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Hi all,
Thanks to everyone for their input on the Monaco SW
question.
Below are two responses, in depth from Wolfgang
Bueschel and with comments from Dr Hansjoerg Biener.
The amount of knowledge easily available via the
internet never fails to surprise me!
Regards,
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: Dr.
Hansjoerg Biener
Cc: Paul
Ormandy
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: Monte Carlo Monaco SW site Paul Ormandy Wolfgang BüschelThe transmitter site indeed stretches across the border. I think that the short wave transmitters and antennas are on Monacan soil, while the medium wave arial is on French territory. But I cannot remember where I read it. After WW II the station remained as COMMERCIAL RMC - Radio Monte Carlo onThe media empire of the Societés Financières also includes Africa No. 1. Radio Andorra should read Sud Radio. Radio Andorra was the station with a Spanish connection. In about 1950 TWR - Trans World Radio[Mr. Freed?] moved from Tangiers UN territory - to Monaco. And then two short wave transmitter at that mini country were used by TWR organization, and a renting agreement signed between RMC and TWR.In the 1950s Paul Freed operated a Voice of Tangiers. But when this international zone was returned to Morocco the Government decided to close all privately owned transmitters. It should be noted that pentecostal IBRA-Radio had a larger operation from Tanger than the organization that was to become Trans World Radio. When it became obvious that the authorities would not allow the continuation of private broadcasting Paul Freed started negotiating with Radio Monte Carlo. They had already been broadcasting paid religious programmes. Paul Freed was able to obtain the exclusive right for broadcasting religious programmes from Monaco. This and later deals provided for the establishment of transmitters for Radio Monte Carlo at the cost of Trans World Radio while Trans World Radio would get some of its investment back in the form of broadcasting time. In June 1960 a newly erected 100 kW short wave transmitter went on the air for test transmissions. The first regular broadcast was on 16 October 1960. Commenting on the nature of this deal it should be noted that only the French stations peripheriques in Andorra, Luxemburg, Monte Carlo and Germany (Saarland) were willing to sell international airtime on medium or longwave at that time. So, from the perspective of an US-American evangelist there were few options. Reading the TWR books one can see they never really understood the European public broadcasting system and because of their evangelical-fundamentalist perspective they ignored the religious programmes already existing in the public broadcasting sector. Things are different with the Communist countries where religious programmes were mostly suspended. The GDR (and I think Hungary) (and beginning in the 90s Poland) did have religious programmes. But in the case the Soviet Union one would have had to rely on short wave anyway. In 1974 the 1466 kHz 400 kW unit was replaced by a new 1200 (2 x 600) kW unit, and also the LW 218 kHz unit was replaced by newly erected Roumoules long wave and medium wave site on French soil, about 120 kms west of Monaco. Between 1974 and 1988 the RMC/TWR 1466/1467 kHz channel was used mainly from Monte Carlo soil at DAYTIME, and from Roumoules during NIGHTtime on a directional aerial four mast system.I don't think that the dates given are correct. The medium wave station of RMC at Roumoules went on the air in September 1987. This 10 Mio DM project was the first to be entirely financed by Radio Monte Carlo itself. I agree with Wolfgang Büschel that there were daytime-nighttime shifts of transmitter use. RMC French service used LW 218 and SW 6035 kHz at 0500-0100, Italian 0600-1800 701 kHz. 6035 kHz usage ceased in 1977.There must have been some short wave broadcasting even later. I started listening to short wave in those years and I do remember listening to one hour broadcasts of RMC on short wave. From 1982 TWR introduced a new 500 kW short wave unit [donated by German TWR branch ERF Wetzlar]The 5 Mio US-Dollar project was jointly financed by TWR and ERF which sponsored about 2.5 Mio. ... shortwave occured all the time from Monte Carlo site, NEVER at Roumoules-France site.Agreed. |