The Voice of America: January 14, 2025

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Paul Walker, who shares the following recording of The Voice of America made on January 14, 2025 at 0355 UTC on 9775 kHz. The reception location was McGrath, Alaska:

Radio Free Speech (Pirate): December 15, 1996

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

Broadcaster: Radio Free Speech (pirate)

Date of recording: December 15, 1996

Starting time: 1330 UTC

Frequency: 6.955 MHz

Reception location: Thamesford, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Panasonic RF-3100 and longwire antenna

Notes: Radio Free Speech was a shortwave pirate radio station heard regularly in the late 1990's here in Southern Ontario, Canada. Here are a few blended airchecks from their Christmas Special broadcast on December 15, 1996 around 1330 hours UTC. This was on 6955 kHz and the announcer was "Bill O. Rights."

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.

BBC World Service: January 26, 2023

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Liam Spencer, who shares the following recordings and notes:

Broadcaster: BBC World Service

Date of recording: 1/26/2023

Starting time: 01:00 UTC

Frequency: 15.310 MHz

Reciever location: KiwiSDR in Philippines/Thailand

Antenna: 40M delta loop

Notes: This is part one of two of a one hour broadcast from the BBC World Service Relay in Kranji, Singapore. Reason I had to do two parts was due to the signal becoming weak on the KiwiSDR in the Philippines, So I switched to one in Thailand which had a stronger signal.

Broadcaster: BBC World Service

Date of recording: 1/27/2023

Starting time: 01:00 UTC

Frequency: 15.310 MHz

Receiver location: KiwiSDR in Thailand

Antenna: Wellbrook Loop FLX1530LN

Notes: Part 2, the first KiwiSDR I used the signal became to weak to listen to I switched to one in Thailand which had a better signal.
Part 2 covers from 01:11 UTC to 1:59 UTC.

Radio Kudirat Nigeria (Clandestine): March 22, 1998

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

Some blended audio clips from pro democracy clandestine station Radio Kudirat Nigeria (The Voice of Democracy) operating on 11540 kHz. This recording was made on March 22, 1998 in Thamesford, Ontario, Canada. The station says they are getting reports of poor reception on their other frequency of 6205 kHz, and recommends tuning to 11540 kHz.

Date of recording: 3/22/1998

Frequency: 11.540

Reception location: Thamesford, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Panasonic RF-3100 and longwire antenna

Shannon VOLMET: August 5, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Stewart Killeen, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Shannon Volmet - SIGMET. A Shanwick Radio broadcast from the North Atlantic Communications Centre, providing meteorological information for aircraft in flight within the Shanwick area of international airspace (northeast part of the Atlantic).

Name: Stewart Killeen

Date of recording: 8/5/2021

Starting time: 0935UTC

Frequency: 5.501MHz

Reception location: Dublin, Ireland

Teceiver and antenna: Tecsun PL-660

Mode: AM

Various Shortwave Broadcasts clips from the 1960s recorded by WPE9JEL on Reel-to-Reel

Photo by Ingo Schulz on Unsplash

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

Recorded by Short Wave Listener WPE9JEL from Crown Point during the 1960s. Receiver: Hallicrafters SX-110, Antenna: Random Wire. There are some duplicates that were not edited out - sorry about that.

BBC World Service: August 31, 1997 (Death of Diana, Princess of Wales)

Diana's coffin is borne through the streets of London on its way to Westminster Abbey (Source: Wikimedia - Public Domain Image)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott Nelson, for sharing the following recording and notes:

BBC World Service on shortwave announcing the death of Princess Diana.  Special news programming and commentary on this sad event. 

• Starting time: 0400 

• Frequency: 5.975 

• Receiver: Radio Shack DX-392 with built-in whip.

• Location was Pierre, South Dakota

Radio Thailand Newsmagazine in English, January 16, 2015

Radio Thailand Newsmagazine in English.  From Udon Thani.  Received and recorded with the Degen DE1121 and an indoor homebrew passive broomstick antenna in Sydney, Australia.

Tip & Elvis Show: May 31, 2014

For your listening pleasure: over two hours of theTip and Elvis Show. This Euro pirate  broadcast was recorded by Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Frank.

Tip and Elvis was broadcasting on 6,220 kHz in AM–you’ll hear some adjacent digital interference, but signal strength is pretty good for (most likely low power) pirate radio. This recording starts around 20:30 GMT on May 31, 2014.

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

The Shortwave Shindig: March 15, 2014

Every year at the Winter SWL Fest in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, radio producer David Goren hostsThe Shortwave Shindig, a live event that celebrates the art and culture of long distance listening. This year, for the first time, the Shortwave Shindig was broadcast live on shortwave. The Shindig signed on for one hour at 10:00 ET (02:00 UTC) on 7,570 kHz via WRMI's new Okeechobee facility. 

