Radio Progreso: August 31, 2015

/
(Image Source: konstriktio)

(Image Source: konstriktio)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, who notes:

Live recording of Radio Progreso, Havana, Cuba, on 31 August 2015 beginning at about 01:10 UTC on a frequency of 4765 kHz. The signal originates from a 50 kW transmitter at Bauta, near Havana, with a non-directional antenna. 

The recording, in Spanish, begins with the program "Nocturno / Domingo de Selecciones de la Actualidad," a program of current music. At 13m:05s in the recording, there is a brief station identification ("RP") followed by a short news report and announcements of current cultural events in Havana. There is a full musical station identification at 18m:55s ("Radio Progreso, cadena nacional, la onda de la alegría, transmitiendo desde La Habana, Cuba, primera territorio libre en America"). At 19m:45s, the program "Ritmos Dominical" begins, an eclectic music program featuring selections by, among others, Nirvana and Ace of Base as well as traditional Cuban rhythms. The recording ends with the program still in progress.

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna in Key West, Florida, using an RF bandwidth of 5 kHz. Signal quality is generally good. Occasionally, there is slight interference from what is believed to be a radar signal.

Voice of Greece: November 15, 2013

/

I never know what to expect when I tune around on one of my shortwave radios.  Perhaps that's one of the things I find captivating about the medium; there's no playlist, no app, no content controls, other than the tuning knob.

Sometimes, I tune to a station, and it's as though I've just opened a door and walked in on a party--one in full swing, with dancing and incredible live music.

That's exactly what I felt when I tuned to the Voice of Greece on the night of November 15, 2013. I walked in on a party.  And I needed no invitation; I was welcomed there.

Hear it, just as I did, starting right in the middle of this party:

HCJB (Quito, Ecuador): July 19, 1979

/

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who sends us his first shortwave recording: HCJB Ecuador.

Tom recorded this broadcast, on 9 MHz starting around 0600 UTC on July 19, 1979 using a GE portable radio. Tom has informed us that he has a number of shortwave recordings on cassette that he will be sharing in the near future. Many thanks, Tom!

1991 cassette of shortwave IDs, interval signals and numbers stations

/

SWLing Post reader and SRAA contributor, Frank, writes from Germany:

First let me say that I enjoy your blog a lot.

After a 2005-13 hiatus, I have rediscovered a childhood hobby and your reviews have helped me find my way to the post-Sony portable shortwave radio markets.

First, I obtained my “childhood dream” radio (Sony ICF 2001D), because at the time I made these recordings I was still in school and 1300 DM would have equaled over 1 year of pocket money, so a Supertech SR16HN had to do. I thought I got some fine results with this Sangean-Siemens re-branded receiver then, using a CB half-length antenna, a random wire, and much endurance.

I kept regular logs throughout the years, wrote to 50 international and pirate stations for QSL and compiled this cassette.

A few years before I got that trusty SR16HN, however, I recorded a few number stations (such as G3, Four Note Rising Scale etc) with an ordinary radio cassette recorder, and in 1991 I put them onto this tape as well. The other recordings are done with the same radio placed right in front of the SR 16HN.

Feel free to make use of these recordings. Most of it are the well-known international state-owned shortwave stations of the past; plus European pirates; plus number stations; and at the end, a few (off-topic) local Am and FM stations interval signals.

As I said, this collection I made shortly after the Wende/reunification period, when all former-GDR state broadcasters changed their names, sometimes more than once.

Please continue your good work on the blogs! Weather permitting I am often outside cycling and always have the tiny Sony ICF 100 with me (which I call my then-student’s dream radio of the later 90ies).

Cassette Side 1

Cassette Side 2


Shortwave Radio 1974 mix tape: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations

/

SRAA contributor, Brian Smith, writes:

Want to know what shortwave radio sounded like in 1974? This 55-minute recording, recovered from a cassette, was never intended to be anything but "audio notes": I was an 18-year-old shortwave listener who collected QSL cards from international stations, and I was tired of using a pen and a notepad to copy down details of the broadcasts. I wanted an easier way to record what I heard, and my cassette tape recorder seemed like the perfect means to accomplish that goal.

But it wasn't. I soon discovered that it was simpler to just edit my notes as I was jotting them down — not spend time on endless searches for specific information located all over on the tape. To make a long story shorter, I abandoned my "audio notes" plan after a single shortwave recording: This one.

Still, for those who want to experience the feel of sitting at a shortwave radio in the mid-1970s and slowly spinning the dial, this tape delivers. Nothing great in terms of sound quality; I was using a Hallicrafters S-108 that was outdated even at the time. And my recording "technique" involved placing the cassette microphone next to the radio speaker.

Thus, what you'll hear is a grab bag of randomness: Major shortwave broadcasting stations from Canada, Argentina, Spain, Germany and Albania; maritime CW and other utility stations; and even a one-sided conversation involving a mobile phone, apparently located at sea. There are lengthy (even boring) programs, theme songs and interval signals, and brief IDs, one in Morse code from an Italian Navy station and another from a Department of Energy station used to track shipments of nuclear materials. And I can't even identify the station behind every recording, including several Spanish broadcasts (I don't speak the language) and an interview in English with a UFO book author.

The following is a guide, with approximate Windows Media Player starting times, of the signals on this recording. (Incidentally, the CBC recording was from July 11, 1974 — a date I deduced by researching the Major League Baseball scores of the previous day.)

Guide To The Recording

00:00 — CBC (Radio Canada) Northern and Armed Forces Service: News and sports.
07:51 — RAE (Radio Argentina): Sign-off with closing theme
09:14 — Department of Energy station in Belton, Missouri: "This is KRF-265 clear."
09:17 — Interval signal: Radio Spain.
09:40 — New York Radio, WSY-70 (aviation weather broadcast)
10:22 — Unidentified station (Spanish?): Music.
10:51— Unidentified station (English): Historic drama with mention of Vice President John Adams, plus bell-heavy closing theme.
14:12 — Unidentified station (Spanish?): Male announcer, poor signal strength.
14:20 — Unidentified station (Spanish): Theme music and apparent ID, good signal strength.
15:16 — Unidentified station (foreign-speaking, possibly Spanish): Song, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep."
17:00 — Deutsche Welle (The Voice of West Germany): Announcement of frequencies, theme song.
17:39 — Unidentified station (English): Interview with the Rev. Barry Downing, author of “The Bible and Flying Saucers.”
24:36 — One side of mobile telephone conversation in SSB, possibly from maritime location.
30:37 — Radio Tirana (Albania): Lengthy economic and geopolitical talk (female announcer); bad audio. Theme and ID at 36:23, sign-off at 55:03.
55:11 — Italian Navy, Rome: “VVV IDR3 (and long tone)” in Morse code.

Channel Africa: August 31, 2015

/

Despite dismal propagation, I was quite happy to receive a relatively strong signal today (31 August 2015) from Channel Africa, starting around 16:40 UTC on 15,235 kHz. This recording begins with the French language service (already in progress), followed by the English language service.

Receiver used was a WinRadio Excalibur SDR and a large horizontal delta loop antenna.