Memories of Radio Broadcasting in Portuguese Goa

 

This program originally aired on October 1, 2000

The one-time Portuguese colony of Goa lies on the western coast of India, nearly half way from Bombay to the southern tip of the peninsula.  This small territory was settled by the Portuguese in the year 1510 and was re-incorporated into India in December 1961.

Goa is a fascinating place to visit, with its extended miles of wide ocean beaches, its varied coastal and inland scenery, and its tropical and sub-tropical fruits.  To this day, Goa still exudes a subtle evidence of its earlier European culture, with its Latin-style church architecture, its European style of dress, its Portuguese Konkani music, and the occasional usage of the Portuguese language.

On many occasions, I have visited favored Goa.  I have swum at its beaches, I have jogged the entire 65-mile coastline, I have shopped in its exotic bazaars, I have eaten in its restaurants, and I have visited its radio stations.

It was back on May 28, 1946, that the first experimental radio broadcasts went on the air in old Goa.  This radio program service was broadcast from a 500-watt transmitter operated by the Post & Telegraph Office.  It was on the air for only a short period of time.

A regular broadcasting service was inaugurated in 1949 using a temporary 1 kW. shortwave transmitter in Panjim, the small capital city.  This unit was located at the radio studios of what became Emissora de Goa, on a hill overlooking the city.  The current studios and offices of All India Radio in Goa incorporated the older studio buildings at the same site.

Classic AIR QSL via Goa

During the following year an additional 2.5 kW. A mediumwave transmitter was installed at the studio location, and a country transmitter base was constructed some 6 miles from Panjim.  Over a period of time, two shortwave transmitters and one mediumwave transmitter were installed at this country location.

During the year 1961, a 50 kW. A shortwave transmitter was installed, and this unit made test broadcasts on three different channels, beamed towards Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Far East.

With the changing winds of fortune, Emissora de Goa finally left the air and closed down forever at 8:00 am on December 18, 1961.  Less than two months later, All India Radio came on the air from the same studios, though with only one transmitter, the 5 kw. mediumwave unit on 880 kHz.

It should be remembered that the first broadcasts in Southern Asia of the familiar AWR program, "Voice of Prophecy," went on the air from station CR8AA, the old Emissora de Goa, in the year 1950.  The half-hour broadcasts of the English language "Voice of Prophecy" were on the air from Goa for two years, though this programming was subsequently transferred to the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon in Colombo.

So what happened to Emissora de Goa, R. Goa afterwards?  Well, the studios and offices on the hill overlooking Panjim have been rebuilt twice and are in use today by All India Radio.  There is a new shortwave base out in the country containing two transmitters at 250 kw. which are in use for the General Overseas Service of All India Radio.  And what about the old radio base out in the country?  I visited this location many years ago, and all that was left at that time was some wreckage from one of the old buildings and lots of overgrown grass. 

(Adrian Peterson/Wavescan)

Closing Days of Canada's CHU

 

Canada’s Time Signal Station CHU Ottawa to Cease Shortwave Transmissions in June 2026.

On June 22, 2026  the National Research Council Canada, known as the NRC, will permanently discontinue the shortwave broadcasting operations of its official time signal station, CHU.

From that day forward, the familiar frequencies of 3330 kHz, 7850 kHz, and 14,670 kHz will fall silent. For the future, the NRC points matter - of factly to modern alternatives: the Network Time Protocol (NTP) for computers, web-based clocks, and the traditional telephone service.

The history of CHU stretches back an astonishingly long way to an era when radio itself was still in its infancy. It all began in 1923 under the aegis of the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa. The initial experimental broadcasts were transmitted under the call sign 9CC on the longwave band at 275 meters.

Anyone who has not yet sent a reception report to Ottawa should make use of the time remaining until June. The NRC has confirmed that valid reports will continue to be acknowledged with the traditional CHU QSL card. Fittingly, the card features an image of Sir Sandford Fleming, the Canadian railway engineer and "father of worldwide time zones".

Reception reports may be sent via email or, in the classic tradition, via postal mail to:

Radio Station CHU, 1200 Montreal Road, Building M-36, Ottawa, Ontario,

K1A 0R6, Canada, North America.

Email: radio.chu@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

A comprehensive report on this topic, including further details, can be found on the DARC website. www.darc.de

(DARC Deutschland-Rundspruch 21/2026, May 28)

(WWDXC-Top News 1656)

A Sampling of South American Logs on Mediumwave

 Frequency

UTC 

Argentina

540    0216    Radio Nacional, Santa Fe (RG)

840    0053    Radio Salta, Salta (RG)

1070   0136   Radio El Destape, Buenos Aires (RG)

1110   0146   Radio Ciudad, Buenos Aires (RG)

1190   0140   Radio Perfil, Buenos Aires (RG) 

1220   0152   Radio Eco Medios, Buenos Aires (RG)

1230   0157   Radio Dos, Rosario (RG)

1280   0016   Radio Provincia de Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata (RG)

1310   0156   Radio Nacional, Gualeguaychu (RG)

1330   0056   AM 1330, Rosario (RG)

1350   0207   Radio Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (RG)

1530   0024   Radio Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (RG) 

Bolivia

1500    0139  Radio Tawantinsuyo, Laja (RG)

1560    0118  Radio Luz del Mundo, la Paz (RG)

1560    0208  Radio Luz del Mundo, la Paz (RG)

Brazil (Portuguese)

1000 Rádio Record, São Paulo, on March 1, 2026, after 97 years of uninterrupted years of radio broadcasting to a large part of the Brazilian territory, officially ended its activity on mediumwave, and following the national program for migrating mediumwave stations to FM, will henceforth operate only on FM 77.1 São Paulo.

550    0232    Rádio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

560    0340    Tua Rádio, Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

590    0136    Rádio Cruzeiro da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia  (RG)

730    1642    Rádio Cidade, Jundial, São Paulo (RG)

810    1603    Rádio Difusora Jundiaiense, Jundial, São Paulo (RG)

820    0033    Rádio Cultura, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná (RG)

830    0042    Rádio Tropical, Nova Iguaçu,, Rio de Janeiro (RG)

830    1612    Rádio Novo Tempo, Campinas, São Paulo (RG)

870    1622    Rádio Central Campinas, São Paulo (RG)

900    0124    Rádio Difusora Arco-Íris, Araputanga,  Mato Grosso (RG)

960    2331    Rádio Dues e Amor, Aparecida del Goiánia, Goiás (RG)

1010  0301     Rádio Tua Voz, Caixas do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

1030  0027     Rádio Difusora, Franca, São Paulo (RG)

1070   1631    Rádio Metropolitana, Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo (RG)

1080   2349    Rádio Aleluia Brasília, Federal District (RG)

