Radio Fly and the long awaited QSL card

The following was reported today for DXers on the status of QSLing Radio Fly

Papua New Guinea
(I) have been corresponding with Radio Fly regarding their long awaited QSL cards. The cards in fact have been designed, printed and all have been signed by the GM of the company, so perhaps they will go out next week, as they would like to send them out all at once and have not sent one yet to anybody. To date they have received more than 40 reception reports; some have sent more than one report. Those who have already sent in reception reports do not need to do anything else but keep checking your mailbox. Looks as if we should certainly have them in July.

Very good news!

For those wishing to send in new reception reports, please send them to a very nice fellow at Ok Tedi Mining Limited: James Kaltobie at James.Kaltobie@oktedi.com. He sincerely apologizes for the delay in getting these QSL cards out to listeners, but this is all rather new to him.
(Ron Howard, CA/Cumbre DX)

Radio Fly would like to hear from shortwave listeners

Here is an email from the Radio Fly radio technician at Kiunga, Roseanne Kulupi Roseanne. Kulupi@oktedi.com, who indeed would like to hear from other shortwave listeners:

“Easter Greetings to you all the way from PNG. I hope this email finds you well. Thank you for your email. It's great to know you are receiving our signal there in California. We've also received a couple of emails from listeners in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and a couple of other countries as well.

I apologise for 3915 kHz frequency being off air. The transmitter had been faulty for some time and just recently got repaired and is on its way back to site. We should have it back on air, hopefully in a week or two weeks time.

Thank you once again for your email and I look forward to more emails from you and other shortwave listeners of California. Have a safe day.
Kind Regards,
Roseanne

(Ron Howard, Monterey, CA/Cumbre DX)

Additional observations for Radio Fly
3915, Radio Fly, Kiunga. Status report is that the transmitter that has been silent for some time now. Transmitter site for both 3915 and 5960 is Kiunga, a port town on the Fly River, about 85 miles south of Tabubil. Per their radio technician, the 3915 transmitter has been repaired, but needs to be re-installed at Kiunga. Also the circuit breaker for the Aircon tripped and needs attention. She did try to reset it, but it only held for about 2-5 minutes before tripping again. She suggested it would be good to have both aircons working, before they re-install the second transmitter.(Howard,Apr 13)

5960, Radio Fly, Kiunga, 0915-1120, Apr 07, 08 and 09, news, sports recap of the just concluded rugby match between the New Zealand Warriors and the Sydney Roosters played in New Zealand, 0925 DJ in Tok Pisin with island pop songs; “Here now is Radio Fly’s Community …” with public service ann in Tok Pisin about such things as training programs, song by Foreigner “Feels Like The First Time”, "Tequila Sunrise" by the Eagles, DJ took calls after nearly every song. Signal peaked at 1120. (Herkimer in Dxplorer, Howard)
(DX Window 426)

My current Radio Fly broadcast schedule is listed as:
All times UTC
0600-0945 3915/5960 English
0000-1200 3915/5960 English/Pidgin
2000-2100 3915/5960 English/Pidgin
(Gayle Van Horn, Frequency Manager, Monitoring Times)

Radio East Sepik active again

Really nice to see this station being logged again. Get this and other PNG stations while you can. Reports earlier they plan to leave shortwave and convert all services to FM. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a 'end of closure' date, however when available I will post it here - stay tuned.
Gayle Van Horn

Papua New Guinea station active again
3335, Radio East Sepik, Wewak, 1231, Jul 26. Male announcer taking very brief phone calls from listeners, speaking in combination of Tok Pisin and English, seemed to be a contest. Time check “25 minutes to 11” at 1239, so off a few minutes! Poor-fair. (Sellers). Nice to have it back on the air after 9 months absence! (DX Window # 407)

Papua New Guinea to soon end all shortwave services

NBC Papua New Guinea replacing MW/SW with FM

“KIBI Gadona”, the voice of the conch-shell, can now reach all the remote parts of Papua New Guinera’s Central Province through the newly launched 95.5 FM. Charles Punaha, the CEO of the Papua New Guinea Telecommunications Authority (PANGTEL) officially handed over the FM radio station broadcast licence to the Minister for Communications, Patrick Tamur on Friday. This paved the way for National Broadcasting Cooperation (NBC) Central to broadcast through the first direct satellite service donated by the Australian Government.

“Central is the last province to switch to FM band, but you are the first to have the direct satellite service,” NBC Managing Director Joseph Ealedona told the gathering. He said that NBC will soon do away with its shortwave and mediumwave transmitters, replacing them with the crystal clear FM bands.


The Minister for Communications, Patrick Tammur, challenged the Central Provincial Government to take ownership of the NBC FM station in funding and supporting its operations. He said that radio plays a vital role in informing, educating and entertaining the majority of the people and thus needs provincial government support. “Radio still is the most effective means of communication, reaching the majority of the people in this country, regardless of our geographic settings,” Minister Tammur said.

The minister said that the NBC rehabilitation programs were a government initiative since 2008 to upgrade and renovate all its existing provincial stations in the country. “I challenge the board to take NBC to the next level. You should tap into the regional challenges.” He said the National Government in 2009 allocated K21 million (US$7.6 million) and asked the NBC board to continue its work in rolling out the television program launched in 2008.

The launching coincided with the NBC board meeting where its 2010/2015 corporate plan was discussed. NBC board chairman, Paul Reptario said that the organization was tasked to establish a nationally owned television station and to improve the 20 radio stations in the country. “A corporate reform program is being established. Twenty FM transmission stations launched and a TV station established,” Mr Reptario said.

The Central Provincial government committed K50,000 (US$182,000) to maintain and upgrade communication networks for the Central FM station. The provincial government also pledged annual assistance.
(Source: Sunday Chronicle/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Gayle VH: Really a shame to hear of PNG plans for closing shortwave. As a tropical band Dxer for many years, PNG has been a favorite region to monitor, as well as use as using their stations to gauge early morning trop conditions. Monitoring Times magazine has also covered PNG in feature articles. Thankfully, they have been an easy series of stations to verify, and always remarked they "were surprised a listener could hear them on the other side of the world." I will miss chasing the PNG's.