Trans World Radio Bonaire "The DX Special": Circa 1974

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

Broadcaster: Trans World Radio Bonaire "The DX Special" circa 1974

Frequency: 11.815 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Realistic DX-150A with a long wire antenna

Notes: Trans World Radio from the island of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles broadcast on shortwave from 1964 to 1993. They used to put a strong signal into my receiver location in southern Ontario, Canada. The station also used to air a program called "The DX Special", hosted by Al Stewart, which appears to have been produced in their Monte Carlo studio. I recently came across a short recording I made circa 1974, where I happened to catch the end of one of these programs.

Radio Australia: Circa 1974

The Shepparton transmitter site of ABC/Radio Australia

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

For those of you who like it, here are two more entries in the series of Australian Shortwave [Note: Recording 1 was published on the SRAA last week], which I've been parceling out from time to time since not long after this blog began. I'm fairly certain the person who recorded these programs lived somewhere in North America, because all of the shows (up until this posting) were from episodes directed at that continent. But additionally, I wonder now if the person lived on the west coast of North America, because he or she made an effort (on the same tape as a show from 9/5/74), to capture Australia Shortwave during a program broadcast towards Asia and the South Pacific. The quality of the connection during that portion is, as you'll hear, quite poor, but it did come in, at a level and quality that I would guess it wouldn't have been received in the eastern half of the continent.

Radio Australia: September 5, 1974

Radio Australia’s Shepparton TRansmitting Station

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, who shares the following recording and notes from his excellent website Inches Per Second:

For those of you who like it, here are two more entries in the series of Australian Shortwave [Note: Recording 2 will be published on the SRAA next week], which I've been parceling out from time to time since not long after this blog began. I'm fairly certain the person who recorded these programs lived somewhere in North America, because all of the shows (up until this posting) were from episodes directed at that continent. But additionally, I wonder now if the person lived on the west coast of North America, because he or she made an effort (on the same tape as a show from 9/5/74), to capture Australia Shortwave during a program broadcast towards Asia and the South Pacific. The quality of the connection during that portion is, as you'll hear, quite poor, but it did come in, at a level and quality that I would guess it wouldn't have been received in the eastern half of the continent.

Alfons and the Magic Christmas Tree read by Clayton Howard: December 1974

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Rawdon, for the following recording and notes:

[This is] a recording of a story featured on HCJB’s DX Party Line hosted by Clayton Howard. As far as I remember it was recorded in December 1974. It’s a short story from SPEEDX about the reception of Tristan Da Cunha and St Helena.

SPEEDX ran from 1971 until a declining membership forced its closure in 1995 archived copies of its monthly bulletin can be found here: https://worldradiohistory.com/Speedx.htm

Radio Australia (Coverage of Richard Nixon's Resignation Speech): August 8, 1974

37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon

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

Notes: Radio Australia shortwave broadcast with coverage of President Nixon's resignation speech on August 8, 1974.

RX location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire

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:

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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.

Ham radio contact between W2PVF and Argentine Antarctic Station LU1ZE: circa 1974

Many thanks to one of our newest SRAA contributors, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who approached me at the Winter SWL Fest this year noting that he has a wide variety of radio-related audio recordings to share with the SRAA. While many of his recordings are of broadcasts, he also has a number that are of ham radio communications.

This week, Bill shared two fascinating tape recordings he originally acquired from an estate sale.  These recordings were originally made in 1974 by the late Jim Hayward (W2PVF) in Absecon, New Jersey (USA) with two different ham radio stations in Antarctica.

The first recording was posted yesterday. The second recording (below) is between W2PVF and LU1ZE of the Argentine Antarctica Station. The operator at the microphone is W1PV. The recording even includes a phone patch:

Ham radio contact between W2PVF and KC4AAC of Palmer Station, Antarctica: circa 1974

Palmer Station (Photo Credit: Ryan Wallace and the USAP)

Many thanks to one of our newest SRAA contributors, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who approached me at the Winter SWL Fest this year noting that he has a wide variety of radio-related audio recordings to share with the SRAA. While many of his recordings are of broadcasts, he also has a number that are of ham radio communications.

This week, Bill shared two fascinating tape recordings he originally acquired from an estate sale.  These recordings were originally made in 1974 by the late Jim Hayward (W2PVF) in Absecon, New Jersey (USA) with two different ham radio stations in Antarctica.

This first recording is between W2PVF and KC4AAC of Palmer Station. The audio starts in mid conversation--we will post the second recording tomorrow:

80th Birthday of Rudolf Hess (1974)

Mystery still surrounds the 1941 flight from Germany to Britain by Nazi Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess. After the Nuremberg Trials, Hess finished his days as the only inmate of Spandau Prison in West Berlin.

BBC World Service (26 April 1974).

Information-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/will-we-ever-know-why-nazi-leader-rudolf-hess-flew-scotland-middle-world-war-ii-180959040/

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Australia

15th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution (1974)-Radio Havana Cuba

01. Speech by Fidel Castro (in Spanish) on the 15th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Originally delivered January 2, 1974. Broadcast January 10, 1974- 0420GMT- 11.840khz.

02. English summary of Castro’s speech January 11, 1974. 20.55 GMT- 15.140khz

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

Radio Peking (Jan.21, 1974)

Radio Peking- Shortwave report on Saigon's occupation of Chinese territory.

Broadcast January 21, 1974. 09-30GMT/ 11.720khz

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia

Shortwave Radio 1974: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations

Many thanks to SRAA Contributor, Brian D. Smith (W9IND), who notes:

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 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

0:00 — CBC (Radio Canada) Northern and Armed Forces Service: News and sports. 
7:51 — RAE (Radio Argentina): Sign-off with closing theme
9:14 — Department of Energy station in Belton, Missouri: "This is KRF-265 clear."
9:17  — Interval signal: Radio Spain.
9:40 —  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 — RAI (Italy), 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.

Shortwave Radio 1974 mix tape: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations

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.