1150   2342    Rádio Cabugi do Serido, Jardim do Serido, Rio Grande do Norte (RG)

1260   2334    Rádio Cultura de São  Borja, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

1290  0113    Rádio Brasil Sul, Londrina, Paraná (RG)

1290   0195   Rádio Novo Tempo, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo (RG)

1320   0112   Rádio CBN Foz, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná (RG)

1320   0117   Rádio Sulbrasileira, Panambi, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

1370   0130   Rádio Mãe de Dues, Caixa do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul

1380   0916   Rádio Cidade, Brazópolis, Mato Grosso (RG)

1410   0200   Rádio Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul

1420    0124  Rádio Guarujá, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina (RG)    

1490    0123  Rádio Difusora, Olímpia, São Paulo (RG)

1520   Rede Aleluia, Sorocaba,  São Paulo (RG)

1530    0104   Rádio Sulina, Dom Pedrito, Rio Grande do Sul (RG)

Colombia

570     0115    Radio Nacional, Bogotá (SW)

600   0130   Radio Libertad, Barranquilla (SW)

620    0125   Radio Colmundo Radio, Cartagena (SW)

Paraguay

560    0009    Radio Regional, Concepcion (RG)

570    0237    Radio Amambay, Pedro Juan Caballero (RG) 

680    0000     Radio Caritas, Nemby (RG)

920    0037    Radio Nacional de Paraguay, Asunción (RG)

1080   2346   Radio Monumental, Chacoi (RG)  

1140   2330   Radio Central Radio, Ypane (RG)

1330   0202   Radio Chaco Boreal, Asunción (RG)

1420   0212   Radio Guyra Campana, Horqueta  (RG)

Peru

750    0105    Radio Altura, Cerro de Pasco (SW)

790    0705    RDP Noticias, Trujillo (SW)

Uruguay

610   0602    Radio Rural, Santiago Vázquez (RG)

1010  0120   Radio Carve Deportiva, Montevideo (RG)

1050  0131   Radio Uruguay, Montevideo (RG)

1090  0141   Radio María Uruguay, Montevideo (RG)

1130  2336   Radio Nacional, Santiago Vázquez (RG)

1160  2140   Radio Agraria del Uruguay, Cervo Chato (RG)

1170  2146    Radiomundo, Montevideo (RG)

1280  0203   Radio Tacuarembó, Tacuarembó (RG)

1430  0016   Radio  Durazno, Durazno (RG)

1510  0114   Radio San Carlos, San Carlos (RG)

1580  0038   Emisora del Este, Minas (RG) 

Venezuela

670   2355  Radio Rumbos, Caracas (VH)

860   2300  Radio Enlace, Valle de la Pascura (VH)

(SM) Sam Wright, MS)

(RG/Rudolph Grimm, São Bernardo, São Paulo, Brazil)

(VH) Gayle Van Horn, LA)

Wavescan presents, Mary Texanna Loomis, Radio Pioneer

 Special thanks to the Wavescan staff for this week's feature from a Texas radio pioneer

Jeff:   Most features we present on the history of broadcast radio, and shortwave in particular, seem to feature men.  But we would be remiss in not mentioning that there were also a number of female pioneers involved in the early days of radio, and today, Ray Robinson in Los Angeles has the story of one of them.

Mary Texana Loomis and one of her transmitter projects

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  Yes, today’s feature is about Mary Texanna Loomis, who in 1920 founded the Loomis Radio School in Washington, D.C.  This topic was suggested by Wavescan listener Martin Dawson on Prince Edward Island in Canada, after he had read an old article in Radio World which in turn had been sourced from articles in several old magazines and newspapers of the 1920s and 30’s.

In the 1920s, if you wanted to get a job in America as a commercial radio operator or a shipboard radioman on an American vessel, you needed a Commercial Radio License, issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  The best way to obtain such a license was to attend one of the few radio schools that operated in principal cities around the United States.  Two of the most distinguished schools were in Washington, D.C.:  the National Radio Institute and the Loomis Radio School.  The latter was the only woman-owned radio school in the country.  Mary Texanna Loomis was the principal instructor and that rare creature in the 1920’s:  a female authority on radio.

Mary was a distant cousin of Dr. Mahlon Loomis, who in 1866 had experimented with ‘stealing current from the atmosphere’ using kites and metallic string.  In one experiment, he flew kites from two peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and, using a galvanometer, was able to detect a change in current in one kite when he grounded the line of the other.  Subsequently, he was able to send Morse Code messages between the two locations, a distance of 18 miles.  And that experimentation in wireless communication took place a full nine years before Guglielmo Marconi was even born.

Mary Texanna Loomis was born on August 18, 1880, in a homesteader’s shack near Goliad, Texas, the second child of Alvan and Caroline Loomis.  Her middle name, ‘Texanna’, was bestowed in honor of the state where she was born.

Mary Texanna Loomis

The family moved to Rochester, N.Y., in 1883, where she had a respectable middle-class upbringing.  She was sports-minded in her youth, participating in swimming and horseback riding.  She also took voice lessons and became a good soprano.  She learned to speak three languages:  French, Italian and German.  A grandfather was a strong influence; he taught her to use tools and to build mechanical devices, and he helped develop her interest in science and the new inventions of the industrial age.

Mary Loomis married Turner Erving Howard in October, 1898, in Buffalo, NY.  Sadly, the marriage ended in divorce in 1917, and there’s no record that they had any children.  Mary then reverted to her maiden name of Loomis.

After her divorce, Mary moved to Washington, where she looked unsuccessfully for music employment.  But her life took a new turn when she attended a lecture on the emerging technology of wireless communication.  Fascinated, she read everything she could find on the subject.  At the age of 38, at a time when radio was the field of only a few experimenters and inventors, most of them men, she graduated from radio school and earned her first-class radio telegraphy license.

During World War I, she worked for the Red Cross and also as a secretary in a wireless school.  It was only then that she learned about the experiments of her distant cousin, Mahlon Loomis, and she resolved to open a radio operator’s school in his honor.

In 1920, she invested every cent she had and incorporated the Loomis Radio School. Located at 401–411 Ninth Street in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., it offered a six-month course preparing students for the first-class commercial radio license exam.  Most students who graduated found positions as shipboard radio operators.  Loomis was the school’s president and principal lecturer.  She taught radio using equipment she constructed herself in the school’s machine shop, and taught her students not only how to operate, but also how to build radio equipment.  “No man can graduate from my school until he learns how to make any part of the apparatus,” she said.  “I give him a blueprint of what I want him to do and tell him to go into the shop and keep hammering away until the job is completed.  I want my graduates to be able to meet any emergency or mishap that may arise someday far out on the sea.”

