US Govt broadcast outlets now have access to domestic market

[n6hcm]

click here (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/12/us_backs_off_propaganda_ban_spreads_government_mad e_news_to_americans#sthash.0syHMvEY.AxCyg6Ol.dpbs)

not sure how i feel about this ...

[KG4NEL]

The VOA, sadly, is all but on its last legs...

If this was in the '60s, I think it would have a much larger impact than now. Most people my age are probably completely unaware that government-funded broadcast outlets exist in the first place.

[W9JEF]

The VOA, sadly, is all but on its last legs...

If this was in the '60s, I think it would have a much larger impact than now. Most people my age are probably completely unaware that government-funded broadcast outlets exist in the first place.

Back in the 50's, if I'm not mistaken, VOA was

on Senator Joe McCarthy's list of subversive organizations.

The John Birch Society was calling Ike a communist dupe,

and VOA figured prominently in its red-baiting attacks.

[N2NH]

As someone who worked there for awhile, I can say VOA was a lot of fun and very interesting. Washington is an interesting place to begin with, but working at the only radio station that isn't ruled by FCC rules and regs in the country, that's FUN.

[KG4NEL]

As someone who worked there for awhile, I can say VOA was a lot of fun and very interesting. Washington is an interesting place to begin with, but working at the only radio station that isn't ruled by FCC rules and regs in the country, that's FUN.

That's putting it mildly :spin: 2 years and I was :yuck:

A couple local club members with broadcast ties did a PP presentation a few months back of a tour through the Greenville VOA site - pretty impressive to see what kind of transmitting firepower they have, sad to see that it's all but a skeleton crew left.

[W9JEF]

.


"I wanted a tour of WWV, so I knocked on the door.

They wouldn't even give me the time of day."

[N2NH]

That's putting it mildly :spin: 2 years and I was :yuck:

A couple local club members with broadcast ties did a PP presentation a few months back of a tour through the Greenville VOA site - pretty impressive to see what kind of transmitting firepower they have, sad to see that it's all but a skeleton crew left.

Yep, their transmitters were a marvel of engineering. I don't know if they ever upgraded, but the old ones loafed at 100KW and I doubt if newer ones could stand up to the rigors of their schedule like the old transmitters did.

On the other hand, the Soviets weren't too happy about their jamming stations being rendered ineffective after 2 decades. Let's just say things got interesting shortly after that. Veerrrrry Interestink.:lol:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2hcm7m9.jpg

[K7SGJ]

Yep, their transmitters were a marvel of engineering. I don't know if they ever upgraded, but the old ones loafed at 100KW and I doubt if newer ones could stand up to the rigors of their schedule like the old transmitters did.

On the other hand, the Soviets weren't too happy about their jamming stations being rendered ineffective after 2 decades. Let's just say things got interesting shortly after that. Veerrrrry Interestink.:lol:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2hcm7m9.jpg


When I was CE at a NTS AM station, we ordered a new transmitter from Continental. They flew me over to check it out during construction a few times. While I was there on one occasion, the took me to an area where they were building a rig for VOA. The thing was massive, and about the size of a city bus. Very impressive, and very expensive, I'm sure.

[N2NH]

When I was CE at a NTS AM station, we ordered a new transmitter from Continental. They flew me over to check it out during construction a few times. While I was there on one occasion, the took me to an area where they were building a rig for VOA. The thing was massive, and about the size of a city bus. Very impressive, and very expensive, I'm sure.
One bit of information that I found out when I was there. The finals for those transmitters hadn't been built in decades and to retool and fix any that I burned out would cost $2M in the early 80s. It goes without saying that I would've also lost my job.

I have done transmitter work AM/FM/TV, but I never got up close to one of the VOA transmitters. Would've liked to see the ones at Marathon. With all the hurricanes, it would've been interesting to see how they hardened the facilities on a small island for that.

Also worked for the UN for a General Assembly (don't know of any other Broadcast Tech who has done both).

[kb2vxa]

"...such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks could only be viewed or listened to at broadcast quality in foreign countries."

