Rádio Nacional do Brasil – 90th Anniversary

 

Classic QSL from Rádio Nacional do Brasil

Thank you to hosts Ray Robinson and Jeff White for a look at Brazil's Rádio Nacional do Brasil

Jeff:  1936 was a very busy year for radio broadcasting developments, because a number of stations have this year been celebrating their 90th anniversaries, including Radio Prague, Akashvani /All India Radio, and Radio Nacional de Angola.  We brought you the Angola story two weeks ago, when we mentioned that Angola is the second largest Portuguese-speaking country on earth, second only to Brazil.  Well, now this week, we can’t leave out the fact that Rádio Nacional do Brasil is also celebrating its 90th anniversary on September 12th, in fact.  With that story from Los Angeles, here’s Ray Robinson.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  We brought you the story of early wireless developments in Brazil back in 2021, so we won’t repeat that now, except to say that the very first radio broadcast station in Brazil was a temporary medium-wave station erected in Rio de Janeiro for the 1922-23 World Exposition.  The frequency used was 620 kHz with 750 watts from an antenna on top of Mount Corcovado, where the statue of Christ the Redeemer now stands.  When the Expo closed, the station was packed up and sold to a new station in New York City – WNYC, who re-opened it a year later in July 1924 with 1 kW on 570 kHz.

At the time of the Expo in Rio, it was actually illegal in Brazil for private individuals to own radio receiving sets, but that law was relaxed soon afterwards, and many radio clubs or societies sprang up.  Commercial stations started to appear in the early 1930’s, and the use of both medium wave and tropical band shortwave began to proliferate.  It was against this background that Rádio Nacional was founded as a private entity on September 12, 1936, in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil.  Today, the station stands as one of the most significant and culturally influential public broadcasting institutions in South America. 

Recognizing the station’s unparalleled power to shape public discourse and reach the masses, President Getúlio Vargas nationalized Rádio Nacional in 1940 and renamed it Rádio Nacional do Brasil.  Under state control, it became the main driver of the government’s efforts to construct a unified national culture.

During the 1940’s and 50s — affectionately known as the "Golden Age" of Brazilian radio — Rádio Nacional achieved absolute dominance.  Utilizing high-power medium-wave and shortwave transmitters in the country’s main coastal cities, the station's signal blanketed up to 40% of the national territory.

It was especially successful and had a historic impact in three main areas:

• Brazilian Popular Music & Samba – where it launched the careers of legendary artists and popularized regional sounds nationwide,

• Radio Soap Operas (Radionovelas) – which captivated tens of millions daily, forming a collective national entertainment pastime, and

• Football (Soccer) Broadcasts – which single-handedly built fanbases in the northeast for all the main clubs in Rio and Sao Paolo.

As the country prepared to shift its political center inland to the new city of Brasilia, Rádio Nacional Brasília was inaugurated in 1958, two years prior to the official opening of the new capital.

However, the station's trajectory was drastically altered following the 1964 military coup.  During the dictatorship, which lasted for 21 years from 1964-1985, the network was subject to tight state censorship.  In the early 1970’s in particular, the government became concerned at the amount of cold war propaganda that was being transmitted to Brazil in Portuguese by foreign countries, especially socialist or communist ones such as Cuba.  Foreign broadcasts in Portuguese were easily heard by Brazilians who were very used to using shortwave – it was part of their culture – and the government feared that such foreign broadcasts might start winning over hearts and minds.  And so, the government took decisive action to equip Rádio Nacional to become an important tool under the "National Security Doctrine", to counter such international communist shortwave broadcasts targeted to the interior.

First they set aside a major new 1,200-acre transmitter site for Rádio Nacional at the Parque do Rodeador, or Rodeo Park, about 18 miles northeast of Brasilia.  New high-power transmitters were installed, and the site was inaugurated by then-president Emilio Médici on March 11, 1974.

Audio Clip - 1973 08 09 - R Nacional of Brasilia (15445kHz) - English ID > available at Wavescan podcast link at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Then on September 1, 1977, a new service called Rádio Nacional da Amazônia was launched.  Initially, this utilized several 150 kW shortwave transmitters to broadcast a service that had been specifically engineered to reach the deep, inaccessible interior of the Amazon basin.

By 1979 the site housed 6 x 250kW Brown Boveri shortwave transmitters from Switzerland, and also 2 x 300kW medium wave transmitters which could provide a combined output power of 600kW, sufficient to cover the entire country at night on 980 kHz.  The shortwave transmitters were used for both domestic and international coverage, the primary frequencies being 6180 and 11780 kHz.  They also had a high-power FM transmitter on 96.1 MHz for the city of Brasilia.

Audio Clip – R Nacional of Brasilia - English ID (male) available at Wavescan podcast link at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

For the international broadcasts, they used five languages - English, German, French, Spanish & Portuguese.  In subsequent decades, though, budget cutbacks and failing equipment meant the end of the international service.  Transmitter tubes failed, and replacements were no longer available.  So, they had to reduce the number of transmitters in service, and the Amazon once again became the priority for coverage instead of international audiences.  The shortwave transmitters that remained in service were then reserved exclusively for the Rádio Nacional da Amazônia service, broadcasting only in Portuguese.

  

And today, for millions of riverside residents, indigenous tribes, and rural workers lacking telephone lines or internet, the shortwave broadcasts on 11,780 kHz and 6,180 kHz ~ now with 100 kW on the same two frequencies they used back in the 70’s ~ remain the only medium for news, education, and personal safety.  To this day, the station functions as a community bulletin board where families separated by dense rainforest can still send personal messages to locate lost relatives.

In 2018, Parque do Rodeador was classified as a critical national infrastructure resource because in the event of a major catastrophe (such as floods, blackouts, or natural disasters), it's the only place from which the government can broadcast to the entire country, without dependence on satellites or Internet infrastructure.

Rádio Nacional has been developed into a multi-tiered network tailored to modern infrastructure and regional demands.  It still operates regional AM/FM hubs like Rádio Nacional Brasília and Rádio Nacional Rio de Janeiro, which provide a blend of journalism, public service announcements, and traditional Brazilian music.  Then on May 7, 2021, Rádio Nacional took a major technological leap by migrating onto Brazil’s newly established "extended FM band" at 87.1 MHz, with high-power FM transmitters in previously unserved major metropolitan areas such as São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Recife.  Rádio Nacional also operates important regional stations such as Rádio Nacional do Alto Solimões, which transmits on AM and FM from Tabatinga right at the point where the borders of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia meet.  In this way, it helps secure borderland sovereignty by broadcasting local news and indigenous culture along the critical tri-border region.

Of course, Rádio Nacional has pushed aggressively into digital spaces, and the entire network is now available via a dedicated mobile app, allowing global access to its historical and real-time content.  Celebrating its historic milestones, Rádio Nacional continues to balance its dual identity:  a cutting-edge digital public broadcaster for urban centers, and a reliable shortwave companion for the most remote corners of the Amazon.  We congratulate them on 90 years of public broadcasting.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson-Wavescan 915/06 Sept 2026)

Throwback Thursday-Tribute to Rimavska Sobota

 

This week's edition of Throwback Thursday, first aired on April 22, 2001

Tribute to Rimavska Sobota

The central European lands of Bohemia, Moldavia, Moravia, Czechia and Slovakia have featured significantly in political history during the Middle Ages and beyond.  The people of these areas were also involved in the events associated with the Protestant Reformation, and at the end of World War I, a new nation was formed, Czechoslovakia.  This country was again bifurcated, quite peacefully, on January 1, 1993, and two nations were formed, Czechia and Slovakia, with Prague and Bratislava as their respective capital cities.

Radio broadcasting began in the combined Czechoslovakia in 1923 when a Morse telegraphy transmitter was modified for 

use as a broadcast unit.  In 1934, an imported Marconi transmitter from England was installed at Podebrady near Prague, and this new shortwave facility was inaugurated on August 31, 1936 under the callsign OKI.  Three omnidirectional antennas were in use at the time, according to antenna beam and frequency.

Construction on the large shortwave facility located near Rimavska Sobota in Slovakia began in 1956 with the installation of two transmitters at 100 kw.  Over a period of time, several additional transmitters were installed here, as well as a bevy of curtain antennas.

Then, beginning in the year 1982, the entire station at Rimavska Sobota was rebuilt, and two Russian-made transmitters at 250 kw were installed.  Two more units of a similar design were subsequently installed

On January 1, 1994, test broadcasts on behalf of Adventist World Radio commenced from this high-powered shortwave station located at Rimavska Sobota in Slovakia.  During the first week, these test broadcasts on transmitter RS10 consisted mainly of recorded music, with occasional test announcements in English. 

One week later, on Saturday January 8, a day long series of meetings in the large Seventh-day Adventist Church building in Bratislava officially launched the new AWR Slovakia.  Part of the afternoon program was a live broadcast from the church, with music and official speeches in the Czech language.

