DECEMBER 1988 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 12 Second Class Postage Paid , . ..(, A Publication Of Grove Enterprises The BBC Tradition Beeps, Whistles, and Deedle -Deedles Scanning: The Ten Most -Asked Questions Yellowstone Ablaze! Best Values SW Stocking Stuffers 12 11111 33932 00000 8 - www.americanradiohistory.com Walk Tall and Carry a Little 'Bear Grove has super deals on Bearcat's exciting new handhelds, with more memory channels and wider range than ever before! , _ Bearcat BC200XLT Steal )./.;.- Finally, a high performance handheld programmable Sale scanner which includes aircraft and all land mobile bands, ' -" including 800 MHz! Frequency coverage is 29 -54, 118 -174, 406 -512, and 806 -960 MHz (less cellular frequencies). 200 memory channels may be stored in 10 banks of 20 channels each or scanned sequentially. This feature -packed handful offers ten priority channels, search, lockout, and delay and comes equipped with detachable Nicad battery pack, AC charger, leather holster, and BNC flex whip. The BC200XLT is the most powerful hand -held scanner ever released to the public and is now available from Grove Enterprises at a super discount price! CALL TOLL-FREE (MC & Visa Only) Extra BP200 battery packs available - 35.00 1- 800-438 -8155 Order SCN9 Grove Discount Price Retail $5 UPS Shipping $0,1e5 $259" '10 U.S. Mail P.P.; '15 Canada Air P.P. Features may vary slightly from photo a e The Bearcat BC100XLT a Introducing the BC- 100XLT, with 100 memory channels! Yes, the all -time popular Bearcat hand -held programmable scanner has aircraft reception, 100 channel memory, illuminated LCD display for night viewing, search, rapid scan (15 channels per second), direct channel access, lockout, delay, low battery indicator, priority, and keyboard lock. Frequency coverage is 29 -54, 118 -174, 406 -512 MHz. Accessories included: Rubber ducky antenna (with BNC base), AC adaptor /charger, Nicad batteries, earpnone, and carrying case. Handsome black case with white chrome accents. Dimensions: 71/2"H x 2'/e "W x 13/e "D; Weight: 2 lbs., 10 oz. CALL TOLL -FREE (MC & Visa Only) Order SCN10 Now Only 1- 800 -438 -8155 $3 UPS Shipping Retail $95 $209 °° $5 U.S. Mail P.P.; '8 Canada Air P.P. 140 Dog Branch Road MC and Visa Orders Only, Grove Enterprises Brasstown, N.C. 28902 Call 1- 800 -438 -8155 www.americanradiohistory.com Vol. 7, No. 12 r-) December 1988 IM:mN/TOR /lYG r TIMES- The BBC Tradition 6 Ever since the first Christmas broadcast by His Majesty King George V in 1932, the BBC has been a voice of sanity in a world of political unrest. Scanning: The venerable BBC remains the standard Ten Most -Asked Questions by Bob Grove 10 by which all other SW How can I improve my scanner reception? Do I need a preamp? Bob Grove stations are measured - addresses the ten most -asked questions. Maybe they're yours, too. p.6 Christmas in the Middle East 15 In the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, peace is still hard to find. Travel to the East with this special frequency list compiled by Monitoring Times. Beeps, Whistles, and Deedle -Deedles by Ted Benson 18 In which wierd noises are explored and explained Yellowstone Ablaze! by Jon Van Allen 21 The Monitoring Times 1988 Index 98 Bob Grove is the scanner answer man - p.10 DEPARTMENTS Letters 3 Below 500 kHz Last -minute book -buying 54 Communications 4 Personal Communications 56 for ham the in your life Shortwave Broadcasting 24 Program Review 58 - p.44 Utility World 28 Program Guide 59 Scanning the Nation 32 Frequency Section 65 Magne on the future of What's New? 36 Magne Tests ... 86 World Band radio - Uncle Skip's Corner 38 Scanner Equipment 88 p.87 The Federal File 40 DeMaw's Workbench 90 Plane Talk 42 Experimenter's Workshop 92 On the Ham Bands 44 Antenna Topics 94 MT reviews the The QSL Report 46 "Ask Bob" 96 Realistic PRO -34 plus Reading RTTY 47 Stock Exchange 101 instructions on restoring Satellite TV 48 Convention Calendar 102 cellular service - p.88 American Bandscan 50 Closing Comments 104 Outer Limits 52 MONITORING TIMES (ISSN 0889 -5341) is published monthly for $18 ON THE COVER: What's better than a receiver in the per year by Grove Enterprises, Inc., PO Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28902 (ph.1- 704 -837 -9200). Second class postage paid at Brasstown, NC, stocking? -- Two receivers ... and a subscription to and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes Monitoring Times, of course! (Photo by Harry Baughn) to Monitoring Times, PO Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28902. www.americanradiohistory.com Inside this Issue e It's a common complaint: M.n