Looking Back - 1939 to 2011 - the Autobiography of Robert V. J. Padula, OAM

1950 - World Radio TV Handbook

Home
1941 - Bikes and Cars
1943 - Hiking - Hills and Coasts
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 1
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 2
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 3
1945 - Auburn schooldays - Part One
1945 - Auburn Schooldays - Part Two
1945 - Auburn Schooldays - Part Three
1945 - Upwey and the Puffing Billy
1945 - Gramaphones and Record Players
1946 - Flinders St Station
1946 - Astronomy
1946 - Beach and Swimming Adventures
1946 - Going to the Pictures
1947 - Adventures at the Altona Bungalow
1947 -The Listener-In Magazine
1947 - Balwyn WIldlife Sanctuary
1948 - Fishermen's Bend Aerodrome
1948 - Radio Australia QSL cards
1948 - Excursions
1949 - Australian Rules Football
1949 - Radio Monitoring at Auburn
1950 -Trains and Ships
1950 - Radios for Communications
1950 - Radio Listening Clubs in Australia
1950 - World Radio TV Handbook
1950 - Shortwave Radio Propagation Research
1950 - Medium Wave Radio Propagation Research
1950 - Radio and Hobbies Magazines
1950 - Discovering shortwave radio at Auburn
1951 - Photography
1951 - Competitions on local radio stations
1952 - Camp Buxton - YMCA Shoreham
1952 Tennis and Ten Pin Bowling
1953 - Stamp Collectiong
1953 Camberwell High School
1954 - Royal Visit to Melbourne
1954 - Shortwave Radio reception at Auburn
1956 - Melbourne's Olympic Games
1956 - Trainee Telecommunications' Technician
1957 - Trainee Technician - field work
1957 - National Service Registration
1958 - Laverton Air Show
1958 - MOOMBA Parade
1958 - Trainee Technician - field work
1959 - The move to Mont Albert
1960 - Working at Deepdene Telephone Exchange
1963 - Trade Unions, Staff Associations, Industrial Relations
1964 - Senior Technician work in the Melbourne CBD
1964 - Project support for Radio Australia
1964 - Amateur Radio
1964 - Media Writing
1964 -Travels
1964 - Engineering Support for International Broadcasters
1965 - Professional Employment with PMG/Telstra
1967 - Professional Qualifications - Institution of Engineers Australia
1967 - Australian Radio DX Club Photo Gallery (to 1979)
1972 - Wireless Institute of Australia
1972 - Natural disasters in Melbourne
1980 - Australian Radio DX Club Gallery (to 1995)
1981 - Award of the Medal of the Order of Australia
1995 - Padula Books
EPILOGUE
LINKS TO AUTHOR'S PERSONAL WEBSITES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEPENDENT BIOGRAPHIES
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Oldtime Australian Radio Drama from the 1930s
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Radio Monitoring Clubs in Australia - 1920 to 1949
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Melbourne Picture Theatres - History - 1906 to 1970

wrth1947.jpg
WRTH Cover - first edition - 1947

The World Radio TV Handbook, known also with the acronym WRTH, is a directory of virtually every radio and TV station on Earth, published yearly. It began publication in 1947 as the World Radio Handbook (WRH). The word "TV" was added to the title in 1965, when it began including data for television broadcasting.

The first edition that bears an edition number is the 4th edition, published in 1949. The three previous editions appear to have been:

  • the 1st edition, marked "Winter Ed. 1947" on the cover and completed in November 1947
  • the 2nd edition, marked "1948 (May-November)" on the cover and completed in May 1948
  • the 3rd edition, marked "1948-49" on the cover and completed in November 1948.

Summer Supplements appear to have been issued from 1959 through 1971. From 1959 through 1966 they were called the Summer Supplement. From 1967 through 1971 they were called the Summer Edition.

Through the 1969 edition, the WRH indicated the date on which the manuscript was completed.

Issues with covers in Danish are known to have been available for the years 1948 May-November (2d ed.), 1950-51 (5th ed.; cover and 1st page in Danish, rest in English,  most ads in Danish), 1952 (6th ed.; cover and 1st page in Danish, rest in English, most ads in Danish), and probably others. The 1952 English ed., which is completely in English, has an extra page with world times and agents, and ads in English which are sometimes different from the ads in the Danish edition. Also, the 1953 ed. mentions the availability of a German edition.

O. Lund Johansen published, in conjunction with  Liberia Hispanomerikcana of Barcelona, Spain,  a softbound Spanish language version of the 1960 WRTH. The book was printed in Spain and called Guia Mundial de Radio y Television, and carried the WRTH logo at the time as well as all the editorial references contained in the English-language version.

Hardbound editions are known to have been available for the years 1963 through 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1975-1978, and probably others.

In 1950 I bought my first copy of the  WRTH, and  I obtained all succeeding editions until the present time.
 
Unfortunately, the 1967  edition in my library is the earliest I have kept. Pre-1967 editions prior to that were unfortunately discarded in a house clean-up operation back in 1966!
 
The WRTH has been my primary print reference in radio monitoring for over 60 years.  In recent years, WRTH introduced free on-line access to updatring information throughout the year, and this feature is a useful addition to the printed publication.
 
In past years, WRTH was published twice a year, usually in January and July, with the mid-year "Summer" edition being a much thinner volume with updating material.
 
In 1965, the company published its "How to Listen to the World" companion reference, which continued in various forms into the 1970s, when it ceased, to be replacerd by "The World DX Guide", which didn't survive.
 
I have been a contributing writer to the WRTH and How to Listen to the World continuously since 1969.
 
Below are two of my pix which were used in the 1960 and 1971 editions of How to Listen to the World, which accompanied technical articles I produced, which exanined long-distance medium-wave reception in Victoria.
 
 

htl969.jpg
1969 - my photo in "How to Listen to the World"

htl1971.jpg
1971 - my photo in "How to Listen to the World"

Most of the images in this site are thumbnails. Click on any image to see a full size verson in a new window

If you would like to contact me about my Autobiography, you can do this at
 
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