Trans World Radio Bonaire "The DX Special": Circa 1974

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

Broadcaster: Trans World Radio Bonaire "The DX Special" circa 1974

Frequency: 11.815 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Realistic DX-150A with a long wire antenna

Notes: Trans World Radio from the island of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles broadcast on shortwave from 1964 to 1993. They used to put a strong signal into my receiver location in southern Ontario, Canada. The station also used to air a program called "The DX Special", hosted by Al Stewart, which appears to have been produced in their Monte Carlo studio. I recently came across a short recording I made circa 1974, where I happened to catch the end of one of these programs.

Radio Rabaul: October 21, 1971

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

Notes: Radio Rabaul on the island of New Britain, PNG, was a rare visitor to my radio shack in 1971. I was able to make this brief recording (along with one of Radio Bougainville submitted separately) using an open mike in front of the speaker on the Hallicrafters S-52.

I posted my first recording of Radio Rabaul in April 2022. Recently, I discovered this second short recording I likely made on that same day, possibly a little later as the signal was beginning to fade. The language was likely Pidgin however you can clearly hear them give out their frequency of "3 point 3 8 5" around the 24 second mark. A 3-tone chime on the hour and station ID are given at the end of the recording.

Broadcaster: Radio Rabaul

Date of recording: 10/21/1971

Frequency: 3.385 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

The Voice of America Jazz Hour: Circa 1980

VOA SiTE B Curtain Antenna Array Near Greenville, North Carolina

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

Here are two more [shortwave recordings], which I recently came across. These are both segments of episodes of "The Voice of America Jazz Hour", circa 1980, each of which features live recordings of Jazz performers in concert in Europe. I suspect that the recordings shared within this programming might be quite rare, if in fact these tapes were made for VOA and not generally broadcast or released elsewhere. However, it could also be that these performances are actually from released albums, or at least that these performances were later released. By some weird coincidence, these two segments are both 35-36 minutes, even though the show original ran an hour.

The styles of jazz performance heard here are not at all similar the styles within jazz that 1I prefer, and I therefore know nothing about these performers nor have I tried to research them or these performances. But perhaps some of you out there have a taste for this, and I don't ever want to limit this site to things that I want to hear. If anyone has information to share about these recordings, by all means, do, and I'll pass it along.

Radio Clube de Mocambique: Circa 1973

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

Broadcaster: Radio Clube de Mocambique 1973

Date of recording: 1970

Frequency: 4.855 MHz

Recpotion location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Realistic DX-150A with a long wire antenna

Mode: AM

Notes: An infrequent visitor to my listening post in the early 1970's, Radio Clube in Lourenco Marques used a modest 25 kw of power but could occasionally be heard here in southern, Ontario, Canada on 4855 kHz around 0400 or 0500 hours UTC. Their signal had to travel over 13,000 km to reach my receiver and had to fight through the constant static crashes typically found on the 60 metre shortwave tropical band. They commonly aired programs of pop music, and in this brief recording, circa 1973, you will first hear the tune of "In the Summertime." It is followed by the LM chime and identification in Portuguese beginning "Aqui Portugal Mocambique..."

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2023

COPYRIGHT NDR

Live, off-air, three-hour recording of the 70th anniversary broadcast of the special annual Gruss an Bord program from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2023 beginning at 18:00 UTC. The broadcast features music and greetings to and from mariners around the world. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events in Leer and Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event was recorded on 10 December in the Kulturspeiche and featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Gabor and her band while the Hamburg event was recorded on 17 December in the Duckdalben International Seamen's Club featured the Swedish-South African duo "Fjarill." The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in other languages. Many of the songs were in English, too.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Issoudun (ISS), France; Tashkent (TAC), Uzbekistan; and Okeechobee, Florida (RMI), U.S.A.; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule (in UTC) was:
1800-2100 on 6030 ISS 250 kW / 251 deg to North/East Atlantic
1800-2100 on 6080 TAC 100 kW / 301 deg to West/Central Europe
1800-2100 on 9635 NAU 250 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean - West
1800-2100 on 11650 ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean - SoAf
1800-2100 on 13725 NAU 250 kW / 205 deg to Southern Atlantic
1800-2100 on 15770 RMI 100 kW / 044 deg to North/West Atlantic
RMI, Radio Miami International, initially had problems with the start of the broadcast and missed about the first 17 minutes.

The recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz for the first two hours and the first part of the third and 6030 kHz for the rest of the third hour as the signal degraded slightly on 11650 kHz with some adjacent frequency interference. Since the receiver was initially tuned to 15770 kHz at the beginning of the broadcast until retuning to 11650 kHz, the first minute and a half of the broadcast was replaced in the recording with the corresponding part of the archived NDR studio recording

The program was received outdoors on a Belka-DX receiver in pseudo-synchronous (AM2) mode with a bandwidth of 50 Hz - 2.7 kHz with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Reception was good for the most part on both recorded frequencies.

WSHB (Christian Science Monitor): Five recordings

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Daniel Salo, who shares the following recordings—all made in 2002 in the Boston, MA area—of The Christian Science Monitor broadcast on WSHB.

Wetterdienst Wetterfunksender: November 4, 2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following recordings of Wetterdienst Wetterfunksender made in McGrath, Alaska on November 4, 2023:

Voice of Korea/KCBS (Assorted Recordings): 2022-2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Messina, who shares the following recordings and notes:

Broadcaster: KCBS Pyongyang

Date of recording:Various (2022-2023)

Frequency: Various frequencies

Reception location: Various locations

Receiver and antenna: KiwiSDR

Mode: AM

Notes: This is a collection of recent recordings I made of DPRK SW radio stations.

Radio Free Speech (Pirate): December 15, 1996

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

Broadcaster: Radio Free Speech (pirate)

Date of recording: December 15, 1996

Starting time: 1330 UTC

Frequency: 6.955 MHz

Reception location: Thamesford, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Panasonic RF-3100 and longwire antenna

Notes: Radio Free Speech was a shortwave pirate radio station heard regularly in the late 1990's here in Southern Ontario, Canada. Here are a few blended airchecks from their Christmas Special broadcast on December 15, 1996 around 1330 hours UTC. This was on 6955 kHz and the announcer was "Bill O. Rights."

American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) Voice Mirrors circa 1970's

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following recordings and notes:

Broadcaster: American Telephone and Telegraph Company 1970's

Date of recording: circa 1970s

Frequency: various

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Back in the days before the internet, radiotelephone communications were commonplace, and "voice mirrors" such as these from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company could be heard (usually in sideband mode) all over the shortwaves. These were broadcast so the receiving station could tune them in prior to actual traffic.

These recordings (Dixon and Oakland, California; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and New York City) are from the early 1970's, and receiving location was Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Receiving equipment consisted of a Hallicrafters S-52 hooked up to a longwire antenna.

The 72 Ragchew Net: December 7, 2020

Mark Fahey’s KiwiSDR WebSDR

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: The 72 Ragchew Net

Date of recording: December 07, 2020

Frequency: 7272 kHz

Receiver location: Washington DC

Receiver and antenna: The NA5B WebSDR From Washington DC

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: This is my recording of The 72 Ragchew Net. This net is conducted every week on 7272 MHz. Recorded around 1150 UTC (11:50 AM). Recorded using the NA5BWebSDR from Washington DC. This webSDR covers shortwave, but also some VHF.

Radio Free Whatever (Pirate): May 8, 2022

Mark Fahey’s KiwiSDR (WebSDR)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Free Whatever

Date of recording: May 08, 2022

Frequency: 6.955 MHz

Receiver and antenna: The NA5B WebSDR Located in Washington DC.

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Here is my recording of radio free whatever on 6.955 MHz, recorded on Mother's Day, May 8, 2022. If I remember correctly, I think this may have been recorded around 9:39 PM Eastern. If any of you haven't heard radio free whatever, they pretty much play all types of music. This was recorded using the NA5B webSDR Receiver that is located in Washington DC.

Thunder Chicken Radio (Pirate): October 16, 2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Thunder Chicken Radio

Date of recording: October 16, 2023

Starting time: 00:13 UTC

Frequency: 6.950 MHz

Reception location: Columbus, Ohio

Receiver and antenna: Tecsun PL880 with telescopic antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: This is my recording of thunder chicken radio on 6.950 MHz, on October 16. I managed to record two pirate radio stations that night, the first one being this station, and then the second one being Smoky Dog Radio. This station was playing some music, and there were some slow scan television pictures, being transmitted as well. Recorded 8:13 PM Eastern

Smoky Dog Radio (Pirate): October 16, 2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Smoky Dog Radio

Date of recording: October 16, 2023

Starting time: 00:35 UTC

Frequency: 6.27 MHz

Reception location: Columbus, Ohio

Receiver and antenna: Tecsun PL880 with the telescopic antenna.

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Last night I caught two pirate radio stations. Here is one of them I recorded. Smokey dog radio was on 6.27 MHz last night. It was a pretty good signal here in Columbus, Ohio. I was also able to receive it on the NA5B WebbSDR in Washington DC, But I thought I would record it with my radio because it had a pretty good signal. I'd say it was a pretty good signal for a pirate. especially for me using a telescopic antenna with my Tecsun PL880. Recorded 8:35 PM eastern (00:35, UTC).

Radio Saudi International: September 4, 2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Angelo Prieto, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Saudi International

Date of recording: September 04, 2023

Starting time: 9:00 UTC

Frequency: 15.120MHz

Reception location: Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

Receiver and antenna: Tecsun PL-310ET, homemade copper beam antenna

Notes: This was the Islamic Call to Prayer (Adhan), This was the Bengali service of Radio Saudi International, Bengali is mainly spoken in North Eastern India and so that's where I pointed the antenna instead of pointing directly as Saudi Arabia.

Radio Chinchaycocha: July 5, 1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Gert Irmler, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: R Chinchaycocha, Junín / PRU 4860 kHz

Date of recording: July 05, 1978

Starting time: 04:42 UTC

Frequency: 4.860 MHz

Reception location: Schwäbisch Gmünd, BW - Germany

Receiver and antenna: Grundig Satellit 2000, 30m longwire

Notes:

OBZ4Z R Chinchaycocha, Junín, Perú
QRG: 4860 kHz
QTH: Schwäbisch Gmünd / Southern Germany
Rec: 5th July 1978 / 04:42 - ca. 07:15 UTC (GMT) (!)
Rx, Ant: Grundig Satellit 2000 - 30m longwire
Px: S, anns, huaynos, ID
SINPO: 34322
Remark: July 5th, 1978 was a very special day - great LA reception with smooth fade-out far beyond sunrise. Picaflor's spellbinding folk song 'María Alejandrina' caused goosebumps (especially from 3:33 in the MP3). Text goes as:

"María Alejandrina, what a beautiful woman's name you have.
Your name is kindness. Your noble heart ...
I would like them to change my bad life for good.
She isn't Carmen Rosa, nor Ana María,
nor is she Margarita, It's María Alejandrina ..."

ID at 14:58 in sound file ('desde Chinchaycocha'), the station's transmitting power in 1978 was 0.5 kW ...

Radio Denmark Interval Signal: circa 1970

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

Broadcaster: Radio Denmark

Date of recording: 1970

Frequency: 15.165 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Notes: Here is Radio Denmark on 15165 kHz shortwave as recorded in 1970. Their interval signal is heard followed by announcement in English, then identification in Danish. Sadly, for most North American listeners, all of their programming was also in Danish in 1970.

First Lady of Guatemala Thanking Ham Radio Operators for Assistance in 1976 Earthuake

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

Next up, an hour long tape which is sort of peculiar. It starts off and ends up normally enough - just a couple of guys playing guitars - some instrumental duets, some songs with vocals.

20 minutes into it, though, a man starts speaking, and introduces a recording of a shortwave broadcast of a speech by the first lady of Guatemala, thanking Ham Radio operators who assisted the country during the then-recent (1976) earthquake. Then follows that shortwave recording, and then the man comes back and shares that he will be providing some recordings of his recent performance with another guitarist.

The earlier segment does not appear to be a "live" recording, and at one point, an organist (with one of those beat-box built in drums) joins them. But after the "thank you speech", it seems that we're hearing a club or bar performance. There's no applause, but there is talking in the background.

I guess what I find peculiar about it is that the sender put the "interesting" short wave broadcast right in the middle of the tape, in between highlights of his performance. That strikes me as a weird choice.

Radio Australia: Circa 1974

The Shepparton transmitter site of ABC/Radio Australia

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

For those of you who like it, here are two more entries in the series of Australian Shortwave [Note: Recording 1 was published on the SRAA last week], which I've been parceling out from time to time since not long after this blog began. I'm fairly certain the person who recorded these programs lived somewhere in North America, because all of the shows (up until this posting) were from episodes directed at that continent. But additionally, I wonder now if the person lived on the west coast of North America, because he or she made an effort (on the same tape as a show from 9/5/74), to capture Australia Shortwave during a program broadcast towards Asia and the South Pacific. The quality of the connection during that portion is, as you'll hear, quite poor, but it did come in, at a level and quality that I would guess it wouldn't have been received in the eastern half of the continent.

Radio Australia: September 5, 1974

Radio Australia’s Shepparton TRansmitting Station

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

For those of you who like it, here are two more entries in the series of Australian Shortwave [Note: Recording 2 will be published on the SRAA next week], which I've been parceling out from time to time since not long after this blog began. I'm fairly certain the person who recorded these programs lived somewhere in North America, because all of the shows (up until this posting) were from episodes directed at that continent. But additionally, I wonder now if the person lived on the west coast of North America, because he or she made an effort (on the same tape as a show from 9/5/74), to capture Australia Shortwave during a program broadcast towards Asia and the South Pacific. The quality of the connection during that portion is, as you'll hear, quite poor, but it did come in, at a level and quality that I would guess it wouldn't have been received in the eastern half of the continent.