Interestingly, the name "Rimavska Sobota" means "Romanian Sabbath." The station is located near a small village, a little beyond the town of Rimavska Sobota some four hours by car from Bratislava. During the past eight years, AWR has been on the air from three of the four shortwave transmitters at Rimavska Sobota, designated as RS08, RS09, and RS10. 

During this same time period, untold hundreds of QSL cards have been issued to listeners throughout the world, verifying the reception of AWR programming from these three transmitters.  Currently, the three AWR QSL offices at London, Forli and Indianapolis are processing the "Last Week" QSL cards honoring the final broadcasts of AWR via Rimavska Sobota.

As we sometimes say in our modern world, time moves on, and AWR moves on also.  The new shortwave transmitter relay base taken out for AWR programming is now the ORF-ROI facility at Moosbrunn near Vienna in Austria. 

Rimavska Sobota has served AWR well during these past eight years, and as we say "goodbye," we here at Adventist World Radio would also like to say "thank you."

(Wavescan)

Throwback Thursday-Japanese Stations in Manchuria and Korea

 

This week's edition of Throwback Thursday, first aired on March 25, 2001

Japanese Stations in Manchuria and Korea

In the three eras of expansion in the nearby areas of coastal Asia, the Japanese Empire took over Manchuria in 1905 and 1931, and the Korean peninsula in 1910.  Manchuria became Manchukuo, and Korea became Chosen. Thus it was that radio broadcasting in both Manchuria and Korea was developed under the administration of Japanese occupation.  

The first radio station in Korea was JODK, a medium wave facility in Seoul which was inaugurated on February 16, 1927.  After the end of the Pacific War, this station was allocated a new callsign, and JODK became HLKA.  Even though radio came early to Korea, or Chosen as it was in those days, there was no international broadcasting station on the air on shortwave in this country during the war years.

Manchuria, with nearly half a million square miles and nearly one hundred million people, is sandwiched in between China and Russia.  There are three major cities, and the best known, Harbin, has a population of three million people with Manchu, Chinese and Russian origins. 

The first wireless station in Manchuria was a communication facility first heard in Australia in 1932 calling station J1AA in Japan in the 39 metre band.  This new station, with the callsign Z1LY, was located at Hoten.

Radio broadcasting in Manchuria began with station JQAK, a medium wave facility located at Dairen, the new name for Port Arthur.  This 5 kw. station on 390 metres, corresponding to 770 kHz, was launched in 1927.

Ten years later, a shortwave transmitter was installed with the medium wave unit at the new studio building in Dairen, and this was heard widely throughout the Pacific with strong signals under the callsign JDY.  The magazine Radio & Hobbies in Australia shows a photo of the multi-storied building for JQAK-JDY around this era.

A QSL letter from station JDY on 9925 kHz states that this new shortwave service was launched on July 16, 1937 with a power of 10 kw.  This QSL letter, written in a propaganda style, was addressed to Arthur Hankins in the United States and is now lodged with Jerry Berg and the CPRV QSL collection.

A third station in Manchuria was MTCY, launched as a medium wave facility around the early part of 1935.  The listing for this year shows that MTCY was on the air with a power of 100 kw, quite remarkable for that era. 

Test broadcasts from a new shortwave transmitter at MTCY began in June 1939, and a second shortwave transmitter was added two years later.  QSL cards in the CPRV collection show that the shortwave station MTCY, with a power of 20 kw, was owned by the Manchuria Telephone and Telegraph Company.

During the Pacific War, station MTCY in Manchuria was noted in Australia and New Zealand with news and information of interest to the South Pacific.

(Wavescan 326)

Royal Beginnings of Radio in Thailand

 

Temples of Thailand

Thank you to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing the episode on Thailand from August 30, 2026.

Jeff: One of the countries in Southeast Asia that is still very active on medium wave is Thailand, and this week, Ray Robinson takes a look back at the royal beginnings of radio in that country.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  The Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, shares borders with Myanmar to the west, with Laos to the north and east, with Cambodia to the southeast, and in the extreme south on the Malay Peninsula, with Malaysia.  The current population is around 68 million, of whom 93% are Buddhist, 5% Muslim, and only 1% Christian.  The capital and largest city is Bangkok, which over 11 million people now call home.

During the era of Western imperialism, Siam remained the only country in Southeast Asia to avoid colonisation by European powers.  As an absolute monarchy, Siam joined World War I on the side of the Allies, but in 1932 there was a revolution which resulted in the transition to a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and the renaming of the country to Thailand.

