Final edition of Radio New Zealand's Malibox program nears

Sad to say that the RNZI Mailbox program is ending on August 4 after 65 years of service to international radio listeners.

Why?

Funds are being redirected into the core Pacific news and information services that are actually directed at the target audience for which RNZI is funded. This will strengthen RNZI's services to the Pacific.

RNZI Mailbox is broadcast fortnightly, so the penultimate edition is today (Monday) at 1130, 1330 and 1630 UTC; plus tomorrow at 0330 UTC.

The current shortwave schedule of Radio New Zealand may be found here.

Also listen at: www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/mailbox
(Bulgarian DX)

Media Broadcast Updates Summer Schedules

Media Broadcast GmbH (formerly T-SYSTEMS - DTK)
A-14 Summer Schedule - 30 March - 25 October 2014

Transmitters via Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Madagascar

Updated schedule effective from 16 July 2014

All times UTC

 frq  startstop ciraf zone          loc pow azi day     from   to   broadcaster

 5975 0400-0430 28SE           ISS 100  95 1234567 2004-200414 AWR
 5975 0400-0430 28SE           NAU 100 130 1234567 2104-251014 AWR
 9530 0300-0330 48             NAU 250 142 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
 9610 1930-2000 37,38W         NAU 100 210 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
 9610 2000-2030 37,38W         NAU 100 210 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
 9790 0900-1000 28W            NAU 100 180       1 3003-251014 AWR
 9830 1600-1630 28SE           NAU 100 133 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
11605 1900-2000 38E,39         NAU 250 130 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
11755 2030-2100 46SE,47W       ISS 250 165 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
11830 2000-2030 46E,47W        ISS 250 180 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
11840 1900-2000 37,38W         NAU 100 215 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
11945 1900-1930 46W            NAU 250 212 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15140 0800-0830 37,38W         ISS 100 170 1234567 2004-200414 AWR
15140 0800-0830 37,38W         NAU 100 205 1234567 2104-251014 AWR
15155 1730-1800 48             NAU 250 140 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15170 1730-1800 37,38W         NAU 100 210 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15205 1930-2000 46SE,47W       NAU 250 180 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15225 0500-0600 38E,39         NAU 250 130 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15225 0700-0800 37,38W         NAU 100 210 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15225 0800-0830 37,38W         NAU 250 210 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15225 0830-0900 37,38W         NAU 100 205 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15265 1500-1530 41N            NAU 250  90 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15265 1530-1600 41N            NAU 250  90 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
15670 1530-1600 41N            ISS 250  75      56 3003-251014 AWR
15670 1530-1600 41N            ISS 250  75   12347 3003-251014 AWR
17575 1630-1700 48             NAU 250 145 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
17810 1300-1330 42,43W         NAU 250  70      17 3003-251014 AWR
17810 1300-1330 42,43W         NAU 250  70   23456 3003-251014 AWR
17810 1330-1500 42,43W         NAU 250  70 1234567 3003-251014 AWR
 5930 2000-2015 39N            NAU 250 120 1234567 3003-251014 BVB
 5945 0700-0730 27,28N         NAU 100 270       1 3003-251014 BVB
 5945 0730-0800 27,28N         NAU 100 270       1 0604-060414 BVB
 5945 0700-0745 27,28N         NAU 100 270       7 3003-251014 BVB
 6130 1800-1815 28,29          NAU 100  90      56 3003-251014 BVB
 6130 1830-1845 28,29          NAU 100  90       7 3003-251014 BVB
 6130 1800-1830 28,29          NAU 100  90       3 3003-251014 BVB
 6130 1800-1900 28,29          NAU 100  90       1 3003-251014 BVB
 7310 0300-0315 39S            ISS 250 100 1234567 3003-251014 BVB
 9430 1815-1830 39,4           MOS 300 ND        1 3003-251014 BVB
 9515 2030-2045 46N,47NW,38W,37NAU 250 180 1234567 3003-251014 BVB
 9550 0400-0430 39NE,40        ISS 100  92     127 2004-200414 BVB
 9550 0400-0430 39NE,40        NAU 100 110     127 2104-251014 BVB
 9550 0430-0445 39N            ISS 125  98      17 2004-200414 BVB
 9550 0430-0445 39N            NAU 125 120      17 2104-251014 BVB
 9550 0430-0450 39N            NAU 125 120   23456 3003-251014 BVB
 9635 1830-1915 39             SOF 100 126       1 3003-251014 BVB
 9735 0500-0515 39,4           NAU 250 120       6 3003-251014 BVB
11655 0600-0615 46N,47NW,38W,37NAU 125 180 1234567 3003-251014 BVB
11855 1815-1900 39,4           ISS 150  90       1 2505-250514 BVB
11855 1815-1900 39,4           NAU 100 105       1 2605-251014 BVB
11855 1800-1830 39,4           NAU 100 105       6 3003-251014 BVB
11855 1830-1900 39,4           NAU 100 105       3 3003-251014 BVB
11855 1800-1900 39,4           NAU 100 105       5 3003-251014 BVB
13580 1700-1715 39,4           NAU 250 130    2356 3003-251014 BVB
13580 1700-1730 39,4           NAU 250 130       4 3003-251014 BVB
13580 1715-1730 39,4           NAU 250 130       7 3003-251014 BVB
13810 1700-1715 38E,39,40W     ISS 150 120   23456 2205-251014 BVB
13810 1715-1800 38E,39,40W     ISS 100 120     246 2205-251014 BVB
13810 1715-1745 38E,39,40W     ISS 100 120       3 2205-251014 BVB
13810 1700-1715 38E,39,40W     NAU 125 125      17 1705-251014 BVB
15160 1630-1730 47,48          NAU 100 150 1234567 3003-251014 BVB
15215 1700-1900 39             MOS 100 115      17 3003-251014 BVB
15215 1700-1715 39             MOS 100 115       6 3003-251014 BVB
15215 1700-1730 39             MOS 100 115       5 3003-251014 BVB
15640 1515-1545 40,41          SOF 100  90       7 3003-251014 BVB
15640 1500-1515 40,41          SOF 100  90       7 3003-251014 BVB #
