August programming from Texas Radio Shortwave

Graphic by Gayle Van Horn

All times UTC

Frequency/Station/Target Area/Program

Aug 1, 2026

1400  6160  Shortwave Radio Gold  Eur  Michael Strah and The Music of Trini Lopez

1800  3975 + 6160    Shortwave Radio Gold  Eur Michael Strah and The Music of Trini Lopez

August 2, 2026

1200  9670  Channel 292  Eur Michael Strah and The Music of Trini Lopez

2300  9670  Channel 292  NAm   Michael Strah and The Music of Trini Lopez

August 16, 2026

1000  6070  Channel 292  Eur  The Music of Joe Ely                                                                                                   

August 20, 2026

1900  3975 + 6160  Shortwave Radio Gold  Eur  The Music of Boz Scaggs    

Unless otherwise shown, programs are one hour long.

Programs for Europe (Eur) and beyond on 3975 and 6160 kHz over Shortwave Radio Gold in Winsen, Germany, are transmitted with 1 kW into crossed dipole antennas.

Programs for Europe (Eur) and beyond on 6070 and 9670 kHz over Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany, are transmitted with 10 kW into an inverted V antenna.

Programs for North America (NAm) and beyond on 9670 kHz over Channel 292 are transmitted with 10 kW into a 10.5 dB gain beam antenna.

Texas Radio Shortwave uses a version of The Yellow Rose of Texas as its Interval Signal/Signature Song.

Texas Radio Shortwave verifies correct, detailed reception reports by electronic QSL. This includes reports from listeners using remote receivers (SDRs). Texas Radio

Shortwave's email is texasradioshortwave@protonmail.com.

Many TRSW programs are archived at www.mixcloud.com/texasradiosw.

Texas Radio Shortwave's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/texasradiosw.

Texas Radio Shortwave's Listeners' Group Facebook page is www.facebook.com/groups/580199276066655/.

texasradioshortwave@protonmail.com

(TRSW)

Throwback Thursday - Early Shortwave Broadcasting in Africa

 

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, following a month's pause. This week's edition originally broadcast on February 18, 2001. 

During this year, the new millennium year 2001, Adventist World Radio is celebrating its 30th anniversary.  It was back on October 1, 1971, almost 30 years ago, that the first broadcast from the fledgling Adventist World Radio went on the air from a 250 kw shortwave transmitter operated by Radio Trans Europe at Sines in Portugal.  Throughout this coming year, AWR is planning many anniversary events, and many of these will be of real interest to the international radio world.

As part of the anniversary sequence, we are planning here in Wavescan to present many features on the historical development of Adventist World Radio, and today's program is another in this series.  In this edition, we investigate the early era of shortwave broadcasts on the part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the vast continent of Africa.

       

Records from the era indicate that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been on the air on shortwave from a total of 14 different countries in Africa.  Most of these earlier broadcasts were contracted on a mediumwave station, and they were therefore also heard on the shortwave relay as well.

The first Adventist radio broadcast on shortwave in Africa went on the air in March 1950 over station ETHA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  This programming is listed in the World Radio Handbook for 1951 and 1952 as the Adventist Hour.  These broadcasts of the American Voice of Prophecy radio program were heard on Sundays at 2:45 pm on two channels, 9620 kHz with 1 kw and 15062 kHz with 7.5 kw.  Radio station ETHA was the government radio station, and at certain times of the day it carried a commercial service.

QSL from Deutsche Welle Rwanda

Historical records suggest that test broadcasts were placed on the air with the Deutsche Welle relay station in Kigali, Rwanda for a short period of time in mid-1975.  In the spring of the following year, Adventist broadcasts were placed on two shortwave stations, SLBS at Freetown in Sierra Leone, and Swazi Commercial Radio at Sandlane in Swaziland. 

For a period of nearly three years, Adventist programming in English was incorporated into the programming of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in Colombo, Sri Lanka and beamed to Africa on three shortwave channels.  These 15-minute programs were recorded as special "Test Broadcasts" in the Poona studios of Adventist World Radio and included a shortened version of the old DX program, "Radio Monitors International."

This cluster of shortwave programming all took place before the organization in 1983 of the AWR unit known as AWR-Africa.

Four years later, under the administration of Frenchman Daniel Grizier, a whole slew of new shortwave outlets were added to the schedule of Adventist broadcasting in Africa, some 15 shortwave locations in 10 different countries.  

Some of these very exotic shortwave stations were located in the Cape Verde Islands, Madagascar, Cameroon, and on the island of Mauritius.

These days, Adventist World Radio is on the air to Africa from shortwave transmitters located in Slovakia, Germany, Italy, and South Africa.  In addition, the commercial service from Radio Africa Number One in Gabon has been carrying the English language Voice of Prophecy for more than 20 years.

Angola QSL

Adventist Broadcasts on Shortwave - Africa

1987, RDTVB, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

1987, RN, Yaounde, Cameroon

1987, RN, Bertoua, Cameroon

1987, RN, Douala, Cameroon

1987, RN, Baffousam, Cameroon

1987, RN, Praia, Cape Verde Is.

1987, RDTVCAR, Bangui, Central African Rep.

1950, Mar, ETHA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (American Voice of Prophecy, 3 mos.)

1987, Eq Guinea

1983, Oct 31, Africa No. 1, Moyabi, Gabon (AWR-Africa)

1987, RTVG, Libreville, Gabon

1987, MBC, Curepipe, Mauritius

1987, RM, Antananarivo, Madagascar

1975, July 1, DW, Kigali, Rwanda (Amharic/Swahili tests)

1987, RDR, Kigali, Rwanda

Radio Senegal QSL

1987, ORTS, Dakar, Senegal (French Voice of Hope)

1987, ORTS, Ziguinchor, Senegal (French Voice of Hope)

1976, Spring, SLBS, Freetown, Sierra Leone

1978, Dec 7, SLBC, Ekala, Sri Lanka (nearly three years)

1976, Spring, SCR, Sandlane, Swaziland   

1867, RDTVT, Lome, Togo

(Adrian Peterson/AWR Wavescan 2-18-2001) 

Mini Atlantique' yacht race on shortwave

 

FRANCE  

The 'Mini Atlantique' yacht race weather radio service via TDF Issoudun, France on 7340 and 17545 kHz.

Tuned into male with French weather forecasts at 15.11UT on 7340 kHz today, Friday 24 July. At 15.20 UT, a lady in English reading weather reports took over. Voices were familiar as heard on 'Mini Atlantique' broadcasts in previous years.

After checking HFCC.org database in A-26, could also hear weaker \\ on 17545 kHz (TDF via Issoudun bcast center at 15.00-16.00 UT).

There's an event, 'Les Sables' to the Azores and back, 'Mini Atlantique ', so presume the broadcasts are for participants in that:

https:\\lessables-lesacores650.fr/   Broadcast ended around 15.55 UT.

(Alan Pennington, Cornwall-England-UK, BrDXC-UK iogr bcnews July 24)

(WWDXC top News 1660/27 July 2026)

TWR ends relays from Armenia

 

ARMENIA   1377 kHz  Since July, TWR (Trans World Radio) has ceased broadcasting in Ukrainian via its transmitter in Gavar on 1377 kHz. The radio station told me they have no plans to return to the air.

(Viktor Tsekhanovich, Kerch-RUS, via RUSdx #1404 via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 26)

The rental and payment of TWR via CJSC Yerevan Gavar 1377 kHz TWR relays always ran through the Moscow address and the Russian FMO organization of 'RAM'. April 2022.