The Loomis Radio School in Washington, D.C.

She lived a frugal life in a boarding home, and worked 12 to 15 hours a day teaching, grading papers and writing.  In time, the Loomis Radio School offered four courses, with the main one (for would-be commercial radio operators) leading to a first-class commercial radio operator's license.  A second course for technical training taught how to build a receiving set.  A third course led to a license as an amateur radio operator, and the fourth was for operators who needed only to renew an expired license or who had been military operators and needed only minimal training.

Her students also gained practical experience operating a radio transmitter through the use of the school’s amateur station, W3YA.  Loomis was a noted lecturer and member of the prestigious Institute of Radio Engineers.  She authored and marketed the popular book “Radio Theory and Operating for the Radio Student and Practical Operator.”  This was a reference text of 886 pages with 700 illustrations.  It was advertised at a reasonable price and was offered postage-paid directly by the school.  It subsequently became a textbook used by many educational institutions and government agencies.

By 1928, the Loomis textbook was in its fifth edition, then amounting to 1,006 pages.  “Radio Broadcast” Magazine called it “one of the most comprehensive volumes in its field.”  Mary dedicated her book to her cousin Mahlon Loomis.

Loomis teaching a class of future radio operators

The depression that began in 1929 affected the school severely, as it did tens of thousands of other businesses.  Fewer students could afford the training, and larger schools like the National Radio Institute had more resources to weather the hard times.  Further, a new competitor, the Capitol Radio Institute, would open in Washington in 1932.  In 1930, Loomis reorganized the school as the Loomis Radio College, Inc., but it was dissolved in early 1933.

Not much is known about Mary’s later life.  She is known to have relocated to San Francisco in 1938; the census shows that she lived in the St. Francis Hotel and listed her occupation as a stenographer.  Mary Texanna Loomis died in that city in June 1960 at the age of 79, and was buried at the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Back to you, Jeff.

Jeff: Thanks, Ray.  And in a few weeks’ time, Ray will have a story about another woman who was active in early radio – Mary Day Lee.

(Wavescan/Ray Robinson)

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins

 Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2026 Jun 08 0243 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 01 - 07 June 2026

Solar activity reached high levels on 03 Jun when Region 4455 (N14, L=88, class/area=Dki/360 on 03 Jun) produced an M9.3/Sf flare (accompanied by Type-II (253 km/s) and Type-IV sweeps, and a 360 sfu Tenflare) at 03/0136 UTC, followed by an M7.7/1b flare (accompanied by Type-II (313 km/s) and Type-IV radio sweeps, and a 540 sfu Tenflare with Castelli-U signature) at 03/0700 UTC, and finally an

X1.0/1n flare (accompanied by a Type-IV sweep and a 180 sfu Tenflare) at 03/1128 UTC. The CMEs associated with the three significant flares from AR4455 on 03 Jun arrived at Earth on 05 Jun.

Other activity included an M1.8/2n (accompanied by Type-II (838 km/s) and 190 sfu Tenflare) flare at 06/1401 UTC from Region 4461 (S20, L=09, class/area=Dao/70 on 02 Jun). The resulting partial-halo

CME, first visible in LASCO C2 imagery at 06/1401 UTC, is anticipated to arrive at Earth around midday on 08 Jun. 

The greater than 10 MeV proton flux became slightly enhanced after midday on 06 Jun, following the M1.8/2n flare at 06/1401 UTC from Region 4461, but remained below event levels with a peak flux of 1.0 pfu observed at 06/1940 UTC. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux gradually returned to background levels on 07 Jun. 

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to moderate levels on 01-05 Jun, with high levels observed on 06-07 Jun. 

Geomagnetic field activity reached G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) storm levels on 05 Jun, and active levels on 06 Jun, following the arrival and passage of the CMEs from 03 Jun. The shock arrival was observed

beginning at around 05/0425 UTC, and in the hours following, the total magnetic field strength (Bt) reached 20 nT, the Bz component reached as far southward as -17 nT, and solar wind speeds increased

to a peak near 740 km/s. Quiet and quiet to unsettled levels under weak coronal hole high-speed stream influences prevailed throughout the remainder of the period. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 08 June - 04 July 2026

Solar activity is expected to be at predominantly low levels through 04 Jul, with M-class flare probabilities ranging from a chance to likely levels throughout the period. 

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit, barring significant flare activity. 

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 09-10, 13-18 Jun and 04 Jul. Normal to moderate levels are expected to prevail throughout the remainder

of the period. 

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G1-G3 (Minor-Strong) storm levels on 08 Jun, with G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) levels likely on 09 Jun, due to the anticipated arrival of the CME that left the Sun

on 06 Jun. Periods of active conditions are likely on 23-26 Jun due to recurrent CH HSS influences. Quiet and quiet to unsettled levels are expected to prevail throughout the remainder of the period. 

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

:Issued: 2026 Jun 08 0244 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 2026-06-08
#
#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest
#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index
2026 Jun 08     135          50          7
2026 Jun 09     132          32          6
2026 Jun 10     130          12          3
2026 Jun 11     130          15          3
2026 Jun 12     128          10          3
2026 Jun 13     128           6          2
2026 Jun 14     120           6          2
2026 Jun 15     118           8          3
2026 Jun 16     120           8          3
2026 Jun 17     122           5          2
2026 Jun 18     122           5          2
2026 Jun 19     125           5          2
2026 Jun 20     125           5          2
2026 Jun 21     128           8          3
2026 Jun 22     130           8          3
2026 Jun 23     132          10          4
2026 Jun 24     134          15          4
2026 Jun 25     134          15          4
2026 Jun 26     132          15          4
2026 Jun 27     130          10          3
2026 Jun 28     132           8          3
2026 Jun 29     130           6          2
2026 Jun 30     128           8          3
2026 Jul 01     125           5          2
2026 Jul 02     130           5          2
2026 Jul 03     128          12          3
2026 Jul 04     125           8          3
(NOAA)

Audio available for Jen's Eclectic Views & Real Deal from June 7

 

No worries if you missed the June 7 broadcast of Jen's Eclwtic Views and Real Deal!

Audio is now available for download and listening at: 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/49941icqrmhpk519arym3/Jen-s-Electic-Views-Real-Deal-For-May-.31st-17-20-heard-on-Unique.mp3?rlkey=x1kr7b44ax50huj98h51tpu3w&dl=0

Tiny URL:  https://tinyurl.com/43y68px6

Tune in to Jen's Eclectic Views & Real Deal program on June 7

 

Don't miss it !!

Sunday, June 7, 2026

17:00 - 20:00 UTC

Live Stream.

http://uk4-vn.mixstream.net:8104/index.html

For contact pleasure.

