An early QSL from Radio Bangladesh, one month after the newly-formed country changed its name from East Pakistan. See the Logbook entry and QSLs in the Mailbox sections below.
OPENING THE LOGBOOK - MARCH 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 (ADXN - the newsletter of the Australian Radio DX Club), bringing back lots of memories. Here are some memories from March 1972—54 years ago!
All frequencies in kHz; all times are UTC (or GMT, as we used to say in those days!).
Shortwave News
According to announcements heard on a March 25 broadcast from the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, a new 500kW shortwave transmitter with a rotatable curtain antenna was to be introduced at Sottens. The shortwave transmitter began broadcasting in 1972 on the 9, 11, 15, 17, and 21 MHz bands. It was switched off on October 23rd, 2004. The transmitter and the antenna were dismantled in February 2005. This was the last Swiss shortwave transmitter.
Also announced in March was the scheduled commencement of tests for the new Deutsche Welle transmitter at Wertachtal, starting April 10. It was intended that five transmitters would be in operation in time for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Reception reports for the test transmissions would be confirmed with a special QSL. During test broadcasts, variations would be made to antenna directivity, output power and swapping of transmitter sites (Jülich or Wertachtal) for comparison purposes. In the Australian DX News, it was speculated that the Wertach Valley station could be considered as a separate entity because of its location in Bavaria, provided that the transmitter location was indicated on any QSLs received.
Still in West Germany, ARDXC member Robert Jones (from memory a VOA monitor) observed, "It now appears likely that Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty will cease operations on June 30th (1972), unless special funds are approved by the US Congress. Although perhaps approving of the purpose of the above station, most DXers would welcome the absence of the jammers on the dozens of frequencies used by them. If these stations are discontinued, it is interesting to speculate on the future of the transmitters. No doubt, the VOA and other broadcasters will be interested in the powerful facilities of the Radio Liberty relay station at Playa de Pals, in Spain, comprising two 500 kW transmitters, three 250 kW Txers and one 100 kW unit." History repeats itself, perhaps!
Planned for April 1, the "Voice of Hope" (Adventist World Radio), using the facilities of Radio Trans-Europe (Sines, Portugal), would operate on a completely different schedule. The new times would be introduced "following a comprehensive analysis from the hundreds of letters and reception reports received in response to the Adventist broadcasts since October 1st, 1971" - Allen R. Steele, Coordinator, AWR, RTE.
Also, noted in the March ADXN was that VOH programming carried over RTE emanated from studios in Lisbon via a VHF link to a relay station near the picturesque fishing town of Sesimbra (about 45 km south of Lisbon), then onto the 250 kW transmitter at Sines (about 160 km south of Lisbon). Three antenna systems were feeding Southern Europe and North Africa, Central Europe and Northern Europe.
Remembering ETLF - Radio Voice of the Gospel
My logging and reception report of ETLF in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (see below) reminded me of that beautiful sign-on music of the Elizabethan Serenade. Click the Play button below for the interval signal of African drums, station identification and a partial playing of the serenade. (Not my recording...my apologies to the owner, but I forgot where I found this some years ago).
But I discovered an interesting story behind this music.
"Elizabethan Serenade" is a quintessential piece of light orchestral music composed by Ronald Binge in 1951. It is most famously associated with the Mantovani Orchestra, which first broadcast the piece on the radio in 1951.
When first performed by Mantovani, the piece was titled "Andante Cantabile".
Binge renamed it "Elizabethan Serenade" in 1952 to capture the optimism surrounding the accession of Queen Elizabeth II.
The "Mantovani Sound": The British light music composer, Ronald Binge, was Mantovani's primary arranger and is credited with creating the orchestra's signature "cascading strings" effect.
The composition won Binge an Ivor Novello Award and became an international hit, charting in Germany and South Africa.
A version with lyrics by Christopher Hassall, titled "Where the Gentle Avon Flows", was also released.
It served as the signature tune for the BBC Light Programme series Music in Miniature and was the play-out for the British Forces Network.
The track was featured in the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic.
In 1968, a reggae version titled "Elizabeth Reggay" was released by Boris Gardiner & the Love People.
But wait!
When I went looking for the recording, Shazam identified it as "Our Last Affair"! What's more, some other sites and YouTube were also calling the serenade "Our Last Affair"!
HUH?? WHAT'S GOING ON?
"Our Last Affair" is a separate composition by Mantovani himself (often written under one of his pseudonyms, such as Paul Remy). It is not a version of "Elizabethan Serenade. Still, the two tracks are frequently confused or linked because they appear back-to-back on several of Mantovani’s most popular compilation albums. On many releases, such as the Musical Moments With Mantovani LP and various CD box sets, "Elizabethan Serenade" is immediately followed by "Our Last Affair". This often leads digital streaming services or casual listeners to mislabel the tracks or assume they are the same piece.
So, when searching online for this melody, don't be surprised to find music streaming services and YouTube mislabeling Elizabethan Serenade.
Here is the full recording of the beautiful serenade.
The Logbook
In March 1972, many stations made it into my logbook. Here is a glimpse of what was heard at my QTH in that month:
4847 Forest Side, Mauritius. French talks at 1710, with a fair signal. Although registered to operate on 4850 kHz, the transmitter was well known to slip down to 4847 kHz. The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation operated out of Forest Side from the 1960s to around 2011, when it relocated to its current location at Moka, outside of the capital, Port Louis. The new broadcasting complex was funded in part by interest-free loans from the Chinese government.
4980 Karachi, Pakistan. English and Urdu news at 1800, then s/off at 1810. This was a new frequency (ex 4975) and suffered from CW QRM.
