(VOVworld) - Hanoi is in the middle of autumn and the daytime temperature ranges from 25 to 30 DC. The weather forecast center says a cold spell is coming later this week, bringing the temperature down to around 20 DC. I love this weather. It’s pleasantly warm and humidity is moderate.

B: I love the autumn too. I share the feeling of a quote I found on the internet “I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.” I only stay in the studio to talk with my dear listeners around the world.

A: Me too. The Letter Box segment every Wednesday is my favorite time. This week we got letters from new listeners and some old listeners whose previous letters to us were months ago. Bill Ball, who lives in Maryland, the US, said he had a medical setback with his heart and he has been off for a while. He tuned on the radio on October 25 and received VOV’s program on 6175 khz, loud and clear. Bill said he will tune in again nightly. He enjoyed the news, cultural features, and music.

A corner of Hanoi in autumn

B: We’re glad to hear you’ve recovered and are back to DX’ing everyday. We wish you good luck and good health, Bill. A letter from Otto Schwartz of the US dated September 30 arrived in our office early this week. Otto said he has a stack of VOV monitoring logs going back all the way to the beginning of the year. He enclosed a dozen or more of the most recent ones. Otto said he generally tunes in to VOV’s 3:30 UTC broadcast on 6175 khz right before he goes to sleep and to the morning programs at 10, 11:30, and 12:30 UTC on 9840 khz and 12020 khz.

A: Otto wrote: “I’ve learned a lot about Vietnam from your broadcasts. I’m particularly impressed by Vietnam’s outreach to so many countries in term of bilateral relations, strategic partnerships, trade ties, cultural exchanges, and friendships based on freedom, democracy, justice, human rights, security, and observance of international law.”

B: He continues saying: “Most of all, I’m impressed by Vietnam’s efforts and initiatives to improve the country and the lives of all of its people, especially ethnic groups, through projects on poverty reduction, anti-corruption, utilization of modern technology, health, education, and investment.”

A: Thank you very much, Otto, for your compliments on Vietnam’s development and VOV’s broadcasts. We’ll verify your receptions soon and await more feedback from you.

Sword Lake in the center of Hanoi is covered by bounty sunshine in autumn

B: Paul Walker, a listener in the US, sent us some reception reports and recordings of VOV programs he heard between May and October. Paul said he has worked in radio for 12 years. He works for local a AM and FM radio station. We’ve listened to the audio files you recorded and they were VOV programs in Vietnamese for Vietnamese living abroad on the frequency of 12005 khz and 11720 khz.

A: We really appreciate your DX’ing hobby and interest in VOV Station. VOV broadcasts on short wave and medium wave in 12 languages: English, French, Germany, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Lao, Thai, Cambodian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese for Vietnamese living abroad. Each section verifies reports of their programs. VOV’s English section only verifies receptions of its broadcasts. But the exception proves the rule, so we’ll verify your report of listening to VOV’s Vietnamese language programs. We hope to receive your feedback on VOV’s English program in the future.

Young green glutinous rice is a delicious dish of autumn

B: Gordon Lyell of Illinois, the US, said his last reception of a VOV broadcast was in 1997. Over the years he has remained a shortwave listener. On October 20, 2015, he tuned to VOV on the frequency of 12005 khz from 1:30 to 2:00 UTC. It was a program in Vietnamese for Vietnamese people living abroad. As with Paul Walker, we’ll make an exception and verify your report. We’ll also send you our frequency list to encourage you to listen to us again.

A: Andy Martynyuk of Russia told us: “A while ago I received this QSL card from VOV. As always I’m thankful to you for your feedback. Unfortunately the card doesn’t contain information about the broadcast language. On the QSL card for VOV’s English program, we don’t mention the language because we only verify receptions of English programs.

Milky flower is a symbol of Hanoi's autumn

B: From Japan, Yuki Kishibe sent us a reception report for a program on September 8 on the frequency of 9840 khz. He used a Sony ICF-SW II and rated SINPO at all 3s. Yuki commented that the signal was quite weak and it was difficult to understand what was being said. He could understand only about half of the content.

A: We expect the signal to improve when we change our frequencies for the winter broadcasts. VOV’s relayed broadcast from Moosbrunn, Woofferton, and Dhabayya to Europe at 18:00 UTC will be on 5955 khz. Our broadcast from Woofferton and Cypress Creek to Eastern America and the Caribbean at 01:00 UTC and 02:30 UTC will be on 6175 khz, and to Central America and the Caribbean at 03:30 UTC will be on 6175 kHz. If you haven’t jotted down the changes, please go to our website at www.vovworld.vn to confirm them. We’ll also inform you individually by emails and post mails.

Hanoi autumn has been an endless inspiration for artists

B: From the US, Richard Nowak sent us a reception report for October 23 on 12005 khz. He used a Hallicrafters S-120 hooked up to 2.4 meters of wire going from his radio to a window in the living room of his house. Richard said the program was informative and full of insights into happenings in Vietnam, the life of people in the northwest, their sole income from rice cultivation, and Vietnam’s flag tower on Lung Cu peak, Vietnam’s northernmost point.

A: We acknowledge receptions by Farid Rami and Abdelilah Boubchir of Algeria, Rabi Sankar Bosu of India, Enzo Pistone of Italy, David Ansell of England, Fumito Hokamura and Toshiya Nishimura of Japan, and Li Ming of China.

B: We’ve come to the end of this week’s Letter Box edition. Before we go out to watch the falling leaves and enjoy the delightful breezes, let us remind you of our address: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.