September 05, 2017

Voice of Korea: September 4, 2017

September 05, 2017/ Richard Langley

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.

September 02, 2017

Radio Ciudad de La Habana: August 14, 2017

September 02, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, one-and-a-half-hour excerpt of a five-and-a-half-hour recording of Radio Cubana's AM radio station CMBE, Radio Ciudad de la Habana, Havana, Cuba, on 14 August 2017 beginning at 21:00 UTC. The station operates on an frequency of 820 kHz from a transmitter in the Arroyo Arenas area of Havana with a power of 10 kW and an omnidirectional antenna. There is some confusion about the correct current call letters of the station. Government documents state CMBE, while other sources state CMBU. On air, the station uses CMCA and these were the official call letters in the past when the station used a different transmitter site.

The transmission was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in ferrite-bar-loop antenna in Naples, Florida, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. Reception was fairly good although the signal is a bit weak initially and there is some atmospheric noise due to thundershowers and thunderstorms in the Naples area. The transmitter went off the air a few seconds before the end of the recording and didn't return for about five minutes.

Radio Ciudad de la Habana, or simply Radio Ciudad, is a youth-oriented radio station with an emphasis on cultural and musical programming.

The recorded programs are "Diario Hablado" and "Rapsodia Latina."

August 30, 2017

WJCC, Radio Mega – Miami's Haitian Community AM Station: August 16, 2017

August 30, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, one-hour recording of AM radio station WJCC, Radio Mega, Miami, on 16 August 2017 beginning at 03:00 UTC (Tuesday, 15 August, 23:00 EDT). The station operates on an expanded-band frequency of 1700 kHz with a transmitter in Hialeah in northwest Miami with a nighttime power of 1 kW and an omnidirectional antenna.

The transmission was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in ferrite-bar-loop antenna in a hotel room near Miami International Airport in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. Reception was quite good.

Radio Mega is a multicultural station broadcasting primarily in Haitian Creole and French with religious, wellness, and cultural programming with its AM transmitter in Miami and an associated FM network in Haiti.

The recorded program is the "Unity Show" hosted by Soeur Raymonde Pierre.

June 24, 2017

BBC World Service Annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2017

June 24, 2017/ Richard Langley

Two live, off-air, half-hour recordings of the BBC World Service special Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on 21 June 2017 beginning at 21:30 UTC. The broadcast features special messages and music for the staff of the British Antarctic Survey overwintering in Antarctica.

The first recording is of the transmission on a frequency of 7360 kHz from the BBC's Ascension Island relay station (250 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 207 degrees). The transmission was received 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 was fairly good with some atmospheric noise.

The second recording is of the transmission on a frequency of 5985 kHz from the BBC's Woofferton, England, transmitting station (300 kW transmitter power, antenna beam 184 degrees). 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 USB mode (to avoid potential adjacent-channel interference) with 2.40 kHz RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was very good with occasional atmospheric noise.

The program started very slightly late for both transmissions with the first or first two words ("This is") missing.

May 11, 2017

Radio France Internationale - Results of First and Second Rounds of Presidential Election: April 24 & May 8, 2017

May 11, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air recordings of the special Radio France Internationale (RFI) broadcasts in English of the two rounds of the 2017 French presidential election on 24 April and 8 May 2017, both from 06:00 to 06:58 UTC. The broadcasts were transmitted from the TDF (Télédiffusion de France) facility at Issoudun, France, on 11905 kHz with a transmitter power of 500 kW and an antenna beam direction of 170°, towards Africa.

The programs, special editions of "Paris Live," were devoted to the results of the first and second (run-off) rounds of the presidential election. The daily broadcast of "Paris Live" is the only RFI broadcast in English still transmitted by RFI on shortwave.

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 AM mode with 5.09 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception for the two broadcasts varied from fair to good with some noise and fading.

April 22, 2017

Radio Nederland Wereldomroep 70th Anniversary Broadcast: April 15, 2017

April 22, 2017/ Richard Langley

Off-air recording of the live broadcast "Radio Nederland Wereldomroep 70 jaar" by former staff members of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep from an original outside broadcast van at the Schagen Car Museum as transmitted by Shortwave Service (shortwaveservice.com) in Euskirchen, near Bonn, Germany, using several transmitters at Kall-Krekel, Germany, on 15 April 2017 from 09:00 to 16:00 UTC. The recording is in two parts: the first, from 09:00 to 13:00 UTC on 6005 kHz and the second from 13:13 to 16:00 UTC on 3985 kHz. Both transmitters have a power of 1 kW with essentially non-directional antennas.

