Radio Free America: 1973

Radio Free America broadcast for about 10 hours in 1973 from this converted WWII minesweeper

Radio Free America was a religious pirate station that was on the air for a day on September 19th, 1973 from a converted WWII minesweeper located about 12 miles off Cape May, New Jersey. The founder and operator was Carl McIntire whose WXUR in Media, PA was shut down by the FCC.

As described in this article the broadcasts lasted only about 10 hours due to technical difficulties, but there was time enough for a number of listeners along the U.S. east coast to hear the station on 1160 khz mediumwave. And although this item isn’t technically about shortwave, there were reports that McIntire intended to re-start his station on shortwave, but a review of the historical record doesn’t turn up any mention of that happening..

A longer article in 2014 (upated in 2019) describes the history of Radio Free America and McIntire’s battles with the FCC and notes that he was a pioneer of pirate radio as well as a controversial religious figure. Wikipedia on McIntire has some other interesting history, including “in the 1970s when McIntire organized a half dozen pro-Vietnam War "Victory Marches" in Washington, D.C. The march of October 3, 1970 was supposed to have featured South Vietnamese vice-president Nguyen Cao Ky, but the Nixon administration ensured that Ky would not be present.”

It’s unknown how many other recordings of Radio Free America exist in the surviving radio listening community in 2020. My recording was made, as I recall, on a Hammarlund HQ-180A tube receiver which I used for years as my main DXing receiver and which also had a reputation as a superb mediumwave receiver.

It’s difficult to make out all of the details clearly, but McIntire can be heard with an opening ID at approximately 1 minute 42 into this recording as he says: “Radio Free America, out in the North Atlantic…goes on the air. It’s now 12:24, September 19th, 1973….at 1160 on the dial….this is Carl McIntire….” There is an even clearer ID at about the 3 minute 30 second mark when he goes on to talk about “the right to free speech” and “free radio” and says “this is Carl McIntire speaking to you from the North Atlantic, Radio Free America just on the air [for] two minutes..”

There is even more great stuff later, at around the 30 minute mark, when McIntire notes that “NBC Cameramen” are due on the ship, and talks about the ship being anchored “just outside the 12 mile limit…we’re going to cruise off Atlantic City, on up to Asbury Park, Ocean Grove in that area, and we will cruise back down along the Delaware coast, and the eastern shore, so we can get a big strong signal if it’s necessary into the Washington, DC area. If the FCC is listening I say to these men in that commission, gentlemen fear God. . . that is my pray to you….all we want is the kind of liberty that the Constitution gives us..”

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording

Khmer Rouge Radio - Circa 1992-1993

In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge (the name for the Communist Party of Cambodia) seized power in Phnom Penh establishing what was called Democratic Kampuchea. It was estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid to the Khmer Rouge came from China. In June 1975, Pol Pot and other officials of the Khmer Rouge met with Mao Zedong in Beijing, receiving Mao's approval and advice; in addition, Mao also taught Pot his "Theory of Continuing Revolution under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. What occurred under the Khmer Rouge is now a part of history — one of the worst genocides that the world has ever known. The Khmer Rouge were overthrown by the military of Vietnam in 1979, with many key Khmer Rouge officials fleeing fled to Thailand. But for many years, a Soviet Union and Vietnam-supported government in Phnom Penh held Cambodia's United Nations seat, right up until the point in 1993, when elections were held under a United Nations peackeeping effort (UNTAC) which included disarming of the various factions in Cambodia leading to a democratic election.

