What makes the FSU so interesting?

[mendeleyev]

Some signals got thru the jamming. I worked in a studio where some of the broadcasts were aimed inside the FSU and both sides had electronic games to play, in fact jamming of signals is one of the weakest defenses employed because of the technology available, especially to the West. We received responses to specific broadcasts so I know some were getting in. Had I been a Soviet citizen however, the penalties for listening were apparently serious were one to be caught, or ratted out by a neighbor.

I don't know if getting a pass in those days was easy "under the table" or not. I'll add that to Ed's question when I speak to Professor Pruttskov next. It is a good question.

[Boethius]

Had I been a Soviet citizen however, the penalties for listening were apparently serious were one to be caught, or ratted out by a neighbor.

You would not be imprisoned or lose your job, but you could say goodbye to promotions, a kindergarten/university place for your child, new apartment, etc.

[mendeleyev]

You would not be imprisoned or lose your job, but you could say goodbye to promotions, a kindergarten/university place for your child, new apartment, etc.

Pretty serious stuff in and of themselves. I would have thought that job loss would have been a possibility as well?

[Boethius]

My husband says the right to have a job if you were from the working class was guaranteed in the Soviet constitution, so that is why they didn't lose their jobs.  But, your future was a dead end because you were "not ideologically dependable".

Yes, that was serious.  In my husband's case, he was already from the wrong class with few privileges, so it didn't matter to him.  He never said he told anyone about listening, but he knew that the authorities knew he was listening to VOA.

[mendeleyev]

My husband says the right to have a job if you were from the working class was guaranteed in the Soviet constitution, so that is why they didn't lose their jobs.  But, your future was a dead end because you were "not ideologically dependable".

Thank you.

[Eduard]

VOA wasn't always jammed. I remember my parents listening to it when I was a kid in Moscow.

[Boethius]

My husband is around your age, Ed.  By the time he started listening to VOA, which was in the mid 1970's and into the 1980's, it was usually jammed.  I can't say what it was earlier than that, and I should've clarified that.

My husband said he stopped even trying to find a Russian/Ukrainian broadcast, as it was difficult to locate, but he could find one easily in foreign languages.  He doesn't know when the Soviets stopped jamming broadcasts, which I believe happened under so called glasnost', as he'd lost interest by then.

[mendeleyev]

You've both probably heard the joke about there only being two channels during the Soviet era?

It goes like this:

Now showing on Channel One: Dull Soviet propaganda programming.

Showing on Channel Two: A KGB agent yelling "Go back to Channel One right now!"

[Eduard]

My husband is around your age, Ed.  By the time he started listening to VOA, which was in the mid 1970's and into the 1980's, it was usually jammed.  I can't say what it was earlier than that, and I should've clarified that.

My husband said he stopped even trying to find a Russian/Ukrainian broadcast, as it was difficult to locate, but he could find one easily in foreign languages.  He doesn't know when the Soviets stopped jamming broadcasts, which I believe happened under so called glasnost', as he'd lost interest by then.

yes it was jammed at some point, I can't remember for sure when it was, but I distinctly remember my dad tuning the radio (even remember what te radio looked like, it had a turntable in it too) and them listening to it in Russian language I think. But I also remember that at some time all he could hear was white noise.

[mendeleyev]

But I also remember that at some time all he could hear was white noise.

I once had a producer who said that was what I sounded like on radio. 

Seriously, that was jamming most often of course. However you were listening to broadband/medium wave (AM), long wave, and short wave those days and terrestrial interference (sun spots, rain, heavy clouds) also gave out white noise. Very unlike clarity heard on FM frequencies because of their position in the wave length. FM just can't travel that far so it is not suited for international broadcasts.

The unmentioned place I worked during some of the Soviet years had several giant transmitters: a 1.5 million watt AM/medium wave, a half million watt AM/medium wave, two half million watt shortwave transmitters, and a half million watt long wave transmitter. To give you an example of the kind of coverage that produced, the highest watts allowed an AM station in the States is 50K and the highest FM is 100K.

Long wave and short wave stations change frequencies every few hours unlike an AM or FM that remains at the same permanent dial position. About 20-25% of our programming at any given time time was aimed somewhere inside the Soviet Union, rotating to different targeted areas with each timed frequency shift.

