Richard Whittington, Frequency Schedule Engineer based at Feba UK, talks to Shannon June Kittlitz about scheduling and monitoring radio frequencies for short wave broadcasts.
Richard Whittington
Broadcasting signals can collide, causing quite a mess“Deciding which channel to broadcast radio programmes on is complicated. While domestic broadcasts are co-ordinated by the relevant governments, no one country has authority over short wave channels, so broadcasting signals can collide, causing quite a mess. A group of broadcasters called the HFCC (High Frequency Co-ordination Conference), linked to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), informally co-ordinates frequency channels used in short wave broadcasting. They host conferences twice a year to allow broadcasters to meet and sort out a schedule to maximize clear broadcasts and avoid signal conflicts.
I attend these conferences to register Feba’s frequencies. Before each conference, I receive the latest requests from the various Feba programme co-ordinators. They tell me things like the geographical area they want covered, what time slot they want and how long the programme is. At the HFCC, my aim is to acquire the best frequency for each of our programmes, in order for listeners to have an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Day-to-day challenges
My favourite part of the job is when I discover the frequency chosen in the planning stages is performing well and gives a clear signal – knowing the listener in the reception area will be able to hear the programme. However, finding a clear frequency for short wave broadcasting is not a one-time task. Radio waves are affected by the sun, so short wave frequencies change due to time of year, time of day, and the 11-year sun spot cycle. We co-ordinate two schedules annually: an ‘A’ schedule for the summer period (starting on time change Sunday at the end of March) and ‘B’ for the winter period (starting on time change Sunday at the end of October).
Even though I work in England, I do have ways to monitor our Feba broadcasts in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. For example, I can evaluate the signal quality from transmitter sites by listening to “sound bites” (short recordings) of the programmes. I also use the technology advances that computers provide to view a world map (marked with transmitter locations, predicting sun activity) to see the estimated signal strength to the programme broadcast location. All to achieve the supreme goal – to provide the clearest signal so listeners can hear about the love of Jesus Christ.”