The 6-Element Double Cone Skirt Antenna System designed by Kintronic Laboratories Inc., USA, financed by the TWR USA organization in February 2006 is aimed for 1000 kW of power. That special directional and steep-angle antenna was in use 16 years on TWR mediumwave outlets on MW 1377 and 1395

kHz. (ed.)

(TWR /WWDXC Top News 1660/27 July 2026)

DXing Brazil on Mediumwave

 

Thank you to Rudolf Grimm for sharing his latest loggings from Brazil

BRAZIL

..

Mediumwave

 700 kHz: Nossa Radio, São Paulo SP – July 20 at 1625-1631. Id ‘Nossa Radio’, presenting an event schedule for the International Church of the Grace of God (IIGD). S8.

.. 730 kHz: Radio Cidade, Jundiaí SP – July 20 at 1631-1636. News bulletin, mention of a risk of an in-flight accident over the Atlantic Ocean, identified days earlier., id ‘Cidade’. S7.

.. 740 kHz: Radio Trianon, São Paulo SP – July 20 at 1636-1639. Brazilian songs, ‘Trianon’. S6.

.. 810 kHz: Radio Canção Nova, São José do Rio Preto SP – July 21 at 0020-0030. Talk by a YL, id ‘Radio Canção Nova’. S4.

.. 830 kHz: Radio Novo Tempo, Campinas SP – July 20, 1639-1643. Christian song, id ‘Novo Tempo’, Seventh-day Adventist Church Station. S4.

.. 870 kHz: Radio Central, Campinas SP – July 20 at 1643-1648. Commercial announcements from Campinas, sports news (Guarani Futebol Clube, Bugre, "juntos somos mais fortes” (together we are stronger), station id ‘Rádio Central, Jornal de Esportes’. S5.

.. 920 kHz: Sistema São Paulo de Comunicações, Cotia SP – July 20 at 1649-1653. Instrumental music (For the past two years, this station has been broadcasting 24 hours a day without a fixed schedule—playing only instrumental music and, occasionally, pre-recorded newscasts from the past; it is presumed to be up for sale, awaiting a financial offer from a buyer).

Surprisingly, during the period I listened this time, the station actually identified itself: "ZYK755 Sistema São Paulo de Comunicação, 920 kHz, Cotia, São Paulo." A rare occurrence!! S7.

.. 940 kHz: Super Rede Boa Vontade de Radio, Rio de Janeiro RJ – July 20 1940-1945. Music, religious comentary. S8.

.. 980 kHz: Radio Nacional, Brasilia DF – July 20 at 2031-2036. An interview by a YL. S6.

.. 1020 kHz: Radio Educadora, Limeira SP – July 20 at 1654-1657. Instrumental music, news and commentaries, a jingle ‘Educadora’, id ‘ZYK531, Ondas médias, 1020 kHz, Radio Educadora’. S5. // 83.3 MHz Educadora FM.

.. 1040 kHz: Radio Capital, São Paulo SP – July 20 at 1659-1702. ‘Capital’, a program featuring medical advice. S9. // 77.5 Capital.

.. 1060 kHz: Classic Pan Radio, via Radio Educadora, Piracicaba SP – July 20 at 1702-1707. Pop songs, id by a YL: ‘você ouve a Classic Pan’, S5.

.. 1070 kHz: Radio Metropolitana, Mogi das Cruzes SP – July 20 at 1549-1553. Brazilian songs, a jingle ‘Metropolitana’. S7.

.. 1080 kHz: Radio da Universidade (@), Porto Alegre RS – July 20 at 2021-2026. Classical music. S6.

.. 1090 kHz: Radio Canção Nova da Divina Providência, Paulínia SP – July 20 at 1605-1612. Catholic songs, id ‘Canção Nova... Conexão Canção Nova’. S6.

.. 1200 kHz: Radio Cultura Brasil, São Paulo SP – July 20 at 1707-1712. Communication by an OM ‘...você ouve a Cultura, a seleção do ouvinte’. Time check. S8.

.. 1210 kHz: Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba PR – July 20 2003-2008. Program ‘A Voz da Libertação’, advertisements on State of Paraná. S6.

.. 1240 kHz: Radio Iracema, Cunha Porã SC – July 21 at 0040-0045. Id, song in a ‘gaucho’-style. S4.

.. 1270 kHz: Radio Brasil, Campinas SP – July 20 at 1712-1714. A Brazilian song, id ‘Radio Brasil’. S3.

.. 1300 kHz: Rádio Deus é Amor, São Paulo SP – July 20 at 1714-1718. A commentary by a YL on the good action of the Holy Spirit. S6.

.. 1300 kHz: Radio Regional (@), Santo Cristo RS – July 21 at 0028-0033. A studio discussion by various commentators regarding the day's events in Rio Grande do Sul. S3.

.. 1400 kHz: Radio Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro RJ – July 20 at 2027-2031. Commentaries by a YL, ‘Rio de Janeiro’. S6.

.. 1490 kHz: Radio Imaculada, São Bernardo SP – July 20 at 1718-1722. A Catholic broadcast, commentary. S4.

.. 1520 kHz: Rede Aleluia, Sorocaba SP – July 20 at 1722-1726. A broadcast from IURD Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (Universal Church of the Kingdom of God). S7.

.. 1530 kHz: Radio Sulina, Dom Pedrito RS – July 20 at 2353-2359. A Brazilian song, ‘Prefeitura Municipal de Dom Pedrito’. S6.

.. 1570 kHz: Radio ABC, Santo André SP – July 20 1726-1731. A pop song, a jingle ‘ABC’, advertisements. S4. // 81.9 kHz Radio ABC.

.. 9290 kHz: Radio Araucaria (a Brazilian pirate station) – in Portuguese, July 13 at 1610-1620. Talk by a YL, a song in ‘gaucho’-style, time check by OM, ID. S4.

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

 :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2026 Jul 27 0325 UTC

# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services

#

#                Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

#

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity

20 - 26 July 2026

Solar activity was at low to R1 (Minor) levels this period. A total

of 54 C-class and 6 R1 (Minor) events were observed. The largest,

and most complex spot group, was Region 4493 (N06, L=158, class/area

Eki/440 on 23 Jul). This region produced a total of 42 C-class and 5

M-class events, the largest an M3.6 at 22/0635 UTC. A 200 sfu 10 cm

Burst was associated with this event. Region 4494 (S04, L=088,

class/area Dac/120 on 26 Jul) produced the other R1 (Minor) event,

an M3.2 at 26/1528 UTC. Associated with this event was a Type II

Sweep with an estimated shock velocity of 1,057 km/s. No other

significant activity was observed. 

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at

high levels on 20 and 26 Jul with the high value of 1,300 pfu

observed at 20/1645 UTC. 

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to G1 (Minor) levels. Quiet

levels were observed on 20 Jul. Levels increased to unsettled to

active on 21 Jul to early on 24 Jul, with isolated G1 (Minor) levels

observed late on 23 Jul. This activity was due to effects from a

negative polarity CH HSS. Quiet conditions were observed most of 24

Jul and 25-26 Jul. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity

27 July - 22 August 2026

Solar activity is expected to be at mostly low levels with a chance

for moderate R1 (Minor) levels throughout the outlook period. 

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is

expected to reach high levels on 27 Jul, 02-03 Aug, 06-09 Aug, 12-16

Aug, and 22 Aug. The remainder of the outlook period is expected to

be at normal to moderate levels. 

