Tag Archives: VOA

Remnants of WOO at Good Luck Point to be removed

Many thanks to SWLing Post readers Al Quaglieri and Alan Tu for sharing the following story via app.com about the removal of the remnants of radio station WOO:

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP — The mysterious poles have stood in the open marshland off Good Luck Point for nearly 80 years, but sometime in January these local landmarks will finally be removed.

“We’re still working with the contractor to determine the exact start time,” said Virginia Rettig, a spokeswoman for the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. “This is a little more difficult than the typical project, as we’re trying to be sensitive to the marsh surface.”

The Good Luck Point poles – and a similar pole field in Stafford’s Manahawkin section – were part of inactive shortwave antenna fields used by AT&T for ship-to-shore shortwave communications.

They’ve become a familiar landmark for boaters, fishermen and residents of the area, and can be seen from the bayside in Seaside Heights and Seaside Park.

The antenna field was in operation from the early 1930s until 1999. A shuttered building on the Good Luck Point portion of the antenna field contained equipment related to shortwave communications.

Under the call sign WOO, the shortwave facility at Good Luck Point (known as Ocean Gate) was a renowned transmitting station, which helped broadcast Voice of America around the globe after 1944 and enabled communication with ships at sea throughout the 20th century, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to federal officials, about 340 poles will be removed from the Berkeley site, along with several metal antennae.

In Manahawkin, about 113 wooden poles will be removed from the antenna field. Several metal antennas will also be removed.

Continue reading at app.com…

Check out this excellent video–an aerial view of Good Luck Point:

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Broadcasting Board of Governors reduced to advisory status

Farewell, Firewall: Kim Elliott’s take on what the NDAA means for US international broadcasting

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The Broadcasting Board of Governors (Photo BBG)

(Source: USC Center on Public Diplomacy)

Farewell, Firewall

Deep in the massive FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act is a provision to eliminate, in its present form, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. The NDAA has been passed by the House and the Senate and is expected to be signed by President Obama. The BBG is the topmost authority of the elements of U.S. government-funded international broadcasting: Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Martí, and the Arabic-language Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa. Together they broadcast in 61 languages.

This BBG’s demise eliminates the “firewall” of a nine-person bipartisan board with fixed and staggered terms, and replaces it with one politically-appointed CEO. This change will have consequences.

Traditionally, people around the world huddled around a shortwave radio to get news from abroad. Increasingly, they watch an international news channel via cable or satellite television, or access a foreign website or social media outlet. Whatever the medium used, the need for a credible alternative to domestic state-controlled media is the main reason international broadcasting has had an audience since the 1930s.

Credibility is the essence of successful international broadcasting. The shortwave frequencies, satellite channels, and online media are full of propaganda, but serious news consumers seek out the news organizations that they trust.

International broadcasting in languages such as Burmese or Hausa has little commercial potential. National governments must step in to provide the funding. The foremost challenge is to ensure that the journalism is independent from the governments that hold the purse strings.

To achieve this, there is no substitute for a multipartisan governing board. Its main function is to appoint the senior managers of the broadcasting organization, so that politicians don’t. This is how “public service” broadcasting corporations throughout the world, e.g. BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, maintain their independence.

When a government is directly involved in the production of news, the results are generally deleterious. The outcome can be as extreme as the lies and distortions of German broadcasts before and during World War II. Or the output can be something like the stultifying commentaries that filled much of Radio Moscow’s schedule during the Cold War. And, as can be observed by watching Russia’s RT or China’s CCTV News on cable TV, propaganda can also be manifest by emphasizing some topics, while downplaying or ignoring others.[…]

Read Elliott’s full article on the USC Center on Public Diplomacy website…

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Washington Post: “A big change to U.S. broadcasting is coming”

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View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who shares this editorial from the The Washington Post:”

“FOR YEARS, members of Congress have fumed about what they regard as ineffective U.S. public diplomacy, including the failure of broadcasting operations such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to match the reach and apparent influence of networks such as Russia’s RT and Qatar’s al Jazeera. A frequent and arguably fair focus of criticism has been the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the body created to supervise government-funded media outlets while serving as a firewall between them and the political administration of the day.

A radical change to that system is now coming — and it looks like one that Vladimir Putin and Qatar’s emir might well admire. An amendment quietly inserted into the annual National Defense Authorization Act by Republican House leaders would abolish the broadcasting board and place VOA, RFE/RL and other international news and information operations under the direct control of a chief executive appointed by the president. The new executive would hire and fire senior media personnel and manage their budgets.

