ILG History – How It All Began

Professional Experience in HF Frequency Management

1986 - 1989: Experience in frequency planning while assisting Radio Norway International

Aug. 1996 - Feb. 2004: Frequency planning/coordination for Iceland Radio

Feb. 1997: Coordination as proxy for HCJB Quito

Aug. 1998 - Aug. 2016: Frequency planning/coordination for ABC Radio Australia

Aug. 1998 - Feb. 2004: Frequency planning/coordination for HRT Radio Croatia

Aug. 1999 - Aug. 2016: Frequency planning/coordination for RNZ Radio New Zealand International

Aug. 2000 - Aug. 2008: Frequency planning/coordination for WMLK Bethel, USA

Feb. 2002: Coordination as proxy for SENTECH Johannesburg

Feb. 2003 - Aug. 2016: Frequency planning/coordination for AFRTS Iceland, serving US Navy ships In the Atlantic

Aug. 2009 Coordination as proxy for WINB Red Lion, USA
 

The Professional Work of BFM Consulting

Consulting
Year 1999 Marketplace for Short Wave transmitter site equipment (e.g., LPH ALGON antennas, BBC 53K transmitter, Marconi H1141 transmitters, Funkwerk Köpenik KSG 1300 transmitters, and many other transmitter site parts).

By the way, the BBC 53K transmitter of Adventist World Radio (formerly Swiss Telecom) was sold to WMLK Bethel, USA, but there were installation problems, and later the entire unit burned down in March 2017.

The insurance company paid for the damage, and the new Continental Electronics transmitter is still in operation today.
The information on the WMLK website regarding the seller of the BBC-53K transmitter is completely incorrect, as I was the one who sold the transmitter from AWR to WMLK!

Monitoring
1997 to 2001 Monitoring Analysis for AWR Adventist World Radio of all Short Wave services with reception report analysis and statistical surveys
2009 to 2014 Monitoring Work for BSKSA Riyadh of the Short Wave west beams with SDR Receiver records and analysing surveys
Since 2016 short wave Monitoring on request for various stations, deepin 7/24 monitoring and bandscans 2-30 MHz with signal anlysis and identification.
It is very helpful here that I have excellent speech recognition and a good ear for the various signal tones, which is crucial for accurate signal analysis.

Other Activities
 

The HFCC Conference Representation Work

Along to the Frequency Mangement support to various stations during the last 15 years, the main co-ordination work is made for Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand International since the beginning.
HFCC conference work was made at different locations:
since 2016 remote frequency co-ordination consulting for HFCC conferences
2015 February, Muscat, Oman
2014 2014, Sofia, Bulgaria
2014 January, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2013 August, Bratislava, Slovakia
2013 January, Tunis, Tunisia
2012 August, Montrouge (Paris), France
2012 January, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2011 September, Dallas (Texas), USA
2011 February, Prague, Czech Republic
2010 August, Zurich-Regensdorf, Switzerland
2010 February, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2009 August, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
2009 February, Tunis (Hammamet), Tunisia
2008 August, Moscow, Russia
2008 February, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2007 August, Birmingham, United Kingdom
2007 February, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2006 September, Athens, Greece
2006 February, Sanya (Hainan Province), China
2005 August, Valencia, Spain
2005 February, Mexico City, Mexico
2004 August, Helsinki, Finland
2004 February, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2003 August, Tromso, Norway
2003 February, Sandton/Johannesburg, South Africa
2002 August, Bangkok, Thailand
2002 February, Bonn, Germany
2001 August, Montreal, Canada
2001 February, Geneva, Switzerland
2000 August, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2000 February, Dubrovnik, Croatia
1999 August, Vienna, Austria
1999 February, Lisbon, Portugal
1998 August, Tunis, Tunisia
1998 February, Bruges, Belgium
1997 August, Warsaw, Poland
1997 February, Istanbul, Turkey (observer status)
1996 August, Prague, Czech Rep. (observer status)

1994 August, Paris, France (exclusive presentation of ILG Database at the HFCC conference)

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The Hobby Time

During my school years, from 1974 to 1980, I compiled station tables (listening guides) for the hobby magazine "Weltweit Hören" (Listening Worldwide) for German and English shortwave broadcasts.

I worked with the editors Wolf Harranth, Nils Schiffhauer, Michael Haun, Rainer Pinkau, Wolfgang Scheunemann, and Walter Eibl.

I ended this voluntary work because, towards the end, some tables were not published, and I was suddenly expected to submit almost monthly reports.

Later, I began publishing my own listening guide and the International Listening Guide (ILG) using simple means.

At first, everything was typed, and from 1984 onwards, a second-hand PC was used.
At first, everything was typed, and from 1984 onwards, a second-hand PC was used.
This Triumph Adler Alphatronic PC was a computer manufactured in Germany (one of a test production series) featuring its own operating system, neither DOS or Apple system and
was incompatible with all other PC systems. This computer operation required two drives, one for the operating system and the other for a 160 KB data diskette...

These booklets started with just a few pages, and the tables were improved and expanded year after year.

Unfortunately, I hadn't invested much money in technology, and disaster struck in 1999 when my old computer, which managed all the addresses, broke down, and I could no longer continue operations. I destroyed stacks of incoming checks since I could no longer deliver.

That was a mistake, because some subscribers claimed I hadn't returned their money. Shit happens...

A year later, I started distributing the databases on floppy disks. First with 5.25-inch disks and later 3.5-inch disks in various formats. All the disks were always completely full.

In the 1990s, we switched to the internet, and finally, the databases could be expanded to include much more data.