Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for this edition, as Wavescan delves into radio from the Pacific Islands
With thanks to Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada
Jeff: Dan Greenall in Ontario, Canada, recently posted a series of very interesting recordings on the Internet Archive website at archive.org. He comments:
“In years gone by, many Pacific island nations relied on shortwave radio to air their programs across vast expanses of ocean. These included countries such as Kiribati, Tahiti, Fiji, Saipan, New Caledonia, the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, and Papua New Guinea. And indeed, there are recent reports that the latter is now seriously looking at a return to shortwave. But while these nations can no longer be found on shortwave, a handful of other stations are still operating in 2025 and make excellent DX targets for listeners around the world.”
Here's Ray Robinson in Los Angeles to explore what Dan has posted.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff.
Radio New Zealand
Dan started with two recordings of Radio New Zealand on shortwave. In both of these, you will hear the distinctive interval signal used by this broadcaster for decades. It is the call of the New Zealand bellbird. In this first recording, made on December 14, 2024 at 1656 UTC, RNZ Pacific is closing down a transmission on 7390 kHz. This was made using a web SDR near Dunedin.
The second recording, made June 21, 2025 at 1659 UTC, is of RNZ National commencing broadcasting on 6135 kHz. This signal was received via a web SDR
Radio Vanuatu
Then Dan posted two recordings of Radio Vanuatu on shortwave, again received via web SDR's in New Zealand. You may note that many of the words in the local Bislama language are recognizable from their English origins. The first recording is from January 8, 2025 on 9960 kHz at 2158 UTC.
In the second
recording, made at the same time and on the same frequency a few weeks later on
January 29, 2025, the song ‘The Tide is High’ (made popular by Blondie in 1980)
is played.
Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation
Dan said he first heard the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation back in 1971 when it was the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. It was a good catch for him at the time, at his receiving post in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. He nabbed them again recently on June 21, 2025 on 5020 kHz using a web SDR in New Zealand. They can be heard giving sign off announcements at about 1200 UTC, however the station was heard still playing non-stop music half an hour later.
Audio Clip - 05 SIBC - 2025 06 21 - 1158 UTC, 5020 kHz
T8WH Hope
Radio, Palau
Dan says he first heard the station on the Pacific
island of Palau back in 1992 when it was High Adventure’s Voice of Hope – Asia,
KHBN, from Koror, Palau. At that time,
his receiving post was in Thamesford, Ontario, Canada. Palau was still being governed by the U.S.A. back
then, and his QSL shows their address with a U.S. zip code. The island gained independence from the USA in
1994, and the callsign then changed to T8WH.
The station has been through several changes of ownership, and is now
operated by Hope Radio based in Morgantown, West Virginia. Their website
is hoperadio.net. Dan has made two
recordings using a web SDR located in the Philippines, both on June 21, 2025,
on 15680 kHz. The first was at 0200 UTC:
Audio Clip - 06 T8WH Hope R, Palau -
2025 06 21 - 0157 UTC, 15680 kHz
and the second just half an hour later, at
0230 UTC:
Audio Clip - 07 T8WH Hope R, Palau -
2025 06 21 - 0230 UTC, 15680 kHz
KSDA Adventist World Radio, Agat, Guam
Then there’s KSDA, Adventist World Radio, from Agat on the island of Guam. Dan first heard that station back in 1987 and received their QSL for his reception in London, Ontario, Canada. The station is still active today, and he has posted two more recordings of transmissions made in June this year, heard via a web SDR located in northern Thailand. The first is of the start of a program in Mandarin at 1200 UTC on June 7th. The frequency was 9610 kHz:
Audio Clip - 08 KSDA, Guam - 2025 06 07 - 1200 UTC, 9610 kHz
The second was from two weeks later on June 21st, when they were signing off 15680 kHz (the same frequency used by T8WH on Palau) at 1627 UTC:
Audio Clip -09 KSDA, Guam - 2025 06 21 - 1627 UTC sign off, 15680 kHz
KTWR, Agana, Guam
And of course, while we’re in Guam, we must also mention KTWR, Trans World Radio, which broadcasts from their site at Merizo, a little further down the west coast of the island from the KSDA site at Agat.
KTWR recently announced they will be closing their shortwave station on Guam after the current A25 season, at the end of October. But, there are still a few weeks remaining to log this one before they’re gone from the airwaves forever. And, with the help of various web SDR’s located around the globe, the task shouldn’t be too difficult.
Again, Dan has posted two recordings made in June this year. The first recording was made on June 8 at 1100 UTC, through the use of a web SDR in northern Thailand tuned to 11965 kHz, and captures their sign-on announcement:
Audio Clip - 10 KTWR, Guam - 2025 06 08 - 1058 UTC, 11965 kHz
In the second recording he made on July 11, 2025, they are heard at the end of their broadcast on that same frequency, 11965 kHz, with a sign-off just 15 minutes later at 1115 UTC. This recording was made from a web SDR in the Philippines.
Audio Clip - 11 KTWR, Guam - 2025 07 11 - 1114 UTC sign off, 11965 kHz
So, with shortwave stations still active in New Zealand, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Palau, and Guam, there are still some interesting catches of Pacific island stations to be made out there, and since the advent of web SDR’s, you don’t need fancy equipment or antenna setups to hear them. And especially for the stations on Palau and Guam, if you happen to live in their target areas, try listening to them and then writing in. Describe the program content you heard and ask questions about anything you didn’t fully understand. You might just help persuade them there’s an audience for which it’s worth staying on the air!
Back to you, Jeff.
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