During World War II, a military dictatorship took over and allied Thailand with the Empire of Japan as part of the Axis powers, but during the Cold War that followed, Thailand became a key ally of the United States and played a major role in countering communism in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Prince Purachatra

Radio broadcasting was introduced to Thailand in 1927 by Prince Purachatra Jayakara, a son of King Rama V.  He was a keen radio experimenter, and, convinced of radio’s potential, he instructed the Post and Telegraph Department to set up an experimental broadcasting service.  Initially, they used a shortwave frequency around 37 metres, with the first test broadcasts being aired in English and French on May 31, 1928, using the call sign HS4PJ, with the ‘PJ’ honoring the Prince, Purachatra Jayakara.  Later, the operating frequency was adjusted to 29.5 metres, and the transmitter was upgraded to 500 watts.

The official inauguration of the public radio broadcasting service took place on February 25, 1930, the Coronation Day of King Rama VII, with the transmission of his speech from the Grand Palace.

At that time, the station had the use of five rooms in the palace, consisting of two small studios where Buddhist sermons were also presented, a larger studio for musical performances (accommodating up to 40 people), a control room, and a reception room.  An antenna was set up on a pole in an adjacent field.

Phyathai Palace – Original Location of Radio Bangkok

In 1932, the station was relocated to the Post and Telegraph Department, and in addition to using the callsign, it began identifying as ‘Radio Bangkok’.  However, the results on shortwave were unsatisfactory for what they were trying to achieve, probably due to the skip zone, so on July 1, 1936 they moved to medium wave, 320 metres, 937 kHz, using a 1kW transmitter, and the callsign was changed to HS2PJ.

On January 1, 1941, Radio Bangkok was renamed the National Radio Broadcasting Service of Thailand, or, Radio Thailand.  After the 2nd World War, the radio broadcasting facilities were steadily improved.  On September 11, 1951, a 10 kW transmitter was inaugurated, with a 250-watt FM studio-to-transmitter link.  This was the first FM broadcast in Thailand.  Broadcasting was not yet an all-day affair, though.  In the 1950’s and early 60’s, Radio Thailand was only on the air from 6-8am and 6-9pm, with news, documentaries, classical and modern Thai music, and radio dramas.  Here’s an audio clip of a close-down message from 1964:

Audio Clip 1 - 1964 - Radio Thailand Overseas Service, Bangkok (11910kHz) – closedown, available as the podcast link at https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

On December 6, 1965, the transmitter was upgraded to 100 kW, and in 1971, a major new Program Production Center was opened, enabling full-time broadcasting.  Then on May 3, 1982, a new transmitter site with a 1 MW transmitter on 1575 kHz medium wave was inaugurated by Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, who actually switched it on himself.

In 1986, Radio Thailand moved to new headquarters once again, this time providing facilities for all of the then five networks of Radio Thailand – two national services for Thai people, one regional service, one foreign language service for foreign audience in the country and in neighboring countries, and an overseas service for both foreign audiences and Thai expats outside the country.

In 1989, commercial broadcasts in English were introduced, and here’s a recording of a newscast on shortwave with two commercials, for Bangkok Airways and for the Taiwanese airline EVA Air.

Audio Clip 2 - R Thailand World Service (17640kHz) - News, commercials at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Early in 1985, the Voice of America expressed interest in establishing a shortwave relay station in Thailand to boost the capacity of its services to Asia and the Pacific.  It was agreed that the station would be located in Udon Thani province in the northeast of the country, and that the facility would be shared jointly by the VoA and Radio Thailand for its overseas service.  The United States agreed to finance the construction of the station, and the transmitter hall looks not unlike an updated version of the VoA station at Greenville, North Carolina.  Inside the building are seven 500 kW transmitters, which have been operational since 1994.  On inauguration day, the facility was ceremoniously sold back to Thailand for 1 Thai Baht.

The Voice of America was the primary operator and coordinated the use of all frequencies by both organizations.  But the VoA shared the transmitters equally with Radio Thailand World Service, which broadcast in English, French, German and nine regional Southeast Asian languages.  This was the sign-off after a broadcast to West Coast North America:

Classic QSL card from Radio Thailand

Audio Clip 3 - R Thailand World Service 918 kHz (Udon Thani) - end of English available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

And here’s an audio clip from 2019, when at the start of the newscast, they mistakenly ran the news outro sweeper rather than the news intro!

