Mailbox

This week in Mailbox: The Czech pavilion at World Expo 2010, listening on shortwave, details to be included in reception reports, Bookworld 2010. Listeners quote: Chun-Quan Meng, Steven Bell.

Hello and welcome to Mailbox, Radio Prague’s programme for your opinions and questions.

Chun-Quan Meng from China listened to a recent Mailbox where we mentioned a special stamp issued to commemorate the Czech Republic’s participation in the World Expo in Shanghai.

The Czech pavilion at Expo 2010, photo: www.czexpo.com

“It is said that the Czech Pavilion for the World Expo 2010 is very unique and very attractive to visitors. I plan to tour your pavilion and other countries' during the coming summer vacation. In terms of shortwave broadcasting, I'm a loyal shortwave listener for nearly four decades, that is, I began to tune into international shortwave radios in early 1970s when many western countries' shortwave radios, especially the U.S., UK and Soviet Union, were labelled ‘enemy radios’! Of course, listening to those radios was very secret then – even my father didn't know about my listening activities before 1977! You know, the reform and open policy were implemented in China in 1977... Actually, for some special reasons, I seldom listen to shortwave radio online. For me, shortwave seems to be more convenient and more reliable!”

That’s indeed very interesting and thank you for sharing that with us. And to be able to target our shortwave broadcasts your way as best as possible, our technical experts need you to provide as many details as possible in your reception reports. Apart from your personal information we need to know the strength of the signal in your area which is rated from ‘excellent’ to ‘barely audible’, then interference, noise and propagation disturbance rated from ‘none’ to ‘very strong’ and finally an overall rating of the broadcast from ‘excellent’ to ‘poor’. And to be able to verify your report with a QSL card we also need to know a few details about the programme heard. The easiest way to send us a reception report is the use the form on our website www.radio.cz/en/report Please keep them coming.

Last Sunday, a four-day book fair – Bookworld 2010 – came to a close in Prague and Steven Bell from Canada responded to Radio Prague’s report on the event:

“It is nice to hear that such events are still very much active if it is only once a year... I am hopeful that the book fair will bring a whole new group of people to the event as well and… be rewarding for the people who enjoy books as much as the authors who put in the hard work and time to create such wonderful works on paper or those that do movie adaptations of literature. My happy hopes go out to the authors and to all who are involved in this event including the fans. May your love for reading and the world of books – or your support for such events as well – never fade.”

And staying with books and reading, Radio Prague, as every year, gives one of its listeners a chance to win a trip to the Czech Republic. This year its theme is literature. All you need to do is write a few sentences on this subject:

Which Czech writer or literary work do you like best and why?

The person who sends the best answer, which will be chosen by a specially appointed jury, will win a weeklong stay for two in Prague. There will also be prizes and souvenir items for runners-up.

The best answers will be featured in our programme and published on our website www.radio.cz on the last weekend of June.

Your entries should reach us no later than June 15, 2010 at the following address:

Prague

Radio Prague

Vinohradská 12 12099 Prague 2

Czech Republic

or via email at: [email protected]

The main prize is being sponsored by PARKHOTEL Praha. Parkhotel Praha offers visitors a blend of comfort and history, quality and modern design, within easy reach of the city centre.

There are no strict rules as to the word count but for inspiration you can take a look at last year's competition results at www.radio.cz/en/article/117663

And as every month you can take part in our little monthly quiz, which incidentally, concerns literature as well.

This month we would like you to tell us the name of the Prague-based author born in 1917 in Slovakia whose book was made into a movie that won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008.

You have another eight days to send us your answers to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Those are also the addresses for your letters and reception reports. Thanks for listening today and until next week, take care.