Tag Archives: ERT Open

Shortwave listeners hear the Voice of Greece once again

SWLing Post contributor, Moshe, writes with some good news from the Voice of Greece:

I’m listening to VOG at 9420kHz, At 11:27 local time 08:27UTC, 11/06/2015 the station identified itself as “Ezo Athina, I Foni Dis Elladas”: “This Is Athens, The Voice Of Greece”.

Immediately after receiving Moshe’s message, another Post contributor, Merkouris, provided the following details:

It would be of interest to the SWLing Post readers that, as of today June 11, the Greek public broadcaster ERT is back on the air with three TV channels and eight Radio programmes, including the “Voice of Greece”.

TV channels:
ERT1,
ERT2,
ERT3 (Thessaloniki)

Radio programmes:
Proto Programma (1st Programme),
Deftero Programma (2nd Programme),
Trito Programma (3rd Programme),
Kosmos (Musics of the world),
ERA Spor (Sports programme),
RS Makedonia (Thessaloniki),
Foni Tis Elladas (Voice of Greece)

The web site http://www.ert.gr/ is also up with news and streams of all tv and radio channels.

Right now at 10:45 UTC the Voice of Greece is on the air on 9420 kHz.

Many thanks to both Moshe and Merkouris for this information!

A little background…

If you haven’t been following the story, in June 2013, Greek National TV & Radio (ERT) was shut down and so was the Voice of Greece (well…officially, at least). Only a few hours after VOG went off the air that night, they came back on the air with live protest coverage.

In fact, since that night–exactly two years ago today–Greece has been broadcasting on shortwave intermittently as a relay of ERT Open and/or Elliniki Radiofonia.

I hope that now VOG is officially back on the air, their shortwave broadcasts will be daily once again. Tonight, I will certainly be tuned to 9,420 kHz!

Update: the BBC News has recently posted this excellent article with photos and videos on their website.

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Greece to re-open state broadcaster, ERT

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Ayar (HB9EVW), who shares this news via Reuters:

(Reuters) – Greece’s parliament passed a bill on Wednesday to reopen the state broadcaster abruptly unplugged nearly two years ago, in a symbolic move to heal what Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a “great wound” of the country’s bailout programme.

Re-opening The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) has been a priority for his leftist Syriza party, which fiercely protested the way television screens went black at midnight on June 11, 2013, after the then conservative-led government decided to shutter the 75-year-old institution.

[…]ERT’s shock closure, with newscasters cut off in mid-sentence, was one of the most drastic measures to help meet the terms of the country’s 240 billion-euro international bailout.

It sparked a wave of protests and the withdrawal of a partner from the coalition government at the time, igniting what many view as the beginning of Syriza’s rise to power.

For weeks, journalists broadcast a bootleg news channel over the Internet, defying management orders to leave the shuttered broadcaster’s headquarters. Hundreds rallied outside the building in daily protests, as musicians from ERT’s national symphony orchestra performed, some in tears. The government has said it plans to rehire the musicians.

I actually recorded the moment the Voice of Greece went off the air on shortwave, only to return (as basically a pirate radio station) only a few hours later. Click here to listen to the recording.

Click here to read the full Reuters article above.

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ERT Open shortwave schedule & news

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Merkouris, who writes:

I’ve just thought that the shortwave schedule of ERT Open, published on the 28th of February, might be of interest to you and the readers of the SWLing Post.

Here is the link in Greek and below is the translation in English [by time, region, frequency, and program]:

0000-1500 UTC, Europe/North America, 9420 kHz, ERA Athens
1500-2400 UTC, Europe/North America, 9415 kHz, ERA Athens
1100-0450 UTC, Europe/Central America, 9935 kHz, ERA Athens
0500-1050 UTC, Central & South Africa, 11645 kHz, ERA Athens
0000-0550 UTC, Russia/Japan, 15630 kHz, ERA Athens
0600-1850 UTC, Europe/Central America, 15630 kHz, ERA Athens
1900-2350 UTC, Middle East – Australia, 15650 kHz, ERA Athens

Draft Bill to Reestablish ERT?

(Photo source: AP / Petros Giannakouris)

Merkouris also included links to the following reports from Greek and English language news sources.

(Source: ANAmpa.gr)

ANA – MPA — A draft bill to reestablish defunct public broadcaster ERT was released to public consultation on Monday afternoon, under the title “Regulations on issues of the state radio and television agency, Hellenic Radio and Television SA, and amendment of article 48 of Law 2190-1920.”

The consultation period will end at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.

[…]It also said it was reinstating all the ERT staff who had permanent contracts by June 11, 2013 and said a fee of 3 euros would be introduced for ERT on PPC bills and the present name of the public broadcaster (“NERIT S.A.”) be replaced by ERT S.A.

[Click here to read full article…]

This is an interesting development for the Greek public broadcaster. Of course, even if the bill passes, it is unknown how this could affect shortwave radio relays. I must say that I’m impressed that ERT Open has been broadcasting on shortwave a good 1.5 years after they should have been closed down. (Personally, I hope they never go off the air as I love ERT Open’s weekend music programs!)

Again, many thanks Merkouris for sharing this schedule and breaking news. Please keep us informed!

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Helliniki Radiophonia

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It’s been a while now since 9,420 kHz–a former Voice of Greece frequency–should have gone off the air. Fortunately, it has not.

The station is no longer referred to as the Voice of Greece; it’s now a relay of ERT Open, otherwise known as the Helliniki Radiophonia (you’ll hear this name in the station ID).

Friday evening, I recorded nearly four hours of Helliniki Radiophonia because I love the music programming they air during weekends, yet I rarely stay up late enough to listen live. With this recording, I’ll enjoy Greek music most of my working day today–and you can, too!

Simply click here to download an MP3 of the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

The music begins, in earnest, a little after 17:00–enjoy:

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ERT Open (Voice of Greece) moves back to 9420 kHz

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ERT_Digital If you were listening to the 31 meter band last night in North America, you would have heard a very strong ERT Open (Voice of Greece) back on their long-established frequency of 9420 kHz.

Only yesterday, I posted a note about ERT’s apparent move to 9415 kHz to avoid interference with the IRIB. Seems they changed their mind.

Indeed, conditions were superb last night and bands were wide open above 7 MHz. ERT was broadcasting on 9420 and 9935 kHz and both were strong (S9+).

I’m very curious if ERT will remain on 9420 or move back to 9415 kHz during the week. I suppose time will tell.

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ERT Open (former Voice of Greece) moves to 9,415 kHz

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View from the town of Litochoro, in the foothills of Mount Olympus, Greece. (Source: Public Domain via Wikimedia)

Many listeners have noticed that the former Voice of Greece (ERT Open) has moved from 9,420 kHz to 9,415 kHz. This must be due to interference from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) who has been transmitting on 9420 kHz as well.

Here in North America, even when IRIB was broadcasting simultaneously on 9420 kHz, VOG always overpowered their signal. In other parts of the world, though, it was not the same case.

I’m happy VOG/ERT is still on shortwave and broadcasting to the world–though no one really knows for how much longer.

I recorded about one hour of VOG on 9,415 kHz, starting around 0045 UTC today. Enjoy:

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: ERT Open (Voice of Greece)

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As I prepare the largest post I’ve ever published on the SWLing Post—a review and comparison of the PL-660, PL-880, ATS-909X and ICF-SW7600GR–I’ve been listening to the music I recorded Sunday night on ERT Open (Voice of Greece).

Regular readers know that I’ve always had a particular fondness of this station. Some nights they play hour long sets of music ranging from folk to modern (I especially love the folk) on 9,420 kHz. Their signal booms into North America as well; indeed, ERT Open can even be heard on a basic shortwave portable with relative ease.

Since I don’t speak or understand the Greek language, I can listen to this music while writing posts and catching up on email correspondence (I’m terribly behind at the moment).

For your listening pleasure: two hours, six minutes of ERT Open recorded on July 6, 2014 staring around 01:00 UTC.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

If you’re interested in the benchmark portable radio review I mentioned above, check back on the SWLing Post later today.

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