Jeff: For 12 years during the Cold War from 1952 to 1964, the United States used a Coast Guard vessel in the Mediterranean Sea to broadcast Voice of America programming via medium wave and shortwave to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa in up to 16 different languages. Those operating the … Read more
Jeff: From 1952-1964, the U.S. Information Agency operated a Voice of America station from on board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter ‘Courier’, anchored off the island of Rhodes, Greece. It was equipped with a 35 kW shortwave transmitter and a 150 kW medium wave transmitter – the most powerful that has ever been installed on … Read more
Jeff: Over the last two weeks, Ray Robinson has covered the radio broadcasting history of Ireland on both medium wave and shortwave. Today he looks at the longwave story, which began in the mid-1980’s. Here’s Ray. Ray: Thanks, Jeff. For those who were of Irish extraction living in Great Britain during the early 1980’s, it … Read more
Ik neem je weer mee naar lang geleden en wel 55 jaar terug in de tijd. In het weekend van 20 januari 1971 vierde het IKOR, de stichting tot het behartigen van het interkerkelijk overleg in radio-aangelegenheden, daarbij uitgaande van de voormalige oecumenische raad van kerken in Nederland, haar 25-jarig bestaan in Hilversum en wel … Read more
Let me take you back to 1970: Thumb suckers have always been around It was Thursday, 22 January 1970, when the former Dutch coaster Silvretta, renamed MEBO II, left the port of Slikkerveer for Rotterdam, where it was to be cleared for departure to international waters. The ship was destined to house the newest floating … Read more
Johnnie Walker *30th March 1945 † 31st December 2024 Johnnie Walker was a true radio legend who never forgot his footsteps on the radio ships Laissez Faire and Mi Amigo. At numerous reunions, he spoke emotionally about his experiences on Swinging Radio England and especially Radio Caroline, to which he remained loyal even after the … Read more
Bert Bennett 28 July 1950 – 3 January 2026 On 3 January 2026, the sad news of Bert Bennett’s death was announced on the Mi Amigo 50 website: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to a true radio legend. Bert Bennett (Bert Wijfjes) is no longer with us. For the generation … Read more
Jeff: Last week, Ray Robinson began a two-part look at the history of radio broadcasting in the northern European country of Sweden. So here to continue once again is Ray from Los Angeles. Ray: Thanks, Jeff. You may remember that back in November in our short series on the history of radio jingles, I mentioned … Read more
Alan Beech G1BXG Jeff: Last week we began an item on the history of the 648 kHz mediumwave channel in the UK, which has been researched and written up by Radio Caroline chief engineer Alan Beech. Today we continue with Ray reading Alan’s article, which was published in both the BBC engineering journal ‘Signal’, and … Read more
Alan Beech G1BXG Jeff: You may know that the medium wave channel of 648 kHz in the UK was allocated in 2017 by OFCOM, the British equivalent of the FCC, to the former offshore broadcaster Radio Caroline. Alan Beech, chief engineer for Radio Caroline, researched the fascinating and often contradictory history of the frequency, and … Read more