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.

WWV Fort Collins, Colorado: Pre 1971

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

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Notes: Prior to July 1, 1971, time and standard frequency station WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado was giving ID's in Morse code as well as voice every 5 minutes. They were best heard here in southern Ontario, Canada on 10 and 15 MHz.

WWV: December 8, 1991

WWV Station sign at WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Myke Dodge Weiskopf, who shares the following recording and notes:

BROADCASTER: WWV

DATE OF RECORDING: December 08, 1991

STARTING TIME: 0218

FREQUENCY: 5000 kHz

RECEPTION LOCATION: Rockford, Illinois, USA

RECEIVER AND ANTENNA: Unidentified boombox

NOTES:

NIST Radio Station WWV as it sounded on 8 December 1991 at 0218 UTC.

Due to the high cost of maintaining the aging drum-based voice announcement machines, NIST implemented a digital voice announcement system in 1991. The new male voice, belonging to Eric Smith, started at WWV on 13 August. The voice of WWVH belonged to Johanna Stahl. The voices were sorely lacking in high EQ at first, but were sharpened with an audio filter on 27 August. The modification did not help, and after months of equipment failures and complaints about the poor quality, NIST retired both voices on 11 August 1992.

An excerpted version of this recording is found on "At the Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH." This unedited version is being shared by special arrangement for the Shortwave Archive.

Time signal station VNG Lyndhurst (Victoria, Australia): December 13, 1971

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

Broadcaster: Time signal station VNG Lyndhurst Victoria Australia

Date of recording: December 13, 1971

Frequency: 4.500 MHz

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Mode: AM

Notes: Recorded on December 13, 1971, here is the announcement given by station VNG in Lyndhurst, Victoria, Australia transmitting with 10 kw on 4.5 MHz shortwave. This station was active from 1964 to 1987. Receiving location was Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Amazingly, the recording was made on a cheap Demonstration Musicassette that had tape placed over the ends so it could be reused. It still plays today and was used to produce this digital version. The announcement is given twice and goes: "This is an Australian Post Office standard frequency and time signal transmission from VNG, Lyndhurst, Victoria on 4.5, 7.5, or 12 Megahertz." This was given during the 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th minute of each hour according to their QSL card.

WWVH: Circa 1971

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

Time signal station WWVH in Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii was occasionally heard over WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado from my receiving post in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada in the 1970's, particularly on 10 MHz or 15 MHz. Here is a recording of their voice announcement from 1971, when they were still using the term Greenwich Mean Time as opposed to Coordinated Universal Time. The familiar "Aloha" is heard at the conclusion of the announcement.

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

WWV: Circa early 1971

Photo by Agê Barros

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

Prior to July 1, 1971, time and standard frequency station WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado was giving ID's in Morse code as well as voice every five minutes. They were best heard here in southern Ontario, Canada on 10 and 15 MHz.

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

WWV (Skylab - Apollo Telescope Mount announcement) : circa early 1973

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

Early in 1973, WWV made this announcement that they would make regular broadcasts of planned ATM (Apollo Telescope Mount) schedules by the new Skylab space station.

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Experimental Station KC2XIO: Circa 1971

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

KC2XIO was an experimental radio station operated by the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado between July 1970 and May 1971. This was to gather information in preparation of the format change for WWV and WWVH which happened in July 1971. Here are two recordings of their voice announcement (one male and one female) as heard in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada on a Hallicrafters S-52 receiver that was hooked up to an outdoor longwire antenna. The frequency used for these test transmissions was 13560 kHz shortwave.

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

PTT Voice Mirrors (Part 3): Circa 1970's

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

Broadcaster: PTT voice mirrors from the 1970's Part 3

Frequency: various

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes:
Point to point stations were commonly found on shortwave in the 1970's outside of the normal SWBC bands. They could often be heard transmitting a repeating test message so a receiving station could tune them in prior to conducting radiotelephone traffic.

