Deutsche Welle, final Kigali relay broadcast: March 28, 2015

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, for sharing this beautiful QSL card from the early days of the DW Kigali relay station.

Yesterday, Deutsche Welle transmitted its final broadcast from the Kigali, Rwanda relay station. Since I’ve only had moderate luck hearing the Kigali site the past few days–especially on 31 meters–I fired up the TitanSDR Pro (which is still currently under review) and set it to record all three final afternoon broadcasts from Kigali on 12,005, 15,275 and 17,800 kHz

Kigali produced a very strong signal on 17,800 kHz. The TitanSDR recorded the full broadcast, starting with one minute of the transmitter tuning, then one hour of DW’s French language service, followed by one hour of DW’s Hausa language service…then the transmitter went silent.

The recording begins around 1659 UTC on March 28, 2015 on 17,800 kHz:

Radio Bahrain: March 15, 2015

Sunday, my buddy (and SRAA contributor) Dan Robinson, posted a tip on the Extreme Shortwave Listening Facebook page that Radio Bahrain was audible in the Eastern USA.

I quickly tuned to 9745 kHz and, sure enough–though weak–the Radio Bahrain signal could be heard over the noise floor. Radio Bahrain is not the easiest catch in my part of the world–especially with propagation conditions being less than favorable as of late–so I made a recording.

This recording was made on 9745 kHz starting at 23:15 UTC on March 15, 2015. I used my WinRadio Excalibur which was already on and connected to my horizontal delta loop antenna. Click here to download as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Australia: March 13, 2015 - Cyclone Pam coverage

The following is a four hour recording of Radio Australia made on March 13, 2015, beginning at 1150 UTC on 9,580 kHz. You will note that much attention was given to coverage of Cyclone Pam which was a category 5 storm bearing down on Vanuatu at the time.

This recording was made in North Carolina, USA with the SDRplay RSP using the HDSDR application--the antenna was a large horizontal delta loop.

Radio Canada International: Final broadcast, June 24, 2012

QSL courtesy of @UKDXer

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Rajdeep Das for this recording of Radio Canada International's final shortwave radio broadcast. This recording was made on June 24, 2012 beginning at 1550 UTC on 11,675 kHz. 

Listeners will note that the broadcast ends abruptly during the mailbag program--obviously the transmitters were turned off prematurely.

Shortwave Shindig: February 28, 2015

Many thanks to those of you who recorded the Shortwave Shindig live from the Winter SWL Fest in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, USA on February 28, 2015. The broadcast began around 0300 UTC (10:00 PM EST) on 7570 kHz. You will note that the time extended beyond one hour--this was due to a 10 minute period of time when the audio feed dropped due to a bad Internet connection. 

The Shindig will be rebroadcast on March 8 2015 at 0300 UTC on 7570 kHz without interruption.

I've labeled the embedded recording below with the contributor and location where the recording was made.  Again, many thanks for your contributions to the archive!

Richard Langley made the following recording and also decoded the embedded graphic. 

Radio Poland, English language service: February 2, 2015

For your listening pleasure: Radio Poland.

This recording was made on February 2, 2015 on 9395 kHz starting at 1800 UTC.  Although Radio Poland formally left the shortwaves in 2013, their service is now relayed by Global 24 Radio.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

Radio Santa Cruz: February 7, 2015

I recorded Radio Santa Cruz early this morning around 05:00 UTC on 6,135 kHz using theTitanSDR I currently have under review.

Radio Santa Cruz‘s 10 kW signal from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was very much audible here in North America, though RSC was competing with another station on-frequency at the time. Actually, Radio Santa Cruz was broadcasting slightly off-frequency–6134.8 kHz instead of 6,135 kHz. In this case, the fact that RSC was slightly below frequency helped me delineate the station’s audio from that of a competing station. Click here if you would like to read about how lower sideband synchronous detection was used to help overcome adjacent signal interference.

Radio Vilnius 1990-1991 (6th and Final Series Recording): January 30, 1991

Recording 6 (29 minutes):

30 January 1991, 23:00 UTC, 7400 kHz

Strong signal. The recording begins with a few seconds of music from the previous transmission on this frequency. Then, after about one minute (there was no IS), the Radio Vilnius transmission starts with the beginning of the patriotic song “Lietuvninkai Mes Esam Gim?” (Lithuanians We Are Born) and an introduction stating that the broadcast is coming “from the capital of the independent Republic of Lithuania.” This is followed by “News About Lithuania” including items on further acts of violence by Soviet troops and severe winter weather. Then, there are reports on Lithuanian-Polish relations and the work of the commission on Soviet aggression. Next is an eye-witness report on the attack on the TV tower on the night of 13 January, a report on the current feelings of Lithuanians under occupation, and how music and the arts keep the people going. During the recording, the receiver was briefly tuned to other Radio Vilnius frequencies to check on signal quality. In addition to 7400 kHz, only 9750 and 17690 kHz could be heard.