15640 1515-1600 40,41          SOF 100  90       6 3003-251014 BVB
17495 1400-1430 41             ISS 250  83       7 3003-251014 BVB +
17495 1430-1500 41             ISS 250  83       7 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1600-1630 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       1 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1630-1700 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 250 135       1 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1700-1800 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       1 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1530-1800 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       6 0205-251014 BVB
17515 1700-1730 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       7 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1730-1830 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 250 135       7 3003-251014 BVB
17515 1600-1830 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       3 0107-251014 BVB
17515 1630-1800 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       4 0107-251014 BVB
17515 1600-1800 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       2 0107-251014 BVB
17515 1630-1830 38S,39S,47,48  ISS 100 135       5 3003-251014 BVB
17535 0830-1000 38,39          NAU 125 145       6 3003-251014 BVB
17535 0900-0915 38,39          NAU 125 145       7 3003-251014 BVB
21480 1115-1145 43S,44S        MDC 125  45       1 3003-251014 BVB
21480 1100-1130 43S,44S        MDC 125  45       7 0606-251014 BVB
 9585 1800-1900 28E,29         NAU 100  90       7 3003-251014 CHW
 6055 1030-1100 27,28          NAU 125 222      17 3003-251014 EMG
 7315 1830-1845 27,28W,37N     NAU 125 230      36 2005-251014 EOE
 7315 1830-1845 27,28W,37N     NAU 100 260       1 2505-250514 EOE
 9435 1830-1845 27,28W,37N     NAU 125 230       1 2505-250514 EOE
 9520 0030-0130 40E,41NW       NAU 250 100 1234567 3003-251014 GFA
 9520 2330-0030 41NE,43S,49N   NAU 250  85 1234567 3003-251014 GFA
15350 1230-1500 41             NAU 250  89 1234567 3003-251014 GFA
15390 1330-1530 41NE,43S,49N   NAU 250  85 1234567 3003-251014 GFA
15395 1530-1630 40E,41NW       NAU 250  99 1234567 2505-251014 GFA
13800 1530-1630 29S            MOS 100  95       7 3003-251014 HCJ
 9645 1800-1830 47,48          ISS 250 160 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
 9780 1700-1800 40E,41NW       NAU 250  95 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
11875 0500-0530 46,47          NAU 250 185 1234567 1806-251014 IBB
11995 1630-1700 47,48          NAU 250 150   23456 2404-251014 IBB
12005 1730-1800 48             ISS 250 130   23456 3003-251014 IBB
12005 1800-1900 48             ISS 250 130 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
12040 2030-2100 46,47          NAU 250 190   23456 3003-251014 IBB
12080 1800-1900 48             ISS 250 130 1234567 1306-251014 IBB
12080 1900-1930 48             ISS 250 130   23456 1306-251014 IBB
13870 1630-1700 47,48          ISS 250 140   23456 3003-251014 IBB
13870 1800-1900 48             NAU 250 140 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
13870 1900-1930 48             NAU 250 140   23456 3003-251014 IBB
15255 1400-1500 30S            ISS 250  90 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
15360 0400-0900 40E,41NW       NAU 250  90 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
15460 1500-1600 30S            NAU 250  85 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
15620 1500-1600 29SE           NAU 250  90 1234567 3003-251014 IBB
 7330 1000-1100 27,28          MOS 100 283       1 3003-251014 JOY *
 7330 1000-1100 27,28          MOS 100 283       1 2004-200414 JOY
 6025 0400-0500 27E,28         NAU 125 270       1 2004-200414 KBC per RA
 6045 0800-0900 27E,28         NAU 125 275       1 2004-200414 KBC per RA
 6095 0800-1500 18SW,27,28W,37NNAU 100 240      17 3003-251014 KBC
 7375 0000-0200 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,1NAU 125 300       1 0109-251014 KBC
 9925 0000-0200 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,1NAU 125 300       1 0105-300814 KBC
 9925 0400-0500 4,8,9          NAU 125 300       1 2004-200414 KBC per RA
15315 1830-1900 46S,47SE       ISS 500 180 1234567 3003-251014 LWF
 6045 0900-1000 27E,28         NAU 100 270       1 3003-251014 MSM%per RA
 5945 1100-1115 27,28          NAU 250 222       1 3003-251014 MWA
11695 1500-1530 29,3           ISS 250  60       7 3003-251014 MWF
13710 1100-1130 19,20,21,22,23,NAU 250  45       7 3003-251014 MWF
 5985 0400-0430 11,12          YFR 100 222 1234567 3003-251014 NHK
11680 0300-0500 38,39,40       NAU 250 140 1234567 3003-251014 NHK
15445 1700-1900 38,39,40       NAU 250 140 1234567 3003-251014 NHK
17630 1600-1630 47E,48         ISS 500 130      37 3003-251014 OGM
 9515 1930-2000 37,38          NAU 250 155       1 3003-251014 PAB
15205 1400-1430 41             ISS 100  90       1 3003-251014 PAB
15205 1415-1430 41             ISS 100  90  234567 3003-251014 PAB
15205 1430-1445 41             ISS 250  90       1 3003-251014 PAB
17500 1600-1700 48SW,58NW      ISS 100 144       7 2106-251014 RIY new
13830 1700-1800 38E,39S,48     ISS 100 125      14 3003-251014 SBO
13810 1400-1600 28,29W,38E,39  NAU 100 130   23456 3003-251014 TOM
13810 1400-1600 28,29W,38E,39  ISS 100 120      17 3003-251014 TOM
 6095 0800-1000 18SW,27,28W,37NNAU 100 230     246 3003-251014 TRS
 6105 0700-0720 27             NAU 100 285 1234567 3003-251014 TWR
 7215 0830-0900 28             NAU 100 135 1234567 3003-251014 TWR
 7320 1400-1428 28,29,30       NAU 100  65 1234567 3003-251014 TWR
 9835 2300-2330 12,13,14,15,16 NAU 100 240 1234567 3003-251014 VZM
11920 2300-0045 12,13,14,15,16 NAU 100 240 1234567 3003-251014 VZM
15670 1630-1700 40             ISS 500  91      26 0905-251014 WRN

* = 1st Sunday of the month
+ = 1st Saturday of the month
# = 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month
Day 1  = Sunday ... Day 7 = Saturday
per RA = on request booking.

