Chad state radio station put out of action by looters/rebels

IR07
International Relations & Political Science

Chad Latest: Radio Off Air
Posted by Editor on February 2, 2008

It is about 1945 UTC (7:45 p.m.) Saturday - and the Radio Nationale Tchadienne frequency is blank. This new and reasonably high-powered transmitter was coming in well here at my location since its recent inauguration. I can only assume its absence is due to the fighting around Njamena. The Media Network blog reports others as saying they are also missing Chadian media outlets.

Chad state radio station put out of action by looters
Chad state radio went off the air on Saturday as rebels advanced into the capital, opposition leader Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh said. He made the claims in a telephone call from the central African nation’s embattled capital, N’Djamena. Saleh said rebels had entered the city and shooting that had erupted in the morning appeared to have died down. He said there were no soldiers in his neighbourhood and the state broadcaster had gone off the air in the morning.
(Source: Press Association)

Update 1645 UTC Sunday 3 February: More fighting is reported in N’Djamena. AFP reported this morning that government helicopters had attacked a column of rebels in the south of the city heading towards the main radio station. No broadcasts were monitored yesterday evening on 4905 kHz, which had been putting strong signals into Europe in recent days (see attached comment from Dr Derek Lynch).

On Sunday afternoon, the AFP news agency reported that the radio station had been “destroyed today by fires and looting.” Witnesses said the radio station had been pillaged by a mob that smashed broadcasting equipment and made off with computers. That suggests it was put out of action rather than totally destroyed.

Dr Derek Lynch, Ireland Says:

February 2nd, 2008 at 8:00 pm

CHAD 4905 SILENT
Radio Nationale Tchadienne’s new SW transmitter went silent today. I was unablke to hear its French newscast at 1930. The frequency was totally blank - it’s not a case of poor reception. But this transmitter was putting in an excellent signal here, both mornings and evenings, since its recent inauguration. DL

YouTube videos of fighting in Chad

In the absence of TV reports from Chad, I came across some videos posted on YouTube by members of Stop Genocide Now, who were at a hotel in N’Djamena, Chad, as the rebel forces entered the city. The group have now been evacuated. These are very high quality videos.
Fighting in N’Djamena Part 1
Fighting in N’Djamena Part 2
Fighting in N’Djamena: Part 3

Chad rebels fight their way into capitalN'DJAMENA (Reuters) -

Rebels in Chad seeking to overthrow President Idriss Deby battled their way into the capital N'Djamena on Saturday and said they were securing it, but a minister said government forces still controlled the city.Residents and diplomats said rebel fighters had entered the capital, but the situation remained confused. Machine gun and heavy weapons fire, sometimes sporadic, sometimes more intense, could be heard as France prepared to evacuate French and other foreign nationals.Consult the following web address for the additional story:http://www.reuters.com/

The following logs of Chad, reflect what has been monitored in recent weeks. Frequencies remain current at this posting.
Gayle VH - via mt-shortwave Blog

All times UTC

Yes, Chad received here in Sri Lanka too, but only in the evening slot, initially mixing badly with CNR. Thanks for the tip. I have ben rather slow with my DXing due to too much work. But one by one the antennas are getting refurbished and will come back with a lot of interest, not that I have ever been off the band. How can I when I earn a living being in front of a radio.

One comment, someone said probably Chad is down here due to interference on 6 KHz. Well the reason is, I am sure, that evening and morning 6 MHz is not serving a wider area due to propagation in an area between the ground wave and the first sky wave coverage area. With the sun spots so low for local shortwave coverage the angle of return has to be wider as the frequency goes up. Right now here in the tropics in Sri Lanka which is almost similar latitude to Chad, till about 8 a.m. in the morning and after 7 p.m. it is hard to have any coverage in an area about 200kms from the txsite on 6, 7 MHz. So as hams we have to come down to the next band 75metres. With a lot of people depending on SW in Chad the 4904.5 is a logical move. (Victor Goonetilleke-CLN 4S7VK, DXplorer)

4905 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (Ndjamenne). 2256-2301*. 26 Jan 08. French. Hip hop music in English and Afropop in French. Station promos at 2300. National Anthem to sign-off at 2301S9/very good signal. (J Wood, TN)

4905 (reactivated frequency) Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne, Grevia, 1729-1914, Arabic, announcements, talks, local tunes, Vernacular, tribal tunes; French 1859, news, program "Espace Jeune"; 54444; I was unable to monitor its sign-on time, but estimate it as being 1600, and 4905 is ex-6165 evenings only for the latter is used during the day.

4905 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne. Armchair level signals from 0509 tune to 0645 end recording peaked at S5 from 0530 to 0630 with quick improvement from 0509 and slower degradation after 0630. Interesting programing. Local indigenous vocals at 0634-0636. Several telephone call-ins heard around 0600 and after 0636. SINPO 4/5-5-4-4-4. Best I have heard Chad here on any frequency. (Bruce Churchill-USA, DXplorer)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , Grevia, 1328-..., French, news. SINPO 25332, QRM de HRV later on only.
6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , Grevia, 1113-1400,. Vernacular to talks, ... , French at 1340 when signal rated SINPO 25342,..., tribal songs at 1450; 13441, QRM de HRV whose signal is usually felt well after 1400. (Carlos Goncalves-POR, WWDXC BC-DX)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne . Replaced by 4904.97 kHz at 0430-0730 and 1600-2230 UT. 6165 or 7120 on Sat/Sun 0730-1000, daily 1000-1600 UTC.
6165, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne 2210-2230*, Mixing with Croatia. Both in at fair levels with Croatia in English at 2215-2218*. Croatia abruptly off at 2218 leaving Chad in the clear with French talk, Afro-pop music and sign off with national anthem. (Brian Alexander, PA)

6165, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne, 2050-2200, Good Afro-pop with lively DJ, short ID (as stated) in French, 2115 "(Musique) Internationale" started with "Macarena", then mixed Afro, rap and raggae. Wiped out station underneath (Croatia?) completely almost. From 2145 QRM had completely vanished. 2200 News (Krone) (DX Window # 318 via Anker Petersen)

6165 Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne , 1114-Vernacular, tribal songs. SINPO 23431, QRM de HRV but also de RWN in Spanish via Bonaire. Propagation wiped out all 3 stns lateR.(Carlos Goncalves-POR, wwdxc BC-DX ) (Source: WWDXC Top News (BC DX # 796)

Correspondence may be directed to:Radiodiffusion Nationale TchadienneBoite Postal 892N'DjamenaChad(Source: World QSL Book/Teak Publishing)