Photo by Ingo Schulz on Unsplash
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Williams, who shares the following recording and notes:
Recorded by Short Wave Listener WPE9JEL from Crown Point during the 1960s. Receiver: Hallicrafters SX-110, Antenna: Random Wire. There are some duplicates that were not edited out - sorry about that.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:
Radio Clarin (Dominican Republic) with This is Santo Domingo with Rudy Espinal broadcast in 1978. This English language broadcast includes music from the Dominican Republic, talk about a recent power outage, SPEEDX (Society for the Preservation of the Engrossing Enjoyment of DXing) magazine, ANARC (Association of North American Radio Clubs) convention at Radio Canada International in Montreal, and a NASWA (North American Shortwave Association) DX Report with Glenn Hauser.
Date of recording: 12/12/1978
Starting time: 0300 UTC
Frequency: 11.700 MHz
Recption location: Plymouth, Minnesota
Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:
Radio Moscow World Service English language broadcast including Moscow Newsreel about the third anniversary of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, newscasts, music from Moldova, and Soviet Panorama.
Starting time: 0720 UTC
Frequency: Unknown
Reception location: Plymouth, Minnesota
Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:
Recording of Radio Kuwait during the start of the invasion by Iraq. My understanding is that the broadcast originated from the Radio Kuwait transmitter site, which had not yet been occupied by Iraqi forces. Transmission consisted of music and announcements in Arabic. If anyone can translate/summarize some of the announcements, it would be appreciated.
Reception location: Minnetonka, MN
Receiver: ICOM R71A
Photo by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash
Many thanks to SRAA contributor Tom Laskowski who shares the following recording and notes:
Here is a nice recording of the sign-on and programming of Myanmar Radio, the National Radio Service of Myanmar, broadcasting from Yangon. I was using the Web-based SDR at the University of Twente for this recording. I have been trying for years to add this country to my shortwave logbook but it still eludes me to this day. The best I have been able to get from this station is a very weak carrier but no audio on 5.985 MHz at their sign-on time. This recording lasts about 1h 16m. This may be one of the most exotic countries still left on shortwave.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, for the following recording and note:
The Voice of Vietnam, broadcast over Radio Havana Cuba, announcing the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam war.
Reception location: Plymouth, Minnesota
Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:
Radio Moscow coverage of the end of the coup attempt. Per Wikipedia: The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, was an attempt made by members of the government of the Soviet Union to take control of the country from Soviet President and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup leaders were hard-line members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and the new union treaty that he had negotiated, which decentralized much of the central government's power to the republics. They were opposed, mainly in Moscow, by a short but effective campaign of civil resistance led by Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who had been both an ally and critic of Gorbachev. Although the coup collapsed in only two days and Gorbachev returned to power, the event destabilized the USSR and is widely considered to have contributed to both the demise of the CPSU and the dissolution of the USSR.
Date of recording: 8/22/1991
Starting time: 0300 UTC
Frequency: Unknown
Reception location: Minnetonka, MN
Receiver and antenna: ICOM R71A
Thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Robinson for these notes and audio of Radio Kahuzi
Radio Kahuzi, a U.S.-funded religious station located in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo has been heard by DX’ers in a number of countries since the mid-2000’s and had been in operation since the 1990s. It was founded by U.S. evangelist Richard McDonald and his wife Kathleen, and was most easily heard via Europe-based SDRs, signing off at anywhere between 1800 and 1830 UTC.
In 2019, the station began to be heard more frequently on its 6,210.20 khz frequency — but was impacted by frequent power outages in the national electricity company of the DRC. In 2020, Radio Kahuzi was still being heard by DX’ers using European SDR sites, with certain locations such as Switzerland, UK, and Sweden bringing the best signals. I did a number of comparison videos showing reception of Kahuzi at these various locations. Interestingly, propagation conditions were such that Kahuzi’s signal had a very rapid rise from about 1700 UTC through to its sign off time around 1800 to 1830 UTC, and was often mistaken by some listeners as a European pirate signal in the 48 meter band.