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active

levels on 27-28 Jul due to potential weak CME effects. Unsettled to

active levels are expected on 29-31 Jul, 04-07 Aug, 11-12 Aug, and

17-20 Aug with isolated G1 (Minor) levels possible on 19 Aug. This

level of activity is due to recurrent CH HSS effects. Mostly quiet

levels are expected for the remainder of the outlook period. 

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

:Issued: 2026 Jul 27 0325 UTC

# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

# Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/subscription-services

#

#      27-day Space Weather Outlook Table

#                Issued 2026-07-27

#

#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest

#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index

2026 Jul 27     150          18          4

2026 Jul 28     150          15          3

2026 Jul 29     145           8          3

2026 Jul 30     140           8          3

2026 Jul 31     135           8          3

2026 Aug 01     130           5          2

2026 Aug 02     125           5          2

2026 Aug 03     125           5          2

2026 Aug 04     125          12          4

2026 Aug 05     120          15          3

2026 Aug 06     125          10          3

2026 Aug 07     130           7          2

2026 Aug 08     130           5          2

2026 Aug 09     130           5          2

2026 Aug 10     135           5          2

2026 Aug 11     130           8          3

2026 Aug 12     125           8          3

2026 Aug 13     125           5          2

2026 Aug 14     130           5          2

2026 Aug 15     135           5          2

2026 Aug 16     135           4          2

2026 Aug 17     135          14          3

2026 Aug 18     140          12          3

2026 Aug 19     135          22          5

2026 Aug 20     135           8          3

2026 Aug 21     130           5          2

2026 Aug 22     130           5          2

(NOAA)

99 Years of Indian Broadcasting / AIR / Akashvani, part 2

 

Thank you to the Wavescan staff for Part 2 on the history of AIR/Akashvani

Part 2 – 1936-Today

Jeff:  Today, Ray Robinson continues our feature on the 99th anniversary of broadcasting in India, and the 90th anniversary of Akashvani in particular, with grateful thanks to the Indian DX Club International and their Asian DX Review.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  So the Indian Broadcasting Company began broadcasting 99 years ago on July 23, 1927, initially with a single station in Bombay.  Just over a month later, a second station was added in Calcutta.  But the company faced financial difficulties, and less than three years after its launch, in March 1930, it collapsed and entered liquidation.  A few weeks later, on April 1, 1930, the Government stepped in and relaunched the stations as the Indian State Broadcasting Service.  And that service was duly renamed ‘All India Radio’ on June 8, 1936 – 90 years ago.

Walter Kaufman was a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia.  He was an accomplished violinist who fled Europe to avoid being captured by Hitler’s Gestapo, and he lived in Bombay until after the war, when he returned to his homeland.  In 1936, he composed the signature tune for All India Radio, which became the wake-up alarm for a nation.

 Audio Clip - All India Radio - Original Signature Tune available at: : https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

The late 1930’s transformed broadcasting in India.  A station was opened in New Delhi.  News bulletins became a regular feature.  External broadcasts began reaching audiences beyond India's borders.  Engineers worked tirelessly to expand transmitter networks and improve reception.

Then came the Second World War.  The conflict dramatically increased the importance of radio.  Governments around the world relied upon broadcasting to communicate information, maintain morale and reach distant populations.  India was no exception.

On October 1, 1939, the External Service began with a broadcast in Pashto, intended to counter German radio propaganda targeted to Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier province.  Other broadcasts in Dari, Persian and Arabic were soon added for regions that were then British protectorates.

AIR expanded its news operations and foreign-language services.  Broadcasting became an essential instrument of communication.  In February 1943, a new ‘Broadcasting House’ was opened at Parliament Street in New Delhi, and by the end of the war, radio had become firmly established in public life.

Every institution has moments that define its legacy.  For All India Radio, one such moment arrived at midnight on August 15, 1947 – the date of Indian independence from Great Britain.  Across the country, listeners gathered around radio receivers.  

Some listened in homes.  Others listened in public spaces.  Many remained awake through the night.  Through the microphones of All India Radio, India heard the voices that announced the birth of an independent nation.

The airwaves carried speeches, celebrations and history itself.  In that moment, radio was not merely reporting events.  It was helping create a shared national experience.  The country was listening together.

And yet, on that momentous occasion of Independence, AIR's reach remained surprisingly limited.  The network operated only a handful of stations and transmitters.  Much of rural India remained beyond effective coverage.  The decades that followed changed that dramatically.  New transmitters rose across the country, and power levels were increased.  Coverage was expanded into previously unreachable regions.  Engineers transported equipment through mountains, forests and deserts to bring broadcasting to remote communities.

The results were remarkable.  What had once covered only a small fraction of India gradually evolved into a network reaching nearly the entire population.  For millions, radio became the most accessible source of information, education and entertainment.

If the 1930’s and 1940’s were about building infrastructure, the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s became the golden age of programming.  Radio entered Indian homes in a way no other medium had before.  The National Programme of Music introduced listeners to the finest classical performers in the country.  Farm broadcasts delivered practical information to rural communities.  Educational programs supported literacy and development.  Children's programs became beloved family traditions.

In 1956, All India Radio was officially renamed Akashvani, which means ‘Voice from the Sky’ in Sanskrit.  

But the arrival of Radio Ceylon had challenged All India Radio’s dominance in entertainment broadcasting.  So in response, the Vividh Bharati channel was launched on October 3, 1957, and it transformed Indian radio.  Film songs, light entertainment, listener requests and celebrity presentations captured the imagination of millions.  For an entire generation, the sound of radio became inseparable from daily life.  The radio accompanied breakfast.  It played during work.  It entertained families after dinner.  It became a member of the household.

 Audio Clip - Vividh Bharati, Simla available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

One of Akashvani's greatest achievements often receives less attention than it deserves.  It preserved much of Indian culture for posterity.  Before digital recording, before streaming platforms and before online archives, AIR was documenting the nation's cultural heritage.  Legendary musicians, poets, dramatists and scholars performed in front of AIR microphones.  Rare traditions were recorded, and regional languages found representation.  Folk music from remote villages was preserved for future generations.  The archives that emerged over decades became one of the most valuable collections of Indian cultural history ever assembled.  Without Akashvani, much of that heritage might have been lost forever.

No institution survives for ninety years without facing challenges.  AIR was often criticized for excessive bureaucracy and slow decision-making.  Questions about editorial independence surfaced from time to time.  Television created a new competitor for audience attention.

Later came private FM stations with energetic presenters and highly localized content.  Then the internet changed everything.  For many traditional broadcasters around the world, the digital revolution proved disruptive.  Akashvani faced the same challenge.  Could a public broadcaster built in the age of valves and transmitters remain relevant in the age of smartphones and streaming?  The answer required reinvention.

Today's Akashvani bears little resemblance technologically to the network inaugurated in 1936.  There are now 420 stations nationwide, covering 92% of India’s geographic area and over 99% of its population.  Programming is available in 23 languages and 179 regional dialects.  FM broadcasting began on July 23, 1977 in Madras, now known as Chennai, and DRM technology has improved audio quality still further throughout the country.  Online streaming allows global access.  Mobile applications bring programs to younger audiences.  Podcasts extend the reach of traditional radio content.  Social media platforms create new forms of engagement.  Yet despite these transformations, the essential mission remains unchanged – to inform, to educate, to entertain, and above all, to connect.

Of course, what listeners outside India remember is All India Radio’s General Overseas Service, which is heard around the world.

