WHERE IS NEW STAR LOCATED?
On May 10, 1998, under a blazing sun, I took my 125 cc Sanyang (Honda) scooter
and rode some 30 km to the coast. The route went from Tucheng, via Panchiao,
Hsin Chuang, Tai Shan, Wu Ku to Pali. In Wu Ku I stopped for a quick radio
check, but no extremely strong signals could be detected on shortwave.
Both New Star and CBS/RTI were rather weak and had noisy signals. I went
to the utmost northern point of Pali, that is, where the Tanshui river
runs into the Taiwan Strait. There was an army checkpost there and some
noisy powerlines, so I went south a little and sat on the beach with my
trusty Panasonic RF-B65L and a walkman, with the short- and mediumwave
towers in Tanshui directly in sight. The following observations were made…..
Frequencies:
8300 kHz, 9725, kHz, 11430 kHz
Time: 0407-0430
UTC
Station: New
Star Broadcasting Station
Details: numbers
read by lady in Chinese, but with different messages on each channel. In
the background the audio of CBS/Radio Taipei International could be heard
// to 9280 kHz and 9610 kHz. 11430 kHz had transmitter problems and was
frequently off air for a couple of seconds.
SINPO:
on all channels 55555!!!!!
Frequencies:
13750 kHz
Time: 0407-0430
UTC
Station: New
Star Broadcasting Station
Details: numbers
read by lady in Chinese, not // to 8300/9725/11430. Weak and noisy.
SINPO:
35333
Real Audio Clips:
 |
New Star on 9725 kHz ending its transmisson, then when the ACG of the recorder picks up CBS/RTI is clearly heard. This was around 0417 UTC. |
|
At 0430 UTC the following CBS/RTI identification could be heard. |
Draw your own conclusions. To be honest I have to add that on other channels I could also hear CBS/RTI programs in the background (e.g. 15 MHz or 6185 kHz under Huayi BC from China), but not as pronounced as on New Star. Even on CBS/RTI frequencies I could hear other CBS/RTI programs in the background, e.g. the Chinese entertainment program under the news program on 9610 after 0430.
Pali itself is a dump. The roads there were terrible and there is really nothing there. I saw one mediumwave antenna tower and the sign on the complex said "Broadcasting Corporation of China." Don't know what frequency because the northern part of Taiwan is so chock-full of AM stations that even next to the transmitter site you can't tell which frequency is coming from nearby or from far. I wanted to go up Kuanyin Mountain (612 meters) to have an overview of the area, but the weather was deteriorating, so that plan had to be abandoned. Otherwise I couldn't see any sign of broadcasting antennas in Pali. Tanshui is a different story, because the antennas there are right on the beach and can be seen from afar. My next trip will be to Tanshui to check out the station there.
The following is an article I wrote in July 1997 on New Star:
Hans Johnson of NASWA mailed me an article written by Jerod Pore, originally published in the Spring 1995 issue of E.N.I.G.M.A. This article and some other sources of information make hints to Taiwan being the location of New Star.
In the article Jerod describes a broadcast of New Star Broadcasting Station which he taped and translated with the help of a Taiwanese friend. The article had some interesting, debatable and confusing parts. The confusing parts I partly blame on the Taiwanese translator, partly on the reporter. The interesting points I want to highlight here. Let me first quote from the article by Jerod Pore.....
QUOTE
My friend could
not identify the music used to being the broadcast. The first enthusiastic
announcement is: "We are ready to being transmitting". The
station identification is "This is Channel Four Broadcasting Station in
Taipei, Republic of China, on 8300 khz".
UNQUOTE
What strikes is the identification: "This is Channel Four Broadcasting Station in Taipei, Republic of China, on 8300 kHz". It seems odd that a number station will identify itself so clearly, although Jerod later in the article points out that......
QUOTE
My favorite guess
is that the broadcasts are intended for the authorities of the People’s
Republic, to make them think that Taipei is communicating with operatives
on the mainland. Beijing may protest, but there is the cover of legitimacy
about Channel Four . . . .
UNQUOTE
It’s strange that when I first heard the station in 1992 they never mentioned either location or frequency, neither did they when I started monitoring them again in 1996. If other people have heard these identifications, then I would like to hear from them.
The article further continues saying that some of the units broadcasted to were identified as being "in Japan" and describes the four-digit code system used for telegrams send in Mandarin. The latter is a reasonable explanation for the format of the messages of New Star. The references to Japan I have never heard.
An interesting article and although I have doubts on some points raised I kick-started my modem and started searching on the internet. Sometimes it pays off to start a search and begin with the least-likeliest find. I found an article from the Congressional Research Service called "Report for Congress October 1, 1992 - China/Asia Broadcasting: Proposals for New U.S. Surrogate Services" written by David A. Hennes, Analyst in Foreign Affairs at the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division. It dealt with broadcasting to China and the role Voice of America could play in it. We all know the result, as Radio Free Asia is a fact now. But in the appendix there was an interesting paragraph.....
QUOTE
At the end of
Table 2 are several "clandestine" broadcasting services, all reported to
be broadcast from Taiwan. Taiwanese officials did not confirm the existence
of these stations. Other observers interviewed commented that several of
them were no longer operating.
Table 2. Alternate
Broadcasts to China
| Broadcaster | Hours per Day |
| Taiwan | 31:30 |
| BBC (SW) | 3:45 |
| BBC (MW from Hong Kong) | 24:00 |
| Radio Australia | 6:30 |
| Japan | 4:00 |
| USSR | 14:00 |
| Deutsche Welle | 1:00 |
| All-India Radio | 1:00 |
| Voice of June 4 | 11:00 |
| New Star Broadcasting Station | 18:00 |
| Voice of the Chinese People | 2:00 (MW) |
| Democracy Broadcasting Station | 4:00 |
| October Storm | 1:00 |
| Voice of People's Lib. Army | 1:00 |
A pity that the source of this list of clandestine stations in not known, but as this is official information intended to be read and discussed by the U.S. Congress you might expect this to be not too far from the truth.
After this second hint that New Star Broadcasting Station might be broadcasting from Taiwan I contacted the BBC Monitoring service to see if they had ever done an investigation on New Star. Dave Kenny was so kind to write back to me and here is what he said.....
QUOTE
I'm afraid we
don't have much information on the New Star station. It's not the sort
of thing we normally monitor as it appears to be a coded numbers type of
operation rather than a clandestine broadcast station. We did investigate
it with the help of some Japanese DXers in 1989 when it was thought to
be based in Taiwan and aimed at China - but I suppose it could also be
the other way round. As to its purpose I really have no idea!
For what it's
worth, 1989 schedule lists the following:
Station 1 - 11430
Station 2 - 15388
Station 3 - 9725
Station 4 - 12750
9725 8300
(all broadcasts
were observed at indeterminate periods between 2200 and 1630
UTC, often starting
on the hour or half hour)
UNQUOTE
So the mystery continues,
but with some indications that Taiwan might be the home of New Star Broadcasting.
I will keep on looking out for more information and if anybody can help
me with references, articles or recordings of New Star, then please do
contact me via e-mail.
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