Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Sarah Boucher, for the following Radio St. Helena clip and notes:
“Operating 1548”, a song about Radio St. Helena composed and performed by Bettie Crowie and others."
This recording was made with a tape recorder on the AM/mediumwave band:
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bobby, who notes:
Special Broadcast.....WBCQ.....VORW.....Voice of theReportoftheWeek.....7490 kHz.....4-5 pm.....EST.....February 20, 2016.....Radio was set to LSB Mode.....Check the SWLing Post for more information.
Live, off-air, approximately two-hour recording of the clandestine station Radio Lead Africa on 5 March 2016 beginning at about 05:02:30 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15310 kHz. According to a registration at the High Frequency Coordination Conference, this broadcast, aired on Saturdays in the time slot 05:00-07:00 UTC, originates from a Sentech 100 kW transmitter at Meyerton, South Africa, and is beamed in the direction of Uganda with an antenna beam azimuth of 5°.
The anti-Museveni program, a production of the Uganda Federal Democratic Organisation based in Australia (www.ugandafdo.com) and Radio Lead Africa Media, is one of several broadcast through the week using the Sentech facilities.
The recorded broadcast starts in Luganda, a principal language of Uganda. An English segment runs from about the 59m:31s mark to 1h:29m:05s. The broadcast switched back to the vernacular and sign-off occurred at about 06:59 UTC.
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was initially only fair with some noise but it improved to a good level during the broadcast. The broadcast is mostly interference-free but there is a brief period of digital interference starting around 1h:40m:30s.
Many thanks to SRAA Contributor, Brian D. Smith (W9IND), who notes:
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 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
0:00 — CBC (Radio Canada) Northern and Armed Forces Service: News and sports.
7:51 — RAE (Radio Argentina): Sign-off with closing theme
9:14 — Department of Energy station in Belton, Missouri: "This is KRF-265 clear."
9:17 — Interval signal: Radio Spain.
9:40 — 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 — RAI (Italy), 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.
Live, off-air, approximately three-hour-long recording of clandestine station Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio on 18 February 2016 beginning at 13:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 17840 kHz. This was one of four scheduled special election-day broadcasts from Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio. It was transmitted using a 250 kW sender at Nauen, Germany, with an antenna beam azimuth of 155°.
The station is an outlet of Uganda Diaspora P10, an organization working for political change in Uganda and which supports the opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye. "P10" refers to the organizational power of each person enlisting 10 other people ("power to the power 10"). The recorded broadcast, in Swahili and English, was on election day in Uganda and included news about the election; voter instructions to ensure "no ... messing around with the vote"; and items, with music, about Dr. Besigye and the P10 movement. Much of the material was repeated in the three-hour broadcast.
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was fair with some noise. At around the 2h:30m mark in the recording, there is an audio feed problem at the transmitter site with a temporary switch to a broadcast from Adventist World Radio in Hindi. The problem was rectified a little over one minute later.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Brian D. Smith, W9IND, who notes:
This recording of shortwave radio broadcasts by Voice of America and other stations was made in mid-May 1976. A newscast reference to a Nebraska presidential primary several days earlier (May 11) provides a solid clue to the approximate recording date.
I recovered this recording from a cassette. At the time I was a 19-year-old shortwave radio enthusiast living near Indianapolis, and most likely I made this recording in hopes of preserving information that would help me obtain a QSL (verification) card from the station.
The longest story on this Voice of America broadcast focuses on the 1976 presidential primary elections and whether they're worth the time and cost. Shorter recordings of other shortwave stations appear before and after the VOA broadcast -- I was obviously doing some dial spinning on my Hallicrafters S-108 receiver. And my recording "technique" was nothing more than setting the cassette microphone next to the radio speaker.
The 40-year-old cassette broke when I first tried to transfer the recording to my computer, so I fixed it with my tried-and-true "broke teenager" method: Scotch tape, scissors and a blank cassette that I cut and spliced to the old tape.
Antena Satelor, Romania recorded in London, UK on February 25, 2016 at 0143 UTC on the frequency of 153 kHz using a Lowe HF-150 radio with the Lowe PR-150 preselector, DX Engineering NCC-1 phaser connected to two Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antennas (positioned indoors) to mitigate severe local man-made interference. The transmitter is located in Brașov, Romania and has a power rating of 200 kW. This is a local service targeted at the domestic audience. At about 0530 UTC (0730 local time in Brașov; 3 hours 46 minutes into the recording) the night-time skywave propagation path is finally completely disrupted by the sunlight reaching into Romania (26 minutes after sunrise).
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Neil Howard, for sharing the following recording and notes:
The Sydney to Hobart Yacht race of 1998 was tragic as huge seas & storms decimated the fleet, leaving 6 people dead and 5 boats sunk.
HOW this was obtained
This recording of the SSB HF transmissions from 1998 was recorded by me from Queensland, using a newfangled unattended recoding program on the PC and a very ordinary Sangean ATS-803a receiver using a random long wire Antenna - from memory this was on the 8 Mhz Marine band, and is the co-ordination of the search and rescue from the 28th Dec 1998 and covers from around 8:30PM till 10PM - The automated recorded stopped recording when the signal noise dropped below a certain level and thus some was lost.
The recording goes for 30 mins, as that was the limit that was set to save disk space, but there is a lot of empty noise.
I present this recording as it was recorded, warts and all for your education *** I dedicate this to those lost at sea ****
HIGHLIGHTS
(Times are approximate)
4:11 "Rescue 253" 9A helicopter) locates a life-raft
6:00 "Air force Sydney" is looking for a position of a yacht " Solo Global Challenge"
6:50 "RCC Canberra" (Who is co-ordinating) has a "hot mic" and is explaining the situation to someone locally
8:35 "Rescue 253" has sighted 2 POB on the life-raft - RTC wants to know if they are from "Winston Churchill"
9:39 Another "hot mic" in Canberra
11:56 "Tiger75" (A Navy Helicopter, I think) has the survivors on board, but still awaiting info on who they are
13:04 13:44 confirmation that there are 2 survivors of the "Winston Churchill" from the life raft, but the tragic news that 3 others had "rolled out" of the raft and are lost (Historical note- these three were listed as drowned)
14:46 Discussion about where the survivors are to be taken by Tiger 75
15:20 Info of the survivors is passed though, along with the news that the life raft they were "in" had no bottom.
16:33 Rescue 253 Says it has heard a beacon & is proceeding to the location
20:00 Another aircraft has gone to the search site from Merimbula (A town in New South Wales)
25:38 Rescue 253 updates beacon location
26;30 Rescue 253 Locates a boat at the beacon site that has been dis-masted & is in serious trouble.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares this 1981 recording of Radio Canada International's Shortwave Listeners Digest from November 9, 1981. Tom notes:
This is another from my archive of old recordings of Radio Canada International's Shortwave Listener's Digest. This episode contains Ian McFarland's editorial comment on the ANARC Convention of 1981; Steve Webster's Who's On The Air - Radio Kuwait; Larry Magne's final part of his interview with Perry Ferrell of Gilfer Shortwave; Glenn Hauser's DX news.
This recording starts at 2100 UTC on 15,325 kHz on November 9, 1981. The receiver was a Sony ICF-2001 and the location was South Bend, Indiana:
Live, off-air, one-hour-long recording of Radio Öömrang on 21 February 2016 beginning at 16:00 UTC on a frequency of 15215 kHz from a transmitter at Issoudun, France, operating at 500 kW and beamed to North America. Radio Öömrang broadcasts once a year on the occasion of the Biakendai to the descendants of immigrants from the island of Amrum. Öömrang is a North Frisian dialect and is still spoken on Amrum. Biakendai is an annual celebration where a great bonfire is lit to dispel winter.
The broadcast consisted of talks and interviews in Frisian, German, and English. It began with an introduction in English:
"Hello. We are broadcasting. This is Radio Öömrang, the Frisian voice coming from Amrum, the island in north Germany. The frequenz is 15.215 shortwave broadcasted with 500 kW. It could be heard on the 21st of February, 2016, in North America and east coast. And now you can hear us. This is the tenth issue of Radio Öömrang and we are happy to send this anniversary. The initiator of this broadcasting is Mr. Arjan Koelzow, Tanenwai 24, in 25946 Nebel on the island Amrum. My name is Gernot Schrader, the leader of the free assistance school Toosbüy-Schule in Flensburg at the Danish borderline with Germany."
Reception was fair with some noise and occasional fading.
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, Ray Robinson, who shares this mediumwave recording of a station ID and notes:
"This was my first ever transatlantic DX catch of a North American station, while I was living in England. I was so excited! The radio bug truly bit me, and I have been an avid radio enthusiast ever since!"
Broadcaster: CKCM, Grand Falls, Newfoundland
Date of recording: 10/1/1976
Starting time: 0156 UTC (2326 local Newfoundland time)
Frequency: 620 kHz
Received in Luton, England, using a Russian Vega 206, medium wave loop
Live, off-air, 30-minute recording of the clandestine station Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio on 18 February 2016 beginning at 16:30 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15405 kHz. The daily broadcast is believed to come from a transmitter site brokered by Media Broadcast GmbH*.
The station is an outlet of Uganda Diaspora P10, an organization working for political change in Uganda and which supports the opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye. "P10" refers to the organizational power of each person enlisting 10 other people ("power to the power 10"). The recorded broadcast, in English, was on election day in Uganda and included voter instructions.
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was generally good.
* Added 2 March 2016: Media Broadcast GmbH has confirmed that this broadcast was transmitted from Issoudun, France, using a 250 kW transmitter with an antenna beam direction of 140°.
