HCJB’s Vozandes Orchestra
When HCJB began in 1931 there were no tape recorders. Virtually all of the station’s programming was done live. Clarence contracted local classical musicians to form «la Orquestra Vozandes» (the Vozandes Orchestra). Clarence had a deep appreciation for classical music. He had studied music at the Chicago Conservatory and also played first chair trombone in […]
THE DAY THE TONER FELL
Dr. Stearns and I began our climb. I don’t believe we had actually reached the top when the rope anchor slipped where it had been tied on the ground. All I remember is that I felt the tower begin to move and I immediately realized what had happened. I was told later that both of […]
From Jungle Station to Radio Station
Reuben and Grace Larson were Christian & Missionary Alliance missionaries who began working in Ecuador in 1924. The Larson’s opened a mission station in the eastern jungle at Dos Rios (near Tena) where they started a church and a school for the jungle Quichuas. The Larson’s were actively involved the founding of HCJB and gave […]
How do you share the gospel with people scattered throughout the jungle?
This was not an easy task for Reuben and Grace Larson; the local Quichua Indians ran away and hid from them! Reuben decided that building a trading post at Dos Rios could bring people right to his doorstep. At first, they traded matches, machetes and various trinkets for food for their family. As the Larsons […]
A Cheerful Beginning
Dr. Paul Roberts’ dream of a modern hospital became a reality with the inauguration of Hospital- Vozandes Quito on Oct. 12, 1955. Dr. Carlos Andrade Marín (at left) had been the doctor to the Jones family many years earlier. Dr. Marín served on the advisory board of the hospital and was also the Mayor of […]
«It’s a Piece of Junk»
CIarence Moore was a pastor, teacher, and radio-enthusiast who felt God inexplicably leading him to drive from his home in Michigan to Chicago. After Moore arrived in Chicago, he went to his relative, Rev. John Meredith, and asked if perhaps he knew why God had brought him to Chicago. Rev. Meredith was a radio preacher […]
French Programs
Dr. Miner B. Stearns and his wife were missionaries with the Belgium Gospel Mission in Europe. The spread of World War II across the region made it impossible for them to continue their mission work there. But radio could reach past checkpoints, over battle lines and into enemy territory. The Stearns came to Quito in […]
Raising Towers: Two at a Time
In 1963, HCJB’s engineers began working on a new antenna array for shortwave broadcasts to Europe and the South Pacific. To raise the towers, engineers adapted a technique that used a second smaller tower as a lever. This new method was much safer since it raised an entire tower at once, rather than in sections. […]
HCJB’s First QSL Card
The early years of radio history saw operators using only Morse code to “talk” with each other. Samuel Morse had originally devised the code of short and long taps in 1836 to send messages over wires using a telegraph. However, people later adopted a shorthand system of three letter codes, many beginning with the letter […]
Working Together
During the early years, Radio Station HCJB was largely operated by Ecuadorian staff. Missionaries from other organizations frequently helped in making radio programs. For a number of years however, Clarence and Katherine Jones were the only full-time missionaries at the station. Francisco Cruz was one of the first Ecuadorians to join the staff. Cruz was […]
