Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, a weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. We are Ngoc Huyen and Phuong Khanh.

A: First on our show today, we’d like to welcome David Tymoshchuk of Canada to our broadcast. In his typed letter to VOV this week, he wrote: “I was happy to find your transmission on 12005 khz at 20:00 local time. The date I heard your broadcast was July 18, 2016. My receiver is a DX 160 Realistic (an old radio) with 6 foot wire antenna. Reception was a bit difficult as most of the band was prone to heavy fluttering with my S meter showing wild swinging between S3 and S9 on the scale. VOV’s signal seems to be about S7-8 with gain control turned up to full gain.”

B: Thank you for your detailed report, David Tymoshchuk. This week, we received a lot of letters and emails from our listeners around the world. Some of them are new to VOV and some of them have returned after a long silence though in their letters they say they have continued listening to VOV.

A: A new listener that we’d like to mention today is Donald Clapp of the US. Donald tuned in to our broadcast on July 12 at 0200 UTC using the frequency of 12020. He wrote: “I found your station last night when I was scanning the shortwave radio. I will keep you dialed in. Good listening”.

B: Thank you, Donald, for your report. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your report as well as a frequency list and program schedule. We look forward to hearing more from you.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's economic hub

A: This week, we received our first letter from Henry Zapatka in a long time. After listening to our broadcast on July 15, he wrote: “I’m sending you a reception report of your broadcast on shortwave. Being a shortwave listener for many years, I have listened to your broadcast quite often. Reception is usually quite good when I listen at 0100UTC and even pretty good at 0330 UTC. It’s always interesting to hear the news and stories of other countries and from listening to your broadcasts I’ve learned a lot about Vietnam. I’m also glad to see that you are still on shortwave, as so many stations have left the airwaves over the last few years”.

B: Thank you, Henry Zapatka, for tuning in. Despite the explosion of new media like the internet, social networks, and other digital platforms, VOV still broadcasts on shortwave and considers shortwave an important channel for introducing Vietnam, its land and its people to other countries. Our efforts to continue shortwave broadcasting have received support from our listeners around the world, as evidenced by the many emails and letters we receive from you each week.

A: Next is a letter from Grant Skinner, a regular listener to VOV for many years. Grant Skinner listened to our broadcast on July 16 on the frequency of 9625 khz at 1700 UTC and rated SINPO at all 5s. He reported that there was no interference although the broadcast kept cutting out.

B: Grant, thank you for your report. We’ll confirm it with a QSL card. Sending a very detailed reception on our broadcast at 17 UTC on the frequency of 9625 khz, Gerry wrote: “I’m sorry to report that reception of VOV English at 17 UTC on 9625 Khz is still spoilt every day by the broadcast fading completely for several seconds while the transmitter remains open- this occasionally happens during the news, but sometimes throughout all 27 minutes of the program- always without warning. The signal strength is usually 44544, but it is impossible to hear each item completely”.

A: Gerry, thank you for your report. We are making some changes in our shortwave broadcasts. We’ll inform you soon about the changes to make sure that you get good reception of our broadcasts.

B: The changes are causing our broadcast in the US to go silent for brief periods, as Richard Nowak of the US reported. Thank you all very much for your reports on the technical reception and content of our programs.

B: From India, Ratan Kumar Paul reported listening to our program on July 15. He wrote: “On July 15, in your Current Affairs and news, you analyzed the terrorist attack in France on Bastille Day. Are there any terrorist organizations in Vietnam?”

A: As far as we know, security in Vietnam is good. Terrorism and threats of violence are low. Vietnam is a destination for investors and tourists because  of its political stability.  

B: In an email to VOV, Christer Brunstrom of Sweden reported reception of the VOV broadcast on July 16 from 1700 to 1719 with an excellent SINPO of 45444. Christer wrote: “As always it’s an informative and enjoyable show. Football is considered the national sport here in Sweden but ice hockey, hand ball, basketball and volleyball are also quite popular. Until fairly recently I used to play volleyball once a week with my former colleagues at the school where I worked before retiring some six or seven years ago. What about volleyball in Vietnam?”

A: Volleyball appeared in Vietnam between 1920 and 1922 in large cities like Hanoi and Hai Phong. After the August Revolution in August, 1945, like other sports, volleyball became more popular.

B: Volleyball was first popular among Chinese students in Hanoi, Hai Phong, and other cities. The first volleyball match was organized in 1927 between Chinese from in Hanoi and Hai Phong.

A: In 1928, the first volleyball championship was organized between Vietnamese and French teams. During the French colonization, volleyball was not very popular.

B: Following the success of the August revolution in 1945 and in response to President Ho Chi Minh’s call on everybody to play sports, volleyball became more popular in rural areas. During the war against French colonialists, volleyball was the major sport in the army.

A: After peace was restored in the north in 1954, volleyball quickly and widely expanded. A number of volleyball teams were set up. The The Cong team was the most successful one. At that time, many female volleyball teams were set up.

B: In 1957, the Vietnam Volleyball Federation was set up. The same year, the Vietnam Volleyball National Team was set up and participated in overseas games against China, North Korea, and Mongolia.

A: Volleyball games have been played between teams from cities, provinces, agencies, and companies. One of the most popular volleyball games today is the VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup. It’s an international women's volleyball tournament organized by the Vietnam Volleyball Federation and sponsored by Vietnam Television. The cup was established in 2004.

B: Last year, five foreign teams including the Malaysian national team, the sports club 4.25 from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Fujian club from China, Kazakhstan’s Astana club and Japan’s Tenri University’s team participated in the VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup.

A: That’s a brief look at the development of volleyball in Vietnam. We’ll have more stories about this sport in later shows.  

B: On today’s show, we’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Peter Ng of Malaysia, Richard Lemke of Canada, Toshiya Nishimura, Shota Nakahara, Kaishuu Yamashita, Taguchi Norizumi, Hayato Furukawa and Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Siddhartha Bhattacharjee and Taslim Uddin of Bangladesh, Sekar Thalainayar, Karobi Hazarika and Shvaji Nagar of India, and Gary Edward Embry and Mark Fridl of the US. We’ll send you all QSL cards to confirm your reports.

A: We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. You can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re welcome to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.