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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.

This Week in Radio History - BFBS Tangier, January 1, 1944

The interesting and informative volume, "A Microphone and a Frequency," by Doreen Taylor, tells the story of the first radio station operated by BFBS, the British Forces Broadcasting Service, in North Africa. It happened this way.

The year was 1943, and the month was November. Three men boarded a flight on an army transport plane parked on a lonely airstrip in Scotland and flew to Algiers in North Africa. Their purpose was to establish a radio station, officially designated as the first "Army Experimental Broadcasting Service".

These three men recruited additional personnel and assembled whatever equipment they could find. The studio was sound proofed with grey army blankets, and the electronic equipment was a strange mix from seven different countries. The transmitter itself was a German unit transferred from Tunisia, and it was installed in a pigeon loft at suburban El Bair, the highest area in the city.

On Saturday morning, January 1, 1944, this first new BFBS station went on the air at 6:30 am. Surprisingly, the signature tune for this historic mediumwave station was the internationally popular piece of music, "Lili Marlene", though later they changed to "Rule Britannia". Currently, the British Forces Broadcasting Service is remembering its 57th anniversary.

The past year, 2001, has indeed been a momentous year, not only politically in several countries, but also military-wise in the Middle East and elsewhere, and in a marked increase in tragedies, both natural as well as man-made throughout the world. The international radio world has also seen some remarkable changes and developments, sparked not only by the events in New York and its aftermath, but also as a natural response to current events worldwide.

In recent time, many doomsayers have foretold the ultimate demise of international radio broadcasting on shortwave, due to the introduction of alternative methods of communication, such as satellite, local radio relays, and the increased usage of the Internet. However, it is indeed safe to say that shortwave radio broadcasting is alive and well, and just as active as ever. In fact, there are many indications that the usage of international radio broadcasting is now actually on the increase.

However, in spite of the many positive developments, there have also been several significant negative developments during this past year, and in this review of the radio scene over the past 12 months let's look first at just a few of these negative events.

Several international as well as local shortwave stations have closed during the past year, or have curtailed their broadcasting outreach on shortwave. Swiss Radio International announces that they will close all shortwave broadcasting during the year 2005. Radio Norway International announces that it will close at the end of this year, and we need to ask the question: What then will happen to Radio Denmark, now that their relay via Norway is closed?

Poland states that their shortwave transmitters are old and ailing and they do not have the funding to replace them. Radio Vlaanderen International is no longer on shortwave from their own transmitter base at Wavre in Belgium, though they have increased the usage of distant relay stations in other countries. The Wavre station is expected to continue in usage, though with programming from the French network, RTBF.

Radio station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador has closed its Japanese service to Japan, and eight major stations have terminated their services in English that were beamed to Australia and the South Pacific. The BBC London is no longer broadcasting directly to the Pacific and North America, though their World Service beamed to other areas can be heard quite readily in both North America and the Pacific.

Both Austria and Canada have severely curtailed the output of their programming on shortwave. In addition, several local and regional shortwave stations in Africa and Latin America are no longer on the air. The Australian chronohertz station VNG states that they will cease operation in the new year due to shortage of funding.

And there are indeed other significant negative developments in the shortwave world, but next, we will turn to the positive.

During the past year, there have been many remarkable positive developments in the international radio world. For example, the relay giant, Merlin, in England, has been bought out by Vosper Thornycroft for a massive 95 million pounds.

The AWR Frequency Manager, Claudius Dedio, states that there is no decrease in spectrum occupancy, and in fact he indicates that there is always a shortage of available channels. New shortwave bands and extensions to existing bands are foreshadowed.

The BBC is constructing a large new shortwave station in the Middle Eastern country of Oman, and somewhere around 35 new shortwave transmitters are under installation in various countries of Africa. In Australia, the Darwin radio station was bought and reactivated by Christian Voice, and station HCJB in South America is erecting a new shortwave station at Kununurra at the top of the continent in Western Australia.

Nepal and India are installing new shortwave transmitters, as are Radio Korea, the Voice of Greece, Radio Vilnius in Lithuania, and four countries in the South Pacific. Trans World Radio is adding a fifth unit on Guam, AWR is replacing its two older units on Guam with new transmitters, FEBC-Manila is installing four new transmitters, and China is installing 34 new shortwave transmitters.

In the American scene, two new shortwave stations are under construction, one in Alaska and the other in New Mexico. Two new transmitters are under installation for WBCQ and WMLK, in Maine and Pennsylvania, and chronohertz station WWV in Colorado plans on replacing their current complement with five new units at higher power. Radio for Peace International in Costa Rica plans on installing six new transmitters at 100 kW.

There has been a remarkable increase in the usage of distant relay stations, by such stations as Radio Australia, several Gospel organizations, and several of the major international broadcasters. As far as regional shortwave radio is concerned, many new stations have appeared on the radio dial in Latin America, and several have been reactivated, with a similar pattern in Africa.

The American Forces Radio Service has continued with its usage of shortwave coverage from half a dozen locations, the United Nations has revived its shortwave service for coverage in Africa, and there has been a vast increase in coverage into Afghanistan and nearby areas of the Middle East in many languages.

The long established radio magazine, Electronics Australia, which dates its origins back to 1939, announced its closure, but it has already been replaced in advance by the new magazine, Radiomag. There has been a nice increase in the membership of four different radio clubs, and the new electronic clubs in Australia are experiencing a rapid increase in membership.

We might also add that many stations are issuing new QSL cards, the World Radio TV Handbook has addressed the issue of accuracy in its latest edition, and Grundig states that they are experiencing a rapid increase in the sale of shortwave radios. In North America alone, one million shortwave radios are sold each year.

In view of the increase in serious events throughout our world, it would appear that the usage of international broadcasting will experience a continued growth and development throughout the coming year, 2001.