WSHB (Christian Science Monitor): Five recordings
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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.
Madagascar World Voice, Radio Feda: May 15, 2022
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following recording and notes:
KNLS sister station Madagascar World Voice broadcasts Radio Feda, an Arabic language Christian program from Madagascar to the Middle East on 13670 kHz at 1900-2000UTC and 13710 kHz from 2000-2100UTC.
This is the 13710 kHz broadcast as received in McGrath Alaska on 15 May 2022.
Radio Free America: 1973
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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
Radio For Peace International: Summer of 1996
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bruce Atchison, for sharing the following recording and notes:
This is Radio For Peace International from the summer of 1996. I can't remember the frequency but I'm sure others will. I recorded this about 01:00 UTC with my Uniden CR-2021. By the way, it's the same model as the Radio Shack 430 receiver but it had LEDs rather than a analogue tuning meter.
PJB Bonaire (Trans World Radio): Unknown date
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Timothy Land, who shares the following recording and notes:
Broadcaster: PJB - Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (Trans World Radio)
Frequency: Unknown
Reception Location: Kingsport, Tennessee
Receiver and antenna: Magnavox AE3805 with telescopic antenna
Notes: This is from one of my late evening shortwave listening sessions as a teen in the early to mid 1990's. Time and date is uncertain. Take note how they feature a spot for HCJB, Quito, Ecuador by listing their broadcast times and frequencies. Following this is several minutes of a DX'ers program.
TGNA - Guatemala: Unknown date
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Timothy Land, who shares the following recording and notes:
Broadcaster: TGNA - Guatemala
Frequency: 3,300 kHz
Receiver Location: Kingsport, Tennessee
Notes: This is from one of my late evening shortwave listening sessions as a teen in the early to mid 1990's. Time and date is uncertain.
HRVC - La Voz Evangélica de Honduras: Unknown date
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Timothy Land, who shares the following recording and notes:
Broadcaster: HRVC - Honduras
Frequency: 3,250 kHz
Receiver Location: Kingsport, Tennessee
Notes: This is from one of my late evening shortwave listening sessions as a teen in the early to mid 1990's. Time and date is uncertain.
President Johnson (13 May 1965) VOA
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13 May 1965. LBJ speech on Vietnam to a group of American editorial cartoonists. Shortwave coverage from the Voice of America (VOA)
Excerpt from President Johnson's speech. Recorded off-air from the Voice of America (VOA) by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia
Transcript of speech-
http://millercenter.org/president/lbjohnson/speeches/speech-5934
Inaugural shortwave broadcast of Wantok Radio Light, Papua New Guinea: June 11, 2005
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Guy Atkins, who notes:
Inaugural shortwave broadcast and celebration of Wantok Radio Light, Papua New Guinea on June 11, 2005. Frequency was 7120 kHz. Receiver: AOR AR7030+. Antenna: Wellbrook Communications ALA100 Phased Delta Loop Antenna. Recorded by Guy Atkins at Grayland, Washington USA.
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00:00 Introduction by speaker or host named "Witness"
01:31 Song "Naso Joda" by the band P2-UIF ("P2-United in Faith"; the Gospel band's name honors those killed in the missionary aviation plane P2-UIF that crashed in Papua New Guinea ). A YouTube video of the song being performed live in August 2012 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQvkKWROal0
03:00 Praise for the signal of Wantok Radio Light to go out through all the world
03:50 Testimony of James
09:18 Solo music on harmonica: "Jesus Saves" performed by James
12:06 Phone conversation with "Brother Paul": salutations to Wantok Radio Light; praise for the new shortwave transmitter
15:52 More talk by Witness
17:50 Live music
23:40 Praise & talk with announcer Witness
24:52 Live Music
28:52 Talk & praise by Witness
29:43 "You're listening to Radio Light, Wantok Radio Light, live right here, the one and only; live right here Amen, at the top of Minion House, right at the top. That's right! We're right at the top."
Wantok Radio Light, Outdoor Inaugural: June 11, 2005
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Guy Atkins, who notes:
Inaugural shortwave broadcast and celebration of Wantok Radio Light, Papua New Guinea on June 11, 2005. Frequency was 7120 kHz. Receiver: AOR AR7030+. Antenna: Wellbrook Communications ALA100 Phased Delta Loop Antenna. Recorded by Guy Atkins at Grayland, Washington USA.
