Pak Ning Tjang said his late brother had a DX’ing friend around 23 years ago whose name is Yoshikazu Suzuki. 

B: Luckily, the address you gave us is the address of Mr. Suziki we mentioned on our program and you can contact him again. We’re deeply sorry to hear that your brother passed away a year ago.

A: It’s such a good feeling to bring people together through radio. We know that many of our listeners have become pen friends to discuss DX’ing hobby and shortwave equipment.

B: Pak Ning Tjang told us that in the northern part of Sumatra province, the rainy season is coming, but sometimes tropical heat is still in the air, with the temperature ranging from 32 to 35 degree Celsius. Hanoi is at the end of the summer and the temperature is more pleasant than previous months, with the average temperature at around 33 degree Celsius. At night and in the early morning, it’s below 30 degree Celsius with cool breezes.

Hanoi in fall season

A: Representing the typical weather of tropical monsoon type in Northern Vietnam, Hanoi has hot summers with high rainfall and dry cold winters. The city also receives a large amount of sunlight and a relatively high humidity all throughout the year. Although the weather is divided into two main seasons: rainy season from May to September and dry season from October to April, thank to transition months, Hanoi still experiences all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

B: We’re in the transition months now. Very hot and stuffy days are interwined with cool and pleasant days. In a couple of weeks from now, Hanoi will be in the fall, which is considered the most beautiful and romantic time for travellers to visit Hanoi.

A: This season is quite short, typically from the middle of September to the end of November. With the average temperature around 25 degrees, Hanoi’s autumn is charming with warm sunlight, cool breeze and dry atmosphere.

Mother Goddess worship

B: I’m reading an email from Richard Nowak of the US, who listens to our program and sends us feedback almost every day. He said he enjoyed the show on August 14 on 7315 kHz. Using a Hammarlund HQ 120 hooked up to an indoor active loop, the signal came in perfectly with SINPO rating at all 5s. Mr. Nowak wrote “the Sunday Show with its focus on Mother Goddess Worship was very interesting. It had a fascinating discussion of the worship of Mother Goddess, a popular belief in Vietnam. When people are happy they go to their mother and when they are sad they seek comfort in their mother. A NY photographer documented a ceremony in his book. Mother Goddess worship is not viewed as a religion but a belief. I enjoyed tonight’s show. It was informative, educational and fun.”
A: Then on August 21, Nowak was interested the show about historic coffee shops in Hanoi. He wrote: “I love coffee, need a cup of coffee every day. Pictures of art are hanging on the walls. “Pictures please the eyes while coffee pleases the palate” was a great quote. Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet recommend these coffee shops.”

B: Thank you Mr. Nowak for telling us what you like about VOV. We also welcome your comments to help us improve our programs. For now take a short break with a song about beautiful summer in Vietnam.

A: You’re tuning in to the Letter Box segment of VOV’s English program. We welcome Toshiki Tsuboi of Japan to VOV’s Dx’ing community. He is a student who loves broadcasting. He emailed us a reception report and recorded files of our program on August 15.

B: Tsuboi, please contact us again to give us your address so we can send you a verification card. This week we are happy to receive an email from Martin Bobek, a 30-year-old DX’er of the Czech Republic, after some years.  Bobek said he loves all middle wave, short wave, and long wave broadcasts.

A radio rack of Martin Bobek, a 30-year-old DX’er of the Czech Republic

A: He talks about his passion: “I am building a remote control (via Internet) for a radio receiving station in Chynov , a small town near Tabor in South Bohemia, about 80km from Prague. My remote DX station is a solution for my hobby, because it is very industrial noise on AM bands in cities and there’s no space for big receiving antennas.”

B: This edition of Letter Box will be posted on our website and we will display your photos of your receiving station – technological rack and one of the antennas – and the screens of VOV’s signal. They are very impressive, Bobek. We are happy to share the photos with other listeners. Of course, we’ll send you QSL cards to confirm your reception report.

A: Paul Walker of the US also sent us photos of his new radio gear set-up and a new antenna. It’s great to have a DX’ing privacy in a picturesque garden. I think it’s a dream of many people living in urban cities surrounded by high-rise buildings and electronic devices.

Paul Walker's new radio gear set up

B: He has a JRC NRD535D radio, a 25 foot long by 10 foot tall volleyball net shaped magnetic loop antenna, connected to a Wellbrook amplifier controller head. To record VOV’s broadcasts, he uses a Tecsun ICR100 digital recorder which records via the radio’s line out or headphone jack to the line in input of the digital recorder. The files are saved to mp3 format on a small SD Card. The new antenna is 10-15 times bigger than the previous one and the new radio is many times better than the old one, Walker said.

Paul Walker's new antenna

A: Photos of Walker’s new radio gear set up will also be posted together with this Letter Box written version on our website at www.vovworld.vn. From India, Miss Sonali Yadav emailed us a reception report of the program on June 14 on the frequency of 7284. She said the overall rating was very good. We’ll send you a verification card in the post with stamps on it.

B: Many of our listeners are philatelists like you, and it’s the reason why we keep on sending post mails to listeners. Many of our listeners also send us stamps of their countries and we resend them to others DX’ers. We’ll be happy if you show us your stamp collections. Maybe through VOV, you will make new pen friends, share your philately hobby, and exchange stamps. It’s great to create a circle of hobbyists of many countries.

A: Great idea. We welcome your letters at English Section, Overseas Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thank you for listening. Please join us again next Wednesday for another Letter Box edition. Goodbye.