In February 2020, Richard McDonald reported that power had been increased from 500 to 750 watts with reception in Bukavu 1/4 to 1/2 stronger, adding that they hoped the 750 watt level could be maintained “unless problems develop.” He also said the station had just installed a new digital studio.
In April 2020, McDonald reported problems with lightning strikes in the area with intermittent power issues. McDonald noted that the station had been hoping to begin distance education as the COVID-19 situation was beginning to have impacts: “We are the only radio that can reach all the 8 territories and local schools.”
As of mid-May 2020, Radio Kahuzi remained off the air as DX’ers held out hope that Kahuzi would return to the air. In an email, Richard McDonald reported “complications” regarding the power schedule of the regional power company saying he was hoping RK can get back on the air “between 8 AM to 7 PM”. Here is one of the best recordings of Radio Kahuzi, which took place using the SDR site in Ticino, Switzerland — the station has a unique sign off, playing an instrumental version of a Bluegrass song.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recordings and notes on Radio Lesotho
Ranked in terms of difficulty, a few stations on shortwave from Africa topped the most challenging list. One was Radio Lesotho on 4,800 khz, a frequency that suffered from extreme interference from Latin American stations using the 60 meter band. But this small southern African country could nonetheless be heard in the evening on the east coast of North America and other locations at and just after its sign on. I was able to hear the station from Pennsylvania, using a Hammarlund HQ-180 receiver, but also had the opportunity to hear it like a local when I lived in Swaziland for 3 months in the 1970’s. Following is a recording made locally in Swaziland, and one recording made in Pennsylvania.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording and notes on Radio Pax
Though shortwave listeners around the world heard the main Radio Clube de Mozambique stations in what could be called the heart of the shortwave era — the 1960’s through the 1980s — another station also broadcast from the east African country. That was Radio Pax, the Catholic station in Beira, Mozambique, which dates back to 1954. Amazingly, Radio Pax still exists today complete with a Facebook page. But there is no longer any shortwave. In 1974, while living in southern Africa as an exchange student I had the thrill of being able to hear Radio Pax on 3,960 khz, one its two shortwave frequencies and made tis recording using a Drake SPR-4 receiver on a longwire located in Mbabane, Swaziland.
There are other recordings of Radio Uganda on the archive — this is another, made in Washington, DC by famed DX’er Taylor McNeil. This was made on March 31, 1979 on 15,325 khz which was the frequency many listeners heard Uganda on, with 250 kw of power. Hearing Uganda on the 60 meter band, however, was far more challenging.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Robinson, who processed and posted this audio recording by Taylor McNeil:
WRNO was the U.S. shortwave station founded by Joseph Costello III as described here and went on the air in February 1982 as a commercial international broadcaster. Another recording can be found in the archive but this is one of the earliest recordings of the station after it first went on the air.
As described by Wikipedia, WRNO was the first privately owned shortwave station licensed in several years at the time of its approval by the FCC: “Before Costello's efforts, there were only three non-governmental American shortwave broadcasters on the air; by the end of the decade, that number had increased to sixteen.[2] WRNO shortwave had a rock music format, branded as the "World Rock of New Orleans" and operating from noon to midnight (GMT-6) daily. Originally a separate broadcast from the FM station, eventually WRNO turned to simulcasting WRNO-FM, which also had a rock music format. During the early 1990s WRNO turned to leasing airtime to religious and political commentators (for a time, it was the shortwave home of Rush Limbaugh's program) until a damaged transmitter forced the station off the air for several years.” In 2001 the station was purchased by Good News World Outreach, a non-profit religious broadcaster.” This article in SWLing Post shows the transmitter of WRNO as of 2009.
A bit of shortwave trivia not widely known — Joseph Costello appeared in the first pilot of “Communications World” the VOA program for shortwave listeners originated by Dan Robinson, who went on to be a foreign correspondent, congressional reporter, and chief White House correspondent for VOA through the 1980’s, 1990s and 2000s.
