A: Let’s start with a letter we received this week from a family of 5 with 3 children who really love shortwave radio. We enjoyed very much their very nice postcards and especially a photo of their family showing the parents with their 3 lovely kids.

B: We’re talking about Carolyn Lysandrou and her family from Bloomington, Indiana, in the US. Carolyn reported listening to our April 5^th broadcast from 3:09 to 3:39 UTC on 6175 kHz which came from the Sackville transmitter.

A: Carolyn wrote: “The broadcast was in Spanish and came in quite clearly to me at SINPO 55455. There was a young lady talking in the Spanish language and it sounded quite pleasant and enjoyable. It sounded like a Newstalk program….”

B: Dear Carolyn, we can tell you were tuned to our Spanish broadcast that day and we thank you for your kind words about the program quality. We will inform our Spanish section of your listening to their program on April 5^th and they’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your reception.

A: She went on to say: “…….I am sad to hear the news that the Sackville transmitter will be closed down soon, and we will no longer be able to hear your broadcasts, in any language, so clearly. ……We’re still happy, however, to know that you will not stop your broadcasts. You are one of the few stations that broadcast quality programs in many languages. Please do not stop broadcasting on shortwave. There are many people all over the world who listen and do not have the ability to write letters like this..”

B: We share your disappointment about the close of the Sackville transmitter in Canada. Many of our listeners have reported they regularly catch our programs through this relay station. And thank you so much for your encouragement on behalf of the many shortwave listeners who do not have the ability to write letters like yours. However, we have some interesting news that might cheer you up.

A: This week we received an email from David Pete of Old Town, Maine, in the northeastern corner of the US who has been a shortwave Dxer since he was a kid in 1982. He logged on to our April 21 broadcast from 10:05 to 10:28 UTC on 9840 kHz with a SINPO of 25332.   

B: With a not very good SINPO, David managed to report our program in great detail. David usually catches our broadcast through relay stations in Canada but this time he believes it was a transmission direct from Vietnam. A: He wrote: “…I was tuning through the radio bands and noticed your station coming in at a time I don’t usually hear it. I looked it up and I believe it was a transmission direct from Vietnam. That is a long way from Northeastern US. The broadcast was quite interesting as usual. Thank you for continuing your broadcasts!”

B: Thank you, David. And we hope, dear Carolyn, you can catch our broadcasts directly transmitted from Vietnam on 9840 kHz in your hometown.

A: We’d like to inform you that you can also listen to us on the web at: www.vovworld.vn or www.vov5.vn. Any program you’ve missed you can always catch up with by logging on to our website, where you can either listen live or listen to recorded programs. Now let’s take a short break before we answer David Pete’s question about Vietnamese fish sauce, and continye to acknowledge letters and emails from our audience around the world.

 A song

A: Now let’s get back to David Pete’s email dated April 26 in which he said: “….I really enjoy Vietnamese cooking. I would like to order some fish sauce direct from Vietnam and was wondering if you could recommend a brand to try. I have bought some locally here but none are as good as I have had in restaurants. Any help you could give me with this would be greatly appreciated!”

B: Well, “Nuoc Mam” or “Fish sauce” has had a centuries-long unwritten history in Vietnam. The secrets of making good fish sauce are ancient family traditions. Phu Quoc island and Phan Thiet city in central Vietnam are two places that are famous for the quality of their fish sauce.

Phu Quoc fish sauce

A: Nuoc mam is a daily staple for every Vietnamese and sauce from Phu Quoc is prized above all others. Anchovies and related species of small schooling fish from two to five inches in length are commonly used, as they can be found in bountiful supply in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Thailand and the East Sea.

B: Though several cities including Phan Thiet are known for their fish sauce and boast many reputable producers, Phu Quoc is widely considered the fish sauce capital. The main reason is that the island’s surrounding waters have an abundance of anchovies, the fish of choice for nuoc mam.

A: Well, David, we hope you’re satisfied with our briefing on fish sauce from Vietnam. If you have any other questions concerning any issues related to Vietnam, don’t hesitate to write to us.

B: This week we also received a nice postcard of Dublin from Francis Lawlor of Ireland who reported listening to our April 3^rd broadcast from 17:00- 17:30 UTC on 9625 kHz with a SINPO rating of 44454. Francis couldn’t email us so he decided to write to us instead. Thank you so much, Francis, for your report and your effort to keep in touch with us.  

A: From Mannheim, Germany, listener Holger Wolf reported tuning in to our April 11 broadcast at 20:30 UTC on a frequency of 9730 kHz with a SINPO rating of 44344.

B: Thank you for your interest in our program and your very nice postcard of Mannheim, which is only 15 km west of the famous German city of Heidelberg.

A: We’d like to inform you that our broadcast is also available in German. We hope you can catch our German broadcasts in addition to our programs in English. You can also listen to our streamed programs in 12 languages at our website at www.vovworld.vn.

B: Our regular listener Otto Schwartz has resumed writing to us after a break, although he says he never stopped listening to our programs. Otto informed us of the recent warm winter in his hometown. Flowers blossomed throughout the winter, which saw not a single snowflake and daytime temperature often as high as 25 DC. 

A: We share your concern, Otto. We all hope this crazy weather, a result of climate change, most likely, does not result in more and stronger hurricanes. As for your interest in “Pho Bo”, the beef noodle soup of Vietnam, we can tell you that this is one of our most famous dishes, which no foreigner should miss tasting it when they’re in Vietnam. Recipes for ph obo are readily available on the internet now. But to taste authentic “Pho” or “Vietnamese noodles”, there is no better place in the world than Hanoi.

B: This week we also received mails from David R. Ansell of England who reported listening to our April 12^th broadcast on 9730 kHz with a SINPO of 55444, and from Anton Bernhoffer of the US, who listened to us on a frequency of 6175 kHz.

A: We would like to acknowledge emails from Canadian listener Richard Lemke, Jawahar Almeida from warm and humid Goa on the south west coast of India, his fellow countryman Pratik Kabi, and Shyuli Khatun and Rana Dewan Rafiquil of Bangladesh.

B: We were moved by Bangladeshi listener Taslim Rocket’s email in which he said: “I am feeling very excited listening to your station. I am listening to your program with attention whenever I have time, not to forget the programs that focus especially on your local cultures….Please keep up your good work. We, Dxers, always with you..”

A: We truly appreciate your encouragement and thank you so much for staying with us. We look forward to receiving more comments and suggestions from you. Our contact address is:

The English program

Overseas Service

Radio Voice of Vietnam

45 Ba Trieu street

Hanoi, Vietnam

A: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn.