Myke shares 2012 season of ShortWaveMusic

Myke, over at ShortWaveMusic, has made his entire 2012 season of ShortWaveMusic freely downloadable on SoundCloud. This series was recorded from December 31, 2011 – January 16, 2012 throughout the West African country of Mali. The series contains some remarkable field recordings taken from both the shortwave and medium wave bands.

Note that Myke's ShortWaveMusic series and travels are supported by Kickstarter donors. I don't know where Myke's travels will take him next year, but when the time comes we will post an announcement along with a link for supporters.

Now put on your headphones, close your eyes and you will be transported to Mali:

For full SoundCloud features, click here for the 2012 series on SoundCloud.

Radio Cinco De Mayo

Radio Cinco De Mayo made its annual broadcast on (you guessed it!) May 5th, 2013, starting around 00:17 UTC on 6925 kHz USB.

Early Saturday morning, the band's condition sounded like that of summer, with atmospheric noises (a few static crashes, produced by local thunderstorms), but propagation was steady and the overall quality very respectable.

You can download an MP3 of the full recording by clicking here, or by listening via the embedded player below.

Check out Ragnar's off-air recording of Radio Cinco De Mayo (and more!) on his PiratesWeek podcast.

UPDATE (May 08): Just received my Radio Cinco De Mayo QSL:

The Mighty KBC

The Mighty KBC broadcast again early this morning (from 00:00-02:00 UTC) on their new summer frequency of 9,925 kHz. Their signal from Nauen, Germany was packing 125 kW--it was amazingly strong into North America. As we’ve come to expect, the KBC’s Giant Jukebox of music has a lot of rock-n-roll and Euro-pop variety, spanning the decades; DJ, "Uncle Eric" knows how to entertain and spin the tunes!

You can listen to the full recording below in the embedded player, or simply right click this link and save the MP3 file to your computer.

You’ll notice that Kim Elliott has another installation of digital text modes in this broadcast. Decode these digital modes using Fldigi from www.w1hkj.com. Be sure to check out Dr. Elliott's VOA Radiogram website for full details about this broadcast.

Shrimp Boat Radio, WSBR (a.k.a. Freakin' Awesome Radio, WFAR)

"We're shrimpin,' but they're not bitin'!"

Last night, a very unique pirate radio station emerged from the static on 6,925 kHz USB: Shrimp Boat Radio. It seems a shrimp boat radio pirate found himself bored on board, due to a lack of shrimp--but his boredom became our gain with an offer to talk shrimpin,' fishin,' or just take music requests...live.

This is the stuff great pirate radio is made of.  He started with a request for the Rolling Stones; next Black Cat Radio's Greaser Bob chimed in with a request for GNR.  And there began an evening of pirate radio with live on-air requests.

You can tell that this was a completely impromptu production--and it was all the better for it.  Not too long into the show, he took on the alternate name Freakin' Awesome Radio (WFAR).

Hearing a live pirate radio request show was a first for me, and the sort of thing that gets this "content DXer" enthused. I'm glad I had the tape rolling!  I hope he reappears on the band in the future.

Note that I start the recording at the very first announcement from WSBR. If you want to skip to the first music request, fast-forward to about 11 minutes into the recording (you'll miss some great banter, though). There are a few long breaks of static in the recording where this pirate scrambled to find and play music requests, but this just adds to the authenticity.

Click here to download the full recording of Shrimp Boat Radio, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy!

Click here to download the full recording of Shrimp Boat Radio, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy!

Radio Panik injects shortwave audio into mixes

I recently discovered that the radio show L'etranger, on Radio Panik, 105.4 in Brussels, used shortwave radio recordings of pirate radio and numbers stations, from the SWLing Post and other sources, in one of their mixes of eclectic music and sound clips. The end result is a splendid piece of sonic art.

Note that their audio is only available on archive.org until May 23, 2013. Click here to download the show, or listen via the embedded player below. You can also hear the show on the L'etranger website.

