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……
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.
| S | I | N | P | O |
| 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Below is a video showing my reception of Radio Free Asia.
References.
- Radio Free Asia, 2021, <https://www.rfa.org/about>, viewed 24th October 2021.
- Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Asia>, viewed 24th October 2021.
VK5PAS 