A Closer Look at Papua New Guinea

 

Ray Robinson and Jeff White bring you this week's Wavescan, with a closer look at Papua New Guinea, which leaves all of us wondering, " Will Papua New Guinea return to shortwave?"

Jeff: In May this year, the government of Papua New Guinea announced “Medium Term Development Plan IV”, which included a goal of achieving 100% broadcast coverage of the country by 2030.  The Minister for Communications asked the state broadcaster, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for their recommendations, and in response, NBC suggested reintroducing the use of shortwave radio – a possibility which is now being explored with manufacturers and funding partners.  In light of this, we thought it might be interesting to review what we know of the history of broadcasting in PNG, and in particular, their previous use of shortwave.  Ray Robinson in Los Angeles has been sifting through the records.  Ray?

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  As recently as the late 20-teens, NBC was operating a network of about 20 regional shortwave transmitters, all with 10 kW, on various frequencies mostly in the 60 and 90 meter tropical bands.  And if listings in the WRTH are to be believed, it appears the last shortwave transmitters were not switched off until sometime in 2022.  So it’s somewhat surprising now to hear that use of shortwave is being seriously reconsidered.  The transmitters in use previously were mostly NEC HFB-7840 models manufactured in the early 1990’s, and they apparently went silent when parts failed and knowledgeable engineers were not available to service them.  Now it seems that parts have already been purchased for at least one transmitter on the island of New Britain, and are awaiting installation.

A Radio New Zealand broadcast on June 13 of this year included a discussion program in which it was stated that NBC in Papua New Guinea had approached Radio New Zealand for technical assistance in reestablishing their shortwave broadcasts within the next year.  Such a request to RNZI, the most successful shortwave operator in the neighborhood (bar the Chinese) makes perfect sense, although it’s unclear what shape such assistance might take.  So, let’s look at why shortwave has historically been so important to PNG, and why its reintroduction now is a practical necessity.

The island of New Guinea lying to the north of Australia has generally been considered to be the second largest island in the world, after Greenland, about 1,500 miles long.  However, it was recently established that if the Greenland icecap were to melt, we would see that Greenland is actually three islands, not one, so New Guinea really is the largest.  It’s part of the continent of Australasia, which includes the Australian landmass, New Zealand and New Guinea.

The western half of New Guinea, known as Irian Jaya, was administered historically by the Dutch, and in 1949, it was claimed by the newly independent country of Indonesia.  It is now administered as six provinces within that country.

The eastern half of the island was split in the 1880’s between German New Guinea in the north and British Papua in the south.  ‘Papua,’ by the way, is a Malay word which means ‘frizzy hair’, and it has been used for the island at least as far back as 1526.  All of present-day Papua New Guinea came under Australian control at the end of World War I, although the different parts were still administered separately.  The former German and British territories were united as Papua New Guinea after World War II (along with about 100 other islands, the largest being New Britain), and then the country gained full independence as a member of the British Commonwealth in 1975.  Since then, the form of government has been a constitutional monarchy, now with King Charles III as the monarch, represented by a Governor-General.  There is a legislature in the form of a national parliament, with a Prime Minister and members who are also provincial leaders.

PNG is a very mountainous country, mostly covered by thick tropical vegetation, with almost impenetrable jungle in the low-lying areas.  There is a spinal mountain range running east-west for over 1,000 miles, with the tallest peak reaching 16,023 feet.  The tree line is at around 13,000 feet, and some of the peaks above that contain rare equatorial glaciers.

The last official population estimate in 2021 was 11.8 million, but that number is unreliable because the population is highly rural, with only 14% living in urban centers.  The capital, Port Moresby, has a population of less than 400,000, although that still makes it the largest city in the southwestern Pacific outside Australia or New Zealand.  Unofficial estimates of the total population of PNG made using satellite imagery put the number closer to 18 million.  The majority of that population lives in mountain villages where there are no roads or other infrastructure (no electricity, no running water), and they can only be reached by very arduous multi-day hikes on foot from the nearest provincial towns.  Some villages have airstrips (often created by missionary groups), but most do not.  Because of the isolation of these people groups, PNG is the most linguistically diverse country in the world, with 840 known spoken languages – not just dialects, separate languages.  Each one has developed among people living in clusters of isolated mountain villages, sometimes numbering no more than about 20-30,000 speakers of each language.

Again, because of the isolation, it is estimated that at least 40% of the population are subsistence farmers, living completely independently of the cash economy.  They do not have any connection with or receive support from the capital, and they rarely have any need for money.

The official languages of the country are English, Tok Pisin (or Pidgin) and Hiri Motu (a Polynesian language spoken by about 5% of the population in the south east).  The lingua franca used for commerce is Tok Pisin, an English-based creole, although standard English is used in government, higher education, and formal writing.

Classic QSL from Radio East New Britain

So, how do you unite a country as linguistically diverse as PNG?  How do you forge a national identity?  How do you even begin to think about reaching people who never come into even a regional town, let alone the capital?  How can the authorities provide health education, warnings about weather events, emergency assistance when needed, and so on?