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia

Last night, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia had a booming signal into North America on 11,780 kHz. Rádio Nacional's AM signal was very wide; I actually opened up the filter on my SDR to 16 kHz to record this broadcast. In truth, that's probably too wide, but it certainly made for great audio fidelity. So, if you’re in the mood for some Brazilian music and commentary today, this 168 minute recording of Rádio Nacional da Amazônia should satisfy.

This was recorded on Sunday, April 28–starting around 22:15 UTC–on 11.78 MHz. Click here to download the full recording as an MP3 file, or listen in the embedded player below:

Want more Rádio Nacional? Click here for other recordings.

Radio Romania International

Today at 20:30 UTC, Radio Romania International's signal on 11,745 kHz was  quite strong, as it so often is.  RRI is one of the few broadcasters that still target Europe and the eastern US on shortwave.

RRI is a treasure of a station, too, with true local flavor--Romanian news, music, and mini cultural documentaries. This Sunday broadcast features the program Inside Romania, Romanian Without Tears (a language program which always reminds me of the similarities between French and Romanian), DX Mailbag, and Roots.

Click here to download the full broadcast as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. This recording features their interval signal before and after the broadcast.

If you enjoy Radio Romania International, I encourage you to send an accurate and descriptive reception report to: rri@rri.ro Maybe your letter will be featured on their DX Mailbag!

NHK Radio Japan

For you listening pleasure: thirty minutes of NHK Radio Japan's English language service.

This broadcast was recorded an hour ago, at 10:00 UTC on 9,625 (April 19, 2013).  Though NHK has dropped their English language services into North America, you can still receive their broadcasts targeting other regions quite easily.

Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below. note that I include a full five minutes of their interval signal: Enjoy!

Propaganda from the source: Listening to the Voice of Korea on shortwave radio

One of the countries dominating the headlines of global news lately is North Korea. As Kim Jong-un raises tensions and rattles his nuclear saber, the rest of the world is attempting to determine if this is a egotistical show of power for the benefit of all observers (as with previous leaders) or if there is real intention behind the rhetoric. Just this morning Pyongyang has warned that Tokyo would be a primary strike target if war were to break out, or if their test missile is downed; they've even moved their missile launch pad into position.

Regardless of outcome of these provocations, I know that the bulk of the North Korean population will suffer. North Korean mainstream "news" consists of images of military parades in the immaculate capital city of Pyongyang; but the reality is that most of the population live in rural North Korea, which is subject to severe food shortages and extreme poverty.

We know North Korea is a country that carefully controls and manipulates their media internally; they also broadcast the same flavor of propaganda externally on shortwave radio via the Voice of Korea.

As shortwave radio listeners, we have the distinct advantage of being able to listen directly to the case of North Korea. We can actually hear (and analyze for ourselves) the North Korea propaganda directly from the source. Note that it's not uncommon for the Voice of Korea to unexpectedly go off air, likely due to power shortages: this fact is much more suggestive of the of general conditions in the country than the "news" itself.

Depending on where you live in the world, your ability to hear the (relatively weak) Voice of Korea will vary.  If you live in the Asia/Pacific region, the station is very audible.

Yesterday morning at 10:00 UTC, I recorded an hour of their English broadcast to South America on 11.71 MHz. You can download an mp3 of the recording by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

Below, you'll also find the current broadcast schedule for the Voice of Korea English service courtesy of North Korea Tech:

VOK English (time in UTC)

• 04:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHz to Northeast Asia
• 04: 00 on 11735, 13760, 15180 kHzto Central & South America
• 05:00 on 13650, 15105 kHzto Southeast Asia
• 06:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHzto Northeast Asia
• 10:00 on 11710, 15180 kHzto Central & South America
• 10:00 on 11735, 13650 kHzto Southeast Asia
• 13:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 13:00 on 9435, 11710 kHzto North America
• 15:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 15:00 on 9435, 11710 kHzto North America
• 16:00 on 9890, 11645 kHzto Near & Middle East; North Africa
• 18:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 19:00 on 7210, 11910 kHzto South Africa
• 19:00 on 9875, 11635 kHzto Near & Middle East; North Africa
• 21:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe

For a full schedule of the Voice of Korea, please visit this page on North Korea Tech.

