RECLAIMIING THE AIRWAVES ======================================================== Published by Free Radio Berkeley and the Free Communications Coalition September/October 1994 Copy left - permission to reprint given, please include contact info. ======================================================== An appeal for funds. In order to continue the work we are doing any donations to support the effort would be greatly appreciated. This movement is becoming international in scope. Special funding is needed to send a representative from Free Radio Berkeley to AMARC's world radio conference in Senegal which will be attended by community and native media activists from around the world. Free Radio Berkeley has been asked to set up a 300 watt FM station for the duration of the conference. It is extremely important that this occurs. Expenses for the trip are projected to be around $1800-$2000. Checks and such are to be made out to Free Radio Berkeley. Thank you very much. Stephen Dunifer Free Radio Berkeley 1442 A Walnut St. #406 Berkeley, CA 94709 (510) 464-3041 frbspd@crl.com ======================================================== Contents - page number approximate Do It Now ! page 1 Court Nixes New FCC Fine Plan page 3 Gerry Spence On the FCC and Corporate Media page 4 A Brief History of Radio page 7 Taiwan Fighting for Democratic Radio page 9 Pirate Radio Taiwan page 11 Kits & Equipment from Free Radio Berkeley page 13 Radios in Haiti page 19 SF Liberation Radio Expands Hours & Programs page 20 William O'Douglas on Government Media Control page 22 Committe on Democratic Communications page 22 On the Air page 24 ======================================================= DO IT NOW! You have been reading and hearing about micro power broadcasting over the last year or so, now is the time to go out and do it ! In this issue we are providing the inspiration. People around the world are taking back the airwaves, from Taiwan, where it took 7000 police to shut down 14 stations with most going back on the air after the raids, to Haiti, where a broadcasting operation was temporarily shut down with automatic weapons fire resulting in the death of 12 people, a few were able to escape with the transmitter. Here, in the Americas, transmitters are taking to the air in Chiapas and Mexico City. San Francisco now has two stations, San Francisco Liberation Radio and Radio LIbre, on the air every night of the week. Mabana Kantako (Black Liberation Radio), who is an inspiration to many, has been on the air 24 hours a day for over three years in Springfield, Illinois. Reports continue to come in of new operations going on the air. We are riding the wave of a movement that will not be stopped. Rapid spreading of knowledge and inspiration is a critical aspect of this movement. Further, it must be acted upon for it to have any impact. Such is the main purpose of this publication. Empowerment is our watchword. On the other side of this cover page you will be reading quite an amazing and diverse selection of articles. In addition, our line of kits is continuing to expand. A phase lock loop (PLL) controlled 1/2 watt transmitter kit has been added. It will drive the 6-8 watt, 10-15 watt and 20-24 watt amplifiers directly. With this type of digital control the frequency will not drift. Now, with this new kit along with proper output filtering, all the technical objections of the FCC regarding drift and harmonic interference can be met. By sometime in November AM and UHF TV transmitters will be introduced. Recognizing a good many people do not have the necessary technical skills to assemble the kits and put a station together, those of you who do have these skills are needed to act as technical mentors. An entire grass roots infrastructure must be organized, collectives consisting of people with diverse interests and skills. Knowledge and skill not shared with others is an anathema to creating any sort of grass roots community. Many inspired people really yearn to put a station on the air but lack the ability to do so. It is our responsibility to help them realize their dream. By teaching and working with others your own base of knowledge and experience will grow as well. Particular attention must be paid to youth in the inner cities. When people develop their own collective community voice it is an extremely empowering act, one that threatens the status quo in a rather serious way since disenfranchisement and disempowerment are two majors ways of keeping people down in the dirt. Lack of communication creates extremely negative situations where worst case assumptions are made and suspicion, mistrust, anger, and violence are a natural outgrowth of an alienated populace. Micropower broadcasting has the power to break down these barriers and restore a sense of true community. Create, nurture and build community, share your skills and dreams and put your voice on the air. Get an internet account so news, information and ideas can be rapidly spread amongst all of us. Sometime soon our radio programs will be digitally recorded, compressed and put on the net for distribution. Organize public forums and discussions on the democratization of all media. If you want to distribute this newspaper and other materials in your area please let us know the quantity to send to you, Enough words. DO IT NOW ! ======================================================== COURT NIXES NEW FCC FINE PLAN A federal court has rejected the FCC's revised method of assessing fines against broadcast, cable and telephone company licensees who violate commission rules. This legal finding could also impact the agency's ability to enforce the Part 97 Amateur Service Regulations. By way of background, in 1991, the FCC abandoned its long- standing case-by-case approach to assessing fines against licensees who violate the Communications Act. In its place, the agency agreed to set "Base Forfeiture Amounts" of fines for offenses in most of the services that it oversees including those encompassing personal communications activities. A telecommunications trade organization known as the United States Telephone Association challenged the fine schedule on grounds that the FCC adopted the new rules without notice and without allowing interested parties to comment. The U.S.T.A. claimed the rule was unfair because the fines were higher than those assessed against broadcasters and cablers. For example, the revised fine schedule called for broadcasters and cable operators who make untruthful claims to the FCC to be fined $20,000, while telephone companies would face a fine of $80,000. Some "Base Forfeitures" in the Amateur Radio Service were set at $8000. According to news reports, on July 14, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 3-0 decision turned down the new FCC rules. In fact, the court went so far as to say that the agency knowingly failed to give all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the policy change before it was adopted. The court's rejection of the fine schedule could even jeopardize the governments new schedule of punitive forfeitures against broadcasters who violate equal employment opportunity rules. This is because the FCC adopted new E.E.O. fines without first allowing interested parties to comment on the regulations. Already, the National Association of Broadcasters has already sent a letter to the FCC asking that the E.E.O. fine schedule be scrapped and all outstanding assessments be canceled. Several hams who are