 Audio Clip - All India Radio General Overseas Service available  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Even though the network’s name was officially changed to Akashvani back in 1956, it was still frequently referred to on air both as AIR and All India Radio right up until 2023.  All India Radio was a term originally coined by Lionel Fielden in 1936, and so for some, it had connotations of India’s colonial past.  Thus, on May 3, 2023, an order was issued by the Indian government that the network should henceforth solely refer to itself as Akashvani.  Even on that date, the English morning news bulletin -- broadcast at 8.15am -- carried the ‘All India Radio’ name in its introduction.  But by the afternoon news bulletin, broadcast at 4.05pm, the announcer had switched to Akashvani.

 Audio Clip - It's Akashvani - India's public radio service is no longer called 'All India Radio' available at  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

The story of Akashvani is one that began with engineers who built transmitters in difficult conditions, artists who enriched the airwaves, announcers whose voices became household companions, and listeners who welcomed radio into their lives. 

From the inauguration of the Indian Broadcasting Company in 1927 to today's digital broadcasts reaching audiences around the world, nearly a century has passed.  Yet the fundamental purpose of broadcasting remains the same:  to bring people together through sound.  Long before India became digitally connected, Akashvani had already created something equally remarkable — a nation listening together.  So, as India celebrates ninety years of All India Radio and honors the enduring legacy of Akashvani, we are reminded that broadcasting is not merely about transmitters, frequencies or technology.  It is about people.  It is about stories.  

And it is about a voice that, for generations, helped India hear itself.

Back to you, Jeff.

99 Years of Indian Broadcasting / AIR / Akashvani Part 1

 

Thank you to the staff of Wavescn for Part 1 of  Indian Broadcasting

Photo via India Today

Part 1 – 1920-1936

Jeff: Last month, on June 8, Akashvani in India celebrated 90 years since the official renaming of the Indian Broadcasting Company as ‘All India Radio’.  On Thursday this week, July 23, it will be 99 years since the IBC, the predecessor of AIR , was first inaugurated in Bombay.  So today, Ray Robinson takes a look back at the circumstances surrounding that historic event.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  And I must start by acknowledging that much of the material for today’s feature comes from an excellent article written by Sandipan Basu Mallick, VU3JXD, which was published in last month’s journal of the Indian DX Club International, the ‘Asian DX Review’.

The story of broadcasting in India began with a handful of curious men, homemade transmitters, experimental aerials and an almost magical belief that voices could travel through the sky.  Imagine Bombay in 1920.  The city was alive with the energy of a rapidly changing world.  Electricity was becoming more common.  Motorcars were appearing on the streets.  Wireless communication had begun transforming shipping and military operations across the globe.

Among those fascinated by this new technology was a young entrepreneur named Gianchand Motwane.  Motwane was not merely a businessman.  He was an experimenter, one of those restless minds who saw possibilities where others saw impossibilities.  In 1920, he conducted what is widely regarded as the first radio transmission in India.  It was modest by modern standards — a low-powered experimental broadcast — but it demonstrated something extraordinary:  voices and sounds could travel without wires.  The future had arrived.  The transmission lasted only a short time, but it marked the beginning of Indian broadcasting history.

Over the next few years, wireless enthusiasts began gathering in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.  They were part scientists, part hobbyists and part adventurers.  They assembled receivers from imported parts, strung aerial wires across rooftops and spent evenings listening to distant signals fading in and out of the static.

In August 1921, a collaborative experiment between The Times of India and the Posts and Telegraph Department transmitted a program from Bombay. Remarkably, the signal was heard more than a hundred miles away in Poona. For those who experienced it, the achievement seemed almost miraculous. The possibilities of radio had become impossible to ignore.

The early 1920’s were the years of the radio clubs.  The Radio Club of Bombay began regular broadcasts in 1923.  In Calcutta, the Radio Club of Bengal followed with its own transmissions.  In Madras, enthusiasts established the Madras Presidency Radio Club, which soon became one of the most active centers of broadcasting experimentation in India.

These pioneers worked with limited resources and often improvised equipment.  Yet they possessed something more valuable than money:  enthusiasm.

 

In Calcutta, demonstration broadcasts conducted with Marconi equipment amazed listeners.  Music concerts and speeches travelled through the air to audiences miles away.  Newspapers reported these experiments with excitement.  Radio was still a novelty, but it was rapidly becoming a sensation.

In Madras, broadcasting owed much to the efforts of dedicated individuals such as C. V. Krishnaswamy Chettiar, who assembled transmitters from imported components and helped create a functioning radio service.  Programs included music, talks and educational content.  Loudspeakers were installed in public places so that even people without receivers could listen.

For many Indians, this was their first encounter with broadcasting.  Listening itself became a social event.  Families gathered around receivers.  Friends invited neighbors to hear distant voices.  Public demonstrations attracted curious crowds. Radio was not yet a household appliance.  It was an event.  Few realized that these modest clubs were laying the foundations for one of the world's largest broadcasting networks.

The defining moment arrived on 23 July 1927.  The Indian Broadcasting Company had been established to create a professional broadcasting service for India.  Its first station was ready in Bombay.

Newspapers across the region reported the event.  One report published in The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser described the inauguration of the "Bombay Beam Radio Station" and highlighted the significance of this technological achievement.  Lord and Lady Irwin, the Viceroy and Vicereine of India, travelled to Bombay to formally inaugurate the station.  The ceremony attracted dignitaries, businessmen and wireless enthusiasts.  There was a sense that something historic was unfolding.

Speaking at the event, Lord Irwin reflected on the power of broadcasting to connect people separated by distance.  He noted that radio could provide companionship and information to those living in remote locations.  Looking back nearly a century later, his words seem remarkably prophetic.  The Bombay station began regular broadcasting on that day.  Just over a month later, Calcutta received its own station. For the first time, organized broadcasting had truly arrived in India.

Yet success was far from guaranteed.  Running a broadcasting service in India during the 1920’s was expensive.  Receivers were costly.  The audience was still relatively small.  Revenue struggled to keep pace with expenditure.  The Indian Broadcasting Company faced mounting financial difficulties.

In March 1930, barely three years after its triumphant launch, the company collapsed and entered liquidation.  The future of broadcasting in India suddenly appeared uncertain.  Had the story ended there, radio in India might have developed very differently.  Fortunately, public support for broadcasting had already grown strong enough to prevent its disappearance.  Political leaders, listeners and public figures recognized its potential importance.  So, the Government stepped in.

On 1 April 1930, broadcasting resumed under government management as the Indian State Broadcasting Service.  The patient had been saved.

Every great institution eventually encounters an individual who shapes its destiny. For Indian broadcasting, that person was Lionel Fielden.  A senior BBC producer, Fielden arrived in India in 1935 as the first Controller of Broadcasting.  He inherited a service that was financially fragile, organizationally uncertain and geographically limited.  Yet he also recognized its immense potential.  Fielden believed radio should not be merely an urban entertainment service catering to elites.  It had to speak to India in all of its diversity.  It had to reach villages as well as cities.  It had to represent Indian culture rather than simply imitate British broadcasting. 

Under his leadership, expansion accelerated.  New stations were planned.  News services were improved.  Programming became more diversified.  And most importantly, the service acquired a new identity.

On June 8, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service was officially renamed All India Radio.  The name captured an ambitious vision:  a broadcasting service for the entire nation.  Few could have imagined how profoundly that vision would shape India's future.

And we’ll pick up the story again next week, with the looming War years, Independence in 1947, and beyond.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)

The Mystery of Radio Curom

 Thank you to the Wavescan staff for the nostalgic story from Curaçao Island

Whatever Happened to Radio Curom on Curaçao Island in the Caribbean?

