Radio Australia (Brexit in headlines): June 24, 2016

This morning, I was very curious about the results of the Brexit vote, so I turned to one of the only stations that is strong enough to punch through the noise here at our vacation condo: Radio Australia.

The following recording starts a few minutes prior to the top of the hour ABC news headlines at 12:00 UTC on 9580 kHz on June 24, 2016 (the morning after the Brexit vote and the resignation announcement of Prime Minister David Cameron. 

The recording is rather poor as propagation was dismal and the level of RFI significant.  Still, this is such an important event, I wanted it in the shortwave archive. Receiver used was the Sony ICF-SW55 in BeauprĂ©, QuĂ©bec, Canada:

BBC World Service Annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2016

Two live, off-air, half-hour recordings of the BBC World Service special Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on 21 June 2016 beginning at 21:30 UTC. The broadcast features music requests and special messages for the staff at the British Antarctic Survey.

The first recording is of the transmission on a frequency of 7360 kHz from the BBC's Ascension Island relay station (250 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 207 degrees). The transmission was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. Reception was good with some atmospheric noise. The interruption in the audio around the 11-minute mark was due to a check of other parallel frequencies.

The second recording is of the transmission on a frequency of 5985 kHz from the BBC's Woofferton, England, transmitting station (300 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 184 degrees). 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 5.17 kHz RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was good with some noise cracks.  

Gulf Harbour Radio: June 22, 2016

ZMH286 Gulf Harbour Radio reporting weather and sailing conditions and communicating with yachts sailing in the South Pacific. Broadcast at 1915 UTC Monday to Saturday, from May to November. Transmitted from Whangaparaoa, New Zealand, kw unknown. In association with Yachts in Transit, http://www.yit.nz/gulf-harbour-radio. There are some deep fades during the transmission. Received in Sydney, Australia, with a Sangean ATS-909X and PK's mag loop antenna.

Radio Moscow: September 19, 1984

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jim Jordan, who shares this recording of Radio Moscow from September 19, 1984. This recording was made using a National Panasonic RF-2200 tuned to 9.5 MHz around 08:10 UTC. The location was South Shields, UK. 

Jim notes:

A nice cold war piece from Radio Moscow on the double defection of the Soviet journalist Oleg Bitov.
The real story behind it was revealed ten years later here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/he-came-he-saw-he-couldnt-take-it-he-was-a-soviet-defector-with-a-story-to-sell-and-duff-hart-davis-1383974.html

Radio Luxumbourg: March 5, 1982

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Harner, for the following recordings. Jack notes:

Radio Luxembourg used two short wave frequencies for their broadcasts: 6090 and 15350 kHz.  On 6090, the station relayed their 1440 kHz service, which included their English and German language broadcasts.  The 15350 kHz relayed their French language service on 234 kHz long wave.
This recording of RTL's French service was made in the early evening in the midwestern USA on Friday 4 March 1982, which would have been the early Saturday morning in Europe.

KBS World Radio in English: June 15, 2016

KBS World Radio on 9570 kHz ending the broadcast in Indonesian and starting the English broadcast to Southeast Asia. There was some mild adjacent channel interference for the first half hour so I have recorded with the narrow filter engaged. The program includes news, Seoul travel tips, a Korean language lesson, Sounds of Korea traditional music, Quarterly Quiz competition and sign off. Broadcast at 100 kw from Kimjae, South Korea. Received in Sydney, Australia, with a Degen DE1121 and a Kestrel active loop antenna.

Radio Thailand: June 13, 2016

Radio Thailand's English service recorded in London, UK on June 13, 2016 at 1900 UTC on the frequency of 9390 kHz using FunCube Dongle Pro+ and SDR# 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 has a power rating of 250 kW and is located in Udon Thani, Thailand. 

Radio Oromiya: June 5, 2016

Radio Oromiya broadcasting in Afar Oromo to East Africa. Transmitted at 100 kw from Addis Ababa-Gedja, Ethiopia. Received in Sydney, Australia, with a Degen DE1103 and a Kestrel active loop antenna. The recording includes ID at 1900. The signal was good and the noise low and I was enjoying the music until the batteries died.  I quickly put a fresh set in but the Degen decided to spit the dummy and wouldn't work again that morning. The noise has been too high since then to attempt another recording.

KNLS Test Transmission: August 1, 1983

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who notes:

KNLS - Anchor Point, Alaska, from what I believe is a test transmission on August 1, 1983. According to Wikipedia, KNLS signed on the air July 23, 1983. The program consists of the sign-on ID in English and Russian then is mostly a mix of Big Band music. This recording is 31 minutes long.

Tom's receiver was a Sony ICF-2001 and he started recording at 09:00 UTC on 11.820 MHz. His location was South Bend, Indiana (USA):

Radio Nederland's "What's New": November 6, 1976

Paul's reel tape containing this Radio Netherland's recording

Paul's reel tape containing this Radio Netherland's recording

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Harner, who notes:

Radio Nederland's "What's New" was a Saturday night program that featured hits from the weekly Dutch Top 30.  The show was co-hosted by American Bruce Parsons and Australian Graham GIll.  Based on the charts from that week, this show aired on 6 November 1976.  Shows like "What's New" introduced me to pop/rock artists that didn't receive airplay in the USA.  It also introduced me to other shows on Radio Nederland later on, such as "His And Hers," "Happy Station," and especially "Media Network."

Radio Uganda: December 11, 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who notes:

Radio Uganda English Service recorded on December 11, 1981. 8:45 in length. I logged this after a hearing a tip on RCI's SWL Digest program of December 7, 1981. They had a strong signal this night and I managed to get a QSL from this broadcast. The disappeared again from shortwave a few days later and I never heard their NA service again.

Radio Canada International: December 7, 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who notes:

Radio Canada International recorded on December 7, 1981. This is another from my archive of old recordings of Radio Canada International's Shortwave Listeners Digest. This episode contains discussion of a new mediumwave and longwave broadcasting plan; Who's on the Air featuring Azad Kashmir Radio presented by Adrian Peterson; DX News with Glenn Hauser. An item in the DX news mentions the return of Radio Uganda's North American Service. I logged this a few days later and am also including a recording.

Marconi Radio International: April 16, 2016

Live, off-air, approximately one-hour recording of the "free radio station" Marconi Radio International (MRI) on 16 April 2016 beginning at about 22:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 7690 kHz in upper sideband (USB) mode. According to the station, this broadcast originated from a 100 watt transmitter in southern Italy and was one of the first transmissions by MRI on 7 MHz using a new transmitter capable of operating between 3 and 30 MHz. This was the second of two transmissions on this day with the first running from 20:30 to 21:30 UTC. MRI broadcasts on a roughly weekly basis.  

The first half of the recording is the program "Italian Shortwave Panorama" in English with the remainder of the hour being primarily in Italian. There are frequent English, Italian, and German station identifications and background instrumental music from the movies and the ballet.

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 USB mode with 2.49 kHz RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was fair with negligible fading and although the signal was not strong (only about S5 to S6) and accordingly a bit noisy, the broadcast was almost completely intelligible.