QSL Cards for July 2022

Radio Taiwan International. Paochung, Taiwan.

RTM Sarawak FM. Kajang, Malaysia.

VORW Radio International. Moosbrunn, Austria.

Radio Liberty. Al-Dhabbiya, UAE.

Radio Taiwan International. Paochung, Taiwan. 

Radio Free Asia. Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands.

Radio Free Asia. Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.

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

 

Canada Post Communication Technology - Sir Stanford Fleming and Guglielmo Marconi

Canada Post on 31 October 2002 issued a dual stamp set honouring Communication Technology pioneers Sir Sanford Fleming (The Pacific Cable) and Guglielmo Marconi (Wireless Telegraphy). Five million of these se-tenants were printed. The printer was Lowe-Martin Company Inc.

Sir Sandford Fleming FRSC KCMG (1827 –1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, and use of the 24-hour clock as key elements to communicating the accurate time, all of which influenced the creation of Coordinated Universal Time. He designed Canada's first postage stamp, produced a great deal of work in the fields of land surveying and map making, engineered much of the Intercolonial Railway and the first several hundred kilometers of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada and founder of the Canadian Institute (a science organisation in Toronto).

Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi FRSA (1874 –1937) was an Italian (and Irish on maternal side) inventor and electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi being credited as the inventor of radio,  and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy"

Source: Wikipedia and Canada Post

Radio Taiwan International (via Paochung)

Radio Taiwan International, transmitting from Paochung (Taiwan), was  received on  12 July 2022. Their English language broadcast of Taiwan news, and regular programmes "Here in Taiwan'' and "Behind the Beat'' was heard from 16.00 to 16.57 UTC. Reception on 9.405  kHz rated a SINPO of 44354 -- strong and clear signal, despite moderate atmospheric noise.

Reception report was emailed on the following day. A QSL card was received on 27 July 2022.

RX:  Alinco DX-R8T EXT ANT: Passive Loop QTH: Central West Malaysia

RTM Sarawak FM (via Kajang)

RTM Sarawak FM, transmitting from Kajang (approximately 40km northwest of my home), was logged 26 July 2022. Malay language programme of Malay pop songsters, together with a discussion by DJ Yuzz and DJ Lynn on education after SPM ("...pelajaran selepas SPM") was monitored from 00.15 till 00.50 UTC (08.10 till 08.50 AM local time). Reception on 9.835 kHz rated SINPO of 35343 -- fair signal strength with discernible audio content, despite atmospheric noise and slight fading. Reception quality worsened with a weaker signal and more noise after 00.45 UTC. HERE is RTM Sarawak FM.

Reception report was emailed to Unit Pengukuran dan Kualiti RTM Kajang at noon on the same day. An eQSL arrived a four hours later. 

Email:
pnk_rtmkajang@rtm.gov.my

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

Radio Trivia

 

BEING THE RADIO AFICIONADO that I am,  does anyone know what RADIO was used in the pilot and publicity stills of the 1960s American sitcom "Gilligan's Island"?

Here's a clue. Mr. Howell aka Jim Backus is holding the radio in this publicity still. It was a Magnavox Celestial model FM-97. The radio was a four band, battery operated transistor radio with dual telescoping antennas. It featured AM/FM/SW1/SW2 bands, which given the times  would have made a better radio than the 8 transistor Packard Bell  8RT2 AM radio which was used throughout the three year run of the TV series. 

I say it would have made a better choice on a remote island for a couple of reasons. One, AM radio coverage while good at night would have been very poor during the daytime on Gilligan's Island. Lastly, SW (shortwave) was in its heyday in the 1960s and stations from around the world would have kept the castaways better informed.

That said, the  Packard Bell 8RT2 radio, which was made in Japan -- similar to the Aiwa AR-851 -- was a rather compact tabletop radio and had two battery holders for 4 D cell batteries. We know this from an episode where the castaways were trying to recharge the batteries using coconut shells and sea water. The prop department also added a handle and antenna to the radio.

So, should this bit of trivia ever come up, now you know 😊.