40 years ago during the Winter of 1975 I was a member of the IRCA and exchanging "DX Cassettes" with a couple of very successful DXers in North America. Before the days of the internet and e-mail, all we had were cassettes and snail mail and the occasional local phone call when DX was happening. This extremely rare live recording from Halifax, Canada features DXer and Ham, Michael Dunn during one of his busier evenings capturing armchair reception of European stations on the medium-wave dial. This recording is in stereo no less! Michael used an HQ180 with a random wire antenna. He was in one of the most ideal locations in North America for Transatlantic reception. To the best of my knowledge this is the only recording of its kind from the mid-70's! Enjoy.
Voice of Turkey recorded in London, UK on February 18, 2016 at 0900 UTC, on the frequency of 15350 kHz using a Lowe HF-150 radio with Lowe PR-150 preselector and a Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antenna. The transmitter is located in Emirler, Turkey and has a power rating of 500 kW.
Here on the West Coast of Canada or as we affectionately call it, The Wet Coast, India is one of the hardest countries to hear - largely because it is the farthest away - literally on the opposite side of the planet. In the "old days" as in the 1970's I could hope to hear India on my DX150B once at the equinoxes - nowadays, with better receiving gear and arguably better signals from the source, it is somewhat easier - in fact, at any given day of the year at sunrise or sunset it is possible to hear India... conditions being reasonably favourable that is. Here is an example of good conditions from the Point no Point cabins near Jordan River on Vancouver Island.
So much as been written about the Beatles, the 60's in general and the importance of AM radio at the time. If not for massive air play of a lot of these artists it is arguable that they ever would have been as huge as they were. Here is a 2 minute snapshot of the raw excitement of a British pop band arriving on our shores and the immediacy of the action... on WQAM Radio 560 Khz in Miami, Florida. February 14th, 1964 - from a private audio collection.
1975 was a good year for Shortwave listening - It would, arguably, be years before the Shortwave medium reached its peak (in the 80's) and start its slow decline we are experiencing today.
In these 3 audio snippets we give you a sense of what the bands sounded like then and how they have and haven't changed. See if you can guess which one sounds exactly the same. Check out some things that were happening or popular in 1975!
Mood Rings, Rubik’s Cubes, Pet Rocks, Hip-huggers, bellbottoms, leisure suits, 8-Tracks and Disco were popular that year.
Song of the Year was Captain and Tennille,
with “Love Will Keep Us Together” The album of the Year: Paul Simon, “Still Crazy After All These Years”
A couple of popular movies that year were “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “Jaws,”
The TV show “Saturday Night Live”
premiered on NBC in 1975 with George Carlin hosting the first show.
“All in the Family” was America’s top television show for the fifth straight year.
The U.S. President was Gerald R. Ford and Nelson A. Rockefeller was his Vice-President.
In the recording of Radio Pyongyang below we demonstrate how some things never change.
Voice of Indonesia recorded outdoors in London, UK on February 13, 2016 at 1700 UTC, on the frequency of 9525 kHz using a Tecsun PL-680 radio and the supplied external antenna. The transmitter has a power rating of 250 kW and is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Live, off-air, one-hour recording of the Chinese (Lunar) New Year's Day 7 p.m. edition of "The Beijing Hour" from China Radio International on 8 February 2016 beginning at 19:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 7295 kHz. According to the filing with the High Frequency Co-ordination Conference, this broadcast came from a 500 kW transmitter in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in western China, with an antenna beam azimuth of 270°, targeting North Africa and the Middle East. A recording made simultaneously on the parallel frequency of 9440 kHz is also available on request.
"The Beijing Hour" is produced by Beijing 1008 AM, Discover Plus Radio, a division of China Radio International, and is identified as such at the beginning of the recording. "The Beijing Hour" includes the segment "People in the Know" in the second half of the program, beginning around the 29-minute mark. In addition to reports on New Year's celebrations, the program includes a discussion of future Chinese space missions, while the "People in the Know" segment is on the growth model of the Chinese economy. Following station identification for "News Plus Radio" and promos at minute 54, the recording ends with a "Chinese Studio" Chinese language lesson.
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception quality was generally quite good with some minimal interference from one or more stations occasionally noted.
Living on the West Coast of Canada, catching Africa on any band was always a bit tricky - Getting India or Pakistan was generally a once a year event (which has changed with better listening techniques and antennas - but that is another story!) RSA in South Africa was pretty much a daily reception but apart from the there was not a lot to pick from. Occasionally there would be a good mid-afternoon opening on 60 or 49 meters to West Africa and that was always a treat. In the Fall of 1979 I had enrolled in the first of a series of college courses in Electronics that would shape the career of my working life (which I am still benefiting from today!). And at the time, even though I was buried in textbooks, I still found some time for radio listening. Enjoy this high quality reception as received on my venerable DX150B and inverted-L untuned antenna.
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