The facility had its own power plant as the wattage needed for those units far exceeded what the island power facilities could provide and the "RF" thrown off from those transmitters was so strong that lighting in the adjacent buildings didn't need to be wired. Fluorescent bulbs would light up as you pulled them out of their boxes. Engineers who worked inside the critical areas maintaining those transmitters rotated home/back in 3 month shifts because even in the 1970s it was well documented that continual exposure to those sorts of RF levels made cancer an almost certainty.

[SANDRO43]

Long wave and short wave stations change frequencies every few hours unlike an AM or FM that remains at the same permanent dial position. About 20-25% of our programming at any given time time was aimed somewhere inside the Soviet Union, rotating to different targeted areas with each timed frequency shift.

To dodge jamming? Didn't that make it difficult for listeners, having to re-tune their radios?

even remember what the radio looked like, it had a turntable in it too

So do I.  Old AM radios had vacuum valves rather than transistors, and they needed some time to 'warm up' after being turned on.

Our radio had a 'magic eye' to help finer tuning like the one above (green blob at right), and its panel was more mind-stimulating because it showed the names of station cities rather than frequencies. I still remember some then mysterious names like Hilversum, Barquisimeto, Cali and Simferopol .

[mendeleyev]

Sandro, I had forgotten about those old "Magic Eye" features! I also remember those old radios labeled with the city names around the world. Those were the days when a long wave and AM medium wave station could reach so much further than today--due to crowded dial space these days.

To dodge jamming? Didn't that make it difficult for listeners, having to re-tune their radios?

Not to dodge jamming. Short wave and long wave are international signals, therefore one station cannot "camp" on a dial position (there are a few exceptions) and stay there permanently. So, international treaties and agreements facilitate the sharing the frequencies and assigning frequencies based on day of the week and time of day (GMT) to various governments. Those governments in turn use some of the frequencies themselves or license those to other organizations.

When a short wave or long wave station moves to a new frequency it signs off by telling listeners where/when it will be next, although depending on the atmosphere and earth's curvature, that group of listeners may not be able to tune in to the new frequency--but a new group of listeners will have access at the new dial spot. Then there is anywhere from a 15 minute to couple of hours "down time" and when it appears at the new frequency there is a 5 minute "ping" (electronic logo, unique to that station) that is played over and over during that 5 minutes. This "ping" allows listeners to find and adjust the tuning to be ready for that programming. At the end of the pinging period the station signs on by identifying itself (international requirement) and then begins the programming for that new frequency.

Everything is calculated off GMT for international compliance and consistency. Although it has been years since I worked in that setting, I'm told that the basic rules and procedures haven't changed all that much over the years.

[SANDRO43]

Those were the days when a long wave and AM medium wave station could reach so much further than today--due to crowded dial space these days.

Reception of far-away LW stations was usually better at night, due to skywave propagation, i.e. reflection from the E layer of the ionosphere:

We could hear broadcasts from as far as Colombia and Venezuela.

[mendeleyev]

True. Haven't seen such charts in years! 

However if one organization has a license to use a frequency at 100KW in Europe and another organization has a license to use the same, or an immediately adjacent, frequency at the same time with 100KW in North America there will be a point where each signal collides and making both un-listenable in some areas.

Fascinating topic: skywave propagation as this often allows for a signal to "skip" to areas where it isn't always afforded coverage. There are guys who still "DX" and discovering a signal skip where one usually isn't found seems to give them a big thrill.  Not to mention filling out DX cards for collectable purposes.

[SANDRO43]

There are guys who still "DX" and discovering a signal skip where one usually isn't found seems to give them a big thrill.  Not to mention filling out DX cards for collectable purposes.

Amateur radio operators called them QSL (Query Station Location) cards. Q signals are a heritage of now-dead Morse, where the Q prefix stood for query/interrogative.

They were used in voice transmissions, too, due to their convenient brevity: for instance, when approaching an airfield, a pilot would ask for the current QFU (Query Field in Use) to be informed of the operating runway direction, QNH for the current local atmospheric pressure to properly reset his altimeter, etc. etc. (http://www.zerobeat.net/qrp/qsignals.html).

