There was a fire on Christmas Eve in the high voltage room of the external mains power supply at Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s relay station in Madagascar. Firefighters from the Madagascan capital Antananarivo managed to bring the blaze under control within hours.
The fire destroyed the high voltage circuit breaker equipment, so broadcasts from Madagascar had to be suspended while repairs were carried out. Satellite and Internet broadcasts were not affected.
The situation as from 1 January 2010
The two Philips transmitters at Madagascar will operate as follows (additional technical details of each transmission are in our official schedule). All times UTC:
Transmitter 1:
0300-0428 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (multilingual)
0430-0457 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (French)
0500-0527 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (English)
1300-1357 on 17670 kHz AWR (Vietnamese)
1400-1557 on 15595 kHz RNW (English)
1600-1657 on 9590 kHz Family Radio (Swahili)
1800-1957 on 7395 kHz Family Radio (English)
2000-2030 on 9490 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
2030-2100 on 9490 kHz Radio Sweden (English)
2100-2130 on 7425 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
2130-2200 on 7425 kHz Radio Sweden (English)
Additionally from Monday 4 January:
0530-0630 on 7265 kHz IBB (French)
1700-1800 on 12080 kHz IBB (Multilingual)
The fire destroyed the high voltage circuit breaker equipment, so broadcasts from Madagascar had to be suspended while repairs were carried out. Satellite and Internet broadcasts were not affected.
The situation as from 1 January 2010
The two Philips transmitters at Madagascar will operate as follows (additional technical details of each transmission are in our official schedule). All times UTC:
Transmitter 1:
0300-0428 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (multilingual)
0430-0457 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (French)
0500-0527 on 9660 kHz Vatican Radio (English)
1300-1357 on 17670 kHz AWR (Vietnamese)
1400-1557 on 15595 kHz RNW (English)
1600-1657 on 9590 kHz Family Radio (Swahili)
1800-1957 on 7395 kHz Family Radio (English)
2000-2030 on 9490 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
2030-2100 on 9490 kHz Radio Sweden (English)
2100-2130 on 7425 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
2130-2200 on 7425 kHz Radio Sweden (English)
Additionally from Monday 4 January:
0530-0630 on 7265 kHz IBB (French)
1700-1800 on 12080 kHz IBB (Multilingual)
Transmitter 2:
0200-0230 on 11550 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
0230-0300 on 11550 khz Radio Sweden (English)
0330-0358 on 7360 kHz Vatican Radio (Swahili)
0400-0500 on 11610 kHz Radio VOP (multilingual)
1330-1430 on 17550 kHz Voice of Tibet (Tibetan)
1430-1530 on 17495 kHz DVB (Burmese)
1530-1627 on 13800 kHz Press Now (multilingual)
1630-1657 on 13740 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1700-1727 on 9895 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1730-1757 on 6020 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1800-1857 on 6020 kHz RNW (English)
1900-2000 on 6020 kHz Family Radio (English)
2000-2100 on 6020 kHz Family Radio (English)
2200-2300 on 7380 kHz Deutsche Welle (Indonesian)
Additionally from Monday 4 January:
0500-0600 on 12015 kHz IBB (Persian)
2100-2130 on 9680 kHz IBB (French) Mon-Fri
Notes: For logistical reasons, the above-mentioned transmissions of IBB will not start until 4 January. Until then IBB’s temporary schedule (as below) remains in effect.
Madagascar transmissions temporarily via other sites:
RNW: The following arrangements remain in effect:
2100-2131 UTC Dutch via Bonaire on 13700 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
1859-2057 UTC English via Issoudun on 7425 kHz azimuth 155 degrees
1957-2057 UTC English via Montsinery on 11655 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
1730-1757 UTC Dutch via Nauen on 11655 kHz azimuth 300 degrees
Vatican Radio: Transmissions at 0300-0530 UTC have returned to Madagascar, but the transmission at 1600-1630 UTC on 13765 kHz will be broadcast via Santa Maria di Galeria.
IBB will continue to operate a temporary schedule as follows until 4 January:
0430-0600 UTC English on 9885 kHz via Botswana azimuth 010 degrees
0500-0600 UTC Persian on 12105 kHz via Biblis azimuth 105 degrees
0530-0630 UTC MF French on 7265kHz via São Tomé azimuth 020 degrees
1000-1030 UTC SS Portuguese on 21590 kHz via Botswana azimuth 350 degrees
1300-1400 UTC Somali on 15620 kHz via São Tomé azimuth 088 degrees
1700-1800 UTC Multilingual (to Zimbabwe) on 12080 kHz via Lampertheim azimuth 132 degrees
2100-2130 UTC MF French on 9680 kHz via São Tomé azimuth 052 degrees
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
0200-0230 on 11550 kHz Radio Sweden (Swedish)
0230-0300 on 11550 khz Radio Sweden (English)
0330-0358 on 7360 kHz Vatican Radio (Swahili)
0400-0500 on 11610 kHz Radio VOP (multilingual)
1330-1430 on 17550 kHz Voice of Tibet (Tibetan)
1430-1530 on 17495 kHz DVB (Burmese)
1530-1627 on 13800 kHz Press Now (multilingual)
1630-1657 on 13740 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1700-1727 on 9895 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1730-1757 on 6020 kHz RNW (Dutch)
1800-1857 on 6020 kHz RNW (English)
1900-2000 on 6020 kHz Family Radio (English)
2000-2100 on 6020 kHz Family Radio (English)
2200-2300 on 7380 kHz Deutsche Welle (Indonesian)
Additionally from Monday 4 January:
0500-0600 on 12015 kHz IBB (Persian)
2100-2130 on 9680 kHz IBB (French) Mon-Fri
Notes: For logistical reasons, the above-mentioned transmissions of IBB will not start until 4 January. Until then IBB’s temporary schedule (as below) remains in effect.
Madagascar transmissions temporarily via other sites:
RNW: The following arrangements remain in effect:
2100-2131 UTC Dutch via Bonaire on 13700 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
1859-2057 UTC English via Issoudun on 7425 kHz azimuth 155 degrees
1957-2057 UTC English via Montsinery on 11655 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
1730-1757 UTC Dutch via Nauen on 11655 kHz azimuth 300 degrees
Vatican Radio: Transmissions at 0300-0530 UTC have returned to Madagascar, but the transmission at 1600-1630 UTC on 13765 kHz will be broadcast via Santa Maria di Galeria.
IBB will continue to operate a temporary schedule as follows until 4 January:
0430-0600 UTC English on 9885 kHz via Botswana azimuth 010 degrees
0500-0600 UTC Persian on 12105 kHz via Biblis azimuth 105 degrees
0530-0630 UTC MF French on 7265kHz via São Tomé azimuth 020 degrees
1000-1030 UTC SS Portuguese on 21590 kHz via Botswana azimuth 350 degrees
1300-1400 UTC Somali on 15620 kHz via São Tomé azimuth 088 degrees
1700-1800 UTC Multilingual (to Zimbabwe) on 12080 kHz via Lampertheim azimuth 132 degrees
2100-2130 UTC MF French on 9680 kHz via São Tomé azimuth 052 degrees
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)