6075 Deutsche Welle - Jülich. Unusual long path reception with an early fade in at 0530 UTC. English news at 0530 and running // 6145, both with fair signals. This reception is noteworthy because it was late March (early autumn), and such early LP reception on the 49 mb was not normal. On the same day (March 28), others noted also making the journey were 6095 VOA-Munich, 6100 DW-Jülich in German to WNAm, 6110 BBC-UK, 6120 Berne, Switzerland, and 6160 VOA via BBC UK. But the strongest on this day was 6135 Warsaw, Poland, which was heard as early as 0450 in Italian, then 0500 in Esperanto, and was the best of all these 49 mb signals.
6175 R. Guarani, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. At 0920 with lots of music and many IDs. Mixed with the co-channel Kuala Lumpur.
7215 Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Pop songs at 0650 with a fair signal via the long path. // 11920 also heard.
7300 R. Moscow in English at 0420 via the long path at good strength, and // 7205 also heard. Again, unusual LP reception for the end of March. I wonder what the transmitter power was?
9590 R. Presidente Balmaceda, Santiago, Chile. News at 1022. Blocked by R. Australia - Shepparton's sign-on at 1030 on the same frequency.
11800 ETLF Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. S/on 0445 in French. QRM from Tenerife, Canary Islands, on the same frequency until 0500.
15520 Dacca, Bangladesh. English at 1230, back here after a short period on 15560 kHz. The city is now officially spelled Dhaka. The country gained independence from Pakistan, emerging as a sovereign nation on 16 December 1971 and officially changing its name to Bangladesh on January 11, 1972. Before that, it was known as East Pakistan.
Rádio Clube do Cuanza Sul was one of numerous Angolan broadcasters that inhabited the 90, 75, 60 and 41-meter bands. They offered great listening in their evenings (my early mornings). This 1972 QSL arrived just three years before Angola finally gained independence from Portugal, although the country then descended into civil wars that lasted until 2002.
Reception Reports
The month of March saw plenty of reports sent off, including in Spanish and Portuguese:
Dacca 15520, R. Mineria, Santiago 9750, Tananarive, Madagascar 3288, 4VEH Haiti 11835, R. TV Gaucha, Porto Alegre 6135, ETLF 11800, Rangoon 5040, Voice of Free China 17780, R. Guarani, Belo Horizonte 6175, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 7215, Forest Side, Mauritius 4847, plus the usual internationals such as Sweden, R. Berlin International, Warsaw, Moscow, Havana, etc.
And a few mediumwave reports went out to:
R. Singapore 990, DZXL Manila 620, Mauritius 683, Tanzania 656 and Egypt 773.
QSLs in the Mailbox
The postman gave me 32 QSLs in the mailbox that month, probably pushing aside the other family bills. The highlights were R. Clube do Cuanza Sul, Novo Redondo, Angola, plus pennants and QSLs from Bucharest and XERMX R. Mexico. Plenty of international stations, too, including AIR, FEBC, TWR-Bonaire, RAI, Sweden, Belgrade, R. RSA, Cairo, Prague, Tashkent and Brussels.
The ADXN also congratulated me for receiving a QSL from Dacca 15560. This was the first QSL to be reported to the magazine from the newly formed Radio Bangladesh (see the logbook above).
The pennant from XERMX Radio Mexico.
I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Next month, we will open the logbook in April 1972.
Thank you so much sir for posting the old memories of Radio listening. I am quite amazed. I started the hobby of Radio listening from 1978 onwards. I would love to see more such posts. R.S.VIJAY KUMAR INDIA
Vijay, thanks so much for your kind feedback. It takes some time to gather the information for these "Opening the Logbook" posts, but it is a pleasant task. I am glad that someone like yourself is reading and enjoying the posts each month. Many thanks, 73, Rob VK3BVW
Yes, hearing that Elizabethan Serenade takes me back a half century. ETLF was not common here in Canada. Only heard once or twice with a good readable signal. Never did get their QSL but have a nice recording to remember them by.
ETLF was often heard in our late summer afternoons with a great signal. The revolutionary government took over the facilities, which is still in operation today by local stations.
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RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 SONY ICF-5900W by CRAIG SEAGER VK2HBT This time around, I thought we might direct our attention to one of the many portable receivers of yesteryear, and it is perhaps appropriate that we choose a manufacturer that continued to produce quality equipment featuring shortwave coverage until long after. I’m sure our Japanese friends will concur with the submission that Japan is a land of short-lived, but enthusiastically embraced fads. Whether it be karaoke, yo-yos with brains, electronics pets or Pokémon, each craze sweeps the country in such a way that captures the attention of the rest of the world and is usually associated with some pretty smart home-grown technology. In the mid to late 1970s, shortwave listening (or “BCL”) was the flavour of the month, with teenagers (and some older folk!) compiling large QSL collections and forming SWL and DX clubs all over the country. Nowadays, you’d be fairly hard-pressed to find any external broadcas...
Thank you so much sir for posting the old memories of Radio listening. I am quite amazed. I started the hobby of Radio listening from 1978 onwards. I would love to see more such posts.
ReplyDeleteR.S.VIJAY KUMAR
INDIA
Vijay, thanks so much for your kind feedback. It takes some time to gather the information for these "Opening the Logbook" posts, but it is a pleasant task. I am glad that someone like yourself is reading and enjoying the posts each month. Many thanks, 73, Rob VK3BVW
DeleteYes, hearing that Elizabethan Serenade takes me back a half century. ETLF was not common here in Canada. Only heard once or twice with a good readable signal. Never did get their QSL but have a nice recording to remember them by.
ReplyDeleteETLF was often heard in our late summer afternoons with a great signal. The revolutionary government took over the facilities, which is still in operation today by local stations.
Delete