You would think that from a radio perspective, small, compact people groups could probably best be serviced by FM transmitters right in their communities, but the problem with that is lack of infrastructure.  With no electricity, the transmitters would have to be powered completely by renewable energy sources such as solar, which would limit them to very low power operation, and then only during the daytime and when it wasn’t too cloudy, which it often is.  Program production in the local language would also have to be powered in the same way, and for the most part, that’s just not viable.

Medium wave doesn’t work well in the tropics for regional coverage due to atmospheric noise, so where medium wave has been deployed (and there are a few 10 kW units in use), they’re only for population centers close to the transmitters.  The only real alternative for national coverage is some form of shortwave broadcast from locations where there is at least a bare minimum of services.  And that’s exactly what PNG had for decades, usually broadcasting in a mixture of English, Pidgin, and perhaps the most dominant vernacular language in their area.

Classic QSL from NBC

The history of radio broadcasting in Papua New Guinea dates back to 1935 when the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) opened the first commercial medium wave station, 4PM, in Port Moresby, although it was closed again during World War II.  In 1944, the U.S army established a radio station called 9PA, which was the first to broadcast in local languages.  After the war, the ABC assumed control of 9PA and gradually expanded its broadcasting services in the territory.

In 1961 the first PNG government broadcast service was launched, the forerunner of 15 regional stations specifically for Papua New Guinea audiences.  This dual system of broadcasting continued until the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) was formed under the Broadcasting Commission Act of 1973.  The NBC is thus Papua New Guinea's state-owned broadcaster, now operating two national radio stations and one television station.

In addition to the NBC, there are also a number of private and community radio stations operating in Papua New Guinea, all on FM.  These mostly target urban youth, who find it easy to tune in on subsidised smart phones that have FM tuners built in.  But, there’s little coverage of the more rural areas.

The 1970 edition of the WRTH lists eight regional stations (all government-operated), such as Radio Rabaul, Radio Wewak, Radio Western District, Radio Goroka, and so on, all on frequencies in the 90 meter tropical band, with a mix of 10 and 2 kW transmitters.  Most of the regional shortwave transmitters were replaced in the early 1990s, and the 1995 edition of the WRTH shows 23 regional stations, all operating with 10 kW in the 90 meter band.  There are also two 100 kW units listed in Port Moresby on 60 meters and 31 meters, which were obviously intended to provide national coverage.

FM transmitters have been deployed in town areas throughout the country, with both the BBC World Service and Radio Australia being available on FM in Port Moresby.  But most of the population is well out of the reach of any FM or medium wave transmitter.  So, we look forward with interest to see how the situation develops in PNG.  

Will a network of regional shortwave stations be reestablished?  Will the 

high-power units in Port Moresby be refurbished and reactivated for national coverage?  Maybe by this time next year we’ll know.

 Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan 23 Nov 2025)

To hear vintage radio recordings from Papua New Guinea in this edition,  refer to:

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Jungle Radio on Bougainville Island

WSSO Radio (Radio Heritage Foundation)

An additional story on Bougainville Island, from my earlier post, The Early Wireless Scene on the Tropical Pacific Island, Bougainville on 30 January 2020.

It was in March 1942 that the Imperial Japanese Army made its first landings on Bougainville Island as part of their onward progression through the islands in the South Pacific.  At the time, there were some 50,000 local people on this island, though most of the foreigners had already evacuated in advance of the Japanese incursions.

In April 1943, the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto began a tour of the Japanese occupied islands in the South West Pacific.  Admiral Yamamoto was the key architect in the planning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor less than two years earlier, the event that brought the United States into the Pacific War.

American surveillance teams at three widely different locations learned via Japanese coded radio transmissions from nearby Rabaul on New Britain Island that Yamamoto was scheduled to fly from Rabaul to Balalae Island, just to the south of Bougainville Island, on the morning of April 18, 1943.  A flight of 16 American fighter planes intercepted the flight of 8 Japanese planes over southern Bougainville and they shot down the Admiral’s plane, killing all on board.

Just six months later on November 1, 1943, American forces landed at Torokina on the central west coast of Bougainville Island and there they established a temporary air force base that was carved out of the surrounding tropical jungle.  Ultimately a total of 60,000 American personnel were staged at the Torokina Air base, and at the same time it is estimated, there were also 65,000 Japanese service personnel on that same island.  There were times of open conflict. 

The American base at Torokina had a frontal area against the ocean 15 miles wide, and it extended 5 miles inland up against a rugged jungle covered mountain range.  One month after the initial American landings, the first American planes landed on the jungle airstrip at Torokina (December 10, 1943). 

A temporary communication radio station was installed in a primitive jungle building on the edge of a very muddy road in a freshly made clearing in the jungle.  They also established a hospital at Torokina, with a holding capacity for 500 patients in a cluster of 70 Quonset Huts.

