If we talk about 43+ years of FRS‑Holland, all kind of figures can be found in the archives of the station. Here are just a few:
So far 215 (Spring 2024) regular Sunday transmissions have been aired (tests and special broadcasts are not included);
Approximately 9,000 listener’s letters (including e-mails) were received between 1980 and 2023. Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall most of those letters came from Western Germany and the GDR (German Democratic Republic), nowadays most mail is coming from Germany
Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall most of those letters came from Western Germany and the GDR (German Democratic Republic), nowadays most mail is coming from Germany;
All these letters came from a total of just over 50 countries covering four continents. You want to know what countries?? Here we go: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belorussia, Brasil, Canada, Chili, China, Czechia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, GDR, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Indonesia, India, Italy, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, West Germany & Wales;
And then the subject of QSL‑cards: the very first one was issued in August 1980 and ever since 40+ different cards (including a number of series) with different logos have been issued including various special QSLs for X‑Mas and Birthday purposes. Among the more unique QSLs is the one containing a colour photo of the two 10W FRS transmitters in that wooden trunk and the ones (3) which were issued on the occasion of FRS‑Holland’s 30th birthday back in 2010. Not to forget the ones issued for our 40th & 42nd anniversaries! Special are also the millennium QSL, the one issued for the Joop ter Zee memorial back in October 2000 and the FRS Studio, FRS Transmitter and FRS Through the Years Series;
In October 1994 ‘FRS Goes DX’ #131 magazine published the results of a comprehensive survey covering the SW listening audience. The questions were all about the ‘listener’s’ habits’. At that time most listeners used a Sony ICF 2001D receiver and 67% an external antenna. Most listeners could be found in the 20‑45 year age category. Some 60% of the SW free radio listeners tuned in each weekend, 48 metres was the most popular band. We were interested to know why were people tuning in to the shortwave free radio stations: 50% were trying to catch as many stations as possible while just over 35% listened as long as to one station as possible. The conclusion was that zapping (aka band scanning) was the most common way of listening. And then the proof that the majority of listeners cared about the programme output: only 8% listened to QSO‑ing contrasting sharply with the 50% preferring informative programmes and 40% preferring musical shows. Luckily over 90% of the listeners responded to the stations: 49% now and then and 45% regularly;
When reading the detailed history of FRS-Holland, it is quite astonishing how many times it happened that programme tapes did not arrive in time at the recipient’s address. Realize that in the old days all recordingsd were made on cassettes. And more relevant: there was no Internet. We were depending on the realibility of the postal services in Belgium, the UK and of course the Netherlands. But then came the upturn…we could record digitally and forward the digital mp3 files (read: programmes) over the Internet. Fast, safe and cost effective.
