View source for HCJB

{{Short description|Ecuadorian Christian missionary radio station}}
{{About|shortwave Radio Station HCJB|the worldwide missionary organization Reach Beyond|World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.}}

{{Infobox broadcasting network
| name = HCJB
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| type = Private missionary broadcasting
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| country = {{flag|Ecuador}}
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| headquarters = [[Quito]] 
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| owner = Reach Beyond - World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.
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| foundation = 1931
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'''HCJB''', "The Voice of the Andes", was the first radio station with daily programming in [[Ecuador]] and the first [[Christian missionary]] radio station in the world. HCJB is broacasting nationwide on FM; in former times the station was worldwide known because of it´s shortwave transmittions.

HCJB is owned and operated by the US-missionary ''[[World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.|Reach Beyond]]'', Colorado Springs, [[Colorado]]. The station was founded in 1931 by US-missionaries Clarence W. Jones, Reuben Larson, and D. Stuart Clark.<ref>{{cite web|title=HCJB, Quito, Ecuador|publisher=Ontheshortwaves.com|url=http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/HCJB.html|access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref> HCJB is broadcasting a unified programme on FM at 89.3&nbsp;[[Hertz|MHz]] in [[Pichincha Province|Pichincha]], at 92.5&nbsp;MHz in [[Manabí Province|Manabí]], at 96.1&nbsp;MHz in [[Tungurahua Province|Tungurahua]] and [[Cotopaxi Province|Cotopaxi]], at 98.3&nbsp;MHz in [[Esmeraldas Province|Esmeraldas]] and with separate programming on AM at 690&nbsp;kHz.<ref>{{cite web|title=Horario de Programacion (Programming schedule, in Spanish)|url=http://radiohcjb.org/horario-de-programacion/ |publisher=HCJB|access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref> Broadcasts in Spanish and indigenous languages on 6.05&nbsp;MHz (1&nbsp;kW).

For centuries HCJB was broadcasting worldwide with powerful Shortwave transmitters, reaching an audience in North-America an Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was von Radio HCJB blieb |url=https://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2022/australien.html |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.radioeins.de |language=de}}</ref> Since 2014 HCJB defunct the former shortwave capability.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Was von Radio HCJB blieb |url=https://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2022/australien.html |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.radioeins.de |language=de}}</ref>

== Programming ==
HCJB is broadcasting a Spanish missionary-program for Ecuador. The program is transmitted by a small chain of FM transmitters
* [[Pichincha Province|Pichincha]] - FM 89,3 MHz  
* Tungurahua y [[Cotopaxi]] - FM 96,1 MHz
* [[Esmeraldas, Ecuador|Esmeraldas]] - FM 98,3 MHz
* [[Manabí Province|Manabí]] - FM 92,5 MHz

== History ==
[[File:Hcjbquito.jpg|thumb|Former HCJB facility in Quito, Ecuador]]<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Clarence W. Jones 1945.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Radio Station HCJB co-founder, Clarence Wesley Jones, c. 1945]] -->
Radio station HCJB started as the vision of Clarence Wesley Jones,<ref name="BGCA">Billy Graham Center Archives – [http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/349.htm Papers of Clarence Wesley Jones – Collection 349] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213032005/http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/349.htm |date=2009-12-13 }}</ref> a musician, graduate of [[Moody Bible Institute]], and the son of a [[Salvation Army]] minister. Following his graduation from Moody, Jones worked under evangelist [[Paul Rader (evangelist)|Paul Rader]] and was part of the founding staff of the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle where Jones assisted in leading music, working with youth and overseeing Rader's weekly radio ministry called "WJBT" ('''W'''here '''J'''esus '''B'''lesses '''T'''housands)<ref name="CUTTM">''Come Up To This Mountain'', Neely, Lois - Tyndale Publishers, 1980</ref>{{rp|31}} Impressed by the impact Rader's radio ministry had made, Jones felt called to establish missionary radio in Latin America. As a result, Jones traveled to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Cuba on a seven-week trip in 1928 looking for a suitable location for his envisioned radio station, but was unable to obtain the necessary government permits.<ref name="CUTTM"/>{{rp|54}} Back in Chicago nearly two years later, Jones met [[Christian & Missionary Alliance]] (CMA) missionaries from Ecuador Reuben and Grace Larson, John and Ruth Clark, and Paul and Bernice Young. These missionaries encouraged Jones to consider Ecuador as the place to start his missionary radio station.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Reuben Larson 1946.jpg|thumb|175px|left|HCJB co-founder Reuben Larson, c. 1940]] -->
As the first step in fulfilling his vision, Jones needed to obtain a contract of approval from the Ecuadorian government for setting up the radio station. Reuben Larson and D. Stuart Clark, along with Ecuadorian lawyer Luís Calisto, worked to procure the initial contract. On August 15, 1930, the Ecuadorian Congress approved a bill which granted Jones a 25-year contract to operate a radio station in the country.<ref name="CUTTM"/>{{rp|67}}