JenUR@proton.me

Thanks.

Jen In The RAD

Texas Radio Shortwave, June 6, 7-2026

 

UTC/kHz

Saturday, June 6, 2026

1400-1500,  6160 Shortwave Radio Gold to Europe - Michael Strah, Texas Radio Shortwave presents, The Music of Jimmie Vaughn

1800-1900,  3975, 6160 Shortwave Radio Gold to Europe - Michael Strah Texas Radio Shortwave presents, The Music of Jimmie Vaughn

Sunday, June 7, 2026

1200-1300, 9670 Channel 292 to Europe - Michael Strah Texas Rado Shortwave presents, The Music of Jimmie Vaughn

2300-0000, 9670  Channel 292 to North America - Michael Strah, Texas Radio Shortwave presents, The Music of Jimmie Vaughn

This schedule is subject to change based on listener requests for specific Texas artists or music genres, propagation conditions, and other things beyond our control.

Texas Radio Shortwave is an independent producer of musical and topical shows, usually about Texas.

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/.

(TRSW)

(photos via Wikipedia) 

(TRS graphics by Gayle Van Horn)

Memories of BFBS Singapore

 

This edition first aired on July 23, 2000

Back in the year 1971, I was on a motor launch in Bangladesh. There had been a horrendous, devastating cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. It is calculated that one million people lost their lives in this overnight cyclone, thus making it the worst natural disaster on earth since Noah's Flood. At the time, I was on temporary loan to ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and we were in the delta areas of Bangladesh carrying relief supplies of food and basic living needs to the homeless survivors.

One afternoon, while the motor launch was travelling from one location to another, I was tuning across the shortwave bands on my Grundig radio when I was very surprised to hear the BBC World Service news in the 60 meter tropical shortwave band. On checking the WRTVH, I discovered that I was listening to BFBS Singapore, the British Forces Broadcasting Service, with 10 kw on 5010 kHz.

On a subsequent visit to Singapore a few years later, I took a taxi one humid rainy day to the British Army base on the outskirts of Singapore City. Even though this was a high security area, I was courteously granted approval to make a visit to BFBS Radio. As I approached the building, I was dismayed to discover that workmen were in the process of dismantling the station. They were removing all of the electronic equipment and refurbishing the building for use as an office.

As I walked through the empty rooms, I visualized what used to be. I saw the old studios and control room, the offices and tape library, of what used to be BFBS Singapore. Obviously, when this station was on the air it was an efficient and modern radio station.

BFBS Singapore was launched in early 1953 with a 10 kW transmitter operating at 7.5 kw. It was on the air on the constant frequency of 5010 kHz in two languages, English and Ghurka. Some 10 years later, a 5 kW FM transmitter was added.

BFBS Singapore had a reputation as an excellent verifier, and the AWR historic collection in Indianapolis contains two QSL cards confirming the reception of both the shortwave and FM transmitters.

In mid-1971, the British Army base was handed over to the Singapore army. The FM transmitter at this location was given to the BBC, which operated it by remote control. The shortwave transmitter was located at Jurong, near the famous bird park, and it was donated to Radio Singapore, which operated it for many years in parallel with their other 60-meter band outlet on 5052 kHz.

As I walked down the stairway and out of the two-story building, I cast a backward glance at the signboard, which read, "British Forces Broadcasting Service, Singapore."

So "What Happened to them Afterwards?" Well, the studio building became an office for officers in the Singapore Army. Both the shortwave and FM transmitters have long since been removed and junked. All that remains these days are the DX reports in old radio magazines, a cluster of QSL cards in old QSL collections, and the memories in the lives of the staff who were on the air with what was BFBS Singapore.

(A Peterson/Wavescan)

New U.S. Radio Show Seeks to Foster Civil Discourse on Constitutional Issues

 

from the WRMI Facebook page

"America@250: Due Diligence" to debut this weekend on about 50 radio stations

IRONDALE, ALABAMA — No hot takes. No name-calling. That is the self-imposed guidance for a new, 

limited-run weekend one-hour radio show/podcast, America @ 250: Due Diligence.

The public service program will put into historical context key Constitutional issues being debated in American society with experts from across the political spectrum as featured guests.

The program will be co-hosted by two broadcast veterans, Steven L Herman, who is executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi, and Illinois-based radio talk show producer Bill Bernardoni.

Herman is a former White House bureau chief of the Voice of America. Bernardoni’s background includes work as a campaign manager and political consultant for candidates from the state to national level.

“At a time when discourse on our airwaves is often dominated by the desire to divide, America @ 250: Due Diligence offers a refreshing remedy rooted in deep research, historical context and civil conversation,” said Dr. Andrea Hickerson, dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. “The program fosters discussion to expand civic literacy to create a more informed electorate.”

America @ 250: Due Diligence will begin airing on about 50 AM and FM radio stations from the first weekend in June with distribution via Talk Media Network, the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), the Radio Free America project and commercial shortwave broadcaster WRMI-Radio Miami.

“There are few issues-oriented or public affairs radio programs independently produced that are free of intended political bias,” said Herman, who formally announced the launch of the program in a presentation on May 28th at the annual meeting of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters in Alabama. “We hope more radio stations with a sincere interest in objectively informing the electorate will carry the program.”

America @ 250: Due Diligence will continue through the end of this Semiquincentennial year and a weekly online extended version will be on podcast distribution platforms.

WRMI will air "America@250: Due Diligence" on shortwave each week, beginning Saturday June 6th at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (that's 0000 UTC Sunday June 7th) on 9395 kHz going north and 5050 kHz beaming south.   Your reception reports are welcome and will be answered with a special America@250 QSL card.  Reports can be sent to info@wrmi.net.

Weekly Propagation Forecast Bulletins, June 1, 2026

 Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts

:Issued: 2026 Jun 01 0157 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 25 - 31 May 2026

Solar activity reached moderate levels on 29 May when Region 4455 (N15, L=83, class/area=Eko/370 on 29 May) produced an M1.1/Sf flare at 29/0704 UTC; the largest flare of the period. Solar activity was low with C-flare activity observed throughout the remainder of the week. 

The greater than 10 MeV proton flux became enhanced late on 25 May following an eruption from beyond the NW limb. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux exceeded S1 (Minor) levels at 26/0010 UTC, and reached a peak flux of 2,380 pfu at 26/0110 UTC before decreasing below S1 levels by 26/0540 UTC. The greater than 100 MeV proton flux also became enhanced following this event, but did not exceed alert threshold. 

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to moderate levels throughout the period. 

Geomagnetic field activity reached unsettled levels on 25 and 27 May, with active levels observed on 26, and 28-31 May, as negative polarity CH HSS influences prevailed throughout the period. 

