Radio Sofia, Bulgaria: Circa 1984-1985

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Bruce MacDonald, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Sofia, Bulgaria

Date of recording: Unknown

Starting time: Unknown

Frequency: not recorded

Recorded in Hounslow, west London

Receiver and antenna: Sony portable stereo radio cassette player

Notes: A snippet from an old-school DX programme from the English service of Radio Sofia, Bulgaria. This comprises mainly listening tips for rare stations as heard in Europe. Some mention made of the time of year and solar cycle conditions as Solar Cycle 21 was drawing down to minimum, and the need for a good antenna.

I was a teenager when I made this recording, still new to the geeky hobby of shortwave listening, so I didn't log the time, frequency or date of the recording. I recorded this on a Sony radio-cassette player which had a shortwave band on the radio and had yet to save up for a Sony ICF-SW7600D.

Radio Sofia, Bulgaria: Circa 1984-1985
Bruce MacDonald
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CHU Canada: Four Recordings Including Final Moments Transmitting on June 22, 2026

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CHU Transmitting Site in Ottawa, Canada (Source: NRC)

Many thanks to several SRAA contributors who have shared recordings of CHU Canada during its final days as a shortwave time signal station.

This first recording was sent to us via Ronald McKinnon and is the National Research Council’s own recording of the final minutes of CHU on the air. Here are the notes that accompanied this recording:

Broadcaster: National Research Council CHU

Date of recording: June 22, 2026

Starting time: 14:08:00 UTC

Frequency: 3.33 MHz

Location: Ottawa, ON Canada

Receiver and antenna: Raddy RF320 with built-in antenna

Notes: This is a recording of the last few minutes of the NRC CHU time signal over shortwave at 3.33MHz.It was recorded on June 22, 2026 just as the broadcast was being shut down. The broadcast had been in operation in one form or another for over 90 years. The recording was made from just outside the station in Ottawa in order to obtain maximum signal quality.The NRC's home page about this station:

https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/canadas-official-time/nrc-shortwave-station-broadcasts-chu

CHU Canada: June 22, 2026
National Research Council
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SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, shared the following recording of CHU with notes:

Broadcaster: CHU

Date of recording: June 21, 2026

Starting time: 0:12 UTC

Frequency: 3330 kHz

Reception location: Washington, D.C

Your receiver and antenna: Na5b websdr

Notes: This is my last-ever recording of CHU Canada, as they have shut down all the transmitters today, June 22. Recorded with the Websdr na5b located in DC. https://na5b.com:8901

CHU Canada: June 21, 2026
Bryce Belcher
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SRAA contributor, Emilio, shared this longer recording with notes:

Freq: 7850 kHz

Date: Friday, 5 June 2026

Time: 17 UTC

SINPO: 45343

RX Grid locator: EK36kp

State: Chiapas

Country: Mexico

Receiver: Kenwood R-600

Antenna: long wire about 10 meters.

Recorded by: Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven

CHU Canada: June 5, 2026
Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven
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SRAA contributor, Jerry Johnston, shares his recording with these notes:

The recording starts at 1359 UTC, so the final pip occurs just after 11 minutes. Frequency was 7850 kHz, USB mode to reduce noise. This was recorded in Lexington, KY. A storm had just passed, so local noise was high. I let it run another 5 minutes to get the pirate activity.

CHU Canada
Jerry Johnston
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BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica: June 21, 2026

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This is the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica recorded on June 21, 2026 at 09:30 UTC in Foulden, Scotland, UK. The radio was an Elecraft KX2 connected to a 31-foot 9:1 random wire antenna in the back garden. The broadcast starts on 9460 kHz, but I then move to 12070 kHz because it had slightly less local noise.

BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica: June 21, 2026
Thomas Witherspoon
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Personal note

The BBC Midwinter Broadcast remains one of my favorite SWLing events of the year. I simply love the idea that the BBC would broadcast from two different sites on three different frequencies via shortwave to a relatively small audience of British Antarctic Survey scientists wintering over in Antarctica.

It's always a joy to listen live, knowing that they're celebrating midwinter with parties at their stations and hearing the voices, messages, laughter, and well-wishes of loved ones carried to them over the air by shortwave radio.

In an age of instant communications, there's still something magical about that.