NITORING The programs I hear on shortwave today are the same ones I listened to in 1935. That can be a real tune -out if the program is about copper TIMES wire production in Bulgaria. On the other hand, there are things worth keeping. And there's no better station for sorting out the Published by wheat from the chaff in this regard than the BBC. I This month, we Grove Enterprises take a look at the station that defined, for many, what radio is all Publisher about. it's a perfect time to look back at the BBC because this And Bob Grove, WA4PYQ month, you'll have the oportunity to hear many traditional programs from London, including the Monarch's Christmas Day address. Managing Editor Larry Miller I War is also a tradition, especially in the Middle East. The conflicts Technical Editor there have spurred a tremendous growth in the number of shortwave Ike Kerschner, N3IK stations on the air - from obscure, low- powered voices to the Frequency Manager thunderous belching of 500 kw Greg Jordan transmitters from ancient Sultin- .. and Production ates. We pored through the pages Design Rachel Baughn of the new 1989 edition of Passport to World Band Radio for a Subscriber Services list of stations that we Linda Newton call, "Christmas in the Middle East" I "Christmas in Advertising and the Middle East" is based on a suggestion from high Dealerships Stephen J. school senior and Monitoring Times reader Judy Grove Price of Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, who did the initial monitoring for this article. We've had the chance to Contributing Editors speak with him on a number of occasions and found Reading RTTY him to be not only an expert Arabic monitor but all - Jack Albert around great kind of guy - the kind of person every Uncle Skip's Corner father wants his son to be - especially if you want a T.J. Arey, WB2GHA son that speaks a smattering of Arabic. Plane Talk Jean Baker I Ever hear something on the radio that sounds like a B-52 bomber in flight? Ever DeMaw's Workbench wonder what it was? How about those strange beeps that sound like a three -note Doug DeMaw musical instrument? Or that hash -hash kind of noise? It's not all jamming, as many Consumer Electronics people think, It's often very useful information transmitted in non -voice modes. Beeps Jock Elliott and Whirs, which is reprinted from a small -circulation bulletin called Frendx, attempts to Shortwave Broadcasting put faces to the sounds. I What are the ten most -asked questions about scanning? Who Glenn Hauser could write such an article? One person popped to mind immediately: MT publisher Bob High Seas Grove. After all, not only is Bob a real ambulance chaser, but he owns Grove James R. Hay Enterprises, a firm that sells scanners. If anyone would know the ten most asked Federal File questions -- and their answers -- it would be Bob. What are they? You have to turn to Dave Jones page 10 to find out. Scanning Report Bob Kay 1 Jean Baker, shown at right in a pensive mood, is one On the Ham Bands of MT's most endearing characters. Not only does she Ike Kerschner, N3IK know aero communications inside -out, but Jean has a Magne Tests... unique ability to leave you both amazed and amused in Lawrence Magne less than a three minute phone call. She loves her American Bandscan Monitoring Times column, takes her monitoring Larry Miller seriously, but never loses sight of the fact that radio is Adventures in the Clarke Belt primarily fun. This month, she shares some Ken Reitz, KC4GQA information on how to verify (QSL) aero stations -- no Outer Limits easy trick sometimes since those that use the aero Dr. John Santosuooso bands don't understand why anyone would want to Program Review & Guide listen to them! Kannon Shanmugam Antenna Topics 1 As usual, there's a lot more. Ike Kerschner, MT's W. Clem Small, KR6A resident ham radio fanatic, writes up a top -10 book list Shortwave Broadcast Loggings for the amateur radio operator. Suggests Ike, "Leave the list out somewhere in the house QSL Corner and maybe Santa will pick up the hint!" 1 Magne also helps out the shopping list with Gayle Van Horn some of the best buys for this holiday season, as well as sharing the latest outlook for Utility World world band radio 1 Finally, we close out the year 1989 with the ever popular Monitoring Larry Van Horn Times annual index of articles for the last twelve months. Granted, it reads like the Scanner Equipment phone book, but we hope you'll find it useful. I There's much more in this month's 104 Larry Wiland pages. Take a moment to explore them. As usual, they're filled with the wonders of radio Below 500 kHz from the four corners of the world.