OPENING THE LOGBOOK - JULY 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 July 1972—54 years ago!

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

Winter DX at its Best! - The Latin American Survey

The August 1972 issue of the Australian DX News was a big one, with every section chock-full of great DX news from throughout July! A special inclusion was the Latin American Survey, which was conducted in June and July and subsequently published in the August ADXN. It is fascinating to note the range of broadcasters, many now long-forgotten, that were heard by Australian DXers located in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia!

The survey covered the 90, 60, and 49-metre bands and included nearly 140 separate entries, plus about a dozen unidentified stations. Not bad for just two months of listening!! Here is the list of stations noted by the survey participants. I've excluded all the sign-on, sign-off, fade-in, and fade-out data.

How many of these do you remember?

3240 Peru. R. America (Lima).

3245 Venezuela. R. Libertador (Caracas).

3255 Venezuela. La Voz del Tigre (El Tigre).

3275 Venezuela. R. Mara (Maracaibo).

3290 Guyana. Guyana Broadcasting Service (Georgetown).

3325 Ecuador. Ondas Quevedenas (Quevedo).

3325 Venezuela. R. Monagas (Maturín).

3360 Guatemala. La Voz de Nahuala (Nahuala).

3365 Venezuela. R. Tovar (Tovar).

3380 Guatemala. R. Chortis (Chiquimula).

3381 Ecuador. R. Iris (Esmeraldas).

3385 Venezuela. R. Barcelona (Barcelona).

3390 Ecuador. R. Zaracay (Santo Domingo de los Colorados)

4679 Ecuador. R. Nacional Espejo (Quito).

4755 Colombia. Emisora Nuevo Mundo (Bogotá).

4760 Venezuela. R. Frontera (San Antonio).

4765 Ecuador. Radiodifusora del Ecuador (Quito).

4770 Venezuela. R. Bolívar (Ciudad Bolívar)

4775 Ecuador. R. El Progreso (Loja)

4780 Venezuela. La Voz de Carabobo (Valencia).

4780 Honduras. R. Juticalpa (Juticalpa).

4785 Peru. R. Atlántida (Iquitos).

4790 Venezuela. Ondas Portenas (Puerto La Cruz).

4791 Ecuador. Sistema de Emisoras Atalaya (Guayaquil).

4796 Bolivia. R. Nueva América (La Paz).

4800 Venezuela. R. Lara (Barquisimeto).

4807 Ecuador. R. Popular Independiente (Cuenca).

4810 Venezuela. R. Popular (Maracaibo).

4815 Ecuador. R. Canal Manabita (Portoviejo)

4820 Ecuador. R. Paz y Bien (Ambato).

4820 Honduras. La Voz Evangélica (Tegucigalpa).

4825 Ecuador. R. Luz y Vida (Loja).

4832 Costa Rica. R. Capital (San Jose).

4845 Colombia. R. Bucaramanga (Bucaramanga)

4860 Venezuela. R. Maracaibo (Maracaibo).

4870 Venezuela. R. Tropical (Caracas).

4875 Bolivia. La Cruz del Sur (La Paz).

4880 Venezuela. R. Universo (Barquisimeto).

4881 Dominican Republic. Radio Comercial (Santo Domingo).

4885 Colombia. Ondas del Meta (Villavicencio).

4885 Brazil. R. Acreana (Río Branco).

4890 Venezuela. Radiodifusora Venezuela (Caracas).

4895 Brazil. R. Bare Manaus.

4900 Venezuela. R. Juventud (Barquisimeto).

4905 Colombia. Emisora Atlántico (Barranquilla).

4910 Dominican Republic. R. HIN (Santo Domingo).

4910 Venezuela. R. Carora (Carora)

4911 Ecuador. Emisora Gran Colombia (Quito).

4915 Colombia. R. Guatapuri (Valledupar).

4916 Ecuador. R. El Trebol (Zaruma).

4920 Honduras. R. Progreso (El Progreso).

4923 Ecuador. R. Quito (Quito).

4930 Dominican Republic. R. Mil (Santo Domingo)

4930 Venezuela. R. Junín (San Cristóbal).

4930 Ecuador. R. Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (Quito).

4935 Peru. R. Tropical (Tarapoto).

4939 Ecuador. Radiodifusora Nacional del Ecuador (Quito).

4940 Venezuela. R. Yaracuy (San Felipe).

4945 Colombia. R. Colosal (Neiva)

4950 Venezuela. R. Coro (Coro).

4955 Colombia. R. Nacional (Bogotá)