As part of my reporting in the 1990’s as VOA’s Southeast Asia correspondent, I covered the run-up to that election. Shortwave radio played a key role at the time — Khmer Rouge Radio continued to broadcast, somewhere in the 5 mhz range — and its English language programs were monitored by news agencies and government monitoring organizations. An excellent history of what I call Khmer Rouge Radio can be found here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/137455.stm

In this broadcast, KR Radio continued to challenge the legitimacy of UNTAC, saying the international community was attempting to “wash its hands” of the Cambodian problem. This broadcast was after the 1993 election, recorded in Phnom Penh where I was on one of my numerous trips covering the Cambodian story. At one point after the election, I traveled from Thailand along the Thai-Cambodia border where many refugees from Cambodia, including from the Khmer Rouge, ended up in camps. There are not many recordings of Khmer Rouge Radio — which was actually called Voice of the Great National Union Front of Cambodia (VGNUFC) — in English in existence — this is one of them. Of course, in later years a former Khmer Rouge batallion commander, Hun Sen, would rule Cambodia from 1985 — he remains in power today and in 2013 attempted to ban foreign broadcasts in Khmer — media freedoms continue to be suppressed to this day.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording

Radio Republik Indonesia (Pontianak) Circa 1990s

DXing Indonesia, with its former network of hundreds of regional and local stations, became a passion for many shortwave DX’ers. The shortwave bands used to be filled with these stations and in North America reception of the hardest-to-hear stations was always a challenge, even with the best receivers of the day. While some Indonesian regional stations had fairly powerful transmitters, many of the really small ones had power of only a few hundred watts or even less and QSL cards and verification letters from these stations are among the cherished items in QSL collections.

These recordings of one of the RRI regional stations, at Pontianak, was made from Bangkok, Thailand during a 5 year period when I lived in the Thai capital while Southeast Asia correspondent for Voice of America. This reception was on a Drake R8, made with an approximately 20 foot longwire antenna. The frequency I recall was 3,976 khz but this station had also been on the air at various times on 3,345 and 3,995 khz as well as 3,915 khz at one point

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording

Radio Myanmar: Circa 1990s

Radio Myanmar QSL

Another country and station that was considered among the rarest catches for DX’ers in North America and elsewhere was Myanmar, the current name for Burma. 5,040 khz was the frequency many us finally heard Burma on, and this was as difficult as some of the other challenging countries in the southeast Asia region, even in the days when solar conditions were favorable. When the mail arrived one day and I saw that classic BBS QSL card I was thrilled, to say the least. In later years, the BBS became Radio Myanmar and there was an updated color QSL card sent to listeners. Even now, in 2020 with shortwave on its way out, it’s quite amazing that Myanmar remains audible on SW. In the 1990s, as part of my work for Voice of America, I began traveling to Myanmar/Burma regularly — at least until I was placed on a ban list by the then military government due to my reporting for VOA. On one of those trips, I made this recording of Radio Myanmar, on a SONY ICF-SW1 receiver during a reporting trip in the capital, Yangon (Rangoon).

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording

Radio Singapore International circa 1990s

For DX’ers in the 1960’s and 1970s a key listening objective was Radio Singapore. The frequency many of us heard the station on was 5,010 khz which was always a challenge in early mornings on the east coast of North America but nevertheless was heard frequently. The QSL card I received for that frequency is still one of my most cherished. But in the 1990’s Singapore was more easily heard via its new international service, Radio Singapore International. While I was working for Voice of America as its Southeast Asia correspondent, I used a Drake R8 to monitor regional broadcasts. This recording of RSI was made on that radio from my Bangkok listening location (I do not recall the frequency) using a longwire that was hanging out our apartment building in the very crowded and noisy Thai capital (also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Singapore_International)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording:

Voice and King of Hope WORD/KING - Lebanon: Circa 1980s

This recording of Voice and King of Hope WORD/KING was made in the 1980’s when the station was on shortwave in the 48 meter band at 6,215 kHz. This was the High Adventures station operating from the area known as “Free Lebanon” https://bit.ly/2zqsGOd Among the interesting things in this 15 minute recording, a weather forecast for the Free Lebanon area (at the end of the recording, just before a Billy Joel song), a commercial for an American eye specialist offering free eyeglasses, and a pre-recorded jingle “WORD”. The announcer also gives a mediumwave frequency of 945 kHz. Local time of this broadcast was before 7 AM Lebanon time. ID: “You are listening to WORD and KING, that’s High Adventures the Voice and King of Hope for the Middle East here in the Valley of the Springs in beautiful free Lebanon, on AM and shortwave.” Also, mention of the Maronite town of Marjayoun.

