Radio New Zealand Pacific

ONE OF MY FAVORITE RADIO STATIONS: Radio New Zealand Pacific, transmitting from Rangitaiki (New Zealand). In a relay broadcast of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) Wantok, this news service to Micronesia in Tok Pisin (Pidgin English) was logged on 5.945 kHz, from 11.30 till 12.00 UTC, 2 July 2020. News reports focused primarily on Covid-19 and domestic violence cases around Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and elsewhere in Micronesia.

Why relay the ABC Wantok programme from New Zealand? Well, it's like this, ABC -- some say foolishly -- ceased all SW broadcasts a few years back, so they buy air time from Radio New Zealand. Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, all have SW, MW and/or FM transmitters, but in the event of a cyclone or flooding these islands are so badly affected the transmitters are rendered useless. Internet and power-lines are destroyed as well, and if operational only a few islanders have access. That's where remote radio transmissions for news and weather play a vital role, and Radio New Zealand Pacific serves that purpose; they even have their own Tok Pisin programming, not just the ABC. 

Anyway, stations like RNZ Pacific and the few remaining broadcasters in Micronesia, South East Asia, Central Asia and Africa  always had an exotic appeal to me when growing up in the States. One might say they fueled my wanderlust to travel beyond familiar borders, and that's why, in part, I ended up in South East Asia.

That said, a reception report was submitted online at the RNZ Pacific website on 2 July 2020. An eQSL was received on 14 July 2020.

RX: Alinco DX-R8T ANT: 1/4 wave QTH: Malaysia