Foreign AM Broadcast Band DX: Circa 1970's

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

Foreign BCB DX 1970's

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 or Realistic DX-150A and a longwire antenna

Notes: Although I did not focus much on foreign broadcast band (medium wave) DXing in the 1970's, I did manage to save a few brief recordings of a handful of stations logged from my location in southern Ontario, Canada.

1. Radio Margarita, La Asuncion (Isla Margarita) Venezuela 1020 kHz

2. Radio Clarin, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 860 kHz

3. XEMO, Tiajuana, Mexico 860 kHz

4. Radio Sutatenza, Bogota, Colombia 810 kHz

5. XERF, Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico 1570 kHz (ID given by well known personality Paul Kallinger)

KGEI: April 01, 1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Antonio Ribeiro da Motta, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: KGEI San Francisco CA USA

Date of recording: April 01, 1978

Starting time: 2030 UTC

Frequency: 9615 kHz

Recpotion location: São José dos Campos SP Brazil

Receiver and antenna: Philco Transglobe B481 Longwire 22 mt

Notes: Recording of the program Departiendo con La Juventud presented by Mario Barahona (in memorian). There are 2 programs that were merged: days 01 and 02/04/1978.

Vintage AM Radio Airchecks from 1973

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

Ever wonder what it would be like to time travel? Well, just sit back and relax in your favourite armchair, put on the headphones and enjoy the short six and a half minute trip back to 1973. Here is a collection of 23 AM broadcast band radio airchecks / ID's from 23 U.S. states as recorded at Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Equipment used was a Realistic DX150A hooked up to a long wire antenna. Please bear in mind these recordings were made using an open mike placed in front of the speaker. For example, WTMJ Milwaukee makes an NBC colour TV announcement (blooper) and you will hear a voice in the background ask "how can that be"?

1. KKJO St. Joseph, MO 1550
2. WCFL Chicago, IL 1000
3. WWWE Cleveland, OH 1100
4. WOWO Fort Wayne, IN 1190
5. WHO Des Moines, IA 1040
6. WLAC Nashville, TN 1510
7. WWL New Orleans, LA 870
8. WBAP Ft. Worth-Dallas, TX 820
9. WSB Atlanta, GA 750
10. WBZ Boston, MA 1030
11. WHAS Louisville, KY 840
12. WWVA Wheeling, WVA 1170
13. WRVA Richmond, VA 1140
14. WCCO Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 830
15. KAAY Little Rock, AR 1090
16. WTIC Hartford, CT 1080
17. WBAL Baltimore, MD 1090
18. WJAR Providence, RI 920
19. WVOK Birmingham, AL 690
20. KOMA Oklahoma City, OK 1520
21. WTMJ Milwaukee, WI 620
22. KSL Salt Lake City, UT 1160
23. KFAB Omaha, NE 1110

Radio Moscow (Moscow Mailbag with Joe Adamov): 1978

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

Broadcaster: Radio Moscow

Date of recording: Unknown

Starting time: Unknown

Frequency: Unknown

Reception location: Plymouth, MN

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180

Notes: Radio Moscow's Moscow Mailbag hosted by Joe Adamov from 1978. Questions ranged from why a woman asks the questions on Moscow Mailbag and a male (Joe) gets to answer them, why does the Soviet Union ignore positive aspects of Western society, dissidents in the Soviet Union, and more.

Twin Cities Radio Compilation Capitol Insurrection: January 6, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

This is a compilation of radio broadcast from Twin Cities, Minnesota radio stations when the news of the January 6 US Capitol storming was first mentioned.

Time stamps for the following stations and their time of broadcast:

00:00 WCCO 1:07 CST

01:24 KTLK 1:08 CST

02:08 KYCR 1:20 CST

03:31 WLOL 2:04 CST

06:43 WWTC 2:08 CST

09:39 KDIZ 3:06 CST

WWV Ionospheric Scientific Modulation Test: March 10. 2022

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following short clip of the Ham Sci Ionospheric Scientific Modulation Test:

Date of recording: 3/10/2022

Starting time: 1908

Frequency: 15

Your location: Hu

Your receiver and antenna: SDRplay RSPdx with wire loop around perimeter of attic

Mode: AM

Notes: Ionospheric Scientific Modulation Test on WWV recorded March 10, 2022 at 1908UTC on 15Mhz in Hugo, MN.

