Nelson Mandela Release - Radio RSA (February 11th, 1990

Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa on February 11th, 1990. At the time, Radio RSA was still broadcasting to the world on shortwave radio, and provided live coverage of the event which was heard by many shortwave listeners. It will be recalled that Radio RSA had one of the most powerful shortwave transmission systems of any country for many years — with its familiar interval signal it was a regular for SWLs.

This recording of Radio RSA was made on a SONY ICF-2010 receiver in Silver Spring, Maryland. The first recording is of the full Radio RSA coverage, and the second is the Mandela speech itself, a portion that begins at about the 1 hour 10 mark. Mandela said: “A democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.” Radio RSA was so strong, in fact, that it could be heard on my SONY AM-FM-SW Cassette Deck using only a short piece of wire as an antenna. At end end of the Mandela speech recording, can be heard a VOA newscast from the previous day covering the announcement by then President DeKlerk that Mandela would be released.

Radio RSA: December 31, 1979

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jerry Johnston, who has kindly shared his collection of airchecks with the archive. The following recording and notes originally appeared on Jerry’s website.

Meyerton, South Africa 1979-12-31 2153 GMT 15380/17805 kHz English Radio RSA's 3rd annual New Year's Eve live call in program. I called in at 2320 GMT (separate cut on recoding, 19 minutes in). I was 13 years old at the time. You can hear my voice right before that cut, and again at the very end of the recording.

Duration:   46:15
Filename:  19791231_2153_Radio-RSA_South-Africa_15380.mp3
Bitrate Mode:  vbr      Channel Mode:  mono      Sample Rate:  44100 Hz
Received By:  Jerry Johnston
Receiving Location:  Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Radio South Africa (RSA) New Year's Eve Broadcast: December 31, 1977

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording of Radio South Africa which was originally recorded on December 31, 1977 from his home in Plymouth, MN using a Hammarlund HQ-180:

During the late 1970s, Radio South Africa (RSA) would broadcast a New Years call-in show. This recording is from 1/1/1978 (12/31/1977 in the US). At two minutes into the recording, you can hear the interval signal for RAI (Italy) in the background. I have scoped (edited) the music. Unsure how long RSA carried on this tradition, but heard a similar call-in broadcast the following year on 1/1/1979.

Channel Africa: Unknown date

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Timothy Land, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Channel Africa - South Africa

Frequency: Unknown

Reception Location: Kingsport, Tennessee

Notes: This is from one of my late evening shortwave listening sessions as a teen in the early to mid 1990's. Time and date is uncertain. The signal is weak

Radio RSA - The Voice of South Africa: March 14, 1982

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

Every Saturday night during the early 1980s [in South Bend, Indiana] I would regularly tune to 9580 kHz at 0200 to listen to Radio RSA (Channel Africa as it is now known) to hear DX Corner, their regular DX program. This episode from March 14, 1982 was a look at the brand new hot radio, the Sony ICF-2001. The audio isn't great but should be listenable. I think this was recorded using my new Realistic DX-302. Enjoy!

1981 & 1982: Various International Time Signal Stations

One of four WWV time code generators in late August, 2014 (Photo: Thomas Witherspoon)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares the following recordings he has transferred from audio cassette. Tom includes the following notes:

I combined several audio files of some of the common time signal stations available back in 1981 and 1982 into one clip. These were made using a DX-302 which had poor image rejection and you can hear some stations behind WWV which shouldn't be there, such as RCI's interval signal at one point.

00:00 - VNG, Australia - August 16, 1981 on 12.000 MHz at ???? UTC
03:02 - LOL, Argentina - October 15, 1981 on 15.000 MHz at 2349 UTC
07:27 - BPM, China - January 16, 1982 on 10.000 MHz at 1255 UTC
08:38 - ZUO, South Africa - December 18, 1982 on 5.000 MHz at 0329 UTC

Radio Sonder Grense: October 14, 2012

The following recording of Radio Sonder Grense was made on October 14, 2012 beginning around 0326 UTC (frequency unknown).

This off air recording comes from a collection of archived recordings by SWAA contributor, Terry Wilson. 

Terry made this and all of his recordings in the Midwestern US on either the Ten-Tec RX-320D or Eton E1XM receivers. He used the recording facility of the Shortwave Log software.  Terry notes that any "QRM includes city power lines, street lights with bad ballasts, household electronics, and interference from Radio Havana Cuba."

Many thanks for sharing these recordings, Terry! For more recordings from this collection, simply follow this tag: Terry Wilson.

You can listen to the full recording below, or download as an MP3 with the link provided.