OPENING THE LOGBOOK - FEBRUARY 1972
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| We begin this month's "Opening the Logbook" with a touch of Rio! Radio Globo, heard on 11805 kHz during February 1972. |
OPENING THE LOGBOOK - FEBRUARY 1972
Each month, I open up the old records to see what I (and others) heard from decades past. It has been fun looking back at old issues of the Australian DX News (the newsletter of the Australian Radio DX Club), bringing back lots of memories. Here are some memories from February 1972—54 years ago!
All frequencies in kHz; all times are UTC (or GMT, as we used to say in those days!).
Shortwave News
In February, much excitement was generated by early reports of the new commercial station, Swazi Commercial Radio, from Mbabane, Swaziland, operating on the 90 mb frequency of 3223 kHz. First noted in Australia in late February by Bob Padula, the station was heard playing pop songs, with short English announcements and poor-quality modulation! According to "Sweden Calling DXers" and the South African DX Club bulletin, the schedule was 0400-0600 and 16-00-2000 (Sat/Sun to 2300) on 3223 kHz and 0600-1600 on 6155 kHz. Power was believed to be 10 kW. In fact, testing began on January 29 at reduced power. It was reported that operations were automated and controlled from Johannesburg, South Africa. Does anyone remember this station?
As we approached the March equinox, here in southeastern Australia, we saw the usual increase in Brazilian stations, including: 4995 R. Brasil Central, 5975 R. Guaruja, 6035 R. Globo, 6115 R. Tupi, 6135 R TV Gaucha, 6185 R. Bandierantes, 9645 R. Cultura de Pocos de Caldas, 9675 R. Diario da Manha, and others.
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| Radio Bandeirantes in São Paulo on 6185 kHz was also heard in February, with this verification letter arriving in April. |
The Finnish Broadcasting Company circulated a schedule that included tests planned for a 1 kW transmitter from March 5 on 21595 and 21605 kHz.
The University of Adelaide, South Australia, received a callsign as VL5UV. Transmissions were expected to start in late March or early April on 1630 kHz (MW) with 300 watts. Licence restrictions specified that broadcasts could only program lecture material related to university courses - no news or sports results, and no time calls. Individuals (private citizens enrolled in Adult Education Programs) could also enrol as students for a $4 to $6 fee. This would entitle them to a comprehensive kit to help with radio lectures. The station intended to verify reception reports by QSL card. Plans for this station were formulated in 1969, and a broadcast licence was granted following an anonymous gift of $100,000 to the University (....which was a lot of money 55 years ago!).
Radio Mexico planned to conduct a series of tests in Japanese during the first 18 days of March, between 1400-1600 UTC, on their usual frequencies of 21705, 17835, 11770, and 9705 kHz, Glenn Hauser reported. Also reported were other Mexican stations, including 6185 La Voz del Mexico, 11820 XEBR La Pantera (Hermosillo), 9600 R. Universidad, and 9555 XETT La Hora Exacta.
Interesting monitoring noted by Australian DXers included 3260 Niamey, Niger, 3300 Bujumbura, Burundi, 4765 C.R.E Rediodifusora del Ecuador, 4813 Ouagadougou, Upper Volta (now known as Burkina Faso), 4865 Ponta Delgada, Azores, and 4904.5 Fort Lamy (now known as N'Djamena), Chad, and 9555 R. Nacional, San Salvador on late with election results and running parallel on 5980. Also noted were the low-powered CFRX Toronto and CHNX Halifax.
Some Shortwave History!
This mediumwave QSL (below) from 9PA Port Moresby on 1250 kHz missed the mark with the details! I had to cross out and correct a bit here! There is some history in this card, too. Papua New Guinea was administered by Australia as a single territory from 1945. It comprised the former British protectorate of Papua, which had been an Australian territory since 1906, and the former German colony of New Guinea. The nation of Papua New Guinea achieved its independence from Australia on 16 September 1975. That is why this 1972 QSL card still lists broadcasts as provided by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, rather than the National Broadcasting Commission of Papua New Guinea, as it was known just a few years later.
