NASB 2024 Annual Meeting

From Jeff White at WRMI...

"Dear Friends:

I am happy to announce that Galcom International will be hosting the 2024 NASB Annual Meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on Monday and Tuesday, July 22 and 23, at their headquarters building.  You can find more details on the NASB website, www.shortwave.org.  Just click on Annual Meeting Info.

Galcom has reserved a block of rooms for us at a nearby hotel.  The price is about US$129 per night.

We already have our first speaker confirmed:  Fred Waterer, editor of The Shortwave Listener column in The Spectrum Monitor magazine, will talk about shortwave programming matters.  Other speakers and activities will also be added to the site as we confirm them.  We already have attendees registered from places like Florida, California, Virginia, Tennessee and France.  An excursion to Niagara Falls is being considered.  Any suggestions for topics and activities will be most welcome.  Shortwave broadcasters, listeners and anyone with an interest in shortwave radio is very welcome to attend the meeting."

NASB 2021 Postponed due to Covid

 

NASB 2021
Annual Meeting

URGENT! (updated August 6, 2021)
Meeting Dates:
The 2021 NASB Annual Meeting which was scheduled for September 9 and 10 has been postponed (again) due to the Covid-19 situation in Alabama. 

EWTN/WEWN has put all meetings on hold until further notice due to serious infections of the Covid Delta variant in the area.  We sincerely apologize to everyone for this inconvenience, and we hope that those who have airline reservations can change them to the new dates when we know what they are.   

If you have reserved a room at the Best Western hotel, please cancel your reservation.  There will be no penalty; no charges have been made to your cards.  Please check this website regularly for the latest updates. 

We hope to reschedule our annual meeting as soon as possible, and it will be in the same location at WEWN.  Please be safe, and again we apologize for this situation which is unfortunately beyond our control.  Thank you.

NASB 2020 Postponed

Just got this from Jeff White of WRMI:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:  The CEO of EWTN, owner of WEWN shortwave, announced on March 13 that they will not be able to host any meetings in the near future due to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation.  As of now, there is no way to know how long the virus is going to be around or how transmittable it may become, so we are trying to take appropriate measures.  NASB Board member Glen Tapley of WEWN said:  "As much as we are looking forward to hosting the meeting and getting together with everyone, we are going to have to hold off on hosting NASB.  Travel plans of attendees should not be finalized at this point.  We will stay in contact and keep an eye on the coming weeks and months and hopefully be able to host NASB later this year."  So please do not make airline or other travel reservations, at least until we are able to announce new plans later this year.  For those who have already made reservations, we hope that you will be able to cancel or change them due to the coronavirus circumstances.  We are sorry for this change of plans, but we hope that the situation will soon improve. 

NASB 2020 at EWTN / WEWN Birmingham, Alabama announced

National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters 2020 Annual Meeting

Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15, 2020

At EWTN/WEWN in Birmingham, Alabama, USA

This should be a memorable NASB, hosted by the shortwave station WEWN, launched by Mother Angelica on December 28, 1992.

Details here. As usual, there is no charge to attendees and shortwave enthusiasts are encouraged to attend. This conference is truly a highlight of my year. The members are the best and we always have such a great time. Come on along, you will be among shortwave friends!

More details to follow.

StarWaves all-in-one DRM module announced

As reported at NASB 2019, a new DRM module (W102) with integrated hard coded baseband decoder will be available from StarWaves.

The module will be suitable for applications such as consumer radios or aftermarket automotive solutions. The module contains a high-quality tuner frontend and audio DAC as well as a digital input for external audio sources e.g. from an external MCU to provide Bluetooth or USB audio.

It measures only 40x40mm and covers all bands from LW, MW, SW to the FM Band (64-108 MHz) in DRM and analogue radio. All data services such as Journaline or MOT Slide Shows can be extracted from the data stream for further processing in the target device. The module can be ordered and will be available in the 3rd quarter of 2019.

DRM Consortium Press Release here.

NASB 2019 hosted by TWR in Cary NC

NASB 2019 is planned for Cary NC at the home of Trans World Radio. Your DRMNA Admin will be in attendance again this year!