HUH? Listening to the propaganda war between VOA and Radio Moscow was a hoot, while VOA barreled in at S9 Moscow nearly pegged the meter. No wonder, while the VOA Greenville site beamed 12MW to Russia NJ is off to the side while Moscow's 24MW was beamed into the heart of America. You could easily tell the difference between Radio Moscow's transmitter sites, the big boys in Russia had clean signals while those little brothers in Ukraine had a nasty 50Hz hum from bad filter caps that never were replaced because all the money went into the arms race.

"Yep, their (VOA) transmitters were a marvel of engineering. I don't know if they ever upgraded, but the old ones loafed at 100KW and I doubt if newer ones could stand up to the rigors of their schedule like the old transmitters did."

You've got to be kidding, the Bethany, Ohio site was a powerhouse with its 200KW Collins transmitters and Greenville site used the same type feeding a Collins 2MW water cooled final into a log periodic antenna that gave 12MW ERP. Here's the 8972 triode tube, don't let the small image fool you. I used to have a picture of that final amp in an old Collins broadcast catalog, don't know where it got off to. Even the long defunct Bridgewater, NJ site was a monster, every time I drove past on that wonder of highway engineering Rte. 22 it would knock out the AM car radio from one end of the dial to the other. One day I got curious and through a hole in the fence I walked and found out why, the huge log periodic antenna shot straight across the highway. Oh, please take note that broadcast transmitters are rated at unmodulated carrier RF output. I don't know the efficiency of that 2MW amp but one thing's for sure, it sucked up power like a sponge sucks up water.

One last thing, if you think domestic broadcasters aren't propaganda outlets you've had your head buried so deep in the sand for so long it would take the Krupp rotating shovel to dig it out. Just ask Rush Limbaugh, he knows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX81TU3Ango

[NQ6U]

http://www.rell.com/imagebase/en/thumb/ProductCategories/8972.gif.szm160x160.jpg

Got one of those in my CB lin-yar.

[WX7P]

They used to leave the gates to this place open from time to time:

11266

11267

That's the old VOA station in Dixon, CA not far from Sacramento.

All the stuff was right there and you could see some of the old equipment inside the buildings. I think it's all been stripped out by now.

Would have loved to have seen this place when it was operational.

[N2NH]

Yeah Warren, they were rated at 200KW and 2MW, but most of the time they loafed at a fraction of that. The finals would theoretically last forever (or until a grid or heater failed). Shall we say I got the most out of those tubes. ;)

A lot of the "propaganda" we sent out then was cultural. They thought Elvis was still king (and he was American too). Whereas, the Eastern Bloc and the USSR hadn't heard a lot of the Beatles music. Seems the powers that be there censored them back in the 60s . They even warned us to do the same as they thought they were a destabilizing influence on society. My late wifes Polish homecare attendant couldn't believe that Sgt. Peppers was The Beatles. Everything from at least that point on was banned and the jamming made sure they didn't get it from other EU and Western stations. Oddly enough, in the 80s, VOA refused to play rock and concentrated mostly on old Jazz (a little fusion) with a smattering of Classical music.

[NQ6U]

That's the old VOA station in Dixon, CA not far from Sacramento.

Hey, thanks--I always wondered what that place was.

[N2NH]

They used to leave the gates to this place open from time to time:

11266

11267

That's the old VOA station in Dixon, CA not far from Sacramento.

All the stuff was right there and you could see some of the old equipment inside the buildings. I think it's all been stripped out by now.

Would have loved to have seen this place when it was operational.

Beautiful pics - I have never seen their TX sites in person. Was that near Delano?

[WX7P]

Beautiful pics - I have never seen their TX sites in person. Was that near Delano?

Actually, no. Delano is near Bakersfield which is on the southern side of the Central Valley. Sac and Dixon are on the upper range of the CA Central Valley and Delano is down south. I've never seen the Delano station, but I imagine it's just as cool if it's still there.

[kb2vxa]

"Got one of those in my CB lin-yar."
Oh, a progressive CBer! The usual approach was 200 million 2N107s in parallel.

Ah, the Dixon, CA station and those instantly recognizable Sterba curtain antennas! Along with Delano they'd barrel into NJ with the rear lobe, I can imagine the signal in the front lobe was awesome. That reminds me of the long defunct AT&T WOO transatlantic site in Ocean Gate, NJ with what's left of the antenna farm visible to the south across the Toms River from the J. Stanley Tunney (Pelican Island) Bridge.