Jeff: Last September, Ray Robinson presented a feature about shortwave and medium wave broadcasting on and from the Dutch island of Bonaire in the Caribbean.  Bonaire is well-known as the home of the high-powered stations of both Trans World Radio and the former Radio Netherlands relay site.  But Bonaire is just one of three islands that make up what used to be called the Netherlands Antilles, or the ‘ABC’ islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.  What is often not remembered these days is that Curaçao also has a history of broadcasting on shortwave, so here’s Ray again to tell us about that.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  Curaçao is located about 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela in the central Caribbean, and is approximately 44 miles long, and 10 miles wide.  The highest point of elevation on the island is Mt. Christophelberg at 1220 ft high.  There are no rivers, and only seasonal lakes.

The island’s history began with the arrival of Amerindians from South America around 2500 BC, and the first European colony was established by the Spanish in 1499.  The Dutch took over in 1634, and during the Second World War when the Netherlands was under Nazi occupation, American and British forces provided administration temporarily as a protective measure until the war was over, when the island was returned to the Netherlands.  The American troops also built a military airport.

In 2010, Curaçao officially became its own country, a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  It is autonomous, although The Hague retains responsibility for defense and foreign policy.  The current population is about 160,000, who primarily speak Papiamentu – the creole language of the ABC islands that’s largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15th and 16th centuries.  But most of the population is also fluent in the official language of Dutch, and some also speak Spanish and/or English.  Curaçao is the largest of the ABC islands, both in terms of land area and population, and its capital is the port city of Willemstad.

Wireless came to Curaçao very early.  In 1908, a Dutch warship, the Jacob van Heemskerck, brought the first wireless transmission equipment to Curaçao, and this was duly set up in Fort Rif at the mouth of Willemstad Harbor as a coastal wireless station.  The original callsign was CRC, though this was regularized to PJC a few years later.

That callsign, PJC on Curaçao, is reminiscent of the more familiar callsign PCJ which was the call of the well-known Dutch international shortwave broadcasting station back in the early days of radio.  In fact, in the pre-War years, it wasn’t unusual for radio journals to mix up the callsigns, with the Curaçao call sometimes being printed incorrectly as PCJ, instead of PJC.

In 1928, for the first time, a radio telegraph service between the Netherlands Antilles and Holland was established by PJC on Curaçao.  Two years later a similar wireless communication service was established between Curaçao and New York.

The first radio broadcasting service on the island was launched on 20 February 1933, and it too was installed in Fort Rif, as a function of the maritime radio station PJC.  The Dutch word for ‘broadcasting’ is ‘omroep’ – you may recall that the full Dutch name of Radio Netherlands was Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, Radio Netherlands World Broadcasting.  So in Curaçao, the new station was Curaçao Omroep, which they shortened to Radio Curom, taking the first three letters of Curaçao, and the first two of omroep.  It was officially a government radio broadcasting service, but operated by the Curaçao Radio Association, or CRV – Curaçaosche Radio Vereeniging.

The station was given the specific callsign PJC1, and emitted just 150 watts on 9091 kHz.  Reception was first reported in the USA in the club magazine of the International Short Wave Club (or, ISWC) in April 1937, and the station was heard periodically in North America.

In 1941, the same ISWC magazine proclaimed that Radio Curom would soon be upgraded to 2 kW; and in 1943, the station began relaying programming on behalf of AFRS, the American Forces Radio Service, on 5930 kHz using a new transmitter, PJC2, with a power of 3 kW.

A low-power medium wave station using the callsign KWJG was installed at the Hato airfield on Curaçao in 1943 also to relay AFRS for the American troops then based there.

A final listing during this era is found in a publication in New Zealand, which shows Radio Princess Juliana on 7250 kHz in 1946.  This apparently operated under the same PJC2 callsign previously used for the AFRS programming, and it was listed in the World Radio Handbook with 3 kW on either 7250 kHz or 5017 kHz from 1947 through 1953, though the last listing shows that the station had become inactive on shortwave.  Instead, in 1953, Radio Curom launched a medium wave service with a power of 3 kW on 722 kHz.  Subsequently, other medium wave stations, all commercially operated, were inaugurated on the island.

In 1958, Radio Curom’s 25th anniversary was celebrated with the production of an LP record of Caribbean music recorded in the Radio Curom studios – the first ever LP recorded in Curaçao.  It was published with the help of Philips in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands.

Interestingly, a report in the NASWA Journal states that Radio Curom was noted again on shortwave in the United States during 1960 with programming in the 31 metre band.

And then, in Jerry Berg’s second book ‘Broadcasting on the Shortwaves, 1945 to Today’, he states that Radio Curom was again briefly reactivated on shortwave in the 1970’s, when it was heard in the United States on 17513.5 & 20779 kHz.

The 1980 edition of the WRTH listed five medium wave radio stations in Willemstad on 850, 1010, 1230, 1500, and 1540 kHz, but as is the case in so many countries, broadcasting in Curaçao gradually migrated from the medium wave band to FM.  The last medium wave station, which closed in December 2022 after declaring bankruptcy, was the familiar Radio Curom, which then was using 10 kW on 860 kHz with the call PJZ86, and identifying on air simply as ‘Z86’.

So these days, there is no shortwave or medium wave broadcasting service left on the island of Curaçao, although a couple of dozen FM stations are listed, along with a number of online stations that webstream only.  

In its early years, Radio Curom was branded by the radio magazines of the era as being a poor verifier.  However, as time went by, that changed and many QSL cards were issued.  The highly desired QSL card from Radio Curom used to show a stylistic map of Curaçao with a tall antenna tower.

The maritime station on Curaçao, with which Radio Curom was associated, also issued QSL cards as verification of listener reports.  Two of their cards are known; one showing a map of the island, and a later one showing the figurative shield of Curaçao in color.

So, Radio Curom was indeed on the air on the shortwaves, many years ago, and apparently during three different eras, beginning in 1933 and ending in the early 1970’s.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)

Radio Seabreeze resumes broadcasts

 

Radio Seabreeze is back in the air at 1395 kHz after a long time. The maintenance work has been completed and the antenna has been restored, allowing listeners in the Northern Netherlands to receive the transmitter again via mediumwave.

Let us know what the reception is like and leave a message in our guestbook or via our QSL page.

https://radioseabreeze.nl/2026/07/10/10-juli-2026-1395-weer-in-de-lucht/ (translated from Dutch)

1395 kHz is from the Grou Aquaverium site. It went off air at the end of January 2026 because of renovation work at the Aquaverium, including renewal of the roof where their antenna was sited. Seabreeze's other transmitter is on 1098 from Laren, further south near Utrecht.

(Alan Pennington, UK/BDXC)

FRS slated for Summer Splash July 26

 

Dear FRS Friends,

The wait is almost over... the 5th edition of the FRS Summer Splash is just around the corner!

Kick-off is this coming Sunday at 21:00 CEST.(Sunday July 26)  Full details can be found on our website. at https://frsholland.nl/  

Go to "Latest News" in the top menu and click on "FRS Summer Splash 2026".Tune in, turn on... and enjoy the show!

Following last year’s absence due to sad circumstances, we are happy to announce that we will be back with our annual Summer Splash in July. On Sunday, July 26th, August 2nd and 9th, FRS-Holland will take to the air. Three weeks in a row, each time on a Sunday evening between 19:00 UTC/ 21:00 CEST until 21:00 UTC/ 23:00 CEST. Contrary to our normal schedule, these evenings will contain themed programmes. Remember for instance (from previous editions), specials like Soul Land, Psychedelic, the Summer of Love, Made in Holland, German Underground, Travelling Sounds, Motown Classics, Summer Classics and 1990s.