As with all countries having a governing body over broadcast operations, the call letters HCJB were obtained through the government of Ecuador, beginning with the internationally allocated prefix for Ecuador's broadcast stations (HC). Station co-founders Jones and Larson advocated for, and were granted by the government, call letters that were an acronym indicative of the stations' agreed upon purpose.  The result was '''H'''eralding '''C'''hrist '''J'''esus' '''B'''lessings. In Spanish (one of the original broadcast languages of the South American station) the call letters represent '''H'''oy '''C'''risto '''J'''esús '''B'''endice.<ref name="CUTTM"/>{{rp|77}}

Jones incorporated the [[World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.]] ([[WRMF]]) on March 9, 1931, as a non-profit entity and overseeing organization over HCJB. Jones was also the non-profit corporation's first president. The corporation's first officers were Adam Welty as treasurer, Ruth Churchill, secretary, and [[Lance Latham]] and his wife, Virginia, along with Howard Jones and Reuben Larson serving on the board of directors.<ref name="BGCA" />

=== Starting HCJB in 1931 ===
HCJB's first broadcast on Christmas Day, 1931 had the potential of being heard by the six radio receivers capable of receiving the program and existing in the country at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.raidio.com/archive.html|title=www.raidio.com - News Archive|website=www.raidio.com|access-date=2009-10-31|archive-date=2009-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213070101/http://www.raidio.com/archive.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The inaugural program was broadcast in English and Spanish from a studio in the Joneses' living room and powered by a 200-watt, table-top transmitter. The antenna used was a simple, single wire antenna strung between two makeshift telephone poles. The broadcast lasted 30 minutes.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/24277430/Preparing-the-Soil-for-Global-Revival-Station-HCJBs-Radio-Circle-194959 Preparing the Soil for Global Revival: Station HCJB's Radio Circle, 1949-59]; Timothy H.B. Stomenman - March 2007</ref>

Initially, HCJB only broadcast programs in English and Spanish. In 1941, however, live programs were added in Russian, Swedish and [[Quichua]]. By 1944, the station had aired programming in 14 languages including live programs in Czech, Dutch, French and German. Programs in languages such as Arabic, Italian and Hebrew were recorded elsewhere and sent to Quito on large acetate coated aluminium transcription discs. 

In 1951 HCJB acquires 45 acres of land near the town of Pifo to construct transmission and antenna facilities. 

In 1953, HCJB began broadcasting in German, targeting German-speaking communities in North and South America. Starting in the 1960s, the opportunity to gain a following in Central Europe as the "Voice of the Andes" was recognized and seized. By 1967, live programming would be added in Portuguese and Japanese.

In 1961 HCJB got licenced a TV-station - the first TV-station of Ecuador.

In 1990, a new 100 kW transmitter (HC-100) went into operation in Pifo. Like the 500 kW transmitter, it was designed and built by HCJB engineers from the USA. It operated only [[Single-sideband modulation|Single Side Band with a Carrier]], so that it can be heard on AM radios. Some more HC-100 transmitter were built and put into use by the [[World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.]] in Swaziland and [[Australia]].<sup>[''[[Wikipedia:Citation needed|ctation needed]]'']</sup>

=== End of Shortwave-broadcast ===
[[File:Siemenstransmitterhcjb.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A former [[Siemens]] single side-band transmitter at Radio Station HCJB's international transmitter site in Pifo, Ecuador]]The beginning of the end of HCJB's direct shortwave broadcasts was the decision of the Ecuadorian government to demand the removal of HCJB's shortwave transmitter station, with the opening of the new [[Mariscal Sucre International Airport|Quito airport]].<ref name=":0" />

