The Media Network Vintage Vault 2026-2027

We started with a critical letter from William O'Dickerman who wants more tuning tips about English stations. Andy Sennitt also suggests that there isn't enough news. As Leonid Brezhnev was laid to rest, Radio Moscow said that there was a 5 minute silence across the country. We found that it didn't include the jamming stations. Richard Hunt queries if Philips is getting into the domestic satellite TV business. We visit Dennis Powell at radio station WOR in New York and marvel at their recent use of satellite feeds which improve the audio quality. We look at the priorities for news stations in New York. We spoke to the people behind Radio Freedom which was raising awareness for its shortwave broadcasts in the Netherlands. The programme concludes with DX tips from Dan Robinson. (This recording was made off the transmission line in Bonaire which explains the AM sound rather than usual studio quality).

A rather mixed bag this week. Pete Myers reports that the UN may make it difficult for countries to start direct broadcast satellite transmissions. There is a new series of photographs in Amsterdam which show all the various types of domestic broadcasters. DLF in Cologne has doubled its power on LW and you can win a radio. Mike Barraclough reports about pirates that will be testing across the Atlantic. We were quite famous for in-depth reviews of radio equipment. In this edition, we review the AN-1 active antenna from Sony. We found that the antenna totally overloaded the portable radio. (This was a very detailed test). Asian DX News from Victor Goonetilleke is hearing stations in Latin America. We also looked at broadcasting in Suriname. We talked to Victor Hafkamp of Radio Netherlands Caribbean Dept. SRS is calling itself Radio Venceremos.

We did several reports from Yugoslavia as the country gradually broke up. These were the days when we spoke of Serbia and rump Yugoslavia. Eric Beauchemin compiled this excellent feature on the role played by the media, especially television, in the Balkans war in 1983. This edition was actually sent out on transcription to other international stations, which is why it is only 15 minutes instead of the usual half hour.

This was a newsy edition of Media Network in early 1982. KYOI, the SW music station in Saipan is planning to start testing November 1st. 107 people have written to support Radio New Zealand on shortwave. Tunnel Radio is launching in the US. FEBA Seychelles is faced with political problems on the island. Andy Sennitt has news about World Music Radio on 6219 kHz. Capital Radio in Transkei may resite its transmitters. Over the last 18 months we've been looking at what it is like to listen to western broadcasters in Katowice, Poland. We did a quick feature on time signal stations. We find the transmitter of CHU in Canada. Dan Robinson has some tips of African and Latin American stations he has been hearing in Washington DC. Rudy van Dalen reports that the Greek military station has become ERT-2.

It was difficult sourcing audio from South Asia back in 1983. Tape recordings of radio stations were rare and phone lines to just about anywhere were crackly. We started with some frequency changes to our English transmissions. The shortwave equipment news is about the Sony ICF7600D. The new receiver has keypad tuning. Pete Myers has new RF-799 from Panasonic. There a clandestine station in Kabul. Gaither Stewart has news about Radio Free Afghanistan. Radio Nepal has two new transmitters, a gift from Japan. Mohini Shephard has been visiting the station. Pete Myers reports on the National Youth Association in Bhutan using recordings from Adrian Peterson in Poona. ORF Vienna has a Master Morse course. We also talked to Finn Krone, producer of AWR World DX News on 9670. Radio Freedom, the Voice of The Sri Lankan people. Finn thinks it comes from Germany. There is news from Cambodia and Thailand as well. The final report is about the radio battles going on in Andorra. Robbert Bosschart reports from Madrid.

We open a new telephone hotline for DX tips (overseas calls were still very expensive though). Professor John Campbell has been to Ireland and discovered why some of the unofficial stations are connected to hotels. Some may be coming back to shortwave. He shares some amazing stories about how these stations survive. We also talk to Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International about Radio 24 and the fight for local commercial radio. Venezuela claims it is on the air with a new broadcast for the Caribbean and the Americas. We review a new academic book on International broadcasting by Dr Donald Browne. Voice for the World has been published by the BBC External Services. Richard Ginbey has news that Namibia has appeared on mediumwave.

We started with news about frequency changes. I joined the VRT Open day and a trip to Wavre, the transmitter site of Radio Vlaanderen International. Director Jan van der Sichel has plans for a satellite transponder for Europe. They will not switch off the medium and shortwave. The World Radio Network is also launching its new English network on satellite. Professor John Campbell explains how clandestine stations have changed and why FM is the biggest enemy to clandestine monitoring. John reviews a new book called Danger Signals? by Barry Collins. He questions whether the unofficial stations are really causing interference to utility services. There news about a Sony radio ICFSW30L, and the ICFSW-55 Sony Style magazine. Note there is a more extensive profile of Radio Vlaanderen International made two years later

A regular edition of Media Network, one which I thought we wouldn't be making. If there was an 11 cities skating race in Friesland, then the feature programmes were dumped. But in this case in 1986, things started thawing and the event was cancelled. An Ariane satellite will be launched, we spotted the clandestine Radio Bardai in Libya, Richard Ginbey can hear the Voice of Africa also from Libya. On the receiver front, there were free changes to the Philips D2999. Pete Myers joins us with a review of the Philips D2935. We thought it only fair. In clandestines, Prof John Campbell has news of transatlantic tests by UK unofficial station (Radio Medway), and Irish station Radio Ireland International. Andy Sennitt in Copenhagen had news about Mali, and Equatorial Guinea. The results of Media Quiz 1986 with the answers. Bob Horvitz has news about the Woodpecker Projects. Mike Bird says the ionosphere is quiet and the start of the ABC's shower service.

A lot has been written and documented about the growth of UK Commercial Radio. Much less on the growth of commercial radio in Ireland to break the monopoly of the Irish public broadcaster RTE. In 1982, we ran quite a comprehensive survey of the situation in Dublin. The late John Campbell also gave us frequent updates as the pirates tried to provide an alternative.

This was an era when year end reviews were still popular. There was no internet for research or to act as the memory of great radio broadcasts. So this is the way shortwave international radio was looking in Christmas 1982, the year of the Falklands conflict and the appearance of several clandestine radio stations. This was my first attempt at making a compilation of the year's events, with boxes of reels of tapes that I had been saving. The script was all typed out on a typewriter. It would be another couple of years before the Apple II appeared in the Netherlands. But enjoy what was possible 26 years ago.