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 01 June - 27 June 2026

Solar activity is expected to be at predominantly low levels throughout the outlook period, with a chance for M-class (R1-R2/Minor-Moderate) flare activity. 

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 12-20 Jun, with normal to moderate levels likely throughout the remainder of the period. 

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G2 (Moderate) storm levels on 11 Jun, with G1 (Minor) storming likely on 12 Jun, due to negative polarity CH HSS influences. Active conditions are likely on 01, 03-05, 13-14, and 23-27 Jun due to multiple recurrent CH HSSs. Quiet and quiet to unsettled conditions are expected to prevail throughout the remainder of the outlook period. 

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

:Issued: 2026 Jun 01 0157 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 2026-06-01

#

#   UTC      Radio Flux   Planetary   Largest

#  Date       10.7 cm      A Index    Kp Index

2026 Jun 01     135          10          4

2026 Jun 02     135           8          3

2026 Jun 03     130          14          4

2026 Jun 04     130          12          4

2026 Jun 05     125          10          4

2026 Jun 06     125           8          3

2026 Jun 07     125           5          2

2026 Jun 08     120           5          2

2026 Jun 09     120           5          2

2026 Jun 10     130           5          2

2026 Jun 11     135          30          6

2026 Jun 12     135          25          5

2026 Jun 13     130          12          4

2026 Jun 14     130          10          4

2026 Jun 15     140           8          3

2026 Jun 16     140           5          2

2026 Jun 17     150           5          2

2026 Jun 18     155           5          2

2026 Jun 19     160           5          2

2026 Jun 20     160           5          2

2026 Jun 21     165           8          3

2026 Jun 22     160           8          3

2026 Jun 23     155          10          4

2026 Jun 24     145          15          4

2026 Jun 25     145          15          4

2026 Jun 26     150          15          4

2026 Jun 27     150          15          4

(NOAA)

The Adelaide River Story

 

Adelaide River via Wikipedia

Thank you to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for this week's feature - we love nostalgia!

Jeff: In our feature in Wavescan today, Ray Robinson brings together four unusual but quite fascinating items of information, under the title, "The Adelaide River Story":

• a large temporary American city in Australia's Outback 

• an American radio station in Australia with a foreign callsign 

• an undetected Australian radio station, and 

• the ‘jumping alligator’!

So, Ray, tell us more!

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  Yes, the river called Adelaide River is in Australia, but it’s nowhere near the city of Adelaide.  Instead, it’s right at the northern tip of the country in the Northern Territory, and is a short but broad river, just 148 miles long.  It’s navigable for 3/4 of its length and it runs from south to north, emptying into the Van Diemen Gulf about 20 miles east of Darwin.  But like the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide River was named in honor of Queen Adelaide of England, the aunt of Queen Victoria.  Adelaide was a German princess who, as the wife of King William IV, not only became queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1830-1837, but was also queen of the German state of Hanover.  Adelaide and William had no surviving children, so when William died of heart failure in 1837, their niece, Victoria, became the new monarch.

Now, on the Adelaide River is a town by the same name, Adelaide River, which is a small settlement approximately 70 miles south of Darwin.  Originally, the area was inhabited by the nomadic Kungarakan and Warai Aborigines.  In 1871, a small settlement was established for workers who were installing the overland telegraph that connected the north to the south of Australia.  Two years later, a small store and cafe were opened at Adelaide River, and 15 years later again, the railway line from Darwin reached the little settlement.

During World War II, just four days after the fall of Singapore in February 1942, the Japanese launched two separate air raids against the town of Darwin, the Allied shipping in Darwin harbor, and the town’s two airfields.  Panic-stricken residents and forces personnel fled to the town of Adelaide River, overrunning the area, which quickly became the headquarters of the Australian army in the Northern Territory.

The purpose of the air raids had been to prevent the Allies from using Darwin as a base from which to contest the Japanese invasion of Timor and Java, not far off the northern coast of Australia.  So quite soon afterwards, American personnel began to flood into the area, until, at the height of their activities in Australia, some 30,000 Americans were encamped at Adelaide River.  They brought with them all that was necessary to sustain life and activity in the area, and this included their own hospital, food preparation, living quarters, and all of the necessary hardware to defend Australia's northern border with Asia.

It is understood that the American camp at Adelaide River was the largest single concentration of American personnel anywhere in Australia.  It was indeed a temporary American city, if you please, in Australia's great outback.

There was a need for a major radio station at Adelaide River for long-distance communication and so a search began in January 1943 for a suitable location.  A site was chosen a couple of miles northeast of the town on a huge cattle ranch called Mt. Bundy Station, and U.S. Navy personnel began construction work for the new project.  In less than two months, on March 25, 1943, the communication radio station became operational, with several shortwave transmitters in the range of 10 kW.

Interestingly, this new shortwave radio station was identified on air using the callsign KAZ.  The callsign KAZ was not an Australian callsign, nor an American continental callsign, but rather it was borrowed from the Philippines, which, before the war, had been an American territory.  The callsign KAZ had previously been used by the RCA communication station on the outskirts of Manila from 1930 until the end of 1941.

The decision to use this same callsign, KAZ, in Australia for the large radio communication station at Adelaide River was apparently made by General Douglas MacArthur, partly to confuse unwanted listeners in Asia as to the actual location of the station, and also to indicate a close link with the Philippines.

The Adelaide River station was in frequent communication with other American stations throughout Australia and also in the islands north of Australia.  This station communicated regular forces information, and also the flow of news that was subsequently released for use on radio and in newspapers in Australia and the United States.  During its 1½ years on the air, station KAZ in Australia was also in frequent communication with small groups of people in the Philippine islands.

As decisive events in the Pacific began to move north away from Australia, American personnel moved out of the area, and the main traffic through station KAZ at Adelaide River was transferred to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea on November 21, 1944.  The shortwave station at Adelaide River remained on the air for almost another year, with the American Seabees (the U.S. Naval Construction Forces) installing their own small communication station at the same location a few months before the entire facility was closed.

The Mt. Bundy Cattle Station itself is now a tourist resort, and the few remains of the U.S. Navy communication station KAZ are simply historic reminders of an important era in the state's illustrious past.

But we should also mention that there was an Australian entertainment radio station on the air at Adelaide River.  In March 1944, a request was made to Australian Army headquarters in Melbourne, and approval was granted.  A small station was installed, apparently running just 20 watts on 1440 kHz.  This new radio station was inaugurated in May 1944 under the callsign 5DR.  The transmitter was provided by the PMG Department, and programming was provided by Army personnel with frequent relays taken off-air from shortwave stations operated by the ABC.  This temporary station was on the air for a period of around six months, but it remained completely undetected by any radio monitors in Australia and New Zealand.