[…]The point of board governance was to prevent direct political interference in programming by the White House, State Department or other agencies. It was a guarantee that for decades has helped to attract journalistic talent to the broadcasting organizations, as well as listeners seeking reliable information. The board of governors had serious problems: Its members served part time, and not all took their duties seriously. But the system’s biggest flaw was remedied three years ago with the creation of a chief executive position.

The new reform, driven by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.), enhances that executive’s power and makes him answerable to the White House rather than the bipartisan board. A new advisory panel will be created, but it will be toothless: Its members will also be nominated by the president from a pool provided by Congress.[…]”

Click here to read the full editorial at The Washington Post online.

Also, Richard points out this article in BBG Watch which highlights comments from Dan Robinson.

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Dan takes a critical look at the BBG as government transition commences

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.

SWLing Post readers are likely aware that contributor, Dan Robinson, is the former White House, Congressional and foreign correspondent for the Voice of America.

I’ve just learned that Dan has authored a piece questioning the viability of the BBG as the US presidential transition take place.

Dan’s commentary titled “What’s A President-elect To Do . . . With the BBG?“ appears on the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy site:

http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/whats-president-elect-dowith-bbg

I encourage you to read his full article and please direct your comments to the original post on the Center on Public Diplomacy website.

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Hurricane Matthew: VOA adds emergency shortwave coverage for Haiti

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Many thanks to Mauno Ritola who notes the following news via the WRTH Facebook page:

VOA emergency shortwave coverage for Haiti in Creole & English has started as follows via Greenville [North Carolina]:

2200-0200 7305 kHz

0200-1200 7405 kHz

1200-1630 9565 kHz

Last night, I looked at the projected path of Hurricane Matthew. Sadly, Haiti and parts of Cuba will receive the brunt of Matthew’s energy in the Caribbean.

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Shortwave Logs From Alaska July 17 to August 2

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As is my typical style, I’ll do some DX’ing for weeks, if not a month or more before I sit down and write out logs. I focus on logging and recording first, then writing reports later as I’m worried i’ll miss something on the dials.

I have a few good ones this time around, like usual. Lets get on with the logs!

There are a few good ones here, including The Voice of Mongolia 12035 kHz, Vivdh Bharati on 9870 kHz and others along with some usuals.

2850 kHz, 3250 kHz & 3320 kHz, The Voice of Korea via Pyongyang to North Korea and the Far East in Korean on August 2, 2016 from 1623 to 1627UTC. The tropical band signals of VoK are somewhat rare and kind of weak during the summer but much more regular and stronger in the winter. This time around, 2850 kHz is the strongest with a woman singing in Korean. The signal is weak but easy to understand despite the noise. 3250 kHz and 3320 kHz both featured a man talking, 3250 had a song shortly after my recording began. 3560 kHz wasn’t heard on this date, but it was heard back on July 23, 2016 at 1502UTC with a pretty weak signal, full of noise, yet music was definately heard above the buzzing!

2850 kHz audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/vok-2850-august-2-2016-8-23-35.

https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/vok-2850-august-2-2016-8-23-35

3250 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Fzy7bm_3A

3320 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEB0Qx9bZLg

3560 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djJIa4JLWow

4885 kHz, Echo of Hope to North Korea in Korean on July 28, 2016 at 1623UTC. Their other frequencies always seem to be jammed but I’ve not heard this Anti North Korean station have it’s 4885 kHz signal jammed. It’s a pretty good signal, clean, clear, fairly steady with only some light fading. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgZUOjZaQPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgZUOjZaQPE

5020 kHz, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation via Honiara to the Solomon Islands on August 1, 2016 at 0953UTC. The SIBC is here just about nightly and at least very poor levels. The signal on this night with local music is fair but with a good amount of fading and noise. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A67vQd04Uj0

5857 kHz “HLL Seoul” on July 28, 2016 at 1634UTC. A weather broadcasting station from Seoul, South Korea often with digital data but does have voice from time to time, I’ve heard both but never this clear. The voice isn’t usually this clear or loud. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5eICMqMCaQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5eICMqMCaQ

7280 kHz, The Voice of Vietnam in Russian via Hanoi to Europe on July 26, 2016 at 1639UTC. A poor signal with lots of fading, static and noise and possibly some interference as well. A man was heard talking in Russian. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7nt1J0QGWQ

9390 kHz, Radio Thailand World Service in English via Udon Thani on July 23, 2016 at 1955UTC. Radio Thailand is here from time to time and while it may be strong sometimes, it’s usually a pretty fade-y signal. This signal would be on the high side of fair if it wasn’t for all the noise and fading. The recording starts off with what sounds like ad’s for a business marketed to english speaking ex pats and tourists. A sign off message then airs but the carrier doesn’t drop as far as I can tell before the German service starts at 2000UTC. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/radio-thailand-9390-july-23