Last week, I asked readers on my blog, The SWLing Post, if they could record the Shortwave Shindig.  I received two shortwave recordings and one FM recording--I will add others to this post as they arrive.

Matthew Williams took this photo of his TS-590S and Grundig G3 while recording the Shortwave Shindig.

Our first recording comes from Matthew Williams who recorded the show on his Kenwood TS-590 with an 80 meter doublet antenna in New Paltz, NY:

Ed McCorry made the following recording at his home in Willow Spring, NC. He used an ICOM R-75 with a 120 ft. longwire antenna:

"The Professor" recorded this FM broadcast from inside the hotel where the Winter SWL Fest was held. Evidently, an in-house pirate radio FM station was relaying the broadcast:

Captain Morgan Shortwave: February 13, 2014

For your listening pleasure: thirty eight minutes of the pirate radio station, Captain Morgan Shortwave. 

I recorded this broadcast on February 13, 2014 starting around 1:35 UTC, on 6,924 kHz. This broadcast sounds more like a test transmission than a programmed show. 

Simply click here to download an MP3 of the recording, or listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Liberty, Russian Language Service: February 2, 2014

For your listening pleasure: two hours of Radio Liberty's Russian Language Service. This broadcast was recorded on February 2, 2014 by SRAA contributor, Frank, in Europe around 15:00 UTC on 11,890 kHz. This broadcast was relayed through the Woofferton site in the United Kingdom (300 kW).

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

Radio Station of Macedonia (Voice of Greece): January 28, 2014

For your listening pleasure: 1 hour 29 minutes of The Radio Station of Macedonia (formerly Voice of Greece). This broadcast was recorded on January 28, 2014 around 1:50 UTC on 9,420 kHz.

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

NHK Radio Japan: January 7, 2014

This Radio Japan (Japanese language) broadcast was recorded on January 7, 2014 starting a little before 02:00 UTC on 5,960 kHz. The broadcast begins with a few seconds of Radio Japan's interval signal.

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

ZBC Zanzibar, English and Swahili: December 4, 2013

The old fort of Zanzibar, Tanzania (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Many thanks to SWAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of the ZBC Zanzibar made from his home in Europe.

This recording  includes Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation's programme in English and Swahili, recorded on December 4, 2013, at 18:00 GMT. ZBC Zanzibar was using their 50 kW transmitter.

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

Marion's Attic - WBCQ: November 10, 2013

Marion Webster

If you’ve never heard Marion’s Attic on WBCQ, you don’t know what you’ve been missing–especially if you love early music recordings. Marion’s Attic describes the show as:

“[A] unique radio program, broadcasted on WBCQ, The Planet, [7.49] MHz (Shortwave Radio) every Sunday at 5 PM Eastern time. Hosted by Marion Webster & Kristina, and with occasional special guests.”

“Marion’s Attic is an eclectic radio program which plays original cylinder and disc records from the late 1890’s to the mid 1930’s. Having a library containing thousands of standard size cylinder records, dozens of 5 inch Concert Cylinders and an unknown amount of 78’s allows us to share unusual and forgotten music that you cannot hear anywhere else. What makes this special radio program unique is I play original records on the original phonographs when possible; many of which are over 100 years old. The theme varies from week to week; a show may feature popular songs from the early 1900’s one week, wild dance music from the roaring 20’s the next week.”

Marion’s Attic has been on WBCQ since September 21st, 1999 and is certainly one of their most popular shows. It’s quirky and authentic. I love it.

Mary tells us that each episode is recorded in her attic using simple recording equipment and original phonographs including:

• 1898 Edison Home phonograph for brown wax cylinders
• 1900 Columbia Graphophone AG for Concert Cylinders
• 1908 Edison Standard Model D phonograph for 2 & 4 minute wax cylinders
• 1913 Edison Amberola V phonograph for Blue Amberol cylinders
• 1923 Edison London Upright phonograph for Diamond Discs
• 1965 Gerrard electronic turntable for 78 rpm records

Yesterday afternoon, at 16:59 EST (21:59 UTC), I tuned toMarion’s Attic on 7,490 kHz and started recording. You’ll hear about one minute of WBCQ’s interval signal and station ID, then straight into Marion’s Attic. Click here to download the show as an MP3 or simply listen via the embedded player below:

If you missed Marion’s Attic yesterday, you can catch it again tonight on WBCQ–check out the full broadcast schedule below:

• Sundays:  7,490 kHz, 05:00PM – 06:00PM ET (22:00 – 23:00 UTC)
• Mondays: 5,110 kHz, 09:00PM – 10:00PM ET (02:00 – 03:00 UTC)

WBCQ is easily heard in North, Central and South America–also in Europe.

Marion and Kristine often give shout outs to their listeners. You can contact them at marionweb@aol.com or:

Marion’s Attic

P.O. Box 583

Coventry, CT 06238

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