Return-Path: <@OHSTVMA.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU:0003382983@mcimail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Date:         Thu, 28 Jan 1993 21:26:00 GMT
Reply-To:     Jonathan P Marks <0003382983@MCIMAIL.COM>
From:         Jonathan P Marks <0003382983@MCIMAIL.COM>
Subject:      More Info from Holland

Greetings to electronic networkers. I have had a LOT of reaction to the
first posting of On Target, including lots of tips regarding the best
formatting methods for other BBS systems. The feedback was useful. I
know that this information reaches quite a few magazines, so here is
the summer schedule with a bit more information than a few days ago.

Here it is, hour by hour. The release now included the frequencies we
will be using via the Commonwealth of Independent States.


Time in UTC is followed by frequencies in use by Radio Netherlands
English service for the period March 28 March - 26 Sepember 1993.

2330 UTC
F6020 and B6165 to North America

0030 UTC
F6020, B6165, B11835 (AM-compatible USB)  to North America
M11655, M9860, F13700, A9825 to Asia

0130 UTC
M11655, M9860, F13700, A12025 to Asia

0230 UTC
M11655, M9860, F13700, A12025 to Asia

0330 UTC
B9590 and B6165 kHz for Western North America

0730 UTC
B11895 & B9630 to Pacific

0830 UTC
B11895 kHz to the Pacific

0930 UTC
B11895 & B9720 kHz to the Pacific
I15470, P12065 to Far East

1030 UTC
I15470, P12065 to Far East

1130 UTC
F5955 & F9855 kHz to Europe

1230
F5955 & F9855 kHz to Europe

1330 UTC
F17610, M15145, F13700, M9890 to South Asia

1430 UTC
F17610, M15150, F13700, M9890 to South Asia

1530 UTC
F17610, M15150, F13700, M9890 to South Asia

1730 UTC
B21590, B21515, M7120, M6020 to East, West and Southern Africa

1830 UTC
B21590, B21515, M7120, M6020 to East, West and Southern Africa

1930 UTC
B21590, B17605 (AM compatible USB) to West Africa


The above frequencies are subject to change depending on
interference. RN Transmitter site info: F=Flevoland Holland,
B=Bonaire, M=Madagascar.
Commonwealth of Independent States sites: A= Alma Ata, I=Irkutsk,
P=Petropavlovsk Kamchatski.

Keep this frequency clear!

Radio Netherlands spends some US$9 million a year
making programmes in seven languages for daily
transmission on shortwave. But this investment would be
wasted if we didn't ensure that the signal in the various
target areas was as good as possible. It is possible to make
very complex computer predictions as to how reliable
the signal will be during a particular season. There are
also regular publications issued by various organisations
(including the ITU in Geneva) showing which countries
have registered to use certain frequencies at a chosen
time. However, you cannot effectively plan a shortwave
transmission schedule without extensive listening as
well.

Many stations get their frequencies assigned to them by
their respective PTT organisation. Radio Netherlands is
one of a few stations where the actual choice of
frequency is left to the station itself, within certain
agreed limits.

Planning the new schedule for the summer of 1993 has
not been easy. With only 8 transmitters at our disposal,
changing one transmission has an immediate effect on
other broadcasts. There are times of the day when the
programme department would like to have a
transmission to a particular part of the world, but there
is simply no reliable propagation path between
transmitter and receiver. However, the addition of the
relays via the CIS have taken the strain off Flevo and
Madagascar, so we can offer extra frequencies on the
European English release.

For several decades, Radio Netherlands has regularly
coordinated its schedule with five other international
broadcasters ; the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Canada
International, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and
Deutsche Welle. We also coordinate our frequencies with
the United States Federal Communications Commission
which represents the interests of several private
shortwave broadcasters in that country. Last year, Radio
Netherlands also participated in two frequency
management conferences to try and resolve frequency
clashes between broadcasters in Eastern and Western
Europe.

So there is an on-going hunt for new frequencies, as
well as continuous monitoring of Radio Netherlands'
transmissions "off-the-air". Ehard Goddijn handles most
of the monitoring operation. "The key to good frequency
selection lies in the research. We know that every time
we change a frequency we will lose some listeners. By
swapping frequencies between our three transmitter
sites, we are often able to maintain frequencies to distant
target areas for several seasons at the same time of the
day. In the summer, the frequency may come from Flevo,
our transmitter site in The Netherlands. In the winter
the same frequency may originate from our Madagascar
relay station. Hopefully, most listeners will not notice
the difference. However, sometimes interference from
other stations forces us to make a change. The fact that
some stations change their schedules either two, four or
even six times a year means that you have to keep an ear
on things all the time."

Rocus de Joode is Radio Netherlands' other frequency
manager. "As well as monitoring several hours a day
here in Hilversum, we also make several trips to target
areas throughout the year. We set up a receiver, span a
simple antenna and listen to the radio as much as
possible over a period of several days. To the hobbyist it
may sound like a paid holiday! In practice, the job
requires patience and a great deal of concentration. You
have to check reception of Radio Netherlands'
transmissions and scan whole sections of the dial several
times a day looking for empty spaces."

"We get reception data from other sources too. Thousands
of listeners send reception reports to the various
language departments. Some even go into detail about
the interfering stations. However, because these are
"one-off" reports you can only be content if reception is
good. If reception is poor, the single report is not very
helpful in recommending a course of action. Was it poor
reception on just that day? What sort of receiver was
being used? To get regular reception data Radio
Netherlands Frequency & Monitoring Department has a
team of volunteer monitors around the world. These
listeners fill out special reception report forms and send
it to us once a month".

Martine Joly and Lupita Kingma are in charge of
processing the incoming reports. "Over the years you get
to know these listeners very well, and we are very
grateful for the extra effort these people take on Radio
Netherlands' behalf", says Martine. "We have sufficient
monitors in our panel from the Pacific, North America
and parts of South Asia, i.e. India, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka. But we still have vacancies for regular monitors
living in other parts of the world. We would especially
like to hear from people East and West Africa, and the
Asian countries of Thailand, Myanmar, Taiwan, the
Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Laos." If you live
in those areas and are interested in further information,
send details of your receiver and antenna to this address:
Monitoring Panel OTR, Radio Netherlands Frequency and
Monitoring Department, P.O. Box 222, 1200 JG Hilversum,
The Netherlands.


New Music

Radio Netherlands recently updated its interval signal
music used at the start of each transmission. We have
also introduced new themes based on the traditional folk
melody "Merck toch hoe sterck". The orchestral versions
were played by the Dutch Metropole Orchestra. The
digital recordings have been put onto a special in-house
compact disc together with other regular jingles used by
Radio Netherlands.

That's it for now. As usual, comments via INTERNET are
welcome.

Jonathan Marks
Editor "Media Network"
Radio Netherlands
Direct fax: +31 35 724352