My next station logged on 7th November 2021 was another special station. I had tuned into this station many times during the 1980’s. It was KTWR in GUAM in the Pacific. They were broadcasting in the English and Chinese languages on 9910 kHz.

KTWR is part of Trans World Radio (TWR), a multinational evangelical Christian media distributor. It is the largest Christian media organisation in the world. TWR has major transmitting sites around the world, including Guam. KTWR has broadcasted for about 40 years with programs in numerous languages.

The TWR Asia website states:-

“The mission at KTWR is clear—to provide the most effective and reliable radio services possible to TWR Asia, and to do it in a God-honoring way so that Christ may be known throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”

The KTWR Guam site sits on a mountainside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. KTWR uses six (6) TCI curtain antennas. In recent years, KTWR has received upgrades which include the replacement of two of the aging 100-kilowatt transmitters were replaced in July 2013 with refurbished 250-kilowatt ones. Solar panels have also been installed to reduce the cost of keeping KTWR on air.

Above:- KTWR transmitting site. Images c/o KTWR

I was receiving KTWR well. The signal strength was strong and there was only slight fading on the signa. I did experience an Over the Horizon radar on the frequency from time to time.

Below is a video showing my reception of KTWR.

References.

1. TWR, 2021, <http://www.twr.asia/about/guam>, viewed 11th November 2021
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_World_Radio>, viewed 11th November 2021

After WRMI, I logged another new station for myself. It was Radio Taiwan International broadcasting in the Vietnamese language on 9425 kHz. I tuned in at 1105 UTC.

Radio Taiwan International (RTI) is the English name and call sign of the international radio service, the Central Broadcasting System (CBS) of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. RTI is a government-owned station that broadcasts in 14 languages around the world. There is an emphasis on Mandarin and Taiwanese-language broadcasts over shortwave into Mainland China.

The Central Broadcasting System was founded in 1928 by the Kuomintang (KMT) government. During the Japanese invasion, the KMT was forced by Japanese advances to relocate the radio station first to Hankou in the central Hubei Province and then to Chungking in south-central China.

After the conclusion of the Second World War, which saw the surrender and withdrawal of Japanese forces, the KMT and the Communist Party of China resumed their civil war. The defeated KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949 and the Central Broadcasting System moved with them.

The Central Broadcasting System merged with the international department of the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) between 1996 and 1998, broadcasting to listeners around the world under the call signs “Radio Taipei International” and “The Voice of Asia.” Programs were later combined under a unified call sign, “Radio Taipei International,” and eventually “Radio Taiwan International”.

My overall reception of Radio Taiwan International was good. The signal strength was good and there was only slight fading on the signal, with no interference on the frequency or from adjacent stations.

Below is a video of my reception of Radio Taiwan International on 9425 kHz.

References.

1. RTI, 2021, <https://en.rti.org.tw/index/content/id/4>, viewed 11th November 2021
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Taiwan_International>, viewed 11th November 2021

Next in my log on 7th November 2021, was a station I have logged previously, WRMI Radio Miami International broadcasting from Florida, USA. However, this was a new frequency for me of 7730 kHz

Their broadcast consisted of a religious program from Brother Stair.

I was receiving WRMI well.

Below is a short video of my reception of WRMI on 7730 kHz.

References.

1. World Radio TV Handbook, 2021

My next station on 7th November 2021 was another new one for me. It was Radio Vanuatu broadcasting on 5040 kHz in the Bislama language.

Radio Vanuatu is the national broadcaster’s front line station. It broadcasts the latest national and international news, sport, weather, social and current affairs, culture, talkback, and is also Vanuatu’s emergency broadcaster. The station broadcasts on short wave, mediumwave and FM in Bislama, English, and French.

Radio Vanuatu commenced broadcasting in 1966 as Radio Vila, then Radio New Hebrides. It became Radio Vanuatu at Independence in 1980.