The first Summer Splash edition took place in the summer of 2020, followed by editions in 2022, 2023 & 2024. We are eager to produce a total of six one-hour specials in July and August.

What brings this 2026 edition? Certainly interesting themes with a great variety of music and topics. Sometimes we really like to surprise our listening audience…so make sure you are part of our Summer Splash!

We will be on air on 7700//6400 kHz & 7400 kHz. This time no 5.8 & 9.3 MHz!

QSL, sticker and…FRS poster/ CD

Of course, another nice QSL card is waiting for you. And when writing to our PO Box, you will receive our colorful sticker with the station logo. For only 10 euros (!) we will send you a beautiful poster telling part of our history in pictures. As a bonus, we include our 45th anniversary souvenir CD.

73s  FRS team

Encore classical music from Radio Tumbrill

 

Dear Listener

Regular Broadcast times of Encore By WRMI and Channel 292 are:

02:00 - 03:00 UTC Friday 5850 kHz WRMI to US

20:00 - 21:00 UTC Friday 15770 kHz WRMI to Europe

10:00 - 11:00 UTC Saturday 9670 kHz Channel 292 to Europe

01:00 - 02:00 UTC Sunday 5850 kHz WRMI to US and Canada

19:00 - 20:00 UTC Sunday 3955 kHz Channel 292 to Europe

02:00 - 03:00 UTC Monday 5950 kHz WRMI to the US and Canada

13:00 - 14:00 UTC Tuesday 15770 kHz WRMI to Europe, east coast of US and Iceland. (Sometimes RTTY on the lower sideband. Suggest notch out or use USB.)

Some Things to see on The Encore Website:

The Encore website is www.tumbril.co.uk where you will find:

Important information about funding of Encore - Radio Tumbril.

Up-to-date transmission times and frequencies.

The playlists for the most recent programmes.

An email link.

Informal reception reports as well as those requesting eQSL cards are welcome.

WRMI and Channel 292 are very generous with their air-time but Encore still costs around 130 Dollars/Euros a month to broadcast.

If you can - please send a small contribution to help Encore keep going.

THE DONATION BUTTON is on the homepage of the website - www.tumbril.co.uk - which folks can use if they would like to support Encore.

(Please don't be put off by the POWR security wall when using the PAYPAL button - it is a harmless requirement of WIX the website hosting service.)

THIS FORTNIGHT'S PROGRAMME - First broadcast on FRIDAY 24th July by WRMI at 0200 UTC on 5850, and 2000 UTC on 15770 and then Channel 292 on SATURDAY 25th July at 10:00 UTC on 9670 kHz:

Starts with two very different versions of O Virtus Sapientiae by Hildegard von Bingen, and two pieces by Welsh composer Paul Mealor.

After that the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughn Williams.

The programme finishes with three piano etudes from Hélène de Montgeroult, and the first movement of Viola Concerto No. 3 by Friedrich Benda.

Brice Avery - Encore - Radio Tumbril - www.tumbril.co.uk.

GMØTLY

Special French broadcast from Radio Taiwan International

 

Classic Radio Taiwan Int'l QSL

Special French-language broadcasts from Radio Taiwan International, transmitted directly from Tamsui, Taiwan. 

Every weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) in August, starting August 7.

17:00–17:30: 15145 kHz & 17:30–18:00: 11850 kHz (new). Reception reports verified with a special QSL card.

(Ghibaudo/BDXC)

U.K. Propagation Update

 

RSGB

GB2RS News Team | July 24, 2026

We said last week that there were no coronal holes to worry about. Yet two days later a massive crack appeared on the Sun, stretching over one million kilometres.

Luckily, this didn’t amount to much and it had little effect on HF propagation, but it does go to show that solar events can rapidly develop and that long-term forecasts can be tricky.

The solar flux index has increased over the past week, and was sitting at 150 as this report was being written. As we suggested earlier, geomagnetic conditions have been quiet with the Kp index generally below 3.5, which bodes well for HF.

Solar conditions have been good with only four M-class solar flares and no X-class events. Any coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, have been directed away from Earth.

We are still in the summer doldrums, so D-layer absorption remains high and maximum useable frequencies, or MUFs, are generally lower than in the autumn and winter. However, we have the IOTA contest this weekend, which is a great opportunity to work some far-flung DX. So why not dust off your radio and get on the air? With mainland Great Britain being an island, you might find you are in demand as EU-005!

Other DX to be worked this week includes RI0BW, the Arctic Legends IOTA DXpedition; 3B9HR from Rodrigues Island; PJ7/LA5IIA on St Maarten; TY5FR from Benin; E51CZZ and E51KEE on the Cook Islands; VU4R from the Andaman Islands; and VP5G operating from Turks and Caicos.

In the coming week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index may fall back to 125 at first, and then down to around 108. Luckily, the Kp index is predicted to remain low, with a predicted Kp of 2, at least until the end of the month.

VHF and up:

There have been good examples of both tropo and Sporadic-E in the last week and there are reasons to continue with some optimism for the coming week.

This is still a good period for summer tropo. However, remember that hot days are the enemy of tropo over land, and it tends to be sea paths that survive throughout the day, whereas land stations have to make the best of nighttime operations.

That said, the main change in the weather pattern this coming week will be that the high pressure, which has been over the Atlantic just west of Britain, shifts into the continent and eventually out of reach by the end of next week.

So, the message is to get into the tropo while it’s here and use the latter part of the week for perhaps meteor scatter, with the Delta Aquarids peaking in the coming week. There is reserved optimism for this since it’s primarily a southern hemisphere event.

Rain scatter has been very hard to find recently but looks like making a comeback as the weather turns more unsettled with sequences of fronts crossing the country. Maybe only patchy weak fronts, but still worth considering.

The summer aurora prospects are staying on the marginal side, but watch out for Kp index values creeping above 5 before turning your beams north.

Sporadic-E, which is rolling along in main summer season fashion, has been very good lately and was producing a full set of bands, up to 2m, last Thursday 23 July.

As the weather turns a bit more unsettled, this could help with Sporadic-E. This could happen if the fronts move into the continent and weak jet streams, and possibly thundery cold fronts, create turbulence at the right sort of range over Europe. This will probably favour paths to Scandinavia and to the Balkans.

For EME operators, Moon declination reaches minimum today, 26 July, so Moon window lengths and peak Moon elevation are at their lowest value. 

With apogee yesterday, 25 July, path losses will decrease as the week progresses. 144MHz sky noise is high to start the week, peaking at over

2800 Kelvin today, 26 July, before slowly decreasing in the coming week.

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/propagation-news/2026/07/24/propagation-news-26-july-2026/

Mike erry, UK/BDXC

HAPPY 250th AMERICA

 

SAQ broadcast slated for July 5 on Alexanderson Day

 

                            The only remaining, and still fully functional, Alexanderson Alternator

The SAQ is scheduled to air on Alexanderson Day, July 5th, 2026.

The only remaining, and still fully functional, Alexanderson Alternator.

Experience the wings of history where they are really heard!

On the 5th of July 2026, the World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station and the Alexander Grimeton Friendship Association invite you to the Alexanderson Day – a unique and lively family day filled with technology, culture, and world-class experiences.

During the day, the radio station is brought to life with the legendary Alexanderson Alternator (SAQ), the only one of its kind in the world that still works.

The unique Alexanderson alternator from 1924, with the call sign SAQ, is scheduled for two transmissions over the antenna on VLF 17.2 kHz CW.