The program, celebrating the 70th anniversary of Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (RNW), was produced and presented by former employees and is mostly in Dutch but with several English segments including archive material from Radio Nederland. After a couple of minutes of setting up, the RNW interval signal can be heard before the actual broadcast begins as was the case for all RNW broadcasts and it ends, also according to custom, with "Het Wilhelmus," the Dutch national anthem. There is a gap in the recording between 13:00 and 13:13 UTC after switching frequencies and there are some occasional audio dropouts during the broadcast. A report on the broadcast (in Dutch) can be found here:
http://www.mediapages.nl/nieuws-actueel/3180-foto-s-radio-nederland-70-jaar.

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 5.09 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception varied during the seven hours from very good to fair with some noise and fading.

April 08, 2017

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

April 08, 2017/ Richard Langley

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.

March 25, 2017

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

March 25, 2017/ Richard Langley

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.

March 12, 2017

Shortwave Shindig and Short Waves / Long Distance via WRMI: March 11, 2017

March 12, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live recording of the repeat broadcast of the North American Shortwave Association's Winter SWL Fest "Shortwave Shindig" and Wave Farm's "Short Waves / Long Distance" programs by WRMI, Radio Miami International, using a transmitter at Okeechobee, Florida, on 11 March 2017 from 03:00 to 06:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9395 kHz. The listed transmitter power is 100 kW with an antenna beam azimuth of 355°. The recording begins and ends with the WRMI station identification.

The first hour of the broadcast is of the live program "Shortwave Shindig" as recorded at the 30th Annual Winter SWL Fest held in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, 2–4 March 2017. The following two hours are of the program "Short Waves / Long Distance," a montage of shortwave-based audio works compiled by Wave Farm in celebration of its 20th anniversary. The Wave Farm program ends with the digital transmission of an image in MFSK32-mode centred on 1500 kHz.

The programs were first broadcast live on 4 March 2017 but due to poor propagation conditions, reception throughout North America was poor or nonexistent and so the programs were rebroadcast.

The broadcast was 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 varied from fair to good during the three-hour broadcast with no interference. Some passages during the "Short Waves / Long Distance" program have low audio levels.

February 15, 2017

BBC Radio 4 (LW) - The Archers: December 23, 2016

February 15, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air recording of the Christmas 2016 episode of "The Archers" broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Longwave (LW) on 23 December 2016 beginning shortly after 19:00 UTC on a frequency of 198 kHz from the 500 kW transmitter at Droitwich, near Worcester, England.

"The Archers" is the world's longest-running radio soap opera, with a pilot series broadcast in 1950 and the first regular episode broadcast on 1 January 1951. The series was initially broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and subsequently on the BBC Home Service (now Radio 4).

Reception was very good. The recording begins with an introduction to the program and the Greenwich Time Signal (the Six Pips), followed by a short news bulletin.

January 05, 2017

France Inter Longwave 162 kHz Final Sign-off: December 31, 2016

January 05, 2017/ Richard Langley

Live off-air recording of the last hour of programming from Radio France station France Inter Grandes Ondes (Longwave) on 31 December 2016 beginning just before 22:00 UTC on the longwave frequency of 162 kHz. The signal originated from the TDF (formerly known as Télédiffusion de France) 2000 kW transmitter (reportedly reduced to 1000 kW during the hours of darkness) at Allouis, near Bourges, France.

Following the time signal tones for 23:00 CET, the news bulletin, "Le Journal de 23h," is presented followed by the first hour of a special end-of-year episode of the music and chat program "Back to Back des voix de France Inter." At about the 51m:35s point in the recording is an announcement of the ending of France Inter's use of longwave. The "Back to Back" program resumes and the first hour ends with a countdown to midnight and the time signal tones for 00:00 CET and just as the presenter wishes Happy New Year, the audio feed to the transmitter is cut. However, the carrier remains on the air as it will continue to be used for the LTE-SYRTYE (Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais - Système de Références Temps-Espace) carrier-phase-modulated time code, widely used in France for clock synchronization. The recording continues for about one minute after the France Inter audio is cut. What can be heard weakly is the audio of two other powerful longwave stations on quite different frequencies, both in French: RTL (formerly Radio Luxembourg) on 234 kHz with a reported power of 1500 kW and Europe 1 on 183 kHz with a reported power of 2000 kW. These stations cross-modulate the 162 kHz TDF carrier in the ionosphere and the phenomenon is know as the Luxembourg effect as it was first noticed in the 1930s when the powerful Radio Luxembourg transmitter would interfere with the reception of other stations.

