RUSSIAN STATIONS

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 41, 27 April 1928, Page 16

RUSSIAN STATIONS

SCHEDULE OF OPERATION ADVICE TO MR. WATERS.

When a new powerful Russian shortwave broadcasting station came on the air last June, says the ‘Manawatu Standard," there was cousiderable speculation and discussion as to its identity, but when Mr. W. A. Waters, with the aid of Mr. M. Zotoff, of Bunnythorpe, ascertained that it was RI‘N, Khabarovsk, the statement was disputed by several Press radio writers in New Zealand. Subsequently, Mr. Waters received a post-card from the station in response to a cable sent, which proved the accuracy of the information previously published in the "Standard," and a letter has now been received which gives some interesting information ot the broadcasting activities of Russia, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as Russia is now called, ‘The. letter reads as follows :-

Dear Sir,-We thank you very much for your cable and letter of October 31 with a newspaper cutting. In answer to your cable we have sent you a card. Our station is regularly transmitting from 19-IX (September). Before this time we have transmitted tests on several wave-lengths from Yuny (June). Tor the tests we have used the call letters REN, and from September our call letters are REM. We see that you at New Zealand have no indications about the broadcasting in the Union of Sovict Socialist Republics. On this day in the U.S.S.R. we have about 60 broadcasting stations in operation and about 10 to be erected. The most powerful stations are: Four in Moscow 40, 25, 12 and 4 KLW; in Leningrad, Petersburg, 16 KLW; Kharkov 15 and 4 KI/W; Bakou 95 KLW; the rest of stations are 4 and 1.2 KLW. All these stations have the wave-length 450-1700 M. (metres). {(KLW is Kilowatts.) Of short-wave regular broadcasting stations in operation we have only ours at Khabarovsk

and some number of stations on phone for testing. Our town Khabarovsk is the capital of Far Itast Province of the U.S.S.R. and the destination of our broadcasting is to cover the whole of our large province from Baikal Lake till Behring Strait, between Asia and America. It is a surface 4000 KLM in radius. (1 Kilometer is mile approximately). At this time we have had reports about receiving our station on the loudspeaker from Canada, California, New Zealand, Australia, Bruxelles and the whole territory of U.S.S.R. The largest distance is New Zealand, 11,000 KLM (6840 miles). rom February 10 we have begun to transmit on 70.1 M. and would be very glad to have some reports about reception, also extracts or whole nuz1bers of your newspapers or journals, wherein ancthine is written about this

matter. I beg your pardon for | my bad Iinglish, writing and expressions. With best wishes, Bergman, Chief of Post and Telegraph Administration of 1s. Province, U.S.S.R. In addition to the letter, a postcard was enclosed, giving the new times of regular transmission, which will be of interest-to radio amateurs as the station can be heard on the loudspeaker every night in New Zealand, The times given in the postcard ate Greenwich mean time, but have been corrected to New Zealand time by Mr. Waters as follow :- REGULAR ‘TRANSMISSION. Monday sess 9.80 pan, N,Z, time Tuesday sve 9.80 p.m. * Wednesday Silent day. Thursday ss... 8,80 p.m. " Friday eraereerteere 9.30 p.m, »" Saturday -....+... 9,80 p.m. 9" Sunday 2.30 pam. and 8,30 pm, , ‘he regular wave-length after tests were completed in September was 60,2 ~~

metres, but from February 10 it was changed to 70,1 metres, at which wavelength it now operates. Khabarovsk is practically on the same longitude as_ Adelaide, so that the time in Khabarovsk is about 2 hours behind New Zealand on the same day. The exact time zone used by Khabarovsk is not known in Palmerston North, as in all the announcements Khabarovsk refers to Moscow times as a reference point for the Russian listeners.