To attend one of the transmissions in the transmitter hall, a ticket will be required.

You can book you ticket here already now (recommended).

A full program of all activities on the 2026 Alexanderson Day will soon be available on grimeton.org.

SAQ transmission schedule

First transmission:

10:25 CEST (08:25 UTC) Introduction.

10:30 CEST (08:30 UTC) Start-up of the Alternator begins.

10:45 CEST (08:45 UTC) SAQ in the air VVV VVV VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ (approx. time)

11:00 CEST (09:00 UTC) Transmission of a message.

Second transmission:

14:25 CEST (12:25 UTC) Introduction.

14:30 CEST (12:30 UTC) Start-up of the Alternator begins.

14:45 CEST (12:45 UTC) SAQ in the air VVV VVV VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ (approx. time)

15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC) Transmission of a message.

Live Video from World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station

On this Alexanderson Day, there will be no live video from the transmissions due to staffing difficulties. Instead, the Alexander association team will fully focus on bringing SAQ out in the ether.

We ask for your understanding.

Test Transmissions

We are planning for some test transmissions, preliminary on July 2nd or 3rd between 13:00 - 16:00 CEST (we will confirm as soon as we can). During the tests, SAQ will be on air shorter periods of time, when we will be carrying out some tests and measurements.

QSL Reports to SAQ

Your QSL reports to SAQ are, as usual, most welcome and much appreciated!

For guaranteed E-QSL from us,

please report using our 

ONLINE QSL FORM.

We can not guarantee that reports by Email/mail/bureau will be confirmed.

The online form will be open from July 5thd until July 26th.

Amateur Radio Station SK6SAQ

The Amateur Radio Station with the call “SK6SAQ” will be QRV during the day on the following frequencies:

– 3 517.2 kHz CW

– 7 017.2 kHz CW

– 14 017.2 KHz CW

– 3 755 kHz SSB

– 7 140 kHz SSB

https://alexander.n.se/en/the-alexander-association/kontact/

The End of an Era: NHK Leaves Nauen

 

NHK World Japan is expected to conclude its remaining shortwave relay broadcasts from the MBR transmission facility at Nauen, Germany, on June 28, marking the end of the broadcaster's final use of the historic German relay site.

The broadcasts affected by the closure are:

UTC/frequency

Japanese to the Middle East, 0100–0300 on 9440 

Japanese to the Middle East, 0300–0400 on 11960 

Japanese to the Middle East, 0400–0500 on 13750 

Russian to Eastern Europe, 0430–0450  on 6165 

For many years, Nauen has served as an important relay facility for international broadcasters seeking coverage across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. With the departure of NHK World Japan, another chapter in the long history of shortwave broadcasting from Nauen comes to a close.

It remains unclear whether NHK will continue these services through alternative transmission facilities. Some observers have suggested that replacement broadcasts could originate directly from Japan, though no official announcement has been made regarding future frequencies or schedules.

For DXers, the period immediately following June 28 will be worth watching. Monitoring the traditional NHK frequencies, as well as nearby channels in the 16- and 19-meter bands, may provide clues as to whether the broadcaster plans to maintain service to these target areas through other transmission sites.

As always, reports from listeners will help determine what changes, if any, appear on the bands after the Nauen transmissions fall silent.

Throwback Thursday-Voice of America, Hicksville, Long Island, New York

The weekly "Wavescan," when it was produced by highly regarded DXer and radio historian Dr Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio, carried a series of very interesting features containing much original research on radio history. We have added a similar series of current feature articles, "Reminiscing With A Radio," now being written by Adrian for New Zealand's "Radio Heritage" website. Thank you to Adrian Peterson and the Radio Heritage Foundation for their permission to include this material here.

 

by Dr Adrian M Peterson

Classic VOA QSL from Cold War Radio Museum

Back in those days, we were surprised, and literally amazed, at the rapid increase in the number of shortwave stations that began to carry the programming of the Voice of America.  At the time, the only shortwave receiver I owned at our family home in country South Australia was a small home-constructed battery-operated uncalibrated set that utilised the old bulbous English Cossor valves.  Thus it was that on Sunday afternoons I would sometimes cycle the three-mile distance and go over to the home of my mentor, Ern Suffolk.  He lived in a country house near Lobethal, a Bavarian migrant town with a name in German meaning "Valley of Praise."  Officially, this town was re-designated during the war years as Tweedvale, honouring its large woollen mill factory, but we as locals, always called it Lobethal.

Ern Suffolk was the guiding light for the South Australian Branch of the old Australian DX Radio Club with its headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria.  On his powerful shortwave receiver, I would often tune in to the escalating number of VOA shortwave transmitters and send reception reports to their two addresses, one in California and the other in New York.  Most of my reports were acknowledged; some with QSL card, some with QSL letter, some with a letter stating that it was against policy to verify, and the rest were ignored.

During those years of international crisis, the American stations that we would listen to were located mostly in California, though we would also hear the Eastern stations as well; and yes, we held QSL cards to prove it.  One of the major transmitter bases that was pressed quickly into VOA service was located at Hicksville, on Long Island in New York state.  This massive electronic complex was in some ways the largest communication station that was commandeered by VOA.  Well, OK, VOA did not just walk in and take the facility over, but they did arrange for the usage of many transmitters at this location to carry their programming, with who knows, maybe a score of different callsigns.

It was Press Wireless International, PWI, that constructed the Hicksville radio station for the purpose of increasing the flow of intentional news reports.  Work on the station was commenced in 1932 at two different locations, Little Neck and Hicksville.  Initially, it would seem from the available information that the smaller property at coastal Little Neck was developed as a temporary transmitter base with a couple of shortwave transmitters, and maybe even up to four.  The official 1933 list for Little Neck shows half a dozen call signs in use; five in the WJ series, such as WJO, WJP and WJQ, and also one four-letter call, WRDK.  When PWI Hicksville became functional, it would be presumed that the transmitters were transferred, and Little Neck then became their Receiver Station.

The larger PWI property on Long Island was situated in Hicksville, quite close to where the offices of the radio magazine, "Popular Communications," are now located.  The 500-acre property for Press Wireless Hicksville was developed as a massive shortwave communication radio station with, at its height of activity, 47 shortwave transmitters and 70 antennas.  It seems that the largest transmitters were rated at the time at 40 kw., though these days the power rating would likely be given as 20 kw.  The many additional transmitters were rated at lower power values, varying from 10 kw. to 5 kw. to a few hundred watts.

The Hicksville station became operational initially in 1933 with the original complement of transmitters, and these were augmented progressively during the next several years.  The purpose for establishing this station was to enable the free flow of press reports to and from overseas news bureaus and newspaper offices throughout the United States.  However, as was the custom in those days, PWI Hicksville also went on the air spasmodically with experimental program broadcasting in the shortwave bands.

During the year 1935, mediumwave station WOR in New York announced that they planned to establish its own shortwave transmitter to carry the same program feed in parallel with its mediumwave unit.  In fact, work commenced on the construction of the shortwave transmitter, which was already licensed as W2XHI.  However, before the new transmitter was completed, station WOR announced that it had abandoned its shortwave project.  Now, it so happened that around this same time period, Press Wireless inaugurated its own program service on shortwave over the transmitter W2XGB.  On many occasions, this unit carried a tandem relay from the mediumwave WOR.

