English Transcript for the German Segment on the 08-06-26 and 08-08-26 Broadcast

My name is Bernd Seiser; I am a founding member of the RTI Listener Club in Ottenau and live in Ottenau, in southwestern Germany. Ottenau is located about 8 km east of Baden-Baden in the state of Baden-Württemberg. I have been an active shortwave listener for over 52 years, focusing particularly on German-language broadcasts from around the world. This has led to lively contacts with various international broadcasting stations and many fellow shortwave listeners. Through my participation in SWLCS DX camps in Illingen and Merchweiler—as well as the regional DX gatherings I have organized annually since 1980 for the SWLCS Murgtal local chapter (later renamed the Murgtal Shortwave Listener Club following the dissolution of the SWLCS)—I have come to know and appreciate many fellow listeners and staff members from international shortwave services. I provide numerous stations with monthly reports on the reception quality of their broadcasts. These include the Voice of Indonesia, the Voice of Turkey, KBS World Radio, and Radio Taiwan International; it was at RTI listener gatherings in Merchweiler and Ottenau that I had the pleasure of meeting Bihui in person. Stations such as the Voice of Indonesia, KBS World Radio, Radio Slovakia International, the Voice of Turkey, and Radio Taiwan International also frequently give me the opportunity to send birthday greetings to my radio friends via mail. I am the type of listener who follows broadcasts using a shortwave receiver and has little connection to the internet. I am an active member of several listener clubs for German-language international broadcasting services and regularly prepare reception and monitoring reports; for instance, I served as a monitor for the German-language programs of WYFR-Family Radio and China Radio International until those services were discontinued. I also acted as a monitor for the Radio Budapest Shortwave Club, Radio Kiev, Radio Portugal, Radio Polonia, Radio Bucharest, and Radio Sofia until their respective programs or DX clubs ceased operations. I remain an active monitor for KBS World Radio, Radio Taiwan International, and TRT. My work as a monitor for KBS began back in 1985, and I have served continuously from 2003 to the present.

For this reason, I appreciate every program I can receive via shortwave. Through my reception reports and program contributions, I aim to help support and preserve international shortwave broadcasts, particularly those in German. I was delighted that our RTI Listener Club in Ottenau was able to celebrate its 20th anniversary on May 16th in the presence of RTI’s German service editor-in-chief, Bihui, and I look forward to the upcoming 40th anniversary of German-language shortwave broadcasts from Taiwan on October 10th. Every summer, RTI organizes a multi-day event that allows listeners to receive Radio Taiwan International’s German-language programs directly from Taiwan. Reception reports for these direct broadcasts are acknowledged with a special QSL card. Hearing a broadcast directly from a transmitter in Taiwan is a special experience, especially for newcomers to the hobby.

I discovered shortwave radio as a football fan during the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Wanting to learn more about the participating nations, I began listening to the German-language broadcasts from the stations of those countries. From 1977 onwards, I began preparing reception reports, cultivating friendly relationships with editorial teams, and collecting QSL cards, awards, and station pennants—the latter having become quite rare in recent years.

In 1980, I founded the SWLCS Murgtal local chapter; following the dissolution of the SWLCS, it is now known as the Murgtal Shortwave Listeners' Club. I have organized 45 regional DX gatherings to date, and during the 25th gathering in May 2006, I had the privilege of founding the RTI Listener Club Ottenau at the request of Radio Taiwan International. RTI maintains listener clubs associated with various language services and wanted to establish two clubs for its German-language service. Over the past 45 years, more than 400 different visitors have attended our regional DX gatherings in Ottenau and the surrounding area. Since many listeners recognize each other's names from the listener mailbag programs broadcast by the German-language services, we begin our meetings by having attendees introduce themselves by name. This has enabled many DXers—who previously knew one another only by name from these radio programs—to establish personal contact and build friendships. The program continues with a review of the past year in radio and a look ahead at upcoming radio-related activities 

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...in the coming months, specialist articles and presentations by listeners and editorial staff, a raffle featuring radio souvenirs, and—time permitting—a station quiz. My unforgettable experiences also include visits to Radio Prague in May 1984, the Voice of Turkey in October 2008, and the Voice of Indonesia in September 2014.

My equipment consists of several receivers—such as the Grundig Satellit 500, 700, and 2100, and the FRG 8800—using telescopic antennas as well as an additional 15-meter long-wire antenna strung from the house to the shed.

My name is Agnes Rieger; I live in Salzburg, Austria, and have been a member of the RTI Listener Club Ottenau since December 18, 2012. My activities include organizing Skype conversations for RTI listener gatherings in Vienna, arranging two supra-regional DX meetings via Skype video during the coronavirus pandemic, and contributing to the listener club programs "RTI Listener Club Corner" and "RTI DX Tips."

My name is Claudia Buchner; I live in Fürth in the Middle Franconia region of Germany. From the late 1980s through the late 1990s, I used my Siemens RK 641 world-band receiver to listen to shortwave broadcasts from stations such as Radio Moscow, Radio Beijing, Radio Minsk, and RSA (South Africa). I even won an LP in a competition organized by RSA South Africa. By the late 1990s, the workload at our freight forwarding company had increased significantly, and with the birth of our two children, I no longer had time for radio listening. Now our sons are grown, and we ceased operations at our freight forwarding business at the end of 2022. Consequently, I decided to reactivate my world-band receiver and go hunting for signals once again. I have since purchased a TECSUN S-2000 world receiver with a loop antenna and set up my radio station in our conservatory. In February 2024, Bernd Seiser took notice of me through my logbook entries in *Radiokurier* and my contributions to various listener mailbag programs, and he got in touch. I have been a member of the RTI Listener Club Ottenau since March 1, 2024. In January 2025, I took on the role of Listener Club Secretary and also manage the membership database for the RTI Listener Club Ottenau. As the program coordinator for "RTI-DX-Tipps," I am responsible for our listener club program, which is broadcast on Radio HCJB (frequencies 3995 and 5920 kHz) on the first Saturday and the following Sunday of each month at 04:30, 09:30, 14:00, 17:00, and 21:00 UTC. Since January 2025, I have served as a monitor for KBS South Korea and thoroughly enjoy following their broadcasts. In addition to KBS South Korea, I regularly listen to programs from Radio Taiwan International, Pop Shop Radio (Canada), and the "Henry Norman Show" hosted by our member Nouri Streichert. Our listener club organizes many activities that I really enjoy; for instance, I participated in the FIFA Quiz and took second place.