Voice of Korea/KCBS (Assorted Recordings): 2022-2023

/

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Messina, who shares the following recordings and notes:

Broadcaster: KCBS Pyongyang

Date of recording:Various (2022-2023)

Frequency: Various frequencies

Reception location: Various locations

Receiver and antenna: KiwiSDR

Mode: AM

Notes: This is a collection of recent recordings I made of DPRK SW radio stations.

Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor: October 22, 1992

/

RIAS BUILDING IN BERLIN WITH NEON LOGOS NOW USED BY DEUTSCHLANDRADIO (AVDA, WIKIMEDIA)

Live, off-air, approximately 45-minute recording of RIAS, Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor, on 22 October 1992 beginning at about 23:15 UTC on 6005 kHz. The signal was broadcast from a 100-kW transmitter in the Britz suburb of Berlin, Germany, using an essentially non-directional antenna.

RIAS began operations as the wired station Drahtfunk im amerikanischen Sektor on 7 February 1946 and began its radio life on 5 September 1946. On 1 January 1994, RIAS was merged into DeutschlandRadio Berlin.

The recording starts with a program of jazz music in progress. Initially, there is a heterodyne of approximately 520 Hz from a co-channel transmitter. At about the 12m:30s mark of the recording, the heterodyne disappears. This might be related to receiver adjustments. At the 15m:50s mark in the recording, station identification is given as "RIAS, Berlin" followed by "Nachrichten" (news). This is followed by autobahn news (preceded by the alert tone) and the program "Nightline." At about the 22m:30S mark of the recording, a new heterodyne appears with a frequency of about 850 Hz but it lasts for only about 30 seconds. This is during a program of pop music. At about the 40m mark of the recoding, the Bow Bells interval signal of the BBC World Service begins in advance of a co-channel transmission to South America from a transmitter at Ascension followed by station identification and the Lilliburlero signature tune.

In the audio file, the 520-Hz heterodyne has been notched out and the audio levels somewhat normalized to make listening a bit more enjoyable.

Reception of the broadcast was fairly good apart from the heterodynes.

The broadcast was received in Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada, using a JRC NRD-535D receiver operated with a 6 kHz IF filter and with a random-length wire antenna draped around the listening room.

Thanks to Wolfgang Bueschel for help with documenting this recording.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2019

/
46851134_403.jpg

Two live, off-air, two-hour recordings of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2019 beginning at 19:00 UTC. The broadcast features Christmas music and greetings for mariners around the world and a church service. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the second Advent Sunday (8 December) in Leer and on the third Advent Sunday (15 December) in Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band while the Hamburg event also featured Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band. At about 21:00, there was a church service from St. Maria Magdelena Catholic Church in Bochum-Wattenscheid. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in English, Filipino, and Indian languages as well as German. Several songs in English, too. A news bulletin (in progress when recording began) preceded the first program segment for a few minutes.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Moosbrunn (MOS), Austria; Issoudun (ISS), France; and Gavar (ERV), Armenia; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule for 1900-2100 UTC was:
6030 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
6080 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
9570 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9800 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
11650 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic
and for 2100-2300 UTC:
6145 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
6155 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
9590 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
9675 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean Eastbound
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9830 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic

The first recording is of the transmission on the frequency of 6080 kHz between about 19:00 and 21:00 UTC. The second recording is of the transmission between about 21:00 and 23:00 UTC on the frequency of 6145 kHz. Near the beginning of the second recording, some other frequencies were tried to confirm the best one.

The transmissions were received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 2.3 kHz RF filtering. Reception was quite good for both two-hour segments although the second one got slightly noisy as time progressed.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2018

/
grussanbord.png

Two live, off-air, two-hour recordings of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2018 beginning at 19:00 UTC. The broadcast features Christmas music and greetings for mariners around the world and a church service. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the second Advent Sunday (9 December) in Leer and on the third Advent Sunday (16 December) in Hamburg. Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and the trio Anne-Fleur Schoch trio while the Hamburg event featured Isabella Rapp and the Lars-Luis Linek band. At about 21:00, there was a protestant Christmas Mass from the Neustädter Hof and Stadtkirche St. Johannis in Hanover. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings and songs in English. A news bulletin preceded the program segments at 19:00 and 22:00 UTC.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Moosbrunn (MOS), Austria; Issoudun (ISS), France; and Gavar (ERV), Armenia; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule for 1900-2100 UTC was:
6030 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
6080 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
9570 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9800 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean/South Africa
11650 ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic
and for 2100-2300 UTC:
6145 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
6155 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
9590 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean/South Africa
9650 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9720 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9830 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic

The first recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz between 19:00 and about 20:00 UTC, then switching to the frequency of 6080 kHz. During the news bulletin, the various frequencies were tried. The second recording is of the transmission between about 21:00 and 23:00 UTC on the frequency of 6145 kHz. Again, the various frequencies were tried to find the best one.