VORW Radio International (via Moosbrunn)

VORW Radio International, transmitting from Moosbrunn, Austria, was logged on 1 July 2022, from 16.00 till 17.00 UTC. Music requests from listeners was presented by John, the programme host. Reception on 9.670 kHz initially rated a SINPO of 44343 with a good signal but station scatter from a stronger China station (CRI) on an adjacent frequency, moderate fading and atmospheric noise.  Reception steadily improved to a SINPO of 55454 -- albeit, a tad noisier this week than previously. HERE's how VORW (Moosbrunn) sounded near the end of their broadcast.  

Reception report was emailed the following day. An eQsl card arrived on 9 July 2022.

Email: vorwinfo@gmail.com

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

Radio Liberty (via Al-Dhabbiya)

Radio Liberty, transmitting from Al-Dhabbiya, UAE, was received on 20 June 2022. A Tajik language broadcast of current event reports was monitored from 16.50 till 17.00 UTC (Broadcast time 16.00 till 17.00 UTC). Reception on 11.850 kHz rated a SINPO of 55454 - strong signal, clear audio despite slight atmospheric noise .HERE's Radio Liberty (Al-Dhabbiya).

Reception report was emailed on the following day. QSL card arrived in the mail on 7 July 2022.

I have to tip my hat to  RFE/Radio Liberty. This series of QSL cards represent a historic glimpse of Americana at their station. Besides my previous QSL card depicting Martin Luther King in an interview at RFE, I now have this card of Count Bassie  discussing jazz over RFE. Awesome archive photos, RFE/Radio Liberty. Thank you.

Email: hokuvovaj@rferl.org

RX:  Alinco DX-R8T ANT: Passive Loop QTH: Central West Malaysia

Radio Taiwan International (via Paochung)

Radio Taiwan International, transmitting from Paochung, Taiwan, was logged on 8 June 2022. English language broadcast of news, programmes Here in Taiwan, Hashtag Taiwan and Status Update was monitored from 03.00 to 04.00 UTC. Reception on  15.320  kHz rated of: 55555 -- strong signal, clear audio, no fading, no noise -- excellent!

Reception report was submitted on 11 June 2022. QSL card arrived in the mail on 6 July 2022.

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

Radio Free Asia (via Tinian and Saipan)

Radio Free Asia, transmitting from Tinian and Saipan, was received on 22 May 2022. A Khmer language broadcast of current event reports was monitored from 22.35 till 23.05 UTC. Reception on the short-wave frequencies on 12.140 kHz (Tinian) rated a SINPO of  45343 -- fair signal strength, clear audio content despite atmospheric noise and fading; SINPO on 13.715 kHz (via Saipan) was 45544 -- reception was good and much better with less noise and fading.

Reception report was emailed on the same day. QSL cards arrived in the mail on 5 July 2022.

RX: Alinco DX-R8T EXT ANT: Passive Loop QTH: Central West Malaysia

80th Anniversary of Radio Moldova.

MOLDOVA POST on 29 October 2010 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 80th anniversary of Radio Moldova. Cancellation postmark originated from Chişinău, Republic of Moldova. The printer was Tipografia Centrală, Chişinău and the designer was Vitalie Roşca. The stamp depicted the heaquarters of Radio Moldova. This particular FDC also carries an antique radio (one of two) issued in 2019.

The first radio transmission from Moldova was broadcast on 1 November 1928 by the Radiotelephonic Broadcasting Company in Bucharest. On 30 October 1930, in Tiraspol started broadcasting a Soviet radio station of 4 kW whose main purpose was the anti-Romanian propaganda to Moldova between Prut and Dniester. A new radio mast, M. Gorky, built in 1936 in Tiraspol, allowed greater coverage of the territory of Bessarabia. In that context, in 1937, Chişinău City Hall gave the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company a building to open the first radio station in Chişinău, to counter Soviet propaganda. Experimental programmes began in the early days of June 1939. The transmitter installed by Marconi Company in Chişinău was the best in Romania. The first radio station in Chişinău was "twice stronger than that of Bucharest or that one in Tiraspol" wrote Gazeta Basarabiei in July 1939.

Source: Wikipedia

40th Anniversary of Radio Prague and National Radio Broadcasting in Czechoslovakia

CZECHOSLOVAKIA POST on 18 May 1963 issued two first day cover stamps to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Radio Prague and national radio broadcasting in Czechoslovakia.

 

RTI Calendar -- July 2022

 

Radio Taiwan International calendar for July 2022