4960 Venezuela. R. Sucre (Cumana).

4965 Colombia. R. Santa Fe (Bogotá)

4970 Venezuela. R. Rumbos (Caracas)

4980 Venezuela. Ecos del Torbes (San Cristóbal).

4990 Venezuela. R. Barquisimeto (Barquisimeto).

4995 Brazil. R. Brasil Central (Goiânia).

4996 Peru. R. Andina (Huancayo).

5010 Dominican Republic. R. Cristal (Santo Domingo).

5010 Peru. R. Eco (Iquitos).

5015 Grenada. R. Grenada (St. George's)

5020 Colombia. Transmisora Caldas (Manizales).

5030 Venezuela. R. Reloj Continente (Caracas).

5035 Colombia. La Voz de Caquetá (Florencia).

5035 Ecuador. R. Centinela del Sur (Loja).

5040 Venezuela. R. Maturin (Maturin).

5050 Venezuela. R. Mundial (Caracas).

5062 Ecuador. R. Católica del Ecuador (Quito).

5075 Colombia. R. Sutatenza (Bogotá)

5095 R. Sutatenza (Bogotá).

5873 Honduras. La Voz de Honduras (Tegucigalpa).

5955 Guatemala. R. Cultural (Guatemala)

5955 Brazil. R. Gazeta de São Paulo (São Paulo)

5962 Colombia. La Voz de Bogotá (Bogotá)

5965 Brazil. R. Guaíba (Porto Alegre)

5970 Peru. R. El Sol (Lima)

5975 Brazil. R. Guaruja (Florianópolis)

5980 Peru. R. Panamericana (Lima).

5980 El Salvador. R. Nacional de El Salvador (San Salvador)

5985 Argentina. R. Splendid (Buenos Aires.

5998 Brazil. R. Inconfidência (Belo Horizonte).

6005 Bolivia. R. Progreso (La Paz).

6006 Costa Rica. R. Reloj (San José).

6010 Ecuador, HCJB La Voz de los Andes (Quito).

6010 Venezuela. R. Los Andes (Mérida).

6015 Ecuador. HCJB La Voz de los Andes (Quito).

6015 Colombia. R. Mira (Tumaco)

6020 Peru. R. Victoria (Lima)

6020 Netherlands Antilles. R. Nederland (Bonaire-Noord).

6025 Brazil. Emissora Piratininga (São Paulo).

6030 Colombia. R. Nacional (Bogotá).

6035 Brazil. R. Globo (Rio de Janeiro).

6037 Costa Rica. Faro del Caribe (San José)

6040 Colombia. La Voz del Tolima (Ibagué).

6045 Brazil. R. Clube Paranaense (Curitiba).

6045 Peru. R. Santa Rosa (Lima).

6050 Honduras. R. America (Tegucigalpa).

6050 Ecuador. HCJB La Voz de los Andes (Quito).

6060 Cuba. R. Havana (Havana)

6060 Argentina. R. Nacional (Buenos Aires).

6065 Colombia. R. Super (Bogotá).

6075 Uruguay. R. Ariel (Montevideo).

6075 Colombia. R. Sutatenza (Bogotá).

6082 Peru. R. Nacional (Lima).

6095 Brazil. Radiodifusão de São Paulo (São Paulo).

6095 Colombia. La Voz del Centro (El Espinal).

6095 Peru. R. Nacional Mil Ochenta (Lima).

6100 Venezuela. Señales Horarios (Caracas).

6100 Chile. R. Calama (Calama).

6105 Colombia. R. Vision (Medellín).

6110 Netherlands Antilles. Trans World Radio (Bonaire).

6115 Colombia. La Voz del Llano (Villavicencio),

6115 Peru. R. Union (Lima).

6119 Venezuela. R. Angostura (Ciudad Bolívar)

6120 Haiti. R. 4VEH (Cap Haitien).

6120 Argentina. R. El Mundo (Buenos Aires).

6125 Colombia. R. Continental (Bogotá).

6125 Honduras. R. Suyapa (San Pedro Sula). 1

6125 Brazil. R. Nacional (São Paulo).

6135 Brazil. R. TV Gaúcha (Porto Alegre).

6135 Chile. R. Universidad de Concepción (Concepción).

6140 Colombia. R. El Sol (Cali).

6160 Colombia. Emisora Nueva Granada (Bogotá).

6175 Brazil. R. Guarani (Belo Horizonte).

6180 Venezuela, R. Turismo (Valera)

6185 Brazil. R. Bandeirantes (São Paulo).

My July QSLs

I was delighted to receive QSLs and letters from Emisora Nuevo Mundo (Bogota) 4755 kHz, 4VEJ Haiti 11835, Yaounde, Cameroon 4972.5, R. Liberation, North Vietnam 10010 and a couple of internationals. Some of these QSLs are below:

Radio Liberation, Hanoi, North Vietnam
Read more about R. Liberation in Opening the Logbook (Feb 1972)

This schedule and the QSL took five months to arrive from Paris.

Emisora Nuevo Mundo card arrived in only one month!

Two for the Price of One!

