150 D Europa 24 Datteln Daily 0700-1605 that everyone in the UK can benefit from the rapid
6160 D Shortwave Gold Winsen Daily 0700-2200 advances in cutting-edge wireless technology. The
6170 FIN Scandinavian Weekend Radio Virrat 1st Sa of the month 07-13 & 16-21 radio spectrum is a finite and important resource of
invisible waves, and it needs to be carefully managed
6175 NL Radio Europe Alphen a/d Rijn Irr. (0700-1900)
so it can continue to deliver the wireless services
6185 NL Radio Piepzender Zwolle Irr. (0800-1400)
we all need. As new services emerge, demand for
7260 NL Rockpower Nijmegen Daily 0845-1200 spectrum is growing. As a result, Ofcom is taking a
7270 NL Rockpower Nijmegen Daily 1200-2200 strategic approach to ensure that these innovative
7340 NL Radio Delta International Elburg F.pl. new technologies can be embraced alongside exist-
ing services. The roadmap highlights the work areas
7365 D HCJB Weenermoor 24/7
that Ofcom will focus on to ensure it delivers on its
7425 NL Radio Piepzender Zwolle Irr.
Spectrum Management Strategy, which the regulator
7445 NL Radio Piepzender Zwolle Irr. (0800-1800) set out in July 2021. It also explains how spectrum is
9670 D Radio Channel 292 Rohrbach Waal 24/7 used today and highlights some of the key market and
11690 FIN Scandinavian Weekend Radio Virrat 1st Sa of the month 07-09 & 16-21 technological trends that Ofcom has considered in
11720 FIN Scandinavian Weekend Radio Virrat 1st Sa LT of the month 21-07 & 09-16 developing its plan of work for the future. Proposed
future areas of work are grouped into three themes,
15700 DNK World Music Radio Randers Sa-Su 0700-2000 + irr. at other times
which cover: network evolution and convergence,
15785 D BitExpress Erlangen 24/7 DRM-modulation (‘Funklust’) accelerating innovation and spectrum sharing, and
25800 DNK World Music Radio Mårslet, Aarhus 24/7 better data for improved spectrum management.
(SOURCES: Ofcom | ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio
This list is published by Hartvig Media ApS. each first day of the month – based on details supplied by the radio stations, the Podcast [info@icqpodcast.com]).
stations websites, monitoring observations, HFCC registrations, and some presumptions. The list is not copyrighted and may be
published everywhere. Subscription by email is free of charge; write to shn@wmr.dk. https://tinyurl.com/2p87sekv

Follow us on Facebook @radioenthusiasts and Twitter @REnthusiasts

May 2022 RadioUser 45
TV & Radio: Past & Present
Keith Hamer
Keith405625.kh1@gmail.com
Garry Smith
Garry405625.gs@gmail.com
o new radio or television
N transmitters opened in 1960.
The only notable new television
programme during the year
was Maigret, which began on October
31st. For horse-racing enthusiasts, the
Grand National was televised for the first
time on March 26th. The main engineering
success was on March 27th with the first
transmission of Colour Television between
Paris and London. This was demonstrated
at the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Morning transmissions began as part of the
revamped Television for Schools service on
September 19th. The BBC French Service
for West Africa and Equatorial Africa began
on June 20th, and, on the same day, Nan
Winton became the first in-vision female
newsreader. The most significant event
in 1960 was the first transmission from
the BBC Television Centre at White City in
London (Fig. 1), from Studio 3 on June 29th.
First ‘Live’ Broadcast
From Russia
Two VHF radio transmitters were brought
into service in 1961, Swingate (August 8th)
and Les Platons (relay station, October 16th).
See also Table 1, for a full listing of trans-
mitters throughout the decade). Three new
television programmes began in October.
Songs Of Praise was first aired on the 1st,
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46
BBC 100 Years:
1960-1969
Keith Hamer and Garry Smith consider the BBC in the
1960s, looking, amongst other things, at experimental
colour television broadcasts, the opening of Television
Centre, and the launch of BBC-2.
Points of View arrived on the 2nd, and The
Rag Trade first appeared on the 6th (see Table
2). The BBC French Services for Europe and
Africa were amalgamated and extended on
February 12th. The first ‘live’ television broad-
cast from Russia to be seen by BBC viewers
was on April 14th. The programme showed
the welcome in Moscow of the first ‘space
man’, Major Yuri Gagarin, by the then Premier
of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev (Fig.
2). As a reciprocal broadcast, the BBC trans-
mitted the first ‘live’ television pictures from
London to the USSR on June 10th: Trooping
The Colour. Saturday morning ‘further educa-
tion’ television programmes were introduced
on May 27th. This inspired the authors to
learn German, armed with the three accom-
panying BBC booklets, Komm Mit!. Between
August 22nd and September 2nd, the BBC
demonstrated for the first time ‘live’ Colour
Television to the public at the Earl’s Court
Radio Show.
Transatlantic Colour Television
and Stereo Television
The BBC began five new programmes in
1962 (cf. Table 2). The first episode of the
police series, Z Cars, was aired on January
2nd. Johnny Morris first appeared at Bristol
Zoo with Animal Magic on April 13th. The
series ended in 1983. A programme which
was definitely not intended for children was
Steptoe And Son which began on June 7th.
The much more family-friendly programme,
Dr Finlay’s Casebook, began on August 16th.
Another long-running programme that be-
gan in 1962 was That Was The Week That
Was, a political satire show (November
24th). The first message from space was
re-transmitted by the BBC in that year. The
messages were from the American astro-
naut, Colonel Glenn, on July 11th. The first
exchange of ‘live’ transatlantic programmes
by the Telstar satellite took place on July
11th. Shortly after, on July 16th, the first trans-
RadioUser May 2022

mission of Colour Television by Telstar was
demonstrated (RadioUser, March 2019: 36-
38; May 2019: 42-44). On August 28th, 1962,
the BBC began a series of early-morning ex-
perimental transmissions using the Zenith
G.E. Stereophonic System. The experiments
were conducted before normal Trade Test
Transmissions, which traditionally began at
10 am. The authors remember having to set
up a wireless for one channel, and a televi-
sion receiver for the other, approximately six
feet apart, then sitting mid-way between the
two speakers to enjoy music in glorious ste-
reophony! Finally, the Royal Charter was ex-
tended until July 29th, 1964.
Doctor Who and Three
Colour Television Systems
Demonstrated
January 1963 saw the start of English be-
ing taught by television to viewers from
overseas. In the same month, on the 7th, the
Northern Ireland Home Service was separat-
ed from the North of England Home Service.
Between July 8th and 16th, the BBC demon-
strated the three alternative systems of col-
our television to members of the EBU and
representatives from the OIRT. The systems
were PAL, SECAM, and NTSC (cf. RadioUser,
January 2018: 48-52; April 2018: 46-49).
The BBC’s General Overseas Service cover-
age of certain transmissions was extended
to include Europe on September 1st and 28th.
Following the government’s decision to re-
linquish the £l per annum excise duty, the
BBC began to receive the full benefit of the
£4 combined television and radio licence
from October 1st. Doctor Who began his trav-
els around the cosmos in his trusty TARDIS
(Time And Relative Dimension In Space), al-
though initially, he was Earth-bound in An
Unearthly Child without a Dalek in sight! The
first episode aired on November 23rd, and
the original opening graphics were designed
by Bernard Lodge (Fig. 3). The complete ti-
tle sequence was kindly supplied to the au-
thors during a special reception at Television
Centre by John Aston, former Manager, BBC
Graphic Design Department. The theme
tune was provided by the BBC Radiophonic
Workshop (Fig. 4). The Daleks didn’t begin
terrorising the Universe until December 21st,
1963 (Fig. 5).
BBC-2 Begins
Pop music fans were treated to a brand-
new programme on January 1st, 1964, with
the start of Top Of The Pops, introduced by
the infamous Jimmy Savile. The final edi-
tion was transmitted in 2006. Another ‘first
during the year was Vision On featuring The
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May 2022 RadioUser
Fig.1: The first transmission from the BBC
Television Centre at White City in London was
from Studio 3 on June 29th, 1960. Fig. 2: This
off-screen photograph shows Major Yuri Gagarin
being welcomed back from his travels in space by
Nikita Khrushchev. Fig. 3: The original 1963 Doctor
Who programme graphics. Fig. 4: Inside the BBC
Radiophonic Workshop. Fig. 5: The dreaded Daleks
first scared everyone on December 21st, 1963.
Fig. 6: The first BBC-2 Identification Symbol from
April 1964. Fig. 7: The world-famous BBC Colour
Test Card “F” was first officially radiated on July
1st, 1967.
Gallery and theme tune Left Bank Two by The
Noveltones (March 4th). It was replaced by
Take Hart with Tony Hart in 1976. Match Of
The Day first kicked off with the match be-
tween Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on
August 22nd. Moreover, the Regional news
magazine programme, Midlands Today, be-
gan broadcasting using only two cameras
from Studio 1 in Broad Street, Birmingham,
from September 28th. The first presenter
was Barry Lankester. The television trans-
mitter network was expanded in 1964 with
three new outlets (Table 1). BBC-2 opened
on April 20th, 1964, with 625 lines UHF from
the Crystal Palace transmitter. Unfortunately,
due to a major power failure at the Battersea
Power Station, programmes had to be
postponed until April 21st (Fig. 6). The first
transmission was the Test Card with some
memorable music. The first programme to
be aired on BBC-2 was Play School for the
under-fives! The long-running BBC-2 pro-
gramme, Horizon, was first shown on May
2nd. Furthermore, Telstar was used again on
April 16th for the first ‘live’ television relay
from Japan to Europe. The Royal Charter
was, once again, renewed on July 30th for 12
years.
BBC World Service Begins and
UHF Colour Television
Several new programmes were introduced
during 1965. Zebedee first sprang around
on The Magic Roundabout on October 18th.
The most sombre event on television during
1965 was the State Funeral of Sir Winston
Churchill on January 30th, broadcast ‘live’ on
BBC-1 (see also Table 2). On May 1st, the BBC
General Overseas Service was renamed the
BBC World Service. This was later to become
the new name for all BBC External Services.
On the following day, the geostationary sat-
ellite, ‘Early Bird’, was used for a programme
called Out Of This World.
A series of BBC Colour Television Test
Transmissions on UHF began using the PAL
(Phase Alternate Line) system. This replaced
TV & Radio: Past & Present
ALL PICTURES: THE KEITH HAMER+GARRY SMITH BBC COLLECTION
2
3
the previous series of tests utilising the
American NTSC standard. The PAL colour
system was originally developed in Germany.
There was bad news for viewers and listen-
ers on August 1st, as the broadcast licence
fee for radio was increased to £1 5s (£1.25).
The combined licence was increased to £5.
Television from the Moon and
Stereo Extended
There was only one notable new regular tele-
vision programme in 1966. It’s A Knockout
began in the UK on August 7th. This later be-
came Jeux Sans Frontières for the European
version. On April 21st, the State Opening
of Parliament ceremony in the House of
Peers was televised for the third time, whilst
down the corridor, television cameras were
allowed into the House of Commons for
the first time. The introduction of Colour
Television on BBC-2 was authorised by the
Postmaster-General on March 3rd. Colour
broadcasts began the following year. The
first monochrome ‘live’ television pictures
from the Moon were shown on June 2nd. The
year 1966 also saw the first ‘live’ broadcast
from the first-ever sailing of a cross-Chan-
nel hovercraft during Tomorrow’s World with
Raymond Baxter on board. From July 30th,
stereophonic broadcasting using the Zenith-
G.E. system was extended in the Third
Programme (later to be renamed ‘Radio 3’)
to two or three programmes each day. On
the same day, the World Cup Final between
England and West Germany was watched by
millions of viewers. On October 21st, 1966,
an extremely unusual change to the day’s
47
TV & Radio: Past & Present

schedule occurred: Test Card “D” and lively

music on BBC-1 was suddenly interrupted
and replaced by a caption with sombre clas-
sical music announcing the Aberfan Mine
Disaster and a forthcoming News Report.
Finally, several new television and radio
transmitters opened in 1966 (Table 1).

