*
Theme
-
00:00
“Birthday Serenade” -
Willi Glahe
*
Opening Announcement - 00:15
Welcome to “Wavescan”,
international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Give Christmas greetings
Researched and written in
Indianapolis, produced in studios of shortwave WRMI
Program outline
1.
Christmas Island Adventure - 2: The Radio Broadcasting Scene
2.
Polynesian Christmas - Part 3
3. International
DX News
4. Special QSL of the
Week: Christmas Island Radio Beacon XMX
*
Christmas Island Adventure - 2: The Radio Broadcasting Scene - 01:04
Here in Wavescan last week, we
presented the story of the early wireless and radio years on Christmas Island, the Australian
island in the Indian Ocean. That topic
took us up to the war years in the middle of last century. In our program today, we continue this
Christmas Island saga with information subsequent to the war years, and in
particular, the radio broadcasting scene on this lonely and isolated
island.
The Australian Christmas Island lies
off the coast of Indonesia, some 300 miles south of the island of Java. The only radio station on Christmas Island at
the time of the Pacific War was destroyed in the Japanese invasion in
1942. Perhaps the Japanese also
installed a wireless communication station on the island during their more than
three years of occupation, though there is no known information regarding this
possibility.
In the developmental years after the
end of World War 2, a new communication station was installed on Christmas
Island, though dates and information are uncertain. Perhaps it was under the British after the
war, or perhaps it was under the Australians after the island was transferred
to Australian jurisdiction in 1957.
However, when the new station was
installed, it was still in some way associated with the British Phosphate
Commission, though the known callsign was not a British callsign, but rather an
Australian callsign towards the end of the VL series, VLU. In 1960, the British Phosphate callsign for
shipping was also an Australian callsign, towards the end of the VI series,
VIY. This callsign VIY had been in use a
hundred years earlier for a spark wireless station located at Mt. Gambier in
South Australia.
According to a report in the October
1961 issue of the Australian monthly magazine, Radio & Hobbies, the Voice
of America conducted a feasibility test transmission on Christmas Island in an
endeavor to ascertain the suitability of the location for a large shortwave
station to broadcast into Asia. This report came from the noted
international radio monitor in New Zealand, Arthur Cushen. However, though this short report seems to
indicate that transmission tests were made, it is not known as to whether the
Voice of America imported their own transmitter for the tests, or whether the
available low powered VLU was used for this purpose.
In 1965, the resident Communication
Engineer diverted the usage of a radio-telephone communication transmitter and
he broadcast music and information for the benefit of local residents. Initially this program service in the
mediumwave band was on the air without callsign.
On September 1, 1967, the radio
broadcasting service was officially inaugurated under the subsidiary callsign
VLU2, with 500 watts on 1420 kHz.
Apparently a new transmitter was installed for this purpose.
Programming was in three languages:
English, Malay and Chinese. Usually the
transmitter was left on the air with an open carrier outside programming hours
so that local residents could be alerted to any important information,
including shipping and aircraft movements.
A new solid state transmitter was
installed in 1978, with three units at 125 kHz each. Any two of these units could be combined to
provide an output power of 250 watts. In
November of that same year (1978), the VLU2 transmitter was modified to conform
to the new international 9 kHz spacing, and the operating frequency was changed
from 1420 kHz to 1422 kHz.
Over the years, station VLU2 has
also relayed programming from the BBC London, Radio Australia Melbourne, ABC
Local Radio, and Radio Singapore International.
All of these program relays were taken live off the air shortwave. Back at that time, the Radio Australia relay
station near Carnarvon in Western Australia propagated an excellent signal into
Christmas Island, and likewise the old regional shortwave station VLW at
Wanneroo could also be heard at a good level on the island.
The VLU2 entries in the World Radio
TV Handbook indicate that the studios of the local mediumwave station have
always been located at Lower Drumsite, and the transmitter at Phosphate Hill,
both sites quite near to the main settlements at the north coast of the
island. The studios and offices for
mediumwave VLU2 are located in the Radio Building on Murray Road.
Interestingly, there was one attempt
at a shortwave relay from Christmas Island, and this took place under the
concept of a Nordic DX Test in 1991. At
the request of a northern European DX club, a relay from mediumwave VLU2 was
carried live on shortwave VLU with 150 watts SSB single side band on 11765
kHz. There are no known reception
reports of this special broadcast on shortwave.
The request for this special broadcast was lodged by Gordon Darling and
it was announced by Andy Sennitt in Media Network from Radio Netherlands.
In 1972, serious consideration was
given for the second time to the possibility of installing a large international
shortwave station on Christmas Island.
On this occasion, the concept was mooted by the British government,
though both the BBC London and Radio Australia participated in a preliminary
feasibility study.
The BBC was interested in installing
a total of 21 shortwave transmitters, each at a power of 250 kW, together with
a massive array of antennas, and an associated system of electric power
generators. The BBC suggested that Radio
Australia could use up to 14 transmitters at any one time with the only cost,
just paying for the electricity.
