CHU Canada: Three Recordings Including Final Moments Transmitting on June 22, 2026

CHU Transmitting Site in Ottawa, Canada (Source: NRC)

Many thanks to several SRAA contributors who have shared recordings of CHU Canada during its final days as a shortwave time signal station.

This first recording was sent to us via Ronald McKinnon and is the National Research Council’s own recording of the final minutes of CHU on the air. Here are the notes that accompanied this recording:

Broadcaster: National Research Council CHU

Date of recording: June 22, 2026

Starting time: 14:08:00 UTC

Frequency: 3.33 MHz

Location: Ottawa, ON Canada

Receiver and antenna: Raddy RF320 with built-in antenna

Notes: This is a recording of the last few minutes of the NRC CHU time signal over shortwave at 3.33MHz.It was recorded on June 22, 2026 just as the broadcast was being shut down. The broadcast had been in operation in one form or another for over 90 years. The recording was made from just outside the station in Ottawa in order to obtain maximum signal quality.The NRC's home page about this station:

https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/canadas-official-time/nrc-shortwave-station-broadcasts-chu

CHU Canada: June 22, 2026
National Research Council

SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, shared the following recording of CHU with notes:

Broadcaster: CHU

Date of recording: June 21, 2026

Starting time: 0:12 UTC

Frequency: 3330 kHz

Reception location: Washington, D.C

Your receiver and antenna: Na5b websdr

Notes: This is my last-ever recording of CHU Canada, as they have shut down all the transmitters today, June 22. Recorded with the Websdr na5b located in DC. https://na5b.com:8901

CHU Canada: June 21, 2026
Bryce Belcher

SRAA contributor, Emilio, shared this longer recording with notes:

Freq: 7850 kHz

Date: Friday, 5 June 2026

Time: 17 UTC

SINPO: 45343

RX Grid locator: EK36kp

State: Chiapas

Country: Mexico

Receiver: Kenwood R-600

Antenna: long wire about 10 meters.

Recorded by: Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven

CHU Canada: June 5, 2026
Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven

BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica: June 21, 2026

This is the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica recorded on June 21, 2026 at 09:30 UTC in Foulden, Scotland, UK. The radio was an Elecraft KX2 connected to a 31-foot 9:1 random wire antenna in the back garden. The broadcast starts on 9460 kHz, but I then move to 12070 kHz because it had slightly less local noise.

BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica: June 21, 2026
Thomas Witherspoon

Personal note

The BBC Midwinter Broadcast remains one of my favorite SWLing events of the year. I simply love the idea that the BBC would broadcast from two different sites on three different frequencies via shortwave to a relatively small audience of British Antarctic Survey scientists wintering over in Antarctica.

It's always a joy to listen live, knowing that they're celebrating midwinter with parties at their stations and hearing the voices, messages, laughter, and well-wishes of loved ones carried to them over the air by shortwave radio.

In an age of instant communications, there's still something magical about that.

Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026

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

Broadcaster: Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station)

Date of recording: March 16, 2026

Starting time: 2358

Frequency: 19.052

Your location: Thailand

Your receiver and antenna: Kiwi SDR with Wellbrook loop

Mode: Single Side Band

Safe for children?: Yes

Notes: This is a "numbers station" broadcasting in Mandarin Chinese, presumably sending encrypted messages to Taiwanese intelligence agents in mainland China, from Taiwan. It appears to follow a set daily schedule, and begins each transmission with the tune of a Chinese folk song played on a flute. This is followed by station ID, given twice, and a few announcements in Mandarin, then a sequence of numbers read in groups of four. An excellent article about this station can be found on the Mount Evelyn DX Report written by Rob Wagner VK3BVW in May 2025.

Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026
Dan Greenall

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 16, 2026

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

On March 16, I listened to V32 using the SV1BTL SDR in Athens, Greece. The voice came on at exactly 1800 UTC, but right up to 1759, the bubble jammer was being heard on that frequency. There did not appear to be any jamming during the actual "broadcast". The signal was very strong, averaging 20 dB over 9. At 1823 UTC, there were 12 users listening on this particular SDR, and 8 of them were tuned to 8742 kHz!

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 16, 2026
Dan Greenall

Radio Farda (Being Actively Jammed): January 28, 2026

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Jim Jordan, who shares the following recording of Radio Farda being actively jammed. Jim also shares these notes:

Broadcaster: Radio Farda

Date of recording: January 28, 2026

Starting time: 1700 UTC

Frequency: 7.5 MHz

Your location: NW UK

Your receiver and antenna: Lowe HF 150 plus 50m random

Notes: A bit reminiscent of trying to listen to Radio Liberty during the Cold War

Radio Farda (Being Actively Jammed): January 28, 2026
Jim Jordan

Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026

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

Broadcaster: Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station)

Date of recording: March 16, 2026

Starting time: 2358 UTC

Frequency: 19.052 MHz

Receiver location: Thailand

Receiver and antenna: Kiwi SDR with Wellbrook loop

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: This is a "numbers station" broadcasting in Mandarin Chinese, presumably sending encrypted messages to Taiwanese intelligence agents in mainland China, from Taiwan. It appears to follow a set daily schedule, and begins each transmission with the tune of a Chinese folk song played on a flute. This is followed by station ID, given twice, and a few announcements in Mandarin, then a sequence of numbers read in groups of four. An excellent article about this station can be found on the Mount Evelyn DX Report written by Rob Wagner VK3BVW in May 2025.

Xing Xing Guangbo Diantai (Star Star Broadcasting Station): March 16, 2026
Dan Greenall

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 13, 2026

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

Broadcaster: V32 Persian/Farsi numbers station

Date of recording: March 13, 2026

Starting time: 0226 UTC

Frequency: 7.842 MHz

Receiver location: Israel

Receiver and antenna: Kiwi SDR with MLA-30+ Active antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Background material obtained via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
This radio signal first started broadcasting on February 28, about 12 hours after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran.

A man's voice can be heard speaking Persian, counting out a series of apparently random numbers. The numbers are read out for varying stretches of time, followed by a pause in which the word tavajjoh -- which translates as "attention" -- is spoken three times. (around the 48 second mark in the attached recording)

Beginning on March 4, the signal started to be jammed, with a cacophonous screech of electronic noise that made it all but impossible to hear the numbers. The original transmission paused for a period of time, then moved to another shortwave frequency.

The transmission, that has been dubbed V32 by at least one group, is called a numbers station, a Cold War-era tool that employs radio transmissions and old-school cryptology to transmit secret messages, usually to spies around the world. It's location is suspected to be somewhere in central Europe.

The attached recording of V32 was made on March 13, 2026 around 0230 hours UTC on 7842 kHz upper sideband USB using a Kiwi SDR located in Israel. I began the recording on 7841.9 kHz, but switched after a few minutes to 7842 kHz. This will account for the change in voice pitch.

V32 Persian/Farsi Numbers Station: March 13, 2026
Dan Greenall

Also attached is a brief recording of the jamming signal, or “bubble jammer”, made on March 6, 2026 on 7910 kHz (V32’s original frequency) at 0218 UTC.

Bubble Jammer: March 6, 2026
Dan Greenall