BBC-2 Colour Begins

Only one notable television programme
emerged during 1967. The Forsythe Saga
first appeared on BBC-2 screens on January
7th. It was the last drama serial to be made in
monochrome. A historic Outside Broadcast
achievement was made with ‘live’ cover-
age of The Old Man Of Hoy being climbed
on July 8th. Another historic broadcast was
the first ‘live’ worldwide satellite televi-
sion link-up programme called Our World
on June 25th. The UK contribution featured
The Beatles in a recording studio singing
‘All You Need Is Love’. Several transmitters 4
for BBC-2 were brought into service in 1967
(see also Table 1). These included Dover
(February 11th), Divis (March 18th), Llanddona
(June 3rd), Durris (July 29th), and Tacolneston
(September 9th). The most important
achievement in television took place on
July 1st, 1967. BBC-2 began regular Colour
Television transmissions using the PAL sys-
tem on 625 lines UHF, and were the first in
Europe, just beating Germany. The BBC-2
Colour Test Card “F” (featuring Carole Hersee
and close friend, Bubbles) was officially radi-
ated for the first time (Fig. 7). One of the first 5 6
events to be transmitted in colour was the
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Tournament. The colour reception on January 1st. Further BBC However, there were only two notable new
first (programme) use of the BBC Field-Store Local Radio experiments were conducted, programmes. These were Dad’s Army (July
Standards Converter for transatlantic Colour with BBC Radio Nottingham on 94.8 MHz 31st, BBC-1) and The Morecambe And Wise
Television happened on August 31st. opening on the 31st. The following BBC Local Show (September 2nd) (Table 2). Newsroom
In the world of UK radio, Radio 1 was Radio stations were subsequently opened: was the first News programme to be trans-
introduced on 247 m. All the BBC Radio Brighton (February 14th), Stoke-on-Trent mitted in Colour (March 7th, BBC-2). Several
networks were renamed, with uninspired (March 14th), Leeds (June 24th), and Durham programmes saw changes during 1968.
designations, namely, Radios 1, 2, 3, and 4. (July 3rd). Michael Aspel read the News for the last time
Moreover, experimental local radio stations Aficionados of the music which ac- at 11.14 pm on June 14th. Michael was suc-
began opening. The first of these was BBC companied BBC Trade Test Transmissions ceeded by Robert Langley. Elsewhere, new
Radio Leicester on November 8th, to be fol- were somewhat startled on the morning of BBC-1 on-screen Identification Symbols (ac-
lowed by BBC Radio Sheffield on November Saturday, February 10th, 1968, to find that companied by the musical notes, ‘BBC’), were
15th and BBC Radio Merseyside on November the regular long-running Test Card “C” music unveiled on July 7th. The Z Cars signature
22nd. The year ended with the BBC-2 Colour used from the early Sixties had been discon- tune was revamped on October 7th, and new
Television transmissions extended into full tinued, except for rare engineering purposes. BBC-1 Weather Charts were introduced on
service on December 2nd. Over on mono- Most of the music consisted of recordings October 23rd. The stereophony service was
chrome BBC-1, two white dots were added to from German and Swiss radio and television extended to the Midlands on July 21st, 1968,
Test Card “D”, on either side of the designa- services. and it reached the North on August 10th.
tion letter, to mark the occasion. The following BBC-2 transmitters were On August 21st, the USSR invaded
brought into service during 1968: Sudbury Czechoslovakia, and Eurovision provided
BBC Local Radio Network (February 10th), Oxford (February 17th), and people with the latest dramatic develop-
Extended Waltham. The latter transmitter was for ments. Meanwhile, the BBC World Service,
The year 1968 didn’t begin too auspicious- Colour and commenced service on Saturday, Russian Service was jammed by the USSR.
ly for many television viewers, as a supple- August 17th, although the station was not of- Finally, the BBC Advanced Colour Standards
mentary licence fee of £5 was introduced for ficially opened until August 31st (cf. Table 1). Converter was used for the first time on

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48 RadioUser May 2022

7
October 12th, 1968, to relay the Olympic
Games from Mexico to Europe in colour. BBC
engineers received the Queen’s Award To
Industry for their work on this project on July
22nd, 1969.
DX-TV Careers Launched
and BBC-1 in Colour
Listeners and viewers didn’t have a very
good start to 1969. On January 1st, the com-
bined monochrome television and radio li-
cence was increased to £6. The combined
Colour licence shot up to £11. On August
14th, the Postmaster-General announced
the abolition of the radio-only licence fee
and the introduction of a £6 10s. (£6.50)
combined licence. He also announced the
further development of local radio. The
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications
announced on November 25th, plans for 12
new BBC Local Radio stations. The increase
in the licence fee didn’t seem to be reflect-
ed in new programmes. The only notable
offerings were Waggoners’ Walk (April 28th,
BBC Radio), Nationwide (September 9th,
BBC-1), and Monty Python’s Flying Circus
(October 5th, BBC-1) (Table 2). On March 1st,
HRH the Prince of Wales made his first-ev-
er broadcast on Radio 4. ‘Live’ coverage of
Concorde’s simultaneous first flights from
France and the UK to America was broad-
cast on March 2nd.
July 21st saw man’s first landing on the
Moon when Neil Armstrong stepped off the
Apollo 11 Lunar Excursion Module. This was
televised on BBC-1. Meanwhile, the authors
were receiving the same broadcast from
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May 2022 RadioUser
Norwegian television (NRK), and this marked
the launch of their DX-TV careers!
The BBC transmitter network expanded
still further in 1969 (Table 1). Elsewhere,
the BBC External Services Eastern Relay
Station opened on June 1st. In preparation
for the introduction of BBC-1 625-line UHF
Colour transmissions, BBC-1 405 Lines
VHF transmitted Colour Test Card “F” (with
Test Card “D” music) on January 13th, 1969.
The BBC-2 Test Card “F” frequencies of 1.5,
2.5 and 3.5 MHz corresponded to 1.0, 1.6
and 2.3 MHz on BBC-1 405 Lines. On May
16th, the Postmaster-General announced
that Colour Television on BBC-1 and ITV
would begin in November. There was an up-
surge in activity by engineers. BBC Crystal
Palace transmitted Colour Bars on Channel
26 with ‘BBC-1 COLOUR’ at the bottom, ac-
companied by BBC-2 Test Card music, on
October 11th. Although engineers were busy,
no one else was because, on the same
day, BBC Television went on strike for the
first time in its 47-year history. Finally, on
Saturday, November 1st, BBC-1 UHF Test
Transmissions began.
In Conclusion:
The BBC In The 1960s
The main ‘firsts’ and developments in the
BBC’s history during the Sixties were, in our
view, as follows:
• BBC Television Centre opened
• The Grand National was televised for the
first time.
• Transmission in Colour between Europe
and the UK.
TV & Radio: Past & Present
• Angus (BBC-2, July 28th, 1969)
• Ascension Island (BBC External Services Atlantic
relay station, November 1st, 1966. In full service on
April 1st, 1967)
• Belmont (BBC-1, BBC-2, and VHF radio, November
19th, 1966)
• Bilsdale West Moor (BBC-2, November 24th, 1969)
• Black Hill (BBC-2, July 9th, 1966)
• Caradon Hill (BBC-2, July 5th, 1969)
• Craigkelly (BBC-2, October 27th, 1969)
• Emley Moor (BBC-2, temporary transmitting aerial,
January 15th, 1966, completed on July 9th, 1966)
• High Wycombe (BBC-1 Colour, December 22nd,
1969)
• Ilchester Crescent (BBC-2, December 1st, 1969)
• Keithley (BBC-2, December 29th, 1969)
• Mendip BBC-2, December 1st, 1969)
• Moel-y-Parc (BBC Wales Band III, television, October
28th, 1965)
• Moel-y-Parc (BBC-2, July 5th, 1969)
• Pontop Pike (BBC-2 main station, November 5th,
1966)
• Rowridge (BBC-1 Colour, December 27th, 1969)
• Rowridge (BBC-2, January 15th, 1966)
• Sandale (BBC-1 Band III, Scottish programmes,
September 27th, 1965)
• Sandy Heath (BBC-2, September 15th, 1969)
• Sutton Coldfield (BBC-2 temporary station,
December 6th, 1964)
• Wenvoe (BBC Wales, Band III, February 8th, 1964)
• Wenvoe (BBC-2 UHF, September 12th, 1965)
• Winter Hill (BBC-1 Band-III temporary station, April
20th, 1964)
• Winter Hill (BBC-2, October 31st, 1965).
Table 1: New Transmitters (A-Z: 1960-1969)
• Call My Bluff (BBC-2, October 17th, 1965)
• I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again (Radio, October 4th,
1965)
• Jacknory (BBC-1, December 13th, 1965)
• Not Only...But Also (BBC-2, January 9th, 1965)
• Round The Horne (Radio, March 7th, 1965)
• The World At One (Radio, October 4th, 1965)
• Tomorrow’s World (BBC-1, July 7th, 1965).
Table 2: Programme Highlights (A-Z: 1960-1969)
• Exchange of programmes between the UK,
the USA and the USSR.
• Public demonstration of Colour Television
• Experimental stereo sound transmissions.
• Doctor Who began his long-running space
adventures in the TARDIS.
• Demonstration of the PAL, NTSC and
SECAM Colour Television systems to the
EBU and OIRT
• BBC-2 began on UHF and launched the first
Colour Television service in Europe.
• First ‘live’ television pictures arrived from
the Moon
• The (highly-technical) BBC-2 Colour Test
Card “F”. was broadcast regularly
• BBC Local Radio stations began
• BBC-1 Colour began.
49
Aerials Now

ALL PICTURES: KEITH RAWLINGS

Keith Rawlings
Keith.g4miu@gmail.com

A
s I write this column, bombs
and missiles are still reigning
down on the people of Ukraine.
It seems that from today, the
Russian aggressor has turned to attacking
Ukraine’s TV and internet services, with Mr
Putin trying to ‘disconnect’ the people from
up-to-date news and information, after en-
countering dogged resistance.
What is more, the current situation in
Russia seems to be such that there is a
clampdown on impartial information from
the media, regarding the reporting of the 1
war.
I do not know if we have any readers in
Ukraine; and if we do, they will presently
have other things on their minds. However,
An Aerial for Ukraine
the BBC is presently transmitting on two
short wave radio frequencies, 15735 kHz
and 5875 kHz broadcasting the World
Service news in English.
and a Trap Dipole
These frequencies should be receivable Keith Rawlings makes an aerial for the BBC’s Short Wave
clearly in Kyiv and parts of Russia. At the
time of writing, 15735kHz is on at 16:00-
broadcasts towards Ukraine, offers some solid reception
18:00 (GMT +2) and 5875 kHz from 22:00- advice and returns to his Aerials for Beginners series,
00:00 (GMT+2).
As is well known, the first casualty in war
with an investigation into Trap Dipoles.
is the truth. The BBC is trusted for impar-
tial and factual reporting, and these trans- I have shown this as a pair of ‘End all night listening I had to take it down. The
missions could be important for keeping Fed’ elements with an additional pair of room had a Dado rail with a small ledge on
the people of Ukraine updated with the lat- counterpoises but readers will quickly it that had a gap. I took a wooden reel of
est news, and Russian listeners with clear realise that these counterpoises could be my father’s fuse wire from the garage and
and independent news of what is happen- extended out to make the aerial a dipole. carefully pushed the thin wire into the gap,
ing in Ukraine. I have illustrated the aerial this way, with pulling just enough out to connect to the
an eye on use indoors, where the wires radio after ‘lights out’!
A Simple Aerial for and counterpoises can be run anywhere
5785 and 15735 kHz suitable. Radio in and for Ukraine
You can quickly lash up an aerial specifi- When used indoors, keep it away from I have found that at night BBC Radio 5
cally for reception on these two frequen- metalwork and wiring to reduce any on 693 and 909 kHz, plus Radio 4 Long
cies. It is relativity easy to do so given pick-up of noise. If a suitable Earth point Wave can be heard on a KiwiSDR in
some basic materials. All that is needed, is available, the counterpoises may be Belarus and also on another KiwiSDR in
is a minimum of 18m of wire; any wire will ignored, and a wire may be connected Romania, indicating that during darkness
do, although copper wire would be the to point X and run down to Earth. With these transmissions can be heard in the
best choice. It can be solid or stranded; suitable precautions to protect from the region. With careful positioning, an AM
even very thin enamelled wire will do. weather, the design may be used outdoors. radio with an inbuilt aerial, such as a world
You will also require a four-way electri- If ‘stealth’ were needed, it could be laid band radio, may be able to pick up these
cal ‘Chock Block’ terminal connector and a in a gutter with the counterpoise wires transmissions. If an internet connection
length of a suitable feeder with the correct running in a downpipe, being shortened if is available, access to news is possible;
plug for your radio. The design is shown in necessary. where this is not the case, or where
Fig. 1. It is often the case that, if you can make access is being denied, or prohibited, a
The inner of the coaxial cable connects a wire ‘blend in’, for example, by using very simple radio may make all the difference.
to two terminals. They also link with the 13 fine wire, and no one sees you put it up, Internet connections, by contrast, may be
and 4.8 m wires (allowing for trimming); an aerial like this will never get noticed! monitored.
these form the main elements. The outer My second-ever aerial was of the ‘stealth’ A sensible use of a radio would be where
braid of the coax is connected to the bot- type. As a youngster, I had a crystal set, ‘sensitive’ frequencies are kept in one’s
tom two terminals, where two lengths of and my first aerial ran out of the bedroom head; moreover, when not in use, sets are
wire – again 13 and 4.8 m long – are con- window with the earth taped to a radiator. never left tuned to anything they should
nected (Fig. 2). When my parents realised I was sitting up not be. Where aerials are ‘hidden’ (see

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50 RadioUser May 2022

Fig. 1: A simple wire aerial for BBC transmissions
to Ukraine.
Fig. 2: A close-up of connections using a single
‘chock-block’ terminal.
Fig. 3: A typical G8KW/W3DZZ Trap Dipole layout.
Fig. 4: An L/C Trap schematic.
Fig. 5: A general schematic of a trap.
Fig. 6: A multiple trap dipole layout.
Fig. 7: A dual trap dipole.
above), they are not so easily monitored.
However, common-sense dictates that no
risks should ever be taken.
Back to Basics: The Trap Dipole
Continuing with my Aerials for Beginners
theme, I will stay on the subject of dipoles
and look at how to extend their frequency
coverage from just a single band. In this
context, the Trap Dipole was, and still is,
a popular method for radio amateurs to
cover more than one band with a dipole
design. Having said that, trap dipoles are
also used commercially, especially from
fixed locations.
HF communications were, at one time,
popular with Aviation companies allowing
them to be able to make contact with
their aircraft virtually all over the world.
This use has declined in recent times.
However, some 22 years ago, I helped
remove a disused trap dipole that had
been left lying on the roof of a company
HQ. Its construction was from sturdy 8
mm stainless steel ‘rope’ and hefty traps,
all connected with solid stainless steel
cable clamps. This was not something you
would successfully string up between a
couple of glass fibre poles at home!
The history of the trap dipole seems to
go back to the 1930s when a patent was
filed in 1934 in America for an aerial with
a ‘series or parallel circuit built within the
antenna’. Later, in 1940, a horizontal trap
aerial was described in the US magazine
Electronics, from which time onwards the
design became universally known.
However, it would seem that the
invention or design can originally be
attributed to a patent filed by Morgan in
1938. Popular designs used by amateurs
were the W2DZZ and G8KW varieties,
dating from 1955 and 1956 respectively.
They both use a pair of traps, one in each
dipole leg, to form a ‘multi band’ dipole.
How Does a Trap Dipole Work?
There are many variants of trap dipoles,
some using more than one trap and traps
with different component values. Indeed,
the concept is not restricted to dipoles,
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May 2022 RadioUser
2
as verticals frequently use traps too.
There are also several methods used
in constructing the traps. I will limit my
discussion to the simple two-trap 80/40
m G8KW/W3DZZ design, where the dipole
is fed in the centre, as in a conventional
dipole, and the two horizontal wires are
split by the traps (Fig. 3).
The traps – inserted into each leg of
the dipole – are designed for a resonant
frequency of 7.05MHz. The inner leg of
the dipole ‘A’ should be 10.07 m long,
and this part will be made to be resonant
at 7.05MHz. As the traps are also at
resonance at this frequency, they act as
insulators, effectively isolating the end
wires ‘B’. This allows this inner section to
work as a dipole on 7.050MHz. As there is
no resonance at 3.5 MHz, the effect of the
trap is restricted to acting as an inductor,
somewhat shortening the length of the
outer element. Current is passed, and the
whole element A+B/A+B now acts as a
dipole cut for the 3.5MHz band.
With careful trimming, a good match
will be found on both bands, and a simple
1:1 BALUN at the feed point enables the
use of 50 or 75Ω coaxial cable. The BALUN
at the feed point can be dispensed with,
and a 75Ω twin-lead is used to the shack
where either a balanced AMU or a 1:1
BALUN are utilised. Due to the effects of
the capacitance in the traps, resonances
from the full length of the elements allow
operation on 20, 15 and 10 m, although
these are somewhat of a compromise.
This trap dipole design dates back to the
Aerials Now
pre-WARC 1979 bands being introduced
and an Aerial Matching Unit (AMU) will be
required on these bands. Many years ago
I was fortunate to have a long chat with
Rowley Shears G8KW after travelling to
KW Electronics to pick up a brand new KW
107 Super Match (Z-Match design), which
I still have. He explained to me that the
switching design of the KW107 facilitated
the connection of an 80/40 m trap dipole
(G8KW of course!) in one position, and
the connection of a Tri-band beam for the
20, 25 and 10m bands in the other one,
bypassing the matching section.
Traditional and Modern Designs
The traps were originally made by using a
series circuit with an inductor/ capacitor
combination (Fig. 4). More modern
designs often use coaxial cable traps with
the cable wound over a ‘former’, which is
quite often made from sections of PVC
drain pipe; however, many are now using
purpose-made 3D printed formers (Fig.
5). A typical coaxial trap could have 10-11
turns of RG58 cable wound over a former
of 40 mm diameter.
I would heartily recommend coaxial
traps. This is because there are a few fac-
tors that have to be taken into account with
a series inductor-capacitor design. One is
selecting a capacitor with the correct tem-
perature coefficient, so resonance does
not ‘drift’ if the weather gets too hot or too
cold – coaxial traps are more stable.
Another one is that construction is
easier; to ‘weather-proof’ a coaxial trap,
51
Aerials Now

5 6

with the cable wound on the outer of
the ‘former’, it is quite easy to apply a
weatherproof coating to the construction.
Furthermore, it should be possible that, for
a given power rating, a coaxial trap should
be lighter.
The traps I had were encapsulated in
epoxy resin and were quite heavy. They
were impossible to repair if too much
power was applied on 40 m (not that I
would ever have found that out first-hand
of course). L/C traps are made using a
physical capacitor and a coil. Both have
to be suitability rated for the power they
are intended to handle. Typical values for
the G8KW/W3DZZ design are 8.2 uH for
the coil and 60pF for the capacitor, which
should be rated at 1kV at least for 100W
operation (although values can vary).
A 1mm diameter copper wire could
be used for the coil. A certain amount
of element-trimming will be needed; as
already mentioned, the traps will affect the
length to some extent. There are designs
for multi-band trap dipoles with a series of
traps to form some resonant sections (Fig.
6). Not surprisingly, these take some time
and patience to set up and can be quite
weighty; a better idea may be to use the
kind of layout shown in Fig. 7.
Kits for the G8KW/W3DZZ designs are
available from SOTA Beams:
https://tinyurl.com/2p9yxcnu

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52 RadioUser May 2022
 Signals from Space

© JODRELL BANK, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Tim Kirby
tim@livingland.wales