currently the target of FCC fines based on the portion of the new Base Forfeiture Schedule are already saying that they too will demand the actions against them be canceled as well. And this gives the FCC has only three possible options. It can appeal the Circuit Court findings to the United States Supreme Court seeking a reversal of the lower court decision. It can revert to its pre-1991 monetary forfeiture schedule and issue a Notice of Proposed Rule Making on a new schedule of fines. Or it can abandon all regulatory enforcement of the rules it creates and place the burden for disciplining communications regulatory violators on a government agency with investigatory and prosecutorial power such as the Department of Justice. The bottom line appears to be this. The FCC may now be reluctant to assess fines for any but the most egregious regulatory violations. This is because court decisions in matters of communications made on constitutional ground are normally considered relevant and enforceable in all commission governed services including Personal Communications. ======================================================== GERRY SPENCE ON THE FCC & CORPORATE MEDIA An excerpt from his book - From Freedom to Slavery Perhaps the most blatant betrayal of our freedom came during this century when the Federal Communications Commission, charged with regulating the use of our airways, instead delivered them to corporate America. What I am saying is simple and frightening: An agency of the United States government, the FCC, effectively transformed our airways into commodities and handed them over to the corporate entities that exploit us. Left with no means by which to engage in communication with each other, we became estranged, ineffective, and at last impotent. We became a people without thoughts of our own, without ideas, without values or viewpoints of our own to be shared with each other in the fullfillment of the democratic dream. Instead, we, ourselves, became commodities to be sold in the media's marketplace. I say we, too, were marketed. When we sit down to watch what purports to be the evening news we are being sold. We are an audience with a high value. Every program, from football to MTV, gathers its specific audience in the same way that the fisherman nets perch or halibut or salmon, depending on the market's demand. As fish in the net, we are sold to the advertisers as so many hundreds of thousands of middle-aged persons, or kids, or teenagers, or the affluent. We no longer speak back. We no longer speak to each other. We no longer speak at all. We are only silent. Silent listeners. And as water washes the rocks smooth and at last wears them away, so, too, our brains are washed into intellectual oblivion. With an evil magic, the brain washing transforms our children from the bright, the inquiring and the creative to mindless consumers, to empty headed shoppers concerned chiefly with things, and the means by which to acquire things. The brain washing turns our children into things for sale, things in the pursuit of things, things chasing dollars and the things dollars will purchase. The brainwashing has dehumanized us. It has left us comporting ourselves like lurepen slobs drooling at the trough where we are slopped like anthropomorphic hogs with the vacuous fare corporate America throws at us. The FCC could have, indeed, had the duty to make the airways available to a wide variety of interests that represent a free citizenry. The airways should have been assigned to television stations controlled by labor, by blacks, by women, by environmentalists, by small businesspeople, by educators, by farmers, by workers, in short, by the American people. Instead, without considerations--free--the FCC gave our airways to three mammoth corporations who now own them as their private property and, with other networks that have since come into existence, perfect the redesigning of our minds into those of the perfect consumer. Our minds have also been reformed to adopt a single virulent philosophy, a supposed wisdomsthat to prosper, Americans must support the dribble down theory of the New King, that to survive, Americans must abdicate their power to the corporate conglomerate. The FCC, itself a hopelessly entangled bureaucracy, one ultimately controlled by the gargantuan corporations it seeks to regulate, has repeatedly proven it can not exercise its power to preserve our rights. In fact, it no longer harbors any intent to do so. The corporations who own the networks are too large, too powerful, too entwined into the power structure to be controlled. ABC was swallowed up by Capital Cities Communications. NBC was scooped up by General Electric when it purchased NBC's parent, RCA. The FCC, itself, has become a part of the intimate corporate family. Its members and functionaries pass back and forth through the revolving door, today purportedly regulating the corporation, tomorrow, as their reward for good and faithful service, occupying a posh position in the very corporations they regulated yesterday. Justice Brandeis in Whitney v.California said, "Those who won our independence believed... that public discussion is a political duty," as, indeed, it is. Justice Brennan in New York Times v. Sullivan said, "thus we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wideopen .... "But how can we perform our public duty unless we control the means by which to communicate with each other? Worse, how can we be free when we are constantly reeling under the sedative of corporate propaganda? In retrospect, how could self government have been so easily destroyed by the simple devise of delivering our airways to the New King? The First Amendment guarantees our free speech. By implication it also guarantees the people's right to own and control the means by which the people can speak to each other. One would not claim the ownership of a useful interest in a car unless one also owned the wheels. Further, the fact that our airways have been stolen from us these many years does not eliminate our ownership of them. Time does not create a cure for an original wrong. If we steal our neighbor's cow, we can not argue that although we stole her, we nevertheless fed her for fifteen years, and, therefore, she now belongs to us. Equally Iamentable is the fact that that which has been stolen from us has been thereafter served back to us in the lowest form yet imaginable. It is as if our wheat has been stolen and we have been left to choke in the chaff. In their defense, advertisers and network executives contend that the American public is an unintelligent, unthinking, rustic conglomerate of doits. "Look," they argue, "at what the people choose to watch. "As one executive told me, "The viewers, themselves, demand the garbage we feed them. If they demanded a different cuisine we would feed that to them, as well." Another put it more succinctly: "We, in television, rise to the highest level of our audience. The highest level of our audience, unfortunately, is at the age of an average thirteen year old." I do not dismiss so easily the intelligence, the taste, or the wisdom of the American people. It is not the level of the people's intelligence that limits us, but the constant barrage of insipid, tasteless rubbish that is relentlessly dumped on us as if we live in the bottom of an intellectual land fill. And how could it be otherwise for advertisers? Most of the products hawked on television are utterly irrelevant to