OPENING THE LOGBOOK - JUNE 1972

Each month, I open the old records to see what I (and others) heard decades ago. 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 June 1972—54 years ago! 

All frequencies in kHz; all times are UTC (or GMT, as we used to say in those days!).

BBC MONITORING SERVICE

BBC Monitoring Service: A Layman Looks at Caversham Park is a publication written and published in May 1972 by DXer and author Alan Thompson. Long-time DXers will remember that the BBC-MS came into the limelight in the early 1970s, with their Frequency Schedules and Reception Notes being available to DXers worldwide on a subscription basis. Thompson, who was Editor of "Bandspread", the bulletin of the British Association of DXers, visited the facilities and operations of the Caversham Park monitoring service. Written from a DXer's point of view, the 12-page article discussed the role of the BBC-MS, how it monitors broadcasts around the globe, and the receivers used for that task. 

This extended article provides a detailed, behind-the-scenes look into the daily operations of the BBC's Monitoring Service. At the time, much of the intelligence gathering and foreign broadcast transcription conducted at the Caversham Park estate was kept highly secret. Thompson’s work is notable for lifting the veil on how this open-source intelligence and media-tracking agency operated, offering an accessible perspective for radio hobbyists, DXers, and the general public. While Thompson's booklet is now a historical relic, the BBC Monitoring division itself remains active. It continues to track, translate, and analyse global media to provide intelligence and help make sense of world events.  I have tracked down a copy of the article from the now archived On The Shortwaves website. If you are interested, press the Download button below:

SHORTWAVE BAND DURING JUNE 1972

Some spectacular openings to Latin America were observed here in Melbourne. It included interesting long-path reception from Venezuela at 2245-2315 (8:45 am local here) on 60 metres, several Brazilians on 49 metres at 0000-0030 (10:00 am local here), long-route signals from Central and South America on 31 metres at 2200-0100. 

These were highly unusual! In fact, the signals from Latin America during May and June brought memories back to what was heard during the previous sunspot minimum in 1964-66. And on 60 metres, fade-in was observed as early as 0415 GMT (2:10 pm in Melbourne's winter!) for Radio Continente, 5030 kHz signing off at 0500!

There was a series of magnetic disturbances that affected long-haul propagation, and, on occasion, complete blackouts of signals from Europe were noted on 49. 41, and 31 metres at around 0700 GMT. The French had H-bomb tests in the Pacific, at Mururoa Atoll and surrounding areas. Some sources said this affected ionospheric conditions, and some discussions speculated about it.

From my own logbook in June, I noted the following:

4760   R. Frontera, San Antonio, Venezuela. Frequent ID's and Venezuelan music 1020, mixed with an unid. station, June 21.
4790   Sistema de Emisora Atalaya, Guayaquil, Ecuador. News at 1130, ID 1141 as "Radio Sistema de Emisora Atalaya....buenos dias...", then music. Very strong to past 1200 on June 12.
4995   R. Andina, Huancayo, Peru. Popular Spanish song at 0650, June 11.
5045   R. Altiplano, La Paz, Bolivia. Presumed the one here with continuous SS songs 0655 to past 0830, no ID heard though on June 11.

And ARDXC's overseas members (VG) Victor Goonetilleke (Sri Lanka) and (BB) Bob Bundy (Truk, Caroline Islands) reported hearing:

3941   Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service, Stanley, Falkland Islands. Thrilled to hear this one! Pops and EE on 27/5 to f/out 0117; May 28 relay BBC 0048-0118 f/out; May 29 s/off 0102 after ID as "Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station" and GSTQ (God Save the Queen!); best logging ever, now waiting for QSL! (VG)  (Did you ever get the QSL, Victor? - Rob)
6199 Voice of Pathet Lao. Vietnamese ID 1145, then Viet program, into Laotian 1200, // 4660, 7310, 7479, good level 8/6 (BB) - Vietnamese 1145-1200, French 1500-1600, // 4660, 7305, June 16 (VG)
7499 "Fighters", Soviet based clandestine, Chinese talks 1049 before the jammer came on June 16 (VG) 7520, s/on 1045-1058 s/off, "Internationale" made out through jammers, but then virtually blocked out 1045, few bars of "Internationale" 1058, then s/off, and jammers off soon after, June 8 (BB) 

SOME QSLS RECEIVED DURING JUNE 1972

This letter, dated 11 June 1972, is from the Government of Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Information & Tourism, signed by Farouk Jarrar, Director of Radio & TV. It confirms reception of the station on 9695 kHz and advises that transmissions had moved to 9620 kHz, requesting a further reception report to compare performance on the new frequency.

Although the United Arab Emirates had been formed six months earlier on 2 December 1971, broadcasting was still administered under the Government of Abu Dhabi, and the station was generally known to DXers as Radio Abu Dhabi. The correspondence above provides a snapshot of the transitional period immediately following the UAE federation, when emirate-level identities, such as the coat of arms (the early Abu Dhabi emblem, not a later UAE federal identity), remained prominent.

