Pacific Radio News #13 ------------------------------- August 2006 News from the folks at the Radio Heritage Foundation [www.radioheritage.net] a non-profit organization sharing the stories of Pacific radio. In this issue --------------- Long Lost Australian Radio Stars Vintage Radio Moosic Kiwi LPFM Radio Station Guide Live WIN with our new 'pirate' Radio Hauraki Competition Armed Forces Radio around the Pacific Radio Singapore Roars Building a simple crystal radio in 1924 Wikipedia Volunteer Free Access Virtual Archives Long Lost Australian Radio Stars ------------------------------------------ Our very popular series continues with new entries from 3BO 'The Bendigo Station' and 4CA 'At the Top of Australia'. 3BO celebrated 75 years on June 4, and is where now famous talk host John Laws began his radio career. Meanwhile, 4CA Cairns celebrated its 70th birthday on May 16. Who were the station stars in 1946? Just check the stories and photos online now. Coming soon: 2NZ Inverell, 6IX Perth, 6MD Merredin [65th anniversary], 6WB Katanning [70th anniversary], 4TO Townsville [75 years on air], 2UE Sydney [81 years old and still going strong], and 2CK Cessnock. You can see the following on line now: 2AY Albury, 2CA Canberra, 2CH Sydney, 2HR Hunter River, 2KY Sydney, 3CV Central Victoria, 3MA Mildura, 4BU Bundaberg, 4WK Warwick, 5DN Adelaide, 7HO Hobart and 7LA Launceston.....as well as many other stories about early Australian radio. Vintage Radio Moosic ---------------------------- Tasmanian dairy farmer Alan Braid collects and restores antique radios. He says 'All the old farms around here have radios in their dairies and we all get good milk' and we've got this fun story online now...including the most popular music for cows and the best antique radios. Thanks to our friends at the Launceston Examiner newspaper for letting us share this. Kiwi LPFM Radio Station Guide Live ---------------------------------------------- Anyone in New Zealand can start up a Low Power FM station. No license application needed. This is the first guide to list nearly every one of the 500 or so stations that have come and gone over the last 10 years, and to offer three easy ways to search the list - by station name, by frequency, and by market location. It's online now, and free to access at www.radioheritage.net. The guide serves two key roles. First, as station status is activated, it's a simple to search list of current LPFM stations on the air in every market. This helps new stations find suitable spare frequencies to start broadcasting. Secondly, it's a historic record of how LPFM radio has developed since the mid-1990's and supports our virtual archives and station profile projects. Auckland records nearly 140 stations, Christchurch about 100, Wellington nearly 90 and Napier-Hastings over 50. WIN with our new 'pirate' Radio Hauraki Competition ------------------------------------------------------------------- Winner of the July competition for the book 'Shoestring Pirates' was Chris Faulkner from Wales. Thanks for the hundreds of entries! To enter the August competition, just visit www.radioheritage.net and you'll see our easy question.......send an email with the answer to us before August 31 to win a copy of 'A Fresh Pacific Wind' CD and the Radio Hauraki story 1966-1970. As part of our virtual archives project and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Radio Hauraki, the official 'pirate' pages are now starting to come online at the website....visit them regularly for news about birthday events and more..... Armed Forces Radio from around the Pacific ---------------------------------------------------------- Our popular series about these stations continues to expand. We've added two items about WVTB 'The Pioneer Radio Voice of New Guinea' with the Jungle Network items about to appear shortly. You'll already find AFRS Japan, AFRS China-Burma-India, and AFRS Alaska, as well as individual stories from stations such as WXLE Canton Island, WXLG Kwajalein, KMTH Midway, WVUS New Caledonia, WVUV American Samoa, WVUG Anchorage, KODK Kodiak and more....... Currently, we're working on the Mosquito Network, photos and more about WXLG, and a long overdue visit to WASA McMurdo, Antarctica...so watch out for these. We're grateful to vets and their families for sharing stories, photos and memories as part of our virtual archives project. Radio Singapore Roars ------------------------------- Radio historian Dr Adrian Peterson shares the early days of radio in Singapore in his latest column, from VPW in 1919, to 1SE on 910kc in 1927, to shortwave amateur station 2SE and many others. This is a well researched and entertaining look at Singapore's early radio history. We'll have another instalment coming online soon. Building a simple crystal radio in 1924 ------------------------------------------------- Coming soon, how to build a simple crystal radio set, using a design and instructions from 1924. In todays digital world, let's salute the simple beginnings of radio broadcasting from over 80 years ago....and we're sure it'll work too! This is the first of a new series looking at early radio technology. If you get stuck, ask granddad - he probably built one just like it! Wikipedia Volunteer ------------------------- Got some spare time and want to help spread the word about our radio heritage work? We need someone who can add entries about our stories and guides in Wikipedia and include links back to www.radioheritage.net. And, find existing entries in Wikipedia about stations mentioned in our virtual archives, and add links to them for us. This helps our content reach more people, and more people can then add more content so its great for everyone! Contact us today. Free Access Virtual Archives ------------------------------------- Creating a free access virtual archives about radio broadcasting from around the Pacific is what we're working towards. State archives often charge access fees, or make you visit them in person to get access to their materials. Many countries around the Pacific have no broadcasting archives. Many radio stations don't understand the value of recording their contribution to our daily lives. Many government agencies only support other state agencies with funds and resources. We believe that everyone is entitled to have free access to their social history, culture and heritage. The stories and images you see and the audio you hear at www.radioheritage.net are a small window into our growing archives. You'll find items linked to technology, the arts, history, personalities, architecture, music and much more....... The Radio Heritage Foundation is an independent non-profit organization of like-minded people located across the Pacific. We're supported by individuals and businesses who share this vision to protect the past for future generations. Please join us today. Donations to keep free access to the website and support our projects are welcomed. Volunteers who can help can email us at info@radioheritage.net today. Whether it's $1, an item of radio history, or one hour of your time, you can make a difference. David Ricquish, Chairman Radio Heritage Foundation PO Box 14339, Wellington 6241 New Zealand www.radioheritage.net PS...don't forget to enter our 'pirate' Radio Hauraki competition before August 31! PPS...unsubscribe requests may be sent to info@radioheritage.net with 'unsubscribe' in the header. However, we hope you don't mind hearing from us every month or so, and that you'll tell your friends and colleagues about us! Our apologies if you get more than one copy of this newsletter. Our budget doesn't run to mail management software!