 Audio Clip 4 - 2019 12 01 - R Thailand World Service, Udon Thani (918kHz) - Intro available at: 

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

However, the extent of Thailand’s international broadcasts has been steadily reduced in the 2020’s, and the last time it was listed at all in the World Radio TV Handbook was in the 2025 edition.  As far as I can see, the Radio Thailand World Service now operates only on the high-power medium-wave transmitter and online.

But, the country is still very active on medium wave.  The current edition of the WRTH lists some 127 medium wave stations around the country, most with 5, 10, 20 or 25 kW, but there is one 50 kW unit, three 100 kW units (on 549, 621 & 1467 kHz), one 400 kW unit (on 891 kHz), and the aforementioned 1 MW station on 1575 kHz) used by the Radio Thailand World Service and the VoA, so there are still some potentially good logging opportunities.  And then there are the usual plethora of stations on FM, including both the government networks and hundreds of private stations, plus ‘special’ stations of the Royal Thai Air Force, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Police and the Royal Thai Border Patrol.

(Temples of Thailand photo via Vecteezy)

A Classic Look at Broadcasting From Angola

 

Angola Studios

Jeff:  In our feature today, we’re paying a visit to the largest of the former Portuguese colonies – the country of Angola on the west coast of Southern Africa.  It’s a country we’ve never covered before on Wavescan, so here with the story of broadcasting in Angola is Ray Robinson in Los Angeles.

Ray:  Thanks, Jeff.  The Republic of Angola covers an area of over 480,000 square miles – approximately twice the size of Texas, France, or the Australian State of Victoria, and three times the size of California.  It lies along the South Atlantic Ocean, north of Namibia, west of Zambia and south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It’s the second-largest Portuguese-speaking country in the world after Brazil in terms of both area and population, and it’s the seventh-largest country in Africa.

The 2024 census recorded a population of 36.6 million.  The official language is Portuguese, of which about 45% of the population claimed to be native speakers, primarily in the capital city, Luanda, and in other towns and cities along the coast.  There are also about a dozen indigenous languages, spoken by the remainder of the population across the rest of the country.

The region of Angola has been inhabited since the Stone Age, with various Bantu states being formed there in the 13th century.  The largest was the Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo spelt with a ‘K’), with whom Portuguese explorers began to establish relations in 1483.  The Portuguese began colonizing the coast in the late 16th century, and quickly established the slave trade.  When that was banned in the 19th century, it disrupted and destabilized the local economy.  But, diamonds were discovered by geologists in the northeast Lunda region in 1912, and European settlers then began to establish a broader presence in the interior of the country.  Commercial diamond mining began in 1917, and in the first half of the 20th century, some 400,000 people emigrated from Portugal to Angola.

Classic QSL from Angola

The story of broadcasting in Angola began in 1931, when a radio ham, Alvaro Nunes de Carvalho, started transmitting programs under the call sign CR6AA.  He lived in the central coastal town of Benguela, and later nearby Lobito, initially using a transmitter of only a few watts.  However, he was known to remain active in this manner until at least 1957.

The first steps to commercial broadcasting were laid in September 1936, 90 years ago, when a group of radio enthusiasts in the capital city of Luanda formed an association.  They planned to buy a transmitter, and model their station after both CT1AA in Lisbon, Portugal, and also the Radio Clube de Moçambique which was already on the air in Lorenzo Marques.

In February of the following year, 1937, they purchased a 100 watt transmitter and obtained the call sign CR6RC.  The first test transmissions, on medium wave, were then made under the name Radio Clube de Angola.  This transmitter remained in use until 1940, when a 250 watt unit replaced it.  Then at the end of the war in 1945, they purchased a 1 kW transmitter, and in the early 1950’s started broadcasting on domestic shortwave, which greatly increased their coverage.

But, not to be outdone by this progress in the capital, other radio enthusiasts further south formed another association under the name Radio Clube de Sul de Angola, which was later changed to Radio Clube de Lobito.  They also obtained a 100 watt RCA transmitter and began broadcasting in May 1938.  The two nearby towns of Lobito and Benguela have always been fiercely competitive, and so it was no surprise when a third association was also formed later in 1938, the Radio Clube de Benguela, which obtained the call sign CR6RB.

So far, all these radio clubs had been located along the coast, but Capt. Ferreira de Carvalho, the governor of the inland province of Huila, was also a radio enthusiast, and he set up a station in the provincial capital on a high plateau at the edge of the desert.  This was station CR6RJ which began broadcasting in May 1939, and before long they had arranged joint broadcasts (or program relays) with the station in Lobito.

