World Radio TV Handbook 2018 Review
by Gayle Van Horn W4GVH
Teak Publishing
As December nears each year, in addition to holiday activities, radio enthusiasts are reminded that the release of World Radio TV Handbook’s (WRTH) annual edition is also in our future. This year is not the exception. WRTH 2018 released their latest edition, to worldwide listeners during the latter part of December.
Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher, begins this
edition with a brief synopsis of what is included in the book and some general
comments. Equipment reviews follow, with a look at the ICOM IC-R8600, a wideband
communications receiver, receiving rave reviews for it’s combination of a
modern SDR (software defined radio), below 30 MHz coverage, and a conventional superheterodyne
radio, referred to as “two separate receivers” in one.
Building on last year’s review of the
SDRplay RSP, WRTH reviewed their new model known as SDRPlay RSP2. The newer receiver
offers a considerably larger feature set and provides extended coverage down to
one kHz. The reviewer notes, “the RSP2 is hugely impressive.”
Are you looking for a high-end portable
radio? The Tecsun PL-880 is rated as Tecsun’s best product yet, owing to the
excellent DSP filtering and good audio. In contrast, is the Tecsun S-8800, a
larger, though considerably different transportable radio. An additional review
of the AOR AR-DV10, a hand-held battery-powered scanning receiver, popular
among scanner hobbyist is also included.
Antennas play a large role in your radio
reception, and the Cross Country Wireless
Active Loop, appears to be an answer to many antenna issues. The testers
conducted test-runs both indoor and outdoor. The Cross Country Wireless loop is
noted for its ease of assembly and disassembly, as well as being an asset for
those faced with limited space for antennas.
Another SDR review in this edition was the
Expert Electronics ColibriNano It gathered favorable attention from the WRTH reviewers.
The Nano offers a bandwidth of 10 kHz-55 MHz, and can be extended to 500MHz
with an external filter. Overall, the Nano received good reviews, comparable
with the lower-cost RSP2.
In the features section, well-known New
Zealand DXer, Bryan Clark, takes readers on an Antipodean Journey to Spain and Morocco. An antipodean consists of
two places situated diametrically opposite to one another on the earth’s
surface. Using this as a radio perspective, Bryan focused on his long-held
fascination for this part of the world and the radio-scenes for medium wave and
shortwave.
Freelance writer and active radio
enthusiast Han’s Johnson latest journey, takes him to Radio Romania
International in Bucharest. The station’s long history has covered the ravages
of war and communist dictatorship to the vast broadcasting improvements of
today. Radio Romania International retain a large multilingual voice to the
world with big plans.
Has the issue of noise and interference
continued to plague your listening area? The WRTH editorial staff revisits the
subject and delves in-depth on issues of concerns voiced by reader feedback. Since
noise and interference continue as an increasing problem, the WRTH staff has a
few ideas to consider in combating it.
In March 2017, Voice of Hope, the first
and only Christian radio station in Israel, began broadcasting on mediumwave
1287 kHz. Because of its mission and powerful coverage, the station is
well-placed to reach their Arabic programming into Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon and
Syria, with nighttime coverage into areas of Egypt and Turkey. Founder and
President of the Strategic Communications Group, John Tayloe describes setting
up a new medium wave station on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Radio nostalgic fans will enjoy Dr. Martin
Hadlow’s feature on exploring the history of broadcasting in Radio Voices from the South Seas. From
the new ‘technology’ of 1923, perils of WWII, and present day international
regulations, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation remains a critically important
role to listeners in the South Seas and beyond.
DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) began as an
experiment, with predictions as a major advancement in broadcasting, but has
not by many observers, ‘caught-on’ with world listeners. Is there any future for
this mode in this year’s feature Digital Update?
Ulf-Peter, adjunct professor of physics,
updates his annual HF Broadcasting
Reception Conditions Expected During 2018. During the year, he predicts a
good year for reception on the HF broadcasting bands, recommending an excellent
time for newcomers to join the radio hobby.
The National
Radio section includes domestic radio stations broadcasting to a national
audience on medium wave, shortwave, FM and DAB. Listings are grouped by country
and include frequencies, transmitter information, power, contact and website
information. The International Radio
contains the same information for international broadcasters airing to a world
audience.
Clandestine and
Other Target Broadcast, contain stations broadcasting politically motivated
programming, or those targeted at zones of local or regional conflicts. A
one-page listing of Religious
Broadcasters Cross Reference Table closes this section.
The Frequency
List,
covers by-frequency listing of world medium wave stations. The SW Stations of the World includes a by-frequency listing, followed by International Broadcasts in English, French,
German, Portuguese and Spanish in UTC 24-hour format. DRM International Broadcasts is arranged by UTC hour. Closing this
section is National Television
listings
by
country.
This edition ends with an extensive Reference section of country indexes and
codes, world transmitting sites, radio clubs, organizations and institutes,
selected Internet resources, WRTH abbreviations and symbols plus Transmitter Sites (location and decode
Tables) for international transmitter sites, Domestic SW Transmitter Sites, Standard
Time & Frequency Transmissions contain contact information and
schedules for worldwide time and frequency stations.
The World
Radio TV Handbook, 72nd edition, remains a gold-standard reference
book for the global broadcasting audience. It still is the most comprehensive
guide to broadcasting and a must reference in every radio listening-post. I
highly recommend this excellent publication.
World Radio TV
Handbook 2018,
is available from the WRTH website at http://www.wrth.com/shop/ It is also
available from Universal Radio at https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/books/2018.html.