Thursday, May 9-Friday, May 10, 2019

Location: TWR International
300 Gregson Drive, Cary, North Carolina 27511 USA

Costs for Attendees:  There is no cost to attend the meeting itself, and the meals indicated in the agenda will be provided free of charge.  Attendees must pay their own travel and accommodation expenses.

HOTEL INFORMATION

Meeting Hotel:  Comfort Suites Regency Park, 350 Ashville Ave., Cary, NC 27518.  This hotel is 1.6 miles from TWR.  It is located in an area of shopping centers, restaurants, and a large Walmart store.  If you are not arriving by car, there will be many participants with cars who can provide you with transportation back and forth between the hotel and TWR.

Hotel Website:  https://www.choicehotels.com/north-carolina/cary/comfort-suites-hotels

Hotel Room Rate:  Suites are $119.00 per night, single (king bed) or double (two queen beds), plus tax.

Hotel Reservation Procedure:  Please make your reservation by phone to +1-919-852-4318.  Ask for the "NASB" rate.  Or you can e-mail your reservation details to shimp@comfortsuitesrp.com.  Please specify whether you prefer one king bed or two queen beds (same price).

Nearest airport: The Raleigh-Durham International Airport is about 15 miles from the Comfort Suites hotel in Cary.

Thursday, May 9, 2019

9:00 am - Meet in front of hotel for transport to Conference

9:30-10:00 am - Opening remarks from Lauren Libby, President, Trans World Radio

10:00-10:30 am - Tour of TWR headquarters

10:30-11:00 am - Coffee Break

11:00 am-12:00 pm - Shortwave Listening and DXing in Japan and DRM Update - presentation by Christopher Rumbaugh, DRM North America

12:00-12:30 pm - More on DRM from TWR's George Ross

12:30-1:30 pm - Lunch will be catered at TWR

1:30-2:30 pm - Presentation about TWR Africa by Gottfried Schiele and Mike Sabin

2:30-3:00 pm - TWR Cary's Joe Barker with an update on TWR Bonaire

3:00-3:30 pm - Coffee Break

3:30-4:00 pm - TWR Asia, including KTWR Guam - Presentation by Mike Sabin

4:00-5:00 pm - Presentation TBA

5:00 pm - Return to the hotel

6:30 pm - Dinner at local restaurant

Friday, May 10, 2019

9:00 am - Meet in front of hotel for transport to Conference.

9:30 am - Presentation TBA

10:00-10:30 am - Coffee break

10:30 am - Updates from NASB member stations and associate members:  WWCR, KVOH, WEWN, WRMI, KNLS and more.

12:00 pm - Catered lunch at TWR

1:00 pm - NASB Business Meeting -- Finance reports, elections, plans for NASB 2020 annual meeting in Brmingham, Alabama; other business

3:00-3:30 pm - Brief meeting of new Board members and officers

Great fun at NASB 2018!

Good things were planned at SonSet Solutions in Elkhart, Indiana and those fine folks delivered!

Charles Jacobson served as Emcee and host for two days of fun and fellowship at SonSet, a partial continuation of the services that we all remember as HCJB. SonSet and ReachBeyond are now the heirs to this PRICELESS Shortwave legacy!

As usual, folks assembled from around the globe to discuss, reminisce and plan the future of Shortwave radio. I am always awed at the knowledge and experience of the various attendees. Representatives from all over CONUS and as far away as Asia and Europe were in attendance.

Presentations ran-the-gamut from news, receiver technology, new installations, antennas... the list goes on. Here are just a few highlights!

Charles gave an informative tour of the plant at SonSet Solutions. He then detailed projects including work with the SonSet Radio (a rather robust and efficient fixed-tuned ministry receiver).

Ever the popular presenter, Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott presented Digital Broadcasts on Analogue Shortwave Transmitters. He is the producer of "Shortwave Radiogram" and is recently retired from VOA. Dr. Elliot wowed the audience with live decodes (transmitted from WRMI and WWCR) of Shortwave Radiogram via a SonSet radio. Presentation of foreign characters (Cyrillic, Chinese and Arabic) really showed the power of this novel broadcasting technology!

