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Today we would like to speak
about the creator and Faunder of the Radio Center. Andrey Nekrasov
became the head of the station at quite an early age - he was twenty
years old. We would like to mention that the life of this young man
was determined under the influence of two strong factors - his inborn
aptitude for radio and a political situation in Russia during the last
ten-fifteen years. Ever since his childhood, Andrey was inevitably drawn
to the radio. He liked to play with the tuner of his radio, jumping
from one frequency to another. The room would fill with noise, interference,
voices in different languages, and music. Andrey would imagine the movement
of these invisible waves, carrying along information. It was a mysterious
and unknown feeling. He was drawn to it and compelled into action. He
even wired his entire room, connecting the wires to the receiver's antenna
in hopes of receiving a better signal. To some extent Andrey's farther
helped to nurture his interest in the radio, since he worked for the
Khrunitchev Enterprise producing satellite antennas. Sometimes Andrey
watched his father on his days off wielding or rearranging wires in
the kitchen. He was trying to change a few things in a family radio
Riga-103 which he received for his wedding into a short-wave radio operating
on thirteen, sixteen, and nineteen-meter waves, for mass produced Russian
radios did not possess such a range. But he wanted very much to listen
to short waves which were prohibited in the USSR at that time. Andrey's
mother worked for the same company as his father. Acting on his mother's
advice, immediately after high-school graduation Andrey entered a special
"closed" college sponsored by the factory. This college degree equaled
a diploma of higher education. Andrey picked a faculty which, as he
thought, prepared specialists in the area of communications. His course
was called "Instruments and management systems of rocket missiles."
But during his third year he found out what the course was really about.
But before then, while Andrey was still a schoolboy, something happened
which had changed his way of thinking and yet again proved that radio
is a mighty force. Here's what happened. Here's what had happened. After
his parents' divorce Andrey lived with his grandmother in the outskirts
of Moscow, in Novogireevo, a subdivision located next to the outer ring
road. The area was filled with young gang members. Even though he tried
to stay away from them, it was difficult to do. In the end he found
himself in a gang. Once the head of the gang ordered Andrey to show
up at a gangsters' meeting, threatening him with death if he didn't
show up. Andrey was in two minds the entire evening. He didn't know
how to escape this dangerous situation. Mechanically, he turned on the
radio, and the short waves flooded the room. Those were the programs
by BBC, Voice of America, Radio Freedom, and Trans World Radio. Once
he heard a program titled "Earth and Heaven" which broadcast a play
about a bat and about its amazing navigation control created by God.
And all of a sudden Andrey realized,
no, felt, rather that if the Creator cared for such a small creature
as a bat, then He would take care of Andrey, too. Naturally, Andrey
didn't go to the gangsters' meeting. In the morning it turned out that
all of his friends were arrested that evening and were put into jail.
His interest for the radio grew more and more every year. It has even
replaced his passion for books. Andrey stopped reading the books of
Alexander Dumas, Julius Verne and switched his attention fully to radio.
He listened to it day and night. Moreover, he started writing letters
to various radio stations, informing them at what time at which frequency
what programs he listened to and what the audibility was according to
a specific code. In return, he received special thank-you QSL cards.
In the language of radio enthusiasts they mean, "Confirm." This is how
he became a DX-er, or a radio enthusiast who started received long-distance
unknown radio stations (DX-ing). Once he even received his first Bible
in the mail which was sent to him by Anna Kempelman from Germany. She
worked for Transworld Radio. His conversion was influenced by the radio.
Once at night time while listening to yet another Christian program
on the radio, all of a sudden he felt the Holy Spirit calling him to
repentance. He knelt and said his first awkward, but sincere, prayer
and felt as though the shackles had fallen from his hands, as if he
had been set free from filth, lies, and delusions. His heart was filled
with light and joy. Andrey was only sixteen at that time. Soon after
that he was invited to work for the Radio Moscow World Service, in to
the office broadcasting to the Latin America, with a request to share
his hobby. He recorded his first program for the short-wave listeners.
The program was received very favorably. Andrey started receiving invitations
to work for other broadcasting offices. That is how he started making
regular programs for radio enthusiasts who could learn the latest and
more trustworthy news about various radio stations in the world as well
as their broadcasting schedules from Andrey's programs. In 1991, Andrey
received an invitation to work for the USSR's first independent radio
station called the Echo of Moscow which was newly opened then. Practically,
he helped to create it. Those were the years of Perestroyka, the time
of hope and relative freedom for the mass media. Andrey started making
a series of programs dedicated to Christian radio stations. He created
a programs titled "Moscow calling" and was the first one to invite Mark
Makarov whom he knew as a radio preacher and a radio host of Aviapost
program. By the way, in the very beginning Mark gave a few useful pieces
of advice to the aspiring radio commentator on how to master his articulation,
diction, breathing. Someone has subtly gave him a hint that the Echo
of Moscow is not a Christian radio station but a news and entertainment
one. He realized that his program's days were numbered. After the coup
in August of 1991 he started dreaming of a radio station of his own.
He met with various people, held negotiations, looked for same minded
people and sponsors. People came and people went. In one word, it was
a very meticulous process, invisible to the world, which resulted in
the creation of a new radio station. The first studio was rented from
Echo of Moscow. The transmitters were in Balashikha. Those were the
same transmitters that were formerly used to put interference in Christian
radio programs.
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