December 29, 2016

BBC World Service - Queen's Christmas Message: December 25, 2016

December 29, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, approximately twelve-minute recording of the Queen's Christmas Message, preceded by a news bulletin, as broadcast by the BBC World Service on 25 December 2016 beginning at about 15:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 7465 kHz. This broadcast originated from a 250 kW transmitter at Kranji, Singapore, and was beamed to south Asia with an antenna beam azimuth of 320°.

The recording begins with a station ID and the Greenwich Time Signal and is followed by the usual five-minute news bulletin. Queen Elizabeth II's 2016 Christmas Message to the peoples of the Commonwealth begins at about the six-minute mark in the recording. It concludes with the National Anthem (the Royal Anthem in some Commonwealth countries).

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 excellent with a strong interference-free signal.

December 28, 2016

Radio Vaticana - Pope's Christmas Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing: December 25, 2016

December 28, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, approximately thirty-five-minute recording of the 2016 Christmas Message and "Urbi et Orbi" Blessing of Pope Francis as broadcast by Radio Vaticana (Vatican Radio) on 25 December 2016 beginning at 10:55 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9645 kHz. This broadcast originated from a 100 kW transmitter at Santa Maria di Galevia, north of Rome, and was beamed to western Europe with an antenna beam azimuth of 330°.

This was the "ambient sound" version of the Radio Vaticana broadcast as picked up by various microphones with no voice-over commentary. The first approximately five minutes of the broadcast consists of just crowd noise. At about the five-minute mark in the recording, corresponding to about 11:00 UTC, commands of the Pontifical Swiss Guard can be heard. This is followed by abbreviated versions of The Pontifical Hymn ("Motetum Vaticanum") and the Italian national anthem ("Il Canto degli Italiani") as played by the Band of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and the Carabinieri Band of the Italian Armed Forces. The appearance of Pope Francis on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica is greeted with cheers. He delivered, in Italian, his annual Christmas message ahead of the traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city [Rome] and to the world). He also recited the Angelus prayer and the plenary indulgence (in Latin). Following his speech, there was a military salute to Pope Francis with abridged versions again of the anthems. The Bells of St. Peter's peal as the Swiss Guard and the Carabinieri exchange salutes, concluding the broadcast.

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 9.0 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception was excellent with a strong interference-free signal capturing almost all of the transmitted audio bandwidth.

November 30, 2016

Radio. People & Stories from Shortwave Service: November 28, 2016

November 30, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air recording of the first English-language version of "Radio. Menschen und Geschichten" ("Radio. People and Stories") transmitted by Shortwave Service (shortwaveservice.com) in Euskirchen, near Bonn, Germany, using a transmitter at Noratus, near Gavar, Armenia, on 28 November 2016 from 20:00 to 20:30 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 6005 kHz. The transmitter power was 100 kW with an antenna beam azimuth of 330°.

The program consists of two interviews: the first with Rimantas Pleikys about radio jamming and the second with Amanda Dawn Christie about her film documentary "Spectres of Shortwave."

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 quite good with negligible noise and no interference although the initial minute of audio was transmitted at a very low level.

October 24, 2016

Radio Cairo: August 17, 2016

October 24, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, approximately one-and-one-half-hour recording of Radio Cairo in English on 17 August 2016 beginning about 23:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9965 kHz. According to a High Frequency Coordination Conference registration, the signal originates from a 250 kW transmitter at the Abis transmitter complex, near Alexandria, Egypt, and was beamed 325° to western Europe and eastern North America. Radio Cairo is operated by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government.

The broadcast includes music and various features, including news (at about the 15-minute mark in the recording) and "Arabic by Radio" -- lesson 94 (starting around the 52-minute mark). The broadcast concludes with the news in brief, sign-off announcement, and about five minutes of music before time pips for 00:30:00 UTC. Times mentioned in the broadcast are Cairo local times, that is, in Central African Time (UTC + 2 hours).

Most Radio Cairo transmissions currently suffer from extremely poor modulation making them completely unintelligible. This recording is a rare example where the broadcast is somewhat understandable for the most part. However, the audio is muffled at times with music passages sounding somewhat better than most of the spoken word. The "Arabic by Radio" segment is, on the other hand, quite clear. The original recorded audio has been amplified by 400% to produce the archived audio file.

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 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception must be considered only fair despite a strong signal since modulation was weak and slightly distorted or "muddy." However, there was no interference and negligible signal fading.