9420 kHz, The Voice of Greece via Avlis to Europe. on August 1, 2016 at 2326UTC. The Voice of Greece is not heard here too often and when it is, it’s often a noise, static and fade-y ridden signal like this is with a woman talking, but about what, I don’t know. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul6kf5cdvho

9635 kHz, The Voice of Turkey in French via Emirler to Western Europe on July 23, 2016 at 2021UTC. The Voice of Turkey is pretty rare here, I can’t recall it paying a visit very often. The is about as good as I can recall hearing them here Despite the extreme noise, It is still a steady signal with a musical selection, a man talking and then a musical selection before the carrier is turned off. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMXlIHiDl7U

9735 kHz, Radio Taiwan International in Japanese via Paochung/Baujong to Japan on July 31, 2016 at 2258UTC. A man in Japanese mentioning Tapei, a short musical selection plays before a few beep tones and a carrier being cut. The signal is pretty steady and strong with some light fading, but still a listenable signal. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6NVvrriwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6NVvrriwY

9790 kHz, Radio Romania International in English via Tiganesti to the Far East. The English service broadcast with a lady talking about a contest with the giveaway being a CD. Details are given how to enter the contest. The signal was somewhat weak but there was a moderate amount of nosie with some fading on the channel. I detected the 9760 kHz in english to Western Europe and I could hear audio, but nothing worthy of recording or logging it “officially”. 9790 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGiD1OHVWKw

9870 kHz, All India Radio Vividh Bharati Service in Hindi via Bangalore to South Asia on July 27, 2016 at 1700UTC. They are here just about everyday, sometimes at poor levels but usually at least fair. However, some days like this time, they are good to excellent with great audio, steady signal and no real noise or fading. I love hearing the music they play! Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/air-9870-july-27-2016-8-59-1

https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/air-9870-july-27-2016-8-59-1

9997 kHz LSB, RWM Moscow Russia on July 27, 2016 at 1643UTC. Every source I’ve seen places them on 3 frequencies, including 9996 kHz. I swear each time I’ve heard them, it is clearer on LSB and 9997 kHz then 9996 kHz! They are a fairly regular visitor here, not every day, but at least weekly but usually, they are buried in the noise between slop from WWV/H and atmospheric crud. Well, this today the beep from RWM was very very much in the clear. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/rwm-9997lsb-july-27-2016-8

11540 kHz, VOA Radio Ashna in Pastho via Udon Thani to Iran on August 2, 2016 at 1654UTC. A very weak signal, barely above the static and fading with a man talking in the Pashto language. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/voa-ashna-11540-in-pashto-to

11800 kHz, Radio Romania International in Romanian via Tiganesti to the Middle East on July 27, 2016 at 1647UTC. The signal was fair with a moderate amount of fading and atmospheric noise. I heard a romanian language tune followed by a man then a woman talking. Later on, I heard what may have sounded like feature report of some kind, I don’t think it was a news broadcast. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/rri-11800-july-27-2016-8-47-16

11735 kHz, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation in Swahili via Dole, Zanzibar on July 28 at 1659UTC. They are only 50KW and while some sites list them as non directional, they aren’t. A directional curtain antenna has been spotted on Google maps, but I don’t know what their beam is. That being said, I can count on them being here daily. Somedays it’s poor, some days it’s fair and other days it’s somewhat good like this. There are even days when it’s near excellent with a clear, steady signal and good audio. In this clip, the audio sounds like a cross between being full of digital artifacts and some propagation issues. The audio is not as good as usual, but still pretty listenable with not much fading and little noise or interference. There was a song, followed by a little dead air then a station promotional announcement and another song. ZBC, when playing music, is an enjoyable listen! Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSvyT-Do1cE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSvyT-Do1cE

11950 kHz, Radio Romania International in French via Galbeni to Southern Europe on August 1, 2016 at 1640UTC. The signal was fair but with a moderate amount of fading. Thankfully, no interference or too much atmospheric noise. A woman talking in french, presumably reading the news. Audio is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PioNenuF358

12019 kHz, The Voice of Vietnam in Chinese(?) via Hanoi to Indonesia on July 31, 2016 at 2236UTC. I can usually hear the Voice of Vietnam shortwave broadcasts in multiple languages from their Vietnam based transmitter sites across very frequencies. This signal is fairly weak with some nooise and fading. It sounds like a news broadcast or feature report to me. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GRlWGQbBg