In October of the same year, work commenced on a new and more substantial broadcasting station at Adelaide River, but the project was abandoned just before it was completed; most of the personnel had moved away from the area and the station was no longer needed.  In time, another 5DR medium wave station was erected in Darwin itself, and this call was subsequently amended to 8DR, with shortwave coverage later being added for outback areas in the Northern Territory.

The glory days of the town of Adelaide River with its huge population base, are long since gone.  These days, local surveys tell us that the town of Adelaide River has a population of just 190 people, but it does possess a major tourist attraction.  Travelers passing through the area like to stop at Adelaide River and go for a cruise on the river itself.  The attraction is the unique freshwater jumping crocodile.  This species obligingly will jump 8-10 feet out of the water to catch food suspended from poles by the captains of passing tourist boats.  There are 5 different companies operating on the Adelaide River offering tours for people to see the unique jumping crocodiles, the most famous of which is the Adelaide River Queen.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan 31 May 2026)

Back to you Jeff ....

For an audio clip of  – Adelaide River Queen, go to this week's edition at: 

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan/episodes/2026-05-30T17_00_00-07_00

Jen's Eclectic Views & Real Deal audio for May 31, now available

 

No problem if you missed Jen's Eclectic Views & Real Deal on May 31, 2026. Audio is now available for listening and downloading.

Tune in at: 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/49941icqrmhpk519arym3/Jen-s-Electic-Views-Real-Deal-For-May-.31st-17-20-heard-on-Unique.mp3?rlkey=x1kr7b44ax50huj98h51tpu3w&dl=0

Tiny URL:   https://tinyurl.com/43y68px6

For contact pleasure.

JenUR@proton.me

Thanks.

Jen In The RAD

Russian Mystery Military Station - The Air Horn

 From the Archive Collection of Teak Publishing

The Russian Mystery Military Station - The Air Horn

Original posting December 8, 2021 - From the Static YouTube channel by Larry Van Horn N5FPW (SK)

Transmitting on 3510 kHz. The Russian Air Horn is another Western Military District frequency marker that was first heard in Feb 2017. This station does not send any message traffic; instead, this station is used for testing technical equipment and other audio tests. Video of this station on our YT channel  at 

From the Static - YouTube channel

https://youtu.be/VIVhwpu_hWU

Reference information at:

https://priyom.org/military-stations/russia/the-air-horn

https://www.numbers-stations.com/military/russia/the-air-horn/

https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/The_Air_Horn

FRS-Holland slated for May 31st broadcast

 

Next Sunday, May 31st, FRS-Holland will be airing its first 2026 broadcast. It took a while, perhaps too long...

But, we are happy ánd motivated to serve you an evening full of Free Radio entertainment.

Ingredients: great music, radio-related items, and much more!

Make sure you are a part of that evening. 

Details: https://frsholland.nl/frs-holland-may-31st-2026/

See you next Sunday!

73s,

 Peter Verbruggen on behalf of the entire FRS team.

QSL Report 2.0 - June 2026

 

                              Bringing you the latest in QSLing from across the globe

Welcome to the June 2026 edition of QSL Report 2.0!  Thank you for your comments and contributions.

QSL Report 2.0 is a revival of my former QSL Report column in Monitoring Times magazine. Each issue brings you updates on QSLing trends—what worked (and what didn’t) along with special event QSLs and stations verified across amateur radio, mediumwave, pirate, shortwave, and utility bands. If you’ve received a QSL from any of these stations, share your results with the world!

Send your contributions and correspondence to w4gvhla@gmail.com

Blonde Zeeman 1617/1618 kHz. Full data prepared QSL returned as verified in five days, for postal report to: Blonde Zeeman: T.J. Taimastraat 4 9269 PB Veenwouden, Netherlands (Jouke van der Galien, NLD/BDXC).

Radio Piepzender 6005 kHz. Partial data e-QSL. Received in 32 days for e-report to radioqsl@hotmail.com (John van der Vere, NLD)

Ruqui Radio 6020 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in 30 days for e-report to ruquiradioam@gmail.com (Manuel Méndez, Spain/BdXC).

Telstar Radio International 6045 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in 20 days for e-report to erdenman@gmx.de (Artur Fernandez Llorella, Spain)

XTC Shortwave 6290 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in two days for e-report to xtcshortwave@googlemail.com (van der Galien).

Zender Akenzo, 5840 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in ten months, for e-report to akenzoteam@hotmail.com (Llorella).

Mediumwave

Algeria

Radio Gharda?a 873 kHz. No-data e-letter from Ali Djerdi, Directeur. Received in two days for e-report to radio.ghadaia@gmail.com (Llorella)

Bahamas

ZNS QSL

ZNS The National Voice 1540 kHz. Full data e-QSL from Deon Morris. Received in 63 days for e-report to D.Morris@znsbahamas.com (Roberto Pavanello, Italy/DX Fanzine).

Bonaire

TWR Bonaire 800 kHz. Full data e-QSL from Jason Helmboldt. Received in two days for posting e-report to https://twr.org/bonaire-QSL-form (Moreno Villarroel, FB/QSL Chasers).

Eswatini

TWR QSL

Trans World Radio 1170 kHz. Full data color scenery e-QSL. Received in seven days for e-report to lstvrop@twr.org (G Van Horn, LA)

France

Pop Shop Radio via Roumoules, 1467 kHz. Full data e-QSL in one day, for e-report to radiopopshop@gmail.com (Ghibaudo).

Ireland

Radio North 846 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in 44 days for e-report to radionorth846mwads@gmail.com (Hashimoto Kenji, Japan/FB/DX Fanzine).Verified in seven days with the same email address (Llorella).

Italy

Radio Metropolia 1503 kHz. Full data e-QSL from Antonello Napolitano. Received in five days for e-report to dxf@dxfanzine.com (Llorella).

United Kingdom

Radio Red Hill, 1431 kHz. Full data e-QSL from Ian, Station Engineer, in less than 24 hours. E-report posted on the station’s website form. (Paul Flanagan, UK/DX Fanzine)

United States

WNAM Neenah, Wisconsin 1280 kHz. Full data QSL. Received 12 days from follow-up report to steve.edwards@cumulus.com and MP3 audio file. Received six years after Sheigra DXpedition (Alan Pennington, UK?BDXC). Good catch, this station is now inactive.

Shortwave

Ascension Island

KBS World Radio 9655 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in 17 days by postal mail, for e-report to french@kbs.co.kr (Christian Ghibaudo, France).

Australia

Reach Beyond Australia 11925. Full data e-QSL in ten days, for e-report to radio@reachbeyond.org.au (Rod Pearson, FL).

South African DX Report via Reach Beyond Australia, 15440 kHz. Full data e-QSL from André Gouws. Received in two days, for e-report to andrea9@duck.com (Llorella) 

Bulgaria

Radio Taiwan International 9790 kHz. Full data logo e-QSL. Received in 40 days for an e-report to rus@rti.org.tw (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria/BDXC)

Clandestine

National Unity Radio 5900 kHz, via Tamsui, Taiwan. Received in 12 days for e-report to umg.info@unimedia.net (Pearson).

France

Atlantic 2000 International via Rohrbach Waal, 6070 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in two days, for the French e-report to atlantic2000international@gmail.com (Ghibaudo).

Germany

VOLA 9670 kHz via Channel 292. Full data e-QSL from Jim Salmon. Received in one day for e-report to volanair@gmail.com (Llorella).

Super Clan Radio 9670 kHz via Channel 292. Full data e-QSL in ten days, for e-report to superclanradio@yahoo.com (Llorella).

Texas Radio Shortwave 9670 kHz via Channel 292. Full data e-QSL. Received in one day for an e-report to texasradioshortwave@proton.com (Ghibaudo).

Guam

KTWR 9900/12040 kHz. Full data e-QSL in two months for e-report to asiafeedback@twr.org (Sam Wright, MS)

Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia 4755 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in 35 days for e-report to voilisteners@gmail.com (J. Waga, Germany/BDXC)

Madagascar

KTWR relay 15440 kHz. Full data e-QSL in three months for e-report to asiafeedback@twr.org (Pearson).

New Zealand

Radio NZ Pacific 13690 kHz. Full data e-QSL. Received in three days for an e-report posted at www.rnz.co.nz/qsl (Ben Clement, OR)

United Arab Emirates

QSL

Gaweylon Tibetan Radio via Dhabbaya relay, 15215 kHz. Full data scenery e-QSL from Anil R. Alfred, Director. Received in three days. Noted station is part of the FEBC/FEBA broadcast. For email to: gaweylon@gmail.com (G. Van Horn, LA) 

Vietnam

Voice of Vietnam 9730 kHz. Full data color scenery e-QSL. Received in three days for French service. E-report to vovhanoi.france@gmail.com (Juan Carlos Pérez Montero, Spain/FB QSL) 9830 kHz. Full data e-QSL in 24 days, for French e-report to above address (Ghibaudo).

Utility

Estonia

Tallinn Radio 2187.5 kHz. Station QSL from Indrek Laur. Received in six weeks, for e-report to info@riks.ee and keskus@riks.ee (Llorella)

JRCC Tallinn, 2187.5 kHz. Full data e-verification letter. Received in one day for e-report to jrcc@politsei.ee (Llorella).

Germany

Bremen Rescue Radio

Bremen Rescue Radio 2187.5 kHz. Full data e-QSL in 13 days, for e-report to mrcc@seenotretter.de (Llorella).

Iceland

Reykjavik Radio, 2187.5 kHz. Full data e-Verification Letter. Received in one day for e-report to reyrad@hg.is (Llorella).

India

MRCC Chennai, 12577 kHz. Full data e-Verification Letter. Received in 11 days for e-report to mrcceast@indiancoastguard.nic.in (Llorella).

Memories of Radio Pakistan, Lahore

 

This episode originally aired on September 3, 2000

It was back in the year 1968 that we as a family were transferred from Perth in Western Australia to Lahore in Pakistan.  Soon after our arrival at our new location, I received a letter from an international radio monitor in the United States enquiring about the small shortwave station operated by Radio Pakistan in Lahore.

I checked my radio files and noted that I had received several QSL cards for different outlets of Radio Pakistan, and that each card listed a shortwave transmitter in Lahore under the callsign APL3.  The World Radio TV Handbook also listed APL3 in Lahore, as a 1 kW shortwave unit on the air on 21 different channels, though most of these were never used.

Now, it so happened that the transmitter base for Radio Pakistan Lahore on mediumwave was located on Multan Road, just half a mile from Adventpura, the estate where we were living.  On one occasion, my Pakistani assistant and I drove down to the station, and we were given a cordial welcome and a friendly guided tour.  I saw the small shortwave transmitter, now off the air.  I was told that there was little need for a low-powered shortwave transmitter in the Lahore area, and that there were no plans to re-activate it.

Just last year, when I made a nostalgic return visit to Pakistan, I revisited the transmitter site on Multan Road, only to discover that the entire station is gone, transferred to another location.  The whole area is now a modern housing estate.

The history of Radio Pakistan Lahore, shortwave APL3, is very interesting.  It would appear that this transmitter was at first on the air shortwave in Karachi under the callsign APK2.  It was transferred to Lahore around 1950 and it was in service in Lahore as APL3 until about 1967.  Programming was always on relay from the network of Radio Pakistan, usually from the local mediumwave station.  Very few QSL cards were ever issued for this small regional shortwave unit.

Thus, the historic shortwave transmitter, 1 kW APL3, was long ago discarded, and the property is now a housing estate.

Medium Wave WOR in New York on Shortwave

Thank you to the staff of Wavescan for this week's feature on New York's WOR

Jeff: The 104 year-old medium wave radio station WOR in New York City is one of the most well-known stations in the United States, and indeed it’s also very well-known to medium wave DX-ers worldwide.  It is a 50,000 watt Class A clear channel news/talk station on 710 kHz, currently owned by iHeartMedia.  However, few people today are aware of WOR’s involvement in experimental shortwave broadcasting back in its earlier years.  Ray Robinson has the story.

 Audio Clip - WOR - Radio 710  available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan/episodes/2026-05-23T17_00_00-07_00

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  WOR is one of the oldest continuously operating radio stations in the United States, and it’s the only station in the New York City metro area to have retained its original three-letter callsign.  It was launched by Jack Poppele, of subsequent Voice of America fame, in February 1922.  At the time, the station’s city of license was Newark, New Jersey and it was installed on the sixth floor of the fourteen-story Bamberger Department Store in Newark.  Bamberger’s subsequently became a division of the Macy’s department store empire.

With a studio on the 6th floor and a showy antenna on the roof of its Newark store,

Bamberger's launched WOR to sell more radios.

In a shortsighted move on December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce set aside a single wavelength, 360 metres (833 kHz), for radio stations to broadcast entertainment programs.  The store applied for a license, which was granted two months later, on February 20, 1922.  Its original transmitter was a 250 watt unit constructed by De Forrest, duly assigned to the 833 kHz channel, which quickly became congested causing stations in the same area to have to share time.  WOR’s debut broadcast came two days later, on February 22, 1922.