October 18, 2016

Radio Thailand on the Death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: October 15, 2016

October 18, 2016/ Richard Langley

King Bhumibol Adulyadej was an amateur radio operator with call sign HS1A. He was featured on this postage stamp issued by Thailand in 1997.

Live, off-air, one-hour recording of Radio Thailand World Service (HSK9) in English on 15 October 2016 beginning a few seconds before 19:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9390 kHz. The signal originates from a 250 kW transmitter at the International Broadcasting Bureau facility in Ban Dung District, Udon Thani, in northeastern Thailand, and was beamed 329° to Europe. Radio Thailand World Service is operated by National Broadcasting Services of Thailand and is carried over AM and FM stations in Thailand as well as being relayed on shortwave.

This broadcast was one of the first English-language Radio Thailand World Service broadcasts produced after the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, which occurred on 13 October. The Radio Thailand World Service broadcasts are prerecorded and there were no announcements of the death of the king during the shortwave transmissions on 13 October. Regular programming on Radio Thailand World Service was suspended on 14 October in homage to the king and replaced with archival material on the king's projects during his reign. Also, 14 October was declared as a public holiday for Thai citizens to pay their respects to the king. The recording starts with time pips, the bell peals interval signal, sign-on announcement, and then the prerecorded 7:00 a.m. (Indochina Time) "Morning News Hour." The national and global news bulletins as well as the business news have extensive reports about the death of the king and the national and international response. The segments "ASEAN Focus," "Take on Thailand" (with an item on the Broadcasting Museum in Bangkok), "Weather Flash," and "What's on in Thailand" fill out the hour. The broadcast also includes government and public service announcements as well as commercials.

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 9.0 kHz RF filtering. Reception was very good with a strong signal, no interference, and negligible fading.

August 17, 2016

International Day Ecos del Torbes via WRMI: August 12, 2016

August 17, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, half-hour recording of the special DX program "International Day Ecos del Torbes," celebrating the 40th anniversary of Club Diexistas de la Amistad (CDXA, Friendship DX Club) and the 26th anniversary of the program "América en Antena" (American Antenna) transmitted by WRMI, Radio Miami International, using a transmitter at Okeechobee, Florida, on 12 August 2016 from 21:30 to 22:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15770 kHz. The program aired a half hour later than advertised. The listed transmitter power is 100 kW with an antenna beam azimuth of 44° directed to Europe. The recording begins and ends with the WRMI station identification.

Ecos del Torbes is a radio station in San Christóbal, Táchira State, Venezuela, which began broadcasting on 9 August 1947. Still transmitting as YVOD on 780 kHz in the AM broadcast band, it used to also broadcast on shortwave as YVOC, 4980 kHz, and YVTX, 6190 kHz, amongst other frequencies over the years. It ceased shortwave broadcasting in March 2003.

The program is primarily in Spanish with a brief introduction in English. Ecos del Torbes station identifications are given in Spanish, English, and French. The program was aired multiple times by WRMI.

The broadcast was 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 9 kHz RF filtering. Reception was excellent with no interference and negligible atmospheric noise.

July 29, 2016

SAQ, Grimeton Radio: July 3, 2016

July 29, 2016/ Richard Langley

Transmitter hall and antenna array. Image courtesy YouTube.

ALEXANDERSON ALTERNATOR IN THE GRIMETON VLF TRANSMITTER. THE DRIVE MOTOR IS AT THE EXTREME RIGHT; THE SPEED-INCREASER GEARBOX IS JUST TO ITS LEFT. NOTE THE BRONZE-COLORED SHAFT COUPLING. IMAGE AND CAPTION COURTESY GUNTHER TSCHUCH AND WIKIMEDIA COMMO… — ALEXANDERSON ALTERNATOR IN THE GRIMETON VLF TRANSMITTER. THE DRIVE MOTOR IS AT THE EXTREME RIGHT; THE SPEED-INCREASER GEARBOX IS JUST TO ITS LEFT. NOTE THE BRONZE-COLORED SHAFT COUPLING. IMAGE AND CAPTION COURTESY GUNTHER TSCHUCH AND WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Live, off-air, approximately seven-and-a-half-minute recording of a morse code (CW or continuous wave) transmission in English from station SAQ, Grimeton Radio, Sweden, on 3 July 2016 beginning about 09:00 UTC on a very low frequency (VLF) of 17.2 kHz. The signal originates from the historic Alexanderson alternator transmitter at Grimeton near Varberg on the west coast of Sweden, running at about 80 kW. The antenna is essentially omnidirectional.

