Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who shared the following message on March 1, 2026 [note the delay in posting Dan’s message due to recent site maintenance]:
Hi Thomas
This evening, I came across a sound on shortwave that I had not heard in a long time. It was the familiar tune of Yankee Doodle being played by the Voice of America on 7500 kHz just prior to 2200 hours UTC. According to both shortwave.live and the Short-wave Fan Facebook page, this was a half-hour program in Mandarin being broadcast through the VOA facility in Tinang, Philippines. They apparently are using a transmitter in Kuwait as well for a few other programs. Though none of the actual programs are in English, the ID at the beginning and end of the transmission are. Follow this link for their schedule.
Here are two brief recordings, one of their sign on at 2200, and the other at sign off at 2230 hours UTC. They were made using Kiwi SDR’s located in Europe.
(Update March 3, 2026) — In addition to the original log, I just heard the VOA signing on at 1530 UTC on 9310 kHz in Korean using a Kiwi SDR in Thailand. Same intro with the retro Yankee Doodle music and English ID.
Has anyone else been tuning into these?
Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada
If I’m not mistaken (and I might be!) the mandarin broadcast identified itself as being a special broadcast about the situation in Iran.
I just heard the Korean broadcast on 9310 kHz signing off with English ID and “Yankee Doodle” at 1600 UTC. Reception was fair here in Germany. This is supposed to come from the Tinang relais station.
Very nice to hear the VOA again on SW. My first reception of the VOA was about 50 years ago in 1976.
They are finally realising that dismantlung SW facilities was a big mistake. In times of crisis the Internet is easily censored and blocked. Bring back shortwave and Long live short waves !!
These VOA sign on and sign off jingles are the only legacy left of the golden age of VOA from the 1960s and 1970s. These two jingles were created in the 1960s. There were other variations of the same jingle that said the location of a particular relay station. For example, “This is the Voice of America from the Phillipines signing on”. Much like the BBC, if the broadcast originated from the Singapore relay station. “This is the BBC Far Eastern Relay station on ….” Here is a couple more pieces of VOA trivia. In 1969 there were three VOA 1,000kw transmitters in Asia. Bangkok (1580kc), Philippines (1140kc) and Okinawa (1178kc). There was also another MW transmitter in Hue, Vietnam on 760kc (pwr unknown). Regards.
Unforgettable: this is the BBC Atlantic Relay station beginning transmissions to South America on 15.26 Mhz on the 19 meter band and to Africa on 6035, 9915 and12095 on the 49,,31 and 25 meter band.
Wonderful!!!
Charles