[mendeleyev]

As reported earlier this morning in the Mendeleyev Journal, the folks who run the Moscow Metro System (underground subway) sure know how to us happy--they're adding WiFi to Metro stations including stations along the Sokolniki and Koltsevaya lines, and including Metro station MENDELEYEVSKAYA! Yeah!

In testing since February on stations of the Sokolniki line, the free WiFi is now available on trains from Metro station Mendeleyev to Metro station to Borovitskaya.



(Russian readers can find the entire story at http://www.the-village.ru/village/city/transport/112529-wi-fi)

All 3 major Moscow providers: MTS, Beeline and Megafone are participating in the project. City officials say they plan to provide WiFi to each Metro station by 2016.

Provider Megafone has also extended wireless services to these bus routes leaving Metro stations and traveling to suburbs:
 48
 17
 7204

In addition, routes/buses № 425 Sofrino to Moscow and route/bus № 317 Krasnoarmeisk to Moscow has been equipped with WiFi.

While free for now, the city of Moscow has not said if at some point subscriptions will be needed to access the service.

[Eduard]

would you believe that many WM still believe that RW don't have easy access to the internet and a computer at home is something out of a SyFi movie!

[ML]

would you believe that many WM still believe that RW don't have easy access to the internet and a computer at home is something out of a SyFi movie!

A WIFI system in Moscow has nothing to do with internet access in small city X.

[Eduard]

A WIFI system in Moscow has nothing to do with internet access in small city X.

not simply in Moscow, it's in the subway, very deep underground. That's something!

[mendeleyev]

If you're traveling soon to Moscow, good news:

The temperatures will lift quite nicely and be 19C/66F by the weekend, just in time for Easter!

I had threatened Moscow TV Weather Girls last week, saying Muscovites should take up a collection to buy a new weather girl who'd bring some warm weather. Well, I am a man of action apparently because the news today: +19 degrees Celsius forecast for the weekend. Temperatures will rise to +9 degrees on Wed, +12 on Thur and +19 degrees over the weekend.

Springtime!

[mendeleyev]

Every day there are about 5 topics which dominate search engine links to the Mendeleyev Journal. As just one example we've been fascinated that a simple but delicious recipe for Russian black bread consistently, 365 days of the year, will drive several hundred "hits" every day to the Mendeleyev Journal food section. Russian food may seem mysterious but it is not. It is delicious, however, and it is often fun to create.

So this is one of those things that makes Russia (and Ukraine) so interesting...

ТЮЛЬПАНЫ, Tomatoes stuffed to look like TULIPS




 Ingredients
 Mozzarella (can be any soft cheese to your taste)
 tomatoes
 boiled eggs
 green onions, lettuce and sorrel
 Shrimp cooked
 mayonnaise
 garlic
 Salt and pepper to taste
 peeled cucumber
 
 (Note: Winter recipe calls for rice and corn kernels in winter months.)
 
 Method of preparation
 Cut Tomatoes crosswise making an incision, take out a teaspoon of the core and scald briefly with boiling water.
 
 Combine the eggs, cheese, and cucumber, cut into small cubes. Shrimp cut into 2 parts. Mix with mayonnaise and combine with other salad ingredients.
 
 Stuff the Tomatoes with the tomato tulips.
 
 Decorate tulips with lettuce, onions, dill, sorrel ...
 
 
Состав:
 сыр «Моцарелла» (можно любой мягкий сыр на ваш вкус)
 помидоры
 яйца
 зеленый лук, листья салата или щавеля
 креветки
 майонез
 чеснок
 соль, перец по вкусу
 очищенный от кожуры свежий огурец
 
 Способ приготовления:
 1. Надрезаем крестообразно помидоры, вынимаем чайной ложкой сердцевину и ошпариваем кипятком.
 2. Вареные яйца, сыр, огурец нарезаем на мелкие кубики. Креветки разрезаем на 2 части. Дважды пропускаем чеснок через чеснокодавку, смешиваем с майонезом и соединяем с подготовленными ингредиентами салата.
 3. Получившейся смесью начиняем наши помидоры-тюльпаны.
 4. Украшаем салат из тюльпанов по желанию: салатными листьями, перьями лука, укропом, щавелем…

[mendeleyev]

As we wrote in the Mendeleyev Journal, what a pleasant surprise it was when Aleksandra Kosteniuk (Александра Костенюк) dropped by the Moscow TV "Rain" studios this evening. Kosteniuk is the Russian chess Grandmaster and former Women's World Chess Champion.




