Shortwave radio

The former “Radio Free China.”

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Are you sure about that?

I’m old. I forgot what I was talking about. What? Where am I?

In Taiwan, can only listen on internet or SW (short wave). http://english.rti.org.tw/listening/

Radio Taiwan International was called the Voice of Free China many moons ago. The counterpart in the mainland was Radio Peking then.

Ah, I wish shortwave was as interesting today as it was then. Even ICRT was palatable in the old days.

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Oh, right you guys are. :doh:

From a different article:

The Voice of Free China, for many years, was owned by the Broadcasting Corporation of China. This was a private company under a government contract to provide public radio programming. The BCC still exists today, but in 1998 the Voice of Free China and the government-owned Central Broadcasting System merged.

Those were the days: when you could tune in to Radio Free China, Radio Moscow, and Voice of America.

No Internet, what else could we depend on to deliver outrageous information?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdwsXLmrHE

Now we have Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

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Yeah, I just don’t get it. I loved listening to Radio Moscow, and the other stuff. You knew where people stood!
I actually think it is a mistake to be mothballing all these Shortwave Transmitters for a fragile network of fiber optics, undersea cables where this network relies on total international cooperation and infrastructure.
One natural disaster, one moderate war, all radio and information would be stopped. How stupid. We should be pushing radio, just because anyone with a transmitter can communicate and get help. If the ground station is down, no cell phone.

On a different topic, you do know that foreigners now can get ham radio licenses. There are a few who managed to pass the Chinese test. I am not one of them. We should form a little group to help us train to get that radio licenses. We can also revive the hobby among local kids. It would look cool if Uncle Joe showed up at a school and taught basic electronics and code! But that’s another topic.

I think there are two other English broadcasters in Taiwan. One I think is a school or University that has a good international language program . The other I think is a private shortwave broadcaster or religious station

Wasn’t there a web only radio station that was broadcasting in English run by foreigners. They kept promising to come on the “real air” any day now and then the whole thing disappeared. I caught some of the programming and it was pretty good.

What kind of radio do we need in Taiwan. The history of radio full of stories where groups, civic organizations and newspapers got together and started one.
Could Forumosa create such a station. I love talk and news. I’d be happy with an entertaining and informative person doing a weekly talk show about life in Taiwan. I’d also like someone to be there during Typhoons talking about common sense, stupid mistakes and interesting stories. That is what ICRT was for me when I first came to the Island. I’d like the hosts to be able to take calls.

With all these hotspots and reasonably priced 4G, listening to the phone in place of the radio is now a reality. Technically it could be done, I think. But what would the legal requirements be. Music licensing and so on?

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Foreigners with an A§RC could get a ham license for a long time already. There are some, mostly Japanese, who hold them. The test is indeed Chinese only, but they are in the process of rewriting the tests and rules, e.g. abolishing the Morse code requirement. If you want your license, then better start memorizing those Chinese characters.

Like it or not, shortwave is something of the past. Nobody wants LoFi audio, static and fading any more. The culprit is also man-made noise from all the electronic gadgets we have, with unfiltered switching power supplies, cheaply made in China.

Besides RTi there is also the Voice of Han still legaly on shortwave. A clandestine operation called Sound of Hope (Xiwang zhi sheng) is also all over the place and there is still an old favourite on the bands: New Star, with its number broadcasts. As far as I know WYFR has left shortwave, but they used to relay via the RTi transmitters.

BTW, moderators, I think we need to split thread off, because it doesn’t cover the title, but it’s still interesting to talk about radio anyway.

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I have been redeemed by cleansing power of the Google!!

I lived in CO and WY when I discovered shortwave. All the NA “underground” stations (super religious, militia types), Radio Canada, Most of the European radio and some of the AP radio. I believe I heard VFC sometime in the 80s. All that cold war mumbo jumbo