1.  U.S. Army radio station ACA, Panama Canal Zone

2.  Oostende Radio, Belgium

3.  PTT, Dakar, Senegal

4.  Reugen Radio, German Democratic Republic

5.  Venezuelan Telephone Company, Caracas

6.  French Telecommunications Service, Djibouti

7.  British Post Office Phototelegraph Network (no location given)

8.  Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation, 

      Yamachiche, Quebec

9.  ENTEL, Bogota, Colombia

10.  Belgian Telegraph and Telephone Administration, Brussels

11.  British Post Office, London, England

12.  France Cables and Radio Company, Fort Lamy, Chad

13.  PTT, Blantyre, Malawi

14.  East African External Telecommunications Company Limited,

        Nairobi, Kenya

15.  International Telecommunications Corporation, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

16.  Office Congolais des Postes et Telecommunications, Kinshasa,Democratic Republic of the Congo

PTT Voice Mirrors (Part 2): Circa 1970's

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

Frequency: various

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Your receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes:
Point to point stations were commonly found on shortwave in the 1970's outside of the normal SWBC bands. They could often be heard transmitting a repeating test message so a receiving station could tune them in prior to conducting radiotelephone traffic.

1.  Radio Telephone Circuit, Godthaab, Greenland

2.  PTT, Papeete, Tahiti

3.  AFA, USAF Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, USA

4.  AFI,  USAF McClellan AFB Sacramento, CA, USA

5.  Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

6.  Radiografica Costarricense, San Jose, Costa Rica

7.  International Radio Telephone Service, Havana, Cuba

8.  France Cables and Radio Company, Douala, Cameroon

9.  French Telecommunications Service, Noumea, New Caledonia

10.  AEZ, U.S. Army, Asmara, Ethiopia

11.  French Telecommunications Service, Fort de France, Martinique

12.  CUW, USAF Aerospace Communications Complex, Lajes AFB, Azores

13.  Malgache Republic International Telecommunications Company,

        Tananarive, Madagascar

14.  French Telecommunications Service, Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe

15.  France Cables and Radio Company, Niamey, Niger

16.  French Telecommunications Service, St. Pierre et Miquelon

17.  France Cables and Radio Company, Monrovia, Liberia

PTT Voice Mirrors (Part 1): Circa 1970's

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

Broadcaster: PTT voice mirrors from the 1970's Part 1

Frequency: various

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes:

Point to point stations were commonly found on shortwave in the 1970's outside of the normal SWBC bands. They could often be heard transmitting a repeating test message so a receiving station could tune them in prior to conducting radiotelephone traffic. These recordings were all made at Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, using either a Hallicrafters S52 or Realistic DX150A receiver hooked up to a long wire antenna.

1.  Australian Overseas Radiotelephone Service, Sydney

2.  Reykjavik Radio, Iceland

3.  Moscow Radio Telephone Station, USSR

4.  Radio Telephone Station, Warsaw, Poland

5.  Overseas Station Berlin, German Democratic Republic

6.  Yugoslav Telegraph and Telephone Administration, Belgrade

7.  Swiss Telegraph and Telephone Administration, Bern

8.  ITALCABLE, Rome, Italy

9.  Netherlands PTT, Amsterdam

10.  Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, Nicosia

11.  Cairo Radio Telephone Terminal, Arab Republic of Egypt

12. PTT and Radio Administration, Tel Aviv, Israel

13. Saudi Arabian Post, Telegraph and Telephone Administration, Jeddah

14.  Moroccan Radio Electrical Centre, Rabat

15.  Companhia Portuguesa Radio Marconi, Luanda, Angola

16.  RCA Global Communications, New York City

17.  France Cables and Radio Company, Lome, Togo

18.  Zambian Post Office, Lusaka

Tropical Radio Telegraph Company (Point To Point): Panama City, Managua, and La Lima

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

Notes: With roots over 100 years old, the Tropical Radio Telegraph Company (a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company) used to operate a few radiotelephone stations in Central America during the years prior to the Internet. They often could be heard on various shortwave frequencies transmitting a repeating test message so the receiving station could tune them in. I managed to pick up 4 of their stations in the early 1970's. These recordings are from La Lima, Honduras; Managua Nicaragua; and Panama City, Panama. I have not been able to find the one from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, but maybe it will surface later.

