MONTHLY REPORT--LONDON BUREAU--SEPTEMBER 1987

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: October 2, 1987
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
2 October 1987
MLD-7035
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
FROM : Chief, FBIS London Bureau
THROUGH Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report -- London Bureau -- September 1987
1. BBC operators have begun training on the new computer-driven
control system which will allow full use of the two - er
Crows ey ar . Cruising operations
on t e dishes are tentatively scheduled to beOin in late
October.
2. In another BBC development, Director General STAT
announced early in the month that the BBC is considering radical
new ways to raise extra money and that it has "put away its
begging bowl." The bureau plans to take this under advisement
in future dealings with the Monitoring Service over questions
related to payments for our respective modernization programs.
3. Islamabad Unit: Regional engineer visited the STAT
unit late in the month to look into growing BBC complaints over
problems with Islamabad feeds. He corrected a number of
technical faults, with the result that BBC noted a definite
improvement in both the quality and quantity of monitorable
transmissions. The London bureau chief, who was in Islamabad at
the same time, obtained permission from the Embassy to erect a
new longwire antenna for improved Tehran mediumwave reception.
By month's end, the pole for the new antenna had been installed
with completion awaiting receipt of cabling from Vienna Bureau.
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. The bureau editorial staff and BBC received praise from
Chief/Operations Group during the month for the handling of
SED General Secretary Honecker's 7-11 September FRG visit.
Bureau coverage included a special roundup of East European
treatment of the visit. Cologne Unit was also included in
the Headquarters praise for its contribution in covering
the visit.
2. A message from Headquarters relaying State Department
thanks for "extraordinarily timely" reporting on
Afghanistan and citing continuing intense interest in
Afghanistan was passed to the BBC as further proof of our
need for an extra effort from the Pashto/Dari team.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
3. Headquarters thanks for bureau reportage on the coup in
Burundi were passed to BBC's East African Unit. Receipt of
material from the unit has improved with the upgrade of its
circuit during the month from 50 to 75 baud.
4. PMU was in coordination with Jordan and Nicosia Bureaus
during the month in an attempt to improve Arabic press
coverage allocation. On 10 September PMU resumed coverage
of AL-SHARQ AL-ASWAT, thus consolidating all London-based
Arabic press coverage at PMU. Effective 1 October, PMU
will relinquish coverage of Cairo AL-WAFD to Jordan to
facilitate Egyptian coverage and coordination and will
assume coverage of three Saudi papers no longer available
in Amman.
B. Communications
1. Trouble-free installation of the Autodin KG-84 equipment
was carried out on 17 September. The bureau engineering
staff had prepared for the installation in advance by
laying all the necessary wiring and installing an isolated
jackfield which will ensure a smooth shift to conventional
transmissions in the event of KG-84 equipment failure. The
actual cutover date, which is contingent on the Croughton
ASC, is expected to be in early October.
2. After extensive coordination with Austria and Headquarters,
the bureau on 22 September switched its Frederick 1403 tape
reader from the Vienna VCVC backup to the Headquarters
dedicated circuit. This shift was necessary to provide
automatic numbering to ease transmission to the unforgiving
Headquarters AFS system during backstop situations.
Subsequent tests with Vienna have shown that it has no
problem receiving manually transmitted channel numbers via
an ASR. We will be receiving an additional Frederick 1403
from Bangkok in the coming months to use as a spare for the
dedicated line.
3. On the 29th London Bureau began protecting Vienna-
originated copy "until further notice," while they attempt
to solve a garbling problem on their primary circuit.
4. Internet: The bureau received authorization during the
month from the British Office of Telecommunications to use
the Dantel orderwire on the Internet system.
C. Lateral Services
1. In what appears to be a growing trend, the bureau handled a
number of ad hoc requests throughout the month for video
recordings from various sources. Services included 5 hours
of Moscow TV for training purposes for the U.S. 6988th
Electronic Surveillance Unit at RAF Mildenhall; an ITV
documentary on Lebanon for Headquarters consumers, the U.S.