J
odrell Bank and radio astronomy
tend to be synonymous terms, at
least in the UK. I thought it would
be interesting to take a look at the
history of this iconic site and its
place in radio astronomy. The story begins in
1945 when Bernard Lovell (1913-2012; Fig.
1) commenced his study of ‘cosmic rays’ at
the University of Manchester. To observe
cosmic rays, you need an electrically quiet
site, so that the minuscule amounts of ener-
gy from the cosmic rays are not obliterated
by local electrical noise.
Having tried to operate his radar equipment,
acquired during the war years, from the centre
of Manchester where the University was (and
still is) located, Lovell was unsuccessful be-
cause the electric trams found in Manchester
at the time caused too much interference. A
new site was required. One was found, in the
shape of some fields owned by the Botany
Department of the University some 20 miles
to the south of the city at Jodrell Bank. 1
Therefore, Lovell moved all his gear (in
army vehicles) to Jodrell Bank where the
equipment was installed. The first experi-
ments were made using a GL II Radar System Pioneers of
Radio Astronomy
working at a frequency of around 70MHz.
Using this, Lovell detected reflections from
the Geminids meteor shower, where meteors
burning up in the atmosphere cause ionisa-
tion. Lovell correlated the reflections seen
from the radar with visual observations made This month Tim Kirby looks at the history, life and
by other members of the team.
work of a site that is synonymous with the field of
Fairground Attraction Radio Astronomy, both in the UK and on a global
By 1946, the Botany Department seemed to scale – the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.
have got a bit fed up with the astronomers, so
a new field was purchased for the sole use of
the astronomy team. The operation was to be through 90 degrees and the signals van- Equipment Upgrade
based around army trucks, used to house the ished, proving that the signals previously de- Therefore, a bigger aerial was required, and
equipment and the astronomers, with the aer- tected were from the meteor shower itself. Lovell designed the ‘Transit’ telescope; this
ials associated with each truck close by. The Therefore, the telescope could be used to de- consisted of a mesh bowl, created on the
locals started to call the area The Fairground, termine the radiant point of the shower (i.e. ground, and 66m across. The mesh bowl re-
on account of the strange poles and masts where the meteors are seen to come from). flected the signals to a 38m pole placed at
that were visible. This was possible because the echo rate from the focus of the dish. It was the biggest tel-
One of the aerials was built on a search- the shower is at a minimum at the radiant escope in the world at the time.
light, which had been used in London during point and a maximum at 90 degrees to it. The telescope was built to a parabolic re-
World War II (1939-1945). The light was used By this time, Lovell had realised that he had flector zenith design. The wire mesh was sus-
as a rotator, with scaffolding and poles at- made a mistake in his earlier research. He put pended from a ring of 7m scaffold poles. The
tached to the central mounting and seven Yagi this down to writing the initial paper in the war array could be steered to a small extent, by
aerials attached to the scaffolding poles. With at a time that he was, as he describes, being tilting the position of the 38m focus mast. It
the excellent bearings on the searchlight, this machine-gunned by a German fighter plane. could map a 15-degree strip around the zenith
made for an easily rotatable array. This too This mistake, once he realised it, meant that at 72 and 160MHz, with a resolution of around
was used for detecting meteor signals. the signals of the cosmic rays were going to a degree at 160MHz.
In October 1946, the telescope was ob- be around 1,000 times weaker than the sig- As it turned out, the team still did not de-
serving ionisation caused by meteors in the nals from the meteor reflections that he had tect cosmic rays, but another of the scien-
Giacobinids shower. The antenna was turned been detecting. tists, Robert Hanbury Brown realised that the

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May 2022 RadioUser 53
Signals from Space
Fig. 1: Sir Bernard Lovell, the world’s first
professor of radio astronomy Fig. 2: The Mark II
telescope, showing its elliptical design.
Fig. 3: The giant structure of the Lovell Telescope
at Jodrell Bank. Fig.4: The 76m Lovell Telescope
pointing straight up.
telescope might be useful for detecting other
types of signals from space. One of their first
successes was detecting the remains of a su-
pernova seen in 1572 by Tycho Brahe. The su-
pernova had been visible for a few months at
the time and had not been seen since. There
was sufficient radiation remaining in the radio
spectrum though, for the ‘Transit’ telescope
to detect it as a radio source. The Transit
Telescope was also able to detect signals
coming from the Andromeda Galaxy, which
conveniently is pretty much straight up in the
sky. This was handy because this was the di-
rection that the Transit was looking at.
A new design was called for which had to
be steerable. Consequently, the 76.2m diam-
eter, Mark 1 Telescope was constructed be-
tween 1952 and 1957. It used a solid surface
for the face of the dish, as Lovell and his team
realised that the mesh surface was not fine
enough for the work that they wanted to do.
Intriguingly, also, part of the gun turret mecha-
nisms from the battleships HMS Revenge and
HMS Royal Sovereign were used in the motor
system to drive the telescope.
The cost of construction of the dish had
initially been estimated to be £150,000 but by
the time it was completed, the cost was in the
region of £750,000 (which equates to about
£16,000,000 in 2022). Lovell was investigated
by the accounts committee and could even
have been sent to jail.
At one point, it seemed likely that the tel-
escope might not be finished.
The ‘Sputnik-Effect’
Fortunately, a new impetus came in October
1957, when the USSR launched the Sputnik-1
satellite. The new telescope proved itself ca-
pable of tracking the rocket that had launched
Sputnik-1. There was no particular interest
in tracking the satellite itself, but a much
greater interest in tracking the rocket, on the
basis that if they could track that, they could
potentially track an intercontinental bal-
listic missile.
With this success, Jodrell Bank had a new
raison d’être: Space tracking. It was able to
track the Luna 2 mission which the Russians
launched to the moon in September 1959.
Then, in March 1960, the telescope tracked
the NASA Pioneer 5 probe, as well as sending
commands to the probe, including those to
separate the spacecraft from its carrier rock-
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54
2
et and switch on the probe’s more powerful
transmitter – all this at a distance of around 8
million miles away from the Earth!
Another success came with the Luna 9
mission in February 1966. This was the first
spacecraft to land on the Moon – an un-
crewed landing. The spacecraft took pictures
of the moon, which were sent back to Earth.
One of the staff members at Jodrell Bank
thought that the transmission sounded a bit
like a fax machine, so they had a go at decod-
ing the signals. There was a certain about of
surprise when this was successful, leading to
pictures of the moon being published on the
front page of the Daily Express! Wikipedia sug-
gests that this decoding was at the request of
the USSR, but a talk I saw from Professor Tim
O’Brien of Jodrell Bank suggests otherwise!
Interferometry Astronomy
During the 1950s and 1960s, work started on
using the telescope in conjunction with oth-
er instruments working with interferometry
techniques to detect quasars. This required
that the telescopes be linked together. At the
time, this was only possible using radio links,
although now, optical fibres are used to con-
nect the different sites.
Following Dame Jocelyn Bell’s discovery
of pulsars in 1967 at Cambridge, the Jodrell
Bank telescope was quickly steered to the
same coordinates starting the study of pul-
sars at the site, supporting her observations.
The study of pulsars continues to this day.
Another landmark piece of work in 1979
was detecting a Double Quasar, the first ‘gravi-
tational lens’ to be seen where emissions
were being bent around a Black Hole. Other
© JODRELL BANK CENTRE FOR ASTROPHYSICS
© PETER GAUNT AT PIXABAY
3
fascinating experiments included using the
telescope to measure the distances between
the Earth, the Moon and Venus, using Radar.
With more and more work being taken on, it
was time for more telescopes at Jodrell Bank.
The Mark II Telescope (Fig. 2) was erected
on the site of the Transit instrument. It is an
elliptical design with a major axis of 38.1m
and a minor axis of 25.4m. It was complet-
ed in 1964. It can operate as a standalone
telescope and as an interferometer with the
Lovell Telescope.
However, it is now used as part of
MERLIN (the Multi-Element Radio Linked
Interferometer Network).
Further Expansion & Discoveries
A 15m dish was constructed in 1964 for as-
tronomical research and to track the Zond 1,
Zond 2, Ranger 6 and Ranger 7 space probes
as well as Apollo 11.
Unfortunately, the surface of this tele-
scope was damaged, so it was demolished in
1982 and replaced with a 12.8m dish which
is now used to observe pulsars as well as
the Crab Nebula.
RadioUser May 2022