In 2016, Radio Vanuatu celebrated its 50 years of broadcasting.

The overall reception of Radio Vanuatu was poor. But this was mostly due to the very severe static crashes on the band due to storms around Australia.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Vanuatu.

References.

1. VBTC, 2021, <https://www.vbtc.vu/en/radio-vanuatu/>, viewed 11th November 2021

On 7th November 2021, I then tuned in to Radio Nikkei in JAPAN, broadcasting in the Japanese language on 6055 kHz. I tuned in at 0947 UTC.

Radio Nikkei is Japan’s nationwide free-to-air shortwave commercial radio station. The language is almost exclusively in Japanese, except for an English language learning program. The station is operated by Nikkei Radio Broadcasting Corporation and commenced broadcasting on the 27th day of August 1954.

The overall reception of Radio Nikkei was fair. The reception was severely impacted by severe static crashes due to storms in Australia.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Nikkei.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Nikkei>, viewed 11th November 2021

My next station logged on 7th November 2021 was a very interesting one. It was Radio Educación in MEXICO, broadcasting in the Spanish language on 6185 kHz.

Radio Educación is a cultural radio station that broadcasts Spanish language cultural and educational programming.  The primary broadcast is on 1060 kHz, but Radio Educacion also broadcasts also operates a shortwave station, XEPPM-OC on 6.185 MHz

Radio Educación is based in Mexico City.

On the 30th day of November 1924, Radio Educación commenced broadcasting, at the initiative of the then Secretariat of Public Education, José Vasconcelos The purpose was to harness the potential of radio for the benefit of educational and cultural tasks in Mexico. The new radio station began broadcasting with the inauguration of President Plutarco Elías Calles, under the acronym CYE Culture and Education.

The program consisted of music including Pineapple Rag, music from Francis Lai, and Simon & Garfunkel. The reception however was overall poor. Radio Educacion’s signal was fair and there was no interference, but the static crashes were extremely loud and made listening very difficult.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Educacion.

References.

1. Radio Educacion, 2021, <https://radioeducacion.edu.mx/>, viewed 11th November 2021.
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Educaci%C3%B3n>, viewed 11th November 2021.

Next on Sunday 7th November 2021, I logged China National Radio on 15710 kHz. Their broadcast was in the Hakka language. I tuned in at 0841 UTC.

China National Radio (CNR) is the national radio network of China.

CNR’s headquarters is located in Beijing.

CNR can trace its roots back to December 1940 when the first radio station was established by the Communist Party of China. The station which used the callsign of XNCR ‘New China Radio’ in Yan’an with a transmitter from Moscow. In the west, the station was known as Yan’an New China Radio Station. In CHina it was known as the Yan’an Xinhua Broadcasting Station.

On the 25th day of March 1949, when the station was moved from Yan’an, it was renamed Shanbei Xinhua Broadcasting Station. It subsequently commenced broadcasts from Peiping under the name of Peiping Xinhua Broadcasting Station.

On the 5th day of December 1949, the station was officially named the Central People’s Broadcasting Station. This was just 2 months following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The founding father Mao Zedong emphasised that all Chinese citizens should listen to the station on the 5th day of May 1941. The “Central Press and Broadcasting Bureau” was the driver in pushing all schools, army units, and public organizations of all levels to install loud public speakers and radio transmitters. By the 1960s, 70 million speakers were installed reaching the rural population of 400 million.

The Central People’s Broadcasting Station innovated wired transmissions, which were linked to the commonly found telephone poles hanging with loudspeakers. It was part of Mao’s ideology of delivering “Politics on Demand”. 0The station was later renamed China National Radio.

The reception of CNR was overall good. The signal strength was strong with no interference. There was only slight fading on the signal.

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

References.

1. World Radio TV Handbook, 2021
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong>, viewed 10th November 2021
3. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Radio>, viewed 10th November 2021

My second station logged on the 7th November 2021 was All India Radio. I tuned in at 0812 UTC on 15030 kHz to their Persian language program.

All India Radio (AIR) is the national public radio broadcaster of India. It was established in 1936. AIR has been officially known since 1957 as Akashvani, meaning “Voice from the Sky”). AIR’s headquarters is located in the Akashvani Bhavan building in New Delhi.

All India Radio is the largest radio network in the world and one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves.

AIR’s home service comprises 420 stations located across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the country’s area and 99.19% of the total population. AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

Broadcasting in India commenced in June 1923 during the British Raj. Programs were aired by the Bombay Presidency Radio Club and other radio clubs. In July 1927 the private Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations. These included the Bombay station which commenced on the 23rd day of July 1927, and the Calcutta station which commenced on the 26th day of August 1927.

When IBC went into liquidation in 1930, the Indian Government took over the broadcasting facilities and in April 1930 commenced the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS). This went on to become All India Radio on the 8th day of June 1936.

In August 1947, All India Radio hired its first female newsreader, Saeeda Bano, who read the news in the Urdu language.

The External Service of All India Radio commenced with a broadcast in the Pushtu language on the 1st day of October 1939. This was intended to counter radio propaganda from Germany directed at Afghanistan, Persia and other Arab nations.

In 1947 when India gained its independence, the AIR network had only six stations; Delhi, Mumbai. Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow and Tiruchirappalli). The total number of radio sets in India at that time was about 275,000.

Today, the External Services Division of All India Radio broadcasts daily with 57 transmissions with almost 72 hours or programming covering over 108 countries in 27 languages, of which 15 are foreign and 12 Indian. 

I was receiving All India Radio very well. The signal was strong and there was no interference on the frequency or from adjacent stations.

Below is a short video of my reception of All India Radio.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Radio>, viewed 10th November 2021

On Sunday 7th November 2021 I tuned into Radio France Internationale broadcasting on 11700 kHz in the French language. Reception commenced at 0746 UTC.

Radio France Internationale (RFI), is the official French international public radio service broadcaster. It is one of the most listened to international radio stations in the world, along with the BBC World Service, the Voice of America, and China Radio International. RFI broadcasts 24 hours per day in French and in 12 other languages.

RFI was established in 1975 as part of Radio France by the French Government and replaced the Poste Colonial which was created in 1931, Paris Mondial in 1937, Radio Paris in 1939, a private station which was commandeered by the Germans during the occupation of France, and the Voice of France which was operated by the Vichy regime from 1941 to 1944, RTF Radio Paris (1945) and ORTF Radio Paris in 1965).

The English language service of RFI ceased broadcasting in April 2020.

The headquarters of Radio France is located at Maison de la Radio, a circular building designed by the architect Henry Bernard, which stands beside the River Seine.

I was receiving Radio France well. The signal strength was good and there was no interference on the frequency or from adjacent stations. There was only slight fading on the signal.

Below is a video showing my reception of Radio France International.

References.

1. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_France_Internationale>, viewed 10th November 2021.
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_France>, viewed 10th Novembeer 2021

Next in the log on Saturday 6th November 2021 was Radio Azadi, broadcasting in the Pashto language to Afghanistan on 15640 kHz.

I tuned in at 1151 UTC.

I have listened to Radio Azadi previously, but this was a new frequency for me. On this frequency, Radio Azadi was using a 250kW transmitter in Kuwait.

Radio Azadi’s broadcasts are targeted towards Afghanistan. Radio Azadi, formerly known as Radio Free Afghanistan, is the Afghan branch of the U.S. government’s Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s external broadcast services.

Below is a short video I found on YouTube re Radio Azadi.

I was receiving Radio Azadi quite well. The signal strength was good and there was no interference from signals on or around the frequency. Fading of the signal was only slight.

Below is a short video of my reception of Radio Azadi.

References.

1. World Radio TV Handbook, 2021
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Azadi>, viewed 10th November 2021