Eh, considering replacement costs I would imagine those transmitters weren't operated at full power most of the time to extend tube life. Still with all that antenna gain those sites put out a whopping signal, no bout adoubt it.
"A lot of the "propaganda" we sent out then was cultural."
I was thinking of the news, music isn't propaganda. You reminded me of Radio Havana, they claim to be the station that speaks the truth but then any detective will tell you there are three sides to every story, your side, the other guy's side, and somewhere in between lies the truth. Of course Elvis is king, he didn't die, he went home. I remember those Radio Free Europe TV PSAs with the DJ reporting for work, sitting down at the console and announcing the first song; "On Broodvay". Of course Sergeant Pepper's Mouldy Farts Club Fan isn't the Beatles, it's John P. Sousa's band in disguise with old fashioned military uniforms. Of course the Beatles were censored, John Lennon was a card carrying Communist, a hippie radical rabble rouser close friends with Mark Rudd, David Peel and a few other notables who held concerts and rallies with domestic terrorists. I remember hearing those buzz saw jammers blasting in that made the woodpecker sound like a gentle tapping. I also remember how the VOA banned playing rock and roll just like AFRTS and the story of Good Morning Vietnam that made Adrian Cronauer a living legend. Maybe that's how they earned the nickname "our farts"?

Catskill mountains, must be some mighty big cats.

[W9JEF]

Milestones:

Voice of Russia -- Former "Radio Moscow" -- to End Shortwave Broadcasts


Voice of Russia (VOR (http://english.ruvr.ru/)), the former Radio Moscow during the USSR era,
will cease shortwave broadcasts as of January 1, 2014. From the 1950s
through the 1980s, the station, as Radio Moscow, was a virtual beacon
for short-wave listeners (SWLs), many of whom gravitated into Amateur Radio.
Voice of Russia currently broadcasts to 160 countries in 38 languages
for an aggregate 151 hours per day on short and medium waves, on FM,
via satellite, and via the Internet. Earlier this year shortwave transmissions were cut
to 26 hours a day in all languages, down from more than 50 hours a day in 2012.


https://bay179.mail.live.com/Handlers/ImageProxy.mvc?bicild=&canary=oj5Y5DhtWL4utpas4qKHO7tK8FmVGJh6o5vXBuSqnaY %3d0&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww3.arrl.org%2fnl%2fal%2fimage%2 fVoice%20of%20Russia%20logo2.jpg



VOR, which claims to be the first radio station to broadcast internationally,
will continue to broadcast online and via three medium-wave transmitters.
In 2003 VOR was among the first major international radio broadcasters
to launch daily broadcasts to Europe in Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM (http://www.drm.org/)).
As a result of a decree signed earlier this month by Russian President
Vladimir Putin, the Voice of Russia radio company officially ceased to exist
on December 9 and merged with several other state-run news agencies
as part of Rossia Segodnya, a Russia-based international news service.

Putin's decree also abolished the State Fund of Television
and Radio Programs, placing it under control of All-Russia
State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

Back when I grew up in Wisconsin--still an SWL,
"The North American Service of Radio Moscow"
used to come in like a ton of borsch on 7200
--smack-dab in the middle of the 40 meter band.

Propaganda, along with lots of classical music,
but lacking in the higher audio frequency response.
I suspect it was the narrowness of their high-gain
antenna arrays aimed at the US.

Against the possibility of making Sen. McCarthy's list,
my Dad forbade me to write in to "Moscow Mailbag."

[N8YX]

I remember those Radio Free Europe TV PSAs with the DJ reporting for work, sitting down at the console and announcing the first song; "On Broodvay".

I recall them running on our local affiliates when growing up. Precisely none (zip, nada, zero, zilch) of the folks in my immediate household knew (or cared) what RFE was all about - but things like that slowly, steadily drew me into radio. Specifically, SWLing - and then amateur.

Bubble jammers, wobble jammers, multi-frequency sweepers - anyone remember those, especially when they set up shop in the middle of the 40M band?

The one thing regarding shortwave radio I really miss nowadays is DXing the 120M and 90M bands, looking for the regional tropical broadcasters. I didn't have high-performance gear available to me when the bands were fully populated - and now that I can bring an armada of commercial-grade receivers to bear on those frequencies, all that's present are the assorted domestic religious stations.