The signal from KING/WORD had that typical sound that we all remember from the time when propagation and solar conditions permitted reception of hundreds of stations still on shortwave. This reception was on either a HQ-180A or Drake SPR-4, two receivers I was using at the time and which I still have in my shack today.

To hear this nearly 15 minute recording of WORD/KING of Hope Lebanon…

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording and notes:

Neptune Radio (Pirate Radio): October 25, 2001

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Adam C. Smith, who shares the following recordings and notes:

Here is another little gem I dug up. Neptune Radio! Recorded off air on 10/25/2001, 0515 UTC, 6955kHz USB. It isn’t the best audio but it is intelligible and that was good enough for me!

HCJB: August 21, 2001

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Adam C. Smith, who shares the following recording which includes his name being mentioned on HCJB. Adam notes:

This is an off the air recording of HCJB: 9745kHz, 8/12/01, 0434 UTC. Recorded off air on a DX-398 and 100’ longwire.

Radio Botswana Interval Signal: January 2, 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jerry Johnston, who has kindly shared his collection of airchecks with the archive. The following recording and notes originally appeared on Jerry’s website.

Sebele, Botswana
1981-01-02     0357 GMT     4845 kHz
10 kW

Cow bells and cows mooing interval signal.

Duration:   0:58
Filename:  19810102_0357_Radio-Botswana_Botswana_4845.mp3
Bitrate Mode:  vbr      Channel Mode:  mono      Sample Rate:  44100 Hz
Received By:  Jerry Johnston
Receiving Location:  Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Purple Nucleus of Creation (HF Pirate Radio Station): October 27, 2001

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Adam C. Smith, who shares the following recording and notes:

This recording was made on 10/27/2001, 0009UTC, 6928kHz USB with my Grundig 800 and 100’ wire. The Purple Nucleus of Creation was very strong and bizarre…. Maybe relayed by KIPM back in the day.

Adam also shared images of The Purple Nucleus of Creation’s amazing and intricate QSL card:

Russ Edmunds' Mediumwave DX Airchecks: 1968-1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Russ Edmunds, who has kindly shared another collection of mediumwave airchecks (click here to check out all of his contributions).

Russ notes that the reception location was Parsippany, NJ (in a garden apartment) using a Hammarlund modified HQ-150 and a 4' air core amplified loop.

Russ also shares details about each recording in the following table. All recordings have been embedded below:

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Voice of Russia (Moscow Mailbag): March 11, 2002

Photo by Michael Parulava via Unsplash

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Adam C. Smith, who shares the following recording and notes:

Moscow Mailbag, recorded on 3/11/2002 at 0310UTC on 17,595 kHz.

Receiver: Satellit 800 with 100' random wire antenna.

Voice of Greece: March 21, 2020

The following recording of the Voice of Greece was made on March 21, 2020 starting around 22:45 UTC on 9.420 MHz. This recording was made with a WinRadio Excalibur and skyloop antenna. Reception location: Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

Radio RSA: December 31, 1979

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jerry Johnston, who has kindly shared his collection of airchecks with the archive. The following recording and notes originally appeared on Jerry’s website.

Meyerton, South Africa 1979-12-31 2153 GMT 15380/17805 kHz English Radio RSA's 3rd annual New Year's Eve live call in program. I called in at 2320 GMT (separate cut on recoding, 19 minutes in). I was 13 years old at the time. You can hear my voice right before that cut, and again at the very end of the recording.

