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

On Saturday 6th November 2021, I tuned into the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) on 15330 kHz.

I started listening at 1114 UTC. The program was in the Mongolian language.

FEBC is an international Christian radio network and is owned and operated by shortwave radio station KGEI in San Francisco, USA.

The FEBC website states:-

“FEBC leadership around the world are passionate about reaching people with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.”

Below is a video I found on YouTube about FEBC.

FEBC can trace its roots back to Bob Bowman and John Broger who were attending Southern California Bible College, who had a vision for a missionary radio station. This would become the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC). Bowman and Broger shared their idea with Reverend William Roberts, the pastor of a church that Bowman’s parents attended. Rev. Roberts supported the plan and his church were the first to assist FEBC with funding and prayer.

In 1945, FEBC was officially incorporated by Bowman, Broger and Roberts. The very first broadcast was from Shanghai, China, however by 1948 all mission work in China had ceased due to communism. FEBC was then established in the Philippines. On the 4th day of June 1948, the first broadcast from the Philippines of FEBC was made via local station DZAS. In 1949, broadcasts to China commenced, with broadcasts to other Asian countries expanding in the following years.

Below is a very interesting video on Dr. Bob Bowman.

Today, FEBC broadcasts in 141 languages worldwide for a total of 1,571 hours each day.

I was receiving FEBC very well. The signal was strong and there was no interference from adjacent stations. There was only slight fading on the signal.

Below is a short video showing my reception of FEBC.

References.

1. FEBC, 2021, <https://www.febc.org/about/>, viewed 9th November 2021
2. Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_East_Broadcasting_Company>, viewed 9th November 2021.

In my email InBox over the past week was an e-QSL from Radio New Zealand re my reception of their station on 17th October 2021.

About one week ago I received via email, an e-QSL card from Radio Rebelde in CUBA. I had tuned into Radio Rebelde on the 12th October 2021.

The card reads:-

“We are pleased to confirm your Reception Report of our emissions. Best regards Radio Rebelde. La Habana, Cuba”.

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