The license application had requested the callsign WLB, but that had just been assigned to another station so they were instead granted the sequential call WOR, which had been relinquished by the Orient Line passenger vessel, SS "California".  So the call, WOR, had meaning as the first two letters in the name Orient Line, but it had no meaning whatsoever for the Bamberger store.  The purpose of the station for Bamberger’s was to help them sell more radio receivers, and for general publicity for the store.

Soon afterwards, the 250 watt transmitter was relocated from the sixth floor to the roof of the Bamberger building; and shortly afterward again, it was replaced with a more stable 500 watt Western Electric transmitter.  By the summer of 1922, there were so many stations in the New York area that WOR was only on the air for a few hours per week.  During the following year, 1923, WOR was allowed to move from the highly undesirable 833 kHz channel to the more open frequency of 740 kHz.

With an eye to capturing the New York metro market, new studios were opened at Chickering Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, though shortly afterwards, these were moved to a more prominent location at 1440 Broadway.

And when the station was just five years old in 1927, a more impressive purpose-built transmitter facility was constructed on a plot of land four miles west of Manhattan in Kearney, New Jersey.  There, the power level was raised to 5 kW, and the frequency was changed to 710 kHz – the same frequency still used to this day.

In 1928, WOR began their first foray into shortwave usage by operating a mobile shortwave transmitter, W2XAQ, which they had installed in an aeroplane for a remote broadcast.  After that, the 50 watt unit was installed at their new transmitter base in Kearney.  As a no-longer-mobile experimental unit, its callsign was then changed to W2XCX, with the intent of installing a higher-powered unit in due course.

Early in 1933, it was announced that WOR was ready to install a powerful new shortwave transmitter.  The transmitter itself was already constructed, the announcement stated, but the building was not yet readied for this purpose.

Then, the following year, in 1934, a much larger transmitter facility was constructed at more distant Carteret, New Jersey, 21 miles southwest of Manhattan, on a 34 acre property next to the Rahway River.  The new building was planned to house several transmitters, including the 5 kW unit from Kearney, a new 50 kW medium wave unit, an air navigation beacon, and also the shortwave transmitter.  The counterpoise system for the medium wave antenna was made up of 35 miles of buried copper wire spread over an area of some 10 acres, including beneath the flowing waters of the Rahway River.

WOR announced that both the new transmitter site at Carteret, and the new shortwave service from that site using the callsign W2XHI, would be inaugurated on December 1, 1934.  However, the inauguration was postponed until March 4, 1935, when the President of the United States at that time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, performed a remote opening ceremony for the new transmission site during a special event at the White House.

 Audio Clip - WOR - 1440 Broadway   https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan/episodes/2026-05-23T17_00_00-07_00

But the fulltime shortwave service failed to materialize.  Subsequent press releases indicated delay after delay, until finally in November 1935, the shortwave project was abandoned, without further explanation.

In 1936, WOR did conduct another significant remote broadcast from out in the Atlantic, where their old 50 watt shortwave transmitter had now been installed on the new luxury passenger liner, the "Queen Mary" (that’s right, the one that’s now permanently moored in the port of Long Beach, California).

In April 1937, radio monitors in the United States were surprised to hear WOR being relayed on shortwave by the Press Wireless station at Hicksville, NJ, initially under the callsign W2II.  And, on several more occasions during 1937, the programming from WOR medium wave was again heard being relayed by PWI Hicksville.  The Hicksville callsign for the later broadcasts was W2XGB.  The shortwave channel was usually 17310 kHz, and PWI did issue QSL cards to confirm reception of these broadcasts.

On two occasions, the high-profile Jack Poppele of station WOR attempted to communicate with the planet Mars using the Press Wireless transmitters at Hicksville; once in 1924, and again in 1939.  These attempts were notably unsuccessful, probably due to the fact that Mars is uninhabited, although to be fair, they didn’t know that at the time!!!

In the late 1930’s, WOR operated a high-fidelity shortwave transmitter on 11 metres under the callsign W2XJI.  In spite of the low power for this experimental operation, which was just 100 watts, it was often heard in Australia and New Zealand when propagation conditions supported a maximum usable frequency that high.

The late 1930’s was also when early experiments in fax broadcasting took place, and WOR initially used their medium wave transmitter late at night for the broadcast of a fax newspaper, in parallel with a shortwave fax transmitter using the callsign W2XUP.  Like the high-fidelity W2XJI, this also operated on 11 metres, and was similarly heard in Australia and New Zealand, where it was also occasionally reported with music programming.

The final occasion when a shortwave relay of WOR was noted was in September 1942, around the time when Hicksville was conducting experimental broadcasts in preparation for their planned relay of the new Voice of America.  International radio monitors in New Zealand and Australia sent reception reports for these shortwave broadcasts direct to WOR in New York City, but official reply letters stated that they knew nothing of the relay of WOR programming over callsign WJQ on 10010 kHz from Hicksville.  However, they helpfully suggested to keep on listening to the same shortwave channel, to hear WOR again.

Thus it was, that medium wave WOR was involved with shortwave broadcasting in five different ways:

1. Between the years 1928 and 1936, they are known to have operated their own 50 watt shortwave transmitter as W2XAQ/W2XCX on several occasions.  

2. In the mid-1930s, they planned and prepared for a fulltime shortwave station, W2XHI, that never materialized.  

3. In 1924 and 1939, WOR was involved in unsuccessful shortwave transmissions to the planet Mars via the facilities of Press Wireless, Hicksville. 

4. In the late 1930’s, WOR experimented with high fidelity broadcasts on 11 metres under the callsign W2XJI, and with fax broadcasts on 11 metres under the callsign W2XUP.

5. In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, WOR programming was often noted being relayed on shortwave by PWI, Hicksville.  

WOR began experimental FM broadcasting in 1939, and became one of the first licensed commercial FM stations in 1941.  They were involved in early TV transmissions as well, launching WOR-TV in October 1949.  The WOR transmitter site at Carteret, NJ was used for some 32 years, until 1967, when a new transmitter facility was constructed near Lyndhurst, NJ, almost adjacent to the old Kearney site, and the previous site down in Carteret became a community park.

Then 40 years later again, in 2007, another new transmitter facility was built for WOR at Rutherford, NJ, just a mile or two north of the Lyndhurst property, which became a golf course.  These days, with studios at 125 West 55th Street in Midtown, Manhattan, WOR can be heard widely with their news/talk format with 50 kW on 710 kHz.

 Audio Clip - WOR – iHeart  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan/episodes/2026-05-23T17_00_00-07_00

They use a three-tower directional antenna array to protect KIRO which is also on 710 in Seattle.  WOR has always been a reliable verifier of reception reports.

Back to you, Jeff.