There has been a fire 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 will be suspended for at least three days and possibly up to a week. Satellite and Internet broadcasts are not affected.
Some transmissions have already been moved to other sites, but because of the Christmas holidays this has taken longer than usual to organise. Additional changes are pending and will be published when confirmed.
Update 1: The transmission in Dutch to West Africa at 2100-2131 UTC on 13700 kHz will from tonight be broadcast from Bonaire, 250 kW, azimuth 80 degrees.
Update 2: All Radio Sweden transmissions normally via Madagascar at 0200-0300, 2000-2100 and 2100-2200 UTC will be broadcast from Hörby in Sweden. Hörby will also take over the RNW English transmission to India at 1400-1600 UTC on 15595 kHz (350 kW).
Update 3: All Vatican Radio transmissions normally via Madagascar between 0300-0530 and 1600-1630 UTC will be broadcast via Santa Maria di Galeria as from 26 December.
Update 4: TDF will carry RNW English to Africa from 26 December as follows:
1859-2057 UTC via Issoudun on 7425 kHz azimuth 155 degrees
1957-2057 UTC via Montsinery on 11655 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
Update 5: IBB have made the following temporary arrangements for their transmissions that are normally carried via Madagascar:
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)
The fire destroyed the high voltage circuit breaker equipment, so broadcasts from Madagascar will be suspended for at least three days and possibly up to a week. Satellite and Internet broadcasts are not affected.
Some transmissions have already been moved to other sites, but because of the Christmas holidays this has taken longer than usual to organise. Additional changes are pending and will be published when confirmed.
Update 1: The transmission in Dutch to West Africa at 2100-2131 UTC on 13700 kHz will from tonight be broadcast from Bonaire, 250 kW, azimuth 80 degrees.
Update 2: All Radio Sweden transmissions normally via Madagascar at 0200-0300, 2000-2100 and 2100-2200 UTC will be broadcast from Hörby in Sweden. Hörby will also take over the RNW English transmission to India at 1400-1600 UTC on 15595 kHz (350 kW).
Update 3: All Vatican Radio transmissions normally via Madagascar between 0300-0530 and 1600-1630 UTC will be broadcast via Santa Maria di Galeria as from 26 December.
Update 4: TDF will carry RNW English to Africa from 26 December as follows:
1859-2057 UTC via Issoudun on 7425 kHz azimuth 155 degrees
1957-2057 UTC via Montsinery on 11655 kHz azimuth 80 degrees
Update 5: IBB have made the following temporary arrangements for their transmissions that are normally carried via Madagascar:
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)