Gemini Space Mission (1965)

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Excerpt of shortwave broadcast [recorded off air in Australia] of the
Gemini mission into space in March 1965 with Guss Grissom and John Young.

Voice of America (VOA) announcer [in Special English]* describes landing and replays recording of takeoff.

* Special English- VOA has programs in “slow” English for people
learning the language.

Information-
http://www.astrobio.net/image-of-the-day/march-23-1965-launch-of-first-crewed-gemini-flight/

Hong Kong Handover (1997)

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HONG KONG HANDOVER JUNE 1997

Daily coverage of the Hong Kong Handover between Britain and China in 1997.

The broadcasts are mainly from China Radio International (CRI) which was previously Radio Peking/Beijing.

Other broadcasts are from the BBC World Service and Radio Singapore International.

Intros and off-air recording by Ian Holder, Australia.

Information on the Hong Kong Handover-

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0630.html

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1983718/everything-you-need-know-about-hong-kongs-return

 

 

 

VOA- Mars Landing (20 July, 1976)

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Voice of America shortwave coverage of the landing of
an unmanned spacecraft (Viking 1) on Mars.

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

Viking 1 (1976) information-

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-1/

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/sunset-at-the-viking-lander-1-site

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

 

The Czech Crisis (1968)

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occupation-Czechoslovakia-300x336[1][1].jpg

Friday 23 August,1968. Radio Moscow transmission to Australia
31 metres 13-30 hrs GMT. Announcer, Boris Novikov (1925- 1997)

Twenty nine years after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938,
followed by WW2, the Warsaw Pact countries led by Russia invaded the country.
This shortwave broadcast was recorded off-air in Australia by Ian Holder and gives the Russian view of the event. Less than two years after the fall of Communist Russia in 1991, the Republic of Czechoslovakia ceased to exit.
It was divided into two countries- Czech and Slovakia.

Other broadcasts on this topic-

https://archive.org/details/TheCzechCrisis1968

Russian Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) information-

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia

 

Space Shuttle (1st Launch) 1981

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columbia_gallery_spacecraft15_med6373[1][1].jpg

SPACE SHUTTLE (1st launch) (Ap12,1981)
Inaugural launch of the Space Shuttle.
Broadcast via shortwave on the
American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).
Relay of the American Broadcasting Company radio commentary.
Sunday April 12, 1981. 11-50 GMT. 9700 khz.

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia

Space Shuttle information-

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2488.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

 

Death of Mao Zedong (1976)

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Radio Peking- Death of Mao Zedong (9 September 1976)

The death of Chairman Mao at 82 in 1976 brought to an end
the Cultural Revolution which cost millions of lives.

Monitored from Radio Peking shortwave service.
Commentary in English and funeral music.

Recording made off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

Cessation of North Vietnam Bombing (1968)

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On October 31st, 1968 US President Lyndon Johnson announced that all bombing of North Vietnam would cease as a result of North Vietnam coming to the conference table. In his televised speech President Johnson said, "I have now ordered that all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam cease as of 8 a.m., Washington time, Friday morning. I have reached this decision on the basis of the developments in the Paris talks. And I have reached it in the belief that this action can lead to progress toward a peaceful settlement of the Vietnamese war.

BBC shortwave broadcast recorded off-air
by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

BBC World Service: August 31, 1997 (Death of Diana, Princess of Wales)

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Diana's coffin is borne through the streets of London on its way to Westminster Abbey (Source: Wikimedia - Public Domain Image)

Diana's coffin is borne through the streets of London on its way to Westminster Abbey (Source: Wikimedia - Public Domain Image)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott Nelson, for sharing the following recording and notes:

BBC World Service on shortwave announcing the death of Princess Diana.  Special news programming and commentary on this sad event. 
  • Starting time: 0400 
  • Frequency: 5.975 
  • Receiver: Radio Shack DX-392 with built-in whip.
  • Location was Pierre, South Dakota

Radio Tashkent, announcing death of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev: November 11, 1982

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Brezhnev greets Gerald Ford upon his arrival at Vozdvizhenka for the Vladivostok Summit on 23 November 1974.

Brezhnev greets Gerald Ford upon his arrival at Vozdvizhenka for the Vladivostok Summit on 23 November 1974.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jack Widner, for the following recording. Jack notes:

R. Tashkent announcing the death of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev during the 1200 UTC English broadcast on 5985 kHz on November 11, 1982 (Brezhnev died Nov 10).  After funeral music there was regular programming (approx. 8:09).

BBC World Service (Death of the Duke of Windsor): May 28, 1972

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The Duke of Windsor in 1945

The Duke of Windsor in 1945

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Ian Holder for the following recording.  Ian notes that this recording features the BBC World Service news bulletin which reports on the death of the Duke of Windsor. 

This recording was made on May 28, 1972 around 13:00 GMT on 11.75 MHz:

2016 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2016

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Mark Hist, who notes the following:

Thanks for alerting shortwave listeners to the British Antarctic Survey broadcast. It felt very poignant listening to a broadcast aimed at such a small number of people, with the voices of their loved ones being launched around the world.
I was able to record the broadcast from only 100 miles away from the Woofferton transmitter, so needless to say the quality and strength was very good. I imagine hearing that broadcast buried in the noise from far away with those happy birthday songs and best wishes must have been very emotional for its intended audience.
I enclose a short segment from my 30 minute recording, plus a photo (above) taken the next day of my set up (it was dark at the time of the recording).

I also recorded the broadcast from Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada. I wrote a post about this on the SWLing Post (click here to read). The following is my recording from 7360 kHz. Reception was not nearly as strong as that of Mark, above:

Note that we collected over 30 recordings--from accross the globe. You can listen to and browse them on the SWLing Post by clicking here.

Radio Australia (Brexit in headlines): June 24, 2016

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This morning, I was very curious about the results of the Brexit vote, so I turned to one of the only stations that is strong enough to punch through the noise here at our vacation condo: Radio Australia.

The following recording starts a few minutes prior to the top of the hour ABC news headlines at 12:00 UTC on 9580 kHz on June 24, 2016 (the morning after the Brexit vote and the resignation announcement of Prime Minister David Cameron. 

The recording is rather poor as propagation was dismal and the level of RFI significant.  Still, this is such an important event, I wanted it in the shortwave archive. Receiver used was the Sony ICF-SW55 in Beaupré, Québec, Canada:

Radio Tashkent: November 11, 1982 (death of Leonid Brezhnev)

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jack Widner, who notes:

The announcement by Radio Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, of the death of Leonid Brezhnev. It includes funerary music between two annoiuncements of the passing of Brezhnev, followed by an English news broadcast, and a commentary later.

This broadcast started around 1200 UTC on 5,985 kHz on November 11, 1982. It was recorded in Indianapolis, IN USA with a Hammarlund HQ-180 connected to a 100 ft v-shaped longwire.