The first American radio broadcasting station at Torokina was a joint co-operative volunteer effort on the part of American service personnel from the army, navy, marines and seabees.  They assembled whatever radio equipment was available, and they launched a low power radio broadcasting station on 670 kHz on February 16, 1944 under the self-designated callsign WSSO.  The first station manager was Staff Sargent John A. Ettinger 

Radio station WSSO was established by the Special Service Office (hence the callsign WSSO) and it identified on air as the First Entertainment Station in the Solomons.  This new and informal station also identified on air as AES, an American Expeditionary Station, as did many other stations in the Mosquito and Jungle Networks during the latter part of the Pacific War.  There are no known loggings of this informal low power American AES station, not in Australia nor in New Zealand during the one month that it was on the air. 

The second American radio station at Torokina was an official broadcasting station that was set up by a small group of specially trained men who were flown in from California.  In the winter of 1943, AFRS Los Angeles received a request for equipment and personnel to set up three mediumwave entertainment radio stations in the South Pacific; New Caledonia, Guadalcanal and Bougainville.

On January 15, 1944, the three radio teams, together with their equipment, were flown out to the Admiralty Islands, and then from there each team flew onward to its own appointed destination.  The Bougainville team installed their station, both studios and transmitter, in a prefabricated wooden Dallas Hut imported from the United States, and it was inaugurated on April 15, 1944 as AES Bougainville. 

This new station, initially without a formal callsign, radiated 1 kW on 670 kHz, the same channel as the previous informal WSSO.  At this stage, the Torokina station formed part of the loosely federated Mosquito Network. 

This new AFRS station on Bougainville Island was on the air for two months before it was suddenly noted in both Australia and New Zealand.  One of the first radio monitors to hear the new station was the Radio & Hobbies mediumwave columnist Roy Hallett in Sydney.  In mid June (1944), he noted this station with a good signal just before the morning sign on time for mediumwave stations in eastern Australia.  The station sign on announcement stated AFRS Bougainville.

However, a few months later, three major changes took place at AES Torokina.  AFRS management in California had determined that each of the AFRS stations in the Pacific should be granted an American style four letter callsign, and AES Torokina became WVTI.  Station WVTI dropped its Mosquito Network affiliation and it joined the Jungle Network instead, along with half a dozen other stations in the New Guinea area, all with callsigns that began with the two letters WV.  In addition, the operating channel for WVTI was changed from 670 kHz to 680 kHz. 

As time went by, American forces began to move further northward in the progress of the war in the Pacific islands during the year 1944, and thus the American usage of the Torokina Base on Bougainville Island was phased out. and Australian forces began to move in.  The Australian army officially took over the Torokina base on November 22 (1944).

The Torokina AFRS station WVTI was on the air for only nine months; it was closed on January 21 (1945) and it was then transferred to the Philippines for installation in Manila.  However in its place, a temporary low powered Australian mediumwave station superseded the now transferred American station.  It is understood that this new temporary Aussie unit was on the air under the Australian Army callsign 9AC, in anticipation of the arrival of a 200 watt transportable station under the same callsign.
More about 9AC next time.
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 571)

The Early Wireless Scene on the Tropical Pacific Island, Bougainville

The island of Bougainville lies in the Western Pacific, five hundred miles east of the much larger island of New Guinea, and a thousand miles northeast of the continent of Australia. Just last month on December 11 (2019), the Bougainville government announced the results of a territory-wide referendum in which 98.3% of the population voted that the island cluster should secede from Papua New Guinea and become an independent nation in its own right 

This referendum produced an overwhelming non-binding vote for independence, which must yet be discussed and ratified by the national government of independent Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby.

The island of Bougainville is 120 miles long and 40 or 50 miles wide, and it is the main island in the Bougainville Archipelago of 168 islands, only a few of which are inhabited.  It is the northernmost island cluster of the Solomon Islands; and it is more closely linked with the Solomon Islands, geographically, linguistically, culturally and racially, than it is with New Guinea. 

There are several volcanoes on Bougainville; dormant, inactive and active. 

Much of the vegetation on Bougainville is a dense and almost impenetrable tropical jungle, due in part to the Strangler Vine that was introduced by American forces during World War 2.  There is also a huge variety of local animal and insect life that has adapted to a tropical lifestyle.

The island has a population of around a quarter million people who speak some twenty or thirty different languages and dialects, though English and Pidgin are the two official languages.  Their current temporary capital is on nearby Buka Island, though plans are underway to return one day to Arawa, the previous capital city that was located on the central east coast of the main island.

The first settlers on Bougainville arrived from Asia some three thousand years ago.  The first European explorer to visit the island was Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville who, with a nice touch of shall we say, modesty, named the island in his own honor in 1768. 

However, no one from this expedition landed on the island due to the hostility of the islanders.  Afterwards, Admiral Bougainville traversed the oceans to South America, where again with an apparently equal touch of the same modesty, he named a colorful, though mildly toxic shrub, in his own honor, the Bougainvillea.

