The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1984 (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1984-03-01 / 3. szám
HUNGARIAN VARIETIES Shortwave radio — Hungarian broadcasts In the past few issues of The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, under the heading of Hungarian Radio and Television programs, there is a note about Radio Budapest, Hungary, and its English language broadcasts. As with all shortwave stations, programs are transmitted on different frequencies due to natural phenomena, such as the time of the day, sunspots, atmospheric conditions and the time of the year. It takes a while to learn the seasonal patterns of reception for the area where you reside. Generally, shortwave reception on the lower frequencies is better in winter than in summer. From September 1982 1 have been keeping monthly records of Hungarian language broadcasts that I have been able to pick up on my Sony World Zone CRF 330K shortwave radio, which has an antenna tuning device built into it, and allows for tuning the radio antenna, when it is fully pulled out of the set, directly into the frequency (not the meter band), you are hunting for. Also, I find a digital read-out dial much better than the slide bands on my other two short wave radio receivers: Lafayette HA-230 and Sony CRF 160. As I discovered, or rather learned after years of listening to shortwave programs, the selectivity of the receiver is very important if you are attempting to “get” stations such as Radio Budapest, which shares its spot on the dial with many other radio stations, or does not broadcast with high power (kilowatts), as has become necessary nowadays for many world-wide shortwave radio stations. For example, the frequency 6025 (kiloHertz) in the 49.79 meterband is used by eleven (11) countries throughout the world: West Germany in their Deutsche Welle service, Hungary as Radio Budapest, Malta (They relay the programs of Deutsche Welle or allow Deutsche Welle to use their frequencies when Radio Moscow increases its jamming), Portugal, with the government owned and managed Radio Portugal in their International Service, Radio Moscow, with several transmitters using high power 500 kilowatts and located Page 8 throughout the entire Soviet Union, Cape Verde, a small Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Mid-Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Malaysia, Bolivia and Brazil. Of this group Radio Deutsche Welle and Radio Moscow are the most powerful, 500 kilowatts each. Hungary and Malta are next with 250 kilowatts each. Since these four stations are located in Europe, their programs can be heard here in the United States only when the others are not broadcasting. If a major news story like the shooting down of the civilian Korean jetliner is broadcast by Deutsche Welle in a language that the Soviet Union considers harmful, Radio Moscow starts broadcasting in any one of their regular programs, or a jamming noise. And if you are trying to hear Radio Budapest you are out of luck and have to turn to one of their other frequencies, which I am listing here. First is their frequency and then the meterband. 6025 = 49.79 7155 = 41.93 7215 = 41.60 9585 = 31.30 9835 = 30.50 11910 = 25.19 11950 = 25.20 12000 = 40.00 15160 = 19.79 15220 = 19.71 17710 = 16.94 As I have stated, programs are transmitted on different frequencies due to natural phenomena. Also there are seasonal changes, usually winter and summer, and time changes, such as Daylight Savings, that is known as Summer Time in Hungary. In 1983 Summer Time started on the last Sunday of March and lasted for six months. However, some European nations use different times for Summer Time, and brings much confusion for the shortwave listener. “Take it easy! You’re not on your expense account now!" Generally, as of this writing, Jan. 2, 1984, Hungarian language programs from Radio Budapest to North America are broadcast at 8:30 PM, 9:30 PM and 10:30 PM EST. But the 8:30 PM program on Mondays may be an English language translation or adaptation of their “know the Homeland” program ... “Honismereti műsor.” English language programs from Radio Budapest are transmitted at 9 PM and 10 PM EST. Although Radio Budapest’s frequency of 9835 kiloHertz is presently not shared with anyone else in the world, and really should come in clear if theyare using the 250 kilowatt power that is their potential. I have had difficulty in hearing their programs since last summer. But I suspect they are not broadcasting at full power, since I can get Radio Rumania at 9550 khz, which is broadcast at the same power as Radio Budapest, and is further away. Hungarian language shortwave programs that I have received in 1983 include: Radio Canada, Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, Trans World Radio, Israel, Vatican, Deutsche Welle, BBC-Radio London, and for a week last summer, from China. Hungarian language shortwave programs are also broadcast by Albania, Italy, USSR, Turkey and various religious organizations, but as of this writing, I have not had the good fortune to pick up any of these programs. France used to have a Hungarian transmission that was easily picked up here in McKeesport, PA, but approximately ten years ago they dropped it from their schedule. —Dr. Victor W. Molnár THE MAILMAN Dear Sir, Recently I sent you some newspaper clippings about Magyars here in the United States and abroad, you might be interested in. I wait anxiously every month for the Eighth Tribe Magazine. Keep up the good work. My mother was born in Sárospatak and my dad in Saloka near Beregszaz. Isten velünk, a Magyar John Kovach Puritan, Pennsylvania Eighth Hungarian Tribe
