All India Radio programming in Telugu. Broadcast at 500 kw from Bangalore to SEA. Received in Sydney, Australia, using a Nooelec RTL-SDR (an early one with the R820T tuner), a newly homebrewed planar disk antenna, and SDR-Radio Console.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, who notes:
Live three-hour-long recording of a transmission from the The Mighty KBC on 17 October 2015 beginning at 23:00 UTC on a frequency of 7395 kHz from a transmitter at Nauen, Germany, operating at 125 kW and beamed to North America. This was the first regular Saturday night transmission by KBC using this new frequency following a test on 26 September 2015.
Reception was good with negligible interference and only occasional fading. The recording starts with "It's Radio, But Not As We know It" presented by Dave Mason followed by "The Giant Jukebox" presented by Eric van Willegen ("Uncle Eric"). Both programs feature mostly "oldies" pop music with commentary and announcements in English with some announcements and commercials in Dutch.
The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna indoors in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5.0 kHz RF filtering.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, who notes:
Live hour-long recording of the "last" Radio Spaceshuttle International broadcast on 20 September 2015 beginning at 19:00 UTC on a frequency of 13600 kHz. The broadcast was from the Kostinbrod (near Sofia), Bulgaria, transmitter site. The transmitter power announced during the broadcast was 100 kW. This is consistent with the HFCC (High Frequency Coordination Conference) registration of the 13600 kHz frequency by Spaceline, Ltd., the airtime broker for shortwave transmissions from Kostinbrod, between 10:00 and 20:00 UTC. The registered antenna beam direction is 195 degrees.
Reception was poor to fair with some interference from Radio Martí on 13605 kHz and the Cuban jammer aimed at it. The broadcast, compered by "Dick Spacewalker" and originating in Finland, consisted of pop music and acknowledgements of listeners' reports. The language used is mostly English with some Finnish and Japanese announcements. The broadcast begins anomalously at 19:00:11 UTC with a sign-on announcement from the Overcomer Ministry (also a user of the Kostinbrod facility) and a wrong announced frequency. The Radio Spaceshuttle International program begins about 1m:20s later.
The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna outdoors in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 3.5 kHz RF filtering.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Langley, who notes:
Live hour-long recording of a test transmission from the The Mighty KBC on 26 September 2015 beginning at 23:00 UTC on a frequency of 7395 kHz, likely from a transmitter site in Europe. The Mighty KBC uses a transmitter at Nauen, Germany, operating at 125 kW for its regular Sunday UTC broadcast.
Reception was very good with negligible interference and only slight fading. The program ("The Giant Jukebox"), produced and announced by Eric van Willegen ("Uncle Eric") originated from Ede, The Netherlands, and consisted of pop music and announcements including requests for reception reports.
The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna indoors in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5.0 kHz RF filtering.
(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.
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:
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.
For your listening pleasure: the Voice of Greece.
Recorded on August 5, 2015 starting around 04:20 UTC on 9,420 kHz. Receiver used was a WinRadio Excalibur, hooked up to a large horizontal delta loop antenna. Reception location is North Carolina, USA.
Two engineers from Radio Cook Islands, photographed during my visit in April, 1993. (Photo: Guy Atkins)
The following is the second recording of Radio Cook Islands by SRAA contributor, Guy Atkins. Click here to read the recording description and original post.
Notes: “Party Time” music request show; weather; local ads; more music.
A view from the driveway entrance to the Radio Cook Islands studio in 1993. Insulators on an antenna (T2FD or multiband dipole) can be seen as dark spots against the cloudy sky. A feedline is also seen rising above the left side of the building. (Photo: Guy Atkins)
SRAA contributor, Guy Atkins, writes:
In 1993 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit Rarotonga with my wife, courtesy of a nice award through my company which afforded me an all-expenses-paid trip anywhere we’d like to go.
I chose the South Pacific island of Rarotonga, partly because I wanted to visit Radio Cook Islands after listening to their “island music” on 11760 and 15170 kHz through my teenage years.
During our visit to the island I recorded 90+ minutes of RCI on 630 kHz with a local quality signal using a Grundig Satellit 500 and a Marantz PMD-221 recorder.
Sadly, RCI will likely never be on shortwave again; a fire in the local tele-comm building a few months before my 1993 visit destroyed RCI’s transmitter. I had an amusing exchange with the secretary when I visited; she insisted that their station was still on shortwave. Of COURSE we’re on the air she said, because “the frequencies are published right here in the newspaper!” The engineer and announcer confirmed, though, that the silence on their former frequencies was for real. They indicated they were covering the outer islands just fine with FM translators and had no intention of restarting shortwave.
The programming of Radio Cook Islands is bilingual, and announcers are fluent in both English and Cook Islands Maori. Music selections on RCI encompass all styles, to appeal to many age groups. These recordings was scheduled to include as much local music as possible.
RCI programming includes all the hallmarks of a small, non-professional station: stuck records & tape carts, dead air, poor modulation, and other miscues.
However, that’s part of the flavor of local radio, and these errors are heard throughout this recording. Particularly noticeable is the bassy, over-modulation of the studio announcer during sign-on announcements.
Notes: National anthem & hymn; sign-on announcements & music.
Music; weather; sign-off announcements & national anthem.
Local & regional news; weather; ads; music.
Recording 2 follows in the next post....
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.
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 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:
The following recording of Radio Sonder Grense was made on October 14, 2012 beginning around 0326 UTC (frequency unknown).
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.
This off-air recording of the English language service of Radio Romania International was made on April 23, 2015, a few moments prior to 00:00 UTC on 9730 kHz. I used the Elad FDM-S2 and a sky loop antenna. This was received in North Carolina, USA.
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:
Many thanks to Sakae Obara and David Goren for sharing their recordings of the Shortwave Shindig rebroadcast via WRMI 7570 kHz on March 7, 2015 starting at 0300Z.
Radio Vanuatu received in Australia on the frequency of 3945 kHz. Music programming and sign off with national anthem at 1217 UTC. Transmitted at 10 kw from Port Vila.
The following recording of Radio Ethiopia was made on November 17, 2008 on 9,704.18 kHz, beginning around 2040 UTC.
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.
For your listening pleasure: beHAVior Night, a shortwave radio show (relayed by WBCQ) dedicated to showcasing music from the first four decades of the 20th Century.
This show was recorded on 7,490 kHz, starting at 22:00 UTC on February 13, 2015.
The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) is a collection of shortwave radio recordings that you can download or listen to as a podcast. The collection grows every day and includes both historic recordings and current recordings from the shortwave radio spectrum.
The goal of this site is for shortwave radio enthusiast to have a place to store, archive and share their radio recordings with the world.
Click here to learn how to contribute and archive recordings.
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