Gerhard Straub Director, IBB Broadcast Technologies Division presented and engaging talk on International Broadcasting Bureau Shortwave Projects with continued good news about our CONUS powerhouse in Greenville, North Carolina.

Jerome Hirigoyen of Telediffusion de France (TDF) offered details of the 360-degree Rotatable Antenna System known as ALLISS. I'd take one for my house, but the neighbors might complain!

NASB is known for excellent food and our dinner at "Das Dutchman Essenhaus" in Middlebury, IN (an Amish style restaurant in the middle of Amish country) was tasty and great fun.

Of course, if you are reading this blog, you want to know about DRM! Well the news was plentiful and I'd call it GREAT! Both George Ross of TWR and yours truly presented on DRM topics.

George had more news about the Titus II receiver. It is nearly ready from prime-time and will be using Fraunhofer MMPlayer. This is great news and should make for a very versatile receiver. Although there have been numerous false-starts with the release of the Titus II, it is nearing release and is still promised at the sub $100 price tag.

In "fly catching mode" I am seen here presenting the DRM global update  and extolling the virtues of the Gospell GR-216.

After my presentation, we moved to SonSet's hamshack to attach the Gospell to an external antenna. We were then treated to an hour of nearly flawless reception of Radio Kuwait in DRM stereo! It was really a joy and attendees that had never experienced DRM were awestruck at the audio quality and signal clarity from so far away.

NASB members gave brief reports about their efforts. Of particular interest is the work that J.D Tayloe of Strategic Communications Group shared regarding reviving an old KOL Israel site.

The business meeting handled NASB elections and plans for 2019. The location wasn't finalized but should be shortly. Stay tuned! Another great NASB conference! Thanks to the host, SonSet Solutions for another memorable and informative meeting!

Kim and SWRadiogram at NASB 2018!

Received Today from Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott. I will be hanging out with him and the NASB crew this next week. He's got special treats planned - see below!

Hello friends,

This email will provide information on the broadcasts for the next two weekends (47 and 48)

A special broadcast of Program 48 will be a demonstration of Shortwave Radiogram for the meeting of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB), this year hosted by SonSet Solutions in Elkhart, Indiana. Reception of Shortwave Radiogram will be on a SonSet radio, an inexpensive receiver designed for use in developing countries. Using an antenna on the roof of the steel warehouse building, replete with electronic equipment in operation, the signal will somehow be fed to the SonSet radio, and the modes will be decoded from what is received. What could possibly go wrong?

If for some reason an adequate signal does not reach the SonSet radio, Plan B will be to use audio on an mp3 recorded from program 47, using an SDR somewhere. For this reason, programs 47 and 48 have similar formats, but the content is different. Both shows will include slow modes, suitable for poor reception, such as on low-cost radios inside a steel building. And there will be some text in non-Latin alphabets.

For logistics reasons, the first transmission of program 48 will be moved up to 0800 UTC on 14 May.  To compensate for program 47 being bumped from the 0800 slot, program 47 will be broadcast at 0800 on  21 May. See this schedule chart ...

Program No.	Day	May date	UTC time	Frequency kHz	Transmitter
47	Friday	11	2030-2100	7780 9455	WRMI Florida
47	Saturday	12	1600-1630	9400	Space Line Bulgaria
47	Sunday	13	2330-2400	7780	WRMI Florida
48	Monday	14	0800-0830	5850 7730	WRMI Florida
48	Wednesday	16	2100-2130	9395*	WRMI Florida
48	Thursday	17	2030-2100	9395*	WRMI Florida
48	Friday	18	2030-2100	7780 9455	WRMI Florida
48	Saturday	19	1600-1630	9400	Space Line Bulgaria
48	Sunday	20	2330-2400	7780	WRMI Florida
47	Monday	21	0800-0830	5850 7730	WRMI Florida
*Special for the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, 17 May at 2030 UTC. The transmission on 16 May at 2100 UTC is to test the receiving and decoding equipment and software. Listeners everywhere are invited to tune in to one or both of these transmissions.

Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 47, 11-13 and 21 May 2018, in modes as noted:

 1:34  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:09  Olivia 64-2000: Supervolcanoes have advance warnings
 7:10  Olivia 32-2000**: Continued
10:15  MFSK16: Text samples of Russian, Chinese, and Persian***
17:03  MFSK32: Australia invests in space agency*
21:30  MFSK64: President Macron visits New Caledonia*
26:23  Image: Railroad on 10th Street in New York City, 1910*
27:56  MFSK32: Closing announcements


Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 48, 14-20 May 2018, in modes as noted:

 1:33  MFSK32: Program preview
 3:11  Olivia 64-2000: Mercury has thin but dense crust
 6:49  Olivia 32-2000**: Continued
 9:37  MFSK16: Text samples of Russian, Chinese, and Persian***
16:42  MFSK32: New solar still purified water*
20:29  MFSK64: South Georgia declared rodent-free*
25:13  Greetings to the NASB meeting*
27:43  MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image

** Use Olivia Custom setting: 32 tones, 2000 Hz bandwidth

*** Use UTF-8 character set (default in TIVAR and newer versions
of Fldigi)

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Twitter: @SWRadiogram or https://twitter.com/swradiogram (check frequently during weekends)

NASB 2018 in Elkhart Indiana!

Countdown to fun with your favorite shortwave broadcasters! Your admin will be there prepared to present. See below for the details. This is always a fun meeting. If you are near the Chicago area (South Bend, Indiana area really) c'mon and attend!

NASB 2018 Annual Meeting  
Thursday, May 17-Friday, May 18, 2018

Meeting Location: SonSet Solutions, 2830 17th Street, Elkhart, Indiana 46517-4008

Costs for Attendees:  There is no cost to attend the meeting itself, and the meals indicated in the agenda will be provided free of charge.  Attendees must pay their own travel and accommodation expenses.

MEETING AGENDA (updated April 9, 2018 - some items are still tentative):
Thursday, May 17

9:00 am - Meet in front of hotel for transport to Conference

9:30-10:30 am - Presentation about SonSet Solutions by Charles Jacobson and David Russell, Ministry President

10:30-11:00 am - Coffee Break

11:00 am-12:00 pm - Plant Tour of SonSet Solutions

12:00-1:00 pm - Lunch will be catered at SonSet Solutions

1:00-2:00 pm - Information about the new Gospell GR-216 DRM receiver and a 2018 worldwide recap of DRM news, presented by Christopher Rumbaugh of the DRM North America Group.  (my little bit!)

2:00-2:30 pm - Adventist World Radio Update by Dr. Dowell Chow, former AWR President

2:30-3:00 pm - International Broadcasting Bureau Shortwave Projects, by Gerhard Straub, Director, IBB Broadcast Technologies Division (tentative)

3:00-3:30 pm - Coffee Break

3:30-4:00 pm - 360-degree Rotatable Antenna Systems - presentation by Jerome Hirigoyen of Telediffusion de France

4:00-5:00 pm - Digital Broadcasts on Analogue Shortwave Transmitters - presentation by Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott, producer of "Shortwave Radiogram" (recently retired from VOA), including the live decoding of a Radiogram broadcast.

5:00 pm - Return to the hotel

6:00 pm - Leave hotel in carpool for Das Dutchman Essenhaus

6:30 pm - Group dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, IN -- a typical Amish restaurant in the middle of Amish country

9:00 pm - Approximate time of return to the hotel

Friday, May 18

9:00 am - Meet in front of hotel for transport to Conference.

9:30 am - George Ross of Trans World Radio with more news about DRM including the Titus II receiver

10:00-10:30 am - The Far East Broadcasting Company - update from Bob Springer, who worked with FEBC on Saipan for many years

10:30-11:00 am - The Potential of Shortwave Radio - presentation by John from VOTW Radio International

11:00 am - Updates from other NASB member stations and associate members:  WWCR, KVOH, WEWN, WRMI, KNLS and more.

12:00 pm - Catered lunch at SonSet Solutions

1:00 pm - NASB Business Meeting -- Finance reports, elections, selection of next annual meeting site, other business

3:00-3:30 pm - Brief meeting of new Board members and officers

DRM dominates conversation at NASB 2017

I just returned from another fun and interesting National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters conference, this year hosted by KVOH at Rancho Simi, California. Yet again, the enthusiasm for DRM was apparent with both the presentations being made as well as the conversations between sessions.