Duration:   46:15
Filename:  19791231_2153_Radio-RSA_South-Africa_15380.mp3
Bitrate Mode:  vbr      Channel Mode:  mono      Sample Rate:  44100 Hz
Received By:  Jerry Johnston
Receiving Location:  Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Radio Canada International (Shortwave Listener's Digest): July 26, 1982

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares the following recording and notes:

Date of recording: 7/26/1982

Starting time: 2130

Frequency: 15.325

Reception location: South Bend, IN

Receiver and antenna: Realistic DX-302

Notes: Here are two more back to back episodes from my collection of recordings of Shortwave Listener's Digest from Radio Canada International, this time from July 26 and August 02, 1982. This program's highlights are: ANARC 1982 Convention promo, Larry Magne's test of the Sony ICF-6500W, a look at underseas intercontinental cables with Walter Foster of Teleglobe Canada, Glenn Hauser's DX tips. The second program highlights are: coverage of the 1982 ANARC convention with guest co-host Bab Zanotti of Swiss Radio Intl., interview with David Meisel about the solar cycle, a rundown of the awards given out at ANARC 82.

BBC World Service: April 30, 1982

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares the following recording and notes:

Date of recording: 4/30/1982

Starting time: unknown

Frequency: unknown

Reception Location: South Bend, IN

Receiver: Realistic DX-302

Notes: From April 30, 1982 I submit this recording of London Calling the Falkland Islands. I failed to record the time and frequency of this recording but it likely came from Ascension Island. This recording was made during the height of the Falklands War and many mentions to the conflict can be heard in the broadcast.

Radiodiffusion Télévision Gabonaise: 1979

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jerry Johnston, who has kindly shared his collection of airchecks with the archive. The following recording and notes originally appeared on Jerry’s website.

Libréville, Gabon
1979?     4777 kHz
French     100 kW

Music, talk, ID in French. Time and actual date unknown, possibly 1979.

Duration:   25:04
Filename:  19790000_-_Radiodiffusion-Television-Gabonaise_Gabon_4777.mp3
Bitrate Mode:  vbr      Channel Mode:  mono      Sample Rate:  44100 Hz
Received By:  Jerry Johnston
Receiving Location:  Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Radio Free Grenada: March 1980

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jim Nall, who shares the following recording of Radio Free Grenada made in 1980.

Receiver: Kenwood R-1000

Antenna: Vertical

Reception location: Louisville, KY

ZNS-3, The Light: September 16, 2019

Live, off-air, approximately one-hour recording of AM radio station ZNS-3, "The Light" also known as Radio Bahamas Northern Service, Freeport, Grand Bahama, on 16 September 2019 beginning just before 17:00 UTC. The station operates on a frequency of 810 kHz with a transmitter power of 10 kW and a non-directional antenna.

The recording starts with public service announcements related to the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, which struck The Bahamas at Category 5 strength on 1 September, followed by a music selection. At 17:00 UTC (6 minute, 30 second mark of the recording), ZNS-3 joined ZNS-1, Radio Bahamas, for the "One O'Clock Report" news program. There was extensive reporting of the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. The news was followed by sports, weather, and community announcements. At about 17:18 UTC (24 minute, 50 second mark of the recording), ZNS-3 switched back to its own religious music programming and public service announcements and warnings.

The transmission was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in ferrite-bar-loop antenna in a hotel room in Miami in AM mode with 2.3 kHz RF filtering. Reception was clear but slightly noisy and with some periodic pulsating signal interference.

ZNS-3 is one of four radio stations operated by ZNS, the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas. It is a primarily commercial religious music station serving the northern Bahamian islands.

Hobart Radio International via WRMI: January 26, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Zach Rutledge, who shares the following recording and notes:

This broadcast includes a news segment on the aftermath of the wildfires in Australia, as well as music from Hot Chip and Men At Work. Plus, in place of Jordan's World Of Radio, they play a track from a Monty Python album. This broadcast highlights the higher than average fidelity of WRMI's transmitter on 5850 kHz, and was recorded with an ~8 kHz wide audio bandwidth for improved fidelity.

Broadcaster: Hobart Radio International (via WRMI Okeechobee, Florida)

Date of recording: 1/26/2020

Starting time: 0830

Frequency: 5.850

Reception location: Baldwin County, Alabama, USA

Receiver and antenna: SDRPlay RSP-1, SDRUno, W6LVP active loop antenna