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From Community Radio - User Guide [http://web4all.in web4all]
Community Radio - A user’s guide to the technology
A guide to the technology and technical parameters of community radio in India
N. Ramakrishnan
Publication information
CR: A user's guide to the technology (2007) © UNESCO (2007) ISBN 81-89218-12-3 This publication may be produced in any media appropriately acknowledging UNESCO Published by : The United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) UNESCO House B-5/29, Safdarjung Enclave New Delhi - 110019, India Phone: +91-11-26713000 Fax: +91-11-26713001/2 E-mail: newdelhi@unesco.org Web: http://www.unesco.org/newdelhi Author, Researcher: N.Ramakrishnan (Ideosync Media Combine) Editorial Team: Seema Nair, Sajan Venniyoor, Gitanjali Sah Cover & Binder Design: Inverted Commas, New Delhi Inside page design and graphics: Mensa Computers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi Photo credits : N.Ramakrishnan:Pages 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 48, 57, 61, 73, 92-94, 96, 101,103, 104, 165-171, 204 Choy Arnaldo: Pages 14, 25, 26 UNESCO: Pages 11, 38, 76, 90, 100 All others images are courtesy the respective manufacturing companies Photographs of CR groups in action appear with permission of Samudayik Radio Mandakini Ki Awaaz and Hevalvaani Samudayik Radio, Uttarakhand Please send in comments and your experiences with this manual to newdelhi@unesco.org and: N. Ramakrishnan Ideosync Media Combine 177, Ashoka Enclave III Sector 35, Faridabad - 121 003 Haryana - INDIA Tel: +91-0129-4131883/6510156 Email: nram@ideosyncmedia.org Disclaimer: The author is responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this news piece and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organisation. The designations employed and the presentation of materials throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its frontiers or boundaries.
About the Author
N.Ramakrishnan is a development communications professional, trainer and author with more than a decade of experience in the development sector. He is also a cinematographer, editor, director, and technology enthusiast; and conducts workshops on community radio, developmental filmmaking and low cost radio and video technology.
With extensive experience in developing community-derived and community-oriented behaviour change materials, Ramakrishnan has worked on a number of behaviour change communication tools, including the National Award winning film Nirankush, on female infanticide in the Indian state of Rajasthan; and the acclaimed Growing Up/Badhte Hum/Time of Our Lives video module series on reproductive and sexual health for young people.
Ramakrishnan works with Ideosync Media Combine, a communication for development organization based in the NCR of Delhi, India,. He is currently engaged on several community radio and radio for development initiatives, including a cross border radio programme series on safe migration and HIV for Nepali, Garhwali and Kumaoni migrants.
Acknowledgments
This manual is the outcome of a number of years of practical field work, and the inputs of a vast number of communication and audio/video professionals that its has been my pleasure and privilege to work with over the last several years. Their advice, tips and generosity in sharing their own experiences and learning has been central to the compilation of the information contained in these pages.
This manual has also been through an extensive process of review on the Solution Exchange and CR India e-discussion lists. Mr.Arvind Kumar, Director (Broadcasting Policy & Legislation), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India, participated in this discussion by placing the use of this manual in the current context. The members of both lists have been more than generous with their time, and in sharing their vast experience and understanding of community radio technology and audio equipment for the betterment of this manual. Their combined knowledge is a wonderfully rich resource which I have made extensive use of in this volume.
In particular – and without in any way reducing the value of the contributions by the other members of both lists – I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks to the following community members who volunteered their time and energy :
Ashish Bhatnagar, Prasar Bharati (Akashvani and Doordarshan), New Delhi
Ramnath Bhatt, VOICES, Bangalore
Benjamin Grubb, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Douglas Bell, Education Development Center, Bangalore
Aaditeshwar Seth, University of Waterloo, Canada
Jayalakshmi Chittoor, Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), New Delhi
Michelle Chawla, Nomad India Network, Dahanu (Maharashtra)
Frederick Noronha, BytesForAll, Panaji (Goa)
My thanks also to Shri D.Singaravelu, Dy.Advisor (Wireless), WPC, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, for his key inputs on the technical aspects of the guidelines governing CR policy in India; and to
Choy Arnaldo, who has provided several photographs in this manual illustrating CR experiences from around the world.
A special word of thanks to UNESCO, for understanding and responding to the need for this manual; and specifically to Seema Nair at UNESCO, and Sajan Venniyoor and Gitanjali Sah at Solution Exchange who jointly constituted the editorial team for this manual. I thank them all for their enthusiasm and hard work in rearranging, clipping and pruning this manual into its final shape.
Last – but not least – my thanks and appreciation to my colleagues at Ideosync Media Combine, who helped organize a vast number of resources into something that I could use to write this manual; and to the members of Hevalvaani and Mandaakini Ki Awaaz CR groups in Uttarakhand, who provided valuable feedback on the kind of information that would make this manual usable and accessible to its users.
NRK
New Delhi
November 2007
Topics
Foreword
What they said
Introduction: Who is this manual for, and how should it be used?
Section A: Community Radio: An overview
Chapter 1: So what is radio, and how does it work?
Chapter 2: Technology I: Setting up a studio space
Chapter 3: Technology II: Studio Equipment
Chapter4: Technology III: Field recording equipment
Chapter 5: Technology IV: Transmission equipment
Chapter 6: Telecommunications & other ancillary equipment
Chapter 7: Planning for maintenance & management
Chapter 8: Assessing training requirements
Chapter 9: CR guidelines in India and their implications
Section B: Detailed notes on equipment & audio concepts
(See table of contents at beginning of Section B)