Full disclosure - I presented one of the DRM sessions. I covered the current status of DRM worldwide, the new DRM application Turms Tech LLC from New Jersey, the latest updates from Gospell on the GR-216 and a bit on the non-DRM topic of the VOARadiogram. 

George Ross followed-up with much anticipated details about the imminent release of the Titus II by PantronX. George is confident that we are about a month away from seeing production models become available. This receiver appears to be the game-changer we all have been waiting for.

We were also fortunate to have Jerome Hirigoyen of TDF in attendance. He offered us some details and insight about the SmartCast / NavCast development. He brought along a sample of one of the series of receivers under current development. Their ambitious project includes maritime weather and safety information as well as audio news and entertainment broadcasts via a system of MW and SW transmitters deploying DRM.

No NASB meeting is complete without a trip to a studio or antenna field, and attendees were not disappointed this year! Not only were the sessions held at the KVOH and 99.1 The Ranch studios (BTW original KHJ console seen in this photo!), but we all braved a death-defying van ride to the top of Chatsworth Peak, the home of the KVOH Transmitter! 

I rode in the van driven by KVOH's Ray Robinson. Mr. Robinson deftly maneuvered the curves, boulders and pot-holes to get us safely to the top and back again. 

JD Tayloe served as our MC for the conference and for our tour of the transmitter facility. He and his crew really took amazing care of us. A special shout-out to Bari and Ray for their fine organizational and driving skills!

As much as the technical topics and presentations are an attraction to attend NASB, I once again recognized that the friendships and camaraderie of this group are why I return. NASB members and enthusiasts alike come to share a bond and support one another in the thing they all love... Shortwave Radio! Of course we all love food too and the pair makes this small group inseparable.





We ended our adventure with a tour of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It really is a grand place. The Air Force One exhibit was truly the highlight for me. This Boeing 707 flew seven presidents, from Nixon through George W. Bush.

HOWDEE! Big fun at NASB 2016 in Nashville

Way back as a kid, I learned from Minnie Pearl on Hee Haw that there is nothing quite like Southern Hospitality. My Nashville experience was wonderful. The NASB folks (with local hosts World Christian Broadcasting and WWCR) really put on a nice conference.

Sessions were interesting and varied. DRM was well represented and the subject of much between-session conversation.

Below is my brief recap of sessions during the 2 day, shortwave industry broadcaster's conference held at the Hampton Inn Vanderbilt Westend in Nashville, Tennessee...

Day 1 - June 2nd, 2016:

Opening remarks from Charles Caudill, NASB president.

Kevin Chambers on Madagascar World Voice.

Panel discussion of HFCC with experiences from Brisbane, Australia.

Tribute to the late Mother Angelica by Glen Tapley of WEWN.

Dr. Dowell Chow on additional languages from AWR.

George Ross from TWR Guam with some exciting DRM updates and info on HFCC DRM tests. It seems the Newstar DR-111 recieved the best test broadcast decodes of the receivers in use (Newstar, Avion, Uniwave).

Yours truly presented a DRM update on India and a demo of the BST-1 car shortwave adapter.

Day 2 - June 3rd, 2016:

Ray Robinson and Rev. John Tayloe on KVOH and the new broadcasts from Lusaka and future work on MW from Israel.

Charles Jacobson gave the history of HCJB and a beautiful tribute to his father, the shortwave legend Herb Jacobson. HCJB is now SonSet Solutions and Reach Beyond Australia.

Ludo Maes of Broadcast Belgium gave us a preview of HFCC Miami this August.

There was an announcement that NASB 2017 will be sponsored by KVOH and held in Simi Valley, California.

As normal, the NASB members made me (and the other enthusiasts) feel welcome and part of the group. The famous DRM aficionado Zyg and I were treated to a private tour of WWCR by Brady Murray. Thanks Brady!

I even won a ticket to the Grand Ole Opry! Martina McBride and others serenaded a packed house.

Thanks to all of the participants and members that made this conference possible.