Monitoring AWR

 

In the event you'd like to log and QSL the AWR relays that will end on 26 Oct, 2024. Sites to close will be Austria, Germany, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. 

Only AWR's KSDA Guam will remain active.

 (only Guam will remain) their schedule is at: https://awr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/A24-AWR-Public-Broadcast-Schedule.pdf E-reports to: qsl@awr.org

TWR Christmas music from Sri Lanka

 

From Trans World Radio, comes word of special Christmas programming on 882 kHz, from 05 December to 31 December, at 1300 UTC and 1630-1730 UTC in various languages, relayed from the TWR Sri Lanka transmitter. 

(YWR)

The future of Sri Lanka uncertain

 

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced he will step down after protesters stormed his official residence and set the prime minister's house on fire. Neither the PM nor the president was in the buildings.

Hundreds of thousands descended on the capital Colombo, calling for Mr. Rajapaksa to resign after months of protests over economic mismanagement.

additional story at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62108597

Ousted in a day of fury

By Ethirajan Anbarasan, BBC News, Colombo

These are some extraordinary times for Sri Lanka.

After a day of fury and violence, the two senior leaders of the country have agreed to step down.

The news triggered jubilation at the main protest site in Colombo. Firecrackers were set off in many parts of the city. Additional story at:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62108597

Sri Lanka protesters storm president's office

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVxGRJU2DE4

Public anger over economic crisis: Sri Lankan PM's private house set on fire | World News 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgkzpkvL8zE

Sri Lanka, SLBC - A22 Summer Sked

All times UTC

0030-0100 on 11905 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to SoAs Bengali

0200-0230 on 11905 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to SoAs Hindi, inactive

1115-1200 on  9770 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to SoAs Tamil, inactive

1630-1830 on 11750 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME Sinhala City FM

1700-1800 on 11835 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to SoAs Tamil Thendral FM, inactive

(DXB 07 Apr 2022)

Sri Lanka to sell airtime on ex-DW relay station Trincomalee to Encompass Digital Media

 

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has agreed to sell airtime on a former Deutsche Welle relay station in Trincomalee in the North East of the island to UK based Encompass Digital Media Services, London.

Germany’s DW built the relay station in Sri Lanka in 1980 mainly for international shortwave (HF) broadcasting. It also has a medium wave transmitter for South Asia.

Additional story: https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-sell-airtime-on-ex-dw-relay-station-to-encompass-digital-media-77342/

(A Gupta/WWDXC/Top News 31 Dec 2020)

Sri Lanka to close Ekala transmitter site

Sri Lanka

This historic station which started at Ekala with the wartime South East Asia Command Radio (SEAC) is now on its last legs. Out of the 3 VOA 35 kW transmitters only 2 are working, the NHK transmitters are both still in good conditions, but for spares and they are too expensive to repair and run. The old 10kW Phillips transmitters are almost gone.

The old Marconi 100 kW from Radio SEAC is rusty and with cobwebs and is gone for ever. The final nail in its cofin came, when DW packed up from Trincomalee handing over the station to SLBC. Trincomalee is a fine station and the MW transmitter is also capable of DRM and it did run DRM 1700-1800 for DW for a while. The 4 SW transmitters at Trincomalee need to run at least 45 hours to make it viable to use the hige Diesel Generators which need about a $1000 a day to run and maintain. Ekala is on prime land close to the city and it is quite logical to close it down taking the state of the station.
If you want a QSL from SLBC Ekala, you will have to do so, before Apr 01, as plans are afoot to close down Ekala,  if the Trinco station gets the power from the National Grid as planned before the end of the B12 season. During the 30 year war with the Tamil Tigers it was not possible to take the national grid power lines, as this area was in the front lines. DW had tacit agreements therun without interference from the LTTE. But now the North and East, which have been freed, are making rapid progress and electricty is reaching most parts.
Ekala schedule as of now:
0012-0330 7190(10kW) / 11905(35kW) Hindi to Asia, English news at 0215.
0125-0300 (Sun 0500) 6005( 10kW) / 9770 (10kW) / 15745(35kW) English to Asia.
0930-1215 6005(10kW) / 11905(35kW) Vernaculars to South  India.
I will get you your QSLs, like I have in the past 10 months or so. The SLBC's above services will move to Trincomalee in A13 and the relays from Trincomalee for other clients will continue. (Goonetilleke in DXplorer, Feb 12). Victor kindly showed me the Ekala transmitter site from nearby distance in March 1999.
(Anker Petersen/DSWCI-DX Window 473)

Radio Broadcasting in Sri Lanka: After the War

In our program today, we present the next episode in the onward progress of radio development on the island of Sri Lanka.  The topic for this occasion tells the story of radio events upon this tropical island around the middle of last century.

