WWV changes announcement format: July 1, 1971

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Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Brian D. Smith, recently contacted me; I was enthused when he described the recording he was sharing:

"This recording captures the last 5 minutes of WWV’s old format (giving the time every 5 minutes) and the first 5 minutes of the new format (giving the time every 1 minute), which took place on July 1, 1971 UTC.

Apologies for the less-than-stellar audio quality, but I recorded this as a 15-year-old fledgling SWL with limited knowledge of audio recording techniques. So I simply placed the microphone from my cassette tape recorder next to the speaker on the receiver and hit the record button. The signal quality wasn’t the greatest, either — lots of QSB and QRM — but I still managed to get what I was going for.

The resulting recording has accompanied me everywhere since then, preserved only on its original cassette, until 2008, when I finally decided it was time to learn how to transfer it onto my hard drive, burn it onto a CD and stop having to rely on the integrity of 37-year-old audio tape.

Even as a teenager, I regarded the WWV changeover as historic, and felt I should attempt to record it for posterity. Consider yourself posterity!"

Brian received this broadcast on 10 MHz care of a Hallicrafters S-108, with random length of wire attached to the back of the receiver serving as an antenna. Location was Franklin, Indiana.

As Brian mentions, the audio quality is a little rough, but this is still quite a treasure of a recording!

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


Hamburger Lokalradio relays in English: July 4, 2015

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Hamburger Lokalradio in English recorded in Europe July 4, 2015 at 1400 GMT, shortwave frequency of 7265 kHz (transitter site in Göhren, Germany, transmitter power: 1 kW). Recording made using SONY ICF SW77 receiver ('sync U' button switched on) and 33m longwire antenna with magnetic baloon. Transmission consisted in relays of "Media Network Plus" programme and "World of Radio" recorded on July 1, 2015

Nigerian Armed Forces Radio: July 4, 2015

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SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, writes:

Live recording of a test transmission of Nigerian Armed Forces Radio on 4 July 2015 beginning at 06:00:01 UTC (carrier on; audio file begins at 06:01:30; program begins at 06:01:36) on a frequency of 13775 kHz. The test was broadcast from a 250 kW transmitter of TDF in Issoudun, France. The antenna beam direction was 170 degrees towards west Africa. 

The test, which is running daily for a week, consists of Nigerian traditional and military music interspersed with brief announcements and identifications in Hausa and English. In addition to 13775 kHz, a frequency of 11825 kHz was announced. The first musical piece features the line "I remember when I was a solider." The IDs include an SMS number to which to send messages: +2348148366886. The test program ended abruptly at 06:57:17 UTC when the transmitter cuts off in mid-song.
  
The signal was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering.

Radio Mediterranee Internationale in French & Arabic: July 3, 2015

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Radio Mediterranee Internationale in French and Arabic, recorded in Europe on July 3, 2015 at 19.30 UTC, broadcasting on shortwave frequency of 9575 kHz, beamed towards North Africa, Middle East and Europe (transmitter site: Nador in Morocco; transmitter power: 250 kW). Recorded using Kenwood R-5000 and Wellbrook ALA 1530+ active antenna.

CHU Canada, Leap Second: June 30, 2015

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(Image: NASA)

(Image: NASA)

SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, writes:

Live recording of time signal station CHU, Canada, on 30 June 2015 beginning at exactly 23:55:00 UTC on a frequency of 7850 kHz. The recording last exactly 10 minutes and 1 second, ending at 0:10:00 UTC. A leap second occurs at 23:59:60 UTC. This can be noted by the 1 second of silence between the 5m:00s mark in the recording (23:59:60 UTC) and the 5m:01s mark (0:00:00 UTC) denoted by the start of the one-second-long tone. This is followed by 9 seconds of silence. Before the leap second, the forecast difference between UT1 and UTC (DUT1 = UT1 minus UTC) to a precision of one tenth of a second was -0.7 seconds. This is indicated by CHU by using a sequence of double tones at 9 seconds through 15 seconds after the start of each minute except for the minute beginning an hour. Following the leap second, DUT1 is +0.3 seconds, marked by double tones at 2 seconds through 4 seconds after the start of the minute, again, except for the minute beginning an hour. 

The strong CHU signal was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. There is some atmospheric noise (static).

Recording the 2015 Leap Second via WWV and CHU: June 30, 2015

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OOne of four WWV time code generators in late August, 2014

OOne of four WWV time code generators in late August, 2014

Yesterday, I posted a brief article about the leap second that occurred between 23:59:59 June 30, 2015 and 00:00:00 UTC July 01, 2015.

I decided to record the leap second on as many shortwave time station frequencies as possible. The only viable options for me--based on time of day and my reception location--were the WWV frequencies 10, 15, 20, and 25 MHz, and CHU frequencies 7,850 and 14,670 kHz.

I was able to monitor four different time station frequencies simultaneously on the TitanSDR Pro. (click to enlarge)

I was able to monitor four different time station frequencies simultaneously on the TitanSDR Pro. (click to enlarge)

Unfortunately, HF propagation was very poor yesterday, so the higher WWV frequencies--20 and 25 MHz--were completely inaudible, as was CHU on 14,670 kHz. There were numerous thunderstorms in our area, so static crashes were prevalent.

Still, since this was a first attempt to record a "leap second," I didn't want to take any chances.  I had the Titan SDR Pro monitoring and recording two CHU and two WWV frequencies [screenshot], the Elad FDM-S2 recording WWV on 15 MHz [screenshot], and the WinRadio Excalibur on WWV's 10 MHz frequency, as well as recording the whole 31 meter band spectrum [screenshot].

In the end, the strongest frequencies I captured were CHU on 7,850 kHz and WWV on 15,000 kHz. WWV on 10,000 kHz was much weaker than normal and the band was quite noisy--still, it's readable, so I included this recording, too. Recordings follow...

Recordings

The sign above WWV's primary 10 MHz transmitter (2014).

The sign above WWV's primary 10 MHz transmitter (2014).

All of the recordings start just before the announcement of 23:59 UTC.

WWV added the extra second and higher tone, then continued with their top of the hour announcements, including a note about leap second (which begins after the 00:04 announcement). CHU's adjustment included a long second tone and period of silence.

WWV on 15,000 kHz using the Elad FDM-S2:

CHU on 7,850 kHz using the TitanSDR Pro:

WWV on 10,000 kHz using the WinRadio Excalibur:

One interesting note about the 10 MHz WWV recording above: I believe I may be hearing BPM China in the background. I'm curious if anyone can confirm this because I don't know BPM's cadence/pattern well enough to ID it.

BBC World Service, "Click": June 23, 2015

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SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, notes:

Live recording of the BBC World Service program "Click" on 23 June 2015 beginning at 19:30 UTC on a frequency of 15400 kHz. The broadcast is from the BBC's Ascension Island transmitter site (125 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 27 degrees). The recording begins with the program "teaser" followed by a short bulletin of news. The program itself begins at 2m:30s. Topics discussed include the technology behind the European spacecraft Sentinel-2A; the book "Digital Gold: The Untold Story of Bitcoin; Banqer, an online educational app for teaching financial literacy; and transforming line drawings instantly into 3D models. 

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. The slightly noisy reception might have been due, in part, to disturbed ionospheric conditions in the wake of a geomagnetic storm along with being outside the target area (west and central Africa) of the transmission.

Many thanks for this recording, Richard! Please listen via the embedded player below and/or download the MP3 file with the link provided.

Voice of Greece: June 29, 2015

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For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Greece.

Recorded on 29 June 2015 starting around 01:50 UTC on  9,420 kHz using a WinRadio Excalibur and a horizontal delta loop external wire antenna. Location of reception is North Carolina, USA. 

Notes: In the last 15 minutes of this recording there are a number of multi-language station IDs for the Voice of Greece and ERT.

 

Voice of Turkey: June 8, 2015

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For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Turkey English language service. 

This recording was made on June 8, 2015 starting at 2200 UTC on 9830 kHz. My recording was cut short due to an approaching thunderstorm (indeed, static crashes are quite audible in the recording). 

Note that this broadcast was made the day after Turkey's elections, when Erdogan's governing party in lost its parliamentary majority.

Voice of Turkey, English: June 7, 2015

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For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Turkey English language service.

This program was recorded on June 7, 2015, starting around 2205 UTC on 9830 kHz.  I started recording the program a few minutes after the top of the hour when a digital broadcast on the same frequency finally went off the air. You will actually hear a few seconds of the digital broadcast in the recording below:

All India Radio: November 20, 2008

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The following recording of All India Radio was made on November 20, 2008 beginning around 1458 UTC on 9870 kHz.

This off air recording comes from a collection of archived recordings by SWAA contributor, Terry Wilson. 

Terry made this and all of his recordings in the Midwestern US on either the Ten-Tec RX-320D or Eton E1XM receivers. He used the recording facility of the Shortwave Log software.  Terry notes that any "QRM includes city power lines, street lights with bad ballasts, household electronics, and interference from Radio Havana Cuba."

Many thanks for sharing these recordings, Terry! For more recordings from this collection, simply follow this tag: Terry Wilson.

You can listen to the full recording below, or download as an MP3 with the link provided:

The Mighty KBC: May 24, 2015

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The Mighty KBC broadcast via the TitanSDR Pro

The Mighty KBC broadcast via the TitanSDR Pro

For your listening pleasure: three hours of The Mighty KBC.

This broadcast was recorded on May 24, 2015 starting around 00:00 UTC on 9,925 kHz. I used the TitanSDR Pro hooked up to my large skyloop antenna to capture this recording; in truth, the signal was so strong it could've been easily received on a portable here in eastern North America.

Use the embedded player below to listen to the recording. A download link has also been provided for your convenience: