Radio in Alaska

New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 633, 17 August 1951, Page 17

Radio in Alaska

SK any New Zealand DX-er what he | considers his most prized verification and he will probably produce one from Alaska-that ‘is, if he has been lucky enough» to hear that elusive country. Most often heard is Alaska’s strongest station, KFAR, which broadcasts from Fairbanks on 660 kilocycles with 10,000 watts of power. Redio is a vital part of the lives of the people of Alaska. KFAR has told a trapper hundreds of miles away ‘of the birth of his son; doctors have broadcast instructions to outlying villages describing treatment of sudden illnesses. One day a telegram arrived at KFAR from a storekeeper at Circle City asking the station to broadcast a message to a Mrs. Joseph telling her'not to cook the potatoes she had bought that day. Soon after she had left for her home at Fort Yukon by boat, the storekeeper had found that he had ‘sold Mrs. Joseph seed potatoes treated with a poison. The storekeeper at Fort Yukon heard the broadcast message, hurried to Mrs. Joseph’s home and found her putting the potatoes in the pot. KFAR has originated some unusuel broadcasts. The Station Manager, Al Bramstedt, was the first radio newsman to fly over the North Pole. The annual Fairbanks ice carnival, with sledge-dog races, hockey games and the Eskimo blanket-toss, is fully covered. Three men in an aeroplane cover the dog races. The annual ice break-up in the Tanana River at Nenana is broadcast, and many Alaskans hold tickets on which they guess the exact day, hour and minute the ice will break. Radio, commonplace in most parts of the world, retains much of its pioneering spirit and romance in Alaska. Around the World Nicaragua: YNOW, "The Voice of Central America," in Managua, broadcasts programmes in English and Spanish from 3.30 to 5.0 p.m. daily on 6055 kilocycles (49-metre band). Strength is. good. : Philippines: DZB2 Manila, operated by the Far East Broadcasting Company, is heard with news in English at 10.0 p.m. on 3320 kilocycles (86-metre band). The broadcast is also carried on DZH3 (6030 kilocycles, 49-metre band), and DZH8 (15300 kilocycles, 19-metre band). : Guatemala: A new missionary station, TGNA ("Telling Good News Abroad’’) in Guatemala City has been heard with English broadcasts on 5955 kilocycles (50-metre band) from 3.0 to 3.30 p.m. Indo-China: French lessons from Saigon are broadcast on Tuesdays and Fri- days at 10.15 p.m. on 11830 kilocycles (25-metre band). Booklets about the lessons can be had by writing to Radio Saigon, Box 412, Saigon, Indo-China. Japan: The Far East Network of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service, Tokyo, is using new frequencies. It operates on 11825 kilocycles (25-metre band) to 9.30 p.m. daily, with news at 8.0 and 9.0 p.m., and can then be heard from 9.55 p.m. on 6080 kilocycles (49metre band).