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On our Cover
By Jon Van Allen
The Olympic Games always present a huge challenge to any hobby monitor.
It includes multiple venues, civilian, federal and military agencies, foreign
countries, and media from around the world. All of them will rely on radio for
communications and all the frequencies must all be coordinated.
The good news is, radio
activity can likely be found on every available channel. The bad news is, it's
extremely difficult to know in advance who can be found where. Jon Van Allen and
the Rocky Mt. Radio Association Scanner Listeners Group have been working for
two years to follow Salt Lake City's preparations for this world class event,
and this article is their best guess on where to tune your scanner to find the
action.
Olympic photos by
Lori Adamski-Peek, courtesy of
the Park
City Visitors Bureau.
By Ian Poole
December 12th marks one hundred years since Marconi first received the
radio transmission of the letter "S" from across the Atlantic. The
odds were really stacked against Marconi: his lack of schooling, the
"best" scientific thinking of the time, the destruction of his
antennas, and even the weather. In fact, some initial skeptics questioned the
reception, though they were silenced when he later repeated the accomplishment.
Now that we know more about propagation, even some modern-day experts
have questioned whether Marconi really received the primary signal. In a sidebar
story, Bart Lee demonstrates why we have every reason to believe he did.
By Stewart
McKenzie
If you are traveling to California or if you're a brand-new shortwave
listener who lives there, this article by the General Manager of the American
Shortwave Listener's Club will help you select a radio and get started tuning in
the most promising stations and frequencies for easy reception. Listening really
is different on the "left coast."
By
Bob Eisner
Just in time for Christmas comes this update to Bob Eisner's list of
chain store frequencies. Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Banana Republic, Wal-Mart
-- they're all here. Enjoy yourself while the family goes shopping
(you're all finished, right?)!
By
Rachel Baughn
Monitoring Times has just completed 20 years of publication with
this issue. Here's a nostalgic look at columns and columnists no longer with us
but who helped us get where we are today. How many can you recall?
John Catalano tests two more programs to control the do-everything
BC-780XLT trunk Tracker -- the veteran ScanCat Gold 8, and the newcomer ScanPro
BC780XLT.
Jock Elliott gets psyched when he finds the Tech Link Hands-Free Walkie Talkies
at WalMart for less than half what you'd pay for FRS radios; he should have
taken the clue when he found them in the toy department . The AOR TDF370 Multimedia Digital Terminal has a daunting
name, but it is a very handy accessory which not only decodes digital
transmissions, but is also does an excellent job of digital audio processing;
see the review on page 87 and the recommendation on page 74.
English Lang SW Guide compiled by the MT Monitoring Team: Gayle Van Horn, Frequency Manager; Mark Fine, Frequency Monitor; John Figliozzi, Program Manager