January 1990 Volume 9 Number 1 Second Class Postage Paid NITORING A Publication Of Grove Enterprises TIMES-N J : T 1 J ., ,,, Jr13J n J f)r)OLi March to Freedom: DXing Namibia Brent Bogdanski's Fiery Chubasco Net , ******, GOODMAN. DAVID J. on9izi 31470 HIRAM TRAIL CHAGRIN FALLS OH 4'+DE2- 33932 00000 8 ^t,!r-ix:'.. OPTOELECTRONICS m...._ ..,..ata....ea. top alsateme. comm. 2c' 100000 Mre You Have Counted on Us for 15 Years You have counted on OPTOELECTRONICS And more and more of you are counting on Hand Held Frequency Counters to be the us, technicians, engineers, law enforcement best quality, to be affordable and reliable. officers, private investigators, two -way radio We have been there for you with Frequency operators, scanner hobbyists, and amateur Counters that are compact and ultra sensitive. radio operators, just to name a few. Hand Held Series Frequency Counters and Instruments MODEL 2210 1300H /A 2400H CCA CCB RANGE: FROM 10 Hz 1 MHz 10 MHz 10 MHz 10 MHz TO 2.2 GHz 1.3 GHz 2.4 GHz 550 MHz 1.8 GHz APPLICATIONS General Purpose RF Microwave Security Security Audio -Microwave PRICE $219 $169 $189 $299 $99 SENSITIVITY 1 KHz < 5 mv NA NA NA NA 100 MHz < 3 mv < 1 mv < 3 mv < .5 mv < 5 mv 450 MHz < 3 mv < 5 mv < 3 mv < 1 mv < 5 mv 850 MHz < 3 mv < 20 mv < 5 mv NA < 5 mv 1.3 GHz < 7 my < 100 my < 7 m NA < 10 my 2.2 GHz < 30 mv NA < 30 mv NA < 30 mv ACCURACY ALL HAVE +/- 1 PPM TCXO TIME BASE. All counters have 8 digit red .28" LED displays. Aluminum cabinet is 3.9" H x 3.5" x 1". Internal Ni -Cad batteries provide 2 -5 hour portable operation with continuous operation from AC line charger /power supply supplied. Model CCB uses a 9 volt alkaline battery. One year parts and labor guarantee. A full line of probes, antennas, and accessories is available. Orders to U.S. and Canada add 5% to total ($2 min, $10 max). Florida residents, add 6% sales tax. COD fee $3. Foreign orders add 15 %. MasterCard and VISA accepted. Orders to U.S. and Canada add 5% to total ($2 min, $10 max). Florida residents, add 6% sales tax. COD fee $3. Foreign orders add 15 %. MasterCard and VISA accepted. OPTOELECTRONICS INC. 5821 N.E. 14th Avenue Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334 1- 800 -327 -5912 FL (305) 771 -2050 FAX (305) 771 -2052 January 1990 :IMöIY/TORIIYG Radio in the 1990s by Don Bishop 6 We stand on the edge of a new decade. In the 120 short months that the 1990s will last, the world of communications is expected to see a number of exciting and often high -tech advances. According to Don Bishop, communications will be a sci -fi world filled with amazing new methods and modes of communications. From transmissions bounced off the tails of meteors to some of the hottest monitoring since Marconi, the 1990s will clearly be the decade of the radio. Be prepared as Monitoring Times starts off with "Radio in the 1990s." Preparing for the Worst with Radio 12 You don't have to be a paranoic to prepare for the worst with radio. Your radios can be a valuable tool during times of trouble. But like all tools, they need to be kept in a state of constant readiness. Not all disasters must be cataclysmic, either, to take advantage of your radio. From severe thunderstorm to ground - shaking quake, the payoff of a well -prepared monitor can be big -- your life and the life of your friends and family. Chubasco Net by Deborah Howe 14 A Chubasco is a rapidly moving, violent storm unique to the Sea of Cortez. The Chubasco net got its name from these storms, partly because of the way in which it was born and partly because of the person who runs it. You see, net controller Brent Bogdanski is a character. And after listening to him on the radio, author Deborah Howe had to meet him. You can, too, in this issue of Monitoring Times. But beware. XE2VJD is not for the faint of heart. Namibian Voices by Charles Sorrell 18 "Independence or death!" has been the cry of this long- occupied African country. On its long road to freedom, the same war waged on the ground has been taking place on the airwaves. Take a ring -side seat for history in the making. ON THE COVER: Radio Station KGO 680's twisted and toppled antennas in the aftermath of the San Francisco quake. (Photo by Doug Chalmers, WA6DMK) London Calling (MONITORING by Cathy Turner 22 TIMES Never underestimate a nine -year- old, says his mother. An inspired MONITORING TIMES (ISSN: 0889 -5341) birthday greeting via the BBC leads is published monthly by Grove to a whirlwind visit to England, the Enterprises, Inc., Brasstown, NC, USA. BBC, and -- best