 In synopsis, there was just one radio broadcasting station on the air in Ceylon at the time when the heavy clouds of war broke over continental Europe at the beginning of September 1939.  This lonely, and now almost forgotten radio station, was the mediumwave unit VPB with studios at Torrington Square in Colombo and a 5 kW mediumwave transmitter on 700 kHz that was located out a little, at Welikada.

            In 1941, the callsign was changed to ZOH, and the shortwave transmitter, previously on the air with just ½ kW was re-activated with an increase in power to 1¾ kW on a new channel 4880 kHz.  The official callsign for this shortwave transmitter was ZOI, though usually only the mediumwave callsign ZOH was announced on air.

            During the following year, the Torrington Square studio building was handed over temporarily to the Royal Air Force and the radio studios were transferred into a cottage known as the Bower out on Cotta Road, Borella.     

            An introductory international shortwave service was inaugurated at the high security RAF Radio Station at Ekala, some 10 miles north of Colombo on October 11, 1944.  The programming was produced and co-ordinated at a new studio facility on Turret Road, opposite the Town Hall.  This new shortwave broadcasting service identified on air as Radio SEAC Kandy, though it was located near Colombo, not in Kandy.

            When the Pacific War ended rather abruptly at the beginning of August 1945, there were now just 2 radio broadcasting transmitters on the air in Ceylon, and these were:-

            Radio SEAC               Turret Road Studios    1 shortwave transmitter at 7½ kW at RAF Ekala

            Colombo Radio           Bower Studios             5 kW on 700 kHz mediumwave at Welikada

             However, at this stage, work was already underway on the adjoining property at Ekala for the large new transmitter station for SEAC Radio, and this was taken into service on May 1, 1946.  Initially, there were just 2 shortwave transmitters at SEAC Ekala, a 7½ kW RCA unit and the large 100 kW Marconi unit.    Subsequently, two more RCA transmitters at 7½ kW were added, and also a 1 kW transmitter for local shortwave coverage.  The usage of the RAF Radio Transmitting Station was phased out when the SEAC station was activated, and the 7½ kW RCA transmitter was re-installed in the new adjoining building. 

            The antenna systems at Radio SEAC consisted of 4 curtains and 3 folded dipoles, and these were beamed towards India, the Far East, the South Pacific & England. The antenna that was beamed towards England was reversible for the service to the South Pacific.

            Programming for the Ekala shortwave station was co-ordinated in the Turret Road Studios, and it was made up of locally produced programming together with relays from the BBC London & All India Radio Delhi, with occasional inserts from Radio Australia Melbourne.  The locally produced program featuring music requests from listeners was one of their most popular programs.

            At pre-arranged times, Radio SEAC acted as a relay station for the BBC London, and there were occasions when cricket broadcasts from Radio Australia were picked up in Ceylon and relayed on shortwave to the BBC London.

            A monthly magazine was produced in Colombo and posted out to listeners, the SEAC Forces Radio Times.  This magazine gave an outline of all programming, together with frequencies & timings, and it also included feature articles about the station and other items of listener interest. 

   

                    Desmond Carrington on the air at Radio SEAC

        

On June 1, 1946, the administration of Radio SEAC was taken over by the War Office in London, though the station still identified on air under the SEAC and British Forces slogans.  This administrative arrangement ended in February 1949, and it would appear that the station was then off the air for a month or so. 

            SEAC Radio was a prolific verifier of listener reception reports, and they stated that they received around 8,000 letters a month from listeners all around the world.  Their QSL card was sort of squarish, with a Phoenix Bird arising out of the ashes, printed in black on a white card.

            Beginning in April 1949, the station was taken over by the BBC as a relay station, during the interim period in which a massive facility was under construction near Tebrau In Malaysia.  The temporary usage by the BBC of this shortwave relay station in Ceylon concluded at the end of the next year, 1950. 

            The BBC also installed a new mediumwave transmitter at Welikada for the relay of BBC programming to the Colombo area.  This station, ZOJ, was inaugurated apparently around April 1949, and it was on the air with 10 kW on 920 kHz.

            However, during this interim period, a new Commercial Service was introduced on shortwave in Ceylon, on September 30, 1950; and that’s the story on the next occasion when we take another look at the radio events on this island, the Gem in the Indian Ocean.

(AWR/Wavescan NWS 201/Dr Adrian Peterson)
(photos via BBC.co.uk)

Wavescan Winter Broadcast Schedule

 

Day UTC Call kHz kW Station Location Country

Sun 0500 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1200 AWR 17535 250 Media Broadcast Wertachtal Germany
1500 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1600 KSDA 11825 100 Adventist World Radio Agat Guam
1530 AWR 15255 250 Sri Lanka Broad Corp Trincomalee Sri Lanka
1600 KSDA 15360 100 Adventist World Radio Agat Guam
1630 KSDA 11740 100 Adventist World Radio Agat Guam
2230 KSDA 15320 100 Adventist World Radio Agat Guam
Mon 1200 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
Tue 0430 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
Wed 0100 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1200 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
2000 WINB 13570 50 World International Red Lion Pennsylvania USA
Thu 0400 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1430 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
Fri 0415 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1200 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA
1730 WWCR2 12160 100 Worldwide Christian Nashville Tennessee USA
2100 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA 2330 WRMI 9955 50 Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

New clandestine station, Radio Naatham takes to the air

Clandestine

All times UTC // parallel *sign-on // sign-off*

12225, The new Tamil clandestine, Radio Naatham (Cf. 12250 below. Ed), Also heard at 1540-1602*, May 28 with western music, off without ID. (Koie)

12250. Tamil Government starts Radio Broadcast to Sri Lanka on May 18 - Third anniversary of Tamil Genocide.
The first special broadcast was scheduled for May 18 at 1500-1600. Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) today announced that it will start broadcasting Radio News to the Island of Sri Lanka starting from May 18, the third anniversary of the Genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government forces. The Tamil Government's Radio, called Naatham, will broadcast in SW frequency. This Radio can also be heard in India, Malaysia and Singapore where large number of Tamils live. While this broadcast will become a bridge between the Tamil diaspora and the Tamils living in Tamil homeland, it will also play a role of politically and emotionally link Tamils worldwide... "While the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka are struggling to cope with the mass killing and be subject to systematic and pervasive human rights violation on account of their Tamil nationality, this broadcast will ease the pain and give them confidence that their dream of achieving sovereign and independent state of Tamil Eelam will become a reality" said Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). "This broadcast will pierce the strict media censorship in Sri Lanka and reach the Tamils to give them unbiased information". (EINPresswire.com/ May 16, via Roe via Chakroborty). Heard at 1531-1535, May 21, Tamil songs, 45544. (Petersen)

(DX Window 455)

Deutsche Welle English freq update

Transmitters in Portugal and Sri Lanka

Frequency change of Deutsche Welle in English:

All times UTC

1600-1700 new freq 15275 SIN 250 kW 080 deg to SoAS from Jan 20
1600-1700 on 9560 TRM 250 kW 345 deg to SoAS till Jan 31
(R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 18)
(DX Mix News # 660, wb, Germany)

DRM Consortium announces first DRM+ trial in Sri Lanka

The DRM Consortium has announced a DRM+ trial and workshop in Sri Lanka. The Consortium has joined forces with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC), the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle and the Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to run a trial of DRM+ and showcase its benefits. SLBC has offered the DRM Consortium its full support and the use of one of its low power stations in Colombo for the duration of the trial.

The two day DRM+ technical trial planned for 29 and 30 November will be followed by a workshop organised together with ABU, where the attendees will be invited to observe the results of the DRM+ trial and to learn more about the full DRM standard. The workshop will be held at the World Trade Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1-3 December 2010.

Hudson Samarasinghe, Chairman of SLBC commented: “Being the pioneer broadcaster in Asia, the SLBC considers it a great privilege to be part in hosting this prestigious event. We are very pleased indeed to be part of this move to introduce state-of-the art technology which will truly take radio broadcasting in Asia to the digital era. The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is proud to continue its pioneering trend, abreast with this cutting - edge technology which will prove to be the future of radio here in Asia.”

DRM Consortium Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja said: “We are excited about this event and grateful to all our partners in this unique undertaking. We hope it will showcase a simple, single channel, affordable and excellent solution for digitising FM. The trial will add to the valuable data we already have on the capabilities of DRM+. Our workshop will be interactive, practical and hopefully very useful, giving participants a real chance to experience and understand the advantages of DRM+ and DRM30.”
(Source: DRM Consortium/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

SLBC revises external service

Victor Goonetilleke writes: As of June 4, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) has temporarily discontinued its service to Sri Lankan expats in South Korea on 15120 at 1030-1130 UTC via DW Trincomalee. Instead, SLBC has started another hour of Hindi to India on 11905 kHz via Trinco (azimuth 355 degrees) with 200kW at 1530-1630 UTC.


Reception reports will be welcome to:

Engineer AM Services
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
PO Box 574
Colombo

SLBC in association with the Union of Asian DXers (UADX) will QSL all reports on all its shortwave broadcasts during June. If the project is successful we will extend it. The full schedule is:

0055-0330 (Sun 0430) UTC on 6005, 9780, 15745 kHz (English to Asia)
0020-0500 and 0830-1230 UTC on 11905, 7185 kHz
1530-1630 on 11905 kHz
1615-1830 on 11750 kHz
SLBC is also progressing with the installation of a 50kW mediumwave transmitter in Puttalam on 1125 kHz to beam to South India where there are large numbers of Sri Lankans who fled the war over the last 30 years, and also to strengthen the coverage to the North of Sri Lanka.
(Source: Victor Goonetilleke, UADX)

IBC Tamil reported off the air

Sri Lanka
IBC Tamil, clandestine radio stopped its one hour morning transmissions to South Asia: LTTE funded Tamil clandestine radio IBC-Tamil mentioned on their 4 Nov 2009 morning broadcast, they will start their one hour evening transmissions to South Asia. But they were not broadcasting. In 2002 they broadcast on 1200 UT at 17485 kHz.

Their official website also was not working and the London phone numbers too, had no response. One of the contributor from Chennai for IBC Tamil, also confirmed the same.

The morning transmissions at 0000 to 0100 UTC on 6045 kHz. Both the above said frequencies provide good reception at my location in Chennai, India. Interestingly, a few years back, IBC'S main rival at European skies, Tamil Broadcasitng Corporation, London stopped it's shortwave transmissions, which was usually heard 1230-1330 UTC on 21590 kHz.

(Jaisakthivel, India/HCDX)

Sri Lanka's SLBC slated for improvements on July 29

Empowering the new transmitters and opening the digital archives in the national radio will takes place this morning.

Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:50
Empowering the new transmission equipments and opening of the new digital Archives at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation will be taken place under the patronage of Minsiter Anura Priyadarshana Yapa this morning. SLBC has increased its broadcasting capacity by fixing 6 new transmission machines in the Colombo premises. Main Engineer of the SLBC Wimal Priyadarshana says this heighten the listening quality of national radio. New digital archives has also been set up in order to conserve old and important tapes and records of the national radio. SLBC archives is the leading electronic media archives in the Asian Region.

Meanwhile SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe says media can achieve an enormous task in enhancing relationship between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. National radio has started several projects in order to achieve this responsibility. MR.Samarasinghe revealed these facts at a media briefing held Colombo to introduce the latest radio drama series produced by Young Asia Television Company. These dramas will be broadcast on Wednesdays and Fridays both Sinhala and Tamil National Services. He further said that measures have been taken to increase quality of broadcast by fixing modern equipments. The national radio will give priority to enhance relationship among the ethnic communities.
(SLBC Press Release)
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi, India

Clandestine LTTE broadcast license cancelled

The Sri Lanka government has informed the Appeal Courts that it has decided to cancel the radio license given to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Attorney General has informed the Appeal Courts of the decision when the petition challenging the LTTE radio licence was heard yesterday.

The petition was submitted few months ago by Piyasena Dissanayake, a member of a patriotic group in Sri Lanka. In his petition he has pointed out that the radio licence is totally illegal as the LTTE is a proscribed organization in the country. The case is to be continued on 2 February.
(Source: Colombo Page/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Sri Broadcasting Corporation begins new radio service

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) recently commenced a new radio service called Sandya Guwanviduliya (evening radio). This new service which starts everyday at 6.30 pm will broadcast discussions and documentary helpful for the rural farmers and community development programs. At present, SLBC’s domestic FM network broadcasts six regular programme channels on a nationwide basis.
(Source: Colombo Page/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)