Radio Australia Jazz Notes

For your listening pleasure: thirty minutes of Radio Australia’s Jazz Notes.

This broadcast was recorded today at 13:30 UTC on 9,580 kHz.  As on most mornings, the signal out of Shepparton, Australia, was very strong; the audio fidelity was, in consequence, very impressive for a transmission emanating from some 9,800 miles away.

You can download this recording of Jazz Notes by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio New Zealand International

One of my favorite shortwave radio broadcasters is Radio New Zealand International. RNZI has authoritative news--with a focus on NZ and the Pacific islands--music, sports and their own unique character, though they operate on a very modest budget by international broadcasting standards.

The RNZI interval signal is charming and unmistakable: the call of the New Zealand Bellbird.

Fortunately, in the 3 hour recording of RNZI below, I caught not only the interval signal as the broadcast began, but also as it went off the air. This recording was made on March 14th 2013 starting around 8:00 UTC on 9,765 kHz. (You'll note news of the Pope.)

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

Note to SWLing Post reader, Mike: I hope you enjoy these sounds from home!

Radio Ronin Shortwave

If you can't tell from the number of recordings I posted today, last night was a busy night for pirate radio.

I heard no less than five pirates: AATW Radio, Red Mercury Labs Radio, Rave On Radio, Black Cat Radio and Radio Ronin Shortwave.

Though many had great signals, the strongest was Radio Ronin Shortwave on 6.925 MHz (AM). Ronin's broadcast started around  22:15 UTC (March 22, 2013) and lasted for more than an hour. Near the end, you will hear some interference from maritime mobile stations in the upper side band of 6.925--that just ads character in my book.

Click here to download the full recording by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include strong or colorful language or lyrics. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…

Black Cat Radio

Last night, I heard a new pirate on the air: Black Cat Radio.

Black Cat signed on 6,925 kHz USB around 23:45 UTC. After sending in a reception report, I received a reply with a cool eQSL card (see right) and learned that this was, in fact, show number one.

Here's the show #1 play list, courtesy of Greaser Bob:

• The Genders- Horatio
• Blitz- 45 Revolutions
• Queens of The Stone Age- Go With the Flow
• Nirvana- Anueurysm
• Black Flag- Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
• Betty Blowtorch- Strung Out
• The Misfits- Angel F**k
• Suicidal Tendencies- You Got I Want
• MC5- Kick Out the Jams
• Corrosion of Conformity- Who's got the Fire
• Phil X and the Drills- You're not Happy till Im not Happy
• The Vandals- Urban Struggle
• The Bloodhound Gang- Pennsylvania
• Betty Blowtorch- Rock and Roll 69

Click here to download the full recording of Black Cat Radio Show #1 as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include strong or colorful language or lyrics. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…

The Disco Palace (in DRM)

Perhaps one of the things I love the most about SWLing is the sheer variety of broadcasters out there. We can sample diverse offerings across a broad spectrum--from the BBC World Service to Radio Romania International, from pirate stations to numbers stations. There's even The Disco Palace: a station that plays only disco music, and each show is mixed thematically. This station broadcasts online and over shortwave radio via DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale).

Last week--specifically, on March 15, 2013--I caught about thirty minutes of The Disco Palace broadcast and was able to record it from my Bonito RadioJet IF Receiver. Reception on 17,875 MHz was excellent, although the DRM signal wasn't quite strong enough for comfortable stereo decoding.

The following TDP recording starts around 2030 UTC (about halfway through the broadcast). Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

The Crystal Ship

Looking through some of my archived recordings from the past month, I found this broadcast from The Crystal Ship, on the TCS Relay Network.