Germany annexed the island of Bougainville as part of German New Guinea in 1899; Australian forces invaded and took over at the beginning of World War 1; Japanese forces invaded in March 1942; twenty months later the American forces arrived; after the Pacific War Australia administered the island; then in 1975 it was  absorbed into the newly independent Papua New Guinea; and just last December (2019) they voted for independence.

The first wireless station on Bougainville Island was installed at Kieta on the central eastern coastline and it was taken into service in January 1916 under the Australian callsign VIU.  At the time, Kieta was the main colonial town on the island, due to its previous German occupation and also because it was the center of European Christian missionary influence on the island.

Wireless station VIU was installed at Kieta by AWA from Sydney Australia on behalf of the Australian army and it became the key station in the wireless/radio network that was established on Bougainville Island in the entire era before World War 2.  It was a small one man operation, and the total facility was housed in the one building on top a ridge overlooking Kieta town and its harbour. 

Operator Mr. C. W. Scriven in September 1930 stated that there was just the one room for station VIU, with its one mast and one power generator.  The wireless facility was installed at the top of a stairway with its 517 steps that were cut into the rocky ridge.  This rock-cut stairway was the only entrance to the wireless station which was directly above a small cluster of official type buildings.

The callsign VIU was an AWA coastal callsign with a host of other similar alphabetic callsigns in the same series, such as VIA Adelaide, VIB Brisbane, VIC Cooktown and VID Darwin.  Coastal station VIU was in regular routine operation with a scattered network of small wireless stations throughout Bougainville, each of which was a low power pedal facility that was developed earlier in Australia by Alf Traeger, the grandson of a German migrant family.

By the time World War 2 began in Europe (September 1939), there were a dozen or more of these small pedal powered radio stations scattered throughout Bougainville, and they had been installed at plantation offices, Christian mission stations and government offices, all mainly close to the eastern coastal areas.  Station VIU also maintained regular communication with the government station at Buka Island to the north, with VJZ on Rabaul and with VIG in Port Moresby. 

During the year 1939, the Australian government set up a system of coastwatchers on Bougainville Island, as a precaution if hostilities were to break out in the Pacific.  The equipment in use at the time were the small AWA 3B transceivers, and with the assistance of local native peoples, they were ultimately set up in isolated jungle areas in the interior.  Each coastwatcher maintained communication with the AWA shortwave station VIG in Port Moresby and they reported traffic movements on the part of enemy personnel.   

On Friday January 23, 1942, station VIU was deliberately destroyed and set on fire, just a few hours before Japanese forces landed in Kieta Harbour.  Most foreigners were evacuated over various routes and to different locations which were considered at the time to be quite safe.
More about the exciting radio story on Bougainville Island next time.
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 569)

Note -
NBC Bougainville operates on 3325 kHz (0800-1300 and 2000-2200 UTC), on an irregular basis, and is noted be part of the future planning network expansions.

If Bouganville gains their independence as a seperate government, this certainly opens up the possibility of radio hobbyist logging NBC Bouganville for the first time, could claim Bougainville as a new and separate country.

Monitoring Papua New Guinea

The following excerpt from the August edition of NASWA's Listening-In, includes some interesting observations on monitoring Papua New Guinea. Logs edited for clarity.

All times UTC

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 

3260, NBC Madang (Maus Blong Garamut), 1136-1204*, July 9. Signal stronger than 3325 (Bougainville); cutting through the heavy summertime QRN (static) fairly well/ Programming in Pidgin,  one comedy segment with background sounds of the audience. Pacific Islands music with singing. Station off the air during the news in English. (Ron Howard-CA)

3260, NBC Madang, Maus Blong Garamut. On July 10, heard a very unique broadcast, running much longer than normal 1227-1232 in English with Radio New Zealand program with Dominic Godfrey 1232-1237. Instrumental music 1237-1251* (sing-off) with relay of “90.7 FM” and several clear announcements for the Press Club’s guest speaker being at the Lamana Hotel in Port Moresby on July 12, to give updated information about the Bougainville referendum for independence, which will be broadcast live via NBC Radio. The Press Club’s event (was scheduled for July 12).

(Ron Howard-CA) 

3260, NBC Madang (Maus Blong Garamut - Voice of Indigenous Drums), 1212*, on July 26. (Ron Howard-CA)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA (BOUGAINVILLE) 

3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap - Voice of the Sunrise), 1055-1200*, July 26. Poor reception of pop music to 1102 with local news inmEnglish (not readable). program DJ format playing pop Pacific Islands songs to mention of “Friday

night.” NO Voice of Indonesia interference. (Ron Howard-CA)

Papua New Guinea-Reintroducing Shortwave Bands to Rural Areas

NBC East Sepik QSL card (Gayle Van Horn Collection)

January 31, 2019

By Isaac Nicholas

Member for Nuku Joseph Sungi has called in the National Broadcasting Corporation to reintroduce the short wave band to reach the rural people.

Mr Sungi in a series of questions to Minister for Communication and Information Technology Sam Basil said in the late 1980s, the NBC at the time through the provincial radio stations was using the shortwave band.

He said Radio Sandaun in West Sepik could reach districts like Nuku and parts of Telefomin but that was not the case anymore.

“Does the minister and the department have any plans to make sure that same service under short wave band can be replaced by a new one or improvement can be made so that provincial radio stations can be revived and broadcasted straight so that remote parts of PNG can use to get news and update on what is happening around the country?” Mr Sungi said.
Additional story at: https://postcourier.com.pg/reintroduce-shortwave-band-reach-rural-areas-sungi/

Wantok Radio Light promotes return to shortwave

Papua New Guinea
Acording to an email received today from Wantok Radio Light, they will be on air again on October 6, 2018.

"We have been off for a while but will resume our shortwave broadcast on October 6, 2018. Please tune in on October 6 to pick up Wantok Radio light on 7325kHz. We would appreciate your confirmation on or after October 6, 2018."

Thank you and blessings to you and family.

Billy Yasi
General Manager
Wantok Radio Light

93.9FM in Port Moresby and parts of Central Province 105.9FM rest of the country 7325 kHz on the shortwave band. Station website with streaming audio: http://www.wantok radio.org

Address:
*Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Network, P. O. Box 1273, Port Moresby, National  Capital District, Papua New Guinea.
*Email: wantok@wantokradio.org
(Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain/HCDX 18 Sept)

Schedule not included, listed in WRTH 2018 as NBC National bulletins at 0700 and 1900 UTC, on 7325/1kW Port Moresby, and 24 hours on satellite. Wantok Radio Light - PNG Bible Church is affiliated with HCJB/Evangelical Bible Missions through Life Radio Ministries. 

(Teak Publishing)

Monitoring Papua Guinea

PNG NBC QSL card (Gayle Van Horn Collection)

logs edited for clarity

All times UTC

3260, NBC Madang, Madang, 1154-1206*, Jan 26 and 27, DJ in Tok Pisin playing pop songs, suddenly off; poor. (Howard)

3325, NBC Bougainville, Kubu, 1306-1406, Jan 30. Testing with non-stop music (pop Pacific Island songs, songs in English ["Sexual Healing"]. My audio of music at https://app.box.com/s/69qoq3qd1ym1m8se0pmng3gowxf0bb3r . Announcer at 1357 in Tok Pisin, but by then RRI Palangkaraya was getting stronger, later check at 1432 found a mess here, as both NBC and RRI mixing together equally, mostly fair. Not testing on Jan 31 or Feb 01.

The new shortwave transmitter is located at Kubu on Buka Island, about 129 km away from the site of the former transmitter at Kieta. I believe Kieta was devastated by the 1990 civil uprising and that few people reside there now.

Here is a recent story (Jan 09)

 "The NBC Radio Bougainville’s Manager’s Official Residence at the Transmitter site in Kubu on Buka Island was burnt to ashes just after midday today. Manageress, CHRISTINE TALEI a veteran Broadcaster is the current boss of the station and resides in this house. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, but Technicians were working on the new shortwave transmitter for the station when the fire was noticed.The compound also shares houses with the Station Technician and the shortwave transmitter plus the satellite link that sends program signals for Radio Bougainville and New Dawn FM to Central and South Bougainville. 

According to the Station Technicians equipments were switched off, but were switched on again after the fire died out. Yesterday, New Dawn FM ran a story of the heat of the sun as unbearable in the last two days in and around Buka town." (Howard)

6020, NBC Bougainville, Kubu, 1237-1248*, Jan 30. Announcer with question - "Feed me and I live, but if you give me a drink, I die. Who am I?", "What is the answer?", gave two phone numbers to call in with the answer, pop songs, no ID heard; adjacent interference. Normally at this time I would only be hearing Vietnam, which was in the clear after NBC signed off. My audio at https://app.box.com/s/j4eefr1cxniudu7otyndxv8fs5fxztxv . (Howard)

7324.94, Wantok R Light, Port Moresby, 0842-0957, Jan 27, 0842-0900. Syndicated USA program "Fresh Touch"in English, request to write to "Fresh Touch c/o Wantok Radio Light, P.O. Box 1273, Port Moresby." On my audio the clearest ID heard is at 01:00 (WRL address) https://app.box.com/s/rkhy2se6cfqh4tu5r6fv4cc0lfl31k23 , 0901-0912: "NBC PNG regional news", news, sports and weather in English, 0912-0913. Ad for "NASFUND" retirement savings plans,  0913-0929: In Tok Pisin, 0930-0957: Syndicated USA program "Focus on the Family". CRI transmitter *0957.Also heard at 1357-1424, Jan 24, after being off the air for three days, they are back again, religious singing, 1359-1408 assume preaching, but unreadable, followed by religious music and singing till covered at 1424 with CRI transmitter coming on. (Howard)

 (DSWCI/DX Window 548)

Monitoring Wantok Radio Light

Logs edited for clarity

All times UTC

7324.96 Wantok Radio Light (presumed). Thanks very much to Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) for the alert that WRL has reactivated after being off the air for some time now; Jan 10 with several
openings with CRI off the air. 1257-1258 heard religious song; this opening is usually 1, 2 or 3 minutes long.