List of Broadcasters using Media Broadcast technical equipment

AWR  Adventist World Radio
BVB  High Adventure Gospel - Bible Voice Broadcasting
CHW  Christliche Wissenschaft
EMG  Evangelische Missionsgemeinden in Deutschland
EOE  Echo of Europe www.echoofeurope.eu
GFA  Gospel for Asia
HCJ  Voice of the Andes, Sats only, 1530 UT Russian, 1600 UT Chechen
IBB  International Broadcasting Bureau, USA
JOY  MBR internal customer name, - Joystick, * 1st Sun
KBC  Mighty KBC Radio &)
LWF  Lutheran World Federation
MSM  ShortWave Rock 1st Sun, XVRB Radio 3rd Sun and Radio Iceman 4th Sun
     / EMR 3rd and 4th Sun (wb.) %
MWA  Missionswerk Arche
MWF  Missionswerk Friedensstimme, Gummersbach - Germany
NHK  Nippon Hoso Kyokai
OGM  NGO [RHU Radio Huriyo Xoriyo Ogaden]
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-governmental_organization
     http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_non_gouvernementale
PAB  Pan Am Broadcasting
RIY  Radio Inyabutatu, in Kinyarwanda, ex17870 kHz.
SBO  Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo, Voice of Oromo Liberation.
TOM  The Overcomer Ministry
TRS  Transport Radio Mon-Fri; KBC Mighty KBC Radio, Sat/Sun.
TWR  Trans World Radio
VZM  [HCJB transmissions, Spanish, German, Kulina, Portuguese]
WRN  World Radio Network, Radio Mehr Iranian, Mon/Fri only.

KBC Radio. For reception reports please mail to: KBC531@gmail.com
or write to:
The Mighty KBC
Argonstraat 6
6718 WT Ede
The Netherlands, Europe
Website: http://www.kbcradio.eu

XVRB Radio - It's The Music Museum
Website: http://www.xvrb.org
E-mail:  xvrbradio  @gmail.com

Michael Puetz
MEDIA BROADCAST GmbH
Order Management & Backoffice
Erna-Scheffler-Strasse 1
D-51103 Cologne, Germany

Please send your inquiries and reception reports to:
E-Mail:   QSL-Shortwave@ mediabroadcast.com
Internet
http://www.media-broadcast.com/en/startpage/services/radio/short-wave-networks
(WWDXC/wb, Germany/HCDX 22 July)

Best of the Best: DX Programs

Shortwave Central brings blog readers, the Best of the Best DX Programs you can hear on shortwave radio. Why bother with anything less than 'the best ?'

All times UTC
v = variable frequency or time

Monday
0110v R Havana Cuba “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0210v R Havana Cuba “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0245 WWCR “Ask WWCR”: 3215
0250 BBCWS “Over to You”: UK DAB 198LW

0300 WRMI “Wavescan”: online 9955
0310v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0410v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0510v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 5040 6000 6060 6100 6165
0610v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6060 6100 6165
0730 R New Zealand Int “Mailbox” (alt wks): 11725
1030 All India R “Faithfully Yours”:  7270 13605 13695 15030 15410 17510 17895drm
1100 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
1130 R New Zealand Int “Mailbox” (alt wks): 9700
1130 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1145 WWCR "Australian DX Report" (Bob Padula): 15795
1315 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
1330 R New Zealand Int “Mailbox” (alt wks): 6170
1430 All India R “Faithfully Yours”: 9690 11620 13710
1630 R New Zealand Int “Mailbox” (alt wks):  9700
1630 Amateur Radio Today (South Africa): 3230me 7082usb
1830 All India R “Faithfully Yours”: 7550 9445 11580 11670 11935 13695 17670
2120 All India R “Faithfully Yours”: 7550 9445 9910 11670 11620drm 11740drm
2330 All India R “Faithfully Yours”: 9690 9705 11710 11645drm 13605drm

Tuesday
0330 R New Zealand Int “Mailbox” (alt wks): 15720
0330 WRMI “Wavescan”: online 9955
1330 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1832 BBCWS “Click”: online UK DAB 1323cy 6195om 7375om
1935v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 11760
2335v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 5040 11880

Wednesday
0000 WRMI “Wavescan” online, 9955
0132 BBCWS “Click”: online, UK DAB, SW 12095om 15310th
0145 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
0135v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0235v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0332 BBCWS “Click”: 1323cy 1413om 12095om 13660ki
0335v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0435v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6165
0535v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 5040 6000 6060 6100 6165
0635v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 6000 6060 6100 6165
0832 BBCWS “Click”: online, UK DAB
1130 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1230 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
1232 BBCWS “Click”: SW E Asia: 5875th 6195th 9740kr 11750th
1530 BBC R4 "The Media Show": 198LW MW FM DAB online
1750 Vatican R “Communications Update”: 11625 13765 15570
1900 WINB “Wavescan”: 13570
1930 WWCR “Ask WWCR”: 15825
2020 Vatican R “Communications Update”: 13765 15570

Thursday
0100 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
0650 Vatican R “Communications Update”: 13765 15570
1130 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955

Friday
0315 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
0345 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1130 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1230 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
1330 R Australia “Future Tense”: 5940 5995 6150 9475 9580 9965pw 12065 12085
1530 BBC R4 ”Feedback”: 198LW, MW, FM DAB online
2035 R New Zealand Int "Mailbox": 11725

Saturday
0100 WRMI “Media Network Plus”: online, 9955
0200 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
0510 R Japan "Media Watch": 5975wo 11970fr (3rd or 4th Sat)
0825 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”:  9570
0930 VOA Radiogram (digital tests): 5745gr
1000 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1010 R Japan "Media Watch ": 9625 (3rd or 4th Sat)
1045 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1050 BBCWS “Over to You”: UK DAB online
1100 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
1210 R Japan "Media Watch": 11740kr (3rd or 4th Sat)
1245 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks):  15450
1245 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1325 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”: 9570 15575
1410 R Japan "Media Watch": 11705pw 15735ta(3rd or 4th Sat)
1600 VOA “Radiogram” (digital tests): 17860gr
1625 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”: 9515 9640
1630 WWCR Nashville “Wavescan”: 12160
1645 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks):  15520
1700 WRN NAm & AfAs “Media Network Plus”
1800 WTWW “QSO” with Ted Randall: 9475
1810 R Japan "Media Watch": 9755me (3rd or 4th Sat)
1825 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”: 7275
1845 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks): 9785
2045 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks): 7205
2215 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks): 9830
2225 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”: 11810
2230 WRMI “Wavescan”: online, 9955
2250 BBCWS “Over to You”: UK DAB, online