At that time, the lease for the BBC
Relay Station at Tebrau in Malaysia was soon to expire, and the BBC needed a
new transmitter location. In addition,
Singapore was interested in establishing a steel mill and a cement works on
Christmas Island. However, due to the
exorbitant costs associated with the entire super station project, this massive
shortwave station never progressed beyond the planning stage. Instead an alternate location at Kanji in
Singapore was chosen.
Both FM radio and downlink TV came
to Christmas Island more than ten years ago, and these days there are six low
powered FM stations on the air with a relay of ABC and commercial programming
from Perth in Western Australia.
Likewise, there are five different TV channels on the air from low
powered downlink relay stations at three different locations near the
settlement areas; Drumsite, Phosphate Hill and Rocky Point.
Back in December 2003, a Melbourne
commercial company obtained a license for a mediumwave commercial broadcasting
station on Christmas Island, identified as VZB804 with 400 watts on 1620
kHz. However, it would appear that this
station was never installed. A longwave
aircraft radio beacon is on the air on Christmas Island, XMX with 100 watts on
341 kHz. This low powered beacon is
sometimes heard in Australia.
Then around five years ago, the
usage of the nostalgic mediumwave callsign came to an end, and VLU2 was
allotted an Australian callsign 6ABCRN, indicating ABC Radio National in
Western Australia. Thus, the end of
another radio era!
* International
DX News
- 09:30
KVOH procures Christian Voice in
Zambia, Africa
150 acres, 12 buildings
2 Continental
transmitters @ 100 kW
2 TCI high gain long
range antennas
REE Spain, closed on October 15, is
to be reactivated during December
* Program
Announcement - 13:19
Allen Graham
* Polynesian
Christmas - Part 3 - 14:11
Next Thursday is
Christmas Day, and once again, we wish you all Season’s Greetings and every happiness for
the Christmas season. In our program
today, we again present a broadcast from Radio New Zealand International, under
the title “Polynesian
Christmas” -
Part 3. This program was originally
broadcast in New Zealand during the Christmas season back in the year 2006, and
we present it here in “Wavescan” today
by courtesy of David Ricquish at Radio Heritage in Wellington, and Adrian
Sainsbury at Radio New Zealand International.
Part 1 and Part 2 of this recording from New Zealand have been presented
here in Wavescan on previous occasions.
David Ricquish formerly served as
the Consul in Los Angeles California, representing the government of New
Zealand; and his wife, Jo del Monaco, is a member of the royal family in Monte
Carlo over there in Europe. We might
add, that you will notice that Jo del Monaco is fluent in several European
languages.
Here now is “Polynesian
Christmas”
- Part 3, from Radio New Zealand International.
SPP12 - RNZI15c: Polynesian Christmas
00:00 Theme music
Mailbox
intro
Silent Night
music
Weather
forecast
. . . . good
conditions over Christmas.”
03:40 03:40 Cut
24:25 Jo del Monaco, Christmas
greetings, Portuguese
South American locations mentioned
Christmas song, same language, male singer, guitar,
orchestra
Jo del
Monaco, Christmas greetings Italian
European
locations mentioned
Christmas
song, English, USA locations mentioned in song
David Ricquish
& Polynesian girl, Christmas greetings
Adrian
Sainsbury, greetings
RNZI
Mailbox theme
33:10 8:45 Maximum
Total 12:25 Maximum:
If this item is too long, then cut or fade at any stage as needed.
*
SQOTW20 Special QSL of the Week: Christmas Island Radio Beacon XMX
- 24:46
On August 28, 1977, my wife and I
were flying from Perth in Western Australia towards Indonesia on our way back
for another term of service in Southern Asia.
As the large passenger airliner was nearing the islands of Indonesia,
the Captain invited me into the Flight Deck and he gave me the use of one of
the plane’s
radio receivers. I tuned to the longwave
channel 341 kHz and heard the aircraft radio beacon with its beeps in Morse
Code, identifying the letters XMX.
I sent a reception report together
with a do-it-yourself QSL card to the airport on isolated and lonely Christmas
Island in the Indian Ocean. Exactly
eleven years later, I received the previously prepared QSL card, duly signed
and rubber stamped, together with a note acknowledging the delay. The do-it-yourself prepared verification
information was rubber stamped onto a large double folded card from Radio
Australia, showing a Tiger Cat on the
picture side of the card. The
power of the air beacon transmitter on 341 kHz is shown as 100 watts.
*
Music of the World - 26:03
Bing
Crosby: Hawaiian Christmas Song
*
Closing Announcement - 26:21
Thanks for listening to “Wavescan”,
international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Researched and written in Indianapolis
Next week:-
1.
The Philippine Radio Story - 8: Press Wireless Returns to the Air
2.
WRMI Insert
3.
Australian DX Report
Several QSL cards available. Send your AWR & KSDA reception reports
for Wavescan to the AWR address in Indianapolis; and
also to the station your radio is tuned to: WRMI or WWCR
or KVOH, or to the AWR relay stations that carry Wavescan. Remember too, you can send a reception report to each
of the DX reporters when their segment is on the
air here in Wavescan: Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia &
India. They will verify with a colorful QSL card. Return postage and an address label are
always appreciated.
Wavescan address:-
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229 USA
Wavescan @ AWR.org
Jeff White, shortwave WRMI
*
Music Outrun - 28:10
*
Program Ends - 28:55
