BBC World Service Annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2017

Rothera Research Station (BAS photo)

Rothera Research Station (BAS photo)

Two live, off-air, half-hour recordings of the BBC World Service special Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on 21 June 2017 beginning at 21:30 UTC. The broadcast features special messages and music for the staff of the British Antarctic Survey overwintering in Antarctica.

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 fairly good with some atmospheric noise.

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 USB mode (to avoid potential adjacent-channel interference) with 2.40 kHz RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was very good with occasional atmospheric noise.

The program started very slightly late for both transmissions with the first or first two words ("This is") missing.
 

2017 BBC Midwinter Antarctica Broadcast: June 21, 2017

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Cap Tux, who shares the following recording and notes:

BBC World Service Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2017. Cerys Matthews (Catatonia) presents music requests and special messages to the staff at the British Antarctic Survey, broadcasting in English, June 21 2017, 2130-2200 GMT on 5985 kHz (transmitter power of 300kW, transmitter location: Woofferton, UK).
Recorded in Scotland using an SDRPlay RSP2 using SDRuno and a homebrew passive Mag Loop

Voice of Korea (North) in English: June 4, 2017

Voice of Korea (North) broadcasting in English, June 4, 2017, at 1330 GMT on shortwave frequency of 13760 kHz (transmitter power of 200 kW, transmitter location: Kujang, North Korea). Recording made in Europe using SONY ICF SW 77 receiver and 33m lonwire antenna with baloon hung around 4-5 meters above the earth level.
As heared clearly in this recording, the transmitter runs initially with no audio, carrier only, but soon an audio feed is switched on and off, indicating that usually audible annoying hum is not due to a faulty transmitter, but rather because of some problem with audio feed.

Radio Australia: June 20, 1987

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, for the following recording of Radio Australia. Tom notes:

A program from Radio Australia called Talkback recorded in June 1987. This episode looked at the story of the closing of the Lyndhurst transmitter site. The program was titled "The Lyndhurst Special". I probably recorded this around 0400 UTC or later back when the nighttime frequency of 17795 kHz put in a good signal during the summer months at night. Enjoy.

Location: South Bend, IN, USA

Receiver: Sony ICF-2001

Radio France Internationale - Results of First and Second Rounds of Presidential Election: April 24 & May 8, 2017

Live, off-air recordings of the special Radio France Internationale (RFI) broadcasts in English of the two rounds of the 2017 French presidential election on 24 April and 8 May 2017, both from 06:00 to 06:58 UTC. The broadcasts were transmitted from the TDF (Télédiffusion de France) facility at Issoudun, France, on 11905 kHz with a transmitter power of 500 kW and an antenna beam direction of 170°, towards Africa.   

The programs, special editions of "Paris Live," were devoted to the results of the first and second (run-off) rounds of the presidential election. The daily broadcast of "Paris Live" is the only RFI broadcast in English still transmitted by RFI on shortwave.   

The broadcasts were 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 total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception for the two broadcasts varied from fair to good with some noise and fading.