Sunday
0000 WTWW “QSO” with Ted Randall: 5085 9930alt
0000 WRMI “Wavescan”: 9495
0030 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
0145 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
0200 WRMI “Wavescan”: 9955
0225 KBS World R, Seoul “Listeners Lounge”: 9580 9690
0230 VOA “Radiogram” (digital tests): 5745gr
0315 V of Turkey “DX Corner” (alt wks): 6165 9515
0450 BBCWS “Click”: 1323cy 12095om 13660om
0505 WWCR Nashville “Into Tomorrow”: 4840
0510 R Japan "Friends Around the World ": 5975wo 11970fr
0605 WWCR Nashville "Into Tomorrow": 4840
0800 Amateur Radio Today (South Africa): 7205me 17660me
0900 PCJ Media “Media Network Plus”: WRN-Eu (incl. Sky channel 0122)
0945 WWCR Nashville "Ask WWCR": 4840
1010 R Japan "Friends Around the World": 9625
1045 WRMI “Viva Miami”: online, 9955
1210 R Japan "Friends Around the World": 11740kr
1230 PCJ Radio Int “Happy Station”: 13720tr
1410 R Japan "Friends Around the World": 11705pw 15735ta
1530 Adventist World R "Wavescan": 15670nn
1600 Adventist World R "Wavescan":  11865gm 11995tr
1730 WRN-NAm AfAs:  PCJ Media “Media Network Plus”
1810 R Japan "Friends Around the World": 9755me
1902 BBC R4 ”Feedback”: 198LW MW FM DAB online
1910v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 11760
1930 VOA “Radiogram” (digital tests): 15670gr
2230 Adventist World R "Wavescan": 15320gm
2310v R Havana “DXers Unlimited”: 5040 11880
2330 Adventist World R "Wavescan": 15320gm

Web sites with streaming audio or on-demand audio, or program scripts.
Ask WWCR (live): www.wwcr.com
Australian DX Report: adxr.podbean.com/
AWR Wavescan: http://www.awr.org/en/listen/program/143/ru
BBC R4 Feedback: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 (live+archive)
BBC World Service “Click”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002w6r2
BBC World Service “Over to You”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsn8
R Bulgaria Answering Your Letters (Saturdays): bnr.bg/en (click on “Daily Webcast” for audio)
DXers Unlimited: http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com
Gadget Detective: http://gadgetdetective.com
Happy Station/Media Network Plus:  http://www.pcjmedia.com/medianetworkplus
R Japan: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/program/index.html
KBS World Radio: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english
RNZI Mailbag: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/listen
VOA Radiogram: http://voaradiogram.net/
WRMI: www.wrmi.net
(Sources: BCDX & Rod Pearson, FL)

New time for Wavescan on KVOH

As you know, Wavescan is broadcast each week on KVOH shortwave in Los Angeles.  Ray Robinson at the station tells us “we made some changes to our English schedule on 9975 kHz last weekend.  Those changes impact the airing of Wavescan on Sunday evening (UT Monday).  

Previously, we have run Wavescan from 0200-0230 UTC (10:00-10:30 pm Eastern Time).  Effective immediately, Wavescan will now be heard half an hour earlier, from 0130-0200 UTC (9:30-10:00pm Eastern), still on 9975 kHz”.

Ancinet DX Report: 1907 and HMS Andromeda

            During the year 1907, the broadcast of radio programming was noted in the United States and in islands in Europe, as well as from anchored ships and ships at sea.  Even though these broadcasts were certainly still experimental in nature, yet the program content indicated the intent to entertain and to inform; thus the designation radio broadcasting.

            Soon after the beginning of the new year 1907, on February 6, Lt. Quentin Crauford of the Royal Navy in England presented a radio broadcast over the air from the ship HMS Andromeda.  At the time the "Andromeda" was anchored at Chatham, an inlet off the Thames Estuary on the east coast of England.

            This broadcast was organized by Lieutenant Quentin Crauford with the approval of the naval authorities and In recounting the event, Wireless Operator Crauford stated that he adapted the spark wireless transmitter QFP on the "Andromeda" so that it could broadcast music and speech.  His historic inaugural broadcast was a patriotic concert program performed by navy personnel.  This broadcast, with the approval of the naval authorities, began with a rendition of the national anthem, God Save the King.

            This surprise broadcast was heard by wireless operators on board other navy vessels anchored nearby.  However, as a security measure, Lt Crauford was not permitted to publicize the event, neither before nor afterwards, though the event attained historic significance as the first wireless broadcast in England and the first from a ship.  It appears that another radio broadcast was subsequently presented from another British ship nearby.

            American experimenter Lee de Forest also made several radio program broadcasts from ships, both at sea and at anchorage.  On July 18, he transmitted race results from the steam yacht “Thelma” at the Lake Erie Regatta and these voice reports were received ashore on a nearby island by his assistant Frank Butler.  Subsequently, Forest and Butler constructed additional transmitters and made many experimental transmissions with voice and music content between buildings in Toledo Ohio.

            As a result of the success of these radio ventures, Forest was invited to install two transmitters on the navy vessels “Connecticut” and “Virginia”; and this led to the the installation of more than a score of transmitters on other navy vessels. 

            On December 16, Forest made a special entertainment broadcast from the ship “Dolphin” as it was moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.  Swedish born 34 year old opera singer Eugenia Farrar sang “I Love You Truly” and other songs during the live broadcast which was reported in a New York newspaper.  This broadcast was the send off for the round the world tour of the Great White Fleet.

            Over along the Pacific coast of the Americas, wireless operator Arthur Isbell made many wireless transmissions aboard the passenger ship “President” under the callsign V2.  The transmitter was manufactured under the Massie system and it operated on 750 kHz at 3 kW.  Several of these transmissions created new long distance records.

            Subsequently, Arthur Isbell established a wireless station in San Francisco with antenna masts 200 ft tall.  This station adopted the callsign IAA, a reversal of the operators initials.

