ABC Radio Ray Briem Shortwave Show: December 15, 1984

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

Ray Briem Show on DXing and Shortwave Listening aired on the ABC Talk Radio Network. The show features many shortwave recordings/interval signals plus interviews with Stewart MacKenzie (American Shortwave Listener's Club), Dr. Richard E. Wood (well known DX-er), Tom Meijer (Radio Netherland’s Happy Station program), Arthur T. Cushen (well known blind DX-er), Glenn Hauser (Review of International Broadcasting/World of Radio), Ian McFarland (Radio Canada International’s Shortwave Listener’s Digest), H. D. Norman (NDXE Radio which never made it on the air), Joe Costello (Owner of WRNO Worldwide) and callers. The recording has popping sounds that were not able to be fully filtered out.

ABC Alice Springs Outback Radio Service on 4.835 MHz on Last Day of Shortwave Broadcasting: January 30, 2017

Live, off-air, two-hour recording of some of final day of shortwave transmissions by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) Northern Territory (NT) Outback Radio service on 30 January 2017 (UTC). This recording of station VL8A on 4835 kHz begins just before 18:30 UTC or 04:00 Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) on 31 January. VL8A relayed the ABC Local Radio AM station 8AL on 783 kHz in Alice Springs from a 50 kW transmitter at Alice Springs with a non-directional antenna beam.    

The recording includes part of ABC Local Radio's "ABC Radio Overnights" program with host Lisa Pellegrino and news bulletins.

Two other NT shortwave transmitters were located at Katherine (VL8K) and Tennant Creek (VL8T).

ABC ceased all NT shortwave transmissions shortly after 02:30 UTC on 31 January 2017 or noon, ACST. 
 
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.08 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception was generally poor with a lot of noise but with much of the audio understandable especially when using headphones. The poor quality is understandable given the non-directional transmission and the long propagation path.
 

First Nine Hours of Radio Australia on 12.065 MHz on Last Day of Shortwave Broadcasting: January 30, 2017

The front of a Radio Australia QSL card received for a report on reception in Toronto of a transmission on 11840 kHz at 19:30 UTC on 23 December 1964.

Live, off-air, nine-hour recording of some of the final shortwave transmissions of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) external service, Radio Australia, on 30 January 2017. This recording of the signal on 12065 kHz begins at 08:59 UTC and has been split into one-hour segments. The signal originated from a 100 kW transmitter at Shepparton, in northern Victoria, with an antenna beam azimuth of 355°. 

Sign-on of the transmitter occurred at about 08:59 UTC. Following an announcement about ABC Radio National programs, the first half-hour of programming is in Tok Pisin or New Guinea Pidgin and this was the last Radio Australia program in this language to be transmitted on shortwave. Various other Radio Australia and Radio National programs follow. There is an item on the termination of Radio Australia shortwave broadcasts in the news bulletin at 16:00 UTC.

The 12065 kHz frequency was used until 20:58 UTC, when the transmitter was switched to another frequency. 

Radio Australia ceased all shortwave transmissions shortly after 01:00 UTC or noon, Australian Eastern Daylight Time, on 31 January 2017.
 
The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with 5.08 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception varied from poor to fair during the nine hours recorded.
 

Listeners record final moments of the Radio Australia shortwave service: January 31, 2017

Many thanks to all of the SRAA contributors who have shared their recordings of the final moments of Radio Australia. Below, you'll find a number of recordings from around the world.

If you have a recording you would like to share, please submit it to us and we'll add your recording.

The first SRAA contributor, Mark Fahey, lives near Sydney, Australia. Mark recorded the shortwave service and RA satellite feed simultaneously. Mark shares the following recordings and notes:

Recording 1

This is RA’s final few minutes on shortwave – it was recorded on 17840kHz.
The file picks up the regular program ending, then into a Promo for RA “Pacific Beat” (a Pacific current affairs program), then the classic RA Interval Signal then the transmitter clicks off and the void is heard.

Recording 2

The file starts at exactly the same time as the first file, but in this example we are monitoring the Network Feed from Intelsat 18 at 180.0 degrees east (above the equator right on the international date line). This satellite feed is the way Radio Australia gets to the network of FM Transmitters they have scatted around the Pacific Region (which is why they feel they don’t need shortwave anymore for – most populated areas of Radio Australia’s target area now is covered by a network of Radio Australia FM transmitters).

Ian P notes:

Recorded from A Global Tuner in Broome, WA, Australia
Receiver: Icom PCR-1000 Antenna: Discone
Last 30 Minutes Of Radio Australia On Short Wave

Phil Brennan writes:

I managed to catch the last 45 seconds of the NT ABC broadcast on 5025 kHz. Unfortunately it's from my phone and not of great quality, but it may be the only recording of it given the time of day and propagation conditions.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Dan Hawkins writes:

I set up the 909X (also my favorite travel radio) on a chair in a backyard and ran the little ANT-60 reel-up antenna up to a pear tree. This is a recording of Radio Australia Pacific Service on 17840 kHz that includes the last top of the hour newscast at midnight, 1-31-2017 UTC. It includes promos, an ID and a news story on the shortwave closure. Less than a hour later there was no more RA on shortwave. RA came in very well for northern California on several frequencies. Conditions were fantastic for this one considering the 7,800 mile transmission distance. Birds and traffic are also heard in this hand-held field recording. I didn’t bring the tripod. I’ll miss Radio Australia, but I still have excellent reception of RNZI.

Click here to view on YouTube.

ABC Northern Territory: 08 November 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Julie, for this recording of Radio Thailand's English language service.

Julie recorded this broadcast in Sydney, Australia on November 8, 2014 at 1155 UTC on 4.835 MHz. Julie notes:

"This frequency booms every night here, unlike the other two NT stations on 2325 and 2485, which the DE1121 cannot record as it only covers 3 to 29.999 MHz. I hear them well sometimes, other times not at all, but 8AL sounds like Alice is next door when it's almost 3 thousand miles away..."

A little more Saturday Night Country via Radio Australia

I've mentioned before how much I love this show--you don't even need to be a fan of country music to have a true appreciation for it.

Saturday Night Country should be on your shortwave listening schedule. If you live in North America, you'll find the signal out of Shepparton, Australia is so strong that even a mediocre portable radio can receive it with ease.

Here's a two hour and 50 minute taste of Saturday Night Country for your Monday morning: