MN.12.05.1988. Glasnost Berlin

Driving back from a visit to the VOA Greenville transmitter site, we passed through Fredericksburg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg That reminded me that Mike Bird has started referring to the Fredericksburg Index in his solar forecasts. It turns out there is a connection. On the last Monday in the month Radio Glasnost, a new programme on a West German FM station is airing messages from East German (religious and environmentalist) groups. The show airs via Radio 100. But conservative groups object to the programmes and attempts have been made to silence the broadcasts. There has also been talk of jamming of recent broadcasts. The programme also talks to Pat Gowen who explains what the Phase 3C satellite will do for Amateur Radio. Pat explains the problems with earlier launches including Oscar 10. The memory has gone because of the Van Allen Belt. The Transatlantic Traveloge reports from the Dayton Hamvention. We talk to Joseph Fell, who explains why NiCD batteries fail earlier than expected. He has developed a solution called the GMS-403. Bob Horvitz reports on a new Interactive radio system called TV Answer so you can broadcast answers to the cable head end on 218.5 MHz. But in fact, it only being used for music videos. The programme concludes with a propagation forecast from Mike Bird.