            Many newspapers covered the story of Lee de Forest’s radio broadcasts from the Tellharmonic Hall at 38th and Broadway in New York, both before and after the events.  This program, the first in a short series, presented music from the Harmonium, and listeners were invited to make request for special selections of music.  Test broadcasts between the Tellharmonic Hall and the passenger liner “Normandie" began a week in advance of the main broadcasts. 

            In Canada, the Canadian Meteorological Service began the broadcast of time signals on a regular basis, the first in the world.  The time signal was generated at the Dominion Observatory at St. John New Brunswick; it was on the air daily around 10:00 am; and it was broadcast by the Marconi coastal station HX at Camperdown near Halifax Nova Scotia. 

            Over in continental Europe, crystal radio receivers were developed by Tissot and Pelin in France; and Robert Goldschmidt in Belgium conducted wireless experiments between the Palace of Justice in Brussels and two cooperating locations, the Namur Citadel and the Liege Observatory.

            The Christchurch Exhibition in New Zealand, at which wireless transmission and reception was demonstrated, ended on April 15; and a huge Marconi wireless station was inaugurated at Cliffden in Ireland for trans-Atlantic service on October 17.

            Right towards the end of the year 1907, the Great White Fleet began its triumphal world tour and more than 20 American naval vessels were equipped with the new Forest wireless equipment.  That story will come on another occasion here in Wavescan.

(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 282)

Tribute to WYFR-WRMI - A Multitude of QSL Cards

We continue in our series of topics on the fascinating backgrounds of the large American shortwave station, WYFR-WRMI, and on this occasion, we present the interesting information regarding the enormous amount of QSL cards issued from this station at its various locations in the state of Massachusetts.  But first though, we examine the QSL cards that were issued from New York and Mattappoisett by the forerunners of the big Boston station.
On May 10, 1924, the noted amateur radio entrepreneur, Irving Vermilya at Mattappoisett some 50 miles south of Boston, broadcast a music program from his mediumwave station WBBG under the experimental callsign 1XAL.  He received many reception reports from listeners in surrounding states, written onto the popular Applause Cards of the day.
In his first radio history book, On the Shortwaves 1923 - 1945, Jerome Berg in suburban Boston refers to the fact that shortwave station 2XAL, with studios in New York and transmitter at Coytesville New Jersey, received a reception report from a listener in Australia in the year 1928, at a time when the station was running at less than 500 watts.  Station W2XAL from New Jersey was transferred to Boston and it took over the experimental callsign from WBBG at Mattappoisett and began broadcasting in Boston under the now abandoned call W1XAL in mid 1931.
The earliest known QSL cards from Walter Lemmon’s experimental shortwave station W1XAL in Boston were issued a few months later, in January 1932.  This first QSL card acknowledged reception reports addressed to the shortwave station, as well as to the experimental TV and Apex high fidelity stations operated by the television pioneer Hollis Baird.
Since that time, this Boston shortwave station under its different owners and locations has issued untallied thousands of QSL cards in a multitude of different card designs and styles during its more than 40 years of on air activity.  Recent research has uncovered at least 50 different QSL card designs and styles, and it is likely that many more, perhaps even four times that number, were issued.  
One particular card showing the callsign WRUL diagonally in large red letters was issued in 1954 and it was numbered 14,424, though it is not known when this particular numbered sequence began.
The design on many of the earlier QSL cards featured a stylized microphone, and this motif was emblazoned on several different QSL cards, both in size and in position.  These cards usually listed the callsigns and frequencies in use at the time.
One of the very rare QSL cards issued for the reception of experimental station W1XAR verified test transmissions on 11730 kHz on March 19, 1939.  According to an analysis of the historical events associated with this specific transmitter, this particular QSL card is the only known verification of transmitter W1XAR at its temporary location at suburban Norwood in Boston.  A picture of this card can be seen in the Canadian DX magazine, DX Ontario dated July 2006, page 13.
There are no known QSL cards verifying the usage of the two regularized callsigns, WSLA & WSLR, which were in temporary use for just 13 days at Hatherley Beach, Scituate from August 25, 1939 until September 6.  Both transmitters at 20 kW each had been removed from the Boston location and re-installed at the recently acquired facility at Hatherly Beach.  The two temporary callsigns were replaced by the now better known calls WRUL & WRUW.
A QSL card printed in the Spanish language and posted in Nicaragua shows the two newly installed transmitters in the renovated transmitter building at Hatherley Beach Scituate, with a diagrammatic representation showing the scheduling for the two transmitters on five different shortwave channels.
There are no known QSL cards verifying the reception of the callsign WRUR which was in use on the air from 1941 - 1947 approximately.  The call WRUR was apparently a subsidiary call for the 20 kW WRUW on 9700 kHz.
On July 1, 1953, all five transmitters at Scituate, WRUA WRUL WRUS WRUW & WRUX, were redesignated as WRUL 1- 5 and the owners of the station, WWBF World Wide Broadcasting Foundation, introduced a new QSL card.  This new card shows the single call letters diagonally in large red print, WRUL.  At least four different versions of this card are known, though all are very similar.
In 1959, a listener in Sweden received one of the new red letter QSL cards, and instead of the small stylized microphone in the top right hand corner, there is a small version of the globe, planet Earth.  This is the only known copy of this particular card, though obviously many more would have been printed.
There is also only one known copy of the QSL card verifying the 5 kW WIOD transmitter from Miami which was re-activated at Scituate under the WWBF callsign WRUS.  This same transmitter was later re-designated as WRUX, and another QSL card was printed for the occasion with the callsign again printed diagonally in large red print.
During the era when the Scituate station was in service with the  Voice of America, United Nations Radio and AFRS the Armed Forces Radio Service, these parent organizations issued their own QSL cards for their relays via the WRUL transmitters.
Metro Media in New York purchased the shortwave station at Hatherley Beach in 1960 and they owned the station for just three years.  Their QSL card showed the code letters QSL in large black print on a plain card.  At least two versions of this card are known, one in off white and the other in dark green.
Then it was in mid 1962 that Bonneville International bought the station and they owned it for a period of eleven years.  Their QSL cards showed the letter W surrounding planet Earth, and most designs were very similar, though printed on different colored card.
On June 1, 1966, Bonneville changed the callsign from WRUL to WYNW and they produced a commemorative QSL card to honor the occasion.  This card shows their production studios at 485 Madison Ave, New York.
Then, early on Sunday morning April 9, 1967, a disastrous fire of suspicious origin completely destroyed the Hatherley Beach shortwave station.  As Jerome Berg tells us in his first radio book, the WNYW programming was carried by the shortwave communication stations at Brentwood and Rocky Point for a period of some four months.  There are no known QSL cards verifying this temporary fill in relay service.  
In 1973, Bonneville sold shortwave station WNYW to Family Radio in Oakland California and they changed the callsign to WYFR and this change brought in a whole new series of new QSL cards.  We plan to present this story here in Wavescan on a coming occasion.
(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 282)

Voice of Russia closes Washington bureau

Facing legal problems, the Russian government-funded radio network - the Voice of Russia - has fired its Washington bureau staff and closed the office.

