Tag Archives: Radio New Zealand

RNZ Pacific Launches 2025–26 Cyclone Watch Service on Shortwave

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Ian Millett (N3CVA), who writes:

Thomas,

This was posted to the RNZ website at 2 pm NZ time November 1.

RNZI announces start of Pacific Cyclone Watch Service

Image source: Screenshot of RNZI announcement

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/577507/rnz-pacific-cyclone-watch-service-activated

A photo of a shortwave radio in a news article on Radio New Zealand International’s online Pacific page (see screenshot above) caught my attention. It shows someone holding a Panasonic RF-3750 portable FM/MW/SW receiver from the 1990’s (like the one pictured below). The caption reads, “Many remote communities in Pacific island countries rely on shortwave radio.”

Photo Credit: Internet Archive Community Images Collection (IMG_20200605_201148.jpg).

The article, titled “RNZ Pacific Cyclone Watch Service activated” is about RNZ Pacific’s Cyclone Watch Service that operates during the South Pacific cyclone season which runs from November 1 through April 2026. RNZ Pacific will broadcast hourly updates from Meteorological services in the region once cyclone alerts are issues. The article reminds readers that when local power grids and broadcasters are down “our broadcasts may be the only updates that people in the Island nations and territories can receive.” It also lists the on-air frequencies for the RNZ Pacific Cyclone Watch Service for the 2025-2026 cyclone season.

I’m glad RNZI is still on shortwave and understands its role in providing these broadcasts of critical information to remote areas. I remember during the 1970s, listening to Pacific cyclone bulletins broadcast by Radio Australia and plotting them on my National Geographic maps. I grew up on an island at the southern end of the Caribbean archipelago and from June to November I was plotting the track of cyclones in my own region, with information from medium stations like Radio Antilles, Montserrat, and Trans World Radio, Bonaire, and of course WWV on shortwave.

Credit for this information goes to RNZI https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen

Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of Radio New Zealand (June 21-22, 2025)

Papua New Guinea Plans Shortwave Comeback by 2030

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor David Iurescia, who shares a promising update from Radio New Zealand International:

Papua New Guinea’s national broadcaster, NBC, has announced plans to reintroduce shortwave radio as part of a strategy to achieve full nationwide coverage by 2030. This move recognizes shortwave’s vital role in reaching remote and rural communities across PNG’s rugged terrain—areas where internet and FM signals remain unreliable or nonexistent. Read the full article on RNZ’s website: PNG’s national broadcaster moves to reintroduce shortwave radio for nationwide coverage by 2030.

Radio Waves: 35 Years of RNZ and Bulgarian National Radio’s New QSL cards

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Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor David Iurescia for the following tips:

RNZ Pacific – 35 years of broadcasting to the region (RNZ)

January 24, 1990, the same day the Auckland Commonwealth Games opened, RNZ International (RNZI) began broadcasting to the Pacific region.

Its news bulletins and programmes were carried by a brand new 100kW transmitter. The service was rebranded as RNZ Pacific in 2017. However its mission remains unchanged, to provide news of the highest quality and be a trusted service to local broadcasters in the Pacific region.

Although RNZ had been broadcasting to the Pacific since 1948, in the late 1980s the New Zealand Government saw the benefit of upgrading the service. Thus RNZI was born, with a small dedicated team.

The first RNZI manager was Ian Johnstone. He believed that the service should have a strong cultural connection to the people of the Pacific. To that end, it was important that some of the staff reflected parts of the region where RNZ Pacific broadcasted. He hired the first Pacific woman sports reporter at RNZ, the late Elma Ma’ua. [Continue reading…]

The BNR’s QSL cards for 2025 present the beauty of Bulgaria (BNR)

Dear friends, we are happy to announce that the Bulgarian National Radio’s QSL cards for 2025 are now available. The two series – one with 6 postcards and the other with 12 postcards – are entitled “The Beauty of Bulgaria.”

The series of 6 cards confirms that you have listened to Radio Bulgaria’s programming in any of its languages.

To receive this series, you need to send reports, indicating the date and the language of the programme you have listened to, as well as content details. QSL cards are sent upon receipt of the necessary number of reports, irrespective of the language in which the programmes were heard on our website. [Continue reading…]

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Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of Radio New Zealand (October 6, 2024)

RNZ Inaugurates New Analog and DRM Ampegon Transmitter

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following news release via the DRM Consortium:

DRM RNZ Shortwave Transmitter For Pacific Inaugurated

On August 1st the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister came to RNZ House in Wellington to mark the start of the use of the new analogue and DRM transmitter, replacing a 34-year-old transmitter at the Rangitaiki broadcast site.

In a $4.4-million-dollar project, the public broadcaster RNZ has installed a new Swiss-made Ampegon shortwave transmitter.

Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief Paul Thompson said it’s a significant infrastructure upgrade and secures the future of the RNZ shortwave service into the wider Pacific.

RNZ Pacific broadcasts into the wider Pacific on shortwave 24 hours a day, broadcasting in English and Pacific languages, in collaboration with 22 broadcasting partners across the region.

“The attraction of the shortwave service is that it delivers our unique voice and content to all parts of the Pacific via a signal which can carry over great distances, and achieve good audiences,” said Thompson.

“RNZ Pacific is an essential source of information, especially so during the cyclone season or during a crisis such as the Tonga eruptions,” he said.

RNZ’s Transmission Engineer Specialist Steve White said the project to replace the 34-year-old transmitter at the Rangitaiki broadcast site near Taupo had gone smoothly – being on budget and achieved without disruption to service. “We have appreciated the close working relationship with Ampegon for the new transmitter installation,” he said.

RNZ broadcasts into the wider Pacific on shortwave 24 hours a day, collaborating with 22 broadcasting partners across the region.

Click here to read the original article at DRM.org.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan, who shares the following context:

Receiving Radio New Zealand Pacific’s new transmitter.

Please look for this signal from the newest brand new high frequency (SW) transmitter.

It’s on air 00:00 – 04:48 UTC daily on 17675 kHz AM aimed at the Southern Pacific Ocean from 66 Matea Rd, Rangitaiki, Bay of Plenty, co-ordinates -38.8426 176.4297

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/523864/rnz-goes-live-with-new-pacific-shortwave-transmitter

https://www.drm.org/radio-new-zealand-uses-new-drm-shortwave-transmitter-for-wide-coverage/
There is a link in that article which goes to the RNZ Pacific website which has not been updated for the new transmitter.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen shows no changes to duration and times of transmissions at all with the exception of a new time slot for the new transmitter outlined above.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/qsl to make reception reports.

The RNZ Pacific have been heard in both AM and DRM on the West Coast of North America and occasionally in Europe.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/rebroadcasters

A DRM receiver including KiwiSDRs can receive the DRM signal anywhere in the coverage area not just in the communities.

RNZ changes its pips!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following news from Radio New Zealand:

RNZ’s pips are changing – Can you hear the difference? (RNZ)

RNZ National is changing the pips – the beeps that mark the start of each hour which play immediately before the news bulletin broadcast.

The pips were last changed in 2013 when a lightning strike damaged the clock which sent signals from the Measurement Standards Laboratory’s atomic clock.

The replacement sound was a little higher. (Continue reading…)