Born in the Russian city of Perm, she became the Women's World Champion in 2008 at the age of 25. She was the reigning champion also in 2009. Her sister Oxana is also an accomplished Chess champion player.

Today she is a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of athletes committed to bringing peace in the world through sport. She is married and mother to one daughter. She writes a regular blog on chess at http://www.chessblog.com




USA readers will be interested to know that on 5 May will return to Tucson, Arizona from 2-5 pm at the Hotel Congress (311 E. Congress St., Tucson), for the nonprofit organization 9 Queens to host the 5th Annual Chess Fest- a free, family friendly chess extravaganza designed to promote and celebrate chess within the Tucson community. The event will feature a simultaneous chess exhibition where former Women’s World Chess Champion Grandmaster Kosteniuk will play multiple games at a time against Tucsonans interested in challenging the Grandmaster.



http://www.youtube.com/user/chessqueen



An accomplished chef, Kosteniuk's recipes for Beef Stroganoff has been published in culinary journals and she has teamed up with the large Norwegian Seafood Export Council to promote healthy eating habits, which include high quality fish, which contain OMEGA-3 oils.

Now a coach, she maintains homes in Miami and Russia.

[Anotherkiwi]

...USA readers will be interested to know that on 5 May she will return to Tucson, Arizona...to host the 5th Annual Chess Fest...The event will feature a simultaneous chess exhibition where...Kosteniuk will play multiple games at a time against Tucsonans interested in challenging the Grandmaster...

Wish I could be there!  My problem is that she would beat me so quickly I wouldn't have anywhere near enough time to appreciate all her other qualities! 

[mendeleyev]

Mendeleyev Journal: After months of talks and planning the work on expanding Moscow's city limits has begun as President Medvedev begins the process of moving Russia's governing bodies out of the centre of Moscow.

Earlier this afternoon the President chaired a meeting on establishing a parliamentary centre in the districts soon to be incorporated within the expanded Moscow city boundaries. Moscow as a city is widening its boundaries adding another 144 000 hectares in the area south-east of the capital.



L-R: Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov and Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko.

Moscow's population density is now 11,000 per square kilometre, one and a half more than in London or New-York and the president's plan is to expand the city boundaries and use part of the new territory to create a new parliamentary centre, a “metropolitan federal district” to which several state agencies would be relocated.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and (outgoing) regional governor Boris Gromov say that the area of Moscow will be multiplied by 2.4 and promised that the project will include government institutions to be moved behind the MKAD (Moscow Ring Road).

Included in the move will be the Duma (Parliament) and the President stressed that the government would develop "the kind of premises we need for the State Duma and the Federation Council and their staff in order to have good conditions for effective work. I look at this issue within the context of the decision to transfer state bodies from central Moscow to the new city, that is, to the districts that will be incorporated within the city’s expanded boundaries."

Primarily responsible for coordination of the move will be Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow (incoming) regional governor Sergei Shoigu, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov,  First Deputy Chief of Staff Vyacheslav Volodin, Presidential Advisor Arkady Dvorkovich, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Head of the Presidential Property Management Department Vladimir Kozhin, and Vladimir Resin who is a State Duma deputy and the Duma's Chairman of the Commission for Building a Parliamentary Centre.





The last major expansion of Moscow’s boundaries was in 1961 when the city's population was 6 million. The official transfer of the designated territory to be placed within city boundaries will take place on July 1 of this year.

Vacant government buildings in the centre will be converted to hotels. Moscow has a critical shortage of hotel space given the current population. Recently Moscow’s Cultural Committee recommended banning further modern-style construction in the city centre to preserve the historic character of Russia's capital city.
                     

[Eduard]

just came across this article... what do you guys think?


http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/why-many-russians-feel-they-are-nothing/456823.html