A year or two before the commencement of the European Conflict, Press Wireless Hicksville became more active in the area of program broadcasting, and they began a daily two-hour service on shortwave from W2XGB.  The programming consisted of recorded music, relays from New York's WOR, and news bulletins from their own Press Wireless sources.  On Saturday afternoons, their program schedule showed opera broadcasts on relay to Latin America.  In addition, the Hicksville transmitters were noted by American shortwave monitors on several occasions with program relays on behalf of the national networks.  For example, Hicksville was heard with NBC programming beamed to local stations COCX and CMAS in Cuba in mid 1938; and East coast relays beamed to California around the same time period.  A few QSL letters and cards were issued to verify listener reports on these program relays.  The QSL cards showed photographs of their transmitter building and antenna systems, and also the operating positions at their receiver station.

In January 1942, just a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, irregular test broadcasts commenced from Hicksville under the callsign WCW.  In those days, a separate callsign was issued by the FCC for each shortwave channel, and thus it was that PWI Hicksville was noted with maybe a score of different callsigns during this era.  Programming for these broadcasts was taken from the local networks, such as NBC and Mutual, and they were relayed for example to Press Wireless KJE9 in California.  Test broadcasts were also beamed to continental and islandic Europe.

A few months after the series of test broadcasts began, station WCW Hicksville New York, began to carry official OWI-VOA and AFRS programming beamed to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  Over a period of more than four years, Hicksville was noted with this relay programming in many languages and under as many as a score of different callsigns.  Program relays were taken from the VOA studios in New York, from the studios of the nationwide networks, and from the studios of station WLW-WLWO in Cincinnati, Ohio.  In fact, wartime pilot John Willmott states that he heard about the Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April 1942 from a VOA broadcast over the Hicksville station while he was ferrying a plane to the Russian Air Force in Iraq.

In March 1943, Hicksville began the usage of regularised four-letter callsigns instead of the usual three-letter callsigns.  For example, callsign WKRX was noted on 7820 kHz. with a parallel relay from WGEO Schenectady.  The callsign on this Hicksville channel, WKRX, was previously noted as WBM4.  The internationally regarded Arthur Cushen MBE in New Zealand reported that he received three QSLs from Hicksville during this era.  His QSLs were two cards verifying WKRD and WKTM and one letter verifying WKTS.  It is not known at this stage specifically what cards Cushen received in acknowledgement for his reception reports.

It was on April 20, 1942, that station WCW Hicksville New York began the official relay of programming on behalf of OWI-VOA.  Two years later, in January 1944, the new shortwave station WOOP and WOOO was activated at Wayne, New Jersey, with the result that PWI Hicksville was no longer needed at the same level.  The usage of the lower powered and older station at Hicksville was thus diminished in the regular VOA and AFRS services to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  The final listing of Hicksville with VOA programming occurred in the VOA scheduling in January 1945, though occasional point-to-point relays were noted subsequently.

In March 1945, WJQ Hicksville was reported in the American radio journal "Radio News," with a special program relay to SHAEF Paris on 10010 kHz.  The station known as SHAEF Paris was in reality a new and temporary Press Wireless station located out in the country near Paris.  In fact, Robert Knight of Lisbon, Connecticut, tells us that he received his technical training on the 40 kw. transmitter at Press Wireless Hicksville and that he worked on the same model transmitter that was reinstalled near Paris in France.  That's the story for next time in "Reminiscing with a Radio."

In 1965, Press Wireless was acquired by ITT World Communications and a few years later the station was dismantled.  The multitude of tall towers no longer hovered over the landscape near Canitague Lane.  What an illustrious and interesting history for such a large and magnificent shortwave station that performed so admirably, and yet was so little known during the era of its usefulness.

(Dr Adrian M Peterson/AWR Wavescan for New Zealand Radio Heritage)

Radio Taiwan International plans a test broadcast from Taiwan

 

Dear listener,

The French Service wishes to inform you that during August 2026 (August 7–30), RTI will conduct direct broadcasts from the Tamsui transmission center in northern Taiwan, targeting Europe and North Africa.

To select the most suitable frequencies, we are planning a test broadcast on Sunday, June 21. The frequencies and times for this broadcast are as follows:

Frequency 15145 kHz, 17:00–17:10 UTC

Frequency 11995 kHz, 17:15–17:25 UTC

Frequency 11995 kHz, 17:30–17:40 UTC

Frequency 9545 kHz, 17:45–17:55 UTC

The two most suitable frequencies will be selected for this summer's broadcast.

A special QSL card will be sent to confirm your reception reports, which you can submit to the French Service via email or through the station's online form.

Thank you for listening and for your continued loyalty.

(RTI French service)

Throwback Thursday - BBC Malaysia

 This week's nostalgic episode from Wavescan, originally broadcast by Adrian Peterson on October 29, 2000

BBC Malaysia

Back in the year 1976,  I took a two-week vacation in Singapore to spend time with my schoolboy son, who was attending an academy located on the edge of the populated areas.  Quite early one Sunday morning, we took a bus and a taxi out from suburban Singapore along the well-paved highway that runs north across the island. 

At the border check post, our travel documents were examined briefly and we walked across the wooden causeway that leads to the Malaysian city of Johore Bahru.  Surprisingly, there was no second check of our documents on the Malay side, so we continued our walk into the center of the first town on the Malay peninsula.  Here it was that we caught another taxi and asked the driver to take us to the BBC relay station out in the nearby countryside at Tebrau.

The modern Japanese taxi whisked us quickly through the lush, verdant Malaysian countryside with its palm trees, green fields, and plantations of rubber trees.  We soon found ourselves at the huge radio station, with its mass of tall antennas, miles of long, long feed lines, and an immaculate white building surrounded by green lawns and tropical gardens.

BBC Far Eastern  Station equipment

The BBC relay station located at Tebrau, outside the city of Johore Bahru, was constructed on a huge, rolling estate of several hundred acres in the year 1953.  The original transmitters were six in number; four new units at 7.5 kw. and two 100 kw. units transferred from the old BFBS base at Jurong on Singapore island.

In the early 1960s, a modernization plan was implemented at Tebrau.  The low-powered 7.5 kw. Units were removed and six more transmitters were installed, making a total of six at 100 kw. and four at 250 kW.

When the lease at Tebrau expired, the Malaysian authorities gave approval for the BBC to continue on air until a new station was erected at Kranji on the northern edge of the island of Singapore.  The final broadcast from the BBC Tebrau took place on March 18, 1979, and the two BBC relay stations located at Kranji on Singapore and at Masirah in Oman took over.

At the height of it power, BBC Tebrau was on the air with a total output of 1.6 megawatts, using 10 transmitters and a bevy of more than 20 curtain antennas.  The long, long feed lines exited the transmitter building and ran down into the valley and across the green fields for more than a quarter mile, the longest known feed lines in the history of shortwave broadcasting.

At the end of our guided tour, my son and I marvelled at the magnitude of this electronic wonder, and we knew that this, our first visit, would be the last time we would see the station this way.  A total of eight transmitters from Tebrau were reinstalled at the new BBC base at Kranji on Singapore, and they are still in active service today as a BBC relay into all areas of Asia.

BBC Far Eastern Relay transmitters

And what happened to the BBC Tebrau after it was closed?  The two old transmitters of 100 kW. were abandoned, the antennas removed, and the building swept clean.  The huge estate of several hundred acres is now a plantation area again, with very little to remind anyone of its one time grandeur as a powerful shortwave relay station.  The AWR Historic Collection contains two dozen BBC QSL cards verifying the reception of transmissions from the BBC Far Eastern Relay Station, the station that was once BBC Tebrau.

(Wavescan 305/Adrian Peterson)