Radio Sandino (Managua, Nicaragua): March 25, 1984

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Sandino, Managua, Nicaragua

Date of recording: March 25, 1984

Starting time: 0730z/1:30 AM local time

Frequency: 6200 kHz

RX location: St. Louis, MO

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2001, longwire

Radio Sandino (Managua, Nicaragua): March 25, 1984
Paul Harner
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Rádio Nacional da Amazônia: August 14, 1984

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Nacional Da Amazonas

Date of recording: August 14, 1984

Starting time: 0809z

Frequency: 6180 kHz

Reception location: St.Louis, MO

Receiver and antenna: Icom IC R-71-A

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia: August 14, 1984
Paul Harner
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Israel Broadcasting Authority, Jerusalem: Circa 1971

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Israel Broadcasting Authority, Jerusalem 1971

Date of recording: Circa 1971

Starting time: 2130 UTC

Frequency: 9.625 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Mode: AM

Notes: The Israel Broadcasting Authority used to broadcast in various languages on shortwave in the early 1970's. Their English language transmission to Europe could often be heard well here in southern Ontario, Canada between 2045 and 2130 hours UTC on 9625 kHz. Here is a recording made circa 1971 as they concluded their program in English and switched to French at 2130 hours UTC.

Israel Broadcasting Authority, Jerusalem: Circa 1971
Dan Greenall
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The second recording is also circa 1971. It begins with their interval signal, then sign on announcement in English.

Israel Broadcasting Authority, Jerusalem (Interval Signal): Circa 1971
Dan Greenall
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Rádio Nacional da Amazônia: July 16, 2025

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Liam Spencer, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Nacional da Amazonia

Date of recording: July 16, 2025

Starting time: 00:05 UTC

Frequency: 11.780 MHz

Reception location: Berthoud, Colorado, USA

Receiver and antenna: Sihuadon D-808 with telescopic antenna

Mode: AM

Notes: Here's a recording pulled from my radio archive of Radio Nacional da Amazonia from Brazil on the shortwave frequency on 11.780 MHz from July 16th, 2025. What's interesting is that this was recorded on a weekday, and usually, back-to-back music is not heard on weekday evening programming. Along with the announcers who are usually high energy are not in this recording. Around 20 minutes in, I stopped recording and resumed recording at 01:05 UTC until the end of the recording.

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia: July 16, 2025
Lian Spencer
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V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 16, 2026

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

On March 16, I listened to V32 using the SV1BTL SDR in Athens, Greece. The voice came on at exactly 1800 UTC, but right up to 1759, the bubble jammer was being heard on that frequency. There did not appear to be any jamming during the actual "broadcast". The signal was very strong, averaging 20 dB over 9. At 1823 UTC, there were 12 users listening on this particular SDR, and 8 of them were tuned to 8742 kHz!

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 16, 2026
Dan Greenall
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V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 15, 2026

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

I made the following recording (March 15, 2026 at 1822 UTC on 7842 kHz USB)) of V32 using a Kiwi SDR in Alvito, Italy. The "tavajjoh" (3X) announcement comes around the 6:09 mark, after which the numbers seem to run together more, rather than distinct groups of 5.

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 15, 2026
Dan Greenall
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Radio Ghana: Circa 1971

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Ghana circa 1971

Frequency: 11.850

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Notes: Back in 1971, Radio Ghana from Accra had an external service, this one beamed to North America and the Caribbean on 11.850 MHz shortwave. Here are two brief recordings of their drum interval signal followed by sign on in English.

Radio Ghana: Circa 1971 (Recording 1)
Dan Greenall
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Radio Ghana: Circa 1971 (Recording 2)
Dan Greenall
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Radio Farda (Being Actively Jammed): January 28, 2026

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Jim Jordan, who shares the following recording of Radio Farda being actively jammed. Jim also shares these notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Farda

Date of recording: January 28, 2026

Starting time: 1700 UTC

Frequency: 7.5 MHz

Your location: NW UK

Your receiver and antenna: Lowe HF 150 plus 50m random

Notes: A bit reminiscent of trying to listen to Radio Liberty during the Cold War

Radio Farda (Being Actively Jammed): January 28, 2026
Jim Jordan
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Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station)

Date of recording: March 16, 2026

Starting time: 2358 UTC

Frequency: 19.052 MHz

Receiver location: Thailand

Receiver and antenna: Kiwi SDR with Wellbrook loop

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: This is a "numbers station" broadcasting in Mandarin Chinese, presumably sending encrypted messages to Taiwanese intelligence agents in mainland China, from Taiwan. It appears to follow a set daily schedule, and begins each transmission with the tune of a Chinese folk song played on a flute. This is followed by station ID, given twice, and a few announcements in Mandarin, then a sequence of numbers read in groups of four. An excellent article about this station can be found on the Mount Evelyn DX Report written by Rob Wagner VK3BVW in May 2025.

Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026
Dan Greenall
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V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 13, 2026

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: V32 Persian/Farsi numbers station

Date of recording: March 13, 2026

Starting time: 0226 UTC

Frequency: 7.842 MHz

Receiver location: Israel

Receiver and antenna: Kiwi SDR with MLA-30+ Active antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Background material obtained via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This radio signal first started broadcasting on February 28, about 12 hours after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran.