In 1943, a small group in another town, now called Huambo, further inland along the Benguela railroad, purchased a 75 watt transmitter from a local ham who was also the manager of a plantation.  This club too was ambitious, and within five years they had purchased a 1 kW transmitter and contracted two professional announcers from Lisbon – Fernando Ribeiro and Joana Campos.  It was Ribeiro who coined a slogan that was used by the station for many years – “A Portuguese Voice in Africa”.

Classic QSL from Angola's Radio Clube

Other radio clubs along the coast and inland set up their own stations in the years that followed, and it wasn’t until 1951 that the government opened an official station in Luanda designed to cover the whole country.  And even then, much of its output was relays of programming from the shortwave service of Emissora Nacional in Lisbon.  A broadcasting department was created within the Directorate of Postal and Telephone Services.  They already had a Marconi transmitter that was used for point-to-point communications, and it was over this transmitter that initial test broadcasts were made.  Regular broadcasting began in late 1953 under the call sign CR6RZ, as Emissora Oficial de Angola.

In 1954, the Roman Catholic Church set up their own station, Radio Ecclesia, broadcasting from Luanda – a station which incidentally is still broadcasting today over a national network of a dozen or so FM transmitters covering all the main population centers.

In 1961, oil was discovered by Gulf Oil off the coast of Cabinda, and this has become Angola’s second largest export after diamonds.  But, it also led to a protracted anti-colonial struggle, which was to consume most of the 60’s and early 70’s.  These were very unstable and often violent years, politically, and radio was very much involved in the conflict.

In 1965, the first 100 kW shortwave transmitter was inaugurated in Luanda, and a year later, ‘A Voz de Angola’ started broadcasting in association with Radio Comercial in Huila province.  Radio Comercial, as its name suggests, was the only entirely commercial station in Angola.

By 1972, five separate stations operated from Luanda.  In addition, there were 17 private stations, including 12 radio clubs, and Radio Diamang, which operated for the benefit of the diamond miners in Dundo.

Following the collapse of the right-wing Portuguese government in Lisbon in 1974 in the so-called Carnation Revolution, all Portuguese military activity in Africa was suspended, and independence negotiations were brokered for all Portugal’s overseas colonies.  Angola was granted independence as a one-party republic the following year in 1975, but then the country descended into a devastating civil war between three main factions:

• the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba,

• the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), supported by the United States and South Africa, and

• the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), supported by Zaire.

All three factions took advantage of the gradual Portuguese withdrawal to seize various strategic positions, acquire more arms and enlarge their military forces.

The ruling party, the Marxist/Leninist MPLA nationalized all the existing radio stations into what is now known as Radio Nacional de Angola, or RNA.  But, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a degree of liberalization was allowed in Angola, and UNITA and FNLA became legally recognized opposition parties.  Private ownership of radio stations became possible again, although at very low power levels.  Today, RNA operates four national FM networks and over 20 regional stations, also on FM.  Alongside them, there are two national private networks on FM, including the Catholic Church’s aforementioned Radio Ecclesia, and 16 local private stations in the four main provinces.

RNA had a number of shortwave transmitters at a main site at Mullembos near Luanda, and at a secondary site at Cazenga, mainly operating in the tropical bands, but the last time any shortwave transmissions were listed in the World Radio TV Handbook was in the 2024 edition.  There are, however, still three transmitters operating on medium wave – two in Luanda, and one in the far north west corner of the country at Soyo in Zaire Province.  The two in Luanda are:

• RNA’s International Channel with 25 kW on 945 kHz, and

• RNA Channel A, which operates in Portuguese 24x7 with 10 kW on 1135 kHz

The International Channel has rotating three-hour program blocks in four languages – Lingala (a language widely spoken in Central Africa, especially in parts of the DRC and Angola), and in French, English and Portuguese.  It operates from 0500-0200 UTC, and here’s a recent ID from that channel in Portuguese:

Audio Clip of ID in Portuguese, available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

Their broadcast day ends with an English block, and this was how that block started last month at 2300 UTC on Friday 24th July.  As you will hear, the heavily accented English is very difficult to understand!

Audio Clip 2 - Start of English Block, 2300 UTC, 2026 07 24 (Fri) available at: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan

I have heard other presenters, though, and they’re not all as difficult to understand as that one.  And yes, many of RNA’s national and regional stations and the International Channel are all available as online streams from RNA’s website at rna.ao – just look for the tiny button labelled ‘Emissoras’ in the bottom corner.  The English blocks are at 11-1400 and 23-0200 UTC daily.

Back to you, Jeff.

Barbados on Shortwave

 

Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing this week's Wavescan feature on Barbados

Jeff: If you were a shortwave broadcast DXer back in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s, Barbados was probably on your want list.  Most people know that Barbados is in the group of islands known collectively as the West Indies, but where exactly?  Here’s Ray Robinson to tell us more.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  Most of the islands in the West Indies form an arc running from north to south down the eastern edge of the Caribbean, separating the Caribbean from the Atlantic.  Well, if you go about two-thirds down that arc, and then eastward out into the Atlantic just over 100 miles, there you will find Barbados, all on its own.

It’s a small, roughly triangular-shaped island, just 21 miles long (north to south) and 14 miles wide, with a relatively flat, undulating landscape, though there is one hilly area known as Scotland District in the north central part of the island, with the highest point being Mount Hillaby at 1120 feet.  The island is surrounded by 56 miles of coral reefs just offshore.  Barbados has a tropical monsoon climate, and yet has no rivers or lakes.  All drinking water is collected from underground springs and the aquifer.

Barbados has been an independent country, separate from the United Kingdom and a member of the United Nations, since 1966.  Its capital, Bridgetown, is located in the south west corner of the island, containing about one third of the country’s 280,000 inhabitants.  As such, it is one of the world’s most densely populated islands.  90% of all Barbadians, known locally as Bajans, are of black Afro-Caribbean ancestry, with the remainder being mostly Europeans from the UK, plus a handful of Portuguese, Irish, Germans and Italians.  There are also a few Asians from Hong Kong and India, but they make up less than 1% of the population.  Notably, Bridgetown is home to one of the oldest Jewish synagogues in the Americas, dating from 1654.

English is the only official language of the country, which is used for communications, administration and public services all over the island, although the language of everyday life is the primarily oral Bajan Creole, which lacks a standardized written form.

An undersea telegraph cable first reached Barbados in 1872.  It was in 1912 that an Anglo-French company first announced plans to establish a wireless station on Barbados, but soon afterwards they withdrew their offer.  Then, the following year in 1913, the Marconi company in England announced their plans to establish a wireless station on the island, though likewise, this project was never implemented either.

Consequently, a group of local wireless enthusiasts took the matter in hand and constructed their own wireless station, which was installed at St. Ann’s Fort.  This station was made up of a spark transmitter and a crystal receiver and it adopted the internationally recognized callsign VPO.  It is understood that V was a prefix for Barbados, and PO stood for Post Office as in the system in use in England.  With this primitive equipment, operators were able to communicate in Morse Code with ships up to 100 miles out at sea.

In the early 1920’s, a new wireless station was installed adjacent to the Dover Beach cable station and it was constructed by the American RCA company according to British Post Office specifications.  This new communication station was inaugurated on December 1, 1924, under the same original callsign VPO.

Then in 1943, a complete new radio communication station was constructed at a place called Bearded Hall, in the south-central part of the island.  The electronic equipment for this new station was assembled at the Marconi factory in England and it was originally planned for installation in Singapore, as a replacement for equipment that was lost when a ship was sunk by enemy action in 1940.

However, when Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942, that new consignment of equipment was diverted to Barbados instead.  And so the large new station with a transmitter hall and several towers supporting multiple antennas was constructed in 1943 and inaugurated early in 1944, still under the same callsign VPO.

Five years later, in 1949, a new callsign was allocated for this Barbadian station and VPO became ZNX.  Then, at the time of independence in 1966, another callsign was allocated and ZNX became 8PO.

But back in 1934 and 35, absent any local broadcasting service, a Barbadian amateur operator, Thomas A. Archer, VP6YB, began transmitting the results of cricket test matches on 7022 kHz primarily for the benefit not just of local listeners, but listeners in Jamaica, Trinidad and other Caribbean islands as well.

Perhaps in response to that, the first radio program service in Barbados was installed in 1935 as a Rediffusion system, or cable radio as we would call it today.  The first subscriber was connected on April 2, and with no local studio, all programming consisted of relays of shortwave transmissions from the BBC in London and commercially operated stations in the United States and Canada.

Five hours of daily programming was initially available on the cable radio system from the distribution point of Radio Distribution (Barbados) Ltd in Trafalgar Street.

The first location of Redifusion in Bridgetown was Trafalgar Street, 1947

      

A local production studio was installed in 1947, and in 1951 the system was bought by the Rediffusion Service Ltd of London, England.  In the 1950’s and 60’s, it was a common sight to see a Rediffusion speaker box hanging in the corner of the front room of a Barbadian home.

Programming had been expanded to cover 6am – 12 midnight, and as well as many locally-produced shows, they also included popular comedy shows from the BBC such as The Clitheroe Kid, The Goon Show and The Navy Lark, and panel shows like ‘Just a Minute’ and ‘My Word’.

Local Barbadian religious leaders were given their own time slots, and programs like Billy Graham’s ‘Hour of Decision’, Herbert W. Armstrong’s ‘The World Tomorrow’ and the Church of the Nazarene’s ‘Showers of Blessing’ were also carried from the USA.  Interestingly, cable radio in Barbados didn’t come to an end until November 30, 1997, by which time local radio and TV had supplanted the usefulness of this older system.

Medium wave radio broadcasting was introduced into Barbados when the government set up the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, or CBC (not to be confused with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).  On December 15, 1963 the CBC launched Radio Barbados, with 10 kW on the split channel 785 kHz.  The station ID during that early era was:  “This is Radio Barbados, the Voice of the Eastern Caribbean, 785 on your radio dial.”  Sometimes though, the channel was announced as 790.  The transmitter and antenna tower were installed together with the Cable & Wireless communication station ZNX at Bearded Hall.  Upon independence in 1966, this station was assigned the Barbadian call 8PX, and around eight years after its inauguration, the frequency was changed from 785 to 900 kHz.

CBC Headquarters

A second medium wave station was launched in Barbados on May 1, 1981 using the slogan ‘The Voice of Barbados’.  This station, also with 10 kW (which was more than enough to cover the small island), took over the previous channel of the government station, 790 kHz, and it was owned and operated by the previously mentioned cable radio system, using pretty much the same schedule and program content.  Today, this station, the Voice of Barbados, is still operating on 92.9 FM and online, and last year, 2025, they were celebrating 90 years since the launch of their Rediffusion service.

But what’s the story about shortwave radio from Barbados?  Well, as I mentioned earlier, shortwave broadcasting began in 1934 when amateur radio operator Thomas Archer carried live descriptions of major sporting events on behalf of the Barbados Radio Association over his station VP6YB.  These occasional and intermittent program broadcasts were last noted in the United States in December 1939.

However, soon afterwards, from 1940 until the end of the war, the shortwave communication station operated by Cable & Wireless, VPO, introduced a daily half-hour news bulletin which was heard at a good level with 5 kW on 3950 kHz.  After the war, this station continued to broadcast occasional special news events to the BBC in London on 11475 kHz.  In addition, occasional commentaries on major sporting events, mainly cricket, tennis and horse racing, were broadcast for reception and relay by radio stations on other islands throughout the Caribbean.

These occasional special events were heard quite widely over VPO and subsequently ZNX until well into the 1960’s, with listings included in the World Radio Handbook for most years from 1952-1965.  In 1962, ZNX was known to be using 5040 and 7547 kHz for these program broadcasts.

Many reception reports were received from listeners in North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.  Cable & Wireless was noted as a good verifier of transmissions from their station under all three consecutive callsigns; VPO, ZNX & 8PO.  Letters were used to verify programming under the callsign VPO.  Under the subsequent callsign ZNX, QSL cards were initially in the style of duplicated cards; and then in the mid-1960’s, a printed QSL card with a yellow ornamental bar was introduced.

It’s understood that in the 1980’s, several religious organizations approached Cable & Wireless, enquiring about the possibility of using shortwave 8PO as a relay station for their programming.  However, nothing came of those ventures.

These days, of course, most radio broadcasting in Barbados is on FM with about 20 stations, including a BBC World Service relay on 92.1 MHz.  But the good news is, if Barbados is still on your want list, CBC Radio Barbados, 8PX, is still broadcasting with 10 kW on 900 kHz medium wave, in parallel with their main FM station on 94.7 MHz.  So, maybe it’s time to brush the dust off your old medium wave loop antenna and get hunting!  On the same frequency, 900 kHz, there is a 100 kW station in Mexico City and a 50 kW station in Minneapolis, but with a good loop, you might just be able to null those out.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson, Wavescan)

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

 

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

Part 2 – 1936-Today

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to you, Jeff.

99 Years of Indian Broadcasting / AIR / Akashvani Part 1

 

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

Photo via India Today

Part 1 – 1920-1936

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)

The Mystery of Radio Curom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)

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)