Information about the signal from the Hamsci website: HamSCI's WWV/H Scientific Modulation Working Group is exploring possibilities for additions to WWV and WWVH's modulation that can be used for science purposes.

https://hamsci.org/wwv

Radio Tawantinsuyo (Peru): 1970s

Old QSL from Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, Peru

Thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Robinson for these notes and audio of Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, Peru

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Rising early in the morning was a regular activity of DX’ers who wanted to hear the more difficult stations from Latin America that used to fill the shortwave bands. One of those was Radio Tawantinsuyo, located in Cuzco, Peru. The station was on 6,175 khz in the 49 meter band but was more often heard on variable frequencies as low as 6,173 khz. This recording of the station sign on brings back so many memories for DX’ers who focused on South America.

China Radio International: December 19, 2020

Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

China Radio Plus Broadcast recorded December 19, 2020 at 1502 on 15700khz in Hugo, MN. The transmitter did not seem to be turned on until 1502 despite the scheduled start time of 1500.

00:00 News

03:35 Footprints - About the Gaokao

28:27 I Love Podcasts - "Why We Love the Song Dynasty" and "Ties From the West"

Receiver location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: Sdr Play with a wire loop antenna around the perimeter of the attic

WRNO: Early 1980s

WRNO was the U.S. shortwave station founded by Joseph Costello III as described here and went on the air in February 1982 as a commercial international broadcaster. Another recording can be found in the archive but this is one of the earliest recordings of the station after it first went on the air.

As described by Wikipedia, WRNO was the first privately owned shortwave station licensed in several years at the time of its approval by the FCC: “Before Costello's efforts, there were only three non-governmental American shortwave broadcasters on the air; by the end of the decade, that number had increased to sixteen.[2]  WRNO shortwave had a rock music format, branded as the "World Rock of New Orleans" and operating from noon to midnight (GMT-6) daily. Originally a separate broadcast from the FM station, eventually WRNO turned to simulcasting WRNO-FM, which also had a rock music format. During the early 1990s WRNO turned to leasing airtime to religious and political commentators (for a time, it was the shortwave home of Rush Limbaugh's program) until a damaged transmitter forced the station off the air for several years.” In 2001 the station was purchased by Good News World Outreach, a non-profit religious broadcaster.” This article in SWLing Post shows the transmitter of WRNO as of 2009.

A bit of shortwave trivia not widely known — Joseph Costello appeared in the first pilot of “Communications World” the VOA program for shortwave listeners originated by Dan Robinson, who went on to be a foreign correspondent, congressional reporter, and chief White House correspondent for VOA through the 1980’s, 1990s and 2000s.

Bizim Radio (Turkish Communist Party): 1970s

As detailed in this article, Bizim Radio was one of the oldest clandestine stations and represented the Turkish Communist Party (Bizim means “our” radio). Bizim Radio started broadcasting in 1958 and lasted until 1989 when it was reported that the station would close after more than 30 years in operation. Bizim Radio was one of many clandestines audible on the east coast of North America and was a regular along with Radio Espana Independiente, Radio Euzkadi, and other stations often using odd frequency ranges such as the 10 and 13 mHz bands.

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

Emisora Regional dos Azores: 1970s

In the 1970’s shortwave listeners were surprised by the appearance in the 60 meter band of a station that seemed to be a re-activation of Portugal’s station in the Azores islands. The frequency was 4,865 khz and the signal was quite strong as heard on the east coast of North America. What everyone thought was actually a broadcast from the Azores turned out to be — NOT. According to Jerry Berg, in his On the Shortwaves 1945 to turned out to be none other than Radiodifusao Portuguesa with transmissions on the old frequency of Azores from years before. What a disappointment for country hunters! Anyway, here is a recording of what we all thought was Azores direct, made in the 1970s. You can hear the full ID by the announcer toward the end followed by the Portuguese national anthem.

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

Spanish Sahara (Radio Sahara): 1973

On the top-10 list of DX targets in the 1970s was Spanish Sahara, the broadcast service transmitting from Aaiun in what was then Spanish-ruled Sahara in West Africa. Verification cards and letters were sent to lucky listeners around the world who were able to hear the transmissions which were a mixture of local programs and material from the Spanish national radio. Frequencies on shortwave: 7,230 khz listed as 10 KW and 4,626 khz which was a SSB frequency listed a 5 kilowatts, described as a service for Aaiun and Villa Cisneros, now called Dakhla, about 330 miles south along the coast from Aaiun.

My reception of Radio Sahara was on a Hammarlund HQ-180 receiver, which due to its superb filtering and vernier tuning capability I used to hear numerous African stations. According to the QSL letter received from Radio Sahara, and signed by Amparo Martin, their programming was from “0645 to 01 horas” making this one of the few African stations with a very late (or early in the morning) sign on for listeners in the eastern U.S. (the other being Radio Gambia).