The broadcast was one of two taking place on Alexanderson Day, 2016; the other being at 12:00 UTC. The transmitter was tuned up before each broadcast with many sequences of VVV VVV VVV DE SAQ SAQ SAQ being sent. The message began at about 09:00 UTC, lasted about 7 minutes and 20 seconds, and is as follows:

CQ CQ CQ DE SAQ SAQ SAQ <BT>
THIS IS GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ IN A TRANSMISSION USING THE ALEXANDERSON 200 KW ALTERNATOR ON 17.2 KHZ. <BT>
IT IS NOW 20 YEARS SINCE THE ALEXANDER ASSOCIATION STARTED. THEN MOSTLY WITH MEMBERS OF EARLIER AND PRESENT EMPLOYEES AT GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ. WE ARE NOW 650 MEMBERS AND OF THEM 26 NONE SWEDISH. THE STATION IS NOWADAYS MANAGED BY GRIMETON WORLD HERITAGE FOUNDATION. SIGNED: WORLD HERITAGE GRIMETON RADIO STATION AND THE ALEXANDER-GRIMETON VETERANRADIOS VAENNER ASSOCIATION <AR> <BT>
FOR QSL INFO PLEASE READ OUR WEBSITE: WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE <BT>
DE SAQ SAQ SAQ QRX AT 12 UTC <SK>

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 CW mode with 0.49 kHz RF filtering. The CW tone is about 763 Hz and the message was sent at about 16 words per minute. Reception was fairly good with some atmospheric noise (QRN).

July 17, 2016

Voice of Turkey: July 16, 2016

July 17, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, approximately one-hour recording of the Voice of Turkey in English on 16 July 2016 beginning a few minutes before 12:30 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15450 kHz. The signal originates from a 500 kW transmitter in Emirler, near Ankara, Turkey, and was beamed 318° to Europe.

This broadcast was the first English-language Voice of Turkey broadcast produced after the start of the attempted military coup in Turkey, which took place overnight on 15 and 16 July 2016. The recording starts with the tuning or interval signal with time pips beginning at the 03m:00s mark. The news bulletin, following the sign-on announcement, is devoted to reports about the coup attempt. Regular programming follows.

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 9.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was very good with a strong signal, no interference, and negligible fading.

July 12, 2016

Eye Radio: June 7, 2016

July 12, 2016/ Richard Langley

Live, off-air, approximately one-hour recording of Eye Radio on 7 June 2016 beginning at about 16:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 17730 kHz. According to the World Radio TV Handbook, this broadcast is one of two aired daily in the time slots 16:00-17:00 UTC and 04:00-05:00 UTC, with the latter transmitted on 11730 kHz. The broadcasts originate from a 150 kW transmitter of TDF in Issoudun, France.

Eye Radio (http://www.eyeradio.org/), formerly known as Sudan Radio Service, operates an FM station in Juba, South Sudan, operating on 98.6 MHz. As Sudan Radio Service, it began broadcasts on shortwave before the FM station was constructed. Shortwave broadcasts as Eye Radio reportedly began on 26 April 2016. These broadcasts were brokered by Alyx & Yeyi.

The recorded program is multilingual and is in Arabic, English, and a local language. An extensive English segment, primarily on job training of women in South Sudan, runs from about the 17-minute mark in the recording to about the 40-minute mark and is an excerpt of the "Dawn Show" broadcast by the FM station. There are also some English public service announcements during the broadcast.

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 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was fair with some noise, improving somewhat towards the end of the broadcast.

The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

The Archive

The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

Voice of Korea: September 4, 2017

Radio Ciudad de La Habana: August 14, 2017

WJCC, Radio Mega – Miami's Haitian Community AM Station: August 16, 2017

BBC World Service Annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast: June 21, 2017

Radio France Internationale - Results of First and Second Rounds of Presidential Election: April 24 & May 8, 2017

Radio Nederland Wereldomroep 70th Anniversary Broadcast: April 15, 2017

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

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

Shortwave Shindig and Short Waves / Long Distance via WRMI: March 11, 2017

BBC Radio 4 (LW) - The Archers: December 23, 2016

France Inter Longwave 162 kHz Final Sign-off: December 31, 2016

BBC World Service - Queen's Christmas Message: December 25, 2016

Radio Vaticana - Pope's Christmas Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing: December 25, 2016

Radio. People & Stories from Shortwave Service: November 28, 2016

Radio Cairo: August 17, 2016

Radio Thailand on the Death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: October 15, 2016

International Day Ecos del Torbes via WRMI: August 12, 2016

SAQ, Grimeton Radio: July 3, 2016

Voice of Turkey: July 16, 2016

Eye Radio: June 7, 2016

The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive