The last station I logged on Sunday evening 24th October 2021 was Radio Free Asia on 7530 kHz in the 41 m shortwave band. The broadcast was in the Burmese language. I tuned into their broadcast at 1240 UTC

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States of America government-funded private and non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs to audiences in Asia. Radio Free Asia’s mission is to provide accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press. 

RFA is based on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was established by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 with the stated aim of “promoting democratic values and human rights”, and countering the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as providing media reports about the North Korean government. RFA commenced broadcasting in September 1996 in the Mandarin language. Tibetan was launched in December 1996, followed by Burmese in February 1997. Today, RFA broadcasts in nine Asian languages.

RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. RFA’s coverage concentrates on events occurring in and/or affecting the countries to which it broadcasts. This includes The People’s Republic of China, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam.

RFA’s headquarters are located in Washington D.C. RFA uses a combination of US government operated transmitters and a variety of shortwave lease facilities.

In 2011, RFA celebrated its 15th anniversary year. The Dalai Lama visited RFA’s Washington headquarters as part of the anniversary year.

RFA has been the subject of alleged ‘jamming’ by Chinese authorities since it commenced its broadcasts in 1996.

More information on RFA can be found on their website at……

https://www.rfa.org/about

Radio Free Asia encourages listener reports. Their website states:

“We encourage our listeners to tell us when they receive our transmissions. Your reception reports, or QSL cards, help us evaluate the quality of our signal strength.”

The overall reception of Radio Free Asia was good. The signal strength was excellent.

Below is a video showing my reception of Radio Free Asia.

References.

1. Radio Free Asia, 2021, <https://www.rfa.org/about>, viewed 24th October 2021.
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Asia>, viewed 24th October 2021.

My second to last station logged on Sunday evening, 24th October 2021 was KNLS in ALASKA, on 7355 kHz in the 41m band. The broadcast was in the English language. The target area was the Pacific Rim.

I tuned in at 1213 UTC.

The overall reception of KNLS was poor. The signal strength was good but there was severe interference from nearby stations on the band.

Below is a short video of my reception of KNLS as heard on my Yaesu FTdx101MP and 40m dipole.

References

1. KNLS, 2021, <https://knls.org/broadcasting-main.html>, viewwed 1st November 2021

Next in my log on Sunday 24th October 2021 was the Korean Central Broadcasting Station on 6100 kHz in the 49m band. The broadcast was in the Korean language.

The overall reception of KCBS was fair. The signal strength was fair and there was slight fading of the signal. There was a moderate noise level, with static crashes from local storms in Australia.

Below is a video of my reception of the Korean Central Broadcasting Station.

References.

1. Short-Wave.info, 2021, <https://www.short-wave.info/?freq=6160>, viewed 1st November 2021.
2. World Radio TV Handbook, 2020

Next in the log on Sunday 24th October 2021 was KBS World Radio in SOUTH KOREA, broadcasting on 15160 kHz. The program was in the Korean language.

KBS World Radio, formerly Radio Korea and Radio Korea International, is the official international broadcasting station of South Korea. Owned by the Korean Broadcasting System, the station broadcasts news and information in 11 languages.

The logo of KBS World Radio features “big waves, symbolizing the worldwide spread of the Korean culture which is often called the “Korean Wave.” The purple-colored waves carry our promise to bring our listeners creative programs since the color is often associated with creativity.”

The station was launched on the 15th day of August 1953. This was the first English broadcast for resident foreigners.

1953 – 1973……….The Voice of Free Korea

1973 – 1994……….Radio Korea

1994 – 2004……….Radio Korea International

The KBS Mission is……

• To provide news and information on the political, economic and cultural fields
• To reflect the viewpoints of Koreans on major issues at home and abroad
• To deliver Korea’s stance and news on inter-Korean affairs
• To promote cultural exchanges and friendly relations with other nations
• To build a bond between the 7 million Korean expatriates overseas
• To provide information for overseas Koreans in times of disaster or emergency

Listener reports are via an on-line Reception Report.

The overall reception of KBS World Radio was good until 0901 UTC when I noted a blocking or jamming signal on the frequency, suspected to be coming from North Korea.

The SINPO report below is prior to the blocking.

Below is a video of my reception of KBS World Radio.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KBS_World_Radio>, viewed 1st Novembeer 2021.

Second, in the log on Sunday 24th October 2021 was the Voice of Korea on 15245 kHz. The broadcast was in the Korean language.

I tuned in at 0842 UTC.

The overall reception of the Voice of Korea was good.

Below is a video of my reception of the Voice of Korea on 15245 kHz.

References.

1. Voice of Korea, 2021, <http://www.vok.rep.kp/index.php/home/main/en>, viewed 1st November 2021

On Sunday the 24th day of October 2021, I tuned into Radio Kuwait on 15455 kHz in the 19m band. The broadcast was in the English language

The overall reception of Radio Kuwait was good.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Kuwait on 15455 kHz.

After listening to the Voice of Turkey on 15380 kHz, I tuned a little up the band and found the voice of Turkey on 15450 kHz

Reception on this frequency was not as good as 15380 kHz and sadly this broadcast was in the English language.

Below is a short video of my reception of the Voice of Turkey on 15450 kHz.

On Saturday 23rd October 2021, I logged the Voice of Turkey, broadcasting on 15380 kHz in the 19m band. The broadcast was in the Turkish language.

The Voice fo Turkey is the international service of Turkish State Radio on shortwave. The transmitter is near Emirler. The Voie of Turkey broadcasts 24 hours a day, targetting Turkish nationals living abroad and those of Turkish origin.

The overall reception of the Voice of Turkey was good.

Below is a video of my reception of the Voice of Turkey on 15380 kHz.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_Turkey>, viewed 1st November 2021.

Next in my log on Friday 22nd October 2021, was Radio Iran International broadcasting on 15630 kHz in the Persian language.

I tuned in at 1251 UTC.

The overall reception of Radio Iran International was poor. The signal strength was poor and there was severe fading on the signal.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Iran International.

References.

1. Iran International, 2021, <https://www-iranintl-com.translate.goog/how-to-listen?_x_tr_sl=fa&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc#anchor-radio-info>, viewed 1st November 2021.

Next in the log on Friday 22nd October 2021 was the Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting in the English language on 15565 kHz in the 19m band.

The Voice of America is the largest and the oldest US-funded international broadcaster.

VOA was established in 1942, with the VOA charter signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. Prior to the Second World War, all USA shortwave stations were privately controlled. Some of these included the National Broadcasting Network, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation and General Electric.

In about 1940, the Office of Coordination of Information forwarded releases to each station for shortwave broadcast to Latin America to counter Nazi Germany propaganda.

Prior to the Second World War, the US Office of the Coordinator of Information in Washington had commenced providing war news and commentary to the various commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis through its Foreign Information Service headed by playwright Robert E. Sheerwood. He served as President Roosevelt’s speech-writer and information adviser.

Direct programming commenced a week after the entry of the US into World War II in December 1941, with the first broadcast from the San Francisco office of the FIS via General Electric’s KGEI transmitting to the Philippines in English

Following this, there was a broadcast to Germany which was called Stimmen aus Amerika (“Voices from America”) and was transmitted on February 1, 1942, from 270 Madison Avenue, New York City. It was Sherwood who actually coined the term “The Voice of America” to describe the shortwave network.

By the end of the war, VOA had 39 transmitters and provided service in 40 languages.

VOA headquarters is located in Washington D.C.

The VOA program consisted of music. The overall reception was good.

Below is a short video of my reception of the Voice of America.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America>, viewed 1st November 2021.