The shutdown happened July 14, amid allegations of tax fraud and claims of racial discrimination at the network.

Aleksey Iazlovskiy, the head of the VOR's US operations, pleaded guilty last year to tax fraud and will be sentenced later this year.

VOR's employment practices also have attracted attention from the IRS and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The IRS is investigating whether VOR used contractors alongside full-time, salaried employees to skirt payroll taxes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took an interest in VOR after several former
staffers claimed they were fired because of their race.

The employees have filed a lawsuit against International TV Services, VOR's contract manager in the United States.

Some suspect Voice of Russia will quickly return to the US through a different management company without the legal troubles.

Earlier this year, the Russians stopped Voice of America broadcasting in Moscow on AM radio.
(VOA News.com)

Russia agrees to reopen Cuban spy base

Moscow (AFP) - Russia has provisionally agreed to reopen a major Cold War listening post on Cuba that was used to spy on the United States, a Russian daily reported Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin visited the island last week.

"The agreements were finalized while President Vladimir Putin visited Havana last Friday," the respected daily wrote.

Russia had closed the Lourdes spy base south of Havana on Putin's orders to save money and due to a rapprochement with the United States after the September 11 attacks.

But Moscow has since shown a new interest in Latin America and its Cold War ally Cuba and relations with the West have deteriorated amid the Ukraine crisis.

The base was set up in 1964 after the Cuban missile crisis to spy on the United States. Just 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the US coast, it was the Soviet Union's largest covert military outpost abroad with up to 3,000 staff.

A secret Russian listening station conducts it's activities October 18, 2001 in Lourdes some 18 mile …
It was used to listen in to radio signals including those from submarines and ships and satellite communications.

"All I can say is -- finally!" one Russian source told Kommersant of the reported reopening.

The defense ministry and military high command declined to comment on the report to Kommersant.

Ahead of Putin's visit to Cuba last week as part of a Latin American tour, Russia agreed to write off 90 percent of Cuba's debt dating back to the Soviet era, totaling around $32 billion.

Russia paid Cuba rent of $200 million per year to use the base in the last few years it was open.

A former head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, told the newspaper the base would strengthen Russia's international position.

"Lourdes gave the Soviet Union eyes in the whole of the western hemisphere," he said. "For Russia, which is fighting for its lawful rights and place in the international community, it would be no less valuable than for the USSR."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
(Yahoo! Nx)

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2014 Jul 21 0624 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
#
#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 14 - 20 July 2014

Solar activity was low, with the only C-class activity observed on the first two days of the week. Region 2009 (S08, L=221, class/area=Hhx/300 on 14 July) produced C1 flares on 14 July at 1246 UTC and 15 July at 0305 UTC as it rotated around the west limb. The remainder of the week was characterized by only B-level activity, with Region 2113 (N07, L=167, class/area=Dao/40 on 14 July) producing a B5 on 16 July at 2300 UTC and a B2 on 18 July at 1756 UTC. 

On 18 July, a 17-degree filament eruption centered near N26E09 was observed lifting off the visible disk in SDO/AIA 304 imagery beginning at approximately 0200 UTC. Another filament eruption centered near S24E22 was observed in SDO/AIA 304 imagery beginning at approximately 0748 UTC. Available coronagraph imagery from SOHO and STEREO did not conclusively suggest any Earth-directed coronal
mass ejections (CME) accompanied these events. Later in the week, an prominence erupted from he east limb beginning at approximately 20/0200 UTC. A CME was subsequently observed off the east limb in SOHO/LASCO C2 imagery at 20/0312 UTC. Neither this, nor other CMEs observed during the week were judged to be particularly geo effective. 

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels. 

Geomagnetic field activity reached unsettled levels from 12-21 UTC on 14 July then declined to quiet levels for the remainder of the week. 

On 14 July, a corotating interaction region and negative polarity coronal hole high speed solar wind stream arrived in a geoeffective position. The CIR arrived at the ACE spacecraft around 14/1300 UTC accompanied by a solar sector boundary change from a positive to a negative sector and followed by increasing wind speed and temperature. Remnants of a 09 July CME glancing blow may have been about  intermingled with the high speed stream. Wind speed at ACE rose to  about 500 km/s between 11-12 UTC on 15 July. It declined afterward; falling to 274 km/s by the end of the week. 

Following the CIR arrival at ACE, a geomagnetic sudden impulse of 10 nT was observed at the Boulder magnetometer at 14/1443 UTC. Unsettled conditions were observed for three synoptic periods: 12-15, 15-18 and 18-21 UTC, before returning to quiet levels which persisted through the 20th. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 21 July - 16 August 2014

Solar activity is expected to begin the forecast period at low to very low levels. By 23 July several large active regions are expected to begin returning to the visible solar disk. These are expected to bring activity to low levels with a chance for moderate level flares (R1 radio blackouts). The threat of moderate or greater activity is expected to persist through 09 August, after which a return to low or very low levels is anticipated. 

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels throughout the forecast period. 

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at mostly quiet levels for the majority of the forecast period in the absence of transient features. Unsettled to active conditions are possible associated with high speed solar wind streams on 21-22 July, 25-26 July, 05-06 August and 10-11 August. 

Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt

:Issued: 2014 Jul 21 0624 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html
#
#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table
#                Issued 2014-07-21
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest

#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2014 Jul 21      90           8          3
2014 Jul 22      90           8          3
2014 Jul 23     100           5          2
2014 Jul 24     105           5          2
2014 Jul 25     110          10          3
2014 Jul 26     115           8          3
2014 Jul 27     115           5          2
2014 Jul 28     125           5          2
2014 Jul 29     140           5          2
2014 Jul 30     145           5          2
2014 Jul 31     145           5          2
2014 Aug 01     150           5          2
2014 Aug 02     155           5          2
2014 Aug 03     150           5          2
2014 Aug 04     150           5          2
2014 Aug 05     150           8          3
2014 Aug 06     145           8          3
2014 Aug 07     140           5          2
2014 Aug 08     135           5          2
2014 Aug 09     125           5          2
2014 Aug 10     120           8          3
2014 Aug 11     115           8          3
2014 Aug 12     110           5          2
2014 Aug 13     105           5          2
2014 Aug 14     105           5          2
2014 Aug 15     100           5          2
2014 Aug 16      95           5          2

(NOAA)

Radio Australia Spells Out Their Future

Radio Australia - Slash and Burn

Michael Mason, Acting Director ABC Radio sent an update on July 14th to staff about what's going to happen to Australia's external broadcasting service. Looks like many of the non-English language services will be severely cutback.

In effect, Australia's influence in Asia is being wound down. The big plus about Radio Australia was it's ability to mix the "outside looking in" with the "inside looking out". That type of approach also benefits a domestic audience. Remember the BBC World Service slogan - bringing Britain to the world - and the world to Britain. I would argue that Radio Australia did the same for Australia. Alas, not for much longer. Most of the English language production will now be compilations from the domestic services.

I wonder if there are any links between what's happened and a speech that ABC Managing Director Mark Scott gave in 2009. Called the Fall of  Rome, it spelt the end of the Murdoch empire. At that time, ABC and Murdoch were battling over the licence to run Australia's overseas TV service. It was a messy fight. Perhaps the Murdoch empire found ways to strike back? It certainly looks that way.

Here are the details from Mason.

You would have seen communications and/or media coverage around changes to the ABC's International Division as a result of funding cuts. These changes affect every area of International, including Radio Australia. Changes to Radio Australia mean that the network will now broadcast an even a greater range of ABC Radio content.

As many of you would be aware, Radio Australia have always had a close content alignment with ABC Radio, broadcasting many programs from Radio National, sport from Grandstand, some Local programs and, until recently, a co-production with NewsRadio.

Over the next few weeks we will work with our colleagues in International to identify further already commissioned content from our current radio offer to create a relevant schedule for international audiences. When the schedule is finalised we will circulate it.

Below are some other key points around the changes to Radio Australia:

* Radio Australia will continue to broadcast a 24/7 schedule built on a deeper collaboration with ABC News and ABC Radio and through collaboration with SBS.

* Pacific Beat continues, as do RA's hourly news bulletins.

* Radio Australia will work with colleagues in ABC Radio and ABC News to identify and deliver a sustainable and engaging English program service that will appeal to our International audiences.

* Language services in Tok Pisin, Khmer and Burmese will be delivered through a mix of reduced original content coupled with translated ABC content and content from SBS. The model for the French language service remains under consideration.

* Asia Pacific and Asia Review will cease production as will the Mornings program.

* Shortwave transmission of RA remains unchanged for the time being.

Newscorp owned newspaper, the Australian adds the following. Almost everything is marked as undecided. Though I suspect these cuts are pretty much final.
The ABC News 24 channel is expected to become the foundation of the international service, with some specialised news and current affairs content featuring on the service.
It is not known whether ABC News 24 will expand its broadcast reach through the Asia-Pacific region in lieu of Australia Network or whether the Radio Australia name will be subsumed.
The proposal outlined today in Melbourne by the director of news, Kate Torney, and ABC International director Lynley Marshall is not definitive but will begin what is anticipated to be a long process of negotiations and politicking over job losses and service cuts.
The process is complicated by the fact that DFAT is yet to finalise the terms of the decommissioning of the Australia Network service in September, including the allocation of money for redundant staff and outstanding contracts.
The ABC Charter requires the public broadcaster to “transmit to countries outside Australia, broadcasting programs of news, current affairs, entertainment and cultural enrichment” that will, in part, “encourage awareness of Australia and an inter­national understanding of Australian attitudes on world ­affairs.”
While the efficacy of the Australia Network was questioned before its axing by DFAT under the Abbott government, the impact of Radio Australia’s service during times of political crisis in the Pacific region has been substantial.
Even so, the recent efficiency review of the ABC and SBS overseen by Peter Lewis recommended Radio Australia discontinue its shortwave service.
This recommendation came despite advice from DFAT that shortwave delivery is the only current source of RA in “some sensitive areas in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea”.
(Jonathan Marks/Critical Distance)

Weekend VOA Radiogram Schedules

Hello friends,
This weekend's VOA Radiogram will include an invitation to  a meeting of  shortwave DXers in Mexico. Most of it is in Spanish, so make sure you have the UTF-8 character set selected in Fldigi Configure > Colors & Fonts. After that, back to English for interesting science news from the VOA newsroom, accompanied by interesting images.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, program 68, 19-20 July 2014 (MFSK32):

 1:36  Program preview
 2:43  Encuentro Nacional Diexista in Mexico, with image
 7:19  Water wheel cleans Baltimore waterways, with image
14:04  Launch of cargo craft to the ISS, with image
19:27  Lab tests energy-saving technologies, with image
26:26  Closing announcements

Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com .

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC):
Sat 0930-1000 5745 kHz
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK64, including a great photo of a yellow Corvette, Saturday at about 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz and Sunday at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 9925 kHz. Both frequencies are via Germany. Reception reports for KBC should be sent to themightykbc@gmail.com .

If you are in North America, reception of KBC's 6095 kHz frequency is generally possible only via this web-controlled SDR receiver at the University of Twente in the Netherlands: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/
This receiver is also useful for VOA Radiogram if you are in the skip zone for 17860 and 15670 kHz (look for me in the chat area).

Thanks for your reception reports from last weekend. I'll try to answer the reports from program 67 before the last airplay of program 68 signs off this weekend. That's my general deadline.

I hope you can tune in and write in this weekend.

Kim

Kim Andrew Elliott
Producer and Presenter
VOA Radiogram
voaradiogram.net

Cold War Legacy a Tourist Attraction in Rural North Dakota

Kane Farabaugh
July 14, 2014 6:08 PM

COOPERSTOWN, NORTH DAKOTA —
The United States plans to shrink the total number of land-based nuclear missiles by 2018 to comply with an arms treaty signed with Russia in 2011.  North Dakota has been a traditional home to many of those land-based missiles.  It is a part of the state’s Cold War legacy that officials - and tourists - embrace.

