A QSL letter from Taiwan Chu Yuyeh Kuangpo Tientai, 台灣區漁業廣播電台
(Táiwān Qū Yúyè Guǎngbō Diàntái). Also known as Taiwan Area Fishery Radio Station on 1143 kHz. With 100 kW they also broadcast on 738 kHz. I couldn’t copy them there unlike other Benelux DX Club members. Their third frequency is 1593 kHz but that one has 3 kW only.
It is always a pleasure to receive a nice envelope that has traveled halfway around the world:
I heard them at 19:59 h UTC with time pips and a female ID for Fishery Radio:
Much stronger was the reception a later that evening with a Radio Taiwan International program:
By the way: Radio Taiwan International confirmed my reception as well with a f/d email and promised a dedicated QSL card. Let’s see.
Taiwan Area Fishery Radio Station (now Fisheries Radio Station, or FRS) is a government-run mediumwave service created to keep fishermen at sea informed and safe. It broadcasts 24 hours a day on AM 738 kHz and 1143 kHz from Penghu and 1593 kHz from Yilan. Programs are also carried in parts of eastern Taiwan by partner stations.
Taiwan is surrounded by sea and has a large fishing industry. In 1980 the Ministry of National Defense’s General Political Warfare Headquarters asked the Intelligence Bureau to plan a dedicated station that would deliver timely, accurate marine weather and related information so crews could protect lives and property and make better use of ocean resources. Trial weather broadcasts began on 1 July 1983. After provincial government reorganization in 1999 the station moved under the Fisheries Agency. It has belonged to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Agency since 1 August 2023.
Programming also includes general information and entertainment and is produced in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Filipino, and indigenous languages to reach both local fishermen and foreign crew members. Mediumwave was chosen because it travels well over water and can be received on simple shipboard radios far from shore.