the good life we seek. Madison Avenue knows, of course, that, in an intelligent environment, it cannot sell that which is patently worthless. One is not as likely to buy sugar corn pops as a result of watching a conference considering the health hazards of America's diet as one is likely to buy the same cereal as a result of watching some empty headed sit com. I have tried too many cases before ordinary people sitting as jurors without developing a profound respect for their inherent, collective wisdom, their ability to absorb complicated facts, and their capacity to there after come up with a just result. It is easy to put the American public down. But those who believe that intelligence and taste, indeed, wisdom, are traits reserved only for corporate moguls and Wall Street bankers are the fools. People know. The collective intelligence of the American citizenry is awesome if, after it is fully informed, it is given a chance to honestly express itself. On the other hand, there is little doubt that if our intellectual diet consists of that which is currently offered on television, the old saying has relevance: "Garbage in_garbage out." Television producers argue that people want to be entertained. Of course. But that does not mean that people do not also want to be enlightened, delighted, and uplifted, and it does not mean that people do not want to be informed. Despite the myths of freedom that fog our clear vision, in the basement of their minds the people know they are trapped. They know they are rarely told the whole truth. They know their vote ultimately makes little difference. They know that they usually do not and cannot get justice. If one knows that one's fervent striving makes little difference and that the whole truth is a rarity, if one knows one is the object of continuous exploitation from every quarter and is helpless to do much about it, then entertainment is the answer, as escape and denial also become the answers. I do not disrespect the intelligence of the people. I disrespect those who have, by their own deep scorn and arrogance, so demeaned the people for so long that the prophesy of the people's intellectual impotence has often been fulfilled. But when we have taken back our power, when we again control our airways and our voices can again be heard on every major issue that effects our freedom, when we know that we truly guide the ship of state, the character of the media will have also changed. Then truth, then indepth analysis, then the presentation of facts (no matter how complex), then responsibility, yes, then art, too, will take precedent over the silly, the mundane, the false and the empty. Then, with the repossession of our airways, the people will begin a new adventure_the quest for the long awaited American dream. ======================================================== A BRIEF HISTORY OF RADIO Radio was discovered some 50 years ago by a dog named RCA Victor. RCA Victor discovered radio accidently by looking into a horn, and discerning the voice of his master. Ever since then, RCA Victor has been a tradition, and many have capitalized on his cocked ear and puzzled face. In the early days of radio, there were many exciting inventions. The Father of The Tube was Lee deforest. He evacuated a bulb left by the Gardener (coincidentally, a friend of RCA Victor) and stuck his in his thumb and pulled out some mysterious little bugs called electrons. When he put the whole thing in a wall-socket, he said "Yreka." And he heard the voice of London Calling. The voice said, "This is London Calling!" Radio grew apace after that. There were modifications of DeForest's evacuated tube. One of them was put together with some verve by Maj.-Gen. Edw. Armstrong. He called it the Heartstrong receiver. He was able to hear Trenton on his receiver. He also said 'Yreka!' which was a favorite quote of radio inventors. Television also grew apace. The first signal was a picture of Howdy-Doody sent from Seacaucus N.J. to Weehawken, N.J. The effect was electrifying. Howdy-Doody was seen from as far away as Bayonne. CBS then was invented to steal patents from RCA Victor and his friends. There were many suits. The transmission of radio signals is amazingly simple. A voice makes the diaphram (later called the 'IUD') tremble because of a basic flow of electrons. Electrons are also fondly called 'Little Boogers' by inventors who Couldn't find them too easily. This amplified signal flows through a series of coils and feeders (The Islets of Langerhans) in the first stage of amplification. The first stage leads to the second stage, which in turn leads to the third, and so forth. Finally the last stage is reached, and everyone goes out for tea. Radio developed apace with the coming of singing commercials. RCA Victor and CBS bought up everyone and their grandmother, including Saul and Roweena Triode who helped to found the Heaviside Layer, the Aether, and the tube which ultimately became their namesake: The Pentode. An unsung hero of these days was Senator Wheatstone, builder of the Wheatstone Bridge connecting Biloxi and W. Biloxi. He stated on the floor of the U.S. Senate that he would die content if he had his rye, Don Ameche, and The Breakfast Club. He was buried with honors in Athens, Ohio. After the war, radio went into its infancy. The continent was leaped in a single span, and a mother in Regina could hear the same Drano commercials as a truckdriver in Omaha. Familiar to broadcasters is "The First Time on the Air" also known as "Beginning Stomach". This quickly changes with experience to "The Oriental Clam". With the advent of Television (also called "The Third Eye"), radio came to be transformed into something else again. No longer would listeners depend upon the laughter and songs of G.J. Told of WOOD. No, soon the eyeball had replaced the ear; the cathode tube had put a single white dot on the sentence called radio. Instead of being an instrument for information and commercials, with brief sieges of entertainment, or top pops. New engineering techniques made possible the arousal of HiFi, which in turn led to Quadraportographic Sounds and Stereomagick Musics. The new horizon of radio is cloudy but bright. And so it is with a friendly wave that we say 'Goodbye' and 'Godspeed' and 'Godamercy' to our old furry friend, Radio. From RCA Victor, through Roweena Triode and The Joy Boys, it has been a fun-filled adventure into the electronic tingling of a whole continent. The Future of Radio is no larger nor smaller than we can imagine. Long may she wave. From Sex and Broadcasting by Lorenzo Milam ======================================================== TAIWAN: FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRATIC MEDIA by Winter Chiang In 1947, the ruling party in Taiwan, KMT, imposed martial law on the island. Newspaper, radio and television were firmly controlled thereafter by the government. Even though martial law was finally lifted in 1987, the three existing television stations are still run by various arms of the state apparatus. TTV is owned by the Taiwan Provincial Government. CTV is run by KMT; and CTS takes its orders from the military. Through its direct or indirect control over the two major newspapers and three television stations, the ruling party has been able to effectively manipulate public opinion and greatly restrict freedom of speech. In the eighties, demand for democracy swept over Taiwan; and martial law was increasingly challenged by voices from the