It was hard enough to get one QSL from an African station... let alone two - for the same broadcast on the same day at the same time. The same person at the national station in Yaounde, Cameroon, sent me two cards for the same reception report, but three weeks apart (check the postmarks). I didn't complain, especially as they were two different designs. Sometimes we struck it lucky!

Spotlight on 4VEH, Haiti

While the Haitian station 4VEH could be heard throughout much of the Americas, its low-powered signals, located smack bang in the middle of the highly populated 31- and 25-metre bands, made it much more challenging for Australian DXers. From my home in 1972, I was looking at nearly 16,000 km (9940 mi). So, for me, this is a highly prized QSL.

For more than 40 years, Radio 4VEH was a well-known Caribbean broadcaster. Operated by the East and West Indies Bible Mission, the station signed on from Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, on 2 June 1950, using a home-built transmitter of around 400 watts on approximately 9885 kHz. Despite its modest power, reception reports soon arrived from around the world, demonstrating how effective shortwave propagation could be under favourable conditions. As the station expanded, its transmitting facilities were relocated to Petite Anse, while the studios remained at Vaudreuil. You can still see the 4VEH transmitter site in the salty marshland outside Cap-Haïtien. Copy and paste the following decimalised geo-coordinates into the Google Maps search bar for an aerial view (unfortunately, there is no Street View):

19.733016166872826, -72.17821635619372

During the 1960s and 1970s, 4VEH became a familiar presence on the international bands, broadcasting Christian programming in English, French, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Its best-known frequencies were 9770 (4VEH) and 11835 kHz (4VEJ), with the World Radio TV Handbook listing transmitter powers of 2 to 2.5 kW. The station also operated on 15280 kHz (4VWI) with a transmitter rated at just 350 watts, probably intended to provide local daytime coverage across Haiti and the surrounding Caribbean. Other frequencies used included 2450 and 6120 kHz (4VE). In Melbourne, we could sometimes get 6120 on the all-dark path in our winter evenings between 1000 and 1100 UTC. By the late 1960s, 4VEH reported receiving around 15,000 listener letters each year, reflecting its popularity with audiences at home and overseas.

4VEH Transmitters in 1968 (courtesy of "Let the Rocks Cry Out")

Like many broadcasters operating in politically unstable regions, 4VEH faced its share of difficulties. In May 1968, after a rebel landing near Cap-Haïtien, the station was accused of aiding the invasion and was forced off the air for 40 days. According to radio historian Jerome S. Berg, broadcasting resumed only after representatives of the station’s American owners, the Oriental Missionary Society, met with Haitian President François Duvalier. The interruption proved temporary, and 4VEH soon returned to the air, continuing its ministry to listeners throughout the Caribbean and beyond.

The station’s international shortwave service ended in 1982, although its domestic tropical-band outlet on 4930 kHz operated intermittently at around 1.5 kW, alongside the medium-wave service. Berg notes that the 4930 kHz transmitter fell silent in 1991 while awaiting replacement parts, but it never returned to the air. Although the frequency was still listed in the 1992 edition of the World Radio TV Handbook, it disappeared from the following edition, marking the end of shortwave broadcasting from 4VEH. Today, the ministry continues to serve Haiti through its medium-wave and FM services, complemented by internet streaming, a mobile app, television and social media.

Click on the letter for a larger view.

And in other news......

AFGHANISTAN - Adrian Peterson, reporting from Kabul, noted that the Radio Afghanistan outlet of 3390 kHz was reactivated for use in a new regional language service: 10 kW, s/on 1300 with news in Pashto 1315, then programming in Uzbek and Turkmen. This was parallel to 660 kHz MW, with target areas in tribal Afghanistan and the northern border provinces.

BYELORUSSIAN SSR - On 7420, Radio Minsk, rarely heard in Australia, was noted by David Foster at 2130 with the interval signal, an ID and news in Byelorussian. Great catch!

FIJI - Arthur Cushen reported that Radio Fiji was planning to discontinue shortwave on July 1, preferring MW and FM. As it turned out, this was not the case. The station eventually switched off the shortwave transmitters in late September. I acquired two QSLs from Fiji, but one was destroyed by water damage.

MALAWI - Gerry Wood of the South African DX Club reported a new commercial station, "Lakeland Radio," between 1900 and 2100 on 5995 kHz. However, the station only lasted about one year after this report, on 6000 and 9510, using the facilities of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation.

PAPUA - Milne Bay was noted by Robert Hanner on the new frequency 3360 (ex 3235), testing a new 10 kW transmitter (ex 250 watts!).

TURKEY - Ankara Metrological Radio was planning to operate only on 6900 (currently using both 6900 and 6890), with a power of 2.5 kW. Current sked: 0455-0700, 0800-0940, 1200-1615, 1800-1930, with Turkish folk-music and weather information (Arthur Cushen)

Well, that's about it for July, 1972. I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Let's meet again next month to reminisce about August 1972.

Rob Wagner VK3BVW