In this recording you hear music to about the 1 minute 10 mark, then station identification by a male announcer “Musica para ellos. Radio Sahara de la red de emisoras [network of stations] de Radio Nacional de Espana” and since Spain was still under the rule of dictator Francisco Franco at the time, this was heard after an military march: “Viva Franco, Viva el Sahara, Viva Espana” followed by what I believe was the Spanish national anthem.

Another frequency for Radio Sahara was 11,805 khz. In 1975, the station sent out a more traditional QSL card (see below). The history that followed saw Spain withdrawing troops from the region on January 12, 1976, and ending its presence in the territory February 26, 1976. Morocco immediately claimed sovereignty over the territory and for years a guerilla war dragged on (1975 to 1991) between the Polisario Front and Moroccan forces. This Wikipedia entry explains the complexities of the situation in what is today called a “partially recognized de facto sovereign state.”

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

Voice of Kenya: Circa 1975

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Africa was a treasure trove of stations broadcasting on shortwave. Prime time for listening was late afternoon (especially during the winter DX season) and the 0300 to 0700 UTC range. For stations in East Africa and the Indian Ocean, evening hours presented an ideal time but did not mean that these were easy catches. One evening in 1975, propagation conditions were such that listeners on the East coast of North America suddenly heard East African stations at what sounded like a local level. One of them was Voice of Kenya. The signal was so remarkable on 4,915 khz that it rivaled signals from some Latin American stations that were still on the air in the 0300 to 0400 UTC range. This was the National Service in Swahili. Other VOK frequencies were more challenging, such as the listed 41 meter band frequency and one in 31 meters. Even more difficult, was the 4885 frequency for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. That station eluded many DX’ers and verifications of the Mombasa station are among the rarest from the continent of Africa. Here is Voice of Kenya as heard in Pennslvania in 1975:

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

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:

Audio Block

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Radio Luxembourg: September 25, 1990 (Part 2)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Pavick, who shares the following recording and notes:

Starting time: 2230 UTC

Frequency: 1.440

Reception location: Kirkwall, Orkney

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2003 with whip antenna

Notes: Aircheck of Radio Luxembourg from late October 1990 (recorded Sep 25, 1990)

Note: The following recording is Part 2, click here for Part 1:

Radio Luxembourg: September 25, 1990 (Part 1)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Pavick, who shares the following recording and notes:

Starting time: 2230 UTC

Frequency: 1.440

Reception location: Kirkwall, Orkney

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2003 with whip antenna

Notes: Aircheck of Radio Luxembourg from late October 1990 (September 25, 1990 recording date)

Note: The following recording is Part 1, click here for Part 2:

Super Rock KYOI: March 11, 1986

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Mark Nelson, who shares the following recording and notes:

Super Rock KYOI was a short-wave radio station located at Saipan island in the Pacific region from 1982 to 1989. The station broadcast rock and pop music to China, Japan, USSR, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. This recording includes rock music, IDs, and address. It was originally recorded to cassette tape using a Sony ICF6500W receiver. My location was Minot, North Dakota.

Starting time: 1425

Frequency: 11.900

Receiver location: Minot, North Dakota, USA

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF6500W with random wire

Russ Edmunds’ Mediumwave Airchecks: 1969 - 1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Russ Edmunds (WB2BJH), for sharing this collection of mediumwave airchecks dating from 1969 to 1978. (Click here to check out all of Russ’ contributions.)

If you’ve subscribed to the SRAA podcast, you might only automatically download the first of these recordings. I would encourage you to view and listen to all 29 recordings on this dedicated Shortwave Radio Audio Archive post.

Click here to download a spreadsheet with full details of each clip.

Various International Broadcasters: July 8, 2007

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Emanuele Pelicioli, who shares the following short clips he recorded on July 8, 2017 from his home in Italy.

Radio Australia (International Report): June 15, 1993

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

This is the way I remember Radio Australia.

Their signal used to boom into Eastern North America in the late evenings on 17715 and 17795 kHz with a reliable signal during the summer months. This program called International Report was one of my favorites.

Unfortunately I did not record the date and time when I made this recording. But judging from the content is must have been sometime in mid-June 1993. I was probably using my Sony ICF-2001. This program was likely aired around 1200 UTC as this was announced as the Southeast and North Asia Service on 21745, 6080, or 9710 kHz.