Initial considerations were made to build a new transmitter station in the lowlands near Guayaquil. However, mission leadership in the US decided to abandon the shortwave programs from Ecuador.<ref name=":0" />  The transmitter station in Pifo near Quito was gradually shut down and dismantled until 2008.<ref name=":0" /> On 30. September 2009 after nearly 80&nbsp;years of shortwave broadcasting from Ecuador, Radio Station HCJB ended its extensive worldwide shortwave transmissions .<ref>{{cite web |last=MacHarg |first=Kenneth D. |date=24 September 2009 |title=From Ecuador to the world – missionary radio station broadcasts the Gospel for nearly 6&nbsp;decades |url=http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/Articles/From_Ecuador_to_the_World-2009.pdf |access-date=7 February 2021 |website=On the Shortwaves}}</ref> According to HCJB Global President Wayne Pederson, the change was made because
:“the way people consume media has changed, so we have the opportunity to change to delivery systems such as satellite, AM/FM and the Internet. The closing of shortwave in Latin America is strategic because of the planting of local radio stations across the region and around the world. These stations are staffed and programmed by local [[Christians]] who can speak to the culture in their own communities.”<ref>{{cite news |title=HCJB Global Voice moves up end-date of shortwave broadcasts from Ecuador |url=http://www.hcjb.org/HCJB-Global-News/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922093415/http://www.hcjb.org/HCJB-Global-News/ |archive-date=2009-09-22}}</ref>
HCJB Global's focus is now on “radio planting” – assisting local Christian ministries in beginning implementing their own Christian radio ministry on FM stations. 

The US mission, which renamed itself Reach Beyond in 2014, used some of its technology for a new project. A station with the equipment was built in [[Kununurra, Western Australia|Kununurra]] in northern Australia to serve parts of Asia.<ref name=":0" />

HCJB continued shortwave broadcast on a small level from Mt.&nbsp;Pichincha, near [[Quito]] on 6 050&nbsp;kHz with Spanish and indigenous languages programs for Ecuador. The double dipole (CT2/1/0.3) antenna <ref>{{cite web |title=Antenna code |url=http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/ant/antcode.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316095153/http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/ant/antcode.pdf |archive-date=2007-03-16 |access-date=2014-01-23 |publisher=[[International Telecommunication Union]]}}</ref>{{rp|4–5,17–18}} is designed to cover only Ecuador, but the 5&nbsp;kW signal is reported by orldwide lsiteners from time to time.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpAV9s3g8k |title=HCJB Quito 6 050&nbsp;kHz from Ecuador received in Germany on Tecsun&nbsp;PL-660 |medium=video |quote=Radio HCJB from Quito, Ecuador on 6 050&nbsp;kHz received in Germany during a DXpedition to the fields on 14&nbsp;April 2013 at 02 11 and 02 29&nbsp;UTC. Receiver: Tecsun PL-660 with 35&nbsp;meter longwire antenna. {{nobr|Distance: 9 912 km.}} {{nobr|Power: 10 kW}} (37&nbsp;kW directional) |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> After replacement of the 40&nbsp;year-old 5&nbsp;kW transmitter with a new 1&nbsp;kW solid state transmitter in 2017, it became even more of a challenge for DX listeners, but is still heard within Ecuador.

==Worldwide audience==
HCJB was popular with a worldwide audience of shortwave listeners (DXers). They were less interested in the religious content than in receiving a station from South America (BRand: The Voice of the Andes).

