Volcano Radio

Volcano Radio (ZD8VR)
  • Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Frequency1602 kHz
History
Founded1958
Last air date
2009

Volcano Radio was a radio station on the British Overseas Territory of Ascension Island. The station aired pop music, with most of its disc jockeys being American engineers working on projects on the island and several US servicemen helping. The station's recorded programming and news came from the Armed Forces Radio & Television Service.[1]

It was funded by the United States Armed Forces,[2][3] with the station's only way of earning income being a weekly bingo game they ran.[4] It was set up by RCA Records in 1958 and broadcast pre-recorded programming and music from 1958 until it shut down in 2009.[5][2] Its medium wave transmitter was on the extinct volcano Green Mountain.[6][7] The station was run by local volunteers and amateur disc jockeys.[5][8] The station's theme tune was "This is Volcano Radio Station, the Voice of Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean".[9]

In 1963, The Magazine of the Royal Navy's Communications Branch and The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society described the station as the "loneliest commercial radio station in the world".[9] The 1987 edition of the World Radio TV Handbook recorded the station's address as being the US Auxiliary Base on Ascension Island.[10] In 1967, The Torquay Herald Express described the station as the "world's smallest non-stop pop radio".[1]

History

The station was set up by RCA Records in 1958,[5] starting broadcasting in July of that year.[11] In March 1962, the station became an "authorized outlet" of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, an agency of the United States Department of Defense.[11] The station shut down in 2009, with their final broadcast stating "Volcano Radio: All good things must come to an end".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Smallest Non-Stop Pop Radio Expands". Torquay Herald Express. 25 April 1967. p. 9. Retrieved 7 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Volcano Radio: All good things must come to an end". AudioBoom. Cities and Memory. 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  3. ^ "United Kingdom - Ascension Island". The Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  4. ^ Hengst, Werner (14 December 2015). From Peenemünde to Cape Canaveral, and Beyond. Lulu Press. p. 141. ISBN 9781329759336. Retrieved 7 May 2026. Volcano Radio's only source of income, the weekly Bingo game, had been allowed to lapse.
  5. ^ a b c Grube, J. (October 1962). "News and music" (PDF). RCA Company Service News. RCA Records. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  6. ^ Rogers, Tony (Summer 2026). "Africa on Mediumwave" (PDF). DX Guides. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  7. ^ Bateman, Neale (2 April 2019). "Managing SW Broadcasts From Ascension Island". Radio World. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  8. ^ Shacklady, Norman; Ellen, Martin (2003). ON AIR: A History of BBC Transmission (PDF). Wavechange Books. p. 41. ISBN 0 9544077 1 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026. The BBC operates a low-power medium-wave relay of the World Service for the island, and there is no shortage of amateur disc jockeys to man the local American Forces radio Station 'Volcano Radio'.
  9. ^ a b "Volcano Radio Station" (PDF). The Magazine of the Royal Navy's Communications Branch and The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society. 25 December 1964. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 March 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  10. ^ Lund-Johansen, Oluf (1987). "Volcano Radio". World Radio TV Handbook. Vol. 41. Cardfont Publishers under license from Billboard Publications. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  11. ^ a b "At Ascension Everyone Listens To Volcano Radio". Cocoa Tribune. 5 December 1962. p. 15. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

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