of all -- Address: P.O. Box 98, 140 Dog Branch grandparents. Road, Brasstown, NC 28902 Telephone_ (704) 837 -9200 Walden Revisited FAX (704) 837 -2216 (24 hrs) "I came to the woods because I wished to live STAFF deliberately..." The words are from Henry David Thoreau and they have recently been taken as the operating philosophy Publisher behind a unique radio station known as Walden Radio 1120. Bob Grove, WA4PYQ Join American BandScan author Karl Zuk as he meets the Managing Editor people behind this exciting new radio station. Larry Miller The Yaesu FRG -8800 Revisited is the theme of Larry Associate Editor Rachel Baughn Magne's column this month, with a look at this popular stand- Subscriber Services by. A new scanner, the Realistic PRO -2022, is reviewed by Beverly Berrong Bob Grove. Advertising Antenna Talk poses the age -old question, To Vee or Not Beth Leinbach to Vee ?" Read further for the answer to this and many more Dealerships of your monitoring dilemmas. Judy Grove Coming soon ... Editorial Staff Frequency Manager Greg Jordan On the Border Radio stations, you could buy everything Frequency Monitors Joe Hanlon from baby chicks to salvation. High powered broadcasters Richard Keen Program Manager Kennon Shanmugam huckstered cures for everything from cancer to sexual Program Monitors Jim Frimmel weakness. Texan Durell Roth writes about this outrageous and Dale Vanderpoel colorful chapter in the history of radio. Reading MTV Jack Albert Uncle Skip's Comer T.J. Arey, WB2GHA From Africa comes a first -hand profile of Zambian radio -- Experimenter's an exotic and often -sought signal. And Bruce Heald takes us Workshop Rich Arland, K7YHA on a monitor's journey of American railroads. All this along Plane Talk Jean Baker DeMaw's Workbench Doug DeMaw with the best columnists in the business -- coming up in SW Broadcasting Glenn Hauser America's favorite radio magazine, Monitoring Times! High Seas James R. Hay Scanning Report Bob Kay On the Ham Bands Propagation Report Ike Kerschner, N3IK Magne Tests... Lawrence Magne DEPARTMENTS Federal File Rod Pearson Satellite TV Ken Reitz, KC4GQA Outer Limits John Santosuosso Letters 3 Outer Limits 52 Antenna Topics Clem Small, KR6A Communications 4 Below 500 kHz 54 SW Broadcast Logs QSL Comer Gayle Van Horn Shortwave Broadcasting 24 Program Guide 56 Utility World Larry Van Horn, Utility World 28 Frequency Section 65 N5FPW The Scanning Report 32 Magne Tests ... 86 Below 500 kHz Joe Woodlock American Bandscan What's New? 36 Scanner Equipment 88 Karl Zuk Uncle Skip's Corner 38 Catalogs 90 The Federal File 40 DeMaw's Workbench Subscription Rates: $18 in U.S. and 92 $26 elsewhere High Seas 42 Experimenter's Workshop 94 On the Ham Bands 44 Antenna Topics 96 Second class postage paid at Brasstown, NC, and additional mailing The QSL Report 46 Ask Bob 98 offices. Reading RTTY 47 Convention Calendar 101 Satellite TV 48 Stock Exchange 102 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Monitoring Times, Post Office Box 98, American Bandscan 50 Brasstown, NC 28902. LETTERS these fees from the One other thing. We do current legislation." welcome your participation in the Had the fee gone frequency section. You're invited to through, Maia estimates send in additions, corrections, even that the average ham station schedules. Send them to working his way up the Frequency Manager, P.O. Box 98, ladder of licenses would Brasstown, North Carolina, 28902. have to shell out nearly Or use the FAX machine, left on for $200.00 in all. your use from 5:00 PM until 8:00 Keep your hands on AM Monday through Friday, and all your wallet, gentlemen. day Saturday and Sunday. The The Federal Govern- number is 1 -704- 837 -2216. ment is here. Rob Cave of Princeton, Texas, A QSL from Radio wrote in with a super idea for "Congratulations," owners of Sony ICF- 2010s. If you Havana Cuba received by says Ed Coleman of of own one of these radios, you know Ray Labrie Buffalo, New York, "on that they've got a good deal of Portsmouth, New your frequency section. memory in which you can "save" Hampshire. I find it to be, without a your favorite frequencies for later doubt, the best of all. Of recall. The problem is, of course, Radio Havana Cuba is taking course, that's to be expected. You've that unless you are some sort of a out newspaper ads to let people been doing it longer than anyone mentalist, you can never remember know about their shortwave station. else." what frequencies you've saved on Billing itself as "Voices of a New Thanks, Ed. If imitation is the what button.