12035 kHz, Voice of Mongolia via Ulaanbatar with 180 degree beam south from Mongolia On August 1, 2016 at 0900UTC, I had the best signal ever from time. If it wasn’t for all the atmospheric noise and fading present, the signal would’ve been an incredibly pleasant listen. During this time, I happened to catch the DX’ers mailbox program in which they read out a letter from me. However, this is the second time the July 4th broadcast has been replayed. Still great to get them so well here, usually they are weak and barely above the noise floor. My Wellbrook ALA1530LNP was used here instead of the 225 foot longwire. The loop provided noise reduction and nulling/directional capabilities that really helped out! Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqTox0j8P3k (Here’s a tip when looking for VOM on 12035 and trying to log in: I think the carrier is turned on several minutes before the 0900UTC broadcast in english. The interval tune starts just a little before 0859UTC and I think the program runs the entire 30 minutes till 0930UTC, unlike what I think some sites suggest)

12060 kHz, Radio Algerienne via Issoudun to West Africa in French on July 26, 2016 at 2038UTC. none of Radio Algerienne’s signals are regular visitors and pretty weak as I recall, like this one with lots of noise and buzzing. Music and chat barely detectable above the noise floor. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pqdQKRrG0E

12095 kHz, BBC World Service in English to East Africa via Meyerton on July 23, 2016 at 1625UTC. A news broadcast in english, two men are discussing sports then a news anchor comes on to read the top stories. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/12095-bbc-english-to-east

13660 kHz, Radio Romania International in Romanian via Tiganesti to the Middle East on July 28, 2016 at 1655UTC. This was a GOOD signal with only a light amount of fading and very little noise. There was a woman talking for a bit then a man came on and mentioned the name of the station. A song played and the carrier was cut mid song without their usual interval tune. Audio is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7p0537mbc

15170 kHz, Radio Romania International in Spanish via Tiganesti to South America on August 1st, 2016 at 2101UTC. This signal was pretty weak with only a light amount of fading but plenty of atmospheric noise. It was hard to understand the woman talking, but you could clear make out the RRI news sounder noise part of the way through my recording. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYQ3l4iPWE

15205 kHz, BSKSA Holy Quran in Arabic via Ryadh on August 2, 2016 at 1704UTC. A fair to good signal but with a moderate amount of nosie and fading while a man chants. Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/onairdjpaulwalker/bsksa-holy-quran-15205-august

15235 kHz, Channel Africa in English via Meyerton to Western South Africa on August 2, 2016 at 1708UTC. Channel Africa is somewhat of a regular visitor up here as of late when conditions are good. They broadcast an hour long news segment in French from 1600 to 1700UTC followed by an hour long english broadcast. The signal this time around is fair but there’s alot of fading. The signal can be weak at times, but is usually steadier then this. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k0-lx8aLXM

15275 kHz & 11740 kHz, Deutsche Welle via Issoudun in French to Africa (17740 kHz) and West Africa (15275 kHz)on July 31, 2016 and August 2, 2016 bewteen 1700 and 1730UTC. 15275 kHz french service to Africa was heard on July 31 and August 1st. July 31st produced a fair to good signal with moderate fading but still very listenable. The August 1st broadcast proved a bit harder, it was weaker and with a fairly high amount of fading and noise. The 17740 kHz was heard on July 31st and was fair but with LOTS of noise and fading which made it hard to understand. 15275 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNBfkK4-UT4 (July 31) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhcZ6ZLLDP8 (August 2). 17740 kHz audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fdirw8RxKs

15400 kHz, Radio Romania International in Spanish via Tiganesti to South America on August 1, 2016 at 2259UTC. There is a fair amount of noise in the signal and it’s somewhat weak, but still fairly listenable. The signal starts off with the usual and easily identified interval signal followed the opening of the broadcast, introducing it in spanish and continuing on with the news. Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYQ3l4iPWE

15770 kHz, DigiDX via WRMI Okeechobee, Florida on July 31, 2016 at 2149UTC. It is a very weak signal plagued with lots of noise and fading but I did get plenty of MFSK32 text to decode and a picture to come through on FLDigi. It wasn’t error free, but it was pretty good considering what the signal sounded like. Audio is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMxYTrGA6Q (Bring up FLDigi on your computer and play this video in the background, and you’ll see, stuff DOES decode!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMxYTrGA6Q

Paul Walker is an avid Shortwave DX’er located in Galena, Alaska working at “Community Radio For Alaska: KIYU” as Program Director and is a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Be sure to check out Paul’s YouTube channel and SoundCloud channel where everything he logs is recorded and posted. Click here to read his other contributions on the SWLing Post.

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