opposition movement. Farmers, workers, environmentalists and human rights activists took their causes to the streets to demand legalised protection of their rights. To suppress the waves of social protests that were pushing Taiwan toward democratization, the KMT relied on the use of force by the military and the police. Mainstream media portrayed the protests as street violence and public opinion continued to be manipulated by the government. In the meantime, political magazines that were sharply critical of the government became popular. In 1986, the Green Team, an underground video group began to record faithfully social protest events and produced and distributed video tapes. Their work caused people to understand the opposition movement in a different light. Between 1987 and 1988, home videos produced by the Green Team and The 3rd Vision bore witness to major protest events in a social movement that marked the turning point of Taiwan's development toward democratization. In 1990, the Green Team established an underground television station to counter the pro-government election campaign invariably staged by the three TV stations. Others attempted to interrupt official television broadcast. Mobile underground television stations also joined in the movement against KMT control over mass media. By 1991, there were 300 cable TV stations in Taiwan, all of them illegal because cable was banned. In 1991, the opposition party, DPP, began to broadcast political speeches, reports of social unrest and political discussion programs on cable TV channels. Such channels were called " Democracy CTV". They began to produce news reports on local events to counter centralized control over news by the 3 televisions stations. This marked the beginning of community TV news in Taiwan. However, such efforts were still short of the spirit of a true community TV because they lacked community participation in program production. In 1993, the government was finally forced to legalize cable TV. Also, in 1994, underground radio stations sprang up and became the focus of attention. These stations opened hot lines for call-ins, enabling taxi drivers, home makers and other listeners to become street commentators on political events and social issues. The immediacy of call-in dialogues inspired popular participation and brought forth opinions that had been systematically silenced by radio stations that receive official blessing. More importantly, underground radio became a means of mass mobilization and a point of conflict that sharpened people's awareness of the inseparable ties between free speech and democracy. On August 1, 1994, the KMT government used helicopters and a police force of six thousand to crack down simultaneously on all 14 underground radio stations in Taiwan. The early morning attack provoked mass protests and a riot in the capital city of Taipei. Some stations resumed broadcast almost instantly and received large sums of money from supportive listeners. The crackdown only confirmed the martial law mentality of the KMT and its fear of free speech. Since 1986, people who pursue freedom of speech have waged a continous war against government control over the media. Their protests have been carried out in the margins of society, in the form of distribution of underground video tapes, TV broadcast interference, opposition cable TV or underground radio broadcast. The war has been waged against centralized control by KMT over the mass media, against official suppression of the people's will to free expression. Such is the scene in which the electronic media in Taiwan moves slowly but surely towards democratization. Winter Chiang works for The Taiwan Report The preceeding article is from the upcoming issue of Videazimut's newsletter Clips. The upcoming issue will be available in separate English, French and Spanish editions at the end of September. Clips is published three times a year. Subscriptions are $10 US per year in countries of the North and $% US per year in countries of the south. For a sample copy, please contact: ********************************************************** Videazimut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3680, rue Jeanne-Mance, bureau 430 . . . . . . . . . Montreal, Quebec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Canada H2X 2K5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: videaz@web.apc.org ********************************************************** ======================================================== PIRATE RADIO: TAIWAN An Inter Press Service Feature By Pamposh Dhar HONG KONG, Aug 11 (IPS) - Students shouting slogans and punching the air with their fists are the staple image of protests almost anywhere in the world. In Taiwan, however, security authorities start to fidget whenever they see taxi drivers listening intently to their radios. Most of the island's tens of thousands of taxi drivers are avid fans of Taiwan's underground radio stations, many of which are run by opposition parties or individuals opposed to the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Not only do the illegal stations criticise the KMT -- which has only lately relaxed its iron grip on the island since it was pushed off mainland China by the communists in 1949 -- they also encourage listeners to call in their views, an 'unthinkable' in Taiwan's state- dominated media. In addition, Taipei says the stations encourage listeners to take part in anti-government demonstrations, a charge that some of the illegal operators have denied. But then police descended on 14 of the stations two weeks ago and dismantled transmitters and confiscated equipment. As soon as the illegal operators managed to resume broadcast using stockpiled radio hardware, calls to hit back at the government dominated the airwaves. Scores of taxi drivers were among the demonstrators who vented their fury on police and journalists last week with stones and sticks. A few days later, an official of the government information agency was stabbed as he left the office. Bedlam had reigned on the morning of Jul. 30, the day authorities cracked down on the stations. Roadblocks had to be set to prevent taxi drivers from coming to the aid of their favourite stations. Reports reaching here say it also took nearly 7,000 policemen to battle operators and their supporters and dismantle 11 of the 14 transmitters. The following day, hundreds of demonstrators attacked government offices and burnt police cars in protest against the clampdown. Eleven people were arrested and 18 injured, including a policeman and at least one photographer beaten up by demonstrators. Opposition leaders charged the crackdown on the illegal stations was politically motivated since it came one day after members of mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) arrived in Taipei for talks with Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF). Indeed, Taipei watchers here say the initial protests that greeted the ARATS team on its arrival were not followed by a similar demonstration at the talks venue. They say the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may have been preoccupied with responding to police raids on the radio stations. DPP secretary general Su Chen-chang also said the authorities went after the illegal broadcasters because the stations were informing people about the corruption in government and other wrongdoings of Taipei officials. The government retorted that there was no link at all between its actions against the illegal stations and the Sino-Taiwanese talks. Wu Chung-li, deputy director of the Taiwanese Information Office, said the raids were carried out simply to maintain broadcasting standards and protect the rights of legal radio stations. In 1993, the Taiwanese government ended 40 years of media monopoly by allowing new radio stations. But many operators refrained from registering their stations under the stringent licencing laws, including strict capital and equipment requirements. At least of the illegal stations have applied for registration since, but their applications are still pending. Tensions have eased somewhat following last week's violent protests. But Taipei analysts here say there the island's taxi drivers may be sidetracked from seeking fares again in the coming months, when voters troop to the polls to elect Taiwan's governor and two of Taiwan's biggest cities. With most of Taiwan's electronic media still controlled by the KMT, the popularity of the illegal radio stations usually peak during election periods, when voters seek relief from the official rhetoric. The island's newspapers, which have benefitted the most from the government's relaxing of its hold on media, are increasingly becoming more critical of the ruling party. But many Taiwanese seem to prefer listening to the booming voices of the illegal radio stations. Some broadcast analysts attribute this partly to the stations' use of the Taiwanese dialect instead of Mandarin, the island's official language that dominates the media there. The analysts say the use of the local dialect appeals to the growing nationalist sentiment among the Taiwanese, who want to have their own identity apart from those in the mainland. ======================================================== KITS & ACCESSORIES FROM FREE RADIO BERKELEY First, a word from our legal department: For educational purposes only. These kits are offered for the furtherance of one's knowledge regarding radio frequency design and principles. At all times during operation the assembled unit must be connected to a dummy load. Part 15 of the FCC rules prohibits an antenna being used with these units. All responsibilities for the ultimate use of these kits are born solely by the builder and/or operator. KITS AVAILABLE NOW ! All kits are complete and come with professionally manufactured, drilled and tinned PC boards. All coils are pre-wound. Each unit, unless specified, requires 12 volts for proper operation. Full instructions and diagrams included. Required tools include a 25-30 watt soldering iron with a fine tip, diagonal cutters, needle nose pliers, assorted screwdrivers and other small hand tools. Full assembly diagrams and instructions are included with each kit. Antenna construction diagrams are provided with each transmitter or amplifier order. Certain kits are designed to work with each other. For those whose wish to boost the output of their Ramsey FM-10 the 1/2-1 watt amp will work very well for this purpose. The 30 watt amp is designed to be driven by 3-5 watts and works extremely well with the 5 watt transmitter. The 15 watt amplifier is designed to be driven to full power with about 1/2 watt of input power, hence it works very well with the 1/2 watt stereo transmitter or PLL transmitter. If you wish to only boost a 1/2 watt signal to 5-7 watts then choose the 6 watt amplifier kit. An amplifier only increases the output power of a given input signal, it can not produce an FM signal whereas a transmitter or an exciter creates the FM signal at a suitable power level for possible further amplification by an RF amplifier. 1/2-1 Watt PLL Transmitter - $95 Our newest kit. Full digital PLL control locks the frequency and prevents any drift from happening. Will easily drive the 6-8, 10-15, and 20-24 watt amplifier kits. Easy to assemble and a major improvement over the Panaxis PLL kit. If you have one of our 5 watt transmitter kits, they can be modified to be driven by the PLL transmitter. Full instructions are provided for this modification. 1/2 - 1 watt Stereo Broadcast Transmitter - $50 A vast improvement over the Ramsey FM-10. It uses the BA1404 IC as a stereo modulator only to modulate a FET vfo, buffer and amp chain. Better audio input filtering and bypassing. IC voltage regulation for the 2.5 volt supply for the BA1404. A very rugged output stage and collector voltage bypassing make this unit stand out from all other transmitter designs using the BA1404 chip. Requires 12 volts DC 5 Watt FM Transmitter - $55 An improved version of the Panaxis 5 watt design with a much more rugged output transistor capable of producing 5-6 watts. This is a very good basic unit that is very compact, fits into a 4 x 6 inch enclosure (available punched and drilled). Frequency stability is maintained by a well designed oscillator section. It is a mono unit that accepts line level input (i.e. an audio signal from a tape deck, mixer, etc.). A fine frequency adjustment control allows for easy adjustment of operating frequency. To increase power of this transmitter use the 30 watt amplifier. Both will fit into a 7 x 7 inch enclosure (available punched and drilled). Requires 12 to 14 volts DC at 3/4 to 1 amp for operation. 6 watt RF Amplifier - $30 Uses the same output transistor as above. It is designed to boost low wattage transmitters to a bit higher output power and will produce up to 8 watts of output power. A very small and compact circuit measuring 3 x 1 1/2 inches for 1/2 watt input drive. Easy, quick assembly. Requires 12-14 volts DC at 3/4 to 1 amp for operation. 15 watt RF Amplifier - $50 Uses a very high gain (14dB, power gain of at least 25X) RF transistor to boost a 1/2 watt input to 15 watts. Perfect for boosting the 1/2 stereo transmitter to 15 watts. Measures 2 1/2 by 5 inches and fits into a 4 x 6 enclosure (available punched and drilled). Includes heat sink. Easy, point to point surface mount assembly. Requires 12-14 volts at 2 amps for operation. 20 -24 watt RF amplifier - $95 $95 might sound a bit steep, but for those who do not wish to do an extensive amount of soldering and tuning, this is kit is for you. It uses a broad band high gain, RF power module which will put out a 20-24 watt signal for only a 100 to 200 miliwatt input. Kit requires less than 20 solder connections to complete, including a 5 element filter. Since the module is broad band from 88 to 108 MHz no tuning is required, plug and play as they say. Requires 12-14 volts at 3 to 4 amps. 25-30 watt RF Amplifier - $60 Will produce full power with an input drive of 3-5 watts. This unit works very well with the 5 watt transmitter kit. In fact, next to the 5 watt kit, it is our most popular item. Fits a 4 x 6 inch enclosure (available punched and drilled). Easy point to point surface mount assembly. Includes heat sink. Requires 12-14 volts DC at 4-5 amps for operation. 1/2 to 1 watt Amplifier - $25 1/2 to 1 watt output for an input power of 10 mw. Great for boosting lower power VFOs and low power Ramsey FM-10 type kits. Very compact size, 3 1/2 X 1 1/2 inches. An optional transistor can be substituted to take the power up to 1 1/2 watts, add $5 for this option. Output Filter Kit - $8.00 A seven element low pass filter, composed of 4 coils and 3 capacitors, to flatten those harmonics. Specify cutoff frequency desired, 94 MHz, 100 MHz, 104 MHz, 108 MHz. The cutoff should be about 2 to 4 MHz above the frequency the transmitter is set for. Please use a filter on any transmitter you to use to avoid possible interference with other services. 15 Watt Dummy Load Kit - $10.00 Essential for tuning up and testing transmitters and amplifiers. Will handle 15 watts without any strain, higher powers for a briefer period of time (i.e. shut down when it gets rather hot). Presents a uniform 50 ohm impedance to the transmitter. 25 Watt Dummy Load Kit - $20 As above, use this with the 30 watt kit for testing and loading purposes. Uses a single, film non-inductive resistor 50 Watt Dummy Load Kit - $35 Same design as the 25 watt unit, use this if you plan on running the 30 watt unit for an extended period of time with a dummy load. 100 Watt Dummy Load Kit - $50 Same design as the 25 & 50 watt units. Uses 2 film resistors. Stereo Generator Only - $30 Actually 1/2 of the above the stereo transmitter, will allow one to broadcast in stereo using the 5 watt transmitter with a very minor modification. HIGH POWER AMPS - USE WITH CAUTION 75 Watt Amplifier - $175 Requires 28 volts DC (two car batteries in series or 28 volt DC power supply). Point to point surface mount construction. Easy assembly, includes heat sink. Amplifier measures 6 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches. Only 5 watts input power needed to drive to full power. 125 Watt Amplifier - $225 Requires 28 volts DC (two car batteries in series or 28 volt DC power supply). Point to point surface mount construction. Easy assembly, includes heat sink. Amplifier measures 6 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches. Use a power FET RF transistor that requires only 3-5 watts of input power for 125 watts output. ANTENNA KITS These are partial kits, just go to your local plumbing supply or hardware store for the copper pipe and/or wire needed for completion. Full construction diagrams and instructions included. J-Pole - $20 Metal box drilled with SO239 connector, tuning cap and tubing clamps. This one is know as the "electricians special" since it uses mostly electric hardware in its construction. Works very well for urban areas. No soldering of copper pipe required for assembly. Can be adjusted for operation over the entire FM band. Slim Jim - $15 SO239 connector and clamps. Works very well for urban areas where a powerful horizontal pattern is needed. If used at too great of height, an area surrounding the antenna will be skipped over due to its low angle of radiation. Even at a height of only about 12 feet mounted on a traffic sign pole this antenna was able send a 5 watt signal 2-3 miles. Requires soldering of copper pipe. Can be placed inside a 6" piece of black plastic pipe for concealment. Provides a gain of 2-3. Dipole - $20 Plastic box, SO239 and clamps. Easy and quick design. Can be concealed by placing inside a 4" piece of black plastic pipe. 5/8 Ground Plane - $30 All necessary parts except copper element and ground radials. This is a great design and works extremely well. It is very portable and will boost the power by a factor of 2 to 4. POWER SUPPLIES Unless you are planning on operating from a 12 volt lead acid battery or from the lighter socket in a vehicle you will need an AC operated DC power supply. Wall adapter units can not used. We have the following units available. 2.5 Amp 13.8 V DC power supply - $29 Use this to power either the 1/2 watt transmitter or 5 watt transmitter or the 1/2 watt stereo unit in combination with the 6 watt amplifier. 4.5 Amp 13.8 V DC power - $39 Use this to power the stereo transmitter in combination with the 15 watt amplifier. 12 Amp 13.8 V DC power supply - $65 Use this to power the 5 watt transmitter in combination with the 30 watt amplifier METERS Power & SWR Meters These are essential to the proper tuning and setting up of both transmitters and antennas. An antenna has to be fine tuned so that it accepts the full power of the transmitter and reflects the lowest amount possible back, that ratio of forward power to reflected power is know as the standing wave ratio (SWR). The various stages of both transmitters and amplifiers have adjustable capacitors which are used to tune the unit to the frequency of operation. A power meter allows you to see the effect of these adjustments on the power level and to set everything at an optimum level. Economy Power/SWR meter - $35 A compact in-line unit that works up to a frequency range of 150 MHz. High Quality Daiwa Meter - $100 A dual cross needle meter that shows both forward and reflected power on the same meter face. Makes tuning up very easy, no need to switch back and forth between these two functions. Compact design with 12 volt connection for lighting the meter face. FREQUENCY COUNTER To accurately maintain your operating frequency a digital frequency counter is highly recommended. A digital tuner with signal strength indication can be used as a substitute. We have a frequency counter available for $80.00 COAXIAL CABLES A coaxial cable is a special type of wiring that has an inner conductor surrounded by an insulating plastic sheath which is covered by a braid of copper wire that is then covered by a plastic jacket. The 75 ohm video cable used in home TV applications is one type of coaxial cable. For most RF purposes, 50 ohm cable is used. Quite a number of 50 ohm coaxial cables are available ranging from the rather small to cables over 1" in diameter. Regardless of the type, all such cables exhibit a loss that increases with frequency of operation and the length of the cable. For most purposes we will concern ourselves with RG8 and RG8x (mini version of RG8). In very short runs RG58 can be used, but we prefer RG8x due to its lower loss and ability to stand a bit more abuse. RG8 has the lowest loss of the group. Under no circumstances should the cables be twisted, kinked or crushed, this will cause major problems. We supply both RG8X and RG8 in the following lengths. Each end is terminated with a PL259 plug. RG8X: 25 feet - $15, 50 feet - $25, 75 feet- $35, 100 feet - $40 RG8: 50 feet - $32, 75 feet - $42, 100 feet - $52 ENCLOSURES 4 x 6 aluminum chassis punched and drilled for 5 watt xmtr, 15 watt amplifier or 30 watt amplifier - $18 7 x 7 aluminum chassis punched and drilled for 1/2 watt stereo transmitter or 5 & 30 combo or PLL 1/2 watt. - $25 The Brick enclosure - $30 Combined heat sink and enclosure, will support a 1/2 or 5 watt transmitter and any of the booster amplifiers up to 35 watts. VARIOUS & SUNDRY ITEMS Tweak stick - $2.50 Essential to tuning transmitters and amplifiers. Non-conductive body with tiny metal blade at end. In tuning these transmitters and amplifiers a metal screwdriver will cause false tuning to happen due to the interactive effects of the metal and the holder of the screwdriver with the circuit. A plastic TV tuning tool kit can be found at Radio Shack as well. NEW ITEMS TO BE INTRODUCED BY NOVEMBER Stereo Audio Processor & Mixer A combined stereo generator, limiter and audio mixer 1-5 Watt AM & SW Transmitter kit with companion 25-50 watt amplifier kit 1-5 watt UHF TV transmitter kit with 15 & 50 watt amplifier kits Proceeds from the sales of these kits go to the furtherance of micro power broadcasting, bringing a voice of empowerment to every community. Please add $3.00 for handling and shipping for each kit. $5.00 for the 2.5 & 4.5 amp power supply and $10.00 for the 12 amp power supply. Add $2.00 for UPS 3 day services. COD orders add $5.00. Air mail to other countries, $5.00 per kit. Payment to be made out to Free Radio Berkeley Free Radio Berkeley 1442 A Walnut St., #406 Berkeley, CA 94709 Voice mail: (510) 464-3041 Net mail: frbspd@crl.com ======================================================== Radios in Haiti: A LITTLE VOICE THAT SAYS NO The lambi (a gathering call usually made with the aid of a sea shall) rings out. "Asosye li jou!" (Friend, the day has begun!) "Leve kanpe!" (Time to rise!) "Soley la leve!" (The sun's up!) It is 6 a.m., and the clandestine radio "Soley Leve" has started its broadcast on 94.9 MHz FM. It will continue until 8 a.m. and come back on the air at 8 p.m. Created in 1993, this station has made a name for itself in Port-au- Prince. The residents of the shanty towns surrounding the capital enthusiastically welcomed the renewal of its programming at the end of 1993, following an interruption for unspecified reasons in October of the same year. The low-power station is a daily headache for the military. According to a reliable source, the men under Michel Francois (the current police chief) are actively searching for its broadcasting headquarters. Serge Beaulieu, a fervent supporter of the military and the owner of Radio Liberte, which is just next to Soley Leve on the dial, complains of problems that the "pirate station" causes for his own programs. At the time of the signing of the Governors Island Agreement and the New York Pact,ppealed to grass-roots sectors to continue their resistance, even now, 29 months after the coup. "Komite rezistans pou jodi" (resistance committee today) and "komite rezistans pou demem" (resistance committee tomorrow) are continual announcements on Radio Pep Ayisyen (People of Haiti), Soley Leve's sister station, which broadcast its first program in April 1992. After silencing its transmitters for more than six months, Radio Pep Ayisyen renewed its regular programming in February 1994. A drumbeat announces that this station, usually called "Radio pep la," (radio of the people) is about to come on the air. In Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, people tune in at 1600 kHz AM. Its antennas are turned on about six times each day, with different schedules for each region of the country. This seems to be intended to overcome the problem of low transmission power. Radio Pep Asyen provides time for international news, in addition to its editorials and national news bulletins. "The suffering, struggles and victories of one people are the business of all peoples," the radio explains in an ad. In the time slot entitled "kozman pep la" (chatting with the people) the residents of poor neighborhoods and rural areas voice their demands and speak their minds regarding the country's problems. The same formula was used by Radio Lave Je (literally: washing living under cover in Port-au-Prince. However, they are determined to resume Radio Lave Je's programming. Since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown on September 30, 1991, several clandestine radios have come into being in Haiti. Radio Resistance Lavalas made its first broadcast immediately after the coup. It represented a breath of fresh air for the people of Port- au-Prince throughout the dark days of late 1991. During that same period Radio 29 Novembre became well known. These initiatives did not last very long, but they did make it possible to speak out despite a prohibition enforced at gunpoint. They represented a turning point that will leave a permanent mark on the evolution of radio in Haiti. Gotson Pierre CRAD Information Service This article is from InteRadio, Vol. 6, No.1., the newsletter of AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. InteRadio is published in English, French and Spanish. To suscribe or for information about joining AMARC contact us at: 3575 St-Laurent, # 704 Montreal, Quebec - H2X 2T7 Canada Fax: +(514) 849-7129 - Tel: +(514) 982-0351 Email: amarc@web.apc.org ======================================================== SFLR EXPANDS BROADCAST HOURS & PROGRAMMING by Richard Edmondson The big news at San Francisco Liberation Radio is that we've been broad-casting nightly for more than three months now and we're still on the air! Our door hasn't been broken down yet! Be assured, however, we are under no delusion as to this representing a new openness toward free speech on the part of our repressive government. My own feeling is that they are watching all of this, biding their time, waiting, like some reptile, for the right moment to strike. Our motto at SFLR has become: "Don't get com-placent; don't let your guard down!" I think a lot of the credit for our good fortune so far goes to our wonderful attorney, Luke Hiken, who seems to have the FCC tied up legally for the moment. That, plus the enormous amount of publicity we have gotten and the fact that we now have an international audience over the airways of Radio For Peace International are shielding us from government attack, for the time. Our first live, phone-in talk show is now a happening thing every Wednesday from 5-7 pm. "Voices of Rebellion" hosted by Keith McHenry of Food Not Bombs premiered July 6, and to our pleasant surprise we got about six phone calls that day. A regular feature on our Friday night line up has become "The Radman's Radio Revolution," an eclectic blend of music, poetry, and "Anarchy 101," hosted by the Radman. We just finished recording a 30-second promo for our Monday night program, "World Beat Music," with Captain Fred, which we now cross-plug at various times during the week. Yessiree! We're startin' to sound more and more like a genuine, bona-fide radio station every day! SFLR is, to my knowledge, the only station in the Bay Area airing childrens programming-and the credit for that goes to Annie Voice. Annie's program, "Time Out," airs on Thursday and Saturday nights from 7:30-8:00, and features childrens stories to teach and delight. Stay with us on Saturday nights, for at 8:00 it's "Annie Voice for Adults" as Annie brings you music, interviews and political satire from the Jolly Roger Comedy Troupe. Programming from Black Liberation Radio out of Springfield, Il., is now our regular Tuesday night feature. M'banna Kantako's interview with Ramona Africa on the Philadelphia police assault on the MOVE house was a chilling account of state- sanctioned terrorism and murder, and generated a lot of listener response. At the first of July we aired a program from the Food Not Bombs Radio Network featuring an interview with Dr. Alan Cantwell, author of QUEER BLOOD: THE SECRET AIDS GENOCIDE PLOT. That has now evolved into a regular Wednesday night feature entitled, "AIDS/Biowarfare Update" featuring the latest news off the Internet plus interviews with journalists and others involved in bringing this story to light. On Thursday nights we're "Sailing the Seas of Liberation" and sometimes they're turbulent seas. This program focuses on the secret government of the U.S., drug running by the CIA, corporate/government criminal activity, "free trade," and the crime bill and other attempts to dismantle the constitution and the bill of rights. Which brings us to what we all must do more of: "Protest!", airing on Sunday nights, is an in-depth report on the major demonstrations taking place in San Francisco and the Bay Area during the previous week, featuring sound bites interspersed with songs of social protest from the 60's to the 90's. We'd like to thank TUC Radio for its excellent 13-part series, GATT: The Secret Side of Free Trade, which aired over SFLR in June and July, and last but not least we'd like to welcome Radio Libre to the airwaves, our sister station on the other side of Twin Peaks. Finally, a very, very special thanks to everyone who has contributed -their work, their sweat, their labor, their love-to making San Francisco Liberation Radio a reality. "Alternative media" is only a start. Together we must create a true, whole alternative society, where we can live without fear, and have hope for the future. We must find a way to defeat the insanity fostered by the government and the corporations-while there still is a future. Do not be afraid. Always remember: "they got the guns but we got the numbers." Together we can do it. ======================================================== WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS ON GOVERNMENT MEDIA CONTROL "My conclusion is that TV and radio stand in the same protected position under the First Amendment as do newspapers and magazines. The philosophy of the FirstAmendment requires that result ....The fear that Mad-ison and Jefferson had of government intrusion ... was founded not only on the spectre of a lawless government but [on the spectre] of government under the control of a faction that desired to foist its views of the common good on the people ....The sturdy people who fashioned the First Amendment would be shocked at the intrusion of government into a field which in this Nation has been reserved for individuals .... The prospect of putting government in a position of control... is to me an appalling one, even to the extent of the Fairness Doctrine. The struggle for liberty has been a struggle against government. The essential scheme of our Constitution and Bill of Rights was to take government off the backs of people. Separation of powers was one device. An independent judiciary was another device. The Bill of Rights was still another. And it is anathema to the First Amendment to allow government any role of censorship over newspapers, magazines, books, art, music, TV, radio, or any other aspect of the press" ======================================================== COMMITTEE ON DEMOCRATIC COMMUNICATIONS The work of the Committee on Democratic Communications,a national committee of the Lawyer's Guild, focuses on the right of all peoples to a world-side system of media and communications basedupon the principle of cultural and informational self-determination.The Committee was formed in 1987 to look at the applicability of traditional First Amendment concepts in the face of the world-wide monopolization of communications resources by commercial interests, and to work for the Right To Communicate as an international human right. The committee supports independent media organizations and forms of communication, such as micro-radio, public access television, and cyberspace resources, and works to ensure that they can function freef rom government or big business control. The Committee offers legal advice and representation to groups and individuals seeking to establish and sustain such forms ofcommunication. Litigation support and policy analysis are the Committee's main activities. The Committee is currently active in constitutional litigation challenging the Federal CommunicationsCommission's policies banning low power community (micro-radio)broadcasting. In addition, the Committee is researching the micro-radio policy of countries outside the U.S. in an attempt to develop a model micro-radio policy for the U.S. that allows both for access by those interested in non-commercial broadcasting and freedom from signal interference for all broadcasters. CDC members have represented the Guild at the international meetings of the MacBride Roundtable on Communications and assisted in drafting that organization's proposed constitution. This effort,along with articles in the CDC newsletter and meetings with human rights groups, has helped to further the application of internationa law to the issue of the free flow of information in this country and worldwide. The CDC has advised the African National Congress on the proposed broadcast policy and regulations to be instituted under thenew South African constitution. Individuals, nonprofit organizations, public access coalitions, activist organizations, labor unions, community groups, schools, and libraries are only some of those who could potentially benefit from the developing telecommunications resources. The challenge will be to establish their legal and economic entitlement to these resources. Without universal access, democracy will have no meaning as we enter the 21st century. Once established, the right of expression within a human rights, international law context will need vigilant protection. In addition, the CDC is discussing putting together a conference in San Francisco for 1995 to address these pressing communications issues. The conference will be sponsored by the CDC in conjunction with Media Alliance, and will feature speakers from groups such as Media Alliance, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and alternative communication magazines such as Wired and Mondo 2000. While the CDChas received partial funding from a McMillan grant from the National Office of the national Lawyers Guild, the Committee still needs financial assistance. Finally, funding is needed in organizing the CDC's '95 conference. Money will be needed to secure the site, for publicity and for transportation costs for the keynote speaker. This an extremely exciting time for the CDC as we are in the midst of another phase of the communications revolution. Please support the CDC's work in democratizing global communication by joining today. For further information, contact: Committee On Democratic Communications, One Sansome St. Suite 900, San Francisco CA 94104 (415) 705-6464 FAX: (415) 705-6450 Email: pfranck@igc.apc ======================================================== On the Air ! At this the time of this printing the following micro power stations are on the air in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco Liberation Radio 93.7 - West and North of Twin Peaks in SF Sundays, 2 PM to 10 PM. Mon, Tues & Fri., 8PM to 12MID. Wed., 5PM to 12 MID. Thurs. & Sat., 7:30PM to 12MID. Radio Libre 103.3 - SF Mission District, Tenderloin, SOMA, Civic Center Every evening from 6PM until 10 PM. They announce the Food Not Bombs meal serving at Civic Center. Free Radio Berkeley 104.1 - Berkeley, North Oakland, El Cerrito, Richmond & Albany. Sundays from 8 PM to 11 PM, more days will be added soon. Call (510) 464-3041 for updates. South Marin 87.9 - Mainly Sausalito area. Every evening until late. San Rafael, low end around 88.1. In the evenings South and North Bay, and beyond. We have heard of folks being on the air from San Jose north to Ukiah. Unfortunately we have not received much information about times and frequencies. Any updates would be appreciated Activity is picking up around the country, several stations will going on in New York City, Seattle, and many other areas as well. We would like to hear about what other folks are doing out there, keep us informed. In Mexico City a 300 watt street station run by some members of the PRD is on the air in open deifance of the government. Several transmitters are operating in Chiapas, both units built by Free Radio Berkeley. Black Liberation Radio and Mabana Kantako are now on the internet. The email address is: townsend@eagle.sangamon.edu ======================================================== END of Newsletter