EDXC Conference in St. Petersburg Deutsche Welle. An superb presentation on the use of radio from A. S. Popov’s wireless transmission in 1895 till the use by Anker Petersen of digital broadcasting in the coming years. As of August

th 2006 there are 39 DRM broadcasters. General problems The 39 annual Conference of the European DX Council (EDXC) with QRM. Tests on 4-5 MHz with vertical radiation and with was held on Oct 19-22, 2006 at the State Regional Education low power on 26 MHz! In 2009 cheap DRM receivers are Centre of the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy in the northern expected to be available for general sale. part of St. Petersburg, Russia. •

This was also a cheap hotel. 70 people attended this Conference from 12 countries: Russia (32 participants), Finland (22), Den- mark (3), Sweden (3), U.S.A. (3) and one from Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and Scot- land. For us, it was a special pleasure to meet many present and former members of the DSWCI, including Alexey Osipov, Mikhail Timofeyev and Alexander Beryozkin from the St. Petersburg DX Club. DSWCI-members from other countries were Toshi Ohtake (Japan), George Brown (Scotland), Bengt Ericson and Tibor Szi- lagyi (Sweden), Maria Gösselova (Czech Republic), Heikki Pura- nen (Finland) and from Denmark Kaj Bredahl and Else Jørgen- sen and myself.

The following radio stations were represented: Deutsche Welle, FEBC (NASB), WRN, KNLS, TWR, Radio Prague, Russian TV & Broadcasting Networks and Radio Open City St. Petersburg.

• The Conference was excellently organized by the coming Secre- • Ms. Valentina Jolkver-Krasnoposkaya speaking about tary General, Tibor Szilagyi together with the St. Peters-burg DX- • DRM receivers Club whose members showed us fantastic hospitality and friend- • ship! “DX-ing and radio landscape in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia” by Anker Petersen, Denmark. This lecture will be The Conference was opened by Mr. Alexander Beryozkin on be- brought in full in SWN this winter. • half of the local DX-Club by playing the Anthem of Sankt Peters- “Results of the tests of software-defined radio receivers for burg. Then Mr. Tibor Szilagyi gave the EDXC welcome on behalf HF and MW reception using both analogue and digital of the interim Secretary General, Mr. Luigi Cobisi, who was on a (DRM) technology” by Mr. Tarmo Kontro, Finland who has business trip to Japan. An impressive agenda was presented been testing the advanced and very sensitive receivers like with no less than 14 lectures and reports held in Russian or Eng- WinRadio 313e, SDB 14, Tentec 320 and ICOM 1000. In the lish with simultaneous interpreting. extreme future such receiver robots may be programmed to listen, send reception reports to transmitter robots who issue QSLs – all without any human interference! • “Broadcasting in St. Petersburg region” by Mr. Mikhail Ti- mofeyev who is technician at the Regional Broadcasting Centre in St. Petersburg. He gave an overview of its many transmitters on LW, MW, SW, FM and TV, including Radio Centre No. 1 at Olgino (LW+MW), No. 3 at St. Petersburg (684 kHz MW relays BBC, DW, RFI and religious stations), No. 5 at Kaliningrad (Bolshakovo) with MW, and No. 11 at Krasny Bor (Popovka) which 18 SW transmitters of 200 kW are used by Voice of Russia, TWR and CRI. • “Reception of satellite international broadcasting in St. Pe- tersburg” by Mr. Vladimir Kharitonov who told that 180 sta- tions have been picked up on Astra satellites and about 400 on Hot Bird 2 satellite. • “Development of DRM radio transmitters” by Mr. Alexander Artamonov who explained the present transition phase in Russia with testing. It will still be years, before cheap DRM Alexander Beryozkin opening the conference receivers of 30-50 US $ are produced in Russia.

During Friday and Saturday morning we heard and saw the fol- lowing lectures: • “Special features of radio waves propagation by reflection from ionosphere” by Professor Evgeny Milyutin who ex- plained the Sunspot 11.3 years cycle, MUF, OWF, echo, fad- ing, disturbances by thunderstorms and meteors. • “National Association of SW Broadcasters and my 13 years at KFBS, Saipan” by Michael Adams, FEBC, USA. • “Using active magnetic aerials in professional radio receiving and DX-ing” by Dr. Anatoly Bobkov who stressed that a good grounding is needed. Loops can suppress interference. • “Collecting Soviet vintage radio receivers” by Mr. Omar Che- ishvili who has many Russian domestic receivers produced before 1939. Alexander Beryozkin closing the conference. • “LW/MW/SW broadcasting: past, present and future. DRM St. Petersburg City flag in the background. standard” by Ms. Valentina Jolkver-Krasnoposkaya from 24 DSWCI Short Wave News – November/December 2006 • “DX-ing in Japan” by Mr. Toshimichi Ohtake, Japan. Similar After a sightseeing tour by bus through parts of the beautiful city to Toshi’s lecture in Vejers in May, but updated with partici- on Saturday afternoon, we visited the Professor A. S. Popov pation in Tokyo HAM Fair in August 2006. Apartment Museum where his radio laboratory and scientific work • was presented by the Director, Mrs. Larisa Zolotinkina. On May • “DX-ing in Finland” by Mr. Risto Vähäkainu, Finland who 07, 1895 he demonstrated the transmission through the air of talked about FDXA (SDXL) with 700 members who mainly electromagnetic signals over a distance of about 250 meters. DX on MW, and its relations to Russian DX-ers. • “Moscow Club of DX-ers” by Mr. Vadim Alexeyev who ex- plained the difficulties of running this Club which was formed in 1990. • “St. Petersburg DX Club” by Mr. Alexander Beryozkin. It was founded in 1984 as DX-Circle Leningrad and has as logo the wise crow which is DX-ing at the bank of river Neva. (see the picture on the left on this page –ed)

At Professor A. S. Popov Apartment Museum where Mrs. Larisa Zolotinkina (left) showed us around

In the evening the Conference closed with an excellent Banquet dinner and lottery.

A part of the audience at the conference

There was made a small exhibition with old radios, mainly Rus- sian made before 1940, many of them still in function, outside the conference room.

Informal get-together with our new Russian friends At right Vladimir Bochkov, St. Petersburg

It was a very informative Conference where we met many DX- friends particularly from NE Europe. It was held in the Russian city which always had been regarded as the “Russian Window to the West”.

We look forward to the next EDXC Conference in Lugano, Swit- Omar Cheishvili showing one of his old radios – still functioning zerland on Nov 01-04, 2007. (Petersen)

On Friday evening a few of us were interviewed at Radio Gard- arika for a special one hour broadcast Sunday afternoon. During the first half hour Alexander Beryozkin interviewed Tibor Szilagyi and me in English about the EDXC now and then. The second half hour was in Russian with Valentina Jolkver-Krasnopolskaya (DW), Vadim Alexeyev (WRN) and Mikhail Timofeyev. It was heard on 12010 and 15640 throughout Europe and in Japan.

Alexander Beryozkin in the studio of Radio Gardarika

Ms. Valentina Jolkver-Krasnoposkaya showing DRM receivers

DSWCI Short Wave News – November/December 2006 25