A: To begin this week’s Letter Box, I would like to say Hello to Omar Alfredo Robayo, a new listener of VOV. Welcome you to our worldwide Dx’ing community.
B: 19-year-old Omar is a university student of radio-production, shortwave radio listener and a person interesting in media communications. He enjoys listening to about countries around the world through shortwave and many international radio stations. He wants to enrich his knowledge about culture, politics, economy, traditions, music and other customs of far way places from his country, Colombia.
A: It’s great to have correspondence with you Omar. We have very few listeners in Colombia. Omar is also a regular listener of VOV’s Spanish program.
B: We’ve checked your audio recording of our program on Saturday, November 17 on the frequency of 9640 khz beaming to South America. Using a Kaito KA-1103 receiver with a 10-meter-long wire, Omar remarked the transmission quality in Bogotá, Colombia was good despite the interference originating by the Radio Exterior de Espana’s DRM broadcasting to the same target area on 9630 khz. SINPO rating was 43343.
A: Thank you for networking with VOV’s English program, Omar. You’ll soon receive our reply consisting of a QSL card and some station pennants. Here I have a letter from Abdulkarim Ahmed Ali of Libya. We received your latest letter several months ago. We have updated your new address and sent the latest QSL card to this new address. I don’t know why you haven’t got any reply so far. We’ll verify your reception report for the September 22 program and send you our verification card soon. We hope you’ll get it in a couple of weeks.
B: Ali asks us to send him some materials about Vietnam’s tourism. Until you receive the requested stuff, we’ll tell you something about Da Nang, one of Vietnam’s most attractive tourist cities. This is also our answer to Sanjib Biswas’s question about the famous cities in Vietnam.
A: Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest city, is located midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. The city has neither the ancient atmosphere of Hanoi nor the hustle-bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. It is close to the charming Hoi An ancient town and the imperial capital of Hue, making it a popular vacationing spot for those looking to explore the attractions of central Vietnam or soak up some rays while hanging out on the city's beaches.
B: One of the finest and most famous Vietnamese museums is here in Da Nang. The Museum of Cham Sculpture celebrates an ancient culture famed for its sculptural talents. A magnificent range of images gathered from ancient My Son city and dating from the first to the 14th century are displayed here.
A: A lesser-known group of buildings, scattered on the outskirts of town, are five community houses containing the history of the diverse peoples in each area – truly living museums to the present-day communities, as well as to the past. The Da Nang History Museum is also well worth a look, offering a taster of the city’s eventful heritage.
B: One of the main reasons why so many visitors come to Da Nang is its central location, which means that it is easy to enjoy day trips to some of the great Vietnamese historic and heritage towns and attractions such as the cool and comfortable Ba Na Hill resort and the ancient My Son sanctuary. The city is a popular venue for international events such as Miss World, Asian Diving Championships, international Paramotor Race and surfing competition. These popular sight-seeing spots have been introduced in our features Vietnam’s Land, Discovery Vietnam, or the Sunday Show.
A: Recently, Da Nang city has been selected as an APEC city for a Low-Carbon Model Town Project. The APEC project would create up to 20 low-carbon model cities using energy-efficient technologies, including smart grids and renewable power generation. Central Da Nang City has proposed four low-carbon model projects, including battery powered bicycles, technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to use renewable energy sources, a metro system and rapid bus transit.
B: The city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment said Da Nang had already cut 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions through a pilot project and saved US$570,000. The city has approved a second phase of the project to run to 2015 and is set to build as a green city by 2020. Compared to either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh city, traffic in Da Nang is always relatively light with less jams in rush hours. The city has recorded tremendous development in the last decade. Skyscrapers, and luxury beach resorts have been built.
A: Within the limited time of the Letter Box, we can talk shortly about Da Nang city, one of Vietnam’s famous tourist sites. For now, let’s be back to our listeners’ letters. From the US, 42-year-old listener Naoya Ohmori in Roswell, Georgia, said he enjoys monitoring radio stations around the world as the favorite hobby for 30 years since 1982. He tuned to our program on Friday, October 19 on the frequency of 6175 khz. He noted: “The overall reception condition was good. There were very slight noise and fading but the signal was strong enough to enjoy your program – and there was no problem enjoying your program even with doing something else. I hope this condition will continue in the future.”
B: Yoshihito Kusanagi of Japan tuned to the program on November 10 on the frequency of 12020 khz. He rated SINPO at 35333. Kusanagi said by listening to VOV, he knew about Vietnam’s diversity and foresighted diplomatic relations with countries such as Russia, Denmark, and Iran. He realized Vietnam puts emphasis not only in trade but also environmental protection. This week, we acknowledge letters from Paul Hayes, a member of the British DX Club, David Ansell of England, and William Patalon of the US.
A: That’s all the time we have on this week’s Letter Box, so we have to say goodbye. We promise we’ll confirm all the reception reports we got this week. We welcome your feedback at:
English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
B: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. And if you miss any of our programs, you can always catch up by visiting our website at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.