From: ralph@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Ralph Brandi)
Subject: Re: Best published schedules?
Organization: Democrats for Broccoli
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 15:10:09 GMT

In article <CB.93Jan26131155@tamarack13.timbuk> cb@tamarack13.timbuk (Chris Brewster) writes:

>A number of sources publish schedules for SW programming, and I'm
>wondering which sources are the most complete and reliable.  They're
>pretty different in style and emphasis.  I'd like to see people's
>preferences.  Here are some I'm aware of:

>Periodical:

>- NASWA journal

>- Review of International Broadcasting [Glenn Hauser]

>- Monitoring Times

>Yearly:

>- World Radio-TV Handbook

>- Passport to Worldband Radio

>- Guide to Shortwave Programming [Kannon Shanmugam--what kind of name
>                                 is this, anyway?]

It looks like you're looking at two different kinds of guides here.
The WRTH and Passport focus on broadcasts, rather than programs,
telling you when and where you can find a broadcast, but rarely what
will be on.  I far prefer the WRTH, but that may be because of the
way I listen, picking out what I want to hear and then looking for
it, rather than scanning the bands to see what I can hear.

The NASWA Journal lists broadcasts in English, and these are derived
from Tom Sundstrom's database of English language broadcasts,
available by subscription in dBASE format.  I find Tom's listings
very useful, and consistently up-to-date.  I assume the editors of
the WRTH feel so as well, as they had Tom help to put together the
section on English-language broadcasts in the 1993 edition.

I've only glanced briefly at the Guide to Shortwave Programming, but
its focus seems to be different than the above-mentioned guides,
focusing on programs contained within broadcasts.  The information
is gathered by the people who put together the program listings in
Monitoring Times.  This information can also be found in Jim
Frimmel's set of HyperCard stacks for the Macintosh, *Shortwave
Navigator*, which is where I get it.  It seems reasonably complete.

There is another source for this material, published by the ODXA and
NASWA, and put together by a man from New York state named John
Figliozzi.  There should be a new edition out shortly.  I bought
last year's edition and found it useful.  It seems to me to be the
equivalent of the MT book, but I prefer it because I like to support
the clubs when I can.  John works hard on the book and does a good
job.

I can't really comment on RIB.  I used to be a subscriber years ago,
and enjoyed the mag, but it seemed to decline for a while, and I let
my sub lapse.  I ordered a sample a couple of years ago, but the
issue I got leaned a little too heavily on *London Calling*, which I
subscribed to at the time, so it didn't seem worth it to me.  But
that was one issue, and I wouldn't trust that my small sample size
gave me enough to really pass a critical judgement.
-- 
Ralph Brandi     ralph@mtunp.att.com     att!mtunp!ralph
Lay me in clover and over my head pull a sheet made of mirror so I can see
myself and leave me for long time do not disturb my rest for ages and ages for
I am tired and I need some relaxing my mind is cluttered with the days and the
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave