Voice of America and Radio Marti shutdown.

[Blackswan73]

The Voice of America, long a bastion of democracy, has been silenced by the latest government expense cuts, Also Radio Marti, has been shut down as well. These shortwave stations will be missed. Is WWV next?

B.S.

 

[KF6DGN]

Hopefully, shut it all down!

 

[buddrousa]

Shortwave had its place back in the Day. But now with the Internet and Satellites and the other instant forms of communication are they really necessary?

 

[Blackswan73]

For many people, in areas inaccessible to internet, or areas where listening to non-state sponsored media is outlawed, shortwave is still very relevant and is for many, the only way to access the news

B.S.

 

[buddrousa]

1929 Model cars still burn gas and are drivable, but does that make them practical?
I visited the Voice or America in 1982 have you been there?
In 1978 I built a receiver clock in Electronics School to be set by WWV. It worked but the signals were not very strong or reliable.
For the money wasted in space and going to the moon you could feed and take care of all for the hungry adults and children for years.

 

[N2LHL]

Most major nations have a national presence on shortwave for a number of different reasons. VOA has always been a beacon of hope for many smaller nations with a message of freedom. I guess we no longer want to be that beacon of hope! So sad to see that VOA is silenced while China and Russia are still “banging away” out there!!! So much for the American message! RIP VOA you will be missed!

 

[richardbritt]

Shortwave had its place back in the Day. But now with the Internet and Satellites and the other instant forms of communication are they really necessary?

WWV provides way more than time information. Frequency standards that are used to trace test equipment accuracy, time intervals, in the calibration world, NIST is a must.

 

[buddrousa]

Turning off a transmitter does not kill everything. I am very aware of the things you mention.

 

[richardbritt]

Just making sure. Most people aren't. I worked in a DOD type 1 Cal lab for a bunch of years. Everything we used was traceable directly to WWVB

 

[buddrousa]

In my area we use GPS for timing more reliable than WWV.

 

[mmckenna]

WWV provides way more than time information. Frequency standards that are used to trace test equipment accuracy, time intervals, in the calibration world, NIST is a must.

NIST has some pretty good videos on the Youtoobs about their operations. In one of them they specifically address the continuous rumors about "WWV being shut down". According to the people that actually run the station, the cost of operation is very low. But that's unlikely to protect it from the current flood of stupidity.

But WWV/WWVH/WWVB is losing value every year. Yes, it's handy, but not like it once was. Technology moves on.

 

[nd5y]

I worked in a DOD type 1 Cal lab for a bunch of years. Everything we used was traceable directly to WWVB

No, your equipment that requires periodic calibration was traceable to NIST primary standards not their radio stations.

 

[Blackswan73]

I used to curse VOA when I was a kid(abiet very quietly under my breath) when their broadcasts would splatter over large swaths of a shortwave band. I lived less than a hundred miles from one of their transmitter sites. Now, I think I going to miss them.

B.S.

 

[BinaryMode]

Awesome! Money saved is money earned.

If some foreign country wants a taste of our propaganda they can just buy an IPTV streamer or use a Sat TV dish and watch CNN, FoxNews or MSNBC.

Yes, technology moves on. In 1929 police used the medium wave band (525 kHz to 1705 kHz) to listen to dispatch and then use a phone to respond back. Today, in this the 21st century they are mostly using an IMBE/AMBE digital vocoder in a trunked radio configuration...

 

[T680]

Most major nations have a national presence on shortwave for a number of different reasons. VOA has always been a beacon of hope for many smaller nations with a message of freedom. I guess we no longer want to be that beacon of hope! So sad to see that VOA is silenced while China and Russia are still “banging away” out there!!! So much for the American message! RIP VOA you will be missed!

Silencing the VOA and Radio Marti all fit with the regimes plans. Silence the free press and isolate the country just like all authoritarian regimes. Meanwhile military spending continues unabated.

 

[T680]

Awesome! Money saved is money earned.

If some foreign country wants a taste of our propaganda they can just buy an IPTV streamer or use a Sat TV dish and watch CNN, FoxNews or MSNBC.

Yes, technology moves on. In 1929 police used the medium wave band (525 kHz to 1705 kHz) to listen to dispatch and then use a phone to respond back. Today, in this the 21st century they are mostly using an IMBE/AMBE digital vocoder in a trunked radio configuration...

If they were looking for something else to listen to in SW now there are still plenty of stations broadcasting Brother Stair and the like for their propaganda.

 

[K3HY]

If they were looking for something else to listen to in SW now there are still plenty of stations broadcasting Brother Stair and the like for their propaganda.

They will still need the VOA in 'Special' english, because most of their constituents are so S-L-O-W. LOL

 

[buddrousa]

Please leave politics out of this and just discuss the technical merits.
Before this thread gets locked.

 

[nd5y]

Silencing the VOA and Radio Marti all fit with the regimes plans. Silence the free press and isolate the country just like all authoritarian regimes.

VOA and Radio Marti are not the free press and they are not broadcast to domestic US audiences.

 

[rs16]

WWV provides way more than time information. Frequency standards that are used to trace test equipment accuracy, time intervals, in the calibration world, NIST is a must.

I have a Casio G-Shock that calibrates every night at midnight from Colorado, I think. Does this mean that this calibration will be ending soon?