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.

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:

Voice Of America Science World: March 14, 2015

SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, was fortunate enough to capture this broadcast of VOA Science World where he (Richard Langley!) is interviewed. There are few opportunities for a true DXer to hear themselves over shortwave, thus this is a special recording indeed.  

Richard notes:

Live half-hour recording of the Voice of America in English on 14 March 2015 beginning at 02:56:30 UTC on a frequency of 6080 kHz. The broadcast, directed to Africa, is from Vatican Radio's Santa Maria di Galeria transmitter site (250 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 165 degrees). The African-music tuning signal is followed by VOA News and the program Science World featuring an interview with Dr. Richard Langley from the University of New Brunswick on how GPS is being used to study irregularities in the ionosphere and their effects on radio signals.  

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in whip antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Signal quality was only fair so the recorded file was electronically filtered to reduce background noise. There is still a noticeable jamming signal on the frequency.

PCJ 6th Anniversary Special via WRMI: March 14, 2015

SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, writes:

Live two-hour recording of the PCJ Radio International special 6th anniversary broadcast in English via WRMI on 14 March 2015 beginning at 23:00 UTC on a frequency of 7570 kHz. 

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in whip antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Signal quality was generally good. There is very slight co-channel interference from the Voice of Korea. Its interval signal can be heard near the beginning of the recording.

Reception improves a bit during the recording.

Radio Canada International anniversary special: March 16, 2015

SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, writes:

Live one-hour recording of the PCJ Radio International special broadcast celebrating the 70th anniversary of Radio Canada International in English via WRMI on 16 March 2015 beginning at 01:00 UTC on a frequency of 7570 kHz. 

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Signal quality was generally good.

Radio Revival (Sweden) relays: March 22, 2015

Radio Revival Sweden, recorded in Europe on March 22, 2015, at 0728-1500 UTC (regular programming starts at 0800 UTC), shortwave frequency of 9865 kHz (Sala transmitter site, transmitter power: 10 kW)


Transmission schedule on Sunday, March 22 2015


0800-0900 UTC European Music Radio 6035 kHz 5 kW AM, 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
0900-1000 UTC Atlantic 2000 International 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
1000-1100 UTC Radio City 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
1100-1200 UTC Radio Nord Revival 6035 kHz 5 kW AM, 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
1200-1300 UTC The Ronny B Goode Show 6035 kHz 5 kW AM, 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
1300-1400 UTC Hit! with DJ PeeWee 6035 kHz 5 kW AM, 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H
1400-1500 UTC European Music Radio 9865 kHz 10 kW A3H

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.

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Pijin: March 11, 2015

The remaining 3 hours and 20 minutes of the special overnight broadcast during the cyclone.  Ends with the "Morning Devotion".  Transmitted at 10 kw from Honiara.  Received in Sydney, Australia, with a Grundig S450DLX and an indoor homebrew broomstick antenna.

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Pijin: March 11, 2015

Special coverage of Tropical Cyclone Pam and the damage it has caused in the Solomons.  They usually sign off at 1200 and resume at 1900 but they stayed on all night to cover the cyclone.   Transmitted at 10 kw from Honiara.  Received in Sydney, Australia, using a Degen DE1103 and 40' longwire.

Radio Canada International: Final broadcast, June 24, 2012

QSL courtesy of @UKDXer

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.