Conditions were a little tough at the time and you'll hear some some SSB interference near the end, but the mix is worth it. I started this recording around 1:15 UTC on February 26th, 2013, on 6.9255 MHz, capturing the last third of the show (based on HF Underground logs).

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

Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include strong or colorful language or lyrics. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…

Radio Ronin Shortwave

This past weekend, Radio Ronin Shortwave broadcast a tribute to guitarist Alvin Lee, who passed away on March 6th.

As always, Ronin's AM signal came in loud and clear on 6.925 MHz, starting around 00:15 UTC (March 11th, 2013).

Listen for yourself by downloading the audio as an MP3, or simply listening via the embedded player below. Of course, I included Ronin's (most excellent) interval signal in this recording:

Vatican Radio: breaking news broken?

A few moments ago, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Pope, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas, and taking the name Pope Francis I. When breaking news like this is happens, I often turn to shortwave radio to hear it "from the source;" what better station for news about the Papal elections than Vatican Radio? Right?

Hm. When I turned to Vatican Radio on 13.765 MHZ at 20:00 UTC today, here is what I heard:

After a little music and announcement confusion--including what sounds like at least three audio feeds coming in at once--Vatican Radio settles on an announcement program which states, in several languages, "Vatican Radio's programming schedule is currently being modified to cover the election of the new Pope."

It wasn't until thirty minutes later (20:30 UTC), when the Vatican Radio service to Africa started in French on 11.625 MHz, that I heard any substantive news about the new Pope:

Of course, I can find information about the new Pope from any one of two million different online sources, but it did surprise me that Vatican Radio wasn't better prepared for this event.  I even wondered if there was a different broadcast running on a consecutive frequency, so I checked; all were identical, however.

Still, the radio archivist in me can't help but experience some appreciation of the confusion on the airwaves. After all, this is a genuine piece of radio history and a fascinating thirty minutes of audio in the wake of a big decision.

In my mind, I envision the Vatican Radio staff frantically stirring to assemble news--for which they had no advance notice--regarding the new Pope. No doubt, the CNNs, BBCs, and Al Jazeeras of the world had pre-prepared material on each of the papal candidates. When the white plume of smoke announcing the election was first spotted, these broadcasters were likely more than ready to pull out the appropriate material and publish.

Perhaps this is not how Vatican Radio usually operates. Indeed, I suspect their live feed of events experienced a technical difficulty which they have, no doubt, since resolved. And for what it's worth, their website was appropriately up-to-date.

History:  sometimes bumpy, but always fascinating.  Especially on the airwaves.

David Goren's numbers station installation audio

Two months ago, I posted that David Goren, talented radio producer and shortwave radio artist, created a Numbers Station installation in the Secret Wars exhibition at the Proteus Gowanus gallery in Brooklyn, NY. David has recently published the audio that accompanies his installation.

Take note that this is not a radio documentary--rather, it's an expansion of his original piece, and part of his sound installation at Proteus Gowanus.  Enjoy:

Boombox Radio

This morning, around 11:15 UTC, I caught a pirate that I had never heard on air before: Boombox Radio. Though rather weak, over the course of their 31 minute broadcast on 6,925 kHz AM, the signal did increase significantly (possibly as propagation improved).

I was very surprised to hear a North American pirate on at this time of the morning.

Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Boombox, great to hear you on the air! 

X-FM

For your listening pleasure: three hours of the pirate radio station X-FM.

This broadcast was recorded this morning, starting around 2:00 UTC, on 6,950 kHz AM. X-FM can even be received in C-Quam stereo--something I have yet to try.

This is a 10 year anniversary broadcast of X-FM and has an excellent mix of music (everything from Indie rock to trance) and Redhat's live commentary. Superb signal strength, too.

You can download the recording of X-FM by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below (note that I included X-FM's full seven minute interval signal/leader):

Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:Though X-FM is quite a professional pirate (is there such a thing?), this is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include colorful language. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…