Radio Vilnius 1990-1991 (4th Recording): January 12, 1991

Recording 4 (45 minutes):

12 January 1991, 23:00 UTC, 9750 kHz

Strong signal. Initial mix-up of interval signals. The first IS is believed to be that of Moskovskaya Radio, the Russian Service of Radio Moscow, followed by a bit of the Radio Moscow World Service IS, and then finally the Radio Vilnius IS. The transmission begins with the statement “We’re still broadcasting from Vilnius.” This is followed by the Lithuanian news reporting on the acts of aggression of the Soviet occupying forces and “Correspondents’ Reports.” The latter includes a report that the exam session at Vilnius University has been postponed to allow students to help protect buildings from the occupation forces, including the Radio and Television Building, and a report on the restrictions on travel. The reports were interrupted with “some news just come in” about a group trying to break into the building of the Council of Ministers. The announcer subsequently reported that the attackers had been put off and so the conflict has been neutralized. The broadcast ends with the statement “We hope to be with you tomorrow again” followed by the transmission schedule and contact information. The Radio Vilnius transmission is followed by the one from Radio Minsk. News organizations reported that Soviet troops entered the Radio and Television Building about 15 minutes after this Radio Vilnius transmission.

Radio Österreich International: January 29, 2015

Rotating high performance directional antenna of the ORF (“Drehbare Hochleistungsrichtantenne ORF Moosbrunn“ von Daniel Csiky)

For your listening pleasure: Radio Österreich International.

This recording was made on 6,155 kHz on January 29, 2015 starting about  05:59 UTC.

Only recently, SWLing Post reader, Eric asked about orchestral music on shortwave–as you’ll hear, Radio Oesterreich International is certainly a good source!

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy:

Voice of Nigeria: January 28, 2015

For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Nigeria--recorded on January 28, 2015, starting at 10:00 UTC on 9,690 kHz. 

This recording was made with a WinRadio Excalibur SDR hooked up to a horizontal delta loop wire antenna--location is eastern North America (North Carolina).

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

All India Radio: January 26, 2015

This broadcast of All India Radio was recorded in eastern North America on January 26, 2015 beginning at 2145 UTC, shortwave frequency of 9,445 kHz.

This recording was made in eastern North America using a WinRadio Excalibur SDR connected to a large horizontal delta loop antenna.

Radio Thailand: January 23, 2015

For your listening pleasure: the English language service of Radio Thailand–recorded on January 23, 2015 at 1230 UTC on 9,390 kHz.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Thailand Newsmagazine in English, January 18, 2015

Radio Thailand transmitted at 250 kw from Udon Thani.  Received and recorded with the Degen DE1121 and an indoor homebrew broomstick antenna in Sydney, Australia.

Radio Moscow: 25 December 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation speech

One of the advantages of hosting a contributor-driven shortwave radio audio archive, is receiving off-air recordings of defining moments in our world history. This is certainly one of them.

SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, writes:

"I've started to convert some of my old cassette shortwave recordings to mp3 files. I've uncovered a box of about 25 tapes with recordings mostly from 1990 and 1991. This was an interesting era for shortwave. There was the reunification of Germany, the breakups of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and then the First Gulf War. I monitored some of these events using my venerable Sony ICF-7600D receiver with the supplied wire antenna draped around my home office. I bought this receiver during a trip to Hong Kong (and the P.R.C.) in 1985. It was my first decent shortwave radio and I still have it but it has since been joined by several other receivers.

[...]

[The following] is a recording of President Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation speech as broadcast live by the World Service of Radio Moscow. As the announcer says, "a moment of history in the making." It begins at about the three-minute mark of the recording (at 17:00 UTC). The speech is followed by a program of classical music (filler), the News in Brief at 17:30 UTC, followed by part of the program "Africa as We See It."

Click here to download this recording of Radio Moscow World Service from December 25, 1991 on 17,670 kHz, beginning at 1657 UTC. 

Radio New Zealand International: November 8, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Julie, for this recording of Radio New Zealand international. 

This broadcast was recorded in Australia on November 8, 2014 starting around 0957 UTC on 9765 kHz. Julie notes that this broadcast contains "News, Weather, Part Three of the series "Innerview" about the band the Doors, frequency sign off and interval signal."

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

Radio Thailand, English: October 17, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of Radio Thailand in English. This broadcast was recorded in Europe on October 17, 2014 at 1900 UTC, shortwave frequency of 9390 kHz.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

Radio Ukraine International via WRMI: September 25, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Richard Langley for this recording of Radio Ukraine International's inaugural broadcast via WRMI. This is the second contribution of this broadcast, but since it is a first on shortwave, we are posting this one as heard from Richard's location. Richard writes:

Inaugural broadcast of Radio Ukraine International via WRMI, Okeechobee, Florida, on 11580 kHz on 25 September 2014 between 23:30 and 00:00 UTC. Received in Hanwell (near Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, using a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its whip antenna in AM mode with a 5 kHz bandwidth.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

Radio Japan, English language service: October 4, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Andre Bagley, for this recording of Radio Japan (NHK World). Andre writes:

The English service of Radio Japan from their transmitter site in Palau, which targets South West Asia. This recordings was made from North America, which is in the exact opposite direction of where the broadcast is meant to be received. Despite this, the reception of this station is rather strong and thus very listenable in my location in the Mid-Western US.

This recording was made on October 4, 2014 at 14:00 UTC on 11705 kHz. This recording was made with a Tecsun PL-600 with telescopic antenna with a length of wire attached.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

Radio Ukraine via WMRI: October 3, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Frank for this recording of Radio Ukraine International. 

This recording was made in Europe on October 3, 2014 at 23:30 UTC on 11.580 MHz. 

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.