A while back, one of our listeners in India, Neelakandan Visvanathan in Tamilnadu, sent us an email message containing a request. He stated that it is difficult to obtain adequate information about the radio broadcasting scene in the former Russian republics in Asia, and he requested that we present an uptodate Station Profile on each of these countries.
This is an excellent suggestion, Neelakandan, and over a period of time, we will follow your suggestion. On this occasion, we present the first Station Profile in this short series on former Russian Republics in Asia, and we choose the new country, Tajikistan.
As the encyclopedias tell us, Tajikistan is a landlocked country, surrounded by five other countries; China, Afghanistan, and three of the other former Russian republics. This country is very mountainous, 93% actually, with mountain glaciers forming the source of all of their rivers.
In 1910 there was a major earthquake in Tajikistan and as a result a huge lake was formed, Lake Sarez. Even down to this day, there is a continuing fear that another earthquake will loosen the dam holding back the waters and massive flooding will take place.
In 1910 there was a major earthquake in Tajikistan and as a result a huge lake was formed, Lake Sarez. Even down to this day, there is a continuing fear that another earthquake will loosen the dam holding back the waters and massive flooding will take place.
Tajikistan is an irregularly shaped country 500 miles long with a total area of 55,000 square miles. The total population is around seven million and their capital city is Dushanbe with one million. During the earlier Russian era, the city was known as Stalinabad but in 1961 it was re-named Dushanbe which means Monday in their language, a reminder that their market day in olden times always fell on a Monday.
The early history of Tajikistan goes way back some some 5,000 years to the era of its original settlers. This territory was once part of the ancient Persian Empire; and in successive eras, it was conquered by Alexander the Great, and then by the Arabs from neighboring territories, followed by the oriental Mongols, and then by Afghanistan.
In the 1860s, the territory of Tajikistan was claimed by Russia. In 1929, Tajikistan was granted full republic status under the Soviet Union, and at the time of the breakup of the Russian Empire, this republic, along with several others, declared its own independence on December 21, 1991.
The people themselves are known as Tajik, and they speak the Tajik language which is akin to Persian, and very closely related to other neighboring languages, including Dari in Afghanistan and Uzbek in Uzbekistan.
According to the Russian Encyclopedia, the first radio station in Tajikistan was launched in the year 1928. This would have been an experimental facility, which, it would appear, did not remain on the scene for very long.
However, two years later, the provincial government announced plans to formulate a radio broadcasting service, and two years later again, the State Committee for Broadcasting was established. Their original radio broadcasting station was established in Dushanbe in 1933 under the Russian callsign RV47, and it was on the air with 2½ kW on the longwave channel, 712 metres, corresponding to 420 kHz. Programming was broadcast for a couple of hours each day and it was presented in three languages, Russian, Tajik and Uzbek.
In Tajikistan, there are now three major radio transmitter stations. The oldest of these was constructed in 1933 and it is located in downtown Dushanbe, right next to the large Oktober Hotel. Transmitter Hall No 1 in this double facility contains six mediumwave transmitters; 5 at 7 kW and one at 40 kW, all for local coverage. Transmitter Hall No 2 contains five shortwave transmitters; 1 at 1 kW, 2 at 5 kW, and 2 at 20 kW, all for regional coverage, with communication traffic and broadcast programming.
The massive transmitter station located near Yangiyul, fifteen miles south of Dushanbe, was constructed during the Russian era and it originally contained eight Russian made shortwave transmitters at 100 kW each. Separate Transmitter Halls are located between the towers and antenna systems which extend over a distance of two miles. In addition, there were three other transmitters; 1 at 50 kW and one at 150 kW for use on mediumwave, as well as the 150 kW longwave unit.
Currently, it is estimated that eight of these transmitters; one longwave, two mediumwave and five shortwave; are all in active on-air usage.
The newest transmitter site is located at Orzu near Kolkozabad, some 60 miles south of Dushanbe. This super powered site was constructed in 1971, and it contains a bevy of transmitters and antenna systems. On mediumwave, there were two transmitters at 1 megawatt each, as well as one at 150 kW and one at 40 kW. On shortwave, there were four transmitters at 500 kW each, and these could be operated at half power, or they could be combined in pairs to radiate one megawatt on shortwave channels.
In addition to the three massive transmitter complexes just described, there are currently three additional regional locations, each with its own mediumwave transmitter, thus ensuring nationwide coverage of their country from the one central location in Dushanbe.
All of the programming from the multitude of radio broadcast transmitters throughout Tajikistan is produced and co-ordinated at the studio complex located in Dushanbe. This is a seven storey blue building that looks like a Russian theatre in its design.
All of the programming from the multitude of radio broadcast transmitters throughout Tajikistan is produced and co-ordinated at the studio complex located in Dushanbe. This is a seven storey blue building that looks like a Russian theatre in its design.
Programming for nationwide coverage is presented in two networks, TR1 & TR2. Translated into English, the titles of these two networks would read, Radio Tajikistan National Network and the Voice of Dushanbe. This programming is presented in three languages, Tajik, Uzbek and Russian.
In addition, nationwide relays from Radio Moscow are also heard throughout the country. As a back up for their longwave and mediumwave coverage during the past more than half a century, shortwave has also been in use. Originally a pair of 25 kW transmitters were inaugurated on two separate channels, though these were subsequently replaced with 50 kW units. For a long period of time these two units were heard on 4635 and 4975 kHz. These days, one channel is still apparently in use, 4635 kHz.
It should also be stated that television was introduced into Tajikistan in 1959, and the first known FM stations were installed around 1993. In recent time, locally owned FM stations have been permitted to go on the air in various parts of Tajikistan.
Well, that’s as far as we can go in Part 1 with the story of Radio Broadcasting in Tajikistan, but remember, we are planning to present Part 2 of this interesting information in Wavescan next week.
(AWR Wavescan via Adrian Peterson/NWS52)
(AWR Wavescan via Adrian Peterson/NWS52)
Tajikistan, Radio Tojikston/Program 1
Russian
0400-0430 4765do (domestic service)
1030-1100 4765
2300-0000 4765
Tajik
0000 0100 4765
0100 0200 4765
0200 0300 4765
0430 0500 4765
0500 0600 4765
0600 0700 4765
0700 0800 4765
0900 1000 4765
1000 1030 4765
1100 1200 4765
1200 1300 4765
1300 1400 4765
1400 1500 4765
1500 1600 4765
1600 1700 4765
1700 1800 4765
1800 1900 4765
1900 2000 4765
Uzbek
1030 1100 4765
Tajikistan, Voice of Tajik/External Service
Arabic
0500 0600 7245me (Middle East)
1300 1400 7245me (tentative)
Dari
0700 0800 7245as (Asia)
1500 1600 7245as
English
0900-1000 7245va (Various)
1300-1400 7245va
1700-1800 7245va
Farsi
0400 0500 7245me
1200 1300 7245me
Russian
0600 0700 7245as
1400 1500 7245as
Tajik
0200 0300 7245as
0800 0900 7245as
1000 1100 7245as
1600 1700 7245as
Uzbek
0300 0400 7245as
1100 1200 7245as
(Gayle Van Horn, Freq Manager-Monitoring Times/WRTH 2010)