Hrvatska radiotelevizija / Croatian Radiotelevision

Above logo courtesy of “Radio Televizioni Shqiptar” by Kj1595 – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Commons

Radio Tirana is the name of the radio services which are operated by the Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) (English: Albanian Radio and Television), the public broadcaster for Albania. RTSH traces its roots back to 23 November 1938 when Radio Tirana was founded. Television was launched in 1960.

Currently, three radio networks use the name Radio Tirana. An external service named Radio Tirana International broadcasts world-wide on medium wave and shortwave. Other international broadcasters relay their programs via RTSH facilities.

The external service of Radio Tirana played a fairly important role as international broadcaster during the Cold War. However, the programs had a reputation as being rather dull. Since the end of the Cold War, the programming has improved, and they are a DXer friendly station.

When we lived in Germany, Radio Tirana was an easy catch on both medium wave and shortwave. They were fairly easily received when we lived in Korea. I have picked them up here in Maryland on medium wave occasionally. They sent the QSL cards below for my reception reports.

NRK (an abbreviation of the Norwegian: Norsk rikskringkasting AS, generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation)

In the wake of the news that the Dutch radio stations on 675, 747, and 1251 kHz went off the air earlier this week (Click here) and that the medium wave tower at Lopik was already taken down after 75 years of service (Click here), I would like to feature this set of QSLs.

We could here the NOS medium wave outlets at our home in southern Germany. The QSL for the FM outlet is from a trip we took to Ostfriesland, Germany.  That outlet was easily heard there.

Your comments are welcome. Please scroll down to see the QSL cards that they sent in reply to my reception reports.

Manx Radio 219 on 1368 kHz was a regular at our home in Southern Germany. They first signed on the air in the mid 1960’s and should be able to be heard in coastal areas of North America.

I enjoyed listening to their local programs late at night. My second great grandmother Margaret Alice Watterson immigrated from the Isle of Man to the USA in 1850 so it was fun finding a connection through this station. They sent me this QSL, a history sheet, a program schedule, and a sticker for my reception report.

Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a public broadcaster headquartered in Cologne (Köln), which serves the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It consists of six radio networks and a television network. It was formed in 1956 when the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk split into the Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk. You can find their website here http://www1.wdr.de/themen/index.html

We could regularly hear their medium wave outlets in southern Germany where we lived. We heard their FM outlets during a visit to Northern Germany. Their 1593 kHz outlet was widely heard throughout Europe and other continents. They sent the QSL cards below for my reception reports. Their QSLs for 720 and 1593 kHz are among my favorites in my collection.

(Scroll down to see the QSL cards WDR sent for my reports.)

(Above photo: Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Athlone, transmitter and antenna (612 kHz) courtesy of Scott Fybush – www.fybush.com)

 

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the national public service broadcaster of Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as Raidió Éireann, it is one of the oldest public broadcaster in continuous operation in the world.

I was able to easily hear Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) on their medium wave frequencies at our home in southern Germany, and their 567 kHz outlet was an occasional catch here in Maryland before they went off the air.

As of this writing, they are still on the air on their longwave outlet of 252 kHz. In the past 20 years or so, they also have relayed their programs on shortwave. They currently relay their Radio One program for one half hour per day via a shortwave transmitter in Meyerton, South Africa on 5820 kHz at 1930 to 2000 UTC.

Their web site is at http://www.rte.ie/

 

(Scroll down to see the QSLs RTÉ sent back for my reports.)

REFERENCE:

Scott Fybush, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Athlone, Ireland; http://www.fybush.com/sites/2011/site-111028.html; last accessed on 25 August 2015

BBC Radio Scotland sent this nice looking QSL card for my reception report of their 810 kHz outlet. They were a fairly easy catch in Southern Germany but had to contend with interference from Radio Skopje in Macedonia.

BBC Radio Scotland was used for the name of the Scottish opt out of BBC Radio 4 beginning in 1974. It was founded in 1978 as a full-time radio network. Its programming consists of debate, drama, sports, news, comedy, and music.

You can see the QSL I received for my reception report below.

Československý Rozhlas (or Czechoslovak Radio in English)  began regular broadcasts on 18 May 1923. It retained this name until 31 December 1992 when the country was split into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Each country then had their own broadcast organizations.

Československý Rozhlas was audible at our home in southern Germany on a number of frequencies on medium wave. Some were easier catches than others.  I sent reports to their headquarters in Prague and received the regular Radio Praha (Prague) QSL cards in return.  The personnel got the frequency correct on only one of the cards (1098 kHz.)  I assume that it was because they normally did not handle reception reports for non-shortwave transmissions.  I have noticed this type of thing from other broadcasters. I photo-shopped the correct frequencies on the QSL copies below.

Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (BRT) was a broadcast service for the Flemish community in Belgium, on the air from 1960 to 1991. It was a predecessor to the current Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie. They broadcast three nationwide radio programs as well as regional programs on medium wave (540, 927, 1188, and 1512 kHz) and on FM. They also broadcast an international service on 1512 kHz and on shortwave. It was called BRT Wereldomroep. Their English program was called Brussels Calling.

I joined the BRT International Listeners’ Club so that I could send receive their QSL cards (seen below). One is for their domestic service on 927 kHz and the rest are for their international service on 1512 kHz and 9925 kHz.

Belgisches Rundfunk- und Fernsehzentrum (BRF) is public service broadcaster serving the German speaking community in Belgium. It has two radio channels of its own and a joint channel with Germany’s Deutschlandfunk. It also produces a German language television channel which is broadcast via cable.  Their main office is located in Eupen. You can find them on the web at http://brf.be/

When traveling through Belgium in July 1989, we heard their broadcasts on 94.9 MHZ (St. Vith) and 100.5 (Eupen). (NOTE:  Transmitter locations from the 1989 World Radio and TV Handbook – WRTH). They sent a QSL card verifying both of those frequencies for my reception report

I am not sure of the current name of this broadcaster. The name given above is from the QSL card below.  However, I have seen more recent references which state their name is simply Belgische Rundfunk.