Among amber waves of grain in a remote part of North Dakota, the fate of millions hinged on the deployment of the lethal object housed below this concrete and metal barrier.

Code-named November-33 during the Cold War, this site was home to an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear-tipped warhead that once waited to launch death and destruction to a destination unknown.

“I think there was kind of a standing joke that North Dakota was actually the third largest power in the world in terms of the nuclear capacity that we had here," said Alvin Jaeger, North Dakota Secretary of State.

Additional story at: http://www.voanews.com/content/cold-war-legacy-a-tourist-atraction-in-rural-north-dakota/1957475.html
(VOA)
(photo: history.nd.gov)

The World's Most Valuable Postage Stamp and Postage Stamp Radio

The history of postal delivery goes way back in the mists of time to the very early empires that were established in the Middle East and Asia.  Ancient Egypt lays claim to the earliest postal system which was established by the pharaohs more than 4,000 years ago.  Soon afterwards, the Xia dynasty in China established an official government operated courier service.

             It is stated that ancient Persia established the first real postal delivery system with written messages carried by couriers along established mail routes, with change of couriers and horses at established postal stations one day’s journey apart. 

            It is claimed that Cyrus the Great established this Persian mail system around 500 BC, and interestingly this system is referred to in the Holy Bible, in the  Book of Esther chapter 11 and reading verse 9.  This verse states that the scribes of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) translated a government decree into all of the local languages throughout the empire and the official postal service delivered the messages to the local government authorities in all 127 provinces of the ancient Persian Empire that stretched from India to Ethiopia.

            In 1653, a Frenchman by the name of de Valayer established a commercial postal service in Paris.  He set up mail boxes and delivered all letters placed in them, provided that the customers used only the envelopes that he himself sold.  An adversary put live mice into the letter boxes and ruined this new postal system.

            It is conceded that the world’s first prepaid postage stamp was introduced by Sir Rowland Hill in England and it was validated for use beginning May 6, 1840.  This new postage stamp, known as the Penny Black, shows the youthful, 18 year old, Queen Victoria and it was printed in unperforated sheets with 240 stamps per sheet.

            The world’s most valuable postage stamp is not the Penny Black in England, but rather a single copy of a hastily prepared stamp issued in British Guiana in South America in 1856.  At a stamp auction in New York just a few weeks ago in mid June, the only known copy of this emergency issue stamp, originally priced at just 1 cent, sold for $9½ million.

            We might say these days, that the world is full of postage stamps, so many that they cannot be totally and accurately accounted.  Stamp collecting is considered to be the top worldwide collecting hobby, and these days, many people narrow their own collecting field to a specific country or to a specific theme, including of course, postage stamps that honor wireless or radio.  A thematic count would suggest that some 700 or more postage stamps honoring wireless and radio in various ways have been issued in countries all around the world during the past almost one hundred years.

        

    The first known postage stamp stamp honoring wireless or radio was issued by Guatemala in Central America in 1919.  This 30 cent stamp in red and blue was overprinted on several subsequent occasions, for change in value and usage.  This stamp shows the two wireless towers and the antenna system suspended between them and it is presumed that the station shown on the stamp was located at Guatemala City.  Around that same era, the United Fruit Company announced plans to establish another wireless station in Guatemala, at Puerto Barrios on the Gulf of Mexico, for maritime communication.

            Other countries have also issued postage stamps showing wireless towers and antenna systems.  For example, during the following year 1920, the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean issued a blue and green stamp that depicted the two wireless towers and the connecting antenna system at their new wireless station.

            The South American country of Peru has issued two postage stamps under the same design, showing their national radio station at San Miguel; in 1938 and again in 1946, both at $1.50.  Their mediumwave and shortwave callsigns are shown on this stamp:   

                        OAX4A 854 Kcs, OAX4Y 9562 Kcs & OAX4Z 6082 Kcs.

            The original color for this stamp was in purple, though a second re-issue in 1950 was printed in light plum.

            Radio Luxembourg, both the building and the antenna towers, was shown in a 1953 issue from Luxembourg; a 1967 stamp from the Virgin Islands shows Radio Chalwell; and a 1970 stamp from the Netherlands Indies shows Bonaire Radio.  A stamp commemorating the opening of the BBC relay station on Ascension Island in 1966 shows a symbolic representation of the British lion; a 1966 stamp for the Australian Antarctic Territories shows a man at the microphone with the callsign VLV on the shortwave transmitter at Mawson Base; and the 20^th anniversary of Gospel station ELWA at Monrovia in Liberia was commemorated on a 1974 stamp from Liberia.

            Many countries have honored the many pioneer experimenters who developed various phases of wireless and radio communication in the earlier years: such as Guglielmo Marconi with his 1895 experiments at Bologna in Italy and his first transmission across the Atlantic in 1901; Alexander Popov with his early wireless experiments in Russia; Joseph Murgas with his experiments in the eastern United States; Heinrich Hertz in Germany, and Edwin Armstrong with his introduction of clarity radio in the FM mode in the United States.

            In more recent years, much of the emphasis in the preparation of postage stamps with a radio theme has concentrated more on the stylistic mode rather than the realistic.  For example, the1967 stamp commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the Voice of America shows a radio tower with radiating circles around it, as does the 2003 stamp honoring Deutsche Welle in Germany, and also the 1982 stamp from Cuba.  A similar concept was presented in Australia in a 1989 stamp honoring Radio Australia, though only one quadrant of the radiating circles is shown.

            Radio receivers of various styles are also featured on postage stamps.  An old receiver with a directional web antenna is featured on a 1973 stamp from San Marino; an old horn loud speaker is shown on a 1972 5 pence stamp in England; and a very old receiver on a 1974 stamp from Sweden.  A modern radio receiver is shown on a 1983 blue stamp from Jamaica, and also in yellow on a 1999 stamp from New Zealand.

            How many radio related stamps do you have in your stamp collection?  Are you collecting all types of radio related postage stamps?  Or are you collecting just one style, perhaps just transmitters, or just receivers?

(AWR/Wavescan/NWS 281)