In addition, my reception report, and presumably other overseas listener reports, were being used directly by engineering staff to assess shortwave coverage. The c.c. Radio TX Engineer – Mugtah at the bottom of the letter indicates that a copy was sent to the Mugtah (a.k.a. Al Maqta) transmitter site, where, in 1971, one 120 kW Philips 8FZ515 shortwave transmitter was pressed into service.

The above QSL: Many DXers and shortwave listeners from the 70s and early 80s will remember this chain of radio stations operating on 60 metres. Other stations included R. Juventud, R. Yaracuy, R. Universo, and R. Lara. The network was known as Emisoras de la Cadena Venezolana de Radiodifusión. The stations were heard well throughout the world and were generally very good verifiers. The network was a large operation based in Barquisimeto and collectively known as the "Circuito sin Fronteras". The stations all closed in the mid-80s due to the network's financial difficulties. This QSL from Radio Barquisimeto was one of many I received from the network.

Although I was not a big DXer of mediumwave stations, I enjoyed listening to
JOUB Akita on 770 kHz (this card: above and below)

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Another of my logs in June 1972 was this one:

6250 Emisora de Radiodifusión Santa Isabel, Fernando Poo, Equatorial Guinea. Non-stop songs in Spanish from 2215 until 2254 s/off with the station ID and national anthem.

Equatorial Guinea was known as Spanish Guinea while it was a Spanish colonial territory. In 1963, Spain granted the territory limited autonomy under the name “Equatorial Region of the Spanish Guinea,” reflecting growing African decolonisation movements and international pressure through the United Nations. 

When the country achieved full independence on 12 October 1968, it officially adopted the name “Equatorial Guinea,” chosen to reflect both its location near the equator and its territory on the Gulf of Guinea. During the 1970s,  the colonial-era identity associated with “Spanish Guinea” disappeared completely from official use as the government of the day promoted a strongly nationalist post-colonial identity.

Fernando Póo was the name of the island and now known as Bioko. The capital city on the island was called Santa Isabel until 1973, when it was renamed Malabo by the government of President Francisco Macías Nguema as part of a broader effort to replace colonial Spanish place names with African ones.

No QSL was obtained from that reception in June. It was not until 1984 that I finally confirmed Equatorial Guinea with this letter below. The long letter has a typo: 2650, not 6250 kHz, and appears to have some grammatical quirks and spelling idiosyncrasies that may be a regional adaptation of Spanish....perhaps? Anyway, below is a rough machine translation of the text:

Dear Friend,
Upon receiving your thoughtful letter dated July 11, I was pleased to learn that you were able to tune in to the radio station in Malabo, capital of the country. I can confirm to you that it was indeed this station that you were able to tune in to and hear.
Dear friend, although this is the first time I have received a letter from Australia, as you requested information and details about Radio Nacional on the 48-meter band with a frequency of 2650 per second, it is not possible for me to send you what you requested, such as a verification card, because we do not have them. However, I will try to send you a recorded tape with African guitar music from Equatorial Guinea, which is a country rich in music.
As for your reception report, I assure you that I have never before received a letter or anything from your country. I think this is the first one, and I thank God for having received your written message.
When I receive your reply to this letter that I am sending you now, then I will be certain that everything I send can reach your hands. With the next letter I may be able to send you the recorded tape that I mentioned, and perhaps some postcards from my country.
I received with satisfaction the dollar that you sent. Distinguished friend, from here in my country of Malabo to Australia the distance is very great. I hope that if you send me ten dollars, I would be grateful, and I would also like you to send me a blank tape because I will be sending you the programs I mentioned.
Please forgive me for not having answered your letter sooner; it is because I was away on vacation, travelling from north to south. So once my letter arrives in your hands, send me your reply so that I may have assurance.
I will be very grateful to the one writing to you, and nothing more. May God protect you for many years.

A postcard was included by the station's letter writer showing Cocoa plants.

OTHER SHORTWAVE NEWS IN JUNE '72

BRAZIL. Radio Nacional, Brasília, indicated that the new International Service began on May 31 with 24-hr broadcasts in English on 11720 (75 kW) and 25445 (100 kW). Rhombic antennas beamed to Western Europe were in use. The experimental broadcasts in English were due to be followed, after June 30, by services in German, French, and Italian for Europe, plus Japanese and English for the USA. Spanish was also being considered. (From the World Radio Bulletin).

GHANA.  From May 24, Radio Ghana was reported to be announcing as "The Voice of the Revolution", according to South African monitors. This is said to be in line with the revolutionary coup of last January, which ousted the civilian government (South African DX Club).

Well, that's about it for June, 1972. Lots of interesting wintertime tropical-band DX and fascinating propagation conditions. I hope you enjoyed this lot. Let's meet again next month for memories from July 1972.

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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