As detailed in this article, Bizim Radio was one of the oldest clandestine stations and represented the Turkish Communist Party (Bizim means “our” radio). Bizim Radio started broadcasting in 1958 and lasted until 1989 when it was reported that the station would close after more than 30 years in operation. Bizim Radio was one of many clandestines audible on the east coast of North America and was a regular along with Radio Espana Independiente, Radio Euzkadi, and other stations often using odd frequency ranges such as the 10 and 13 mHz bands.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
In the 1970’s shortwave listeners were surprised by the appearance in the 60 meter band of a station that seemed to be a re-activation of Portugal’s station in the Azores islands. The frequency was 4,865 khz and the signal was quite strong as heard on the east coast of North America. What everyone thought was actually a broadcast from the Azores turned out to be — NOT. According to Jerry Berg, in his On the Shortwaves 1945 to turned out to be none other than Radiodifusao Portuguesa with transmissions on the old frequency of Azores from years before. What a disappointment for country hunters! Anyway, here is a recording of what we all thought was Azores direct, made in the 1970s. You can hear the full ID by the announcer toward the end followed by the Portuguese national anthem.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
Radio Clandestine was one of the main U.S. pirates on shortwave in the 1970s and 1980s — this recording was made in Washington, DC on a Hammarlund HQ-180A. I do not recall the frequency. This recording includes the famous spoof of Radio Moscow…and sign off with the equally famous R.F. Burns. At another link here in the archives, Andy Robins provides a separate recording of Radio Clandestine recorded in 1980 and notes that the station was known for using frequencies inside the regular shortwave broadcasting bands, unlike other pirates that tended to use frequencies just above or below the 40-meter amateur radio band.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording:
On the top-10 list of DX targets in the 1970s was Spanish Sahara, the broadcast service transmitting from Aaiun in what was then Spanish-ruled Sahara in West Africa. Verification cards and letters were sent to lucky listeners around the world who were able to hear the transmissions which were a mixture of local programs and material from the Spanish national radio. Frequencies on shortwave: 7,230 khz listed as 10 KW and 4,626 khz which was a SSB frequency listed a 5 kilowatts, described as a service for Aaiun and Villa Cisneros, now called Dakhla, about 330 miles south along the coast from Aaiun.
My reception of Radio Sahara was on a Hammarlund HQ-180 receiver, which due to its superb filtering and vernier tuning capability I used to hear numerous African stations. According to the QSL letter received from Radio Sahara, and signed by Amparo Martin, their programming was from “0645 to 01 horas” making this one of the few African stations with a very late (or early in the morning) sign on for listeners in the eastern U.S. (the other being Radio Gambia).
In this recording you hear music to about the 1 minute 10 mark, then station identification by a male announcer “Musica para ellos. Radio Sahara de la red de emisoras [network of stations] de Radio Nacional de Espana” and since Spain was still under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco at the time, this was heard after an military march: “Viva Franco, Viva el Sahara, Viva Espana” followed by what I believe was the Spanish national anthem.
Another frequency for Radio Sahara was 11,805 khz. In 1975, the station sent out a more traditional QSL card (see below). The history that followed saw Spain withdrawing troops from the region on January 12, 1976, and ending its presence in the territory February 26, 1976. Morocco immediately claimed sovereignty over the territory and for years a guerilla war dragged on (1975 to 1991) between the Polisario Front and Moroccan forces. This Wikipedia entry explains the complexities of the situation in what is today called a “partially recognized de facto sovereign state.”
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Africa was a treasure trove of stations broadcasting on shortwave. Prime time for listening was late afternoon (especially during the winter DX season) and the 0300 to 0700 UTC range. For stations in East Africa and the Indian Ocean, evening hours presented an ideal time but did not mean that these were easy catches. One evening in 1975, propagation conditions were such that listeners on the East coast of North America suddenly heard East African stations at what sounded like a local level. One of them was Voice of Kenya. The signal was so remarkable on 4,915 khz that it rivaled signals from some Latin American stations that were still on the air in the 0300 to 0400 UTC range. This was the National Service in Swahili. Other VOK frequencies were more challenging, such as the listed 41 meter band frequency and one in 31 meters. Even more difficult, was the 4885 frequency for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. That station eluded many DX’ers and verifications of the Mombasa station are among the rarest from the continent of Africa. Here is Voice of Kenya as heard in Pennslvania in 1975:
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
This was the classic aerogram style QSL received by many DX’ers who heard Emisora da Guinea (or Guine as it was spelled by the station) Portuguesa. One of the hardest DX catches for North American listeners, the station’s main frequency was, as this verification notes, 5,041 khz. But for a brief period in 1972, DX’ers were amazed to find that this rare African station was putting out a harmonic and being heard at strong levels on 5041 x 2 = 10,082 khz. Some of us were pinching ourselves to make sure we weren’t dreaming, but yes, this was Portuguese Guinea. What’s more, the station was actually one of the more consistent verifiers of reception reports, and sent out this beautiful folding QSL complete with fantastic local stamps.
You may notice that no mention is made by the station of its harmonic frequency that allowed so many of us to hear this small country in the west of Africa. Here’s the recording, Emisora da Guinea Bissau, made on a HQ-180 in Pennsylvania, on the frequency of 10,082 khz a harmonic of 5,041 khz, the station’s main frequency. You will hear in this recording a variety of other interesting sounds, including interference from a local amateur radio operator whose signal was coming in at 10 mHz, the sound of an old dial-up phone, and the clunk of the HQ-180’s selectivity switch as I changed bandwidths from time to time.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
Radio Myanmar QSL
Another country and station that was considered among the rarest catches for DX’ers in North America and elsewhere was Myanmar, the current name for Burma. 5,040 khz was the frequency many us finally heard Burma on, and this was as difficult as some of the other challenging countries in the southeast Asia region, even in the days when solar conditions were favorable. When the mail arrived one day and I saw that classic BBS QSL card I was thrilled, to say the least. In later years, the BBS became Radio Myanmar and there was an updated color QSL card sent to listeners. Even now, in 2020 with shortwave on its way out, it’s quite amazing that Myanmar remains audible on SW. In the 1990s, as part of my work for Voice of America, I began traveling to Myanmar/Burma regularly — at least until I was placed on a ban list by the then military government due to my reporting for VOA. On one of those trips, I made this recording of Radio Myanmar, on a SONY ICF-SW1 receiver during a reporting trip in the capital, Yangon (Rangoon).
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording
This recording of Voice and King of Hope WORD/KING was made in the 1980’s when the station was on shortwave in the 48 meter band at 6,215 kHz. This was the High Adventures station operating from the area known as “Free Lebanon” https://bit.ly/2zqsGOd Among the interesting things in this 15 minute recording, a weather forecast for the Free Lebanon area (at the end of the recording, just before a Billy Joel song), a commercial for an American eye specialist offering free eyeglasses, and a pre-recorded jingle “WORD”. The announcer also gives a mediumwave frequency of 945 kHz. Local time of this broadcast was before 7 AM Lebanon time. ID: “You are listening to WORD and KING, that’s High Adventures the Voice and King of Hope for the Middle East here in the Valley of the Springs in beautiful free Lebanon, on AM and shortwave.” Also, mention of the Maronite town of Marjayoun.
The signal from KING/WORD had that typical sound that we all remember from the time when propagation and solar conditions permitted reception of hundreds of stations still on shortwave. This reception was on either a HQ-180A or Drake SPR-4, two receivers I was using at the time and which I still have in my shack today.
To hear this nearly 15 minute recording of WORD/KING of Hope Lebanon…
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording and notes:
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