Broadcaster: Tropical Radio Telegraph Company (point to point)

Date of recording: unknown

Starting time: unknown

Frequency: various

RX location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

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

Mode: Single Side Band

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

Civil Air Patrol Net 1 Message: January 24, 2022

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

Broadcaster: Civil Air Patrol

Date of recording: 1/24/2022

Starting time: 2001

Frequency: 14914 kHz

Receiver location: Hugo, MN

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

Mode: Single Side Band

Shannon VOLMET: August 5, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Stewart Killeen, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Shannon Volmet - SIGMET. A Shanwick Radio broadcast from the North Atlantic Communications Centre, providing meteorological information for aircraft in flight within the Shanwick area of international airspace (northeast part of the Atlantic).

Name: Stewart Killeen

Date of recording: 8/5/2021

Starting time: 0935UTC

Frequency: 5.501MHz

Reception location: Dublin, Ireland

Teceiver and antenna: Tecsun PL-660

Mode: AM

HF Aviation Traffic (Spirit Airlines 558): May 11, 2021

Image by Moritz Mentges

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares this bit of HF aviation traffic he recently recorded. Matt notes

Air to ground communications between Spirit 558 and New York. A phone patch was established to allow the aircraft to talk to a doctor on the ground about a person who had a seizure while on board the flight.

Date of recording: 5/11/2021

Starting time: 0256 UTC

Frequency: 8.933

Reciever location: Hugo, MN

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

Mode: Single Side Band

US Coast Guard Radio Station NMC: Summer of 2003

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bruce Atchison, for sharing the following recording and notes:

As for radio station NMC, I forget the frequency. It was somewhere in the aircraft band, somewhere about 8000KHZ. I used a Kenwood TS440S transceiver and I believe it was taped in the summer of 2003. Sorry I can't be more exact.

CHU Canada (Time Station): July 1993

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bruce Atchison, for sharing the following recording and notes:

This first [recording in a series I’m sharing] is of CHU Canada. I recorded it in July of 1993 on 7,335 kHz with my Kenwood TS-690S transceiver:

NIST Radio Station WWVH as it sounded in the 1980s

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Myke Dodge Weiskopf, who shares the following recording and notes:

NIST Radio Station WWVH as it sounded in the 1980s. To contrast with other recordings of the WWVH station ID, note that announcer Jane Barbe does not say (her now-famous) “Aloha!” at the end of this version.

This recording was found at WWVH in 2015 on an undated cassette labeled “JB on Old Audichron TCG” (which stands for Time Code Generator, the device which reconstructs and plays back Jane’s voice over the air). As such, the precise broadcast year is not known, but it is consistent with the voice and broadcast format of the 1980s, until the introduction of the short-lived digital voice in 1991.

An excerpted version of this recording is found on "At the Tone: A Little History of NIST Radio Stations WWV & WWVH." This unedited version is being shared by special arrangement for the Shortwave Archive.

WWV Time Station (15 MHz): November 3, 2017

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Emilio Ruiz, who shares the following recording of WWV and notes:

Sad for the news, the closing of WWV is like close a park, a comunity place where scientifics and enthusiast of radio could learn and experiment not only about time, radio propagation too. I not have much money for bought radiofrecuency equipment for repair or make my own radios, i use WWV for that. 

To go to the future it is not necessary to destroy the past, I'm teaching to children about science and technology and when talk about radio share with they the listen of WWV with old radio receiver (BC-548Q), for they the sound of ticks and the history about radio and time is a amazing topic.

I wrote this review (in Spanish) about WWV for those SWListeners and Radio Amateurs who do not spoke English,--I think can be useful.

I hope radioamateurs of U.S. can reverse the decision.

Broadcaster: WWV

Date of recording: 11/3/2017

Starting time: 14:00

Frequency: 15000 kHz

Reception location: Chiapas, México.

Receiver and antenna: Dipole antenna, Keenwood R-600