Radio Australia: June 20, 1987

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, for the following recording of Radio Australia. Tom notes:

A program from Radio Australia called Talkback recorded in June 1987. This episode looked at the story of the closing of the Lyndhurst transmitter site. The program was titled "The Lyndhurst Special". I probably recorded this around 0400 UTC or later back when the nighttime frequency of 17795 kHz put in a good signal during the summer months at night. Enjoy.

Location: South Bend, IN, USA

Receiver: Sony ICF-2001

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.

Radio Australia's "Club Forum" 1973

 (Source: Rob Wagner)

Rob Wagner, VK3BVW, shares this historic recording of Radio Australia's Club Forum, from February 4th, 1973.

Below is Bob's description, taken from his blog the Mount Evelyn DX Report, with recording following:

Here's something I found a few days ago! An old cassette tape of part of Radio Australia's Club Forum program, hosted by the legendary Keith Glover. The program went to air on February 4th, 1973 (over 40 years ago). It's only the first 6 minutes of the show, with Keith reporting on the Australian Radio DX Club'sConvention '73, held in Melbourne.

Keith had been invited to the convention as a guest speaker, delivering a wonderful talk on Radio Australia's devoted listeners around the world and the role that the station played in presenting an Australian Voice internationally. For many years, the station was very popular, particularly in Asia.

Keith's Club Forum report on his visit to the convention mentions many names of enthusiastic Melbourne and Sydney DXers from that era. Keith's programs were always well-prepared, but he was able to communicate with listeners with a relaxed and very personal style......with a feeling that he was almost face-to-face with you in the same room! You can hear that style come out in this recording. Indeed for many years, Keith was one of the best-known voices on shortwave. He died in 2006.

Club Forum was a weekly program, connected to the Radio Australia Listeners Club. A special listeners certificate was available, each individual certificate having it's own membership number.

I'm making this recording public after all these years because:

1)  It may bring back memories to the "Old Folks" amongst us, of a fascinating era when the DX hobby and shortwave listening was blooming, and

2)  Just this last month, Radio Australia discontinued their Mandarin and Indonesian shortwave services - what were formerly their two biggest audiences with literally millions of listeners.

How times have changed!!

I hope you enjoy this brief glimpse into the Radio Australia of a bygone age.

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

Radio Australia's Tok Pisin service

Monday morning, I was up earlier than usual and caught Radio Australia's Tok Pisin (Pacific Pidgin Language Service) on 9,475 kHz.

I doubt many English-speaking SWLing Post readers will understand Tok Pisin if you're hearing it for the first time, but as with other Pidgin languages throughout the world, Tok Pisin is a mixture of several languages: English, German, Malay, Portuguese and Austronesian languages. It has a comparatively simple structure and you might be surprised what you can understand if the topic shifts to something familiar. I've certainly enjoyed listening to it in the background as I work on other projects.

I recorded a full 90 minutes of the Tok Pisin service; you can download it directly by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below: