Voice of America Hausa (with English Sign-Off): February 26, 2022

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following short recording of VOA’s Hausa language service recorded on February 26, 2022 in McGrath, Alaska on 11,900 kHz at 20:58 UTC. This recording was made with a Tecsun PL-880, DXE preamp and two tunable HF loop antennas.

Paul notes: “Hausa language gets lopped off for an English sign-off message and Yankee Doodle Dandy followed by a carrier cut 1 minute 20 seconds later.”

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.

Radio Pax (Mozambique): 1974

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recording and notes on Radio Pax

Though shortwave listeners around the world heard the main Radio Clube de Mozambique stations in what could be called the heart of the shortwave era — the 1960’s through the 1980s — another station also broadcast from the east African country. That was Radio Pax, the Catholic station in Beira, Mozambique, which dates back to 1954. Amazingly, Radio Pax still exists today complete with a Facebook page. But there is no longer any shortwave. In 1974, while living in southern Africa as an exchange student I had the thrill of being able to hear Radio Pax on 3,960 khz, one its two shortwave frequencies and made tis recording using a Drake SPR-4 receiver on a longwire located in Mbabane, Swaziland.

Radio Uganda: 1979

There are other recordings of Radio Uganda on the archive — this is another, made in Washington, DC by famed DX’er Taylor McNeil. This was made on March 31, 1979 on 15,325 khz which was the frequency many listeners heard Uganda on, with 250 kw of power. Hearing Uganda on the 60 meter band, however, was far more challenging.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Robinson, who processed and posted this audio recording by Taylor McNeil:

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

Radio Clandestine: 1980's

Radio Clandestine was one of the main U.S. pirates on shortwave in the 1970s and 1980s — this recording was made in Washington, DC on a Hammarlund HQ-180A. I do not recall the frequency. This recording includes the famous spoof of Radio Moscow…and sign off with the equally famous R.F. Burns. At another link here in the archives, Andy Robins provides a separate recording of Radio Clandestine recorded in 1980 and notes that the station was known for using frequencies inside the regular shortwave broadcasting bands, unlike other pirates that tended to use frequencies just above or below the 40-meter amateur radio band.

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

Emisora da Guine Portuguesa (Portuguese Guinea - Guinea Bissau): 1972

This was the classic aerogram style QSL received by many DX’ers who heard Emisora da Guinea (or Guine as it was spelled by the station) Portuguesa. One of the hardest DX catches for North American listeners, the station’s main frequency was, as this verification notes, 5,041 khz. But for a brief period in 1972, DX’ers were amazed to find that this rare African station was putting out a harmonic and being heard at strong levels on 5041 x 2 = 10,082 khz. Some of us were pinching ourselves to make sure we weren’t dreaming, but yes, this was Portuguese Guinea. What’s more, the station was actually one of the more consistent verifiers of reception reports, and sent out this beautiful folding QSL complete with fantastic local stamps.

You may notice that no mention is made by the station of its harmonic frequency that allowed so many of us to hear this small country in the west of Africa. Here’s the recording, Emisora da Guinea Bissau, made on a HQ-180 in Pennsylvania, on the frequency of 10,082 khz a harmonic of 5,041 khz, the station’s main frequency. You will hear in this recording a variety of other interesting sounds, including interference from a local amateur radio operator whose signal was coming in at 10 mHz, the sound of an old dial-up phone, and the clunk of the HQ-180’s selectivity switch as I changed bandwidths from time to time.

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

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.

Neptune Radio ID: October 21, 2001

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Adam C. Smith who shares the following station ID of pirate radio station, Neptune Radio. This recording was made on October 21, 2001 at 05:15 UTC on 6,955 kHz USB:

Rizzo Radio station ID: January 31, 2001

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Adam C. Smith who shares the following Station ID of Rizzo Radio. This recording was made on January 31, 2001 at 02:29 UTC on 27,555 kHz USB:

Receiver location was Federal Way, WA, USA. Receiving equipment used was a Grundig Satellit 800 w/60' random wire.

Pirate Station ID: Seattle Free Radio--March 30, 2002

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Adam C. Smith who shares the following Station ID of Seattle Free Radio. This recording was made on March 30, 2002 at 04:20 UTC on 6950 kHz:

CKCM Grand Falls, Newfoundland: Oct 1, 1976

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Ray Robinson, who shares this mediumwave recording of a station ID and notes:

"This was my first ever transatlantic DX catch of a North American station, while I was living in England. I was so excited! The radio bug truly bit me, and I have been an avid radio enthusiast ever since!"

Broadcaster: CKCM, Grand Falls, Newfoundland

Date of recording: 10/1/1976

Starting time: 0156 UTC (2326 local Newfoundland time)

Frequency: 620 kHz

Received in Luton, England, using a Russian Vega 206, medium wave loop