A man's voice can be heard speaking Persian, counting out a series of apparently random numbers. The numbers are read out for varying stretches of time, followed by a pause in which the word tavajjoh -- which translates as "attention" -- is spoken three times. (around the 48 second mark in the attached recording)

Beginning on March 4, the signal started to be jammed, with a cacophonous screech of electronic noise that made it all but impossible to hear the numbers. The original transmission paused for a period of time, then moved to another shortwave frequency.

The transmission, that has been dubbed V32 by at least one group, is called a numbers station, a Cold War-era tool that employs radio transmissions and old-school cryptology to transmit secret messages, usually to spies around the world. It's location is suspected to be somewhere in central Europe.

The attached recording of V32 was made on March 13, 2026 around 0230 hours UTC on 7842 kHz upper sideband USB using a Kiwi SDR located in Israel. I began the recording on 7841.9 kHz, but switched after a few minutes to 7842 kHz. This will account for the change in voice pitch.

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 13, 2026
Dan Greenall
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Also attached is a brief recording of the jamming signal, or “bubble jammer”, made on March 6, 2026 on 7910 kHz (V32’s original frequency) at 0218 UTC.

Bubble Jammer: March 6, 2026
Dan Greenall
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Polish Radio External Service (Via WRN and WRMI): September 26, 2025

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Liam Spencer, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Polish Radio External Service (Via WRN and WRMI)

Date of recording: September 26, 2025

Starting time: 02:59 UTC

Frequency: 9.455 MHz

Reception location: Berthoud, Colorado, USA

Receiver and antenna: Sihuadon D-808 with telescopic antenna

Notes: After the withdrawal of most Overcomer Ministry broadcasts in the Summer of 2025. WRMI began relaying the World Radio Network North American stream to fill the empty hours. While this is great for many shortwave listeners, as we get to hear stations that used to broadcast on shortwave again. WRMI isn't making any money from broadcasting the World Radio Network, and it is unknown how long these will last. On September 26th, I recorded the Polish Radio External Service, as they became part of my daily listening thanks to WRMI. I used a cassette tape to record the broadcast. Sometime during the recording, a few seconds of the broadcast were cut as I had to flip over the tape to continue recording.

Polish Radio External Service (Via WRN and WRMI): September 26, 2025
Liam Spencer
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Radio Netherlands ('Media Network' Program): April 29, 1982

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Netherlands 'Media Network' Program

Date of recording: April 29, 1982

Starting time: Unknown

Frequency: unknown

Reception location: St.Louis, MO

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2001

Notes: This is a partial recording of "Media Network," though most of the program is on this recording. My interest in this specific show was the feature on Radio Luxembourg, This program is not in the Jonathan Marks archive of his "Media Network" shows.

Radio Netherlands (Media Network): April 23, 1982
Paul Harner
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Radio Union (Lima, Peru): July 1, 1994

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Union, Lima Peru July 1994

Date of recording: July 01, 1994

Starting time: 0730-0815 UTC

Frequency: 6115 kHz

Your location: St.Louis, MO

Your receiver and antenna: Icom IC R-71-A

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Radio Union in Lima was a longtime favorite station of mine from the late 1980s through the 1990s. Radio Union was well heard in the overnight hours, and featured salsa, chicha, and huayno music. Long after it left shortwave, I listened to the station online, until it closed down a few years ago.

Radio Union (Lima, Peru): July 1, 1994
Paul Harner
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Radio Netherlands ('Media Network' Program): April 23, 1987

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Netherlands 'Media Network' Program

Date of recording: April 23, 1987

Starting time: Unknown

Frequency: Either 6165 or 9590 kHz

Reception location: St.Louis, MO

Receiver and antenna: Icom IC R-71-A

Notes: I recorded "Media Network" using a timer, and reused these tapes weekly. In this case, it became a time capsule. It is also not a show that is on Jonathan Marks' archive site.

Radio Netherlands ('Media Network' Program): April 23, 1987
Paul Harner
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Voice Of America (Breakfast Show): August 02, 1975

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Paul Harner, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Voice Of America 'Breakfast Show"

Date of recording: August 02, 1975

Starting time: Unknown

Frequency: unknown

Your location: St.Louis, MO

Your receiver and antenna: Multi-Band portable

Voice Of America (Breakfast Show): August 02, 1975
Paul Harner
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Radio Barquisimeto (Venezuela): Circa 1970

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Barquisimeto, Venezuela 1970

Frequency: 4.990 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Notes: On 4990 kHz shortwave, Radio Barquisimeto in Venezuela was one of the "regulars" on the 60 metre band here in southern Ontario Canada during the evening hours in the 1970's. On nearby 4980 kHz, you could find Ecos del Torbes from San Cristobal.

Radio Barquisimeto (Venezuela): Circa 1970
Dan Greenall
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