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00:00 Introduction by speaker or host named "Witness"
01:31 Song "Naso Joda" by the band P2-UIF ("P2-United in Faith"; the Gospel band's name honors those killed in the missionary aviation plane P2-UIF that crashed in Papua New Guinea ). A YouTube video of the song being performed live in August 2012 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQvkKWROal0
03:00 Praise for the signal of Wantok Radio Light to go out through all the world
03:50Testimony of James
09:18Solo music on harmonica: "Jesus Saves" performed by James
12:06Phone conversation with "Brother Paul": salutations to Wantok Radio Light; praise for the new shortwave transmitter
15:52 More talk by Witness
17:50 Live music
23:40 Praise & talk with announcer Witness
24:52 Live Music
28:52 Talk & praise by Witness
29:43 "You're listening to Radio Light, Wantok Radio Light, live right here, the one and only; live right here Amen, at the top of Minion House, right at the top. That's right! We're right at the top."
Guy also notes:
Wantok Radio Light is still going strong, in this 10th anniversary year of their shortwave transmissions. Their current frequency is 7325 kHz, and the web site is at: http://www.wantokradio.org/. The live stream of WRL broadcasts can be heard at: http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/PNGRADIO
Shortwave Radio 1974 mix tape: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations
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SRAA contributor, Brian Smith, writes:
Want to know what shortwave radio sounded like in 1974? This 55-minute recording, recovered from a cassette, was never intended to be anything but "audio notes": I was an 18-year-old shortwave listener who collected QSL cards from international stations, and I was tired of using a pen and a notepad to copy down details of the broadcasts. I wanted an easier way to record what I heard, and my cassette tape recorder seemed like the perfect means to accomplish that goal.
But it wasn't. I soon discovered that it was simpler to just edit my notes as I was jotting them down — not spend time on endless searches for specific information located all over on the tape. To make a long story shorter, I abandoned my "audio notes" plan after a single shortwave recording: This one.
Still, for those who want to experience the feel of sitting at a shortwave radio in the mid-1970s and slowly spinning the dial, this tape delivers. Nothing great in terms of sound quality; I was using a Hallicrafters S-108 that was outdated even at the time. And my recording "technique" involved placing the cassette microphone next to the radio speaker.
Thus, what you'll hear is a grab bag of randomness: Major shortwave broadcasting stations from Canada, Argentina, Spain, Germany and Albania; maritime CW and other utility stations; and even a one-sided conversation involving a mobile phone, apparently located at sea. There are lengthy (even boring) programs, theme songs and interval signals, and brief IDs, one in Morse code from an Italian Navy station and another from a Department of Energy station used to track shipments of nuclear materials. And I can't even identify the station behind every recording, including several Spanish broadcasts (I don't speak the language) and an interview in English with a UFO book author.
The following is a guide, with approximate Windows Media Player starting times, of the signals on this recording. (Incidentally, the CBC recording was from July 11, 1974 — a date I deduced by researching the Major League Baseball scores of the previous day.)
Guide To The Recording
00:00 — CBC (Radio Canada) Northern and Armed Forces Service: News and sports.
07:51 — RAE (Radio Argentina): Sign-off with closing theme
09:14 — Department of Energy station in Belton, Missouri: "This is KRF-265 clear."
09:17 — Interval signal: Radio Spain.
09:40 — New York Radio, WSY-70 (aviation weather broadcast)
10:22 — Unidentified station (Spanish?): Music.
10:51— Unidentified station (English): Historic drama with mention of Vice President John Adams, plus bell-heavy closing theme.
14:12 — Unidentified station (Spanish?): Male announcer, poor signal strength.
14:20 — Unidentified station (Spanish): Theme music and apparent ID, good signal strength.
15:16 — Unidentified station (foreign-speaking, possibly Spanish): Song, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep."
17:00 — Deutsche Welle (The Voice of West Germany): Announcement of frequencies, theme song.
17:39 — Unidentified station (English): Interview with the Rev. Barry Downing, author of “The Bible and Flying Saucers.”
24:36 — One side of mobile telephone conversation in SSB, possibly from maritime location.
30:37 — Radio Tirana (Albania): Lengthy economic and geopolitical talk (female announcer); bad audio. Theme and ID at 36:23, sign-off at 55:03.
55:11 — Italian Navy, Rome: “VVV IDR3 (and long tone)” in Morse code.
Trans World Radio, Polish language service: October 17, 2014
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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of Trans World Radio in Polish. This broadcast was recorded in Europe on October 17, 2014 at 0545 UTC, shortwave frequency of 7320 kHz.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.
