[HCDX] Update from Afghanistan

[Paul Ormandy <paulorm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

 From the NZRDXL DX Times
(http://radiodx.com/spdxr/edxt.htm)

Cheers,

Paul

UPDATE FROM AFGHANISTAN
by Martin Hadlow in Kabul


British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) now has two FM channels
operating in Kabul. These simply relay programmes from London and, to my
knowledge, there are no local studios for break-outs. As I don?t have a
digital read-out on my radio, I?m not able to give the exact frequencies
(but I will check). BFBS-1 is mostly popular music and operates on about
102.5 MHz. BFBS-2, which relays both BFBS produced content, plus the
output of BBC?s ?Radio 5 Live? and Radio 4 news from the UK, operates on
about 105 MHz.

It?s especially interesting to hear the BFBS weather forecasts which,
obviously, target places where British forces are currently serving. The
roll-call includes Sierra Leone, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Cyprus,
Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Oman, Brunei and Kabul, amongst others, thus
indicating that the BFBS has an extensive network of transmitters in
operation.

Over the past few days, I have heard an Italian language station
operating very close to the BFBS-1 frequency in Kabul. No doubt this is
for Italian ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) personnel. I
feel sure that the AFRTS must also have an FM operation here too but, as
yet, I?ve not been able to hear any signals. This could be because the
main US Coalition contingent is based at Bagram Air Base, about an hour?s
drive north of Kabul. The base is in a valley surrounded by mountains.

The national broadcaster, Radio-Television Afghanistan (RTA) is seeking
immediate support to re-establish a national radio broadcasting network.
RTA?s old Soviet-era transmitter is off the air and cannot be repaired,
due to a lack of spare parts. A new transmitter, provided by Iran over
the last couple of months, is also off the air and awaiting spares. RTA
in Kabul is, therefore, now operating on mediumwave with only one 10 KW
transmitter. The Ministry of Information and Culture has indicated that a
donor might provide a 500 KW transmitter to RTA. However, obviously this
would take a long-time to deliver and install.

RTA operates a television service in Kabul utilizing a newly acquired
transmitter, the previous sender having received a direct hit from
Coalition aircraft at the start of the campaign against the Taliban
regime. The RTA television studios were installed in the 1970?s and are
still in pristine condition. They include old 2? videotape machines, as
well as high-band U-matic editing equipment. The old Toshiba studio
cameras are still operational but are slowly fading as the years take
their toll. We have attempted to purchase spare parts, but to no
avail.

The broadcasting situation outside Kabul is not clear, although I
understand there are mediumwave radio transmitters operating in several
major cities, such as Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

The BBC recently delivered two FM transmitters. One will be used by RTA
for transmissions in Kabul. It is expected that the other will relay BBC
World Service broadcasts. The BBC has also installed two state-of-the-art
digital radio studios at RTA. These are totally computer-based and
include Cool Edit Pro editing software. In addition, the BBC has
developed a small training centre within the RTA building.

UNESCO is working extensively at the Faculty of Journalism at Kabul
University. We recently sent eight senior lecturing staff overseas for
one month?s intensive skills-upgrading. In their absence, our office
rehabilitated the Faculty offices and installed a library and INFOYOUTH
Computer Centre. This will soon be supplied with a satellite Internet
connection, the first of its kind at any University in Afghanistan. Our
international appeal for reference books and textbooks for the Faculty
library has borne fruit and literally hundreds of titles are arriving in
Kabul. The Faculty of Journalism will end up with the most modern
collection of library books in the country!

Details of our media activities here in Kabul are available on the net at
www.unesco.org/webworld
There, you will also find an outline of the women in media network we have established, not to mention photographs of the Faculty of Journalism library.

Paul Ormandy
Host of The South Pacific DX
Report
http://radiodx.com