Mount Evelyn DX Report: FOCUS ON RADIO VANUATU

FOCUS ON RADIO VANUATU

(Excerpts of this post were featured in the April 2020 column of World of Shortwave Listening in The Spectrum Monitor magazine. https://www.thespectrummonitor.com)

The island nation of Vanuatu (formerly known as New Hebrides until 1980) is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific. It is an archipelago of 82 islands stretching out across 810 miles with a total area of 4,739 square miles. 65 of the islands are inhabited, and they boast some of the most beautiful scenery in the Pacific with towering mountains, rich tropical forests and coral coastlines.

But Vanuatu is also one of the most disaster-prone countries, having been regularly subjected to numerous cyclones, earthquakes and volcanic activity. These natural disasters have inflicted a heavy toll on the economic fortunes of this tiny nation. In March 2015, Cyclone Pam carved out a trail of death and destruction across the entire archipelago with winds gusting up to more than 170 miles per hour. By the time the cyclone had passed, all communications were destroyed.

More than a week elapsed before the national broadcaster, Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC) returned to the airwaves, with shortwave and mediumwave (AM) transmitters operating at reduced power, and FM services attended to sometime later. Commercial communication services were also off the air, resulting in a total radio and television blackout during Vanuatu’s most significant natural disaster. Even when broadcast services were restored, citizens in the remotest far-flung islands were not able to tune into any radio stations for months after the disaster due to the feeble signals being transmitted from the nation’s capital, Port Vila.

Open-air market at Port Vila

But finally, some good news was announced on December 17, 2019. A joint commitment between Vanuatu, New Zealand and Australia saw the launch of new transmitters and antennas for both shortwave and mediumwave frequencies. The South Korean company Hanjin Electronics, a specialist in HF/MW/VHF/LF transmitters and antennas, are also suppliers to the Korean Broadcasting System, Korea Telecom, and the Korean military. Hanjin was commissioned to build an entirely new transmitter and antenna facility at VBTC’s Emten Lagoon, just outside Port Vila, on Efate Island.

On shortwave, the new transmitter is running the full 10 kW and already reports of reception have been received from other Pacific nations, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, USA and even as far away as Finland. Importantly, this HF service now boasts 100 per cent coverage across the Vanuatu archipelago. On mediumwave, another 10 kW transmitter covers the southern half of the country. A similar installation located in Luganville on the island of Espirito Santo will soon provide complete coverage of the northern half of the country. All antenna systems have been renovated.

Vanuatu sunset

In the past, VBTC has had to contend with dilapidated equipment and difficulty in sourcing spare parts. Damage to old transmitters regularly occurred due to a variable and unstable electrical supply. A new electrical system has been built to protect transmitter operations. Buildings housing this equipment are now air-conditioned, an absolute necessity for hot and humid tropical environments! In addition, a standby studio has been installed at the Emten Lagoon transmitter site to enable emergency operations in readiness for future disasters. One of the old transmitters has been repaired for this purpose.

Also, VBTC has negotiated to distribute 15,000 solar-powered multipurpose radios to remote communities free-of-charge. Every nation deserves a high-quality broadcasting system to provide regular news, entertainment, and education. It should also be robust enough to deliver reliable emergency communications in times of natural disasters and other unforeseen events. Radio Vanuatu is now well-placed to offer a quality nation-wide service to its citizens.

Radio Vanuatu's shortwave signal can often be heard beyond the Pacific region. Its broadcasting times are somewhat variable, but the station has the following registrations with the HFCC:

2485 kHz - 1000 to 1900 UTC
3945 kHz - 0700 to 1130 UTC and 1830 to 2400 UTC
5040 kHz - 0000 to 0700 UTC
7260 kHz - 1000 to 1900 UTC

However, as I currently post this, the above schedule is nothing like reality! 7260 kHz appears not to be currently used on a regular basis. From the other three registrations, 2485 and 3945 kHz are quite regularly heard, with 5040 making an appearance on occasions. Also, during cyclone season (November to April) or other natural disasters, listen out for extended schedules.

To make matters even more complicated, some current transmitter/antenna technical issues are resulting in unintended harmonics on 7890 (2nd harmonic), 11835 (3rd) and 15780 kHz (4th). All three of these harmonics have been heard here at Mount Evelyn with 11835 being the strongest. Indeed, the 25mb harmonic has also been noted in parts of the United States! VBTC engineers have been aware of the harmonics for several months now but don't appear to be in a hurry to rectify the problem.

Languages used are Bislama and English, but French has also be heard occasionally. Bislama is a pidgin or creole language consisting of a mix of Melanesian grammar and some English vocabulary and names.