The transmissions were received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. Reception started out just fair and somewhat noisy, not surprising given that the receiver was not in a target zone. Improves slightly with change of frequency at 20:00 UTC. Reception during the second recording was fairly good but, again, with some noise.

Voice of Turkey, German Language Service: September 10, 2017

/
VOT.jpg

For your listening pleasure, The Voice of Turkey's German language service, recorded on September 10, 2017 starting at 2300 UTC on 9830 kHz. I believe this broadcast was in error--typically, the German language service is not broadcast at this time. 

This recording includes a few minutes of the VOT interval signal. 

I recorded this with a WinRadio Excalibur SDR hooked up to a large horizontal delta loop antenna.

Voice of Korea: September 4, 2017

/
141105-vok.png

Live, off-air recordings of the Voice of Korea broadcasts in English and German on 4 September 2017, beginning at 16:30 on 11645 kHz and 18:30 UTC on 9425 kHz, respectively. The broadcasts were transmitted from Kujang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), with a transmitter power of 200 kW. The English broadcast had an antenna beam direction of 296°, while the German broadcast was at 325°, both directed towards Europe.   

The commentaries in the first part of the programs include a discussion of the development of nuclear weapons by the DPRK and the announcement of the recent test of a hydrogen bomb.

Although the Voice of Korea broadcasts are nominally about 57 minutes in duration, the recording of the English broadcast stops after 30 minutes when China Radio International signs on, on an adjacent frequency with a powerful signal overriding that of the Voice of Korea. The recording of the German broadcast begins about 5 minutes late. 

The broadcasts were received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in synchronous AM mode with 5.08 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception of the two broadcasts varied from fair to good with some noise and fading and the German broadcast was accompanied by the sound of jamming, likely originating from the same transmitter plant that is used to jam broadcasts from the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and is likely due to a technical fault.

Radio Luxembourg (German Language Service): February 1982

/

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Harner, for the following recording. Paul notes:

The German service of RTL was recorded late on a Saturday/early Sunday morning Europe in either February or March 1982.  For those who speak German, there are news headlines that could pinpoint the exact date, so any help given would be greatly appreciated.

If you can help Paul ID headlines in this recording, please comment!

1991 cassette of shortwave IDs, interval signals and numbers stations

/

SWLing Post reader and SRAA contributor, Frank, writes from Germany:

First let me say that I enjoy your blog a lot.

After a 2005-13 hiatus, I have rediscovered a childhood hobby and your reviews have helped me find my way to the post-Sony portable shortwave radio markets.

First, I obtained my “childhood dream” radio (Sony ICF 2001D), because at the time I made these recordings I was still in school and 1300 DM would have equaled over 1 year of pocket money, so a Supertech SR16HN had to do. I thought I got some fine results with this Sangean-Siemens re-branded receiver then, using a CB half-length antenna, a random wire, and much endurance.

I kept regular logs throughout the years, wrote to 50 international and pirate stations for QSL and compiled this cassette.

A few years before I got that trusty SR16HN, however, I recorded a few number stations (such as G3, Four Note Rising Scale etc) with an ordinary radio cassette recorder, and in 1991 I put them onto this tape as well. The other recordings are done with the same radio placed right in front of the SR 16HN.

Feel free to make use of these recordings. Most of it are the well-known international state-owned shortwave stations of the past; plus European pirates; plus number stations; and at the end, a few (off-topic) local Am and FM stations interval signals.

As I said, this collection I made shortly after the Wende/reunification period, when all former-GDR state broadcasters changed their names, sometimes more than once.

Please continue your good work on the blogs! Weather permitting I am often outside cycling and always have the tiny Sony ICF 100 with me (which I call my then-student’s dream radio of the later 90ies).

Cassette Side 1

Cassette Side 2


Radio Österreich International: January 29, 2015

/
Rotating high performance directional antenna of the ORF (“Drehbare Hochleistungsrichtantenne ORF Moosbrunn“ von Daniel Csiky)

Rotating high performance directional antenna of the ORF (“Drehbare Hochleistungsrichtantenne ORF Moosbrunn“ von Daniel Csiky)

For your listening pleasure: Radio Österreich International.

This recording was made on 6,155 kHz on January 29, 2015 starting about  05:59 UTC.

Only recently, SWLing Post reader, Eric asked about orchestral music on shortwave–as you’ll hear, Radio Oesterreich International is certainly a good source!

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy:

Radio Thailand, English & German: May 14, 2014

/

For your listening pleasure: one hour of Radio Thailand's English Language service. This broadcast was recorded on May 14, 2014 by SRAA contributor, Frank, in Europe around 19:00 UTC on 9,390 kHz.

This broadcast was transmitted from Udon Thani (250 kW).

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Hamburger Lokal Radio: November 30, 2013

/

Many thanks to SWAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of the Hamburger Lokal Radio English and German language services.

Frank recorded this broadcast from his home in Europe on November 30, 2013, on 7,265 kHz, starting at 07:00 UTC. 

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below: