SHORTWAVE UNDER STRAIN: Energy Crisis and its Broadcast Impact
SHORTWAVE UNDER STRAIN: Energy Crisis and its Broadcast Impact The longer this global energy crisis persists, the more havoc it is likely to wreak across many developing countries in Africa, Asia. and Latin America. In energy-constrained economies, power shortages can disproportionately affect lower-income populations. We are likely to see intermittent broadcasting schedules from countries operating small shortwave services. For example, Radio Mali’s shortwave signals on 5995 kHz and 9635 kHz have lately been anything but consistent. For DXers, this behaviour naturally raises questions, but the answer appears to lie well beyond the transmitter site, in the broader energy problems and civil unrest in Bamako. Long-time Californian DXer Ron Howard highlighted an April 20 travel advisory from the Government of Canada noting ongoing fuel shortages and strained infrastructure across Mali. In a system where electricity generation relies heavily on diesel, that detail is particularly tel...