4
While the 12.8m dish was installed, another
6.4m dish was also mounted. It is now used
for undergraduate teaching. Both the 12.8m
and 6.4m dishes were originally used at the
Woomera Rocket Testing Range in Australia
and moved to the UK when the range closed.
The Mark I telescope was renamed the
Lovell Telescope in honour of Sir Bernard
Lovell (Figs. 3 and 4).
It is now a Grade-1 listed structure. The
Mark II telescope was also designated a
Grade-1 listed structure in 2017, with a num-
ber of the control buildings around the site be-
ing designated Grade-2 listed structures.
In 2019, UNESCO designated the Jodrell
Bank Observatory a World Heritage Site,
based on 4 criteria:
• A masterpiece of human creative ge-
nius related to its scientific and techni-
cal achievements.
• An important interchange of human values
over a span of time and on a global scale.
• An outstanding example of a technological
ensemble that illustrates a significant stage
in human history.
• It is directly and tangibly associated with
events and ideas of outstanding univer-
sal significance.
Jodrell Bank is a major visitor destination
and the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre opened
in 2011. The visitor centre is open daily with
all sorts of events available. You can walk a
path around the Lovell telescope and expe-
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May 2022 RadioUser
Signals from Space
© JOHN RADCLIFFE AT PIXABAY
OUP
rience its sheer size for yourself. I have not
visited for several years but found it fasci-
nating when I did – I am sure if you have an
interest in Space and Communication you
would enjoy it too.
With all of this development going on, you
might wonder what happened to the Botany
Department, the original owners of the site?
The good news is that they were not forgot-
ten and there is an arboretum covering 35
acres, which was created in 1972. It houses
the UK National Collections of crab apple and
mountain ash trees.
Jodrell Bank in Collaboration
The MERLIN network (cf. above) com-
prises of up to seven different radio tele-
scopes around the UK, including the Lovell
Telescope and Mark II. In addition, there are
5
other telescopes at Cambridge, Defford in
Worcestershire, Knockin in Shropshire and
Darnhall and Pickmere in Cheshire. The eter with much longer baselines, which helps
longest baseline between the telescopes produce images of much great resolution.
is 217km. The array can operate between Looking forward, Jodrell Bank is now the
151MHz and 24GHz. international headquarters of the Square
In 1968, Jodrell Bank took part in the first Kilometre Array Organisation, which aims
transatlantic interferometer experiment in to build the world’s largest telescope. It will
conjunction with two radio telescopes located be a telescope that combines thousands of
in Canada at Algonquin and Penticton. dishes and other receivers spread across
As well as collaboration in the Merlin pro- the world, with the dishes situated in both
ject, Jodrell Bank also participates in coop- Africa and Australia.
eration with the European VLBI (Very Long The short book in Fig. 5 makes for a
Baseline Interferometry) Network and the very good primer and historical over-
Global VLBI Network to create an interferom- view in this area.
55
The Long, Medium & Short of It
Scott Caldwell
Scottandrew.caldwell@yahoo.co.uk
H
ello and welcome to the
latest edition of the Long,
Medium, and the Short.
This time, my focus is on
the exciting reception of
trans-Atlantic DX and the vital role played
by community radio stations in the UK.
Overall, reception conditions have been
erratic – to say the least – this month,
as we approach the end of the Winter
DX season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Only a few nights provided reasonable
DX conditions, most noticeably the early
morning of January 28th, 2022 (Table 1).
The Barry Davies
Memorial SDR Receiver
The Medium Wave Circle (MWC, Table 2) is
a club that is solely dedicated to Medium
Wave DXing. The club’s flagship publication
is Medium Wave News (MWN), which fea-
tures a multitude of DXing content.
The MWC has recently announced the
availability of a remote SDR receiver lo-
cated at Clashmore, Scotland. Clashmore
is ideally suited for Medium Wave DXing,
due to its remote location in the Scottish
Highlands, where man-made electrical in-
terference is at a minimum (Fig. 1).
A DXer operating in an unfavourable
location may spend many frustrating
hours attempting to receive weak stations
in a band dominated by man-made
interference. These poor conditions may
ultimately curtail their enthusiasm for the
hobby. Therefore, an opportunity to operate
a remote SDR in a prime DX location opens
up the hobby to both new, experienced
(and returning) DXers who wish to try
something new.
The DXing hobby has often been
criticised for not evolving to accommodate
new technology – now is the time to
address this! The nearest Medium Wave
transmitter is located more than 200km
away from this location, reducing the
number of local stations on the band.
Moreover, propagation conditions in the
far north of Scotland are ideally suited to
Medium Wave DXing. This is most apparent
in wintertime with the long, dark nights.
In summer the opportunity to DX via the
remote SDR will naturally be limited, due
to longer periods of daylight and shorter
periods of semi-darkness.
These poorer conditions will be most
noticeable for several months over the
Summer Solstice.
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56
Remote SDR-DXing
from Scotland and
Community Radio
Scott Caldwell recommends a commemorative
remote SDR operated by the Medium Wave
Circle, evaluates North American DX reports and
comments on the latest HF broadcasting and
community radio news.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 MW listening in the UK, and it is undoubtedly
In Memoriam:
Remote Access and the MWC
This facility provides members with exclu-
sive 24-hours-a-day access to two beverage
antennas: 920m at 305° (operational be-
tween 18:11 – 09:50 UTC) and 630m at 342°
(09:50 – 18:11 UTC). Both are terminated to
compensate for the changing propagation
conditions as summertime approaches.
The illustrations in Fig. 3 and Table 3 show
the antenna bearings/ orientation for this
receiver at Clashmore, in dependence on
accurate geographical coordinates and the
changing DXing season.
This SDR receiver facility (Fig. 2) is a last-
ing memorial to the late Barry Davies, who
made a lasting contribution to the Medium
Wave DXing hobby. The utilisation of the
Barry Davies Memorial SDR Receiver is re-
served for MWC members for two reasons;
It was a legacy from the late Barry Davies for
the benefit of MWC members and secondary
to avoid congestion by too many users lead-
ing to a poorer user experience. (New mem-
bers are welcome.) Members of the MWC
have received a password to ensure their
exclusive use of this remarkable SDR and an-
tenna. A special note of thanks goes to MWC
member Martin Hall who looks after the bev-
erage antennas. Martin has the unenviable
job of hiking over 2 km of cold and wet moor-
lands to check and repair the antennas so
that the MWC membership can listen in.
Steve Whitt, the editor of the MWN kindly
provided a summary of his experience when
utilising the remote SDR: “I have been ex-
haustively testing the Barry Davies Memorial
Receiver (BDMR) at Clashmore since it went
live at the start of February. And I can confirm
that it is the best-configured remote SDR for
in the best location. It has been possible to re-
ceive 10W (!) MW local Travellers Information
Stations from the USA (Footnote: there are
over 600 remote Kiwi-SDRs set up around the
world, but sadly most have not been set up
well and suffer from poor reception or high
levels of interference particularly affecting
MW listening)’.
If you wish to join the MWC, details are
available on its website:
https://mwcircle.org
North American Changes
and Community Radio
In its most recent newsletter (Medium Wave
News – March 2022 Volume 67 Number 10),
the MWC reports on some significant chang-
es to stations in North America. These have
been summarised in Table 4.
Closer to home, UK-based DXers have re-
cently reported that Desi Radio (Southall,
West London, Fig. 4), which broadcast on
1602 Medium Wave, has been airing a blank
carrier. I became intrigued by this commu-
nity radio, and I decided to conduct some
research on the station’s origins and pro-
gramming content.
Desi Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day on
RadioUser May 2022
 The Long, Medium & Short of It

MEDIUM WAVE CIRCLE

Fig. 1: Clashmore in Scotland: A perfect DXing

Location with great aerials. Fig. 2: Remote SDR DXing
at its best with the Clashmore receiver.
FIG. 1:

1602kHz in West London, on Sky Channel MEDIU

0169 for listeners in the United Kingdom, and

globally via the Internet. The ethos of the sta-
tion is to present Panjabi ideas, feelings, and
ideas through a variety of poetry, writings,
and music. The station also seeks to improve
links with other communities within West
London to both reflect and enhance the cul-
tural diversity of the area.
Table 5 shows a typical weekday Desi
Radio programming schedule.
Continuing with the subject of Community
Radio, Ofcom recently administered its lat- 2
est Community Radio Grants Scheme. A to-
tal of 69 grant applications were received Frequency Station Location Identification/ Slogan Power (KW) UTC Date DXer
by Ofcom. With a total of £1,029,650 being
570 CFCB Corner Brook Your VOCM 10/1 01:58 28/01 A
requested. The grants awarded ranged from
580 CFRA Ottawa ON Newstalk 580 50/30 01:59 28/01 A
£6,384 to Radio2Funky and up to £22,166 for
Chelmsford Community Radio. A total of 43 590 VOCM St Johns NL Your VOCM 50 04:00 28/01 A
applications were unsuccessful during this 590 VOCM St Johns NL Your VOCM 50 23:03 22/02 C
round of funding. Ofcom also reports that
620 CKCM Grand Falls NL Your VOCM 10 00:11 17/02 B
several applications for emergency funding
were rejected, as per the guidance notes is- 680 WRKO Boston MA The Voice of Boston 50 02:00 30/01 A
sued with the application forms. It is interest- 740 CFZM Toronto ON Zoomer Radio 50 04:05 28/01 A
ing to note that no funding awards were is- 750 CBGY Bonvista Bay NL CBC Radio 50 03:58 28/01 A
sued to Medium Wave stations.
770 WABC New York NY 77 WABC 50 02:00 28/01 A
https://tinyurl.com/ajxaedrz
790 WAXY Miami FL The Ticket 5 03:01 28/01 A
Is Short Wave 840 WHAS Louisville KY NewsRadio 840 WHAS 50 03:00 10/02 A
Broadcasting Really Dying? 850 WEEI Boston MA WEEI Boston 850 50 00:01 18/02 B
It has been recently reported that the ERT
870 WWL New Orleans LA 870 WWL 50 03:59 10/02 A
Voice of Greece’s CEO Giorgos Gambritros,
has signed a decree to close down the short- 880 WCBS New York NY CBS News 50 23:26 28/01 C
wave transmitting site at Avlis from March 890 WLS Chicago IL 89 WLS Chicago’s Talk Leader 50 06:35 01/03 B
31st, 2022. However, it has been further re- 1010 WINS New York NY 1010 WINS 50 03:03 30/01 A
ported that ERT is leaving open the possibil-
1010 WINS New York NY 1010 WINS 50 23:00 22/02 C
ity to continue only if the Ministry of Defence
and Foreign Ministry decides to oversee the 1010 CFRB Toronto ON Newstalk 1010 50 01:59 28/01 A
continuation of short wave broadcasts.
Currently, the Voice of Greece broadcasts 1020 KDKA Pittsburgh PA KDKA News Radio 50 06:31 01/03 B
on 9420kHz (in Greek) to Western Europe, 1030 WBZ Boston WBZ NewsRadio 1030 50 06:30 01/03 B
from 18:00 – 08:05 hrs. Kostas Machairas, 1130 WBBR New York NY Bloomberg 1130 50 02:00 28/01 A
ERT Director of Hellenism Abroad concluded
1200 WXKS Boston MA Boston’s Home for Conservative Talk 50 00:52 14/02 B
that Short Wave broadcasting was a thing of
the past, with hobbyists representing the ma- Table 1: A Selection of Catches of the Season: North Atlantic Medium Wave DX.
jority of their audience who are only seeking
verification that they received the station’s mote and hostile environments, without any For example, the Austrian state broad-
broadcasts. Is this you, or do you actually lis- required infrastructure on the part of the lis- caster ORF (Österreichischer Rundfunk) has
ten to the music and other content? tener. This is now extremely relevant to the amended its Short Wave schedule to include
[The editor surely does, ERT is a firm even- people of Ukraine who are now engaged in a two transmissions to Ukraine. One of these
ing favourite here – Ed.]. life-and-death struggle and are desperate for will include the news in English.
a source of independent news. To fulfil this The BBC has also decided to activate two
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine need, international broadcasters are begin- frequencies, 15735 and 5875 kHz that will
and Shortwave Broadcasting ning to increase their Short Wave broadcasts be targeted toward Ukraine. They will feature
The counterargument to the decline of Short at a time when the Russian military is active- the news in English for four hours per day.
Wave broadcasting is, of course, that it fa- ly targeting the communication infrastruc- The BBC claimed that people in Russia are
cilitates a unique capability to penetrate re- ture of the Ukrainian state broadcaster. also turning to the broadcaster as a source

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May 2022 RadioUser 57
The Long, Medium & Short of It

MEDIUM WAVE CIRCLE

Classic Membership of the MWC – Postal Delivery of MWN Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
UK Second Class £15 £29 £42
Europe Airmail €42 €82 €117
Rest of the World Airmail US $65 US $124 US $181
Digital Membership of MWC – Downloadable PDF Format of MWN Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
UK, Europe, & Rest of the World. PayPal Rates Chargeable as per local currency if the
£8 £13 £18
prospective member has a non-sterling account
Free Bonus months if paying via PayPal Nil 2 Months 4 Months
Table 2: Membership Rates of the Medium Wave Circle (MWC).
Description Bearing (True) Length (m) Load Approximate Availability
Asia 46 420 680W August to March
3
Africa 169 300 642W Occasionally
DESI RADIO

South America 236 460 560W April to September

East Coast North America 276 490 560W Sometimes all year
Mid-west North America 305 920 680W August to April
West Coast North America, AH, HI, Japan 342 630 560W August to March
Table 3: Seasonal and Geographical Antenna Bearings at Clashmore.
Frequency – kHz Station/ Location Change
540 CBT Grand Falls – Windsor NL Awarded a Construction Permit authorising a change of frequency to 93.3 FM.
710 WDSM Superior WI Format change from talk to CBS Sport with a new slogan ‘The Game’
950 CKNB Campbellton NB Awarded Construction Permit authorising a change of frequency to 100.7 FM.
4 1000 KNWN ex KOMO Seattle WA Active from February 2nd, 2022 - Name change to KNWN North-West News Radio.
GEORG WIESSALA.
1300 KGLO Mason City IA New slogan reported – ‘Your Hometown News Station’
Successful application to reduce the night-time output power to 1.25 kW. The
1370 WXXI Rochester NY original licence was for 5kW directional night-time output. This reduction will
facilitate a transmitter tower replacement
1380 WSYB Rutland VT Format change from conservative talk to sport with a new slogan ‘Fox Sports 1380’
KMNQ Mexican format ‘La Raza’ silent from January 3rd having lost its programming
1470 KMNQ Brooklyn Park MN source
1520 KOKC Oklahoma Park OK Application made to restore its 50-kW operation
Silent since January 28th, 2021 – now back on the air with STA, D1 1000 to retain its
1550 WAZX Smyma GA broadcasting licence
Table 4: North American Station Changes (Source: Medium Wave News – March 2022 Volume 67 Number 10).
Time Monday – Sunday
00:00 – 04:00 Neendran Neeh Aundiyan – Presents a variety of melodic and soulful music to uplift listeners through the night
5 04:00 – 10:00 Sarab Sanjhi Bani – Starts the day with spiritual music from across the Panjab
Fig. 3: The Antenna Bearings at Clashmore. Sanjhi Mehak (Fridays) Interviews professionals and experts dealing with Mental Health issues
10:00 – 12:00 (Saturday) Speech programming that relates to health, legal matters, and arts & culture.
Fig. 4: Desi Radio is proudly serving the Panjabi
12:00 – 14:00 Gaunda Panjab – Bhangra and melody music. Interviews with writers etc (Wed).
Community. Fig. 5: The widely-used Wellbrook ALA
1530 Loop Antenna. 14:00 – 16:00 Anmol Geetan Di Bahas – Memories of the Homeland – With musical golden oldies.
Bhangra Roadshow – Desi Radio plays the best in Bhangra. Tuesday – Discussion of Riddles – Meaning of Words.
16:00 – 18:00 Fridays - Interviews with Bhangra Artists.
of dependable information regarding the
18:00 – 20:00 Ruhani Panjab – Music show celebrating the journey from the spiritual through to the cultural sphere.
military action in Ukraine as an alternative
20:00 – 22:00 Nachda Panjab – Bhangra music at its best.
to the highly-censored state-sponsored pro-
gramming. Director-General of the BBC, Tim 22:00 – 00:00 Ishq Jinhan Di Haddin Rachia – Relive the passion romance and serenity of life through music.
Davie claimed that, “Its often-said truth is the Table 5: Sample-Schedule Desi Radio – Serving the Panjabi Community (Source: Desi Radio).
first casualty of war. In a conflict where disin-
formation and propaganda are rife, there is a Conclusion
clear need for actual and independent news Next time I will continue to look at the win- Equipment Used
people can trust and in a significant develop- ter Short Wave frequency changes for Wellbrook Loop Antenna (Scott Caldwell)
ment, millions more Russians are turning to your favourite radio stations. If you have A Scott Caldwell – Warrington UK: RSP DX, Sony
the BBC”. The BBC has rightly received global any comments, station news, or DX logs ICF2001d, Wellbrook Loop.
B Scott Caldwell – Remote Kiwi SDR Clashmore
acclaim for this decision that is not based on please let me know.
UK, Beverage 920m at 305° (mid-west), 630m at
economic considerations. In a time of need, Many thanks to Tony Stickells for his re-
342° both terminated.
it seems abundantly clear that Short Wave ception reports and logs. C Tony Stickells – Wrexham UK .
broadcasting still delivers! Until next time, 73s and Good DX!

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58 RadioUser May 2022

Radio News
VOICE OF GREECE CLOSURE DELAYED BY
TWO MONTHS: The closure of the analogue
broadcast of the Voice of Greece has been
delayed, even temporarily. With a decision
taken last Wednesday and signed by ERT
CEO George Gabritsos, the public radio and
television announced that at the request of
the Ministry of Defense, the Avlida Short Wave
Broadcast Transmitter will remain active until
May 31, when re-evaluating the conditions for
further continuation or not of its operation.
In an earlier decision, ERT had stated that its
broadcast on short wave would end yesterday,
March 31, and had addressed the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Defence, “to decide whether
they want the continuation of the shortwave
broadcasts, as well as the acquisition of
ownership and the operation of the short wave
operation at their own risk “.
Voice of Greece – Short Wave Frequencies:
• 9420kHz for Europe & North America,
• 11645kHz for Central & South Africa,
• 9935kHz for Europe Central America.
(Source: SWLing Post | Greek City Times |
International Radio Press |& Various Blogs).
https://tinyurl.com/ymznhtt4
https://tinyurl.com/2ec2w3nu
ALL OLDIES RADIO: The 29th of March 2022
was the last day of broadcasting for All Oldies
Radio – the classic hits station serving Herts,
Beds & Bucks on DAB. The station closed down
shortly after announcing it was ending its
service at midnight.
The date is six years, to the day, that All Oldies
Radio launched, which was originally an online
station serving the UK. Russ Dee from All Oldies
Radio said, “The amount of love that has been
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May 2022 RadioUser
What’s new in the world of radio
flowing into our socials and email boxes today
is just phenomenal. From listeners to other
station owners, we are so proud to have made
our place, not only in broadcasting history but
in the hearts of all that enjoyed All Oldies Radio
so much. The final decision to close was only
made late Monday. With the state of the UK
economy, advertisers not in a financial position
to renew, and new business becoming more and
more challenging to find, we had to make the
very difficult choice to stop trading and close
the company. We are so thankful for businesses
that have supported All Oldies Radio, to the
outstanding team members both on-air, in sales,
and behind the scenes. It is a very sad time
for all involved and I personally want to thank
everyone, from team members to listeners, it
has been fantastic and you will all be missed.”
[...].
(SOURCE: RadioToday | All Oldies Radio).
https://tinyurl.com/ymznhtt4
SOTA: The Summits on the Air (SOTA) initiative
was launched in England (G) and Wales (GW)
on 2nd March 2002. Since then it has expanded
massively to over one hundred associations
on all major world continents and has over
24,000 participants. A special award has been
launched to celebrate SOTA’s 20th birthday.
News
Participants can obtain a certificate for their
best 20 days of chasing or activating (separate
certificates for each activity). Logs are entered
as normal and the SOTA Database picks your
20 highest scoring days out of your logs for
the whole year. (March 2nd, 2022, to March 1st,
2023).
These certificates will be downloadable from
the database and free of charge. This is not
a contest, so the display will be presented in
alphabetical callsign order. SOTA Management
Team would like there to be plenty of activity
during the 20th anniversary year, and as such,
the activity runs for a whole year to give plenty
of time to take part.
Some special event stations have been
operational to celebrate the anniversary.
GW Association Manager - Roger Dallimore
MW0IDX - has been operating GB2OTA from
the summit of Mynydd y Cwm GW/NW-076, the
northernmost of the Clwydian Range summits,
during March. SOTA Management Team
member Tom Read M1EYP will be/has been
operating GB20SOTA from the summit of The
Cloud G/SP-015 from 2nd to 29th April
(SOURCES: Ofcom | ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio
Podcast [info@icqpodcast.com]).
https://www.sota.org.uk
https://tinyurl.com/5anj5x72
59
Maritime Matters
Marine VHF Comms:
Frequencies,
Institutions
and Procedures
Robert Connolly advises on marine frequencies for
visitors to the coast, explains emergency communications
terminology, looks at distress signal investigations and
introduces the National Coastguard Institution (NCI).
Robert Connolly
gi7ivx@btinternet.com
S
ummer is just around the corner,
and some of you will probably be
considering a visit to the coast,
be it a holiday in a hotel or guest-
house, mobile home, or even just for a day
trip. Therefore, in this month’s column, I will
be looking at useful marine VHF scanner fre-
quencies for the newcomer or occasional
coast visitor.
The best place to begin is CH (Channel)
16, 156.800MHz, the Calling and Distress
Frequency. Listening to this channel will al-
low you to hear any initial calls made by ves-
sels or shore stations; this will often provide
the working channel that may be used. This
is useful when listening for Maritime Safety
Information (MSI) broadcasts.
The initial announcement will in-
clude the VHF channels that will be used
namely CH62 156.125/160.725MHz;
CH63 156.175/160.775MHz; CH64
156.225/160.825MHz; and, in some ar-
eas or as a backup channel, CH10, on
156.500/156.500MHz. Current and detailed
information on UK MSI broadcasts, includ-
ing broadcast times and channels used by
the coastguard’s various stations and trans-
mitters, may be found at this URL:
https://tinyurl.com/5n8spsc6
Coastguard Duplex Frequencies
If you are a novice, you will notice that some
of the channels mentioned above show
two frequencies; these are called duplex
frequencies. As an example, let’s look at
CH 62 156.125/160.725MHz. A ship will
transmit to a shore station on 156.125MHz,
and it will be received by the shore station on
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60
160.725MHz. The shore station will transmit
on 160.725MHz. It will be received in turn by
the ship on 156.125MHz. To receive an MSI
broadcast on marine VHF, you will need to
listen to the ship frequency – the first one of
the two frequencies shown here.
CH 16 is also used for the initial call
when an RNLI lifeboat is launched on ser-
vice. Distress calls from vessels in trouble
are made on CH16. In many incidents, the
Coastguard will handle the emergency on
that channel, resulting in what will appear
to the novice as some strange terms being
heard. I will explain these terms later in the
column. On occasion, the UK coastguard
will also CH67 156.375MHz for Search and
Rescue (SAR) tasks. CH73 156.675MHz is
also available to the UK coastguard for SAR.
In addition to this, HM Coastguard in
the UK will use a private channel CH0
156.000MHz for communications with its
shore-based mobile units, rescue helicop-
ters and also the RNLI lifeboat involved in
the task. It is important to note that CH0 is a UK Coastguard:
private channel and is not available on ma- https://tinyurl.com/ycyx33zp
rine VHF transceivers. In other countries, for Irish Coastguard (Garda Cósta na hÉireann):
example, the Republic of Ireland, only CH16 https://tinyurl.com/ynkhu5ec
is used for SAR coordination.
Having said that, Irish Coast Guard heli- Useful Channels
copters are fitted with the UK Coastguard and Communications
private channel CH0, as they often operate Some other useful marine VHF frequencies
on tasks in Northern Ireland at the request of that you should consider programming into
Belfast MRCC. your scanner are as follows: CH12, 156.600
While on the subject of SAR channels, MHz; this is a frequency used by many ports
CH6 (156.300MHz) is allocated for SAR and ship pilots; CH37 (M1), 157.850 UK marina
communications between ships and aircraft, and yacht clubs; CH80, 157.025/161.625MHz,
for example between a vessel and coast- UK marinas; CH31 157.550/162.150MHz, used
guard rescue helicopter for co-ordinating by RNLI lifeboat houses for communications
casualty-winching operations. The Irish with their lifeboat for recovery and/or
Coast Guard rescue helicopter will often use assistance with the handling of casualties
CH10, on 156.500MHz, for this purpose. when returning.
RadioUser May 2022

If you are in England or Wales CH65,
156.275/160.875MHz, is allocated to
the National Coast Watch System. The
primary ship-to-ship channels are CH8,
156.400MHz, and CH72, 156.625MHz,
with secondary working channels of
CH9, 156.450, CH15 156.750, and CH17,
156.850. CH9 may also be used by pilots,
while CH17 may also be in operation by port
operations. A useful list of channels used by
ports around the British Isles may be found
by visiting Robert Maskill’s very informative
website at this URL:
www.coastalradio.org.uk
As you probably know radio waves trav-
el in straight lines; therefore, as a rule of
thumb, the range of signal reception is de-
termined by the distance between your lo-
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May 2022 RadioUser
cation and the horizon. However, this range
can vary, depending on the height of the
transmitting and receiving antennas above
sea level. The range, in nautical miles (nm),
can be calculated by using the formula R =
2.25 √h – where ‘h’ equals the height of the
antenna above sea level.
Maritime Phraseology
and Procedure
Now let’s take a look at some of those strange
words that you may hear when listening to
marine VHF. A few will be known to you, but
some others might be a little more obscure. I
will begin with the emergency calls; Mayday –
this is a distress call where life is in immediate
danger issued by a vessel itself. Mayday Relay
is a call issued by another party on behalf of
Maritime Matters
another vessel. Pan-Pan is an urgency call
issued concerning the safety of a vessel or
person, for example, a man overboard. Pan-
Pan Medico is rarely used these days but
precedes a call to a coast station requesting
urgent medical advice.
Currently, the UK Coastguard recommend
the use of Pan-Pan in any radio request for
medical advice. An appropriate doctor or
hospital will then be linked by radio or tel-
ephone to the vessel concerned. Another
phrase that you may hear is Seelonce
Mayday, this is the station controlling dis-
tress communications on CH16 imposing
radio silence. Seelonce Distress is similar to
radio silence on CH16 imposed by a station
other than the one controlling the distress.
Prudonce is a concession by the controlling
61
Maritime Matters
station to allow essential signals on CH16
even though the distress situation may not
be concluded.
Moreover, Seelonce Feenee announces
the end of radio silence. Finally, the most
common phrase you will hear is Sécurité,
which is a safety signal indicating that a
message of navigational importance is
about to be sent. You will hear this at the
beginning of the coastguard scheduled
MSI broadcast and when gale warnings are
about to be announced.
Mayday, Pan-Pan and Sécurité are all
transmitted three times before the main
content of the message that will be transmit-
ted. English is the standard language used
in maritime communications. However, if
you are in French waters and require a radio
link with a doctor, most French doctors only
use French.
Mayday and Pan-Pan transmissions be-
gin with “Mayday” or “Pan-Pan” spoken three
times; this is followed by the identity of the
vessel in distress, again spoken three times.
Next “Mayday” is spoken, followed by the
identity of the vessel (both only once), then
comes the vessel’s position, followed by the
nature of distress and assistance required.
The number of persons on board is the
next item, followed by any other informa-
tion that may help people to help you and
finally “Over” – signifying the end of the
transmission. A station receiving a Mayday
call should acknowledge with the follow-
ing: “Mayday”, name of the distressed vessel
(three times), “this is” (responding station’s
identity), “received”, and “over”.
If you are unable to offer practical assis-
tance, and the distress call has not been
heard by the Coastguard shore station then
your vessel would transmit the following:
“Mayday relay, Mayday relay, Mayday relay,
this is (your vessel’s identity), the following
distress message was received from (the dis-
tressed vessel’s identity) at (time), messag-
es begin (relay the distress details) message
ends, over.” All marine voice VHF distress
messages are transmitted on CH16.
Distress Signal Investigations
It is a legal requirement for distress signals
to be investigated, even if a false alarm is
suspected. Many a time, skippers will fire
off flares that have passed their expiry date,
frequently without advising the Coastguard,
and without following proper disposal
regulations. A person on the shore or in
another craft sees the flare and notifies the
Coastguard of a flare sighting.
This has to be legally followed up with sea
and shoreline searches by the Coastguard
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62
and lifeboats, in order to be sure that there
is not a craft in genuine distress. Expired
flares are often fired on Halloween / Guy
Fawkes firework night in the UK without the
Coastguard being notified. As a result, a
considerable amount of manpower in local
coastguard teams searching the shoreline
and lifeboat crews searching at sea.
A Coastguard rescue helicopter deployed
to assist with the search costs approximate-
ly £2,000 per hour. On top of that, you have
the hourly cost of the lifeboat and coast-
guard shoreline teams, resulting in a consid-
erable amount of money for a false alarm.
On top of the costs and the sheer waste of
time, a false alarm also occupies assets that
may be required for a genuine emergency.
Lookout Posts and the NCI
As I write this column, in mid-March 2022,
another gale has arrived here. These days,
we take maritime radio communications for
granted and forget that they have only really
developed over the last 50 years. My mind, for
reasons only known to it, goes back to the late
1960s/early 1970. In those days, when a gale
was due to arrive, there was no such thing as a
Maritime Safety Information Broadcast (MSIB)
on VHF marine radio.
While a few vessels in our large fishing
fleet carried VHF radio transceivers, they
were equipped with just three or four essen-
tial crystal-controlled channels, unlike today
where transceivers carry all international
marine VHF channels. In those days, the
Coastguard raised a storm cone to indicate
that a gale was expected. When the gale ar-
rived, local auxiliary coastguard staff would
have been deployed to lookout buildings
positioned along the coast. Their job was to
watch shipping in the area and keep a good
lookout for emergency flares and ships in
distress – something that they had done for
many years.
As the installation of low-cost marine VHF
transceivers became common among both
commercial and leisure craft, the manning
of these lookout posts ceased. Some of the
posts were just abandoned, while others
were used to house radio equipment.
In 1994 in Cornwall, a voluntary organi-
sation called the National Coastwatch
Institution (NCI) was founded, following the
deaths of two local fishermen who drowned
near a recently-closed station at Bass Point.
The NCI has since expanded across England
and Wales and now has 57 stations staffed
by volunteers. Their task is very similar to
that of the Coastguard while lookout posts
were manned. Each station has a team of
fully trained and dedicated volunteers who
keep a daylight watch up to 365 days a year.
Stations are equipped with telescopes,
radar, telephone and weather instrumenta-
tion, as well as up to date charts. Close con-
tact with the Maritime Coastguard Agency
(MCA) aims to promote stations to Declared
Facility Status, to become an integral part of
the National Search and Rescue Structure.
Today this organisation also has its own
marine radio communications channel on
156.275/160.875MHz. More information on
NCI is available on its website:
www.nci.org.uk
https://tinyurl.com/3mt87a94
A 24-Hour SDR-Watch
Having two SDR receivers from British makers
SDRplay (the RSPdx and RSP1A) and desktop
computers allow me to monitor certain
frequencies on a 24-hour basis over several
days or even weeks. My RSP1A is used for
this. It keeps my main work computer free for
general work and the monitoring of HF radio
frequencies using my RSPdx as required.
For several weeks, I ran the RSP1A on
8416.5 kHz, an HF Narrow Band Direct
Printing (NBDP) MSI frequency. I noticed
regular reception from Isfjord in Svalbard of
their 2300 UTC transmission; on other oc-
casions, I heard their other scheduled trans-
missions at 0630, 1100 and 1830 UTC.
Sometimes, over a monitoring period
from mid-February to mid-March, Boston’s
0140 transmission was received. UAT
Moscow’s 1915 UTC transmission was also
seen regularly.
In the past, I have logged Iqaluit, Canada
(June to December) Buenos Aires, Argentine
(during our summer, their winter) and, very
occasionally, Honolulu.
While the transmission mode used for HF
MSI is similar to NAVTEX, the transmissions
are often long (over an hour); the Buenos
Aires transmission is around three hours as
they transmit in Spanish and then in English.
If you are using SeaTTY to decode these
transmissions, it is best to look in the raw log
files for signals received. I also do this for
NAVTEX reception logs.
If you are visiting the seaside this sum-
mer, please stay safe and ask about local
knowledge regarding shoreline safety and
tidal times. The last thing you want is for you
or your family members to seek the help of
the emergency services.
Finally, this month’s photograph is of the
cruise ship Silver Cloud berthed beside HMS
Belfast in London.
The photograph was taken from the
Tower Bridge high-level walkway.
Until next time “Fair Winds”.
RadioUser May 2022
Scotland
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The Men : The Machines : The Battles : The Losses
2
Over
Qeque veles 170veles
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THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN IN COLOUR BACKGROUND TO BATTLE

Left A Hurricane of 501 Squadron

starts-up for an operational sortie at
Betheniville, France, May 1940. Air Chief
Marshal Hugh Dowding argued successfully
against further wastage of the home-
based RAF fighter force by sending yet
more fighters to France to bolster a futile
defence.
Right As the unstoppable juggernaut of
German military might advanced across
Europe, the deadly Junkers 87 Stuka dive-
bomber came into its own. However, the
RAF quickly learned how to deal with the
aircraft, and this stood them in good stead
when facing the Stuka during the Battle of
Britain.
Below right Panzer IV tanks roll across THE RAF FIGHTER PILOT THE RAF FIGHTER PILOT
France in May 1940. The German advance
was rapid and overwhelming, and within six
weeks France had collapsed and the BEF
were evacuating from Dunkirk.

sand in an hour-glass’ and he predicted

catastrophe if Churchill continued to
help the failing ally. Thus, he sent a letter
to the Air Minister on 16 May 1940, which
may well have saved Fighter Command,
and ultimately Britain, in the nation’s
darkest hour. He wrote:
“I have the honour to refer to the very
serious calls which have recently been
made upon the Home Defence Fighter
Units in an attempt to stem the German
invasion on the Continent … I would
remind the Air Council that … my strength
has now been reduced to the equivalent of

The Battle Looms 36 Squadrons … I must therefore request

that as a matter of paramount urgency
the Air Ministry will consider and decide
what level of strength is to be left to the
Fighter Command for the defence of this
The Battle of Britain was one of the most iconic battles of the Second World War, country, and will assure me that when this
level has been reached, not one fighter
embedding itself indelibly into the nation’s consciousness. Earlier, the Battle of France will be sent across the Channel however
could easily have spelled defeat before the air battles got underway in July 1940. insistent the appeals for help may be.
“I believe that, if an adequate fighter
force is kept in this country, if the fleet
Losses Mounted
At around the same time, another
momentous decision was undertaken
by making Lord Beaverbrook Minister of
Aircraft Production. Aircraft production
had in fact kept pace with fighter losses
to be called into action, covering the
evacuation from Dunkirk and other
French ports. Inevitably, their losses
mounted. Meanwhile, the battered and
depleted RAF units that had been based
in France were withdrawn to Britain.

A
fter the outbreak of war in
September 1939, there followed
eight months of what became
known as the ‘Phoney War’.
However, it was clear that large-scale
fighting would ultimately follow, and a
British Expeditionary Force was sent to
France before the end of that year. As
part of that BEF, a large Air Component
was supplemented by an Advanced Air
Striking Force. In total, these air forces
amounted to 25 squadrons, six of which
were Hawker Hurricane-equipped
fighter squadrons. The remainder of the
RAF force in France comprised largely
light bombers and Army Co-Operation
squadrons. Eventually, however, the
‘Sitzkrieg’ became the ‘Blitzkrieg’.
On 10 May 1940, German forces
launched their all-out assault on France
and the Low Countries and what followed
in Belgium, the Netherlands etc. was the
complete collapse of those countries
under the overwhelming might of
German military power. Across France,
German forces rolled inexorably onwards
towards the English Channel and while
the French and British tried desperately
to stem the advance, so the situation
became ever more hopeless.
Predicted Catastrophe
When the fighting had broken out in
earnest on 10 May 1940, aircraft of the
Air Component were in almost constant
combat, and losses had to continually
6 7 was
be made good from squadrons based
in Britain. The Commander-in-Chief of
RAF Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal
Hugh Dowding, had already stated as
early as September 1939, that if he was
expected to defend Britain’s skies, then
he would need 52 fighter squadrons.
At that time, he had only 32 under his
command and was told it would be
impossible to produce the number he
required. However, efforts would be
made to provide him with a further eight.
During the fighting in France,
increasing numbers of fighter squadrons
were sent across the Channel, urged on
by desperate appeals from the French
Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud. Dowding
saw his resources ‘slipping away like
remains in being, and if the Home Forces incurred during the Battle of France. Here, they were re-equipped where
are suitably organised to resist invasion, Soon, production would outstrip losses. necessary, and manpower shortages
we should be able to carry on the war Thus, the availability of fighters would made good so far as possible. Meanwhile,
single handed for some time, if not not become a limiting factor in the air RAF Fighter Command readied for what
indefinitely. But, if the Home Defence defence of Britain. was to come. Certainly, the Battle of other pilots concentrated on what haring off suddenly, upwards or Facing page Although posed for a news
Force is drained away in desperate However, by 1 June 1940, the RAF had France was over. The Battle of Britain was was going on in their cockpits: oil downwards, the rest of the squadron cameraman, the squadron telephone
attempts to remedy the situation in lost 436 fighter aircraft and almost all about to begin. temperatures and pressures, fuel state, watching in bemusement and puzzled orderly shouts instructions for a ‘scramble’
France, defeat in France will involve the its light bomber force of Fairey Battles, oxygen contents checked and selected because they received no transmission, as pilots lounge in the dispersal hut. The
complete and irremediable defeat of this along with a considerable number of its Immensely Powerful to ‘On’, microphone not on ‘Transmit’ or else just couldn’t understand what had smartly dressed officer is Duty Pilot – the
country.” were not afraid thatBlenheims.
Bristol they were However, By this time,
either liarsRAF Fighter the starter
Dowding button was the possibility
had mentioned Facing page Pilots of 19 Squadron are (this could effectively block all other been said. Meanwhile, constant juggling pilot rostered for ground admin tasks such
It was a hard-hitting letter, but or foolish. However,
Command a strident
at homejangling pushed afterofa invasion
continued to operate thumbs-up fromas
as early the middle ofdelivered
the May to their dispersal point at RAF transmissions), straps tight, gun-sight of the throttle setting with the left hand, as recording take-off and landing times
Dowding’s words had their effect and of the telephone could mean
over France as theseveral fitter, who unplugged
situation worsened. 1940, but bythethe
starter
end of trolley, Duxford ready for operations early one
that month the ‘On’ and illuminated, straps tight and and judicious adjustment of position etc.
while the French still asked for more things. Sometimes, to intense
In a matter of sixrelief,
weeks, it Franceensuring it was clear ofhad
possibility the been
aircraft.
turned into what morning during the summer of 1940. canopy firmly shut. A surprising number through the control column and rudder Above It was not unusual for aircraft to
fighter squadrons to be sent to France,could send acollapsed
messageentirely.
to ‘StandNow,
Down’ Unable to communicate
it .only remained appeared to be over the roar ofIf Hitler Above
probability. was Their relaxed look perhaps would carry out a little good luck routine pedal inputs, were all necessary just to return damaged after an engagement
such appeals were rejected. However, Other times,for it called
Britishpilots toand
forces, some units the
readiness, Merlin engine,
of the the his
to impose pilot and
will onrigger concealing the tension, these Hurricane
the British people, like feeling for a lucky charm, or even keep station. It was incredibly hard work, and with pilots wounded. This brand-
further squadrons of Hurricanes were and then to the heart-pounding order:
French army, to evacuate via Dunkirk exchanged thumbs up signals, the rigger
then he could apparently only do so pilots of 501 Squadron pose for the camera crossing themselves. and mentally and physically draining. new Spitfire had just been delivered to
deployed over France, but they remained‘SCRAMBLE!’ in what was Operation ‘Dynamo’. RAF slapping hisby pilot on thethe
crossing EnglishtoChannel andduring the summer of 1940. All of them
shoulder Now, the workload was high, and still By now, the squadron was ‘on oxygen’, 602 Squadron at RAF Westhampnett
based in the UK. Years afterwards, veterans ofatthe
Fighter Command Battle
home convey reassurance
continued dictatingand
his good-luck
terms from he sawTo
asWestminster. action. Several of them shot down they needed to concentrate on formation masks clamped securely to pilot’s faces when it was hit by cannon shells from a
of Britain told how they hated the sound leapt from the wing. As he jumped, the enemy aircraft and some of them were keeping while permanently keeping as cold began to permeate the cockpits. Messerschmitt 109 in a combat on 18
of a ringing telephone. aircraft was already rolling, and the rigger killed. a wary eye open for the enemy and Now, with all the hard work of take-off, August 1940. The aircraft was written off
and Flight Lieutenant Dunlop Urie wounded

E OF B R
On the order to scramble, there dodged out of the way of the tail-plane, quartering the sky in a relentless search. formation flying and getting to altitude,
a mad rush by pilots to their allotted buffeted by the slipstream which was what it was they were intercepting. It A moment of relapse could litterally spell came further nervous tension with in his feet.

L aircraft where the fitter and rigger were kicking up dust and grass. Getting out may have been an instruction along the death. The squadron ‘Weaver’, winding realisation that the enemy were near.

TT I
ready and waiting: the rigger on the wing of the way, he was hit by a blast of hot lines of: “MITOR Squadron, ANGELS from side to side, kept a rather more wary Then, a tight knot of fear returned as chance of a well-ordered textbook:
ready to help in his pilot, and the fitter exhaust gasses. Now, the aircraft gathered 18, Vector Two-three-zero. Fifty Plus. eye open than the rest, as the squadron the gunsight was checked and the SAFE ‘Number One Attack’. Instead, it was
standing by with the starter plugged in on speed ahead, into wind, bouncing and BUSTER.” Listening in, the other pilots got closer by the second to their quarry. and FIRE ring on the gun button turned, every man for himself, but with ‘wing
the starboard side of the engine. Heaving rocking across the grass airfield. Others could interpret these coded instructions: Brief instructions might crackle through ready, to the FIRE position. Goggles men’ desperately trying to maintain
TA
BA

himself into the cockpit, the pilot went careered along around it, in the organised “41 Squadron to climb to 18,000 ft on a the headphones: ‘Close up Red 2’ or, on pulled down. And then the shout: station and protect their section leader.
through a number of tasks: helmet pulled chaos that was a squadron scramble. heading of 230 degrees. Fifty plus enemy receipt of further instructions from the ‘BANDITS! Ten o’clock, above. Coming Now, the pilots were climbing and
on, oxygen plugged in, radio jack-plug in Getting airborne, the pilots aircraft. Maximum cruising speed.” Fighter Controller: ‘Turning to Port. Go!’ down now! Break, break, break….’ hanging on their props, the sun glaring
IN

its socket, magneto switches ‘on’, Ki-Gas
cylinder priming pump given a couple
of brief strokes and thumb ready on
the starter. Meanwhile, leaning into the
cockpit, the Fitter helped the pilot with
COM
concentrated on keeping station as
they selected ‘Gear Up’, closing the
cockpit canopy while listening out
for instructions from the CO or flight
commander who was talking to the
Mentally and Physically Draining
Settling into the climb, the pilots
automatically slid into section order
and the preferred squadron formation.
Meanwhile, pilots fiddled with the
radio tuner, struggling to tune and re-
tune their wireless sets in a constant
battle to receive and properly understand
the messages. Sometimes, a squawk
Chatter Of Gunfire
Suddenly, to avoid the ‘bounce’ of
fighters coming out of the sun, the
squadron had dispersed in a pre-ordered
and blinding as they turned, all the while
listening out and looking out. Now,
there were shouts: “Behind you Blue
3!”, permeated by chattering gunfire.
A cacophony of shouts and static

his parachute harness straps, then his Sector Operations Room and garnering Meanwhile, the CO or flight commander of static drowned out everything, plan. Now, the enemy fighters were made communication unintelligible.
Sutton seat harness. instructions as to heading, altitude and concentrated on setting course as the sometimes resulting in one section among them. This time, there was no One pilot may be drawing a bead on a
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