Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dave Zantow, for sharing the following recording and notes:
Kol Israel (15:01)
September 12, 2001 at 0400 UTC
15640 kHz
Receiver used was a Japan Radio Co. NRD-545 (Sync on and 10 kHz bandwidth). One can hear minor DSP artifacts (burps) mixed in the background. Of course a common trait for the NRD-545.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bruce Frederick who shares the following recording and notes:
VOYAGER 1 90 Deg Bank Angle 8.822 MHz 20 Dec 1986 2200 UTC
Recently when cleaning out our attic I came across QSLs that I received from the Voyager crew from their historic1986 circumnavigation of the earth. After continued searching I also came across the cassette recordings I made of some of their communications between Dec 20 - 22, 1986. The first hour provides the most compelling listening, as I started the tape just before Voyage unexpectedly ran into severe weather issues off the coast of Brazil. The small aircraft was tossed to a bank angle of 90 degrees, which theoretically it shouldn't have recovered from, yet Rutan was just barely able to maintain control and keep flying. At the worst possible time, the Vandenburg transmitter went down leaving Rutan and Yeager out of communication with their weather team who they were depending on to give them a safe heading to fly out of the storms. The stress and tension of the situation are very evident in the voices. I have several hours of additional comms, but this excerpt is the most compelling. While preparing this submission, I discovered that Tom Gavaras from MN made a similar contribution on July 28, 2020, covering a period a couple of days after this event. These contributions are complementary and should probably be cross-linked for people interested in hearing different days of the mission. Note that like Tom, I also have the QSLs I received a few months after the mission.
BROADCASTER:
Voyager Mission Control at Vandenburg AFB and Voyage aircraft in-flight near Brazil
DATE OF RECORDING:
12/20/1986
STARTING TIME:
~2200 UTC
FREQUENCY:
8.822 MHz
RX LOCATION:
Boston, MA USA
RECEIVER AND ANTENNA:
Icom 745 with horizontal wire dipole at ~30 ft.
MODE:
Single Side Band
Additional details:
Regarding the QSL card, Bruce notes:
"...I was never a big QSL collector when I was active in the '80s but this was kind of special: QSLs for the Voyager 1 non-stop flight around the world in 1986, signed by Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, and Larry Gaskey (Mission Operations Director). Since this this wasn't a commercial broadcast organization, I didn't think they would have QSL cards (or even know what a QSL request was), so I followed the protocol of the time and prepared my own 8.5" x 11" printout and polite cover letter explaining why I was writing. I was blown away when I received not only detailed info on my home brew form, but a classy postcard signed personally by Rutan and Yeager..."
The Voyage flight plan from this website:
Tom Gavaras’ QSL card reply from the Voyager team.
Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording, QSL card (above), and notes:
Rutan Model 76 Voyager Experimental Aircraft was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. This shortwave recording is a sample of some of the communications between Dick Rutan and his ground crew including a debate if Dick should walk out of the aircraft after it lands.
Note: Best estimate for date of recording is December 22, 1986
RX location: Minnetonka, MN
Receiver and antenna: ICOM R71A
We're absolutely chuffed to learn that our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) has made the pages of the October 2015 issue of the British alt music magazine, The Wire. Following are two excerpts from the brief but powerful column by Richard Thomas:
Thomas continues in this vein, his descriptions of the varied content inviting readers to immerse themselves in the SRAA's static-infused depths.
Finally, Thomas concludes by describing in terms no less than lyrical exactly why he responds–as so many do, myself included–to the recordings found in the archive:
Wow...what a testament to the power of sound! Thanks, Richard and The Wire–we're humbly grateful that someone shares our passion for this growing project.
A special thanks goes out to all of our contributors who make this archive project possible!
If you would like to contribute to the SRAA, check out this page, or contact us with your questions.
The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) is a collection of shortwave radio recordings that you can download or listen to as a podcast. The collection grows every day and includes both historic recordings and current recordings from the shortwave radio spectrum.
The goal of this site is for shortwave radio enthusiast to have a place to store, archive and share their radio recordings with the world.
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