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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.


Wavescan N521, February 17, 2019

What is the Future for VOA Saipan? - 1

As we stated here in Wavescan last month, the strongest wind storm to ever strike an American territory hit the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, October 24 last year (2018). This massive storm, with wind gusts up to 219 miles per hour and sustained winds at 180 miles per hour, was also described as Earth's strongest storm during the past year 2018. Super Typhoon Yutu, the 31st named wind storm in the Pacific during last year, passed directly between Saipan and Tinian Island, rendering massive immeasurable damage, ten inches of sudden rain, and an ocean surge at 20 feet.

As a result of this horrendous impact, the twin Voice of America shortwave stations on both islands, Saipan and Tinian, sustained such massive damage that it has rendered them inoperable, for six months at least, or perhaps even a complete year. In fact, the damage is so great that the entire future of these two huge shortwave stations is in jeopardy.

Two weeks back we concluded a two-part story regarding the Voice of America shortwave station on Tinian; and in our program today, we begin the long and interesting story about what became the VOA station on Saipan. Let's go back to the beginning.

The island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands is just 12 miles long and 6 miles wide, covering an area of 45 square miles. It is 120 miles north of Guam, and just 5 miles northeast from Tinian.

The highest elevation is a little over 1500 feet at Mount Tapochau, in the center of the island, which affords a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire island. The main road, Beach Road, extends the full length of the island running completely from south to north along the island's western side. Middle Road runs somewhat parallel to Beach Road, at least in the southern half of the island.

The main village is Garapan; the local language is Saipan Chamorro; the local weather is the least variable in the world, with temperatures normally in the low 80s; the total population is more than 50,000; and half a million tourists visit the island each year, mainly from nearby countries of Asia and from the United States mainland.

The first settlers from Asia arrived in Saipan more than 4,000 years ago; and the Spanish were the first Europeans to visit the island and to establish a colony. However, in 1899, the Spanish sold Saipan to Germany, together with other nearby islands, for $4.5 million. Then, in 1914, Japan invaded the area and took over all of the Marianas, including Saipan.

During the year 1937, the famous American aviatrix Amelia Earhart began her historic eastbound flight around the world. While flying from New Guinea across the Pacific towards Hawaii, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan, became hopelessly lost. Based on direction finding of their post-loss radio signals and other verifiable data, they are now thought to have ditched on the reef of uninhabited Gardner Island, today known as Nikumaroro Atoll in the Phoenix Islands archipelago, part of the republic of Kiribati.

Some aviation historians claim that the two aviators were arrested by the Japanese and taken to Saipan Island. Tour guides on Saipan show a small building with several rooms in a row. This building was originally a local hospital, though the Japanese turned it into a prison.

They say that Amelia Earhart was held in one of these prison rooms and was subsequently executed. In this version of the mysterious disappearance of the pioneer pilot and navigator, it is stated that Fred Noonan died from dysentery. During the following year (1938), according to one report, the French Consul in Japan sent a message to Washington, DC, stating that Amelia Earhart had indeed been observed on Saipan Island.

So was she executed on Saipan, or is it true that she perished as a castaway on Gardner Island? I guess we will never know for sure.

Population statistics for Saipan at the time of the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941 show that there were 5,000 Chamorro on the island, 25,000 Japanese settlers, and 30,000 Japanese servicemen. Three and a half years later, on June 15, 1944, American forces invaded Saipan; and three weeks later, they claimed victory.

In 1947, the Marianas Islands, including Saipan, were recognized as a United States Trust Territory. Then in 1986 these islands joined the United States as an American overseas territory.

On the radio scene, let's go back now more than half a century to March 14, 1954. On that date, a new mediumwave station was inaugurated, not on Saipan, but rather on the island of Guam, 120 miles to the south.

At 5:55 pm on that day, Sunday, March 14, an American Forces Radio and Television (AFRTS) station at Nimitz Hill on Guam signed off, for what they stated was the last time. Then 5 minutes later, at 6:00 pm on that same March 14 (1954) date, the new KUAM signed on with 1 kW on 610 kHz on this its official opening day as the island's first regular commercial broadcasting station.

Twenty one years later, in 1975, the WRTVHB listed a new 100 kW shortwave station as a future plan for mediumwave KUAM on Guam. Give three more years and KUAM announced an alternative plan for further development; they would seek a power increase up to 50 kW and change frequency to 630 kHz. However, as the future unfolded, only one of these three plans was fulfilled; that is, they changed channel to 630 kHz, which fulfilled both the American requirement for 10 kHz spacing and the Asian requirement for 9 kHz spacing in the mediumwave broadcast band.

However, there was an alternative development that did fulfill the original concept of co-installing a 100 kW shortwave transmitter on Guam. Instead, the shortwave project for the island of Guam was transferred to the island of Saipan. Thus the planned shortwave KUAM on Guam in reality became shortwave KYOI on Saipan. More about that next time; the story of the shortwave station in Saipan that has operated under three or four different callsigns.