Following the first years of HCJB's broadcasts on 50.26 meters (5.986&nbsp;MHz), the [[shortwave]] frequencies utilized by HCJB for its broadcasts from Quito were 6.05&nbsp;MHz, 9.745&nbsp;MHz, 11.775&nbsp;MHz and 15.155&nbsp;MHz.<ref>[http://www.hackcanada.com/blackcrawl/commcom/voicecom/swl.txt Shortwave DX frequency guide]</ref> As the station's transmitting power increased, [[shortwave]] radio enthusiasts in [[North America]] started receiving the station's broadcasts, submitting [[reception report]]s in order to provide the HCJB engineers feedback on the station's signal strength and quality.[[File:Hcjb envelope 1938.jpg|thumb|right|An HCJB envelope with a 1938 postmark which contained a QSL card sent to the addressee]] Since a popular practice in the hobby of shortwave radio listening was to request a [[QSL card]], HCJB started creating its own QSLs in 1932. In the 1970this HCJB was heard around the world and received hundreds of letters each week with reception reports from shortwave [[DXing|DX]]ers. The correspondence department of HCJB responded in kind to its listeners with QSL cards and Christian tracts. As requests for QSLs became more frequent, HCJB missionary and radio engineer Clayton Howard suggested a shortwave listeners' club be created. In 1974, the Andes DXers International, (or "ANDEX") began. Members would receive a membership certificate and membership card with the member's name and individual member number, along with Howard's signature. A monthly bulletin, (later bi-monthly) was sent to members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/ANDEX/ANDEX.html|title = ANDEX - Andes DXers International}}</ref> ANDEX eventually had a membership in the thousands and continued as a service of HCJB until 1996.

Since the station's first year of broadcasting, staff members produced the HCJB's own original radio programming. HCJB's original programming has ranged from programs completely in [[Quichua]] (the primary language of the people of the [[Andes]]), Andean-music programs, Christian music programming, talk and mail-reading programs featuring mail received from listeners around the world, Bible study and teaching programs, and programming featuring information about shortwave radio listening.<!-- Deleted image removed:  [[File:Hcjb qsl card 1981.jpg|thumb|right|An HCJB 50th Anniversary QSL card from 1981 showing 1930s in-studio music production and the station's antenna complex as it was 1981]]   --> Some of the most popular HCJB-produced programs over the years have been "Morning in the Mountains," "Musica del Ecuador", "Musical Mailbag," "Happiness Is" and "DX-Partyline." "DX-Partyline" was hosted from its inception by HCJB missionary Clayton Howard and his wife, Helen. The program was heard for more than 40 years, twice a week, and included the reading of letters from shortwave listeners around the world as well as [[DXing|DX]] and reception reports sent to the station. "DX-Partyline" also included [[Shortwave|shortwave radio]] listening tips, information on antennas, and equipment reviews. Programs not produced by HCJB were also broadcast from the Quito station.<ref name="ontheshortwaves.com">http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/Literature/Newscript-Aug-1941.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Typically of a religious nature, some of the non-HCJB produced programs broadcast from the station were the [[Pacific Garden Mission|Pacific Garden Mission's]] "[[Unshackled!]]", the [[Billy Graham]] Evangelistic Association's [[Hour of Decision]], the [[Salvation Army]]'s "Wonderful Words of Life" and [[Moody Bible Institute]] radio station [[WMBI-FM]]'s "Nightsounds" with [[Bill Pearce]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nightsoundsradio.org/about.cfm|title=Nightsounds Radio with Bill Pearce|website=www.nightsoundsradio.org}}</ref> among many others. Much of HCJB's original programming also included music recorded, produced and performed by HCJB missionaries.<ref>http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/Literature/The_Radio_Missionary_Log-1945.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Much of the HCJB-produced music broadcast on the station was also available on [[LP album|LP record albums]] and later on cassette tapes.

In December 1995, Radio Netherlands the Media Network programme visited the transmitter site at Pifo with two members of the HCJB production team. The programme can be found in the Media Network vintage vault. 

==Milestones and achievements==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Hcjb pennant.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An HCJB pennant sent to shortwave radio listeners in the 1970s]] -->
* 1931 - The station's first broadcast using a 200-watt transmitter designed and built by HCJB Engineer Eric Williams.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/Literature/HCJB-25_Yrs_of_Progress-1956.pdf "Twenty-Five Years of Progress"], HCJB</ref>
* 1936 - An RCA medium-wave transmitter is added.
* 1937 - The addition of a 1,000-watt transmitter designed and built by HCJB Engineer Victoriano Salvador.<ref name="ontheshortwaves.com"/>
* 1940 - The station adds a 10,000-watt transmitter designed and built by HCJB Engineer [[Clarence C. Moore]], allowing the station's broadcast signal to reach around the world.<ref>[http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/HCJB/Literature/Newscript-Aug-1941.pdf ''Newscript''] (August, 1941), HCJB</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Hcjb technical staff 1945.jpg|300px|left|thumb|HCJB technical and engineering staff in the 1940s; head engineer Clayton Howard is in the center]] -->

* 1940 - [[Clarence C. Moore|Clarence Moore]] invents, and later patents a "Quad" antenna (Not the same as today's cubical quad antennas) and puts it into use at HCJB.<ref>[http://www.aktuellum.com/circuits/antenna-patent/patents/2537191.pdf Patent information on quad antenna] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127180727/http://www.aktuellum.com/circuits/antenna-patent/patents/2537191.pdf |date=2012-01-27 }}</ref><!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Hcjb radio log 1946.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cover of the 1947 HCJB Radio Log sent to the missionary station's contributors and partners]] -->
* 1952 - the station moves its shortwave broadcasting to a new site in Pifo, Ecuador.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* 1956 - HCJB begins broadcasting with its first high-powered 50,000 watt transmitter designed by HCJB Engineer Herb Jacobson and built by HCJB engineers and staff.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* 1965 - The station's own hydro-electric plant at Papallacta begins generating electricity to power shortwave broadcasts from Pifo.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
* 1967 - The station purchases three RCA 100,000-watt shortwave transmitters. The units required extensive reworking and entered into service in 1968, 1969 and 1970.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
* 1979 - The construction of a [[steerable antenna]] is completed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
* 1981 - A 500,000-watt shortwave [[transmitter]] capable of overcoming any Russian [[Radio jamming|jamming]] efforts is put into use. The transmitter was designed and built by HCJB Engineers at facilities loaned by [[Clarence C. Moore|Clarence Moore]] at [[Crown International]] in [[Elkhart, Indiana]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}[[File:HCJB Project 500.jpg|thumb|Clarence C. Moore poses as plant 2 of his company "Crown International" is dedicated for use in development of a 500,000-watt radio transmitter for HCJB.]][[File:Clarence C. Moore HC500 memorial plaque.jpg|thumb|Clarence C. Moore is remembered for his contribution in developing a 500,000-watt transmitter for HCJB.  He died two years before the project was completed in 1981.]]
* 1982 - A second hydro-electric plant at Papallacta to provide power for the station's shortwave broadcasts is added.<ref>[https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1983/january-21/ralph-winters-mission-center-forges-ahead-money-still-tight.html "World Scene"], ''Christianity Today'', January 21, 1981. Retrieved October 12, 2022.</ref>
* 1986 - The HCJB World Radio Engineering Center (now called [http://www.SonSetSolutions.org SonSet Solutions]) was created at the Crown International facilities under the direction of David Pasechnik. The goal was to design and build HC100 (100,000-watt) shortwave transmitters for HCJB and the ministry's contributors in the "World by 2000" challenge.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009|reason=https://www.faithnews.cc/?p=18645}}
* 1992 - A radio station in [[Bukavu]], [[Zaire]] is "planted" by HCJB.  The station used a portable FM transmitter designed and built by staff at the HCJB Engineering Center.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

HCJB Global Technology staff members are involved in research, development, training and technical support for AM, FM and shortwave radio stations as well as satellite distribution and satellite-based Internet services. In recent years they developed station automation systems and a fixed-tuned, solar-powered SonSet radio that can be pre-tuned to pick up a specific [[Christian radio]] station. HCJB Global staff have been active in pioneering equipment and software for a form of digital radio broadcasting called [[Digital Radio Mondiale|DRM]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

== See also ==
* [[HCJB-TV]] 
* [[World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc.]]
* [[Mission Aviation Fellowship]]
* [[Shortwave listening]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|HCJB in Quito}}
; HCJB official sites
* [http://www.vozandes.org/ HCJB Spanish site]
*[https://www.hcjb.com.br HCJB Brasil]
* [https://reachbeyond.org/ Reach Beyond, formerly HCJB Global (www.hcjb.org)]
* [https://reachbeyond.org/about/History/radio-planting Radio Planting]

{{Coord|0.1133|S|78.3586|W|region:EC|display=title}}

{{Protestant missions to Latin America}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hcjb}}
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1931]]
[[Category:Christian radio stations in Latin America]]
[[Category:Radio in Ecuador]]
[[Category:Quito]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Ecuador]]
[[Category:Defunct shortwave radio stations]]