Embassy in Beirut and, last but not least, for the BBCMS
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798ROO0200230005-5
general manager; Warsaw TV footage on Vice President Bush's
Poland visit for a Headquarters consumer; and responding to
a priority headquarters request for an Internet feed of a
Moscow TV report on the anniversary of IL-62 flights. We
also relayed to Headquarters a request from the U.S.
Embassy in Moscow for some Moscow TV footage not covered by
the bureau. Cologne Unit also got into the act by
responding to a request from LRB for express delivery of an
FRG TV interview with Chaos Computer Club hackers.
2. At the request of a Secret Service officer in London as
part of the advance party for the Vice President's visit,
the bureau editorial staff and PMU collected relevant
reportage on Bush's European tour and passed it to the
advance party at the U.S. Embassy.
D. Technical
1. The IBM PC's used for header preparation have been replaced
with Victor VPC II hardware supplied by Headquarters. The
Victors have been equipped with "gixpackplus" PC boards
removed from the IBM computers. In another automation-
related development, non-glare lamp fittings have been
installed in all rooms where personal computers are being
used.
2. The bureau TV Room has been upgraded with new 5630 VCR's,
monitors and tuners to make life easier for the technicians
involved in meeting the growing demand for video
recordings. Digital timers have been fitted to and
installed in racks, thus freeing up badly needed space in
this area. One of the old monitors from the TV Room has
been installed in PMU and a BBC UHF feed set up to meet a
longstanding PMU requirement for access to Moscow TV. The
second monitor has been placed in the chief editor's office
as part of a TV monitoring station for use by editors when
processing from UK TV.
3. Thanks to an influx of year-end money, the bureau was able
to replace its aging copiers as well as two Facit printers
on the Autodin terminals. The replacement of the two Model
4540 Facit's with the current 4542 printers has eliminated
a potentially serious problem caused by the growing
scarcity of spares for the 4540's. We also procured an
E-Prom programmer for fabricating bureau-designed
equipment, saving us from the inconvenience of constantly
borrowing from the BBC.
4. The final bit of year-end money was used to contract for
cabling and installation of new signal feed cables for use
when the BBC takes possession of the new building and
begins internal cabling work in preparation for moving the
BBC technical plant into this area sometime in the late
fall or early winter.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798ROO0200230005-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5
Personnel
1. The bureau received Headquarters approval for the new FBN
wagescale on 11 September. The new rates, which will be
implemented retroactively to 5 July, will appear in the 8
October paychecks.
2. Senior editor
arrived PCS on 17 September, the last
STAT
new arrival for 1987.
3. Administrative assistant was married on 5 September.
The new is now bac at work after her honeymoon
in Majorca.
4. Teletype operator became the proud father of a 6
pound 3 ounce baby girl on 19 September.
STAT
STAT
STAT
IV. VISITS
To the bureau: Junior editor on 2 September for bureau STAT'
familiarization en route to Mbabane PCS; icosia Bureau chief I
monitor on the 4th for satellite talks w th the STAT
artment of Agriculture Senior Market Analyst Qlh1
BBC. U ? De
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on t
us on current requirements; B&F office 10-11 September STATE
for talks at the bureau and embassy; DRD editor on 14-15 STAT;
September for bureau familiarization; Vienna Bureau engineer SIAI!
14-18 September for talks with the bureau and the BBC en STAT!
route to Islamabad; RECD engineers STAT
on the 21st for preliminary discu sions on the bureau consolidation;
Production Group Russian linguist on 21 and 22 September STAT;
for substantive talks in PMU; and on 25 STAT
September for a bureau tour and discussions on Polish coverage.
From the bureau: Admin Officer to Paris 7-9 September to STATI
join Admin Staff TDY'ers in discussions with RAMC; Bureau engineer
Orientation Week; and Bureau Chief to Islamabad 20-24 STAT
September and Cologne 28-30 September for routine management visits.
V. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Islamabad: Unit Chief raised $662 for the International STAT'.
School of Islamabad when he made 241 out of 250 foul shots during a
basketball fundraiser sponsored by the school.
STAT
cc: Chief, Austria Bureau
Chief, Cologne Unit
Chief, Islamabad Unit
Chief, Okinawa Bureau
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/19: CIA-RDP94-00798R000200230005-5