RE: [HCDX] Colaborations from Argentine

["Jose M. Valdes R. YV5LIX" <yv5lix@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi list members.

This year marks the 77 years of the issuing of the first official
license to install a radio station in Venezuela; this first license was
granted by the Ministry of Public Works and Economy the 25 of September,
1925, to Mr. Arturo Santana and Mr. Luis Scholtz, who founded "Arturo
Santana, Scholtz & Company" with the purpose of operating the "Empresa
Venezolana de Radiotelefonía"; it was Mr. Alfredo Moller who had the
honor of being the first official announcer of this station, thus
becoming the first ever radio announcer in Venezuela. This license not
only give them the exclusive right to broadcast, but also the exclusive
rights for the commercialization of the receivers. Friday, April 2,
1926, arrived at the port of La Guaira from New York the equipments for
the first Venezuelan radio station.

This first station was called AYRE Broadcasting, their studies were
located in a building in the corner of El Tejar, and the antenna and the
transmitter in a lot nearby the bullring the "Nuevo Circo", not to far
from the Bolivar square in Caracas. AYRE began its transmissions the
night of May 23, 1926.

The newspaper El Universal, in its edition of May 24, 1926, depicts its
inauguration as: "The Station AYRE Central Broadcasting of Caracas,
inaugurated last night, was constructed by the powerful American company
Western and its reach is of 2,000 miles, it is moved by two electrical
motors, its power is of 12 horses. Its height is 65 meters".

Thanks to the technical capacity of Mr. Luis Scholtz, AYRE was as good
as any of the best stations of its time; the station consisted of a
transmitters made by the Western Electric and towers of 65 meters height
to support the antenna.  Some historical reviews indicate that its power
was 1 Kilowatt, but if what was published by the newspaper El Universal
is correct, and its power was 12 horses, then its actual power was + - 9
Kilowatt (12 HP multiplied by the conversion factor that is 746).

Unfortunately this station was in the air a very short time; the
dictator of the moment, General Juan Vicente Gomez, did not see Mr.
Arturo Santana with very good eyes, Santana was also a colonel in the
Venezuelan army and aide-de-camp of his older son, General Jose Vicente
Gomez, who was exiled in Switzerland for political reasons; and taking
advantage of the serious political turmoil of April 7, 1928, when two
military bases in Caracas revolt and a military conspiracy starts up, in
which also some university leaders who in the end would finish jailed
participated, Gomez, adducing reasons of "state security", ordered the
closing of the station, this action marked the end of the first chapter
of the broadcasting history in Venezuela. AYRE was born thanks to the
political influence of Colonel Santana, and is this same political
influence what determine its closing.

It was not until December 9, 1930, with the inauguration of the
"Broadcasting Caracas" in the second floor of the appliance store "El
Almacen Americano", that the Venezuelan again heard a local radio
station, the "Broadcasting Caracas" is still transmitting, and now we
know it as "Radio Caracas Radio" or RCR, of the broadcasting group 1BC
for "1 Broadcasting Caracas".

73/DX Jose M. Valdes R. (Joe) YV5LIX

10 31 N 66 52 W

P. O. Box 68195
Caracas 1062-A
Edo. Miranda
Venezuela.

http://www.yv5lix.org.ve

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