After 1357 (China  Radio Int'l sign off time) heard very weak signal clearly off frequency as usual; by 1413 UT had definite religious songs; 1418 tentative ID and back to religious music; 1424 UT CRI transmitter turned on covering WRL. Nice to have them back on the air again!

7324.94 Wantok Radio Light (presumed). Jan 11 was a repeat of yesterday's log; very poor/very weak, but able to make out the religious music; 1357-1402 UT announcers; 1402-1424 UT music. Thanks again to Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) for the alert, as he first heard them Jan 9
at 1411.

Mauno Ritola measured 7324.942 kHz, so slightly lower that when last on the air. This new slight change was also noted by Bryan Clark in New Zealand - "Heard fading in here around 0800 UT today [Jan 11] and quite readable by 0830. I'm thinking their frequency may be a little lower than when I last logged them?" and Mauno confirmed. (Ron Howard-CA-USA, DXplorer via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 10 / 11)
(BCDX2/Top nx 1237)

QSL Report - Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea - QSL from Radio Sandaun

Radio Sandaun (Radio West Sepik, Vanimo, Papua New Guinea on 3205  kHz)verified my reception report ($2 enclosed) dated April 19, 2011 after 2.5 years by kind letter. Verification signer was Mr. Richard Ali, Director Provincial Radio.

According to the letter, the station broadcasts on 3205 kHz (10 kW) at 1700-2400 local time (0700-1400 UT) in Tok Pisin and English to 180,000 population in West Sepik.

He also informed me of the names of radio presenters of the program I received, and all 12 radio staffs at present. 

Address:   P.O.Box 37, Vanimo 551, Papua New Guinea.
Telephone: +675 857 1149/1144/1112
FAX:       +675 857 1305
E-mail:  alirichard18 @ yahoo.com
(Takahito Akabayashi-JPN, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 29)

(WWDXC/Top Nx 1135)

(graphic: GVH)

Update on the future of Radio Fly

Papua New Guinea 

3915, Radio Fly, Kiunga, 1200-1400 UTC, Mar 26. For about three days now have not heard any open carrier during my usual checking. Finally off the air now, after seemingly running on very low power for a long time?

http://www.oktedi.com/operations/mine-closure-planning  discloses that Ok Tedi Mining Ltd. (OTML) (owner and operator of Radio Fly) plans on closing down their mining operation “around mid- to late-2013”. Here is another interesting response received from OTML regarding my query sent to Nigel Parker about the current status of R Fly:

"Dear Ron, good to hear from you again and to know that you remain a faithful Radio Fly devotee.

Contrary to what you may have heard there is a bright future for OTML with the mine to continue well into the late 2020's. You would also be pleased to know that OTML is actively engaged in extending the coverage of Radio Fly from our current limited geographical footprint to a comprehensive Western Province footprint by utilising mobile phone towers to add repeaters. 

The primary purpose is to enable the broadcast of "School of the Air" programs as a way to bring education to the remote communities of the Western Province. To get this going we are now sourcing the funding for this extension. I would also like to point you to the Ok Tedi Development Foundation website - www.otdf.com.pg  which will provide some insight to our part of the world for you.

Nigel Parker, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Ok Tedi Mining Limited". (Howard, Mar 27)

(DSWCI/DX Window 476)

Monitoring Papua New Guinea

Shortwave Radio Broadcasts
from Papua New Guinea
__________________________

We ask all active shortwave listeners to help us update the World Radio TV Handbook 2013 listings for the government NBC radio stations in Papua New Guinea so that our listings are as accurate as possible.

The current listing is based on official government licencing records, information direct from stations and monitoring during 2011, but the situation in PNG is very fluid.

The government crisis there, states of emergency in some provinces, the creation of two new provinces in the past week, and general elections during June offer unusual opportunities for SW stations to broadcast longer hours, or even restart previously silent SW
transmitters.

Please tell us:
1. name of station you heard as announced
2. frequency
3. location as announced
4. any other frequencies mentioned such as an FM or MW outlet
5. any other name by which the station seems to be known and email your reply DIRECT to us at radioheritage@gmail.com

Thanks for your help with this special request, and for helping us keep the Papua New Guinea content at the World Radio TV Handbook as accurate as possible.

Kind regards
Dave Ricquish
PNG Country Editor
Radio Heritage Foundation
www.radioheritage.com
(Rachel Baughn/MT & Larry Van Horn/MT)

Monitoring observations on NBC Buka vs. RRI Palangkaraya

Papua New Guinea vs Indonesia on shortwave

Recently I have been noticing more logs being reported for NBC Buka on 3325, some not even listed as tentative or presumed. I am not the definitive expert on this matter and can of course only report on what I have heard here at my west coast location, but I respectfully suggest that RRI Palangkaraya might be an alternate possibility (probability?). J-Peace (Japan) www.peace-j.net/ ), like myself, is a regular monitor of Asian/Pacific/Oceania stations. His site is regularly being updated with new recordings. His last recordings for NBC Buka are back in early 2009. That corresponds to and confirms my observations. During my monitoring during the 1200 UT time period, I always hear RRI Palangkaraya. For those who wonder about the quality of my reception and how I can be sure I am in fact hearing Palangkaraya, I refer you to the recent reception in English, with several clear references to Palangkaraya:


http://www.box.net/shared/40szirkk6pakkic7cxxh

and please also listen to this series of IDs in Bahasa Indonesia:

http://www.box.net/shared/veu1umb8rb5y985kpgs0

I present this as something to think about and it is not intended as a criticism of anyone. My goal is to help improve the quality of our reporting.

Good listening to all!
(Ron Howard, Monterey, CA/Cumbre DX)

PNG's Radio Fly on shortwave

Pacific Radio News
Radio Heritage Foundation
www.radioheritage.net/

Radio Fly on Shortwave
Tabubil, Papua New Guinea

Listeners in countries such as Japan and New Zealand have been reporting reception of new shortwave broadcaster Radio Fly in recent days.

Radio Fly is a community radio station operated by the Ok Tedi Mine management in the isolated Western Province of Papua New Guinea, about 800km west of the capital Port Moresby.

According to Jobby Paiva, who hosts the evening show on Radio Fly, the station operates from two FM transmitters [95.3 at the port town of Kiunga and 103.8 in the main company town of Tabubil about 90km inland] and recently started shortwave relays on 3915kHz and 5960kHz.

English news is scheduled 7am-7.30am Tue-Sat and again at 7.30pm-7.45pm Mon-Fri [local times] and the 6am-10pm [2000-1200 UTC] broadcast day is divided into the Breakfast Shift 6am-10am, Mid Morning/Mid Afternoon Shift 10am-2pm, Afternoon Drive 2pm-6pm and the
Night Shift 6pm-10pm closedown.

He tells us that the transmitter power details for the SW outlets will be available shortly and they're delighted to be getting emails in from a growing number of listeners around the world.

Station details will be included in the 2011 WRTH: Radio Fly studios are on Dakon Street, Tabubil. Mailing address: PO Box 1, Tabubil, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Team Leader: Michael Miise. Telephone: +675 649 3924. Fax: +675 6493023. Email:
jobby.paiva@oktedi.com .

Jobby has previously been a broadcaster with Nau FM and other commercial stations in Papua New Guinea and maintains a regular blog where updates about Radio Fly can be found:
www.jobbyswalk-about.blogspot.com/ .

Tabubil is the site of one of the world's largest copper mines [previously gold mining] about 20km from the border with Indonesia and just over 300km from Jayapura. Annual rainfall is around 315 inches [8 meters] and the township is located in extremely dense jungle.

A road links Tabubil with a port at Kiunga where the copper slurry is taken by pipeline, and the port mainly exists to service Tabubil. Both Kiunga and Tabubil are in the highly mountainous North Fly District of Western Province.

Radio Fly serves a combined Tabubil/Kiunga urban population of about 25,000 [estimated] and began broadcasting on FM in 2004. For more information about Radio Fly and the Ok Tedi mining operations see:www.oktedi.com/.
(Radio Heritage Mail)

Radio Broadcasting in New Guinea - Early Wireless Stations

The island of New Guinea, located north of Australia, is considered to be the second largest island in the world, with only Greenland larger. New Guinea is about 1500 miles long with an area of a little over 1/3rd million square miles, much of which is not yet totally explored. The shape of the island, according to many people who live there, is like one of their national birds, the Bird of Paradise. It is a very rugged island with high snow covered mountains in the interior, deep forested valleys, and low lying jungles along the coastal areas that are hot and humid.

The total population of the entire island of New Guinea is around nine million people, most of whom are Melanesian and Palauan whose ancestors migrated in pre-historic eras from South East Asia. In addition, there are several minorities whose ancestry is European, Asian, Indonesian or Australian. The peoples of eastern New Guinea speak more than eight hundred and fifty languages with three nationally recognized languages; English, Tok Pison, and Hiri Motu. On the western side, there are more than three hundred languages, with Indonesian as the government language.

History tells us that the first European to visit the island of New Guinea was the Portuguese governor of the nearby Molucca Islands, Jorge de Menesses, and this was in the year 1526. He named the island “Papua”, a Malay word meaning “frizzy hair”. However, twenty one years later, a Spanish explorer, Ynigo Ortiz de Retez, visited the island and he named it New Guinea, due to the similarity to the people he had seen in the country of Guinea in Africa.
The first European settlement was established by the English at Fort Coronation at Doreri Bay in 1793, but it was abandoned two years later as untenable due to the poor export quality of the local produce. This settlement was located near the top of the head of the Bird of Paradise map, at Manokwari in what is now Irian Jaya.

Following the introduction of European settlements in several locations around the island, the three major powers in the area, Holland, England and Germany, agreed to partition the island; the western half to Holland, the north eastern quadrant to Germany, and the south eastern quadrant to England.

However, at one stage, the Australian colony of Queensland laid claim to the south eastern quadrant of New Guinea, and after the Australian colonies were federated into one country, England passed on to Australia the administration of its territory in this bird shaped island. Then, after the end of World War 1, the League of Nations granted the German territory, North East New Guinea, as a mandate under the Australian administration.
During the Pacific War, Japanese forces landed on the north east coast of New Guinea in mid 1942, and three months later their overland forces came within just thirty two miles of Port Moresby itself. It was claimed that they could see the lights of Port Moresby from their mountainous viewpoints. A year or two later, American and Australian forces reversed the situation and reclaimed this strategic island.

After the Pacific War was concluded, the two eastern territories on the island of New Guinea were combined under the Australian administration as Papua New Guinea. In 1973, Papua New Guinea was granted self-government for its internal affairs; and on September 16, 1975, Papua New Guinea was granted complete independence.

When Indonesia assumed independence in 1949, it laid claim to the western half of New Guinea; and ultimately, it became a province within Indonesia as Irian Jaya, though these days, the entire territory is now administered apparently as two provinces, Papua and Papua Barat.
The very first attempt at wireless communication in New Guinea took place in Port Moresby in March 1911. The Australian born Catholic priest, Father Archibald Shaw, had joined a search party that went to Port Moresby looking for a group of lost Australian officials. He brought with him some electrical equipment manufactured in his own factory in the Sydney suburb of Randwick. He installed this equipment temporarily at Paga Hill, Port Moresby, and tried unsuccessfully to contact a wireless station on Thursday Island.

In the era before and during World War 1, a total of four different permanent wireless stations were established in the mainland territory of Papua New Guinea, though the advent of wireless in the Dutch side of the island was not implemented until after the conclusion of the European conflict. These very early wireless stations were located at Port Moresby, Aitape, Madang and Morobe. The equipment for these stations was assembled in Australia, using a mixture of Telefunken apparatus imported from Germany, items of electrical apparatus manufactured in Sydney by AWA, together with some additional items from the Randwick factory of Father Shaw. All of them at this stage were spark wireless stations which we would describe these days as being electrical transmitters, rather than electronic.

The first of these new permanent stations was installed on the edge of Port Moresby, Papua. It was a 5 kW Telefunken transmitter and the receiver was a simple crystal set. It should be remembered that all of the spark transmitters anywhere in the world at this stage were operating only in Morse Code.

The Port Moresby station, VIG, was installed and operated by Sydney based AWA and it was intended to be a gathering point for news, information and messages from other stations in the New Guinea area for onward relay to the AWA station located at Pennant Hills, near Sydney in Australia. Station VIG was also intended for use in communication with nearby shipping approaching or departing the harbor at Port Moresby. Station VIG Port Moresby was officially taken into service on February 26, 1913.

Photographs of the Port Moresby wireless station taken on the opening day of the European Conflict in August 1914, show two buildings, both about the same size. Perhaps one housed the technical equipment and the other was for use by staff personnel. The station was located in an isolated area beyond the edge of Port Moresby; and the aerial mast was a little under one hundred feet high.

The second wireless station installed on the New Guinea mainland was VZX Aitape, and this unit was installed in 1914. The station was located on a flat area in between a muddy river and the ocean beach; and the town itself was built on a rocky headland overlooking two islands in the bay. Aitape town is situated on the north coast of New Guinea a little over a hundred miles from the Dutch/Indonesian border of Irian Jaya. At the time when the station was installed, there were some seventy five foreigners in the town of Aitape, mostly Dutch or German.
Station VZX was built to enable the local administration to communicate with government headquarters in Rabaul, and initially the Morse Code messages were relayed to Rabaul via an intermediate Morse Code station on Manus Island.

The third wireless station installed in New Guinea was located at Madang, under the callsign VIV. By this time, World War 1 in Europe was well underway and the Australian government moved quickly for the installation of this facility.

Madang was settled originally by people from Germany in the year 1884. The town is located on a peninsula overlooking a beautiful harbor on each side and it was finally ridded of deadly malaria mosquitoes twenty years later. The wireless station, VIV, was quickly installed by AWA for the Australian government in 1916.

The fourth wireless station installed in mainland New Guinea during this very early era of wireless communication was station VZK at Morobe. The town of Morobe was originally named by the German settlers as Adolfhafen and it was located a little south along the coast from Lae. Station VZK Morobe also came into service during the year 1916.

Each of the three smaller regional wireless stations in mainland New Guinea was described as having a normal coverage range of two hundred miles, whereas the main station at Port Moresby had a range of five hundred miles.

And that’s the story of our first introductory presentation on the long and interesting research into the history of radio broadcasting on the island of New Guinea. More on a later date!
(via Adventist World Radio/AWR "Wavescan" DX Program/Adrian Peterson)