RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL - Transmitter Sites

One of the 2021 series of brightly coloured QSLs
from Radio Taiwan International (from the author’s collection)


Radio Taiwan International
Transmitter Sites


(This post is an edited version of an article I wrote for "The World of Shortwave Listening" column of The Spectrum Monitor magazine - April 2022 issue. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com)


Updated: Dec 23, 2024


 

Heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan have caused the global community to look critically at China's military expansion in the region. As a result, Radio Taiwan International continues to maintain an active presence on shortwave. 


Photo courtesy James Wang
Included in their schedule are broadcasts in Mandarin, Cantonese, Amoy, Vietnamese, Thai, Hakka, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese. In addition, French and Russian programming can be heard via the Kostinbrod transmitters in Bulgaria. Also, there is a Sunday-only service in French to West Africa via the Issoudun, France transmitters on 9680 kHz between 1900 and 2000 UTC. And, of course, there are Spanish broadcasts via the WRMI transmitters at Okeechobee, FL (consult the WRMI website for frequencies and times).


Currently, there exists only one possibility to hear RTI broadcasts in English:

 

9405 kHz - 1600-1700 UTC to South Asia and Africa via the Tamsui, Taiwan transmitter.




Sneaking a look at RTI's transmitter sites!

The majority of RTI's broadcasts originate from three transmitter sites located in Taiwan, on the western side of the island, roughly 100 miles off the southeastern coast of China. Recently, I spent an afternoon researching these three transmitter locations and discovered that they are pretty easy to find on Google Maps. 


So, I'm aiming to make this blog post somewhat "interactive".  I'm giving you the coordinates so that you can investigate for yourself and have some fun snooping around the three transmitter sites! 😁


Below are the three sites and their decimalized geographic coordinates: 

  1. Input (copy and paste!) the listed coordinates into the Google Maps search box.
  2. Switch to the satellite view, and you can see the layout of each site. Zoom in and out to investigate the location in greater detail.
  3. Switch to street view to better view the antenna arrays. Put the little yellow man on the street. Move up and down the streets to observe the site at eye level. 

 

Baozhong transmitter site: This is located in a farming district 1 km (half a mile) NW of the Baozhong township (Yunlin Province), about 10 km (6 miles) from the coast of the Strait separating China and Taiwan. This site beams in a wide arc from southeast Asia at 225 degrees to Korea and Japan at 45 degrees via 100, 250 and 300 kW transmitters. The majority of programming is in a variety of languages from RTI. However, there are also brokered services for Radio Free Asia, and the opposition (clandestine) broadcasters Nippon no Kaze, Furusato no Kaze, Radio Dáp Lòi Sông Núi and Radio NUG.

 

Google Maps: 23.726408769838333, 120.30060609366404 

 


Kouhu transmitter site: There are four towers near the Kouhu Wetlands area (an excellent place for antennas with high salt content in an always-wet soil), 5 km (3 miles) south of the Kouhu township. This site is about 24 km (15 miles) SSW of the Baozhong site, beaming to the mainland between 225 and 310 degrees. The majority of these RTI broadcasts cover different parts of China with 100 kW transmitters. In addition, there are two high-powered (250 and 300 kW) mediumwave outlets on 1098 and 1557 kHz that share airtime between RTI and brokered services for KBS (South Korea) and Radio Free Asia.

 

Google Maps: 23.537222589938057, 120.17427565337934. This is the entrance to the transmitter site and one antenna. 


However, you can follow the feeders across the road to a nearby field with multiple arrays at Google Maps: 23.535464372696268, 120.16731328603245

 


Tamsui (a.k.a. Tanshui, Danshui):  Located about 15 km (9 miles) north of the area known as New Taipei (Taipei Province), this site sits close to the coast, within easy walking distance to Shalun Beach. Tamsui beams mainly to North Korea, Northern China, plus one service to South Asia (6100 kHz). Transmitter power to these areas is either 100, 250 or 300 kW. The site also brokers broadcasts for Furusato no Kaze, Nippon no Kaze, and National Unity Radio. 

 

Google Maps: 25.185822767669876, 121.41618189087112

 


Learning about these transmitter sites can be an interesting and enjoyable part of the DXing hobby. Let me know how you go finding these sites.


73 and good DX to you all,


Rob Wagner VK3BVW



CLICK HERE for VK3BVW Live Stream (Clublog)



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© Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2025

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