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| The back of a Radio Japan QSL card received from the mediumwave station JOAK in Tokyo on 590 kHz. A distance of approx 8100 km. It was not uncommon for some of the NHK AM stations to "borrow" cards from the international broadcaster. |
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| This ageing WINB QSL arrived from Red Lion, Penn., in February, in response to a report sent in November 1972. This was in the days when WINB could be heard on three or four different frequencies rather than the lone 9265 kHz today. |
The Logbook
As I prepared to start my final year of high school, my logbook contained the usual international broadcasters plus the following:
2446 ORTF St Denis, Reunion Island. This 4 kW outlet produced only a poor signal at 1750 UTC (3:50 am local time here). But I did get a verification in under three weeks, which was impressive!
6185 R. Bandeirantes, Brazil. 0840 with a fair signal from their 10 kW transmitter.
9455 R. Pakistan - Karachi. An English broadcast at 2000 and a good signal. 54 years later, I'm still waiting for the QSL card! (sigh!) 😄
10010 R. Liberation - Hanoi. A fair signal at 1030 UTC. After five months, I received a QSL letter. It's here.......somewhere!
11805 R. Globo, Brazil. 0912 with Brazilian pops and excited anncts to wake up the locals.
15560 R. Bangladesh - Dacca. A fair signal at 1230 UTC
PLUS a couple of mediumwave reception reports:
610 KUAM Guam. At 1330 witha fair signal.
650 8DR Darwin. A fair signal at 1335 from this 2 kW outlet.
655 R. Pyongyang, North Korea. Korean at 1305. No reply to my reception report, sadly.
Radio Liberation
I mentioned this North Vietnam broadcaster above. Radio Liberation (Đài Phát thanh Giải phóng) was the broadcasting service of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, later identifying itself as the voice of the Provisional Revolutionary Government.
It began operations in 1962 and became more prominent after 1969, during the later years of the Vietnam War. The station broadcast news and political commentary to audiences in South Vietnam and abroad, with programs in Vietnamese and in foreign languages such as English and French. Its role was primarily political and psychological, presenting events from the NLF perspective and countering broadcasts from Saigon and Western stations.
Although the station claimed to transmit from "liberated zones" in the South, monitoring reports and frequency lists from the early 1970s show that its signals—including those on 10010 kHz—were almost certainly coming from transmitters near Hanoi, shared with the Voice of Vietnam network. Frequencies like 7470 kHz and 10010 kHz were regularly logged by shortwave listeners in this period. After the war and Vietnam's reunification, Radio Liberation was dissolved, and its functions were absorbed into the national broadcasting system by about 1976.
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| This very thin slip of paper from All India Radio was sent in February 1972. The confirmation arrived one year later on February 19, 1973! By that time, I had long forgotten I'd sent the reception report! |
An oversized QSL from "Radio i" in Auckland, New Zealand. The 5 kW transmitter put out a good signal into Australia on 1590 kHz. Since then, the station has been rebranded several times.
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| Radio Moscow had a respectable signal on its mediumwave English-language broadcasts to Australia and New Zealand on 1250 kHz. We were not sure which site the transmission was beamed from, but we suspected it was in Asiatic Russia rather than on the European side. |
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| This Radio Thailand QSL was used for many years. |
73 and good DX,
Rob Wagner VK3BVW
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© Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2026
Hi Rob
ReplyDeleteMore great memories for sure. I have a Swazi Music Radio recorded on 4980 kHz if that is the same station.
73 Dan
Hi Dan. Yes, that is the same station. It went from Swazi Commercial Radio, to Swazi Music Radio, which was one of several name changes that the station undertook over a number of years. Other changes included Swazi Radio, and Radio S-R. It was located very close to the border with South Africa, and beamed pop music for a young Sth African audience. I think 4980 was a frequency they used sometime later.
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