Ancient DX Report 1917 - 2

This is part 2 of the Ancient DX Report for the year 1917, and we note that the United States navy commissioned five high powered wireless stations during this epochal year; two in the mainland United States and three in overseas territories. Stations NPL in San Diego and NPG in San Francisco were both rated at 100 kW; the new Balboa station in the Panama Canal Zone under its original callsign NPJ was rated at 200 kW; and the other two stations, NPO in Cavite in the Philippines and NPM Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu in Hawaii, were rated at the super power level of 350 kW.

In addition, after the United States declared war against Germany on April 6 (1917), the two German superpower wireless stations, WSL at Sayville on Long Island, New York, and WSC near Tuckerton, New Jersey, were finally completely taken over by the American authorities, next day. The United States navy then operated these two very effective stations and added them into their worldwide wireless communication network. In addition, the navy also bought all of the Marconi wireless stations in the United States, those on land as well as those aboard ship.

At this stage, almost all of the amateur and experimental stations throughout the United States were silenced. Among the very few stations that received special licenses that permitted them to carry out important experimental projects during the war were the two Westinghouse stations in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania; station 2WM (8XK) at the home of Frank Conrad, and station 2WE at the East Pittsburgh factory. Another station that was permitted to remain on air during the war was 9XM at the University of Wisconsin in Madison which was in experimental usage for communication with submarines and aircraft.

In other countries overseas; the French wireless station on the Eiffel tower with the unique callsign FL received a program relay from the high powered American station NAA at Arlington, Virginia, and station FL relayed this program over their own transmitter for the benefit of American servicemen on duty in Europe. The Swiss watch factory operated by the Gruen family established a wireless station for communication with its American counterpart in Cincinnati, Ohio.

During the year 1917, Mexico donated a German made long range radio transmitter and receiver to El Salvador. It is presumed that this wireless station was installed near the national capital, San Salvador, and it was in use for communication with another newly installed wireless station located at Chapultepec, near Mexico City.

In an April 2017 edition of Wavescan we indicated that the first known radio station in El Salvador was an amateur unit installed in 1922. However, we have since learned that the 1917 German wireless station from Mexico predated the amateur station by five years.

Also during the year 1917, the Australian wireless company AWA conducted secret wireless experiments between two of its transmitter locations. The main transmitter location at Pennant Hills utilized the callsign AWA for its corresponding transmissions with station AWY at the AWA staff housing facility at Pymble in suburban Sydney. At the end of the year (1917), station AWY was transferred from the staff housing location at Pymble to the private home of Sir Ernest Fisk at nearby Wahroonga.

During this same year (1917), the French government established four wireless stations in the British colony of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Each wireless station was exactly the same as those that were installed on French navy vessels; each was rated at 4 kW; the antenna at each station was a center-fed single wire T type; and the operating channel for each station was 1800 m. longwave, corresponding to 167 kHz.

These four stations were identified as: VQF Stapok Kuching, VQV Sibu, VQP Miri, VSV Simunjan.


The Radio Scene on Mount Desert Island

On August 28 (1917), the United States navy commissioned a wireless listening station on Mount Desert Island, the largest island off the coast of the American state of Maine. This international monitoring station was installed by naval Ensign Alessandro Fabbri at his own expense, and he donated the facility to the United States navy. He had previously been licensed with the amateur callsign 1AJ.

Mount Desert Island is a very irregular island, roughly circular in shape, with an area of 208 square miles. It was named in French in 1604 (L'Isle des Monts-deserts) by the first European visitor, the well-known French explorer of Canadian fame, Samuel de Champlain. A notable resident on the island at one stage was Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who afterwards founded the city of Detroit, and for whom the famous Cadillac quality car brand was named.

During the American participation in World War I, the Otter Cliffs Naval Radio Station on Mount Desert Island grew rapidly until there were some 125 enlisted personnel serving the receiver station at Otter Cliffs and the transmitter station NBD at Sea Wall, 9 miles down the coast. An underwater cable linked the two facilities.

On February 28, 1935, the Otter Cliffs receiver station was decommissioned and replaced by a new station, 5 miles distant, at Winter Harbor on Schoodic Peninsula. This new station served the American Atlantic areas until it was decommissioned in 2002.

These days, Mount Desert Island has a resident population of a little more than 10,000, though during the summer season 3-1/2 million tourists visit the island, specially to enter the popular Acadia National Park. Half of the island population live in the main town, Bar Harbor.

Over the years there have been half a dozen attempts at establishing viable broadcast stations at Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, with varying degrees of success. Back half a century ago, FM radio was first introduced to the island, and that station is still on the air to this day with a classic music format under the current callsign WBKA on 107.7 MHz.

There was one mediumwave station on the air in Bar Harbor for a short while about 10 years ago, and this was a very low power unlicensed station with just a quarter watt transmitter on 1630 kHz. This station, with the self-appointed callsign WEDN, was installed in the two story Reel Pizza Cinerama at 33 Kennebec Place, and the twin towers were installed on the roof.